Star Wars: The Last Jedi Struggling in China

Despite its box office success domestically and in other territories, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, is not off to a good start at the box office in China.

The Hollywood Reporter explains, much like the previous two Star Wars movies, The Last Jedi, which debuted in China on Friday, is underperforming in its opening week.

The movie only earned $560,000 USD in midnight previews, which places it well behind fellow under-performer Star Wars: The Force Awakens and its $2.5 million USD opening two years ago.

Continue reading…

Powered by WPeMatico

Alien Director Ridley Scott May Have Found His Next Epic Franchise

Ridley Scott is lining up his next directorial project. The man behind the Alien and Blade Runner franchises, as well as All the Money in the World, is looking to dip his toe into the world of magic.

According to a report from Variety, Scott is currently in negotiations with Disney to helm The Merlin Saga, which will follow the origin story of a young Merlin as his journey toward becoming King Arthur’s mentor is set in motion. The film will be based on the 12-book series The Merlin Saga by TA Barron. The author’s collection of novels were released between 1996 and 2011.

No Caption Provided

Should Scott wind up directing the film, his production company Scott Free would produce the project with Disney. It’s worth noting this isn’t the only movie featuring Merlin that Disney has in the works. The company, which is currently in the process of acquiring 21st Century Fox, is also working on a Sword in the Stone live-action adaptation.

Interesting, this isn’t the only Disney project on Scott’s mind at the moment. Speaking with Digital Spy, the director says he hopes the company will make more Alien movies now that it will own the property. “I think they should because I think, when people have a hard and fast franchise which has ongoing interest, it’s crazy not to do something with it,” he explains. Then again, he also thinks Alien movies should be as popular as Star Wars. Given the response to Alien: Covenant, though, Disney might disagree with him.

Powered by WPeMatico

HP Issues Recall On Laptop Batteries, Here’s How To See If You’re Affected

HP has announced a recall on batteries in select notebook and mobile workstations sold in recent years. Affected batteries pose a fire threat and could burn users, so if you’ve bought such an HP device since late 2015, you should check to find out if you’re impacted. Here’s everything you need to know.

The voluntary safety recall was initiated this month, with HP offering replacements for affected units. “These batteries have the potential to overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to customers,” HP said in a statement. “For this reason, it is extremely important to check whether your battery is affected.”

These batteries were included with select units sold around the world between December 2015 and December 2017, according to the company. This includes the HP Probook 64x (G2 and G3), HP ProBook 65x (G2 and G3), HP x360 310 G2, HP Envy M6, HP Pavilion x360, HP 11 notebook computers, and HP ZBook (17 G3, 17 G4, and Studio G3) mobile workstations. Batteries for some of these are not replaceable by users, but whatever the case, HP says it will handle getting a safe battery into owners’ devices.

No Caption Provided

HP has set up a recall site and released a BIOS update. This places the system in Battery Safety Mode, which allows the computer to be used by plugging it in. When enabled on an affected system, the battery will be discharged and then can’t be charged (at least without disabling the safety mode). HP says it “strongly recommends” using this mode if you’re affected.

Those who are impacted can request a no-cost replacement through HP’s website. You can download a tool to verify if your battery is susceptible to the issue here.

Powered by WPeMatico

Two Of Pokemon Go’s Gen 3 Region-Exclusive Pokemon Have Rotated

Pokemon Go developer Niantic recently expanded the game’s Pokedex with the introduction of Gen 3 Pokemon, which arrived early last month as part of a big Pokemon Go update. As was the case with certain previous Pokemon, some of these monsters could only be encountered in a specific part of the world, namely Zangoose and Seviper, which were exclusive to the Americas/Africa and Europe/Asia, respectively. However, it appears the two Pokemon have now traded regions.

On Reddit, Pokemon Go players are reporting that they’ve begun encountering Seviper in America/Africa, while Zangoose is now appearing in Europe/Asia. Each creature’s Pokedex entry has noted the longstanding rivalry between the two species, which makes this swap an amusing nod to the series’ history. Niantic hasn’t said whether or not the two Pokemon have traded regions permanently or if they’ll return to their original locations, so players will want to catch them soon while they still have a chance.

The rotation seems to have occurred shortly after the conclusion of Pokemon Go’s holiday event, which ended on January 4. The event saw the return of the festive Santa hat Pikachu and Raichu, as well as a Santa hat Pichu that could be hatched from Eggs. The event also introduced an additional 20 Ice- and Water-type Gen 3 Pokemon to the game, including Milotic, Sharpedo, and Wailord. Another common sight during Pokemon Go’s holiday event, the gift-giving Pokemon Delibird, is still available to capture, though it appears much less frequently now.

Pokemon Go’s first Gen 3 Legendary, Groudon, is still available. The gigantic Ground-type will appear as a Raid Boss at Gyms until January 15. It’ll presumably be followed by its Pokemon Sapphire counterpart, Kyogre. Niantic teased that the Legendary Water-type will come to the game by featuring it in a promotional image for the recent holiday event. The popular Psychic-type Mewtwo is also available, though unlike other Legendaries, it can only be encountered in the invite-only EX Raids.

Niantic recently introduced a weather system and a new AR+ mode to Pokemon Go. The latter makes Pokemon more aware of their surroundings, requiring players to more carefully approach the monsters to avoid startling them away. Niantic has also recently expressed interest in bringing Pokemon Go to China.

Powered by WPeMatico

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds PC Version 1.0 Review

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds didn’t invent the last-person-standing formula that’s made it one of the most massively successful PC games in history, but – over the course of a nine-month-long early access period – it certainly turned it into something special. 100 players drop onto a sprawling map and fight to the death using whatever weapons they can find within a shrinking force-field. This simple, bare-bones take on the Battle Royale-style deathmatch foregoes the fluff and high time investment of most hardcore survival sims in favor of fast, accessible action. The result is a tight, focused, no-frills experience that’s as exciting as it is unpredictable, and where no two games are ever alike.

Continue reading…

Powered by WPeMatico

There’s A Great Deal In Humble’s Next Monthly Bundle

The Humble Monthly Bundle for February has been revealed. It includes Civilization VI and two DLC packs–the Australia Civilization and Scenario Pack and the Vikings Scenario Pack–for only $12.

Each Humble Monthly Bundle gets you a mystery assortment of games. Paying the $12 subscription fee early grants you access to Civ 6 immediately, with six other games to follow on February 2. Civ 6 released in 2016 and normally costs $60.

No Caption Provided

The first expansion for Civ 6, Rise and Fall, was announced in November. In addition to new civilizations and leaders, Rise and Fall adds features designed to level out the playing field in the late game. Earlier this week, developer Firaxis revealed the expansion’s new Cree civilization and leader.

The February Bundle coincides with the release of Rise and Fall on February 8. Humble also recently tweeted a deal that gets you a $20 store credit when you purchase the Monthly Bundle annual plan. You can check out all the details on the Humble Bundle website.

Powered by WPeMatico

How FX Can Help Disney Compete Against Netflix

FX’s focus on creating content with more adult branding than Disney’s may allow the media titan to compete more directly with global streaming services like Netflix, HBO, and Amazon, FX Networks President John Landgraf believes.

Speaking at the winter 2018 Television Critics Association press tour, Landgraf discussed why he feels FX as it exists now may have a place at Disney should the company’s merger deal with Fox go through.

“One of the reasons

getting bigger is they want to be able to compete against global streaming services like Netflix and Amazon” Langraf said. “Without knowing anything beyond having a lovely conversation with Mr.

Continue reading…

Powered by WPeMatico

The Top 10 Black Mirror Episodes

After 4 seasons and 19 episodes, Black Mirror has become a formidable science fiction anthology series from the creative mind of Charlie Brooker. Once a Channel 4 exclusive in the U.K., Black Mirror is now available on Netflix, which has ushered in a broader fanbase that will hopefully lead to many more seasons down the road.

With the recent release of Season 4 (check out our review here), we thought this was the perfect time to rank our top 10 episodes from the franchise so far.

Playtest is a terrifying example of augmented reality gone wrong. Cooper (Wyatt Russell) is an American tourist who discovers that he’s out of cash with no way of getting home. When a video game developer offers him money to test out their new AR tech, Cooper has no choice but to accept.

Continue reading…

Powered by WPeMatico

Marvel Rolls Out Domino Comic By Fan Favorite Writer

Marvel Comics revealed that Domino will be the star of a new ongoing comic book series by fan-favorite writer Gail Simone.

Check out the cover to Domino #1 by artists Greg Land and Frank D’Armata:

(Marvel Comics) (Marvel Comics)

Marvel told IGN that the artist for the series will be announced in the coming weeks.

Domino is a mutant mercenary with powers that manipulate probability, essentially allowing her to give herself “good luck” and her enemies “bad luck.” She has long been associated with Cable and the militant X-Force. She’s currently featured in the Weapon X ongoing series alongside the likes of Wolverine, Lady Deathstrike and Sabretooth.

Continue reading…

Powered by WPeMatico