Monthly Archives: July 2015
X-Files Revival Will See Return of The Lone Gunmen
Everyone's favorite trio of dorky conspiracy theorists will make a return in the new series of The X-Files.
Actors Tom Braidwood, Bruce Harwood, and Dean Haglund will reprise their roles as The Lone Gunmen, according to a tweet by Haglund.
The three characters are a group of conspiracy theorists and hackers who frequently met with and assisted Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in the original X-Files. They received their own spin-off series in 2001, which was cancelled in its first year due to low ratings.
The Lone Gunmen were killed off in season 9 of the X-Files, but were revealed in season 10 comics to have faked their deaths - so it'll be interesting to see how their return is handled.
US Movie Ticket Prices Hit Record High
Recent statistics suggests a record number of American audiences are paying more than ever to see the movies in 2015.
The National Association of Theater Owners reports the average consumer spent $8.61 this year in movie attendance, a bit higher than the previous mark of $8.31 from 2013.
Variety reports a number of factors have contributed to this rise, including 3D movies, luxury seating, and amenities that allow venues to charge more than an average ticket.
Several movies have seen massive box office sales as well, including Jurassic World, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Inside Out, all of which have come out in the second quarter of 2015 and managed to make large sums of money. Jurassic World claimed the largest global opening of all time, and Inside Out opened as the largest original film in recent history.
Night Trap is Getting Ported to Run in a Browser
Night Trap, the controversial FMV horror game from 1992, is on its way to being playable in a web browser thanks to a software engineer named Dave Voyles.
The game garnered controversy in the early 90s for alleged violence, was pulled from store shelves, and alongside games like Mortal Kombat and Doom, was one of the core games that lead to the formation of the ESRB rating system in the United States.
Late last year, someone turned up at a game store in Albuquerque, New Mexico with 203 copies of Night Trap for sale, which the seller claims were acquired after Blockbuster first recalled the game in the 90s.
Black Ops 3 Beta Dated for Xbox One, PC
The multiplayer beta for Call of Duty: Black Ops III will kick off for Xbox One and PC players on Wednesday, August 26 and run through Sunday, August 30.
Activision previously revealed the beta will be available first on PlayStation 4 starting Wednesday, August 19 and ending Sunday, August 23. Specific maps and modes for the beta will be revealed in the near future, according to a post on the Activision blog. The beta will be available to anyone who pre-orders a copy of Black Ops III.
IGN Presents the History of Awesome: 1986
Welcome back to IGN's History of Awesome - a year-long look back at all the coolest and most influential games, movies, TV shows, comic books, toys, and tech that have shaped pop culture, and shaped the lives of an entire generation. Up this week is 1986 - the year Super Mario Bros. took over America and cemented Nintendo's place as a video game giant.
Catch up on IGN's History of Awesome:
Black Ops 2 Now Xbox One’s Most Wanted BC Game
As it currently stands, Call of Duty: Black Ops II is the Xbox community's most requested Xbox 360 game to come to Xbox One by way of backwards compatibility.
According to Xbox Feedback data, Treyarch's incredibly popular shooter has earned over 77,000 votes, overtaking the prior leader, Red Dead Redemption, which current sits in second place with just over 75,000 votes.
Trailing behind in third place is Bethesda's Skyrim, followed thereafter by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Halo: Reach. Here are the current top ten standings:
Every Must-See Toy from Comic-Con 2015
This year's San Diego Comic-Con was packed with tons of neat new toys and collectibles. We were on the ground floor with a camera grabbing shots of the coolest stuff we could find. Feast your eyes on the goods!
Take a look at Funko's Comic-Con wares, including POP! figures for Big Hero 6's Baymax, Rocket Raccoon with a Potted Groot, Sadness and Joy from Inside Out, Futurama's Robot Devil, and a blue crystal Heisenberg, as well as some Batman and Deadpool Dorbz and a bloody Jaws set.
Evil beware -- this limited edition Link figure stands at 20 inches tall! This is Link as he appears in Skyward Sword, which used light cel shading techniques to subtly stylize adult Link. Made by Jakks Pacific, it's unknown if this will ever be reproduced for general sale, but we are keeping our fingers crossed that it gets re-released as a really, really big amiibo.
Watch the Full Muppets TV Show Presentation
ABC has released the pitch that convinced the network to create a new series starring the Muppets.
Rather than creating a full pilot episode, series co-creators Bill Prady (The Big Bang Theory) and Bob Kushell made this ten-minute video in an attempt to get ABC to green light a new Muppets television series. You can watch the presentation in its entirety below.
The new series is described as a "more adult" Muppets show that deals with the characters' work lives, personal lives, romances, break-ups, achievements, disappointments, wants and desires. Much like The Office, the series is shot as a mockumentary, cutting back and forth from group action to one-on-one interviews with the cast. And much like 30 Rock, the show focuses on the Muppets' personal and professional lives as they themselves work on a television show.
The Brink Renewed for Season 2 by HBO
HBO has renewed The Brink, its comedy series starring Jack Black and Tim Robbins, for a second season.
According to Deadline, the network renewed the series just one day before the cast members' contracts were set to expire. The report also states the series saw a small spike in ratings this past weekend, bringing in 1.06 million live-plus-same-day viewers.
Jack Black in The Brink
The Sad Truth About That One Ant in Ant-Man
Spoilers follow for Ant-Man.
So Marvel’s Ant-Man ends, of course, on a happy note, with Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang not just beating the bad guy but also making peace with his estranged ex-wife and her fiancé. They even do dinner together now, so that Lang can spend time with his daughter, Cassie. And what do you know, but the ant that was accidently enlarged during the film’s climactic fight scene is now a dog-sized family pet as well. Cassie even feeds it scraps under the table, just like she would to the family pooch!
Only thing is, that isn’t at all how it would go down for the freak of science the ant has become. In fact, the giant ant -- let’s call her Big Ant, since unlike the film’s tragic sidekick Antony, she didn’t get a name -- would likely have lived out its few remaining days in a tortured, painful existence.