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'Beauty and the Beast' could make $1.5 billion at the box office, and it has big implications for Disney's future (DIS)

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belle beauty and beast

After earning a whopping $170 million in its domestic opening weekend, Disney's live-action "Beauty and the Beast" is shaping up to be a monster at the box office, crossing $400 million worldwide on Tuesday.

And that's spectacular news not just for Disney's immediate bottom line, but also for its big new strategic push, according to Nomura-Instinet analyst Anthony Di Clemente.

"Given its $170mn domestic opening weekend haul, we calculate that 'Beauty and the Beast' could generate a total of $1.23-1.54bn in global Box Office receipts," DiClemente wrote in a note to clients Tuesday. "This is well ahead of our prior base-case scenario, which called for the theatrical release to generate a worldwide haul of $1.09bn."

Simply put: "Beauty and the Beast" is crushing expectations.

Here's a chart that shows the change in Nomura-Instinet's estimate:

Screen Shot 2017 03 21 at 10.56.36 AM

That's good news on a few fronts for Disney.

Besides the money coming from the box office, the success of "Beauty and the Beast" will help Disney with things like licensing consumer products, and even potential long-term expansions of its theme parks, according to DiClemente.

But what is really promising for Disney investors is what it means for Disney's live-action reboot strategy. Disney has already said it will make a live-action version of "Mulan" in 2018, but if these remakes keep doing well, there's no reason to believe Disney will stop making them.

"We believe Disney’s library IP lends itself to similar live action reboots, improving the visibility of revenue growth for the Studio, a major structural advantage relative to other major studios," DiClemente wrote. He thinks Disney's string of animated hits in the 80s and 90s can be look at as an "attractive source of fairly predictable Studio revenue" in the coming years.

Nostalgia will give Disney a boost, especially relative to its competitors, if it becomes harder to get people into movie theaters.

Here's a list of titles Nomura-Instinet thinks Disney will consider:

 Screen Shot 2017 03 21 at 10.57.30 AM

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Tom Cruise has been training for an epic 'Mission: Impossible 6' sequence for a year

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mission impossible rogue nation tom cruise

We have now gotten to the point where we go to see the “Mission: Impossible” movies just to witness how Tom Cruise has topped his last death-defying stunt.

Turns out for the sixth movie in the franchise Cruise has been training for a year on a sequence in the movie that will likely dazzle us.

Skydance Media CEO David Ellison, head of the production company behind the “M:I” movies, told Collider that Cruise has been working on something that is “mind-blowing.”

“I will say after the Burj [Khalifa] we thought it was going to be impossible to top that stunt, and then Tom did the A400M for the plane,” said Ellison, referring to the stunts Cruise did in “Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol” and “Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation,” respectively. “What Tom is doing in this movie I believe will top anything that’s come before. It is absolutely unbelievable — he’s been training for a year. It is going to be, I believe, the most impressive and unbelievable thing that Tom Cruise has done in a movie, and he has been working on it since right after ‘Rogue Nation’ came out.”

When Ellison’s quote first began making the rounds Monday on the internet, many assumed he was referring to simply a stunt Cruise is working on. However, we got some clarity from “Mission: Impossible 6” director Christopher McQuarrie, who tweeted that it’s not a stunt per se but a whole sequence of the movie he’s been training for.

Cruise’s costar in the “Mission: Impossible” movies, Rebecca Ferguson, told Business Insider over the weekend while she was doing press for her upcoming movie, “Life,” that they will begin filming “M:I 6” in early April.

We’ll find out what Cruise has up his sleeve when the movie opens in theaters in July 2018.

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Darth Vader almost killed off a main character in 'Rogue One'

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darth vadar rogue one

One of the best scenes in "Rogue One" is the ending when Darth Vader gives a glimpse of how evil he is as he kills a group of Rebel fighters.

But Entertainment Weekly reveals that in one of the early scripts Vader was portrayed as even more sinister.

Speaking to "Rogue One" screenwriter Gary Whitta, who wrote the earliest versions of the script before it was passed to Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, EW discovered that in one version Vader has another encounter with Director Krennic (played by Ben Mendelsohn).

According to Whitta, in the version of the script that had a "happy ending," in which Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) make it off the tropical planet Scarif with the Death Star plans, so too does Krennic, though he's been injured by the Death Star blast that hit the planet. (Wait, a person can survive a blast from the Death Star? Hey, it never made it into the movie, so let's move on.)

“He survived the blast and they pulled him up and brought him to the Star Destroyer to report to Vader,” Whitta said. “He’s all beat up, his cape’s all torn up and stuff, and he thinks he has survived.” 

Nope. Vader, who already had to put Krennic in check earlier in the movie when the director went to Vader's castle to try to undermine Grand Moff Tarkin, is now fed up with Krennic and uses the Force to choke him to death.

“Vader kills him for his failure,” Whitta said.

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Disney is being accused of stealing the idea for 'Zootopia' from a screenwriter

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zootopia

A veteran screenwriter filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday accusing Disney of stealing his idea for the hit animated film “Zootopia.”

Gary Goldman alleges that Disney took character designs, themes, lines of dialogue, and even the name “Zootopia” from a project that he first developed in 2000. He alleges that he twice pitched the project to Disney executives, in 2000 and 2009, and was rejected. The lawsuit accuses Disney of a long history of stealing ideas from others, and contends that “Zootopia” is only the most recent example of an embedded corporate practice.

“Although The Walt Disney Company rigorously enforces its copyrights, it has developed a culture that not only accepts the unauthorized copying of others’ original material, but encourages it,” Goldman alleges. “Instead of lawfully acquiring Goldman’s work, Defendants said they were not interested in producing it and sent him on his way. Thereafter, consistent with their culture of unauthorized copying, Defendants copied Goldman’s work.”

A Disney spokesman flatly rejected the claim.

“Mr. Goldman’s lawsuit is riddled with patently false allegations,” the spokesman said. “It is an unprincipled attempt to lay claim to a successful film he didn’t create, and we will vigorously defend against it in court.”

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The original actor behind Gaston believes the 'Beauty and the Beast' villain didn't die

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Gaston beast scene Beauty and the Beast Disney

Warning: Spoilers ahead for the original and the remake of "Beauty and the Beast."

Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" produced one of the best narcissistic villains in animated movie history — Gaston. During the film's climactic final battle, Gaston stabs the Beast from behind shortly before losing balance and falling off the edge of the castles' cliff side. 

Though you probably assumed that was the end of Gaston, the actor behind his voice is less inclined to believe so. INSIDER spoke with Richard White (Gaston) and Paige O'Hara (Belle) during Disney's celebratory week of the 25th anniversary of "Beauty and the Beast."

When asked whether he thought Gaston deserved the brutal death he got, White became rather indignant. He turned to O'Hara and said, "She uses that word!"

He then turned to me, and said, "You think he died?"

O'Hara cut in, clearly familiar with White's response to this question: "He's convinced that Gaston just had a bad fall."

Gaston death skulls Beauty and the Beast

A bad fall is certainly one word for it. In the original movie, the Beast's castle sits on the edge of a cliff. This mean Gaston didn't just fall to the ground from a castle tower — he fell all the way into a deep ravine. 

"He probably got a nasty bump, may have forgotten himself for awhile, and is not quite sure who he is," White said. "We will see him again."

As the image above shows, Gaston's death was indicated by animators when a flash of skulls appear in his pupils. This deadly symbol throws a wrench into White's survival theory. 

When the topic of a potential spin-off movie arose, one which would obviously focus on an amnesiac Gaston, White simply said "I'm waiting for the call." 

In the meantime, Luke Evans took over the role of Gaston for Disney's live-action remake of "Beauty and the Beast." In surprising alignment with White's theory, Gaston's death was made even more ambiguous for the new movie.

gaston beauty and the beast

In the new version of Gaston and the Beast's fight, there was no bow and arrow used (thanks to Emma Watson's Belle getting more involved) and Gaston never stabs the Beast, either. Instead, Gaston shoots the Beast from behind three times from afar. 

He's standing on an archway outside the Beast's tower, and since the updated enchantment on the castle also effects its structural integrity, Gaston's fall comes from the archway breaking — not because he loses his balance after stabbing the Beast.

And the new castle isn't perched on a cliff side, either. So Gaston simply falls to the ground below in a pile of stone rubble. This was still a considerable distance, though, so we think the villain did die after all. It just wasn't made quite as obvious as in the original.

R.I.P. Gaston, we will miss your especially good expectorating.

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Studios are flirting with offering movies early in home for $30

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friends at movies movie theater

Six of the seven biggest Hollywood studios are continuing to push to offer movies in the home mere weeks after their theatrical debuts.

However, the companies, particularly Fox and Warner Bros., are showing greater flexibility about timing. Initially, Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara had kicked off negotiations with exhibitors by offering to cut them in on a percentage of digital revenues if they agreed to let them debut films on-demand for $50 a rental some 17 days after they opened.

Currently, most major movies are only made available to rent some 90 days after their release. Some studios offer films for sale electronically roughly 70 days after their bow in theaters.

Other studios, particularly Fox and Universal, felt that $50 was too steep a price to ask consumers to pay. They are now trying to get exhibitors to agree to a plan that would involve a lower priced premium on-demand option that was made available at a slightly later date, according to three studio insiders and two exhibition insiders.

Fox and Warner Bros., for instance, are considering making films available between 30 to 45 days after their opening, but at $30 a rental, a price they believe won’t give customers sticker shock. Universal, which is seen as being the most aggressive negotiator in these talks, would like the home entertainment debut to remain in the 20-day range.

Studios are looking for ways to shore up home entertainment revenues as DVD sales continue to slide. They also believe that their advertising can be more effective and cost efficient if a film’s home entertainment release is closer to its theatrical debut. By grouping those two things closer together, studios wouldn’t have have to launch a massive promotional campaign to reintroduce consumers to a movie months after it was on the big screen.

Then there’s the issue of shifting consumer tastes. Younger consumers, used to streaming services such as Netflix, are accustomed to being able to access content whenever and on whichever device they would like — they’re not used to having to wait months to watch something.

the force awakens millenium falcon disney finalLionsgate, Paramount, and Sony have also been talking with a group of exhibitors that includes AMC, Regal, and Cineplex. Disney is not interested in shortening the release window, the industry term for the amount of time a film runs exclusively in theaters. That’s unsurprising because Disney releases Marvel, Star Wars, and animated movies that tend to have long runs in theaters and have a size and scope that tends to work well on the big screen.

Because of anti-trust laws, the studios cannot work together to sign deals. They have to reach agreements with each participating chain on an individual basis. The talks have been going on for over a year, and are still very much in flux, insiders caution. Many issues have to be resolved before a final pact is in place.

Further complicating the picture is the fact that there are a number of different models being circulated.  Some studios, for instance, are weighing a scenario where movies could be made available for rental at a higher price as soon as they dip below a certain number of screens. The thinking is that it doesn’t make sense for a movie to stay exclusively in theaters if it isn’t being widely shown.

Universal would like all of its films to be released on premium video-on-demand early, but other players like Warner Bros. and Fox seem more amenable to having a different release pattern for different movies. In that kind model, bigger franchise films that tend to have longer runs in theaters might be held back from release on demand.

No deal is imminent. Theater owners are engaged in the talks, and they’ve spent million of dollars researching consumer behavior. They’re particularly concerned that if movies are offered to consumers too early and at too low a price they will stop showing up at the cinema.

Sony is very early in its discussions, but it would be in favor of an early on-demand debut that’s somewhat later than the one being floated by the likes of Universal and at a higher price point.

Exhibitors are firm on one point. If they agree to shrink the amount of time they have exclusive access to movies then studios must agree to keep the window for lower priced rentals and copies of movies at roughly 90 days. Those movies typically cost between $3 to $6 a rental and in the range of $20 for a disc or digital copy. Exhibitors want studios to make a pact not to try to alter the traditional home entertainment distribution model  for between five to ten years.

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The droid from 'Rogue One' almost had a much different fate

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rogue one trailer k2so and jynNeedless to say, this story will contain spoilers for Gareth Edwards' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. You should turn back now if you haven't yet seen it.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has the distinction of being one of the only Star Warsmovies -- heck, one of the only Disney movies -- where the majority of the main cast dies horribly at the end. The first standalone solo story (aka, non-Saga film) to be told by Lucasfilm, Rogue One leads into Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope. Only, it's populated by a slew of characters that we never see if A New Hope. Or Empire. Or Jedi. Why? Because they all die while stealing the plans for the Death Star on behalf of the Rebellion. Earlier this week, we learned that some of the team members almost survived. Today, I learned that K-2SO had a different outcome... one that Alan Tudyk tells me they actually filmed.

I attended a press day for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in San Francisco, where Alan Tudyk and Animation Supervisor Hal Hickel opened up about the process of bringing the droid K-2SO to life. I also asked Tudyk about putting him to death. When we interviewed Tudyk for Rogue One on the theatrical press junket, he couldn't take openly about the droid's dismal fate. That would have been a spoiler. Today, he was able to talk freely about the droid's demise, and he told me that they filmed an alternate death scene for K-2SO. The droid originally died at the hands of chief baddie Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn).

K-2SO has a heroic death in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. He is holding off numerous Stormtroopers as Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) are trying to retrieve the plans for the Death Star. It's a shocking moment, because it's one of the first significant deaths for Jyn's team, and it's an indication that all might not end so smoothly for our bang of Rebels. K-2SO takes a few blasts to the chest. He continues to communicate with Jyn and Cassian as his systems fail. Eventually, the blasts overwhelm him.

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As Alan Tudyk recalls it at the Rogue One press day, the original ending for Rogue One had Director Krennic pulling the trigger on K-2SO. And they actually filmed the scene, but Tudyk says it never felt right, and that they all thought that K-2SO deserved a more heroic finish, a more fitting demise. The battle with the Stormtroopers in the crowded and deadly corridor was conceived, and the rest is history.

We will have plenty more from our press day at ILM on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, including more from our chat with Alan Tudyk and Hal Hickel, as well as our interview with VFX Supervisor John KnollRogue One: A Star Wars Story is out on Digital HD on March 28th and will reach Blu-ray shelves on April 4th.

SEE ALSO: Darth Vader almost killed off a main character in 'Rogue One'

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How Rebecca Ferguson went from 'Mission: Impossible' scene-stealer to the star of 'Life'

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Rebecca Ferguson Pascal Le Segretain Getty final

Even if you don't know Rebecca Ferguson by name, trust us: You know her.

Though the Swedish actress has a Golden Globe nomination under her belt (for the 2014 miniseries "The White Queen"), it wasn't until her scene-stealing role as MI6 agent Ilsa Faust in 2015's "Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation" that most of the world realized she was a star in the making.

Since then Ferguson, 33, has been on a breakneck schedule: working opposite Meryl Streep in the Oscar-nominated "Florence Foster Jenkins," starring in the adaptation of the best-selling book "The Girl on the Train," and now sharing the screen with Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds in the sci-fi thriller "Life" (opening in theaters on Friday).

It's the latest smart choice by an actress who made her bones in the business modeling as a teenager and starring in a soap opera in Sweden.

In "Life," Ferguson plays Dr. Miranda North, one of a handful of astronauts/scientists on the International Space Station who have discovered life on Mars and are tasked with researching it. That is, until things go wrong and that life turns on the crew.

Moviegoers have been familiar with the alien thriller for decades, and no other movie has more perfectly executed that setup than Ridley Scott's 1979 "Alien," with Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, the hero going head-to-head with a murderous alien.

About halfway through "Life," Ferguson's soft-spoken Miranda seems like a mirror image of Ripley. But it turns out that's not the case, and Ferguson admits that's why she took the role.

"I actually turned the film down in the beginning because I thought, 'How is this not going to be compared to the Ripley character?'" Ferguson told Business Insider, hours before presenting "Life" as the closing-night film at this year's SXSW festival. "And the producer said, 'Just talk to [director] Daniel [Espinosa], let him explain,' and it was literally 10 minutes into that conversation that I was hooked. He said, 'Take the alien out of it and look at the drama between the characters and their storyline.' It's a character piece set in space where we take something from its natural habitat and we try to control it and provoke it and what we're doing is basically creating our own disaster. Which is a beautiful mirror in how we are treating ourselves on earth."

rebecca ferguson life sonyThen Ferguson joined Reynolds, Gyllenhaal, and the rest of the cast, working with dance instructors and training with wires to imitate conditions on the International Space Station.

Everything has been so fast-paced since starring in "Rogue Nation" that she admits it's tough to reflect on any of her success.

"The biggest shock is how quickly everything has gone and how lucky I've been," Ferguson said. "I never have the break, or give myself the break, to go, 'Wow, let's process that.'"

But with that commitment, she gets less time with those she loves, like her 10-year-old son.

"I'm in a situation where I can fly from one set one evening to another set and start straight away," she said. "I think for any working person no matter what field they are in, it is maintaining a structure for your family life as well. That's very, very hard. I find it to be the better and better it goes, the harder and harder it is."

Along with limited personal time, being more recognizable has also led to Ferguson getting questions that the major stars answer, like about the gender wage gap in Hollywood. In "Life," she stars alongside two of the biggest male actors alive, and she has more screen time than either. Was she paid the same amount as Gyllenhaal and Reynolds?

"It's always a sensitive topic when it comes to equal pay," she said. "It's something we struggle with, but I can say that I have a brilliant team around me and they are very much aware of how the politics work in the world. From my aspect right now, I'm pretty darn happy with the offers I get and how things are working out for me. And what I love is I don't feel like a woman on set with men. I feel one amongst everyone."

rebecca ferguson MI5Right now Ferguson is in training mode for the sixth "Mission: Impossible" movie, which she says begins shooting in early April.

"Tom and I are in hardcore training right now," she said, referring to Tom Cruise. "Tom never stops. I don't know how he does it."

She says she has no major requests in changing up the Ilsa character for the next movie.

"I'm so relaxed when it comes to my Ilsa character because [director] Chris McQuarrie did wonders, I think, with the last film," she said. "I was so happy with the way that we shot her with her independence, with her strength, with her vulnerability, with her relation to Tom's character, and I think we're all on board where we're just going to maintain her characteristic traits for this film."

 

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Here's everything leaving Netflix in April that you need to watch

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Netflix has released the batch of titles that will be removed from its streaming service in April, and it's time to say bye to some classics.

The John Hughes comedy "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," along with two romantic movies, "The Princess Bride" and "Under the Tuscan Sun," are headed out.

Here's everything that's leaving Netflix in March. We've highlighted the titles we think you should watch in bold.

SEE ALSO: 50 movies that critics really hate but normal people love

Leaving April 1

"Ally McBeal" (Seasons 1 - 5)
"Angel" (Seasons 1 – 5)
"Better Off Ted" (Season 1)
"Barbershop 2: Back in Business"
"Bones" (Seasons 1 - 4)
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (Seasons 1 - 7)
"Chaplin"
"Dollhouse" (Season 1)
"Ferris Bueller's Day Off"
"Firefly"
"House, M.D." (Seasons 1 - 8)
"Lie to Me" (Season 1)
"Menace II Society"
"Resident Evil: Extinction"
"Rosewell" (Seasons 1 - 3)
"Snow Day"
"Stomp the Yard"
"Superman II"
"Superman III"
"Superman IV: The Quest for Peace"
"Superman Returns"
"Superman: The Movie"
"The Agony and the Ecstasy"
"The Boys from Brazil"
"The Escapist"
"The Princess Bride"
"The Riches" (Seasons 1 - 2)
"The Usual Suspects"
"The X-Files" (Seasons 1 - 9)
"Vanilla Sky"



Leaving April 3

"Collateral Damage"
"The Circle"



Leaving April 7

"Legit" (Season 2)
"Wilfred" (Season 4)



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Here's everything coming to Netflix in April

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queen of katwe

April is bringing new movies and television to Netflix, including some classic films and a slew of original content.

It includes classics like "Schindler's List," comfort food like "The Great British Bake Off," and movies from late last year, like "The B.F.G" and "The Queen of Katwe."

Find the full list of new releases below. We've highlighted some of our favorites.

Available 4/1/17

nightmare elm street freddy

"A Weekend with the Family" (2016)
"A Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984)
"Across the Universe" (2007)
"An American Tail" (1986)
"An American Tail: Fievel Goes West" (1991)
"An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster" (1999)
"Boy Bye" (2016)
"Born To Be Free" (2016)

Cool Runnings Image

"Cool Runnings" (1993)
"Good Witch: Season 2" (2016)
"Gremlins" (1984)
"Only for One Night" (2016)
"Richard Pryor: Live & Smokin'" (1971)
"Scooby-Doo" (2002)
"Schindler's List" (1993)
"Something's Gotta Give" (2003)
"Thunderstruck" (2012)
"Wynonna Earp: Season 1" (2016)
"Trouble with the Curve" (2012)
"Tropic Thunder" (2008)
"The Tenth Man" (2016)

Available 4/2/17

"The D Train" (2015)

Available 4/4/17

"Chewing Gum: Season 2" NETFLIX ORIGINAL
"Louis C.K. 2017" NETFLIX ORIGINAL

Louis ck

Available 4/6/17

"Disney’s The BFG" (2016)

Available 4/7/17

"El Faro De Las Orcas" NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM
"Dawn of the Croods: Season 3" NETFLIX ORIGINAL
"The Get Down: Part 2" NETFLIX ORIGINAL
"Win It All NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM

Available 4/8/17

"Kubo and the Two Strings" (2016)

Kubo and the Two Strings

Available 4/10/17

"Documentary Now!: Season 2" (2016)

Available 4/11/17

"Kevin Hart: What Now" (2016)

Available 4/12/17

"DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: Season 2" (2016)

Available 4/14/17

"Chelsea: Season 2"NETFLIX ORIGINAL
"El Elegido" (2017)
"Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return"NETFLIX ORIGINAL
"Sandy Wexler"NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM

Available 4/15/17

"Disney’s Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey" (1993)

"Slam"NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM

Available 4/18/17

"Lucas Brothers: On Drugs"NETFLIX ORIGINAL

Available 4/19/17

"A Plastic Ocean"

Available 4/21/17

"Bill Nye Saves the World: Season 1"NETFLIX ORIGINAL
"Girlboss: Season 1" NETFLIX ORIGINAL
"Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On: Season 1"NETFLIX ORIGINAL
"Sand Castle" NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM
"Tales by Light: Season 2"NETFLIX ORIGINAL
"The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show: Season 4" NETFLIX ORIGINAL

The Prestige Buena Vista Pictures

"The Prestige" (2006)
"Tramps"NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM

Available 4/22/17

The Great British Baking Show: Masterclass: Season 1-3 (2016)
"The Secret Life of Pets" (2016)

The Secret Life of Pets Universal

Available 4/23/17

"Liv and Maddie: Season 4" (2016)
"Phantom" (2013)

Available 4/24/17

"Long Nights Short Mornings" (2016)

Available 4/25/17

"Disney’s Queen of Katwe" (2016)
"The 101-Year-Old Man Who Skipped Out on the Bill and Disappeared"NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM
"Vir Das: Abroad Understanding" NETFLIX ORIGINAL

Available 4/26/17

"Real Rescues: Season 6-7" (2012)
"Trust" (2010)

Available 4/27/17

"Las Chicas del Cable: Season 1"NETFLIX ORIGINAL

Available 4/28/17

"A Murder in the Park" (2014)
"Casting JonBenet"NETFLIX ORIGINAL

"Dear White People: Season 1" NETFLIX ORIGINAL

"Rodney King"NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM
"Small Crimes"NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM

Available 4/30/17

"Sofia the First: Season 3" (2015)

SEE ALSO: Here's everything leaving Netflix in April that you need to watch

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NOW WATCH: This animation shows how terrifyingly powerful nuclear weapons have become

Disney made a lot of changes in its new 'Beauty and the Beast' — here are 9 of the biggest

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The INSIDER Summary:

  • The 2017 live action remake of “Beauty and the Beast” has some major differences from the original animated film released in 1991.
  • The curse the Enchantress places on the Prince in the new film is more extreme in its treatment of the Beast’s servants and the surrounding village. It also blankets the castle in a perpetual winter.
  • The film’s main villain, Gaston is less brash and more likeable due to a new backstory. His sidekick, LeFou, is wittier and more well rounded than the original character.

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SEE ALSO: The 18 worst new TV shows of the year so far, according to critics

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Here's how 'Power Rangers' costumes have evolved over the past 20 years

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"Power Rangers" has been on television for a quarter of a century. But at the beginning, it was far from an assured hit. Haim Sabanspent eight years shopping the idea around about a group of teens who get superpowers from a mighty wizard to battle monsters from outer space.

The show eventually premiered in August 1993 and became a sensation. Between advertisements and toys, "Power Rangers"made more than $1 billion per year in the 1990s.

The show recycles some footage from a similar Japanese show called "Super Sentai." One of the hallmarks of "Sentai" is that each season — with a few exceptions — has new characters, new stories, and new costumes. That tradition has carried over to the rangers.

The costumes have become somewhat iconic. With their shiny spandex, bold colors, and thematic designs, they represent an earnest dedication to what are, by all means, absurd and incomprehensible storylines. With the new big-screen "Power Rangers" movie coming out, it's time to take a look at how "Power Rangers" fashion has evolved over the years.

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The costumes in "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" (1993–1996) are the most recognizable.

The colors are bold and bright, accented in white with diamond patterns everywhere. And the helmets look like a cross between futuristic motorcycle helmets and gigantic insect heads.



They were tweaked a little in "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie" (1995).

The cast also changed a little for the show's first movie, and the costumes look more rubbery.



"Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers" (1996) went more minimalist.

In the next installment of the story, Zordon — the wise intergalactic sage who taught the Power Rangers the secrets of being Power Rangers— recruited a few alien rangers to help beat the bad guys. Their costumes are more minimalist and uniform. The patterns are simply stripes, and the costumes are mostly a solid color with a gold belt.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

A 'Star Wars' fan spliced the end of 'Rogue One' with the beginning of 'A New Hope'

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rogue one a new hope

It was bound to happen sooner or later.

With the final moments of the latest "Star Wars" movie, "Rogue One," taking place just before the events of the first movie in the original trilogy, "A New Hope," someone was going to splice the two.

And the circle is now complete.

Barre Fong posted a nine-minute video on Vimeo that connects the two movies.

It begins when the plans from the Death Star are uploaded from the planet Scarif to a rebel ship. Darth Vader then attempts to retrieve it by killing countless rebel fighters, but he does not succeed, as the plans fly away on Princess Leia's ship.

The "Rogue One" footage ends with Leia's ship speeding off. That then cuts to the start of the "A New Hope" footage, where we find her ship under attack by Vader's Star Destroyer.

Vader boards the ship, and the rest is history.

Watch it below:

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'Deadpool 2' may have found its Cable, and he's perfect

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michael shannon man of steelDeadpool fans are looking forward to the Merc with the Mouth returning soon to lead another solo movie, but there's arguably almost s much excitement for that next cinematic adventure to finally introduce Cable to the X-Men movie franchise. Ever since Wade Wilson teased bringing Cable into the sequel during the Ferris Bueller-inspired "Deadpool" post-credits scene, there's been no shortage of rumors and reports about who may play the bulky, badass mutant. With production on "Dead pool 2" beginning soon, we're closer than ever to finding out which actor will play Cable, and now there's word that Michael Shannon is the current frontrunner for the role.

Michael Shannon is reportedly at the top of 20th Century Fox's list on who they're eyeing to play Cable in "Deadpool 2." However, THR clarified that Shannon isn't quite a shoe-in for the role yet, as there are a few other choices for the character still in the mix, like "Stranger Things'" David Harbour. The article also notes that one factor that could prevent Shannon from joining "Deadpool 2" is that he just signed on for the movie "What They Had," which starts shooting in the spring. If Shannon were to be cast as Cable, this would be his third comic book movie role, previously playing Dr. Cross Williams in"Jonah Hexand General Zod in "Man of Steel."

Aside from the projects mentioned above, Michael Shannon's notable credits include his regular role on HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" as Nelson Van Alden, "Revolutionary Road," "World Trade Center," "The Iceman," "99 Homes," "Loving," "Midnight Special" and "Nocturnal Animals" to name a few. Looking over his resume, Shannon has a history of playing intense characters, so Cable would be an excellent fit for him. Although Cable usually fits firmly into the hero category, he's also someone who carries a lot on his shoulders thanks to his rough upbringing in the future and the tragedy he's witnessed over the years. Shannon would be able to handle Cable's personality well, being the straight man to Deadpool's wacky protagonist. Besides, surely there are a lot of you curious to see Michael Shannon ripped and with a cybernetic arm, right?

No plot details for "Deadpool 2" have been released yet, but aside from Cable, the other major character being introduced is Domino, who will be played by "Atlanta's" Zadie Beetz. Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Colossus and Dopinder the cab driver are also confirmed to return for the sequel. John Wick's David Leitch has taken over the director's chair from Tim Miller, while Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick working with Ryan Reynolds and Drew Goddard on the script.

"Deadpool 2" is slated to hit theaters sometime in 2018. Let us know what you think about Michael Shannon potentially playing Cable in the comments below.

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This app lets you instantly turn your DVD collection into your own personal Netflix for $2 per title

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Lord of the Rings

If, like me, your DVD collection is languishing unwatched because you don’t have a DVD player or a disc drive on your laptop, Walmart’s Vudu has a solution.

On Thursday, Vudu announced that its app will now let you create your own personal Netflix, instantly, for $2 per title (with the first movie free).

The main purpose of Vudu is to let you rent or buy movies digitally on “smart” devices — TV, smartphone, tablet, and so on. But now you’ll be able to use your smartphone to “convert” your DVDs by scanning the barcode, which will unlock the ability to watch that title on the Vudu app (as if you had bought the title straight from Vudu). For $2 you’ll get access to that particular movie on all your devices, forever, through the Vudu app. You can also upgrade the quality — let's say from DVD to HDX — for $5 per title.

This service mimics Vudu’s original disc-to-digital service, which functions similarly but requires you insert the DVD into your computer, instead of using your phone.

There are a few catches to this new feature, however. First, there’s the two-dollar fee, which is a bit steep for something you already own. Second, it only works with about 8,000 titles so far, though Vudu GM Jeremy Verba said they are looking to expand to more, and the Vudu service itself has over 100,000.

Here’s how Vudu characterizes the breadth of titles available:

"Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and the Bourne series, as well as classics like Top Gun and The Godfather. Fans can also convert comedies like The Hangover and Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Animated family favorites like Kung Fu Panda and The Lorax, and romance movies like The Notebook are also available."

“The average movie collector owns nearly 100 DVDs and Blu-ray,” Verba told Business Insider. Vudu says it focused on getting classic titles people are likely to have on DVD.

Personally, I have about 70 DVDs that are sitting in a box unused and didn’t make the move to New York with me. At $2 per title, I don’t want to convert all of them, but there are definitely a dozen I’d like to make sure I could watch from time to time — take ”Lord of the Rings,” for example.

Check out the Vudu app here.

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2 neuroscientists came up with a new way to predict whether a movie will be a box office hit

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beauty and the beast

Forget focus groups: Looking at the brainwaves of people watching movie trailers can give “surprisingly accurate” information about how well it will do at the box office, according to a new study from Northwestern.

At the center of the study is a new technique developed by two Northwestern neuroscientists that monitors people’s brainwaves to measure their “level of engagement” with an advertisement.

“It turns out, when our brains are truly engaged with the content we are watching, they essentially look the same as one another,” Sam Barnett, a Ph.D. researcher, told Northwestern Now. So if you measure the similarity between test subjects, you can tell when their brains are engaged, and the study of 122 moviegoers found this correlates with higher ticket sales.

The researchers claim that their method can predict ticket sales with 20% higher accuracy than focus groups. One potential reason is because it can eliminate recall bias.

“People are probably going to remember a trailer for movies like ‘X-Men’ or ‘Spiderman’ best because they are already familiar with the characters,” Barnett said. “But with our method, we are not only testing their memory, but also how engaged they feel with the content of the advertisement as it’s playing.”

According to the researchers, this method could be used not only to help predict ticket sales, but also to workshop trailer cuts to maximize the chance of the movie doing well.

Read more about the study over at Northwestern Now.

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There was an even more insane ending planned for 'Rogue One' we want to see

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This week "Star Wars" fans got a lot of insight on the story evolution of "Rogue One" (which hits digital download Friday and Blu-ray April 4). We've learned about everything from a version that had a happy ending to another in which Darth Vader killed Director Krennic.

But this latest story may top them all.

i09 talked to screenwriter John Knoll, who is also the senior visual effects supervisor for Industrial Light & Magic, and got him to open up about one of the endings he came up with in the early development of the script. And we really hope that perhaps this will be used in a future film, because it's very cool.

Knoll explains that in one version, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) was a spy planted by the Empire into the Rebellion. But once he learns that the Death Star is not propaganda but is real and meant for genocide, he switches sides to help the Rebels destroy it. 

Here's how the rest of this crazy version goes:

At the end of the movie, Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and Cassian have the Death Star plans and are being chased through the galaxy by Darth Vader's Star Destroyer. They get word that Princess Leia's ship is nearby and transmit the Death Star plans to her ship since Jyn and Cassian don't think their ship will survive the damage from Vader.

But then Cassian has an idea.

"They’ve got a carbon freeze bomb on the ship and the idea is that he forces everyone into the airlock, [he says] 'I’m going to set this off and you’re all going to survive,'" Knoll said. "He sort of times it with one of the hits from Vader’s ship so he blows up the ship and sets off this carbon freeze bomb and everyone is frozen. Then on Vader’s ship they detect no life signs and they think everyone’s dead. And they’re like, 'Where’s that ship the plans were transmitted to?' And they go. So I was going to leave our heroes out of the picture. It’s why they don’t show up in 'Empire' or 'Jedi' — they’re stuck in [carbon freeze]."

Now that's an ending! Obviously, as the "Rogue One" story got tweaked, that ending was scrapped. But hopefully we get to see a carbon-freeze bomb one day.

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Here's what the cast of 'Power Rangers' looks like in real life

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The new "Power Rangers" movie looks wild.

The adaptation takes the zany plot of the beloved children's show — about a bunch of teenagers who get superpowers and have to fight evil alien monsters —  and gives it a huge budget. In addition to five relatively unknown actors as the Power Rangers, clad in shiny, candy-colored costumes, the movie features Bryan Cranston and Elizabeth Banks as intergalactic, super-powered aliens who are millions of years old.

Scroll through to see what the actors look like in real life compared to what they look like in the movie.

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Bryan Cranston plays Zordon, a god-like being who has been around for millions of years and mentors the Power Rangers. He himself was the original Red Ranger.



Cranston, most famous for playing Walter White in "Breaking Bad," has six Emmys and an Oscar nomination.

Source: IMDb



Dacre Montgomery plays Jason Scott, the present-day Red Ranger, who is the leader of the Power Rangers.



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Hollywood mogul Brett Ratner: What's really killing the movie business

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Review-aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes has become the go-to for discerning moviegoers when they need to decide if it's worth dishing out their hard-earned cash on the latest cineplex offerings.

But director/producer Brett Ratner (the man behind the "Rush Hour" franchise) isn't a fan of the site, to put it lightly.

“The worst thing that we have in today’s movie culture is Rotten Tomatoes,” Ratner said while speaking at the Sun Valley Film Festival this past weekend.

Ratner's company RatPac Entertainment cofinanced "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (and countless other big-budget movies), and as he makes clear, he's still feeling the sting of the critical backlash against that superhero blockbuster, despite its massive box-office gross (it currently sits at a rotten 27%).

“I think it’s the destruction of our business. I have such respect and admiration for film criticism," Ratner said. "When I was growing up film criticism was a real art. And there was intellect that went into that. And you would read Pauline’s Kael’s reviews, or some others, and that doesn’t exist anymore. Now it’s about a number. A compounded number of how many positives vs. negatives. Now it’s about, ‘What’s your Rotten Tomatoes score?’ And that’s sad, because the Rotten Tomatoes score was so low on 'Batman v Superman' I think it put a cloud over a movie that was incredibly successful.”

Rotten Tomatoes has become such a resource for audiences that if a movie has a high rating on the site, it's often used in promotion for the film.

batman v supermanRatner has never received much love from the site's scores for the movies he's directed (his highest as a director was 69% for 2002's "Red Dragon"). And the stigma of a rotten score for a film like "Batman v Superman" is a concern to Ratner.

“People don’t realize what goes into making a movie like that,” Ratner said. “It’s mind-blowing. It’s just insane, it’s hurting the business, it’s getting people to not see a movie. In Middle America it’s, ‘Oh, it’s a low Rotten Tomatoes score so I’m not going to go see it because it must suck.’ But that number is an aggregate and one that nobody can figure out exactly what it means, and it’s not always correct. I’ve seen some great movies with really abysmal Rotten Tomatoes scores. What’s sad is film criticism has disappeared. It’s really sad.”

Entertainment Weekly got Rotten Tomatoes' reaction to Ratner's comments:

“At Rotten Tomatoes, we completely agree that film criticism is valuable and important, and we’re making it easier than it has ever been for fans to access potentially hundreds of professional reviews for a given film or TV show in one place. The Tomatometer score, which is the percentage of positive reviews published by professional critics, has become a useful decision-making tool for fans, but we believe it’s just a starting point for them to begin discussing, debating, and sharing their own opinions.”

SEE ALSO: A "Star Wars" fan spliced the end of "Rogue One" with the beginning of "A New Hope"

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The new sci-fi thriller 'Life' is a cult classic in the making

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Life Sony final

At first glance, the latest sci-fi movie coming to the multiplex, "Life" (opening March 24), looks like a thriller with the same kind of "in space no one can hear you scream" DNA that made the first "Alien" movie back in 1979 a cultural phenomenon. And you would be right.

"Life" is not the first movie in the past 30-plus years set in space that wants to scare the heck out of you. And basing the scares around a creepy organism that we gullible humans find on another planet is tried-and-true. But there are little tweaks to the formula that director Daniel Espinosa and screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (of "Deadpool" fame) do that makes this particular movie very fun to experience.

What I respect a lot about this movie is, for a big budget blockbuster from a major studio such as Sony, it doesn't look to cater to all audiences. That's evident in its opening, which is a single shot that goes on for around five minutes or so — a very ambitious move.

But Espinosa does this to cleverly kill two birds with one stone: the single shot gives us the layout of the international space station, where we will be spending most of our time throughout the movie; and also shows a major moment in the movie, the crew retrieving a probe back from Mars with a sample from the planet.

We find out that the sample is the first proof of life on Mars.

Life 2 Sony finalThen we’re given the usual beats of the space thriller: getting to know the crew, including the wise ass Rory Adams (Ryan Reynolds); the person in charge of the mission's risk management, Miranda Bragg (Rebecca Ferguson); Hugh Derry (Ariyon Bakare), who will be doing the experimenting on the Mars life form, and Dr. David Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal), who has recently broken the record for most time in space.

Jokes are constant and we’re shown that back down on Earth, where everyone is celebrating the news of the discovery on Mars, a school has been rewarded with the honor of naming the Martian — calling it Calvin.

But, as you would imagine (or if you've seen the trailer), something goes terribly wrong. Calvin turns out not to be the cute little thing it first looked to be and soon is crawling throughout the ship looking to kill the whole crew.

Oh, and it's growing in size, by the way.

From then on, the jump scares are constant, as well as homages to "Alien" (even Calvin having a tracking device on it so the crew knows where it is on the ship and Ferguson doing voice over diary logs a la Sigourney Weaver's Ripley character).

Life 3 Sony finalAnd I would be the first to say that this is a total rip-off of "Alien" if it weren't for the last five minutes of the movie, which makes the entire film worth the watch. I'm not going to give it away — all I'll say is Ferguson is certainly not this movie's Ripley and the story turns out to be nothing like "Alien."

"Life" is the perfect buy-the-ticket-take-the-ride Saturday night movie. If you’re looking to cuddle up and squeeze your partner’s arm for 100 minutes, this is for you. It’s a thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time and has an ending you will never see coming.

But if Sony is smart it will make this movie a one-and-done.

If it's not made into a franchise, I could see “Life” becoming a cult classic. With a disregard to pander to its audience (and the huge movie stars that inhabit it), “Life” has the potential of building a loyal fan base, and if Sony goes long tail with this, I would not be shocked if the next generation of movie lovers see this as a landmark title in the sci-fi genre.

In the meantime, just ignore everyone who calls it an “Alien” rip-off.

 

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