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J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot expands into gaming with China's Tencent
J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions, the company behind blockbuster films and TV shows like Star Trek, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Lost and Westworld, is making a jump into gaming. It's joining forces with Chinese gaming giant Tencent, and minority partner Warner Bros. to launch Bad Robot Games. "I'm a massive games fan, and increasingly envious of the amazing tools developers get to work with, and the worlds they get to play in," said Abrams in a statement.
Netflix's 'Cloverfield' sequel starts streaming tonight
Last year Netflix's Super Bowl ad focused on a season of Stranger Things we still had months to wait for, but this year things are different. The streaming company dropped a surprise 30-second teaser for The Cloverfield Paradox, a sequel to the 2008 monster movie that will be available for viewing worldwide tonight, right after the game. As Deadline notes, the Paramount/J.J. Abrams flick had been planned for a theatrical release this weekend, but reports that this agreement with Netflix made the $45 million movie "immediately profitable." Also, on Twitter Netflix revealed a promotional deal that will send snacks directly to viewers in New York, San Francisco, LA and Chicago, in time for the movie's debut after the game. The Cloverfield Paradox is directed by Julius Onah (The Girl is in Trouble), with stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Belle, Beyond the Lights, A Wrinkle in Time) and David Oyelowo (Selma, Queen of Katwe) taking the top credits. Netflix pushed the bar with the release of Bright in December, but this is an all-new mark for its original movie efforts. While Cloverfield may not be as expensive as that Will Smith movie, it's arriving without any of the usual highlights, reviews or press tours. Just one advertisement on the day of its worldwide release. How successful will it be? Since Netflix doesn't release exact numbers that will likely be up to others like Nielsen to estimate, but as the company splashes its $8 billion content budget around we don't expect that this will be the last surprise up its sleeve. Netflix: In the near future, a group of international astronauts on a space station are working to solve a massive energy crisis on Earth. The experimental technology aboard the station has an unexpected result, leaving the team isolated and fighting for their survival. Update: And there it is. As promised, once the game ended, the streaming started. Let us know what you think of this latest addition to the Cloverfield series.
Watch Hulu's first teaser for Stephen King's 'Castle Rock'
Ever since Hulu announced Castle Rock, there's been a lingering question: just what would JJ Abrams' take on Stephen King's universe look like? You now have a better idea. Hulu has posted the first trailer for the series, and it makes more than a few references to King's many stories. Shawshank State Prison gets more than one nod, to start. Even the casting pays tribute. It star Bill Skarsgård shows up at one point, while Carrie's Sissy Spacek is returning to King's landscape -- albeit as a different character.
RuPaul's biographical series will stream on Hulu
2017 has been very good to RuPaul. The ninth season of Drag Race notched eight Emmy nods, including for Reality Competition Host which he won last year. RuPaul's streak continued on Wednesday as Hulu announced that it has optioned Queen, a fictionalized half-hour dramedy chronicling his rise to fame, to be produced by JJ Abrams' Bad Robot.
JJ Abrams and Stephen King are creating another Hulu series
The first collaboration between JJ Abrams and Stephen King on an original Hulu series (11.22.63) clearly went well, as the two are coming back for another round. Abrams' Bad Robot studio has teased Castle Rock, another Hulu show based on King's writing -- in this case, the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine that has served as the backdrop for many of the author's stories. The clip gives away precious little (not even a rough release schedule), but it touches on legendary locations like Shawshank State Prison and characters like Pennywise the clown. In other words, you can expect the show to include plenty of winks and nods toward King's literary legacy.
Hebocon: The contest to find the world's crappiest robots
Sex toys, dried squid, repurposed Happy Meal toys and the husk of a Gameboy Advance are just some of the components found in the robotic competitors at Hebocon -- a contest that aims to crown only the ropiest of robots. But what is it, and why hold a competition for such poorly made things? I went to the first world championship in Tokyo (where else?) to stare and make gifs.
JJ Abrams is working on a game with the makers of 'Infinity Blade'
JJ Abrams' attempt to conquer the gaming world isn't just limited to a partnership with Valve. His Bad Robot studio is teaming up with Infinity Blade creator ChAIR on Spyjinx, an espionage game hitting both PCs and phones in 2016. The two are saying precious little about the title right now, but they're promising a blend of action, role-playing, strategy and even world building -- this is far more than just a Team Fortress 2 game mode. It's as if players will be in the "brainstorming session" with developers, Abrams teases. If that whets your appetite, you can sign up for chance to participate in a closed beta test that kicks off next year.
Valve and JJ Abrams' Bad Robot made 'Team Fortress 2' football
Back when Valve and JJ Abrams' Bad Robot production company announced a partnership involving games and film projects it came as a complete surprise. That theme continues with the duo's first collaboration: a mode for Team Fortress 2 combining soccer, hockey and basketball dubbed "PASS Time." It's only in beta as of now (a concept that Bad Robot found immensely intriguing, apparently) though. The official game description is as follows: "RED and BLU face off in an epic battle to score more goals than their opponents. Coordinated passing, aerial shots, interceptions, team-based formations and plays, defensive lines and the like make for strategically chaotic play."
Now you too can watch Valve's Gabe Newell and Bad Robots' J.J. Abrams talk about storytelling
For some reason or another, Valve head Gabe Newell and Bad Robot head J.J. Abrams' DICE 2013 keynote wasn't available via livestream or on Variety's YouTube channel last week. We're guessing it's because they're both such nice gents that they wanted to give everyone else some time in the spotlight first. Good show! That politeness period, however, is now over, as the 20-minute talk on storytelling -- which features examples from both Newell's and Abrams' work, as well as their influences -- went up today on YouTube. We've dropped it below the break for all to see. If you're anxious to get to the part where the two discuss plans to work together on movie and video game projects going forward, we'd suggest skipping to the last five minutes. Or you could read our post about it right here, should the other option be currently implausible from the cubicle you're in.
Valve working with J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot on game and movie collaborations
Filmmaker J.J. Abrams (Cloverfield, Star Trek) and game creator Gabe Newell (Half-Life, Portal) just announced they'll be working together on creating movies and games, via their respective companies, Bad Robot Productions and Valve Software. "We sort of reached the point where we decided that we needed to do more than talk," Newell said of the partnership. The two were speaking at the DICE 2013 conference in Las Vegas, addressing "Storytelling Across Platforms: Who Benefits Most, the Audience or the Player?" After a half hour of speaking about storytelling in their respective mediums, Newell announced that the presentation came from an ongoing conversation between the two about storytelling. Today's news is the fruition of that conversation, with the two taking action. Newell specifically said that J.J.'s team could craft a Half-Life or Portal film -- something we've heard about in the past, albeit not with Abrams attached -- and Abrams said that Valve could help create a game with Bad Robot. Interesting indeed! Of course, the two have their jobs cut out for them -- Abrams is currently working on both the Star Trek and Star Wars movie franchises, and Valve's got a new hardware initiative set to debut this year.
Frozen iPod returns from the grave
Andrew sent us this great story -- he found an iPod classic in the melting snow of Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. It had apparently been there "since early winter," and was frozen solid... as is the case, we'd imagine, with most things left outside there between September and April.Incredibly, though, once taken home, cleaned up, and given a warm cup of tomato soup and a grilled cheese, it started right back up again. Everything was completely intact -- he says it even displayed the correct date. Pretty impressive for Apple's little music player (and mine's even stuffed in a Vaja case, so I know it'll always run for me -- assuming I don't drop it in a pile of snow somewhere). He says there is a name on the iPod, so if you've been around the Whitehorse area and have recently dropped your iPod near a place called Takhini School, leave him a note and he will probably be able to get it back to you. But do it quick -- he's giving things about a week, and then it's finder's keepers. We don't blame him: who wouldn't want an indestructible iPod?
