Apple’s WWDC 2016 Begins June 13
Apple has announced the dates for its 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
The event, which Apple holds annually, will run from June 13-17 in San Francisco. Monday's events, which includes the keynote address, will be held in the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. The rest of the week's events will take place at Moscone West.
The Cupertino-based company is expected to announce new iterations of iOS, OS X, watchOS, and tvOS. New MacBooks are also rumored to be among the announcements.
Developers interested in attending can apply for tickets on the WWDC website between now and Friday, April 22. Apple notes that last year's conference saw over 80 percent of developers attending for the first time, and over 70 countries were represented.
Civil War Tracking for Huge Opening
Captain America: Civil War is looking at a $175 million opening domestic weekend, according to pre-release tracking.
Variety reports that other studio executives and analysts even think the Marvel blockbuster could hit the $200 million milestone. Part of that is because the Captain America sequel features a collection of superheroes, namely Iron Man, Black Widow, Black Panther and Spider-Man.
“It’s tough to predict any movie getting above $200 million, but this one has a shot,” MKM Partners analyst Eric Handler told Variety. "They have two weeks of good buzz to build on, and the marketing machine behind this is going to be huge."
Jessica Jones’ Eka Darville Will Return for The Defenders
Marvel's Jessica Jones actor Eka Darville will reprise his role as Malcolm Ducasse in The Defenders.
According to SpoilerTV, Darville confirmed at the Supanova Pop Culture Expo that he'll show up in the miniseries that brings together Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist.
Eka Darville plays Malcolm Ducasse in Jessica Jones, neighbor and friend of the superhero.
Ubisoft Files Trademark for 1666
A recently discovered trademark listing revealed Ubisoft has filed for 1666 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
When THQ dissolved in 2013, Ubisoft acquired THQ Montreal, along with the rights to Assassin's Creed creator Patrice Desilets' project 1666. Little was known about the project when it was outed in the past—and the same stands for the game in its present form.
Ubisoft officially suspended 1666 "for an undisclosed period of time" in 2013. Following the suspension, Desilets sued Ubisoft for total ownership of the game.
Castle Lead Stana Katic Not Returning for Season 9
Castle co-star Stana Katic is not returning for the ninth season of the show.
Deadline reports that ABC is moving forward with the crime procedural without Katic, who plays Detective Kate Beckett. Meanwhile, her fellow co-star, Nathan Fillion, who plays Rick Castle, is reportedly in negotiations to come back for what's believed to be a 13-episode season.
Stana Katic plays Detective Kate Beckett on Castle
Elite Stormtroopers for Marvel’s Star Wars Comic Revealed
Marvel's Star Wars comic is bringing in a new group of elite Stormtroopers that'll set off the next story arc.
Issue #21, The Last Flight of Harbinger, will give "more of a face to some of the Stormtroopers," writer Jason Aaron told StarWars.com. "That was one of my favorite parts of The Force Awakens, getting to see and getting to know a real character who was a Stormtrooper."
These Stormtroopers, however, are the opposite of Finn—these are Stormtroopers "very gung-ho for the Empire." This elite crew of troopers aren't just fighters forced into the Imperial army, Aaron said. "I'm interested in the characters who would really buy into what they're doing and really feel like they're on the right side."
Batman: Return to Arkham Coming in June
Warner Bros. and Rocksteady Studios are reportedly releasing Batman: Return to Arkham HD Collection on June 10.
In an email sent to Eurogamer by a reported GameStop employee, it was revealed the unnanounced Batman Arkham HD Collection contains Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City and all previously released DLC.
Gameplay visuals have also been "optimized" for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. According to the email, preorders go live tomorrow, April 19.
The collection won't include Batman: Arkham Origins, which was developed by Warner Bros. Montreal studio, or Batman: Arkham Knight, which was released last year. In February, a Mac and Linux port for Arkham Knight was suspended.
Jurassic World 2 Finds a Director
The Orphanage filmmaker J.A. Bayona will direct Jurassic World 2.
The sequel's producer, Frank Marshall, revealed the Spanish filmmaker's involvement on Twitter (as spotted by Variety). "Thrilled to announce J.A. Bayona is on board to direct
2," he said. "Welcome to the team."
J.A. Bayona will direct Jurassic World 2. (Credit to Jurassic World Twitter account)
Nintendo Releasing Star Fox Zero Animated Short
Nintendo announced an animated short for Star Fox Zero which the company will stream live on Wednesday, April 20 at 3 p.m. PT.
Star Fox Zero: The Battle Begins debuts ahead of Star Fox Zero, which is set to release Friday, April 22 for Wii U. Producer Shigeru Miyamoto, Production IG, and WIT Studios (Attack on Titan, Ghost in the Shell) collaborated on the animated short. Catch it on the Nintendo site.
A live presentation from Nintendo Treehouse—focusing on Star Fox Zero and Star Fox Guard—will immediately follow Star Fox Zero: The Battle Begins. Star Fox Guard will launch alongside Star Fox Zero on April 22. It'll be available on its own or as a bundle with both games.
PSN Down for Brief Maintenance Tonight
Sony announced it will take the PlayStation Network offline tonight for a two-hour maintenance period.
The news was delivered via the PlayStation forums, where a representative for the company clarified: "Anyone who already has an account can still sign in to their PlayStation Network profile, play games, and use most applications while this maintenance is carried out.” Sony recommends setting your PS4 as a primary console so you can keep playing PSN games once the network is taken offline.