Game of Thrones: Season 7 is officially a shorter season.
HBO confirmed what previously had been reported and suggested by showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss: Thrones' seventh season will only be seven episodes long. Up until now, each season of the HBO hit drama were 10 episodes in length.
Additionally, HBO announced that the upcoming season's production delay means it will premiere later than usual. Season 7 will arrive in summer 2017 instead of the typical spring premiere date.
Mercedes-Benz's CityPilot autonomous bus technology just got a real-world, long-range test drive on the streets and highways of the Netherlands. One of the company's Future Bus vehicles successfully followed a 20km Bus Rapid Transit route between Ams...
Roumen.ganeffThe horror
Astronauts are pretty much the only people not playing
Earlier today, we got our first official look at Nikolaj Arcel‘s The Dark Tower, the adaptation/remix of Stephen King‘s beloved horror/fantasy/western/science fiction series that has become a cornerstone of modern genre fiction. While the first wave of news rode upon a series of great quotes from star Idris Elba and a very evocative description of one of the film’s key sets, the second wave is all about Matthew McConaughey‘s black-clad villain and how this very tricky, dense series is making the transition to film.
Let’s start with the former. Entertainment Weekly sat down with McConaughey on the film’s South African set and they chatted all about Walter, otherwise known to King fans as “the man in black.” Throughout the interview, McConaughey sounds like he never left the skin of True Detective character:
Well, he is a man, actually. They wanted to go very human and grounded with this. Obviously there are mythical proportions of good and evil in Walter. But we didn’t want to go overly fantastic. That would drop the humanity. So Walter, for me, is a man who exposes hypocrisies.
As many Stephen King fans know, Walter goes by many names and has emerged as an arch-villain in the entire Stephen King universe, where all of his novels and stories are interconnected in unique and strange ways. Interestingly, McConaughey turned down the role of the demonic Randall Flagg in the long-gestating adaptation of The Stand so he could appear in The Dark Tower…but Flagg and Walter are actually the same character within the pages of King’s books. Movie news can be weird.
Anyway, this article is full of great weird McConaughey quotes that paint a great picture of the cinematic Walter, who has a powerful respect for Elba’s Roland, the vengeful Gunslinger chasing him across dimensions:
I revere him. He’s really the only true adversary I have. I expose hypocrisies, and he’s the closest to pure there is. It’s his persistent, resilience to be good and altruistic. He’s very precious to me. I almost don’t want to see him go.
McConaughey later says of his onscreen enemy: “My love, my adoration, my muse, my shadow, is Roland,” so shippers, start your engines.
The rest of the article is full of deep cuts and details and plot points that Dark Tower fans will appreciate and newbies will puzzle over and it is very much worth your time. At the very least, it confirms that the great character actor Jackie Earle Haley is playing Richard Sayre, the “ambassador” of the Dixie Pig, a New York City way station between worlds where monsters and creatures can take on human guises before entering our realm.
The third of today’s Dark Tower news blasts deals specifically with how the film was developed and written and who they chose to leave on the cutting room floor. First of all, King himself was heavily involved in the writing of the screenplay, giving his approval to changes and personally modifying Roland’s dialogue so the stoic gunslinger says as little as possible. Right now, the project has his stamp of approval:
I feel more wrapped up in this one because the books took so long to write and the fan base is so dedicated. They sent me a number of different drafts and it came into focus, let’s put it that way. I’m 100 percent behind it — which doesn’t mean it necessarily will work, just that it’s a good way to try and to get into these stories.
The article also confirms that Eddie and Susannah, two of Roland’s companions who join his quest in the second novel, The Drawing of the Three, will not be in the movie. While the film draws elements from all seven books in the series, they will be saved for the sequel…if the $60 million first film is a success, of course. It makes sense – the relationship between Roland, Walter, and the young Jake Chambers is the heart of the first book and will remain the heart of the first movie no matter what changes – but it also means we may never get to see the rest of Roland’s ka-tet on screen if the film underperforms.
And finally (and consider this a huge spoiler if you intend to read King’s books before the movie comes out), it has been confirmed that the cinematic Dark Tower will act as a sequel-of-sorts to the original books. The final book in the series concludes with Roland finally reaching the Dark Tower and realizing that he’s gone on his quest countless times, only for a time loop to send him back, memories washed away, each and every time. However, the newly reset Roland is now in possession of an artifact known as the Horn of Eld, which suggests that things have changed and whether he knows it or not, he may be on his final loop.
This is a fascinating choice, because it allows the filmmakers behind The Dark Tower to change the story as they see fit because Roland’s new quest can be different from his previous attempts. If the rest of the series is adapted, it may even give the fans who felt disappointed by the ending of the books some closure.
The Dark Tower is filming now for a February 17, 2017 release date.
The post ‘The Dark Tower’: Matthew McConaughey on His Villain and How Stephen King Helped Shape the Screenplay appeared first on /Film.
Director David Lowery is probably doing something right with his upcoming remake of Pete’s Dragon because I’m not a fan of the 1977 original in the slightest but I fully intend to see the new version in its opening weekend. Maybe my soft spot for tales of isolated youngsters finding families is showing, or maybe I’m just a sucker for dragons, but everything we’ve seen from this movie looks charming and sweet and the right shade of adventurous.
Two new clips from the film have arrived online and they haven’t changed my mind. This looks like it could be one of 2016’s better family movies.
The first clip is the full version of a scene we’ve already glimpsed in the trailer, with Pete (played by newcomer Oakes Fegley) leaping off a cliff in the Pacific Northwest forest he calls home, confident that his dragon buddy Elliot will catch him. I really dig the design for Elliot, which takes a few cues from the original film (that green hue!), but goes in its own direction. I especially dig how that direction doesn’t involve making him look like a traditional medieval fantasy dragon – the fluffy fur and the dog-like mannerisms make stand out from the Game of Thrones pack.
The second of the clips is a more low key, with Pete, who has been living alone in the woods with a dragon for most of his life, having a conversation with Natalie (Oona Laurence) about whether or not his winged buddy is imaginary. As we saw in the previous clip, the answer is no.
Pete’s Dragon opens on August 12, 2016. Here’s the official synopsis:
For years, old wood carver Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford) has delighted local children with his tales of the fierce dragon that resides deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. To his daughter, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard), who works as a forest ranger, these stories are little more than tall tales…until she meets Pete (Oakes Fegley). Pete is a mysterious 10-year-old with no family and no home who claims to live in the woods with a giant, green dragon named Elliott. And from Pete’s descriptions, Elliott seems remarkably similar to the dragon from Mr. Meacham’s stories. With the help of Natalie (Oona Laurence), an 11-year-old girl whose father Jack (Wes Bentley) owns the local lumber mill, Grace sets out to determine where Pete came from, where he belongs, and the truth about this dragon.
The post ‘Pete’s Dragon’ Clips Show Off Pete, His Dragon, and Other Non-Furry Members of the Supporting Cast appeared first on /Film.
Next week brings the annual madness of Comic-Con in San Diego, and with it comes a sneak peeks of what’s to come from our favorite TV shows and upcoming blockbusters. As usual, Warner Bros. Pictures has their own panel and they’re bringing plenty of good stuff with them for Suicide Squad, The LEGO Batman Movie, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Kong: Skull Island and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. But perhaps the most exciting tease we’ll get will be for Wonder Woman.
We’re expecting some brand new footage from Wonder Woman to be revealed in Hall H at Comic-Con, maybe even the first official trailer that everyone will get to see regardless of whether or not they’re at the convention. In the meantime, some new Wonder Woman photos have arrived online featuring Gal Gadot ready for battle. Plus, we get another glimpse at Chris Pine in the movie as well.
Here’s the new batch of photos from the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly:
One photos has Gal Gadot striking a pose with her trademark bracelets crossed, but that appears to just be for a promotional purposes and not during actual shooting. But if you look in the background, you’ll see a bunch of shields and swords on the ground, perhaps following some kind of big battle between her Amazonian people and an unknown enemy.
Otherwise, the rest of the photos don’t tell us much. One features Gal Gadot taking direction in the woods from filmmaker Patty Jenkins (Monster) and another has our heroine kneeling beside Chris Pine in the woods, perhaps doing some surveillance on some kind of threat. The coolest photo in the batch is also a bit perplexing, because Gadot looks badass as she draws her trusty sword, but who could she possibly be preparing to fight in that dirty building?
Perhaps we’ll get some more context for these photos and the story of Wonder Woman in general when the first bit of footage debuts at Comic-Con next week. Hopefully we’ll see more of the cast as well, which includes Robin Wright (Netflix’s House of Cards), Danny Huston (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), David Thewlis (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), Ewen Bremner (Exodus: Gods and Kings), Saïd Taghmaoui (American Hustle), Elena Anaya (The Skin I Live In), Connie Nielsen (Gladiator) and Lucy Davis (Shaun of the Dead).
We’ll have all the latest updates straight from the convention when Warner Bros. starts unveiling their secrets, so stay tuned for more very soon.
Before she was Wonder Woman, she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, when an American pilot crashes on their shores and tells of a massive conflict raging in the outside world, Diana leaves her home, convinced she can stop the threat. Fighting alongside man in a war to end all wars, Diana will discover her full powers…and her true destiny.
Joining Gal Gadot in the international cast are Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, David Thewlis, Danny Huston, Elena Anaya, Ewen Bremner and Saïd Taghmaoui. Jenkins directs the film from a screenplay by Allan Heinberg and Geoff Johns, story by Zack Snyder & Allan Heinberg, based on characters from DC Entertainment. Wonder Woman was created by William Moulton Marston. The film is produced by Charles Roven, Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder and Richard Suckle, with Rebecca Roven, Stephen Jones, Wesley Coller and Geoff Johns serving as executive producers.
Wonder Woman arrives on June 2, 2017.
The post New ‘Wonder Woman’ Photos: Gal Gadot Is Ready for Battle, Chris Pine Takes a Knee appeared first on /Film.
Back when Sherlock first began in 2010, Martin Freeman most famous for playing Tim on the British Office and Benedict Cumberbatch was barely known outside the U.K. at all. But these days, of course, they’re both huge, huge stars. Freeman anchored Warner Bros.’ The Hobbit trilogy while Cumberbatch voiced the dragon Smaug, and both are now part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe — Freeman as Everett Ross, who made his onscreen debut in Captain America: Civil War, and Cumberbatch as the title character of this fall’s Doctor Strange.
Even so, the pair have found time in their schedules to reunite for one more season of Sherlock. Shooting is now underway in the U.K., and a Sherlock season 4 first look photo has just hit the web. Check it out below.
BBC One shared the Sherlock season 4 first look photo.
The image arrives just one day after the show’s recent holiday special, Sherlock: The Abominable Bride, picked up six Emmy nominations including Best Lead Actor for Cumberbatch and Best TV Movie. The fourth season is expected to air sometime in early 2017. And when it arrives, you may want to savor it, because it could be the show’s last. Executive producer Steven Moffat admitted to The Telegraph he’s not sure how much longer the show will stay on, pointing out that his leading men don’t really need the show anymore.
I don’t know how long we can keep it going. I’m personally willing but I’m hardly the main draw. I would be moderately surprised if this was the last time we ever made this show. But it absolutely could be.
We do have two film stars in the program. They haven’t needed to do these jobs for a very long time. They’re coming back because they want to.
I’m amazed that we’ve got this far. I thought that once they had become extremely successful, we would only get to do one more series.
There’s never going to come a time when we do a longer run, because this is what the series has become. It’s an occasional treat where you get three movies. It’s how it works.
Well, if Sherlock‘s fourth season really is the end, there are worse ways to go than cuddling a really cute dog. Meanwhile, you can look forward to seeing Cumberbatch playing a different sort of prickly genius in Doctor Strange, out November 4.
The post ‘Sherlock’ Season 4 First Look: Sherlock Gets an Adorable New Best Friend appeared first on /Film.
As an event, Star Wars Celebration seems to be evenly divided between looking to the exciting, unknown future and gazing adoringly back at the past. This dynamic was captured perfectly in the “Creatures, Droids & Aliens of Star Wars: The Force Awakens” panel, which gathered eight practical effects geniuses from the Star Wars creature shop to discuss their work on last year’s film while offering a peek at their work in this year’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. You can find everything you need to see below…and most importantly, there’s a lot more of that guy pictured at the top.
Hosted by actor Warwick Davis, whose Star Wars credits include roles as creatures in Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the panel got started with a brief montage showing these hyper-talented men and women at work, offering a glimpse at what it’s like to design and build creatures and robots for a living. I especially enjoy the images of the Luggabeast before he has been given the gift of skin.
From there, the panel went through the basic process of how a Star Wars creature comes into existence, with Davis working his way down the row of guests and asking each of them to explain how they contribute to bringing a character to life. In the broadest possible strokes, it goes like this: concept designers collaborate with the director to create sketches that everyone likes, those sketches are rendered as 3D sculptures, those sculptures become the basis for full-size molds, those molds are utilized by the body department to build torso and limb pieces that an actor can wear, these body pieces are enhanced by the animatronics department who create lifelike facial movements, the hair department covers all of the work so far with the necessary amount of fur, the painters make it all look real, and then actors are trained and directed to make these sweltering and difficult costumes come to life on screen. The gallery below does a pretty good job of showing off this process from beginning to end.
After that, creature shop head and concept designer Neal Scanlan showed off a series of alien heads to Davis. While many of the animatronics here are next-level impressive, the alien on the far left was created for a tiny amount of money at the last possible second, which really goes a long way to showing off the ingenuity of these folks.
And finally, the panel offered a glimpse into the future when a new Rogue One character, nicknamed “Space Monkey,” took to the stage. We caught glimpses of this guy (who will eventually have a real name) in yesterday’s Rogue One sizzle reel and he looks weird and hilarious and just plain cool in action.
If you’re interested in checking out the entire panel for yourself, you can peruse today’s live stream feed in the embed below.
The post New ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Behind The Scenes Photos Show The Making Of The Creatures appeared first on /Film.
This morning Star Wars Celebration held a pretty important panel that wasn’t live streamed to fans around the world. This panel concerned the future of Star Wars, and with Disney and Lucasfilm planning to release a feature film every year, not to mention continuing TV shows, likely creating new ones, and much more, there was a lot to talk about.
Everyone has been anxious to hear more details about Star Wars: Episode VIII, especially with production just wrapping a few days ago. Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy and director Rian Johnson were on hand to discuss the sequel, and while they didn’t divulge any huge secrets, there was plenty to soak up regarding the next chapter of the Star Wars saga.
After the jump, find out what movies Rian Johnson revealed as influences on Star Wars: Episode VIII, when the movie started taking shape, how much time has passed since The Force Awakens, whether or not Finn wakes up. Plus, there’s confirmation of another returning cast member and a cameo from another Star Wars filmmaker. Find out what we learned from the Star Wars Episode VIII panel after the jump.
This is something we had heard about intermittently from J.J. Abrams when he would make publicity appearances while making The Force Awakens. But during the panel, we also learned that Rian Johnson was seeing the dailies coming from London while working on the script for Episode VIII. The director and writer spent six weeks in San Francisco with a group coming up with the story for Episode VIII, and right down the hall from them Gareth Edwards was cracking the story for Rogue One. Star Wars: Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow has been doing the same thing.
Even though this was something that was assumed and somewhat confirmed back in February, we now know for certain that Star Wars: Episode VIII begins just after the final shot of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. That means this will be the first Star Wars movie that doesn’t feature an extended passage of time between the end of the last movie and the beginning of the next one. I wonder what that means for the opening shot of the movie which usually begins with some kind of shot panning through space.
With a new batch of characters set up in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, we can now get to know them a lot better. Rian Johnson says Episode VIII will start “zooming in on the characters, challenging them, getting deeper.” Rey’s journey will undoubtedly be an important one with Luke Skywalker presumably taking her under his wing. Hopefully we’ll finally learn more about Rey’s mysterious past.
During the panel, Rian Johnson (above) spouted off six specific titles that influenced the direction of Star Wars: Episode VIII. We’ve listed the titles below along with a brief synopsis of each and a guess of how they may have influenced Star Wars: Episode VIII.
After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men’s construction of a railway bridge for their captors – while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it.
In 19th century India, three British soldiers and a native waterbearer must stop a secret mass revival of the murderous Thuggee cult before it can rampage across the land.
After the fall of the Libyan city of Tobruk, Sergeant Joe Gunn and his crew – Waco Hoyt, Fred Clarkson and Jimmy Doyle retreat in their tank across the Sahara. Along the way they pick up six Allied stragglers and Tambul, a Sudanese corporal and his Italian prisoner. Tambul directs the group to a desert fortress, where they hope to find desperately needed water. A detachment of German soldiers arrives and attempts to barter food for water, but Gunn and his followers refuse. When the Germans attack, Gunn leads his desert-weary men in a desperate battle, hoping that British reinforcements can arrive in time.
A guide and three geologists head to the boreal forest of central Siberia. After much strenuous effort and nearly running out of food, they succeed in finding diamonds in Bolshaya Zemlya. Before they can return, they are trapped by a forest fire that cuts them off from the canoe where their supplies are kept. Now the battle is to survive.
A callous general assumes command of a bomber squadron based in England. At first, the new commander has little rapport with the 918th Bomber Group, whose loyalties still belong with their previous commander. As they continue to fly dangerous missions over Germany, however, the group and their new leader develop mutual respect and admiration, until the once-alienated commander feels that his men are part of a family–men whose bravery transcends the rigors of rigid discipline and by-the-book leadership.
A wandering, seen-it-all ronin becomes entangled in the dangerous business of two other samurai, hired to execute a band of peasants who have kidnapped the daughter of a corrupt magistrate.
***
These are all classic movies, and almost all are movies that take place in the middle of war. Some are part of the Criterion Collection, and they all either feature three primary characters or an ensemble of soldiers or warriors, and one just so happens to star Sir Alec Guinness. Each has story elements that could be borrowed for Star Wars: Episode VIII in some capacity, but they could also just serve as visual inspiration for the sequel as well.
During the panel Kathleen Kennedy even praised Rian Johnson’s work so far saying that he moves the camera as well as Steven Spielberg. Plus, Johnson mentioned that they shot along the west coast of Ireland at some amazing real locations, adding a natural beauty and new texture to the film.
This is news we first heard back in March, but it has now been confirmed with the actress spotted in some behind the scenes photos that were revealed during the panel. Here are some other behind the scenes photos for you to check out:
Lourd is supposed to have a much larger role as Reisistance fighter Kaydel Ko Connix, but since her role was pretty small in The Force Awakens, that may not mean much. Director Rian Johnson continued to keep small supporting roles in the family by making his brother Leo a TIE Fighter pilot, which you can also see above. Surely there will be plenty of other minor characters returning in some capacity as well.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens had a surprising number of cameos, many featuring famous people hidden by Stormtrooper armor and helments or alien prosthetics and suits. And it appears Star Wars: Episode VIII will be the same. We’re sure sure what celebrities will have cameos in the movie, but Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards has a cameo. That’s him above wearing Resistance garb.
Dave Filoni has a significant part in shaping Star Wars canon as the executive producer and supervising director on the Disney XD animated series Star Wars Rebels. Filoni is a true fan who also worked on the Clone Wars series, and he was able to visit the set of Star Wars: Episode VIII a few different times and even helped out in some capacity.
John Boyega appeared on the panel and confirmed that Finn will not be passed out in a coma for the entirety of Star Wars: Episode VIII. We’re not sure if he’ll be awake the first time we see him in Star Wars: Episode VIII, especially since we don’t know how long it took Rey, Chewbacca and R2-D2 to get ready to go find Luke Skywalker. For all we know, Finn could have woken up while they were en route to finding Luke and we’ll meet up with him when he’s recovering, hopefully in a bacta tank.
No footage was shown from Star Wars: Episode VIII and we didn’t even get a title. But that will change next year when Star Wars celebration happens in Orlando, Florida from April 13th through 16th. By then we’ll probably have a titled (The Force Awakens was announced as the title in November of 2014), and we may have seen a teaser trailer, but Celebration 2017 will have much more to show.
The post ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’: 9 Things We Learned at Star Wars Celebration appeared first on /Film.
Two months ago, Alden Ehrenreich was cast as the young Han Solo. The actor will star in Phil Lord & Chris Miller‘s Star Wars spinoff, which Lawrence Kasdan and Jon Kasdan co-wrote. Little is known about the story, and unfortunately, no new major details were shared during the Future Filmmaker panel at Star Wars Celebration (which Peter has been covering in London).
Lord and Miller did, however, discuss the process of finding the right actor to play Han Solo, what appeals to them about the character, their canceled cameos in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and more. Below, learn a few Han Solo spinoff facts.
Lord and Miller are the most excited by Han Solo’s dichotomy, which was a part of the reason why they wanted to make the movie. The filmmakers aptly described the character as “sarcastic and optimistic,” a character that “doesn’t want to do anything he’s told.” Clearly, the directors understand the character’s charm.
“He’s a maverick, he’s a scoundrel, he’s clever but not smart,” they added. We have known Ehrenreich is playing this maverick and scoundrel for over two months now, but his appearance at today’s Star Wars Celebration was the official announcement.
Here are a few other facts, quotes, and tidbits from the panel:
Alden Ehrenreich's childhood Han Solo toy. ("You also had Bossk. Nice," says @chrizmillr) https://t.co/7e6eCiTnjU pic.twitter.com/AuioiffA55
— Anthony Breznican (@Breznican) July 17, 2016
.@chrizmillr was a trooper in ESB special edition pic.twitter.com/6CJAPRlQqE
— Jason Gorber (@filmfest_ca) July 17, 2016
The Han Solo film opens in theaters May 25th, 2018.
The post Han Solo Spinoff: Everything We Learned From the Star Wars Celebration Panel appeared first on /Film.
Did you know that the early chase in Star Wars: The Force Awakens was originally designed to be a speeder bike these through the wreckage on Jakku? Here are some fun facts and trivia learned during The Art Of Star Wars: The Force Awakens panel at Star Wars Celebration Europe 2016. Hit the jump to learn about some of the Force Awakens early concepts.
The panel line-up included: Executive Creative Director Doug Chiang, Lucasfilm Story Group’s Rayne Roberts, The Art of The Force Awakens author Phil Szostak, ILM London supervising art director Ken Jenkins, and Force Awakens concept artists Andree Wallin, Glyn Dillon, Andree Wallin and Matt Allsop. Here are a bunch of cool trivia and fun details about the early development that was revealed during the presentation:
Work on Star Wars: The Force Awakens began months before filmmaker J.J. Abrams signed on to direct (and co-write) the project. Doug Chiang started working on The Force Awakens in January 2013, with the first three months being a “blue sky” exploration of what might be possible with the Lucasfilm Story Group. It was during this phase that Chiang created an image of the Death Star crashed on Tatooine, which inspired Jakku.
Before Abrams came on board, concept artist Doug Chiang developed an opening for the film which was a fun play on the opening for A New Hope. After the crawl, a Star Destroyer would have entered from above. But its not chasing a ship. We realize its broken, just a piece of a star destroyer. It’s actually being tugged by a scavenger, which would have been an introduction to our hero.
The chase scene through imperial wreckage on Jakku was originally designed to be with Rey on her speeder. But at that early stage in development, they had yet to design Rey’s double popsicle stick-looking speeder bike. Instead Doug Chiang was using a Endor 74-Z speeder bike as a placeholder. Abrams saw these early concept pieces and suggested that they chase through the wreckage with the Millennium Falcon instead.
In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rey lives inside horizontal AT-AT Walker. The original concept that inspired that was a painting by Doug Chiang of a home inside an AT-AT, that was hanging inside a Star Destroyer.
The Resistance base was originally going to take place on a forest planet, a mix between Dagobah and Yavin IV. The base started massive and kept shrinking as they presented more iterations.
Early in development, Kylo Ren didn’t have a name so the concept artists all referred to him as “Jedi Killer.” The mask design for the Guavian Death Gang was an early Jedi Killer concept. They didn’t know much about the character at first but they knew he would need to be part of a gang or group, so Glyn Dillon based some of the early designs on biker gangs. The idea evolved quite a bit and developed into the idea of the Knights of Ren. They spent weeks trying to figure out the look of Kylo Ren’s lightsaber and it wasn’t until JJ Abrams told Doug Chiang to think about “sizzling bacon, amplified by a hundred” that they began to figure it out.
For more cool concept art, don’t forget you can still pick up The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, available on Amazon.
The post These Early Concepts Inspired ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ appeared first on /Film.
It's been used for decades in Japan, and it instantly stops hypersensitivity and tooth decay, as well as preventing cavities.
Yes, we know. Our smartphone batteries are bad because they barely last a day.
But it's partially our fault because we've been charging them wrong this whole time.
Many of us have an ingrained notion that charging our smartphones in small bursts will cause long-term damage to their batteries, and that it's better to charge them when they're close to dead.
But we couldn't be more wrong.
If fact, a site from battery company Cadex called Battery University details how the lithium-ion batteries in our smartphones are sensitive to their own versions of "stress." And, like for humans, extended stress could be damaging your smartphone battery's long-term lifespan.
If you want to keep your smartphone battery in top condition and go about your day without worrying about battery life, you need to change a few things.
According to Battery University, leaving your phone plugged in when it's fully charged, like you might overnight, is bad for the battery in the long run.
Once your smartphone has reached 100% charge, it gets "trickle charges" to keep it at 100% while plugged in. It keeps the battery in a high-stress, high-tension state, which wears down the chemistry within.
Battery University goes into a bunch of scientific detail explaining why, but it also sums it nicely: "When fully charged, remove the battery" from its charging device. "This is like relaxing the muscles after strenuous exercise." You too would be pretty miserable if you worked out nonstop for hours and hours.
At least when you don't have to.
According to Battery University, "Li-ion does not need to be fully charged, nor is it desirable to do so. In fact, it is better not to fully charge, because a high voltage stresses the battery" and wears it away in the long run.
That might seem counterintuitive if you're trying to keep your smartphone charged all day, but just plug it in whenever you can during the day, and you'll be fine.
It turns out that the batteries in our smartphones are much happier if you charge them occasionally throughout the day instead of plugging them in for a big charging session when they're empty.
Charging your phone when it loses 10% of its charge would be the best-case scenario, according to Battery University. Obviously, that's not practical for most people, so just plug in your smartphone whenever you can. It's fine to plug and unplug it multiple times a day.
Not only does this keep your smartphone's battery performing optimally for longer, but it also keeps it topped up throughout the day.
Plus, periodic top-ups also let you use features you might not normally use because they hog your battery life, like location-based features that use your smartphone's GPS antenna.
Source: C2H 50H/YouTube
Smartphone batteries are so sensitive to heat that Apple itself suggests you remove certain cases that insulate heat from your iPhone when you charge it. "If you notice that your device gets hot when you charge it, take it out of its case first." If you're out in the hot sun, keep your phone covered. It'll protect your battery's health.
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: These new iPhone features will change the way you use your phone
While we normally focus on the technology, to have a holistic understanding of the industry it’s necessary to see the business side as well. While ARM has been an independent company for some time now, today Softbank has leveraged the fall in the value of the British Pound to buy ARM Holdings plc, the company responsible for the ARM ISA, ARM Cortex CPUs and MCUs, Mali GPUs, and numerous other IP blocks that are often used in SoCs today. If you’ve followed our coverage, this isn’t really a surprise, but Softbank is primarily a telecom and internet-centric company with relatively little focus on CMOS chip design.
ARM is valued at 11.89 GBP per share, so to be bought out at 17 GBP per share is a fairly significant premium above the market rate. Looking at past investments it seems that Softbank is no stranger to these kinds of plays but it’s not clear whether Softbank will take a hands-on approach to managing the company or mostly leave ARM to its devices. One option is that they favor a more hands-off approach and ARM is primarily a financial investment for Softbank. It remains to be seen what kind of effect this will have, but the financial backing of a major Japanese conglomerate would likely allow for ARM to devote additional time and resources to designing new architectures to better target high performance mobile and server applications which could impact the industry significantly to ARM’s benefit.
The other option is if Softbank takes a much more hands-on approach to managing ARM, which could be interesting if it helps root out whatever normalized deviance exists in management or engineering at ARM, but could also completely destroy the company if a poor approach is taken. Of course, there’s no way to know what path Softbank will take here, but regardless it’ll be an interesting few years in the semiconductor space.
Roumen.ganeffNice design
New Xianglongs on the Way
A new piece of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 concept art has arrived, and it showcases new team-member Mantis.
Entertainment Weekly debuted the art, which sees the Guardians that we know and love in an action shot - including baby Groot.
via Entertainment Weekly
Among them is Mantis, a Marvel character new to the MCU portrayed by Pom Klementieff (seen in Spike Lee's Old Boy), and described by executive producer Jonathan Schwartz as something of a social newbie in the film. "She has never really experienced social interaction,” said Schwartz. “Everything she learns about dealing with people, she learns from the Guardians of the Galaxy, which is a very weird group to learn your social intricacies from.”
Roumen.ganeffNostalgia time
Pokemon Go may not be out globally just yet, but Nintendo's popularity has skyrocketed since the game launch a week ago. The stock of the struggling company rose by over 50%, as did the interested towards its other games. And while according to the analysts the Niantic-developed game won't be enough to save Nintendo from investors abandonment, the once legendary company will try anything to prove them wrong. Today, in the wake of the exponentially growing Pokemon Go popularity, Nintendo announced the Mini NES Collector's Edition console with 30 games, and an original NES controller. How...
From computer hackers learning Kung Fu in The Matrix to two detectives using a single computer keyboard in NCIS, computer hacking in movies has never exactly been realistic.
There are a couple of potential reasons for this. A decade ago it could conceivably have been the case that screenwriters simply didn't know how computers work, but in an age where most people spend entire days using technology for work, it's unlikely that this is the case any longer.
Personally I've always assumed that on-screen hacking has continued to be unrealistic because of how dull it so often is in the real world.
Hacking in the real world isn't something that happens in a frantic mess of keyboard mashing and people yelling "I'm hacking into the mainframe!". It's a slow process, one which involves painstakingly tweaking bits of code to allow them to circumvent a computer system's defences.
It's surprising, then, that Mr. Robot, with its focus on making the process of hacking as realistic as possible, has not just won the hearts of computer enthusiasts, but also the non-tech savvy.
Perhaps more surprising still is that the show has managed to do this while making hacking such a central part of its premise.
The show follows protagonist Elliot Alderson as he works as part of the hacking group fsociety to take down the evil corporation named E Corp.
We sat down with Kor Adana, who worked as a hacking supervisor on the show, to talk about how to make realistic hacking interesting, as well as the morality of real world hacking.
The hacking scenes in Mr Robot are famously realistic. Did it feel like a risk to you in any way prioritising this realism over the kind of over the top drama that might work better on camera?
Well I think Sam [Esmail, the show's main director and executive producer] would agree with me when I say that we do feel that there is drama, there is inherent drama, in the realism.
We think we'd do a disservice to our world and our story if we exaggerate and use extreme graphics and [use the stereotype of] the nerd in the corner who can type furiously with a keyboard... and he's used for exposition just to get some information out to the viewer.
I think we can achieve both, and to Sam's credit I think Season One is a great example of how portraying the realism really adds to the story, adds to the character and adds to the themes of the episode.
When Elliot goes into his character's perspective, he's using metaphors to describe his emotional stage that relate to the technology in a very realistic and authentic way.
Even if you don't understand the technology you can root for him and understand what he's saying and feel for him, and yet at the same time but if you do understand the technology you can understand he's talking about... viewing the source on a website but he's also talking about introspection and self-reflection and trying to be his true self and his own source.
We're working on different levels here and I think that's why the show works, because it appeals to people on different levels from a technology and from a drama perspective.
We see hacking in Mr Robot, but where do you stand on real-world hacking? Is it a force for good?
I think it all comes down to motivation. Of course if we're talking about the culture of hackers you have your black-hat hackers, who are out for personal gain or they have some form of malicious intent, and you have your white-hat hackers, who are working within the industry or are hired by businesses to find flaws and security holes so they can be patched.
You also have hackers that fall in-between in the gray area who may not have permission to attack but they don't act maliciously, they'll find a hole and then publish it publicly. They'll cause a little bit of embarrassment but they won't sabotage... and I'd compare those to members in our society.
There are those that will hack for political gain and they want to elicit some kind of societal change, or there's some injustice in the world that they need to right. So it really depends on the motivation that's there.
Each form of hacking has evolved into these different silos, and it's difficult to talk about hacking it all depends on the group you're discussing and what their motivations are.
Like any skill or superpower it can be used for good or it can be used for bad.
You've spoken previously about a hacker that hacked the Mr Robot website, and in that instance it was someone who provided you with details and allowed you to patch it.
Yeah it's something that could have potentially been very very bad, but ultimately it was a very detailed account of what we could do [to fix the security hole].
We were in communication with him long before the public was aware of it, so that's an example of a grey-to-white, which fell in the spectrum of no malicious intent but still we weren't in control, it wasn't like we reached out to him to hack us.
The hacking community from all across the spectrum, white hats, grey hats, black hats, responded to the show in such a positive manner and that's been really surprising and validating and it's one of my goals to meet the expectations of that kind of demographic.
They're very smart, they're very detail-oriented and they appreciate the little details and the work that goes into building out the hacking scenes in the show.
So going back to talking about intent in hacking communities, you kind of talked about hackers using hacking for good and to take down evils organisations. Is there a worry that people acting in this way is a form of vigilante justice?
Definitely, there is this worry of taking the law into your own hands and this is something that's common among [hackers].
I think for myself when I dabbled in hacking as a teenager I had this defiance, this angry defiance which is applicable to a lot of the hacking community especially when we're getting into.
If you feel that something is not right, if you feel that there is some kind of injustice and there is some kind of injustice and you have the power to do something about it, and if you're aware that your power is a rare one, if not everyone is as skilled as you are with regard to computer systems or networking there is an element of taking matters into your own hands.
I think the show deals with that directly where if the authorities are not going to be just, or if you feel there is an injustice and you want to take action against what is an evil corporation.
You see that early in Season One where Elliot is a vigilante hacker, before he gets involved in fsociety he's just taking down people who he feels [deserve it].
He's the judge and jury and executioner and it's all in his hands, but I think that's something that most people consider when they get into hacking because it is a rare power and it's a rare skill and it's a difficult skill to acquire so there is an element of vigilantism.
So do you think people are justified in stepping in if they feel there are injustices which they feel aren't being dealt with by the authorities?
I think it depends on the situation.
I think that there have been instances of hacktivism that I can completely get behind. I think that you see elements of that, examples of that in the Arab Spring to do with internet censorship and access to communications and access to information and there are causes that I can get behind where I believe that going outside of the realm of law and order is justified.
There are hackers out there that do an enormous amount of good outside of the law.
There's a hacker called the Jester who he has an anonymous presence online, [and no one] knows what his real identity is. He gets a lot of information on terrorists websites and terrorist social media accounts and he takes down jihadist social media sites and he's doing a lot of good but he is a vigilante, he's an online hacker vigilante.
It's a complicated situation and you need to asses the injustice and your own moral compass and where you stand with your own ideology and make your decision from there and sometimes you need to out-monster the monster.
In terms of combating the darker side of hacking, either by individuals or the state, what do you think is the best defence? Should the onus be on individuals or the state?
I think there could be an element of both to be honest.
I think that individual people should take steps to protect themselves as much as possible if they're educated enough and that they should work to protect themselves by using two-factor authentication and strong passwords that are different for each account.
I think there are a lot of things people can do to protect themselves better, and there are tactics to make themselves less vulnerable, but at the same time the more dependent we are on technology and software I think it is the government's job to secure those markets and to secure those data-points as much as possible and to prevent [cyber attacks]
The thing you have to consider is that a piece of malicious software, a cyber-attack, is that a weapon? Is that a terrorist weapon?
There are steps that as we get more into this day and age where we are relying on the software and the technology I think that the government does need to take steps and secure it as much as possible.
But there's another issue at play here, I think that there is a generational gap sometimes, because there are a lot of adults, just by the nature of the generation I was in [since] I grow up as the technology evolved.
I think there's a limited understanding among an older generation of how this works in what ways we're vulnerable and more and more, as time goes on I think other people get into these roles where they can actually make a difference I think you'll see that change.
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A federal judge has taken a stand against the use of "stingray" -- cell phone baiting surveillance devices used by the police and other government agencies. District Judge William Pauley decided to suppress evidence obtained by the stingray setup, ru...
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Google has captured all kinds of places on cam for Street View, from the Batcave to Mt. Everest, but it hasn't had the chance to visit the Faroe Islands yet. The tiny and remote archipelago in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean has almost twice a...
Roumen.ganeffShake your moneymaker
While you're trying to catch 'em all with Pokémon Go, the developers are figuring out how to make (more) money from the white hot augmented reality (AR) game. Along with the existing in-app purchases from "PokéCoins," developer Niantic...
There is some confusion within the gaming community as well as the investing world regarding Pokemon Go's impact to Nintendo's bottom line. I have assembled the facts surrounding the deal with Niantic Labs and Nintendo's stake in the Pokemon Company.
In August of 2015, Niantic Labs was spun off from Google Inc. Google said in a statement at the time that Niantic Labs is “now ready to accelerate their growth by becoming an independent company" working with other entertainment companies. Niantic Labs announced on their official company blog just two months later that Nintendo, Google and the Pokemon Company had invested $20 Million (with an additional $10 Million of incentives) in a joint venture called Pokemon Go. Simple enough? Each company gets 33.33% of revenues and we call it a day. Not so fast! We have yet to take into account Nintendo's stake in the Pokemon Company.
The Pokemon Company has three equal investors: Nintendo, Gamefreak and Creatures. Each investing company has a 1/3 stake in the Pokemon Company. This means that 1/3 of the Pokemon Company's 33% of Pokemon Go revenue belongs to Nintendo. This leaves the revenue to be split 4 ways. Google will receive 33.33% of revenues, Gamefreak will receive 11.11%, Creatures will receive 11.11%, and Nintendo will receive 44.44% of revenues. Nintendo's share of revenue being comprised of their 1/3 interest in Pokemon Go joint venture with the additional 11% coming from their stake in the Pokemon Company. This means Nintendo gets 44.44% of the app's sales, right? Think again.
Google Play and Apple's App Store both charge a 30% fee for games sold on their stores. This means that the investors in Pokemon Go are splitting 70% of sales. We can finally get to the bottom of this caper by factoring in the fees from selling on Android and iOS. Google will receive 23.33% of App Store sales, but 53.33% (their stake in Pokemon Go plus the 30% fee from their store) of Google Play sales. Gamefreak and Creatures will each receive 7.77% of all sales. Nintendo will receive 31.11% of all sales.
Nintendo receives the largest percentage (31.11%) of sales on the App Store than any of their partners, including Apple Inc.
Google receives the largest percentage (53.33%) of sales on their Google Play store with Nintendo still receiving the same 31.11% of sales on that marketplace.
Mia Nagasaka, an equity analyst with Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities, suggested earlier this week that Pokemon Go could generate almost $1 Billion of sales annually if it stays atop both the App Store and Google Play. Nintendo would pocket $311 Million in sales if Nagasaka is correct in her assumption. That would be an amazing return on their nearly $10 Million investment in the Pokemon Go joint venture.
Many people are baffled at how Nintendo's stock seems to be pricing in way more than just this bump in sales. Keep in mind, markets are about perception. Even though Nintendo only receives 31.11% of revenues from the app, the perception on the stock market is that their stock is the one to own to invest in this phenomenon. Nintendo has gained billions of dollars in market capitalization over the last week, and much of that has to do with expectations of future mobile success. The perception in the stock market is that Pokemon Go is a hit and Nintendo is the best pure play to get exposure, but it seems like the smart money realizes that this could be the tip of the mobile revenue iceberg for the Big N.
Full Disclosure:
At the time of this article, Asif A. Khan, his family members, and his company Virtue LLC had the following positions:
Long Apple via AAPL common stock and options
Long Nintendo via NTDOY ADR
You get some interesting places designated as PokeStops and Gyms. Such is the case with 3701 SW 12th Street in Topeka, Kansas, which has been designated a gym by the popular Pokemon Go. When it isn't a gym, it is the home of the Westboro Baptist Church.
So what are people to do to combat the hate that usually spews forth from the bowels of the organization? Have a little fun. A Pokemon Go player named Pinknose has decided to startion a Clefairy named LoveisLove at the gym, obviously a needle in the side of the WBC group that has taken on the LGBT community, and any other group that doesn;t fit within its ultra-conservative views.
Once WBC got wind of it, they quickly recruited Jigglypuff to urge followers to "Pokemon Go and sin no more."
"We try to speak whatever language is being spoken," Steve Drain, an elder at the church, told USA Today. ""This little church, as despised and vilified as we are, the location of this church will be memorialized throughout eternity."
It isn't clear if Jigglypuff and Clefairy have squared off yet for dominion over the gym. You would think WBC could have come up with a better champion, given that Jigglypuff is also a fairy (albeit normal). Maybe Haunter, or Koffing?
Droves of players have been filtering through the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, but not to brush up on their history. The museum shows up on Pokemon Go's radar as a PokeStop, a hotspot where players can stock up on the poke balls needed to capture Pokemon found out in the wild.
Communications director Andrew Hollinger told the Washington Post that "Playing the game is not appropriate in the museum, which is a memorial to the victims of Nazism" (via GameSpot).
Hollinger is looking into getting the Holocaust Museum delisted as a PokeStop location, and not just because a steady trickle of visitors glued to their phones is distracting and disrespectful. An image making its rounds on Twitter shows Koffing, a Pokemon that spews poisonous gas, inside the museum near an auditorium where visitors watch short films of Jewish survivors who escaped gas chambers.
Director Hollinger might have to twiddle this thumbs for a bit, as developer Niantic Labs has a number of other issues to clear off its plate. However, it appears the foundation for a system able to strip a location out of the game might be in place. "Currently, we ONLY take reports of PokeStops or Gyms that present immediate physical danger (for example, they are in the middle of a road or on railroad tracks)," according to Niantic.
Conceivably, Niantic could use its built-in reporting tool to make special exceptions for businesses like the Holocaust Museum, where game-playing of any sort should obviously be frowned upon.
Fox and Marvel Television are teaming up for a new untitled X-Men TV project, and Burn Notice creator Matt Nix is on board to write the script.
The network has made a put pilot commitment for the new Marvel series, which indicates Fox is heavily invested in the project and means the show has a high chance of at least airing as a special if it does not go to series. Otherwise, Fox would pay a heavy penalty for not moving forward with the show. This new show appears to be replacing the previously announced Hellfire series — after the project lost its writers — as Variety has heard that project has been canceled.
Pokemon Go, described in simple terms, is a clever concept: Walk to real-life locations called PokeStops marked on a map on your phone to get items and collect the Pokemon that pop up along the way to gain XP. Use those Pokemon to take over real-world objectives called Gyms from other players. It has all the basics covered to make it a functional mobile treasure-hunting app, though technically its performance (and that of its servers) is often very poor on iOS and Android. But the main appeal of the free-to-play Pokemon Go is how being out in the real world, finding tons of other people who see the same augmented reality you do, brings the sort of intangible dream of Pokemon to life.
The citizens' tax paid for it, they should get access
Universal's new animated feature The Secret Life of Pets surpassed expectations this weekend at the North American box office, debuting in first place with $103.2 million.
As noted by THR, Illumination Entertainment's new family-friendly film surpassed Inside Out with the biggest all-time opening for an original animated feature, and is now the studio's second highest-grossing debut, just behind Minions' $115.7 million figure. When compared to all animated films, The Secret Life of Pets currently stands in sixth place.
This weekend also brought with it the debut of 20th Century Fox's new comedy Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates, which placed fourth with $16.6 million. The film, which stars Zac Efron and Anna Kendrick, surpassed expectations off its $33 million production budget.
Speaking to IGN editor Ryan McCaffrey (via GameSpot) in a video interview, Xbox co-creator Ed Fries reminisced kinda-sorta fondly about the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, the name whispered internally at Microsoft to refer to the day Bill Gates went into a tirade over the proposal for the original Xbox console.
Fries explained that there were two teams trying to sell Gates—then chairman and chief software architect, a position the Microsoft co-founder created for himself—and CEO Steve Ballmer on creating a game console. Fries headed one team, and put together a proposal for, in essence, a PC in a box. It would run on Windows and contain a hard disk drive to minimize loading times.
The other team, led by designer Seamus Blackley, pitched a box modeled after Sega's Dreamcast, on the basis that "at the time, Dreamcast was king. Influence," Blackley wrote on Twitter upon revealing his original concept sketches for the Xbox.
Gates threw in with Fries' team. He liked the idea of building a game console that served as a Trojan horse: a game machine to the untrained eye, but under the hood, another Windows platform. Gates allotted one year for the Xbox team to put a business plan together and get the ball rolling. The strategy underwent some modifications.
"Then we spend a year going over what it's actually going to take, the [second] team shuts down and joins us, and we become more like them, but at some point we drop Windows. We want this closed thing that runs games really well," Fries explained (via NeoGAF).
There was just one problem. Fries and his teammates, including Blackley and fellow Xbox co-creator J Allard, forgot to inform Gates that Windows would no longer comprise the beating heart of Microsoft's console. At a meeting scheduled for 4:00 pm on Valentine's Day, Gates blew his top.
"So we go into the meeting and four o'clock Valentine's Day," Fries said. "Bill walks in, he's holding a PowerPoint deck and yells, 'This is the blanking insult to everything I've done at this company' and that was the start, so we all looked at [Xbox director and designer J Allard] because we knew Bill's mad about the no Windows thing, because we forgot to 'pre-disaster' him, so J is in shock for a minute and Bill yells at me and shuts me down and Robbie steps up and Bill shuts him down anyway, and then Ballmer goes through and says we're gonna lose a lot of money and he's beating us up about that."
An hour passes. Two hours. Fries and the others steal glances at their watches. It's nearing six o'clock on the most romantic day of the year, and Gates is still unleashing hellfire and brimstone. To Fries' amazement, one of the other attendees raises a hand. Gates pauses in mid-tirade and calls on him.
"'What about Sony?' and he says, 'Sony is slowly invading the living room with a processor here software there, they could be a threat to Microsoft.'"
Gates and Ballmer stared at each other. "Yeah," Gates said. "What about Sony?"
Gates turned to the Xbox team and promised to give them everything they needed to create their console, Windows or no Windows. Ballmer echoed the chairman's vow.
"And I turn to Robbie and say, 'That was the weirdest meeting I've ever been in,'" Fries said.
