Following in Gwyneth Paltrow's Goopy footsteps, Reese Witherspoon is the latest celebrity to launch an e-commerce site devoted to lifestyle content.

On Tuesday, the actress announced that the site is called "Draper James," named after her grandparents — Dorothea Draper and William James. 

In a video posted on the site, Witherspoon explains that her new project was "inspired by my love of the South, combined with the modern woman who I am today."

“Draper James is all about the grace and charm I was raised with in Nashville, Tennessee," she continued. "In the South you can never be too kind, too gracious or too well dressed... With Draper James, our goal is to bring contemporary, yet timeless Southern style to your wardrobe and your home, no matter where you live."

The Draper James tagline appears to be: "You only get one life, so let's make it pretty. Please."

The site is very girly and very Southern.

And while the price point usually falls below Blake Lively's Preserve and Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop e-commerce sites, it will still set customers back $98 for a "horseshoe object."

And $155 for a "Totes Y'all" bag does seem a little steep.

According to Racked, "Witherspoon told WWD that 40% of Draper James's products are produced in the South, and she's planning to roll out five new collections each year. The sportswear runs from $50 to $400, jewelry is priced from $25 to $250, handbags and small leather goods will sell from $40 to $325, and home decor ranges from $14 to $400."

But Draper James — which poached C. Wonder's former president, Andrea Hyde, to fill the CEO position — also features content like "I Love a Lunchoen!," which offers advice on entertaining because "We Southern girls will look for any excuse to get our girlfriends together to dress up, eat, drink, and of course laugh."

The site will also feature interviews with Southern chefs, writers, musicians, and other artisans.

The internet, so far, has responded kinder to Witherspoon's site than it has to Gwyneth's Goop:

But there are, of course, also the critics:

 Regardless, Witherspoon already has a celebrity following.

Her pal, model Molly Sims, posted Tuesday:

"So proud to be one of the first Southern ambassadors for my good friend, @ReeseWitherspoon's new fashion brand, #DraperJames! It just launched so check it out at DraperJames.com for updates, #Southernisms, beauty and fashion tips, and other goodies! We really want this to feel like a family so we would love for you to be a part of it! Xo #GraceandCharm #SouthernStyle"

Watch Witherspoon explain why she started Draper James below:

The Draper James Instagram account already has over 23,000 followers since it started on April 30th. Below are images that reflect the brand's "Southern charm" aesthetic: 

SEE ALSO: Actress Blake Lively has a lot to say about women in the tech industry

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NOW WATCH: How Women's Looks Have Changed Over The Last 100 Years

Jamestown, a small city in Western New York that was once known as the "Furniture Capital of the World," is now looking to make great strides in the world of comedy.

According to the New York Times, plans to unveil a new comedy club in Jamestown next year called the National Comedy Center are underway. Right now, we are going through a great time for comedy, a period which many are referring to as "The Second Comedy Boom."

Instead of bringing the likes of Louis C.K. or Amy Schumer through its doors, the National Comedy Center plans to stand out stands out by inviting audiences to come in and watch the greatest comedians of the past perform in hologram form.  

The material performed on stage won't be new. Tom Benson, the founder of the National Comedy Center, described it to the Times as “a comedy club where folks can go back in time and witness a classic routine in a setting – God knows where it might have been – and experience that as if they were really there.”

The comedians will be created by Hologram USA, a company that has also created the virtual likeness of Buddy Holly, Liberace, Julian Assange, and Jimmy Kimmel. 

The club hopes to bring back such comedy legends as Bob Hope, George Carlin, and Rodney Dangerfield. However, Benson admitted that "deals with these artists’ families and estates were not set and an inaugural lineup could still change."

This won't be the only place in Jamestown to see comedy. The area, which was once home to Lucille Ball, celebrates the annual Lucille Ball Comedy Festival. This year's lineup includes the likes of Jerry Seinfeld and Nick Offerman. They will not be in hologram form. 

SEE ALSO: Louis C.K.'s description of his brutally humiliating first two stand-up shows is gold

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NOW WATCH: Here's Why Jerry Seinfeld Is Obsessed With YouTube Comedian Miranda Sings

Facebook finally revealed that you'll be able to buy its long-awaited virtual reality headset, the Oculus Rift, early next year, and that's left gaming enthusiasts with a big decision to make.

While there's no doubt that the Oculus Rift is leading the charge to bring virtual reality mainstream, it's also seen some delays following Facebook's $2 billion acquisition of Oculus early last year. Virtual reality fans were largely more than happy to wait as Oculus adjusted its strategy to take advantage of the new resources that joining Facebook offered, but while Oculus was keeping quiet in the lab another compelling competitor in the virtual reality space emerged: Valve.

Valve is a gaming company with a legendary reputation among game players, especially among PC gamers, which also happens to be the main market Facebook is targeting with the Oculus Rift. And after Valve announced that its own cutting-edge virtual reality headset, the HTC Vive, is arriving by the end of this year — beating Oculus to market by months — virtual reality fans will have to decide where their loyalty lies and whether they're willing to wait as they choose which headset to buy.

Team Oculus:

Valve may have earned the trust of legions of PC gamers, but Oculus is undoubtedly still the leader among virtual reality fans. The inventor and founder of the Oculus Rift, Palmer Luckey (pictured above in the center of the team), has become known as the father of modern virtual reality, and there's no doubt he is responsible for re-igniting the gaming world's fascination for virtual reality when he hacked together the first Oculus Rift prototype in his garage years ago.

Luckey has also done an incredible job building out the Oculus team to be the best in the world, recruiting a roster of top-notch talent including the boundary-pushing graphical genius John Carmack and even two former Valve virtual reality engineers, Michael Abrash and Atman Binstock. With some of the best minds in gaming devoted to making the Oculus Rift the definitive virtual reality headset, many people have been content to wait as Oculus works with Facebook's backing to ensure everything is primed for a huge consumer launch early next year.

Of course, Facebook isn't necessarily a popular company among game enthusiasts and virtual reality fans, and many have voiced concern for what Facebook's purchase of Oculus mean for the virtual reality company's plans. On the flip side, many have also pointed out that having access to Facebook's war chest is the best bet for virtual reality to gain mainstream success.

Oculus is also keenly aware that the only way for virtual reality to truly take off is for there to be a large portfolio of virtual reality games and experience available at launch. Of course, this takes time, and Oculus has done a great job informing game developers that virtual reality games require a complete re-thinking to take advantage of the immersive environment. A game designed to be played on a 2D display is going to have a different menu layout and design than a virtual reality game where you're inside that environment.

While Oculus continues padding its portfolio of games for launch, it's also been hard at work trying to solve how you'll actually control your character in virtual reality. People naturally expect to use their hands in virtual reality rather than a controller, but it's still early days for hand-tracking technology, and Oculus has been exploring a feasible solution, but even with the release window of the Oculus Rift announced, we still have no idea how people will control their in-game characters while wearing the Oculus Rift.

Interestingly enough, Valve has already solved this issue.

Team Valve:

Valve may not have the widespread name recognition of Facebook or Oculus, but it's built up a sterling reputation among game enthusiasts in the last 19 years, releasing milestone games like "Portal," "Left 4 Dead," and arguably the best game of all time, "Half-Life."

Valve's founder, Gabe Newell (depicted above by artist DarrenGeer), is also something of a legend among PC game players for his approachable demeanor and laser focus on delivering games that video game fans will enjoy for years.

Valve is also responsible for creating the main gaming marketplace and community, Steam, which is where most PC and Mac players purchase and download games. A large part of Steam's success has also been how it's connected game enthusiasts, giving them a place to chat with their friends, trade and gift each other games and virtual in-game items, as well as offering an easy way for gamers to team up for multiplayer games.

When virtual reality arrived on the scene, Valve was a big supporter of Oculus, and the two companies even worked together as they explored exactly what virtual reality could evolve into. This changed, however, once Oculus poached two of Valve's lead VR engineers and announced that it was being acquired by Facebook.

While both companies appear to still be friendly and focused on simply advancing virtual reality, Valve decided to pursue its own virtual reality headset after Facebook acquired Oculus, and phone-maker HTC offered to partner with Valve to help create the hardware.

Valve unveiled the HTC Vive in March, which included two proprietary motion controllers and a base station that could turn a room into a mappable, virtual reality space you could move around in. Many lauded the Vive as even more impressive than the latest Oculus Rift prototype, and when Valve announced it would launch by the end of 2015, the gaming community quickly realized they now had two compelling virtual reality headsets to choose from.

Valve has faced criticism recently, however, for its decision to sell what were once free game modifications in its Steam marketplace, which caused an uproar in the gaming community. Valve reversed its decision, however, and it's hard to imagine the issue would cause any Valve fans to defect, but it could potentially be an issue.

But with its recent blunder seemingly behind the gaming company, Valve will be the first major virtual reality headset to market. And with the bonus of its own controller system and the ability to design future games under the Valve label specifically for virtual reality, Valve is poised to steal some of Oculus' thunder and possibly a chunk of the gaming community, especially those who are tired of waiting.

Team Virtual Reality:

Some virtual reality fans are simply happy to see healthy competition in an emerging industry. If they can afford it, these fans will likely purchase both the Oculus Rift and Valve's HTC Vive, which allows them to enjoy the first big virtual reality headset to market and then dive into the Oculus Rift when it arrives the following year.

There's no doubt, however, that Valve will reap the benefits of selling the first big virtual reality headset during the holiday season, and for those who hate waiting, Oculus' failure to launch this year will give many in the gaming community an excuse to pull the trigger and order Valve's Vive later this year.

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NOW WATCH: We Tried The Oculus Rift — The Company Facebook Is Buying For $2 Billion

Women can expect to find the same stereotypes in the virtual world as they do in the real world, a study released by Penn State revealed.

The study showed that once a woman playing the game World of Warcraft was identified as female and her avatar was also female with a "low" level of attractiveness defined by those conducting the study, she won't get as much assistance from other players.

On the other hand, female players should expect as much assistance as any of the male players if their avatar has a high level of attractiveness (also definined by the researchers). In other words, the way some players behave in video games mirrors the way they think in real life.

The study goes a little further to say that players gave less assistance if a female player used a male avatar, but players would offer the same amount of help if a male player used a female avatar with any level of attractiveness. That's the reverse of what is generally approved by today's society, where a woman taking on a cross-gender role is more widely accepted than a man adopting a female role, which the study also notes.

So, you could say that female players have it even worse in the virtual world than they do in real life.  

In the real world, discrimination of all sorts, including gender and racial, is at least recognized and some action is being taken against it. But when online, discriminators can hide behind veil of anonymity, which means they have less accountability for their actions than in their offline lives.

Of course, offending players aren't entirely anonymous. Victims of racial or gender abuse in video games can easily report aggressors, and gaming services, like Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network, can dish out some form of punishment, like banning.

But that kind of deterrent is mainly designed for obvious offenses. What's not so obvious is discrimination like the Penn State study reveals, which the video game industry will have a hard time regulating due to the subtle nature of this kind of prejudice. 

SEE ALSO:  Here's The Heartwarming Tale Of A Dad Who Tries ‘World Of Warcraft’ After His Son Passes Away

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NOW WATCH: We Followed A Cosplayer Into The World Of Anime, Tight Vinyl Costumes, And Nerd Culture

If you can make it onto ABC's hit show "Shark Tank," you'll have an audience of about 10 million people to show your product. It's why even entrepreneurs who lose out on a deal often report a notable uptick in sales following their appearance on the show, which portrays negotiations between small-business owners and a panel of potential investors dubbed "Sharks."

But for those who do get a deal, "Shark Tank" can change the trajectory of their business, turning a fledgling company into a national brand.

We asked Carolyn Baumgarten, a writer for Andrew Figgins' fan blog In the Shark Tank, to identify the show's greatest success stories based on sales after their "Shark Tank" appearances.

The following entrepreneurs took a successful pitch and maximized the potential of the Shark they partnered with through focus and determination.

Wicked Good Cupcakes

Danielle Vilagie and Tracey Noonan are a mother-daughter duo from Boston with a company that makes cupcakes in a jar. In season 4, they made a deal with Kevin O'Leary in which he invested $75,000 for royalties instead of equity. He made $1 from every cupcake sold until he made his money back, and then began receiving 50 cents per cupcake sold.

Since its appearance on the show, Wicked Good Cupcakes has expanded to a new production facility and a couple of new locations, and it is planning to bring in $3 million in sales by the end of this year, WCVB Boston reports.

Lollacup

Husband and wife entrepreneurs Mark and Hanna Lim created the Lollacup as an improvement on the standard sippy cup for toddlers. Their product is BPA-free and spill-proof, and its straw is designed to catch every last drop of a drink. In season 3, the Lims partnered with both Mark Cuban and Robert Herjavec for a $100,000 deal in exchange for 40% equity.

The Lims have brought in almost $1 million in sales, making the Lollacup the most successful children's product to come out of "Shark Tank."

Simple Sugars

Lani Lazzari was just 18 years old when she entered the tank in season 4 to pitch her skincare company Simple Sugars. She ended up making a deal with Cuban for $100,000 in return for 33% equity.

Within just 24 hours of her episode's premiere, Lazzari's sales jumped to $220,000 from $50,000, and she hit $1 million six weeks later. Today Simple Sugars products are in more than 700 retail locations and ship internationally. This year, the company has already brought in over $3 million in revenue.

In 2011, Natalie Portman took home the Oscar for best actress for her role in "Black Swan."

But the 33-year-old actress, who currently lives in Paris with her husband three-year-old son, doesn't have her statue displayed in the family's home. In fact, she's not even exactly sure where it is.

In a revealing new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Portman explains why she thinks her Oscar statue is insignificant:

"I don’t know where it is. I think it’s in the safe or something. I don’t know. I haven’t seen it in a while. I mean, Darren [Aronofsky, director of "Black Swan"] actually said to me something when we were in that whole thing that resonated so deeply. I was reading the story of Abraham to my child and talking about, like, not worshipping false idols. And this is literally like gold men. This is literally worshipping gold idols — if you worship it. That’s why it’s not displayed on the wall. It’s a false idol."

Portman is currently promoting her feature directorial debut, "A Tale of Love and Darkness." An adaptation of Israeli author Amos Oz's memoir, the actress also stars in and wrote the screenplay for the film.

SEE ALSO: Reese Witherspoon is the latest celebrity to launch a lifestyle site and it's completely polarizing

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NOW WATCH: Amy Schumer gives a brutally honest interview about her sex life

Comedy duo Smosh will be the first YouTube stars to get their very own wax figures. 

The wax-figure treatment is generally reserved for only the most recognizable people in entertainment, sports, or politics, but Smosh is immensely popular — with teens, at least. 

The masterminds behind Smosh, Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla, have racked up more than 20.3 million subscribers and 4.3 billion views since first starting their channel in 2005.

A recent Variety study found that the Smosh guys were the most beloved celebrities among Americans between the ages of 13 and 18, ranking higher in terms of popularity than other YouTubers and even more traditional celebrities.

Their wax-figure copies will be making their debut at Madame Tussauds in San Francisco in June. They'll then be making their way across the U.S., including a stop at YouTube event VidCon in Anaheim, California. 

"SMOSH: The Movie," their first feature-length film, will be premiering nearby. 

You can see behind the scenes of the wax figure-making here.

SEE ALSO: An 8-year-old girl makes $127,000 a month making baking videos for YouTube

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NOW WATCH: This is what it takes to get famous on YouTube

Warning: There are some major spoilers ahead.

One of the biggest surprises in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" occurs about halfway through the film when our heroes break away from the action for a more light-hearted family-centric scene on a farm.

Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) brings the fellow Avengers with him to his farmhouse to hide out from Ultron (James Spader) and regroup. 

The scene helps bring context and backstory to a character who wasn't at the forefront of 2012's "Avengers" as audiences are introduced to Hawkeye's wife (Linda Cardellini), who has a baby on the way, and two children. The characters help humanize the Avenger, who, beforehand, was just a male version of Katniss Everdeen to those unfamiliar with comics. 

Now, instead of shooting arrows at aliens, he's trying to figure out how to remodel his kitchen.

The scene divided casual viewers and die-hard fans alike. While some enjoy the extra depth it gave to the heroes, others believe it was a slow stop to the film's action. It turns out viewers aren't the only ones who duked it out over this scene: director Joss Whedon had to fight to keep it from getting cut out of the movie. 

According to an interview Whedon did with the Empire Film Podcast, he had some creative differences with Marvel executives, who wanted to cut the scene. While Whedon maintains respect for the executives, he said things "got ugly" at a certain point. 

In what seemed like an artistic stalemate, Whedon wanted to keep the scene in the movie. However, executives told him he could only keep the scene in if he also kept in a cave scene which didn't test well with audiences.

"With the cave, it really turned into: they pointed a gun at the farm's head and said, 'Give us the cave, or we'll take out the farm,' — in a civilized way. I respect these guys, they're artists, but that's when it got really, really unpleasant." Whedon told Empire.

Despite the fact that the cave scene eventually made it into the movie, footage was noticeably cut from it, including a mysterious woman believed to be related to Black Panther. This shot is still present in the trailer.

This isn't the first time Marvel has butted heads with its directors.

The studio had a falling out with Edgar Wright, who was slated to direct "Ant-Man." After working on the film for several years, he abruptly left the project over creative differences. Whedon had called it the best Marvel script he'd ever read. Meanwhile, Jon Favreau opted out of directing "Iron Man 3." At the time of departure, Favreau told MTV he was under the impression Marvel wasn't sure of the direction in which the company wanted to take the film.

"Age of Ultron" was made on an estimated $250 million budget. Usually, when dealing with a film on that big of a scale, the people who put money into it may want some aspect of control over the final product.

While the scenes at the safe house do not advance the plot, they do advance the characters.

While this part of the film may seem small and unimportant in the grand scheme of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, getting to know characters better who may be around for multiple films seems just as important as plot advancement.

SEE ALSO: Joss Whedon quits twitter after receiving death threats related to ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’

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NOW WATCH: Disney just dropped another 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' trailer — and it's the best one yet

Say what you will about Kim Kardashian, but there's no denying the reality TV star is also a savvy businesswoman.

The 34-year-old is an executive producer on her family's hit, long-running reality show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," which was recently renewed at E! for a reported $100 million for the next four years.

Kim also has a super successful video game app, product endorsement deals, a selfie book, and nearly 31 million Instagram followers tracking her every move.

According to Forbes, Kardashian earned $28 million in 2014 alone and was recently named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2015.

But Kardashian, 34, works hard for her money.

In a new interview with Variety, Kardashian reveals her three rules for succeeding in business:

1. "You have to be organized. It might be really simple, but if you’re not fully organized, it becomes a huge problem."
2. "Not being lazy. The reality is people don’t want to get up and work. It sounds crazy, but I see it all the time."
3. "If you find something you’re really passionate about, figure out a way to make that your job. Then you’ll be happy. If you aren’t doing what you want to do, you’ll be frustrated."

Despite her reality TV roots, Kardashian says she has always considered herself a businesswoman.

"When the opportunity for our TV show came about, I wanted to do it to bring attention to our stores [DASH, which she opened with her sisters in 2006]," she tells Variety. "I was thinking this might not last very long, but we’ll grow a great business and expand online. I thought it would be great press. I didn’t think it would turn into what it turned into."

Kardashian tells Variety it was her father, the late attorney Robert Kardashian, who instilled a business sense in her from a young age.

When I turned 16, my dad made me sign a contract — he made us sign contracts for everything — that if I hit my car, I would be responsible for paying for it. I was in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and I tapped someone. It was so not a big deal, but I had to pay for it. It was during the O.J. trial. They saw my last name and said, “Kardashian, your dad’s that lawyer?!” They sued me for a lot of money. After I paid them back, I kept on working to buy myself some clothes.

After working in stores, Kim soon discovered a whole new world of online shopping — and selling.

"I discovered eBay and I loved shopping. I had to be on a budget. I didn’t have credit cards. How do I figure out how to make this a business? I remember I bought these Manolo Blahnik shoes that were $700. He [Kim's late father, Robert] let me buy five pairs. I had to pay him back plus interest. I sold every pair on eBay for $2,500. I became so obsessed with seeing that return, I would sell off the things I wouldn’t be wearing."

Kardashian explains that she made such a profit off of the shoes because she had a good eye for trends and what people would want to buy.

"They were these Manolo Blahniks that Jennifer Lopez had worn in her first or second video," Kardashian explains. "Everyone had to have them. I called at the right time and the girl at the store had five pairs and I took them."

From there, Kardashian created a business of cleaning out her celebrity friends' closets and selling the goods on eBay, while taking a cut of the profit.

Kardashian even spun that infamous 2007 sex tape into a reported $5 million deal that still swells her bank account to this day. After Kardashian's nude Paper magazine cover piqued interest in November, Vivid Entertainment president Steve Hirsch told TMZ the reality star would rake in $55,000 for that week alone.

Later in 2007, Kim pivoted the press surrounding the tape into an E! reality show about her family, and the Kardashian brand was built.

In a biography of Kim Kardashian by Martha Stewart for last month's Time Magazine '100 Most Influential People' list, Stewart wrote: "She [Kim] and her famous, entrepreneurial siblings—shepherded by a savvy, tireless matriarch—have also expanded the very definition of family."

"Kim comes across as an enviable big sister in a clan where everyone seems to love one another, wrote Stewart. "Where does Kim go from here? There seem to be very few barriers to further explosive success."

SEE ALSO: Kim Kardashian's late father taught her a great lesson about business and money

MORE: Before she was famous, Kim Kardashian had a successful eBay business

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Jeremy Clarkson may be off the airwaves, but the bombastic former host of "Top Gear," is still making a lot of noise on Twitter. 

Clarkson tweeted out a photo this week of a bright yellow Corvette Z06 on what looks to be a race track along with the words " I took this today..." Also in the photo are a film crew and a figure that looks a lot like fellow deposed "Top Gear" host Richard Hammond.

Apart from the presence of James May — the third member of the hosting trio — all of the ingredients are here for a new "Top Gear"-style car show. 

There's been some buzz lately about a new program, featuring the hosting trio that turned "Top Gear" from pokey automotive news magazine to a international media juggernaut.

Although Clarkson has hinted at a new car show, rumors of deals with Netflix and ITV haven't been confirmed. 

The reality is that no one is really sure what the future holds for the former hosts. But it's certainly fun to keep track of their exploits and wait for something more definitive to be announced.

SEE ALSO: Report: The BBC has chosen its new 'Top Gear' hosts

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NOW WATCH: Here's what happens when you get bitten by a black widow

Early this week an email uncovered in the Sony email hack between Sony Pictures chairman and CEO Michael Lynton and Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter has been circulating around after it was published on IndieWire.

The August 2014 email, with the subject line "Female Movies," discusses previous failed attempts at female-led superhero films on screen.

Here's the email in full:

Michael,

As we discussed on the phone, below are just a few examples.  There are more.

Thanks, 

Ike 

1.  Electra (Marvel) – Very bad idea and the end result was very, very bad. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=elektra.htm 

2.  Catwoman (WB/DC) - Catwoman was one of the most important female character within the Batmanfranchise. This film was a disaster.  http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=catwoman.htm 

3.   Supergirl – (DC) Supergirl was one of the most important female super hero in Superman franchise. This Movie came out in 1984 and did $14 million total domestic with opening weekend of $5.5 million. Again, another disaster.

Best, 
Ike

Numerous outlets covering the email appear to be taking the content — which is from one single email — out of context. Many articles either accuse the Marvel CEO of not believing in female superhero movies or suggest the Marvel head believesthey area pooridea.

Nowhere in this email does Perlmutter say he doesn't believe in superheroine-led films. Nor does it say he thinks female superhero movies are a bad idea.

All this email tells us is that two executives were discussing female-centric films that have performed poorly in the past. 

That's just fact. No one (except maybe Universal who put out last year's "Lucy") has been able to make a successful standalone superheroine film yet. That doesn't mean it's impossible or that it can't be done.

And, suggesting that Marvel's Perlmutter is against them doesn't completely hold water.

Sure, fans have been up in arms waiting for when (if) we would ever get a standalone Black Widow (starring Scarlet Johansson) film, given the popularity of the superheroine. After the success of 2014's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" in which Widow was a lead character, Johansson successfully led Universal's "Lucy" last summer. The action picture, which saw the transformation of Johannson into a superpowered human became a huge hit made over $458 million worldwide.

Just because there's no Black Widow movie in the works, doesn't mean Marvel doesn't value female characters. 

Marvel president Kevin Feige has previously spoken about the potential of a female-led superhero film. Here's what he said to Comic Book Resources in 2014:

"I very much believe in doing it. I very much believe that it's unfair to say, "People don't want to see movies with female heroes," then list five movies that were not very good, therefore, people didn't go to the movies because they weren't good movies, versus [because] they were female leads. And they don't mention "Hunger Games," "Frozen," "Divergent." You can go back to "Kill Bill" or "Aliens." These are all female-led movies. It can certainly be done."

For anyone suggesting Marvel doesn't believe in female-centric films, the studio announced a Captain Marvel film back in October for release in July 2018. 

The company wouldn't make a female-led film if it didn't believe it could work.

Is Marvel hesitant to make a female standalone film? Probably.

But who could blame the studio? Look at the track record for female standalone superhero films. 

Other than "Lucy," which we'll categorize as a superhero film, it isn't pretty.

That's, at least, one reason Lynton and Perlmutter were most likely having the above conversation in the first place. 

In order to make a successful superheroine film you need to know what didn't work in the past. That's most likely what was occurring here.

Business Insider has reached out to Perlmutter regarding the email. We will update this post if we hear back.

SEE ALSO: Marvel broke its one rule to let Paul Bettany play a new superhero in "Avengers: Age of Ultron"

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NOW WATCH: This Was Marvel Legend Stan Lee's One Big Mistake

Toy reviewer EvanTubeHD has over 1 million subscribers and 1 billion views. See how this 9-year-old makes it all happen.

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The use of drones for news gathering is one step closer to reality and could help bring the U.S. closer to commercial uses of the unmanned aircrafts.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has partnered with CNN to research the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or drones for covering news in populated areas.

"The FAA opened up a whole new pathway with a new destination that contemplates a world where CNN and other news organizations can operate much more freely. And CNN is the guinea pig," CNN's senior vice president of Legal and associate general counsel for Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. told Business Insider.

According to the FAA announcement on Wednesday, CNN volunteered to research the use of drones in news situations when the drone is still within sight in urban/populated areas.

A spokeswoman for the cable news channel told BI that the organization's "hope for this research is that we and other media will ultimately be able to use drones in news gathering, any time of day and night, in rural and urban areas, broadcast high-definition quality, and to operate them safely."

The cable news channel had previously been given permission to conduct drone research in a partnership with Georgia Tech Research Institute.

The span of CNN's research is currently unknown and is partially dependent "on technology and its rapid development."

The use of drones in news could really give viewers a unique look at dangerous or difficult to access events such as natural disasters, protests, and wars.

Two other private companies, drone manufacturer PrecisionHawk and BNSF Railroad, are charged with researching the use of drones within sight in rural areas and beyond sight in rural/isolated areas, respectively.

The use of drones in other forms of TV and movie production on sets closed off to the public was approved by the FAA back in September of last year, though they've been legal in other countries and used on films such as James Bond movie "Skyfall" and "Transformers: Age of Extinction." Drones open up the possibility for shots that previously would've been impossible, dangerous for a manned craft or cost-prohibitive.

The results of CNN and the other private companies' research into drones hold great possibilities for not just industries like mining and agriculture, but could make life easier for consumers. Amazon, Google and Facebook are among the companies searching for permission from the FAA to use drones for commercial use.

Previously, the FAA had banned the use of drones for commercial use in 2007 citing safety and national security reasons. 

SEE ALSO: 37 incredible drone photos from across the globe that would be totally illegal today

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NOW WATCH: Here's what Jeff Bezos told us about the future of drones in the US

On Monday, Joss Whedon quit Twitter after the opening weekend of "Avengers: Age of Ultron."

It was thought he quit after being hounded by threats and accusations of sexism. On Wednesday, Whedon denied those rumors. Yet, the accusations haven't quite gone away.

While holding a Reddit AMA about water defense, Mark Ruffalo, who played Bruce Banner in "Age of Ultron," was asked about the issue and came to Whedon's defense.

I think it's sad. Because I know how Joss feels about women, and I know that he's made it a point to create strong female characters.

Ruffalo says there are certainly problems with the superhero genre; however, those issues have less to do with Whedon and more to do with the system as a whole. 

I think part of the problem is that people are frustrated that they want to see more women, doing more things, in superhero movies, and because we don't have as many women as we should yet, they're very, very sensitive to every single storyline that comes up right now.

While Whedon may have quit for matters unrelated to this issue, Ruffalo says Whedon still thinks about it heavily:

I know what his values are. And I think it's sad, because in a lot of ways, there haven't been as many champions in this universe as Joss is and will continue to be. And I know it hurts him. I know it's heavy on him. And the guy's one of the sweetest, best guys, and I know him - as far as any man can be a champion for women, he is that.

Ruffalo has been a vocal defender of Whedon on Twitter as well. Here was his response when somebody asked him about "internalized misogny" of making Black Widow the love interest:

You can read Ruffalo's full Reddit response below:

I think it's sad. Because I know how Joss feels about women, and I know that he's made it a point to create strong female characters. I think part of the problem is that people are frustrated that they want to see more women, doing more things, in superhero movies, and because we don't have as many women as we should yet, they're very, very sensitive to every single storyline that comes up right now. But I think what's beautiful about what Joss did with Black Widow - I don't think he makes her any weaker, he just brings this idea of love to a superhero, and I think that's beautiful.

If anything, Black Widow is much stronger than Banner. She protects him. She does her job, and basically they begin to have a relationship as friends, and I think it's a misplaced anger. I think that what people might really be upset about is the fact that we need more superhuman women. The guys can do anything, they can have love affairs, they can be weak or strong and nobody raises an eyebrow. But when we do that with a woman, because there are so few storylines for women, we become hyper-critical of every single move that we make because there's not much else to compare it to.

So I know Joss really well. I know what his values are. And I think it's sad, because in a lot of ways, there haven't been as many champions in this universe as Joss is and will continue to be. And I know it hurts him. I know it's heavy on him. And the guy's one of the sweetest, best guys, and I know him - as far as any man can be a champion for women, he is that.

So it's been a little disheartening.

But I also see how much people love that aspect of it. There's an equal amount of people who find the love interest between Banner and Black Widow to be a big standout. And it's very satisfying to people. So it's a movie. People are going to have their opinions. And that's actually a great thing. The fact that this is a debate that's coming out of this movie is probably a positive thing.

I just don't think that people should get personal with Joss, because he really is - of anyone - an advocate for women. He's a deeply committed feminist.

SEE ALSO: 'Guardians of the Galaxy' director pleads with Joss Whedon's internet trolls in an epic Facebook post

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NOW WATCH: Disney just dropped another 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' trailer — and it's the best one yet

 
Warner Brothers just released the second trailer for "Magic Mike XXL," which is the sequel to the 2012 box office hit "Magic Mike."

Channing Tatum returns, along with much of the original cast. The new trailer also offers the first glimpse of newcomers Jada Pinkett Smith and Donald Glover.

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A swanky party hosted by Boys & Girls Harbor in New York City brought together some big names from the arts, entertainment and finance industries Wednesday night. The 2015 Salute to Achievement event featured Bill Ackman, famed architect Frank Gehry, music executive Lyor Cohen and film producer Steve Tisch – along with Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Hudson and others. 

The highlight of the night might be when Howard Hughes Corp CEO David R. Weinreb performed this jazzy duet with Grammy-nominated singer and former Miss America, Vanessa Williams. Check the video:

On its website, Boys & Girls Harbor says its mission is to "empower children and their families to become full, productive participants in society through educational, cultural enrichment."

SEE ALSO: Forbes thinks Bill Ackman might be the next Warren Buffett

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NOW WATCH: 'Game of Thrones': The Iron Throne is a terrible investment

Viral videos helped to kill the late-night star.

As the late-night antics of Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel went viral, David Letterman identified one of many reasons it was time to retire from CBS' "Late Show."

The lack of ability to create viral videos is "a weakness of the show," Letterman told Rolling Stone as part of a wide-ranging interview set to hit newsstands on Friday.

"I hear about things going viral and I think, 'How do you do that?'" the 68-year-old told the magazine. "I think I'm the blockage in the plumbing."

Fallon and Kimmel have indeed served up many segments that have proved to be successful draws for the YouTube generation, such as Fallon's "Lip Sync Battle," which is now a hit Spike TV show, and Kimmel's "Mean Tweets" and infamous failed twerk video prank.

Despite the tough competition in late night, Letterman has some glowing praise for his colleagues. He calls Fallon's style "bright and colorful" and says Kimmel is "friendly" and "very sweet."

The longtime late-night host has had his own success with innovative sketches. We've all probably clicked on a video of Letterman's "Stupid Pet Tricks" and "Top Ten Lists," among other great segments, but he's probably right about coming just shy of the variety-show-like format of late-night programs nowadays.

"If you look around at the other people doing it and look at me, it's almost like a pair of shoes you haven't worn in a hundred years," he said. "'Gee, I think we can probably get rid of these.' I still enjoy what I'm doing, but I think what I'm doing is not what you want at 11:30 anymore."

On May 20, Letterman will say farewell to his show after 22 years at CBS, with the help of a cadre of big stars, including Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Jerry Seinfeld, Oprah Winfrey, and one of the Obamas. Even former nemesis Jay Leno has been invited, according to the magazine, though he has yet to say whether he will make an appearance.

Comedy Central's former "Colbert Report" host Stephen Colbert will take over "Late Show" on September 8.

SEE ALSO: The fitting way CBS is sending off David Letterman

MORE: How Spike's new 'Lip Sync Battle' landed its A-list celebrity contenders and became a breakout hit

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NOW WATCH: Disney just released a new 'Star Wars: Episode VII' trailer and it's incredible

"Maggie" may have sounded like a fun idea on paper, but as the Tribeca Film Festival audience found out Wednesday night at the film's world premiere, its execution leaves a lot to be desired. 

It's a zombie melodrama where nothing really happens. The film opens with NPR radio vaguely explaining how a viral outbreak has started turning people into zombies. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Wade, father of the titular Maggie (Abigail Breslin), who learns the hard way that there are rules laid out about quarantines and how to deal with an infected loved one, as his daughter has already been bitten prior to the opening scene.

"Maggie" chugs along at a snail's pace and there is absolutely zero payoff for its immense amount of setup. Everything is so bleak and brooding, which would be fine if there was some actual weight to it — all we get is broad strokes of impending doom and melancholic soliloquies. You know how some horror movies have eerily quiet moments, where the tension builds and builds until something crazy happens? That's "Maggie" in its entirety, except it never builds to anything. 

The film is supposed to be an emotional, character-driven drama, but there's never a reason for the audience to care. There's no hook. The audience is thrown into the (lack of) action with no character or world building. The movie is decidedly more melodrama than zombie, and there are only a couple of "action" moments in which Arnie takes on the dead. Most of the screen time is used to show close ups of Schwarzenegger looking pensive, pondering what to do in his tough situation. 

Simply put, Schwarzenegger has never been some Academy Award-worthy thespian — he's an over-the-top action hero. Just because "Maggie" puts some pain behind his eyes and a tear on his cheek doesn't suddenly make him a dramatic force. A majority of the movie is Arnold meandering around, frowning, often not even saying anything. When dialogue does actually make it out of his mouth, you will wish it hadn't; it's painful to watch him try to emote. He has the subtly of an 18-wheeler. 

Unfortunately, "Maggie" makes the case for Schwarzenegger sticking to what he knows. There's a reason he has yet to star in something this "heavy" — he simply can't pull off the material. Breslin is fine as the zombified girl, but there's not much for her to do here, either. She just mopes around, dealing with her own mortality, and the role just doesn't allow her the chance to really transcend it.

Some are already calling "Maggie" a "slow burn," but to burn, something needs to have been ignited in the first place. 

Watch the trailer below.

SEE ALSO: This trippy thriller with future 'Star Wars' star Oscar Isaac is a must-see

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Even though it clocks in at 141 minutes, "Avengers: Age of Ultron" still couldn't cover everything. The original cut was over three hours long, and there was a lot of internal debate over which scenes should have been kept in the film.

Director Joss Whedon has said in several interviews that many of the characters he wanted to put in the film had to be cut for various reasons. Included in that bunch? Fan-favorite Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston.

Here are three characters that almost made it into "Age of Ultron":

Captain Marvel

Whedon was adamant about getting a Captain Marvel cameo into the movie. She was even in early drafts of the script. 

However, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige thought it would have been unfair to introduce this character hastily at the end.

"[Captain Marvel] was in a draft," Feige told Birth. Movies. Death. "But to me, it would have done that character a disservice, to meet her fully formed, in a costume and part of the Avengers already when 99% of the audience would go, ‘Who is that?’ It’s just not the way we’ve done it before."

However, in a way, Captain Marvel did leave her mark in the movie, as her planned shots ended up going to Scarlet Witch (Elisabeth Olsen).

"The way we reveal Scarlet Witch [in costume] at the end of the movie? Those were Captain Marvel plate shots. Joss said, ‘We’ll cast her later!’ And I said, ‘Yeah Joss, we’ll cast her later.’ [Whispers to an invisible associate who isn't Joss] ‘We’re not putting her in there!’" Feige said.

We'll see Captain Marvel in her own standalone movie in 2018.

Loki

Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is one of the most entertaining and interesting villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He's also one of the most memorable parts of the first "Avengers" movie; so it's no surprise Whedon wanted him to come back for a dream scene in the sequel.

However, "Ultron" was already filled to the brim, and adding Loki into the mix may have been too much.

"We did shoot something, but it didn’t play," Whedon told MTV News. "The movie has so much. It’s so filled. We didn’t want it to feel overstuffed. I really wanted to have Loki in it, but I understood the decision that there were now too many voices in the chorus."

Spider-Man

Whedon also wanted to get in a cameo from everybody's favorite web-slinger. However, Sony and Marvel were entangled in negotiations over the rights to the character. By the time Marvel and Sony reached a deal, it was too late.

"So I would have put [Captain Marvel and Spider-Man] in, but neither of the deals were made. And then they were like, ‘We’re making a Captain Marvel movie and we’ve got Spider-Man as a property,’ and I’m like, ‘I’ve already locked my film, you f---ers! Thanks for nothing,’" Whedon told Empire.

SEE ALSO: Paul Bettany was told his career was over right before he was asked to play Vision in "Age of Ultron"

AND: Here are the brands that appear the most in "Avengers: Age of Ultron"

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NOW WATCH: Here's Why Stan Lee Says You Should Never Do Something Just For Money

Taylor Swift is going the way of "Sin City."

The song "Bad Blood," off her latest album "1989," is the subject of her next music video. Swift just tweeted out a poster for it, check it out:

There's definitely a particular aesthetic she's hinting at here. The black, white, and red reminds us of Frank Miller's "Sin City" movies. 

It also seems like the video is going for a movie-like direction, proclaiming "Taylor Swift starring as Catastrophe."

That's right, she's playing a character called "Catastrophe."

And of course, the tag line "Band-aids don't fix bullet holes," which is an uncharacteristically (of Swift) dark lyric from the song "Bad blood."

The music video will be directed by Joseph Kahn, who also directed Swift's last music video, "Blank Space." He was also behind a recent dark take on "Power/Rangers" that caught both steam and controversy online, according to Vanity Fair.

We'll find out all about it on May 17, when the music video debuts at the Billboard Music Awards.

If you're not familiar with the song, here it is:

SEE ALSO: There was an incredible moment between Taylor Swift and Kanye West at the Grammys

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NOW WATCH: Watch That Dash Cam Video Tribute Of A Police Officer Singing Taylor Swift's 'Shake It Off'