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WIRE Buzz: First look at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge VR; Regal eyes August reopening; Umbrella Academy card game
While Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is open again at Disney World, many of us probably won't be visiting theme parks during the global health crisis. That's okay, though, because there are plenty of other ways to enjoy the Lucasfilm land in other ways. There's the official Traveler's Guide to Batuu (check out our exclusive of the book preview here) and an upcoming VR experience entitled Tales From the Galaxy's Edge.
Thanks to Entertainment Weekly, we now have our very first look at the VR module (created by Vader Immortal vets ILMxLAB) that places you into the shoes of "a droid repair technician whose cargo ship crashes on Batuu, putting you in the crosshairs of this criminal organization." That criminal org is the Guavian Death Gang, the ne'er-do-wells that confronted Han Solo in The Force Awakens. As for where it fits into the overall saga, the plot kicks off just after the events of The Last Jedi.
Bobby Moynihan lends his voice to the VR, playing Oga's Cantina bartender Seezelslak. The SNL alumn previously voiced the character of Orka in Star Wars Resistance on Disney XD.
"We want to tell all the stories that you don't get in Galaxy's Edge," project director Jose Perez III told EW. "If you really want those exact stories, if you want to build your lightsaber at Savi's Workshop, you should go to the physical [park]. We don't want to just replicate something that you can get in real life. We want to build on it and make something that's new and unique."
Tales From the Galaxy's Edge is scheduled to be released later this year.
Regal Cinemas is planning a late August reopening (Friday, August 21, to be exact) of its theaters in North America, just in time for the unconventional rollout of Christopher Nolan's Tenet.
“Welcoming theatergoers back to our cinemas will be a celebration for not only our team and our industry, but most importantly for the fans who have been anxiously awaiting the year’s upcoming releases,” Mooky Greidinger, CEO of Cineworld, said in a statement to Deadline, which first broke the news. "With the health and safety of our staff, customers and communities as our top priority, we are happy to invite audiences to return to the timeless theatrical experience that we have all dearly missed."
AMC also plans to re-open its doors in mid-to-late August. Most (if not all) chains will enforce strict health safety measures like mandatory mask policies, reduced theater occupancy, constant sanitization, and, of course, social distancing. Movie theaters have been forced to remain flexible as studios continue to shuffle around release dates for blockbusters like Tenet and Mulan.
Yesterday, it was announced that Nolan's latest brain teaser would hit screens in other countries and foreign territories before coming to the U.S. in early September over Labor Day weekend. Of course, the situation is always fluid these days and anything could change between now and then.
The Umbrella Academy isn't just a comic book or television show anymore. The saga of the super-powered Hargreeves children is now a card game from Dark Horse and Studio 71. However, you'll have to fund the Kickstarter campaign (ending in 31 days) if you want to combat threats like supervillains and family-related dysfunction.
"We are thrilled with the continued fan response and reception to The Umbrella Academy," comic creators Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá said in a joint statement. "Our love for these stories and characters is what makes us excited for you all to get to experience them firsthand with the Studio 71 Umbrella Academy Game."
Learn how the game works in the videos below:
The campaign has already exceeded its initial goal of $30,000, bringing in over $75,000 as of today.
Season 2 of the Netflix adaptation premieres this Friday, July 31. See what critics are saying here.
