Free Republic

When Disney announced 52 upcoming films and series, Hollywood press, movie fans, and even Wall Street ate up the hype. Here’s an overview of the big takeaways. In recent days, trading on Disney’s stock hit record highs, a short-term indicator the company succeeded with their much-hyped presentation of upcoming films and shows. But the long-term outcome is a more complex story. After all, over the past year, Disney laid off more than 30,000 employees (mostly related to still-closed theme parks) and streaming video platforms have not yet proven the profit potential of theatrical releases. Over a four-hour unveiling that resembled...

Marvel Studios has announced that actress Natalie Portman will take up the hammer and replace Chris Hemsworth as Thor God of Thunder. Portman, who played Thor’s love interest Jane Foster in the first Thor film, has kept herself at arm’s length from the Marvel Cinematic Universe since her debut in 2011. Disney owns Marvel Studios. She has been so skittish about returning to the MCU that filmmakers had to use old footage and special effects to add her to the flashback scenes in its Summer blockbuster Avengers: Endgame. But at San Diego’s famed Comic Con this weekend, Marvel Studios announced...

Redemption and second chances have long been superhero movie staples, and today it looks like life has imitated art. I’ve learned that Disney has reinstated James Gunn as the writer-director of Guardians of the Galaxy 3, and I’ve confirmed it with Marvel and Gunn’s camp. The decision to rehire Gunn –he was fired last July by Disney after alt-right journalists made public a fusillade of decade old social media missives that made light of pedophilia and rape — was one that was mulled and actually made months ago, following conversations with Disney studio leadership and the team at Marvel Studios....

Marvel Studios' "Doctor Strange" is expected to draw a massive audience this weekend, providing some much needed medicine for Hollywood during a bruising fall box office season. Analysts expect the visually stylish Benedict Cumberbatch comic book movie to collect $65 million to $75 million in ticket sales from the United States and Canada through Sunday. Some more optimistic industry observers predict the film, about a former neurosurgeon who harnesses mystical powers, may reach $80 million in domestic grosses... "Doctor Strange is a C-level Marvel character, and the fact that you can pull an $80-million debut is ludicrous when you think...