by Stone Marshall | Aug 9, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
“Mission: Impossible – Fallout” gave Tom Cruise his best opening in 13 years, but in order to make a profit, the pricey action flick from Paramount will need foreign audiences to turn out in force.
With a $178 million production budget and a promotional and distribution price tag that hovers around $150 million, sources close to the studio and at rival companies estimate that the sixth installment in the spy franchise will need to pull in $560 million in order to get into the black. Some competitors think the figure that “Mission: Impossible” needs to make is even higher, approaching the $650 million range.
These are achievable results given the past track record of films in the series. “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” boasts the biggest haul with $694.7 million globally. Its follow-up, “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” fell slightly short of the fourth iteration, generating a nevertheless robust $682.7 million worldwide. If “Fallout” hits either figure, it will be in the clear.
However, there are also a lot of big names that will need to get their share of the spoils. Namely, producer J.J. Abrams and Cruise, both of whom get a sizable percentage of the grosses. Skydance, the film’s financier, will also be cut in on any money the picture makes. All these profit participants will limit Paramount’s taste of the riches. Of the major parties involved in “Mission: Impossible,” only Cruise has gross points, meaning he gets a percentage of the first monies received by the distributor.
Part of the reason that the “Mission: Impossible” films carry a hefty price tag is because they rely on stunts and effects that are filmed “in camera.” It would be cheaper to load up on CGI, but, of course, then audiences would be deprived of seeing Cruise leap across buildings and jump out of a helicopter that’s hovering 2,000 feet above ground. Recounting stories of risking life and limb has become a key selling point for Cruise films.
That does have its drawbacks. One gnarly stunt resulted in the actor fracturing his ankle, causing production to shut down for eight weeks. Insiders say insurance covered that multi-million dollar cost.
“Fallout” does seem off to a promising start. The latest installment launched to a franchise-best $61.5 million in North America and picked up a mighty $92 million overseas. The key to turning a profit will likely be China, where the film opens on Aug. 31. “Rogue Nation,” the previous film in the series, brought in $135 million from the Middle Kingdom. That lofty sum was only dwarfed by the $195 million that “Rogue Nation” took in domestically. If “Fallout” wants to match or surpass “Rogue Nation’s” $682 million global total, it will need to replicate those results in China.
In the wake of “Fallout’s” No. 1 opening and rapturous critical reviews, as well as the earlier success of “A Quiet Place,” some were quick to say that the film was a signal that Paramount had regained its stride after years spent in the box office doldrums. That may be the case. However, “Fallout” still has several key markets left to open before the studio can pop champagne.
It should also be said that “A Quiet Place,” filmed for a measly $17 million, and with a box office haul of $332 million, will likely prove far more profitable than “Fallout.” Plus, no one broke an ankle during shooting.
by Stone Marshall | Aug 8, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Villagers can be very helpful in Minecraft as they’re passive and can be traded with. They’ll be wearing one of six colored outfits, which depend on their profession, but their state can be changed if they’re attacked by some of the game’s many creatures. If a villager gets attacked by a zombie, they’ll turn into a zombie villager, which means they’ll try to attack you and you will not be able to trade with them. However, if this happens in your world, you’ll be happy to hear that you are able to cure a zombie villager, and here’s how you can do so.
First of all, you need to make sure that you have all the items you need. You’ll need one golden apple and one splash potion of weakness. Once you have everything ready and have found a zombie villager (in a safe place that preferably has a low barrier between you and the zombie), you’ll need to use the splash potion of weakness. You need to aim at the zombie villager and throw the item at it by pressing the right trigger on console, or the right click if you’re on PC. Grey swirls will emanate from the zombie if it’s working.
You then need to do the same thing with the golden apple, making sure that the one you’re throwing doesn’t have a purple glow of any kind. Once you’ve thrown it, some colored swirls will emanate from the zombie. It will take a few minutes, but the zombie villager will eventually turn back to their normal color and be cured. If you leave the zombie villager for five minutes, you should be fine.
That’s all you need to know about how to cure a zombie villager in Minecraft. For more on the game, be sure to search for Twinfinite.
by Stone Marshall | Aug 8, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
One of Shazam!'s Easter eggs lays the blame on Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) for the alien invasion in Justice League! Director David F. Sandberg's superhero fantasy will continue the more fun and hopeful DC Universe that began when Justice League pivoted away from the darker tone established by Zack Snyder. Now, it seems the in-universe scapegoat for Steppenwolf's invasion is the DCU's number one Big Bad, Lex Luthor himself.
Seemingly crazed when imprisoned in Arkham and shaved bald at the end of Batman v Superman, Luthor warned Batman (Ben Affleck) that “the bell cannot be unrung… he's coming!” As it turned out the ‘he' who did arrive was Steppenwolf (not Darkseid), who sought to collect the three Mother Boxes and terraform the Earth into another version of his homeworld Apokalips. The Justice League resurrected Superman (Henry Cavill) and stopped Steppenwolf's invasion in an unnamed Russian town, but the super team was unaware that the bald billionaire staged an escape from Arkham. In Justice League's post-credits scene, Luthor recruits Deathstroke (Joe Manganiello) and revealed his plans to build “a league of our own.”
Shazam! is full of references to Justice League and all of the DC movies that precede it. In fact, Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), the foster brother of Billy Batson (Asher Angel) – who can become Shazam (Zachary Levi) when he says the magic word – is a superhero fanboy who has his own collection of Justice League merch. One of Freddy's prized possessions is a framed copy of the Daily Planet boasting the headline “SUPERMAN IS BACK”. It's a very compelling Easter egg because his “Weekend Edition” of the Planet is a composite of articles describing the events of Zack Snyder's films.
However, the text is the really fascinating part! In the sidebar, underneath “Alien Attack on the World” and “Russia Cleans Up”, it reads: “The Top Suspect: As a worldwide search begins for those responsible, specialists say early signs point to Lex Luthor and his associates.”
Laying the blame for Steppenwolf's invasion on Luthor and “his associates” sheds light on some of Justice League's aftermath. Luthor's escape was naturally news; he was also very vocal about aliens coming when he was incarcerated so it makes sense he is linked to the invasion. Citing Luthor's “associates” indicates that recruiting for the Legion of Doom is further along than just Deathstroke (and these are matters Batman and possibly Cyborg must be tracking – they are likely the “specialists” noted).
Pointing the finger at Luthor and never naming Steppenwolf also illustrates certain decisions that were made regarding what aspects of the truth the League wanted publicly known; Lois Lane and Clark Kent would have known everything that happened in Russia, yet the truth is skewed. Choosing to omit Steppenwolf and his Parademons's names may be a choice made for security reasons: it protects the secrets of Themyscira and Atlantis. To acknowledge the Mother Boxes means revealing the history of Steppenwolf's first invasion thousands of years ago, and that two of the alien power sources were hidden by the Amazons and the Atlanteans – hidden civilizations the world doesn't even know exists (yet).
Finally, while it may seem unfair to blame Luthor for the invasion when he had no actual hand in it (that fans know of), this could also be strategy on the part of the League: it puts the evil billionaire and his malevolent allies on notice that the heroes are onto them.
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All this said, it's worth noting that all of this is gleaned from a Shazam! prop that will likely not see more than a few seconds of screen time; and that other excerpts of the newspaper use old and repeated copy (the main stories use the same text about the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice). Ultimately, Freddy's Daily Planet is merely a cool background detail, but it does hint at some potential direction for the wider DCEU. Fans won't really know what will truly count as canon until Luthor and the Legion of Doom emerge in Justice League 2 – but at least the groundwork for that sequel is clearly being established.
by Stone Marshall | Aug 7, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Claudia Kim's character in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald has been included in all marketing material and trailers for the movie so far, and yet her character is only billed as Maledictus. The lack of a name when everybody else has a full title could either be because she's only known as that, or some form of misdirection. Given that Maledictus has greater meaning in the Wizarding World, the latter seems more likely.
A Maledictus witch, such as the one Kim is playing, is a witch whose blood was cursed, meaning she will eventually turn into a beast of some kind; like an Animagus except without the free will. That hints at some form of transformation, and a snake seems the most likely outcome: Kim's character works in a circus, and the first trailer for The Crimes of Grindelwald has a “snake girl” on their billing; not only that, but Kim was also wearing snakeskin leggings in first look images for the movie.
It's not difficult to suggest that Kim's Maledictus is a snake girl, and there's one history-lite snake that Rowling has yet to deal with. While it's still firmly in the realm of speculation, evidence it starting towards Kim playing Nagini (especially given the additional presence of Potter-linked characters Flamel and Leta Lestrange.
by Stone Marshall | Aug 7, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald may explain the backstory to Voldemort's snake, Nagini. The prequel film series is ostensibly focused on Grindelwald's rise to power, and the terror he inflicted upon the wizarding communities across Europe during the 1930s and 40s. However, it seems as though J.K. Rowling is also working on weaving in many elements from Harry Potter into the Fantastic Beasts story, so that eventually the whole arc of 13 movies, from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, will exist as a complete whole.
We know Grindelwald's reign of terror came to an end in the infamous duel between him and his former lover, Albus Dumbledore, in 1945, when Dumbledore emerged triumphant and took ownership of the Elder Wand. From there, Voldemort eventually rose to power as the darkest wizard of all, until a baby boy named Harry Potter almost destroyed him in 1981. Rowling has always been a master at laying strong foundations and backstories to all of her work, and that's becoming ever more evident in Fantastic Beasts. In the lastest trailer for The Crimes of Grindelwald, we meet Nicolas Flamel, immortal alchemist and creator of the Sorcerer's Stone, which was the first artifact that Voldemort sought to help him regain strength. But there's another connection to Voldemort lurking in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and it's something (or someone) that goes on to hold great significance throughout all of Harry Potter.
The unknown character played by Claudia Kim has no name billed other than Maledictus; in the Wizarding World, someone who will at some point turn into a beast. She resides in the circus that Credence joins, and all things point to her eventually turning into a snake named Nagini.
Nagini was a large, female snake who was always by Voldemort's side. In part, this was because she was one of his Horcruxes, and so, as Dumbledore suspected, Voldemort kept her close by in order to preserve the life fragment within. She was eventually killed by Neville Longbottom during the Battle of Hogwarts.
Nagini's origins, though, have always been unclear. It's not even known if Voldemort owned the snake before his downfall at the hands of Harry Potter in 1981, or if he came by her when he was hiding in the forests of Albania. However, what we do know is that Voldemort used Nagini's venom (obtained by Peter Pettigrew) to sustain him in a temporary form until he could regain his body. She was turned into a Horcrux after Voldemort murdered Bertha Jorkins in 1994.
The lack of backstory for Nagini is curious; Rowling is meticulous in making sure all major characters and creatures in her stories have them, and for Nagini's to be so vague would point towards Rowling planning on telling it at some point. Certainly, Nagini will have a complete backstory, even if it's only Rowling who knows about it for now. Could that all change with Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald?
by Stone Marshall | Aug 6, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
In an interview with ComicBook.com, Venom director Ruben Fleischer confirms that his film will lay the groundwork for sequels down the road, depending on the success of the feature:
We’ve definitely laid some groundwork for different directions that the franchise could go, but obviously it all hinges on people’s excitement about this film. I hope people will stay and see what seeds have been planted.
That last sentence appears to be a clue that sequels will be teased during the post-credits scene, rather than peppered throughout the story – hopefully. We all remember the overloaded insanity of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which packed Rhino, Green Goblin, and Electro inside an already bloated story, and indicated that Vulture and Doctor Octopus were on their way, eventually.
In Venom, the titular Venom will be facing off against “Riot,” a lesser-known villain and fellow symbiote who is extremely similar to Venom himself, at least, in the comics. It is believed that Woody Harrelson, who will eventually play fan-favorite Carnage, might be making a small cameo in the film, though this hasn’t been officially confirmed.
If I had to guess, I’d say that we’re going to watch Tom Hardy “become” Venom by fighting Riot, and then get treated to a post-credits scene of Woody Harrelson in a jail cell, being infected by a red-tinged symbiote.
This begs the question, why wait? We’ve been watching cinematic universes form and quickly die for years now, and I think the audience is getting pretty sick of origin stories which serve as little more than a lengthy trailer for a more interesting narrative, usually involving popular villains facing off against now-established characters. Post-credits scenes have become a promise: “next time we’ll give you what you came for. Just wait.”
Why should we? We all know who Venom is, and if we don’t, it’s really not difficult to catch up – the idea isn’t exactly complicated. I’d love to see a comic-book character introduced in the first five minutes of a film, instead of dragging out yet another origin. And watching Venom face off against his big-name nemesis Carnage, a visually distinct and vicious psychopath that makes the morally ambiguous Venom look like a saint, would be much more exciting than watching Venom fight “Diet-Venom.”
Even Marvel failed when they tried to do something similar with The Incredible Hulk, by setting Hulk up to fight Abomination. Watching the two green giants duke it out wasn’t an interesting situation at all, and just served as a stall for a real challenge somewhere down the line.
Of course, the real problem here is that Spider-Man isn’t around to team up with Venom to take down Carnage – “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” is always an interesting narrative for a superhero flick, and it’s doubtful that we’re ever going to see it in the oddly-titled “Spider-Verse.”
And to be fair, there’s nothing Sony can do about that; the MCU obviously doesn’t want to merge. But I do think they should have set Venom up with an interesting antagonist, if they want to establish sequels. Carnage can always be defeated, and return for a sequel, even if he dies.
Just tease his resurrection in the post-credits sequence.
