Celine Dion Will Sing New Original Song “How Does A Moment Last Forever” For “Beauty And The Beast” Soundtrack

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Five-time GRAMMY® winning and best-selling recording artist Celine Dion will perform an all-new original song, “How Does A Moment Last Forever,” for Disney’s live-action “Beauty and the Beast.” The song will also be included on the film’s soundtrack. 

Written by eight-time Oscar®-winning composer Alan Menken (“The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin”) and veteran lyricist and three-time Oscar winner Tim Rice (“The Lion King,” “Evita”), “How Does A Moment Last Forever” is an emotional ballad about holding onto life’s precious moments. Portions of the song are performed throughout the film and interpolated into the underscore before Dion’s full-length version debuts in the film’s custom main-on-end title design.

Says Dion, “Being a part of the original ‘Beauty and the Beast’ was such a magical experience in my life, and I’m truly honored to be a part of this film again.”  

President of Music for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Production, Mitchell Leib, approached the artist on behalf of the project with the idea of recording one of the three new songs written for the film. “Celine was the unanimous choice of the filmmakers and studio to perform this song,” says Leib, “And everyone involved with the film is thrilled she agreed to be part of this new live-action adaptation.” 

Dion originally performed the duet “Beauty and the Beast” – featuring Menken’s haunting melody and two-time Oscar-winner Howard Ashman’s unforgettable lyrics – with Peabo Bryson for the animated film. The song became an instant classic and went on to receive an Academy Award®, Golden Globe® and three GRAMMY Awards.

Menken also provides the film score along with new recordings of the classic songs from the animated film written by himself and Ashman. The original motion picture soundtrack will be released by Walt Disney Records on March 10, 2017. The pre-order is available now at http://disneymusic.co/BeautySndtrkP.

The Deluxe Edition Soundtrack:

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“Star Wars: Episode VIII” Is Officially Titled “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”

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Lucasfilm has released the official title for Episode VIII and it is called “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”.

From StarWars.com:

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The Official Title for Star Wars: Episode VIII Revealed

Announcing the name of the next film in the Skywalker saga.

We have the greatest fans in this or any other galaxy. In appreciation of the fans, we wanted them to be the first to know the title of the next chapter in the Skywalker saga: STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI.

THE LAST JEDI is written and directed by Rian Johnson and produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman and executive produced by J.J. Abrams, Jason McGatlin, and Tom Karnowski.

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI is scheduled for release December 15, 2017. 

 

Source: StarWars.com

BREAKING: Disney Infinity Team Reformed to Make ‘Cars 3’ Game

Rejoice, Disney Infinity fans! Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has just announced that they have acquired and re-opened Avalanche Software, the studio behind the canceled Disney Infinity series.

The studio will open back up and retain the name Avalanche Software. John Blackburn will resume his position as studio head, with some members of the old team expected to return. Now under control of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Avalanche will be developing a Cars 3 game for the upcoming Disney Pixar movie under the same name.

Warner Bros. has also gotten the rights to the Octane engine, which Avalanche created specifically for developing the Disney Infinity series. Cars 3 is being developed with this engine, so hopefully Disney Infinity fans will find certain aspects of the game to look and feel similar.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president David Haddad released the following statement,

It is a tremendous pleasure to welcome Avalanche Software into our development stable, and we look forward to working with our new team, Pixar Animation Studios, and DCPI to create ‘Cars 3’ based on the upcoming film and hugely popular franchise. The Avalanche talent and technology are a great addition to our group of outstanding developers, and we are excited for this ‘Cars 3’ game as well as all of the future games the team will create under John’s leadership.

Obviously Avalanche Software has experience with the cars franchise, as Disney Infinity 1.0 included both Cars figures, as well as a Cars 2 Play Set.

Warer Bros. also has previous experience with Disney properties, most recent being the LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens game released last Summer.

No word on when exactly in 2017 the new Cars 3 game will be released, but players can look forward to the return of Avalanche Software, and hopefully a long and healthy partnership between Warner Bros. and The Walt Disney Company.

Marvel Teams up With Square Enix for Multi-Game Deal Including New ‘Avengers Project’

Yesterday, Marvel and major video game publisher Square Enix announced a multi-game licensing and publishing partnership agreement.

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The first game to come from the new partnership will be an Avengers game, currently codenamed “Avengers Project”. The game is being developed by Crystal Dynamics (best known for the recent reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise) as well as Edios-Montréal (best known for the Deus Ex series).

Unfortunately, we won’t hear more about the Avengers game, or any other new projects until 2018, but here is a teaser in the meantime.

http://https://youtu.be/rq_V6WHSmQs

Below is a quote from Jay Ong, senior vice president of of games and entertainment at Marvel:

By partnering with Crystal Dynamics and Eidos-Montréal, we are now working with two of the industry’s most talented and respected game development studios to bring Marvel stories to life in ways our fans have never experienced. The Avengers project is a perfect example of how Marvel is making games a key part of the landscape for Marvel storytelling, alongside comics, television and film. We can only do this by matching our greatest Super Heroes with the world’s top developers, such as the creative minds at Square Enix.

With this announcement, as well as the recent announcements of Insomniac’s Spider-Man game and Telltale’s Guardians of the Galaxy game, it is clear that Marvel is really trusting well-known highly esteemed publishers and developers with their biggest franchises. Hopefully this will all culminate in some of the best super hero video games ever released.

‘Moana Island Life’ Out Now in United States

Moana Island Life has finally released in the States for iOS, Android, and Amazon devices.

This free-to-play kingdom builder game allows players to explore Oceania through voyaging, creating villages, harvesting crops, and completing quests for local villagers.

Below is a launch trailer for the game.

http://https://youtu.be/q29oq4NqRf8

We originally reported on the game, back in September when it was soft launched on the Canadian App Store. Nearly five months after the game’s release in Canada, and two months after the movie’s theater debut, we finally have the game available here in the States.

As mentioned above, the game is free-to-play, so expect in-game purchases. Here are some screenshots of the game to get a better look.

Video: Beautiful Motion Posters And Individual Character Posters Released For “Beauty And The Beast”

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These motion posters are really something else! And check out these new character posters, including our first look at Dan Stevens as Prince Adam, in amazing high quality images.

Disney has given us our first look at these new character posters, as well as the motion posters for Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” the live-action adaptation of the studio’s animated classic, which include: Emma Watson as Belle, Dan Stevens as the Beast, Dan Stevens as the Prince, Luke Evans as Gaston, Kevin Kline as Maurice, Josh Gad as LeFou, Ewan McGregor as Lumière, Stanley Tucci as Cadenza, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette, Audra McDonald as Garderobe, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth and Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts. 

Character Posters

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Josh Groban Will Perform A New Original Song, “Evermore” For “Beauty And The Beast”

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ACCLAIMED SINGER/SONGWRITER JOSH GROBAN

TO RELEASE ORIGINAL SONG “EVERMORE”

FROM DISNEY’S “BEAUTY AND THE BEAST” SOUNDTRACK

Multi-platinum international recording artist and songwriter Josh Groban has recorded an all-new original song, “Evermore,” for Disney’s live-action “Beauty and the Beast.” The song will appear in the film’s end credits as well as the soundtrack. 

“Evermore,” a soaring ballad performed in the film by the Beast (Dan Stevens) after he releases Belle (Emma Watson) to be with her father, is written by eight-time Oscar®-winning composer Alan Menken (“The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin”) and veteran lyricist and three-time Oscar winner Tim Rice (“The Lion King,” “Evita”). Menken also provides the film score, as well as new recordings of the classic songs from the animated film written by himself and Ashman. The original motion picture soundtrack will be released by Walt Disney Records on March 10, 2017. The pre-order is available now at http://disneymusic.co/BeautySndtrkP. 

Says Groban, “I am honored to sing this beautiful new song by two of my absolute favorites, Alan Menken and Tim Rice. ‘Beauty and the Beast’ has been with me since my childhood and to have a musical connection to this new film makes me so happy.”

Mitchell Leib, president of music for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Production, helped to bring Groban into the musical mix for the film. “Alan Menken, director Bill Condon and I were talking about which contemporary recording artist could even sing such a demanding song, let alone succeed with it. Josh stood alone,” says Leib. “His voice is a natural fit for this showstopper of a composition.” 

Possessing one of the most outstanding and instantly recognizable voices in music, singer, songwriter, and actor Josh Groban has entertained fans across the globe with his multi-platinum albums and DVDs (over 30 million sold worldwide), electrifying live performances, and comedic film and television appearances. The 35-year-old Los Angeles native is the only artist who has had two albums on the Top 20 Best-Selling Albums list of the past decade, according to Billboard. He has appeared in the feature films “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” “The Hollars,” “Coffee Town” and “Muppets Most Wanted,” as well as on NBC’s “The Office,” FX’s “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and CBS’ “The Crazy Ones.”  

Groban has released seven studio albums, his 2001 self-titled 5x-platinum debut, 2003’s 6x-platinum “Closer,” 2006’s double-platinum “Awake,” 2007’s 6x platinum GRAMMY-nominated “Noel,” 2010’s gold-certified “Illuminations” and 2013’s gold-certified “All That Echoes,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, giving Groban his first No. 1 debut and third chart-topper. Groban earned GRAMMY Award® nominations for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for his 2015 album “Stages,” a collection of some of the greatest songs from musical theater and 2016’s “Stages Live,” which featured performances recorded at the historic Los Angeles Theater for his all-new PBS special “Josh Groban: Stages Live.” 

Over the summer, he embarked on an extensive North American tour to support “Stages,” entitled “Josh Groban: On Stage.” Also in 2016, Groban made his Broadway debut starring in the new musical “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812,” which opened to glowing reviews. The production has just announced a six-month extension to its run, carrying the show into summer. An active arts education philanthropist and advocate, Groban is a member of Americans for the Arts Artists Committee and Groban’s Find Your Light Foundation helps enrich the lives of young people through arts, education, and cultural awareness. 

1/29/17 Marvel News Mash-Up (Black Panther, Logan, Ultron, Etc.)

 

Marvel Begins Production Of “Black Panther”

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Marvel has released the following press release announcing the production, synopsis and full cast of “Black Panther”:

Marvel Studios announced today that production has begun on “Black Panther,” starring Chadwick Boseman (“Captain America: Civil War,”  “Get on Up”), Michael B. Jordan (“Creed,” “Fruitvale Station”), Academy Award® winner Lupita Nyong’o (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “12 Years a Slave”), Danai Gurira (“The Walking Dead,” upcoming “All Eyez on Me”), Martin Freeman (“Hobbit” trilogy, “Sherlock”), Daniel Kaluuya (upcoming “Get Out,” “Sicario”),  with Academy Award® nominee Angela Bassett (“American Horror Story,” “London Has Fallen”), with Academy Award® winner Forest Whitaker (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” Lee Daniels’ “The Butler”), and Andy Serkis (“Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”). 

Additional cast members include Letitia Wright (“Urban Hymn,” “Glasgow Girls”), Winston Duke (“Person of Interest, “Modern Family”), Florence Kasumba (“Captain America: Civil War,” “Emerald City”), Sterling K. Brown (“Whiskey Tango Foxtrot,” “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”) and John Kani (“Captain America: Civil War,” “Coriolanus”). 

Ryan Coogler (“Creed,” “Fruitvale Station”) directs Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” from a screenplay he co-wrote with Joe Robert Cole (“The People v. O.J. Simpson:  American Crime Story”).  The film, which opens in U.S. theaters on February 16, 2018, will be shot in Atlanta and South Korea.   

“Black Panther” follows T’Challa who, after the events of “Captain America: Civil War,” returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to take his place as King. However, when an old enemy reappears on the radar, T’Challa’s mettle as King and Black Panther is tested when he is drawn into a conflict that puts the entire fate of Wakanda and the world at risk.  

Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” is produced by Kevin Feige with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Nate Moore, Jeffrey Chernov and Stan Lee serving as executive producers. 

Coogler’s creative brain trust includes his frequent collaborators: director of photography Rachel Morrison, A.S.C. (“Dope,” “Fruitvale Station”), production designer Hannah Beachler (“Creed,” “Fruitvale Station”), editors Claudia Castello (“Creed,” “Fruitvale Station”) and Michael P. Shawver (“Creed,” “Fruitvale Station”); along with costume designer Ruth E. Carter (“Selma,” Lee Daniels’ “The Butler”), visuals effects supervisor Geoffrey Baumann (“Doctor Strange,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron”), Academy Award®- winning makeup designer Joel Harlow (“Star Trek Beyond,” “Black Mass”) and seven-time Academy Award® nominee, special effects supervisor Dan Sudick (“Captain America: Civil War,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”).  

Based on the Marvel comic character that first appeared in “Fantastic Four Vol. 1” Issue 52, published in 1966, “Black Panther” joins Marvel Studios’ slate of releases  in its Phase 3 commitment to introduce film audiences to new heroes and continue the adventures of fan favorites over the course of four years and nine films.

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A few interesting things here is that Andy Serkis and Martin Freeman are returning to the MCU. Andy Serkis played Ulysses Klaw in “Avengers: Age Of Ultron” who had a history of stealing the valuable vibranium from Wakanda. He provided Ultron with enough vibranium in order to upgrade his armor with hopes of defeating the Avengers. Ultron turned against  Klaw and ripped his arm off. In the Black Panther comic books, Klaw has always been a villain to Wakanda and The Black Panther and more than likely he will be the main antagonist in the movie.

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This was a bit of a surprise that Martin Freeman is returning as Everett Ross. The character was first introduced in “Captain America: Civil War” as part of the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre and was part of the interrogation of both The Winter Soldier and Zemo. In the Black Panther comic books, Ross is an expert on all things Wakanda.

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Although this press release announced the full cast I would not be surprised to see some guest appearances. When we last saw Bucky in Civil War, he was in Wakanda being put into cryosleep until Wakand scientests could find a way to remove his Hydra programing. He was also missing his cybernetic arm that was made of Wakanda’s vibranium. I fully expect that we will see Bucky awaken and emerge as the new Winter Soldier, along with a newly upgraded vibranium based cybernetic arm.

New Poster Released For “Logan”

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Get a closeup of a very intense Hugh Jackman as he pops his claws and gets ready for the theatrical release of “Logan”.

Logan opens on March 3rd.

Beautiful Fan Art Of Brie Larson As “Captain Marvel”

 

 width=I’m a little late to this but found this fan art searching through reddit. Think this looks great and hope we see something like this when Brie Larson makes her debut (possibly?) in “Avengers: Infinity War”. Maybe sooner (“Guardians Of The Galaxy, Volume 2”), maybe later (“Captain Marvel”).

Source: reddit

“Civil War” Comes To “Avengers: Ultron Revolution”

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Some Good news for “Avengers: Ultron Revolution” fans, the series will soon be tackling the “Civil War” theme.

From Syfywire:

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It seems like every Marvel property is getting in on Civil War, and now the epic superhero clash is coming to the small screen.

The Disney XD animated series Avengers: Ultron Revolution will feature a four-part Civil War event this season, drawing inspiration from both Civil War and Civil War II.

The best part? They have the full gamut of Marvel characters thanks to the cartoon element, so even Captain Marvel can get in on the fun (and war!).

The story kicks off when an Inhuman accidentally destroys a small town, after which the U.S. government steps in to pass the Registration Act. It ends up with two Avengers teams facing off, all while Ultron looks to make his final move during the chaos.

If you haven’t been following along, Marvel’s animated line-up is actually a compelling little corner of the superhero universe, featuring everyone from Kamala Khan to Miles Morales kicking around (and kicking butt).

The entire Avengers: Ultron RevolutionCivil War event airs Saturday, January 28 on Disney XD.

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I wasn’t a fan of “Avengers Assemble” when if first premiered on Disney XD. The series it replaced, “Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” was by far the superior show. Where “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” focused on some of the best stories that originally were shown in The Avenger comic books, “Avengers Assemble” changed the theme to be more Marvel Cinematic Universe focused. This season has definitely gotten better and I love some of the voice actors and I think the animation is a step up. That we could see Captain Marvel and Miles Morales Spider-Man and maybe even more popular superheroes get involved in the mix can make for a very different and exciting storyline.

Source: Syfywire

Sideshow Collectible Corner

“Wolverine”

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I am loving Square Enix’s spin on Marvel characters. They are a little more high tech and a little more aggressive than we are used to but to me that is a good thing. I would love to see Hugh Jackman in a costume like this but I doubt we will ever see him in a full Wolverine costume. Plus as amazing as Hugh Jackman’s physique is, he will never have guns like this Wolvie.

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Armed with sharp claws made of adamantium, the hardest metal in the world, and a healing factor that allows for superhuman recovery, X-Men hero Wolverine enters Square Enix’s Marvel Variant Series!

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Painstaking attention to textural detail can be seen in this Wolverine’s costume and burly physique, from the hard surfaces of the armor, to the organic feel of the skin, down to the bulging veins in his arms.

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Shadows are painted in to highlight the molded features, while the paint, chipped here and there off his armor, hints at the many battles in his past. In addition to the interchangeable hands and head, a Japanese katana adds to the variety of poseable actions.

Source: SideShow

That’s it for this time!