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The first trailer for the 'John Wick' sequel is here and it looks more action-packed than the original

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john wick keanu reeves

Lionsgate revealed the first full trailer for the "John Wick" sequel Saturday afternoon at New York Comic Con and we can't wait to see Keanu Reeves on screen again. 

The first film was a surprise hit. Fans couldn't resist Reeves' titular character going after a Russian gang and taking out its members one by one because they killed his beloved beagle pup. 

This time around the film will star Common as the antagonist and you can bet Wick will be taking names once again. It was also revealed at the panel that Laurence Fishburne, Reeves "Matrix" costar, will be in the sequel! Yes, Morpheus and Neo are back together again.

"John Wick 2" will be released February 10, 2017.

Check out the trailer below:

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NOW WATCH: Scientists discovered something 'shocking' that could rewrite a key part of human evolution


Here's everything we know so far about 'Star Wars: Episode VIII'

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Carrie Fisher Mark Hamill Ben A Pruchnie Getty

If you were a die-hard "Star Wars" fan and loved "Force Awakens," chances are you're hungry for updates on the next episode in the saga, 'Star Wars: Episode VIII."

Star Wars Celebration Europe, which took place in London in July, revealed some interesting information about the film. Since then, others from the cast (and a few rumors) have given us a further idea of the movie, which is currently in post production.

Below is everything we know so far about the movie (which comes out December 15, 2017), from the mouths of stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, and writer/director Rian Johnson.

Warning: spoilers ahead.

SEE ALSO: Everything you nee to know about the next "Star Wars" movie, "Rogue One"

Not familiar with Rian Johnson? He directed the hit sci-fi movie "Looper."

Get ready to hear the name Rian Johnson a lot throughout the next year. Though he's only made three feature films going into "Episode VIII," those movies include stunning works like the modern-day film noir "Brick" and sci-fi mobster movie "Looper," which have shown he's ready for the largest stage in filmmaking.

Johnson also directed some of the most memorable "Breaking Bad" episodes, including "Fly" and "Ozymandias" (arguably the greatest episode of the series).

Looking to take a deeper dive? Here's more about Johnson you need to know.



Johnson spent six weeks at the Lucasfilm headquarters, Skywalker Ranch, figuring out the "Episode VIII" story.

At Star Wars Celebration, Johnson revealed that while writing the script for "Episode VIII," he spent six weeks at Skywalker Ranch. But he wasn't just taking inspiration from the grounds that "Star Wars" creator George Lucas walks. He also had an eye on "The Force Awakens."

"We would watch dailies come in from 'VII,'" Johnson told the Celebration crowd. "It was probably really healthy creating the story based on our reactions to the footage rather than the cultural reactions. It was a unique experience."



The movie will start right where "The Force Awakens" ended.

Before principal photography began in London on "Episode VIII," Johnson and his crew took actors Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and Daisy Ridley (Rey) to Skellig Michael, the island where the final scene of "The Force Awakens" took place, to shoot an extension of the scene. 

That will be the opening of "Episode VIII," according to Johnson.

"I don't want to skip ahead [after] that last moment of 'Episode VII.' I want to see what happens next,"Johnson said.

This has sparked an interesting conversation among fans. Will there be an opening crawl in "Episode VIII"? There are typically months to years between "Star Wars" episodes, so the crawl brings the audience up to speed. Johnson did not say if there will or will not be a crawl in the new movie. 

 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

'Girl on the Train' dominates while 'Birth of a Nation' is soft at weekend box office

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The Girl on the Train Barry Wetcher Universal final

Despite Hurricane Matthew causing multiple multiplexes to be closed in the southeast, the big screen adaptation of the best-selling book "The Girl on the Train" still easily won the weekend box office with an estimated $24.7 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The steamy thriller starring Emily Blunt did hit expectations by its studio Universal, but it didn't have the kind of opening similar to fellow best-seller "Gone Girl" did in 2014 with a $37.5 million opening. That movie though was received better by critics, as it has a 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, "The Girl on the Train" is at 44%.

The other big release of the weekend didn't do as well as some had hoped. "The Birth of a Nation," which started the year as the darling of the Sundance Film Festival as it took home its grand jury and audience awards but then limped into theaters after a 17-year-old rape charge of its director and star Nate Parker surfaced, took in an estimated $7.1 million. 

birth of a nationThat hit the projection that The Hollywood Reporter predicted, however, there were others that thought the film could get to $10 million, which is how much the film cost to make. 

With a record-breaking $17.5 million by Fox Searchlight to nab the film at Sundance and likely an advertising budget between $10 million - $15 million to serve the movie's wide release, "Nation" has a lot of work to do for Searchlight to get in the black on the film.

In better news, Disney continues to dominate the box office in 2016. It's Pixar release "Finding Dory" has passed the $1 billion worldwide mark, marking the fourth Disney title to hit the milestone in the last 12 months (the others are: "Captain America: Civil War,""The Jungle Book,""Star Wars: The Force Awakens," and "Zootopia"). Disney makes up for 25% of the domestic box office market share in 2016.

"Finding Dory" is currently the top domestic grossing film of the year with $484.5 million.

SEE ALSO: 19 movies that have been banned around the world

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The director of 'The Girl on the Train' explains how he dramatically changed the hit book

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The Girl on the Train Univeral

After decades working as a struggling actor, Tate Taylor found his big break in his mid-40s as the director of Oscar winner “The Help.” Now he’s at the helm of the adaptation of the best-selling novel “The Girl on the Train.”

A steamy thriller in the vein of “Gone Girl,” the story centers on Rachel (Emily Blunt), an alcoholic whose divorce to Tom (Justin Theroux) has led her into a deep depression. And things aren’t any better on her Metro-North train commute from Westchester to Manhattan as she passes her old house, where Tom has started a new life with Anna (Rebecca Ferguson, who was in “Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation”).

Rachel has also become infatuated with Megan (Haley Bennett, “The Magnificent Seven”), who lives a few doors down from Tom's place and is often standing on her balcony wearing very little clothing. But when Megan goes missing, Rachel must figure out if, in her blackout drunk moments, she may have been involved.

The book, written by British author Paula Hawkins, was an instant hit when it came out in 2015, and Universal quickly snatched up the rights to it. But as with most adaptations, this one sometimes veers away from the source material (it's set in New York City instead of London).

Business Insider talked to Taylor about the challenges of adapting a book that is beloved by many, and looking back at "The Help" in a post-#OscarsSoWhite Hollywood.

Warning: Spoilers ahead if you’ve never read “The Girl on the Train.”

Jason Guerrasio: What's the biggest challenge of adapting a best-selling book?

Tate Taylor: My answer doesn't really come from me solving a problem — it comes from what I knew I wanted to do. When you have a book that everybody has read, and even those who read the book the first time kind of figured out it was Tom, I was like, "Okay, this is a thriller and this is what people want to see and that could be a big, big problem." Because your engine is exposed. But the great solution for that was a natural one. I was drawn to this material because of the character work and how deeply it dove into regret and betrayal and manipulation. I realized if I leaned into that — the sexuality, the violence, the mental abuse — it's not so much that it would district you from who did it, it just fills your brain with so much stuff it's truly a companion to that part versus making one stronger than the other.

Guerrasio: To show what is going on in Rachel's head, was that a jigsaw puzzle to pull off in postproduction?

Taylor: This movie was made in the editing room if ever a movie has been made. I mean, it was both scary and cool.

Tate Taylor John Lamparski GettyGuerrasio: Because I would imagine there's only so much screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson can put on the page to give you some runway.

Taylor: Yeah. I came on board and Erin had done this amazing heavy lifting starting this. But then as a filmmaker I realized that there were big holes, meaning there were things you just don't get to do in a movie. You don't get to say that Rachel suddenly remembers everything. That's when I created the character of Monica [Lisa Kudrow]. I wrote that all out. In the novel [author] Paula [Hawkins] says Rachel remembers so I'm like we don't get to do that or this is going to all unravel. So I went back to the book and Paula had written a brief little blurb in Rachel's narration that "Tom used to tell me I would embarrass him at his work parties," and I went, okay, I'm going to blow that up. And then with Megan's character, she's so sexual and I knew that she would be judged by the audience and not with much favor, so that's when I went back to the book and realized to serve this genre and serve this piece I needed to play out what happened with her baby. So it was really going through with the book as a director and writer saying this read well but this is not going to play well. Where are the holes? Where will people get up and go to the bathroom or roll their eyes?

Guerrasio: But then there's the change of location from London to New York, which could turn off die-hard fans. Was that already decided when you came on to the movie?

Taylor: That predated me by a year.

Guerrasio: Did you walk in nervous about how fans would react to that?

Taylor: To be honest, I made the mistake of checking the online chatter when I signed on to the movie and I saw that there wasn't a huge revolt at all, it was more of a why. But I think wonderful things happened because of that choice. Because of that, the day I met Emily I decided to keep her accent. I told myself, that's only going to add to her loneliness and despair. If she's in America and she has no job and lives on a mattress on a floor, she probably can't afford to go home and she's probably told them back at home the biggest lie ever. She can't go home like this. So that made it exciting for me. But the thing is I shot all these New York beauty shots and really shot the heck out of Grand Central Station, but when I put the movie together they were just kind of shoe leather. I didn't need it. And then I went back to the book and realized that Rachel just talks about London, it's not a character. So it really is universal and doesn't matter because the movie takes place between these women's ears and on a train.

Guerrasio: You guys decided on Metro-North. Did you have other ideas for the commute?

Taylor: We looked at all the lines, frankly I rode them all.

Guerrasio: I will say, I've spent most of my life riding into New York City, and I've never seen a beautiful woman standing outside on a balcony as the train goes by.

Taylor: Yeah, that doesn't happen.

Guerrasio: Movie magic.

Taylor: Yeah. [Laughs]

Guerrasio: What was your biggest fear going into postproduction?

Taylor: I had to trust that people would go with the beginning of the film. I had to trust that if people stayed with me and really got in with these characters and this mood that it would really make the movie satisfying.

Guerrasio: It is unusual how you thrust us right into Rachel's clouded mind from the start.

Taylor: You don't see it enough in movies. You may get one character that you do that, but to have three characters back-to-back? And with “The Help” I had the voices of three women, but this is the other thing that hit me like a ton of bricks: They were in scenes together in “The Help,” these women are not.

The Help dreamworksGuerrasio: You mention “The Help.” I was thinking about this, you made that and right after the James Brown biopic “Get on Up.” Right after that the #OscarsSoWhite debate really made waves in the industry. What was that time like? Finding success with “The Help,” but being a white man telling these stories.

Taylor: First it was "How dare a white guy tell black stories?" And you're going to love this, I got asked the other day, "How can you leave black people out of this movie?" I literally said, "I can't win." [Laughs] I don't know what to say about it, it's a business, man. It makes no sense. There's no rhyme or reason. The best thing from “The Help” was my best friend and roommate of five years [Octavia Spencer] got an Oscar and her life has changed forever. That's fun, that's really cool. And I think that came from pure recognition of an amazing job she did. I don't think that was a political win whatsoever. I think there's moments with the awards season where all the b------t cannot stop something inevitable. I think what “The Help” did, which excites me, is when I was going around with “The Help,” the fear was it's black-themed material, does it do well? Look what came out after “The Help.”

Guerrasio: With all the current circumstances could you, a white director, make “The Help” today?

Taylor: And I was just a nobody?

Guerrasio: Yes.

Taylor: Here's my answer, and it's not the answer you want to hear, the reason “The Help” got made was because Steven Spielberg read my script and he said, “If this guy wrote that, he's already directed the movie — let's do it.” Hopefully, I would like to think that's still in play today. I think it is. I think despite the circumstances, instincts tell you to just do this, it has happened to me on projects I've acquired. I think that will always be around.

Guerrasio: Are you uncomfortable talking about the #OscarsSoWhite phenomenon?

Taylor: I don't talk about it. I mean, you can't help but see, it's so obvious.

“The Girl on the Train” opens in theaters on Friday.

SEE ALSO: Justin Theroux on his intense role in "The Girl on the Train" and his thoughts on Brangelina

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's everything we know about 'Westworld' — HBO's mysterious new sci-fi series

An awesome McThor cosplayer is going to show up in the next 'Thor' movie and he didn't know it

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Chris Hemsworth won't be the only God of Thunder you see in the next "Thor" movie. Pay attention close when "Thor: Ragnarok" hits theaters next November and you may spot a Ronald McDonald-themed Thor in the film. 

INSIDER caught up with Brandon Isaacson — known as McThor in the cosplay world for dressing up as the McDonald's themed Thor — at New York Comic Con. 

When we asked him if he's ever heard from McDonald's about his costume, he said he hasn't; however, he has gotten the attention of Marvel.

"My picture is being used in the new 'Thor 3' movie as an Easter egg," says Isaacson. "I haven't heard from them, but I want to hear from someone. It's in a newspaper stand and they have a Thor article."

Hemsworth himself recently tweeted a photo of himself and Loki actor Tom Hiddleston on the set of "Thor: Ragnarok" and, as Isaacson said, you can spot a photo of him on the cover of a few newspapers on the right.

Isaacson noted it's a photo of him taken at New York Comic Con last year.

Here's a closer look at it.

chris hemsworth mcthor

Pretty cool, right?

Isaacson says since he's seen the image, he's been trying to get a hold of someone at Disney or Marvel to find out how to get a copy of the paper.

"I don't want money. I don't need anything. I don't care if you use it without my permission, just get me a copy of that paper. That's all I want," Isaacson told us.

Disney and Marvel, make this happen.

Join the conversation about this story »

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Here are the must-see movies most likely to win Oscars in 2017

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With film festivals like Telluride, Venice, and Toronto behind us, and the New York Film Festival underway in October, award season is becoming clearer. Which means it's (already) time for Oscar predictions.

The 2017 Academy Awards will be filled with familiar faces like Martin Scorsese and Meryl Streep and newcomers to the season like Mahershala Ali (Remy from "House of Cards") and Ruth Negga (Tulip from "Preacher").

At least, that's how things seem to stand at the moment. 

Award-season bets are constantly changing, with "sure things" suddenly falling off the board once the movie starts making the rounds to voters. And underdogs can find their way in as we get to the Oscar voting deadline at the end of December.

Here's our first pass at the movies and talent that have a chance to take home Oscar gold:

SEE ALSO: 19 famous movies that have been banned around the world

Best Picture

In the running:

“Arrival”
“Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk”
“Jackie”
“La La Land”
“Manchester By The Sea”
“Moonlight”
“Silence”
“Sully”

If the Oscars were handed out today the winner would be: "La La Land." The movie is a love letter to the forgotten musical (remember, most of the Academy voters are on the older side), the creativity of the story by writer-director Damien Chazelle is incredible, and the performances by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are some of the best of the year. 



Best Director

In the running:

Damien Chazelle, “La La Land”
Garth Davis, “Lion”
Clint Eastwood, “Sully”
Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight”
Kenneth Lonergan, “Manchester By The Sea”
Nate Parker, “The Birth of a Nation”
Martin Scorsese, “Silence”
Denis Villeneuve, “Arrival”

If the Oscars were handed out today the winner would be: Damien Chazelle for "La La Land." Like I mentioned in best picture, Chazelle weaves a powerful story about love and loss. His creative eye and strong storytelling will make him hard to beat. Plus the Academy loved his previous movie "Whiplash."



Best Actor

In the running:

Casey Affleck, “Manchester By The Sea”
Ryan Gosling, “La La Land”
Tom Hanks, “Sully”
Michael Keaton, “The Founder”
Matthew McConaughey, “Gold”
Nate Parker, “The Birth of a Nation”
Dev Patel, “Lion”
Denzel Washington, “Fences”

If the Oscars were handed out today the winner would be: Casey Affleck. His performance in "Manchester By the Sea" is emotionally charged while being very subdued. Affleck has shown he's capable of carrying a film in the past, but in this one he is the film.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Daniel Craig explains why he said he'd rather 'slash' his wrists than play James Bond again

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Daniel Craig Ilya S. Savenok Getty final

Ever since the release of the last James Bond movie, "Spectre," last November, there has been growing speculation that current Bond Daniel Craig will not return to the franchise.

That was only heightened when he was doing press for "Spectre." Craig had said he would "rather break this glass and slash my wrists" than play the role again.

Since then, reports have emerged that he has turned down millions of dollars to return to the role that made him an international star.

However, during a talk at the New Yorker Festival on Friday night, Craig made it seem as though he isn't completely against coming back for a fifth time as Bond.

"As far as I'm concerned, I've got the best job in the world. I'll keep doing it as long as I still get a kick out of it," Craig said at the talk, according to Vulture. The actor is currently sporting platinum-blond hair, which he'll feature in Steven Soderbergh's upcoming Nascar heist movie "Logan Lucky."

As for coming back for the next Bond movie, he said there have been "no conversations" as "everyone's a bit tired."

But he also made it clear that he's not searching for any broken bottles when thinking about Bond.

"They say that s--- sticks, and that definitely stuck," Craig said of the quote. "It was the day after filming [ended on 'Spectre']. I'd been away from home for a year."

Craig later added about playing the iconic role: "If I were to stop doing it, I would miss it terribly."

MGM did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment. However, Callum McDougall, who was an executive producer on the last four Bond movies, told the BBC in late September that Craig is the "first choice" to play 007 in the next movie.

Craig has a busy dance card at the moment. Along with "Logan Lucky," he's also preparing to star in an Off Broadway show and is starring in the TV series "Purity" on Showtime.

There are currently no details about the untitled 25th James Bond movie or when it will be released.

SEE ALSO: The 23 best horror movies you can watch on Netflix right now

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's everything we know about 'Westworld' — HBO's mysterious new sci-fi series

Matt Damon addresses the whitewashing controversy surrounding his new movie 'The Great Wall'

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The Great Wall Universal final

Matt Damon has heard about the claims of "whitewashing" thrown at his new movie "The Great Wall" and he has some thoughts.

While at the New York Comic Con with the movie on Saturday, Damon was asked about the controversy that bubbled online after the movie's first teaser went up in late July. 

"Yeah, it was a f---ing bummer," Damon said, according to ComingSoon.net.

In the movie, directed by visionary Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou ("House of Flying Daggers,""Hero"), Damon plays a British solider who helps fight monsters attacking China's Great Wall (the movie opens in theaters February 2017).

Damon feels the movie has being unfairly criticized since no one has even seen it yet. He explains the numerous things that the movie had to get across in a teaser:

“From a marketing perspective, what’s a worse wipeout for a marketing team than to have that happen as a backlash against a teaser you put out? They’re trying to establish a number of things within a minute. It’s a teaser, they’re trying to tease the monster. They’re saying it’s a visionary filmmaker that Middle America probably doesn’t know. It’s the Steven Spielberg of China, right? Don’t worry! They speak English in this movie. You hear my voice speaking English. 'Don’t worry! Matt’s in the movie, you’ve seen this guy before.' They’re trying to establish all these things, and by the way, there are monsters."

Damon insisted that he's sensitive to criticisms of whitewashing, but he thinks once the movie is actually out, people will change their minds:

"I watched that teaser a number of times to try to understand the criticism. Ultimately where I came down to was if people see this movie and there is somehow whitewashing involved in a creature feature that we made up then I will listen to that with my whole heart. I will think about that and try to learn from that. I will be surprised if people see this movie and have that reaction. I will be genuinely shocked. It’s a perspective that as a progressive person I really do agree with and try to listen to and be sensitive to, but ultimately I think you are undermining your own credibility when you attack something without seeing it. You have to educate yourself about what it is before making your attack or your argument and then it’s easier to listen to from my side."

Here's the teaser that's causing all the controversy:

 

SEE ALSO: Here are the must-see movies most likely to in Oscars in 2017

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The 37 funniest movies you can watch on Netflix right now

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The INSIDER summary:

• Netflix has a huge selection of comedies. Here are 37 great ones to watch.


Comedy is quite possibly the most difficult genre of film to produce. Drama, horror, romance — these genres all achieve their intended response with relative ease compared to comedy. In order to make someone laugh, a lot of things have to go right. The audience's familiarity with the subject, the unusual thing that enters the picture, and the timing of that unexpected twist all have to click in order to achieve the guffaw that the movie is aiming for. That's why there are a lot of comedies out there, but not very many good comedies — comedy is hard. Thankfully though, you can watch some of the funniest movies around on Netflix.

Netflix's library is massive, and although their collection of comedies features a ton of movies you probably haven't heard of (a lot of which aren't very funny), several of them are laugh riots; and a few even rank among the greatest comedies ever made. You'll find big comedic stars like Will Ferrell, Bill Murray, and Kristen Wiig; along with works produced by some of the most hilarious filmmakers like Albert Brooks, Amy Heckerling, and Wes Anderson. So take a look at the 37 funniest movies you can watch on Netflix right now, and just try and hold in your laughter.

SEE ALSO: Here are the must-see movies most likely to win Oscars in 2017

1. Zootopia

Netflix's big Disney deal is starting to bear fruit with this, the funniest Disney animated feature in years.



2. Dazed And Confused

Before he was winning Oscars as a dramatic actor, Matthew McConaughey was making fans laugh at his townie loser.



3. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

A classic from '80s comedy great John Hughes.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Legendary director Werner Herzog says he wants to play a Bond villain: 'I think I would be good'

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Werner Herzog Andreas Rentz Getty

Werner Herzog is best known for his work behind the camera, as the director of some of the most memorable movies ever made both fictional ("Fitzcarraldo") and documentary ("Grizzly Man").

But as he told Business Insider on Monday, he loves "everything that has to do with cinema," and that includes being an occasional actor.

Over his career, his unique brand of storytelling that focuses on ambition and the dark fringes of society has bled into the kinds of roles he's taken, most notably playing the villain in the 2012 Tom Cruise movie "Jack Reacher," based on the popular Lee Child novels.

Herzog is in his fully glory in "Jack Reacher" playing the sinister Zec, who has spent most of his life in a Soviet Union Gulag and has the scars to prove it — he once chewed off his fingers before the frostbite could turn to gangrene.

Here's Herzog in action in "Jack Reacher" (his unmistakable voice is perfect for the part):

Now the 74-year-old tells us he's ready to be the villain on one of the most famous movie franchises ever.

"I think I would be a good villain in a James Bond movie," Herzog told Business Insider while doing press for his latest documentary, "Into the Inferno," which will be available on Netflix on October 28. "They were fairly weak the last half-dozen of villains in James Bond movies. They weren't that convincing."

Herzog said he was offered big villain roles after "Jack Reacher," though he wouldn't reveal what they were, only saying he turned them down because they were "silly stuff."

"'Jack Reacher' was very easy because the function of the villain was just to spread fear and horror," said Herzog, who believes he can do the same opposite 007. 

But he said his villanry is only for the screen. 

"You have to ask my wife — she maintains I'm a fluffy husband," he said.

The 25th James Bond movie has yet to go into production. Producers hope they can get Daniel Craig to return. Craig said he'd grown weary of Bond after "Spectre" but has more recently said he hasn't ruled out returning as Bond. Maybe the casting of evil Herzog can convince him.

SEE ALSO: Here are the must-see movies most likely to win the Oscars in 2017

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's what 'Game of Thrones' stars look like in real life

Why 'MythBusters' Adam Savage is obsessed with cosplay

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The world of cosplay is a dedicated fan club to all things comics and entertainment.

Cosplay hobbyists will spend an exuberant amount of time and money on their costumes to portray their favorite characters.

"MythBuster" cohost Adam Savage is no different. Having become somewhat of a Comic Convention celebrity, Savage explains his love for the culture. 

Check out more of Adam's cosplay costumes from Tested.com.

Follow BI Video: On Twitter 

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The 10 worst movies based on video games

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2016 has been a banner year for video game movies actually coming out, with "Warcraft,""Angry Birds" and "Ratchet & Clank" all hitting their release dates. "Assassin's Creed" is coming out in December, too, and looks like it could actually be not-horrible!

Still, video game movies in general have a less than sterling reputation, and there's a reason for that. Aside from a scant few that are watchably mediocre, the majority of them are garbage. Here's a celebration of the history of video games movies in the hope that their future is much brighter:

SEE ALSO: 14 of the best games that never came out

"Mortal Kombat: Annihilation" (1997)

For all its extreme martial arts cheese, 1995's "Mortal Kombat" is probably one of the better video game movies. It takes itself as seriously as the games (not at all) and its cast members are all basically recognizable as the characters they portray. It's goofy fun.

Its sequel came out two years later and dashed any goodwill the people may have had for the fledgling film series. "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation" is a boring, low-budget mess with excruciatingly bad acting and special effects straight out of "Sharknado."

Seriously, the entire thing is a sub-SyFy-level mess of a production. It's incredible this movie was allowed to be released in theaters.



"Max Payne" (2008)

The "Max Payne" series was a bit revelatory in the world of video games for combining a film noir detective aesthetic with "The Matrix"-esque "bullet time" combat sequences. It was more hard-nosed and gritty than most video games in 2001, for sure.

The 2008 film adaptation starring Mark Wahlberg doesn't get a single part of it right. Its use of color is meant to evoke classic film noir, but it just looks bleak and washed out. It also tries to simulate the game's combat by just setting every action scene in painfully dull slow motion.

Most importantly, its cast just isn't up to the task. Wahlberg spends most of the movie whispering and staring as Max, while Ludacris (who I love to death) is woefully out of place as the grizzled police lieutenant. Mila Kunis, as love interest Mona Sax, has very little to do.

"Max Payne" is far from unwatchable, but instead of feeling like a faithful, interesting adaptation of a video game, it just feels like a hollow imitator of much better detective movies.



"Super Mario Bros." (1993)

As the first major motion picture based on a video game, "Super Mario Bros." set the precedent for all of them being trash. 

Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo (neither of whom are especially Italian) star as Mario and Luigi, two plumbers living in Brooklyn. They get transported to an alternate universe version of Manhattan where humans evolved from dinosaurs instead of primates, which is a dystopian world led by Bowser, played by Dennis Hopper.

If that sounds terrible and not at all evocative of the video games, that's because it is and it isn't, respectively. Seeing two guys whose only resemblance to Mario and Luigi is the colors they wear galavant around a nightmare version of Manhattan didn't do a lot for kids in 1993, as the movie was a box office bomb.

Here's a secret: I kind of love"Super Mario Bros." It's a bizarre nightmare of a movie, but I don't envy anyone who had to play the old video games and write a movie script based on that. It's a trashy piece of cinema, but one that's fun to see.



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Original Batman Adam West calls out the 'angst' problem with modern Batman movies

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Earlier this year, Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane in the 1978 superman film, revealed her outrage at how Batman v Superman’s iteration of the character was a 'damsel in distress’, wasting Amy Adams’s spectacular talent.

Now, Batman himself, Adam West, has spoken candidly about modern versions of The Caped Crusader, calling for more humour and less angst. 

"The new movies, Batman is very full of vengeance and deep-seated angst and so on," West told a roundtable of journalists at New York Comic-Con while promoting the animated movie Batman: Return Of The Caped Crusaders, via Den of Geek. "They’re very dark."

He added: “Enough violence. Let the costume work for you. And put a little humour into it. I think it’s about time to relieve that all of that kind of attitude of vengeance and 'I can’t take it anymore, I’m going home and I’m going to suck my thumb.'" 

The 88-year-old actor will no doubt be relieved to discover that Zack Snyder looks intent on adding more humour to his Justice League film, as demonstrated in a recent behind-the-scenes video.

West portrayed The Dark Knight throughout the 1960s in the Batman TV series and film, substantiating his name in Hollywood and leading to the actor being offered the role of James Bond (something he did not accept). 

Meanwhile, Ben Affleck will portray Batman in an upcoming solo film, the title of which has recently been revealed; The Batman.

SEE ALSO: The best Batman actor of all time had a major problem with 'Batman v Superman'

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Nicolas Cage hunts for Osama bin Laden in a surreal comedy trailer

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army one poster

Nicolas Cage's latest film finds the Oscar-winning actor in a surreal comedy about one man's hunt for Osama bin Laden.

In "Army of One," Cage stars as Gary Faulkner, "an ex-con, unemployed handyman, and modern-day Don Quixote," who heads to Pakistan after a vision of God — played by Russell Brand — tells him to find bin Laden, according to Entertainment Weekly

The film is loosely based on a 2010 GQ article, which details how the real-life Faulkner attempted to capture the Al Qaeda leader in Pakistan while "equipped with little more than a sword he'd bought on a home-shopping network." 

"Army of One" is directed by Larry Charles ("Borat,""Curb Your Enthusiasm") and written by renowned playwright Rajiv Joseph and Scott Rothman. It costars Wendi McLendon-Covey ("Bridesmaids"), Rainn Wilson ("The Office"), and Paul Scheer ("The League").

The film will be released to video on demand on November 4 before arriving on Blu-ray November 15.

Watch the trailer below, via Entertainment Weekly.

 

SEE ALSO: A UK intelligence source reportedly based information about Iraq chemical weapons on a Nicolas Cage movie

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Steven Spielberg and Jack Ma are bridging the gap between Hollywood and China (BABA)

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Jack Ma’s e-commerce giant Alibaba and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners, formerly DreamWorks Studios, have formed a partnership that will lead to the production and distribution of films in Hollywood and China, according to Bloomberg.

The move aims to benefit Alibaba’s ambitious media strategy and the US film industry's push into a highly regulated market while bridging a cultural gap between the two countries.

The deal is the most recent in a wave of Chinese conglomerates pouring into Hollywood.Most notably, Chinese real estate developer turned media giant Dalian Wanda Group bought Legendary Entertainment (creator of hit film Jurassic World) for $3.5 billion earlier this year, and AMC Entertainment (the world’s biggest chain of movie theaters) for $2.6 billion before that. Fosun Group and Huayi Brothers are other Chinese players investing in US media entertainment.  

The recent deal benefits Alibaba’s aggressive video growth strategy in two ways:

  • It propels Alibaba’s ambition to build out its entertainment business. Executive chairman Jack Ma has made it clear that he wants his company to become "the world’s largest entertainment company." The deal with Amblin Partners gives Ma and Alibaba another source of expansion in its entertainment arm to increase purchases on Alibaba’s online film-ticketing service, Taobao Movies.
  • And it enhances its subscription streaming service. The company rolled out its subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD) service, Tmall Box Office (TBO), just over a year ago and has already made deals with Lionsgate and Disney to bring some of their content to its service. Alibaba could potentially bring future projects from its recent partnership with Amblin to its SVOD platform to entice users to subscribe. 

The deal also benefits Amblin and Hollywood as a whole in the following ways:

  • It provides an entrance into the world’s fastest growing movie market. China is currently the second largest movie market in the world (behind only the US), with a total of $6.8 billion in box office revenue, up a whopping 48% from 2014, according to consulting firm Artisan Gateway. In comparison, the US and Canada combined to increase only 7% during the same period. Moreover, PwC projects China’s box office to hit $8.9 billion in 2019, surpassing the US in the process.
  • It also allows Amblin access to a pool of valuable consumer data. As per the partnership, Amblin will gain access to Alibaba’s valuable consumer related data. Gaining access to this data will help Spielberg and his company obtain a better understanding of Chinese consumers, as Amblin continues its expansion into the fast growing, highly populated region.   

However, Hollywood and media companies alike still face an uphill battle in their pursuit of the Chinese market. Foreign entertainment companies are heavily restricted from entering and maintaining a position in the market due to strict regulations. Netflix was the most recent company to voice concern: A China entry “doesn’t look good,” according to CEO Reed Hastings. 

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'Rogue One' star explains the reshoots for the 'Star Wars' movie: 'We could do this better'

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Though "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" won't hit screens until December 16, you will see a lot of the movie's star Felicity Jones beforehand.

The British actress will be playing opposite Tom Hanks in the Ron Howard-directed "Inferno" on October 28 and is currently making the festival rounds for her Oscar-worthy performance in "A Monster Calls," leading up to its release in late December.

But Jones, 32, became an overnight star thanks to being cast as the bad girl turned Rebel fighter Jyn Erso in "Rogue One," the first "Star Wars" standalone film. And in a recent Hollywood Reporter feature we got a little more insight into the movie and how she scored the lead role.

Stories have been swirling about the reshoots for the movie, and Jones addressed them, saying, "Obviously when you come to the edit, you see the film come together and you think, 'Actually, we could do this better, and this would make more sense if we did this.'"

But she also downplays the reshoots as being something that often happens on big films.

"I've done it so many times," she said. "I mean, you wouldn't just give your first draft on this story, would you?"

The THR story also touches on the casting of Jones, who received a seven-figure payday for the role (no other cast member even got a mid-six-figure deal, the story reports).

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" star Rooney Mara and Tatiana Maslany from "Orphan Black" were also in the running to play Jyn. The final decision came down to Disney chairman Alan Horn, and according to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, it was Jones' fighter quality that won her the part. 

"Alan was incredibly excited by Felicity's work and loved her as an actress," Kennedy said. "She's relatively petite, but you would never know it. I mean, she comes off very strong and physical and capable, and all of those things were the qualities that we were looking for."

Jones said the feisty Jyn we see was inspired by watching a lot of music videos from British rock band Florence + the Machine before shooting on "Rogue" started in August of 2015 in London.

"So much of Jyn is movement," Jones said. "It became a very important part of finding her. She walks almost a bit like a caged animal. Her fight sequences become like dances."

Read the entire Jones profile at THR.

SEE ALSO: Here are the must-see movies likely to win Oscars in 2017

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Werner Herzog talks infiltrating North Korea for his new Netflix movie and the Bond role he wants

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Into The Inferno Werner Herzog Netflix

For over five decades and 70-plus movies, German director Werner Herzog has given us some of the most powerful stories ever put on-screen. At 74 years old, he has no plans to slow down.

Known for his on-the-fringes tales ranging from the fictional ("Fitzcarraldo") to the documentary ("Grizzly Man"), Herzog's latest is no different. In "Into the Inferno" (available on Netflix October 28), teaming with volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer, Herzog travels the globe to look at the majesty of active volcanoes. His journey leads him even to North Korea, where he's able to capture visuals of the country that have never been shown to the Western world before.

Business Insider talked to Herzog about getting into North Korea, his attempt to interview Kim Jong-un, his desire to be a Bond villain, and why he believes he's the only director in the industry who is "clinically sane."

Jason Guerrasio: With the backdrop of the US election and conflicts among countries and religions, it's fascinating that something like a movie on volcanoes can be so powerful. Did you get that sense?

Werner Herzog: No. [Laughs] I wouldn't make a connection between the daily news and volcanoes. It was a subject that was dormant in me for a long time and it popped up 40 years ago when I made a [short] film on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe about a volcano that was about to explode and a single farmer refused to leave ["La Soufrière"]. Ten years ago in Antarctica shooting "Encounters at the End of the World," I met a very fine volcanologist from Cambridge University [Clive Oppenheimer] and we kept talking about doing a film and all of a sudden it became serious when he hinted at the possibility to film in North Korea. That was actually our very first shoot and it's almost impossible to enter North Korea with a camera as a professional. It was an extraordinary coincidence and an extraordinary chance that I wouldn't like to let pass.

We actually started filming in North Korea when no financing was secured at all. We just went out and did it.

Everything you see in North Korea, it's all propaganda, but it's all connected to the volcano.

Guerrasio: In some ways, was being able to shoot in North Korea more interesting than the volcanoes angle? 

Herzog: Well, it had to be about the stories and the people who live under the volcano, what kind of new gods do they create? What sort of demons? And of course North Korea falls clearly into this category since the socialist revolution at the end of the Second World War. Somehow they adopted the myth of the power and dynamics of their volcano [Mt. Paektu] at the boarder with China and somehow transferred it to the leadership and the dynamics of their revolution. So everything you see in North Korea, it's all propaganda, but it's all connected to the volcano. Public life is constantly aware of the volcano.

Mount Paektu APGuerrasio: Did you try to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un?

Herzog: Yes. There are photos of Kim Jong-un right up atop the volcano. I actually wrote a letter to him asking if I could speak on camera. I never got an answer. But what was interesting was the people who were responsible for us, our "guards," it took them two days to figure out how I should address him. "President? No, you can't because there's a president for eternity." And it was a time when his status was still in flux. Only a few months later there was this party congress which assigned an official title to him, but that was after we did our film.

Guerrasio: So what did you end up addressing him as in the letter?

Herzog: I do not recall, but it was complex. "Dear young leader of the people and chairman of the joint military commission" or something like that.

Guerrasio: What would have been the major question you would have wanted to ask him?

Herzog: I don't know, but it would have been fascinating. And nobody has been able to do it so if he invites me to do some appendix for the film I will fly to North Korea and of course speak to him on camera. But it's an illusion, it's not going to happen.

Guerrasio: What was the biggest highlight of your time in North Korea?

Herzog: I was able to persuade them to let me shoot in areas that were beyond the volcano itself. Beyond the joint scientific program between Cambridge University and North Korean scientists. I was able to film in a kindergarten, subway, other things you would not normally be allowed to do.

Guerrasio: Did they need to see your footage before you left the country?

Herzog: Yes. The deal was we had to have people accompanying us and they would ask us not to film something. For example, we wanted to film at a certain place and there happened to be a building under construction and it didn't look as fancy as the other buildings, so they wanted us to shoot where everything looked finished and made a good impression of the cityscape. It wasn't that important so I agreed. And I couldn't roam wildly and speak secretly with villagers. No way you could do that. And honestly, I didn't even try. I was realistic of what I could do and yet persuaded them into accepting numerous things that I shouldn't have filmed.

Guerrasio: You have said that looking inside a volcano gives you a sense of awe. Did it become hypnotic? Were you interested in getting closer to the lava?

Herzog: Not for me because I think I'm a prudent filmmaker and Clive and I figured out that I'm the only one probably in the film industry who is clinically sane. I say that as a joke, but there's a grain of truth to it. I'm not a stupid daredevil who jumps into the crater of the volcano to get the closest close-up, I'm not one of those. And you have to be aware that you have a crew with you and you are responsible.

Guerrasio: Do you feel you've always been like that as a filmmaker?

Herzog: Yes.

Guerrasio: Even making "Fitzcarraldo"? "Burden of Dreams," the documentary that shows the making of the movie, shows you as a maverick filmmaker who took chances — some would call them careless.

Herzog: The daredevil aspect to what I did there is moving a monstrously big ship over a mountain in the jungle of Peru with 800 or 900 or so native people from the area. So that idea was wild but the way it was executed was prudent. Nobody was ever hurt and when it became clear that we had to be more secure with the posts that would hold the ship, I spent 12 days having a post built that would have withstood the force of 10 times the weight of my ship.

fitzcarraldo Anchor Bay
Guerrasio: Do you regret doing the rapids scene on the boat in which your cameraman was injured?

Herzog: My crew actually said, "We have filmed it from outside on the rocks of the shore. We should be on board [the ship]," and I said it's dangerous, I only do it if you cinematographer Thomas Mauch and you actor [Klaus] Kinski decide on your own. If you really want to do it, I'm going to do it. And of course in this case the cinematographer injured his hand, it was badly cut, but you have to see my work as a whole. I have made 70 or so films. In all my films not a single actor, a single extra, was hurt. Not one. So statistics are on my side when I say I'm clinically sane.

Guerrasio: How was it working with Netflix. Did they give notes?

Herzog: No, I had complete freedom. They knew roughly what I was doing. They knew I was going to North Korea and Ethiopia and Iceland. They saw the film and liked it and that was that. They trusted me in a way that was very, very pleasant. The beauty of Netflix is on the 28th of October they push a button and the film will be in 190 countries at the same moment in 17 languages.

Guerrasio: I know you still dabble in acting —

I think I would be a good villain in a James Bond movie.

Herzog: I don't dabble, I'm good at acting.

Guerrasio: Oh. My apologies.

Herzog: As long as I have to play a villain. No, I'm joking.

Guerrasio: But have you been interested in doing a studio role since "Jack Reacher," in which you played the villain Zec?

Herzog: If the part is really good of course I would like to do it. I love everything that has to do with cinema: writing a screenplay, directing, editing, acting, you just name it. I think I would be a good villain in a James Bond movie. They were fairly weak, the last half-dozen of villains in James Bond movies were not that convincing. [Laughs]

werner herzog in jack reacher paramountGuerrasio: Did you get any big offers for roles after "Jack Reacher"?

Herzog: Yes, but the parts I didn't like, most of it was silly.

Guerrasio: Can you reveal any?

Herzog: No, they were silly stuff. But "Jack Reacher" was easy because the function of the villain was just to spread fear and horror.

Guerrasio: You were very good at it.

Herzog: Yes, on-screen. In private I'm not. You will have to ask my wife. She maintains I'm a fluffy husband.

Guerrasio: You live in LA. I don't know if you watched any of the last debate, but has our election interested you at all?

Herzog: [Laughs] I'm not a citizen of America, I cannot vote. But it is fascinating because there's a new kind of protagonist out there that we didn't expect. By the way, I'm not in any panic at all.

Guerrasio: Would you ever want to make a documentary about this election?

Herzog: No. The elections have a different platform, the town hall is the platform for it. But the other question behind all this is should I run for president? [Laughs]

Guerrasio: Are you announcing something right now?

Herzog: No, I'm just joking. I wanted to end this on a funny note.

SEE ALSO: 29 celebrities who love and endorse Donald Trump

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13 stunning new 'Rogue One' images show off the plot secrets of the 'Star Wars' spin-off

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Along with the new trailer, Disney has released 13 new "Rogue One" images. While Darth Vader features only briefly in the new trailer (which gives me hope that the new movie won’t overuse him or lean too heavily on the famous character), we do get a thrilling glimpse of the beloved villain, and it’s in a very cool shot that’s included in one of these high-res images.

What you can also see from these images is that director Gareth Edwards has very consciously tried to give his film a different aesthetic than the "Star Wars" films in the main saga. While there is some variation between the prequels, the originals, and "The Force Awakens," they pretty much cohere together in terms of style. "Rogue One," on the other hand, clearly takes place in the "Star Wars" universe, but with a completely different approach to framing and composition. I can’t imagine any of the other "Star Wars" movies showing the Death Star the way Edwards does here, and it makes me excited to experience his vision for the "Star Wars" universe.

Check out the 13 new images from "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" below. The film opens December 16th and stars Felicity Jones, Mads Mikkelsen, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, and Forest Whitaker.

SEE ALSO: Disney just released a new trailer for its next 'Star Wars' movie







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Technology is eroding our ability to understand what's real and what's just an illusion

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The Climb

If we were to take a television back in time — to the Middle Ages, say — and show off a Blu-Ray film (our time machine has a power supply), we can imagine that those medieval viewers would have no idea how we created such a stunning illusion.

Our audience would presumably want to try to look inside the television to see if we had a small crew of theater performers creating all these scenes — provided they hadn't already burned us for the witchcraft of appearing out of nowhere.

Obviously, we have no confusion when we see an incredible scene on a television: Even when it can make us gasp or cry, we instantly know it's fiction (or a technologically reconstructed representation of reality).

But due to advances in neuroscience that filmmakers are starting to incorporate into their work and because of technologies like virtual reality, "fictional entertainment" could soon be much more capable of convincing us that it's actually real, that it simply must be. That's both wonderful and a little terrifying.

Film scholars are starting to embrace neuroscience as a way of better understanding their audience. So far, that new school of study, known as neurocinematics, is mostly helping filmmakers understand what's happening in a viewer's brain as they watch a film. In the future, that knowledge could be used to make films that are even more captivating, immersive, and convincing.

And with VR, the power that creators have to convince their audience that something is real skyrockets.

tomb raider blood ties psvr

It's been said before, but it's worth repeating: Until you've tried VR, you can't imagine how convincing it is.

The three major VR headsets — the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Playstation VR — are all out for sale now. They're far from perfect and in many ways, VR game and experience creators are still trying to figure out how to make the best use of the systems. (Journalist Chris Suellentrop has written that even comparisons to the first iPhone, implying VR will get better soon, are early — he says that for now, it's more like the first blocky carphones, that there's a long way to go.) Yet even at this imperfect point, there's still something magical that happens when your eyes tell your brain that what's happening is real even though you know it isn't.

When you try a horror experience in VR, immediately your heart starts pounding. Sure, it's not real, but everything in your brain is screaming that it is. That's the power new technology has to convince us.

"For the past 100 years, the way we have stimulated the visual system is that we have this 2D image in a fixed frame. But our visual perceptual system is tied into the movement of our heads and the movements of our eyes," says Michael Grabowski, an associate professor of communication at Manhattan College and the editor of the textbook "Neuroscience and Media: New Understandings and Representations."

When you look all around you and nothing disrupts the scene, it's hard to really be sure that it's an illusion. And that's the magic of VR.

"When you put on VR goggles and your head movements are confirming with your visual systems what you're seeing, your visual system is confirming it [too]," Grabowski says.

For now, filmmakers and game designers are still mastering the most effective techniques for storytelling with these new technologies. But as these experiences start to become more mainstream, it's going to be fascinating to watch them slowly erode our grip on what's real.

SEE ALSO: Researchers are trying to figure out how to change your brain so you can learn like a kid again

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15 things we spotted in the new 'Star Wars: Rogue One' trailer

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rogue one at atWe’re two months away from the newest Star Wars movie, Rogue One, but before we can get to see Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and her band of Rebels try to steal the plans for the Death Star we get to see the final trailer: and there are a lot of new Easter eggs and previously unseen tidbits. Here’s a shot-by-shot breakdown of everything we spotted.

Thankfully, the trailer isn’t a rehash of what came before it. It’s loaded with new tidbits that would get even the slightest Star Wars fan pumped for this don’t-call-it-a-prequel entry into the newly christened cinematic universe.

Here's what we saw.

1. Is that the planet Eadu?

It seems the Imperials have tracked Galen Erso and his family to the remote planet where they’re hiding out. This sequence will be part of the flashbacks that will feature a young Jyn and her mother Lyra (Valene Kane).

We suspected that this planet was called Eadu, but there’s no confirmation on that. It’s possible that Jyn and Cassian return to this planet later on, but this scene is obviously the flashbacks that show Krennic rounding up Galen Erso and forcing him away from his family.



2. We see Jyn in prison.

After getting torn away from her family, Jyn becomes bad news and gets thrown in Imperial prison. Based on the editing of the trailer it sort fo implies she’s in the clink on Jedha, and is busted out by the Rebels and joins them that way after being hauled off to their hidden base.



3. Obi-Wan, is that you?

Probably not. This gorgeous detail looks to be immense and destroyed ruins of a Jedi statue from the holy Force-sensitive planet of Jedha. We’re getting Lord of the Rings vibes from this one.



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