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Could Disney’s Merger with Fox Mean Marvel Has “Fantastic” Plans for Phase 4?

Disney might be days away from buying Fox Entertainment. Is this rumored mega-merger the reason Marvel has been coy about their Phase 4 plans? We discussed that on today’s Nerdist News Talks Back, along with what a Quentin Tarantino Star Trek film might look like, and the most popular GIFs of 2017.

Joining host Jessica Chobot today was Nerdist editor Kyle Anderson, Nerdist News writer Aliza Pearl, and Mothership producer Derek Johnson, and they started with reports Disney could close on its rumored on-again/off-again purchase of Fox Entertainment as early as next week. Will it really happen this time? Are we happy about it? If this is all about Disney’s desire to build a huge back catalogue of titles for its upcoming streaming service, does this make us more excited for this merger? Is it worth it just for Marvel to get back the rights to the X-Men and the Fantastic Four? And is this potential deal the real reason we still don’t know much about Marvel’s Phase 4?

They also discussed the reports that Quentin Tarantino has an idea for a Star Trek film, and it could lead to him producing with J.J. Abrams directing. Is this a real possibility? Do we want to see it, or is Tarantino a little too bloody and vulgar for the final frontier? And what kind of soundtrack would a film like this have?

Finally, the online internet library Tenor has released the top ten most used GIFs of 2017. We ran through all of them to determine which ones are our favorites and found out who are the normal humans who call them GIFs with a hard “G” and who are the monsters who pronounces it with a soft “J.”

But don’t forget you can talk to us using real words every weekday when Nerdist News Talks Back airs live at 1:00 p.m. PT on our YouTube and Alpha channels. We have a lot of fun discussing the biggest pop culture news of the day. It’s a lot of :Jonah Hill screaming GIF: but when you don’t tune in with us we feel :white guy blinking GIF:.

We still want to hear from you today, so talk back to us about the show in our comments below–with either your words or favorite GIFs.

Images: Marvel, Fox, Paramount

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STAR WARS-Loving Family Builds Giant Millennium Falcon Decoration for Roof

We have no idea who currently holds the championship belt for Greatest Home Holiday Decoration Ever, but we have a most impressive candidate for the top spot, because a Star Wars obsessed family in Lafayette, California built a massive, light-up Millennium Falcon, and it is the complete opposite of a hunk of junk.

In fact, it may put all other competitors to shame for millennia to come:

We came across this one-of-a-kind outdoor holiday decoration over at io9, constructed by Colby Powell and his family along with the help of his neighbors. Made from wood, PVC pipes, and covered in two parachutes and many lights, they needed a month to finish the 28.5-foot long, 20-feet wide structure. They started in late September and finished on October 29th, just in time for Halloween. It ended up needing extra reinforcement, so its final weight of 700 pounds was a lot more than the originally planned 400 pounds. That explains why it required a 70-foot crane to lift it onto their roof.

Well that settles it—every other holiday decoration should just call it quits. You had a good run. And even though this went up for Halloween, Powell says it’s also meant to celebrate the release of The Last Jedi, which should make for a very merry Christmas for the whole neighborhood this December.

Of course you might have noticed this build is labeled as “Episode II.” That’s because two years ago this same family made another giant inflatable Star Wars decoration for their roof. And believe us when we say it was no moon.

You know what, I think  we know who already owned the title for world’s greatest holiday decoration. Long live the king. Or maybe we should call him the Emperor.

What should be the next Star Wars-inspired decoration they tackle? Hit the hyperdrive on your thoughts and share them with us in the comments below.

Continue prep for The Last Jedi with these stories!

Dive into the history of the Jedi Order.
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Daisy Ridley drops hints about The Last Jedi surprises.

Images: Colby Powell

Bob Ross Deadpool, Thanos, and More Fantastic Cosplay from Tokyo Comic Con

There was once a time where cosplay was relegated to small conference rooms at conventions but those days are behind us. Nowadays, wearing costumes is a huge chunk of what fans look forward to at any convention and we thank the technological miracle that is social media for letting us bask in cosplay glory regardless of where conventions take place. A quick search for Tokyo Comic Con gives us all the best bits of cosplay without the hassle of a long plane ride.

Omg this Squirrel Girl at #TokyoComicCon!!!! cc @ryanqnorth pic.twitter.com/3nSNE9C7KO

— Cassi Burrell (@nerdibird) December 1, 2017

Who doesn’t love a good Squirrel Girl costume? With the announcement of Marvel’s New Warriors, we’re bound to see the popularity of this relatively deep cut cosplay increase but we had to celebrate this one before the character goes the way of the cornucopia of Jokers, Batmen (Bats Men?), Deadpools, and Spider-men (Spiders Men? ahh who cares?). Not that there still isn’t fun stuff to do with Deadpool. This Bob Ross Deadpool is straight from the recent Deadpool 2 teaser.

クッソwwwwww #東京コミコンコスプレ #東京コミコン pic.twitter.com/19KycFX4pL

— シグ・エル@東京コミコンSHAZAM！ (@shigre1028) December 2, 2017

It’s hard to pick a singular favorite, but this one is certainly in the running.

ずっと座りたかったタイプの椅子に座ってきました！サノスだけでなく、ガニシュカ大帝でも座りたい。#東京コミコン2017 #東京コミコンコスプレ #ゲームオブスローンズ #サノス pic.twitter.com/l4SOhjmkvf

— 仮面屋@サノス★コミコン2・3日目 (@kamenya_maen) December 2, 2017

Thanos…he’s so hot right now.

Cosplay from @TokyoComicCon Day 2!#tokyocomiccon #cosplay #GaiJim pic.twitter.com/16wy6mVdZR

— Jim Zub (@JimZub) December 2, 2017

The above four pictures are all great, but please take special notice of fantastic comic-accurate Gamora, Star-Lord, and Nova on the bottom right.

A post shared by Baɔkwards Ɔ Media (@backwardscmedia) on Dec 4, 2017 at 8:38pm PST

WITNESS! This awesome Mad Max: Fury Road cosplay that, whether they were trying to or not, looks like part of The Adventures of Young Immortan Joe which is a TV series we just made up that absolutely needs to be made.

A post shared by matcha_au_lait (@matcha_au_lait_cosplay) on Dec 4, 2017 at 10:18pm PST

Real talk, Ringu got remade into The Ring and it was alright. Just imagine how incredible It would be if it was remade by Japanese horror filmmakers.

A post shared by Baɔkwards Ɔ Media (@backwardscmedia) on Dec 4, 2017 at 8:22pm PST

Credit to anyone willing to cosplay with facial prosthetics. Even more credit when it results in a spot-on Hades from 1997’s Hercules.

A post shared by るぱん＠２４５ (@bar.rest.245) on Dec 4, 2017 at 2:33pm PST

We’ll end it on this picture of the Spider-Verse because it’s likely the coolest Instagram pictures we’ve seen all week.

Did we miss your favorite cosplay of #TokyoComicCon2017? Shoot us a link to it in the comments below!

Image: Fox

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What Do We Know About Quentin Tarantino’s STAR TREK Movie?

If there’s a Star Trek style Mirror Universe, then we’re living in it. Crazy things seem to happen all the time now, but it’s going to hard to top this one: Quentin Tarantino is working on a Star Trek movie. For real. This didn’t materialize because of a transporter accident. Tarantino even mentioned his desire to direct a Star Trek film when he was a guest on the Nerdist Podcast. The truth is that Tarantino has often expressed a willingness to work on some big franchises, including James Bond. But this may be the first time that it has actually come close to happening. Today’s Nerdist News is rockin’ out at Jack Rabbit Slim’s and unpacking everything we know about QT’s potential trek to the stars!

Join host and liberated woman from Orion, Jessica Chobot, as she runs down some of Tarantino’s recent Trek history. Did you know that Tarantino considers J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot to be the best movie of 2009? We really liked that film, but even we wouldn’t go that far! Given the mutual admiration between Abrams and Tarantino, it makes sense that they’re collaborating on this project. The early word is that they’re putting together a writer’s room to turn Tarantino’s idea into a screenplay.

We’re also thinking that it would make sense for the next Star Trek to remain in the Kelvin timeline established by Abrams. And to be honest, the film franchise could use a little boost after Star Trek Beyond failed to excite the box office (though we really enjoyed it). We’re not worried about Tarantino’s ability to mimic Star Trek‘s style, and he’s already proven that he can work within the confines of ER and CSI episodes. Although we have to agree with the internet: Samuel L. Jackson must appear in this movie, and we don’t care who he plays!

Thanks to Tarantino’s Nerdist Podcast appearance, we know that he counts the time travel stories “City on the Edge of Forever” and “Yesterday’s Enterprise” as some of his favorite episodes. As you may recall, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was also a time travel story that added more comedy to the franchise, and ended up becoming one of the most popular films in the series. It would be fitting if the fourth reboot movie managed to pull off the same trick.

Alternately, it would also make sense if Abrams and Paramount gave Tarantino free reign to explore an alternate timeline or even the Mirror Universe itself just to let him have the creative freedom to realize his vision. Sometimes Star Trek needs an auteur to breathe new life into it. We wouldn’t have guessed that Tarantino would be the one to revitalize Star Trek, but we’d love to see him try.

How do you feel about a potential QT directed Star Trek film? Say “what” again in the comment section below!

Images: Paramount Pictures

More news for the Nerdist folks !

Rian Johnson confirms his Star Wars trilogy will not be Knights of the Old Republic!
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Mark Hamill spent hours in character as Luke Skywalker for sick young boy !

Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard Find Themselves in a JURASSIC PARK Parody

The first trailer for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom‘s is coming later this week, and the countdown is on. We’ve already seen a few teasers, but this is the best one yet even though it’s a parody without any hint about what will happen in the movie. Jurassic World stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard have reunited for this skit, in which they appear as slightly exaggerated versions of themselves. Joining them for this short is YouTube filmmaker and digital magician, Zach King, who shows off a few of his illusionist tricks in the clip as they put the finishing touches on the new trailer. Unfortunately for the trio, they soon find themselves in a very Jurassic Park-like scenario.

I’m totally getting fired.

Rian Johnson Confirms His STAR WARS Trilogy Will Not Be KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC

Star Wars: The Last Jedi writer-director Rian Johnson has been doing a TON of press lately about the upcoming film, but since no one has seen it, a lot of the questions he’s been answering have to do with his recently announced new trilogy in the franchise. Though all we know is it will have nothing to do with the Skywalkers, fans have been speculating wildly about which corner of the Star Wars universe he’d take us. But while the director is pretty tight-lipped about the new movies, one thing we can be sure of is that it will not be Knights of the Old Republic.

In the period of time following the original Star Wars trilogy, tons of spin-off material found its was to fans, via novels, games, comics, and more, and a great many of them had to do with the characters we already knew—Luke, Leia, Han, and the gang. But in the 2003, the Knights of the Old Republic video games began, depicting characters—usually Jedi—from thousands of years before the original movies. This became a favorite avenue of Star Wars lore for fans, and the hope arose that we’d see films set in this version of the galaxy far, far away.

Speaking to Mashable, Johnson quickly dispelled any hopes for his movies to be set during this period. “Oh, they love Knights of the Old Republic…I played that game when it first came out and it was like, god, I loved it. Yeah, that’s a fantastic game. And I understand it, the instinct to automatically go to something that you know and love, that you’ve already seen.”

But, nope, this will not be the case. “To me,” he says, “what’s really fun is the notion of what new stuff are we gonna see, what new stories can we tell?”

Technically this doesn’t mean that these movies won’t take place during the time of the Old Republic, but my money is on them being set either during the original trilogy (just completely removed from the action) or during/after the new one. Just a gut feeling, but since Johnson keeps using the word “new,” I doubt he’d be so quick to go back to the old, even if it’s an old we’ve never seen.

Images: Lucasarts

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

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THE DISASTER ARTIST is a Treatise on Loving the Things We Mock (Review)

You’ve been to dozens of midnight showings, have practically committed the script to memory, and have even made a tradition of greeting your closest friends with an emphatic, “Oh hai Mark.” In other words, you love The Room. But can you truly say, in all sincerity, that you love The Room?

Such is the question that drives The Disaster Artist, at once a love letter to and a giddy evisceration of Tommy Wiseau and his one-of-a-kind cult phenomenon. To be sure, a bulk of the fun of The Disaster Artist is had at the expense of Wiseau and The Room, much in the same spirit of the thriving tradition of the picture’s late night screenings. From the get-go, we’re invited to laugh at the atomically bizarre Tommy, as mimicked by a lumbering James Franco, even when marveling at his bravado through the wide eyes of dopey aspiring actor Greg Sestero (Dave Franco). As the second act of the film sends the pair into the thick of production on The Room, we are likewise encouraged to cackle as the travesty that arises in every endeavor to shoot a scene or rationalize an inscrutable creative decision.

Of course, there is another layer to the merriment in The Disaster Artist. If you are indeed the class of character I allude to in this review’s introduction, then you’re exactly who The Disaster Artist is catering to: someone who knows The Room and Tommy Wiseau well enough to not only get a kick out of seeing beloved sequences reproduced by way of the Francos’ rogues’ gallery of funnymen, but to swell with elation over the mere anticipation of the film’s attempt at an iconic The Room moment. (I can’t remember the last time I felt such palpable excitement from a viewing audience than in the seconds leading up to my showing of The Disaster Artist’s take on, “Hi doggy!”).

It’s none too surprising that a film about the making of another, especially one with such a cultural standing as The Room has accumulated, would request of its viewers regular donations from their own personal histories with the focal project for the benefit of investment. But just as The Disaster Artist asks you to think of its real world subject to double down on the laughter, it demands you bear in mind its own star and director to keep the laughter in check.

Imbued with his own divisive but wholly vivid personal mythology, James Franco is just as important character to The Disaster Artist as Tommy is. Franco has filled out the latter era of his career embracing subjects like Mr. Wiseau: the rejected, the detested, the confounding, the weird. What we know about the multihyphenate based on esoteric projects and an offbeat public persona is enough for us to trust that he embarked upon The Disaster Artist not as a mission to mock Tommy Wiseau, but to celebrate him.

To this end, Franco’s less-than-transformative performance actually works in the film’s favor; without constant reminders to the benevolent mind behind the picture, the innate alienation of the long-haired oddball affixed center stage occasionally risks reading cruel and contemptuous.

Despite his best efforts and intentions, Franco doesn’t seem to have figured out how to humanize Tommy Wiseau. Instead, we’re granted passage to the story of Tommy through an impeccably earnest Greg, who sees the magic in his strange friend even when he can’t quite excuse, let alone make sense of, his behavior. This distance does allow us to revel in the mysticism of the dreamer that is Tommy, but also to laugh uproariously at his every vexing moan or unfathomable choice.

Whether it’s a fault that The Disaster Artist insists we keep both its meta-textual actor-directors in mind to carry its laughter and heart through to completion, I’m truly not entirely certain. If we’re able to love The Room as much as we do despite, well, hating it, then the usual rules seem to be out the window… like a television set thrown in a fit of betrayal-induced rage.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 burritos

Images: A24

Michael Arbeiter is the East Coast Editor for Nerdist. Say “Oh hai!” to Michael on Twitter @micarbeiter.

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Nerdist Podcast: Joe Kenda Returns

Joe Kenda (Homicide Hunter) returns to the Nerdist podcast! He and Chris talk about how would break the news to someone that a family member had passed away, statistics of murders and Joe talks about his interrogation techniques. He also talks about being married for 50 years, his show Homicide Hunter and his new book I Will Find You: Solving Killer Cases from My Life Fighting Crime!

Image: Investigation Discovery

Quentin Tarantino and J.J. Abrams May Team Up For a STAR TREK Movie

Quentin Tarantino is one of the last directors that anyone would ever expect to helm a Star Trek movie, but that may soon become a reality. Tarantino has reportedly pitched “a great idea” for a new Star Trek film that J.J. Abrams and Paramount are already looking to develop as a feature. And the early word is that Tarantino may even direct the film himself.

Deadline broke the story, and reported that the plan is to assemble a writers room of screenwriters to work on Tarantino’s Star Trek idea and turn it into a screenplay. Because Abrams is already lined up for Star Wars Episode IX, he will only be available on this project as a producer. Nerdist has reached out to Paramount for confirmation, but we have not heard back at press time. It would be very intriguing to see what Tarantino would do in the Star Trek universe, and how much freedom he would have to do it.

Presumably the new Star Trek film would continue the reboot series that Abrams began in 2009. But it’s not inconceivable that Tarantino would get the chance to create his own characters and ship for a one-off adventure. If anything, that would probably be the easiest way for Tarantino to take more chances with the franchise without having to worry about leaving the characters intact for a sequel.

During the promotional tour for Star Trek Beyond, it was reported that the fourth movie would feature a team up of Chris Pine‘s Captain Kirk and Chris Hemsworth‘s George Kirk, from the first reboot film. We think it’s unlikely that Tarantino’s new idea would incorporate the same premise, so that story may remain on the shelf.

Are you excited about a potential Star Trek movie conceived and directed by Tarantino? Set a course for the comment section below and let us know what you’re thinking!

Images: Paramount Pictures

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Could Snoke Really Be the Most Powerful STAR WARS Villain Ever?

We’re so close to The Last Jedi finally hitting theaters we can feel the Force pulling us to the concession stand. On today’s Nerdist News Talks Back we discussed the latest clues and reports into what we might happen in the film, along with what to expect from the future of Star Wars, and our reactions to the first Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom teaser.

Joining host Jessica Chobot today was Nerdist News writer Joan Ford, Nerdist editor Amy Ratcliffe, and Director of Development Brendon Schulze. Before they got to all things Star Wars, they shared their thoughts on the teaser for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom that dropped ahead of Thursday night’s first trailer. What did we think? Why would anyone build an amusement park near a volcano? And is there anything we liked from the first Jurassic World that we hope to see in this follow-up?

Then it was time to hit the hyperdrive and head to the galaxy far, far away, starting with Andy Serkis’ comments on how Snoke is the most powerful villain yet thanks to his “unlimited resources.” Is there anyway this is possible? Could he really be stronger than Darth Vader? And what do we make of reports Lucasfilm gave director Rian Johnson control of their new trilogy without hearing any actual ideas from him? Is this too much faith in one man, or does it just mean The Last Jedi is really good?

Also, during the film’s press junket this past weekend Daisy Ridley walked back her comments about not playing Rey after Episode IX, saying she only meant she assumed that was all she would ever do. Was this whole thing blown out of proportion? Will Rey’s story truly end in the next film?

Finally, Rian Johnson and Daisy Ridley revealed the movie’s first two words: “We’re not.” This means it was time to play our new game Complete That Sentence! We had some idea about how that might go, but does that mean those words take place somewhere besides Ahch-To, since it’s hard to imagine Luke referring to himself and Rey as “we?”

Tune in to Nerdist News Talks Back every weekday at 1:00 p.m. PT when it airs live on our YouTube and Alpha channels, that way you can be a part of the conversation with us. “We’re not” going to enjoy talking all things Star Wars as much without you.

We still want to hear your thoughts on today’s topics, so talk back to us in the comments below.

Images: Lucasfilm

Read more about The Last Jedi!

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