Monthly Archives: May 2015
The History of the Lightsaber
Welcome back to Star Wars School, where we delve into the past, present and future of that franchise we all love so much. Today we’re discussing the lightsaber -- truly one of the greatest weapons ever imagined!
9 Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About the Millennium Falcon
But where did the lightsaber come from? And where is it going in the new series of films, comics and books? Yes, there’s much more to the ultimate Star Wars weapon than just lopping off hands and slicing and dicing battle droids. This, padawans, is the history of the lightsaber…
Star Trek’s Chris Pine Eyes Wonder Woman Role
Star Trek star Chris Pine is reportedly in talks to join the Wonder Woman cast as U.S. Army intelligence officer Steve Trevor.
According to Variety, Pine is in negotiations with Warner Bros. to play Gal Gadot's love interest in the DC Comics film. Warner Bros. had no comment on the casting report.
In the comic books, Wonder Woman (then known as Princess Diana of Themyscira) takes care of and starts caring about Trevor after his plane crashes on Paradise Island during World War II. When he returns home, the Amazon princess follows him and eventually becomes the titular hero.
Doctor Who Returns to Comic-Con This Year
Following their absence during the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, several cast and crew members of BBC America's Doctor Who have been confirmed to appear at the event in 2015.
Peter Capaldi will be in attendance for the first time after a season as the new Doctor, along with Jenna Coleman, Michelle Gomez, lead writer/executive producer Steven Moffat, and executive producer Brian Minchin. All five will be on a panel held in Hall H on Thursday, July 9.
The newest season of Doctor Who will air this fall with a two-part episode on BBC America, and showrunner Steven Moffat doesn't expect the show to end any time soon.
Sinister and Menacing: The Darth Maul Play Arts Kai is Great
Square-Enix’s Play Arts Kai line has revealed its take on Star Wars villain Darth Maul.
Although the Play Arts line is known for its reimagining of iconic characters, the Darth Maul figure takes a familiar, albeit sinister, approach.
The 10 inch figure comes with two heads--one with a mean glare, the other like it’s going to seriously mess you up--three sets of hands, two sets for gripping and one set in the style of a force-choke, and of course, a double-ended lightsaber. The set also comes with two regular lightsaber shafts and two red energy beams that can be placed in either the dual-saber or the two single sabers depending on what suits your fancy.
The Darth Maul Variant figurine will be available in Japan from August for 13,000 Yen ($100).
Transformers Origin Film Reportedly in the Works
Ant-Man writers Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari have joined Paramount’s Transformers brain trust, possibly to work on a Cybertron origin film.
Deadline reports that Barrer and Ferrari, who did production rewriting on Marvel’s Ant-Man, are the latest scribes to sign on to the Transformers “writer’s room” that has been spearheaded by writer-producer Akiva Goldsman in recent months with the goal of creating new sequels and spin-off films in the series. Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, Iron Man writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, Pacific Rim 2’s Zak Penn, and Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Lost’s Jeff Pinkner are also part of this team.
Google I/O 2015 Keynote Live Blog
This Thursday at 9:30am Pacific (Thursday 12:30 ET/4:30pm GMT | Friday 2:30am AET), Google will kick off its developers' conference. We'll be on-site to bring you all the details during the keynote, so if you want to keep with all the news but can't watch the live stream, keep your browsers pointed at this page. We'll be live blogging the event right here.
In the meantime, what can you expect? Right now, we're anticipating details on updates for Android, Android Wear, Android TV, and Chrome OS, among other things—but there's likely to be a surprise or two thrown in. If there's something you're looking forward to in particular, let us know in the comments below!
Hong Kong Pizza Hut Debuts Movie Projector Pizza Box
Pizzas and movies are being bundled together in a more convenient package than ever before.
Pizza Hut in Hong Kong has partnered with ad firm Ogilvy & Hather HK to create the Blockbuster Box, a pizza box doubling as a film projector.
Upon delivery, the box contains a lens that is inserted into a perforated hole on its side. Users are then instructed to scan a code using their smartphone and place the device inside the box. Any video being played on the smartphone's screen will be displayed on the wall via the large projector lens.
Endgadget reports this is currently only available in Hong Kong and no details regarding whether or not it will release anywhere else in the world have been made public.
Sony Acknowledges 2015 PS4 First Party Lineup Is “Sparse”
During today's annual Investor Day conference, PlayStation President Andrew House addressed head-on the lack of first-party games coming to the PS4 in 2015.
"Our first party lineup is a little sparse this year, so I think this places even greater emphasis on getting good third party support," House said.
In March, Sony announced that Uncharted 4: A Thief's End was delayed until the first half of 2016. Another popular franchise, Ratchet and Clank, was also pushed to 2016, timed to release with the upcoming movie.
Ninja Turtles 2 Casts Shredder’s Daughter Karai
The sequel to last year's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has found its Karai, the daughter of iconic villain Shredder.
Shredder's daughter will be played by Brittany Ishibashi (Grace and Frankie, Bones) in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, according to Deadline. We previously learned Shredder himself will be played by Brian Tee.
Ishibashi joins Tyler Perry as Baxter Stockman, Stephen Amell as Casey Jones, Megan Fox as April O'Neil, Will Arnett as Vern Fenwick, and Gary Anthony Williams as Bebop in the Paramount film. We still don't know who will be playing Rocksteady, who is also reportedly in the film. Meanwhile, Krang may make his live-action on-screen debut in the picture as well.
Among the Sleep Headed to Xbox One
Among the Sleep is a first-person horror game that puts players in the role of a two-year-old child.
The game, which is itself only a year old, was announced for PlayStation 4 just before its launch on PC in 2014. Now it'll be coming to Xbox One as well.
To celebrate the upcoming Xbox One version, Krillbite Studio also opened up sales for Among the Sleep's OST to everyone. Before, it was available only to Kickstarter backers.
Our review of Among the Sleep called it a "poignant horror adventure" that focuses more on the "nature of trauma" than simple scare tactics, which is owed mostly to the game's unconventional and extremely vulnerable protagonist.