On Tuesday, Lionsgate announced that it has acquired film rights for Dead Island, a zombie adventure game, and will start developing it as a movie. No writers were announced yet, and they said that the Dead Island film is in its very early development. Lionsgate also said that Sean Daniel, who produced the films “The Mummy,” “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” and “The Wolfman,” will produce the zombie film.

“Like the hundreds of journalists and millions of fans who were so passionate and vocal about the Dead Island trailer, we too were awestruck,” said Lionsgate in a statement. “This is exactly the type of property we’re looking to adapt at Lionsgate – it’s sophisticated, edgy, and a true elevation of a genre that we know and love. It also has built in brand recognition around the world, and franchise potential.”

The trailer of Dead Island won the Golden Lion in Cannes at the International Festival of Creativity, and was featured on Adweek’s list of the World’s Best Commercials. The game was published by Deep Silver for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, and became the top selling game in the United Kingdom and the United States. Dead Island has sold more than 2 million copies to date.

via: Stuff

Lionsgate acquires film rights for Dead Island is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

The nine-disc collector’s set generated $38 million from sales in North America, and more than $84 million collected worldwide. The collection is priced at £60 ($79.99). The sales figure made the set the top pre-order catalog since Blu-ray was launched in 2006.

Kayleen Walters, Lucasfilm’s Senior Director of Marketing, said that their goal was to deliver a product that fans worldwide would enjoy with their families and friends. Twentieth Century Fox and Lucasfilm have been promoting the saga’s Blu-ray launch for the past 13 months, with Stormtroopers and Darth Vader taking over the boot of Panasonic to announce the release at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last January. A first look of the film’s Blu-ray release was showcased at the San Diego Comic-Con.

“Star Wars is a franchise with universal stories that resonates as much today as it did 30 years ago,” said Executive Vice President of Marketing for Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Mary Daily. “With the Blu-ray, audiences can go deeper into the mythology than ever before and reconnect with everything they love about the saga in the best possible quality.”

Star Wars Episodes I to III and IV to VI are also available as separate Blu-ray collections.

via: Geeky Gadgets

Star Wars Blu-ray collection breaks worldwide sales records is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

Even though fans of the original Star Wars series are disappointed with the changes George Lucas made to the original trilogy, we can all agree that this light show is pretty cool.

In the launch party at the top of the BT Tower, actor Anthony Daniels, the voice of C-3PO in all the Star Wars films, had the chance to press the button that lit up the skyline of London for one night, as the tower turned into Luke Skywalker and Obi-wan Kenobi’s weapon of choice. Daniels turned on the giant lightsaber at around 8:30 in the evening, projecting a beam of blue light 600 meters in the air.

“London played such a huge part in all six Star Wars films, so it’s fitting that we’re all here today to transform the London skyline and send a message to galaxies far, far away,” said Daniels.

According to Imagination, they had to bring 2 tonnes of lighting equipment through a small hatch in order to get to the rooftop. It was controlled remotely via an iPad.

Other celebrities who attended the launch party included Star Wars actors Warwick Davis who played the Ewok ‘Wicket’ and Jerome Blake.

via: Gizmodo

London’s BT Tower turned to a giant lightsaber is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

The Lego franchise has been expanded with the popular Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, the game covers all four films including ‘On Stranger Times’ which premiered on 12th May 2011 with general release to follow one week later. To celebrate the release of the film and the game we have decided to giveaway a copy of the game with a brand new competition format which gives you multiple ways to enter.

How to enter

1. Answer the competition question using the widget below for +1 entry

2. like this page for +1 entry

3. like our Facebook fan page for +1 entry and keep up to date with new competitions and news.

4. Tweet this page for +1 entry

5. Once entered you will be given a share link, pass this onto your buddies and if they enter receive a bonus entry for every friend that enters.

Terms and conditions

Competition ends on 22/05/2011

Winner will be selected and will be posted on this page and on Facebook, winner can choose which format they would like the game on, e.g. Xbox 360, PS3, Wii. Only the game will be included.

If you have a spare five minutes or are interested in learning more about the game before entering please read our in depth Lego Pirates of the Caribbean review. Good luck with the competition.

Win a Copy of Lego Pirates of the Caribbean is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

How it works

The 3D screen and glasses remain the same with the additional dimension coming directly from the seat. It can tilt, twist, vibrate and even elevate or drop the seat depending on the action being displayed at the time. The company has also built in user preference buttons which can be used to alter the movement intensity, ideal if you are a bit fragile or get motion sickness!

New films such as Fast and the Furious 5 and Harry Potter have proven to be hugely successful, in Fast Five cinema goers feel the seat lurch backwards when accelerating and shooting forwards when the cars break. Likewise if the car jumps, so does the seat – it all sounds quite clever although has been done to some crude degree before – anyone who went to Walt Disney World in the 90’s will know what I am talking about here.

It’s safe to say that the technology has come a long way since ‘Honey I shrunk the kids and Jaws and with the popularity of 4D growing in the US it surely won’t be that long before we receive such tech in the UK, this could be the next big thing in cinema and we can’t wait to try it out.

What do you make of this 4D tech, would you or have you actually used it?

D-Box 4D Cinema Seats a Hit in The US is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

The Story

The sequel to Revenge of the Fallen will air in the US and UK on 1^st July and sees the return of your favourite autobots and Sam Witwicky. This time the autobots tangle with the decepticons led by new villain, Shockwave – who in the cartoons rules Cybertron. On Earth, the Americans and Russians are in an all new space race which Sam and the autobots will also become involved in.

The film will be shown in 3D and 2D so you will be able to pick your preference. Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think.

Transformers 3 : Dark of The Moon Trailer Out Now is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

This feature is not available in the UK because ticket provider Fandango is primarily US based. They will hope to cash in on the runaway success of the game which has already amassed an impressive 10 million downloads across all platforms since it launched last month. The partnership has undoubtedly provided positive outcomes on both the game and film sides.

Rio actually launched in the UK on Friday 8^th April, a week before the US. It rolls out across the country tomorrow in a cinema near you.

Rovio’s Mikael Hed, was predictably happy, he said “We are pleased by the runaway success of Angry Birds RIO, as we continue to increase our footprint in Hollywood.”

He continued to explain the partnership with Fandango “We’re happy to work with Fox and Fandango to make it easy for the fans to be able to see the excitement of the movie RIO up on the big screen.”

Via: WSJ

‘Rio’ Film Tickets available to buy in ‘Angry Birds Rio’ App is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

Putting a film in a dedicated app is actually still a pretty new idea, probably because films can be purchased directly through iTunes. It’s for this reason that Warner Brothers have included some extra features that some users will love and some will simply choose to ignore.

Useful additions include bonus film, soundboards, themed games and the option to view the first five minutes of each film without having to pay for the privilege. We took a quick look at the Inception app and liked the idea; reviews have pegged the app at only two stars though so there is clearly a way to go.

One feature that we found a little unusual and perhaps innovative was the option to tweet in film, basically a tweet stream of Twitter users talking about the film appears in a column which you can add to if you have a thought or indeed question about the film, e.g. was it a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream? (You know at the end).

Warner Brothers is set to release more themed apps in the near future, what film would you like to have the app treatment?

Read more about appadditions via Tech Radar

Inception and The Dark Knight Films Dedicated iOS Apps is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

A clear date in September is now available with Pre-orders already expected to draw huge sales. Amazon is offering a complete set of all six films complete with 30 hours of bonus material for £89.99, both the original trilogy and the new trilogy are available as separate bundles, each set is currently listed at £33.99 each and both have a shipment date of 27^th September 2011.

The new Blu-Ray additions join the Attack of Clones, the CGI film that focused on the adventures of a young Anakin Skywalker – pre Darth Vader days. The film proved to be very popular with the younger generation but die hard fans failed to warm to the format; thankfully they should enjoy the ‘original’ films when they are released on Blu-Ray later this year.

Do you think you will pre-order? If so which box set will you stump up the cash for?

Via: CNET

Star Wars Saga Blu-Ray Release Date 27th September 2011 is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

Lucas had previously expressed his disdain at the level of 3D technology available, stating that he wasn’t a big fan of 3D but that more recent technological advances would make it a more feasible film production avenue. It seems he’s stuck to his word even if it has taken a while.

The remastering of the films will start with the very first in the series, which is the Phantom Menace. While it isn’t everybody’s favourite, and it in fact received a bit of a battering from some quarters, it does have a number of scenes that will lend themselves perfectly to big screen 3D work.

The Phantom Menace will be releasd in 2012 and will be shown at cinemas. If this proves to be successful then Lucas and the team will move on to convert the remaining films in the series but they won’t be rushed, believing that films like Star Wars deserve all the attention they can muster.

Remastering films into 3D generally does not generate the same level of results as filming in 3D and this is partially because of the technology involved in remastering but also because scenes are not designed for the 3D experience. However, we’re fairly positive that there will be long queues of people around the corner at every cinema in the country that shows 3D Star Wars films.

Star Wars To Get The 3D Conversion Treatment – Hitting Cinemas In 2012 is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos