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Here's the trailer for the new Matthew McConaughey movie that was booed at Cannes

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The Sea Of Trees YouTube A24 final

It sounds like a movie you'd want to see: Matthew McConaughey and Naomi Watts starring in a drama about life and love directed by Gus Van Sant ("Good Will Hunting," "Milk"). 

But after "The Sea of Trees" premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year, where it was booed and regarded by some critics as the worst movie of Van Sant's career, many were wondering if the movie would ever see the light of day. 

Following a surprise acquisition of the movie by A24 ("Room," "Swiss Army Man"), the movie will be released in theaters on August 26. 

Here's the trailer. Will you go see it?

 

SEE ALSO: The 10 best and worst TV shows this summer

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NOW WATCH: Disney just released 3 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage from the new 'Star Wars' movie


Pokémon Go players got together to bust one of the game's biggest myths — with data

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Pokemon Go

When Brooklyn-based Nick Johnson came forward in late July as the first person to catch all 142 Pokémon that are currently available to Pokémon Go players in the United States, there was a minor outcry in my e-mail inbox.

People started coming forward to downplay Johnson's accomplishment, saying that they had actually managed to collect all 145 Pokémon currently available in the game, worldwide, including the three exclusively available in Europe, Asia, and Australia

And, those players all say, they didn't need to follow in Johnson's footsteps and go on an international journey to catch those far-off monsters— they had simply gotten lucky in hatching the Pokémon eggs that are more-or-less randomly distributed to players.

But over on Reddit's The Silph Road community for Pokémon Go players, there was a lot of skepticism about whether or not it was actually possible to hatch the three internationally-available exclusive Pokémon from those eggs. So, to put the debate to rest, Silph Road user CSULBPaintsniffer applied a little science.

CSULBPaintsniffer asked players to report on how many eggs they had hatched, and whether they had hatched any eggs that originated from outside their own continent.

Ten hours and 40,507 eggs worth of data later, the result seems clear: "REGION-LOCKED POKEMON DO NOT HATCH OUTSIDE OF THEIR REGION," to borrow that user's bold-text words. 

What this means

That means that unless you live in (or visit), say, Europe, you won't hatch that continent's Mr. Mime, ever. If you don't live in Asia, you won't hatch a Farfetch'd. And if you don't live in Australia, you won't hatch a Kangaskhan. For us in America, it's Tauros. 

Obviously, this survey isn't totally scientific, and wouldn't exactly pass muster at Harvard. But it puts a huge nail in the coffin for the myth of the lucky international egg-hatcher. 

Furthermore, even if you assume that the very next egg in this study would have hatched a Farfetch'd or a Mr. Mine or a Kangaskhan, the exclusive international Pokémon...well, it means that your chances of hatching one were still 1 in 40,508 at best.

This indicates that anybody who claims that they hatched all three eggs isn't just "lucky" — it means that they should probably be playing the Powerball instead of Pokémon Go, after beating those insane odds three times in a row. More realistically, people who claim to have gotten all 145 without a fair amount of international travel are cheating.

Regional Pokemon GO map

The most common forms of cheating include using GPS "spoofing" to fool the game into thinking you're somewhere you're not, or account sharing, where you give someone abroad your password and get them to catch the Pokémon for you. That's part of why people are paying for top-level Pokémon Go accounts — I've heard of accounts selling in the thousands of dollars.

Meanwhile, another common pushback heard from the Pokémon Go-playing community is that John Hanke, the CEO of Pokémon Go developer Niantic, confirmed that hatching eggs was possible at July's San Diego Comic Con.

The only problem is that, reviewing footage of his convention appearance and all media coverage, I can't confirm Hanke said anything of the sort. He did say that there were more hidden "Easter eggs" in the game for players to find, but nothing about region-specific Pokémon.

So when The Sun reports that a British man caught all 145 by walking around London and New York City, skipping Australia and Asia, you should know that there is probably more to this story than they're letting on. 

Meanwhile, Johnson completed his international quest late last week after visiting Paris, Sydney, and Hong Kong, making him the first that we can verify caught 'em all, fair and square.

SEE ALSO: America's first Pokémon Go master has finally caught every Pokémon in the world

SEE ALSO: This one chart explains why the creators of Pokémon Go are shutting down the game's most useful apps

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A rare Pokémon caused a huge stampede in Central Park

President Obama listened to this Eminem song to pump himself up for his DNC speech

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Barack Obama

At some point before giving a powerful and persuasive speech at July's Democratic National Convention, President Barack Obama pumped himself up for the occasion by listening to Eminem's anthem "Lose Yourself" from the 2002 film "8 Mile." 

As Vulture points out, a behind-the-scenes video of the DNC caught a brief glimpse of Obama bobbing his head to the inspiring rap song, while his aides smiled and awkwardly joined in.

The video also features backstage footage of celebrities like Sarah Silverman and Katy Perry, both of whom made appearances at the DNC. 

Watch Obama hype himself up with "Lose Yourself" at the 58-second mark of the video below. 

SEE ALSO: 28 celebrities who are taking a strong stand against Donald Trump

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Watch Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone dance and sing in the first trailer for 'La La Land'

Jeff Bridges talks to us about his gripping new movie and why he wants to play The Dude again

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jeff bridges

For a remarkable six decades, Jeff Bridges has entertained us, from being one of Hollywood's most promising young talents in "The Last Picture Show" to earning his own generation of cult followers with "The Big Lebowski."

Now at 66, Bridges has his much-deserved Oscar (for the 2009 film "Crazy Heart"), and though he doesn't get the same leading roles he used to, you can still see his greatness in his latest movie "Hell or High Water" (opening in theaters Friday).

Playing Marcus Hamilton, a Texas Ranger who's one job away from retiring, Bridges delivers his best performance since "Crazy Heart," mixing comedy and drama perfectly in a story (written by "Sicario" screenwriter Taylor Sheridan) whose backdrop is a bleak Texas where open carry gun laws are welcomed following a string of bank robberies committed by brothers (Chris Pine and Ben Foster).

Business Insider talked to Bridges about "Hell or High Water," a "The Big Lebowski" sequel, and living in a set from one of his movies.

Hell or High Water CBS FilmsJason Guerrasio: You have often said that you resist working as much as possible, so what was it that made you sign onto "Hell or High Water"?

Jeff Bridges: It was the script. Taylor Sheridan I think wrote a very good script. It reeked of authenticity. He seemed like a guy who knew what he was talking about and it turned out that Taylor's uncle is a Marshal, so he knew things from that side. And then seeing David Mackenzie's work in "Starred Up," I thought that was a wonderful film. So I thought bringing those two together, odds are you're going to come up with something pretty good.

Guerrasio: Was the Marcus character laid out for you on the page, or did you have to find him?

Bridges: No, it was pretty much on the page there. And it was fortunate for all of us to have Joaquin Jackson, who is a very renowned Texas Ranger, on board. He spent quite a few days with us on set and he added a lot to it for me on what it's like to be a Texas Ranger.

Guerrasio: Was his input more the repartee the partners have or the hunches the Rangers have?

Bridges: It's funny, the repartee was all in the script, but what he brought was more the demeanor. It's not so much the words, it's being in his presence. It's hard to describe.

Guerrasio: The swagger of a Texas Ranger?

Bridges: It's almost anti-swagger. It's hard to describe. You have to be around it. But certainly confidence but also a vulnerability. It's fascinating.

Guerrasio: What do you feel is the biggest thing you brought to the character?

Bridges: Well, I guess without boasting, my talent as an actor. It's the same assignment on every part, you want to create a real world, and the tone of it is a little different on each movie. You have to find your tone and work within that to make it as real so the audience can really engage in the story you're telling.

Guerrasio: I feel a movie like this already has two strikes against it because you're making a modern Western and a bank heist movie, two genres that have been done to death. So were you surprised to find that this brought some originality to the genre?

Bridges: Yeah, it's not your typical bank heist movie. It has a lot of ambiguity to it as far as right and wrong depending on whose point of view you've got. You got these guys who are robbing banks, that's traditionally thought of as a bad thing to do, then you have these banks that are loaning poor people money that they know very well they won't be able to pay back and they then take their land with oil on it.

Guerrasio: Can you feel on set when a movie is going to be good?

Bridges: Sometimes. Not all the time. But sometimes you feel you're making something really special and when it comes out you might still feel that way but for some reason it doesn't get the audience. So many things have to come together to get a creatively successful and financially successful film. Sometimes you'll have a movie that you're very proud of and you think it transcended all of your expectations but it doesn't come out at the right time. I have done movies that have never been released. That can be depressing.

Guerrasio: Are you still bugged that a certain movie of yours didn't get an audience?

Bridges: Yeah, there's one that was originally called "The Moguls" and then it was retitled "The Amateurs." It's a wonderful movie, it makes me laugh. Check it out. Ted Danson is in it and Joey Pantoliano, it's about a small town making a porn movie.

Guerrasio: Are you currently filming the "Kingsman" sequel?

Bridges: No. I finished that and now I'm in New Mexico making a movie called "Granite Mountain."

Guerrasio: Anything about the character you play in "Kingsman" that you can talk about?

Bridges: I'm playing the head of the organization called Statesman, which is the United States version of Kingsman. I'm like how Michael Caine was in the original.

Guerrasio: I love to hear the big roles actors of your stature pass on. Is it true you were considered for the lead role in "Big"?

Bridges: Yeah.

Guerrasio: What happened?

Bridges: Gee, I don't know. I remember going out for it. This is many, many years ago. It was shortly after "Starman" I think. I don't know how close I was to getting the part. I met with [director] Penny Marshall and that's one that I knew would be a hit. It just felt hit-ish. But it's like you go to a store and you see a jacket and you go "I love that jacket" and you try it on and it's too big or too small for you and it's the only one they have. For some reason that part just didn't fit me.

Guerrasio: So was it a mix of you and Penny saying, "It's not going to work?"

Bridges: I can't remember if it was both our ends or what, but it didn't feel like a right fit for me. And Tom [Hanks] just knocked it out of the park.

The Big Lebowski, bowlingGuerrasio: Speaking of comedy, John Turturro said recently he really wants to make a Jesus-focused "Big Lebowski" sequel. Have you heard of this?

Bridges: I've heard that for years, John saying that. I think it's a great idea.

Guerrasio: So you would jump in as The Dude if he called on you?

Bridges: Yeah, it might be fun playing a little cameo as The Dude. It might be good. But I'm hoping they will make a little Lebowski [sequel] because it's all set up. I impregnated Maude,  you know. As The Stranger says, there's a little Lebowski on the way,  you know?

Guerrasio: So you're totally up for doing that character again?

Bridges: If the Coen brothers called me, I would have to consider that seriously, sure.

Guerrasio: You worked with director Michael Cimino numerous times. With his recent passing, give me your favorite Cimino story.

Bridges: Oh, well. You know, I did his first movie, "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot," and I remember I was still in my twenties and very nervous, we're shooting up in Montana, and I'm thinking, "What the hell am I doing here? I don't feel anything like this part. Maybe this first-time director made a mistake hiring me." And finally I confessed that to Mike a couple of days before we shot. I was like, "What am I doing here, Mike?" And Mike just looked at me, in that very directorial manor, took a long pause, and he said, "You know the game tag?" And I said, "Yeah." And he said, "Well, you're it." That was some of the best direction I think I've ever received. I've done quite a few movies since then, I generally can feel that I'm not right for the role or a general fear if I can pull it off, and him giving that "tag" so to speak gave me the confidence. Like that Miles Davis line, "Don't worry about mistakes, there aren't any." Once you are the part, you're the guy, so you can't not be the guy because you're it. [Laughs]

Guerrasio: Numerous Cimino titles are legendary, but do you think he still had movies in him at the time of his passing?

Bridges: I don't know. I was reading something about that and it was revealing where he said, "The problem with people understanding my movies is they think I'm a filmmaker, but I'm not a filmmaker." [Laughs] Somehow there's a lot of mystery in that because he certainly made some wonderful films. But he had an interesting path. He wasn't the typical filmmaker. I don't know if he had more in him, he certainly had a lot of scripts. I know he wrote a hell of a lot.

Guerrasio: Were you two still talking?

Bridges: I hadn't talked to him in many, many years. He got a bad rap on "Heaven's Gate." I actually live in the hog ranch from "Heaven's Gate" in Montana. Mike gave me that set, the whorehouse, that's my house.

Guerrasio: [Laughs] You live in the whorehouse from "Heaven's Gate"?

Bridges: Yeah, that's right. And every couple of years we'll watch the movie and it's like watching home movies, seeing the ranch on-screen. But that movie, people are appreciating it more and more as time goes on.

SEE ALSO: The crazy, drug-fueled story behind one of Hollywood's most notorious lost movies

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Watch Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone dance and sing in the first trailer for 'La La Land'

The biggest game of 2016 launches this week — here's everything you need to know

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The most popular video game console in the world, the PlayStation 4, is getting its biggest game of 2016 this week. 

No Man's Sky

"No Man's Sky" is an unbelievably huge space exploration game that's captivated game players since being revealed in late 2013. We've been playing it all weekend, and have some early impressions of a game that everyone's going to be talking about.

SEE ALSO: This guy paid $1,300 to play 'No Man's Sky' early — and he's already beaten the game

First and foremost, the game looks like a 1960s sci-fi novel's front cover. Simply put: it's often gorgeous.



A sense of mystery and wonder pervades every moment of "No Man's Sky."



And part of the reason for that is because of the game's enormity. It is, by far, the largest open-world game ever made, with over 18 quintillion individual planets.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Why it was almost impossible to cast the Mel Gibson role in the new 'Lethal Weapon'

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lethal weapon

The producers behind Fox's television reboot of the "Lethal Weapon" film series found that Mel Gibson is a tough act to follow.

Early in the adaptation process, writer and executive producer Matt Miller got the blessing from the director of the "Lethal Weapon" films, Richard Donner, though he had one caveat.

"If you don’t have the right guys, you're screwed," Donner said, as Miller recounted during the Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills on Monday.

Miller understood what Donner was saying. Whoever they cast would have to make viewers forget about the film's stars Danny Glover and Mel Gibson.

"Two guys played these roles really, really famously," Miller said.

Comedian and actor Damon Wayans came on very early in the process as veteran cop Roger Murtaugh. But it took much longer to find someone who could step into the shoes of Gibson's character, Martin Riggs. Wayans read with a lot of actors, the producer said.

"It was hard to find Riggs," Miller explained. "And the thing was, every actor who came in, whether they knew it or not, they were sort of doing a Mel Gibson impression, and that was never going to work."

lethal weapon foxBut then they auditioned Clayne Crawford. The producers found him while he was shooting an independent movie, but some TV viewers will recognize him from Sundance TV's "Rectify." In comparision to Gibson, he played the character in a less crazy and unhinged manner.

That style fits the rebooted role. When the pilot introduces Martin Riggs in Texas, he's about to experience the biggest loss of his life. Months later, he moves to Los Angeles for a fresh start and gets paired with seasoned cop Roger Murtaugh.

Crawford, who lives on a farm in Alabama, admitted he had some reservations about taking the part and said he literally went to the top of a mountain to make the decision to leave his farm far away from Hollywood for the job.

But after what it took to find Crawford, Miller was sure about recruiting the actor for "Lethal Weapon."

"Let's take him away from happiness and bring him to LA," the producer joked. 

Miller said of the casting of his stars: "I'm most proud of that part of that. You watch Damon and Clayne and they're amazing together."

Crawford admitted the show is fun to shoot, but there's still some trepidation.

"It’s scary going to work every day," he said. "I don’t know how we’re going to maintain this."

SEE ALSO: The 10 best and worst TV shows this summer

DON'T MISS: These are the best shows on TV, according to critics

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The star of Super Size Me explains the key strategy that has made him go on to be a huge TV success

There is going to be a 'Game of Thrones' concert tour

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game of thrones hbo concer tour

HBO's "Game of Thrones" is going on a music tour.

It will feature the works of "Game of Thrones" composer Ramin Djawadi and include video and other state-of-the-art technology to take audiences on a musical voyage through the lands of the show's Westeros, according to a press release on Monday.

"For seven years, Ramin has been blowing our mind with his music's force, subtlety, and endless inventiveness," David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, "Game of Thrones'" creators and executive producers, said in a statement. "The 'GoT Concert Experience' will be unique in the history of concert tours, an eye-popping, ear-splitting, phantasmagoric blend of the show's visuals and Ramin's powerful compositions. We are more excited for it than anyone."

The tour kicks off on February 15, 2017, in Kansas City, Missouri, and visits 28 cities across North America. Tickets go on sale on August 13 at the Live Nation website.

Watch a teaser for the tour below:

SEE ALSO: 'Game of Thrones' author George R.R. Martin has a new TV series in the works

DON'T MISS: A famous actor regrets turning down 'Game of Thrones' because it didn't pay enough

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This is the best any 'Final Fantasy' game has ever looked

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"Final Fantasy" is one of the longest-running video game series of all time, with roots dating back to 1987.

Final Fantasy XV

The next entry in the fantasy role-playing franchise, "Final Fantasy XV" — you read that right, fifteen — is due out later this fall. From what we've seen so far, it looks like one of the most visually stunning games we've ever seen. If nothing else, it's the most gorgeous any "Final Fantasy" game has ever been. Take a look.

SEE ALSO: 13 video game consoles you've probably never heard of

"Final Fantasy XV" takes place in Eos, a beautiful world that mixes elements of sci-fi and fantasy.



You play as Noctis, who you can see here casually re-fueling his futuristic flying car.



No, really. It can fly.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The biggest PlayStation 4 game of the year is basically 'Minecraft' in space with 18 quintillion planets

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I've explored vast planetary systems and interacted with countless alien races — all from the comfort of my living room. Sadly, I'll never live out the dream of so many young dorks — to explore the far reaches of space, or even just to visit our moon.

That's where "No Man's Sky" comes in.

No Man's Sky

In "No Man's Sky," you're a lone explorer with a spaceship, a mining tool for resources, and a tremendous amount of ambition. Forget about the complex launch countdowns and breaking off of launch rockets — simply hop in your sweet star cruiser and jet from alien planet to outer space in seconds.

No Man's Sky

There's no complex backstory to learn, no lore book to explore. You're not embodying an overly confident space marine on a quest to "save the galaxy," or rallying a ragtag group of misfits who must come together to take on an ancient evil. You're just an explorer and your only goal — if you choose to follow it — is to get to the center of the universe.

What happens when you get there? Your guess is as good as ours. I spent around 12 hours with "No Man's Sky" over the weekend, and as far as I can tell, I'm nowhere near the center of the — vast — universe in the game. Instead, I spent that time hopping from planet to moon to planet, stopping every now and again at an interstellar trading post to exchange rare materials for space money.

The game works like this:

  • You start on an alien planet, you've got a spaceship, and your first goal is to upgrade your ship.
  • Why upgrade? So you can explore deeper reaches of the universe in a quest to reach the center.
  • But, oh, this planet is quite nice. Maybe we'll stay here and explore for a bit.

That last bit is how "No Man's Sky" got me.

No Man's Sky

Like any good explorer, the main character (you) in "No Man's Sky" is armed with a scanner for identifying and recording alien life (flora and fauna). Other than the reward you feel in your heart for having discovered a bunch of neat stuff, there is no real in-game reward for this level of record-keeping.

But every time I scaled a massive hill, I discovered a new savanna teeming with life.

And for every plant or animal I discovered and recorded, the library of the universe filled out a bit more (and I was given a bit of in-game money, which doesn't hurt). As I uploaded these discoveries to the game's main server, I realized that I was helping to fill out the collective knowledge of the universe — powered by the millions of people who are about to buy the game.

That same concept of collective discovery applies to the entire game.

No Man's Sky

"No Man's Sky" is the largest open-world game ever made. There are over 18 quintillion — 18,000,000,000,000,000,000 — planets to explore, the vast majority of which have life. All that space, and there's no map — the closest you'll get is the star map you see above.

See all the stars above? Those are suns, each of which has several planets and moons orbiting.

To say that "No Man's Sky" is a big game is to vastly misrepresent how ridiculously huge it is. It's literally impossible to explore in full.

And that's why the game's small team of creators is relying on the collective power of millions of players to discover and upload the plants, animals, moons, planets, and galaxies they discover. There's even an in-game incentive to sharing your discoveries — money, which you can use to upgrade your mining tool, ship, and spacesuit.

No Man's Sky

Sure, the game has space battles — space pirates want to steal your cargo. And there are structures on the alien planets that you visit, sometimes inhabited by one or two aliens — who are, in my experience, are rarely hostile. There's even a robot-powered police force that exists on every planet — the more animals you kill and the more resources you mine, the "hotter" you become to the space fuzz.

Don't wanna deal with the space police? You're welcome to shoot them down. But, just like in "Grand Theft Auto," the police are only going to come back with reinforcements.

Like this guy right here, straight out of "Star Wars":

No Man's Sky

All that said, to be frank, this isn't the point of the game. You could spend all of your time maximizing weapons to take out space police, but the shooting isn't very fun nor is it rewarding.

Besides, don't you want to get back to exploring?

No Man's Sky

The answer is almost certainly an emphatic yes. I explored dozens of planets, and no two were alike. Some have what look like sea creatures flying majestically through the air. Others have animals that look like hopping mushrooms. Some are entirely desert, while others are entirely ice.

All of them, however, have underground systems waiting for you to explore. And every planet I've encountered has buildings to visit, where unknown treasures await. Maybe you'll find a blueprint for a sweet jetpack upgrade! Or maybe you'll have to solve a relatively simple puzzle tied to the long-ago death of an alien.

No Man's Sky

The sense of mystery, pervasive in every aspect of "No Man's Sky," is what drives me forward. I spent a huge portion of the weekend playing as much of "No Man's Sky" as possible — so that I could write this piece. That sense of mystery, however, is what drives me to rush home tonight and play the game.

I can't wait to find out what I'll see.

SEE ALSO: The biggest game of 2016 launches this week — here's everything you need to know

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This blind gamer says the video game industry is becoming less inclusive

Fox is making a game show based on an app that will test your song knowledge

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shazam iphone app

Shazam is the next app to get the Hollywood treatment.

Fox is developing a musical game show called "Beat Shazam," Fox TV group co-chairman Dana Walden announced during the Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills on Monday.

It will be produced by "The Voice" and "Survivor" producer Mark Burnett in partnership with the song identifying app.

It will be "an interactive musical game show," in which teams will compete to identify songs, Fox entertainment president Dave Madden explained. The winning team will then go up against Shazam for the grand prize.

They didn't give a premiere date for the show.

Apps have become increasingly popular inspirations for TV and film. "The Angry Birds Movie" was released in May an it was recently announced that a "Pokémon Go" movie is in the works. NBC also bought a show based on the mobile app, QuizUp, last year.

SEE ALSO: Why it was almost impossible to cast the Mel Gibson role in the new 'Lethal Weapon'

DON'T MISS: Jimmy Kimmel and Ashton Kutcher, an Uber investor, compare their user scores on the app

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A rare Pokémon caused a huge stampede in Central Park

Inside Prince's massive $10 million mansion, which has become a memorial after his death

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prince mansion paisley park

Prince Rogers Nelson died April 21 at Paisley Park Studios, his estate and studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota, outside Minneapolis.

Named after the Prince song "Paisley Park" and the now defunct record label, the production complex features recording studios, a nightclub, rehearsal space, offices, and private space for the award-winning musician.

Prince spent the majority of his time at the $10 million, 65,000-square-foot space, but he didn't always live there.

Known far and wide in the state, the space has also become a memorial following Prince's death. It is likely to be turned into a museum honoring the artist, whose estate has made clear it plans to preserve it and not sell it off.

Though Prince was notoriously secretive about the mansion, these photos offer a glimpse into Prince's creative hub: 

SEE ALSO: Inside the potentially 'messy' future of Prince's $300 million estate

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Paisley Park was designed by Los Angeles architect Bret Theony and was completed in 1987.

Source: CBS2



The front lobby features second-floor balconies and clouds painted on the walls, as well as pyramidal skylights. Prince's Love Symbol No. 2 glyph is featured prominently on the floor.



The estate includes a relaxing music room with Prince's signature purple hue filling the space.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Here's how much money reality TV stars actually make on shows — it's not what you think

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gordon ramsay

How much money is there to be made by starring on a reality television show?

If you're Ryan Seacrest, Christina Aguilera, or Gordon Ramsay, that number is in the millions and can exceed $10 million per season of a show.

But those kinds of paychecks actually go to very few people. Most people starring on reality shows are making salaries that supplement the ones they make at their actual jobs, from their businesses, or from other opportunities afforded them by being on TV, such as licensing deals, book contracts, appearances, or food and liquor products.

Shows that air on broadcast television typically pay their talent larger salaries than those found on cable. And, of course, if the talent is also a producer or gets any cut of the profits, then that can mean bigger paychecks.

Business Insider spoke to agents, producers, and development executives on the condition of anonymity to get a sense of what reality TV is paying its talent.

See how much reality stars are making below:

SEE ALSO: The 'Million Dollar Listing' stars name the most memorable deals they've ever closed

DON'T MISS: Producers behind hit reality-TV shows reveal the secret tricks they use to orchestrate crazy drama

Star/executive producer: $16 million and up annually

If someone is irreplaceable, created a show, or stars on a show, then a base salary can be compromised for an executive-producer credit and profit sharing. Reality mega stars in this vein include Simon Cowell and Gordon Ramsay.

Cowell, currently a judge/executive producer of "America's Got Talent," reportedly earns an annual income of $95 million. That includes his profits from reality shows and his music label.

Ramsay, who stars on and executive produces at least five shows, reportedly rakes in $4.5 million per season of a show. He adds another $45 million in earnings from his media and restaurant businesses.



Celebrity judges on a broadcast competition show: $300,000 to $17 million per season

The salary for judges on a broadcast competition like "The Voice" or "America's Got Talent" varies widely according to popularity. For example, Christina Aguilera made as much as $17 million a season from "The Voice." By comparison, Blake Shelton makes about $13 million.

For "America's Got Talent," Howard Stern was reportedly paid $15 million a season.

Why so much? In addition to expertise and name recognition, a source told Business Insider that their pay factors in what they could've made during the time they're shooting the show. For example, if they were able to tour.



Hosts of a broadcast reality TV show: $200,000 to $15 million per season

"If you're hosting a show on broadcast primetime network, you get paid a lot," a source told Business Insider. "You start around 10 to $15,000 an episode."

But that all depends on a host's popularity and how long a show runs.

Ryan Seacrest is probably the best example of how the salary for hosting a reality TV show can get huge. Hiring him when he was a popular radio DJ, "American Idol" tripled Seacrest's pay from $5 million to $15 million per season in 2009. Now that the show is over, Seacrest can fall back on other hosting gigs and media productions.

But not everyone has such a great deal. By contrast, "Survivor" host Jeff Probst was reported to be making just $4 million per season for the popular CBS competition in 2014.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The Rio Olympics are having a big problem getting people to watch

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Rio Olympics opening ceremony

The Summer Olympics in Rio got off to a rough start, as it had the lowest-rated opening ceremony in a quarter century.

According to Nielsen's live-plus-same-day data, as reported by Ad Age, NBC's tape-delayed broadcast received a 13.9 household rating. That's the lowest viewership since the Barcelona Games in 1992 had a 13.8 rating.

The Rio opening was down 36% from the London Games in 2012 and didn't even top the biggest summer sports draw in the US of this year — a title still held by Game 7 of the NBA Finals, which had 31 million viewers. The Rio opening had 26.5 million.

The slow start for the games continued on Saturday, when the 20.7 million viewership was down 28% from the first Saturday of the London Games.

But, hopefully, when numbers come in for Sunday, there will be an improvement. That was the first night US swimmer Michael Phelps hit the pool and won the 19th gold medal of his career while participating in the 4x100-meter relay.

SEE ALSO: Why Michael Phelps and other Olympians have red circles all over their skin

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NOW WATCH: These are the 3 oldest people to ever compete in the Olympics

How Bleacher Report took the sports world by storm while other sites were acting like it was still 1975

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Love it or hate it, Bleacher Report has undeniably shaken up the sports-media landscape.

The site has continued to build its audience after a $175 million to $200 million sale to Turner in 2012, and recently snagged a promised $100 million cash infusion from its parent company. It has also tried to push beyond its early image as a "bunch of bloggers."

But despite those changes, there are still a lot of lessons to learn from Bleacher Report's early success.

CEO and cofounder Dave Finocchio has been there since the start. He realized early on that there were "pretty significant supply and demand inefficiencies around sports content," Finocchio says.

Here's the most basic example: the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

"Every single outlet would cover that event like it was still 1975," he says. "And there's just not a lot of people who care anymore, despite what baseball would lead you to believe. The ratings are bad, the internet interest is bad. It's just not that compelling anymore."

These games were oversaturated with coverage.

On the other side were events that were begging to be covered. Finocchio points particularly to "transactional events" — the NFL draft, the NBA free-agency window, the NBA trade deadline — which were really underserved.

"It was pretty obvious to see if you look closely that people were obsessed with these events because they represented hope for the future and human drama," he says. "It falls right into the Venn diagram of everything that the people care about."

And it didn't take any insane technology for Finocchio and his fellow cofounders to test out their theories.

"When I started working on this, Google Insights used to be a very useful public product that not a lot of people knew about, at first. And you could type in any single search term and you could see over [a] 365-day period how many people were actually searching for the term. And so we started to be able to test all of these different theories," he said.

While there wasn't a supply-and-demand problem for the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, Finocchio found that there was for teams like the Golden State Warriors.

"It was very, very rare that there would be an original column about the Warriors in those days," he continues.

Thinking about the sports-media market as a supply-and-demand problem probably also pushed Bleacher Report toward its original business model, which relied heavily on amateur bloggers producing prodigious amounts of work.

That had good and bad effects on the brand, but it's clear that Finocchio's basic premise was a compelling-enough foundation for a major media company.

SEE ALSO: Amazon just announced the release dates for its new original shows, including one from Woody Allen

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NOW WATCH: Here's how extreme future Olympic sports could be on the Moon

Marvel TV boss: I 'don't understand' why 'Agent Carter' was canceled

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ABC's cancellation of "Agent Carter" after only its second season was a surprise for many.

After all, Marvel and ABC are sibling companies under Disney. And years ago, ABC had been very vocal about wanting to mount a Marvel TV franchise starting with "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."

Jeph Loeb, who heads television at Marvel, told Business Insider that there wasn't much discussion between Marvel and ABC surrounding the decision to kill "Agent Carter."

"There were no conversations," Loeb told us. "We had a call from the network. The network said they were cancelling the show."

When we asked what he understood of ABC's decision, Loeb responded, "I don't."

"Agent Carter," which acted as a gap-filler between seasons of "S.H.I.E.L.D," was certainly praised by critics, but it was never a barn-burner in ratings. According to Nielsen, the show's second season earned a low 0.79 average rating among viewers most desired by advertisers, adults under age 50, and averaged just 2.7 million total live viewers.

For comparison, "S.H.I.E.L.D." averaged a 1.18 rating and 3.4 million live viewers.

To add insult to injury in the relationship between ABC and Marvel, the broadcast network passed on ordering the series "Marvel's Most Wanted."

But Loeb said the ties between the two Disney branches "couldn't be better."

"We make the best shows that we can as they are requested by the various networks," he explained. "So whether it’s ABC or Netflix or FX or Fox or Freeform, any of the networks that we’re on, they ask us to tell the best stories that we can, and we do that. We hope that, in turn, we’re then going to get the best audience that we can. And when they decide that that’s not something they want to do anymore, there’s not a lot you can do. That’s the nature of the television business."

As for fans of "Agent Carter," Loeb emphasized that a goodbye in the Marvel Universe isn't always final.

"Let me just put it this way: I watched ‘The Avengers.’ Phil Coulson died. His story was done. We’re about to go into the fourth season, and he’s standing right over there," Loeb gestured to the actor who plays Coulson, Clark Gregg, who was in the room with us. "So I like to think that anything is possible. And that’s one of the reasons why I enjoy my job so much."

Haley Atwell, who played Carter, is currently starring on ABC's new fall show "Conviction." But she's still in the family.

SEE ALSO: Another TV network is making its own Marvel superhero show

DON'T MISS: The 10 best and worst TV shows this summer

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NOW WATCH: The new 'Daredevil' villain was thrust onto the stage at Comic Con for the first time


The creators of Pokémon Go are testing a big, awesome, new way to find nearby Pokémon

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It looks like Niantic, the company behind the smash-hit smartphone sensation Pokémon Go, is working on a big, huge upgrade to the way you find nearby Pokémon, finally fixing a big frustration for players.

In the release notes for the newest Pokémon Go app update for Android and iPhone, Niantic teased that "we're currently testing a variation of the 'Nearby Pokémon' feature with a subset of users."

The news comes not a moment too late: Pokémon Go players have been up in arms since Niantic removed the game's first version of the Nearby Pokémon feature, following a two-week-plus period where it simply didn't work at all

Right now, it seems like different players are seeing different things. As Kotaku reports, it looks like most players are seeing a new "Sightings" menu, which merely shows you which Pokémon are nearby, though it's also said to be more responsive and accurate than the old version. 

Me, personally, I'm seeing something else. And the upgraded Pokémon tracking system I'm seeing is cooler and way more potentially useful than either the very first system, or the one that Kotaku is seeing. 

Here's how it works

When I pull up my tracker, first I see this. The changes are immediately apparent: It lists a bunch of Pokémon next to a picture of a nearby PokéStop — the real-world locations that disperse in-game equipment to players as they pass by — giving me a huge hint as to where it is:

pokemon go new nearby tracker

If I click on one, it pulls up a map, guiding me to the general area where that Pokémon can be found:

 pokemon go nearby new map

Then, when you go back to playing, it puts a marker on your map to guide you to the right area to find the Pokémon you selected:

pokemon go new tracker

So without telling you exactly where a Pokémon is, it gives you a big, huge hint. Using the PokéStop as a marker is a good general guide, and the little circle here gives you an idea of where to search. I'm not totally sure what the pawprints mean in this context, but I'm assuming they show distance between you and the Pokémon. 

Why am I seeing this when other players aren't? Hard to say. But it sounds like Niantic is testing a few ideas among different groups of users. Personally, though I haven't really taken this new method for a real-world spin, it seems like a very cool idea — hopefully, when Niantic is ready to roll it out for real to everyone, it'll look like this.

In the meanwhile, the fact that Niantic is working on a fix for Nearby should go some ways towards repairing the developer's trust with the hardcore Pokémon Go-playing community, who were left cold when the removal of the Pokémon tracking feature coincided with the shutdown of popular cheating sites that mapped the monsters.

SEE ALSO: Pokémon Go players got together to bust one of the game's biggest myths — with data

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NOW WATCH: A rare Pokémon caused a huge stampede in Central Park

This Amy Adams movie about an alien arrival looks like the sci-fi thriller of the year

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Before giving us his upcoming "Blade Runner" sequel that's shrouded in mystery, director Denis Villeneuve ("Sicario," "Prisoners") has the sci-fi movie "Arrival" that is getting incredible word of mouth.

And this teaser that was released on Tuesday shows that the hype might be real. 

In the movie, Amy Adams plays an expert linguist whom the military call upon to help find out if the alien craft that has suddenly landed on Earth comes in peace or is hostile.

Adam's subtle acting and the typically gorgeous, haunting visuals from Villeneuve make this one we're happy to watch out for.

Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker also star. 

The movie opens November 11. Watch the teaser below.

SEE ALSO: 11 celebrities who are showing off their lavish summer vacations

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NOW WATCH: Disney just released 3 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage from the new 'Star Wars' movie

FX boss says he can't understand why Netflix is making so many shows

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FX president John Landgraf has no idea why Netflix has increased its original show production to such a high level.

There's "a huge increase in scripted series being driven by the streaming services, and much more than any other service by Netflix, which has at this point has premiered and/or announced 71 scripted series," Landgraf said during Tuesday's Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills.

For reference, Landgraf said, "That's more than the announced future output of HBO, Showtime, Starz, and FX combined."

FX has something like 17 shows currently and Landgraf believes he may be able to keep up with 20 or 21 maximum.

"You could give me all the money in the world and I couldn’t supervise 71 shows the way I do ours," he said.

Landgraf said jokingly that Netflix can't expand its shows exponentially, because "the entire surface of planet would be covered with their shows."

Joking aside, Landgraf said he is a fan of Netflix shows, pointing to the Aziz Ansari comedy "Master of None." And he said he was "stunned" that FX recently beat the streaming service for Emmy nominations.

"We broke our own basic cable record with 56 Emmy award nominations, the FX brand behind only HBO in all of television," he said. "That Emmy nomination total, which once again is more than Netflix's, is stunning to me."

During January's TCA press tour, Landgraf made headlines when he blasted Netflix for their secrecy around viewing numbers.

SEE ALSO: Marvel TV boss: I 'don't understand' why 'Agent Carter' was canceled

DON'T MISS: The 10 best and worst TV shows this summer

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NOW WATCH: Netflix just dropped a new 'Luke Cage' trailer and it looks incredible

The Playboy competitor for the Snapchat generation is now an even bigger threat

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While most people use Snapchat just to send snapshots of their life to friends, a growing media powerhouse in the hills of Los Angeles has been figuring out how to run a media company on a platform where everything disappears in 24 hours.

So far it's worked, and Arsenic has both the followers and the funding now to prove it.

On Snapchat, more than 700,000 people watch the budding company's videos every day. On Instagram, Arsenic's more than a million followers means it has double the fans of Maxim Magazine and already one-fifth of Playboy's. 

The company's viral rise has been such a threat that Playboy has already turned around and offered to buy the company outright.

Even with its early success, Arsenic has remained focused on its vision of becoming the crowd-sourced, trend-setting MTV of this generation and is announcing today that it raised $3 million in seed funding to do it. 

The money will go toward hiring more full-time staff beyond a handful and building the technology it needs to help its "for the people, by the people" model that lets anyone become part of the Arsenic community.

"They’re really building a connection to a specific type of native user, whether you want to call it the Snapchat generation or whatever else," said Omar El-Ayat, vice president of Crosslink Capital who co-led the round with CrossCut Ventures. "It’s native to the platform but also to the native to the audience."

Why it's turning heads

Arsenic launched in June 2015 with the mantra that no one tells anyone how they should look. Its original channel on Snapchat and Instagram is all about about women wanting to feel beautiful in their own way, whether that's lounging by a pool or buying candy at a grocery store, and not being told by a photographer or media company what beauty is.

Arsenic doesn't pay for any of its Snapchat content. The entire platform is crowd-sourced, with people volunteering to take over the account and showcase their lives. The up and coming models want to be discovered. Brands are clamoring to have their products, like cars, show up as photo-shoot props. People tune in because it's real, raw, and bite-sized for social media — and never the same two days in a row. 

But Arsenic's founders Billy Hawkins and Amanda Micallef are looking to build something bigger than just a Snapchat channel. The pair told Business Insider that they'll be putting the money to use by starting to build communities on more platforms, including Facebook, and work on building out its Arsenic Music channel too.

The funding round includes traditional venture capital firms, like CrossCut Ventures, Crosslink Capital, and KEC Ventures, but has also attracted investment from media folks who see its potential to become the next big media company. The other investors include Maverick/LiveNation, Honest Company's Brian Lee, Broadway Video/SNL, Cooley, Good Universe, Bustle CEO Bryan Goldberg, and Chris Altchek of Mic.com.

"Viacom did everything from MTV to sports. You can have different brands and messages. They started in a place today that is racy edgy," Crosslink's El-Ayat said. "I think you’ll see a more diversification of voice. We could diversify into sports and businesses."

While its founding is unashamedly rooted in the "new sexy," Clinton Foy, CrossCut Ventures' managing director, pointed to the early days of companies like MTV, Snapchat, and even Facebook as examples of a company starting out pushing boundaries of what was considered the norm.

"When MTV the idea was first pitched, no one believed in it. This is the history and the pattern recognition we see in other big businesses," Foy said. "I had belief in the beginning that they were onto something, because of the way it was taking off, because of the viral element."

SEE ALSO: Meet LA's newest power couple: Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel and supermodel Miranda Kerr

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How to Snapchat from over 20,000 feet — as told by the Everest climbers that just did it

There are more TV shows now than ever before, but this executive says that'll end soon

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This year, there will be more scripted series than at any other time in history.

During the Television Critics Association press tour, FX president John Landgraf predicted that there will be as many as 450 scripted shows on TV this year.

Landgraf had previously predicted we'd hit a peak amount of shows before they begin to drop off by this year. But he has a new target in mind.

"It now seems clear that, at a minimum, the peak will be in 2017," Landgraf said. "And there is enough inertial momentum here that we could well see the growth trend carrying over into the 2018 calendar year."

Landgraf said his prediction was skewed by something he didn't foresee: Netflix was going to double down on original shows.

"Though I was wrong in my estimate of the timing, I don't think I understood at this point last year that Netflix was going to try and compete with the entire system and all of its channels on a global basis rather than just, say, match the output of HBO," the executive said.

"I will stick by my prediction that we are going to hit a peak in the scripted series business within the next two and a half years, and then see a decline—by calendar 2019 at the latest," he continued.

"Scandal" creator and TV powerhouse Shonda Rhimes shouldn't panic. The dropoff in scripted shows will merely take care of excess weight.

"I’m not saying that I believe we are in a bubble, which is going to pop, causing us to go from 500-plus scripted series to half that number," Landgraf explained. "Rather, I think we are ballooning into a condition of oversupply which will at some point slowly deflate, perhaps from 500-plus shows to 400 or a little less than that."

Here's a look at the numbers:

SEE ALSO: FX boss says he can't understand why Netflix is making so many shows

DON'T MISS: The 10 best and worst TV shows this summer

Last year at this time, there were 304 scripted shows on. Currently, we have 322 shows, a 6% increase.



Because of Netflix, streaming services are making close to the amount of shows as the broadcast networks.



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