Author: Trafficblast

Yet another classic board game is being turned into a movie, as Hunger Games studio Lionsgate is making a Monopoly film, and now we’ve learned who will star in it.

Actor and comedian Kevin Hart, who has made headlines recently for his past tweets that got him fired as the newest Oscars host, will star in a live-action version of the board game that destroys relationships and family bonds.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film has been in the works for more than a decade already, and it’s been through what’s described as a “hellish development process.” The latest script is said to involve a woman and her young son who go back in time to thwart a corrupt businessman. Whether or not that’s still the story for this newest version with Hart is unclear.

When the movie was officially announced in 2015, Lionsgate released a synopsis that is either the best or the worst depending on your attitude. Here it is:

“The story centers on a boy from Baltic Avenue who uses both Chance and Community in a quest to make his fortune, taking him on a fun, adventure-filled journey. It’s about making your own luck, what makes you truly rich and, of course, avoiding Jail time!”

It was previously announced that Andrew Niccol, who picked up an Academy Award nomination for The Truman Show, would write the screenplay for the Monopoly movie, but it’s not clear if he remains attached. According to a press release, the movie will be a “big, crowd-pleasing event film.”

Lionsgate goes on to say that the Monopoly movie will be “a film for all ages, visually sumptuous, heartwarming, and full of action and adventure.”

Monopoly is just the latest board game to be spun into a movie. The Peter Berg-directed Battleship movie starring Alexander Skarsgard, Rihanna, Liam Neeson, and Taylor Kitsch, was released in 2012. Before that, there were films based on Dungeons & Dragons, Ouija, and Clue. Looking ahead, movies based on Tetris and Catan are in the works.

As for Hart, one of his next big movies is the sequel to Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which is also based on a board game.

Typically, Netflix doesn’t release viewership figures, but as part of the company’s earnings report today, the streamer revealed key datapoints for some of its biggest TV shows and movies. The network announced that the drama You, starring Penn Badgley and Elizabeth Lail, is tracking to be watched in 40 million households over its first four weeks.

Meanwhile, the British comedy/drama Sex Education, starring Gillian Anderson and released on January 11, is expected to reach the same viewership figure within its first month. Netflix also announced that the Spanish show Elite was seen in more than 20 million homes globally after its first four weeks.

One of Netflix’s biggest hits recently, meanwhile, was the Sandra Bullock horror film Bird Box. It was astonishingly popular, tracking to be watched by 80 million users over time, according to Deadline. All of these figures are likely well below the number of people who end up watching the programs, as people often watch movies and TV shows on Netflix together.

Anyone who watches at least 70 percent of a single episode of a series or a movie is counted as a “viewer” according to Netflix, which is surely inflating these figures.

Netflix had another strong quarter for the three final months of 2018, as the network announced revenue of $4.19 billion for the period; that’s up 27 percent year-over-year. Additionally, Netflix added 8.84 million subscribers during the period, increasing the total number of paying members to 139 million globally.

In recent news, Netflix announced yet another subscription fee price hike for all tiers. For more on Netflix, here’s everything coming to and leaving the service in January (US only).

The expanded universe of Blizzard’s classic sci-fi strategy franchise StarCraft is about to get a bit bigger next week with the release of StarCraft: Soldiers #1, the latest comic to enter the alien-fighting canon by writers Jody Houser (Stranger Things, Star Wars) and Andrew R. Robinson (Blizzard Entertainment, Overwatch) with artist Miguel Sepulveda. GameSpot has an exclusive preview of the first six pages for you, right here, right now.

Soldiers will follow the newly graduated Lieutenant Shivani Singh as she early fights to prove herself on the Dominion’s front lines–all while learning some hard (and potentially fatal) lessons about the realities of zerg space that her time at the academy didn’t quite prepare her for.

This will be Dark Horse Comics’ second entry into the StarCraft pantheon following the StarCraft: Scavengers, a four-issue series released last year following a group of terrans attempting to–surprise!–scavenge supplies out of a derelict Protoss starship. Soldiers will be independent from Scavengers’ in terms of plot, so no need to worry about prerequisite reading before you pick up issue #1 next week. If, however, you’re a StarCraft fan looking for even more expanded universe lore, working your way back through Scavengers certainly wouldn’t hurt.

StarCraft: Soldiers #1 hits shelves on January 23rd everywhere comics are sold.

NetherRealm gave fans a much closer look at its upcoming fighting game, Mortal Kombat 11, during its big livestream event. The developer showed off a load of brutal gameplay footage and revealed a handful of familiar characters who’ll be returning in the game, as well as one entirely new one: Geras.

Described as the “powerful and loyal servant” of Kronika, the Keeper of Time and the first female boss in the Mortal Kombat series, Geras looks like a powerhouse of a character. As you can see in his character trailer above, Geras is able to conjure up objects made of sand, such as a bed of spikes that he can slam his foes onto. He also has the ability to manipulate time, which he can use to freeze foes in place.

Geras is one of eight fighters who have been confirmed for Mortal Kombat 11 thus far. In addition to Scorpion and Raiden, who were both revealed during The Game Awards this past December, we got our first look at Baraka, Sub-Zero, and Sonya Blade, who this time is being voiced by Ronda Rousey. NetherRealm also confirmed that Skarlet, the DLC character from Mortal Kombat 9, is set to return.

In addition to the characters, NetherRealm shared some details about Mortal Kombat 11’s story, which takes place after the events of 2015’s Mortal Kombat X. The developer also demonstrated some of the gruesome new fatalities in the game.

Mortal Kombat 11 is in development for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch. The game is slated to launch on April 23, and those who pre-order it will get a bonus character: Shao Kahn. Reserving the game for either PS4 and Xbox One will also get you access to an upcoming beta, which is scheduled to take place on March 28.