Actor Jeremy Renner in critical condition after snow plow accident

LOS ANGELES -- Movie star Jeremy Renner, known for his role as Hawkeye in several Marvel blockbusters, was in critical but stable condition following an accident, his representative told US media on Sunday.

Renner had been plowing snow when he suffered serious injuries, a representative told The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.

"We can confirm Jeremy is in critical but stable condition with injuries suffered after experiencing a weather-related accident while plowing snow earlier today," Renner's representative told the outlet, without specifying where the accident took place.

"His family is with him and he is receiving excellent care," the representative, who was unnamed, added.

Renner, 51, has been nominated for two Oscars for his roles in "The Hurt Locker" and "The Town."

He has also appeared as Clint Barton, also known as superhero Hawkeye, in several Marvel films and a recent miniseries.

Renner owns property near Mt. Rose-Ski Tahoe, an area near Reno, Nevada that has been hit by winter storms, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

He recently posted on social media about severe weather conditions in the area around Lake Tahoe, which borders California and Nevada and is a world-renowned skiing destination.

On December 13, Renner tweeted a photo of a car buried by snow with the caption "Lake Tahoe snowfall is no joke."

Agence France-Presse

Disneyland's Avengers area to open in June with Spider-Man, shawarma

LOS ANGELES -- A new Avengers-themed area featuring a Spider-Man ride, roaming superheroes and a shawarma food cart will open at Walt Disney Co’s Disneyland Resort in California on June 4, the head of the company’s parks division said on Thursday.

The debut will come weeks after the resort in Anaheim, about 35 miles southeast of Los Angeles, begins welcoming back guests for the first time in a year starting on April 30.

Disneyland, the original Disney theme park, and neighboring California Adventure were closed in March 2020 to help prevent spread of the novel coronavirus. The shutdown thwarted plans to open the Avengers Campus in July 2020.

Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney parks, experiences and products, announced the new opening date as he offered a glimpse of the Avengers attractions during a pre-taped video shown to reporters.

In a new Spider-Man ride called “Web Slingers,” which combines physical and virtual environments, guests will team with Spidey to capture out-of-control Spider-Bots.

“You will swear Peter Parker’s right there,” said Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, referring to Spider-Man’s alter ego.

A swinging Spider-Man character also will perform acrobatics above the park’s rooftops. The character is a “stuntronic” robot designed to perform somersaults while flying 60 feet in the air, Disney said.

Black Panther, Black Widow, Doctor Strange, Iron Man also will found in the park, as well as a Quinjet, an advanced aircraft used by the Avengers.

“There’s only one place you can see one of our Quinjets,” Feige said. “It’s either in the movie or it’s here.”

Food options will include a cart offering shawarma, a nod to a scene at the end of the 2012 “Avengers” movie when various superheroes ate the Middle Eastern dish together after saving the world.

Visitors to Disneyland will need advance reservations and must follow COVID-19 safety precautions including wearing masks and social distancing.

-reuters-

'Game of Thrones' cast defend final season at Comic-Con

SAN DIEGO -- The "Game of Thrones" cast leapt to the defense of its much-maligned final season in front of a boisterous crowd at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, blaming the backlash on negative media coverage.

The HBO fantasy epic's conclusion enraged fans around the world, and organizers of the pop culture convention reminded attendees before the retrospective panel to make the cast "feel welcome."

While the cast drew a rapturous reception, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau -- who played Jaime Lannister -- was booed after describing his character's death in the arms of his sister and lover Cersei as "perfect."

"It made sense to me," said the actor, before being interrupted by a heckler.

"This show has brought so many people together, watching it, loving it. So obviously when it comes to an end it's going to piss you off no matter what... just don't call people names," he added. 

An online petition to HBO to remake the final season with "competent writers" was signed by 1.6 million people.

The panel was billed as the show creators' first public outing following the backlash.

But showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss quietly withdrew along with two cast members earlier in the week.

The remaining members expressed support for the final season. Conleth Hill -- who played Varys -- described the fan response to the show over the years as extremely positive, referring to the negativity as a "media-led hate campaign."

The atmosphere quickly lightened as cast members joked about stealing props from the set.

John Bradley, known to fans as Samwell Tarly, addressed another controversy, shooting down theories that he was to blame for a plastic water bottle accidentally left in shot during the final season.
"Pardon me for being thirsty," he joked.

TV takes over

After Hollywood film stars Tom Cruise and Arnold Schwarzenegger dominated Thursday's opening day, television took center stage at Comic-Con Friday.

Netflix surprised attendees by screening the first episode of "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance," its upcoming prequel series to Jim Henson's classic 1982 fantasy film.

Its combination of old-fashioned puppetry and cutting-edge visual effects aims to cast a spell on old and young alike.

Mark Hamill and "Rocketman" star Taron Egerton -- who both provide voices -- appeared in a panel discussion.

Fan favorite Hamill was presented with Comic-Con's "Icon Award," telling the audience he felt lucky "to be able to do all the things I loved as a kid and get paid for it."

"This is just seems wildly excessive," the "Star Wars" actor joked about the accolade, before serenading the crowd with his "Buddi" song from the film "Child's Play."

Amazon Prime wheeled out "Carnival Row," starring Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne, which is set in a fantastical Victorian-esque world filled with mythological immigrant creatures. 

Bloom said it was a "great gift and opportunity" to be in a show which was "so timely and... spoke to a lot of the issues with relevance to what's happening in the world today."

AMC used its annual "Walking Dead" franchise panels to confirm veteran Danai Gurira -- who appeared in the recent blockbuster "Avengers" movies -- will depart the zombie show.

Gurira, who first appeared on the series in 2012, received a standing ovation.

Plans were also teased for a series of films starring Andrew Lincoln, who announced his own departure from the show -- the highest rated series in cable television history -- at last year's Comic-Con.

Avengers eye record

Earlier, "Avengers: Endgame" directors Joe and Anthony Russo said it would be a "big thrill" to pass the all-time box office record held by "Avatar," as they set out plans to collaborate with a number of different stars from the Marvel superhero universe.

"Endgame" is inching ever closer to surpassing James Cameron’s $2.788 billion haul. It is currently just $5 million short, and was still playing in 1,400 US theaters at the weekend despite being released in April.

"James Cameron has always been an idol of ours... to be so close to one of his great films is really special," said Anthony.

The filmmaking brothers said their next project "Cherry," starring "Spider-Man" actor Tom Holland, will be a "mature" and "complicated" look at the US opioid crisis.

"It's touched our families, the crisis, so it's a deeply personal movie for us," said Anthony. Filming will begin in October.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Stan Lee ex-manager charged with elder abuse against comic book icon

LOS ANGELES—The former manager of Stan Lee has been charged with elder abuse against the late comic book legend, a Los Angeles court official said on Monday.

Keya Morgan was charged on Friday with five counts of elder abuse, including false imprisonment, fraud and forgery stemming from an incident last summer when Lee was 95 years old, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Superior Court public information office told Los Angeles City News Service.

The spokeswoman added that a warrant for Morgan's arrest had been issued.

Morgan, a New York-based memorabilia collector who became involved with Lee in 2017, was served with a restraining order last year after Lee's family accused him of elder abuse.

The Los Angeles District Attorney's office on Monday said it was unable to provide any information. An attorney for Morgan could not be located but last year Morgan denied allegations of abuse.

Lee, the co-creator of "Spider-Man," "Iron Man," "The Hulk" and dozens of other Marvel superheroes, died in November 2018 at the age of 95.

In court documents last year, Morgan was accused of seizing control of Lee's Hollywood Hills home and hiring security guards with orders to keep away relatives and associates before moving the comic book creator to an unfamiliar condominium.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Disney's 'Avengers: Endgame' sets opening day record in China

LOS ANGELES - Marvel superhero movie "Avengers: Endgame" set an opening-day record in China with an estimated $107.2 million in ticket sales, distributor Walt Disney Co said on Wednesday.

"Endgame" is the final chapter of a story told across 22 Marvel films featuring popular characters such as Iron Man, Thor, and Black Widow.

The movie earned rave reviews from critics and is expected to draw huge crowds as it debuts in the rest of the world this week.

As of Wednesday morning, 97 percent of "Endgame" reviews collected by the Rotten Tomatoes website were positive.

The film picks up after last year's "Avengers: Infinity War," when many of Marvel's big-screen superheroes appeared to turn to dust. In "Endgame," the survivors plot to kill the supervillain Thanos.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Hollywood's China dreams get tangled in trade talks

BEIJING - Hollywood's push for greater access to China's booming film market - delayed since last year - has become tangled in broader trade talks between Washington and Beijing, a potentially thorny position amid whipsawing trade relations.

Negotiations to raise a Chinese quota on imported films and boost the share that overseas producers get of box office takings are now being discussed within the broader framework of a US-China trade stand-off, 4 industry sources said.

The shift from earlier talks is a double-edged sword for US producers looking at China's $8.6 billion cinema market. It could be bad news if broader talks go sour, but it could offer a potential path forward if the two countries find common ground.

"It wouldn't really hit the domestic movie business much whether we bring in more foreign movies or not," said Yu Jianhong, vice president of Beijing Film Academy. "This should be something both parties can agree on."

China's quota system allows 34 imported movies a year to be shown in theaters, while overseas producers get a 25 percent share of box office takings - less than in other international markets. Since 2016 a handful more have been allowed in via a "cultural exchange" channel.

In a government document provided to the US delegation in Beijing two weeks ago, Chinese negotiators said that opening up the market more for US movies was a concession China could offer to Washington as part of a broader trade deal.

The document, seen by Reuters, said that China was "willing to discuss expanding movie imports with the US side".

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is currently in Washington leading a Chinese trade delegation on a second round of talks to find a deal with the United States and avert a full-blown trade war between the world's two biggest economies.

China on Friday said it was dropping an anti-dumping probe into imports of US sorghum, a conciliatory gesture hours after US officials familiar with the matter said China was offering a package to slash the US trade deficit by up to $200 billion.

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump criticized China as being "very spoiled" on trade with the United States but said he was aiming for an overall deal with Beijing.

'ON PAUSE'

US studios had hoped for an improved deal for imported films last year. This, however, had been held up as Beijing rejigged its film regulator, handing more control to the ruling Communist Party, and then as trade tensions with the United States grew.

"The movie deal is essentially on pause," one person familiar with US-China negotiations on the movie agreement told Reuters, adding that Beijing's willingness to ease up would likely be swayed by the state of trade tensions.

Hollywood producers are pushing for more access, but a bigger share of revenues was even higher on the agenda, especially as locally-made productions became more competitive.

China has become a key market for US studios from Walt Disney Co to Universal Pictures. "The Fate of the Furious", the latest installment of Universal's "The Fast and the Furious" franchise, was the second top grossing film in China last year while "Avengers: Infinity War" has taken 1.6 billion yuan ($251.23 million) so far this year.

China's box office revenue rose 13.45 percent last year to 55.91 billion yuan, accelerating after a sharp slowdown in 2016.

Jacob Parker, vice president of China operations at the US-China Business Council, said firms were more concerned about the revenue split for films they brought to China, though higher quotas would be well received too.

"Profit sharing is a higher priority," he said, and studios "would like to see 45 percent as opposed to 25 percent." He added: "Forty-five percent is what companies receive in most other markets where they operate."

Hollywood movies, which once ruled in China, are seeing a rising challenge from locally-made productions, while a spate of tie-ups and financing deals have gone sour amid cultural clashes and a brighter spotlight on risky Chinese investments.

China is also looking to tighten control over content, potentially at odds with allowing in more overseas productions, which generally will have to get past domestic censors.

"China has pledged to open its market on a lot of fronts, but you have to consider the special aspect of culture and entertainment industry," said Beijing Film Academy's Yu.

"It has the education and ideology feature so it would be treated differently."

source: news.abs-cbn.com