Kumail Nanjiani May Be Joining Marvel’s The Eternals

Kumail Nanjiani May Be Joining Marvel’s The Eternals

The upcoming culmination of the MCU thus far, Avengers: Endgame, is coming in quick, and while release dates following Spider-Man: Far From Home have yet to be announced, Marvel is quietly setting up Phase 4. After it was reported last week that Angelina Jolie was in talks with the studio to star in The Eternals, another actor is now attached – Silicon Valley’s Kumail Nanjiani.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor is in negotiations to star in the adventure project based on the Marvel comic book series about near-immortal beings with superpowers ahead of filming, which will start this year. The Eternals is said to be a romance spanning thousands of years and centering on the titular cosmic beings and their monstrous counterparts, the Deviants. It will be directed by Chloe Zhao.

Neither Angelina Jolie or Kumail Nanjiani’s roles have been disclosed yet, but perhaps they will play Sersi and Ikaris, who have been reported to be a part of the film’s main plot. Ikaris is the leader of the Eternals and Sersi is one who isn’t shy about living among humans.

The 41-year-old comedian has already made quite a splash in Hollywood in the past few years after holding multiple supporting roles in comedy films and breaking out as a lead in the Golden Globe-nominated HBO tech company comedy in 2014. He scored Oscar recognition for his 2017 indie rom-com The Big Sick, which he co-wrote with his wife Emily Gordon, based off their own love story.

Kumail Nanjiani most recently starred in the pilot episode of Jordan Peele’s Twilight Zone, titled "The Comedian." He will have a voice role in Men in Black: International and in the upcoming buddy action-comedy Stuber with Guardian of the Galaxy’s Dave Bautista this summer. The actor also has a voice role in The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle, which stars Robert Downey Jr., and he has another rom-com on the way alongside Issa Rae.

If Kumail Nanjiani ends up striking this deal on The Eternals, this will certainly be his highest-profile role yet, not to mention he'd be working with one of the biggest female action stars there is. Marvel has a knack for taking comedy actors such as Nanjiani for their projects. Take how Chris Pratt was propelled into stardom following his lead role in Guardians of the Galaxy – before then he was primarily known for his role as Andy Dwyer in Parks and Recreation.

If the actor is the film’s lead, he’d also be the first Pakistani-American actor to star in a Marvel film and in this scale of an action film ever. Marvel has made it clear that going forward, its focus is on diversity. This can be affirmed by the prominence of Black Panther, Captain Marvel’s new key role in the Avengers, the Shang-Chi movie in the works and recent comments of an openly gay character in a Marvel film, which the studio has been reportedly been seeking for The Eternals.

To see what else Marvel Studios has in store for the next upcoming chapter of the MCU, take a look at our guide to What We Know About Phase 4.

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How Robert Downey Jr. Changed And Improved Tony And Peter’s Gut-Wrenching Infinity War Scene

How Robert Downey Jr. Changed And Improved Tony And Peter’s Gut-Wrenching Infinity War Scene

Tom Holland has become an instant favorite in the Marvel Cinematic Universe among fans. And a major reason why is because of the young actor’s chemistry with Robert Downey Jr., playing mentor to Peter Parker in both Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming. The Iron Man and Spidey kinship helps explain why audiences were so devastated by Peter’s death in Avengers: Infinity War, turning “I don’t feel so good” into a Marvel meme.

But as it turns out, there were helpful emotional suggestions made to that scene by Robert Downey Jr. himself that the Russo Brothers believe nailed the significance of the moment and cemented Peter and Tony as spiritual touchstones in the MCU.

During a recent interview with Joe and Anthony Russo on CinemaBlend’s own ReelBlend podcast, the duo looked back on Avengers: Infinity War and the daring choices they made that had to be addressed in Endgame. When we circled around to Peter Parker’s dusting scene – an iconic MCU moment, by this point – Joe Russo elaborated on how that scene came together, and how Downey helped them get to where they needed to be. He said:

We had done a take or two… where it plays quicker than all of the other ones. We thought, ‘This has to be climactic.’ He's got spider sense, so he could feel it coming before it actually gets him. And we thought, wouldn't it be interesting too if your own emotional or spiritual core could hold [the dusting] off for a second or two longer than someone else. Because this is a magical event. It's nothing that's based on anything in the physical universe.

We just started talking to Tom and Downey. Downey is always extremely helpful in blocking. And we started saying, ‘This isn't having the emotional impact it needs to have. Tom, what if, you know, you’re a kid. This is scaring the shit out of you. What if this is something that you don't want to have happen. You can't, you know, you're scared. You don't want to go. So what would happen?’ And then he started improvising. ‘I don't want to go!’ And Downey, I think, he helped with the blocking of [Holland] falling into Robert and Robert laying him down on the ground. Frankly, it took about five or 10 minutes to shift. And in the next take, we went out and they nailed it and that was it. Everybody was crying on the set.

What’s that? You want to be devastated by this sorrow? Well, OK. Here’s that scene, in case you haven’t watched it 1,000,000 times before.

During the press run up to Avengers: Infinity War, the brothers were not able to discuss specifics, so as to protect spoilers. And they are in a similar situation with Avengers: Endgame. Yes the movie is out and dominating at the box office. But they are trying to protect the big reveals from the new movie as much as possible, which is why we used some small portion of our time with them to go back over the best parts of Infinity War.

Here is the first half of our conversation with Joe and Anthony Russo, as part of the ReelBlend podcast:

Not that you need to be told this, but Avengers: Endgame is in theaters as we speak. Come back to CinemaBlend next Monday, when we will post the second half of our conversation with the Russos, which is filled with MCU and Endgame spoiler talk. It’s worth the wait.

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Netflix's Wine Country Trailer Reunites SNL's Funniest Ladies For Day Drinking

Netflix's Wine Country Trailer Reunites SNL's Funniest Ladies For Day Drinking

Whenever you get together with a group of friends for a day of drinking, there are bound to be some laughs. In Netflix’s new original movie Wine Country, those friends just happen to be played by some of the funniest women in showbiz, so the laughs are going to flow even more freely than the alcohol. The trailer for Wine Country reunites Saturday Night Live’s funniest ladies for some day drinking in Amy Poehler’s directorial debut. Take a look:

With a cast like this, you would expect to find a lot of laughs in Wine Country, and fortunately this first trailer provides just that. The basic premise of a group of old friends coming together to celebrate one of their own turning 50 by planning a trip to Napa is ripe with comedic possibility. We quickly see that you don’t have to be in your 20s to be a sloppy and entertaining drunk.

In addition to the physical comedy, which actresses like Maya Rudolph do so well, on display in this trailer, it also has some really funny lines. The bit about the “lavender popping corn” is great and really highlights some of the absurdity and pretentiousness that you might find at a fancy restaurant. With a script from SNL writer Emily Spivey and The Last Man on Earth writer Liz Cackowski, there should be plenty of smart comedy in this movie.

It was also a fun wink (intentional or not) to Parks and Recreation fans to see Amy Poehler’s character in this film, Abby, handing out itineraries for the wine country trip. They were just folders, but you can’t help but think of Amy Poehler’s Leslie Knope, who was a huge fan of planning everything out and micro-managing with massive binders full of information.

While there will clearly be plenty of great humor from this cast, it is evident from this trailer that Wine Country will also have plenty of heart. The drunken falling down, wine-fueled shenanigans and debauchery is only the surface level stuff, and as Tina Fey’s blunt Tammy warns, the alcohol will let out plenty of truthful confessions and that will put a strain on their friendships.

The characters in Wine Country are enjoying a vacation, but they are also dealing with some of the real issues people encounter as they get older and discover how old friendships are both difficult to maintain, but also hugely important. Those emotional beats should help give Wine Country something heartfelt to say in addition to the good laughs.

Amy Poehler has assembled many of her old friends and put together a positively stacked cast of actresses for Wine Country. Joining SNL actresses Ana Gasteyer, Rachel Dratch, Maya Rudolph and Amy Poehler onscreen are two SNL writers that have helped make everyone so funny over the years, Paula Pell and Emily Spivey. Naturally these two writers have some of the trailer’s funniest lines. Plus, former SNL writer and cast member Tina Fey is briefly in the trailer, but looks to have a fun role.

Wine Country arrives on Netflix and in select theaters (Netflix may soon have its own!) on May 10. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see all the biggest movies headed to theaters this year, and for all the joys of day drinking with none of the consequences, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.

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Forrest Gump Was Originally Getting A Sequel, And It Sounds Wild

Forrest Gump Was Originally Getting A Sequel, And It Sounds Wild

Forrest Gump was the rare film that succeeded at the box office while also being a major award winner. With something like that, you can practically hear the studio green-lighting the sequel, but one never happened. However, it turns out a sequel actually came quite close to happening. Eric Roth, who won an Oscar for his screenplay of the original Forrest Gump, actually completed work on a script for a sequel. Unfortunately, the new script had just about the worst possible timing. According to Roth...

Literally, I turned it in the day before 9/11. Tom and I and (director Robert Zemeckis) got together on 9/11 to sort of commiserate about how life was in America and how tragic it was. And we looked at each other and said, ‘This movie has no meaning anymore,' in that sense.

Forrest Gump was a movie that was built entirely out of optimism. The main character almost always had a positive outlook and attitude that carried him through life. On 9/11, you can bet that few people were feeling such optimism. Clearly, the team behind the first film looked at this new sequel and just figured the world they were now in was not a place where a Forrest Gump 2 made any sense.

Of course, even if things had gone differently, one has to wonder just how well a sequel to Forrest Gump would have actually worked, because this story was weird. The first film was all about watching Forrest Gump coincidentally find himself part of major historical events, and the sequel would have continued that idea, while moving the story closer to the modern day. This included, as Roth tells Yahoo, somehow making Gump part of the O.J. Simpson murder case.

I had (Forrest) in the back of (O.J. Simpson's) Bronco. He would look up occasionally, but they didn’t see him in the rearview mirror, and then he’d pop down.

Needless to say, putting Forrest Gump in O.J.'s famous white bronco is an...interesting choice. It was certainly a moment that everybody watching the film would remember, but not exactly in the best way. It's not quite the same as watching him report the Watergate break-in.

Forest Gump also had a tendency to have certain skills that made him incredibly good at various activities. In the original movie it was football and table tennis. In the sequel, we would learn that Forrest Gump was an excellent ballroom dancer, a skill which would apparently result in him dancing with Princess Diana at one point.

Forrest would also begin a new relationship in the sequel, with a Native American woman. This would lead to what actually may have been one of the major reasons the script died. It included a sequence that would likely have been viewed very poorly as a post-9/11 movie.

The big event in that, which you could see was only diminished in tragedy, I guess,because it's the same tragedy. Every day he'd go wait for his native American partner. She taught nursery school at, sort of a government building in Oklahoma City. And he was sitting on the bench waiting for her to have lunch, and all of the sudden the building behind him blows up.

Somehow, I feel like the decision to not make a sequel to Forrest Gump was probably the right one, regardless of the reasons why it didn't happen. While enough time may have passed now for moments like these to have a similar impact to the original movie, back in the early 2000's these sorts of things would have been too fresh in our minds. It feels a lot less like the pleasant nostalgia of the first movie a lot more like making references for their own sake.

What do you think of these ideas for a Forrest Gump sequel? Let us know in the poll below

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Sony Won The Rights To Britney Spears Movie Musical Once Upon A One More Time

Sony Won The Rights To Britney Spears Movie Musical Once Upon A One More Time

With the recent success of musicals such as The Greatest Showman and Mary Poppins Returns… oops, let’s do it again! Sony Pictures is getting on the movie musical bandwagon with a fairytale set to the tune of Britney Spears’ biggest hits called Once Upon A One More Time, which will soon debut on a Chicago stage this fall before making its way to Broadway in 2020.

Sony has won an auction for the rights to adapt the musical for the big screen, and according to Deadline, it will be produced by Britney Spears, her manager Larry Rudolph and John Davis, who has done projects including The Predator and the upcoming Jungle Cruise. The musical follows iconic princesses such as Cinderella and Snow White, who often gather for their book club to read Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Then, a rogue fairy godmother introduces them to The Feminine Mystique and break out into Britney songs such as “Toxic” and “Circus” amidst their introduction to second-wave feminism.

Once Upon A One More Time is based on a book by Jon Hartmere, it will be directed by Kristen Hanggi, who is best known for developing and directing the musical Rock of Ages, and choreography is being handled by Keone and Mari Madrid, leads of Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself” music video. Britney Spears recently celebrated 20 years since her debut album, ...Baby One More Time, which is still her highest-selling album to date.

The pop star is famous for her early ‘00s music videos complete with iconic dances and costumes from Britney Spears. The princess of pop has created radio hit after radio hit and has a huge fan base, so Once Upon A One More Time is sure to peak the interest of them everywhere. It also seems to be trend for musicals including famous singers to be getting big screen debuts recently.

Bohemian Rhapsody recently not only rocked the box office with over $900 million in earnings worldwide, it also won some Oscars as well. The upcoming Rocketman will reenact and take some creative liberties with Elton John’s life and legacy.

The highly-successful Mamma Mia movies seem to be the closest to Once Upon A One More Time, as they both explore the libraries of one famous artist to tell a completely different story in a musical. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again was quietly successful last summer with $394 million in worldwide earnings. Princesses are also quite popular, especially for Disney – audiences will either be excited to see them spoofed through Britney’s music or scoff at yet another recycled use of their well-known stories.

Once Upon A One More Time is an exciting, new kind of musical that looks to celebrate Britney Spears’ music in a unique and fun way, along with having an empowering message about The Feminine Mystique and retelling the classic stories of princesses from what we are used to seeing from them. Sign me up for Snow White belting out “Toxic” - that’ll be worth the price of admission on its own!

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Rocketman's Director Dismisses Nude Scene Controversy Rumor

Rocketman's Director Dismisses Nude Scene Controversy Rumor

There are certain film genres that always prove to entrance audiences, and chief among them is the biopic. Moviegoers delight in seeing celebrity's stories played out on screen, usually with a touch more drama for good measure. Most recently, Bohemian Rhapsody entranced moviegoers, as Freddie Mercury's life and music was portrayed onscreen. That project ultimately resulted in a ton of award nominations, taking home an impressive four Academy Awards in the process.

The next musical biopic coming down the line is Rocketman, which will tell the story of Elton John's career and personal life. Kingsman's Taron Egerton is highly anticipated as the starring role, although there have been some rumors about the film's editing process. Namely, that Paramount was trying to edit down the gay content and nudity. Now director Dexter Fletcher has addressed these reports on Twitter. Check it out.

Well, that seems to put the kabosh on those rumors. Rocketman will reportedly feature all the content that Dexter Fletcher wants. And this should hopefully include Elton John's same-sex relationships being shown honestly onscreen.

Dexter Fletcher's tweet should be a relief to the Elton John fans that took umbrage with reports of Rocketman's censoring. From the start, Rocketman has been billed a holds-no-bar approach to John's life and career. While the legend is a producer on the project, the upcoming biopic was supposed to show the less flattering side of his time in the public eye. And his sexuality will likely be a major aspect of that characterization.

Rocketman's inclusion of queer content and same-sex romance has been a selling point of the movie ahead of its release. Following insane performance of Bohemian Rhapsody, the Elton John biopoc is expected to build off the success film. For instance, Taron Egerton is singing all of the musical numbers from Elton John's catalogue. Meanwhile, Rami Malek's Oscar winning role as Freddie Mercury only required him to lip synch the music.

Bohemian Rhapsody also got some backlash for not including enough scenes related to Freddie Mercury's sexuality. Instead, Mercury's girlfriend Mary Austin was the subject of most of his attention and affection. So if Rocketman goes full tilt and offers are more authentic view into Elton John's coming out process and personal life, then it could succeed where Bryan Singer's massively successful movie stumbled.

Taron Egerton recently spoke to how Elton John's romantic life would be handled in the upcoming biopic. He told Variety:

The most significant gay relationship explored in the film is Elton’s relationship with John Reid, but if there is a love story in this film, it is the love story between Elton and Bernie Taupin, and the incredible music they have produced over the past 50 years.

Rocketman has been developing for a number of years, so there's a certain level of anticipation and excitement for the upcoming biopic. And with Elton John currently on his goodbye tour, the timing is perfect. Generations of fans already have their focus on the legendary singer, so moviegoers will likely rush to theaters to see Rocketman. At least, that's what Paramount Pictures and Dexter Fletcher are likely hoping.

All will be revealed when Rocketman arrives in theaters on May 31st. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

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The Final Avengers: Endgame Trailer Was Watched An Insane Amount Of Times

The Final Avengers: Endgame Trailer Was Watched An Insane Amount Of Times

Well, this is it, folks. The long-running saga that has been the MCU for over a decade now is about to wrap up all the major threads (so far) when Avengers: Endgame finally hits theaters on April 26. So, when Disney actually saw fit, last week, to release a new (and final) trailer for the upcoming epic, you can probably imagine that it drove fans wild. It drove them so wild, in fact, that fans were obliged to watch that trailer many, many times. How many times, you ask? Why, only 268 million times in 24 hours. That's all.

When things got rolling with Iron Man in 2008, we had no idea where we'd be several years later, and we certainly had no idea how highly anticipated the film that was once (and for a long time) only known as Avengers 4 would come to be. That all changed, however, when Avengers: Infinity War was released and we realized that many of the heroes we'd spent so many years watching were either going to go into Endgame as big fat losers or as...big piles of dust. The desire to see and hear anything possible from the actual footage of Endgame has been building for almost a full year, but we've been treated to a lot of misdirects, out right lies and tons of secrecy when it comes to how the story of The Decimation will be resolved. Thus, the crazy response to the final Endgame trailer.

Here's a thank you to the fans that was posted on the official Avengers Twitter feed:

Now, it's not unusual for trailers (usually the first trailer) from big budget blockbuster extravaganzas to hit views of many several million, mostly because they tend to be based on properties that have built in audiences (like comic books) who are eager to see some of our biggest stars take on something they've loved for many years. But, even knowing that...268 million views in only 24 hours is kinda insane. That's actually 56 million more views than the number of people in the entire United States as of the 2017 census. I mean, wow.

Someone has certainly overachieved when it comes to watching the last Avengers: Endgame trailer, right? Actually, I have no doubt that hundreds of someones watched this trailer many times in an effort to parse out all the relevant information that could be found in the, mostly new, footage contained within. The trailer was released last Thursday, and I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people suddenly got "too sick" to go to work that day and just spent all their newly allowed free time lazing around in bed and revisiting the awesomeness that was Avengers: Endgame.

Of course, now the question is whether or not we'll get more new footage before the film releases at the end of next month. Most fans at least seem to agree that no more full length trailers are required at this point, especially if Marvel wants to continue to keep as many secrets of the film away from us as possible. And, there's also the fact that many of us now just want to see the damn movie, and can't bear any more teases, rumors, suppositions and the like.

Well, I'm sure everyone who was on board with the super secretive, and long-standing, marketing plan that's driven the publicity behind Avengers: Endgame is officially breathing a sigh of relief that all the withholding worked to help drive up anticipation for the film. Those opening night crowds are going to be ridiculous. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have something I need to watch about 50 more times before April 26.

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