Filming for Lionsgate's live-action 'Naruto' movie is set to begin in the first half of 2027

A new wave of Marvel Mania has taken hold of the nation. 

 

Audiences and fans are still flocking to Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which had the biggest week in domestic box office history, crossing $500 million faster than even Avengers: Endgame. It's expected to have one of the biggest second weekends in history. 

 

Don’t expect a new Spidey movie to happen quickly, however. (The first three of the Holland movies released about every two years, while Brand New Day had a five-year gap.) But do expect Destin Daniel Cretton to be on set in the coming year. 

 

That’s because Cretton is next turning his attention to Naruto, which aims to go into production in the first half of 2027. He’s been with the Lionsgate adaptation of the manga since before joining Brand New Day and the studio now suddenly finds itself with one of the hottest directors in town. 

 

It's been a head-spinning seven days for Marvel and Cretton. Even as Brand New Day was hitting theaters a week ago, Cretton’s Wonder Man got the axe, and Mahershala Ali went scorched earth on Marvel over Blade. This follows on the heels of Marvel's San Diego reveal of Ryan Gosling playing Ghost Rider and David Jonsson a the new Black Panther.

 

And as much as many say that superheroes are over, comic book movies are over, Marvel is so over, the box office says otherwise. And you know what else says otherwise? The unending speculation and rumor-mongering of who is, or isn’t, in the new X-Men feature.

 

So far, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost and Kit Connor as Cyclops/Scott Summers have a legitimate foothold on the call sheet. But Marvel has been reading and testing actors for months (and as rumors have it, Marvel could have a banger of a reveal at next week’s D23).

 

But what is real and what isn’t? Well, there was an Asa Butterfield rumor this week. That one we can tell you was way off base. But what is true is that another Asa…Asa Germann of Scream 7 and Gen V…did test for Cyclops. He clearly didn’t get it, but is it possible he was awarded another role? Marvel isn’t responding.

 

(And while we’re on the subject of Cyclops, we can tell you there was strong interest in Cooper Hoffman, according to sources, but scheduling nixed that idea pretty early on.)

 

Then there are the Professor X rumors. Bill Skarsgard seemed to have emerged from certain quarters who certainly seem so certain about their claims. We can tell you with certainty that Christopher Abbott (Tony Award nominee for Broadway’s Death of a Salesman) and Tom Pelphrey (HBO’s Task, Amazon Prime Video’s Outer Range) both tested for the role…and Pelphrey did not get it. But did Abbott? Or is it possible a dark horse contender nabbed? Marvel isn’t responding

 

And we haven’t even touched the Adam Driver of it all. Magneto? Pshaw. Or more like, Sebastian (p)Shaw?

 

Anyway, if we had a hands up in frustration emoji available, we’d use it now. All eyes are on next week’s D23. 

 

So what do we know? Well, we do who’s going to be running from alligators very, very soon …

—Aaron Couch and Borys Kit.