The game update will bring graphical updates, cros-platform servers and many new features to add fun to the game: stained glass, books, and banners. The later can be placed on walls or lie on the ground and they are made out of wool. The banners are the perfect medieval decorations. If you want an adventure map, then you can use books and quills. Your imagination will also be tested with the stained glad feature.

This new feature of the “Minecraft” Better Together update will allow you to design buildings in several colors and you will also be able to change Beacon colors. Regular glass block will probably fade in front of the new stained glass. Many “Minecraft” fanatics have written online what other new features they would like the game to have.

The update expected this summer will unify the Nintento Switch and Xbox One versions with the PC (Windows 10) and mobile versions of the game. This cross-platform play will be possible with the help of the Bedrock Engine. Players from any device will be able to gather together and enjoy the game. Play Station 4 will also be added to the cross-platform play. This coming together of players using multiple devices will help the expansion of the content creator and “Minecraft” Marketplace.

So far, the “Better Together” update, announced at the Xbox E3 press-conference, seems very promising and fans are very excited for its release. The PC version will be the only one to have a subtitle: “Minecraft: Java Edition”. The game will only be called “Minecraft” with other devices: Xbox, Nintendo Switch, VR and mobile versions.

Console players are excited to receive this news, especially if PlayStation 4 owners will also be able to enter this platform. Nintendo’s vision seems to be about unification and getting all players together in one place.

Minecraft Better Together Update Announced at the Xbox E3

Minecraft is one of the biggest games ever, and with that comes with one of the largest communities ever. From mods to fanfiction and more, people are finding interesting and unique ways to be a part of their favorite game.

One of the biggest contributions to the community are videos about the game. Here are five fan-made videos about Minecraft that are worth your time.

1. Minecraft Hardcore – PBGGameplay

YouTuber PeanutButterGamer is best known for his series of longform comedic videos of various video games. However, he also has a very successful let’s play channel. And by far the most beloved series on that channel is his Hardcore series.

The premise of Hardcore is that PeanutButterGamer and a bunch of other YouTubers and friends set out to complete the main quest of a game. The catch is that if a person dies, they’re out for the rest of the game. The rest go along until either they complete the quest or they all die.

It’s pretty much a live and more genuine version of something like The Walking Dead, zombies and all. In between the threat of death, everyone on the team is all goofing around and bonding with each other. And when they inevitably die, it’s all the more heart-wrenching. Seriously, for all the silliness that goes on, some of the deaths in Hardcore are really sad. Everything is accentuated by the impeccable editing, which use music and special effects at just the right moment to really drive the mood.

PBGGameplay has five seasons of Hardcore for Minecraft, though I recommend the fifth one as that has the best production values and most memorable moments. He also has Hardcore seasons for other games like Terraria and MineZ.

2. Brentalfloss’ Minecraft Song – Brentalfloss

There are tons of musical parodies of Minecraft, but few are original songs. Enter YouTuber Brentalfloss, who does a brilliant job of summing up the appeal of Minecraft in a one and a half minute song. Describing it here would only spoil the experience, so take a look for yourself.

Brentalfoss has many other musical spoofs of video games in his extensive “With Lyrics” series, taking the melody of a popular video game song and adding lyrics that both celebrate and lampoon the game.

3. Lion King in Minecraft (Circle of Life) – CraftedMovie

This video recreates the opening sequence of Disney’s The Lion King but with the mobs from Minecraft. Watching this video side by side with the original, its amazing to see just how much this video gets right. The setting, camera angles, character acting, and original a cappella music are all spot on. It’s impressive in how authentically it recreates the mood of the original movie.

4. An Egg’s Guide to Minecraft – Element Animation

An Egg’s Guide to Minecraft is one of the better known animation series on Minecraft, also also one of the better ones. Featuring fun characters, jokes, and well-made animation, there’s a reason this series has lasted from 2012 to 2016.

The series is so well known, in fact, that the voice of the villager was featured in an April Fools update to the actual game in 2014 where the voice replaced the sound of the mobs and music. The update can also be accessed by downloading a mod.

If that doesn’t prove its prominence, I don’t know what does.

5. Realistic Minecraft – Nukazooka

Hardcore Henry meets Minecraft Hardcore in this fan film. The first-person perspective mends beautifully with the special effects to create a surprisingly intense yet humorous take on what Minecraft may look like in real life. Personally, I think this should be a new feature. Augmented reality, anyone?

Minecraft YouTube Videos: 5 Fan-Made Works You Need to See

Microsoft announced during its pre-E3 press event that Minecraft will be updated this fall with 4K graphics and complete cross-platform play, meaning that players on PC, consoles, and mobile devices will all be able to play together—with the one notable exception of Sony, which declined to join the party. The reason for that seemingly odd refusal, PlayStation global sales and marketing head Jim Ryan told Eurogamer, is that Sony believes it’s “got to be mindful of our responsibility to our install base.”

“Minecraft—The demographic playing that, you know as well as I do, it’s all ages but it’s also very young. We have a contract with the people who go online with us, that we look after them and they are within the PlayStation curated universe,” Ryan said. “Exposing what in many cases are children to external influences we have no ability to manage or look after, it’s something we have to think about very carefully.”

He acknowledged that Nintendo, which has a far more obvious appeal to younger gamers, was happy to get on board, saying, “Everybody has to take their own decisions.” And he also left the door open, ever so slightly, for the situation to change. “I don’t think anything is ever a done deal,” he said. “Anybody who is dogmatic in that manner is typically a fool.”

Microsoft made its position on the matter clear shortly after the cross-platform update was announced.

Sony won’t allow Minecraft cross-platform play on PlayStation consoles

Skyler Roberts is getting tired. For the past nine months, the 20-year-old has been on a solo journey across the United States. He has walked over 3,600 miles, and he’s still got a long way to go. Or as he puts it, “just 600 miles” to go. Just.

From his starting point near Ontario, Canada, Skyler has hiked through dozens of states, from New York to Texas to Washington. The finish line is San Francisco. On the way, he’s worn out seven pairs of shoes. He’s been stopped by police 20 times (without incident). He’s eaten countless packages of instant mashed potatoes and ramen noodles. He’s also found 16 spoons.

He did this to visit some online friends he met playing Minecraft.

Generating level, building terrain

It started as a joke. Skyler was in middle school when Minecraft entered public alpha, and he caught the bug almost immediately. He started playing just before the release of the Nether and has since logged thousands of hours across several servers, including his own ultra hardcore server (‘UHC’ is a survival death-game mode, and isn’t that fitting) and the Jsano fan server, an offshoot of the Mindcrack community.

One day, he told his far-off friends in server chat that he’d walk over sometime. He laughed it off at first, but somehow the idea stuck with him as he waded through high school. By his junior year, he was so busy with schoolwork and his part-time job that he didn’t have much time for Minecraft. He was feeling the pressure of graduation. What next? He wasn’t sure.

After graduating in June 2016, Skyler didn’t want to immediately commit to anything and risk exploding “like a bed in the nether,” he said on Reddit. He wanted to unwind. So he got a second job, worked 60-hour weeks, saved up around $5,000 Canadian and charted a gap year across America. You know, to cool off. He also wanted to sell his parents—his mother in Canada and his father in the U.S.—on the idea, which actually went pretty smoothly.

“From the get-go I was like ‘awesome!’” says Paul Roberts, Skyler’s father. “I raised him to be capable of these kinds of things. I trust him and believe in him and he thought about it … he thought about this for a while before he ever pitched the subject, and I could tell that, so I was like ‘yeah, you go!’”

In speaking with the Roberts, I get the sense that fear doesn’t run in the family. That being said, Skyler’s mother, Esther Roberts, was understandably concerned for his safety. She wanted to know where he would stay, how he’d get there and how he would fund his journey. Skyler started mulling over the same questions before he approached either of his parents, and because he had good answers, his mother had no qualms trusting him.

“You know, I have protected my kids to a certain extent,” she says. “And all of my family was shocked, you know, ‘how could you let him go?’ Well, how could I keep him back? You don’t really have a lot of control as a parent when they get older. If he was 16, I mean, absolutely not. I would be screaming bloody murder, absolutely you’re not going anywhere when you’re 16. But when you’re 20, that’s a whole different thing … he knew I would ask five million questions and he had the answers to all of my questions. He’d thought those through.”

With his proud parents behind him, Skyler started gearing up. He was an accomplished camper long before he punched a tree in Minecraft. Most of his 50 pounds of gear was leftover from previous, considerably shorter trips—among other things, a tent, a sleeping bag, a jetboil stove, a sturdy phone, a portable charger and a laptop that sadly can’t run Minecraft at a decent framerate.

Far lands or bust

It would be doable, but it wouldn’t be easy. Just getting acclimated to the walking regimen was tough enough. Skyler departed August 14, 2016, and by December his hip was killing him, so he exchanged his backpack for a jogging stroller. That eased the pain but also made passing through stretches like New Mexico’s Jemez Mountains even more of a slog. The day I spoke with him, his hip was hurting again, but Skyler is anything but discouraged.

“I’m really looking forward to this next month. A few months ago, I was more scared to do things,” he says. “A few months before that, I couldn’t even imagine being finished. Before that I was still getting my sea legs on. It’s interesting how it’s evolved. By this point I’m ready to be done. I’m excited for this last portion and I don’t want to rush it too much.”

Skyler was never in a hurry. His journey was always about meeting people and seeing new things. He had a rough route in mind when he set out, but his only goals were to “outrun winter” on his way south and visit as many Minecraft friends as possible. He originally wanted to meet seven, but he’s already up to nine. Skyler makes up the rest as he goes, all the while diligently chronicling his travels via his subreddit, YouTube and Instagram, always eager to share the day’s stories and scenery.

“I purposely didn’t read any books by people who have [travelled across the US]. I did my best to because I wanted this trip to be my own,” he says. “I just wanted to do it. I didn’t want any expectations going in. I just wanted to experience it for myself.”

And what an experience it’s been. Skyler can only spend a few days with each friend, so most of his weeks are raw travel. And though his route is malleable, he does have places to be, so he keeps to a schedule. Sunrise is his alarm clock and sunset his curfew, and there’s often little but walking in between. “Before, I was doing 10 to 15 miles a day,” he says. “Now I’m doing 20 to 25 … some days I’ll just never stop walking, just keep walking for seven or eight hours straight or even more. When it gets to an hour or two before sunset, I start looking for a place to camp.”

Skyler regularly rooms with local Couchsurfing hosts, and he’s spent plenty of time in churchyards and parks. Some nights saw less likely shelters, including the Kentucky Downs horse racing track.

“It was getting dark and there was no security around so I snuck in and camped right in the middle of the field,” says Skyler. “I got out before sunrise because it probably wouldn’t have been good if I was there too late on a weekday.”

He spends about half his nights indoors but he’s only paid for housing twice—once due to severe weather and again when his stroller broke. His GoFundMe campaign helped with that, not to mention all the shoes. I asked him what his most dangerous moment was and he told me about an eventful night near a small town in Idaho.

“I was about 10 miles outside of it and I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it there. The sun was starting to set, there was rain going on, so I was just going to find a place to camp. I started knocking on people’s doors—and this was really rural, so we’re talking houses a quarter-mile apart.

“Nobody answered until like the third or fourth house. The guy who answered, old guy, he didn’t feel comfortable with me camping in his yard, but he told me about a half-mile down the road there was a barn and I could stay in there for the night. So I left and I was going to head back to the road, and as I was going back this guy in a white pickup truck just comes barreling towards me. He stops right in front of me and his first words were ‘what the fuck do you think you’re doing knocking on people’s doors out here?’ And I was like ‘oh, shit.’”

After hearing Skyler’s story, the man stowed his rifle, which had been sitting in the front seat of his truck, and gave Skyler a ride to a nearby park. He bought him breakfast the following morning. It started with a threat, but ended with a meal. Skyler has mostly met friendly people during his journey and says he’s grown comfortable talking with strangers along the way, though he knows the dangers.

Before the trip, “tons of people” told Skyler he couldn’t do it. He’d be murdered or robbed, they said. He listened, but went for it anyway. “It’s good to keep what people say in mind,” says Skyler, “but not to let other people’s fears prevent you from living your own life, experiencing the world for yourself.”

“The people he comes across, a lot of them are fearful of the unknown,” says Paul Roberts. “There’s so much stuff out there in the news about bad things happening, so he looks like someone who isn’t from [parts of the country], and you kind of have to overcome that fear with folks. And he’s good at it. He’s really good at it.”

Friends list

I also spoke with Chris Kreidler, who Skyler visited a few weeks ago. Kreidler has known Skyler since 2013, but while they’ve cracked jokes online for years, he never expected to spend a weekend together. But when Skyler posted a Skype message asking if anyone was near his northwestern route, Kreidler reached out.

“He got here Friday evening. I drove about 20 miles to pick him up because he didn’t make it all the way to [my home in] Seattle,” Kreidler says. “Then he was here for Saturday and Sunday. We went out and did some stuff Saturday, then he spent a bit of Sunday just writing some blog posts and we did a couple things later, then he packed up Monday morning. So two full days.”

Kreidler has made many friends through Minecraft, and met many of them in person through events like Minecon, but Skyler’s visit was more personal. He thought things might be tense since they’d only ever interacted online, but it didn’t take long for old habits to kick in.

“The very first part when I met him was a little awkward because I don’t really know him that well, but after a few minutes it’s not much different from talking online,” Kreidler says. “It went better than I expected it to. I was worried beforehand that it’d be awkward the whole time and that we wouldn’t really have anything in common, but it’s not too hard to start talking to him. And he had a lot to talk about, obviously.”

It’s testament to how easy it is to bond over games, and how legitimate and valuable those friendships can be. “I think having online friends is great, and [that] the Internet is great for making friends,” Kreidler says. “Because if you meet online you automatically have something in common. He and I had Minecraft in common. That would make for a really great real-life friendship as well.”

Thousands of miles later, Skyler is every bit as supportive of making and visiting online friends. “I would say go for it, definitely do it. It’s worth the experience 99 times out of 100. I can’t even articulate it,” he says. “I totally support anybody doing this, or anyone taking any sort of trip to experience more of life than you normally would.

“Meeting people is fantastic. I think walking across a country to visit friends is maybe not for everybody—probably not for everybody. But I think driving down or flying down and meeting someone and having some fun for a weekend, that’s something a lot of people can do and a lot of people should do.”

Meet the man who walked across America to visit his Minecraft friends

Ah, the Sydney Opera House. The name implies it’s all about opera, but don’t be fooled: in 2011 I watched gameplay footage of Rage on a big cinema screen in there, with the crowd hooting and hollering with every brutal murder. No, the Sydney Opera House isn’t just a place for high-falutin ruling class flim flam. It’s also a place for video games.

And that will become amply obvious when Minecraft at the Sydney Opera House kicks off next month – a festival celebrating all things Steve. Dubbed a “true choose-your-own-adventure experience”, it definitely seems to be geared towards younger Minecraft fans, but “devotees of all ages” are invited to attend.

“The Opera House’s grand Concert Hall and Northern Foyers will be transformed into a Minecraft extravaganza spanning three sessions over two days. Attendees can come and go between the main competition on stage and the activities in the foyer,” reads the press release.

There will be a bunch of Minecraft-related competitions, as well as appearances by Minecraft lead creative designer Jens Bergensten and Mojang brand director Lydia Winters. Tickets go on sale Thursday June 8, but pre-sales are on now.

Minecraft is coming to the Sydney Opera House

A couple of offers on console bundles have popped up recently on eBay. The first, from NewEgg’s portal, has the Xbox One S Minecraft bundle for the low price of $200.

The bundle includes a white, 500GB Xbox One S, and a copy of Minecraft. This is a pretty good price, even if you’re not interested in Minecraft. The deal is available for 29 days, or until supplies last.

Then we have the PlayStation 4 Uncharted 4 bundle from seller Antonline. Priced $210, this one comes with a PS4 Slim and a copy of the game. This is also the 500GB version, available until supplies last.

One thing to note with the PS4 bundle, though, is that you can only see the price at checkout.

For a limited time, get the PS4 Uncharted 4 bundle for $210, Xbox One S Minecraft bundle for $200

Saturday AM writethru after Friday 3rd UPDATE: Paramount is seeing slightly better numbers on a film that opened this past Tuesday in previews and has been stuck in second gear. The latest pic in its franchise —Transformers: The Last Knight — is on track to take in about $40M+ for the three-day and is looking at a $63.9M five-day, which would be the lowest opening in the series of five films. The last time out, Transformers: Age of Extinction grabbed $100M in its opening weekend in 2014 also in June. It seems the studio and Hasbro has squeezed every drop out of this film franchise; audiences are clearly growing tired of it.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros./DC’s Wonder Woman cleared the $300M mark yesterday with $7.3M and is expected to hit $319.4M by Sunday. Currently, the Patty Jenkins-directed movie is expected to pull in $26.17M for the weekend, which would inch out Dark Knight ($26.11M) to become the best fourth weekend for a Warner Bros. release ever at the domestic box office. Soon, Wonder Woman will overtake Suicide Squad ($325.1M) and Batman v. Superman ($330.3M) to become the third highest grossing DC title ever after The Dark Knight ($534.9M) and The Dark Knight Rises ($448.1M).

In its second weekend out, Cars 3 should drive past the $100M mark for Disney/Pixar, depending on how strong the family audience attendance is today and Sunday. That would mean a 52% drop for $25.6M. The picture that is just tanking in its second weekend is the Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez on Me, which kept its theaters but it sinking like a stone in its sophomore frame, down possibly 78% with $5.88M.

More interesting are the performances of films in the Specialty box office. The Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan comedy The Big Sick from Amazon and Lionsgate could pull off $80K per screen in its five theaters its first weekend out. To date in 2017, that’s the best opening theater average beating Beauty and the Beast‘s $42K. The husband/wife duo promoted this film at CinemaCon earlier this year and it was one of the highlights of the convention, primarily because Nanjiani had everyone in stitches. As reported exclusively by Deadline, Amazon scooped up The Big Sick at Sundance for $12M. Can they make their money back? Given the notable per theater here, an expansion is obviously in store. The movie is certified fresh by Rotten Tomatoes at 97% and that equals more foot traffic.

Sofia Coppola’s drama The Beguiled, which premiered this year at Cannes and stars Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell, Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning, is also in a handful of theaters and may pull in a per screen average of around $65,6K from its four theaters. The Beguiled is also in its first weekend. While Beguiled is 74% fresh, it has the distinction of having Cannes kudos best director for Coppola as well as Nicole Kidman’s special 70th anniversary prize.

Other indies, like the Mike White/Miguel Arteta satirical comedy Beatriz for Dinner expanded to 491 theaters after a great performance for distributor Roadside Attractions’ last weekend. The film, which has been getting critical kudos since it premiered at Sundance, stars Salma Hayek and Jonathan Lithgow. And you gotta give kudos to the marketing team on this one for the fun trailer and visuals.

Here’s the chart as of Saturday AM:

1). Transformers: The Last Knight (PAR), 4,069 theaters / $15.65M Wed. (includes Tuesday preview of $5.5M) / $8.1M Thurs. / $13.7M Fri. / 3-day cume: $40.1M / Total cume: $63.9M / Wk 1

2). Wonder Woman (WB), 3,933 theaters (-85) / $7.3M Fri. / 3-day cume: $26.1M / Total: $319.4M / Wk 4

3). Cars 3 (DIS), 4.256 theaters (o) / $7.65m Fri. / 3-day cume: $25.6M (-52%) / Total: $100.3M+ / Wk 2

4.). 47 Meters Down (ENT), 2,471 theaters (+201) / $2.2M Fri. / 3-day cume: $6.9M (-38%) / Total: $23.7M / Wk 2

5.). All Eyez On Me (LGF), 2,471 theaters (0) / $1.89M Fri. / 3-day cume: $5.88M (-78%) / Total: $38.7M / Wk 2

6.). The Mummy (Uni), 2,980 theaters (-827) / $1.7M Fri. / 3-day cume: $5.8M / Total: $68.5M / Wk 3

7.). Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales  (DIS), 2,453 theaters (-68) / $1.6M Fri. / 3-day cume: $5.4M / Total: $160.1M / Wk 5

8./9). Captain Underpants  (DWA/20TH), 2,328 theaters (-44) / $1.46M Fri. / 3-day cume: $4.8M / Total: $66.3M / Wk 4

Rough Night (SONY), 3,162 theaters (0) / $1.58M Fri. / 3-day cume: $4.8M (-40%) / Total: $16.7M / Wk 2

10). Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2  (DIS), 1,468 theaters (-72) / $876KFri. / 3-day cume: $3M / Total: $380.2M / Wk 8

11./12) DJ Duvvada Jagannadh (BSKY), 190 theaters / $608K Fri. / 3-day cume: $1.8M /Wk 1

Beatriz At Dinner (RSA), 491 theaters (+414) / $558K Fri. / 3-day cume: $1.8M (+140%) / Per screen average: $3,6K / Total: $3M / Wk 3

NOTABLES:

Book of Henry (FOC), 646 theaters (+67) / $311K Fri. / 3-day cume: $972K (-32%) / Per screen: $1,5K/ Total: $3.1M / Wk 2

The Big Sick (AMAZ/LGF), 5 theaters / $134K Fri. / 3-day cume: $401K / Per screen: $80K / Wk 1

The Beguiled (FOC), 4 theaters / $89K Fri. / 3-day cume: $262K / Per screen: $65,6K / Wk 1

Figures as of Friday night:

1). Transformers: The Last Knight (PAR), 4,069 theaters / $15.65M Wed. (includes Tuesday preview of $5.5M) / $8.1M Thurs. / $13.6M to $14M+ Fri. / 3-day cume: $40M to $42M / Total cume: $65M+ / Wk 1

2). Wonder Woman (WB), 3,933 theaters (-85) / $7.5M Fri. / 3-day cume: $27.5M to $27.8M / Total: $319M / Wk 4

3). Cars 3 (DIS), 4.256 theaters (o) / $7.7M to $8M Fri. / 3-day cume: $26M to $27M (-52%) / Total: $100M+ / Wk 2

4.). 47 Meters Down (ENT), 2,471 theaters (+201) / $2.2M Fri. / 3-day cume: $6.57M (-38%) / Total: $23.5M / Wk 2

5.). The Mummy (Uni), 2,980 theaters (-827) / $1.7M Fri. / 3-day cume: $6.1M / Total: $68.9M / Wk 3

6.). Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales  (DIS), 2,453 theaters (-68) / $1.8M Fri. / 3-day cume: $6.4M / Total: $161M / Wk 5

7.). All Eyez On Me (LGF), 2,471 theaters (0) / $1.8M Fri. / 3-day cume: $5.4M (-79%) / Total: $38.2M / Wk 2

8.). Captain Underpants  (DWA/20TH), 2,328 theaters (-44) / $1.87M Fri. / 3-day cume: $5.5M to $6.4M / Total: $67M / Wk 4

9.). Rough Night (SONY), 3,162 theaters (0) / $1.6M Fri. / 3-day cume: $4.5M to $5M (-44%) / Total: $16.5M to $17M / Wk 2

10). Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2  (DIS), 1,468 theaters (-72) / $1M+ Fri. / 3-day cume: $3.4M to $3.7M / Total: $380.8M / Wk 8

NOTABLES:

11). Beatriz At Dinner (RSA), 491 theaters (+414) / $526K Fri. / 3-day cume: $1.7M (+140%) / Per screen average: $3,450 / Total: $2.9M / Wk 3

Book of Henry (FOC), 646 theaters (+67) / $325K Fri. / 3-day cume: $1.1M (-21%) / Per screen: $1,741 / Total: $3.2M / Wk 2

The Big Sick (AMAZ/LGF), 5 theaters / $105K Fri. / 3-day cume: $322K to $400K / Per screen: $64K to $80K / Wk 1

The Beguiled (FOC), 4 theaters / $68K Fri. / 3-day cume: $210K / Per screen: $52,190 / Wk 1

— Anita Busch reported Friday night numbers. Anthony D’Alessandro handled Saturday AM writethru

2nd UPDATE, Friday, 12:24 PM: Paramount’s Transformers: The Last Knight is looking at an estimated $12.5 million today based off of midday matinees, with a current outlook that’s just under $60M over five days. That number could fall if these estimates don’t maintain themselves into the night. Three-day already is estimated at $36.5M.

Again, this is a waning property stateside, which many in town believe Paramount strictly made for China, which is bound to clear a $100M opening per Deadline’s Nancy Tartaglione. That territory repped close to a third of Age Of Extinction‘s $1.1 billion take. And even though China for Last Knight is pacing ahead of Extinction by 69%, some analysts believe it may not even finish in the $300M-plus range when all is said and done.

After drawing a profit of $250M on the last movie (merchandise alone generated $30M), it only made sense financially for Paramount to make another Transformers film, and a prolific writers roundtable led by Akiva Goldsman cannot put these robots back together again when there’s the dominant, repetitive, hyper-CGI vision of director Michael Bay (who apparently says its his last Transformers). As we’ve pointed out, critics have zero patience for Last Knight and moviegoers’ interest is on the decline.

Warner Bros/DC’s Wonder Woman, which is clicking past Universal’s Mamma Mia! on a worldwide basis to become the highest-grossing live-action movie directed by a female with $610M, will stay planted in second place with an estimated $26M take (down a marvelous 37%). By Sunday, the Patty Jenkins-directed movie will hurl itself past $319.2M, just $5.8M shy of taking out Suicide Squad and another $11.1M before Wonder Woman shows Batman V. Superman ($330.3M) who exactly is the boss at the box office. Wonder Woman is looking at an estimated $7M today.

Disney/Pixar’s Cars 3 is also driving toward $7M today, but as of this minute is expected to come in under Wonder Woman in third with $23M, down 57% from last week, for a running 10-day take of $97.7M by Sunday.

Lionsgate’s Codeblack Entertainment’s All Eyez On Me is expected to gross $2.7M today for a second weekend of $8M, down 70%, for a 10-day total of $40.8M.

We’ll have more updates tonight.

PREVIOUS, Friday 7:32 AM: Thursday wasn’t expected to be high for Paramount’s Transformers: The Last Knight at the domestic box office, but the downer $8.1 million day, off 48% from its $15.65M opening, doesn’t help the Hasbro pic’s five-day opening.

Through two days, Last Knight counts an estimated $23.7M at 4,069 venues, and some analysts even think there’s a chance the Michael Bay title may even fall below $60M in its five-day opening. Last Knight cost a reported $217M before P&A and will rely on overseas ticket sales to get it to any profit point. The last movie, which grossed a then-domestic final low of $245.4M, minted $1.1 billion worldwide good for a $250M profit after all post-theatrical streams were counted. We’ll have a better idea by noon where domestic lies for Last Knight, and overseas results will be coming in soon. What’s interesting is that no other studio dared to counter-program Last Knight, which is funny because it’s not like the movie is vacuuming up the weekend’s business.

While the fifthquel declined to a B+ CinemaScore from the A- earned by its previous chapter Age Of Extinction, ComScore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak even shows a tiring among audiences between installments. Moviegoers gave Last Knight a mundane 75% positive score versus 84% on Age Of Extinction. Word of mouth has even declined from a 69% definite recommend on AOE to 55% on Last Knight. PostTrak shows mostly men occupying seats at Last Knight, at 61%. How that breaks down: men 25+ (33%), men under 25 (29%), women 25+ (23%), and women under 25 (16%). Most people are watching Last Knight in 3D at 53%. A bulk of Last Knight‘s sales are from walk-up business, with 80% purchasing tickets at the theater. Forty-four percent of moviegoers attended Last Knight because it’s part of a franchise they like, while 16% came for star Mark Wahlberg.

Disney/Pixar’s Cars 3 made $4.4M yesterday in second place, raising its week’s cume to $74.7M, off 10% from the first week of Cars which made $83.3M in seven days and ended its stateside run at $244M.

Warner Bros/DC’s Wonder Woman grossed $4M in third at 4,018 for a running three week cume of $293.2M. Entertainment Studios’ 47 Meters Down rose up in the daily rankings to fourth with $1.2M at 2,270 and a week’s cume of $16.7M. Lionsgate’s Codeblack Entertainment’s All Eyez On Me made $1.09M at 2,471 and a week’s tally of $32.8M. Where’s Sony’s Rough Night? All the way down in eighth place with $878K and a seven-day take of $11.9M.

Meanwhile, hope resides for the Culver City studio with their romantic action title Baby Driver, opening Wednesday, and currently maintaining a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score.

‘Transformers’ Still Rusty At $63M+; ‘Wonder Woman’ Soars Past $300M – Saturday AM Update

Coding curricula is sweeping into classrooms across the country, thanks to programs such as Code.org. According to the Education Commission of States, about 20 states now require that districts allow students to apply specified computer science courses toward completion of mathematics, science or, as a foreign language. But is coding preoccupying the hearts and minds of students after school hours? This is the question that researchers at the MIT Media Lab are asking.

It was there that one of the most popular learn-to-code tools, developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten group, was born in 2007. And while it has inspired a flurry of copycat offerings from other developers, Scratch has retained a loyal following: Today the platform claims over 100 million users around the world.

So what keeps these users, er, scratching their itch to code?

Upon entering the offices of the Lifelong Kindergarten groups, one immediately notices images of the whimsical orange “Scratch cat” plastered all over the walls. It is clear that the project has become a source of pride and the center’s claim to fame. That’s where we met Natalie Rusk, one of Scratch’s creators, who is now researching how kids find and sustain the motivation to code.

To conduct this research, she interviewed over a hundred Scratch users who are active on the platform not just during or after school, but even after a student has graduated and moved on to another school. The key, Rusk found, are what she calls “interest-based communities” that play a strong role in keeping students engaged and learning to code long after school is over.

Scratch was originally built as a program to introduce children to basic programming concepts. Yet the online communities that have sprung suggest the tool wields a much larger influence. “Too often people are positioning Scratch as a stepping stone to other things, whereas we see from our interviews that Scratchers keep going deeper and broader and contribute back either online or offline to other people,” says Rusk.

She describes the Scratch community as a youth development program where many users start, some leave, but others stay and become leaders on the platform. The community, similar to those on other platforms like Reddit, is difficult to quantify since it simply consists of active members who engage with each other to the point that they call one another “friends.” Users do find ways to act on those friendships, celebrating “Scratchaversarys” (similar to an online birthday), by offering coding projects and comments as gifts to one another. Reading through the comment streams on projects, one can easily get a sense of the communal atmosphere where users congratulate each other on getting featured, wish each other happy Scratchaversarys, make jokes with one another and even share personal details about their lives.

“Initially I was the one who questioned the word ‘community.’ I mean, they were posting projects and writing comments. How is that community?” says Rusk. But when she interviewed many of the users to see why they stayed on the platform, she found that many of them referred to each other as “friends.”

“We interviewed one kid from England who said he wanted to give back on the site because he benefited so much,” explained Rusk, “But when we asked him if he also did that in school he said, no, because he moved around [to different schools] so much.” She says several students share a similar sentiment—especially those whose friends and sense of community come from the coding platform. It is those types of students who she sees as lifelong Scratchers, ready and excited to code for life.

Rusk hopes to cultivate these online communities by allowing them to explore programming projects specific to their hobbies in music, arts and games. It is their theory that by allowing students to engage in interest-based groups that they will become engrossed in the community and code beyond the classroom.

Perhaps the only online coding community that could compete with Scratch for kids’ attention is Minecraft, which aims to provide kids with a similar sense interest- and peer-based exploration. Recently its developers released a coding addition to the game that has sold over 121 million copies.

Its developers at Microsoft hope to cultivate a large, open community for teachers and students around coding. “Before we launched the Education edition [of Minecraft] we spent about a year out with the Minecraft community, listening and learning,” said Neal Manegold, a senior manager at Minecraft Education, in an interview with EdSurge.

Educators told Manegold that most of their students spend a lot of time on Minecraft projects outside of the classroom, but they don’t view the projects as educational in nature as many of them are simply playing the game.

There was already a strong community of Minecraft users, but to maximize learning on the platform, he had to build an active community of educators as well. To do this, the Minecraft team offered a mix of in-person training and online sessions, including forums, Twitter chats and live streamed workshops where educators can teach each other, something Manegold says is important to keep them engaged and creative.

Manegold says that teachers have already been using Minecraft to teach subjects such as History and Engineering by having students recreate three-dimensional replicas of ancient ruins, and he sees the addition of coding expanding the opportunities for educators to use the software for interdisciplinary learning.

“Adding coding to the platform has brought people who were coding-focused, but not necessarily Minecraft focused on to the platform,” says Manegold. “They bring a depth of expertise for people who are interested in Minecraft but don’t have expertise in Computer Science. It is exceedingly valuable to all involved.”

How Scratch and Minecraft Developers Hope to Keep Kids Coding For Life

Following on from the recently announced “Better Together” update for Minecraft: Xbox One Edition at E3, Mojang have now revealed their next DLC in the form of a graphics pack, the “Super Duper Graphics Pack”. They do point out that this upgrade is optional, so if you like things the way they are, you don’t need to change it.

This Fall, along with a free update that will allow Minecraft to be played with 4k graphics, the “Super Duper Graphics Pack” will improve a whole bunch of aspects of your game. Some of these include – “features like dynamic shadows, lighting that streams through fog, movement in leaves and grass, new textures for mobs and villagers, directional lighting, edge highlighting and more”. It all sounds very impressive, and to show it off a little bit more, we’ve got a trailer to share with you too.

The “Super Duper Graphics Pack” will be arriving, along with the 4k update, this Fall. It will be available for Xbox One, Xbox One X and Windows 10, with Mojang pointing out that this pack will be “performing best on high-end PCs and the Xbox One X”.

Minecraft Reveals Super Duper Graphics Pack

Minecraft is a global phenomenon. Nowadays it’s rare to find a gamer unfamiliar with the title itself. What originally started off on PC has expanded to nearly every device. Consoles, mobile — some gamers can even play it on their streaming devices.

Mojang made its presence felt at E3 2017. Aside from the Xbox One X 4K update, big news was revealed for fans of the series. Gamers can soon play Minecraft with friends on nearly every platform thanks to new servers. These servers will support Xbox One, PC, Switch, VR, and mobile. Check out the update reveal below.

The “Better Together” update is set to drop this summer.

Minecraft Will Feature Cross Platform Online Play

It was just announced at Microsoft’s E3 conference that Minecraft will become a cross play title. This means that gamers will be able to play with their friends across multiple platforms including Windows 10, VR, and console. This functionality comes with massive servers and a community marketplace in the “Better Together Update”.

The “Super Duper Graphics Pack” will also be available for the game this fall. This update is a 4K visual upgrade for the Xbox One X. Check out the trailer for it below.

Both of these updates will be coming later this year, so prepare for cross play and some blocks that are about to look a whole lot better.

Minecraft Cross Play and 4K Update

One of the big announcements for Minecraft this E3 was that nearly all versions of the game — Playstation consoles aside unfortunately due to a decision on Sony’s end — will be able to play with each other following the game’s upcoming “Better Together” update.

Following on from that announcement, Jens and Saxs from Mojang discuss the update a little bit more with Julia Hardy.

The “Better Together” update as well as the 4K update announced at the same time should both be coming to Minecraft later this year.

Mojang Discuss Minecraft Better Together Update At E3

If you play Minecraft—or are the parent of an offspring who plays Minecraft–then you probably know that the international YouTube Minecraft superstar known as Dan TDM is on tour.

Dan TDM (TDM stands for “the diamond minecart,” kind of an inside joke among Dan and his 17.9 million subscribers) rose to fame by making videos of his Minecraft-playing adventures. His face appears in the corner of the screen as he narrates, providing tips and advice, but mostly entertainment. The man is a delight, even if you are the kind of parent who swears you couldn’t be entertained by a twenty-something English guy narrating a video game.

You see, Dan TDM is kind of a genius. Not only has he managed to rack up 10 billion views of him playing Minecraft, but also he has now figured out how to turn his video persona into a world tour, for which he has sold more than 85,000 tickets including 32 sold-out shows in the U.K., four at the Sydney Opera House, and 21 (and counting) in the United States. But you might have questions. The first of which is most assuredly, What does Dan TDM do onstage? Does he just play Minecraft?

“I’d say the top comment I get when I see people after the show, parents, they’re like, ‘We don’t know what to expect,'” Dan told PopularMechanics.com. “We’ve sold this idea of the live show on pretty much nothing, really—they know that I’m going to be there, but they don’t know what I’m going to do. But then hopefully, we do blow them away with this really cool show that does have gaming within it, but involves everyone in a much more personal experience. Which was my main goal: I wanted to take that one limitation about my videos, which is there’s always a screen between me and my audience.”

Having seen—and thoroughly enjoyed—the show, we are here to answer that and a few other questions about the tour, which runs through July 23 in Seattle.

What does Dan TDM do onstage? Does he just play Minecraft?

No. He doesn’t play Minecraft at all, actually. What sets his Minecraft YouTubing apart is his ability to create characters and tell stories, and he brings this creativity to life on the stage.

Will adults find him funny?

Yes, he’s funny, in a charming, self-deprecating, British way.

Is there merchandise for sale?

Ohh, yes. T-shirts, posters, Dan’s book, hats, stuffed pugs (Dan has two, who figure prominently in his videos), and plenty more.

Can the kids meet him?

Yes. At most shows, Dan does a meet-and-greet for a couple hundred fans before the show. The tickets for this are $95 on top of the regular ticket price, and you need to arrive several hours before the show. It takes a while. But that’s because Dan TDM is magic with kids. He doesn’t rush. He listens to them. He talks to them. He graciously accepts their gifts. He poses for photos, signs whatever they have, high-fives them. Buy the ticket. Stand and wait. Smile.

How long is the show?

About two hours, including an intermission.

Are there other people on stage, or just Dan TDM?

He is not the only human in the show. We’ll leave it at that. No spoilers.

Doesn’t all of this just encourage kids to play video games?

Not really, no. There’s a plot to the stage story, and it has to do with busting out of the virtual world into the real world. Dan TDM genuinely entertaining, he encourages kids to approach Minecraft with originality and a sense of adventure, and he seems intent on making kids feel good about who they are. In the show, he talks about his shyness as a child, and now here he is, standing in front of 5,000 people, hopping around telling stories, making people laugh and clap and have a truly enjoyable evening.

What Happens When a Minecraft-Playing YouTube Star Goes on Tour

Most of you probably know that the Minecraft: Pocket Edition [$6.99] Better Together update will add cross-platform servers and graphical upgrades to the game, but it will also add plenty of other fun features as it strives for parity between versions. Three of those features that will be added to the game are stained glass, books, and banners, with the first two being the most fun of the three. Banners are crafted from wool, can be placed either on the ground or on walls, and they make for fun decorations when you’re making medieval-themed builds. Books and quills let you create books that you can add text to and are great for adventure maps.

The most exciting feature though is by far stained glass, decorative variants of regular glass blocks that let you create fantastic buildings. They come with a ton of different colors and also let you change Beacon colors. I’m pretty sure builders will be very excited for this one. What other features are you hoping to see in the Better Together update?

‘Minecraft’ ‘Better Together’ Update Bringing Stained Glass, Books, and Banners

Minecraft, although very popular, has been said to fall short when it comes to graphics – until now.

The video game is set to release the ‘Better Together Update’ that enables users to play with others in the game and lets the game’s designers give it ‘a new lick of paint’.

Users will soon experience 4K HDR graphics and be given access to the ‘Super Duper Graphics Pack’, which adds stunning effects to scenes such as sparkles on rippling water and dynamic shadows.

Java Edition players have long had the ability to add a modern look to Minecraft by fiddling around with codes, but now the average gamer will soon have the same experience with the new 4K HDR graphics, improved lighting, shadows, water effects and more.

‘We’re also a little something extra, which we’re humbly naming the Super Duper Graphics Pack,’ Marsh Davies is the creative communications manager at Monjan AB, the creator of Minecraft, shared in a blog post.

‘This optional DLC pack is crammed full of excessive visual razzmatazz: light will filter in shimmering rays through cotton clouds, dappling the ground beneath fluttering foliage, and sparkling on the rippling waters. We have dynamic shadows!’

‘Directional lighting! Edge highlighting! Probably loads of other kinds of lighting I don’t understand!’

Davies did however note that the new graphics and effects are still a work in progress, ‘so don’t be surprised if textures or effects change – and get even super duperer – before release.’

The pack will be released on Xbox One and Windows 10, performing best on high-end PCs and Project Scorpio.

However, the Better Together update will not apply to the PlayStation 4, or PS4 Pro, version of Minecraft right away.

Minecraft did release a a marketplace this month, which showcases curated content for Pocket and Windows 10 players.

The digital storefront will let users purchase items like maps, textures and skins that range from $1 to $10 per – but users will first have to by a new form of currency.

The optional DLC pack is crammed full of excessive visual razzmatazz: light will filter in shimmering rays through cotton clouds, dappling the ground beneath fluttering foliage, and sparkling on the rippling waters (left old graphics, right updated graphics)

The new graphics (right) and effects are still a work in progress, ‘so don’t be surprised if textures or effects change – and get even super duperer – before release (left is older graphics)

Microsoft added Minecraft Coins to the platform that will live in a user’s Microsoft Xbox Live virtual wallet and is accessible for marketplace purchases on any platform. 

The new additions are set to make their way into the video game come spring.

Although the upgrade benefits players, it is also an opportunity for businesses to sell their own original content, which will be available to ‘tens of millions’ of players, Bloomberg reported.

Nine businesses have teamed up with Minecraft to sell feature packs – and they will receive also about 70 percent of the total in-app purchase, where Minecraft will only keep 30 percent.

The pack will be released on Xbox One and Windows 10, performing best on high-end PCs and Project Scorpio (left is old graphics, right is updated graphics)

However, the Better Together update will not apply to the PlayStation 4, or PS4 Pro, version of Minecraft right away (pictured is a scene with the updated graphics)

‘We’ve partnered with heroic ‘crafters well-known to the community to build up a launch catalog of amazing adventure maps, texture packs, minigames and more,’ Minecraft wrote in an announcement.

‘Noxcrew, BlockWorks, Qwertyuiop The Pie, Blockception, Sphax, Eneija Silverleaf, Imagiverse, Polymaps and Razzleberry Fox are the folk on board at launch, but we’re opening up submissions to anyone with a registered business.’

Minecraft already offers its players a store to make purchases, but the new marketplace will ‘open up an entirely new business model for independent creative’.

Minecraft did release a a marketplace this month, which showcases curated content for Pocket and Windows 10 players. The digital storefront will let users purchase items like maps, textures and skins that range from $1 to $10 per – but users will first have to by a new form of currency

Altogether, Mincraft has sold a whopping 121 million copies to players all over the globe and boasts 55 million unique monthly users, according to figures from Microsoft – giving third party developers a chance at expanding their reach.

The new features will also help Minecraft stepped into the world of recurring revenue.

Microsof added Minecraft Coins to the platform that will live in a user’s Microsoft Xbox Live virtual wallet and is accessible for marketplace purchases on any platform

‘With Minecraft Coins, Microsoft is following both Amazon and Facebook into having its own virtual currency for in-app and content purchasing,’ Martin Garner, an analyst at CCS Insight, told Bloomberg.

‘This could be very relevant for Minecraft’s substantial base of younger users, who are unable to attach a credit card to their account.’

Altogether, Mincraft has sold a whopping 121 million copies to players all over the globe and boasts 55 million unique monthly users, according to figures from Microsoft – giving third party developers a chance at expanding their reach

‘But, by using the Minecraft brand for the currency, Microsoft appears to see this as a self-contained move, rather than the start of something larger.’

Minecraft noted that it will launch its public beta on Android in mid-April, which will focus on testing the new currency – users will ‘not see any creator content in the beta’.

Minecraft to get ‘super duper graphics’ making it look more realistic than ever before

Minecraft is about to start looking a whole lot better with the introduction of the Super Duper Graphics Pack, originally introduced during E3 2017. Previously it was announced for those who play Minecraft on Xbox One and on PC, but now the graphics pack is actually coming to the Nintendo Switch as well, according to an interview at Kotaku.

Rendering lead Cameron Egbert let the cat out of the bag: “It will be anywhere that you can play Minecraft in the new version. It will improve any screen on which you play, but the best experience will be on Xbox One X.”

Thanks to the “Better Together” initiative from Microsoft, Minecraft is looking to invite all players on various platforms to play together. This includes bringing Switch players onboard as with the upcoming Super Duper Graphics Pack, which makes the blocky look a whole lot more eye-popping.

The update will offer a brand new vision of Minecraft with 4K HDR graphics, improved lighting, water effects, shadows and a whole other smattering of visual improvements. It’s also all coming for free.

The introductory video shows off a good chunk of what to expect from the update, and it looks nearly like a different game. Unfortunately there isn’t a concrete release date just yet. You can expect to see it gracing a Minecraft player’s screen near you this fall.

‘Minecraft: Switch Edition’: Super Duper Graphics Pack will also release on Nintendo’s console

Power Rangers fans got a welcome surprise after the credits rolled, and the cast has some thoughts on the tease as well.

Yellow Ranger Becky Gomez spoke to The Mary Sue alongside original Pink Ranger actress Amy Jo Johnson, and one of the topics that came up was the Green Ranger. Tommy Oliver is referenced in the after credits scene but doesn’t show up just yet. Becky has some ideas for the popular Ranger, saying “[Me and my castmates] talk about this all the time. We agree that it should be a girl. I think it would be so cool because we have yet to see that. Obviously, Power Rangers has been around for a very long time, but I feel like it’d be so dope if she was a chick.”

In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers the role was played by Jason David Frank, who has gone on to reprise the role a few different times. In the reboot the role is originally played by Elizabeth Banks, becoming Rita Repulsa after she betrays the other Rangers. It would certainly be a fresh take on the character, but right now most just hope the film gets a sequel at all. Hopefully, after the film debuts in the Chinese market, that forecast won’t look as cloudy.

The action-packed, coming of age feature film Saban’s Power Rangers will morph onto Digital HD June 13 and on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (plus Blu-ray and Digital HD), Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus DVD and Digital HD), DVD and On Demand June 27 from Lionsgate. As part of the 24-year-old global phenomenon and based on the five Rangers from the original TV series, “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,”, the reimagined movie features a modern generation of Rangers including Dacre Montgomery (TV’s “Stranger Things”) as Jason the Red Ranger, Naomi Scott (The 33) as Kimberly the Pink Ranger, RJ Cyler (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) as Billy the Blue Ranger, Ludi Lin (Monster Hunt) as Zack the Black Ranger, and Becky G. (Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising) as Trini the Yellow Ranger, as they attempt to stop the evil and unpredictable Rita Repulsa (played by Elizabeth Banks, The Hunger Games Franchise) from destroying their city…and ultimately the world. Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”) as Zordon, and Bill Hader (Finding Dory) as Alpha 5 train the Rangers to morph and master their powers as a united team.

The Saban’s Power Rangers DVD will include exclusive audio commentary with director Dean Israelite and writer John Gatins, and deleted/alternate/extended scenes and outtakes. Saban’s Power Rangers will be available on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, and DVD for the suggested retail price of $42.99, $39.99, and $29.95, respectively.

Story by Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless and Michele Mulroney & Kieran Mulroney. Screenplay by John Gatins. Directed by Dean Israelite.

Power Rangers: Becky G On What The Cast Wants For The Green Ranger

Transformers: The Last Knight will take fans through a revised history of Medieval times, in a story that will offer greater explanation of the Transformers’ origins and connections to Earth.

New Transformers: The Last Knight Steelbane Poster Revealed

ransformers: The Last Knight is about to hit theaters, but plans for the franchise go well beyond Michael Bay latest (and final) installment of the franchise.

There are already story plans for Transformers 6 & 7 in place; there’s a Bumblebee spinoff movie that will be set in the 1980s, and there’s even another Transformers spinoff that could take place in ancient Rome. However, according to a new report, Transformers 6 is still trying to find a director to replace Michael Bay.

While fans wait to see what will happen with the main Transformers films, details about the Bumblebee spinoff are starting to come to light. The Last Knight will reportedly open the door much wider for Bumblebee as a character, revealing his secret history and origin. The spinoff film will presumably go deeper into that history, with the setting in Transformers cartoon’s classic “G1 Era” of the ’80s.

According to Transformers franchise producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura (via Collider), the Bumblebee movie will be a lot like another famous movie about a giant robot:

“I know we’re doing a spinoff first in the Bumblebee movie, and that is a very distinctive departure from what you’ve been seeing so far…it reminds me a little bit of Iron Giant years ago when I did that movie at Warner Bros. It just reminds me a little bit of that where it was very contained and yet it didn’t feel small.”

However, the part Transformers fans will probably like the most, is when di Bonaventura invoked the sacred name of Transformers G1:

“The objective of that movie is to develop more time with less robots in a way, and to go back to 1985 and go back to sort of the original heritage if you would of the Transformers. G1.”

The terms “G1” and “more time with less robots” are going to be music to the ears of so many viewers who don’t like the approach Michael Bay took with the movie franchise. That joy will hopefully grow much bigger, once we know who will direct this throwback chapter of the franchise.

Who would you like to see direct the Bumblebee spinoff? While we discuss that question, Transformers: The Last Knight is slowly creeping up the fan anticipation ratings, with a 3.91/5 ranking. Let us know how excited you are for the movie by ranking it below!

Transformers: The Last Knight’s voice cast includes Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, John Goodman as Hound, and John DiMaggio as Crosshairs. Other transformers appearing the film include Bumblebee, Drift, Hot Rod, Cogman, Canopy, Sqweeks, Grimlock, Megatron, Barricade, Onslaught, Hooligan, and Mohawk.

Transformers: The Last Knight opens in movie theaters on June 21, 2017.

Transformers Bumblebee Prequel Will Return to G1 ‘Heritage’

The Transformers franchise is five films in, but the explosive series doesn’t seem ready to call it quits just yet. Next week, the series will see its new film Transformers: The Last Knight bust into theaters, and the feature will mark director Michael Bay’s final hurrah with the series. Over the years, the action-centric director has had the chance to explore unmarked territory with the Hasbro franchise. And, now, Bay admits he would like to see the Transformers get a R-rated installment.

During a recent interview with Fandango, Bay opened up about his final outing with Transformers, and it was there the director said he’d love a grittier take.

“I would love that,” Bay admitted. “I’ve always said that I think that would be a great idea. I don’t know if Hasbro would ever have it work, but I think it would be a great idea.”

For older fans, the idea of a R-rated Transformers flick is certainly interesting. The first film of the series premiered back in 2007, leaving Transformers to mark its tenth anniversary this year. Youngers fans who sat in for the original Transformers film are old enough now to buy into a restricted film based on the autobots. Much like Logan, Transformers could bank on in on an aging audience in the near future if the right story presented itself.

In the past, Bay said he has been given a R-rated pitch for Transformers. The director told Collider he was pitched a dark take for the spinoff Bumblebee prequel that is currently in development.

“You know, yeah, that would be fun,” Bay said about the R-rated take. “There’s actually one idea that would be really fun R rated, with Bumblebee. I don’t wanna say, but it would be really fun. Very Quentin [Tarantino], you know.”

In Transformers: The Last Knight, humans are at war with the Transformers, and Optimus Prime is gone. The key to saving the future lies buried in the secrets of the past and the hidden history of Transformers on Earth. Now, it’s up to the unlikely alliance of Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), Bumblebee, an English lord (Anthony Hopkins) and an Oxford professor (Laura Haddock) to save the world.

Transformers: The Last Knight is directed by Michael Bay. The film stars Mark Wahlberg and Stanley Tucci reprising their roles from Transformers: Age of Extinction, with Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro reprising roles from the first three Transformers movies.

Transformers: The Last Knight’s voice cast includes Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, John Goodman as Hound, and John DiMaggio as Crosshairs. Other transformers appearing the film include Bumblebee, Drift, Hot Rod, Cogman, Canopy, Sqweeks, Grimlock, Megatron, Barricade, Onslaught, Hooligan, and Mohawk.

Transformers: The Last Knight opens in theaters on June 21, 2017.

Michael Bay Wants A R-Rated Transformers Flick