Latest news with #EricPearson
Pink Villa
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
Box Office: Thunderbolts rises with USD 2.7 million Memorial Day Monday, closing in on USD 195 million US total
Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts continues its steady run at the US box office, collecting a solid USD 2.7 million on Memorial Day Monday. The film, which has now amassed USD 174 million domestically, benefited from the holiday boost with an impressive 43.1 percent increase over its previous Monday, despite losing 780 screens due to competition from new titles. The fourth Monday haul places Thunderbolts on track to surpass the lifetime US totals of early MCU titles Captain America: The First Avenger (USD 176.7M) and Thor (USD 181M) within the week. However, while the USD 200 million milestone now appears out of reach, the film is expected to close its domestic run around the USD 195 million mark, an impressive feat for an original ensemble entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Directed by Jake Schreier and written by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo, Thunderbolts features Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, among others. The story centers on a group of morally complex characters brought together for a perilous government mission that forces them to confront their pasts and rely on one another for survival. Initially teased in 2021, the Thunderbolts project was officially announced in 2022 and underwent significant rewrites during its development. Production was delayed by the 2023 Hollywood labour strikes, but filming resumed and concluded in mid-2024 across various locations, including Atlanta, Utah, and Kuala Lumpur. Premiering in London on April 22 before its US release on May 2, Thunderbolts was marketed as the final film of Phase Five of the MCU. The film's ending notably rebranded the team as The New Avengers, with the asterisk in its title symbolizing that transformation. Since then, Marvel Studios has begun embracing the move more prominently in post-release marketing. Despite facing stiff competition from blockbuster hits during the holiday weekend, Thunderbolts carved out its own success both critically and commercially. With a worldwide gross of USD 357 million so far, it currently ranks as the sixth highest-grossing film of 2025. The stronghold on Memorial Day Monday reinforces its staying power in theaters and its appeal to MCU fans eager for the franchise's evolving narrative.
Pink Villa
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
Box Office: Thunderbolts aka The New Avengers slips to No. 3 in US, but shows steady Monday hold
Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts, now marketed as The New Avengers, slipped to No. 3 at the US box office, but its USD 1.8 million gross suggests it still has staying power. Its third Monday performance came after only a 32.5 percent drop from the previous Monday. This is particularly impressive given the mounting competition and the loss of 370 theaters last Friday, including several IMAX locations. In comparison to other MCU titles at the same stage, The New Avengers is holding up better than many. It outperformed third Monday figures for Thor (USD 1.7M, -41.2 percent), Captain America: The First Avenger (USD 1.7M, -51.4 percent), and Black Widow (USD 1.4M, -52.3 percent) and nearly matched Ant-Man (USD 1.9M, -42.2 percent). Notably, it only fell behind Iron Man (USD 3.1M, -20 percent) in terms of third Monday hold among similar Marvel properties. The domestic cumulative total for The New Avengers now stands at USD 157.3 million. The film is poised to surpass Eternals' total US gross of USD 164.9 million by Friday, marking yet another milestone for the ensemble-led title. However, while the film's legs remain controlled, the likelihood of crossing the USD 200 million domestic mark is starting to wane. Industry projections currently place its final US haul between USD 195 million and USD 210 million, depending on how well it performs over the upcoming holiday weekend. Thunderbolts, the 36th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the concluding installment of Phase Five, premiered on April 22, 2025, in London before its US release on May 2 to positive reviews. Directed by Jake Schreier, with a screenplay by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo, the film features an ensemble cast including Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Set around a group of antiheroes forced to collaborate on a high-stakes mission, the movie concluded with the rebranding of the team as The New Avengers. Critically praised and already the fifth highest-grossing film of 2025 with USD 326.3 million worldwide, Thunderbolts continues to demonstrate audience engagement and signals that it is here to not only stay but shape the superhero house's future storyline.
Gizmodo
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Thunderbolts Almost Had Its Own Wild Red Hulk
Screenwriter Eric Pearson revealed another scrapped idea for Marvel Studios' latest release. As the roll out for Thunderbolts has revealed that the rag-tag team of mercenaries are now your New Avengers (or Avengerz, as Red Guardian put it), more is coming to light about how the film was assembled. Co-screenwriter and story writer Eric Pearson has given post-release interviews talking about Taskmaster's original role in the film, as well as the decision not to include Baron Zemo. Another major change just came to light—this time, regarding Wyatt Russell's character, John Walker/U.S. Agent. Speaking to the Wrap. Pearson said the film's line-up before Sentry's inclusion rested on a reveal that Walker was going to turn into a Red Hulk as the film's big bad as a fail-safe put in by Valentina. Pearson shared, 'Part of Valentina's manipulation was that she had tricked him into thinking he needed constant medication but what she was really doing was planting a time bomb in him if she needed to set him off.' That was intended to break the would-be team apart but instead would serve as another team-building challenge, he said. 'Taking Walker, the most antagonistic member of the team, the most abrasive, and then turning him into something that they choose not to kill, but to try and save.' He continued that the idea 'did not feel right' and Walker as the second Red Hulk right after Harrison Ford in Captain America: Brave New World was scrapped. This line of thinking led to including a new character and Pearson suggested Sentry, a character he'd learned about during his time in the Marvel Writers Program. 'I always remember loving the kind of idea of, what if Superman had a version of himself with that was as bad as it was good?' Pearson said of the role Lewis Pullman ended up taking over; it has a similar heel turn that mirrors the inner conflict all the anti-heroes grapple with—'heroic ambition versus self-loathing'—but without a repeat character. Thunderbolts is now in theaters.
Geek Tyrant
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
THUNDERBOLTS* Writer Talks Street-Level Hero Absences, Deleted Scenes, and a Very Hungover Teen — GeekTyrant
If you watched Thunderbolts* and wondered, where Spider-Man and Daredevil were when The Void turned Manhattan into a living nightmare, you're not alone. In a recent interview with Screen Rant, writer Eric Pearson shared some behind-the-scenes insights about the film's creative decisions, including those missing heroes, scrapped character arcs, and some quirky deleted scenes that didn't make the final cut. Let's start with the big Void in the room… Why didn't we see a single street-level superhero during the chaos in New York? No Spidey swinging in. No Devil of Hell's Kitchen throwing punches. Pearson had a cautious response: "I'm going to take the fifth on that one. I haven't looked at the map closely enough of where it went. I'm not sure if it went to Bleecker Street yet. But I also think that the time of it is happening so much faster than you expect." That leads to Pearson's explanation of how time might work in The Void: 'That expansion and retraction of time is different. As we say in Thor: Ragnarok, 'Time works real different around here.' When you're in the Void Space, who knows how long it's been? Maybe it's been one second.' So, The timeline's fuzzy, reality was bending, and Spidey might've been grabbing a slice of pizza one block away the entire time. Pearson also shared some early plans for Bucky Barnes that didn't make it to the screen. Originally, Bucky was meant to show up as a "lobbyist," essentially used by politicians as a prop for Avenger-branded PR. 'Used by politicians to just stand there and propagandize Avenger stuff,' Pearson described. Bucky was actually undercover, working with Senator Gary. Eventually, that arc was dropped, likely in favor of Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige's idea to make Bucky a Congressman. One of the biggest shifts in the script involved Vault Level 5, the bleak government facility where things initially go sideways for the Thunderbolts. Pearson's original draft leaned more into a 'team-building retreat gone wrong' vibe. "There were just a few more obstacles; it was set up a little bit more like a team building weekend, when corporations go and do trust falls and rope courses. 'It just took a little bit longer to get out there, and they didn't really fully get out until probably the end of Act 2.' But the studio wanted the story to be tighter, more contained. He shared: 'I threw the Die Hard word out there, which is always a dangerous pitch to make. Let's keep it contained, and then our third act will be somewhere else.' Eventually, the escape timeline shifted forward to the midpoint of the movie, to keep the pace snappy. Director Jake Schreier also wanted to lean into some lighter, road-trip moments, one of which involved a totally random party casualty. 'There was one version where they drove to take cover at a house, and it was the morning after some high school kid had thrown a party. 'He was just there, very hungover, and was kind of their buddy for a second because he had trashed his house and was just waiting to get in trouble.' That random kid almost became a temporary sidekick, but the scene dragged. Pearson said: 'At that point in the movie, you really want to gain momentum. And we were sitting and hanging out with this random kid for 5 pages.' So, no hungover party bro, no rope-course bonding, no Bucky lobbying Congress on-screen, just the tight strong version of the story that made it to theaters. And if you're wondering why Pearson isn't looped into all the final decisions? He's moved on to the Fantastic Four: First Steps project, with The Bear 's Joanna Calo polishing Thunderbolts ' final draft before shooting began.
Geek Tyrant
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
THUNDERBOLTS* Screenwriter Was Shocked That His Big Story Arc For Taskmaster Was Cut From The Film — GeekTyrant
In a move that even surprised the guy who wrote a draft of the script, Marvel's Thunderbolts* axed a major Taskmaster storyline, and screenwriter Eric Pearson only found out about it the same way fans did: by watching the movie. Pearson, who also wrote Black Widow , had no idea Taskmaster's arc was gutted until he saw an early cut of the film, Pearson told Polygon: "It was decided after my work. When I sat down to watch the first cut, one thing was totally different and shocked the hell out of me, and it was that. Everything else, I was like, 'Yeah, that's the movie that I wrote!' But that decision…" In the final film, Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), the brainwashed assassin introduced in Black Widow , is abruptly killed off early on… shot in the head by Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) during the infamous vault sequence. It's a moment that was clearly designed for shock value, but it also left some fans scratching their heads. Turns out, they weren't alone. Originally, Taskmaster wasn't just another body to drop. Pearson revealed that she had 'a pretty big subplot' in his draft, one that actually gave her and Ghost an emotional throughline. He explained: "As people who'd grown up in labs and been controlled that way," the two were supposed to form a bond. 'And Ava, having won her autonomy earlier in the chronology than Taskmaster, was kind of big-sistering her a little bit, in a way of 'how to break free and be your own person.'' There was even a comedic twist to it. Taskmaster, still struggling with memory loss from her past trauma, would repeatedly forget she and Ghost were no longer enemies. 'There was a gag where she just kept restarting the fight and forgetting that they had made up and become friends. They would be discussing the plan of how to get out [of the vault], and she'd just go after him again, and they'd all have to pig-pile on each other, and pull her off, and be like, 'No, we know each other! We've had this conversation before!'' Director Jake Schreier addressed the change in a previous interview, saying it was about injecting uncertainty into the story. 'Obviously, it's a big decision. We felt like a movie like this needed something like that, where you're like, 'Okay, if they'll do that, they could do anything,' you know, and you don't really know exactly where the thing is going to go. It needed a bit of shock or surprise." Sure, the shock was there. But now that we know what was left on the cutting room floor, a layered, funny, and redemptive subplot for two of the MCU's most tragic figures. Iit's hard not to wonder what Thunderbolts* could've been if Marvel had let that story play out. Would you have preferred the original Taskmaster-Ghost storyline?
