As Johnny Depp awaits his return to cinema on home turf, many of us are wondering just what his Hollywood career will look like. After all, Jeanne du Barry — a period piece in which he plays Louis XV — isn’t exactly going to be a mainstream hit in North America. Will he work for Disney again in another Pirates of the Caribbean movie or has that opportunity walked the plank? Judging by recent comments, he may be after more original material in this new phase of his career, which may also allow him to avoid the studio system.

In a new interview with Metro, Johnny Depp noted that, no matter how much money franchise films may make, he suspects moviegoers still ultimately crave something original. “By and large, for the majority of the years I’ve been wandering around aimlessly talking to people, they really want the same thing…They don’t want to be fed dreck. They’re happy when they experience something new or different. So that’s why I’ve always felt, as an actor, it’s your responsibility. When you come out of the gate each time… you’re putting as much at stake as anybody.”

Considering Johnny Depp has been on a hiatus — having not appeared in a film since 2020 and having been wrapped up in a 2022 trial with ex Amber Heard — he has a lot at stake himself. That will be seen first with Jeanne du Barry, which hits domestic theaters next month.

Through this, the star can also show what he has outside of mainstream cinema, perhaps also pointing at his days as a blockbuster star being over. On studio heads and the industry as a whole, he said, “They’re disposable and they realise it. Glorified accountants who have the ability to press the green light and make studio films… but they press the green light, they spent s***loads of money. Budgets are ridiculous on these films… some romantic comedy with two very popular people. People – the real people – they’re sick of it.” Of note, the average budget for a Pirates of the Caribbean movie was $255 million, with On Stranger Tides hitting a once-record-breaking $379 million!

Whether or not we see Johnny Depp lead another blockbuster remains to be seen, but if he sticks by his word, it looks like he may be putting most of his effort into participating in original stories with sensible budgets, something we haven’t really seen him dive into since the 1990s…And we are here for it!

What do you want to see Johnny Depp do next? Do you want blockbusters, more original works or a combination? Let us know below!

Deadpool & Wolverine brings big laughs with nine minutes of exclusive footage at CinemaCon, which was VERY R-rated.

Last Updated on April 14, 2024

There may be minor SPOILERS in the footage description. Be warned. After several disappointments in the past year, Marvel Studios is looking to get back on track with Deadpool & Wolverine. This highly anticipated sequel will bring ol’ Wade Wilson into the MCU and finally team him up with Wolverine. The audience at CinemaCon in Las Vegas got a peek at some exclusive footage from Deadpool & Wolverine, which will make you wish the movie was coming out tomorrow.

Deadpool and Wolverine actually opened Disney’s presentation with a foul-mouthed “turn off your cell phones” PSA. It showed Hugh Jackson in full costume and featured the pair yelling directly at the audience. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige teased that the film will receive an “intentionally gross” popcorn bucket to rival the one from Dune: Part Two.

Finally, CinemaCon audiences were treated to nine minutes of Deadpool & Wolverine, which Feige called “F***ing amazing.” If you want to stay completely spoiler-free, I would remind you that you might want to call it quits here as there may be minor SPOILERS, but know that the footage was VERY R-rated and hilarious.

The footage opens with Wade Wilson working as a used car salesman alongside Peter (Rob Delaney). He attempts to sell a Kia to a family in a particularly filthy manner. While hanging out with Blind Al (Leslie Uggams), he’s asked if he wants to do cocaine, which prompts him to reply, “Cocaine is the one thing Feige said is off limits.” Wade is then kidnapped by the TVA and sent on a mission by Matthew MacFayden’s character, which includes “lots of gratuitous cameos,” including one from a current MCU star we won’t mention here. A sizzle reel followed which includes Deadpool and Wolverine in a car together.

Deadpool & Wolverine stars Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, Morena Baccarin as Vanessa, Leslie Uggams as Blind Al, Karan Soni as Dopinder, Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Shioli Kutsuna as Yukio, Stefan Kapičić as the voice of Colossus, and Rob Delaney as Peter. Deadpool 3 will also star Emma Corrin, who is expected to play the villain, and Matthew Macfadyen as a TVA agent. Of course, the biggest addition to the Deadpool 3 cast is Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, who finally broke down after being pestered by Ryan Reynolds for so many years. The film is also expected to feature cameos from characters throughout the history of 20th Century Fox’s Marvel movies, with a few already being revealed in the trailer, including Aaron Stanford as Pyro.

Deadpool & Wolverine will hit theaters on July 26th, making it the only MCU movie to be released this year.

Marvel Studios plants its flag at CinemaCon to treat the crowd to a Captain America: Brave New World preview.

Disney is bringing more than emotional teenagers to CinemaCon 2024, with Marvel Studios ready to unleash superheroes on an already riled-up crowd. In addition to teasing the audience with footage from Deadpool and Wolverine, an F-bomb-dropping Kevin Feige introduced Anthony Mackie to give CinemaCon a taste of Captain America: Brave New World.

Before covering the CinemaCon stage with stars and stripes (metaphorically), Feige added that production on Fantastic Four will start in a few months and confirms that the title of Thunderbolts* does include an asterisk. As for why that is, Feige isn’t about to spill the beans. “We don’t tell you any more about that until the film comes out,” he said. What the hell does that mean? We’ll need to wait to find out.

Anthony Mackie then took the stage to show off the first footage from Captain America: Brave New World, which Feige says will be more “grounded” similar to The Winter Soldier. The footage finds Mackie’s Captain America meeting up with Harrison Ford’s President Ross, who thanks him for everything he’s done and asks him to help rebuild the Avengers. The President later honors Captain America at an event which is interrupted by Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), who attempts to kill the President along with an army of sleeper agents. Sam Wilson takes care of the sleeper agents in a very cool action scene, which ends with President Ross telling Sam, “You’re not Steve Rogers.” Sam responds defiantly, “You’re right, I’m not.” You tell ’em, Sam!

Directed by Julius Onah, Captain America: Brave New World opens in theaters on February 14, 2025. The highly-anticipated superhero sequel stars Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America, Harrison Ford as Thaddeus’ Thunderbolt’ Ross, Live Tyler as Betty Ross, Rosa Salazar, Shira Haas as Sabra, Time Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns/The Leader, Carl Lumbly as Isaiah Bradley, and Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres.

What do you make of Isaiah Bradley trying to assassinate the President? That seems uncharacteristic. Then again, maybe he’s got a damn good reason. After all, where was the government when Isaiah was being experimented on and tossed aside like a failed test subject? I’m excited to find out.

Does Marvel’s CinemaCon presentation for Captain America: Brave New World have you excited about the movie? Should Marvel slow its role by reducing the output it releases yearly? Let us know in the comments section below.

About the Author

Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He’s also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You’ll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.

Alien: Romulus brings plenty of blood and practical effects in exclusive footage screened at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.

Last Updated on April 14, 2024

Last month, 20th Century Studios unveiled a teaser trailer for Alien: Romulus, director Fede Álvarez’s contribution to the Alien franchise that is set to reach theatres on August 16th. (You can watch the teaser HERE.) With the release date just four months away, Alien: Romulus received some love during the Disney panel at CinemaCon.

An exclusive extended scene from Alien: Romulus was screened a CinemaCon which followed Cailee Spaeny’s character wandering through a broken-down spaceship corridor with Aileen Wu’s character. They see a ripped-apart android among the debris. David Jonsson’s character, who is an android himself, is rebooting with an interesting effect in his eyes, but at that moment, a swarm of face-huggers burst into the room, chasing the characters out. We saw a bit of this scene in the teaser.

One character turns out to have been impregnated by a face-hugger, with a baby xenomorph bursting through their ribcage in an extremely bloody scene. The face-hugger and baby xeno are quite close to their appearances in the original movie, and best of all, they’re done with beautiful practical effects. The tone is said to be very similar to Álvarez’s Evil Dead movie, although not quite as bloody but still far more visceral than either Prometheus or Alien: Covenant.

When this project was announced near the start of 2022, it was said that Álvarez pitched the idea to Ridley Scott years ago and it stuck with Scott. So in late 2021, he called Álvarez and asked if he still wanted to make an Alien movie. Clearly, the answer was yes. 20th Century Studios division president Steve Asbell told The Hollywood Reporter that they picked up the project “purely off the strength of Fede’s pitch. It was just a really good story with a bunch of characters you haven’t seen before.“

It has also been said that the story Álvarez and his frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues crafted for Alien: Romulus is not connected to the other films in the Alien franchise – but it’s not ignoring any of the other entries, either. Álvarez has been clear about the fact that his story takes place within the established franchise continuity, slotting in between the events of Alien and Aliens. It has the following official logline: The sci-fi/horror-thriller takes the phenomenally successful “Alien” franchise back to its roots: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.

The cast of Alien: Romulus includes Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla) and David Jonsson (Industry), as well as Isabela Merced (Madame Web), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Spike Fearn (The Batman), and Aileen Wu (Away from Home). Merced has said there’s a scene in the film that’s so disgusting that a lot of viewers will have to look away, so that goes along with the “graphic and gruesome” description. “Graphic and gruesome” is what we expected from this movie as soon as it was announced that it was being made by the director of Evil Dead 2013 and Don’t Breathe.

This new Alien movie is coming to us from Momentum and 20th Century Studios, with Ridley Scott producing through his Scott Free banner.

In addition to Alien: Romulus, the CinemaCon crowd also got a look at The Amateur, starring Rami Malek as a computer tech for the CIA. When his wife dies during a terrorist attack, he uses his unique set of skills to find who did it and blackmails the CIA into training him to kill all the people responsible. His trainers are Laurence Fishburne and Jon Bernthal.

Are you looking forward to Alien: Romulus? What do you think of the footage description that came out of CinemaCon? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Disney dazzles the audience at CinemaCon in Las Vegas with new footage from Mufasa: The Lion King and Moana 2.

Disney’s presentation at CinemaCon made sure to carve out some time to focus on their upcoming animated movies. We’ve already covered Inside Out 2, but CinemaCon audiences were also treated to teasers for Mufasa: The Lion King and Moana 2.

Director Barry Jenkins took the stage to promote the Lion King prequel, adding that he had seen the original Disney animated movie over 200 times and knew he had to take the gig. “When the script came to me I was fascinated by watching these complex people dealing with complex emotions…this film explores Mufasa rise to become the heroic king that we know,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins wanted to make a movie that tackled the same issues as the first, hoping that it would help a new generation of children become who they really are. The teaser trailer for Mufasa: The Lion King then began with those iconic notes from Circle of Life before zipping around many different parts of Africa as a young Mufasa runs free and gets into trouble, just like his future offspring. In a voiceover, Rifiki says, “This is the story of a lion who is born without a drop of nobility in his blood.” According to our own Chris Bumbray, the animation is even more impressive than Jon Favreau’s movie with some huge set pieces.

Next up was Moana 2, which was introduced by none other than Dwayne Johnson, flanked by a group of Polynesian dancers. “It’s so much deeper of a movie to me, and it’s so much deeper of a movie to Disney as well,” Johnson said. “We are so excited to welcome back audiences all over the world to a new adventure.” Johnson then played a clip from the sequel, which finds Moana returning to her home island and the debut of a brand-new song, “We’re Back.” At least one character isn’t big on belting out the tune, as they ask “Do we have to sing?” To which everyone responds, “Yes, we have to sing!“

“Walt Disney Animation Studios’ epic animated musical Moana 2 takes audiences on an expansive new voyage with Moana, Maui and a brand-new crew of unlikely seafarers,” reads the official description. “After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced.“

Moana 2 will hit theaters on November 27th, followed by Mufasa: The Lion King on December 20th.

About the Author

Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He’s also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You’ll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.

Ian Fleming would have preferred Richard Burton, James Mason or James Stewart to play the first James Bond.

The name’s Fleming, Ian Fleming. And boy did he have some problems with how his James Bond character was being adapted for the big screen. As we all know, Sean Connery was cinema’s first 007, but Fleming himself hated the idea, concerned that he didn’t have the right voice.

As revealed in Nicholas Shakespeare’s new book, Ian Fleming: The Complete Man (via IndieWire), the process to find the perfect James Bond was an arduous one. Per Fleming’s agent Robert Fenn, “We tried twenty or thirty [potential prospects]. No major actor would play the part for more than one picture, and we couldn’t set up a deal with a distributor without commitment from a main actor.” Of course, Bond would go to Connery, who Fleming didn’t care for because “he couldn’t speak the Queen’s English…He’s not my idea of Bond at all, I just want an elegant man, not this roughneck.”

To many, that “roughneck” would go on to be the quintessential Bond. But it could have been quite different, with Shakespeare noting that Ian Fleming “had entertained several possibilities, from Richard Burton (‘I think that Richard Burton would be by far the best James Bond’), to James Stewart (‘I wouldn’t at all mind him as Bond if he can slightly anglicise his accent’), to James Mason (‘We might have to settle for him’).” Let it be known that Mason in particular would have been a terrible Bond, more than likely butchering the suaveness, action and iconic lines. And Jimmy Stewart? Just try to imagine him seducing Pussy Galore!

At one point, George Ratoff – one of the men who tried getting the Bond franchise off the ground back in the 1950s – even considered having Oscar winner Susan Hayward step into the role, a progressive move that is still being shut down even today.

We could wonder “What if?” all day but the vast majority would agree that Sean Connery is the James Bond. Really, would Ian Fleming’s world have taken off like it did had anybody else – especially the named stars – if Connery hadn’t led it off?

If Sean Connery hadn’t been cast as the first Bond, who do you think would have been the best fit? Do you like any of Ian Fleming’s picks? Give us your dream back-up pick in the comments section below!

The first film in the Avatar sequel trilogy is set to take place when Aang has grown up. Eric Nam and Dave Bautista will have main roles.

While fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender receive two more seasons of the new Netflix live-action version of the popular 2005 animated series from Nickelodeon, Paramount has unveiled new details of the animated trilogy that was announced years ago. These new details come as the Netflix show proved to be a big success for the streamer. However, news also recently broke that the live-action show will be getting new showrunners for the next two seasons after Albert Kim steps down. Kim remains a part of the series as an executive producer for seasons two and three. Christine Boylan and Jabbar Raisani will lead the show as executive producers in the future.

As for the upcoming animated trilogy of Avatar: The Last Airbender, according to Entertainment Weekly, the Paramount panel at CinemaCon has announced some further information. The working title for the trilogy is currently Aang: The Last Airbender. Eric Nam has been cast as the voice of Aang, and the start of the trilogy will focus on an adult Aang. Dave Bautista, who was also featured at Lionsgate’s CinemaCon panel for The Killer’s Game, has been attached to voice a villain in the series. Nam and Bautista will be joined by Dionne Quan, Jessica Matten, and Roman Zaragoza in the cast.

Avatar veteran Lauren Montgomery is attached to direct the first film. Avatar co-creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino will produce the first film in the series, along with longtime producing partner Eric Coleman. Avatar Studios will produce with Coleman executive producing. Coleman was the executive producer and production manager of The Last Airbender series.

Ramsey Naito, President of Animation & Development at Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation, had shared, “As original creators, Mike and Bryan expand the Avatar universe with us, we’re keeping it all in the family with Lauren bringing the same kind of expert, beautiful work she did on the original series to her new directing duties on the forthcoming theatrical.” 

The first film in the trilogy is set to hit theaters on October 10, 2025.

About the Author

E.J. is a News Editor at JoBlo, as well as a Video Editor, Writer, and Narrator for some of the movie retrospectives on our JoBlo Originals YouTube channel, including Reel Action, Revisited and some of the Top 10 lists. He is a graduate of the film program at Missouri Western State University with concentrations in performance, writing, editing and directing.