Watch Rogue One Toys Make Their Own Version of the Film
Disney has revealed Go Rogue, a series of fan films about Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, starring the film's tie-in toys.
Featuring Star Wars Lego, Funko Pops and more complex action figures alike, Go Rogue will be a multi-part series retelling the events of the film in slightly... sillier fashion.
The first episode is below:
Written by Kevin Ulrich and animated by Dan MacKenzie and Tucker Barrie, the series sees a group of well-articulated fighters going up against the plasticky ranks of the Empire in search of the plans for the Death Star (which, in this case, are Lego building instructions).
It's pretty much worth it for this shot alone:
‘Astronauts’ Just Spent a Year Pretending to Be on Mars
NASA “astronauts” spent a year on “Mars,” which is to say in a Hawaiian volcano.
After 12 months stuck with each other in isolation, a team of substitute astronauts have emerged with huge amounts of data to contribute toward potential future missions to Mars.
The HI-SEAS IV (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) program was designed to mimic the pressures and confines of a manned-mission to Mars, which would see astronauts sharing a tiny habitat for as long as three years. A 36-foot wide domed habitat was set-up on Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano, and housed a team of scientists that performed studies on cohabitation, and ran drills including simulated emergencies, and missions out onto the faux Martian surface to collect soil samples and the like while wearing full space suits.
Marvel Developing New Warriors Series Focused on Squirrel Girl
Marvel and ABC Studios are developing a TV series around the New Warriors, focused heavily on fan-favourite Squirrel Girl.
TV Line reports that the comedy series is currently "being shopped around to cable and streaming outlets", according to its sources. The New Warriors are described as being like a teenage Avengers, and one of those teenagers is Doreen Green, aka Squirrel Girl, a mutant whose physical makeup is similar to that of a squirrel.
The character has been the focus of some attention recently thanks to a Tweet from Edgar Wright endorsing actress Anna Kendrick for the (then hypothetical) role.
Hamill Teases Appearance in Star Wars: Episode 9
Mark Hamill might have just inadvertently confirmed Luke Skywalker for Star Wars: Episode IX.
Hamill tweeted out a video of himself getting his Skywalker beard shaved off, accompanied by some (adorably celebratory) text mentioning Episode IX:
Haven't seen my chin since May '15, so #FarewellFacialFur & #ByeByeBeard (at least til #EpisodeIX) @popculturequest pic.twitter.com/gaScz1okk6
This Summer’s Top 10 Highest-Grossing Movies
With the summer movie season now over, let's look at which films fared best at the North American box office.
Animation, superheroes and sequels dominated the Top 10, although many follow-ups and reboots released this season performed below their pre-release expectations. (Indeed, Ghostbusters stands to lose Sony Pictures up to $70 million and has probably killed any chance for a sequel.)
Disney-distributed films took the top two spots. Pixar's Finding Dory was the highest-grossing film of the summer movie season with roughly $479.7 million, while Marvel's Captain America: Civil War came in second with $407.8 million.
8 Photos of Hot Wheels’ Super Mario-Themed Cars
The official Hot Wheels twitter account shared a video of six Super Mario-themed cars coming from toy maker Mattel.
The cars include rides based off of you favorite Mushroom Kingdom characters, including Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Yoshi, and Bowser. You can see images of all the new rides in the gallery below.
Nintendo announced there's a special Nintendo Direct video presentation coming this Thursday that's focused on upcoming 3DS games. IGN put together a comprehensive breakdown of what to expect, but make sure you come back and check out all the news and announcements from the stream.
Guardians: Vol. 2 Will Have New Costumes for New Planets
Marvel costume designer Judianna Makovsky is jumping over from working on the Captain America films to designing for the Guardians of the Galaxy. After working on The Winter Soldier and Civil War, Makovsky is taking over Vol. 2 from Guardians of the Galaxy's costume designer Alexandra Bryne (who worked on Doctor Strange, Thor, The Avengers and Age of Ultron).
Working in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a team effort, and designing costumes for the films is no different. Makovsky already picked up the mantle from another designer when she worked on The Winter Soldier after Captain America: The First Avenger, but the new style of costumes made more sense as Steve Rogers jumped from the '40s to present day. Though Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 presumably won't have as significant a time jump, Makovsky still did get to put her own stamp on the characters' outfits.
What to Expect from Thursday’s Nintendo Direct
In case you haven’t heard, there’s a Nintendo Direct coming up this week on September 1 at 7am PT / 10am ET / 3pm BST (Sept. 2 at midnight for Australia). Nintendo’s online video presentations typically give us a glimpse into the near-future, so it got us wondering what to expect since the company has been fairly silent after going all-in on Zelda: Breath of the Wild and a few other games at E3 2016.
Nintendo said this presentation would focus on upcoming 3DS games, so we’re going to keep our thoughts honed in on the company's portable platform. Whether or not you’ll get a passing mention of Paper Mario Color Splash, another confirmation that Pikmin 4 is done, or a closer look at features from the adorable NES Classic Edition remains to be seen.
Warner Bros. Reportedly Wants Harry Potter Star for Sequel
While Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has made it clear he'd like to distance himself from his breakout role, Warner Bros. is reportedly looking to bring J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stage play to the big screen and wants Radcliffe to star.
According to New York Daily News, the studio hopes to release the film as early as 2020, with one source telling the outlet that "Warners is secretly working on getting the movie rights and a screenplay settled, and of course in their minds only one man should be Harry."
Supergirl to Introduce Superman Villain Metallo in Season 2
Frederick Schmidt has joined the cast of Supergirl and will star as the Superman villain Metallo.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Schmidt will appear in at least two episodes as Metallo, starting with the Season 2 premiere.
Frederick Schmidt as Dave in Snow in Paradise
After suffering a serious injury during a battle against Melissa Benoist's Supergirl and Tyler Hoechlin's Superman, John Corben (aka Metallo) will find new life as the Kryptonite-fueled DC villain with the aid of a shadow organization.