CW Picks Up Archie Series Riverdale, Frequency, More
In addition to renewing nearly the entire current lineup and adding Supergirl to its schedule next season, The CW has ordered three new television shows, including the Archie-inspired series Riverdale, Frequency and No Tomorrow, per Variety.
Riverdale comes from Greg Berlanti, the executive producer of Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl, meaning he'll now have five different comic book-based series on the same network.
Missile Command and Centipede Movies in Development
Two classic Atari games are poised to receive the big screen treatment.
Deadline reports that Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films has struck a deal with Atari to produce big screen versions of 1980s video game titles Missile Command and Centipede.
Atari CEO Fred Chesnais told Deadline the company was “thrilled to partner with Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films to develop feature films based on two of our most beloved titles. Centipede and Missile Command are part of Atari’s unparalleled and rich library of popular games and we cannot wait to see the movies come to life.”
Madden NFL 17 Release Date, Cover Star Announced
Earlier this week, EA announced an August 23rd release date for Madden NFL 17, coming to Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 3. Today, EA also unveiled cover art for the latest entry in the Madden series, which features New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski as its star.
If you have EA Access, you can demo Madden NFL 17 before its August 23 release date for a limited time through Play First Trial. This is only available on Xbox One.
Our review of Madden NFL 16 from last year called it "one of the best Madden games of recent memory," praising its new passing and defending mechanics and Draft Champions game mode.
Force Awakens’ Lupita Nyong’o in Talks for Black Panther
Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o is reportedly in negotiations to star in Marvel's Black Panther. She'll appear opposite Chadwick Boseman, who made his first appearance as Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War.
The film, which is being helmed by Creed director Ryan Coogler, is expected to hit theaters on February 16, 2018.
Lupita Nyong'o using motion capture for her role as Maz Kanata in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Nyong'o will play Black Panther's love interest. Exact character details have not been revealed, The Hollywood Reporter said.
How Steven Spielberg Discovered the New Han Solo
It turns out Alden Ehrenreich, who will star as young Han Solo in Disney's upcoming Star Wars solo film, was discovered by Steven Spielberg at a bat mitzvah.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor "had to go in for multiple tests," but thanks to the backing of Spielberg and The Godfather filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, he was able to nab the role.
Ehrenreich was discovered by Spielberg when he was 14 years old in a bat mitzvah video, and his first two film acting gigs were for Coppola. So, according to insiders, both Spielberg and Coppola reached out to Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy in support of casting Ehrenreich as Han Solo.
CBS Cancels CSI: Cyber
CBS has canceled CSI: Cyber, marking the end of the long-running CSI crime drama franchise on the network.
Variety reported the cancellation of the show, which aired its Season 2 finale in March. CSI: Cyber appeared to be on the chopping block that same month, when it wasn't among the 11 returning series CBS gave early renewals to (Criminal Minds, also not on that early list, has since been renewed).
Patricia Arquette in CSI: Cyber.
Supergirl Moving to the CW for Season 2
Supergirl has been renewed for Season 2, but the show is moving from CBS to the CW.
THR reported news of the renewal and move, which confirms recent reports that such a network switch was being discussed. The CW --- which is co-owned by CBS and Warner Bros., who produce Supergirl -- already is the home to The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow (all, like Supergirl, executive produced by Greg Berlanti). In a rare cross-network crossover, The Flash recently appeared on Supergirl for a highly rated episode.
For that crossover story, the Flash traversed the multiverse to team up with Supergirl, who exists in a parallel universe - something that will no doubt need to be addressed when we see, presumably, more crossovers between the shows next year, now that they are on the same network.
Gears of War 4: What We’re Betting on for E3
The next game in our road to E3 2016 series is...Gears of War 4. AWW, COME ON!
We didn't just see Gears of War 4 recently, we got to play it during the lengthy multiplayer beta period.
I'm old-school in that I'm a campaign-first Gears of War fan. That means I'm very curious to see exactly what JD Fenix and his crew of next-generation Gears will be up to on Sera. I'll be honest: while I love Gears of War, last E3's campaign debut didn't do a lot to rev up my chainsaw, so to speak. And the recent multiplayer beta was fun, but a little too similar to Gears of War 3. So whatever we get at E3 2016 – its final E3 prior to its October 11 release – I really want it to impress me. 343 Industries knocked it out of the park for me when they took over Halo with Halo 4, so I'm hopeful that The Coalition can put that same kind of mark on the Gears series with their "4."
Explaining Pokemon’s 20 Years of Ridiculous Trading Rules
Trading Pokemon with friends has been a staple of the franchise from the beginning. That's kind of the whole point.
But moving Pokemon between generations, from game to game? That's a different matter entirely. It was easy enough in the beginning. Using a Game Boy Link Cable, Gen 1 Pokemon could be imported into Gen 2. Unfortunately, due to a restructure in how Pokemon stats work and a platform switch there is a hard stop between Gen 2 (Gold and Silver) and Gen 3 (Ruby and Sapphire) - no trading is possible.
But, impressively, from Gen 3 all the way to the upcoming Sun and Moon, it's possible to trade Pokemon up from game to game. It isn't always a simple or user-friendly process, but it is doable This means that you'll be able to potentially battle with Pokemon you caught 13 years ago in Sun and Moon this fall. Pretty crazy.
The Division Has 9.5 Million Registered Players
Tom Clancy's The Division has 9.5 million registered players, CEO Yves Guillemot announced during Ubisoft's earnings report today.
Guillemot said the game exceeded Ubisoft's expectations, with active players playing the game for three hours per day on average. The Division, Guillemot said, had the first-largest release for a new video game brand.
And it's not only The Division bringing in success for Ubisoft. "We have tripled the audience for Far Cry," he said, "doubled it for Rainbow Six." Additionally, Watch Dogs had the third-largest release for a new franchise.
The Division, Far Cry Primal, and Rainbox Six Siege landed among the top five bestsellers for the first three months of 2016. In March, The Division earned the top spot, with Far Cry Primal coming in second. The Division itself helped drive software sales up 8 percent more than the same period last year.