The Wu-Tang Clan album, “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” may go down as one of the most puzzling chapters in the history of the legendary rap group.

Only one copy exists and the person who paid a reported $2 million to buy it, former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli, was convicted of securities fraud in August and recently placed the one-of-a-kind album on eBay.

But the biggest question has been the album’s authenticity. Is there an album? And if so, is it an official Wu-Tang album?

Business Insider brought these questions up to Wu-Tang member Method Man on Thursday.

“Yeah, I think there is an actual album,” Method Man said, while promoting the show he’s currently on, HBO’s “The Deuce.” “As far as recording, that’s as far as my reach went. When I was informed how they were approaching selling the album, I kind of flipped out, because I was misinformed by the person who gave me the information. It’s hard for me to speak on it because I wasn’t in the loop.”

Since Shkreli bought the album it’s become a legend of its own.

Rumors of the concept coming to Wu-Tang leader RZA while atop the Great Pyramid of Khufu, and that Bill Murray (a friend of RZA’s) was contractually allowed to take the album off Shkreli’s hands in a heist, spread far and wide. And Shkreli flaunted it every chance he had, live-streaming tracks after Donald Trump was elected president, and getting into a public spat over the album with Wu member Ghostface Killah.

Recently the big debate is whether "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" is an official Wu-Tang album. Representatives for Method Man and fellow member U-God say it isn’t, and instead is the byproduct of tracks produced by Moroccan producer Tarik Azzougarh, also known as Cilvaringz.

Method Man, himself, doesn’t know.

“I wouldn’t know because I haven’t heard it,” he said. “I only know the tracks that I spit on. That is it.”

Looking back on the way the album was released, and the antics of Shkreli, Method Man thinks it was done all wrong.

“My personal opinion, I wouldn't have done it that way,” he said. “I would have just gave it to the people at the end of the day. But you have people that have families to feed, things of that nature. And then to have someone [buy the album] that is pretty much disliked by a lot of people based off something that had nothing to do with hip-hop, that made it worse.”

Method Man said fans shouldn’t be bummed over not being able to hear the “Once Upon a Time” album because a new Wu album is coming out October 15, “Wu-Tang: The Saga Continues.” That’s definitely an official album, he said.

The rapper-actor didn’t seem that interested in talking about the Shkreli situation, but he was amused that one of the prospective jurors at Shkreli's trial said in court, before being excused, that Shkreli “disrespected the Wu-Tang.”

“Yeah, you’ll be surprised how far that W stretches,” Method Man said.

SEE ALSO: Pierce Brosnan talks about his new movie "The Foreigner," but isn't in the mood to discuss James Bond

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35 years ago, director Ridley Scott blessed us with a sci-fi movie that, to this day, is still one of the most beloved works in the genre.

“Blade Runner,” based on the Philip K. Dick novel, is a futuristic film noir starring Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, an officer in the LAPD who works a specific beat: tracking down rogue "replicants" (bioengineered androids who work as slaves on off-world colonies). On the streets, he’s called a “blade runner.” By the end of the movie, Deckard falls for an advanced replicant named Rachel (Sean Young), which causes him to become a fugitive as well.

Scott’s vision of a dreary Los Angeles in the future, mixed with the cinematography of Jordan Cronenweth, and the synthesized score of Vangelis, gave us a sci-fi movie that — five years after the release of “Star Wars: A New Hope” — was as technically advanced, but grittier than George Lucas’s Buck Rogers-inspired space opera. And story-wise, "Blade Runner" was more layered than Scott’s other sci-fi landmark, “Alien,” three years earlier.

So that’s the kind of greatness director Denis Villeneuve (“Sicario,” “Arrival”) was up against when he signed on to make a sequel to “Blade Runner.”

“Blade Runner 2049,” opening in theaters on Friday, is a tremendous achievement by a director who is quickly becoming one of the handful of filmmakers who can bring an auteur vision to Hollywood blockbusters. But it’s extremely difficult to compare it to the original.

The movie opens with us being introduced to a new blade runner, K (Ryan Gosling). The year is 2049 and things have gotten even more complex in a decrepit Los Angeles. The replicants are more advanced, but there are still those older models running around unaccounted for, which K seeks out.

I don’t want to give too much away because you should really go in fresh to appreciate the movie, so here’s the bare-bones version: K discovers information in his latest case that leads him on an investigation that will redefine the replicants, and take him to the whereabouts of Deckard.

Gosling delivers another powerful performance by doing something that he’s quickly become the master of: minimalist acting. K, like Deckard, works alone. And though he wants desperately to have a relationship, all he has is a beautiful computer-generated woman (Ana de Armas) who greets him when he gets home every night. The inner turmoil of K’s life and profession is displayed by Gosling with looks and few words.

Now, for some actors this type of style could come off as lazy and uninspired — and put audiences in a snooze. But Gosling does it in a way that, when his character explodes with emotion or a fit of rage, it’s exhilarating to watch. If you loved Gosling in “Drive” (and tolerated him in “Only God Forgives”) then get ready to see the perfect chill Gosling performance.

What Gosling lacks in energy is made up for with an ear-drum busting score by Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch, along with lush cinematography by the great Roger Deakins.

While the first “Blade Runner” explores LA with mostly night shots and a handful of wide exteriors, Villeneuve (who previously worked with the legendary DP on “Prisoners” and “Sicario”) has Deakins go crazy in “2049.” Thanks to the technology since 1982, we see the world through epic vistas and rich colors. And in paying homage to Scott (who is a executive producer on the movie) a good amount of rain. Does Deakins deserve a long-awaited first Oscar for his work on the movie? Yeah! But I feel I’ve been saying that about almost every movie he’s done in my lifetime.

Don’t expect anything earth-shattering with the performance by Ford as Deckard. He shows up, does his Harrison Ford thing (like hit Ryan Gosling in the face … a lot), and gets the job done like a pro. Honestly, there wasn’t much more he could do in this movie.

There are a few head-scratching moments with the plot. Mackenzie Davis’ Mariette role is forgettable. I still have no clue what purpose she served in the story (which is sad, because Davis deserves better). And Jared Leto as the overseer of the replicants, Niander Wallace, is just a few scenes of some A+ scenery chewing. There are moments when it almost seemed Villeneuve was letting Leto go full Colonel Kurtz in “Apocalypse Now” with his performance, as Leto goes off on tangents and is shot in shadows.

I left watching “2049” feeling extremely satisfied. With a running time of over two and a half hours, you have the feeling that you went through an epic journey by the end. This is definitely an event movie. But I also felt that I saw something that was so distant from the original in story, style, and structure that it’s unfair to connect them.

Sure, there are moments that “Blade Runner” fans will fully appreciate, but I’m going to keep the original on high and celebrate “2049” for its own individual strengths.

SEE ALSO: 34 movies you have to see this fall — including "Justice League," "It," and "Blade Runner 2049"

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NOW WATCH: Jaleel White played Steve Urkel on 'Family Matters' for 9 years — here’s what he’s up to now

On Thursday, it emerged that Netflix would be increasing the prices for its subscription services, and investors seemed to love it.

The company's stock shot up 5.36% on Thursday after reports on the price increase. Investors were happy to see an estimated $623 million in new revenue for the company.

But the new revenue will only come if Netflix doesn't lose a ton of subscribers because of the price increase. In order to limit its losses, Netflix timed its price hike perfectly to coincide with a flood of new content.

"This timing coincides with what we expect will be a strong fourth quarter of 2017 content slate, which could help minimize churn," Doug Mitchelson, an analyst at UBS, said in a note to clients.

Analysts, and even Netflix itself, regularly point to popular original content as the best way to attract and retain customers. In the fourth quarter of 2017, Netflix has set up some potential hits. The company is releasing the second season of "Stranger Things", its Will Smith-led original movie "Bright," the first season of "Marvel's The Punisher" and a revival of Emmy winning "Queer Eye," to name a few. 

Netflix said it learned a lot of lessons about how to best roll out price increases after an unpopular increase was carried out in 2016. Mitchelson added that "[Netflix] management would be unlikely to implement such a price increase if U.S. subscriber trends were disappointing, bolstering our confidence further." 

Mitchelson rates Netflix a buy with a price target of $225.

Netflix has grown 55.72% this year and jumped another 2.2% on Friday.

Read more about Netflix's former VP of talent and her new job here...

SEE ALSO: The Netflix exec behind its groundbreaking paternity leave policy just took a job at a startup with 193 employees and no office

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New York Comic Con always gets great cosplayers — like this giant Hulkbuster and this massive Reinhardt (both made by cosplay designer Thomas DePetrillo) — but this year's Comic Con has been particularly stunning.

Cosplayers can spend months putting these together. Here are some of the best costumes from this year's New York Comic Con.

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President Donald Trump in an interview with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee defended the first lady over backlash she received for wearing stiletto heels before boarding flights to hurricane-ravaged areas.

Trump made the comments in response to a question from Huckabee on Melania Trump's high approval ratings, saying that she is a "private person" who "loved her other life."

"She doesn't need to be adored by people, but she does like to help people. And she sees how important it is. And she's taken tremendous abuse," Trump told Huckabee.

Melania Trump was criticized in August for wearing high heels before heading to Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, although she changed into sneakers before landing. She made a similar move this week when visiting Puerto Rico, boarding her flight while wearing stilettos before switching to Timberland work boots.

The president told Huckabee that the first lady had dressed up "out of respect for the White House," adding that she "wants to look good leaving the front entrance."

He continued: "So she dresses up, and she puts on formal shoes, high heels, and she leaves the White House going to Texas, or going to wherever we want to go — Florida, actually twice. So walking through that front door, she did. Now, she has sneakers in the meantime with her so she can change into other clothing when we're walking through where a hurricane is just leaving, and she took tremendous abuse."

Trump added that people he has met have not appeared to mind the first lady's heels.

"But the good news is that the people understand it – I was making a speech, and women were holding up — 'we love your stilettos.' They really do love her. And she's a good person," Trump said.

Trump's interview with Huckabee, who is the father of White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, will air on Saturday for the first episode of his show "Huckabee" on the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Watch the clip below:

SEE ALSO: People are furious about Melania Trump's outfit for her Puerto Rico visit — here's why it's a brilliant political move

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NOW WATCH: 'Rocket man is on a suicide mission': Trump threatens to 'totally destroy North Korea' in major UN speech

McDonald's is bringing Szechuan McNugget sauce back to the masses. 

In late July, McDonald's gave away four jugs of Szechuan McNugget sauce in response to an avalanche of demands from fans of the Adult Swim cartoon "Rick and Morty."

Last Sunday, McDonald's announced that it was bringing back Szechuan sauce for a wider audience. 

On Saturday, October 7, select McDonald's locations across the country are giving away Szechuan Sauce. The sauce will be available on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 2 p.m. local time. Customers can request the sauce along with orders of the new Buttermilk Crispy Tenders.

You can search which McDonald's locations near you will be giving out Szechuan sauce on the company's Buttermilk Crispy Tenders website. In the company's words, the roll-out is "really, really limited." For example, only five McDonald's in all of New Hampshire will serve the sauce. 

In other words, it still won't be easy to get your hands on the sauce. However, it will be free.

In August, one of the lucky recipients of the jug of Szechuan sauce sold the package on eBay for $15,350. The winning bidder was, in fact, the DJ deadmau5 — who is apparently a huge "Rick and Morty" fan. 

"Rick and Morty" set off the Szechuan sauce renaissance after its season premiere ended with a plea from mad scientist Rick for McDonald's to bring back the plum sauce. Szechuan sauce was previously only available for a limited time in 1998 to promote the Disney movie "Mulan."

SEE ALSO: People are willing to pay thousands of dollars for a jug of McDonald's Szechuan McNugget sauce that is one of only 4 in the world

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NOW WATCH: We tried Jollibee — the Filipino fast-food restaurant with thousands of locations around the world

"NOT MY AMERICA" trumpets a new trailer for upcoming first-person shooter "Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus."

The capitalized text, overlaid on video of goose-stepping Nazi soldiers marching through the streets of the game's fictional 1960s America, is the cornerstone of the upcoming game's ad campaign.

There's a simple reason for that: The series has always been about killing Nazis, either during World War II or thereafter. The most recent entries in the long-running series suppose an alternate history where Germany won WWII, controls Europe, and occupies the United States. 

It's no surprise, then, that the ad campaign for "Wolfenstein II" focuses on the dispelling of Nazis from the US — that's what the game is about as well.

The surprise is that there are genuine Nazis marching through the streets of the US in 2017, and that's put the game's anti-Nazi ad campaign into a surprisingly, unnervingly relevant place.

And it's put the game's publisher, Bethesda Softworks, in a strange place.

"We don't feel it's a reach for us to say Nazis are bad and un-American," Bethesda VP of marketing and PR Pete Hines told GamesIndustry.biz following the release of the most recent ad. "And we're not worried about being on the right side of history here."

The ad campaign also re-appropriates President Donald Trump's famous campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again," with a slight tweak: "#MakeAmericanNaziFreeAgain." As such, some folks who voted for Trump are conflating the killing of Nazis in the game with real world advocacy for killing Trump supporters.

To be clear, the vast majority of responses to the ad's debut were positive. We only spotted a handful of responses in the last 12 hours that even took issue with the ad, let alone defended Nazism. 

Still, that Bethesda has to comment on this at all is telling unto itself. It's not as though Bethesda, or the game's development studio Machine Games, set out to make political commentary — as the name implies, this game is the second in a series. The first "Wolfenstein" game in this trilogy set the stage for "Wolfenstein II," and that was years before the current political climate.

Here's how Hines put it:

"At the time, none of us expected that the game would be seen as a comment on current issues, but here we are. Bethesda doesn't develop games to make specific statements or incite political discussions. We make games that we think are fun, meaningful, and immersive for a mature audience. In 'Wolfenstein's' case, it's pure coincidence that Nazis are marching in the streets of America this year. And it's disturbing that the game can be considered a controversial political statement at all."

"Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus" launches on October 27 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC; the game's also headed to the Nintendo Switch at some point in 2018.

Check out the latest trailer for the game — subtly titled, "NO MORE NAZIS" — right here:

SEE ALSO: 'NOT MY AMERICA': Video game maker releases powerful ad for Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

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NOW WATCH: We played the highly-anticipated new Super Mario game and were blown away

This week, Sam Smith collaborated with Timbaland on a new single, Canadian rapper Belly teamed with Pusha T on a track, and Kelela released her debut album. 

Here are the 5 best songs from the past week that you can stream right now:

SEE ALSO: The 5 best songs you can stream from last week — Beyonce, Chance the Rapper, and more

Sam Smith — "Pray"

English singer Sam Smith turns a minimalist Timbaland beat into a full-fledged, choir-accompanied gospel track on his latest single, "Pray," from his upcoming album, "The Thrill of It All." 

Andrew Bird — "Lazuli Bunting"

Violinist and singer-songwriter Andrew Bird released an instrumental album this week. "Lazuli Bunting," an intricate highlight track, features his signature violin plucking and layering of strings. 

Kelela — "Waitin"

Alt-R&B singer Kelela reflects on a turbulent fling on the immaculately produced "Waitin," a standout song from her debut studio album, "Take Me Apart." 

On Friday morning, Marvel made a huge announcement on Twitter, and fans are not happy. 

Marvel Entertainment is joining forces with Northrop Grumman, an American global aerospace and defense technology company, and the world's fifth-largest defense contractor.

We don't know much yet, but it looks like there will be a promotional comic featuring the Avengers and "Northrop Grumman Elite Nexus," or N.G.E.N. 

The arms manufacturer generates over 20 billion dollars in revenue a year. Marvel Entertainment didn't reveal anything more about the partnership, and to learn more the company encouraged fans to head to their New York Comic Con booth on Saturday afternoon. 

The partnership comes as a surprise to many Marvel fans. Tony Stark/Iron Man, one of Marvel's most popular characters, stops selling weapons (his family's long-time business) because he realizes he's not saving lives, he's destroying them. For sensitivity reasons following the Las Vegas shootings, Marvel pulled its NYCC panel for "The Punisher," and canceled screenings of the first two episodes. 

Many lauded Marvel's decision to cancel The Punisher screenings, but fans don't seem pleased with the new Northrop Grumman partnership, and some took to Twitter to express their opinions on the matter:

The full details of the partnership are unknown, but more should be revealed on Saturday at NYCC.  

SEE ALSO: A top TV producer says Amazon's TV division is 'in way over their heads'

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Austin Rogers, a New York bartender, has won $309,600 on "Jeopardy!" in an eight-day winning streak, and he has quickly gone viral for his quirky mannerisms and the unique way he prepared to be on the game show.

Rogers told "Good Morning America" on Thursday that the key to his success was simple: He just watched a ton of "Jeopardy!"

Rogers says he's watched "hundreds upon hundreds" of episodes of the game show and has found that if you watch the show long enough, you're bound to see some repeats.

"I'm not going to say there's a system or a code, but if you watch enough, you'll start seeing things repeat," Rogers said.

Rogers has skipped skimming encyclopedias and studied the game show instead. Here's how he explained it:

"Like, if it ever says 'sculptor,' it's probably gonna be Auguste Rodin. If it ever says 'American sculptor,' it'll probably be Alexander Calder. If it ever says 'Romanian poet,' it'll be Ionesco. I have no idea who Ionesco is, but I've seen that come up three times in episodes across the decades."

In addition to being an impressive "Jeopardy!" winner, Rogers has quickly developed a following. Fans have been fawning over the unusually goofy contestant by using the hashtag #austinonjeopardy to applaud his wins.

Rogers remains the champion on "Jeopardy!"

Here's Roger's full interview on "Good Morning America":

SEE ALSO: Conservatives and liberals love wildly different TV shows — here are the top series across the political spectrum

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NOW WATCH: Tony Robbins takes us on a private tour of his massive beachfront mansion in Fiji

NEW YORK — Former Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton finally has time to do what almost all teenagers do these days: Binge-watch Netflix.

Over a two-week period this summer, Lynton went deep down into the Netflix rabbit hole, he said at the New Yorker TechFest conference on Friday. 

"I could never understand what Netflix was really, until I got stuck in bed this summer for two weeks when I was sick," Lynton said. 

"And I experienced what most teenagers experience, which is I got caught in the world of Netflix," said Lynton, who stepped down from the Sony Entertainment in January.

What did he watch? 

"I watched everything. I watched Turkish dramas, I watched — because they keep just pushing stuff at you, and just when you think you've had enough, you've tried two or three hours of one thing and they say 'you don't like that, we've got an Irish comedy here and an Iranian thing there' and on and on and on it goes.

"Eventually, you pop up, say, 'I've got to watch 'Game of Thrones' which just came on HBO and then you get out from it. For the rest of the time, you're in their world, and you just wander around in their world for as long as you want ... that's pretty powerful."

Five second warning

As the chief executive of Sony Entertainment, Lynton oversaw several major blockbuster movies and TV shows, including the original "Spider-Man." The future of Netflix is "pretty bright," Lynton told interviewer David Remnick on stage on Friday. "I think it's going to keep growing."

These days Lynton is closely involved with the tech industry as the Chairman of Snap's board of directors, thanks to an early investment in Snapchat that his wife and kids led him to.

A now-removed feature in Snapchat used to play the next short video without the user having to press a button, which sounds a lot like a Netflix feature that Lynton expressed admiration for.

"Even better yet, they say, 'in five seconds the next show' just pops up, and you're right back into it," Lynton said.  

SEE ALSO: Snap chairman Michael Lynton met Evan Spiegel because his kids were addicted to the app

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NOW WATCH: I won't trade in my iPhone 6s for an iPhone 8 or iPhone X — here's why

This is a preview of a research report from BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about BI Intelligence, click here.

What is eSports? History & Rise of Video Game Tournaments

Years ago, eSports was a community of video gamers who would gather at conventions to play Counter Strike, Call of Duty, or League of Legends.

These multiplayer video game competitions would determine League of Legends champions, the greatest shooters in Call of Duty, the cream of the crop of Street Fighter players, the elite Dota 2 competitors, and more.

But today, as the history of eSports continue to unfold, media giants such as ESPN and Turner are broadcasting eSports tournaments and competitions. And in 2014, Amazon acquired Twitch, the live streaming video platform that has been and continues to be the leader in online gaming broadcasts. And YouTube also wanted to jump on the live streaming gaming community with the creation of YouTube Gaming.

eSports Market Growth Booming

To put in perspective how big eSports is becoming, a Google search for "lol" does not produce "laughing out loud" as the top result. Instead, it points to League of Legends, one of the most popular competitive games in existence. The game has spawned a worldwide community called the League of Legends Championship Series, more commonly known as LCS or LOL eSports.

What started as friends gathering in each other's homes to host LAN parties and play into the night has become an official network of pro gaming tournaments and leagues with legitimate teams, some of which are even sponsored and have international reach. Organizations such as Denial, AHQ, and MLG have multiple eSports leagues.

And to really understand the scope of all this, consider that the prize pool for the latest Dota 2 tournament was more than $20 million.

Websites even exist for eSports live scores to let people track the competitions in real time if they are unable to watch. There are even fantasy eSports leagues similar to fantasy football, along with the large and growing scene of eSports betting and gambling.

So it's understandable why traditional media companies would want to capitalize on this growing trend just before it floods into the mainstream. Approximately 300 million people worldwide tune in to eSports today, and that number is growing rapidly. By 2020, that number will be closer to 500 million.

eSports Industry Analysis - The Future of the Competitive Gaming Market

Financial institutions are starting to take notice. Goldman Sachs valued eSports at $500 million in 2016 and expects the market will grow at 22% annually compounded over the next three years into a more than $1 billion opportunity.

And industry statistics are already backing this valuation and demonstrating the potential for massive earnings. To illustrate the market value, market growth, and potential earnings for eSports, consider Swedish media company Modern Times Group's $87 million acquisition of Turtle Entertainment, the holding company for ESL. YouTube has made its biggest eSports investment to date by signing a multiyear broadcasting deal with Faceit to stream the latter's Esports Championship Series. And the NBA will launch its own eSports league in 2018.

Of course, as with any growing phenomenon, the question becomes: How do advertisers capitalize? This is especially tricky for eSports because of its audience demographics, which is young, passionate, male-dominated, and digital-first. They live online and on social media, are avid ad-blockers, and don't watch traditional TV or respond to conventional advertising.

So what will the future of eSports look like? How high can it climb? Could it reach the mainstream popularity of baseball or football? How will advertisers be able to reach an audience that does its best to shield itself from advertising?

Robert Elder, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled an unparalleled report on the eSports ecosystem that dissects the growing market for competitive gaming. This comprehensive, industry-defining report contains more than 30 charts and figures that forecast audience growth, average revenue per user, and revenue growth.

Companies and organizations mentioned in the report include: NFL, NBA, English Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, NHL, Paris Saint-Germain, Ligue 1, Ligue de Football, Twitch, Amazon, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, ESPN, Electronic Arts, EA Sports, Valve, Riot Games, Activision Blizzard, ESL, Turtle Entertainment, Dreamhack, Modern Times Group, Turner Broadcasting, TBS Network, Vivendi, Canal Plus, Dailymotion, Disney, BAMTech, Intel, Coca Cola, Red Bull, HTC, Mikonet

Here are some eSports industry facts and statistics from the report:

• eSports is a still nascent industry filled with commercial opportunity.
• There are a variety of revenue streams that companies can tap into.
• The market is presently undervalued and has significant room to grow.
• The dynamism of this market distinguishes it from traditional sports.
• The audience is high-value and global, and its numbers are rising.
• Brands can prosper in eSports by following the appropriate game plan.
• Game publishers approach their Esport ecosystems in different ways.  
• Successful esport games are comprised of the same basic ingredients.
• Digital streaming platforms are spearheading the popularity of eSports.
• Legacy media are investing into eSports, and seeing encouraging results.
• Traditional sports franchises have a clear opportunity to seize in eSports.
• Virtual and augmented reality firms also stand to benefit from eSports.  

In full, the report illuminates the business of eSports from four angles:

• The gaming nucleus of eSports, including an overview of popular esport genres and games; the influence of game publishers, and the spectrum of strategies they adopt toward their respective esport scenes; the role of eSports event producers and the tournaments they operate.
• The eSports audience profile, its size, global reach, and demographic, psychographic, and behavioral attributes; the underlying factors driving its growth; why they are an attractive target for brands and broadcasters; and the significant audience and commercial crossover with traditional sports.
• eSports media broadcasters, including digital avant-garde like Twitch and YouTube, newer digital entrants like Facebook and traditional media outlets like Turner’s TBS Network, ESPN, and Canal Plus; their strategies and successes in this space; and the virtual reality opportunity.
• eSports market economics, with a market sizing, growth forecasts, and regional analyses; an evaluation of the eSports spectacle and its revenue generators, some of which are idiosyncratic to this industry; strategic planning for brand marketers, with case studies; and an exploration of the infinite dynamism and immense potential of the eSports economy.

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:

1. Subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> START A MEMBERSHIP
2. Purchase & download the full report from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT

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NOW WATCH: Watch Adam Savage go undercover as Chewbacca at New York Comic Con

Netflix raised its prices for US subscribers on Thursday and its stock took off, hitting an all time high of $194.39 per share by the end of the day. The price bump took the standard tier up to $10.99 from $9.99, and the premium tier to $13.99 from $11.99. The entry level $7.99 plan will not change. Subscribers are likely to grumble, but the stock increase indicates investors are confident the company won't see a decline in subscription numbers.

Netflix has raised its prices before, and as we can see in this chart from Statista, subscriber growth rates slowed but never decreased as a result. Netflix has consumers hooked, and its content is only likely to get better. According to content boss Ted Sarandos, the company will spend almost $7 billion on content next year, and has recruited TV power players like Shonda Rhimes to produce original shows. 

SEE ALSO: Google released its two new smart speakers into an already crowded market

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NOW WATCH: A top analyst recommends buying Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google shares

• HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines announced that season five will be the last season of their show "Fixer Upper."
• They realized that they couldn't balance their family, business, and TV show anymore.
• Chip started thinking about the show after getting a tweet from a customer waiting for a delivery.

HGTV star Chip Gaines started thinking about leaving hit show "Fixer Upper" after a tweet.

In his upcoming book, "Capital Gaines: Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff," the DIY entrepreneur remembers getting a tweet from a customer at 2 a.m. that, in his words, "changed everything."

"Hey @chippergaines," the customer wrote. "It's been 3 weeks, and I still haven't gotten my wreath. What's up?!"

"I tried to shake it off, knowing that I couldn't do anything about it then and that it would have to wait until morning," Gaines writes in "Capital Gaines." "No luck. I was up all night dwelling on it."

Midway through the next day, while on the set of "Fixer Upper" with his wife and business partner Joanna, Gaines was "overwhelmed" by a single thought: "What am I doing here?"

He wanted to walk off the set, head to the warehouse, and resolve the shipping problem. "Who else but me should be figuring out what was ailing my growing business, and who else other than me should be ensuring that we moved beyond each and every one of these mistakes?" he writes.

In that moment, he writes, "something shifted within me. Suddenly filming the TV show looked like 'the job' that had seduced me into giving it my precious time that I had always promised would be reserved for my true loves, my family and my business. How had this side gig found its way to competing with the very things that mean more to me than anything else in the world?"

The Gaineses realized that they were stretched too thin. Between the two of them, they estimate they can do two things well at a time, but in recent years they were juggling three: their home life with four children, their business, and their TV show.

"These major responsibilities affect my ability to sleep, and they steal from my peace of mind," Gaines writes. "Each is important. Each is worthwhile. And each is something that that can't succeed without Joanna's and my personal involvement."

Fans of the HGTV show might not realize that Magnolia, the Gaineses' business, predates "Fixer Upper" by over a decade. For years, the couple has been buying and flipping investment properties, renovating local homes in Waco, Texas, and operating home decor stores in the area.

The latest iteration of their business is Magnolia Market, the home-improvement hub they created in 2015 from two abandoned grain silos across the street from their children's school, which attracts visitors from all over the US. They also bought a restaurant in downtown Waco and partnered with Target to produce a line of exclusive home goods. Joanna collaborated with HGTV to produce a web series, "Behind the Design."

"These past several years have been such a mind-blowing season of life for us," Gaines writes. "They have also been a very real struggle. I've been in this lengthy internal wrestling match, trying to understand and prioritize these three main priorities while also fending off all the other big things that compete for my time. Who deserves the best of me? Which ones get the bulk of my passion and energy? And which, in turn, gets what amounts to my leftovers?"

Their marriage and children automatically take first place, he writes, and while he "dream[s] of the day Jo and I are chairmen of the board and not actually involved in the day-to-day operations" of their business, they are both still needed on the ground.

"It was really easy for us to feel like we could do it all when the show and the business were in the early stages," writes Gaines. "But the bigger things got — and they got big fast— the less energy we had to devote to all three. So much time was being allocated to filming that the details of the business were slipping." 

The "tweet-fueled revelation," Gaines writes, made him realize that he and Joanna are tired. He continues on to say that their relationship and business partnership is stronger than ever, "but pure long-term exhaustion can change a person — or two persons. We had been driving so hard for so long now. And I had this sense that if I kept my foot on the gas, we might be headed for disaster."

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The name Roger Deakins might not ring a bell, but the movies he's shot are certainly household names.

As a 13-time Oscar nominee for his cinematography, he is behind the visuals of such classics as "The Shawshank Redemption," "Fargo," "A Beautiful Mind," and "Skyfall," to name just a few.

His latest project, "Blade Runner 2049" (in theaters), continues his top-flight work as he uses the world created by director Ridley Scott in the original "Blade Runner" to deliver a future that's dark and drab, but also breathtaking. And it might just finally give him that elusive Oscar he's been seeking.

While talking to Business Insider at the Toronto International Film Festival two years ago, Deakins revealed the three titles that stick out for him the most.

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1. "Kundun" (1997)

Deakins teamed with Martin Scorsese for this biopic on Tibet's fourteenth Dalai Lama that was a jolt for Scorsese fans who know him for his look at the underworld. With a paltry lifetime box office of less than $6 million in the US, the film has been utterly forgotten. But for Deakins, the experience of shooting the film for Scorsese, which has been the only time the two legends have teamed up, was a memorable one.

"I love the film," Deakins told Business Insider. "There's something very special about it, as it's not strictly literal. There are shots that are so evocative and hit you."

2. "The Man Who Wasn't There" (2001)

Deakins has shot almost all of the films made by Joel and Ethan Coen, but one that stands out for him is the black-and-white noir "The Man Who Wasn't There," starring Billy Bob Thornton as a chain-smoking barber who gets caught up in a murder.

"I think of all the films I've worked on, that film, to me, everything fits like a little complex jigsaw puzzle," he said. "The way the [Coens] did it, and how it's structured with a variety of mood. It was the hardest film to do that, and they really succeeded."

3. "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (2007)

A film that is quickly becoming a modern-day classic thanks to Deakins' poetic shots giving a look we've never seen before from a western. Brad Pitt plays the aging outlaw Jesse James in the final years of his life, leading up to him being killed by a member of his gang, Robert Ford (Casey Affleck).

"I love that movie so much because it really captured the lyricism of the book," Deakins said, referring to the Ron Hansen novel the movie is based on. "It has similarities to 'Kundun' in not being literal. I think films these days have become too literal and too dialogue, plot-driven. 'Jesse James' has shots in it that have nothing to do with the plot, but you can get away with it, and that's what I love about film. It's not always about narrative. There's just things you couldn't express any other way but through film."

Remember puberty?  You probably do, but don’t want to.

Netflix’s new show, “Big Mouth,” takes one of the most horrific periods of every person’s life and transforms it into a vulgar, honest, and delightful animated series.

On “Big Mouth,” every teen has a “hormone monster” who follows them around and fuels their sexual desires, explaining new body hair and other changes. “Big Mouth” will remind you of some of those terrible memories you’ve probably repressed all these years, but will help you look back on them with some joy rather than pain.

And it has been a hit with critics, snagging a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes to become Netflix's highest-rated animated show.

Business Insider recently talked to Andrew Goldberg, a former “Family Guy” writer who co-created “Big Mouth” with comedian Nick Kroll (his best friend since childhood), Jennifer Flackett, and Mark Levin. We talked about what it was like making a semi-autobiographical show about the most awkward period of your life, the freedom of working with Netflix, and an awful moment he had at a bar mitzvah that actually made it onto the show.

Carrie Wittmer: It's crazy to think that there's never really been a show or movie that focuses on puberty in this way before. How’d this concept come to life?

Andrew Goldberg: One of the reasons it was interesting to us is like you said, there haven't really been shows that take a real deep, authentic dive into it [puberty], and certainly not any comedies. And there was a real breakthrough at some point . . Mark and Jen are married and they have a son who at the time was about 12, and was really going through this. And he was saying, “Is there a way to use animation to create a character out of all of the fear and neuroses surrounding puberty?” And I said, “like a hormone monster?” And he said, “Yeah exactly.” And later that day I just I said those words "hormone monster" to Nick [Kroll]. And just immediately he had the voice and really had such a beat on that character. For us, that was a big breakthrough. And then we were quickly like, “Well, there has to be a female hormone monster.” So once we added that and Maya Rudolph, it did really help us hone what the show is about. I'm sorry that was such a long answer.

Wittmer: I love long answers. You addressed this as a joke in one of the episodes, but was it hard for you guys to find a home for the show since it is this gross sexual humor involving kids? Were there ever any points where you felt you were maybe drawing the line?

Goldberg: There was more than one place that wanted it, and we chose Netflix. One of the reasons chose Netflix —and I'm so glad we did — is we anticipated that they give creators freedom to push the envelope. And we were right that they would be the perfect place to let us do a really honest show. The whole first season, there was only one instance where Netflix was like, “You probably shouldn't do that.” And we were actually 50/50 on it ourselves anyway. So it was very easy to say “OK, you're right.”

Wittmer: Is it hard for you and the writers to go back and dig deep in this time of your life?

Goldberg: It’s super fun and occasionally it's torture. But the nice thing about it is our writers room often feels like you've sat in a day of therapy. It's really cathartic because you're in this group of people — and hopefully people watching the show get the same experience — where you're reliving these memories that are traumatic or embarrassing or awkward, but you're getting the feeling that other people have been through it, too.

Wittmer: Did you learn something new about anyone else's experience with puberty? Like women or even another guy’s experience that you hadn't thought of before?

Goldberg: Oh yeah. Constantly. Especially with the female-driven episodes. Those were such a learning experience for me. Early on, Jen [Flackett, co-creator] was very focused on giving equal time to girls. And Emily Altman and Kelly Glesca, two of our writers, wrote a lot of those female-centric episodes and were also super helpful. And then Jenny Slate, Jessi Klein, and Maya Rudolph also brought so much to that. Nick and I had a very good friend growing up who later told us that she did in fact get her first period at the Statue of Liberty on a school trip.

Wittmer: How about the "girls are horny" episode?

Goldberg: That was another learning experience just for the men on the staff. The women talked about how much less linear it is what turns them on versus what turns men on, which was really fascinating for us. And then something we didn't get to in season one that really is something is what it’s like to get breasts. How boys react to you, and how boys react to girls getting harassed, and how other girls react to that girl . . . and kind of doing something like that, with all the female characters in our show. That’s something that we’d like to feature.

Wittmer: When you think about your vision for the rest of the show, will it be like most animated shows where the characters are always the same age? You’re in a unique situation since this show is about kids who are growing up fast, so they kind of have to change, right?

Goldberg: I think we imagine a combination of the two. This show is about changes. They definitely will age. Our plan is to age them up, but not necessarily every year. I don't feel like we've finished all our seventh grade stories yet.

Wittmer: Is there anything else puberty-related, besides women growing breasts, that you want to cover in upcoming seasons?

Goldberg: We have a big bulletin board of puberty ideas that I'm even looking at right now. Like, odor is something that we didn't get in this season. Like, some sort of hygiene episode. That’s definitely on the horizon. One of the nice things about doing a show about this time of life is that it is so fraught with dramatic and comedic issues that it feels like we have a lot more to mine.

Wittmer: And it’s such a short time. Only a couple of years. This show made me really think about how much happened during puberty for the first time. So much happens.

Goldberg: It's a wild time of life. And it’s tough. Everything feels so important in the moment. What drama, packed into just a couple years.

Wittmer: The characters are loosely based off yourself and Nick [Kroll]. What things in the show are things that actually happened to you guys?

Goldberg: I did in fact c--- in my pants at a bar mitzvah. So that was based on reality. My mother was very upset because she was upset that I didn't come to her afterwards and tell her that. And we actually did have a friend who used to f--- his pillow. That was one that I was mesmerized by in real life. And like I said our good friend had her first period at the Statue of Liberty. A lot a lot of it is exaggerations and embellishment of stuff that that really did happen to us.

Here is the trailer for “Big Mouth,” which is available to stream on Netflix:

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Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein is one of the Democratic Party's most prolific donors.

Since the 2000 election cycle, Weinstein has donated nearly $1 million in his own name in addition to collecting and providing roughly $1.5 million as a part of "bundled" donations, which the Center for Responsive Politics defines as contributions provided by "people with friends in high places who, after bumping against personal contribution limits, turn to those friends, associates, and, well, anyone who's willing to give, and deliver the checks to the candidate."

Top Democrats including former President Barack Obama, 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Al Franken, Cory Booker, and Kirsten Gillibrand have all received contributions from Weinstein, the Hollywood mega-executive who co-founded Miramax Films and The Weinstein Company.

On Thursday, The New York Times reported on Weinstein's decades of alleged sexual misconduct. The Times reported that Weinstein pressured younger women into giving him massages and asked them to watch him bathe, among other harassment. By Friday, Weinstein was suspended from his company, the Associated Press reported.

Almost immediately, Democrats began facing pressure to return their donations from Weinstein. So far, a number of prominent Democrats already have.

BuzzFeed reported that, as of Friday afternoon, 10 Democratic senators have donated campaign contributions from Weinstein to charity. They include Sens. Chuck Schumer, Martin Heinrich, Patrick Leahy, Richard Blumenthal, Kamala Harris, Booker, Warren, Gillibrand, and Franken. Many of the charities were either national or local nonprofits focused on combating sexual violence.

The Democratic National Committee, which received more than $300,000 from Weinstein since 2000, decided to donate more than $30,000 to left-leaning political groups that support Democratic female candidates.

Editor's Note: The donations included are all of Weinstein's contributions to candidates in federal elections and national political organizations since 2000.

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For the past few years, Joe Grabinksi has chronicled the most hilariously bad Amazon reviews of popular movies.

Grabinski's Twitter account, "Amazon Movie Reviews," has amassed over 200,000 followers, and is a pitch-perfect mixture of extremely misguided reviews and just plain wacky ones.

Grabinksi gave us a list of his favorites. These are the best of the bad. The ones he chose range in tone from clueless to angry, to some that we truly hope were meant as a joke. A few things we noticed: Parents tend to blame movies for everything, and at least one person still really cares about VHS.

Get your popcorn ready.

Creed (2015)

Hunger Games (2012)

Sinister (2012)

Comedian and late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel spent part of Saturday morning taking potshots at President Donald Trump and his oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., on Twitter. 

Trump kicked off the day by tweeting, "Late Night host [sic] are dealing with the Democrats for their very 'unfunny' & repetitive material, always anti-Trump! Should we get Equal Time?"

Kimmel responded: "Excellent point Mr. President! You should quit that boring job - I'll let you have my show ALL to yourself #MAGA." 

Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., stepped in to defend his father. He quoted Kimmel's reply and asked, "Thoughts on Harvey Weinstein? #askingforafriend."

Trump Jr. was referring to the film producer and Hollywood mogul who has been accused of sexual harassment by multiple women, including Ashley Judd. The allegations against Weinstein first came out last week, when The New York Times reported that he had settled lawsuits with eight women and had been accused of sexual harassment and abuse going back decades. 

"You mean that big story from the failing, liberal, one-sided @nytimes? I think it is disgusting," Kimmel wrote in response to Trump Jr.'s tweet, using several of Trump's own criticisms against the Times in an apparent mockery of the president. 

"Great I look forward to your monologues next week," Trump Jr. replied. "You're probably due for a change if only for a moment or two." 

"Great - in the meantime, enjoy this!" Kimmel tweeted back after Trump Jr. replied, and included a YouTube clip of the 2005 Access Hollywood tape in which Trump is heard talking to host Billy Bush about groping women without their consent.

"I don't even wait," Trump said on the tape. "You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the p---y. You can do anything." 

Kimmel is a vocal Trump critic, and he ramped up his criticisms of the president and the GOP this year, as Republicans embarked on several attempts to overhaul the Affordable Care Act.

Kimmel, whose son was born with a heart defect, is a staunch opponent of Republican efforts to reform the healthcare system, arguing that their fix does not offer adequate coverage and protections for those with preexisting conditions.

SEE ALSO: The heart-wrenching story of Jimmy Kimmel's infant son explains why he's so passionate about healthcare

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President Donald Trump on Saturday said he was "not at all surprised" by recent reports alleging that Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein sexually harassed multiple women over a period of decades.

"I've known Harvey Weinstein for a long time. I'm not at all surprised to see it," Trump told reporters outside the White House before he boarded a flight to North Carolina.

The New York Times released an explosive report earlier this week that said at least eight women have reached legal settlements with Weinstein after harassment and abuse allegations.

On Saturday, the high-profile lawyer Lisa Bloom, who typically represents women in sexual assault cases against powerful men, announced she was resigning from Weinstein's legal team.

But when Trump was asked on Saturday about the Weinstein accusations in the context of his own history of sexual harassment and abuse allegations — particularly after the bombshell Access Hollywood tape released one year ago in which Trump boasted about groping women without their consent — Trump dismissed the comparison.

"That's locker room. That's locker room," he said.

Since the Times report on Weinstein, other women have come forward to report similar allegations. HuffPost reported on Friday that the TV journalist Lauren Sivan, who was previously a news anchor on local cable channel Long Island 12, alleged that a decade ago Weinstein trapped her in the hallway of a restaurant that was closed to the public and masturbated in front of her until he ejaculated.

Elena Holodny contributed reporting.

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