Guardians Of The Galaxy Becomes This Year’s Highest Grossing Domestic Movie

I definitely was one of the doubters when this movie was first announced. I knew very little about the super hero team that contained a walking tree and a gun crazy talking raccoon and figured Disney was scraping the bottom of the barrel with it’s Marvel properties. Disney took a big risk, casting relatively unknown actors, and an unknown director, but in the end somehow it all worked and paid off.  According to Box Office Mojo, Guardians Of The Galaxy (GOTG) has become 2014’s highest grossing movie with a domestic gross of $284 million well on its way to reaching $300 million. It’s foreign gross is $273 million with a cumulative global gross of $557 million. Disney’s next gamble is with Big Hero 6, which is another Marvel property that very few have heard of.

Here are the top 5 domestic grossing movies for 2014 year to date courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

 

Marvel Not Involved With The Promotion Of Big Hero 6

Speaking of Big Hero 6, if you have seen the trailers and the posters for the movie, the name Marvel is nowhere to be seen, even though this is a Marvel property. Part of the reason is because the movie and the comic book share the name of the team, but very little else. It was decided jointly by Disney and Marvel that the characters from the Big Hero 6 movie would not be part of the Marvel Universe. In the comic, the characters and the overall mood are darker. Two main characters, Sunfire and Silver Samaria, do not appear in the animated movie. These characters have both appeared in the X-Men and Wolverine movies, who’s movie rights are owned by Fox. Recently while being interviewed by Comic Book Resources, Marvel’s Editor in Chief, Axel Alonso, confirmed that there are no plans for a comic book tie in. Alonso said, “The characters and stories that have appeared in our comics are very different from what they are in the film. Releasing material that would be viewed as movie tie-in product would be a disservice to film goers. We wanted the Disney folks to be able to create their own unique style and story, unencumbered by those older stories.” As you can see in the above image,  there is a big difference in Disney’s interpretation of the heroes and Marvels original design. Big Hero 6 is scheduled to be released in theaters on November 7th, 2014.

Stan Lee Confirms That A Black Panther Movie Is In The Works

While attending Fan Expo Canada, Stan Lee was available to answer questions regarding a possible Black Widow spinoff movie with Scarlet Johansson. “We haven’t made a Black Widow movie but she’s been in some of our movies, and she will be featured more prominently as we move forward,” Lee said. “And the chances are she will have her own movie because eventually all the superheroes are going to have their own movies. They are already working on Ant-Man, Dr. Strange and the Black Panther and there are others I am not allowed to talk about.” So he kind of let the cat out of the bag that they are indeed working on a Black Panther movie. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the character in 1966 and the Black Panther has the honor of being the very first black super hero to appear in comics. One of the locations that was used in the upcoming movie Avengers: Age of Ultron was an area in South Africa. It’s possible that this could be used to represent the fictional kingdom of Wakanda, which is the kingdom of the Black Panther. In the comics, the Black Panther protects his kingdom from invaders by using his powers that give him animal like characteristics and super human strength. The Black Panther eventually becomes a member of the Avengers.  Nothing has been announced but it’s very possible that the Black Panther may make his first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in Avengers: Age Of Ultron.

Al Pacino Wants To Be In A Marvel Movie

Recently Al Pacino was attending the Venice Film Festival and declared his love for The Guardians Of The Galaxy movie. Deadline.com was able to interview the actor and he explained to them why he felt that the movie was, in his words, “a most entertaining, inventive, beautiful film.”

Pacino said, “It was not something I would readily go see, but my kids got me to go, and one has to draw the line at where prejudice starts and where it ends — that was good stuff!” He had even more praise: “I recognized the ingenious stuff they were doing; the invention, the attractiveness of the way they were performing it. It had Shakespearian feeling to it at times. I was caught up in the big screen, the great sound…” So, would he do the sequel or another Marvel movie if one were to come his way? “I would do anything that I could understand in terms of how I fit in it. And you know, of course if I could fit in it. Anything’s possible. You know, I did Dick Tracy and I got an Oscar nomination, so come on. I mean, what can I say?”

I was with him until he reminded me of Dick Tracy. Still if they can find a character that he is suited to play, I’m sure it would be fine. Wouldn’t mind hearing him say, “I know it was you, Loki. You broke my heart. You broke my heart!”

Batman V Superman Dawn Of Justice Kneels Before Captain America 3

The biggest battle of 2016 was supposed to be who would win the box office when both Batman V Superman Dawn Of Justice (BVS) and Captain America 3 were to open on the same day. Originally BVS was to be released in 2015 but due to script issues, it was pushed back to May 6, 2016. After the success of Captain America The Winter Soldier, Disney and Marvel announced that they planned to release their sequel on the same day. So the two big questions were 1) Who was going to win the box office weekend? and 2) Which one would blink first? In this game of Chicken, Captain America won because BVS eventually moved its release date to March 25^th, 2016. Each company wants to make the most bang for their buck and more than likely the release of two big movie on the same day would hurt the box office for one if not both of the movies. If I had to chose who would have won that day, I would have bet the farm on BVS. As much as I love Captain America, it would be a no brainer for me to see BVS first. And even though personally I think that Warner Brothers could have thrown a dart out of the window and struck someone that would be a much better Batman than Ben Affleck, I can guarantee you that I will see that movie at least 3 times. This is the movie that most comic book nerds have been waiting for all of their life. I was kind of hoping that they would go head to head because I really think that Disney/Marvel were going to surprise us and have Captain America 3 be Captain America Vs Iron Man. Maybe.

First Look At Variant Covers Of The New Thor

That girl has some big arms and tiny little legs. This October Marvel will debut the new Thor. Prepare for an all-new era of the God of Thunder as a brand new female hero explodes into the Marvel Universe! The great hammer Mjölnir lies on the surface of the moon, unable to be lifted by anyone in all the heavens – even the Mighty Thor! Something dark has befallen the Thunder God, leaving him unworthy and unable to lift his magic hammer. With an army of Frost Giants invading Earth, the Odinson may not have the strength to stop them – and the hammer will be lifted by an all-new Thor! A mysterious woman unlike any Thor we’ve ever seen before!

Marvel Releases Variant Covers To Support Bullying Prevention

Marvel has teamed up with the organization STOMP Out Bullying to help promote anti-bullying awareness. “The center of Marvel’s storytelling history is the eternal struggle between good and evil, with many of its greatest Super Heroes having to contend with — and rise above — bullying, in all its forms,” said Axel Alonso, Editor in Chief of Marvel Comics. “We are proud to join forces with STOMP Out Bullying on its important bullying prevention awareness mission. We hope that all our fans take a moment this month to educate themselves on the need to stop bullying among our youth by checking out the free resources STOMP Out Bullying has to offer.” These special covers will be available in October which is National Bullying Prevention Month.

Amazon And Disney Battle Over Home Video Profits

This story is not necessarily Marvel related but more Disney related. A few months ago, I noticed when the Captain America: The Winter Soldier (CATWS) Blu-ray became available for preorder on various sites, it was not available on Amazon.com

Amazon decided not to accept preorders for Disney titles, including CATWS. Amazon also refused to promote the movie as well as other Disney owned movies. Amazon has had similar disputes with Warner Brothers because they wanted more of the profits from the sale of movies on their site. I usually order my movies through Amazon so it was a bit of a surprise that they were not carrying CATWS but it seems as though it really is only hurting Amazon since most people, including me, preordered from different sites. Similar to what occurred with WB, Amazon made the preorders available for CATWS one week before release. So now you can preorder the title on Amazon but for many its to little to late. Still don’t understand the logic behind it because if a person wants the movie they will get the movie from another retailer. No agreement has been met between Amazon and Disney so expect future titles from Disney like Maleficent not to be available for preorder unless an agreement is made.

I did notice that Marvel.com has a special offer, if you want to call it that. If you preorder or purchase CATWS at Marvel.com you are entitled to order an exclusive plush figure. One for $34.99 or all three for $99.99. They actually look nice but they would be nicer if they were free. Wishful thinking.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier will be released on various home formats on September 9th, 2014.

That’s all for this week!

Joe Hogarty