The Disney Grooming Syndicate is already facing a $350 million (estimated production and promotion costs) disaster, with The Marvels looking like it will crash-dive this weekend.
On the heels of yet another Disney flop comes a report that Captain America: Brave New World is in serious, serious trouble. And I do mean…
Serious trouble.
So serious, Disney is reportedly looking at five months — five! — of reshoots, according to Jeff Sneider’s Hot Mic podcast. His report deserves credibility because he was the first to report that Captain America: Brave New World was being rescheduled from July of 2024 to February of 2025. He reported it before Disney did.
Why, you ask?
Terrible test screenings.
In fact, the test screenings were so bad that, according to Sneider, three major sequences will be removed and reshot entirely.
Keep in mind what all of this means…
Brave New World finished shooting last June.
If the movie was being test screened, that means it was either considered done or close enough to done to test screen.
Five months of reshoots.
Five?
Five months is how long it takes to shoot an entire studio movie.
Naturally, Disney is blaming the rescheduling on the actors’ strike, but what sense does that make when your movie completes shooting in June? It doesn’t make sense. Disney is lying.
One wonders if the test screening went poorly because the test screening audience saw “Captain America” in the title and expected to see Chris Evans and instead found Anthony Mackie.
Now, I happen to like Anthony Mackie. He’s a terrific actor and a very likable and humble screen presence. But up until now, he has never come across as a leading man. Can Anthony Mackie carry a blockbuster movie? I don’t know. Regardless, how many people were paying close enough attention to the Marvel mythology to be ready for this switch in the Captain America role? The switch was touched upon at the end of Avengers: Endgame, but Mackie only assumed the role in one of those dumb Disney+ streaming Marvel shows no one liked or watched.
Before everyone starts yelling at me, I happen to like the idea of a black man as Captain America. So that’s not an issue for me. But Mackie’s character, Sam Wilson, is very different from Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers. Sam Wilson has no superpowers. Up till now, he’s been the Falcon, a guy with a set of mechanical wings who can handle himself in a fight. Rogers had that Super-Soldier Serum that made him a bonafide superhero.
Egads, Disney must already have $250 to $300 million poured into this dud. What’s it going to cost after five months — five! — of reshoots? You’re inching into around $500 million with promotion costs.
It really does my heart good to see Disney dealing with all this terrible press and bad news. Few things make me happier than when bad things happen to evil institutions. Hopefully, this will flop, and The Marvels will flop this weekend, and Disney will fail, and Trump will win reelection, and Barbara Stanwyck will come back to life at age 35 and want me, and my wife will understand.
John Nolte’s debut novel Borrowed Time (Bombardier Books) is available today. You can read an exclusive excerpt here and a review of the novel here.