Monthly Archives: December 2015
SNL Mocks Adult Star Wars Toy Collectors
With the Star Wars: The Force Awakens opening in less than a week, the latest episode of Saturday Night Live took the opportunity to poke fun at adults who collect Star Wars toys.
The clip shows children enjoying the toys as they were originally intended, while various adults appear to discuss how they've bought multiples of the same figure and plan to keep them in the packaging. See it below.
For more Star Wars-related fandom, see how fans reacted to the debut of The Phantom Menace back in 1999 and then check out this adorable Funko figure of Captain Phasma.
In the Heart of the Sea a Big, Wet Box Office Flop
Thor star Chris Hemsworth began 2015 with a big box office flop, Blackhat, and it looks like he's ending the year with one, too. His latest film, the costly maritime drama In the Heart of the Sea, opened in second place this weekend with a meager $11 million.
The film, which reunites Hemsworth with Rush director Ron Howard, reportedly cost $100 million to produce let alone market. Variety points out it's one of the worst flops in Howard's career.
In the Heart of the Sea also marks the latest dud for Warner Bros., which has had a lousy 2015 thanks to pricey bombs Pan, Jupiter Ascending, and The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Independence Day: Resurgence Trailer Is Here
After a twenty years, the aliens have returned to earth in a bigger, meaner way as seen in the new trailer for Independence Day: Resurgence.
20th Century Fox launched the trailer today. Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman are back as David Levinson and President Whitmore, respectively, the latter of whom remains haunted by memories of the first invasion.
Check it out:
Director Roland Emmerich's sequel also stars Liam Hemsworth, Maika Monroe, Jessie Usher, Sela Ward, Charlotte Gainsbourg, William Fichtner and returning cast members Judd Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox, and Brent Spiner.
Star Citizen Raises $100 Million, Alpha 2.0 Launches
Star Citizen has surpassed $100 million in its crowdfunding campaign. This comes just days after Cloud Imperium Games announced the "next major step in Star Citizen’s evolution," the launch of Alpha 2.0.
After reaching 1 million backers in October, the company opened the alpha access to all who contributed, stating that there will be "no additional payment needed for any module in the works, pre-release."
Alpha 2.0's release brings Star Citizen's biggest update. Players will explore Crusader, a new planet with three moons and three distinct space stations. On the planet are eight new Comm Array missions, eight research missions, and one exploration mission. Throughout these, you'll find 20+ random encounters with a mix of friendlies and hostiles. Four of the random encounters, the company says, "are random exploration missions involving finding lost wrecks."
Childhood’s End: Could You Trust an Alien-Created Utopia?
This week, Syfy will debut their new miniseries, Childhood’s End, airing Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night. Based on the novel by Arthur C. Clarke (2001: A Space Odyssey), the story follows an alien race of “Overlords” who come to Earth and bring with them ways to seemingly help and improve humanity. But can they be trusted and what are their true intentions?
Finding themselves swept up in this story are husband and wife Ricky and Ellie Stormgren. A Missouri farmer, Ricky (Mike Vogel) is handpicked by the Overlord leader Karellen (Charles Dance) to be the bridge between their two species, as Ellie (Daisy Betts) sees her husband suddenly thrust into a position of great importance.
Conor McGregor Joins Ronda Rousey On UFC 2 Cover
Irish MMA superstar Conor McGregor will join Ronda Rousey on the cover of EA Sports UFC 2 following his defeat of former featherweight champion Jose Aldo at UFC 194.
EA announced in early December that the second cover spot would be given to the victor of the highly-anticipated bout, which apparently marks the first time a real-world sporting event has affected the cover of an EA Sports game.
13 Seconds! #FightForTheCover #EASPORTSUFC2 #UFC194 pic.twitter.com/Ob3DXIkOgA
Rock Band 3 Export for Rock Band 4 Available Now
The fan-requested Rock Band 3 track export for Rock Band 4 is available now on PlayStation 4 in North America, and on Xbox One worldwide. The export should be available for PS4 players in European territories next week (“based on testing and submission dependencies” notes Harmonix).
Those players who are eligible to purchase the USD$15 license key must log into the profile they played Rock Band 3 on, navigate to “Get More Songs”, scroll down to the new tab (“Exports”), select “Rock Band 3”, and select “RB3 Disc Export Pack”.
All 83 on-disc tracks from the Rock Band 3 setlist will export. Players can only export Rock Band 3 through the in-game Rock Band Music Store in Rock Band 4. You will not be able to find the key through the first-party stores or online.
Fallout 4’s Nuka Cola Quantum Returns to Target Next Week
Fallout 4's Nuka Cola Quantum will be returning to Target next week, Bethesda announced on Twitter.
Next week: Quantum returns to @Target! Purchase for $2.99 or get free w/ Fallout 4 or Xbox Season Pass purchase. pic.twitter.com/Nmjr1UdsMT
— Fallout (@Fallout) December 12, 2015
The developer teamed up with Jones Soda Co. to produce Nuka Cola Quantum alongside the release of Fallout 4 on November 10. The soda went fast on its release date, and the demand led to the soda being sold on Ebay for ridiculously high prices.
New Battlefield Now in Development at DICE
A new entry in the Battlefield series is now in the works at DICE, according to development director Dan Vaderlind.
In a post on Twitter, Vaderlind announced that he's moved on from Star Wars Battlefront to begin work on the next Battlefield.
Now that we've shipped Battlefront and a part of the team continues to work on it, I am moving on to another project, the next Battlefield..
— Dan Vaderlind (@mrVaderdan) December 11, 2015
James Cameron Hopes Avatar Wasn’t a ‘Fluke’
Thanks to the high expectations set by the original Avatar's success, director James Cameron is feeling a lot of pressure to deliver with Avatar 2, saying he wants to make sure the first film wasn't "just some big fluke."
When asked by Entertainment Weekly if his work on the sequels has proven to be an easier process this time around, he replied, "No. Because you have to challenge yourself. Obviously, expectations are going to be very high on these films, especially on Avatar 2, to make sure it wasn’t just some big fluke the first time. So we’ve got to deliver. I’ve created a nice rod for my own back, so they say."