Monthly Archives: August 2015
New Battle of Jakku Battlefront Concept Shot Revealed
Today at the D23 Expo, Disney and EA were on hand to talk about Star Wars Battlefront.
In addition to revealing a Darth Vader-themed PS4 bundle, the team talked about how intimately they worked with the film production. Developers were on the set of The Force Awakens to ensure that the look and feel of the game matched what they were shooting.
They also revealed some new concept art from the Battle of Jakku. See below:
Marvel Battlegrounds Playset Coming to Disney Infinity
During today's D23 Expo, Disney announced Marvel Battlegrounds, a new Marvel-themed Playset coming to Disney Infinity: 3.0 Edition.
This new Playset will bring four-player gameplay to the series for the first time and feature two new playable characters: Hulkbuster and Ultron, the latter of which is able to control rocks and create copies of himself.
Panel attendees were treated to a trailer for Marvel Battlegrounds, in which Hulkbuster is seen beating up the Green Goblin.
Disney had several other exciting announcements for Disney Infinity fans, including the announcement of a Disney Infinity/Kingdom Hearts crossover, as well as a first look at its upcoming set of Star Wars: The Force Awakens figures.
Mickey, Mulan, and More Coming to Disney Infinity 3.0
During today's D23 game-focused panel, Disney revealed several new characters that will be coming to Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition, including Peter Pan, Olaf, Mulan, Mickey, and Minnie. In addition, Tron characters Sam Flynn and Quorra are also planned.
In addition, Spot from The Good Dinosaur will be coming in November, along with four Power Discs based on the movie. Both Judy and Nick from Zootopia are coming to 3.0 as well, plus a special line of Star Wars figures whose light sabers illuminate when placed on the Infinity base.
The famous El Capitan Theater in Hollywood and Flynn's Arcade from Tron will be incorporated into the game, as well as some elements from Disney Parks.
The Force Awakens Set Revealed for Disney Infinity 3.0
Disney Infinity 3.0's original announcement explained that a Force Awakens expansion was coming, and now we finally know more about it.
The Force Awakens stars Daisy Ridley and John Boyega were on hand to announce that they are voicing their characters for the game. In addition, we got our first look at the Finn and Rey figures. See below:
The Finn and Rey figures, announced for the upcoming Force Awakens set.
Darth Vader PS4 Revealed
Today at the D23 Expo, Disney announced two different bundles that will allow fans to get their hands on a Darth Vader-themed PS4 and controller inspired by Vader's suit.
The hardware comes bundled with with either DICE's upcoming Star Wars Battlefront or Disney Infinity 3.0.
The Battlefront bundle will contain: a custom 500GB PS4 (decked out with Darth Vader's helmet), a Dualshock 4 wireless controller, and a copy of Star Wars Battlefront Deluxe Edition. In addition to Darth Vader on the side of the system, there is a Star Wars logo across the top of the PS4.
The Disney Infinity 3.0 bundle will contain: a custom 500GB PS4, a Dualshock 4 wireless controller, and a copy of Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition, the Disney Infinity Base, the Rise Against the Empire Play Set Pack (featuring Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa figures, as well the Rise Against the Empire Play Set piece), and the Boba Fett figure (a PS4 exclusive).
Straight Outta Compton Has Stellar Box Office Debut
Straight Outta Compton had a very successful debut at the box office this weekend, raking in a whopping $56.1 million.
The release of Universal Studios' N.W.A. biopic now ranks as the biggest debut ever for an R-rated movie in August, eclipsing American Pie 2.
Following in second place was Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation, which earned $17 million in its third weekend. Warner Bros.' The Man From U.N.C.L.E. debuted in third, amassing just over $13.5 million.
Meanwhile, Fantastic Four performed abysmally in its second weekend, earning just $8 million. Couple that with an underwhelming debut last week, and 20th Century Fox's latest superhero flick now stands as one of the biggest comic book flops ever, currently sitting at just under $42 million in U.S. ticket sales.
Del Toro and Cuse Discuss The Strain Star’s New Look
It happened: Corey Stoll’s Dr. Ephraim Goodweather shaved his head on The Strain! While it’s common for actors to wear wigs, the decision to give Stoll hair at the start of the hit FX series caught surprising attention, since audiences grew to recognize the actor as bald from his breakout role in House of Cards and other performances since, including in the current hit Ant-Man.
When we visited the set of The Strain this spring, producers Guillermo del Toro and Carlton Cuse talked about the strange amount of attention given to Stoll’s wig -- which they dubbed “wiggate” -- and explained that it was their plan to drop the hair-piece all along.
Disney Touts Beauty Remake and Alice in Wonderland 2
The Walt Disney Studios showcased more than just Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios at today's D23 Expo in Anaheim, California. The studio's many other notable upcoming live-action projects were presented there.
First up was The Finest Hours, the true story of the most daring rescue mission in U.S. Coast Guard history. The movie's star Chris Pine was on hand to promote the film, wherein he plays Bernie Webber, the captain of the rescue boat.
The Finest Hours is directed by Craig Gillespie and also stars Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Holliday Grainger, John Ortiz and Eric Bana. The movie will be presented in the fully-immersive formats of Digital 3D, Real D 3D and IMAX 3D.
Iron Man director Jon Favreau came out to show off his live-action retelling of Disney's The Jungle Book. He was joined by actors Neel Sethi, the newcomer who plays man-cub Mowgli, as well as Oscar winners Ben Kingsley (the voice of the panther Bagheera) and Lupita Nyong’o (who voices Mowgli's protective mother wolf Raksha).
Toy Story Land Announced for Disney Hollywood Studios
Disney announced today its Hollywood Studios park in Florida will see an all new, 11-acre addition based on the Toy Story franchise.
Toy Story Land will include two new attractions, as well as an expansion to an existing attraction.
According to Disney, visitors "will think they've been shrunk to the size of Woody and Buzz as they are surrounded by oversized toys." The oversized toys such as "building blocks, plastic buckets and shovels, and game board pieces" will make up the attractions.
Among the attractions coming to Toy Story Land is a "family-friendly roller coaster" that lets guests ride on the back of Slinky Dog. There's also an alien saucer attraction that uses the claw-machine aliens from Toy Story to "take guests around for a spin in their very own flying saucers." And yes, The Claw itself hangs above you!
Disney Adding Force Awakens to Star Tours and Much More
Hot off the news of a huge Star Wars Land theme park expansion to both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, Disney announced at the D23 Expo some other expansions to the Star Wars presence currently in place.
Star Tours, the motion simulator already in several Disney parks, will be expanded with a new update at Disneyland in Anaheim and Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando later this year - one that will include both a new destination and characters taken from the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie.
Also announced for the Anaheim and Orlando based parks is a new "Season of the Force" concept that will run each year for a certain amount of time, which sounds like an expansion of the Star Wars Weekends concept Disney World already has in place. Part of Season of Force will be the changing of the famous Space Mountain ride to temporarily become Hyperspace Mountain.