Rogue One Now 2016’s Third Highest-Grossing Movie
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is now this year's third highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office, bringing in over $375 million USD so far.
After grossing $16.6 million on Thursday, the standalone Star Wars film surged past Deadpool, The Jungle Book, and The Secret Life of Pets to take third place on this year's list of highest grossers, according to Variety.
Rogue One is expected to finish the year as 2016's second highest-grossing movie, as it'll likely surpass Captain America: Civil War's $408 million haul within the next two days. With a $486 million gross, Finding Dory will almost certainly finish as 2016's top domestic box office earner.
How to Watch Homeland’s Season 6 Premiere Early
Showtime is giving its subscribers a late holiday gift: the Season 6 premiere of Homeland is available to watch early starting today, December 30. That's more than two weeks before its on-air debut on January 15.
Homeland's new episode is available to Showtime subscribers on its streaming services Showtime On Demand and Showtime Anytime. For those who aren't currently subscribers, the network has a seven-day free trial available on its website.
Claire Danes stars as Carrie Mathison on Homeland
Midseason TV Preview
Need a roadmap for all the winter and spring TV premieres and midseason returns? IGN's got you covered.
While shows like Black Sails, Bates Motel, Grimm, The Leftovers and Girls wrap up their stories with final seasons, a splendid spread of new shows enter the picture - like Marvel's Iron Fist, FX's Legion and Taboo, Starz's American Gods, and The CW's Riverdale.
Meanwhile, The Walking Dead, Arrow, The Flash, Gotham, Lethal Weapon, Supergirl, and more resume their current seasons while The 100, iZombie, Colony, The Expanse, Homeland, Humans, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Baskets, and Sherlock return for brand new ones.
More new shows include FOX's 24: Legacy, NBC's DC Comics-based Powerless, CBS' Training Day, and HBO's Crashing. As you can see, there's plenty to add to your already overstuffed viewing schedule.
39 Games to Keep on Your Radar in 2017
There are plenty of great games to look forward to in 2017, but with all the big-name titles to anticipate, it can be easy to let some of the smaller gems slip under your radar.
Here are 39 awesome looking games you shouldn't overlook in 2017.
Absolver’s sharp, eye-catching style isn’t the only enticing thing about it. An elaborate hand-to-hand combat system that combines tactical stances, customizable combos, and rearrangeable decks makes every encounter feel as fine-tuned as a fighting game. Check out 7 minutes of Absolver gameplay for more.
Agony is a first-person survival horror set in what is probably the most gruesome, shocking, and bizarre depiction of hell in a game, ever. Bone gates open up into shifting tunnels of teeth and bloody, corpse-filled caverns occupied by massive split-faced demons. If horror games are meant to create images that will stick in your mind long after you’d like them to, Agony already has that part down. Head to its website for more info.
NASA Waiting For SpaceX To Prove Itself Before It Lends Support
NASA would like to see SpaceX pull off a successful landing on Mars before it lends its equipment to the company, it recently announced.
Speaking at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union (via Space.com), Jim Green, the head of NASA's Planetary Science Division, said, "I want to wait this one out," in reference to SpaceX's planned 2018 unmanned "Red Dragon" mission to Mars. "Landing on Mars is hard," he said.
But, as he tells it, once SpaceX is successful, it'll be all systems go for a full NASA collaboration. "I can't wait for it to be successful, because it opens up our opportunities to deliver important science instruments into the Mars environment," Green continued.
42 Movies to Look for in 2017
This new year has the potential to be a great one at the movies. There are long-awaited sequels (xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, Blade Runner 2049, T2: Trainspotting) and new installments in long-running franchises (Transformers: The Last Knight, Star Wars: Episode VIII, The Fate of the Furious) peppered throughout.
Not only will 2017 bring us the superhero team-up many thought would never happen (Justice League), but it also offers a goodbye to an old friend (Logan) and maybe an entire franchise (Resident Evil: The Final Chapter).
Fans of Stephen King will find themselves over the moon as not one, but two, high-profile adaptations arrive in the second half of 2017 (The Dark Tower, It) and several other classic monsters (The Mummy, Kong: Skull Island) will be resurrected during the year.
IGN UK Podcast #364: Big Fat 2017 Preview
So you made it through 2016. Your stomach should now be so full of turkey that you are pinned to the sofa, with nothing but your TV and the feeling you should be buying cut-price oak furniture somewhere.
What better time to listen to our preview podcast for 2017, where Alex, Rory and Alysia look forward to the best games, TV shows and films coming in the next 12 months.
In other news, thank you so much for listening to the podcast this year - the whole UK team super appreciates all your support! From all of us, happy holidays, and have a great New Year!
Top 10 Scariest Games
The 10 Most Underrated Shooter Maps Ever Made
You don’t have to look too far online to find a subjective list of the best shooter maps ever made. Because regurgitating another one of those lists would be too easy, and apparently I love making life difficult, I’ve gone the other way. What follows is a breakdown of my pick of the 10 most underrated shooter maps of all time. To further complicate (or, perhaps, refine) the selection process, I’ve enforced a rule of only one game per series which, believe you me, makes things a whole lot trickier.
In no particular order, here we go!
Look online and you’ll find a lot of hate for Outskirts which – coupled with the reality that Treyarch had the unenviable task of following up on the mega-success of Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare – makes for the perfect first entry in this list. The more popular maps in World at War had a greater emphasis on close-quarters combat and tight corners. Outskirts, on the other hand, bucked the trend, with long lines of sight and plenty of open space between ruined houses, which made it a sniper’s delight. It also forced run-and-gun SMG players (like me) to shift to longer-range firearms, or trick opponents into intense corner battles. Also, it had tanks.
Pokemon Prism Leaks After Nintendo Cease and Desist
Pokemon Prism, the fan-made ROM hack for Pokemon Crystal, has been make available online.
Pokemon Prism creator Koolboyman shut down his website and the project after receiving a cease and desist from Nintendo last week. Shortly thereafter, however, the files for the hack circulated on 4chan by fans allegedly unaffiliated with the project who, in an accompanying text file (via Kotaku), referred to themselves as "a group of people interested in seeing ROM hacks succeed."
Kotaku reached out to group of anonymous distributors to find out why they took it upon themselves to make the ROM hack available to the public. "Regardless of Nintendo's legal rights, we do believe that they are destroying their fans' hard work for no reason and at no gain," they said. "Nintendo could have used this (and any other good ROM hack) as an opportunity to promote the Pokémon series in general. They don’t even have to do anything other than let the games live."