Another mutant has joined the ranks of X-Men: Apocalypse. Just after Dawn of the Planet of the Apes star Kodi Smit-McPhee was hired to play Nightcrawler in the next installment of the X-Men series, albeit in a new timeline, The Wrap reports Ben Hardy, the British television star of the UK series “EastEnders,” is in talks for a key role in the film. Funnily enough, Hardy was up for the role of young Cyclops before it went to Tye Sheridan, and there have been rumblings that he might play a young version of Angel. However, the source notes that other insiders say that he’s playing another mutant, though specifics are under wraps. ›››
“I know you’re angry Tris, but you’re letting it consume you.” If you’re one of those fans who just can’t wait for the arrival of The Divergent Series: Insurgent next month, the movie is a little bit more within reach as tickets are now on sale for the sci-fi sequel starring Shailene Woodley. And with that news also comes the final trailer for the film, showing that Tris (Woodley) is becoming consumed with anger, and she better get it in check if she’s going to stay in control. Meanwhile, it looks like Ansel Elgort won’t be offering help this time, despite being her brother, and Miles Teller may or may not be trustworthy. Watch! ›››
It sounds like there’s going to be some powerful female talent for The Huntsman, the prequel to the 2012 fantasy adventure Snow White and the Huntsman. Chris Hemsworth is returning in the title role, with Charlize Theron back as Queen Ravenna, and Emily Blunt was previously reported to join the cast as a new villain as well. Now Deadline reports A Most Violent Year and Interstellar star Jessica Chastain is joining the cast as a love interest for Hemsworth’s character. This is such a great cast, but the dullness of the first film is keeping me from actually being excited to see what they do in this stark fairytale universe. Read on! ›››
There’s been a change in directors for the developing sequel to last year’s animated hit The LEGO Movie. Nearly a year ago, Chris McKay, who essentially co-directed the original with Phil Lord & Chris Miller, was hired to be at the helm of The LEGO Movie 2. But since then, Warner Bros. Pictures has done some shuffling. Previously, the sequel was dated for May 26th, 2017, but that’s when the LEGO Batman spin-off (which will now be directed by McKay instead) will arrive, which means The LEGO Movie 2 will now arrive on May 25th, 2018. And following the release date change last fall, THR reports “Community” and “The Mindy Project” director Rob Schrab will now be at the helm of the animated film for his feature debut. ›››
Briefly: Fox Searchlight has confirmed (via @ERCboxoffice) a release date for the upcoming indie sensation Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, which won both the Audience Award & Grand Jury Prize at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and won our hearts too. The film earned a top spot on our list of the Best of the Fest, as well as plenty of glowing reviews by the end of the festival. It’s definitely going to find an audience outside of the fest, and Fox Searchlight is banking on its success. The studio has scheduled a limited release starting on July 1st, 2015 this summer, which is when they usually open one of their new Sundance gems. We’ll be following this release closely as it’s one of our favorites, too. ›››
A new PC indie game from UK-based developers Alan Hazelden and Benjamin Davis launches Wednesday with a unique pricing model.
The game, the adorable A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build, will set its price according to the weather in London, according to Polygon. This will be determined by the temperature at “teatime,” or around 5 PM UK. Temperature will be measured in Celsius.
The promotional pricing runs during the game’s initial launch window, starting Wednesday and ending March 10. The deal is available only through the developer’s website.
Alternatively, A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build will sell for the flat price of $12 through Steam when it arrives on that platform later today.
At 5 PM in London today it is forecast to be around 10 degrees Celsius, meaning buying the game through the developer’s website will save you a couple dollars. Take a look here for an extended London forecast.
A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build is described as a puzzle game about being a monster and making snowmen. Hazelden and Davis conceived the idea for the game in the days before Christmas 2013. You can see some screenshots in the gallery below.
Ubisoft’s downloadable racing game Trials Fusion, originally released in April 2014 across console and PC, has now sold more than 1.7 million copies to date, the publisher announced this week. The game is available across PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
In other Trials Fusion news, Ubisoft has released a new expansion for the game called Fault One Zero, which is the fifth of six planned add-ons for the game. It adds 10 new tracks, 24 challenges, five trophies, and new objects for the game’s track editor.
Here’s how Ubisoft describes the DLC: “In Fault One Zero players explore the futuristic city of Megalopolis where man and machine are only distinguishable by their medical records. Players will race through holographic cityscapes, testing facilities, assembly lines, retro gaming areas, and a robot dumping ground to navigate their way through Megalopolis.”
Ubisoft also notes that single-player Trials Fusion tracks were recently added to the game’s online multiplayer mode. The game’s online mode supports up to eight simultaneous players and was introduced earlier this month through a free update. Since its launch, players have participated in nearly 2.5 million online races, journeying more than 317,581 miles.
Fault One Zero is available today through the Trials Fusion $20 DLC pass, or it can be purchased by itself for $5. For more on Trials Fusion, check out GameSpot’s review.
Microsoft will give away four games to Xbox Live Gold subscribers in March, and is believed to preparing for an eight-game giveaway in April.
The details have yet to be formally confirmed by Microsoft, though the information appears to have leaked on the corporation’s ExpertZone website and published on the games forum NeoGAF.
As part of the Games With Gold promotion, those with an Xbox 360 and an Xbox Live Gold membership can download the Tomb Raider reboot for free between March 1 and 15. Then, between March 16 and 31, BioShock Infinite will stand in as the free game.
Once downloaded, the customer technically owns both these games, with no requirement to log online or remain a Gold subscriber in order to access them.
Meanwhile, those with Gold who also own an Xbox One can download Rayman Legends for free throughout the entire month of March. Meanwhile, the party game IDARB extends its free run from February into March. These games can be played as long as the Xbox One owner has an active Gold membership.
Along with this, Microsoft has announced that more than 100 million games have been played through the Games With Gold promotion.
“To celebrate, we’re giving customers more of what they love by doubling free games in Games With Gold for April,” the company said.
Mortal Kombat X developer NetherRealm Studios has announced a live stream coming later this week, and based on the language, it’s all but confirmed that we’ll be getting a look at the game’s Brutalities.
NetherRealm’s Twitter account sent out the image below, scheduling the Twitch stream for this Thursday, February 26, at 4 PM Eastern/1 PM Pacific. It includes the phrase, “It’s going to be brutal,” which, combined with a tweet from creative director Ed Boon in response to someone asking about Brutalities, makes them appear to be a lock.
Brutalities are hard-to-pull-off finishing moves that were introduced in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. They’re one of the many types of Fatalities the series has offered, along with the Animalities, Friendships, and Babalities.
Although Brutalities haven’t been in many of the Mortal Kombat games, including 2011’s Mortal Kombat, NetherRealm had already (perhaps inadvertently) confirmed their existence in X: A video it released included a reference to a bonus that players would receive for pulling one off.
Even if you’re not interested in Brutalities–which will presumably not skimp on the violence, given what we’ve seen so far, there may still be reason to tune in. The live stream is likely to also reveal a new character, something Boon teased earlier this month. Maybe that masked gunslinger?
As supply continues to be a problem for certain Amiibo figures, Nintendo has quietly dropped the suggested retail prices of three of the most common.
Donkey Kong, Peach, and Yoshi–three members of the first wave of Amiibo figures from November–now cost $9.99, down from the standard $12.99 price, according to Nintendo’s website. The company hasn’t made any official announcement regarding the modest price drop, but it comes not long after the latest wave of figures was released, with more still to come–including several in March.
Earlier this month, Nintendo revealed the top 10 selling Amiibo figures for several markets around the globe. All three of the discounted characters made the top 10 in the United States and Canada, but this could at least in part be attributed to their wide availability. Other characters, like Marth and Villager, are only likely to be found being resold on sites like eBay.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata recently spoke about the subject of rare Amiibo figures, saying extra shipments of hard-to-find figures are something it may deliver. “It is difficult for us to promise to continuously ship all of the Amiibo figures,” he said. “We will, however, consider additional production in cases such as when an Amiibo figure sells out shortly after launch, an Amiibo is indispensable to play a certain game, and when we receive a lot of requests for an Amiibo figure from consumers and retailers.”
More than 5.7 million Amiibo figures have been sold to-date.
