Monthly Archives: September 2017
Defenders Is Netflix’s Least-Watched Marvel Series Launch
In the United States, The Defenders garnered fewer viewers in its first 30 days than any of Netflix's other original Marvel series.
Based on benchmark analysis from marketing-analytics firm Jumpshot, The Defenders had 17 percent of the viewership that Season 2 of Daredevil (Netflix's most-viewed Marvel show) had in its first 30 days, Variety reports. It's worth noting the research was limited to Netflix subscribers in the US who watched at least one episode of each show.
Netflix's other Marvel series performed similarly in their first 30 days on the service. Iron Fist garnered 28 percent of Daredevil: Season 2's viewership, while Luke Cage and Jessica Jones had 27 percent and 26 percent, respectively.
Captain Phasma Gets a Bounty Hunter-Style Costume
Captain Phasma’s eye-catching silver armor gets swapped out for something a bit more mercenary in her mini-series from Marvel Comics.
Warning: this article contains spoilers for Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Captain Phasma!
Art by Paul Renaud. (Marvel Comics)
The story from writer Kelly Thompson and artist Marco Checchetto takes place just after the events of The Force Awakens, following Captain Phasma as she desperately tries to cover up that is was she who lowered the Starkiller Base shields and allowed the Resistance to blow it up. She easily erased the computer history of her actions, but when she tried to blame it on a fellow First Order member, things got complicated. The scapegoat took off in a TIE Fighter, so Phasma recruited a TIE pilot of her own to track him down and put a laser bolt in his head.
Tomb Raider: Alicia Vikander on Filming Endurance Ship Wreck
The first trailer for 2018's Tomb Raider offers our first real taste of how the movie will adapt the recent video games. Star Alicia Vikander certainly looks the part of Lara Croft, but as she revealed to us in a recent interview, things got pretty challenging on set while filming one of the most iconic sequences from the 2013 game.
The movie will feature its own take on of the sinking of the Endurance - the disaster that leaves Lara stranded and forced to fend for herself on a remote, deadly island. Vikander revealed to IGN that this sequence actually posed the most difficult physical challenge during filming. Make sure to check out our full video interview with Vikander:
“We did a lot of stunts and a lot of preparation - both me and my incredible stunt girls that I was working with," Vikander said. "We were quite bruised, with a lot of hits. That’s tough, but that’s okay. The trickiest thing of all, I think, while shooting this film is actually the cold that comes from being in the water for hours and hours and hours."
19 Movies and Shows You (Probably) Didn’t Know Were Based on Comics
Many of the biggest franchises in Hollywood right now are based on comic books, so it's no surprise that studios and TV networks are increasingly looking to the comics industry to provide them with the next big thing. But not every comic book adaptation deals with capes and tights, and sometimes it's not always obvious that a film is pulling from the comic book world in the first place.
To celebrate the release of Kingsman: The Golden Circle -- which originated as a comic series! -- here are 19 other movies and TV shows that you might not realize were based on comics.
Kingsmnan: The Golden Circle is directed by Matthew Vaughn and stars Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Julianne Moore, Channing Tatum, Pedro Pascal and Halle Berry. Check out our review of the film to find out why we said it's "cheeky, cartoonish, and crazy as its predecessor, but it’s also commendably unafraid to demolish what had come before it if it’s in service of the story."
Hidden Switch NES Emulator Pays Tribute to Satoru Iwata
The recently discovered NES emulator hidden in every Nintendo Switch console actually serves as an incredible tribute to Satoru Iwata.
As detailed on the Switchbrew wiki (via Ars Technica), Switch hacker yellows8 discovered the "official" way to unlock the emulator and a modified copy of 1984's NES Golf, which can only be done on July 11, the same day the fourth president and CEO of Nintendo passed away in 2015.
HBO Officially Producing Watchmen Pilot
After reports and rumors earlier this year, HBO has officially committed to producing a pilot based on Alan Moore and David GIbbons' acclaimed graphic novel Watchmen.
HBO will produce a pilot of the show with Lost and The Leftovers executive producer Damon Lindelof, and has committed to several more scripts being written. The network has not committed to a full series order yet.
Lindelof recently teased the beginning of production on the Watchmen series via his Instagram.
Damon Lindelof teased a Nite Owl statue in a writers room on his Instagram.
Here’s Everything Leaving Netflix in October
Check out Netflix's Last Call for October, as movies like Titanic, Hellboy, Love Actually, and Million Dollar Baby expire from the site along with a TON of TV.
All of 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Malcolm in the Middle, The Wonder Years, One Tree Hill, The Bernie Mac Show, My Name is Earl, and Louie are leaving — as well as several seasons of Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, and Bones. So if you're in the middle of binging one of these shows, or had planned to start at some point, you better get a move on.
Wrestling Wrap Up: Why Bobby Heenan Was the Greatest
RAW flubbed its go-home show for this Sunday's No Mercy while SmackDown Live more or less killed the momentum created by the outstanding Kevin Owens/Vince McMahon segment from last week. It wasn't the best showing for WWE programming. So while I will touch on a few things from TV, and maybe a few non-TV items, what I wanted to write about mostly this week was Bobby Heenan.
Oh, and post this .gif of Braun bulldozing Enzo...
Minecraft’s Better Together Update Is Here
Minecraft's Better Together Update is finally live.
As detailed on Mojang's blog post, you can get the updated version free if you already own Minecraft on Xbox One, and it will automatically be available on Android, iOS and Windows 10.
The Better Together Update lets Xbox, mobile, VR and Windows 10 players of Minecraft play together. The update won't be available for Nintendo Switch until sometime this winter.
The update introduces cross-platform play, allowing players across all of these platforms to play together. It also brings the Xbox One and Switch versions into the Bedrock Engine family for the game. Saved data, purchased content, and world progress will transfer over from the older versions of Minecraft to the new one. "It lets you play your Realm on console (for example), hop off, then pick up where you left off on your phone," the blog post says.
New to Netflix for October
Halloween's almost here, and Netflix is ready to creep us all the eff out with a new season of Stranger Things, David Fincher's FBI profiler series Mindhunter, and the latest installment in the Child's Play franchise.
Yes, Cult of Chucky, the seventh film featuring the killer "Good Guys" doll, rolls out at the top of October while other movies, like Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights, Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, and Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight fill out the rest of the month.
Keep an eye out too for 1922 — starring Thomas Jane, adapted from a Stephen King short story — as well as a dramatic turn from Adam Sandler in Noah Baumbach's The Meyerowitz Stories. Plus, new Voltron Legendary Defender episodes!