STACK New Zealand December Issue 69

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NEWS EXTRAS
GAME ON AT THE MOVIES
FIRST 4K BLU-RAY DISCS IN 2016?
2016 is shaping up to be a bumper year for video game adaptations.
DJ culture steps into the spotlight
with the DVD release this month of
two fictional movies about the people
who spin the discs. First out of the
blocks will be the critically acclaimed
French drama Eden, which is due out
on December 3 and is a tribute to
the French underground scene of the
‘90s. It is directed by Mia Hansen-
Løve (Father Of My Children) and was
co-written by her brother Sven, a DJ
contemporary of Daft Punk, who are
also portrayed in the movie. Eden will
be followed on December 16 by We Are
Your Friends, which stars Zac Efron as a
party promoter turned laptop DJ who is
taken under the wing of a weary EDM
superstar (Wes Bentley).
See review on page 44.
BBC GREENLIGHTS DARK MATERIALS
T his month sees the DVD and Blu-ray
release of Hitman: Agent 47, an
attempt to reboot the video game
franchise for the big screen following the
underwhelming 2007 Hitman movie.
No word yet whether the new take
will spawn any sequels but gamers can
certainly look forward to an array of new film
adaptations next year and beyond.
First up are likely to be two animated
movies. Ratchet & Clank, which is due out
at the end of April, is based on the popular
PlayStation series and follows the adventures
of a pointy-eared alien and a tiny robot.
Providing the voices are the likes of Paul
Giamatti, Sylvester Stallone and Rosario
Dawson.
Expected around the same time is the big
screen version of Angry Birds, a 3D animated
adventure in which an island populated almost
entirely by flightless birds is threatened by the
arrival of some mysterious green pigs. The
all-star voice cast for the mobile game movie
includes Danny McBride, Jason Sudeikis,
Maya Rudolph and Peter Dinklage.
That is due to be followed in June by
the first of the big live action game movies
Warcraft: The Beginning, which is based on
Blizzard’s popular World Of Warcraft games.
Directed by Duncan Jones (Source Code,
Moon) – the film stars Vikings hunk Travis
Fimmel and Fantastic Four’s Toby Kebbell.
Arguably the most successful of the
existing video game film franchises is due
to return in September with the release of
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, which will
be directed by the franchise’s creator Paul
W Anderson and will once again star Milla
Jovovich as Alice.
However, the one everyone is waiting for
is Assassin’s Creed , which is expected in
cinemas in December 2016 and stars Michael
Fassbender as Callum Lynch, who discovers
he is a descendant of a member of the secret
Assassins society. The cast also includes
Jeremy Irons, Marion Cottilard and Brendon
Gleeson, and the director is acclaimed
Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel (Macbeth).
We can’t wait…
Hitman: Agent 47 is out on December 16
visit
06 DECEMBER 2015
BBC is to bring Philip Pullman’s epic fantasy
trilogy His Dark Materials to television.
The acclaimedYA novels tell of a hidden
parallel universe and follow the adventures of
a young orphan called Lyra.The first book in
the series, Northern Lights,
was filmed asThe Golden
Compass (2007) and was
intended to the first in a
trilogy. But despite a starry
cast that included Daniel
Craig and Nicole Kidman, it
failed to fire at the box office.
Pullman has welcomed the new BBC
adaptation and will serve as executive
producer. “In recent years we’ve seen the
way that long stories onTV can reach depths
of characterisation and heights of suspense
by taking the time for events to
make their proper impact. And
the sheer talent now working
in the world of long-form
television is formidable. For all
those reasons I’m delighted
at the prospect of a television
version of His Dark Materials.”
Ready for a new High Def format? Sony Pictures
has announced that it will launch its first wave
of titles on the next generation 4K Ultra HD Disc
format early next year. No word yet when the
new format will arrive in this part of the world
and a lot will probably depend on how well it is
received in the US.
However, the studio points out that there will
100 million Ultra HDTV sets in homes by 2019
and they will be looking for a similar high def
experience with their discs. Sony says its 4K
UHD discs feature four times the resolution of
HD and include high dynamic range (HDR), which
produces brilliant highlights, vibrant colors and
greater contrast on compatible displays.
The first titles to be released include The
Amazing Spider-Man 2, Chappie and The Smurfs
2, and they will followed by more new release
film and television content.
The first 4K Ultra HD players, which are
expected out around the same time, will be
backward compatible
Hitman: Agent 47
Eden
The Golden Compass