Netflix Acquires Andy Serkis’ Live-Action Mowgli Movie
Andy Serkis' live-action Mowgli film has moved to Netflix.
Deadline reports the streaming giant has acquired the rights to the movie from Warner Bros. Mowgli was originally set to hit theaters later this year on October 19, but will now premiere on Netflix sometime in 2019 instead.
Mowgli is described as a gritter and darker take on the classic Jungle Book story. It stars Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Naomie Harris, and Benedict Cumberbatch, among quite a few others.
Jon Favreau also directed his own version of the story for Disney. The 2016 movie went on to gross nearly $1 billion at the global box office. In our review of the film, we say "Disney's return to The Jungle Book is a stunning take on a classic tale."
Disney/Fox Deal Takes One Major Step Closer to Completion
The $71.3 billion Disney/Fox deal has taken one major step to being completed.
CNBC reports both companies' shareholders have now officially approved a deal to allow Disney to purchase Fox's entertainment assets. The deal will include Fox's film and television studios, alongside partial ownership of Hulu, Sky TV, and India's Star. The merger is expected to be completed by the first half of 2019.
Comcast was also interested in purchasing Fox's assets after offering $65 million, forcing Disney to increase its offer to $71.3 billion. However, Comcast has reportedly pulled out of the bidding and are now focusing on acquiring Britain's Sky instead, of which Fox owns 39% percent.
Battlefield 5’s Grand Operations Will Arrive Shortly After Launch
Battlefield 5's Grand Operations, its dynamic, multi-mission spanning narrative multiplayer gameplay mode, won't be available at the launch of the game.
As detailed on the official Battlefield website, the first Grand Operation will debut shortly after launch, continuing with new Grand Operations coming in the following months. No specifics were given for how long after launch the first Grand Operation will debut.
The website states: "Operation presents a powerful narrative experience inspired by historical events. Shortly after launch, you will be able to take part in the first Grand Operation. In the months that follow, you’ll continue the fight across other unseen and unplayed battlefields of World War 2."
Netflix Renews Altered Carbon for Season 2
Altered Carbon is returning for a second season, this time with a new lead.
Netflix has renewed the sci-fi drama for an eight-episode Season 2, which does not have a premiere date yet. Avengers: Infinity War's Anthony Mackie will take over for Joel Kinnaman as the lead character Takeshi Kovacs.
Additionally, Alison Schapker (Lost, Fringe) will now serve as co-showrunner alongside Season 1 boss Laeta Kalogridis, with both executive producing as well.
Based on Richard K. Morgan’s novel, Altered Carbon is set in a futuristic world where human consciousness can be put into different bodies, or "sleeves." The story centers on Takeshi Kovacs, whose journey spans hundreds of years, and across different planets and bodies.
EA Is Considering Making a Free-to-Play Standalone Shooter
With Fortnite continuing to dominate the gaming world and making Epic Games billions of dollars, another publisher is now thinking about jumping into battle royale market, which could be worth $20 billion in 2019.
During its investor call for Q1 FY2019, Electronic Arts talked about the possibility of making a free-to-play battle royale game of its own. The topic came about when Electronic Arts COO and CFO Blake Jorgensen was asked if Battlefield 5's battle royale mode (dubbed Battlefield Royale) might be spun off into a separate free-to-play product. Jorgensen shot down that idea, saying Battlefield Royale was "no different" than any other mode in Battlefield 5. Continuing, however, he implied that a separate, standalone battle shooter from Electronic Arts is a possibility.
Steven Spielberg’s Best Movies
Steven Spielberg is among the most powerful and influential people to have ever worked in Hollywood. The famed director has entertained countless viewers in his nearly half-century-long career, but the following 10 films are what we've humbly deemed his best directorial efforts.
These are our picks for the 10 best Steven Spielberg movies of all time.
10. Munich
Munich is arguably the most mature and unsentimental movie Spielberg has ever made. Hewing far closer to political potboilers like The Conformist than the director's own portrayals of historical events, Spielberg crafts a daringly ambiguous and dramatically credible rendition of events that took place following the murder of eight athletes in Munich during the 1972 Olympic games. His mastery as a showman and purveyor of spectacle is the stuff of Hollywood legend, which is why the sophistication and intelligence of Munich is all the more impressive. Where even his previous forays into starkly dramatic material occasionally veered into shameless sentiment, here Spielberg approaches his subject with deadly-serious gravitas, never taking some position of moral justification to elevate the Israeli agents above their victims, nor reducing them to bloodthirsty murderers out for vengeance.
The 16 Most Gimmicky Action Figures Ever Made
Netflix's documentary series The Toys That Made Us has spotlighted some of the most beloved toy lines of all time, from Star Wars to G.I Joe to Barbie to Masters of the Universe. The series is a fun trip down memory lane, but it also serves as a reminder that not all toys are created equal.
From odd-smelling He-Man toys to ill-advised LEGO spinoffs, here are the most pointless and gimmicky toys featured in the show's first two seasons. To see our complete list, you can click through the slideshow below or scroll down the page.
LEGO Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Sets
Vampyr to Get Story Mode That De-emphasizes combat
Vampyr, the action-RPG released early last month, is receiving a summer update that will bring an easier story mode that de-emphasizes combat, and a more challenging hard mode that does just the opposite.
Announced by publisher Focus Home Interactive, the summer update aims to add further replayability for those who have already played the game, as well as more options for newcomers. The update is set to hit later this summer, and will also include a host of unspecified optimizations tweaks.
The story mode intends to place a greater focus on the game's narrative, letting players take in the story without being too challenged by combat. The hard mode will naturally make combat more difficult and give players less experience for killing enemies, forcing them to interact with citizens more in order to develop their vampire powers.
NBA Live 19 Introduces Option to Create Your Own Female Players
EA Sports announced players will be able to create female athletes in NBA Live 19. This is the first basketball game to offer the option.
These created players will be able to participate in all game modes, including THE ONE, and "access all the same skills, progression and gear as their male counterparts." Men and women will also be able to play on the same squad in THE ONE, reinforcing that there are no restrictions with this first iteration.
Female gamers will have the option to scan their face into NBA Live 19 using the NBA LIVE Companion app for iOS and Android and use new Icon Abilities modeled after some of the greatest female basketball stars of all-time, including Candace Parker.
With NBA Live 19, EA’s Eager to Contend
EA’s recent trend of including narrative-driven single-player campaigns might seem laughable on paper, but you can’t argue with the results. Madden’s Longshot, FIFA’s Journey, and NBA Live’s The One modes have all been surprisingly impressive and engaging, and all three are doing it again.
In Live’s case, I had the chance to sit down and play the first hour or so of Live 19’s The One, and in a very complimentary way I can say that the hour flew by. I began by creating my player for the story mode, and I took the opportunity to create a female player (NBA Live once again brings WNBA teams and players into the fold, to its credit). I’m not sure if it’s always this way or just my experience, but every game I played had a female player on the opposing team to balance things out (i.e. so I wasn’t physically overwhelmed by a wall of 6’10” 260-pound male players). After choosing gender you’ll choose what type of player you want to be: a guard, a wing, or a big. True to my own childhood basketball experiences, I went with a guard so that I had a built-in excuse to handle the ball more often.