It’s been a rocky road for the DCEU so far, but the franchise has earned its first true critical hit with Wonder Woman. Some tin foil hat wearers could call fowl that a concerned Warner Bros. only screened the movie to a select few outlets prior to the embargo being lifted, but the 95-96% score on Rotten Tomatoes shows that the WB had little to worry about. Many – including ourselves – have called it the best DC movie since The Dark Knight. Read more here.
With the rise in popularity of the R-rated superhero movie following Deadpool and Logan, but Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins was strong in her belief the DC outing should be PG-13. “I cared a lot about it never being an R-rating,” Jenkins told CinemaBlend. “And I totally support the movies that do have an R-rating, but in this case I was very aware that little girls were going to want to see the film, and I was very protective of that. So it had to not be Rated R to me. I would have been happy to go for PG, but it’s World War I, so we couldn’t!” Read more here.
The poor Chinese opening for Power Rangers seemed to spell an early doom for the franchise, which at one point claimed it had seven movies in the pipeline. However a new report has said the toy sales for the film could save it yet. ToyNews revealed that Power Rangers merchandise had grown 122% year on year, making it the number one action figure brand. Could this convince Lionsgate to give Power Rangers another go on the big screen? Read more here.
Speaking of possible sequels, and Finn Jones has reportedly confirmed to a journalist that Iron Fist season two will happen and an announcement will be made soon. Read more here.
AVATAR 2 WORRIES? NOT FOR CAMERON
Sticking with sequels, and James Cameron has opened up about possible concerns over the eleven-year gap between Avatar and its 2020 sequel, saying there are no worries for him. “It was a seven-year gap between The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, seven year gap between Alien and Aliens,” said Cameron. “It’s gonna be obviously more like a ten year gap between Avatar and Avatar 2. But Avatar 2 you are going to with not the promise, but the certainty of three more films beyond that, and that’s a very different concept with the audience. And a lot of the delay has been around creating that overall vision.” The difference there, Jim, is Terminator and Aliens were 80s franchises, when sequel mentality was very different. Read more here.
STAR WARS VIII AND IX NOT PLANNED?
In some rather surprising news, director Rian Johnson has revealed that Episodes VIII and IX were not mapped out beyond Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “I’m sure they talked about where it might go early on, but when they came to me there was no mapped story presented beyond [The Force Awakens],” he tweeted. Read more here.
I was lucky enough to see Wonder Woman last night, and you can read my review here.
Originally published May 31, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
