Patty Jenkins is having the biggest opening weekend for a female director in cinema history. Her superhero blockbuster Wonder Woman shattered the previous record for a female director by lassoing an estimated $100 million domestic and about the same cume in foreign markets. By Friday, the film had already taken an estimated $86 million in worldwide box office, and predictions for the final weekend cume continue to rise as ticket sales continue to exceed expectations.
Source: Warner Bros
Gal Gadot charges the battlefield in Warner’s “Wonder Woman”
Added to the great box office news for Wonder Woman — indeed, no doubt driving that financial performance — is a 94% Certified Fresh critical reception and an A-grade from audiences via Cinemascore. The Rotten Tomatoes score means Wonder Woman is now tied with The Dark Knight and Iron Man as the best-reviewed superhero films in history, and the A Cinemascore is likewise on par with the highest-graded superhero films except The Avengers, which is the only superhero release to score a rare A+ from audiences.
Wonder Woman is a huge success for Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment. The terrific critical reception, love from audiences, and overperformance on opening weekend are strong signs the DCU has turned a corner in terms of perception and embrace by the general public. The previous DCU films Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Suicide Squad had mixed to negative critical reviews, mixed audience scores, and performed good at the box office but not great, with the first two movies coming in below studio hopes and expectations. Much retooling and rethinking was done over the previous several months, and Wonder Woman is the first DCU film representing much of that change in approach and perspective.
Source: Warner Bros
The Amazons of Warner’s “Wonder Woman”
It’s possible that Saturday and Sunday numbers will continue the upward trend in estimates for Wonder Woman, as families flock to the box office and the positive word of mouth from audiences spreads, turning this into a must-see movie event. Likewise, social media is filling up with people proclaiming their intention to go right back and watch the movie again, so repeat business — always a tough element to factor for when we make our predictions this early — could further drive up the final weekend numbers.
Some outlets are still predicting a final domestic bow in the $95-97 million range, just shy of $100 million, and if that winds up being the case it’s still a huge victory for Wonder Woman and defies all of the earlier concerns and lower estimates. Those numbers still point to a likely final domestic tally north of $250 million, and more likely closer to $300 million, which implies a global total in the $600-700 million range.
Source: Warner Bros
The team pose for a famous photo in Warner’s “Wonder Woman”
There’s no doubt the final worldwide box office opening will be right around $200 million by close of business Sunday, and could go north of that number. For now, whatever the precise final numbers turn out to be, you can be sure there’s a lot of celebrating going on over at Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment right now, and Patty Jenkins, Gal Gadot, and everyone involved in the picture have every reason to be dancing in the streets this weekend.
Have you seen Wonder Woman, dear readers? If so, let everyone know what you thought by sounding off in the comments below!
If you’re one of the few people in the world never to have played Minecraft, then now might be a good time to see what all the fuss is about.
Minecraft lets players shape worlds and build elaborate structures one block at a time. It’s a game about adventure, discovery and survival, as players try to stay alive long enough to uncover its many secrets.
A true phenomenon that has claimed the social lives of over 100 million players, it’s out on pretty much every platform under the sun, from PS4, Xbox One and PC, to Apple TV, PlayStation Vita and even Raspberry Pi.
Minecraft Nintendo Switch Edition sits somewhere between the home console versions and the iOS, Android and Vita editions. It offers all the convenience of the tablet versions, but with the superior controls that you get on consoles.
It’s not as pretty as the PS4 and Xbox One ports, the world aren’t quite as big, and it’s not as deep as the PC original, but it does provide more flexibility.
And that’s why, even as somebody who has pumped hundreds of hours into Minecraft on PC and PS4, Minecraft Nintendo Switch Edition still holds a certain appeal.
On paper, Minecraft’s basically an unlimited Lego simulator. Yet, thanks to expansive worlds, Survival mode, and countless mods, the virtual sandbox has become one of the best-selling games of all time, winning over the hearts of adults and children alike. Of course, it was only going to be a matter of time before Minecraft finally reached Nintendo’s latest console, the Switch.
While lacking the modifications available on PC — many via the game’s feverish fanbase — Switch Edition has quickly proven itself the ultimate handheld version of Minecraft. Building houses, defeated Nether monsters, and conceiving contraptions has never been so easily playable. Forget the iPhone version with difficult controls and lacking features, Nintendo’s latest has almost everything you could possibly want from Minecraft.
Without boring you with exactly what Minecraft is — if you’re not sure, either you’ve been living under a rock or missed our ‘what is Minecraft’ article — Survival and Creative modes are both playable on the Switch, as are some fun mini-games, Battle and Rumble. Thanks to running on a Nintendo product, the quite brilliant and extensive Mario skins are also available, coming with a built-in adventure mode to explore.
That’s everything you pretty much expect from a Minecraft game. Where Switch Edition lacks is mainly the draw distance which cannot match its PS4 and Xbox One counterparts but manages to beat last generation consoles. If you do own Minecraft on other consoles, you also won’t be able to port maps over. Another disappointment; when docked, the game also doesn’t run on 1080p, currently being locked to 720p.
On Switch, Minecraft remains the same fun and creative game the world has come to love. Nintendo’s latest console offers a brilliant portable versio, the only major drawback being that — unlike some other Switch games — you need another set of Joy-Cons, or a pro-controller, to play multiplayer. Playing two players with one set would have made Switch Edition almost perfect. As it stands, Switch Edition is another must-have for Minecraft’s gigantic fanbase and a fun sandbox for those who have never indulged in Minecraft.
Minecraft is no stranger to crossovers with other popular franchises and such, with a recent example being the Fallout 4 Mash-Up Pack. Today, Minecraft players will be able to grab the brand new Adventure Time Mash-Up Pack, bringing the acclaimed animated Cartoon Network series to the game.
The pack is said to include a host of character skins from the series, including Finn, Jake, Ice King, Marceline, Princess Bubblegum and more, with the announcement going on to describe what else arrives with the pack as follows:
This isn’t just another skin pack – goodness no – as the entire land of Ooo takes over your Minecraft world! Take Fionna and Cake on a tour of the Candy Kingdom, fight Ice King in the Ice Kingdom and even take a trip with Flame Princess to the Fire Kingdom! And much much more!
In celebration of this crossover, the announcement blog post even includes an interview with the creator of Adventure Time animated series, Pendleton Ward, regarding his gaming experiences.
The Minecraft Adventure Time Mash-Up Pack is now available for the Console Edition, costing $5.99. However, the pack will be delayed on the Wii U and Nintendo Switch by, at most, a day, with the Pocket and Windows 10 Edition slated to receive the pack at later date.
Meanwhile, the Magic: The Gathering skin pack is also now available for purchase on the Minecraft Console Edition with a $2.99 price tag. The skin pack was initially available only for the Pocket and Windows 10 Edition.
While fans have spotted the most obvious and hyped celebrity cameo in the film (Beatles icon Sir Paul McCarthy), there may have been another big celebrity who makes quite an unsual appearance in Dead Men Tell No Tales: one of the biggest stars on one the biggest TV shows around: The Walking Dead.
Read on for the SPOILER-FILLED theory on how Pirates of the Caribbean 5 may have dropped a nice Walking Dead Easter egg into its story – and how it forms a major connection between the two.
Early on in Dead Men tell No Tales, Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow finds himself (not surprisingly) in the frying pan again, captured alongside suspected witch Carina Smith (Kaya Scodelario) and slated for execution. Carina gets selected for death by hanging; Jack, on the other hand, gets senteced to die by a new invention: the guillitone.
Jack gets hauled onto the stage and locked into the guillitone, still unaware of what, exactly, the death machine even does. He quickly gets the picture, however, when he looks into the basket in front of him, and notices that it’s filled with severed heads!
The camera gives us the briefest shot of the heads in the basket – and this is where the supposed Walking Dead connection comes in: one of the heads looks suspiciously like Walking Dead star, Andrew Lincoln! After Comicbook.com staff first got hint of the possible Easter egg, additional staff went into Pirates 5 for a second look. The moment is so quick that it’s hard to confirm, but it definitely isn’t outside the realm of possiblity.
For fans of both franchises may deduce, there are other recent events that add more smoke onto this possible fire…
The reason there is major suspicion of Pirates working an Andrew Licoln severed head gag into the mix is because The Walking Dead already did it first!
In The Walking Dead season 6, Rick Grimes and Co. try to fool the malcious Saviors into thinking they’ve killed Gregory, leader of The Hilltop, by delivering his severed head. In order to pull the ruse off, Rick and Co. must pick a head that looks close enough to Gergory out of a lineup. One of the heads in that lineup was sculpted after Johnny Depp! That Easter egg became a big headline, and the famous Depp head eventually became part of Walking Dead star Norman Reedus’ collection of memorabilia from the show.
If Pirates of the Caribbean wanted to have a little fun in responding to The Walking Dead, having a sculpt of Andrew Lincoln’s severed head show up onscreen would be a fun little ‘clap back’ at the show. So how legit is the Easter egg? Comicbook.com has reached out to parties at both The Walking Dead and Disney. The Walking Dead people we’ve spoken to don’t seem to know anything about it; we have yet to hear any official response from Disney.
The Walking Dead will return for its eighth season in October of 2017. The first trailer is expected to arrive at San Diego Comic Con in July. For complete coverage and insider info all off-season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.
Everything about the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is big: the hats, the sword battles, Johnny Depp’s eyeliner, and of course, the budgets — including one very specific budget. While some might scoff at the price tag for the two Gore Verbinski–directed follow-ups to the original Pirates ($225 million for Dead Man’s Chest and $300 million for At World’s End), those people clearly don’t know how much food it takes to feed pretend swashbucklers. According to Jack Davenport, who played the white-wigged, Jack Sparrow foil, Commodore James Norrington, the snack budget on the 2006 and 2007 sequels was quite astounding. Davenport recounted to The Hollywood Reporter a conversation he had with the craft services chef about the snacks budget:
“He looked me square in the eye and said ‘essentially unlimited.’ I was like ‘what does that mean?’ He was like ‘I don’t know, $2 million.’ I was like ‘For snacks?’ And he was like ‘yeah?’
While Davenport was quick to point out that this might not be as frivolous as it sounds — there were a lot of hungry people working both behind and in front of the cameras on those blockbusters — we can’t help but wonder how much of that money was dedicated to disappearing bottles of rum.
