Summer Hollywood news is trickling in, and it’s time for a round-up!
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse qualifies as a massive hit by any standard, taking in $120.5 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend, according to Deadline. This is the biggest opening of the year, topping Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which grossed $118.4 million in its first weekend. It’s the biggest Sony animated film ever, and the third largest Spider-Man film (including live action). The audience goes far beyond kids, with an auto company as a promotional partner (Hyundai). Including international showings, the film grossed $208.6 million in its opening weekend, according to the report.
Disney has removed 30 shows from its Disney+ service to allow writing off their production costs, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Some of the shows pulled include The World According to Jeff Goldblum, Y: The Last Man, and Willow (see “‘Willow’ Goes on Hiatus“). The company is expected to write down $1.5 billion in losses related to the shows in their fiscal Q3.
Producer Amy Pascal mentioned at the premiere of Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse that a Miles Morales live action Spider-Man is being planned at Sony, according to Variety. There is potentially a Spider-Woman animated film in development as well, according to producer Avi Arad. The standalone Spider-Woman movie would likely star Hailee Steinfeld, the current voice of Gwen Stacy in the Spiderverse movies, as the lead. Steinfeld was also Kate Bishop in 2021’s Hawkeye series (see “Hailee Steinfeld in ‘Hawkeye’“).
Pascal also mentioned that a fourth Spider-Man movie starring Tom Holland and Zendaya is still in development to follow-up on Spider-Man: No Way Home (see “‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’“). However, according to Variety, this movie is now on pause as a show of solidarity with the WGA in their ongoing strike.
Paramount Pictures released a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem trailer (see below). This animated movie will release into theaters on August 2, 2023. TMNT was one of the top superhero GN franchises in Fall 2022 (see “Fall 2022“).
Studios announced moves on two live action movies tied to animated features in recent days. Broadway director Thomas Kail (In the Heights, Hamilton) has been signed to direct Disney’s live action adaptation of its 2016 animated feature Moana, according to The Hollywood Reporter. And Universal has signed Mason Thomas (The Black Phone) and Nico Parker (The Last of Us) to star in its live action feature treatment of its highly successful How to Train Your Dragon franchise, also according to THR. It’s planned for a March 14, 2025 release.
For more information on geek movie releases, check out ICv2’s Best in Shows Geek Movie Calendar. Currently, our calendars show releases running through 2027.
Source: ICV2
