No Extended Cut of Force Awakens Planned
Don't expect an extended cut of Star Wars: The Force Awakens when the blockbuster film comes to Blu-ray and DVD later this year.
Asked if such a version will be included at the TCA (Television Critics Association) press tour today, J.J. Abrams said, “There will be deleted scenes
, but not an extended version.”
Abrams was asked what the longest cut of the film was, as it went through the editing process and replied, “I don't remember what the longest cut was. Probably, if it were with credits, close to two hours and 50 minutes or something, the first cut. But I don't remember what it was
.”
Though he’s shared enthusiasm for what Rian Johnson has planned for Star Wars: Episode VIII, Abrams didn’t want to delve into what excited him most about the film, as he hands over the reins to Johnson. “I wouldn't want to do that because it's not my movie to talk about, but I will say Rian's an amazing writer and director, and I'm obviously really excited about what he's going to do.”
The Division Beta Included in Tom Clancy Humble Bundle
This week's new Humble Bundle spotlights the Tom Clancy franchise and features beta access to The Division.
Paying just a dollar unlocks the original Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six, as well as Rainbow Six 3 Gold, Rainbow Six Vegas and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory.
Those who pay above the average—currently set at $9.65—will get beta access to The Division and Rainbow Six Vegas 2, as well as the original Splinter Cell and Splinter Cell Conviction. Humble Bundle has additional offers at higher payment tiers as well, all of which you can check out right here.
Tom Clancy's The Division is scheduled to release on March 8 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. The beta, which was originally set to begin last month, was delayed to "early 2016.
All The Awesome, Crazy, and Weird Stuff We Saw at CES
This year's Consumer Electronics Show showed off the hottest advancements and upcoming products in the world of tech. Aside from all the stuff you'd expect to see at CES, like awesome TVs and ridiculously cool wearables, there's some unexpected surprises to be found. Here are some of the coolest, craziest, and just plain weird things we saw this week at CES.
Flat screens were all the rage 10 years ago, and more recently, curved screens were the hotness in TV-tech. But Korean manufacturer LG showed off its rollable TV at CES 2016. The 18-inch OLED screen can be rolled up like a newspaper.
J.J. Abrams Wants More Rey Merchandise Too
There have been many noticing that Daisy Ridley's Rey, despite being the main character in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is oddly missing in certain aspects of the merchandising - and J.J. Abrams shares their frustrations.
While there are several Rey action figures (which seems to constantly sell out, as the character's popularity has soared with he movie's release), Rey was left out of a collection of large figures made available at Target, which included Finn, Poe, Chewbacca, Kylo Ren, a Stormtrooper and a TIE Fighter Pilot. And Finn and Chewbacca were the characters included with the new Hasbro Millennium Falcon toy, despite Rey piloting the ship in the film. More recently, many noticed that Rey was not one of the figures that were part of a multi-generational Star Wars Monopoly set, leading Hasbro to decide to add her later this year. All of these occurrences have led to the popular #wheresrey hashtag on Twitter.
Hulu’s The Path Trailer
Hulu have debuted the full trailer for The Path, their upcoming original series from Friday Night Lights executive producer Jason Katims and Jessica Goldberg.
Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) and Michelle Monaghan (True Detective) star in the series, about a married couple who are part of a religious movement with menacing cult overtones, with Hugh Dancy (Hannibal) as the leader of the group.
Tom Hiddleston & Hugh Laurie Face Off in The Night Manager
For the first time in over 20 years, one of John le Carré's spy novels (author of The Constant Gardener, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, etc) has been adapted for television. Starring Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, and Olivia Colman, AMC's upcoming miniseries - The Night Manager - brings us into the sinister world of arms dealing, intelligence, Third World militias, and widespread corruption at the highest levels of corporations and governments.
A six episode co-production with Ink Factory and BBC, The Night Manager is set to premiere on April 19th and features Hiddleston as a British spy involved in a dangerous cat and mouse game with a nefarious arms dealer played by Laurie.
Hiddleston and Laurie both appeared at the TCA Winter Press Tour to further discuss their roles and answer questions from the critics on hand. Hiddleston delved into what he found so fascinating about his character, Jonathan Pine. "There is a tension between a very calm exterior and a turbulent and chaotic interior," he said, "that he’s someone who actually has a great amount of vulnerability and a huge amount of doubt. Le Carré describes him as a self exiled creature of the night and a sailor without a destination."
Adventures of Mana Coming to Mobile in the West
Adventures of Mana, the upcoming remake of the classic Game Boy RPG Final Fantasy Adventure, is coming to iOS and Android in the west, Square Enix has announced.
While the game is set to release for both smartphones and PlayStation Vita in Japan sometime this winter, its English website makes no mention of a release for Sony's handheld in North America or Europe.
Last month, Square announced Final Fantasy IX for PC and mobile in Japan, and just yesterday, the publisher confirmed the PS1 RPG will also be coming to Steam in the west. Whether or not a smartphone version will be availble in North American and Europe remains to be seen, but at least iOS and Android users have Adventures of Mana to look forward to.
Mortal Kombat X DLC Gameplay Reveal Coming Next Week
NetherRealm Studios plans on releasing a gameplay video of some kind for Mortal Kombat X’s Kombat Pack 2 next week.
Rather than offer fans one of his typical cryptic teases, series’ co-creator Ed Boon made a direct announcement via Twitter.
Kombat Pack 2. Game play video. Next Week. pic.twitter.com/EhYMOv300D
— Ed Boon (@noobde) January 8, 2016
Boon did not specify what would be shown but expect to see all-new footage of Kombat Pack 2 guest characters Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the Xenomorph from the Alien films, as well as series’ veteran Bo Rai Cho and Tri-Borg, who is a combination of the popular cyborg characters Cyrax, Sektor, and Robot Smoke.
Killer Instinct Season 3 Playable at KI Cup and PAX South
Killer Instinct fans will be able to go hands on with a playable demo of Season 3 the Killer Instinct World Cup and PAX South later this month.
Developer Iron Galaxy Studios’ lead combat designer Adam “Keits” Heart announced via Twitter the studio plans on bringing a preview build of the game to both events, taking place the weekend of January 29-31. He did not
Attending KI Cup at the end of January? FIRST PLAYABLE PREVIEW of Killer Instinct Season 3 on the showfloor (PAX South too!) #KICup
Anthony Hopkins Regrets Hannibal and Red Dragon
Anthony Hopkins, who memorably has brought the literary character Hannibal Lecter to life, has no intention of ever reprising his role as the iconic cannibal, admitting he regrets returning to play the character in Hannibal and Red Dragon.
"I did it once. Made the mistake of doing it twice, three times," Hopkins told TheWrap, going on to say he thinks "The Silence of the Lambs is okay. It was a good film."
When asked if he ever might reprise the role of Hannibal Lecter, Hopkins replied with a blunt "No," adding, "I don’t want to do that. Done with that."
Following Hopkins' trio of films, Mads Mikkelsen assumed the role of Lecter in the TV series Hannibal, which had a three-season run on NBC.