How Much Rogue One Made in Worldwide Box Office Debut
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story had a strong debut this weekend, earning $290.5 million worldwide and $155 million in North America.
As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, this now makes the release of Rogue One the second-biggest debut ever for the month of December. Meanwhile, Star Wars: The Force Awakens remains number one and currently stands as the third-highest grossing film in history, with over $2 billion in global sales. The J.J. Abrams-directed film earned a whopping $247.9 million at the North American box office when it released last December.
Rebels Adds Rogue One and Clone Wars’ Saw Gerrera
One of Rogue One's most important characters, Saw Gerrera, is reportedly heading to Star Wars Rebels.
The RebelsReactions Twitter account spotted a poster for Rebels at Toys R Us. The poster features Gerrera and some of the lines the character says in the final Rogue One trailer, "Save the Rebellion. Save the dream."
Looks like Saw Gerrera is coming to #StarWarsRebels soon! @CoffeeWthKenobi #RogueOne pic.twitter.com/MMYcwr2TN5
Rogue One: What’s the Deal with *That* Castle?
Spoilers follow for Rogue One.
So Darth Vader’s castle is in the new Star Wars movie… how about that, eh!? My kid, upon seeing it, called out “the Tower of Orthanc!” I get that, only the Tower of Orthanc didn’t sit amid treacherous lava rivers on a planet of death and horror. Darth Vader’s home, apparently, does.
Because yes, the castle is on Mustafar, that awful world where the Sith Lord’s final transformation from Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader took place as he battled Obi-Wan Kenobi and lost several limbs, and his soul, for his trouble. (Oddly, while Rogue One goes out of its way to tag each planet’s name with onscreen titles, Mustafar is not specifically named. But Lucasfilm’s Pablo Hidalgo recently all but confirmed that’s where the castle is located.)
Pokemon Go Dev Says Apple Watch App ‘Coming Soon’
Niantic Labs has confirmed that, despite reports claiming that Apple Watch support for Pokemon Go has been canceled, the smartwatch app is still on track for release and "coming soon."
After 9to5Mac reported that Niantic has shelved plans to bring Pokemon Go to Apple Watch, the following message was posted on the game's official Twitter account, presumably in response to the rumor of the app's alleged cancelation: "Pokémon Go for Apple Watch is coming soon. Stay tuned."
A Pokemon Go app for Apple Watch was announced back in September and hasn't been mentioned since. While players won't be able to catch Pokemon on Apple Watch, the app will allow users to hatch eggs, visit Pokestops and perform many of the other functions included in the mobile version.
The Man in the High Castle: Season 2 Spoiler Discussion
If you've already watched all 10 episodes of The Man in the High Castle: Season 2 then you can read on for my thoughts about how everything ended, with full spoilers. If you haven't started, or finished, Season 2, then you can read the non-spoilery Season 2 review here.
Let's dive into some things that I couldn't touch upon in my review, namely the death of Hitler and how it worked to bring all the separate stories together for the third act. Season 1 set up an underlying mystery involving a cabal of Nazi traitors eagerly awaiting Adolph's death so they could overtake Japan and secure the entire world. John Smith put a stop to it then and, funny enough, he did the same again in Season 2. BUT, it came as a collaboration with both Kido and Tagomi and it was very interesting to see how these authority figures -- these "villains" -- all came together to save the world. Meanwhile, at the same time, the resistance movement was peppered with more ruthless and morally questionable characters which, essentially, painted the group in a rather off-putting way and that dichotomy worked well.
Death Stranding Rainbow Appears Above Argentina
A rainbow that bears a striking resemblance to the one featured in the latest trailer for Kojima Productions' upcoming game Death Stranding was spotted in Argentina.
Twitter user sabelor10 posted the following message to Hideo Kojima (which the Death Stranding creator retweeted), showcasing a rainbow he discovered in Rosario, Argentina.
via Twitter
Pokemon Go Increases Spawns in Outdoor Areas
Pokemon Go players will now encounter more creatures in outdoor areas, as the number of spawns in various locations outside have been increased.
"Trainers, we've observed increased numbers of Pokemon sightings in parks and other outdoor locations in urban and rural areas," the game's official Twitter account announced.
Earlier this month, several new Pokemon were added to Niantic Labs' creature-collecting mobile phenomenon. Players can now find Pichu, Togepi and several other monsters from Gold and Silver. In addition, a special Pikachu wearing a "festive hat" can be found in the wild from now until December 29.
Assassin’s Creed: Why Irons Never Got His Kids an Xbox
I spoke to Oscar winner Jeremy Irons recently about his villain role in the long-awaited Assassin's Creed movie. The Batman v Superman and Die Hard actor portrays Alan Rikkin, the CEO of Abstergo Industries and a member of the Inner Sanctum of the Templar Order, in the Justin Kurzel-directed adaptation of the Ubisoft video game franchise.
IGN: I'm going to start with an obvious question. Are you a gamer? Have you played video games?
Jeremy Irons: No. Never played a video game. Actually, I try to keep them out of my house. No one bought the children Xboxes only because I just wanted to them to get out and get some fresh air and not sit in front of the screen for too long. But I do understand that they -- apart from the fact that this is a large franchise -- they can introduce children to history in quite an interesting way. There are good things about them.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Easter Eggs
Here are the coolest Easter eggs, references and pieces of trivia from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Make sure to check out our review of Rogue One.
Warning: this article contains spoilers!
Let’s start with some movie references, which you may or may not have noticed depending how strong you are with the Force.
There’s a glass of blue milk in the Erso home just like Luke drank with his aunt and uncle in A New Hope.
The OA: Season 1 Spoiler Discussion
If you've already seen all 8 episodes of Netflix's The OA, continue on for thoughts on how everything wrapped up. If you haven't watched it all though, this is your major spoiler warning.
For the non-spoiler review of the show's first season, you can click here.
The worst part about the mystery of The OA is that you can't describe anything that happens after episode four without completely spoiling a major reveal - but for some people, that spoiler would be the most effective way to get them to start watching.
Because seriously you guys, a group of people OPENED A PORTAL TO ANOTHER DIMENSION USING THE POWER OF INTERPRETIVE DANCE.