TV, Movies & Home Theatre - Page 45

While The Force Awakens has made $610 million worldwide so far, there is one fan that would be the biggest Star Wars fan of all time. Jim Barden from Austin, Texas enjoyed a 30-hour Star Wars marathon, afterwhich he was named the biggest Star Wars fan.

The Alamo Drafthouse declared Bardin the biggest Star Wars fan after they invited nine people from around the United States to sit through the original Star Wars trilogy, the prequel trilogy and then various screenings of The Force Awakens. Barden has now seen The Force Awakens nine times, taking out the award of the biggest Star Wars fan ever.

The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Barden, asking how he managed to stay away, and to not go crazy after the huge Star Wars marathon. Barden said: "I guess I took a sort of scientific approach. I planned accordingly". Barden snacked on peppermint chewing gum and smelling lime wedges to keep himself awake, instead of chowing down on energy drinks and heavy meals that can push you into a food coma.

With all of the news headlines glued to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which has just passed $610 million worldwide breaking countless records in its process, James Cameron has come out talking about his Avatar sequels.

Cameron said in an interview with the Montreal Gazette that Avatar 2 will be released in Christmas 2017, he said: "Christmas of '17 is the target... At least, that's what we've announced. But I don't consider that to be as important as the fact that when we get all three films done, we drop them a year apart. I call it a meta-narrative that runs across the three movies. Each film stands alone, but it also tells one much larger story".

Until now, Avatar 2's release date had been rumored for 2014, 2015 and even 2016 - waiting another two years shouldn't hurt too much. As for whether Cameron and his team will reach the promised Christmas 2017 window, he said: "We have design more or less finished, which is an enormous task. It's been about a two-year task. [We've finished] all the creatures and the landscapes, and the new world's within the world of Pandora that you see. The writing is ongoing, but almost finished. Technical development is done. Stages are done. Infrastructure. So we're really poised to start after the first of the year".

Star Wars: The Force Awakens continues to print money, with Disney's latest blockbuster flying past $610 million in worldwide ticket sales. In the US alone, it has become the fastest movie to hit $250 million.

The Force Awakens has outperformed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 for Saturday sales, in a big way. Star Wars: The Force Awakens has broken pretty much every record possible: largest Thursday preview, global IMAX opening record, largest Friday, largest Saturday, largest Sunday, largest Monday, largest 4-day gross, biggest domestic opening, biggest worldwide opening and so many more records.

The latest news is that The Force Awakens will beat the current #1 box office champion: Avatar. Considering Avatar pulled in $580 in its first week, The Force Awakens is definitely doing a good job towards its battle to the #1 grossing movie of all time. Avatar sits at the top of the worldwide gross of $2.78 billion, which I think The Force Awakens will beat in the end.

While all eyes are glued to Star Wars: The Force Awakens this week - which just had the biggest opening ever, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is getting some TV spot lovin' in Germany.

The new German TV spot teases a few seconds of new footage, even in its short 30-second runtime. In the middle of the clip, Batman is flying the Batplane towards Superman, firing rounds of bullets at him - while Superman doesn't even take a scratch.

We also see Superman in some flames at the 0:19 mark, Batman knocked to the ground at 0:20, and Superman flying forwards along the ground in a cloud of dust and smoke at 0:24. I still think we're not receiving the full picture here, and that the pissed off Superman we're seeing is actually Bizarro - the first creation from Lex before we see Doomsday unveiled later in the movie - but that's just me.

We all knew that Star Wars: The Force Awakens would break records, with J.J. Abrams' latest movie pulling in a huge $238 million in its opening weekend in the United States. The Force Awakens had already broken single-day records with $57 million.

As for the global numbers, The Force Awakens looks to have taken in $517 million - a mind-blowingly huge number. Rival distributors are saying that The Force Awakens grossed closer to $245 million domestically, with the final numbers to be released on Monday. Prior to this huge haul from The Force Awakens, the previous record holder was Jurassic World with $208.8 million worldwide.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens scooped up the second-biggest start behind Jurassic World (which pulled in $524.9 million), which had help from its Chinese box office numbers. The Force Awakens doesn't open up in China, which is the second-largest moviegoing market in the world, until January 9. Walt Disney Studios chairman, Alan Horn, said in a statement: "Our sole focus has been creating a film that delivers that one-of-a-kind Star Wars experience, and director J.J. Abrams, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and the Lucasfilm team have outdone themselves".

With all of the movie hoopla going on right now surrounding the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight is getting some good press, and it's spreading across the US with special 70mm screenings of the film - including a longer cut of the movie, with an intermission.

Well, THR is now reporting that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice might get a 70mm release, thanks to the increased availability of 70mm-ready screens - courtesy of The Weinstein Company getting cinemas to prep their screens for The Hateful Eight. Zack Snyder directed part of Batman v Superman in 65mm IMAX, which as Slashfilm reports "makes a 70mm projector the best possible way to see the movie on the big screen".

It's obviously more expensive to show 70mm, but Batman v Superman would be something that's worth it. With Warner Bros. reportedly spending up to $410 million on the movie, making it the most expensive movie ever made, I don't know why they wouldn't go the extra mile (or extra 70mm at least) and show off Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 70mm.

Netflix used its marketing prowess at the perfect time, teasing the fourth season of its hit show House of Cards during the GOP presidential debate on Tuesday night.

The announcement was made from the office of President Underwood, the fictional president portrayed by Kevin Spacey. Underwood told voters through a new political ad that his journey in the White House was only just beginning. A new website was also launched for the president's potential campaign, where Underwood says he's had just about enough of "political gridlock and stagnation". A statement on the website says: "Let's plow through the stubborn and smallminded and send Washington a message loud and clear".

House of Cards' fourth season will debut on March 4, 2016 for your binge-watching needs - myself included.

If you haven't watched Mr. Robot, I highly suggest you do, as it was one of the biggest surprises of the year for me. The show is very unique, with a 'Fight Club' vibe to it, but deeply entrenched in the world we live in today that is dominated by corporations, governments, spying, and technology.

The second season of USA's hit show will debut next year with the show's creator, Sam Esmail, set to direct every single episode. Variety is reporting that Esmail plans to direct every episode of the second season, which will show massive confidence in Esmail from USA as a writer-director. Esmail earned great acclaim from the first season of Mr. Robot, as he also directed three episodes, and now proven himself as a film director with 'Comet'.

As for Mr. Robot's second season, it was teased earlier this year at New York Comic Con that the second season will "get really f***ing dark" - which is interesting to hear, as the first season was pretty damn dark as it was. Rami Malek, who plays the main character Elliot on the show, said that when it comes to preparing for the second season, he said it's "going to be tough". Not only that, but series creator Sam Esmail added: "We should learn more about Elliot's relationship with his sister and follow fsociety member Darlene, and how that relationship fits in with the origins of the now infamous hacker group society".

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is getting all of the headlines lately, but remember Star Trek Beyond is coming next year - with J.J. Abrams not directing Beyond, as he did with the first two Star Trek movies, as he was in the director's chair for The Force Awakens.

Well, Paramount Pictures, Skydance, Bad Robot and IMAX have just announced that a digitally re-mastered version of Star Trek Beyond will be shown on IMAX screens the day it debuts, on July 22, 2016. Both Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness were released on IMAX screens, but Star Trek Into Darkness had scenes that were filmed in 3D and on IMAX cameras, with no news on whether Star Trek Beyond had scenes shot on IMAX cameras or not.

Justin Lin, fresh from directing Fast and the Furious 3-6 is behind Star Trek Beyond, where he said during his announcement on his excitement for Star Trek Beyond in IMAX: "IMAX provides a one-of-a-kind movie going experience to audiences all over the world. I am excited to bring the newest journey into the 'Star Trek' universe to its screens".

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is already making bank before it's even hitting cinemas. Variety is reporting that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is already the biggest pre-seller in the history of the Fandango, beating out the first Hunger Games movie.

It's being reported that Star Wars: The Force Awakens will open with around $208 million in ticket sales, beating out Jurassic World's massive debut. Variety added that "no film has ever opened to more than $100 million in December and the Christmas movie-going season is competitive one. At the very least, "The Force Awakens" seems destined to eclipse the $85 million bow of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" to set a new benchmark for December openings".

If you ever want to visit Odessa, Ukraine, you might want to check out their latest monument which was erected in the honor of... well, Darth Vadar. Yes, Darth Vadar from Star Wars.

Alexander Milov has previously designed a huge robot statue, which can be found in Yuzhne, outside of Odessa. Milov's awesome-looking statue isn't just good looking, it's practical - as it includes a router inside of Vader's head, delivering Wi-Fi to those around him. Milov created the status by repurposing the existing Lenin statue which was located just outside of the factory.

The status was already scheduled for demolition that stands in line with new Ukranian laws on de-Communization, which requires all landmarks and geographic names dedicated to Lenin and other Communist figures to be eliminated, or removed. Workers at the Odessa factory didn't want the statue to be demolished, and instead requested for it to be redesigned - and what a redesign, we might add.

With all of the hoopla surrounding Star Wars, there's another massive movie that is coming soon - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The second movie in the new DCEU is coming out in March 2016, with a budget that is just as big as the two superheroes in the movie.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is rumored to have a budget of around $410 million, according to Latino Review, which would make it the most expensive movie in history. Considering the Superman reboot 'Man of Steel' cost $225 million, Warner Bros. must have some confidence that it's all going to pay off.

Securing Ben Affleck wouldn't have been cheap, and neither would a massive movie like this be when you consider all of the practical stunts, CG, and more. Then we have to consider the other superheroes joining Dawn of Justice - Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg - and baddies - Lex Luthor, and the rumored Doomsday - fans of the DC universe should begin to get very, very excited.

Just days ago millions of excited Star Wars fans crashed multiple movie theater websites with such voluminous bandwidth to secure their movie tickets, racking up record-breaking pre-order ticket sales, with AMC selling out 1,000 different showings across multiple theaters in just 12 hours.

With its ultra-wide screens and immersive 3D interaction, IMAX screenings are seen as the definitive way to see a gala affair like the triumphant return of Star Wars. As a result, IMAX screenings made up a huge portion of Force Awakens ticket sales, generating a staggering $6.5 million and "breaking every IMAX record" in the process.

But not everyone got their tickets. The massive demand has led to IMAX and regular screenings being sold out all over the country, with many many fans left out on the cold. Now the inevitable scalping has surfaced, with re-sellers commanding anywhere from $1,000 for tickets to a ridiculous sum of $10,000--a number that would make Emporer Palpatine grin in delight.

If you've ever watched a movie in an IMAX screen that was filmed with an IMAX camera, you'll know that there's nothing better. But the company doesn't see many movies hitting its screens, and it wants to see that change - even if it has to do so itself.

The Wrap is reporting that IMAX is in the process of making their own movies, and even the possibilities of allowing alternate programming to be blasted onto IMAX screens in the future. The company is talking with various potential partners, TV producers, and filmmakers to see what they can do to get IMAX into the limelight.

Why now? Well, during August there were hardly any blockbuster Hollywood movies on IMAX screens. IMAX Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Greg Foster explained: "There were no blockbuster movies released in August, there were none last week and none this coming weekend. That's three or four weeks of beachfront property. We want to provide the very best premium entertainment 52 weeks a year, and if creating it ourselves is the best way to do it, we're going to be excited about taking that step".

With the upcoming UHD Blu-ray format specification announced and manufacturers gearing up to release product to the market, the first Hollywood distributor has now announced the first wave of titles that will be hitting retail early next year.

Twentieth Century Fox is the first studio to back the 4K successor to Blu-ray, with 'Exodus: Gods and Kings', 'Kingsman: The Secret Service', 'Fantastic Four', 'X-Men: Days of Future Past', 'Wild', 'Life of Pi' and 'The Maze Runner'.

There's still many questions yet to be answered on the new format, including whether legacy Blu-ray issues such as region coding apply, but with movement at the station there's no doubt the future is looking very high in resolution indeed.

Samsung officially leads the 4K initiative by unveiling the first-ever consumer ready 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray player, ushering a new generation of high-fidelity entertainment into homes around the globe.

Samsung announced its pioneering UHD player, the UBD-K8500, at IFA in Berlin and touts some major performance boosts like ful 4K resolution at a fluid 60 frames-per-second, a 10-bit color palette that's 64 times more dynamic than standard Blu-rays, and object-based sound formats like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X for UHDBR audio. The UHD Blu-ray player also sports an HDMI 2.0a port to support industry's new high dynamic range (HDR) standard and will be backwards compatible with current Blu-ray discs.

"The new player is also capable of upscaling content to provide UHD resolution for any disc, as well as for 4K streaming services," Samsung's visual display VP Mike Zoller said.

All signs are pointing to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice being a kick ass entry in the DCCU, but it looks like the film's crew and Warner Bros. executives have seen a screening of the movie, where the working cut of the movie had a standing ovation from those that saw it.

Ben Affleck has kicked enough ass in Batman v Superman that Warner Bros. wants Affleck to not only direct a solo Batman movie, but they want him for an entire Batman trilogy. Den of Geek has the rumor, saying that Warner Bros. was already interested in Affleck starring, writing and directing a solo Batman movie, but now Warner Bros. wants three Batman movies.

It also makes sense, as over the weekend Affleck's upcoming movies 'The Accountant' and 'Live by Night' were delayed, giving him room to work and be involved (obviously quite heavily) in the new Batman movies. The first solo Batman movie is rumored for sometime in 2018, but we should hear more about this closer to the release of Batman v Superman.

The Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer shown at Comic-Con this year was truly awesome, but now it's time for the bad guys to get into the spotlight, with the official Comic-Con trailer of Suicide Squad released by Warner Bros.

As you can see in the trailer, it looks damn good. Director David Ayer has nailed the look and style of the Suicide Squad, with Will Smith as Deadshot, Margie Robbie as Harley Quinn, and we get a quick tease of Jared Leto as The Joker. Surprisingly, it looks like the official Comic-Con trailer was released because Warner Bros couldn't contain the smartphone-quality leaks of the Suicide Squad trailer.

In a statement, Warner Bros Pictures' President of Worldwide Marketing an International Distribution, Sue Kroll, said: "Warner Bros. Pictures and our anti-piracy team have worked tirelessly over the last 48 hours to contain the Suicide Squad footage that was pirated from Hall H on Saturday". She continued: "We have been unable to achieve that goal. Today we will release the same footage that has been illegally circulating on the web, in the form it was created and high quality with which it was intended to be enjoyed. We regret this decision as it was our intention to keep the footage as a unique experience for the Comic Con crowd, but we cannot continue to allow the film to be represented by the poor quality of the pirated footage stolen from our presentation".

With Comic-Con 2015 kicking off, Deadline is reporting that Ben Affleck will be taking control of the first standalone Batman movie. Affleck will write, direct and star in the upcoming Batman movie.

Deadline's Mike Fleming reports: "My studio sources tell me that Affleck and Johns are well in synch and have more than found their rhythm. In fact, they are likely to turn in a script before the end of the summer, prior to Affleck going off to direct Live By Night in November. Affleck postponed that pic to star in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice".

Geoff Johns is a name that DC fans should know, as he's the co-publisher of DC Comics, one of the two people in the highest creative position at DC. Not only that, but he has put in considerable work into the well-received TV side of DC with Arrow and The Flash. We should hopefully see a different Batman than what we've seen with Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight Trilogy' and Snyder's work in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Up until this point, we know the villain in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will be Lex Luthor, which is exciting. We all think it's going to be a mega beat down between the two biggest superheroes of all time: Batman and Superman.

But, it looks like there will be a common enemy, someone who I think will be introduced in the second half of the movie. This villain will be someone who makes Batman and Superman wake up from their fight, to form the Justice League - which will be launching in 2017. We can see it all in the title: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. But which villain is big enough for this new Superman, who is the strongest and fastest we've seen yet, to fight? Doomsday, that's who.

According to Umberto Gonzalez aka El Mayimbe, he said that Doomsday in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is "official". Golzalez said that Doomsday appearing in Batman v Superman will be what Darth Vader was to Star Wars, which is saying an incredible amount. Doomsday will be the big bad of Batman v Superman, while the main villain of Dawn of Justice being Lex Luthor, played by Jesse Eisenberg.