Our monthly round-up of trending entertainment news.
Robert Downey Jr to return to MCU … as Doctor Doom
He’s too big of an asset to give up, it seems. So RDJ returns to the MCU as a completely different character. Bye, Iron Man; hello, Doctor Doom! Since the previously planned Big Bad for Avengers 5, Kang the Conqueror, has been scrapped due to Jonathan Majors’ legal troubles, this news neatly ties up the glaring question of who the next MCU major antagonist will be. RDJ’s involvement in Phase 5 is contingent on that of the Russo brothers, so we’ll see if there’s some nifty retconning with Dr Doom’s backstory to explain away that uncanny similarity between him and Tony Stark.
Pixar is developing Incredibles 3
Disney’s family of beloved superheroes will be returning to the big screen. At the D23 Expo in August, Pixar’s Chief Creative Officer, Pete Docter, announced that Incredibles 3 is in development, to great fanfare. It joins another Pixar franchise, Toy Story, to have an upcoming sequel. While Incredibles 2 won big at the box office, it earned less critical adulation than the first movie. Will the threequel fare better with reviewers?
George Clooney lashes back at Quentin Tarantino for dissing his film career
George Clooney doesn’t take kindly to getting trash-talked. After Quentin Tarantino branded the actor “not a movie star” and suggested it was difficult to name a movie of the latter that was released “since the millennium”, Clooney lashed back in an expletive-laden GQ cover interview. The actor pointed out exasperatedly that almost his entire film career had taken place in the current century before taking a jibe at the Pulp Fiction director. Brad Pitt, Clooney’s co-star in the upcoming Wolfs movie, and who was also at the GQ interview, attempted to praise Tarantino’s acting abilities in From Dusk Till Dawn. To which Clooney responds with “he was just okay”. It’s always fun when male celebrities have public catfights.
Travis Scott released with no charges after getting arrested in Paris during 2024 Olympics
Paris, a city notorious for not caring about American celebrities (see Serena Williams vs luxury rooftop bar), was recently the site of Travis Scott’s arrest. The rapper was there to attend the Olympics but got swarmed by fans and paparazzi. He was so angry with the poor crowd control that he got into a physical altercation with his bodyguard and a security guard at the Georges V Hotel. Luckily for the rapper (but unluckily for his bodyguard), he has been released without charges.
Cate Blanchett says “no one got paid anything” for Lord of the Rings
The Australian actress got candid recently about her salary for the fantasy film. The perks of the job were free sandwiches, elf ear prosthetics, and working with Peter Jackson because the gig didn’t pay much. Considering most of the main stars of Lord of the Rings were relative unknowns when they were cast, that’s unsurprising. Orlando Bloom stated in a 2023 Howard Stern interview that he was only paid a total of US$175,000 for the trilogy. And that’s how you make movies on the scale of Lord of the Rings with a budget of ‘only’ US$281 million: hiring actors on the cheap.
Stephen King openly praises Bad Boys: Ride or Die
Now, here’s an endorsement you’d never have thought of, eh? On his X account, the author praised the latest instalment of the buddy-cop film franchise. “BAD BOYS RIDE OR DIE: That was a lot of fun. Martin Lawrence always makes me laugh.” Laconic but effective. Ride or Die has already passed the US$400 million mark at the time of writing, coming in second place to the franchise’s best of US$426.5 million at the box office for 2020’s Bad Boys for Life. If the King of Horror’s endorsement is not enough, Rotten Tomatoes also reports a near-perfect audience score for the movie, which puts Ride or Die’s box office success into perspective.
The world's favourite Bad Boys are back with their iconic mix of edge-of-your-seat action and outrageous comedy but this time with a twist: Miami's finest are now on the run.
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John Wick 4 is getting TV sequel series
The John Wick cinematic universe expands with John Wick: The High Table, a TV series executive-produced by leading man Keanu Reeves and the movies’ director Chad Stahelski. The latter will also be directing the show’s pilot episode, which is set to take place directly after the events of John Wick 4. This will not affect the development plans for John Wick 5 — so fans can rest easy. Besides John Wick 5, there is also another John Wick movie in the works at Lionsgate, one revolving around Donnie Yen’s character, Caine.
Squid Game renewed for third and final season ahead of second season premiere
It’s coming on 26 December, Squid Game fans. Just a few more months, and we’ll get the much-anticipated sophomore season to the worldwide phenomenon. And luckily for those of us who prefer that a good story be wrapped up, the third and final season of the South Korean hit series has also been announced, due to be released in 2025. This dispels any notion that the show will be dragged out until it’s eventually forced to die a sudden death due to dwindling ratings. Netflix is doing it right for once!
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