Monthly Archives: November 2018
Half-Life Fan Remake Black Mesa: Xen Gets Its First Trailer
The original Half-Life is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and in doing so, Black Mesa – the fan remake of the first Half-Life – has released a trailer to give a first look at Black Mesa: Xen, the last part of the game.
Black Mesa launched originally in 2012 as a free mod and later became its own paid version on Steam Early Access in 2015. The game was split into two separate parts, with Xen not being part of the mod or full Black Mesa version.
Venom Outperformed Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy at the Worldwide Box Office
After a massive debut in China, Venom is continuing its climb up the box office rankings.
According to Box Office Mojo, Venom now ranks 84th on its list of all-time worldwide box office earners. Venom has earned over $780.5 million and counting.
This puts the Tom Hardy movie above 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy ($773.3 million worldwide) and 1977's Star Wars ($775.4 million). It is important to note that the list is not adjusted for inflation, which would keep the original Star Wars above Venom.
Watch Aquaman a Week Early If You’re an Amazon Prime Member
Amazon Prime members will be able to see Aquaman a few days early thanks to an exclusive offer.
Select theaters will have one showing of Aquaman for Prime members on Saturday, December 15 at 7pm, and up to 10 tickets can be ordered per transaction.
If you are not an Amazon Prime member or can't make it, Aquaman will then be released in theaters on December 21.
Jason Momoa (Arthur Curry/Aquaman) and Amber Heard (Princess Mera) announced the offer with a video that included a few scenes from the upcoming film.
Why Fantastic Beasts 2 Had the Worst Debut in Harry Potter History
Early tracking for Warner Bros.’ Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in September had projected the Harry Potter spin-off would open with $75 million, just slightly above the $74.4 million earned by its predecessor, 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Eventually, those numbers would be adjusted down, and, as many expected, The Crimes of Grindelwald underperformed and debuted with $62.2 million, the lowest opening weekend for any Harry Potter franchise movie. We’re going to take a deep dive through the numbers and try to determine why one of Hollywood’s most consistent franchises has seemingly fallen on hard times, so to speak.
A $62.2 million debut, with a $14,941 per-screen average from 4,163 theaters would be considered a strong opening weekend for most movies, but it pales in comparison to the eight-movie flagship Harry Potter franchise. There is clearly still a strong audience and demand for the universe as a whole, given the strong success of the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the Harry Potter theme parks at Universal Studios and the Pottermore website which features new stories within the universe. Perhaps the biggest reason why the two Fantastic Beasts movies haven’t done nearly as well as the original movies is the lack of Harry Potter himself.
DC Universe Polls Fans Again: Should Robin Jason Todd Live or Die?
Directly mirroring a controversial poll from the 1988, DC Universe is asking fans if they want to see Jason Todd (aka Robin) live or die.
As reported by Nerdist, the original poll came from the A Death in the Family story arc that ran across four Batman comics by Jim Starlin and Jim Aparo. The poll was included in Batman #427, which saw Jason Todd (who was generally less liked than his predecessor Dick Grayson) expelled by Batman for being too rash and impulsive, culminating in Joker beating Todd before setting a time bomb. The poll was included in the comic in the form of two 1-900 numbers: fans could call one to see Todd killed, another would save his life.
Fantastic Beasts: Why THAT Cameo Has Fans Confused
Be aware that SPOILERS are ahead for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Continue at your own peril.
Harry Potter fans experienced a confusing moment while watching Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald during opening weekend, which included the brief return of a Hogwarts professor that held a prominent role in the Harry Potter series – Minerva McGonagall.
Fans became upset due to the inaccurate age of Professor McGonagall, according to the extensive Harry Potter timeline – written by J.K. Rowling herself – that reports McGonagall was born on Oct. 4 in the year 1935. With The Crimes of Grindelwald taking place in 1927, technically that would make her minus 8-years-old.
Who Will Be The Whisperers’ First Victim on The Walking Dead?
The following contains full spoilers for The Walking Dead TV series, plus some slight plot details from the comic series.
Ever since Rick (and Maggie) left The Walking Dead, and the story hit us with a six-year time jump, everything's been funneling toward the Whisperer War arc from the comics.
How faithful will the series be to the comic books, though? More to the point, how faithful can it be when key characters, who still existed in the comics during the storyline, are no longer on the show - namely Rick, Maggie, and Carl?
Nvidia RTX Ray Tracing Benchmarks in Battlefield 5
When Nvidia's all-new RTX "Turing" GPUs launched in September, they broke new technological ground by being the first GPUs capable of performing real-time ray tracing in games. However, there was just one problem; at the time of launch, and in the ensuing months, there were no games that we could actually play that supported the new technology, just games "coming soon." All that changed this week when both Nvidia, Microsoft, and Dice updated their platforms to allow for ray traced reflections in Battlefield 5. This allowed RTX GPU owners to see what this new technology looks like for the first time, and to see what kind of performance hit it would require. We've spent some time with it and want to share our results with you so you know what to expect.
A Guide to Every Toy in the Toy Story Movies
Just when you thought the Toy Story franchise was done tugging at your heartstrings and making you pine for the halcyon days of childhood, Pixar brings us Toy Story 4, an unlikely sequel that is somehow "every bit as magical as its predecessors," according to our Toy Story 4 review, "full of the same joy, wonder, and whimsy that we’ve come to expect from every Toy Story installment."
As with previous Toy Story entries, the new movie introduces several major new characters to an already crowded lineup of sentient toys, including Keanu Reeves as motorcycle stuntman Duke Caboom, Christina Hendricks as Gabby Gabby, and Key & Peele as stuffed toys Ducky and Bunny.
Marvel Publishing League of Legends Comics
Marvel and Riot Games are teaming up to bring League of Legends to comics.
Announced through a press release, the first project will be League of Legends: Ashe: Warmother. This will act as an origin story of Ashe, one of the first League of Legends champions. Written by Riot Games' Odin Austin Shafer with art by Nina Vakueva, it will reportedly deliver an “epic journey through the Freljord."
Ashe, an Iceborn raised in the savage wilds of the north, is burdened by her mother’s expectations. The two set out on a dangerous quest searching for the truth behind an ancient myth, forever changing Runeterra in the process. Ashe: Warmother will be released monthly on digital platforms beginning December 19, and will be followed by a full, physical graphic novel in May 2019.