Timothy Olyphant Only Made Hitman To Pay For His House

Some stars like to maintain that they only choose roles based on their artistic merit, while others are more than happy to admit after a certain film has been released that they only did it for the money. As Michael Caine famously said after Jaws: The Revenge; “I have never seen it, but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific”, something that Timothy Olyphant understood after signing on to headline 2007’s turgid Hitman adaptation.

The actor was a recognizable face around the time, but hardly a huge name, and he was looking for some financial security after recently purchasing a home. After HBO’s acclaimed Deadwood was canceled in 2006, Olyphant was happy to board anything that came his way in an effort to pay off his mortgage. In a 2019 interview, The Mandalorian‘s Cobb Vanth straightforwardly outlined his reasons for joining both action sequel Live Free or Die Hard and Hitman.

“What we have to thank for this is the villain in Die Hard and a f*cking bald head in Bulgaria shooting Hitman. That’s what that phone call led to. ‘How about the villain of Die Hard?’. I said, ‘Sure’. And they’re like, ‘Do you want to read the script?’. I said, ‘I get it. I’m in. I just bought a house. Did you not hear? They just canceled my f*cking show. Yes, I’ll do it’. ‘What about this video game adaptation?’. ‘Yes to that too. I’m in. I’ve got to make up some TV money’.”

The leading man didn’t even attempt to conceal the fact he clearly wasn’t interested in the project at all, although it at least managed to replicate Agent 47’s signature cold and emotionless demeanor. Xavier Gen’s video game movie did manage to turn a profit after earning $101 million at the box office against a $24 million budget, but critics and fans of the source material were less than impressed.

Unsurprisingly, Olyphant stayed as far away from a potential second installment as possible, which eventually yielded the Hitman: Agent 47 reboot in 2015, which cost more to produce, earned less money and scored worse reviews, but at the time the original iteration of the title hero was secure and earning a steady paycheck from Justified‘s six-season run.

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Fantastic Beasts 3 Might End Up As An HBO Max Exclusive

The once mighty Wizarding World of Harry Potter has started looking surprisingly vulnerable. First came Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald underperforming at the box office and receiving negative reviews. That was followed by J.K. Rowling’s transphobic meltdown last year, which saw her widely criticized by Harry Potter stars and fans. On top of that, her decision to support Johnny Depp as Grindelwald looks like a bad call as he’s lost a court case and was quickly removed from the project. All of which puts Fantastic Beasts 3 on shaky ground.

So fans likely won’t be happy to learn of reports that the movie is “in trouble” and that it may be reformatted as an HBO Max exclusive rather than receive a theatrical release. The news comes via leaker Daniel Richtman and casts doubt on whether the planned five movie arc will be completed, with hints that they’ll wrap up the story in the third instalment. Previous rumors have said that Warner Bros would prefer Fantastic Beasts 3 to have a “definitive end”, which if true doesn’t indicate a huge amount of confidence.

New Hi-Res Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald Photos Tease A Magical Adventure

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Right now it’s difficult to quantify how much difficulty the Wizarding World is in, though Rowling demolishing her reputation in 2020 has led to a lot of her faithful fanbase disowning the franchise and looking elsewhere for their thrills. In a hint of what might be coming, upcoming video game Hogwarts Legacy went as far as assuring us that Rowling had almost no involvement in it. Alternatively, we could simply see that mainstream audiences don’t care about Rowling’s transphobia and will turn up regardless.

Either way, I anticipate Warner Bros to subtly disassociate Rowling from Harry Potter, which may mean the end for Fantastic Beasts as it was very much her baby. There’s a whole year before Fantastic Beasts 3‘s July 15, 2022 release, so I fully expect more drama to emerge from behind the scenes.

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Star Trek Actor Anson Mount Says James Gunn Has No Talent

James Gunn recently went on a lengthy Twitter thread detailing how much it irritates, annoys and exacerbates him when actors lie about their heights on their resumes. If you’re expecting somebody of certain dimensions to walk in and they turn out to be a lot shorter than they claimed, then it instantly messes with any pre-conceived notions of shot composition, eye lines and how an ensemble would look sharing the same frame, all for what he believes to be nothing more than a case of ego-stroking.

Incredibly, Star Trek actor Anson Mount instantly leapt to the defense of those who refuse to reveal their true height, and even went so far as to call the man who directed two Guardians of the Galaxy movies to widespread critical acclaim and over $1.5 billion at the box office talentless. Responding to Gunn’s notion that folks shouldn’t lie about anything in order to get a job, Mount responded with a tweet of his own that said; “Then stop telling people you have talent. And delete your account”.

Star Trek‘s Captain Pike may have deleted his post shortly afterwards, but the internet never forgets, and it was widely circulated in the aftermath. He did continue to pile on Gunn’s thoughts on the great height debate, though, leading The Suicide Squad filmmaker to question why Mount seemed to be taking it so personally.

Well, James. It kinda shouldn’t fuc*in’ matter. Industry’s use of “height” is shorthand for male dominance/ “masculinity” (particularly re: female counterparts). Here’s a better idea: present US with your measurements when we walk through the door. We’ll likely be underwhelmed. https://t.co/QMNS3levwa

— Anson Mount (@ansonmount) June 15, 2021

I don’t know why this hit such a nerve, @ansonmount, but, as a director, it does matter, because when you’re shooting two or more people the heights make a difference in how it’s shot. And sometimes you are looking for height disparity or parity. It’s about the storytelling. https://t.co/hsyhYUOPnp

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) June 15, 2021

The most obvious conclusion to draw from this is that Anson Mount may not be as tall as he says he is. The 48 year-old is listed as being just a shade over six feet, ironically making him almost exactly as tall as James Gunn, but given his fiery response, maybe he’s trying to overcompensate for something.

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Watch: Salma Hayek Ruins Ryan Reynolds’ Vacation In Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard Clip

Salma Hayek is no stranger to the action genre, having broken out over 25 years ago in Robert Rodriguez’s Desperado before going on to star in spectacle-driven projects like box office bomb Wild Wild West, violent thriller Everly and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s upcoming Eternals, but Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard features the actress as audiences may have never seen her before.

Reprising her minor role from the first film as Sonia Kincaid, Hayek becomes the third spoke on the wheel alongside Samuel L. Jackson as her husband Darius and Ryan Reynolds’ beleaguered bodyguard Michael Bryce in the R-rated buddy sequel, which arrives in theaters today. The actress is a force of nature from the second she first appears in the film, gunning down countless henchmen while spouting some seriously foul-mouthed obscenities along the way, which is pretty much her entire contribution to the first act.

Ryan Reynolds Is All Washed Up In New Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard Photo

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Reynolds and Jackson generated plenty of chemistry in The Hitman’s Bodyguard, but even those two actors with their penchant for creative profanity are shrinking violets in comparison to Hayek’s gonzo performance as the terrifying matriarch of the unlikely traveling party. The recently released clip unfolds within the first ten minutes of the sequel, and gives you a pretty good indication of where things go from there, and it’s a tone director Patrick Hughes and his cast maintain right through to the closing credits.

It would be foolish to bet against Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard topping the domestic box office this weekend, unless A Quiet Place Part II can hold on for a fourth consecutive frame, but a good old fashioned buddy road trip with a modern sheen and plenty of star power should be more than enough to draw in the crowds.

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Matt Reeves Reportedly Tried To Make The Batman Darker Than The Dark Knight Trilogy

It would be safe to assume that we won’t be getting a live-action version of Batman any time in the near future that looks to Adam West’s 1960s TV series for inspiration, with the Caped Crusader’s big screen adventures having leaned into darkness ever since Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin caused the original franchise to implode over a quarter of a century ago.

Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy was more mature and self-serious than overtly nihilistic when it came to depicting Bruce Wayne’s inner turmoil, while Zack Snyder took things in an even more morose direction, which did admittedly fit Ben Affleck’s portrayal of a world-weary Batman that’s been fighting crime for over two decades and has long since lost all sense of hope and optimism.

The Batman Merch Reveals Another Great Look At Robert Pattinson's Batsuit

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We’ve been hearing constant speculation that Matt Reeves’ The Batman is going to be the darkest outing for the comic book icon yet, to the extent that some Warner Bros. executives are reportedly concerned over the reboot’s mainstream appeal. The latest addition to the rumor mill comes from insider Daniel Richtman, who touts that Reeves tried to make sure his stab at the World’s Greatest Detective was darker than Nolan’s trio of modern classics.

That’s as far as the tipster elaborates on the matter, though, so he doesn’t even outline if Reeves thinks he’s pulled it off, never mind how exactly The Batman is said to plunge even deeper into the depths of despair for Gotham City’s nocturnal vigilante. However, the fact that pretty much all we’ve been hearing about the movie in recent weeks is how dark it’ll be should realistically be a decent indication that Robert Pattinson’s debut under the cape and cowl isn’t going to generate many big laughs.

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Fantastic Beasts 3 Is Reportedly In Big Trouble

We haven’t heard a great deal about Fantastic Beasts 3 since the initial furor over Johnny Depp being forced to resign as Grindelwald, which infuriated the actor’s supporters, leading to widespread calls for a boycott of the latest installment in the Wizarding World prequel series – even if Mads Mikkelsen is about as solid a replacement as you could have hoped for given his penchant for charismatically sinister villains. On the plus side for Depp, he pocketed a reported $16 million for one day of shooting, but he’d obviously much rather remain part of the franchise.

In any case, after the disappointing critical and commercial response to The Crimes of Grindelwald, which became the lowest-grossing and worst-reviewed entry in the entire extended Harry Potter universe, the next outing for Eddie Redmayne’s Newt Scamander is pivotal to the franchise’s long-term future, with two more blockbusters still to go after next summer.

However, insider Daniel Richtman is now claiming that Fantastic Beasts 3 is in big trouble, to the extent that it might even end up releasing as an HBO Max exclusive. Of course, there’s no additional information as to what sort of trouble it’s in, how it reached this point or why things have reportedly gotten to such a worrying stage that the studio is considering pulling it from theaters entirely and taking what would be a seismic financial hit in the process, so it’s hard to gauge if the doomsaying is on point.

Mads Mikkelsen Is Gellert Grindelwald In Fantastic Beasts 3 Fan Art

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That being said, there’ve been similar reports making the rounds as well, like the one below:

I've now heard from multiple people I trust that FANTASTIC BEASTS 3 is (currently) a disaster. An HBO Max-exclusive release is being mulled.

Part of me hopes they turn it around and part of me's in fuck JK Rowling mode.

— David Manning (@ViewerAnon) June 15, 2021

It’s certainly a bit worrying to hear, but we might get a teaser trailer before the end of the year attached to one of Warner Bros.’ major titles, with filming having wrapped back in February. So Fantastic Beasts 3 is at least far enough along the post-production process to cobble something together in the near future so that fans can decide for themselves.

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Scarlett Johansson Regrets Black Widow Being Over-Sexualized In Iron Man 2

Scarlett Johansson became an instant favorite among Marvel Cinematic Universe fans after debuting in Iron Man 2, but for large parts of her screentime it felt as though Natasha Romanoff was little more than window dressing, with her various action beats compensating for a pretty one-dimensional role in the grand scheme of things.

Obviously, in the decade since then, Johansson has gone on to become one of the biggest, most popular and highest-paid female stars in Hollywood, as well as arguably being established as the MCU’s premiere non-superpowerered character. At long last, eleven years after her first appearance and fourteen months behind schedule, Black Widow is finally coming to theaters and Disney Plus Premier Access in a matter of weeks.

The cast and crew have spent a long time sitting on their hands in regards to talking about the movie, and in an interview conducted during production, the leading lady expressed her dismay that Natasha was so heavily over-sexualized in Iron Man 2, but she’s happy that both the MCU and the industry at large have long since made a concerted effort to distance themselves from such depictions.

“All of that is related to that move away from the kind of hyper-sexualization of this character and, I mean, you look back at Iron Man 2 and while it was really fun and had a lot of great moments in it, the character is so sexualized, you know? Really talked about like she’s a piece of something, like a possession or a thing or whatever, like a piece of ass, really. And Tony even refers to her as something like that at one point. What does he say?” It’s changing now. Now people, young girls, are getting a much more positive message, but it’s been incredible to be a part of that shift and be able to come out the other side and be a part of that old story, but also progress. Evolve. I think it’s pretty cool.”

Based on the footage we’ve seen so far, the two-time Academy Award nominee will be looking to go out on a high note when Black Widow arrives on July 9th, although there’s already been a myriad of inevitable rumors that her time as part of the franchise isn’t over by any stretch of the imagination. For now, though, Natasha’s long-awaited solo debut will bring a sense of closure to her arc, and it’s fair to say she’s evolved a great deal since her initial outing as Tony Stark’s undercover secretary.

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