Minecraft will patch parrots to protect real-life pets
Parrots are a relatively new addition to Minecraft, and currently are fed using the game’s existing chocolate cookie item.
Feed two nearby parrots, like any other Minecraft animal, and they will pop out a baby.
In real life however, far from being an aphrodisiac, chocolate can be lethal to parrots. Because of this, many Minecraft fans have raised concerns the game might encourage young players to feed pet parrots a sweet cookie treat and inadvertently kill them.
A reddit post calling for Minecraft’s parrots to be patched has now received 37k upvotes on the official Minecraft subreddit – enough to become the board’s most-upvoted post of all time, and for Mojang to take note.
“If Minecraft has any effect on children’s behavior, we want it to be a positive one,” Minecraft lead creative designer Jens Bergensten told Motherboard, “so we’ll change the item used to breed parrots.
“Our reasoning for originally using cookies was twofold; it gave cookies a reason to exist within Minecraft, and it was a subtle reference to the Nirvana song ‘Polly.’ However, we didn’t consider what the chocolate ingredient would mean to real life parrots!”
Parrots are currently only available in the game’s PC version. There’s no word yet on when they’ll land on console – or what they will soon be eating instead.
This is the Massive MINECRAFT LEGO Set We’ve Been Dreaming of
If you think about it, LEGO bricks and Minecraft are actually very similar. While Minecraft is the ultimate digital sandbox for building whatever your imagination allows, LEGO serves a similar function in the real, fleshy part of existence. LEGOs are basically Minecraft IRL, and now, the two entities have partnered to bring us just that: A LEGO set based on the creeper-filled world of Minecraft. Take a look at this:
This isn’t the first LEGO/Minecraft crossover that’s been released, but it sure is the biggest. The 2,863-piece Mountain Cave set is 12 inches tall, 20 inches wide, and 11 inches deep, so it’s a substantial setup. It also comes with two minifigs (Steve and Alex), as well as a cave spider, a wolf and baby wolf, a slime and two small slimes, two bats, a zombie, an enderman, a skeleton, a sheep, and a charged Creeper.
There’s a ton going on in the environment itself as well: there’s a functional minecart track with two minecarts and a redstone-powered minecart elevator, a revolving cave-spider spawner, and easy access to this thing’s interior so you can look at all the details up close.
The only bad thing about this is that you’re going to have to do a bit of waiting before you can get your hands on it… and perhaps a bit of saving: It will be available in LEGO stores and the LEGO online store starting July 1 for $250.
Are you going to be adding this one to your collection, or are you tentative to spend the cost of a brand new Playstation 4 on a LEGO set? Let us know what you think in the comments!
Image: LEGO
8 ways science would change a space battle
This is the Massive MINECRAFT LEGO Set We’ve Been Dreaming of
Xbox Live is free between May 18-21, with a limited time unlock of Minecraft: Xbox One Edition
There’s going to be some ‘free’ all over Xbox One and 360 Live this weekend, specifically between May 18 to 21. During that period you can play online without Gold membership, and there’s also a limited time unlock of Minecraft: Xbox One Edition to play.
To get involved with the Multiplayer All-Access event you just need to log in, and obviously download Minecraft if you haven’t already. Then enjoy a weekend of free multiplayer and block building. After it’s over you’ll have to cough up the cash or go do something else.
Still, if you’ve not paid to try Live before it should give you a taster, and if you’ve not played Minecraft yet then… wait, how have you not played Minecraft yet? How is that possible?
If you’re looking for some more Xbox fun then check out the best Xbox One games, or take a deep dive into everything we know about the Xbox Scorpio.
Xbox Live is free between May 18-21, with a limited time unlock of Minecraft: Xbox One Edition
Xbox Live Goes Free For The Weekend Alongside Xbox One’s Minecraft
Considering Minecraft has sold an outrageous 121 million copies as of February 2017, chances are good that you’ve already tried it once or twice. But if you want to take a spin in Minecraft on Xbox One, that version is free to play this weekend. In addition, the Xbox Live online service is currently free for everyone on every game until May 21.
If you own an Xbox One, you can now download Minecraft for no cost from the Xbox store. In addition, players who don’t subscribe to Xbox Live have the opportunity to play any multiplayer game on Xbox One or Xbox 360.
There’s only a short window to check out Minecraft or play with your friends; once it hits 11:59 PT on Sunday, May 21, you’ll have to shell out $20 for the game and $60 per year for Xbox Live.
This isn’t the first time that Microsoft has offered free weekends; the company has offered Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, NBA 2K17, and Rocket League, among others,Xbox Live Goes Free For The Weekend Alongside Xbox One’s Minecraft in the past. Meanwhile, on PC, Guild of Dungeoneering currently has a free weekend going on.
Xbox Live Goes Free For The Weekend Alongside Xbox One’s Minecraft
Minecraft will patch parrots to protect real-life pets That’ll save a large bill.
Parrots are a relatively new addition to Minecraft, and currently are fed using the game’s existing chocolate cookie item.
Feed two nearby parrots, like any other Minecraft animal, and they will pop out a baby.
In real life however, far from being an aphrodisiac, chocolate can be lethal to parrots. Because of this, many Minecraft fans have raised concerns the game might encourage young players to feed pet parrots a sweet cookie treat and inadvertently kill them.
A reddit post calling for Minecraft’s parrots to be patched has now received 37k upvotes on the official Minecraft subreddit – enough to become the board’s most-upvoted post of all time, and for Mojang to take note.
“If Minecraft has any effect on children’s behavior, we want it to be a positive one,” Minecraft lead creative designer Jens Bergensten told Motherboard, “so we’ll change the item used to breed parrots.
“Our reasoning for originally using cookies was twofold; it gave cookies a reason to exist within Minecraft, and it was a subtle reference to the Nirvana song ‘Polly.’ However, we didn’t consider what the chocolate ingredient would mean to real life parrots!”
Parrots are currently only available in the game’s PC version. There’s no word yet on when they’ll land on console – or what they will soon be eating instead.
Minecraft will patch parrots to protect real-life pets That’ll save a large bill.
Minecraft fun at libraries!
Minecraft activities will be taking place at libraries in Tenby, Haverfordwest and Pembroke Dock during May half-term, giving children the opportunity to get together and chat about all things Minecraft!
Meet new friends, share ideas, and learn new tips and tricks from our selection of Minecraft books.
Children can bring along their own tablets if they are already using Minecraft at home, with a limited number of iPads available for anyone who is new to the world of Minecraft.
All of the events are suitable for children aged eight and over, with parents and guardians very welcome to join in the fun!
Booking is essential due to the limited availability of equipment. Refreshments will be provided.
For further information or to book a place, please contact Kath Woolcock on 01437 776 098 or e-mail kath.woolcock@pembrokeshire.gov.uk
The sessions are as follows:
Tuesday, May 30 (3.30-4.30 pm) – Minecraft at Tenby Library; Wednesday, May 31 (3.30-4.30 pm) – Minecraft at Haverfordwest Library; Friday, June 2 (3.30-4.30 pm) – Minecraft at Pembroke Dock Library.
Nintendo Switch NEWS: Console hit by BIZARRE bug following blockbuster game release
NINTENDO Switch users have discovered a strange new bug that has cropped up since the Minecraft release date.
Nintendo Switch owners have been hit with a strange new bug since the release of Minecraft Switch Edition.
“I figured it was maybe a Minecraft bug, but then it was taking the random screenshots within the Switch’s operating system menus while the Minecraft app was closed and not running.
“So now it is very slowly filling up my storage with screen captures that I never took.”
Bizarrely, the issue first cropped up during a Minecraft developer livestream, although it doesn’t seem to be limited to the app.
Nintendo is yet to officially acknowledge the issue, but fans can expect a fix soon.
Nintendo Switch NEWS: Console hit by BIZARRE bug following blockbuster game release
Minecraft takes away cookies from parrots following an outcry on Reddit
Parrots are set to arrive for Minecraft’s PC version in the upcoming 1.12 ‘World of Color’ Update. However, the colorful birds have already been available in the game’s development versions since snapshot 17w13a.
Earlier this week, a user on Reddit going by the name 1jl pointed out a problem with how players breed parrots, which involves feeding the birds cookies. The issue is that in real life, chocolates can be lethal to birds, and since Minecraft cookies appear as chocolate chip cookies, the user had concerns of kids feeding their pet parrots chocolates and causing harm.
The post quickly blew up, with it currently boasting over than 37,000 upvotes and becoming the highest upvoted post ever on the Minecraft subreddit.
Yesterday, in a statement to Motherboard, Minecraft Lead Creative Designer Jens Bergensten said another food item would replace the cookie based parrot breeding mechanic in an upcoming update.
“If Minecraft has any effect on children’s behavior, we want it to be a positive one, so we’ll change the item used to breed parrots before the 1.12 update is released,” said Bergensten.
In effect, the new update is now live, dubbed 1.12 pre-release 3, where players can now breed parrots using seeds instead, and feeding a cookie to one will instantly kill the bird, with some added poison particles for good measure. Let’s just hope kids punching trees will not become a concern at a later date.
The pre-release’s full changelog is found here; in addition to parrot dietary changes, the update includes quite a number of bug fixes.
Minecraft takes away cookies from parrots following an outcry on Reddit
Minecraft Nintendo Switch Edition screenshots
The Super Mario Mash-up Pack contains additional content inspired by Super Mario World, Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine.
This includes 40 new Super Mario-themed skins such as Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach, as well as Bowser, Wario and all seven Koopalings.
There’s also a selection of Super Mario textures, a Super Mario World to explore and music from Super Mario 64.
But what really sets Minecraft Switch apart from its predecessors is the ability to play in lots of different ways.
Ahead of Express Online’s Minecraft Switch review, check out the screenshots above.
Largest ever LEGO Minecraft set announced: 21137 The Mountain Cave [News]
The LEGO Minecraft world just got a whole lot bigger. Today LEGO has announced the largest set yet for the minifigure-scale theme, 21137 The Mountain Cave. Coming in at a staggering 2,863 pieces and a retail price of $249.99 when it arrives July 1, young Minecraft fans had better hope Grandma has deep pockets if they put this on the wishlist (though the set does also hit the highest age target in the Minecraft theme at 12+). This is the second large exclusive for the Minecraft theme, following last year’s 21128 The Village.
As the name implies, the set features a sizable stone mountain (12in, or 31cm, high at the peak) that’s riddled with caves. The mountain’s footprint is 20x11in (53x29cm), and has minecart tracks, a small home, and a light brick that can be positioned to light a jack o’ lantern, lava, or several other features. The set features lots of new printed elements, along with two minifigures and 13 mobs, including some new ones such as a baby wolf, bats, a charged creeper, and a giant slime. As with other large exclusives, we expect it to be available about two weeks early for LEGO VIP members.
Official press release:
21137 The Mountain Cave
Ages 12+. 2,863 pieces.
US $249.99 – CA $299.99 – DE 249.99€ – UK £259.99 – DK 2099.00 DKKExperience the Mountain Cave!
Build and experience the Mountain Cave, featuring an amazing minecart track with an integrated redstone‑powered minecart elevator, and an array of other features and functions, including TNT blasting, rotating spider‑spawner, charged Creeper™ explosion and a lava burst. Position the light brick to illuminate the rotating spider-spawner, wall of redstone, jack o’lantern, first-night shelter, furnace, lava or the torch above the cave entrance. Enjoy hands‑on Minecraft™ adventures featuring your favorite characters and objects with this easy-to-reconfigure, modular LEGO® Minecraft set designed for young fans of the highly successful sandbox video game. Includes Steve and Alex minifigures, plus 13 mobs including a charged Creeper™.
● Includes 2 minifigures: Steve and Alex, plus a cave spider, wolf, baby wolf, slime, 2 small slimes, 2 bats, zombie, enderman, skeleton, sheep and a charged Creeper™.
● Features a minecart track with an integrated redstone-powered minecart elevator; 2 minecarts; first-night shelter with bed, crafting table and torch; a mountaintop shelter with bed, torch and furnace; plus a light brick, trees, waterfall, lava and extra torches.
● Open up the model to access the detailed interior and remodel with easy-to-connect modular sections.
● Remove the diamond ore elements and activate the lava burst function.
● Activate the revolving cave-spider spawner.
● Trigger the charged Creeper™ explosion function.
● Jump aboard the minecart and race around the track, and travel to the mountaintop aboard the redstone powered minecart elevator.
● Blast through the mountain with the TNT to extend the rail track.
● Position the light brick to illuminate the rotating spider-spawner, wall of redstone, jack o’lantern, first-night-shelter, furnace, lava or the torch above the cave entrance.
● Enjoy easy access to the detailed interior.
● Put on your golden armor, grab your diamond sword and shield, and prepare for battle!
● Weapons include a sword and a bow.
● Accessory elements include a Minecraft™ clock, spider eyes, signs, map, golden armor, shield, TNT and 8 ore style elements, including diamond, lapis lazuli, emerald, redstone, golden, iron and 2 coal ores.
● Easy-to-reconfigure, modular design—choose from 3 different model configurations.
● Set your imagination free—rebuild the set for more LEGO® Minecraft™ creations!
● Measures over 12” (31cm) high, 20” (53cm) wide and 11” (29cm) deep.
As shown on the back of the box, the various modules can be rearranged to alter the landscape.
The small stone home has a creeper face made of ice blocks.
The home is equipped with a map, creeper head, bed, and oven, among other things.
A single light brick is included. It slots into a variety of play features. Fortunately, these lights are cheap, with plenty available for a little over a $1 a piece, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get enough to light up everything at once.
The moveable light brick can be positioned to light up the torches, such as this one in a small overnight shelter.
Or this one above the mine entrance.
Alternatively, it can be used to make the redstone glow.
Or to give a deadly red glow to the lavafall beside the tracks.
Another use for the light brick is to illuminate a good old jack o’ lantern.
Finally, it can lend the cave spider spawner an eery glimmer.
The spider inside the spawner can also spin, thanks to this dial on the mountain’s exterior.
As with many Minecraft sets, a TNT block can blow a hole in a section of terrain.
Alex gets a full set of diamond armor and a shield. The shield seems to make use of the new 2×3 tile. Meanwhile, Steve gets iron armor and an enchanted pickaxe for extra lucrative mining (or perhaps just faster mining).
The skeleton and zombi share a set of gold armor.
The new charged creeper is just waiting to ruin your day in an extra big way. The large 4×4-stud slime is made almost entirely of trans bright green elements, with what appear to be two printed eyes.
They may look cute, but both wolf and baby wolf feature the red, angry eyes that indicate they’re hostile mobs.
Bah bah black sheep. We’ve had white sheep for awhile, and recently the Waterfall Base featured an azure blue sheep. But now we finally get the classic black sheep. And last (and certainly least, if we judge by size) is the harmless bat. Featuring a new printed 1×1 plate, you’ll get two of these guys in the set.
Other mobs are included for a total of 13, though the others have all appeared in previous sets.
Largest ever LEGO Minecraft set announced: 21137 The Mountain Cave [News]
Microsoft Explains Why Minecraft For Nintendo Switch Runs At 720p
The Nintendo Switch received a big new game last week in the form of Minecraft. Now, some new insight into its technical specifics have come to light.
According to Time, the popular sandbox game runs at 720p in both docked and mobile modes. Some fans might have wanted to see 1080p, but this is not possible due to “issues currently experienced shifting from one resolution to the other when docking/undocking,” Time reported (via DualShockers), citing a Microsoft representative. According to the spokesperson, the Switch’s power is not holding the game back from reaching 1080p, but instead the “issues” laid out above are to blame.
As Time points out, it is possible that Minecraft for Switch could reach 1080p if those items are sorted out. We will report back with more details as they become available.
As for frame rate, Minecraft runs at 60FPS when docked and undocked.
Priced at $30, Minecraft for Switch features local and online multiplayer support as well as Mario-inspired skins, as you can see in the image gallery above.
In other Switch news, the eShop got a welcome upgrade recently, as it now allows users to store their credit card information. Previously, you had to enter it every time you made a new purchase, unless you were willing to add credit to your digital wallet on the system.
Microsoft Explains Why Minecraft For Nintendo Switch Runs At 720p
Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition review – worth digging up again
The Switch already has its own version of Minecraft, and it’s easily the best portable edition the game has ever seen.
When Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, tweets to say that Minecraft is perfect for Nintendo Switch you know there’s probably something in it. He is in a peculiar position though, in that Microsoft now owns developer Mojang and could easily make Minecraft an Xbox and Windows exclusive if they wanted to. Thankfully, they’ve been more sensible than that, and Minecraft is still available on all Sony consoles. It took a long while for it to arrive on the Wii U though, despite it fitting the format, and the Nintendo audience, perfectly. But no such mistake is being made with the Nintendo Switch.
We’re still surprised that Nintendo themselves (or Lego) weren’t the ones that bought Mojang in the first place. But while they could easily have afforded the $2.5 billion price tag, that’s just not the way the company has ever worked. Even sweet-talking other publishers into bringing multiformat games to their consoles is usually beyond them, but as with much else they seem to have changed their ways with the Switch. And in so doing provided the console with what could easily be regarded as another killer app.
Although the details vary between versions this is fundamentally the same game that’s available on all the other console formats. There is some extra Super Mario-themed texture packs and music throw in (as well as a few other mash-up packs, which seems to be meant as justification for the slightly higher price tag), and good use is made of the Switch’s various multiplayer, but this is still the same old Minecraft at heart. And frankly it’s never felt as at home on any other console.
If you somehow don’t know what Minecraft is – which presumably means you also haven’t been near any children in the last five years – it’s basically digital Lego. Not literally (there’s Lego Worlds for that) but the appeal of building whatever you want out of small building blocks is very similar. You start the experience in a huge, randomly-generated, game world where everything is made out of small cubes composed of different materials such as wood, dirt, stone and other more precious minerals. These can be excavated and used to create a huge range of different items, from tools like shovels and pickaxes to bedroom furniture, boats, and armour.
Most people will play the game in Creative mode, where you’re left to do whatever you want, but there is also a more structured Survival mode, which imposes de facto goals – such as building a shelter to survive the monsters that appear at night. But from there you can still do anything you like, from catching a fish with a fishing rod (that you made) on a stove (which you also made) to making pets of the wandering wild animals.
Although the in-game tutorial does its best the set-up is very disorientating at first, but that’s actually part of the charm. Getting your head around the game’s internal logic takes a little while (the effect of gravity is implemented inconsistently, for example, so trees will happily stay standing even with the middle of their trunks removed). But working out what everything can be used for is a primary appeal and the help system almost ruins it at times by giving too much away.
When it comes to the Nintendo Switch version, this sits somewhere between the Xbox 360 (and Wii U) version and the Xbox One in terms of performance. The maximum world size is ‘medium’, compared to the Xbox 360’s ‘small’ and the Xbox One’s ‘large’. The performance is a smooth 60fps throughout though, even in two-player split-screen mode. There is a little slowdown in four-player split-screen, but given you need both Joy-Cons, or a Pro Controller, for each player that’s probably not going to be an option for most people anyway.
That instantly makes it the best portable version of the game ever seen, especially given the numerous compromises of the Pocket Edition. The draw distance is quite short when in handheld mode though, and there’s a real inconsistency in when and how the touchscreen is used. For some reason you still have to use an onscreen cursor with the inventory, but you can use the touchscreen when crafting.
The other problem with the Nintendo Switch version is that it’s not the latest console update, but is instead stuck back where the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 were in late January. It should be easy for it to catch up, but we’ll have to wait and see if it actually does. The online options are also predictably limited in terms of whose games you can join. You’re fine if you join someone already on your friends list, but there’s no in-game chat of any kind.
The Nintendo Switch Edition is a small step-down from the other current gen console versions, although to the casual observer it will seem all but identical. As a portable version of the game though, this is easily the best there’s ever been. And given how versatile it is in terms of multiplayer and playing it on the TV it’s easy to imagine it becoming many people’s favourite version. So while technically this is just another port, it’s also further proof of just how energising the Switch can be for even the most familiar games.
Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition
In Short: The definitive portable version of Minecraft, with almost all the features of the current gen home console editions combined with the convenience of the Nintendo Switch.
Pros: A good port of the original, with excellent performance in both handheld and TV mode. Minecraft is naturally well-suited to Switch, and there a few fun extras with the mash-up pack.
Cons: World sizes aren’t as big as the PC or other next gen consoles. Restrictive online options and not the latest update. Inconsistent use of the touchscreen.
Score: 8/10
Formats: Nintendo Switch
Price: £19.99
Publisher: Mojang
Developer: 4J Studios and Mojang
Release Date: 12th May 2017 (currently eShop only)
Age Rating: 7
Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition review – worth digging up again
Minecraft arrives on the Nintendo Switch
It didn’t make the cut as one of the many announcements to emerge from Microsoft’s Build 2017 event this week, but this morning the company unveiled that Minecraft – the game it acquired a few years ago for $2.5 billion – has now made its way to the Nintendo Switch. The new game will include the same features found in console versions, Microsoft says, including the multiplayer mini games, Battle and Tumble.
But it will also take advantage of the Switch’s flexibility, allowing eight players to get together online or play locally if everyone has a Switch; or up to four can play together in a split-screen view on the TV from a single console. Players can also use the device’s kickstand to play in tabletop mode if the TV is unavailable, which will also support up to four players through a split-screen mode. And players can use either Joy-Cons or the Pro Controller, depending on their preferences.
Because the Switch is portable, you can continue to play when you venture out of the home – Microsoft claims the game will run smoothly at 60fps and 720p resolution, no matter if you’re playing on the big screen TV or in the handheld mode.
In this edition of the Minecraft game, Microsoft is also introducing a Super Mario Mash-Up Pack. (The Wii U version has Mario textures and skins, too.)
This includes a Mario-themed world with mushrooms, chomping plants, and the iconic pipes, as well as the Mario music and characters. There are 15 tracks from Super Mario 64 included and 40 characters from Mario games, including Princess Peach, Toad, Yoshi, the Koopalings, Wario, and others.
The Nintendo Switch version of Minecraft adds several extra worlds, too, like Chinese Mythology, Halloween, Festive and Greek Mythology, plus more skin packs including Redstone Specialists, multiple Battle and the Beast skin packs, and two of the Festive packs.
Microsoft says the game is launching today, but will first be available on the Nintendo eShop in North America, before rolling out in Europe and Japan tomorrow. A physical version will arrive in the future.
343 Is Teasing A Microsoft E3 ‘Halo’ Announcement That Isn’t ‘Halo 6’
I’m frankly a little surprised we haven’t started hearing more E3 leaks yet, but everyone seems to be playing everything pretty close to their chest for the show which kicks off in a month. But one little tidbit has purposefully dropped about the Microsoft event, thanks to someone from 343 itself.
Responding to some community excitement on the Halo subreddit, 343 community manager Brian Jarrad had to step in to manage expectations about what might appear in Microsoft’s show at E3. And namely what wouldn’t appear: Halo 6.
“I’ll slip into my Dreamcrusher persona for a minute in the name of realistic expectations,” Jarrad said. “We’ve said this already but we’ll have a little something at E3 but it’s not related to the next major entry in the franchise.”
Some are saying that there could still be a tease for Halo 6, while “the game” itself may not be there, but Jarrad’s wording is pretty clear. Something “not related” to the next major entry in the franchise, which would be Halo 6, or Halo: Whatever Subtitle They Use Instead of 6.
Obviously in a perfect world, Microsoft would have been able to launch this fall’s Xbox Scorpio with some sort of major Halo game, given that it’s still the console’s most beloved exclusive series by a mile, but the timing is just not in the cards for that, clearly. If anything, it seems like Crackdown 3 may end up being the “launch game” for Scorpio, as the dev is teasing a big presence at E3, but Halo? Doubtful.
Still, Jarrad’s comment about some sort of Halo presence at E3 has sparked a number of theories about what that could actually mean. Here are a few I could believe:
– Halo 3 Anniversary Edition
– Halo 5 standalone DLC
– Halo Wars 2 DLC/Expansion
– More info on Microsoft’s alleged collaboration with Steven Spielberg for a Halo show (remember that?)
Obviously the best news of the bunch here would be Halo 3 Anniversary, and if that could somehow arrive in time for Scorpio’s release? That would be pretty fantastic.
Microsoft has had their E3 shows bested by Sony pretty routinely for the most part the past few years, but I think they’re going to have a good run this year as (presumably) the only company show off new hardware. Technically the Scorpio has already “debuted,” but not really. Last year, we just had a spec tease, and so far this year, all we’ve seen from the console is a Digital Foundry examination of just how powerful the thing is. I expect Scorpio to dominate Microsoft’s show this year, with the full unveiling of the box, price and name.
Obviously it would be nice for Halo, their biggest franchise, to also have a major reveal there at the same time, but it doesn’t look like that will be in the cards. I do think it’s wise for 343 to keep their heads down and simply polish Halo 6 to a mirror shine. We have already heard some changes in the works, from a story focused solely on Master Chief after criticisms about Halo 5 (that wasn’t the reason that story didn’t work, but whatever) and a return to local split-screen play, which 343 admitted was a mistake to remove after the fact. The success of local co-op Battlefront probably did much to help with that decision as well.
I’m looking forward to whatever 343 and Microsoft bring to E3, and to picking up a Scorpio this fall, even if I’m skeptical about the overall market for an expensive superconsole in this day and age. But we’ll see how it all plays out in the coming year.
343 Is Teasing A Microsoft E3 ‘Halo’ Announcement That Isn’t ‘Halo 6’
Nintendo E3 2017 Direct: 5 Reveals We Want To See
Nintendo revealed its plans for E3 in a press release Thursday, and we couldn’t be more excited for the Switch-related reveals. While these aren’t necessarily predictions, here are five games and announcements we’d love to see from Nintendo at E3 2017.
1) Super Mario Odyssey: It’s already been confirmed that Super Mario Odyssey will factor into Nintendo’s E3 plans in a big way, but we truly hope it delivers on everything we saw in January’s debut trailer. For all intents and purposes, this looks like the triumphant return of 3D sandbox Mario games. We haven’t seen one of those since Sunshine in 2002, so expectations are riding high.
Not only should the slice shown during E3 be as substantial as last year’s Breath Of The Wild Great Plateau demo, but it should also highlight several ways in which the play style has evolved over the last 12 years. Fans who played Sunshine or Super Mario 64 already have a basic idea of what to expect. We hope Nintendo builds on the best parts of those games in ways nobody sees coming. Infuse new genres and mechanics into the plumber’s upcoming adventure.
2) Virtual Console & Online Details: While this sort of stuff may not be sexy enough for a Direct debut, we hope Nintendo takes some time during E3 week to answer two of the biggest questions still haunting Switch owners: is Virtual Console coming, and how will this fall’s online service be structured?
Since we’re talking about desires rather than predictions, our reasonable dream scenario is that Switch online access costs $20 a month with a free Virtual Console game that you can keep as long as the subscription is active. In January Nintendo said free games would only be playable for the month, but we hope that idea gets rolled back. As for VC, we hope Nintendo is taking this extra time to ensure that all Wii U purchases transfer to Switch for free. Even more pie in the sky perhaps, wouldn’t it be great to pay an extra $10 a month to get unlimited access to the entire VC catalog? Make Switch’s services shine so brightly that we never have time to be bored with the console.
3) Super Smash Bros. For Switch: We’ve heard the rumors forever, and we hope E3 2017 is when they’re finally confirmed to be real. We’re fine with this game starting out as a Wii U port, but we’d love to see Nintendo commit to an extended DLC plan for the future.
We hope ‘Super Smash Bros.’ comes to Switch in a way that builds off its predecessor on Wii U with tons of new character and stage DLC. Photo: Nintendo/Facebook
In other words, continue to give us new characters and stages beyond the couple of new additions that have popped up in rumor reports. Make this iteration less of a Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and more of a continuation of an existing service on a new platform.
4) Metroid: Enough is enough Nintendo! We know Retro Studios has been toiling away on something for years, and evidence is mounting that it could be Metroid-related. This franchise has essentially been dormant for a decade, so we’re willing to take anything. Just tell us this game exists. If we’re dreaming, we’d like to see it come out this fall, but even a 2018 tease would blow the roof off the building.
After seeing how Breath Of The Wild brilliantly reinvented Zelda, it’d be awesome to see Metroid adopt some of that game’s best features. Put space exploration front and center, flesh out planets with sidequests and tie it down with the impressive combat and movement from Prime. Metroid Switch could fill in for the awesome Mass Effect game we didn’t get this year.
5) Something Nobody Expects: Every great E3 showcase has a totally unexpected surprise, so we hope Nintendo has one up its sleeve. There have been no rumblings about a franchise like Animal Crossing or F-Zero coming to Switch yet, so wouldn’t it be awesome to hear that a title along those lines is set to release this year?
The shock factor could also come from a third-party partnership too considering Nintendo historically struggles in that department. We know about the whole Rabbids thing, but that’s not a show stopper. We’re talking about a major name or franchise with some form of Switch exclusivity. Beyond Good And Evil 2 in 2017 perhaps ? Bring on the unexpected.
Nintendo’s E3 Direct stream is set to take place June 13 at 12 p.m. EDT. It will be followed by Treehouse streams throughout the convention.
What do you want to see from Nintendo’s E3 showcase? Will any of our dreams come true? Tell us in the comments section!
6 reasons why ‘Minecraft’ is so incredibly popular
Minecraft wasn’t always the enormous franchise that it has become. It has slowly been building in popularity since its creator, Markus Persson, released the game in 2009. So, what is it about this independently created game that made it endure over time?
One tweet perfectly highlights the bizarre position Microsoft is in with ‘Minecraft’
Microsoft’s ownership of “Minecraft” has made for some decidedly strange situations.
There was none more bizarre than this week, when company executive Phil Spencer celebrated the launch of “Minecraft” for Nintendo’s hot new game console, the Switch. As of May 11, you can buy and play “Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition,” a fact Spencer touted on Twitter:
What makes this so weird is Spencer is the guy in charge of Microsoft’s gaming division. That makes him responsible for sales of Microsoft’s Xbox One game console. And the Switch is Nintendo’s latest rival to the Xbox One.
In the game business, great games drive hardware sales. Consumers often buy particular consoles because they want to play a hit new game.
With that in mind, console makers have tried to develop blockbuster games that they have exclusive rights too. And they typically reserve those games for their own platforms. For example, “Halo,” “Forza Motorsport,” “Gears of War” and other game franchises that Microsoft owns are only available for its Xbox consoles or PCs running its Windows operating system.
The idea is that those franchises will drive people to buy Microsoft hardware (in the case of the Xbox One) or software (in the case of Windows 10).
Spencer is in charge of overseeing Microsoft’s games in addition to its consoles. So you might think he’d want to use “Minecraft” to help boost the Xbox One, not one of its chief rivals. After all, “Minecraft” is one of the most popular games in the world. Instead, here he was not only green lighting a game that could boost the Switch, he was celebrating its launch!
But such weird situations are nothing new. Microsoft has been placed in them repeatedly ever since it purchased “Minecraft” back in 2014. That’s because Microsoft has continued to support the game on a whole slew of platforms it doesn’t control. You can play it on your phone (iPhone and Android), on your tablet, on your computer (PC or Mac), and even on Sony’s PlayStation 4.
Heck, the Switch isn’t even the first Nintendo console for “Minecraft” to appear on. Microsoft previously released a version of the game for the Wii U, Nintendo’s last home console.
Which isn’t to say there’s something wrong with Microsoft preserving the legacy of “Minecraft” as a game you can play on pretty much anything.It might be a smart business move! And from a consumer’s perspective, it’s mighty nice to be able to play the game on any platform you want. But that situation is a tremendous outlier in terms of typical game industry strategy, and it sticks out as a result.
It’s outright fantastic that “Minecraft” just launched on the Nintendo Switch, a platform that makes perfect sense for it. It’s also outright bizarre that Microsoft is responsible for making that happen.
One tweet perfectly highlights the bizarre position Microsoft is in with ‘Minecraft’
Will Smith In Talks To Play Aladdin’s Genie, and More Movie News
Will Smith In Talks To Play Aladdin‘s Genie, and More Movie News
Captain Marvel gets its directors, the Fast and Furious franchise gets a spin-off, James Gunn confirms third Guardians movie, and Clint Eastwood tackles real life again.
This week’s Ketchup brings you another ten headlines from the world of film development news (those stories about what movies Hollywood is working on for you next). Included in the mix this time around are stories about such titles as Captain Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and a new Fast and the Furious spinoff franchise.
WILL SMITH IN TALKS TO PLAY THE GENIE IN LIVE-ACTION ALADDIN
In previous updates about Disney’s live-action remake of their 1992 animated hit Aladdin, surprisingly little was revealed about the movie’s most popular character, the Genie, originally voiced by the late Robin Williams. Yes, there were stories a few years ago about a possible movie called Genies, all about them, but since this live-action version started taking off, the focus has been on the two leads. And that’s the thing; the lead characters of Aladdin are actually Aladdin and Jasmine (for whom an international casting call was recently held). Well, this week, we learned that Disney is in talks with a very big star to take over the mile-a-minute, stream-of-consciousness that Robin Williams started, and it’s Will Smith. The Men in Black and Suicide Squad star had recently been talking to Disney about playing the villain in their new Dumbo, but this is arguably (or even, obviously) a much bigger deal. Aladdin is going to be directed by Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes), and filming is scheduled to start in the U.K. in July. There’s no release date yet, but the timing suggests that it will probably be sometime in 2019. Will Smith is also the first actor mentioned for any Aladdin role.
1. BRIE LARSON’S CAPTAIN MARVEL DIRECTORS SHARE HER INDIE CREDS
Marvel has established a pretty good track record hiring lesser known directors for their films. Examples include Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows), Ant-Man director Peyton Reed (Bring It On, The Break-Up), and, to a lesser degree, Black Panther director Ryan Coogler (Creed). Along the same lines, some of the directors that Marvel was previously considering for 2019’s Captain Marvel previously worked on projects like Whale Rider, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, and Showtime’s Homeland. The co-directors who actually landed the job this week have similar indie credits: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck three features together so far include Sugar, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, and 2015’s Mississippi Grind. Brie Larson similarly rose up from similar independent projects like 2013’s Short Term 12 and 2015’s Room, which earned her a Best Actress Oscar. Captain Marvel will start filming in February, 2018, and will be released on March 8, 2019.
2. CLINT EASTWOOD’S TRUE STORY STREAK CONTINUES ON THE 15:17 TO PARIS
Five of Clint Eastwood’s last six films as director have all been based on true stories: Invictus, J. Edgar, Jersey Boys, American Sniper, and last year’s Sully. This week, he added yet another one, and like American Sniper and Sully, it’s based on events from the recent past. Rather, the very recent past, because The 15:17 to Paris will depict the August, 2015 thwarting of an attempt by an ISIS terrorist to kill hundreds of people aboard a train from Brussels to Paris. You can read the details of the event here, but the gist is that three young Americans (two of them off-duty soldiers) subdued the terrorist before he was able to kill anyone. Eastwood’s film will be adapted from the book The 15:17 To Paris: The True Story Of A Terrorist, A Train, And Three American Heroes, co-written by the three friends, Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos, and Spencer Stone.
3. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 ALREADY IN THE WORKS
As of last night, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is still two weeks away from release, but this week, director/writer James Gunn confirmed he’ll be back for a third outing (which we’re guessing will be subtitled Vol. 3). Soon after, Gunn also confirmed that it will be the “final in this iteration.” (In the comics, as with many superhero teams, there have been a few different versions of Guardians of the Galaxy — the movie version didn’t premiere until 2008.) As for what that third movie might include, one writer speculates that Adam Warlock, who was teased in the first movie and reportedly almost included in the second, could make his official debut. Another character we learned was cut from Vol. 2 was someone who previously would have been a “spoiler” (except now he’s not in the movie), and that’s longtime Avengers member Wonder Man, AKA Simon Williams (you can see images from the “Simon Williams Film Festival” here).
4. DWAYNE JOHNSON AND JASON STATHAM TO HEADLINE FAST & FURIOUS SPIN-OFF FRANCHISE
There have been rumors lately that some of the stars of the Fast and the Furious franchise might be leaving after the 10th movie (this year’s movie was #8) in the franchise. This week’s news lends some credence to that theory, as Universal Pictures is reportedly now developing a spinoff franchise that would focus on some of the characters who joined the Fast & Furious franchise in relatively recent films. Specifically, the spinoffs would focus on the characters Luke Hobbs (played by Dwayne Johnson), Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), and “Cipher” (Charlize Theron). The first screenplay is being written by screenwriter Chris Morgan, who has worked on the franchise ever since the first movie in 2001. No deals are in place for those three stars yet, and presumably it wouldn’t happen until after the 10th Fast and the Furious film (which itself is not confirmed to be the last Fast and Furious movie yet, either).
5. GONE GIRL ROSAMUND PIKE TO PORTRAY WAR JOURNALIST MARIE COLVIN
Although there are certainly biopics made while their subjects are still alive (Stephen Hawking, for example), they’re far more commonly made posthumously, for obvious reasons. One that’s been in development over the last few years is a film based on the life of famed war journalist Marie Colvin. The circumstances of Colvin’s death also make her story timely and of interest to filmgoers, as she died in 2012 while covering the early months of the Syrian Civil War. We can now report that Marie Colvin will be portrayed in the as-yet-untitled film about her life by Rosamund Pike, who is probably still best known for starring in Gone Girl. Colvin’s career as a war reporter included coverage of conflicts in Chechnya, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, and Sri Lanka (where a blast from a RPG in 2001 caused the loss of Colvin’s left eye and prompted her to don her signature black eye patch).
6. POST-BARBIE, AMY SCHUMER STILL SAYS, I FEEL PRETTY
Last month, comedian Amy Schumer dropped out of Sony Pictures’ live action Barbie movie, and now, just a month later, she’s already got another new film that she might have ready for 2018. The new comedy is called I Feel Pretty, but besides that, there isn’t much else to say, because its premise is being kept “under wraps.” Schumer is expected to start filming I Feel Pretty on location on the East Coast this summer. Her next movie will be next month’s Snatched (with Goldie Hawn playing her mom during a vacation gone wrong). After that, Schumer will co-star in the drama Thank You For Your Service (about soldiers with PTSD). The indie movie that conflicted with filming Barbie and forced her to drop out is called She Came to Me, and her co-stars will include Steve Carell and Nicole Kidman.
7. HAMILTON DIRECTOR TAKES FLIGHT WITH SILVER WINGS
This past “awards season,” 20th Century Fox had great success with Hidden Figures, which depicted an unsung tale of relatively recent female history (i.e. the role of African American mathematicians during the “space race”). It now sounds like Fox 2000 might have found another similar project called Silver Wings, which will be adapted from an upcoming nonfiction book called The Women with Silver Wings. The book by Katherine Sharp Landdeck tells the true stories of some of the female pilots in W.A.S.P. (Women Airforce Service Pilots), the first women to fly for the U.S. military, as part of World War II. Silver Wings will also mark the feature film debut of director Thomas Kail, who is best known for directing the hit broadway musical Hamilton. The federal government did not recognize the W.A.S.P. pilots as official veterans for decades until a 2009 ceremony that overturned that policy and rewarded them with the Congressional Gold Medal (and V.A. benefits).
8. DETAILS REVEALED ABOUT NEW CHARACTER INTRODUCED IN STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI
In the months leading up to the filming of this December’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi (AKA Episode VIII), a good amount of press was devoted to the casting of both Benicio Del Toro and Laura Dern, who were cast as characters new to the Star Wars franchise. This past weekend at the annual Star Wars Celebration event in Orlando, however, fans were surprised to discover that the new character described as having the largest role is played by neither Del Toro nor Dern, but a young actress named Kelly Marie Tran. Tran will play Rose, a Resistance maintenance worker who’s “not looking to be a hero, and she gets pulled a very big way into an adventure in this movie with Finn.” Star Wars: The Last Jedi is scheduled for release on December 15, 2017.
9. 70-SECOND SHORT A TALE OF MOMENTUM & INERTIA TO BECOME FOX ANIMATED FEATURE
The expression says that “A picture is worth a thousand words”, but it’s less clear how many words a 70-second video is worth. That, however, is exactly what Fox Animation is now working on, as the studio is now developing the animated short film A Tale of Momentum & Inertia into a feature film. To that end, Fox Animation has secured the screenwriting talents of writers Eyal Podell and Jonathon E. Stewart, who worked on this summer’s Cars 3. The short film depicts “a rock giant who accidentally unleashes a massive boulder to roll thunderously down toward a seaside kingdom and his attempt to stop it,” but presumably, the movie will have a lot more to it. Maybe we’ll meet some of the people who are in danger of being squished?
Will Smith In Talks To Play Aladdin’s Genie, and More Movie News
Stranger Things Star David Harbour Will Star In A Hellboy Reboot, and More Movie News
HELLBOY TO GET HORROR REBOOT? WE’VE SEEN STRANGER THINGS
This week’s biggest and most surprising news was sort of a confluence of two stories from earlier in the year. First, there was the Twitter announcement from director Guillermo Del Toro in February that, “Hellboy 3 Sorry to report: Spoke w all parties. Must report that 100% the sequel will not happen. And that is to be the final thing about it.” Note that Del Toro was speaking specifically about a sequel to the two Hellboy movies that he directed, starring Ron Perlman. Also, earlier this year, David Harbour (Stranger Things) was in contention for the role of Cable in Deadpool 2, suggesting he was interested in starring in a comic book movie — that role eventually went to Josh Brolin instead. Put all of that together, and it leads to this week’s news of a Hellboy reboot starring David Harbour and directed by Neil Marshall (The Descent, the Blackwater and Watchers on the Wall episodes of Game of Thrones.) The new movie, possibly titled Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen, will be from Millennium Films, the company best known for mid-level budget action movies like The Expendables and Olympus Has Fallen. The Hellboy reboot was described by its new screenwriter as, “a darker, more gruesome version of Hellboy… walk[ing] a razor’s edge between horror and comic book movie.”
1. CLIFF CURTIS CAST IN THE AVATAR SEQUELS AS “REEF PEOPLE” LEADER
Even those who never saw James Cameron’s 2009 hit Avatar are likely to know it involved blue aliens that looked like a cross between deer and elves (i.e. the Na’vi). Cameron has been talking about his sequels for years and years now, including the detail that the story would be moving to Pandora’s oceans. This week, Fox and Cameron revealed their first new cast member, confirming the new setting. Prolific character actor Cliff Curtis, currently starring on AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead, has signed on to play “Tonowari, the leader of the Metkayina reef people clan.” What we don’t know from that description is whether the “reef people” are also Na’vi, another Pandoran race, or a little bit of both. 20th Century Fox has scheduled the four Avatar sequels for December dates in 2020, 2021, 2024, and 2025, starting with Avatar 2 on December 18, 2020.
2. HUGH BONNEVILLE TO PORTRAY ROALD DAHL IN BIOPIC
The works of British children’s authors have inspired a number of big screen adaptations, but their lives themselves have also provided some rich material. Some notable examples include Finding Neverland (Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie), Shadowlands (Narnia creator C.S. Lewis), Saving Mr. Banks (Mary Poppins creator P.L. Travers), and Miss Potter (Peter Rabbit creator Beatrix Potter). Another prolific British author was Roald Dahl, whom we can thank for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Witches, Matilda, and last year’s The BFG. Well, it’s finally Dahl’s turn to receive a (shared) biopic, and the actor who has landed the role is Hugh Bonneville. Downton Abbey fans will know Bonneville for portraying Lord Robert Crawley, the 7th Earl of Grantham. The currently untitled biopic will tell “a bittersweet, comedic story focusing on Dahl’s marriage to actress Patricia Neal, [as] the story moves between New York, England and Los Angeles in the early 1960s, a time when Dahl struggled to write some of his most famous works and Neal returned to acting with Hud.”
3. BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH AND JAKE GYLLENHAAL MEET UP IN RIO
Italian director Luca Guadagnino has yet to have a hit in the USA, but after his debut in 2010 (I Am Love), he has continued to attract actors that suggest it might just happen for him soon. For example, Guadagnino’s 2016 film, A Bigger Splash, featured the talents of Tilda Swinton, Dakota Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes. If negotiations work out for his fourth film, titled Rio (not to be confused with the 2011 animated hit of the same name), Guardagnino will be assisted by Benedict Cumberbatch and Jake Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal will play a financial reporter who travels to Rio de Janeiro to visit a wealthy friend (Benedict Cumberbath), only to find himself sucked into a plot to fake his friend’s death. Like many of the films covered in this week’s Ketchup, Rio is making the news now in advance of being sold to various international markets at next week’s Cannes Film Festival.
4. ARYA STARK AND THE WITCH CONFIRMED AS WOLFSBANE AND MAGIK IN THE NEW MUTANTS
Blogs, websites, and columns about film development (like this one) sometimes cover news years ahead of time, but we can’t necessarily presume everyone will remember every detail. Consider, for example, the news from March of last year about the rumored casting of two of the leads in next year’s X-Men spinoff, The New Mutants (4/13/18), to be directed by Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars). As it turns out, that story was on the money, but the official announcement didn’t happen until this week. Maisie Williams, best known as Arya Stark from Game of Thrones, has been cast as Rahne Sinclair, AKA Wolfsbane, a Scottish teenager with the ability to turn into a wolf (and a halfway werewolf form too). Anya Taylor-Joy, the star of last year’s The Witch (and this year’s Split) has been cast as Illyana Rasputin, AKA Magik, the little sister of Colossus, who can teleport, use magic, and also has a really big sword. As The Hollywood Reporter reports, “Fox is making serious efforts to find ethnically appropriate actors, conducting wide searches for a Native American to play Moonstar and a South American for Sunspot.” The other New Mutants will be Cannonball and Warlock, but apparently, not founding member (in the comics), Karma.
5. PETER DINKLAGE TO STAR IN “TATTOO” DRAMA, MY DINNER WITH HERVE
If you’ve been following film development news long enough, you may be familiar with a biopic called My Dinner with Herve, which refers to 1970s actor Herve Villechaize. Villechaize (who was also a dwarf) was basically known for two roles: the villain Nick Nack in the James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun and (more famously) Tattoo on the ABC TV show Fantasy Island. Villechaize also struggled with personal demons, ending his own life in 1993. It’s not yet known how much My Dinner with Herve will explore the latter, but we now know that Villechaize will be portrayed by Peter Dinklage, AKA Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones. Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades of Grey) will costar with Dinklage as a struggling journalist who finds himself spending a wild night with Villechaize, partying at locations all over Los Angeles. HBO Films is producing, but the company may also seek a theatrical release.
6. MARGOT ROBBIE TO PRODUCE AND STAR IN 1930S DUST BOWL THRILLER DREAMLAND
Australian actress Margot Robbie is probably best known for starring as Harley Quinn in last year’s Suicide Squad and Jane in The Legend of Tarzan, but in the near future, she’ll be starring in three biopics (I, Tonya; Goodbye Christopher Robin; and Mary Queen of Scots), and she also voiced a role in next year’s animated version of Peter Rabbit. On top of all that Robbie is also taking control of her own agency by becoming a producer, and the latest film project she’s producing for herself as a starring vehicle is called Dreamland. Set during the “Dust Bowl” devastation of Depression Era America, Dreamland is a bank robber thriller about “a 15-year-old boy on his quest to capture a fugitive bank robber (Robbie) and collect the bounty on her head, all with the goal of saving his family farm from foreclosure.” Director Miles Joris-Peyrafitte is reportedly, “hoping to bring a balance of nostalgic beauty and gritty realism to the proceedings as well as a balance between a sense of romanticism and a sense of violence.”
7. DANIEL RADCLIFFE TO SHOOT AT PEOPLE, GUNS AKIMBO
Another actor who continues to establish a new identity on the big screen is Daniel Radcliffe, the former Harry Potter child star. Last year saw the release of probably the craziest example of his efforts to branch out, in the form of Swiss Army Man, in which he played a corpse with amazing gastrointestinal “powers.” Radcliffe is now attached to star in an action comedy called Guns Akimbo, to be directed by New Zealand’s Jason Lei Howden, who made his debut with the heavy metal comedy Deathgasm. Radcliffe will play a man with a dead-end job who finds himself “enrolled on a dark net website that forces complete strangers to fight in a city-wide game of death so that their gladiatorial battles can be live-streamed worldwide to a fanatical audience.”
8. TOM HANKS TO STAR IN WESTERN NOVEL ADAPTATION NEWS OF THE WORLD
Tom Hanks has obviously starred in a wide variety of films during his lengthy career, but he has yet to appear in a Western. That’s about to change, as he is now attached to star in a film adaptation of the Paulette Jiles novel News of the World, written by Luke Davies (Lion) for Fox 2000. Hanks will star as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a Texas cowboy in 1870 who “travels from town to town to read the news to locals who would otherwise not know what is going on in the world. While Kidd is sparked up by spreading the word of the passage of the 15th Amendment that gave voting rights to all men, he agrees to escort a 10-year-old white girl to her aunt and uncle in San Antonio after she was rescued from the Kiowa Indian tribe that kidnapped her and killed her family four years earlier. His traveling partner is an ornery youngster who didn’t want to be rescued and brought to her relatives.”
9. JOHNNY DEPP SAYS HELLO TO RICHARD SAYS GOODBYE
In RT’s latest 24 Frames gallery, you can browse through “24 Dicks We Love From Movies and TV” to mark the debut of Amazon’s I Love Dick. Well, Johnny Depp is now attached to star in a dramedy called Richard Says Goodbye, so we might have another to add to the list. This will be the second film from indie director Wayne Roberts, who made his debut last year with the similarly titled Katie Says Goodbye, starring Olivia Cooke, Mireille Enos, James Belushi, and Mary Steenburgen. Depp will star as “a world-weary college professor who is given a life-changing diagnosis and then decides to throw all pretense and conventions to the wind and live his life as boldly and freely as possible. With a biting sense of humor, a reckless streak and a touch of madness, he binges through every vice: smoking, drinking, sex, and hurling blunt insults at anyone who annoys him, giving him more pleasure than he’s had in years.” Johnny Depp previously starred in a similar film, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, based on the novel by Hunter S. Thompson.
Stranger Things Star David Harbour Will Star In A Hellboy Reboot, and More Movie News
Box Office: Guardians Vol. 2 Tops Snatched, King Arthur
Box Office: Guardians Vol. 2 Tops Snatched, King Arthur
The Fate of the Furious and The Boss Baby round out the top five.
This weekend two new major new releases disappointed while there were a couple of surprises near the bottom of the top 10.
The rag-tag team of misfits lead the box office for a second straight weekend as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 slipped a reasonable 57% from last weekend to an estimated $63M, bringing its total to $246M after 10 days. By comparison, the original fell 55% in its second weekend so even though sequels tend to front load their grosses, Guardians 2 seems to be holding on better than most. After 10 days the original was at $176M and ended its run at $333M. Following roughly the same trajectory, and realizing the box office at the beginning of the summer is more competitive than at the end of the summer, Guardians 2 could end at around $375-400M.
Second place belonged to the leading ladies of Snatched. The R-rated comedy starring Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn opened to a so-so $17.5M, according to estimates, from 3,501 theaters for a per screen average of $4,999. Critics were not kind as it currently sits at 36% positive on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences didn’t seem too pleased either as it got a B CinemaScore. It doesn’t appear the counterprogramming to the male dominated summer blockbusters worked in this case. However, with a production budget around $40M, it will likely make back its money unlike…
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword which tanked this weekend grossing only an estimated $14.7M from 3,702 theaters for a per screen average of $3,971. Its production budget was in the $175M vicinity and while a lot of films these days make up their money overseas, King Arthur is dying there too as it opened to $29M from 51 markets this weekend. Critics liked this one even less as it stands at 28% positive on Rotten Tomatoes, yet audiences liked it a bit more as it got a B+ CinemaScore. Still, this one is in the running for biggest bomb of the year and it’s only the second week of May.
Holdovers, all with relatively small drops, took the next four places on the charts. Landing in fourth place was the multicultural crew of The Fate of the Furious which took in an estimated $5.3M in its fifth go around, bringing its cume up to $215M. In fifth place was The Boss Baby which added an estimated $4.6M to its coffers, bringing its total up to $162M after seven weeks. 2017s reigning champ fell to sixth place this weekend as Beauty and the Beast added another $3.86M, according to estimates, to its gargantuan total, bringing its cume up to $493M after nine weeks. Does it have enough left in the tank to become only the eighth film to hit the magical $500M mark? I’m gonna say yes. And in seventh place was How to be a Latin Lover which took in an estimated $3.75M bringing its total up to $26M after three weeks.
There was s surprise entry in the top 10 as the unheralded Lowriders ended in eighth place this weekend with an estimated $2.4M from only 295 theaters for a per screen average of $8,810, second best in the top 10. A PG-13 drama about lowrider car culture with virtually no stars managed to do some pretty good business. Ninth place belonged to the disappointing thriller The Circle which added an estimated $1.7M to its bank, bringing the total up to only $18.9M… which is virtually the same total as the final film in the top 10, the biggest Bollywood hit of all time, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion which made $1.5M from only 375 theaters this weekend, bringing its total to $18.93M. If I told you a few weeks ago that a Bollywood film that had a 167 minute running time and never play in more than 425 theaters would outgross a film starring Tom Hanks and Emma Watson, would you have believed me? Also, I never would have said it because I never would have imagined it happening.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $118M which was down 3.7% from last year when Captain America: Civil War remained at number one with $72.6M; and down 32.5% from 2015 when the ladies of Pitch Perfect 2 opened in the top spot with $69.2M.
Enter to win Flynn’s Log 1 in Paperback
Enter by Oct 31