The Avengers: Endgame Cameo That Gave The Russo Brothers A ‘Panic Attack’

The Avengers: Endgame Cameo That Gave The Russo Brothers A ‘Panic Attack’

The following story contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame.

The 22nd official movie in the MCU had virtually every single character who appeared on screen before, from “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt) and Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford) to heroes like Captain Marvel (Brie Larson). Most of them showed up for one of the final scenes – Tony Stark’s funeral, which was an all-star event. But there was one face at the funeral that was a bit of a head-scratcher for a lot of audience members, mainly because the actor playing the character had aged significantly since audiences last saw him.

Ty Simpkins (Jurassic World) was standing near the back of the gathered crowd at Tony Stark’s funeral. If you don’t recall that Simpkins played Harley Keener, the young inventor, in Shane Black’s Iron Man 3, don’t worry… you weren’t alone in being confused. And that confusion, shared by several early test screeners, was giving the Russo brothers anxiety. During a spoiler-filled conversation with our ReelBlend podcast, the siblings shared a very funny story about filming that scene, where the stars of the MCU weren’t even sure who Simpkins was. They told us:

Joe Russo: Every time we screened it, people would ask us [who that kid was].

Anthony Russo: Literally, every time. [Laughs] I don’t know if there has ever been a single person who has recognized him!

Joe: He’s three times taller than he was. So I think he has grown up so much that, you know, it’s a deep Easter egg. But I feel like that's what's compelling about the Marvel universe. By the way, there are quite a few Easter eggs in the movie people still haven’t identified.

As if you needed another reason to go back and see Avengers: Endgame. Now you have to hunt for Easter eggs that haven’t been identified yet by fans.

As Joe and Anthony Russo elaborated in the set up of that jaw-dropping scene – a one-shot that traces over almost every facet of the MCU, in character form – Anthony elaborated on the sheer panic that the directors were feeling because as they were mapping it out, none of the famous actors on set understood who Ty Simpkins was supposed to represent. Anthony tells ReelBlend:

You guys will appreciate this. In order to do that shot, to amass that cast, we rehearsed that shot like crazy. We set up the camera moves with stand-ins. … Because they were all going to be in that shot, we spent days setting that shot up. Days! Okay? So we had everybody. We had the entire camera move figured out specifically. We had the time of day. We had everything perfect, right? So we get there on the day, we finally put the actors in the shot for the first time, right? [laughs] And we have this moment on set where he and I go into a panic attack over Ty, because we're having this [question] over Ty.

At the end of the day, the Russo realize that Easter eggs are a common occurrence in MCU movies, and fans would have something cool to discuss during what is one of the most heartfelt moments in all of Avengers: Endgame.

The Ty Simpkins story is just one of many gems included in this bonus episode of ReelBlend, which is all spoilers with Joe and Anthony Russo, so press play and dive in.

Avengers: Endgame is in theaters as we speak, and based on the box office numbers, a good number of you have headed to theaters to check it out. What did you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Jordan Peele's Us Has A 100% Rotten Tomatoes Score Ahead Of Opening

Jordan Peele's Us Has A 100% Rotten Tomatoes Score Ahead Of Opening

There are not really any huge new releases in theaters this weekend, with studios giving the MCU’s Captain Marvel a wide berth, but next weekend Jordan Peele is back with Us. The eagerly anticipated sophomore film from the writer-director of Get Out has a lot to live up to after that successful and Oscar-winning film, and signs are good it will do just that. Us has already screened and it is currently sitting at a sterling 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Us opened the 2019 South by Southwest Film Festival last week and immediately the reactions were extremely positive. The movie was trending in the right direction. Full reviews paint a clearer picture, though, and those have proven to be very encouraging that Us is anything but a sophomore slump. The rare and exciting 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes for Us is coming from a healthy 55 reviews to date, with more to come upon the film’s release.

The 100% score is impressive and definitely should get horror fans and film fans in general hyped to see this movie, but the chances that the score stays perfect are not great. Films that maintain a 100% on the Tomatometer with hundreds of reviews counted (like Paddington 2) are exceedingly rare. There's always a contrarian or two for whom a film just does not work, or maybe they just like to watch the world burn.

Even the critically lauded Get Out couldn’t stay perfect, finishing up with a 98% with 347 reviews counted. The often misunderstood and maligned Rotten Tomatoes scores aren’t the be all end all arbiter of a film’s quality. But what we can take from the score for Us as it stands is that those who have seen the movie like it and that’s a positive sign that it will be worth your time as well.

The reviews and early reactions have also teased that unlike Get Out, which was dubbed a "social thriller," Us is a genuinely terrifying horror film. Based on what CinemaBlend’s own Sean O’Connell said about the film, this is a movie you’ll want to steer clear of spoilers for and something you’ll need to watch again once you recover.

The buzz and current perfect Rotten Tomatoes score for the new horror film from the director of Get Out can only help Us, which will be next weekend’s biggest new release. The R-rated Us is tracking at making between $40 million and $45 million opening weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That’s up a bit from early tracking that had it in the $35-$40 million range. For comparison Get Out opened to $33.3 million.

Us tells the tale of a family contending with their murderous doppelgängers and stars Lupita Nyong’o, Elisabeth Moss, Winson Duke, Evan Alex, and Shahadi Wright Joseph.

Us opens in theaters on March 22. Check out our 2019 release schedule for all the other movies you can look forward to this year.

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How Much Men In Black International Could Make Opening Weekend

How Much Men In Black International Could Make Opening Weekend

Although the Men in Black organization above all else seeks anonymity, to not stand out in any way and be dismissed just as quickly as déjà vu, Sony is hoping that Men in Black International stands out in a big way and is not dismissed by audiences when it opens in theaters next month. The latest tracking is in for the upcoming spinoff, and Men in Black International is headed toward a $40 million opening weekend.

People with access to the early tracking data, as well as individuals at Sony Pictures, are both pegging F. Gary Gray's Men in Black International to open at $40 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter. This number is right in line with the long-range tracking of a $30-$50 million domestic debut that came out last month. So if the tracking is right, Men in Black International should land in that neighborhood.

A $40 million debut isn’t quite a ‘push the little red button’ kind of incredible launch for the spinoff, but it would show that audiences haven’t been neuralized and still remember this franchise seven years after Men in Black 3. However, an opening weekend around $40 million for Men in Black International would be the lowest debut for a film in this franchise.

Men in Black opened to $84.1 million in 1997, but it came out on a Wednesday in advance of the July 4 holiday, so its 3-day total was $51 million. 2002’s Men in Black 2 also opened right before Independence Day and enjoyed an $87.2 million 5-day performance and a $52.1 million 3-day performance. The most recent film in the franchise, Men in Black 3, opened on Memorial Day weekend in 2012 and made $54.6 over the Friday-Sunday frame and $69.2 million when factoring in Memorial Day.

So not accounting for inflation, this franchise has overall been pretty consistent with its opening weekend performances and MIB International would be a bit below them. But as mentioned, all of the previous films have opened on holiday weekends and likely benefitted from that even in the 3-day numbers. Men in Black International comes out on Flag Day and that Sunday is Father’s Day, but it will not enjoy the kind of long weekend where people are off work.

The previous Men in Black films had the star power of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, and the latter two were also sequels to a beloved film and had that to their advantage. As a spinoff, Men in Black International has to prove itself. While stars Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson have major recognizability thanks to their roles in the MCU, neither has really proven to be a box office draw yet outside of those films.

That said, the two actors’ chemistry in Thor: Ragnarok and the proximity of Avengers: Endgame might compel some audiences to see them together in something else. While the tracking has held steady around that $40 million mark, tracking is inexact and Men in Black International could still theoretically see a swing in either direction depending on the final marketing push and the reviews/early reactions to the film.

On the competition front, Men in Black International opens the week after Dark Phoenix and The Secret Life of Pets 2. Opening opposite Men in Black International is the new Shaft, which is R-rated, but unlike some of its predecessors, it's going for a comedic approach. That could make it something of a direct competitor to Men in Black for audiences looking for comedy that weekend.

Jim Jarmusch’s zombie flick The Dead Don’t Die, starring Bill Murray and Adam Driver, also opens that weekend, but that’s a smaller movie and Jarmusch’s work doesn’t usually play to the mass market.

Men in Black International opens on June 14. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see everything headed your way this summer.

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How The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter Creates Harry's Patronus In The Sky

How The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter Creates Harry's Patronus In The Sky

Earlier this year, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood debuted a new nighttime show called Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle. The 8-minute show uses projection mapping onto the castle to tell a story dedicated to the darker side of magic, the kind they won’t teach you at Hogwarts. The grand finale of the show sees Harry Potter’s stag Patronus light up the night sky in a beautiful display that seems like magic.

It is obviously (and sadly) not real magic though. It is actually achieved thanks to the magic of technology, specifically dozens of drones that emit the bright lights that makeup Harry’s brilliant stag Patronus. According to Forbes, Universal Studios Hollywood partnered with the Intel Drone Group, which had experience putting on drone light shows, with the express purpose of lighting up the sky with the stag Patronus that Harry Potter shared with his father James.

You can’t just go to the local electronics store, buy a bunch of drones and hope you can make them form a pattern in the sky though, and that’s why Universal Studios reached out to Intel in the first place. There are a lot of variables and calculations that have to be made to get the desired effect and have it be as magical as possible.

In addition to getting approval to use the airspace where the drones would be flying, Intel Drone Group also needed to account for the environment, where the drones would launch from and what the animation is that they would have to perform. It’s an involved process that can take months to realize and undoubtedly part of why Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle was in development for over two years.

Universal Studios Hollywood’s Senior Director of Entertainment Production Stephen Siercks wouldn’t divulge the specifics of exactly how they pull off the show’s phenomenal Patronus finale, but did say that it is a “really complex program that blends both technology and choreography.”

While the technical side of such spectacles is always fascinating, it is sometimes cool to not know how it works and just suspend your disbelief as much as possible and allow yourself to be immersed in a fantastical world. Although I imagine a video doesn’t do this justice, you can check out Harry’s Patronus in the sky in the video below.

Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle ran for 15 days earlier this year and returned to the Wizarding World at Universal Studios Hollywood for Memorial Day weekend. The show next returns to the park on June 22 and will run through August 11. Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle is also coming to Universal Studios Orlando, but dates have not yet been announced.

Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see what movies will be creating magic on the big screen this year and let us know what your Patronus is in the comments below.

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The Rock Reveals New Look At Disney's Jungle Cruise As Filming Re-Wraps After Delay

The Rock Reveals New Look At Disney's Jungle Cruise As Filming Re-Wraps After Delay

The idea of transforming popular Disneyland theme park attractions into blockbuster feature films has been around for a while, but the idea has created more misses than hits overall. Only the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has been able to turn the concept into box office success. Now, another attraction found in Walt Disney World's Adventureland, the Jungle Cruise, is going to try and follow that successful formula, and the project is now one step closer to reality after wrapping up its reshoots.

Dwayne Johnson has dropped some images from the end of shooting and revealed that he's officially done with his part of making Jungle Cruise the movie come to life in front of the camera. Along with the announcement, he also heaps praise on his co-star Emily Blunt, and reveals a few details about the movie and the relationship between the two characters. Check it out below.

Originally, Jungle Cruise was given a release date of October this year, before getting pushed back to July of 2020. At the time, no reason was given for the delay and it appeared that it may have simply been done to fill a hole that was left when the next Indiana Jones movie got delayed yet again.

However, since reshoots have apparently been taking place over the last few days or weeks, barely four months before the film's original release date, it seems that the need for reshoots may have played a part in the release date being pushed back. Although, it's also possible that the reshoots could have happened sooner and were only done now because the movie had the time. Considering how busy he seems to be, one has to believe The Rock has cloned himself in order to handle all his open projects and can be anywhere he needs to be.

Reshoots are often part of the planned filming schedule, but they occasionally end up being more extensive than originally anticipated and if that happened here, it could have been part of the reason for the release date move.

At least one sequence in the reshoots does appear to have been quite involved. Dwayne Johnson shared an image of himself surrounded entirely by blue screen in what sounds like a pretty extensive effects scene based on the Rock's description of it as something he would never forget.

Whatever this scene was, it would certainly require a lot of post-production work, so there would likely be no way it would be ready by this October.

Jungle Cruise is certainly looking to follow in the footsteps of the Pirates franchise, and considering that particular film series doesn't look like it will have any new installments anytime soon, one expects that Disney is also hoping that this theme park attraction turned movie will also see similar success. We'll find out when Jungle Cruise hits theaters next summer.

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The Emotional Reason Rocketman Should Be Seen In A Theater, According To Taron Egerton

The Emotional Reason Rocketman Should Be Seen In A Theater, According To Taron Egerton

Classic rock icons are becoming staples at our local movie theaters. Queen powered last year’s Bohemian Rhapsody, which attracted huge crowds (and got the Academy’s attention). And this year, movies focused on Bruce Springsteen (Blinded By The Light) and The Beatles (Yesterday) will be making a play for audience ticket dollars.

Before those drama/comedies hit, though, Paramount wants people to flock to the movies to see Rocketman, Dexter Fletcher’s movie-musical that’s inspired by the life and times of the legendary Elton John. The song-and-dance blockbuster uses the hazy memories of John’s rock escapades to craft a winning narrative. And when CinemaBlend recently sat down with Rocketman lead Taron Egerton, who plays John, we landed on the emotional reason why he thinks this movie deserves the bog screen treatment. He told us:

Elton’s music is something we all share. I would go so far as to say as a species now. We are all united over the fact that everyone knows – and if they have any taste at all – loves his music. And so, I think the shared experience of going to see it in the cinema… now look, obviously, I’m here selling my movie as well. But I really believe this. I think going to see it in the cinema with a whole group of other people will heighten your emotional reaction to it. And aside from that, just the sound. It needs to be blasted at you.

There’s something to be said about these big-screen treatments of the classic-rock icons of decades gone by. You’ll never be able to see Queen in concert again. So paying for a movie ticket to see a faithful recreation of the band’s Live Aid set becomes the next best thing.

The same goes for Rocketman. With Elton John tickets currently tracking north of $300 for his farewell concert, there’s a very good chance that fans reading this now won’t be able to make it to a local concert. And while Rocketman doesn’t necessarily replace the feeling of seeing Sir Elton on stage, it does bathe you in the power and solemnity of his songs, while also giving fantastic insight into the creative collaboration between John (Taron Egerton) and Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell).

Directed by Dexter Fletcher, Rocketman is told from the perspective of Elton John while he’s in rehab. It starts during his youth, and continues through his hall-of-fame career. And while we agree with Taron Egerton that his quotes make it sound like he is selling his movie, we can ALSO vouch for the fact that the costumes, the sets and the musical arrangements found in Rocketman absolutely demand that you go see this full-blown musical on the biggest screen possible.

Here’s Taron Egerton talking Rocketman with us:

And you will be able to see for yourself once the movie musical bops into nearby theaters on Thursday night. Get your tickets now, if you haven’t yet.

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John Wick 3 Will Hit A Box Office Milestone Over Memorial Day Weekend

John Wick 3 Will Hit A Box Office Milestone Over Memorial Day Weekend

This Memorial Day weekend will see the release of three new movies, but being outnumbered has never seemed to be a concern for John Wick. Despite the heavy competition, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum is open to all challengers, and while the film won't be No.1, it will still hit a milestone at the box office. The holiday weekend will push the third film in the action franchise to exceed $100 million domestically.

Last weekend, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum opened at No. 1, finally toppling Avengers: Endgame. The action movie opened to $56.8 million domestically, the highest debut for the entire series. Currently, the film has grossed $83.2 million at the domestic North American box office, with a worldwide total of $119.7 million.

Parabellum is likely to gross $24 million at the domestic box office from Friday to Sunday, according to Box Office Mojo. This is a 58% drop from last week, which is higher than the previous two films. (44.5% for the first John Wick and 46.7% for John Wick: Chapter 2). Overall, the four-day weekend is expected to push its domestic total to about $109 million, which is a nice milestone for the film. John Wick: Chapter 2 grossed $171.5 million worldwide when all was said and done, so we will see if Parabellum can beat that score.

It's not too surprising to see Parabellum is another success. The John Wick films are pretty well loved, scoring positive reviews from critics and moviegoers. Most importantly, the films have some of the best choreographed action sequences that you can find these days. It's straight up action porn.

Parabellum is expected to hold second place this weekend, as three new movies open in theaters. The major release in theaters is the live-action remake of Aladdin, and it will be joined by newcomers Brightburn and Booksmart. The latter has earned rave reviews from critics, while the other two movies have received a mixed reception.

Despite the initially negative reception thanks to some early trailers, Aladdin will take the No. 1 spot. The remake is looking at an opening of more than $100 million domestically after an estimated $31 million on Friday.

Meanwhile, Brightburn is expected to earn around $10 million while Booksmart is looking at $6.5-$8 million. These are smaller scale movies when compared to Aladdin or Parabellum, so this is within expectations. Avengers: Endgame will hang on to third place while Detective Pikachu is bumped to fourth.

Moviegoers have no shortage of options this holiday weekend, so you might as well see as much as you can! John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum is in theaters right now if you want to give it some extra love. To learn everything else that will be coming to theaters over the course of the next few months, be sure to check out our 2019 movie release guide.

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