Deadpool rules at the box office, The Walking Dead is back, Fallout 4 DLC details drop, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 starts filming, and Street Fighter 5 hits the street…
Here’s “The Week in Fandom” for February 19, 2016:
Deadpool Rules
Deadpool has only been in theaters a week, and it’s already a game-changer. Over the course of its four-day opening weekend, the Ryan Reynolds flick about Marvel’s “Merc with a Mouth” pulled in a ridiculous $150,000,000. That’s the best R-rated opening of all time, the best Fox opening of all time, the best February opening of all time, and the best Winter opening of all time. You get the idea.
The returns validated the great lengths that Reynolds and director Tim Miller went to in order to make the film and pay off the movie’s amazing marketing campaign.
Deadpool‘s instant success pushes back on the common studio notion that “outside the box” movies are risky business. And, just like that, there’s a sequel already in the works.
The Walking Dead Midseason Premiere
SPOILERS: The Walking Dead returned this week with an exciting, fast-paced episode full of awesome moments straight out of the comics: Jessie and her whole family become walker food, Carl loses an eye, and Rick rallies the troops for an epic victory in Alexandria.
Other highlights… A group of Saviors, harbingers of Negan, getting blown to bits by Daryl. And Glen NOT dying thanks to Abe and Sasha.
Ratings for the midseason premiere were down slightly from normal, though still massive. Maybe viewers were in the mood for love, and not bloody walker carnage, on Valentine’s Day? Regardless, it was the most thrilling episode of Season 6 so far.
Fallout 4 DLC Details
Bethseda finally revealed Fallout 4 DLC details on Tuesday, promising three new add-ons rolling out this year. The first, the Fallout 4 Automatron DLC, will be released in March. It will be followed by Fallout 4 Wasteland Workshop, coming in April. A third add-on, the Fallout 4 Far Harbor DLC, will drop in May.
The company also announced a price hike in their Season Pass from $29.99 to $49.99, prompting outbursts of frustration from fans.
Bethseda is promising additional “new Fallout adventures and features” throughout the remainder of 2016, but no further details have been released.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Starts Shooting
Marvel and director James Gunn announced the commencement of principle photography on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 this week. In the announcement, they confirm a bit of casting that’s been rumored for a while now: Kurt Russell, Snake Plissken himself, is joining the next installment of the intergalactic adventure. Gunn took to Twitter to say that Russell won’t be playing J’son. “There is no J’son in the MCU,” he tweeted, but didn’t further clarify the relationship of Russell’s character to Peter Quill. If it’s not the obvious, we’ll be surprised.
More fun: Based on the promotional image released (above), it looks like Groot won’t have grown a much since we last saw him at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy.
Street Fighter V Release Struggles
Street Fighter V dropped on Tuesday but problematic issues have plagued the anticipated release. Capcom has worked around the clock to resolve server trouble causing problems for players with matchmaking, Battle Lounge, match results, replay search, and other game functionality.
Beyond server problems, the quality of online play is being diminished by rage-quitting. Currently, when a losing player bails mid-match, they aren’t penalized and their standings remain unaltered. Capcom says a fix is on the way.
The game is a descendant of the genre-defining global smash Street Fighter II, and the direct follow up to the massively successful Street Fighter IV, so expectations were high . Capcom has reiterated that they’re planning to make numerous free updates to the game throughout the remainder of 2016.
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