Chris Evans Recalls His Big Concern With Playing Captain America

Chris Evans Recalls His Big Concern With Playing Captain America

Captain America can seem like vanilla ice cream -- a classic American favorite, but there's no real kick to it. It's sweet, but kinda bland. That was a concern for Chris Evans while considering the Marvel Studios role. He passed on it multiple times, and one of his question marks was how to make this square-jawed goody two-shoes interesting to a modern audience used to being wowed by jokesters and antiheroes?

There's no real darkness to him. How do I make this guy someone you want to watch? I don't get jokes. I'm not Wolverine. I don't have dead parents, like Batman. I'm just, like, 'Hi, I'll walk your dog. I'll help you move.'

Turns out, that was just fine -- at least with Chris Evans in the role and the right team in place to give him better material than dog walking. Not that I wouldn't watch his Cap walking dogs. In fact, where is that film?

Chris Evans told The Hollywood Reporter he hadn't read Captain America's Marvel Comics story before he was cast, and if he had he might've been even more hesitant to accept the role. Evans recently pointed to a scene in Captain America: The Winter Soldier as his favorite; that was directed by the Russo Brothers as their first MCU film -- followed by Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and April's Avengers: Endgame. Anthony Russo said he and Joe Russo weren't really drawn to the old school Cap stuff either:

To be honest with you, that golden age Captain America never really appealed to us. We gravitated to the comics where people were starting to tear down ideas about what superheroes were. Frank Miller, et cetera. So when we started talking with Marvel about coming on to do [Winter Soldier], we were like, 'This is going to be the movie where we fully bring Captain America into the modern world. He's going to be a different person in this new world.' And Chris just grew with that character beautifully.

Chris Evans' Captain America became a three-dimensional hero -- a very human moral compass with personality and heart. Still a good guy, but not a dull guy.

Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige told THR Chris Evans wasn't on their initial list of Captain America prospects when they started looking for The First Avenger hero in early 2010, because Evans had just played Marvel's Human Torch/Johnny Storm in two Fantastic Four films.

We thought, OK, well, he's that character. Let's keep looking. And as we [continued] not finding people, we went back to the initial lists. And that brought us back to Chris. And I thought, well, Patrick Stewart played Jean-Luc Picard and Charles Xavier. Harrison Ford played Han Solo and Indiana Jones. Who cares?

Fair points. But Chris Evans said it felt like the right thing to do to say no to that job. So he turned down Marvel's nine-film offer. He also turned down a six-film contract. Tony Stark himself, Robert Downey Jr., got involved to call Evans. After a lot of other consultations, Evans finally took the job as Captain America. And then he went to therapy for the first time in his adult life.

The fans are the ones who may need therapy after Avengers: Endgame, if Chris Evans does indeed hang up Cap's shield. He joked to THR that Endgame is over three hours and "my funeral's like an hour." He did, however, say he choked up three times.

We now have less than a month to see what really happens in Avengers: Endgame. The film opens in theaters Friday, April 26. Here's what we know so far about the highly anticipated MCU movie.

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Sacha Baron Cohen Admits Borat Caused Pamela Anderson’s Divorce With Kid Rock

Sacha Baron Cohen Admits Borat Caused Pamela Anderson’s Divorce With Kid Rock

Divorce as a concept isn’t exactly a laughing matter, and it certainly should be treated with the respect and weight it deserves. And yet, when actual comedy is the cause for said divorce, it’s kind of hard not to have a laugh or two at the expense of the moment.

That’s exactly what it sounds like when it comes to the reason former lovebirds Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock split up, as Sacha Baron Cohen revealed that a joke he and Anderson engaged in for his film Borat, which saw her being kidnapped by the eponymous character, was the cause for her big split. Cohen described how he found out about this thusly:

And she texted back, ‘He’s getting divorced.’ I was like, why? And she goes, ‘The movie.’ And I thought it was a joke, but then a few weeks later they got divorced and they put as a reason for divorce, Borat.

The text exchange referred to above happened after Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson has screened Borat together, which lead to Rock screaming some rather colorful things, as he’s wont to do when things get serious, at his then wife. Of course, once calmer heads prevailed, a divorce was to be had, and sure enough, Sacha Baron Cohen knew that Pamela Anderson wasn’t joking.

In a career as full of comedic moments that employ quite a bit of shock value and subterfuge, the most surprising fact revealed during Sacha Baron Cohen’s talk with The Daily Beast was that Pamela Anderson was the one person to say yes to committing to the gag that was featured in Borat. To be fair, Cohen did point out that if he didn’t get her permission, the whole endeavor would have totally been kidnapping. He may be all about getting the laugh at the end of the day, but he’s smart enough not to end up in jail.

Another oddity when discussing this particular scene was the fact that it took two takes to really get the desired effect, as it was pointed out that during the first attempt at a book signing, none of Pamela Anderson’s fans came to her aid. And as Cohen also revealed during that same talk, there was a slight bit of injury involved as well:

She lost two things. One, she lost a tiny bit of bone from her jaw. And secondly, she lost a husband.

After all of this talking about a comedy moment that’s over a decade old, but still funny as ever, you’re probably in the mood to see how that infamous gag from Borat turned out. Well, through the magic of the internet, you can feast your eyes on that footage below:

With his most recent project, the Showtime series Who Is America?, looking to make a play for some Emmy awards, now’s as good a time as any to revel in the glow of what Sacha Baron Cohen’s comedy can do when people aren’t expecting it. And while divorce still isn’t funny at large, it’s certainly a bit humorous when put into the context of what you’ve seen above, as well as the Halloween costumes it inspired.

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Dumbo Box Office: The Baby Elephant Doesn't Quite Soar

Dumbo Box Office: The Baby Elephant Doesn't Quite Soar

Disney has pretty much every one of its major brands in operation this year - with Marvel, Pixar, and Walt Disney Animation all putting out big titles - but one area where the studio is really going all-in this year is with its live-action remakes of animated classics. There are a total of four titles being released between now and the end of December, with movies including The Lion King, Aladdin, and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, but after this past weekend one wonders if there might be some concern growing. Because while Tim Burton's Dumbo did nab the top spot at the box office, it's numbers aren't exactly spectacular. Check out the Top 10 below, and join me after for analysis!

Overall this was a strong weekend at the box office, and Disney is seeing cash rolling in from two of the top three movies in the country, but the studio certainly must have had higher expectations for Dumbo. Prognostications from earlier this month estimated that the three day haul for the elephant-centric family feature would be around $50 million, and it's not wonderful that the film fell $5 million short of that bar. It's worse when you consider that the first predictions suggested a high end of $65 million.

Those estimates were proven to be too high, but when you look at the numbers, it's not hard to figure out why the pros were a bit off. Disney has been having a tremendous amount of success in recent years with their live-action remakes of animated classics, and with the exception of the 2016 sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass they all arrived with strong openings. Prior to the release of Dumbo, the lowest first weekend total was Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella, which made $67.9 million back in March 2015. That film wound up making over $200 million domestically - but at this point it doesn't look like the 2019 release will be crossing that particular milestone.

It's definitely all far from doom and gloom, however, thanks to a few positive factors. For starters, while Dumbo received a mostly tepid response from critics, those who went to go see it seem to be digging it, and delivered it an "A-" on CinemaScore. As for the numbers, the film is also obviously going to get a big boost from international ticket sales. It has already made over $70 million from foreign markets. So while it won't be the billion dollar hit that Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland was back in 2010 (arguably the release that fueled this entire trend), it still will be a profitable release for Disney.

Sticking with the Mouse House for a minute, while Dumbo may not wind up being a member of the three comma club, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's Captain Marvel absolutely will. And while the film didn't quite get there this weekend, it most definitely will be happening in the next few days. The ticket sales abroad over the last three days, as well as the $20.5 million it made here at home, have now brought its global total to $990.6 million. To put that in some perspective, that means it is now the seventh most successful Marvel Cinematic Universe film, having passed the $880.2 million that Spider-Man: Homecoming made in 2017. What's more, it's not entirely out of the question that it could wind up beating Captain America: Civil War as well, which made $1.2 billion three years ago. That's one hell of a launch for a hero expected to play a massive role in the franchise going forward.

Jumping back to the number two slot, Jordan Peele's Us had a solid, if not unspectacular second weekend, dropping about 52 percent and adding $33.6 million to its domestic total. Not only was the money more than enough to push the film across the $100 million mark, but it also now looks like it is indeed on pace to make more money at the box office than Peele's Get Out did in 2017. The director's sophomore effort did have a budget four times the size of its predecessor - $20 million vs. $4.5 million - but that's basically negligible when you consider the numbers that the release is ultimately looking at. Factoring in the money from outside North America, it's already gone north of $174 million, and one nice trick it has in its back pocket is that it's a feature that begs to be seen more than once. There is no questioning Peele's status as a blockbuster director at this point, and expectations are only going to get higher for whatever he does next.

What's also helping take a bit of heat off of Dumbo is the disappointing release of Harmony Korine's The Beach Bum - which sadly now exists as the worst opening of Matthew McConaughey's career, and is the second big disappointment for the Oscar winner this year following the release of Serenity back in January. The movie had a much smaller release than most titles found in this weekend's Top 10, only showing in 1,100 theaters nationwide, but it doesn't exactly have a high per screen average either. It's not all-together unexpected, as the film got a fairly tepid response when it premiered a few weeks ago at SXSW, and that buzz has been consistent since. Still, it won't look good in the history books next to Korine's last feature, Spring Breakers, which made a surprising $31.7 million in its worldwide theatrical run back in 2013.

Looking ahead, we should see some major shake ups in the Top Five this week, as we are about to see some anticipated features arrive in wide release. The first is another dose of kick-ass superhero action, this time arriving in the form of David F. Sandberg's Shazam! (which is looking at a three day total between $40 and $45 million, and is expected to become the new number one movie in America). Also arriving, though, is the latest Stephen King adaptation: Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer's Pet Sematary - which could not only steal some attention from the new DC Extended Universe feature, but also Us. How will things shake out? You'll have to come back next Sunday for our box office column to find out.

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Jeremy Renner Shares Video Right Before Getting His Avengers: Endgame Mohawk

Jeremy Renner Shares Video Right Before Getting His Avengers: Endgame Mohawk

It's been two long weeks since Avengers: Endgame arrived in theaters, and the fandom is still recovering from the film's myriad twists. The Russo Brothers meticulously crafted the blockbuster, connecting the story to myriad other installments and giving the original Avengers lineup significantly more screen time. This includes Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye, who returned from his Infinity War absence with a fresh new haircut and penchant for murder.

Ahead of Endgame's release, there was a ton of talk about Hawkeye's new mohawk. Play on words aside, Clint Barton's new do has been turned into countless memes, and is already iconic in its own right. Now Jeremy Renner has shared a video from the movie's set, revealing the moments before his mohawk was born. Check it out.

Way to cut out the big ending, Renner. This video shows Hawkeye moments before the new mohawk arrived. If only the actor knew how many jokes would come out of Twitter.

This new video, which comes to us from Jeremy Renner's official Instagram, is a peak behind the curtain of Marvel Studios' top secret process. Since the MCU is such a well-oiled machine at this point, it's easy for the public to forget that the franchise is just full of regular people doing their job. This includes the hair and makeup team, who are tasked with creating each characters' signature look. Cue the Hawkeye fade.

The contents of Avengers: Endgame were kept under wraps until the film's release, with both the studio and Russo Brothers doing everything they could in order to guard the myriad twists. This means the cast must follow strict guidelines, with many actors not given full scripts or the details of scenes before filming. And videos needed to be kept under lock and key for years.

Now that Avengers: Endgame is going into its third weekend in theaters, the cast and crew are finally getting more chatty about the massive blockbuster's contents. Co-directors The Russo Brothers officially lifted the spoiler ban after Endgame's second weekend in theaters, so social media and regular water cooler talk has really stepped up in regards to the myriad plot twists of the 22nd MCU installment.

Related: The Avengers: Endgame Trailer Has Us Obsessing Over Everyone's Hair

With the spoiler ban lifted, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been slowly revealing behind the scenes look at Avengers: Endgame. Jeremy Renner wasn't the only Avenger to snap videos from the set, with Chris Pratt posting clips from the film's epic final battle. Plus, we've seen photos from the all-female Marvel lunch, which was apparently thrown by Robert Downey Jr. himself. Overall, it looks like Endgame was a blast to make--despite the sky high anticipation and pressure coming from the fans.

Avengers: Endgame is in theaters now. Be sure to check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

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Aladdin’s Naomi Scott Is Now Starting To Realize The Impact Of Being A Disney Princess

Aladdin’s Naomi Scott Is Now Starting To Realize The Impact Of Being A Disney Princess

Being a Disney Princess is a very big deal. There are, of course, many iconic characters that have been created by the filmmakers at Walt Disney Animation, but the Disney Princesses have an important legacy of their own, and they’ve now been making a significant pop culture impact for decades. It’s a particular history of which now actress Naomi Scott has become a part – starring as Princess Jasmine in Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin – and it’s something that only recently she has started to fully wrap her head around.

I had the opportunity to sit down with the actress at the Los Angeles press day for Aladdin this past weekend, and one topic of conversation that came up during the interview was the simple significance of being the newest live-action Disney Princess. You can check out this part of our chat by clicking play on the video below:

Naomi Scott is now the fourth actress to bring one of the Disney Princesses into the live-action realm – following Lily James (who starred as the titular character in Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella), Emma Watson (who played Belle in Bill Condon’s Beauty and the Beast), and Elle Falling (who brought Aurora to life in Robert Stromberg’s Maleficent). Sadly she has not yet had the opportunity to meet her colleagues in this field – something she is very excited to eventually do – but while she waits for that to happen she is doing just fine with all the love she’s been getting from fans since Aladdin started screening.

The Disney Princesses have long been making an impact because of the strength of their personality and character, which has been inspirational for young girls and boys for years. Obviously playing a live-action version of one of these icons is a big responsibility as a result, but it’s something that Naomi Scott is ready to embrace. Discussing her realization of the roles importance and significance, the actress explained,

I'm realizing more and more and more 'Wow' - just the impact that these characters had on my generation growing up. The opportunity to potentially inspire the next generation is just mind-blowing. I think I felt it when we were in Iman. We went to a screening and literally just the joy... there was a bunch of kids, and they'd just seen the movie and all these little girls just attacked me. And I was just like, 'Yes, give me the love! Gimme the love!' But that was the moment that I was like, 'Wow.' I now feel like, you know, 'Her.' So that was pretty incredible.

Jasmine is one of 12 characters who are considered part of the official Disney Princess group – with the others being the aforementioned Cinderella, Belle and Aurora, as well as Snow White (from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), Ariel (from The Little Mermaid), Pocahontas (from Pocahantas), Mulan (from Mulan), Tiana (from The Princess And The Frog), Rapunzel (from Tangled), Merida (from Brave), and Moana (from Moana). As of right now the live-action realm has only seen a third of the ensemble brought to life, but that number is growing quickly. Yifei Liu will be playing Mulan in the Niki Caro-directed remake that is scheduled to be released next year, and while casting has not yet been completed, a new version of The Little Mermaid is currently in the works.

One can imagine that Disney will eventually make some kind of effort to bring all of the live-action princesses together – either on the big screen, or just for an event – so we’ll just have to be patient and wait for it to happen.

For now, fans will be able to see Naomi Scott’s turn as Princess Jasmine in Aladdin this weekend, as the film will be launching into theaters nationwide. Go check it out, and be on the lookout for more of my interviews with the new movie’s cast and filmmakers here on CinemaBlend.

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Suicide Squad 2 May Be Adding John Cena In Fun Turn Of Events

Suicide Squad 2 May Be Adding John Cena In Fun Turn Of Events

Although he’s still on the professional wrestling circuit, John Cena has also built quite the acting career over the last decade, most recently starring in movies like Blockers and Bumblebee. Now there’s word that he may finally make the jump to the superhero genre with the upcoming Suicide Squad 2, a.k.a. The Suicide Squad.

Word’s come in that John Cena is currently in talks to join Suicide Squad 2, although no details were provided in Variety’s report about who he would be playing. Assuming a deal is finalized, Cena would be the second new actor to join the sequel, following Idris Elba, who was originally going to take over as Deadshot from Will Smith, but will now play a new character instead.

If John Cena does end up joining Suicide Squad 2, he won’t be the only WWE superstar lending his acting talents to this franchise. Since 2014, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been attached to play Shazam adversary Black Adam, and Johnson recently said that he expects the Black Adam movie to begin filming in a year. However, given that Suicide Squad 2 already has a release date and is reportedly scheduled to begin principal photography in the fall, one would imagine Cena will make his DCEU debut before Johnson.

Although John Cena was among the many actors that were rumored to being looked at to play Shazam before Zachary Levi scored the role, this Suicide Squad 2 news definitely sounds like more of a sure thing, though we’ll have to wait and see if he actually signs on. In any case, Cena showed he has blockbuster chops last winter playing Agent Jack Burns in Bumblebee, so Suicide Squad 2 would be an appropriate step up.

It’s also worth noting that if Suicide Squad 2 is tonally similar to its predecessor, and that’ll likely be the case given that James Gunn is writing and directing, then it’ll also be infused with comedy, and John Cena has shown he can be funny through Trainwreck, Sisters, Blockers and more. As for who Cena could play in Suicide Squad 2, I originally suspected characters like Blockbuster and King Shark might be candidates. However, Variety's Justin Kroll added that while not confirmed, he's heard Cena would play Peacemaker, a role originally intended for Dave Bautista.

In addition to Idris Elba and the potential inclusion of John Cena, Suicide Squad 2 also has Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney and Viola Davis lined up to reprise Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang and Amanda Waller, respectively. Still, it’s been repeatedly said that this movie is envisioned as more of a relaunch than a direct sequel to Suicide Squad and will feature a mostly new cast, so expect more fresh faces to be announced in the coming weeks/months.

Suicide Squad 2 opens in theaters August 6, 2021, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for continuing coverage. In the meantime, you can learn what else is coming down the DCEU pipeline by browsing through our handy guide.

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Spider-Man: Far From Home Director Has A Hilarious Explanation For Peter's Stealth Suit

Spider-Man: Far From Home Director Has A Hilarious Explanation For Peter's Stealth Suit

One of the things revealed in the first trailer for this summer’s Spider-Man: Far From Home is that everybody’s favorite Web-Slinger will be getting some new duds for his European vacation. But instead of getting the hottest and flashiest fashions from Parisian runways, Spidey will be getting a practical and understated black stealth suit. The film’s director Jon Watts, has a hilarious explanation for the stealth suit, saying:

It kind of looks like Black Widow, maybe it was one of her suits and they just tailored it.

Man, from a custom Stark suit with built-in A.I. and the Iron Spider suit, both of which likely cost millions, to one of Black Widow’s hand-me-downs; the youngest Avenger needs to file a complaint with Avengers HR or something because his contributions warrant him at least getting his own custom suit. Maybe they’re trying to come in under budget on the fiscal year and Black Widow had a spare suit just lying around they could repurpose cheaply.

Not that there is anything wrong with Black Widow’s suits; she is a literal spy and the stealthiest of the Avengers, so if it’s good enough for her, it's certainly good enough for him. And sorry, but Pete my guy, you’re a lot closer to Black Widow’s size than you are to most of the other team members.

In reality, Peter Parker would probably be honored and fanboy out over getting to use something Black Widow once had. After all, before Tony Stark upgraded him, his own suit manufacturing efforts were, let’s say, less than stellar. While we don’t know if Jon Watt’s hilarious conjecture about the stealth suit’s origin to Entertainment Weekly is strictly true, we do know a little bit about why Peter Parker is given the suit.

Following his exhausting adventures being a Friendly Universe Spider-Man in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is in need of a well-deserved vacation. He tries to take one in Spider-Man: Far From Home, but it wouldn’t be a movie if things didn’t go awry.

Nick Fury shows up (never a good sign) and recruits Spidey to take on the Elementals. It might seem odd for New York’s Spider-Man to suddenly show up in Europe at the same time Peter Parker is there, so in order to preserve his secret identity, Fury lends him the stealth suit. That said, if he’s still swinging around like Spider-Man, isn’t a black suit like putting glasses on Clark Kent? Maybe Peter’s efforts in Far From Home will be more ground-based.

Spider-Man: Far From Home, which is now the concluding film of Phase 3, has moved up a few days and swings in to theaters on July 2. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see all the big movies headed your way in the packed summer season, and for all the latest in superhero fashions, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.

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