Disney This Week: Mary Poppins Returns, Dumbo & More!

By Max Evry

We’re back with another edition of our regular weekly feature Disney This Week here at ComingSoon.net, rounding up the latest news on all things Disney, including news on movies, TV, Blu-ray/DVD, Marvel Studios, theme parks and more. Let us know what excited you most about Disney This Week in the comments below!

RELATED: Star Wars News: The Last Jedi, Episode IX and More

Movies

D23: Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Stan Lee, and More to Be Honored as Disney Legends

The Walt Disney Company announced that the upcoming D23 Expo 2017 will honor nine contributors to the Disney legacy by christening them Disney Legends. Hosted by Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger, the Disney Legends Award ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 14, in Hall D23 of the Anaheim Convention Center.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Disney Legends Awards with the first Disney Legend being Fred MacMurray (The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-Minded Professor, The Happiest Millionaire), who was honored in 1987.

“The Disney Legends Award is the highest honor our company can bestow on an individual, reserved for those few who have truly made an indelible mark on the history of The Walt Disney Company,” said Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger. “It’s a celebration of talent, a recognition of achievement, and an expression of gratitude to the men and women whose work has significantly contributed to Disney’s enduring reputation for creative excellence.”

The 2017 Disney Legends Award honorees are: Carrie Fisher, Clyde “Gerry” Geronimi, Manuel Gonzales, Mark Hamill, Wayne Jackson, Stan Lee, Garry Marshall, Julie Taymor and Oprah Winfrey.

Honorees receive a two-foot-tall bronze Disney Legends sculpture that signifies the imagination, creativity, and magic they have brought to the Company. Disney Legends Award recipients will also participate in a handprint ceremony at the end of the event, and their bronzed prints will be displayed in the Disney Legends Plaza at the Company’s Burbank headquarters.

Put Your Seat Belts on for Another Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 TV Spot

Marvel Studios has released an extended version of a previously-seen Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 TV spot, featuring none other than your favorite intergalactic hero, Star-Munch. Check it out in the player below!

Everyone Wants to Kill the Guardians of the Galaxy in New TV Spot

James Gunn revealed a new Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 TV spot, featuring some new bits of footage from the upcoming sequel. Check it out in the player below!

Hi-Res Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Photos Have Plenty of Baby Groot

Marvel Studios has released some new photos from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 along with some hi-res versions of previously-seen images. CHECK THEM OUT AT THE LINK ABOVE, along with a video of star Chris Pratt offering a Throwback Thursday history of the Walkman.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Banners Debut, You’re Welcome

James Gunn has revealed new Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 banners, featuring your favorite intergalactic a-holes.

CHECK THEM OUT AT THE LINK ABOVE!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 China Release Date and Poster

James Gunn revealed the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 China release date and poster. He said the following on Facebook:

I’m happy to announce Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opens in theaters all over China on May 5th, same day as in the US! I’m so happy that all our release dates across the globe are much closer together than they were the last time around (places like Italy and Japan opened a month or more after Europe) so we can enjoy the movie together!

While that’s great news for China, that country and the U.S. are still having to wait more than a week after the sequel starts opening in countries such as Australia and Italy on April 25. You can view the full list of international release dates here. This has been the tradition with all of the recent Marvel Studios releases that open in May in the U.S., however.

CHECK OUT THE POSTER AT THE LINK ABOVE!

Stan Lee Visits the Set of Avengers: Infinity War

Production continues on the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War and a special guest made his way to the set late last week – none other than Stan Lee! It was previously reported that Lee had been in Atlanta last year to film four different cameos for four upcoming projects, so it remains to be seen if this was simply a friendly visit or filming yet another cameo for the upcoming movie. You can check out a photo of Lee with star Karen Gillan below!

Nebula and the legend and marvel mastermind @therealstanlee

A post shared by Karen Gillan (@karengillanofficial) on

How Spider-Man: Homecoming Begins and Ties into the MCU

The structure of the Marvel Cinematic Universe typically has the films taking place right around the time they’re released in theaters, but the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming will be doing things a little differently. While many might expect it to pick up a year after last year’s Captain America: Civil War, where Tom Holland made his debut as the webslinger, the film actually dials the clock back, way back, all the way to Phase 1 of the MCU.

Spider-Man: Homecoming will begin just after the conclusion of 2012’s The Avengers, as the clean-up of the Battle of New York has begun, not only retconning the character’s place in the world but grounding it in the ideals Marvel wanted to explore in the film.

“All the other movies so far, take place in this weird penthouse level,” executive producer Eric Carroll told us on set. “Where you’ve met this alien royalty, and Tony Stark, who very literally lives in a penthouse. (Spider-Man) is a guy who grew up in a world where all these characters are real. Seeing it from the ground, what is that like? How is that different?”

The film literally begins in the shadow of Stark Tower, now with its trademark “A” still hanging on. Michael Keaton’s Toomes has arrived with his boys to begin the clean-up process, a nice little contract he’s picked up for his salvage business, only to be stopped by the Department of Damage Control (a nod to the classic Marvel comic series) who are taking over the clean up and send Toomes away. (You can read our full report on the Vulture’s role in the film by clicking here).

Following that, and the Sony and Marvel logos, things will jump into the middle of Civil War, just after Tony Stark has recruited Peter to his side of the fight. A montage will show Peter’s exploits in leaving New York, riding on a private jet to Germany, and taking place in the big airport fight. We’ll also see what he did right after that, hanging around in Europe… literally, as he explores the world in his brand-new Spider-Man suit.

“It’s kind of the first time you get to see this tone,” Carroll says. “We’re really excited about, and we think is fun.”

Then, snap back to reality.

“After seeing all this amazing, glamourous stuff,” Carroll says “Boom… hard cut to him back in his cold weather gear. Riding the subway to school. Crammed next to all the other students, riding public transportation to school and we’ll realize that he’s still waiting for his call from Tony.”

Spider-Man Cast and Crew Talk Zendaya’s Role in the Film

Just days before we visited the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming, the news broke. Fans had often speculated it beforehand, but once it was reported that Zendaya’s role in the film was secretly none other than Mary Jane Watson, it was hard to get that genie back in a bottle.

Throughout our time on the set, the question was posed, whether it was true or not, but the tight lips at Marvel would never say it was; in fact, producer Eric Carroll promised the following:

“I can tell you that Zendaya is playing a character named Michelle, and that I promise you when the movie comes out her name is Michelle.”

Not that the production didn’t have fun with the rumors and theories circulating the internet.

“They’re usually wrong, so it’s really fun to watch people respond to all these incorrect rumors and reveal a lot of other things that they think might be going on,” director Jon Watts said with a laugh. “It’s like being a magician because you’re like ‘Nah, nah, nope. Oh? Close! Nope, wrong again.’ Then every once in a while someone will have a crazy theory or a weird idea and then you’re like ‘Oh, that’s pretty cool. Can we do that? Is it too late? Can we figure out a way to write that in?’ I love it.”

Star Tom Holland also chimed in about the “controversy” and how Zendaya wouldn’t let it affect her.

“This whole, you can’t cast someone who’s not of the right race for a character and such, I really feel like we’re breaking through and changing that. And Z is perfect. She’s so strong willed, it’s not going to shake her at all.

Holland went on to describe “Michelle” as well, and her relationship with Peter and the other kids.

“Michelle is a very interesting character,” he said. “We’ll be doing a scene with all of the other cast members, and then she’ll sort of pitch in and we’ll be like, ‘That was a strange thing to say,’ and then we’ll continue on with our dialogue. It’s a very fun character, and Z has really brought a lot of herself to the character.”

Watts chimed in later about what makes the character so fun to him, saying:

“I always thought of her as being a version of Ally Sheedy in The Breakfast Club, what Linda Cardellini is like in Freaks and Geeks, it’s just a cool character and it’s cool for her to be that character. She has a really cool wardrobe, really funny, lots of literary nods. I like the idea that she’s a real reader and bookish. She always has a big pile of books she’s carrying around, which I picked and obsessed over.”

Producers Talk the Future of Spider-Man in the MCU

As with every Marvel Studios film, despite fans eagerly anticipating seeing the feature itself, the future is always a question lingering in the back of minds and on the tip of tongues, and Spider-Man is no different.

The future is already being looked at for Spider-Man, with at least two more movies being planned for the web slinger, corresponding to his remaining years as a student, and appearance in Avengers: Infinity War.

“We really want to do multiple movies where he’s in high school,” producer Eric Carroll told us on the set.

The films differ from traditional Marvel Studios films as they’re the product of cooperation between Marvel, Disney, and Sony, which producer Amy Pascal calls “a miraculously smooth partnership.” Moving forward though, future Spider-Man movies won’t carry an asterisk by their name while in development and will be treated as just another movie on the Marvel schedule.

“Going forward we would definitely treat them all as the same slate,” Carroll said. “So we would be as strategic about where future Spider-Man movies fall in the MCU of it all as we would if Sony weren’t involved, because there’s nothing in it for us or Sony to put a movie out at the wrong time or start confusing the continuity.”

Regarding that quote, however, is the recent news of Venom and Silver Sable/Black Cat movies in development at Sony, which, like the upcoming animated Spider-Man movie, are not part of the MCU and are products only of Sony. Pascal did confirm on our visit that the Venom movie was in development but wouldn’t speak further on the matter. To make things even more interesting, when asked about future villains he’d like to see, Tom Holland mentioned the symbiote baddie by name.

“Well, I love Doc Ock,” the young actor said. “I think ‘Spider-Man 2’ is one of the greatest superhero movies ever made. But I think Venom is someone I’d love to kick the crap out of one day.”

Both villains mentioned by Holland have appeared in previous Spider-Man movies, which isn’t explicitly something Marvel and Sony are shying away from in the future but are also not things they’re eager to re-try either.

“We’ve recycled a lot,” Pascal admitted. “I think there are certain characters I don’t think there’s anything more to say about them right this minute? I mean, I don’t know how many more times we can do the Green Goblin. I’ve certainly tried to do it fifty.”

Carroll echoed these sentiments and further spoke about how Homecoming will be distant from the previous movies.

“We want to tread lightly with what’s been done in the past films as far as The Osbornes and things like that. So I don’t think we’re going directly down that route. We figured honestly if there was a way to do this movie without mentioning anyone who has been in past films, with the exception of staples like Flash Thompson and Aunt May, that that might be a good thing to do.”

For now though, Marvel is just happy to have their Prodigal Son back home.

“It’s like your Dad handing you the keys to the Lamborghini,” Carroll said. “This was the one unspoken rule when you came to work at Marvel, ‘Hey, Spider-Man is the crown jewel, but we’ll never get him back. We’re never getting Spider-Man back, but look at all these other cool characters we have?!’ All of a sudden when there’s this opportunity to play with Spider-Man in the MCU, that’s all it was.”

“I think we found the right formula and I think everybody is going to want the right thing to continue,” Pascal said of the future. “And I think that there’s a surprisingly generous and cooperative thing and if it works, then it’s going to work for everybody.”

Dwayne Johnson Confirmed to Film Disney’s Jungle Cruise in 2018

Superstar Dwayne Johnson is confirmed to head down the river for Disney’s live-action film based on their popular theme park attraction, Jungle Cruise. Johnson, who’s been attached to the project since 2015, is slated to begin shooting the film in spring of 2018.

Writer-director pair John Requa and Glenn Ficarra (Focus, Crazy, Stupid, Love.) were originally set to pen the Jungle Cruise script, though J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay (Star Trek Beyond) wrote the most recent draft. Johnson is set to produce alongside his Seven Bucks Productions partner Dany Garcia, as well as frequent collaborator Beau Flynn (San Andreas, Baywatch) of Flynn Picture Co.

Michael Keaton May Play the Villain in Tim Burton’s Dumbo

Yet another cast member is circling the upcoming live-action version of the 1940s classic Disney animated film Dumbo. Michael Keaton (Birdman, Batman) is in negotiations to play the villain in the film. Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Corpse Bride) is directing the film, and if Keaton joins, this would be their first film together since 1992’s Batman Returns.

New Mary Poppins Returns Set Photos Revealed

We have some new set photos from Walt Disney Pictures’ upcoming sequel Mary Poppins Returns, featuring Emily Blunt and Co. filming in front of London’s Buckingham Palace. Check out the Mary Poppins Returns set photos in the gallery below!

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Character Posters Debut

Walt Disney Pictures has released five Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales character posters!

CHECK THEM OUT AT THE LINK ABOVE!

Beauty and the Beast Tops $400M Domestically and $900M Globally

This week saw Beauty and the Beast become only the 26th movie in history to cross the $400 million threshold domestically. Combined with the international performance to date, Beauty and the Beast has also now hit the $900 million global mark. Domestically, the film has earned $401.1 million and internationally it has grossed $498.9 million.

The Beauty and the Beast results from key international markets:

China $83.3M

UK $66.8M

Brazil $32.3M

Korea $30.7M

Mexico $27.2M

Germany $22.7M

Australia $21.6M

Italy $19.9M

Spain $17.7M

Russia $14.1M

France $14.1M

Philippines $12.7M

Indonesia $8.9M

Hong Kong $8.3M

Other $118.5M

Total $498.9M

The movie will open in Japan on April 21.

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Mary Poppins Returns Set Photos

  • Mary Poppins Returns Set Photos

    Mary Poppins Returns Set Photos

    Extras riding bicycles take part in filming of a scene from the movie sequel Mary Poppins Returns in front of Buckingham Palace, central London. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)

  • Mary Poppins Returns Set Photos

    Mary Poppins Returns Set Photos

    Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda take part in filming of a scene from the movie sequel Mary Poppins Returns in front of Buckingham Palace, central London. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)

  • Mary Poppins Returns Set Photos

    Mary Poppins Returns Set Photos

    Emily Blunt takes part in filming of a scene from the movie sequel Mary Poppins Returns in front of Buckingham Palace, central London. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)

  • Mary Poppins Returns Set Photos

    Mary Poppins Returns Set Photos

    Buckingham Palace in London is shrouded in 'smog', produced by smoke machines during filming of the movie sequel Mary Poppins Returns. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)

  • Mary Poppins Returns Set Photos

    Mary Poppins Returns Set Photos

    Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda take part in filming of a scene from the movie sequel Mary Poppins Returns in front of Buckingham Palace, central London. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)

  • Mary Poppins Returns Set Photos

    Mary Poppins Returns Set Photos

    Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda take part in filming of a scene from the movie sequel Mary Poppins Returns in front of Buckingham Palace, central London. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)

  • Mary Poppins Returns Set Photos

    Mary Poppins Returns Set Photos

    Extras riding bicycles prepare to take part in filming of a scene from the movie sequel Mary Poppins Returns in front of Buckingham Palace, central London. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)

  • Mary Poppins Returns Set Photos

    Mary Poppins Returns Set Photos

    Emily Blunt takes part in filming of a scene from the movie sequel Mary Poppins Returns in front of Buckingham Palace, central London. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)

Max Evry
Max Evry

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