Emma Stefansky
‘Pirates of the Caribbean 5’ Is Being Held Hostage by Actual Online Pirates
Since online pirates tend to view “don’t steal stuff” as more of a guideline than an actual rule, it’s no surprise that eventually they’d start taking aim at Hollywood. And, hey, why not start big, with, say, Disney, the biggest studio in the business? And instead of pilfering something like Coco, how about going after, I dunno, maybe Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, the fifth installment in one of the most recognizable brands worldwide? Well, that’s exactly what a group of hackers apparently did.
One ‘Last Jedi’ Poster Seems to Claim It’ll Have The Biggest Reveal in ‘Star Wars’ History
Because Disney and Lucasfilm are, by now, experts at releasing only as scant an amount of information as they want to, we know next to nothing about Star Wars: The Last Jedi. We know who’s in it, and who most of them will be playing, and that Mark Hamill finally has lines this time, but aside from that, it’s all a big mystery. There are a few big questions raised in The Force Awakens that Last Jedi will have to answer, one way or another, but a new Japanese poster suggests that the movie is going to drop a pretty huge bombshell — the hugest in Star Wars history, no less.
Is the Han Solo Movie Taking Us Back to Tatooine?
For Star Wars, a series that has become a franchise built largely upon nostalgia, returning to some of their greatest hits within their movies has become par for the course. Sure, we were introduced to something like seven completely new planets during Rogue One, but that movie still checked all the boxes: cool female protagonist, Jedi lore, Dark Side, Death Star. The Han Solo movie is also going to bring us to some completely new territory, but would it be a Star Wars movie without a visit to a certain desert planet?
This Year’s ‘Harry Potter’ Death Apology From Rowling Was Pretty Controversial
J.K. Rowling, otherwise known as the lady who wrote those books about the wizard school, has an annual tradition, started in 2015, where she apologizes for a particularly unjust death that has saddened die-hard Harry Potter fans. 2015’s apology was for Fred Weasley, one half of the Weasley twins duo that throughout the series had seemed to be inseparable. Last year’s apology was for Remus Lupin, the werewolf and one-time Defense Against the Dark Arts professor who’d ended up a close ally and friend of Harry’s. Both deaths were tragic, and yet fit with Potter’s theme of victory through self-sacrifice. The apologies both garnered mournful tweets from fans who talked about what great characters they were, and how they miss them. This year’s apology, however, split the fandom right down the middle.
Watch George R. R. Martin Read the Fan Letter That Started His Writing Career
Even though he should have been hard at work on The Winds of Winter, George R. R. Martin took some time out of his week to appear on History Channel’s new documentary series Superheroes Decoded, all about how today’s culture became so dominated by the creations of Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, and the like. Martin shared a fan letter he wrote to Marvel Comics, praising one of the issues of Fantastic Four, and the entire magazine.
We Haven’t Even Seen Groot’s Final Form, Says Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel is kinda like that guy at all the parties who always wants to talk to you about his awesome new startup. It’s gonna be the best, way better than the last one, it’s gonna win tons of awards and make billions of dollars. Sure, Vin, you say. That sounds great. But he just keeps doing it. It comes from a good place: the man loves his movies. But, boy, does he love hyping them even more. Most recently, he suggested that we haven’t even seen Groot’s mega-evolution yet — the first two forms have just been kid stuff.
‘Wonder Woman’ TV Spot: So That’s Why She’s Called Diana Prince
Today is good again — a new Wonder Woman TV spot just dropped! The new spot focuses on Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor’s partnership, and also gives us a neat little explanation of how Wonder Woman got her civilian identity, Diana Prince.
The Guy Who Came Up With ‘Rogue One’ Already Has Another Spinoff Idea Brewing
Veteran Industrial Light & Magic visual effects supervisor John Knoll did pretty well suggesting his fun little heist movie idea to Lucasfilm. Rogue One was the buzziest blockbuster of last year and while it has its flaws, it’s still a whole lot of fun watching a Star Wars movie that has nothing to do with anyone named Skywalker. It expanded the Star Wars universe and paved the way for more spinoffs, and since we all know Star Wars isn’t ending with the final episode of the new trilogy, Knoll has another idea marinating already. You know, in case anyone’s interested.
Adam Sandler Teaming Up With Chris Rock, Because Sandler’s Netflix Era Isn‘t Over Yet
Because Adam Sandler’s tyrannical reign on Netflix is far from over, he’s already working on his next movie. This time, he and his Grown Ups co-star Chris Rock are reteaming for a wedding comedy, titled The Week Of.
Because We’re in the Future Now, A.I. Is Starting to Choose Our Movies for Us
Growing up means realizing that we don’t live in the Jetsons’ version of the future, with instant meals and flying cars, but one that’s run by data and analytics. Hollywood has been inching into the data game, as companies develop software that has the ability to use information from a screenplay or a trailer to predict box office ticket sales. In the future, robots might be choosing our movies for us. It’s already happening now.