How The Vulture Became the Villain 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' Needed

How The Vulture Became the Villain 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' Needed

Michael Keaton steps into the shoes of Adrian Toomes, one of the first bad guys Spidey fought in the comic books.

Adrian Toomes is an old man with a bad attitude. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Toomes, better known as the Vulture, first appeared in 1963’s Amazing Spider-Man #2 and was the second supervillain Spider-Man fought while he was still getting his feet wet during the Silver Age of comics. Since their first showdown, the Vulture has grown into one of Spidey’s key antagonists. He’s a founding member of the Sinister Six supervillain supergroup and is the central villain in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming film. Not bad for a guy who looks like he should be using a walker and some Bengay when he’s out of costume.

Despite his frail looks, the Vulture is unquestionably deadly. Prior to turning to a life of crime, Toomes was a brilliant engineer who developed a specialized harness that gave him the gift of flight and precise maneuverability. The device also augments Toomes’ strength. Toomes originally wanted to sell his invention, but he turned to a life of crime after he was betrayed by his business partner, Gregory Bestman.

The Vulture’s aerial abilities are directly responsible for a key part of Peter Parker/Spider-Man’s biography. In the Vulture’s first appearance, the Daily Bugle newspaper calls on anyone who can get a photo of New York’s newest supervillain. To earn some extra cash, Peter decides to leverage his web-slinging abilities to snap some pics of the Vulture mid-flight, leading to his long-standing arrangement as a Bugle freelance photographer.

While a number of creators have tackled the Vulture across all media over the years, nobody made him as compelling as Roger Stern, who wrote a number of Amazing and Spectacular Spider-Man issues in the early ’80s. Stern has long maintained that the Vulture is the perfect antagonist for Spider-Man: “It’s old age and sneakiness versus youth and determination.” As a result, Stern provided Toomes with an origin story more than 20 years after the character was first introduced, while also adding a more personal touch to the Spider-Man/Vulture feud by having the villain interact with Peter’s Aunt May and her geriatric boyfriend, Nathan Lubensky.

Beyond Toomes, a number of others have taken on the mantel of the Vulture at various points in Spider-Man history. Blackie Drago, a cellmate of Toomes’ in prison, enjoyed a short stint as the Vulture in the mid-'60s when he stole the original’s costume and harness. A third Vulture briefly appeared in a 1973 issue of Amazing when Empire State University professor Clifton Shallot went mad and experimented on himself, turning him into a supervillain. During the “Brand New Day” era of Amazing Spider-Manin the late 2000s, a totally different kind of Vulture was created by Mark Waid and Mike McKone: Jimmy Natale was a lowly Maggia crime family goon who underwent a horrible experiment and was transformed into a grotesque half-vulture creature that could barely speak and who vomited acid into people’s faces. Talk about heartburn.

Years before the villain would make his big-screen debut in Spider-Man: Homecoming, the Vulture was the rumored big bad in the unmade Spider-Man 4. John Malkovich, who was also in the mix to play Norman Osborn/Green Goblin for the first Spider-Man film a decade earlier, would eventually confirm that he had signed on to play the Vulture, expressing disappointment that it never came to fruition.

Source by : http://picocurl.com/1FwI

Tubelight, Raees and Kaabil delivered huge profits for the makers BUT distributors lost their monies

Tubelight, Raees and Kaabil delivered huge profits for the makers BUT distributors lost their monies

Half the year has already passed and we have witnessed multiple big ticket releases hitting screens. However, unlike Baahubali 2 – The Conclusion most of the other highly talked about and anticipated releases like Raees, Kaabil and Tubelight have found the going rather tough at the box office. In fact we had earlier in the case of both Raees and Kaabil reported on how while the makers of the film laughed their way to the bank it was the distributors of each that had to bear the brunt of their box office under performance.

Now in the case of the recently released Salman Khan starrer Tubelight that was directed by Kabir Khan, the story isn’t much different. Released across 5550 screens worldwide Tubelight that hit screens on the Friday before Eid was produced by Salman Khan Films (SKF). Being one of the most eagerly awaited releases of 2017, Tubelight that marked the reunion of Salman and Kabir after their highly successful previous release Bajrangi Bhaijaan was expected to fast become yet another record setting film. Considering these facts, NH Studioz acquired the all India distribution rights of the film for a staggering Rs. 132 cr.

However, while the makers of the film managed not only to recover their initial investment with revenue from the sale of its distribution, satellite and music rights of the film, NH Studioz that had taken a gamble on the same wound up paying a rather high price. Considering the fact that Tubelight, stands to make approx. Rs. 125 cr by the end of its theatrical run, the distributors stand to earn 45% of total box office collections which amounts to approximately Rs. 56 cr. Thanks to this the local distributors that had secured the all India territory rights for Tubelight are looking at a loss of close to Rs. 75 cr.

Similarly in the case of Raees and Kaabil that hit screens earlier this year, Anil Thadani had shelled out a whopping Rs. 70 crores to acquire the distribution rights of Raees, however post the underperformance of the film at the box office; he managed to recover approximately Rs. 60-65 crores. On the other hand in the case of Kaabil while the exact amount received by its makers for the distribution rights isn’t known, Rakesh Roshan managed to earn a profit within the range of Rs. 80-85 cr.

Looking at the current spate of distributors having to bear the brunt of a Bollywood big ticket entertainer’s underperformance at the box office, it is safe to question when the norms of sale and profit share will change.

Source by : http://picocurl.com/1Fpu

Conan O'Brien Inks New 4-Year Deal With TBS, 'Conan' to Remain Nightly (For Now)

Under the new pact, he'll expand into digital, podcasting, mobile gaming and more via his Conaco banner.
Conan O'Brien isn't going anywhere.

Turner-owned TBS on Wednesday announced that O'Brien has signed a new four-year deal to remain with the cable network, thus extending his late-night talk show Conan for another four years through 2022.

Under the new pact, Conan will remain a nightly series — at least for now — as well as expand into digital, branded content, podcasting, mobile gaming, premium TV and live tours. The all-encompassing pact also includes a renewal of production company Conaco — which produces Conan, TBS scripted comedy People of Earth as well as upcoming animated space comedy Final Space.

"Conan continues to prove his vibrancy night after night and his incredible command of the digital and social space has only built on his young, connected audience," said Kevin Reilly, president of TNT and TBS. "This next chapter will provide support for Conan and Jeff [Ross, Conan EP] to expand the boundaries from a 'talk show' to a range of personality-based, cross-platform experiences."

Said O'Brien: "The TV landscape has changed dramatically since I inherited the traditional talk show format in 1993. In the past few years I've stumbled across many new and exciting ways of connecting with my audience, and I’m eager to evolve my show into something leaner, more agile and more unpredictable. I also want a pony."

The news reaffirms that Conan will remain nightly — at least for now — but O'Brien's quote further indicates TBS' desire to expand the late-night host's brand and evolve the little-watched show. In January, Reilly told THR that he wanted TBS to capitalize on O'Brien's massive online following — which has included a number of viral videos as well as specials filmed on location across the globe.

"Television is going to continue to be a huge part of his presence, but you can also anticipate a series of announcements between now and the upfronts [in May] that will shed even more light on what we're talking about," Reilly said at the time. "It's is a distinct possibility that the show may evolve, but that's going to come from Conan as more of these things take shape. Between now and May, quite a few of them will be taking shape."

Conan has the youngest audience of any late-night series and has an equally impressive digital presence with more than 3.4 billion video views.

source by : http://riffhold.com/1vbb

Salman Khan to Release Tubelight Song Radio in Dubai

Salman Khan is going all out to promote his upcoming Eid release Tubelight and why not? Eid has always been an important period for Salman and all his releases from ‘Dabangg’ to ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ have turned out to be blockbusters when they hit the theatres during Eid.

Right now, Salman’s attention is focused on the Kabir Khan-directed Tubelight though the shoot for Yashraj’s Tiger Zinda Hai is also on in full swing in Abu Dhabi. Today (May 16, 2017) however is a big day for Salman fans as the star will release the song Radio from Tubelight. The picture which has been released to the media sees an innocent looking Salman being perched on people’s shoulders!
Salman will release the song at Arabian Centre this evening amidst his fans and needless to say, we can expect a massive frenzy! Meanwhile, his shoot of Tiger Zinda Hai goes on in Abu Dhabi. Check out this cute image of a relaxed Salman and Katrina doing the rounds on the internet. For someone who has a big release in just a few weeks, he looks pretty chilled out, doesn’t he? 

source by : http://riffhold.com/1vaQ

Commando 2 box office collection day 1: Vidyut Jammwal film collects Rs 4.65 crore

Commando 2 box office collection day 1: Vidyut Jammwal film has collected Rs 4.65 crore on opening day.

Commando 2 starring Vidyut Jammwal comes after four years of its prequel, Commando. The film has collected Rs 4.65 crore, according to a report in Bollywood Hungama. Commando 2 has done better than it’s prequel – Commando that had collected Rs 3.69 crore on its opening day. The film was a solo Bollywood release this weekend that seemed to have benefited Commando 2.

Like the first instalment Commando, its USP is high-octane action sequences by Vidyut. Like other action films including Ghayal Once Again, Force 2 and Rocky Handsome, this film was expected to do decent business on opening day. Here’s how much the first-day collection of recent actioners have been: Ghayal Once Again – Rs 7.2 cr, Force 2 – Rs 6.05 cr, Rocky Handsome – Rs 5.39 cr and Force – Rs 5 cr.

The film is directed by well-known comic actor Deven Bhojani and produced by Vipul Shah. Besides being an action film, Commando 2 also explores issues like demonetisation and black money. The film also stars Esha Gupta, Adah Sharma and Shefali Shah in important roles.

Vidyut during an interview with indianexpress.com insists that action in Commando 2 is better than the first iteration. Director Deven Bhojani couldn’t agree more.”Vidyut got injured on the third day of the shoot. He got a ligament tear and was hospitalised. We thought of wrapping the shoot but Vidyut said, ‘give me a couple of days and let’s keep continuing shooting,” said Deven.

When asked if he is under pressure to deliver a Rs 100-crore hit, Vidyut said, “I am an actor. It’s a director and producer’s problem. I am hired to do a job and I did it well. Now, if the film doesn’t do well, it’s not in my destiny. But I have done my job well.”

Producer Vipul Shah also spoke about numbers, “There is a public perception and there is the reality. Film business like any other is decided by returns on investment. We are living in perception in India. If we print a big number, then there is a perception that the film is hit. There are many movies that have declared Rs 100-crore business but have actually lost money. Numbers printed on newspapers can be right, but that doesn’t mean movies are profitable. If a film is made at a cost of Rs 120 crore and makes Rs 100 crore, it’s not profitable. On the other hand, if my film collects Rs 80 crore and is made on a budget of Rs 20 crore, then it’s a better hit.”

When asked if footfalls are falling in theatres and movies are not making money, Vipul said, “If you make a bad movie, you can’t expect people to watch them. Dangal has recently broken all the record. It released in the last month of demonetisation when people were struggling for cash, still, Dangal went ahead and made Rs 400. How is it possible if people are not interested in watching movies? We must make better films, people will come. People want to watch films.”

Asked if Vidyut considers Tiger Shroff as a competition, the actor said, “My competition is with a divine sun. It’s been 30 years since the time I have been competing with it. I wake up before the sun rises. If you are competing with the divine, you don’t worry about others. I have no competition and I don’t believe that I am competition to anybody.”

source : http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/commando-2-box-office-collection-day-1-vidyut-jammwal-film-4553001/