The Kristian Harloff Show - Barbie becomes the first 1 Billion Live Action Movie of 2023!

Episode Date: August 8, 2023

Join the website here! http://www.thekristianharloff.com Barbie became the first live action movie to hit 1 billion dollar movie of 2023. It is only the second movie to do it behind Super Mario Bros. Will it beat it overall? We talk about the rest of the top 5 of the Box Office including TMNT, The Meg and more. The great William Friedkin passed away. The acclaimed director of The Exorcist and French Connection was 87. Ahsoka is the latest Star Wars show. There are concerns that if you don't know much about Star Wars Rebels that you might be lost. The producers address that. This and more on today's Big Thing with Kristian Harloff. #ahsoka #barbie #movie #strangerthings #horror #mcu  AG1: http://www.drinkag1.com/bigthing NUTRAFOL: Find out why over 4,000 healthcare professionals recommend Nutrafol for healthier hair. http://www.nutrafol.com/men Enter promo code BIGTHING. MANSCAPED: http://www.manscaped.com/BigThing CODE: BIG THING

Welcome back, everybody, to The Big Thing. It is Monday. Thanks for joining us here today. Greta Gerwig becomes the first female director solo to reach a billion dollars with Barbie. That's right. Barbie hits $1 billion. We'll go over that. We'll talk about the box office in general.

How did the other movies do? How did Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles do? How did these other movies do? How did the Meg 2 do? We'll cover all of that for this weekend's box office and more. Talk about some TV stuff, man. Stranger Things. It looks like they're going to focus on.

will for the final season. How does that make sense? Does it make sense? What do you think? We'll get into that also. Assook is coming up right around the pike here. And Dave Filoni says you don't have to watch rebels in order to know what's going on. So we're going to do that in a couple more things today on the big thing. So if you're brand new to the channel, you've never been here before, do me a favor and hit that button. Subscribe. Hit the button. 100,000. We're trying to get to 100,000. We're getting close and we appreciate you guys joining us. As I mentioned earlier, we have five days a week for the time being. Tomorrow is the UAP show. So if you subscribe to this channel because of that, have no fear. We'll be back tomorrow, myself and Mark Riley. But this one, we're talking about

the big news, man. Let's get into a big thing. All right. Welcome back, everybody. It is the big thing. Monday. I hope everybody had a good weekend. It was nice to hang out with a family. Kids going back to school soon. So nuts. That happens. I remember when I was a kid in New York and going, I think school started in like September, early September. Yeah, it definitely did because I remember when I was to school in Florida and there were kids going back to school at the end of August. And I was like, wow, that's early. My kids are going back to school soon. And that is called an early Christmas gift.

I love my kids, but man, more so for my wife right now can hear me. She's probably saying to yourself, what the hell is this guy talking about? I'm the one that's with the kids all the time. But either way, it was nice to be able to hang out with them. We did some stuff. My wife and my daughter, I guess I went to a Taylor Swift concert, man. Holy moly. Taylor Swift is, I mean, I'm guilty by the fault that I know a lot of the songs now.

I think she's very talented, and I think she's pretty awesome. But I think that I know I'm going to be honest. I know all the songs because of my 12-year-old. And if they pop up, I go, oh, that's the one that Vibvi plays. all the time. But man, what she just does for the economy alone, my dad called me, is like, hey, you know that Taylor Swift put in a lot of money in Tampa.

A lot of money in that. I mean, it's like half the, she put so much money just in for those couple of days and it's just, it's insane. So far, sold out, and it's just like this major, major event. So, so they did that. I hung out with the little one and we watched. I was bummed because I gave her some choices to watch. We were going to watch

a movie, The Little One and I, and she picked What did she pick? She picked the Lorax, which is, you know, whatever. Between that and Horton, Here's a Who, which I haven't said. I remember liking Horton, here's a who. But she picked Lorax. We watched Lorax and ate some pizza.

Did what we have to do? And it was a fun thing. But that was, and that was, that was, I think it was Thursday. So, but anyway, the weekend itself was a lot of fun. We saw, I saw a dog, guys. I saw, you saw a dog? Wow, what's that look like? I saw a dog that, I've never seen a dog like this.

and it was a mix, it was a four-month-old puppy, and it was a mix between a Labador and a Great Dane. The thing was 50 pounds. It was four months old. It had Anjou the giant like paws. And I swear, I wanted, they were giving it up for adoption, or they were, you know, put it up for adoption. I was like, man, if I didn't want to get in trouble,

to bring, I mean, that's not a dog, though. That's a horse. either way. It was just a day, spending it with the family, took my wife and my two daughters to the park, and when we were there, took my little pug into the,

I don't know about you guys, I don't know about you guys, I don't kind of dogs or animals you guys have, but I have a little pug. And he is, it doesn't have a mean bone in his body, this dog. When I walk him,

he barks at people, bikes, dogs, everything, but he's not barking at the thing. things to like, it seems like he's looking for some shit. And it was like, oh, you're a big tough guy. And he's not. Because if you let him off Leachshardt. He just licks people and he just like screams at people.

He's an imbecile. But like, and then he's doing that same thing as we're walking him over to the dog park. And he's like barking and all the dogs are going, okay, I'm going to let you out. And then I let him out into the thing. He runs away from all the dogs. And there was this little dog. The dog's probably like this big for audio listeners. It's like a little one of those little, I don't know, a little shit dog.

I'll call it that. shit dog. And this thing was trying to hump my the pug for the longest time it's just two these two that owned this dog. I don't know. They must have been in their late 70s,

early 80s and they couldn't move to do anything to the dog. And I was like, you know what? My dog is big enough to be able to fight this thing away and he's just running away from him the whole time. And I'm like, look, I could get up and stop this because every time he just could try to relax the dog would just like

trying to hump his face I mean everything he just he just couldn't get away from this dog it was like it was like in Oz in the HBO show Oz and he's running around trying to get away and eventually I was like

okay look enough with this little dog and I picked him up and he was enough enough they take this little dog away he's exhausted but then it's French bulldog comes over and then my dog starts chasing him I'm like that dog is

twice the size of that another little dog. What are you doing? I don't understand the mentality of these people, or dogs, I should say. Anyway, that was my weekend. We had some fun, some good time. My wife made a sauce last night. It was pretty good. Meatballs, the whole thing. So, it was delicious. He's talking to my buddy in New York. He's like, yeah, my wife hasn't done that in a bit. She's Italian. My wife's not. But she took over my wife's, my mother's sauce. years ago. And she just unbelievable. Unbelievable

stuff, guys. It's a good start to the pop culture show. I'll tell you that much. If you don't like it, I don't give a shit, because I like meatballs and sauce. That's right. Clicay much? I don't care. I'll tell you what has been going on at the box office is Barbie dominance.

I talked about this on the show the other day. It was poised to make a billion dollars. Well, it ain't poised anymore. It did it. Barbie made a billion dollars, man. That's a major milestone for that movie, though, too. I mean, I didn't know who was going to make that much. I knew that it was going to be big. A billion dollars, I wouldn't have guessed it.

But I knew it was going to be big. The Global Box Office is doing bumper business this weekend, fueled not by just Barbie and Oppenheimer, but multiple other titles now in the marketplace. In fact, this weekend was one of the busiest August on record, with a combined domestic revenue around 180 million. and that's up 90% on last year and even up 19% on the previous year of Bafo box office in 2019.

First up, Greta Gerwig's Barbie pulled in another 53 million domestically and officially crossed one billion globally with a gross of $1.3 billion by the end of Sunday. It marks only the second film of the year to cross $1 billion following Universal and Illumination's family feature of the Super Mario Brothers. That ended with $1.35 billion, of course, and it stayed in the top spot domestic. as well. Coming in second in a tight race was Warner's giant prehistoric shark film Meg 2,

the trench which opened up to estimate 30 million domestically, notably down on the 45 million that the first one opened to. Overseas though, it took a huge bit with an impressive 112 million haul, including 26 million in China, gives it a global start of 142 million, surpassing its reported 129 million production budget. Oppenheimer was third with 28.7 domestically and 52.8 million overseas. surpassing the half a billion dollar mark worldwide with an end of Sunday total of $552.9 million, making it the top grossing World War II film to date and the biggest non-superhero film in several markets. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mutant Mayhem debuted in fourth, but still came in ahead of its expectations with its domestic hall at $28 million for the three-day and $43 million since its debut on Wednesday. The film's overseas rollout is being staggered, so it only hit a handful of markets,

where it took an 8.2 million. Haunted Mansion's just pushing people away with a 63% second weekend plunge and a domestic haul of only 42 million. Globally, the 150 million budgeted film has only than 59.6 globally. Ouch. Sound of Freedom was six with 7.6 million in its fifth week

and had a strong domestic total of 164 million. The chances of Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1, rebounding are slim as the movie ended its fourth week with 6 million and 151 million total domestic gross, overseas it earned a further 342, meaning it's just shy of the 500 million mark. And then I guess Red Door surpassed Megan as the top grossing horror film of the year, 182 million globally. That's from THR, by way of Dark Horizon.

Okay, so lots to take in there, obviously. Barbie hitting a billion dollars, and that movie's not going to stop. I think it's going to surpass. I don't know what I said on Friday. If I said, I don't know if it's going to do it or not, but I do think it will. think it's going to beat Super Mario Brothers. It just needs to make another 300. I think, I mean, it's still a lot.

But it's 1.3. To be able to do 1.3 is going to be interesting to say the least if they can do it. But I'm telling you, man, like when I went to the, whenever it was, I went to the screening for the Meg 2, I went to some other things. And every time I went, every screening I went to, people, people, Barbie people all over the place. It doesn't matter what time of the day it was. Barbie people everywhere.

And so this movie is just one of those things, and it's a phenomenon. And the Meg, too, or what it does, the fact that it already kind of made its budget back, not marketing per se, but it's production budget back. And it's not a very good movie, but it's still, and I'm going to get to the reason why, I think, in a moment. And then you get these other movies that are Teenage Mutuals, one of the few ones, I think, for the kids. but there's no

it's like the superhero movie game was the game that was keeping the box office alive for a bit and really dominating it and starting to that was the only ones that were really doing very well in the theater minus a handful here and there but now it seems to be shifting it seems to be shifting I mean Oppenheimer making

500 million is pretty damn good and I mean look so to Mission Possible made 500 million also right now the budget is probably a little bit bigger than than Oppenheimer's budget, but I think they wanted to have it have, it made more money domestically. But Mission Impossible still, it's not going to bounce back from the domestic side of things, but it's still $500 million to me. I think they were probably looking to like, hopefully, they're probably looking to try to get a billion, but they were probably going to be happy with $700, $800, but then be lucky if they hit $6.

Oppenheimer at $500 already, and that will probably type out around $6 or whatever it might be. that's a great number for them. That's a great number for them. I'm really happy with it, with Barbie being the live action champion right now, and probably will be. I don't think anything else is going to top it. I can't see anything else topping it.

There was a poll that I saw about. There was these other movies, the four other contenders for the rest of the year that a chance that it was like Blue Beetle, no, Dune 2, as much as I want to see it. No, not a billion dollars. I forget what the other.

the two were there's nothing else that's going to make a billion dollars this year. I don't think. So, yeah, I don't think any of those movies are going to make a billion dollars. And I think that now you've got Barbie and the question is who will be the overall champion? You have a live action champ with Barbie versus the animated champion Super Mario Brothers. Who wins the ultimate prize? Who will be the ultimate champion at the end? And I think the answer will be Barbie.

I really do. I think it's going to keep bringing people out to theaters. And then, like I said, Greta Gerwig is now in a league of her own because you do have the, she's the only female director by herself that has directed a billion dollar film. So it's a, and she'll be doing a lot of other things now after this movie. So now, you know, the other question comes into play, what kind of awards, these movies get. Oppenheimer, I think, should absolutely be nominated for a lot of different awards. I think there's some awards that Barbie should be nominated for. I think there's other ones

that it might get nominated for that I won't necessarily agree that it should get nominated for. But we'll see, and we'll have that conversation once we get there. Do I think it's best picture? I don't, but I can see where it's going to potentially get nominated for it. And contrary to popular belief, box office does mean, something to people in the academy if there's a movie that they really like and a movie that they really think is, you know, it's not in the comic book realm and all those different things. And this is one of those movies that I could see getting a best picture nomination for sure and the accomplishment and the phenomenon that it is, adding to it and not subtracting

from it. But the other stuff that you look at all those other movies that are doing well. I mean, like I said, the Meg, which is not a great movie, but it's still made 30 million domestically and then 100 and whatever it was for the that's just it's just alternate programming for people man um i do think that it does put kind of a stamp of i don't want to say death but it puts it puts a big on it puts a big uh-oh on on blue beetle it really does blue beetle because of because everything it's a property that not a lot of people know it's coming off of dc right now is coming off three top I mean

Black Adam barely breaks even or just loses money depending on how you want to look at it whatever the real numbers are Shazam 2 loses a lot of money and this big disappointment and then what was the last one

the flash? Big disappointment. So man this is going to be a tough one and it's the next release it's right around the corner and it's next week. This week I think the big release

is that Dracula movie, right? Does anybody even care about that? Let me know in the comments if you give a shit about that movie. Or if you're listening on Spotify and you can drop a comment over there, same with Apple. And if you are an Apple, by the way,

and you listen to this show on Apple, please leave us a review, rate us and do all that stuff. That helps out a lot. So I love to get your thoughts on all this, guys. Tell me what you think. Are you surprised that Barbie made the money that it did? Are you surprised at the other movies?

Teenage Me Ninja Trails, other one we didn't really talk about. that movie to me makes sense it came in a little bit more than I thought it was going to and it's really the only programming out there for kids right now and it's got it and that's one that has an IP or you know a property that people really know and yeah and you get it's it's doing and it's got good it's got good reviews so people are um that doesn't surprise me that that movie's doing well that one would probably be pretty modest on the on the way out it's again it's not going to catch Mario Brothers,

but still it's a, I completely understand why it did well overall, and it's, yeah, and I think that movie, the red door, which I still haven't seen, that movie, I think it's hit a top, Megan now is the number one horror movie. So it's this,

it's this programming man now that people, I think people, I do think that people are over the bombardment of superhero films and comic book movie fans. films. And I don't disagree with you if you come back and go, no, no, no, no, no. They're just tired of mediocre ones. I don't disagree with that. But I think when you

continue to put those out, it's going to start weighing down the other ones. And I said last week, and I guess I was wrong, because I thought that there was the only one that came close to a billion was Guardians, and people pointed out that I guess Dr. Strange too made 900 something and

got really close. I just don't love that movie. And so that to me was the start of the, Because then Thor came, I was like, uh, and then Black Panther 2 was fine. But still, no, the one I thought was great was Guardians 3. I thought Guardians 3 was great. And that one, that one I was, that was one, I think that was since No Way Home. That was the one I enjoyed watching the most as far as Marvel goes.

And I don't know if the Marvels will be in category A, which is guardians and No Way home or will be in category B of the they need help with building their franchise again because it's going down the tubes. I don't know. We'll have to see. I don't want to be

not going to be one of those people that just judges it because they want to judge. I didn't love the first Captain Marvel. It was fine. Not great. But this one I said many times over, I think. that the Marvels could wind up if they lean on the chemistry of the three actors.

If they, on all three of the actors, if they lean on all of them, and that's what it is. And you don't go to the kind of cliche, formulaic Marvel stuff, or when you finally just go to the big conclusion at the end, big special effects everywhere. I know they're going to do that, but if it overpowers it. I said that the other day about Superman. Somebody was like, well, what do you want? You just want the daughter movie?

You don't want the daughter movie? No. I'm just talking about focusing more on characters and focusing more on being emotionally attached to them. That to me is the most important thing and not just the spectator. I thought that

that's why Ms. Marvel was good because I cared more about the family. I cared more about her than I'd did when he got into the superhero stuff. And I think that's why these other movies are starting to do much better now because I think people want to

see more of the it's such a strange place that we're in. Because I do also think that I think I heard like Adam Devine talking about this on I don't know if he's on Theo Vaughn's show or something but he was talking about how he believed

and I don't necessarily believe that it's Marvel's fault but he was blaming kind of Marvel movies for the reason why comedies aren't doing well. And I kind of, I understood where he's coming from. His point was that, and I don't necessarily think this is just Marvel though. I think this is just bigger blockbuster movies now. Movie tickets have gotten significantly more expensive as the years have gone on,

and especially if you're taking a family, and when, and because of streaming, because streaming now has so many different comedies that his point was you go and you watch to Marvel movie, you spend this money to see this big old spectacle that you feel kind of like, oh, if I'm paying this amount of money to see all this kind of big production stuff, why am I paying the same amount of money to then see a comedy? And I understand that philosophy, and I don't think it's completely untrue, but I don't think it's necessarily Marvel. I also think it's because, like I said, it's on streaming.

There are times that when you, like, you know, if you can watch a lot of these comedies and a lot, like, you want to, a lot of the, comedies don't deliver, right? A lot of people are satisfied when they go to see Marvel movies if they get the formulaing stuff. I'm not anymore as much, and I think some people maybe aren't anymore too, but some people, a casual fan just wants to go watch superhero movie still and just put popcorn in their mouth, they get what they get.

And in comedies, it's like going to a bad set. You're going to see a couple. Let's go see a bunch of comedians. And everybody just not good and said, nothing. was funny. I don't like it. It's harder. It's harder. And I think that's why they do better now on streaming. Because you're having, what was the last? He said

it as he was going through his meetings. Like, people are just like not making those kind of movies right now in the theater. And I understand the frustration behind it. Because you want to make comedies and you want to make these things to get that feel of like whether it's, you know, old school or

I mean, hang over any of these movies that we're coming out about, those types of movies don't come out anymore. And it's a bummer because people do want to see them. I'm sure anybody watching or listening to this right now. I'd love to go see one of those big movies in the theater right now. They don't really make them anymore. And I think that the big fear is that

and who are the big comedy stars right now? That's the other thing. Who are the big comedy stars? I don't say Ryan Reynolds. There's Ryan Reynolds doing Deadpool and all that. I'm like up-and-coming people that you'd go, I'd go and see a comedy of that person. They did that Pete Davidson movie they did was good.

It was Judd-Apital, I think. was it King of Staten Island? Is that what it was? And I think that was, again, was that streaming? I don't remember if it came out. But again, it wasn't like a big, huge movie in theaters. Like, I don't know who the comedy stars are that can really drive that kind of audience

and it's going to take one of those big premises the way that Hangover did back then to bring it back. I don't know. Maybe I'm way off the mark. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, though. Go ahead and comment, tell me what you think. I'd love to get the support. Speaking of support, I'm going to tell you guys, as I tell you each and every time,

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Really appreciate it. And to all of you, can I please say thank you, thank you, thank you, because I see that even someone, I had put the wrong link for one of the sponsors over the weekend. Like, hey, I just tried to get one of the sponsors. And the link was wrong. You need to fix it. I fixed it. So I pay attention to that stuff also because it is imperative to the show to get people that we know you guys are going to like. So please, the link is in the description, but I also pin it to the top.

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and let me know what you think after you get them. All right, let's move on. This is something that's interesting because my wife just started to rewatch Stranger Things season four. Now, when I say rewatch, I was rewatching with her.

She bailed on it after episode two, not because it wasn't good because she just was kind of creeped out by something. It definitely played more into the horror aspect, which I actually really liked about it. It had like a Nightmare Elm Street thing. And we were browsing around for stuff to watch the day.

And she had mentioned a few different times that she wanted to get back into Stranger Things and finish it. And I was like, why don't you just watch it now? So she started watching it. And it's funny that this story comes up now. All right. Noah Snap, who plays Will Byers in Netflix smash hit, Stranger Things, will find his character. Coming to the four in the next of the supernatural drama series, says Dark Horizons, as a part of a lengthy variety profile. file piece. The actor talks about coming out and how playing Will Byers

led to that. The outlet also talks with several of the show's producers and writers about the fifth season and Schnap's character who's also expected to undergo a coming out in the final season. Schnapp says now that he's out about his sexuality, has impacted his performance on the show. He says, I think the way I act in season five

honestly might be a little different. I will be fully aware of who I am, knowing all that about myself and being able to invest that in my character. I'm honestly just excited. series creators and showrunners Matt and Ross Duffer revealed that they sent Schnapp the first three scripts for season five as they wanted to prepare him for what's happening with the character. The quote says, Will really takes center stage again in season five. This emotional arc for him is what we feel is going to hopefully tie the whole series together. Will he's used to being the young one, the introverted one, the one that's being protected. So part of his journey is not just sexuality, it's Will coming into his own as a young man.

Schnapp was supposed to be filming the new season this summer until the writer strikes suspended production. It's not clear when it will resume at this time. Okay, so this isn't really too much of a surprise. I mean, a lot of different things, right? There are a lot of people who, I don't know, they didn't pick up on the fact that Will was going through his sexuality and identity in season four. I thought it was pretty clear that he was, you know, he always saw Mike as his best friend, but he's got, he had a crush on him. And people didn't see that. Some people didn't see that.

A lot of people did. Some people didn't see that. And that, to me, was pretty clear and they got confirmation on it. But the bigger story, as they said also, to me, is the fact that he's the lead of it. And he was kind of pushed back a little bit in season four, right? Leading into season five, which he was, I mean, even though he was kind of lost in the upside down in the first one, he's the one that started this whole damn thing. And then you see the end of what happens at season four.

but I think this makes sense to put him in the forefront. I think it makes sense to have him for all the things he's been through. The character has been through throughout it. So it makes sense. And I'm excited to see this show. I thought that to me, season one was great. Season two was okay. Season three, I thought, I like season three.

I guess I didn't realize that there are some people who didn't really like three. I like three, but I thought four, honestly, I think four is the best season. I think one's amazing and one set us all into this motion. But I think it comes to, it's almost like a Raiders of the Lost Ark, Last Crusade. type thing. There are a lot of people who feel that, to me, Raiders of Lost Arc is my favorite, but there's a lot of people who say that Last Crusade is the best.

I guess I'd be in the Last Crusade portion of this now, because I think four is the better one than one, and I love one. But I'm very curious, what you guys think about, more so about, doesn't it make sense that Will would be the lead in this particular season?

What do you guys think? Do you think it makes sense? Do you think that, because this show, even though I think by lead, I think it just means he's going to have more to do because the kids in general are always the lead and there's always a back and forth story. It's exactly what they always do

and they have done since season one. And then, you know, you're going to have the other characters having roles in 11 doing or thing. Like, they're not going to be buried. But I think it just means he's going to have more of a prominent storyline. But I'm curious what you guys think. Go ahead and comment.

Tell me what you think. Are you excited about Stranger Things season 5? I know a lot of people are pumped up about it. Let me know. All right, let's move on something pretty sad before we start talking about the news. I want to bring up Oscar-winning director, William Friedkin, from The Exorcist.

He died of 87 years old, long life in Los Angeles. Variety first broke the news, which was confirmed by Chapman University Dean Stephen Galloway, who was a friend of Friedkin's wife, Cherry Lansing. The Chicago-born filmmaker is best remembered for director, 1971's famed Jean Hackman and Roy Shider's lead cop drama, the French Connection, which won five Oscars, including Best Director and Best Picture. He followed it up with The Exorcists, so widely considered one of the, if not the greatest horror films made that also scored him

an Oscar nomination for directing. He began making films in the early 1960s with documentaries like The People v. Paul Crump, Mayhem on a Sunday afternoon, and The Thin Blue Line, which led to narrative movies like Good Times, The Night, they rated Minsky's, and the queer cinema milestone the boys in the band. After his French connection Exorcist Double, he followed it up with 1977 Sorcerer, a remake of the Wages of Fear, which was a flop at the time,

but has undergone a critical re-evaluation is now often dubbed an overlooked masterpiece. The 1980s New York Gay Leather scene film Cruising, starring Al Pacino remains a flawed but fascinating time capsule looking at a community in its last days before being changed by the AIDS crisis.

Numerous films followed, none capturing the zeitgeist like his 1970s films did, but still delivering some notable titles, including To Live and Die in LA, the Guardian, Jade, Rules of Engagement, the Hunting, Bug, and Killer Joe. He also held him various TV episodes over the years for shows ranging from the Twilight Zone to CSI. His final film, the play adaptation, the Kane Mutiny Court Marshall, is set to debut at the Venice Film Festival later this month. Once again, William Freakin, an absolute legend, has passed away.

And look, The Exorcist, I was just talking about this with somebody recently. That is one of the scariest, I think the scariest movie of all time. I think it holds up. I think it's incredibly well made. It was just his, I mean, it was just Michelangelo, man. It really was. I mean, a lot of people say French connection. I think that's just to me.

And yeah, it's just, it's always sad. Even as somebody who lived 87 years old, which is a pretty good life. You're still, it's sad, especially when you lose somebody who had such a stamp in the film industry. So again, as we always say, love to his family and friends and everybody, too, and an absolute legend. All right, Emily Blunt. Emily Blunt was just on my buddy Josh Harwitz's podcast. Happy Say I Confused, which is amazing. So this is what Dark Horizons interview says, or excuse me, article rather.

One of the big castings could have been hires of the past two decades was that of Emily Blunt, who was cast as Natasha Romanoff, Blackwood. in Iron Man 2. The Edge of Tomorrow and Devil Where's Prada actress was the choice for the role, but she had to pass on it due to scheduling conflict that she was contractually stuck doing Gulliver's travels at 20th Century Fox. She dubbed missing out on the Black Widow role, which was a bit of a heartbreaker for her a few years back while talking with Howard Stern. Outdoing press for Oppenheimer, prior to the strike, she sat down with Happy Saddenfews

Podcast and seemed more upbeat about saying, come on, the best girl got it, before adding that the actual cast Scarlett Johansen was amazing. Johansen ended up playing the role in nine films, including two Captain America films, four Avenger films, a cameo in Captain Marvel, and her own standalone movie. Blunt was also asked about all the other roles in the MCU she's been rumored for from Captain Marvel to Peggy Carter to Sue Storm. Of those, she says, rumors, talk, queries.

That's the kind of thing before adding she never met with producers or directors of any of the films. Finally, Blunt offered an update on the progress of the full third installment of a Quiet Place franchise. John Krasinski co-starred with her in the first, her husband, who wrote and directed the first two films. A spinoff is currently in the works that is separate from a more straightforward third-part film, which is also in development. She reveals that she and Krasinski have been figuring out the third one, which he intends to write. At last report, he was going to let someone else direct, but Blunt doesn't want him to. Killion Murphy and I were having a chat with John about it last night.

We were sitting on a rooftop all together drinking wine. And you know what would be great if we kept this thing going. I think if we'd have to be that we'd do it all together, I don't want it to be with a different director if we did it again. Murphy co-starred with Blunt in A Quiet Place Part 2, which Blunt had previously discussed as very much being a second chapter in a larger story. The spinoff, A Quiet Place Day 1, starring Lupino Niango, Joseph Quinn, and Alex Wolfe had been in production,

but it's been halted by the strikes. It is not clear if it's going to make the March 8th, 2024 release. Okay, so what I really liked, I watched the interview with Josh, and you guys should do it, do it too. If you haven't subscribed to either Josh's channel on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or YouTube,

he's got to just hit 50,000 on YouTube also. He's absolutely incredible interviewer, one of my favorites and just an overall good dude. So, and I love his interview style, right? And he was talking to Emily Blunt, and I love how candid and I just, Her honesty was incredible. She's just like, this stuff isn't for me.

She just isn't, obviously, who wouldn't want the payday and all that stuff. But she doesn't really care as much with the following the stuff. She didn't even remember, I think they mentioned something about, what was it, about Krasinski being in Dr. Strange. And she had to think about it for a second. She didn't remember. But everybody has to love all this stuff. And so she was talking about that.

she was really honest about it. I love the back and forth between the two of them, and she just talked about the roles. And she said, yeah, you know, Scarge Johansson got it. It was a bummer. She lost it, she didn't say it like this, but lost the payday to it. And it is what it is. The other rumors and everything, too, probably get the phone calls to it, but I don't think we know,

it seems, not necessarily that we know, but it seems as if that Vanessa Kirby is going to be playing Sue Storm. At least that's what the latest rumor is. So it doesn't look like Emily Blund is going to be playing Sue Storm. And I don't to think she was the frontrunner as far as the rumor or mill went anyway. But will she

show up in one of these things again? I don't know. I'd actually rather see her kind of pop up again in another edge of tomorrow movie. And I know that she said she's wanted to do that. So that to me would be great. But as far as Quiet Place, I really enjoyed the first one. I think that I thought the second one was just okay. I don't remember. I don't remember being blown away by it. Maybe that's not true. I remember I watched that one on, definitely watched that one streaming. But I would like to see a third one. And I'm very curious to how the prequel will be. But what I did like is I liked how she said,

now I told him he's got to direct this thing. He really does. He's got to direct it. If you're going to do it, Thurwin, you got to direct it. I think that comment alone is pretty much sure a lot. Because they wake up together. And she's just going to, every day, they're having those conversations. Just do it.

You want to do it. You should do it. You're going to write it. You should do it. And if I'm going to be in it with you, I want you to direct it. All right, I'll direct it. What's what's going to have. And it should.

I think that his stamp on it was, I don't know. Did I, I got to look at, did I review it? Maybe I did like it. I can't remember. I know I liked the first one a lot. I can't remember this if I liked the second one a lot. I don't think I did. I don't remember.

I don't remember, be honest. I don't remember disliking it. I got to go back and watch my review if I even did a review on it. Anyway, all right, let's get to the next topic here. All right, let's end with this one. We're going to end with this one. I'm going to end with this one. I'm going to end with this one.

I'm going to end with this one. up tomorrow. Asoka doesn't require rebels viewing. That is the article by Dark Horizons, Garth Franklin, says, while Star Wars animated works have done a lot of expansion of the franchise, there are plenty of people and even fans of the franchise who haven't bothered with any of the animated shows. To date, that hasn't really been an issue, as John Favro and Dave Flonian and others have smartly been able to incorporate elements and characters from animated shows like Cone Wars, rebels, into live action works like the Mandalorian in a natural way that doesn't require previous knowledge of the animated shows.

In fact, it has been smooth enough that the only real jarring moment for those not up on the animated lore was Darth Wall's surprise reappearance in Solo. Will that change with Flonie Star Wars Asoka? Here's a series built to seemingly serve as a direct sequel to Star Wars Rebels, and

will bring back many of that show's characters in live action form. Does that mean that those unfamiliar with the past decade and a half of Star Wars animated storytelling will get lost? Carrie Beck tells EW. Well, that's been the challenge of the series, but Dave Floney was very thoughtful about creating the narrative in a way that could invite people in. The show tells them everything they need to know along the way.

Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who takes on the role of General Harris Sundala, says all that backstory was also a challenge for the actors. She says, after five seasons of watching rebels, those characters are real already. It becomes a different challenges of stepping into some shoes that have already been filled one way and bringing them into literally a different dimension. Osario Dawson, who plays Assocato herself, is more concerned about fan reaction and tells the outlet she really, really hopes that fans love it, because

it not only honors the legacy of the character, but we get to do more. Asoka comes out on August 23rd. Yeah, I got to be honest with you. I have seen Rebels. I love rebels. It's going to be tough for people that

didn't... People who watch Rebels are definitely going to be more invested in this show. There's no doubt about it. And Kerry Beck has the right response when she's asked that. What is she going to say? Yeah, people are going to be lost if you didn't watch it. People aren't going to be as connected. It'll be way more connected if you watch all the animated stuff. So I don't know.

Then you read that. I don't know. Watch this show. I don't think that you're going to be lost. I think they're going to do a good job of setting you up to, oh, here is this person, this person, this person. There's a lot more that you could find out. if you wanted to. But here's the story we're telling.

I just think emotionally you're going to be more attached to these characters if you've seen the previous, what, four or five seasons, whatever it was. I used Mike Kalanowski who's on the Wednesday show when we watched the trailer, Steph Sabraa and I are Rebels fans and we knew everything was going on and Mike was lost. Mike was like, I didn't, there was a lot of questions I had about, was that person, because even when you see someone like Ray Stevenson, you know Ray Stevenson, obviously, but you, if you do,

don't know it and you go, oh, was he a character from the show? And you're like, no, he's new. But what about that person? Well, yeah, they are. And that left at that point with those two, that actually, that moment actually takes place in the prolog of the last season. So that, it's going to be a rebels,

it's going to be a rebel season. And I will then, you know, after I watched the first couple episodes, I'll come back and say, I don't think that anybody who is watching Rebel, will know what the hell's going on in the show or I think they get an amazing show

I still think, I think it's, there's nothing that's going to change my mind that if you watch Rebels, you'll be more invested because you'll just have spent so much time with these characters that it, it is a continuation. I mean, it's another season of it in live action.

It's, it's, they recreated the scene of Asoka at the end when she goes and takes Sabine and Sabine gets the haircut and they do it. It's the whole, it's, they're recreating the whole thing. So it clearly is. Now, I don't think that they're being, that they're lying about, well, we, we weren't, I think they were very conscious of the idea that they don't want to lose people. But I think Dave wants to tell his story.

I think Dave wants to tell the story of where it's going to go. I just, the two things that someone brought up to me, a friend of mine was like, do you think they're going to turn Ezra Bad? I said, I hope not. What a dumb decision that would be. You had four or five seasons to already do it. And tease on it. And now you're going to do it.

Like, why? Because you've been hanging out with Thrawn. It's like, no, it was this whole balance. And I don't think this isn't something that is definitely going to happen. It's just a question. My friend said, and he's like, wouldn't that be cool? I think that would be the dumbest decision that they could possibly do if they made him bad now. And you're not going to see him until like the last 10 minutes of season one, I assume, because they're going to be searching for him the whole time.

So I don't know. But yeah, I think they need to say this, that, no, of course you won't be lost. And of course, of course you don't have to have watched for him. I mean, if you talk to Faloni behind closed doors, he probably wants everybody to watch rebels. You know, it's like, I hope you do watch all of it. And I hope you do go back and he's an animation guy also, right? And he loves his stories that he told. He's proud of him.

He should be. And it's like one of those things, yeah, you should go back. I mean, he's not going to say that. But I wish everybody would go back and watch all of them. You should go back and watch all of them before you because it'll enhance it. It'll enhance it. Now, not everybody responds to animation, though. and they might want to do it and and and maybe people won't even want to revisit but um but yeah i'm

that one i'm curious about what do you guys think about that one go ahead and comment tell me what you think um all right i think that's the show today give me your thoughts tell me what you think about barbie hitting a billion the isoka stuff stranger things give your um what's your favorite william freaking movie that and more thanks for joining me here today once again if you haven't already subscribed hit that button appreciate it apple podcast spotify anywhere podcasts are found guys appreciate you we'll see you on the flip side wee