Star Wars Rebels Recruits Princess Leia
Leia Organa will appear in Star Wars: Rebels, according to TV Insider, who cites that Alderaan's last princess will debut in the January 20 episode "A Princess on Lothal." Julie Dolan will perform the voice for Leia, who will only appear once in Season 2.
Lucasfilm's Dave Filoni said, “We thought we had an opportunity to show her learning to be a leader, experimenting with the personality that becomes the stronger more resolute character you see in A New Hope. One of the complex challenges of depicting Leia in Rebels is that we have to remind the audience that at this point she is part of the Empire. She doesn’t believe in the Empire, but she is acting the part, almost a double agent.”
Gambit: Production Begins in March in New Orleans
20th Century Fox will begin production on its long awaited Gambit movie in March.
According to WGNO (via ComingSoon.net), work on the Doug Liman-directed comic book movie will commence in New Orleans in just two months' time.
Gambit stars Channing Tatum as the card-throwing mutant, with Lea Seydoux onboard as the film's female lead, Bella Donna Boudreaux. According to producer Simon Kinberg, Gambit will be both a heist movie and "sexy thriller."
Shortlist of Star Wars: Han Solo Spinoff Actors Revealed
Disney is zeroing in on an actor for its Han Solo standalone, with only about a dozen names left on the shortlist.
Variety cites actors like Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Dave Franco, Jack Reynor, Scott Eastwood, Logan Lerman, Emory Cohen, and Blake Jenner to play young smuggler. They would fill the role both in the character's origin film, and potentially cameo in the in-production Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Rogue One is set sometime between the original and prequel trilogies, which lines up timeline-wise for the younger actor.
David Bowie Was Considered for a Cameo in Guardians 2
Mourning the loss of legendary musician and actor David Bowie, director James Gunn revealed in a Facebook post that Bowie was being considered for a cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
"Just a very short while ago,
Kevin Fiege and I were talking about a cameo role in Guardians Vol. 2, and he brought up Bowie's name," Gunn posted. "I told him nothing in the world would make me happier, but I heard from common friends that he wasn't doing well."
The Guardians 2 director goes on to say he heard back that Bowie was, in fact, doing okay, and that the cameo could "potentially happen." As such, the news of Bowie's death was a complete surprise.
Harrison Ford Dethrones Sam Jackson as Top-Grossing Actor
Thanks to his role as Han Solo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Harrison Ford is now the top-grossing actor in the history of the United States box office.
According to Box Office Mojo, Ford has eclipsed Samuel L. Jackson's prior $4.63 billion record with a whopping $4.71 billion. Rounding out the top five are Tom Hanks with $4.33 billion, Morgan Freeman with $4.32 billion and Eddie Murphy with $3.81 billion.
Ford's work in the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, among so many other popular titles, accounts for his multi-billion dollar total.
Meanwhile, the highest-grossing actress is Cameron Diaz, who sits in fifteenth place with $3.03 billion, EW notes.
Mario & Sonic Rio 2016 Olympic Games Release Date Announced
Nintendo has announced a release date for Mario and Sonic’s latest Olympic tie-in game.
According to its official Twitter account, Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games launches on March 18 for Wii U and 3DS.
Mario & Sonic have victory in their sights when #MarioSonicRio launches for #3DS on 3/18! pic.twitter.com/XEuBCTYIlW
HTC Vive Pre-Orders Open Next Month
Pre-orders for HTC's upcoming VR headset Vive will open on February 29.
HTC CEO Cher Wang revealed the pre-order date in an interview with The Telegraph. Unfortunately, there was no mention of price or release date. Vive was originally set to release in limited quantities last year, but was recently delayed to April.
Play Unravel Before Release With EA Access
Three new trial games are coming to EA Access in February and March - Unravel, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, and EA Sports UFC 2.
According to EA Access website, You'll be able to play Unravel from February 4, Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2 from February 18, and UFC 2 from March 10.
Although the site does not clarify how long the demos will be, the official EA Access twitter account confirmed that you'll be able to play Unravel for up to 10 hours.
@mustafayonev Nice. Don't forget that you get to play it early for 10 hours on February 9 because you're an EA Access member. :)
Awesome Games Done Quick Raises 1.2 Million
Speedrunning charity marathon Awesome Games Done Quick has raised more than $1.2 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, whose mission is to "stop cancer before it starts."
Amazing work, all of you donors, for we've just hit 1.2 MILLION dollars! Wow, the numbers you are all pulling is fantastic #AGDQ2016
— Games Done Quick (@GamesDoneQuick) January 10, 2016
Streamed on Twitch, the event ran for the past week. The participants over at AGDQ 2016 bolted through games like StepMania, Pokemon Blue, Half Life 2, Bloodborne, and Super Metroid. Peak numbers were reached during the Super Mario Maker run, boasting 220,000 concurrent viewers. You can check out the stats for yourself on AGDQ's website.