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☆ Marvel didn't recast Chadwick Boseman in 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' — and it was the right move
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

In August 2020, Disney's Marvel Studios was faced with an unenviable task — how to handle the sudden and tragic death of Chadwick Boseman, the star of its megahit film "Black Panther." With the "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" sequel slated for release in mid-2022, Marvel executives and Coogler needed to quickly decide what to do with the character of T'Challa, who was played by Boseman and becomes the Black Panther superhero after the death of his father. Since the Black Panther is a key character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the studio could have recast the character and carried on with production. In the sequel, the Black Panther is not gone from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His passing deeply affects his community and the supporting characters from "Black Panther."

☆ ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ notches record opening for November
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Frank Pallotta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN Business —“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” had the major challenge of following “Black Panther,” one of the biggest blockbusters ever, and had to do so without star Chadwick Boseman, who passed away in 2020. Despite all of the challenges, “Wakanda Forever” notched a sizable box office opening this weekend. As for its critical reception, “Wakanda Forever” notched an 84% score on review site Rotten Tomatoes. “‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ faced an inordinate degree of difficulty, addressing the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman,” Brian Lowry, CNN’s media critic, wrote in his review. The debut of “Wakanda Forever” will unlikely impact Disney’s stock since investors remain heavily focused on the company’s streaming endeavors.

☆ Chadwick Boseman and 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever': How the sequel makes a case for recasting
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers about “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”CNN —“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” deftly completes the difficult task of continuing the franchise without its star, Chadwick Boseman, sensitively acknowledging his death by killing off the character of King T’Challa. Writing around his absence isn’t the first time that a fantasy story has been changed to accommodate a tragic loss. The death of Carrie Fisher (right) created "an impossible question" for the producers of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker." To be fair, “Wakanda Forever” does as well and probably better than should have been expected under such trying circumstances. The question might well be impossible, but the answer is right there, and rooted in screen history.

☆ 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' review: Director Ryan Coogler pulls off a difficult dive after Chadwick Boseman's death
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Review Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —In the parlance of Olympic diving – a good analogy for blockbuster movie-making – “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” faced an inordinate degree of difficulty, addressing the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman. A scene from "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever." With other Marvel stalwarts having exited the universe post-“Endgame,” “Black Panther” appeared poised to become a focal point going forward. Whether “Wakanda Forever” can bridge that gap and position Marvel to fill that void remains to be seen. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” premieres November 11 in US theaters.

☆ 'Black Adam' wants to be a Marvel movie, but can't leave the Snyder era behind — and it highlights the mess that DC Studios' new bosses will have to sort out
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

There are a lot of Snyder-esque moments in "Black Adam," particularly when it comes to slo-mo action sequences and an overall somber tone. Johnson's Black Adam is a serious-faced anti-hero who isn't afraid to kill a lot of people. "Black Adam" is the perfect encapsulation of both the last nearly decade of DC movies and what the franchise wants to be in the future. For all of its troubles, the DC movie universe had at least seemed to be course correcting. The director, Jaume Collet-Serra, doesn't so much as put his personal touch on it as borrow familiar touches from past Snyder-directed DC movies.

☆ DC's movie and TV division has finally found its own version of Marvel's Kevin Feige
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The pair inherit a baggage-heavy DC film universe. Discovery has finally found an executive to lead its DC movie and TV franchise — well, executives, plural, that is. Warner Bros. Since Discovery and WarnerMedia merged earlier this year, Zaslav has been looking for someone to lead DC's movie and TV efforts. Gunn jumped to Warner Bros. and DC after getting temporarily fired from the third "Guardians of the Galaxy" movie in 2018.

☆ ‘Star Wars’ movie in development from 'Watchmen' showrunner and 'Ms. Marvel' director, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Stefan Sykes | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A new "Star Wars" movie is under development with a pair of buzzy names already attached, according to media reports. Damon Lindelof, showrunner for "Lost," "The Leftovers" and "Watchmen," is co-writing the new Lucasfilm movie, with Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy of "Ms. Marvel" signed on to direct, according to media entertainment site Deadline. But the upcoming feature marks the first "Star Wars" film set for theaters since 2019's "The Rise of Skywalker." "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" was a massive success for the franchise, grossing $1 billion at the global box office. Other "Star Wars" film projects from Taika Waititi, Rian Johnson and Kevin Feige have yet to be officially announced by the studio or given release dates.

☆ DC wants to better compete with Marvel movies, but its plan is already facing severe roadblocks
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Warner Bros. Discovery wants to rebuild the DC universe in the mold of Marvel movies. Warner Bros. confirmed a sequel to "Joker," which exists outside the universes of any of those other projects. The search for such an executive put DC movies president Walter Hamada on the outskirts, and Deadline reported on Wednesday that he had exited. Warner Bros.

☆ 'She-Hulk' shows off its superpower and Achilles heel in a truly weird finale (SPOILERS)
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers about “She-Hulk’s” season finale. CNN —“She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” revealed both its superpower and Achilles heel in the season finale: It’s a TV show for people who watch too much TV in general and too much of Marvel’s output in particular. Designed to test the parameters of how far Marvel could go with this sort of exercise, “She-Hulk” clearly delivered an unabashed out-there comedy. It’s tempting to credit “She-Hulk” for taking chances, but frankly, that has clearly been the plan with Marvel’s expansion into streaming for some time now. Part of the show’s legacy, as noted, will be the way it reintroduced Daredevil.

☆ Marvel head: 'Much too soon' to recast Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa in 'Black Panther' sequel
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —There’s a reason why Chadwick Boseman’s character in the “Black Panther” sequel was not recast following his death in 2020. And [director] Ryan [Coogler] poured that into the story.”Boseman’s death came as a shock to many “Black Panther” fans as he had not gone public with his illness. Feige said Coogler and his team got to work figuring out the direction they wanted to take the sequel. “And how could the legacy of Chadwick – and what he had done to help Wakanda and the Black Panther become these incredible, aspirational, iconic ideas – continue? That’s what it was all about.”“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” hits theaters in the US on November 11.

☆ Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav faces 3 key challenges as financial headwinds disrupt his strategy and threaten his promises to Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman crystallized the daunting task ahead for Zaslav and WBD in his August 5 report "Reality First. The honeymoon was short-lived," said one senior Hollywood insider. It turns out there are five, housing some 40,000 employees globally: Warner Bros., HBO Max, the Turner entertainment channel business, CNN, and Discovery. The WBD insider said there isn't a rush to hire a new chief and that the company will continue to meet people. Under the ownership of AT&T, WarnerMedia's financials were buried in its parent's spreadsheets — now as a pure-play entertainment company, Warner Bros.

☆ Star Wars spinoff 'Rogue Squadron' officially off calendar as Disney shores up film slate
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Questions about the fate of Patty Jenkins' "Rogue Squadron" began circulating nearly a year ago, and intensified after the Star Wars film went unmentioned at Disney's annual D23 Expo last weekend. The suggestion was that Jenkin's Star Wars feature would be punted down the calendar to another date. "Rogue Squadron" was set to be the first theatrical Star Wars film since the 2019 release of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker," which received middling reviews and generated over $1 billion in ticket sales worldwide. The path for future Star Wars films has been unclear since "Rise of Skywalker" was released. There's even talk that "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" director Rian Johnson is still attached to a stand-alone trilogy set within the Star Wars universe.

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