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'It's cool to hate America these days': Fox News panel upset Wonder Woman isn't American enough

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wonder woman 2 warner bros

It turns out Fox News host Neil Cavuto and his guests on Friday had a major issue with Wonder Woman.

During a panel discussion, the "Your World with Neil Cavuto" host and his guests questioned the patriotism of the current version of the legendary DC Comics character.

“‘Wonder Woman’ is out in theaters right now. Some are calling it less American because her outfit isn’t red, white and blue — and, in order to appeal for foreign audiences, [it has] very little reference to America at all,” Cavuto said.

For the record, Wonder Woman is an Amazonian warrior princess who is on a quest to protect all of humankind (not just Americans).

“I think, nowadays, sadly, money trumps patriotism,” guest Dion Baia said. “Especially, recently, I personally feel like we’re not really very patriotic, the country, in a certain sense. They want these movies to succeed internationally, so they’re going to dial back.” 

Guest Mike Gunzelman added: “I think the Hollywood aspect, we see this time and time again, it’s cool to hate America these days.”

It seems Cavuto and his guests are in the minority in the US about how people feel about this new Wonder Woman, played by Gal Gadot, who is Israeli.

"Wonder Woman," which opened in theaters on Friday, could earn $100 million its opening weekend.

Watch the entire video below:

SEE ALSO: "Wonder Woman" is one of the best superhero movies ever made

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Why it took so long for Hollywood to make a great female-led superhero movie

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Patty Jenkins WW Warner Bros final

Though Wonder Woman is one of the most well-known superhero characters ever to appear in a comic books, it took 75 years for Hollywood to finally get its act together and bring her to the big screen. 

It seems to have been worth the wait. Warner Bros.' "Wonder Woman" opens Friday as not just the jewel of the studio's fledging DC Comics Extended Universe division but arguably one of the best superhero movies ever made. (The movie currently has a score of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.)

Which begs the question: Why have movie studios avoided making female superhero movies for so long?

"There are certainly a lot of reasons, and many of them are depressingly [related to] sexism," Patty Jenkins, director of "Wonder Woman," told Business Insider in a recent Facebook Live interview. "But money moves the world and I think the tentpole industry started and there was a belief system, that was true for a long time, that teenage boys were driving that."

In Hollywood's recent craze for superhero movies, which kicked off around 2002's Tobey Maguire-starring "Spider-Man," the movies were geared for the late-teen/early-20s male. There were attempts to try to cater to females in that time, too, as with Halle Berry in "Catwoman" (2004) and Jennifer Garner in "Elektra" (2005). But both were busts critically (9% and 10%, respectively, on Rotten Tomatoes) and financially (worldwide $82.1 million and $56.6 million, respectively). 

hunger games diversity"I really do think the trepidation was there were failed attempts and then that wasn’t who you were targeting for such a massive movie, so I think that has really changed," Jenkins said.

The shift started with the success of "The Hunger Games" franchise, headed by Jennifer Lawrence. The four films, based on a young-adult book series, took in close to $3 billion worldwide and proved that audiences actually want to see action movies headed by women. That, along with the recent greenlighting of female-centric superhero movies (Captain Marvel and Batgirl, among others, are in the works), has made this the perfect moment for "Wonder Woman" to prove that girls can kick butt just as much as the boys do.

"I think it’s beautiful because actually the superhero genre has always had a bunch of great [female] superheros," Jenkins said. "And it's funny and interesting that there’s anything new about doing Wonder Woman 75 years later. We have always loved her so I hope it’s the beginning of many more."

Watch our complete interview with Patty Jenkins below:

 

SEE ALSO: Hollywood is fighting billionaire Sean Parker's plan to let you rent movies still in theaters for $50

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Bill Maher used the N-word on his show and the internet is outraged

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real time with bill maher hbo

Comic Bill Maher has never been one to filter what comes out of his mouth, having been in countless controversies for what he's said on his HBO show "Real Time with Bill Maher," and his previous show "Politically Incorrect."

The latest dust up came on his show Friday night when interviewing Republican Senator Ben Sasse.

Sasse was on the show promoting his new book, “The Vanishing American Adult: Our Coming-of-Age Crisis and How to Rebuild a Culture of Self-Reliance,” when he told Maher he should visit his state of Nebraska and "work in the fields."

Maher responded by saying, “Senator, I’m a house n----r." Sasse gave a nervous laugh as the audience applauded.

Maher said what he said was just a joke.

But people watching weren't laughing as many tweeted their disgust. 

Warning: There's explicit language in the video below.

After getting off a plane from being on the show, Senator Sasse took to Twitter to give his thoughts:

 

SEE ALSO: You might have to wait until 2019 for the final season of "Game of Thrones"

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Tom Cruise reveals the title for the 'Top Gun' sequel

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top gun tom cruise

After confirming there will be a sequel to his 1986 hit "Top Gun," Tom Cruise can't seem to stop dishing about the movie.

While promoting his upcoming movie, "The Mummy," Cruise told "Access Hollywood" what the title of the sequel will be.

"It's not going to be called 'Top Gun 2,' it's gong to be called 'Top Gun: Maverick,'" Cruise said. "I didn't want a number. You don't need a number."

The nickname of Cruise's character in "Top Gun" is Maverick.

Cruise is mum on specifics, though he has said he will shoot the movie within the year.

According to reports director Joseph Kosinski, who helmed Cruise's 2013 movie "Oblivion," is considering to take on "Top Gun: Maverick."

Watch Cruise talk about "Top Gun: Maverick" below:

 

SEE ALSO: The 34 most exciting TV shows this summer you need to see

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'I've learned everything I can from this show': TJ Miller opens up about why he's leaving 'Silicon Valley'

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TJ Miller Silicon Valley HBO

Fans of the popular HBO series "Silicon Valley" were shocked when it was announced that show favorite T.J. Miller, who plays Erlich Bachman, would be leaving the show after the current fourth season. 

Over at Entertainment Weekly, Miller explained why he decided to leave the show, which he called an amicable split.

“I would love to do 'The Emoji Movie' and things like that and have the time to develop animated features," Miller said. "I would like to keep offering up [Comedy Central’s 'The Gorburger Show'] and letting people see a very different side of talk show guests. And that was a big part of why I said, ‘I’ve learned everything I can from this show.' I would love to continue to be involved with it, if only because fans really do enjoy the show, and they seem to enjoy the character. But ultimately I just have to make more things and different things.’”

Along with voicing a character in the upcoming movie, "The Emoji Movie," and his talk show series, "The Gorburger Show," Miller is also starring in "Deadpool 2," and Steven Spielberg's anticipated movie, "Ready Player One."

SEE ALSO: Tom Cruise reveals the title for the 'Top Gun' sequel

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Netflix CEO Reed Hastings wants to start canceling more shows — here's why (NFLX)

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Reed hastingsNetflix recently cancelled a pair of its high-profile original shows. If CEO Reed Hastings gets his way, there will be a lot more cancellations to come.

Both “Sense8” and “The Get Down” got the axe after limited runs. That brought the number of original shows Netflix has dropped to somewhere between six and eight, depending on how you count them. 

“Our hit ratio is way too high right now,” Hastings said this week at the Code Conference. “I’m always pushing the content team. We have to take more risk.

"You have to try more crazy things, because we should have a higher cancel rate overall.”

Hastings might just be trying to prep Wall Street investors for more cancellations, and spin them as a good thing. But his statement does bring up an important point about the investments Netflix and rival Amazon are making in original content.

Both Netflix and Amazon pride themselves on the vast troves of information they have about their customers they can mine for competitive advantage. Netflix famously said it used data to determine that “House of Cards” had a good shot of being a hit. Meanwhile, the company's decision to fund a string of reboots — “Full House,” “Gilmore Girls,” and so on — was almost certainly data driven.

But there are limits to what data can tell you, according to Amazon Studios boss Roy Price.

“You can look at what people watch but you can’t be too deterministic about it,” Price said earlier this year. “The show that will be a real game changer will be a rule breaker, not what people are watching today.”

Another way of putting that: Viewer data likely can't tell you which shows will be breakout hits.

Hastings echoed those sentiments this week.

By taking risks, Netflix puts itself in position to have shows that are “just unbelievable winners,” he said. He pointed at “13 Reasons Why,” a show that elicited controversy for its depiction of teen suicide but was a huge hit. 

“It surprised us too,” Hastings said of how popular the show became. “I mean it was a great show, but we didn’t realize how it would catch on.”

As Netflix’s strategy evolves, it’s clear that while data will inform what shows its keeps in its catalog — and may even lead to reboot after reboot — it can't and won't be the sole defining factor for its decisions.

Show business, after all, needs a bit of magic, even if sometimes the tricks don't work out.

SEE ALSO: The 6 shows Netflix has canceled, including the edgy sci-fi series 'Sense8' that was cut after 2 seasons

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Everything you need to know about the acclaimed female director behind 'Wonder Woman'

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Gal Gadot Patty Jenkins

The highly anticipated "Wonder Woman" hits theaters this weekend, and the superhero's first standalone feature film (which took 76 years to become a thing) is already getting great reviews, despite recent critical flops from the DC Extended Universe.

By now you may have heard of Patty Jenkins, the director of "Wonder Woman," who happens to be a woman, which, even in 2017, is pretty rare for a blockbuster.

"Wonder Woman" is Jenkins' first feature since 2003's Oscar-winning "Monster." In between she was on board to direct "Thor: The Dark World" but dropped out. She's directed TV shows including "Arrested Development" and "The Killing."

If "Wonder Woman" is as successful as it's shaping up to be, this definitely won't be the last time you hear about Patty Jenkins, who's out to prove that more women should be directing movies. 

Here's everything you need to know about "Wonder Woman" director Patty Jenkins:

SEE ALSO: Why movie critics are in love with 'Wonder Woman'

Patty Jenkins was born in 1971 in Victorville, California.

Source: Biography



But Jenkins spent the majority of her childhood moving from place to place because her dad was an Air Force captain. She lived in Thailand, Kansas, and Germany.

"To be a director, you need to be reliable, on time, confident, calm, all of those things you see demonstrated in the military," she told The Hollywood Reporter.



Jenkins attended Cooper Union in New York City, where she studied painting. There, she took a course in experimental filmmaking.

After she graduated from Cooper Union, she spent nine years in New York learning filmmaking by working on commercials and music videos. Then she moved to L.A. and enrolled at AFI for directing.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter



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Hollywood is fighting billionaire Sean Parker's plan to let you rent movies still in theaters for $50

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Sean Parker Jordan Strauss AP final

Last year, the tech billionaire Sean Parker made headlines with his latest startup: a streaming service called Screening Room that would give users the ability to watch major movies still in theaters from the comfort of their homes for $50.

Instantly, people online said Parker was about to change the movie business as he did with the music industry 18 years ago, when he helped create the file-sharing service Napster.

Hollywood power players began to take sides. Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, J.J. Abrams, and Peter Jackson have all praised the forward-thinking philosophy of Screening Room. (They all also happen to be stakeholders.) Meanwhile, other filmmaking giants like Christopher Nolan and James Cameron, along with Kevin Tsujihara, the chairman and CEO of Warner Bros., have spoken out against it, voicing the importance of an exclusive theatrical experience.

But since the initial rush of news and analysis about the venture, the buzz around Screening Room has nearly disappeared — on the internet, but also, more importantly, in Hollywood. And now it looks as though the project may be a flop.

Though Parker and his cofounder, Prem Akkaraju, have promoted the company for the past two years at CinemaCon — an annual event in Las Vegas where studios and exhibitors showcase top titles and innovations — it has gotten little traction because of competition, the industry's naiveté, and the decadelong discussion between studios and theater chains about how to move forward with premium video on demand, or PVOD.

"Everything you've heard in the press about studios and theaters wanting to explore a PVOD window, nothing about that revolves around Screening Room," a source close to the talks told Business Insider.

Hollywood has its own big ideas

Screening Room's main pitch to studios and exhibitors has been that it can bring added revenue to all sides of the equation. (Jackson has said that Screening Room could bring in $8.5 billion a year for the film industry.)

Of the proposed $50 rental fee, which would make a movie available to a viewer for 48 hours, 20% would go to the movie's distributor, a participating theater chain would get up to $20, each customer would receive two tickets to see that rented title at their local theater. Screening Room would take 10%.

Sources told Business Insider that all the bells and whistles Screening Room was selling wouldn't matter until the studios and theaters agree on a PVOD window.

We're not going to share anything with the theaters.

Premium VOD is a term for titles that would be available to rent or buy before being made available on most streaming services or through Blu-ray and DVD releases. Industry players don't want movies to be available on PVOD simultaneously with theatrical releases because the first two weeks of a theatrical run are still when studios and exhibitors get most of a movie's income.

It's more likely that a PVOD window would be established in the period when movies are out of most first-run theaters but haven't yet shown up on streaming services, known in the industry as "the dark zone."

Though PVOD hasn't happened yet, many insiders believe it's only a matter of time. The only service that streams movies while they're still in theaters is the ultra-high-end Prima Cinema, which costs $35,000 to install and $500 a movie rental.

"Eventually, I would imagine — I'm speaking as an observer — the studios will need to find their own platforms and create our own direct-to-consumer opportunities," Stacey Snider, the studio head of 20th Century Fox, said at a conference at UCLA in March.

Fox and Warner Bros. have reportedly considered a $30 rental fee for streaming movies after they've been in theaters for 30 days, while other studios have suggested slightly different options. Disney has said it's not interested in shortening the theatrical-release window.

vod pvod graphic

The holdup is the debate between studios and exhibitors on some major issues, specifically what the price point for PVOD will be and how soon after a movie opens it will be available to stream. Once those questions are answered, Screening Room will be on the minds of those in the industry.

But there's another hurdle: Parker's company isn't the only game in town.

"There are about three other systems out there that are doing similar things and going around talking to theater owners and studios," a source said.

And some studio executives aren't too keen on Screening Room trying to muscle in as the exclusive streaming destination when a movie hits the PVOD window, or its plan to split sales with theaters.

According to one source, a studio head said of Screening Room's proposal that theaters would get up to $20 of each rental fee: "If Screening Room wants to pay it out of their cut, go ahead. We're not going to share anything with the theaters."

Screening Room was frozen out by theater chains

Then there are the struggles Screening Room has had in trying to build relationships on the exhibition side.

According to sources, the company no longer has a deal with the multiplex giant AMC Theaters. And an attempted meeting with the National Association of Theater Owners, which would be a huge ally in starting a dialogue between Screening Room and the major theater chains, stalled after Screening Room wanted the association to sign a nondisclosure agreement. The organization declined to sign it, as the only reason it would want to meet with Screening Room would be to relay the information it received to theater owners.

AMC did not return Business Insider's request for comment, and the association had no comment for this story.

deadpool ryan reynolds teaser trailer"It seems to me it's often an individual company that comes along and believes it has figured out how to make all the money in the theater space," Barbara Twist, the managing director of the Art House Convergence, which represents smaller theaters and sat in on a Screening Room presentation at CinemaCon in 2016, told Business Insider. "Personally, I have yet to see a new version that ensures that everybody keeps making the amount of money currently being made."

Twist also questioned how beneficial Screening Room could be for theater owners. (Like the major studios and exhibitors, Art House Convergence is against the idea of movies being available on Screening Room or any other service when titles first show up in theaters.)

"There's obviously the piracy issue, but also the economics," Twist said. "They say, 'We'll give the person who rents a title two movie tickets,' but how would they determine the person's main theater they go to? Commercial multiplexes and art houses occasionally show the same titles — who are they going to preference? Same for the rental-fee split. Moviegoers are often loyal to multiple theaters."

However, Twist said her organization, which is made up of a community of 400 independently owned theaters across the country, would be open to sitting down with Parker and Akkaraju.

"We would welcome a discussion along the lines of them saying: 'We have this idea. We would like to help the moviegoing population see more movies. How can we work with you?' rather than a PowerPoint presentation," Twist said.

The elephant in the room: 'iTunes is the logical choice'

Studios don't want to share any of the money they get from Screening Room, exhibitors aren't feeling the love, and there's that issue of piracy — though Screening Room reportedly touted "refined" security measures at CinemaCon this year.

But that's not all: iTunes might make Screening Room obsolete.

For years, iTunes has gotten dibs on movie titles for home viewing before all other providers. Sources say that whenever studios and exhibitors want to go down the PVOD path, they most likely would put their trust in a service they already work with, like iTunes — or build an internal PVOD streaming service — rather than a newcomer like Screening Room.

"If an earlier window gets put in place, iTunes would probably have some say in being part of the earlier window," a source said.

Apple has been in talks with studios about making movies available on iTunes two weeks after theatrical debuts, Bloomberg reported in December. Apple did not respond to Business Insider's numerous requests for comment.

"I think iTunes is the logical choice," said Jeff Bock, the senior box-office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. "It's what everybody has, and if the price point is right, Screening Room is cut out. Nobody needs them. And to build that infrastructure with Screening Room would take a long time. Screening Room has a really tough hill to climb."

Parker did not respond to Business Insider's multiple requests for comment. Screening Room attorney Skip Brittenham had no comment for this story.

SEE ALSO: How an award-winning documentary was allegedly blacklisted by Netflix

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NOW WATCH: Why Sean Parker’s plan to stream movies still in theaters for $50 could work


'Wonder Woman' has biggest opening weekend ever for a female director with $100 million

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wonder woman warner bros

Warner Bros./DC Comics finally has a major hit.

Patty Jenkins' highly anticipated, critically acclaimed "Wonder Woman" made history over the weekend by winning the domestic box office with an estimated earning of $100.5 million, according to boxofficepro.com. That makes it the biggest opening ever for a female director (beating out Sam Taylor-Johnson's $85.1 million opening for 2015's "Fifty Shades of Grey").

The movie — which stars Gal Gadot as the warrior princess who sets out to defeat the God of War, Ares — is the 6th biggest opening ever for the month of June, passing 2014' "Transformers: Age of Extinction" ($100 million).

Though all the previous Warner Bros. DC Comics Extended Universe titles ("Man of Steel," "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," "Suicide Squad") have had bigger opening weekends, none of them found the acclaim both by critics or the acceptance by audiences that "Wonder Woman" got. 

Things looked good for DCEU on Friday when "Wonder Woman" earned $38.85 million, which is a record-breaking single-day figure for a female director (this is also combined with the $11 million earned on Thursday). The movie followed that with a $35.6 million take on Saturday. A minuscule -8% drop (but, technically, +29 million from Friday if you take away the Thursday preview screenings coin).

As expected, women came out in droves to root on Diane Prince. According to ComScore, 53% of the audience was women, compared to 47% being men.

Comparing other superhero origin story movies, "Wonder Woman" earned more than 2008's "Iron Man" ($98.6 million), 2011's "Thor" (65.7 million) and 2011's "Captain America: The First Avenger" ($65 million), as well as 2014's "Guardians of the Galaxy" ($94.3 million).

But it wasn't able to surpass 2002's "Spider-Man" ($114.8 million), 2013's "Man of Steel" ($116.6 million), or 2016's "Deadpool" ($132.4 million).

Despite that, "Wonder Woman" proved that female-focused superhero movies have an audience and Jenkins, the first female director ever given the reigns of a superhero movie, can make this kind of movie as good (in many cases, better) as the boys. 

SEE ALSO: Hollywood is fighting billionaire Sean Parker's plan to let you rent movies still in theaters for $50

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Vince Vaughn says the strategy he used to get past thousands of rejections as a young actor is just as useful in a breakup

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Vince Vaughn

One thousand to one. That's Vince Vaughn's estimate of his rejection-to-success ratio when he was just starting out in the acting world.

Maybe that's some slight exaggeration. But the point is that the guy was turned down a lot before making it big.

Vaughn — who you might know from hit films "Wedding Crashers," "The Breakup," or "The Internship" — appeared on an episode of the "Tim Ferriss Show" and shared how he managed to sustain all that rejection without calling it quits.

The secret? As Vaughn, now 47, told Ferriss: "I looked at it mathematically."

Vaughn broke it down further. In general, he'd spend every day working on his acting skills, whether that meant watching a movie, reading a relevant book, practicing monologues, or taking a class.

And he got tantalizingly close to landing a handful of acting roles. He told Ferriss he'd sometimes go through a screen test — he'd make it to the final audition rounds and film a scene with another actor — only to be turned away.

His typical response to this rejection was to take a week off work because he was so devastated.

At some point, Vaughn realized: Each time he took that week off from his routine, he was really falling two weeks behind. Specifically, he lost one week when he could have been getting better and he probably ended up getting worse during that week when he didn't do any work.

"Now I've given myself two weeks less to improve at the things I'm in control of," Vaughn told Ferriss.

That's not to say that Vaughn didn't give himself any time to recover from rejection.

His advice to aspiring actors, he told Ferris, is: "Find a process where you're able to … allow yourself to feel disappointed. I think it's important that you don't turn off those feelings. But it is also important, how do you do that as quickly as possible to then become productive again?"

In fact, Vaughn added, the same logic applies to dealing with a romantic breakup:

"How much time is effective in mourning and processing it? I really believe no time is not good – you need that moment to accept it. But the sooner you can get back to doing things for your own growth and the things you're in charge of, I think the your chances of having the things you want in your life become greater."

Listen to the full podcast interview»

SEE ALSO: 10 real rejection letters successful people have received

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Sony's PlayStation 4 is crushing Nintendo and Microsoft — now execs explain the master plan (NTDOY, SNE, MSFT)

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Shawn Layden PlayStation experience 2015

Sorry, Microsoft. Sorry, Nintendo. As we go into next week's E3 conference, the biggest video game event of the year, Sony wants you to know that the PlayStation 4 is the one to beat.

Today, Sony announces that it's sold "almost" 60 million PlayStation 4 consoles to customers since its launch in 2013.

To underscore the point, it revealed a few new stats, too:

Microsoft no longer reveals sales of the Xbox One, but recent estimates peg it at below 30 million sold. And while the Nintendo Switch, which launched in March, is too new to compare, Nintendo had sold around 14 million Wii U consoles since 2012.

In other words, Sony is taking a victory lap ahead of E3, and taking its fans along, too: From June 9-17, Sony will be holding a "Days of Play" promotion, with big sales on PlayStation software and hardware. Sony is even using the event to launch a gold-colored PlayStation 4 console, which will sell for $249.

Business Insider sat down with PlayStation global sales and marketing head Jim Ryan and Sony Interactive Entertainment America CEO Shawn Layden to talk about Sony's blockbuster 2016, the revitalized competition with Microsoft and Nintendo, and the master plan for the year ahead.

'That's the way we like to do things'

Sony had a very busy fourth quarter last year. On October 13, 2016, Sony launched PlayStation VR, a $399 headset that attaches to the PlayStation 4 console — its play to beat Facebook's Oculus to conquer virtual reality in the living room.

One month earlier, on September 7, Sony introduced the PlayStation 4 Slim, a refined version of the original console, and the PlayStation 4 Pro, a version with more robust graphical capabilities.

"That's the way we like to do things," jokes Layden.

Now, almost eight months after that hardware blitz, Ryan says "it could have scarcely gone better" — an assertion backed up by those sales figures. He also says high demand has led to shortages of the PlayStation VR and the PS4 Pro console. But Sony has ramped up production, and he expects they'll be easier to find going forward.

playstation vr motion controllers move

The PlayStation 4 Pro has found early success for a very simple reason, says Layden: There's a "constant desire of every developer to make their games look better." The console games with the most impressive graphics are landing on the Pro, he says, and gamers are coming along for the ride.

And when it comes to virtual reality, Ryan says the company is "intrigued" by where it stands with the PlayStation VR, even as he acknowledges that one million headsets sold is hardly a dent in the PlayStation 4's 60 million-strong customer base.

"We would not describe one million units the same as mass adoption," says Ryan. "But we would call it a good start." 

'We won't be frightened of what they do'

Sony may be way out front, but Nintendo and Microsoft have both indicated a revitalized willingness to compete. 

Ryan says it's too early to really gauge the Nintendo Switch's success, but that "there's room in the market." When it comes to Microsoft, however, Ryan is a little more skeptical.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has promised that its forthcoming "Project Scorpio," slated to launch this holiday season, will be "the most powerful console ever." That's a not-so-subtle indication that Microsoft is planning on something even beefier than the PlayStation 4 Pro. 

PlayStation 4 Pro

Still, when it comes to the burgeoning market for super-powerful game consoles, Ryan says Sony is "building a strong position" with its early sales. So while Sony welcomes the competition and looks forward to hearing more about Project Scorpio at E3 with the rest of the world, it's not exactly keeping the PlayStation team up at night.

"We won't be frightened of what they do," says Ryan.

Because ultimately, it's all about the games, and Ryan thinks Sony has the edge. The "vast majority" of Xbox One games are also available for PlayStation 4, notes Ryan — and PlayStation 4-exclusive blockbusters like "Horizon Zero Dawn" and the forthcoming "Uncharted: The Lost Legacy" tip the scales. 

What comes next

In a broad sense, Layden says the way for PlayStation to grow is by expanding the traditional notion of the video game industry. As the leading console maker, Layden says the next real frontier for PlayStation lies in enticing people who might never otherwise play games.

"We have to also create new segments, new genres," says Layden.

An early example of this can be found with "MLB: The Show 17," the latest in Sony's baseball series, explains Layden. Originally, Sony's inclination was to market it "as a game," he says. But when they started pitching it instead as a kind of ultimate experience for MLB fans, he says, it became the best-selling entry in the franchise.

Horizon Zero Dawn

Now, the PlayStation VR provides a new opportunity to take that even further. Since virtual reality is so new, there's no accepted way of doing things. That means there's a real chance to reexamine what works and what doesn't, opening the door for new innovations that can encourage new players.

"[PlayStation VR is] not a peripheral, so to speak; it's a whole new medium," says Layden.

The goal for Sony, then, is to push on both software and hardware: With excellent exclusive games, Layden says, Sony can drive the market forward by showing developers what's possible. Those games, in turn, will sell more PlayStation 4 consoles and PlayStation VR headsets, enticing developers to make more games.

"Our part of the bargain is to provide the install base," says Layden.

SEE ALSO: 'Horizon Zero Dawn' is an incredible, must-play game that's reason enough to buy a PlayStation 4

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The guy who sold Oculus to Facebook for $2 billion has spoken to Steve Bannon and Peter Thiel about building a virtual border wall

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palmer luckey

Palmer Luckey, the 24-year-old founder of virtual reality company Oculus, has confirmed to The New York Times that he's working on a new company that's focused on developing surveillance technology.

"We are spending more than ever on defense technology," Luckey said in a statement to The New York Times, "yet the pace of innovation has been slowing for decades. We need a new kind of defense company, one that will save taxpayer dollars while creating superior technology to keep our troops and citizens safer."

The new company is working on cameras that can be mounted on telephone poles, and it has the potential to be used on US borders.

Luckey sold Oculus, the virtual reality company he cofounded in 2012, to Facebook for $2.3 billion (£1.7 billion) in 2014.

But Luckey left Facebook in March after months of disquiet inside the company. His departure followed reports that Luckey helped fund an organization that helped to create memes that opposed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Now, Luckey is reportedly working to develop surveillance technology that can help to detect things like drones. The New York Times says that Luckey's new, unnamed startup will use similar technology to the lidar devices found in self-driving cars to detect potential threats.

A visualization of how lidar mapping works.

Right now, Luckey is reportedly self-funding his new company, but Trump advisor Peter Thiel's venture capital firm Founders Fund is planning to invest, according to The New York Times. Luckey has also met with Steve Bannon about the idea, according to the Times.

The news of Luckey's new startup follows a May report from Gizmodo that Luckey met with US secretary of the interior Ryan Zinke to discuss "Border Wall building plans."

"The Secretary had a brief meeting where he listened to their ideas about using technology on the border and referred the gentlemen to the Department of Homeland Security," a representative for Zinke told Gizmodo last month.

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NOW WATCH: Here's everything Apple is rumored to be launching in 2017

The hacker who leaked 10 unreleased episodes of 'Orange Is the New Black' has picked a new target (DIS)

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The hacker who leaked unreleased episodes of "Orange Is the New Black" in April is at it again, putting eight episodes of the upcoming ABC show “Steve Harvey’s Funderdome” on the file-sharing website The Pirate Bay, according to Variety.

“Time to play another round,” The Dark Overload wrote. “We’re following through on our threats as we always do.”

The 13-episode slate of "Steve Harvey's Funderdome" is supposed to debut June 11 on ABC.

ABC describes the show as a "seed-funding competition reality series where two up-and-coming inventors go head-to-head to win over a live studio audience to fund their ideas, products or companies."

Here's the twist: "Before revealing the results of the crowd’s majority vote, host Steve Harvey ... will present the inventors with a major dilemma. One of the inventors is allowed to cash out and walk away for a lesser amount. If an inventor cashes out, they forgo the opportunity to win the whole cash prize for that round – a good move if they lost the crowd vote, but a bad move if they would have won it."

This latest leak seems to stem from the same source as the "Orange Is the New Blac" one — a hack of Larson Studios last year — which netted a slew of unreleased shows (and movies). The Dark Overlord has been trying to hold various companies for ransom, though clearly neither ABC nor Netflix paid up. 

"It didn't have to be this way, Netflix," The Dark Overlord, said in a message when releasing 10 episodes of "Orange Is the New Black." "You're going to lose a lot more money in all of this than what our modest offer was."

Here is the trailer for "Steve Harvey's Funderdome":

SEE ALSO: Pandora could unload a startup it bought for $450 million, as it looks for a buyer

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John Oliver: Trump's reasons for leaving the Paris climate agreement are all wrong

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John Oliver Paris Agreement HBO final

On Sunday's episode of "Last Week Tonight," host John Oliver delved into President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement.

Oliver pointed out that the major goal of the Paris Agreement is to keep CO2 below what is known as the world's "carbon budget" because if we fail to limit the temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius, studies show that things get potentially irreversible — leading to longer droughts and more intense heat waves that would affect the world food supply.

And then there are the jobs that have been created due to the world's attention to the climate. Before Trump made the decision to leave the Paris accord last Thursday, 25 companies — including Microsoft and Intel — took out a full-page ad in The New York Times urging Trump to stay in the agreement because it "generates jobs and economic growth."

"Well, c'mon, he was clearly never going to be convinced by an ad in The New York Times. How was he going to see it?" Oliver said. "If those companies really wanted to get his attention, they needed to talk KFC into giving out a full-bucket ad, which he would read on the toilet while eating chicken, because that — at its core — is who our president is."

Oliver also touched on what the agreement required — in that there were no requirements.

Though Trump stated last Thursday that the agreement would affect the country's coal business, the Paris accord had no restrictions on coal.

"It doesn't even contain the word 'coal' in the agreement," Oliver said.

And perhaps what's most misunderstood about the accord is that goals set by the countries are completely voluntary and there are no penalties if they aren't met.

"The only penalty was shame, and unfortunately this president is completely immune to the very concept of that," Oliver said.

Watch the "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" segment on the Paris Agreement:

 

SEE ALSO: Netflix CEO Reed Hastings wants to start canceling more shows — here's why

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NOW WATCH: Here's everything we know from the season 7 trailer for 'Game of Thrones'

The video game business is finally adopting the Netflix model

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In most ways, the video game business exists on the bleeding edge of technology.

Detroit (game)

The processors powering modern games are the most powerful processors available. The display technology for games is the screen technology powering tomorrow's phones and TVs. The list goes on.

In one major respect, though, the video game business is behind that of other mediums: subscription services. 

The Netflixes and Hulu Pluses of the world have become such big hits with customers not only because of their original and licensed content libraries, but because of their business model. Paying a flat fee monthly for a massive library of available content is quite appealing for consumers, it turns out. 

netflix chart

In 2017, the game console makers are finally realizing how important subscription services are.

In the past few months, both Microsoft and Nintendo introduced subscription services that resemble Netflix in direct ways. Microsoft's is known as the "Xbox Game Pass"; Nintendo's is (tentatively) called the "Classic Games Selection." Both offer access to a library of games for a fixed monthly (or annual) subscription price. 

Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass

Microsoft is offering access to an ever-expanding library of Xbox 360 and Xbox One games through Game Pass.

Pay $10 per month month, and immediately gain the ability to download over 100 games. Unlike Netflix, you're not streaming games — you outright download them. As long as you remain subscribed, you retain access to those games.

Xbox Game Pass

The library includes a healthy selection of games that Microsoft published for the two game consoles, as well as a smattering of third-party games. "Halo 5: Guardians" and the "Gears of War" series are there, for instance, as well as third-party classics like "Spelunky" and the "BioShock" series.

Like the ever-changing Netflix library, the Game Pass library is expected to evolve over time — stuff from Microsoft will likely remain permanently, while third-party stuff could swap out over time (much like Netflix originals never leaving the service).

It's a major change for Microsoft — and the games business in general — to move to the subscription model.

Xbox One Game Pass

Video game development is wildly expensive, which makes it unlikely that we'll see brand-new games show up on Xbox Game Pass (at least for now). The majority of the library, like early Netflix days, is made up of recent classics. It's a killer deal if you're not the type of person who needs to play the latest and greatest games. 

Nintendo's "Classic Games Selection"

Nintendo's taking a different approach with its subscription service.

For $20 per year, you'll gain access to what Nintendo is tentatively calling its "Classic Games Selection." Thus far, that selection only includes three games: "Super Mario Bros. 3," "Dr. Mario," and "Balloon Fight." You'll download each game (rather than stream it), and you own them as long as you remain a subscriber. It's nearly identical to the Xbox Game Pass service, but the difference here is in the library. Nintendo is offering its oldest, most "classic" games. It's a nostalgia play, where Microsoft's is a sheer numbers play.

super mario

While the first three games announced are NES classics, Nintendo's going to need a much larger selection of games before it can call its service worthwhile. For years, Nintendo fans have dreamed of a subscription service that offered access to Nintendo's vast classic games library. This is the company that created the NES, the Super NES, the Nintendo 64, the GameCube, and the Game Boy. There are dozens of classic games to choose from in Nintendo's history.

With the "Classic Games Selection" service, Nintendo is taking a step in that direction. Whether the company will go all-in is another question. Nintendo is notorious for moving carefully. The Japanese game-maker's first smartphone game, for instance, was only released in the last few years. 

The determining factor in both Nintendo and Microsoft's cases will be how consumers respond. Will these services cannibalize the digital storefront sales of a la carte games? Will the content libraries attract enough people to sustain the subscription business model? Only time will tell, but the 100 million-ish Netflix subscribers are assuredly bolstering Microsoft and Nintendo's hopes.

SEE ALSO: Nintendo's new online service offers subscription access to classic games for $20 a year

DON'T MISS: Xbox is about to launch a Netflix-style game service: Here are its best games

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Gal Gadot was five months pregnant during shooting of 'Wonder Woman'

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Wonder Woman

Gal Gadot plays a superhero on the big screen in "Wonder Woman," but in some ways she was a real-life one while making the movie.

It turns out Gadot was pregnant through much of the filming of the box-office hit. In fact, when Gadot had to come back to do reshoots last November for the movie, some CGI magic had to be done to keep Gadot's baby bump off the screen.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Gadot was five months pregnant when she returned to London's Leavesden Studios to film an additional scene and the costume department had to cut a section out of the front of her costume and replace it with green cloth so her figure could be altered in postproduction.

“On close-up I looked very much like Wonder Woman,” Gadot said. “On wide shots I looked very funny, like Wonder Woman pregnant with Kermit the Frog.”

wonderwomanpattyjenkinsgalgadotwarnerbrosAccording to reports, "Wonder Woman" did not have many reshoot days, but there was one scene in particular director Patty Jenkins wanted something extra for after seeing a cut of the movie.

In a scene in which Diana Prince (Gadot) and Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) walk to the frontlines of World War I and have a serious talk about the horrors of war, Jenkins wanted to add something visually to the chat.

“That scene was just a slightly tense scene of them walking. I was like ‘I need her to see some brutality,’" Jenkins told The Hollywood Reporter. "So we added her seeing the horses being whipped. It was actually something that had been in the script originally.”

Jenkins told EW about Gadot being pregnant during shooting: “Now, at least, we will be able to tell her [new] daughter Maya that she’s in her mom’s stomach right then, in the middle of that battle scene.”

SEE ALSO: A "Wonder Woman" sequel is coming and the director already has an idea for it

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Why Matthew Perry would say no to a 'Friends' revival

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Matthew Perry says he wouldn't take part in a revival of "Friends."

Perry, who currently stars Off-Broadway in the play he wrote, "The End of Longing," says that he'd rather "Friends" not join the revival craze of bygone sitcom hits like NBC's "Will & Grace" and ABC's "Roseanne." 

"I have this recurring nightmare — I’m not kidding about this," Perry told Variety in a newly published interview. "When I’m asleep, I have this nightmare that we do 'Friends' again and nobody cares. We do a whole series, we come back, and nobody cares about it. So if anybody asks me, I’m gonna say no. The thing is we ended on such a high. We can’t beat it. Why would we go and do it again?"

Perry starred as perpetually wise-cracking Chandler Bing on "Friends" from 1994 to 2004. The show was so popular that its stars negotiated the highest salary on TV at the time: $1 million per episode. Most recently, he starred on the canceled remake of "The Odd Couple" for three seasons on CBS.

The actor acknowledges that "Friends" "gave me every opportunity I ever had," but now he'd like to avoid traditional sitcom television in the next chapter of his acting career.

"In my head, I have this TV project that I’d write," Perry said. "That’s what the fantasy for me is, next. Somewhere on television. But my brain just thinks of darker sh-- than what is expected on a four-camera comedy, or at least on the ones that are on TV now. What I see is serious stuff that, as a bonus, happens to be funny."

SEE ALSO: Matthew Perry reveals the 'Friends' story line he had to kill

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The trailer for 'American Made' looks like a very different Tom Cruise movie

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American Made trailer

Tom Cruise has teamed up again with his "Edge of Tomorrow" director Doug Liman for "American Made," but it doesn't look like your typical Cruise movie.

For the last decade we've been used to Cruise saving the world and pulling off amazing stunts to do it, whether it's in the "Mission: Impossible" movies or his upcoming "The Mummy" reboot.

But for "American Made," Cruise is taking on the uncharacteristic true-story movie, as he depicts drug and gun runner/CIA informant Barry Seal.

Recreating Seal's involvement with the Medellín cartel in the 1980s, Cruise sports a Southern accent and in one scene in the trailer crash-lands his plane and is covered in cocaine.

Though this isn't the first movie to explore the sudden jolt of drugs into the United States in the 1970s and 1980s (2001's "Blow" and the 2006 documentary "Cocaine Cowboys" stand out), from the trailer at least it looks like we're going to see Cruise playing a character with lower morals and more freewheeling, and we're quite intrigued by that.

"American Made" opens in theaters September 29.

 

SEE ALSO: Hollywood is fighting billionaire Sean Parker's plan to let you rent movies still in theaters for $50

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The PlayStation 4 is selling about twice as fast as the Xbox One

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Sony's PlayStation 4 console isn't the most popular console ever, but it's getting there. The PlayStation 4 is just shy of reaching 60 million consoles sold — an impressive number to crest in just 3.5 years. 

PlayStation 4 Pro

That announcement puts Sony's PlayStation 4 ahead of Microsoft's Xbox One by a considerable margin: the PlayStation 4 is selling approximately twice as fast as the Xbox One. 

Though Microsoft stopped reporting sales numbers of its Xbox One console, numbers provided by SuperData Research indicate that Microsoft has sold approximately 26 million Xbox One consoles (as of January 2017). That puts Sony in a dramatic lead over Microsoft when it comes to game console sales, and casts the long-running competition between the two console makers in a very different light. 

Put simply: Sony has a ridiculous lead over Microsoft when it comes to the video game business.

Xbox vs Playstation

There are a few reasons for this lead, from major game exclusives ("Horizon Zero Dawn") to new models of the PlayStation 4 (the PlayStation 4 Pro is a slightly more powerful version of the original PS4, which launched in late 2016) to an excellent loyalty program (PlayStation Plus). 

And all of that stuff matters, no doubt, but what may matter even more was Microsoft's major missteps back in 2013 — the year that both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 debuted and then launched. Right out of the gate, Microsoft turned off potential buyers with a higher price point ($499 for Xbox One compared to $399 for PlayStation 4), and a major messaging problem.

To Microsoft, the Xbox One was intended as the center hub of your home entertainment system. To Sony, the PlayStation 4 was intended as the best game console ever made.

Xbox One

That subtle difference in messaging — combined with a $100 price difference — hurt the Xbox One in a major way early on, and in many ways doomed the console to years of second place. It wasn't until Microsoft removed its camera/microphone peripheral from the retail box and dropped the Xbox One's price that the system became more competitive with the PlayStation 4.

While the Xbox One isn't failing by any means, it's clearly a distant second to the PlayStation 4's sales numbers — and it's unlikely the discrepancy is going to shift any time soon.

SEE ALSO: Sony's PlayStation 4 is crushing Nintendo and Microsoft — now execs explain the master plan

DON'T MISS: Here’s how PlayStation 4 sales stack up to the best-selling game consoles ever

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Donald Glover ended his only concert of the year by riffing a comedy sketch about a wildly popular meme about him

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Multitalented performer Donald Glover put on a barnburner of a performance Saturday night at the Governors Ball festival in New York City.

Glover, who performs under the moniker Childish Gambino, announced at the beginning of the show that it would be his only concert in North America in 2017, perhaps unsurprising given that the writer/actor/musician/-showrunner is currently filming multiple movies and TV shows, including a new season of his hit semi-autobiographical TV show "Atlanta," and the untitled Han Solo-focused "Star Wars" movie.

Glover left the fans begging for more as he played an "Epic AF" set that seamlessly blended the brilliant funk-rock of his December release "Awaken, My Love" with the anxious, smartass rap from his previous albums, "Because the Internet" and "Camp."

As Noisey's Alex Robert Ross put it, Glover showed he "can blur the lines between hip-hop and pop and funk not just by throwing them together on a track, but by mastering all three."

Glover looked in his element for the entirety of the performance, shifting between different facets of his talent at will — from impeccable falsetto and his distinctive speed-rap to humorous banter with the crowd, doing his best James Brown dance impression, and leading a full band ensemble and choir in improvisational versions of his new album.

At one point during the show, in a rare vulnerable moment, he told the crowd they were "exactly what I needed."

But nowhere was the breadth of his talent more apparent than in the final moments of his set. Audience members had been calling for him to play his hit single "Redbone" for the entire show, and he delivered in typically hilarious fashion: by launching into a six minute sketch about his love for attending house parties.

Glover walked the audience through his fake house party setup and all the things that go with it — taking drugs, macking on a girl, dancing with said girl, and having to flee when the police arrive to break up the party — all while dancing to songs that he thought fit the moment, like V.I.C.'s "Get Silly" and Rihanna's "Sex with Me."

He then pulled out the kicker: The girl pulls him into the bathroom to hide from the police and the "perfect" song to make-out to comes on. And then he launched into "Redbone."

Here's video of the last part of the sketch:

It's all a perfect setup, but it's made even more perfect knowing that the sketch is based on a popular internet meme about the song that cropped up last month when Twitter user Chloestixx posted this "remix" of the song:

Users have since posted tons of their own riffs on the meme, which you can see more of here.

It looks like the notoriously self-aware, internet-conscious artist has added his own. Glover did name his second album "Because the Internet," after all.

And for a bonus, here's the end of the "Redbone" performance:

SEE ALSO: How Donald Glover went from unknown comedy writer to triple-threat Hollywood star

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