Among Disney’s animated hits, “The Lion King” stands tallest for a lot of fans.
Given Disney’s success in live-action remakes it was little surprise when the company announced it was doing a live-action version of the animated classic.
Previously, Donald Glover was announced as Simba, James Earl Jones returning as Mufasa and John Oliver as Zazu.
Now, a big star has joined. Disney announced that Hugh Jackman (“Logan”) will voice Scar.
“The Lion King’ is set to be released in 2019.
“Beauty and the Beast” was always going to open big. How much did it make?
Estimates place the remake of the Disney classic earning $170 million. That would be enough to top the $166 million earned by “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” for a new March record and is the seventh-biggest opening weekend ever.
“Beauty and the Beast” stars Emma Watson, Luke Evans and Josh Gad.
“Kong: Skull Island” dropped to second, earning $28.9 million. That’s a decent hold for the monster film, while “Logan” took third with $17.5 million.
Director Bryan Singer returns to the X-Men franchise. Is this the mutant extravaganza audiences are craving for?
The Good: There’s a lot to like in DOFP. From the opening sequence, the action scenes are the best in the series. And it is nice to see Ian McKellen (Magneto), Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Ellen Page (Kitty Pryde), Shawn Ashmore (Iceman), Halle Berry (Storm) and more reprise their roles. James McAvoy (Young Charles), Michael Fassbender (Young Erik), Nicholas Hoult (Young Beast) and Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique) are the standouts from the “First Class” cast.
The real joy here is Quicksilver, played by Evan Peters. He’s easily the most memorable new character and is a blast to watch. By now, if you’ve seen any of the trailers, you know the basic plot revolving around Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). And seeing the sentinels in action is fantastic, though at least one of the designs looks and acts very similar to the robot from “Thor”. The film is a slick, fun thrill ride and a blast to watch.
The Bad: Honestly, with so many mutants, some characters were going to get the short end of the stick in terms of screen time. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Many of the mutants serve as nods for fans, but I wish Page got more screen time. I understand why she didn’t given the size of the cast, but she’s such a strong actress, it would have been nice.
No plot spoilers here, but given the story they went with, it does raise some questions, given there are six other X-Men films in the universe. But, it’s not too big of a deal.
Speaking of the plot, Peter Dinklage is, unfortunately, the weak link of the new characters introduced. He’s not terrible, but he gets a little lost in the film and the script doesn’t give him a lot to do.
The Final Word: It’s a fun, and at times thrilling, mutant adventure. This just may be my favorite X-Men film yet and breathes new life into the franchise.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Here’s the first trailer for “X-Men: Days of Future Past”!
The film stars Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Ian McKellen, Michael Fassbender, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ellen Page, Jennifer Lawrence and a lot more.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Here’s a short video profiling Harada (The Silver Samurai) from the upcoming “The Wolverine”.
The film stars Hugh Jackman, Will Yun Lee, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Hiroyuki Sanada, Hal Yamanouchi, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima and Brian Tee. James Mangold (“Walk the Line”) is directing.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Here’s a clip from “The Wolverine”.
Starring Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, this installment is directed by James Mangold (“Walk the Line”).
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
This is beginning to be like “Sin City: A Dame To Kill For”. But Bryan Singer’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past” cast Josh Helman for a role that will require him to be on set for a couple of weeks. His role is a mystery, however. The film stars Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, Daniel Cudmore, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Omar Sy, Booboo Stewart, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto and Evan Peters.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Here’s the latest trailer for “The Wolverine”.
Set after “X-Men: The Last Stand”, Hugh Jackman returns as Logan. James Mangold (“Walk the Line”) directs.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
First came news that Robert Downey Jr. was mulling ending his time as Tony Stark/Iron Man for Marvel. Now comes news that Hugh Jackman may be done with Wolverine after this summer’s “The Wolverine” and Bryan Singer’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past”. Jackman told Entertainment Weekly: “I wasn’t even sure after the first [stand-alone] film if I would do another. I won’t say never, because I’m still loving it. But there would have to be a pretty compelling reason.”
We’ll see, especially if “The Wolverine” turns out to be a hit. It does beg the question if you could only have RDJ or Jackman remain in his iconic role, which one would you choose?
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Here’s the first trailer for “The Prisoners”. The film looks very intense, check it out below.
The film stars Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Viola Davis, Melissa Leo and Paul Dano.
Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.
Lukas Eggen 