The Rise of Skywalker Has Deleted Scenes Explaining How Palpatine Survived

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker leaves fans with some lingering questions, including a few that can only be answered if you pick up the recently released Visual Dictionary. But when it comes to one of the movie’s biggest mysteries – how Emperor Palpatine survived the events of Return of the Jedi – the answer is locked away in deleted footage.

In an interview with HuffPost (via CBR), editor Maryanne Brandon reveals Episode IX was originally supposed to have shed more light on Palpatine’s return. But ultimately, the scenes dealing with the hows and whys of Palpatine’s return were trimmed in order to prevent fans from being bombarded with exposition.

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Netflix Announces Most Popular 2019 Movies And TV Shows, And The Top Slot Is Weird

Netflix has released a list of its most popular titles released in 2019, and some of the entries on the list might surprise you. While major releases like Stranger Things 3 and The Irishman make the cut, along with box office smashes like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and The Incredibles 2, the most popular title of the year is going to come as a shock.

Murder Mystery, the comedy starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, takes the top slot on Netflix for 2019. Does this mean it was actually the most-watched movie on the streaming service, though? Not necessarily. As The Hollywood Reporter points out, Netflix determines popularity based on how many people watch at least two minutes of a movie or show within the first 28 days of release. The streaming giant, however, does not release statistics showing how many people actually finished any given title.

Other movies that made the list include Michael Bay’s 6 Underground, Triple Frontier, and Wreck-It Ralph 2. On the TV side of things, Stranger Things 3 was joined by The Witcher, Umbrella Academy, Season 3 of You, When They See Us, and 13 Reasons Why, among other shows. You can take a look at the full Top 10 below.

Most popular 2019 releases

1. Murder Mystery
2. Stranger Things 3
3. 6 Underground
4. The Incredibles 2
5. The Irishman
6. The Witcher
7. Triple Frontier
8. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
9. The Umbrella Academy
10. The Highwaymen

Most popular 2019 TV series releases

1. Stranger Things 3
2. The Witcher
3. The Umbrella Academy
4. Dead to Me
5. You: Season 2
6. When They See Us
7. Unbelievable
8. Sex Education
9. 13 Reasons Why
10. Raising Dion

Most popular 2019 movie releases

1. Murder Mystery
2. 6 Underground
3. The Incredibles 2
4. The Irishman
5. Triple Frontier
6. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
7. The Highwaymen
8. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
9. Wreck-It Ralph 2
10. Secret Obsession

Now, with a new year underway, there’s even more original content coming from the service. Make sure to take a look at our most anticipated Netflix exclusives of 2020–and what’s coming and going from the service in January–to plan your binging accordingly.

Now Playing: 15 Biggest TV Shows To Watch In 2020

Fortnite Workshop, Crackshot’s Cabin, And Mr. Polar Locations Guide

Fortnite‘s holiday-themed Winterfest event is wrapping up soon, but there’s still a little time to complete its challenges and snag yourself some special rewards. One challenge that may give you some trouble asks you to visit the Workshop, Crackshot’s Cabin, and Mr. Polar’s Artisanal Ice. If you have no idea where any of those places are, don’t worry; we’ve put together this map and guide to show you where to go.

What Are The Locations You Need To Visit?

As the challenge states, you’ll need to head to three different buildings to complete this mission, and they can be tricky to find if you’re not already familiar with the layout of Fortnite’s island. Fortunately, each building is near a named location, so they shouldn’t be too hard to track down.

The Workshop is located southeast of Holly Hedges, on the way to Slurpy Swamp; Crackshot’s Cabin is east of Eye Land, the island that’s dead in the center of Fortnite’s map; and Mr. Polar’s Artisanal Ice is in the northeastern corner of Dirty Docks. You can see where all three buildings are located on the map below.

No Caption Provided

How To Complete The Challenge

Now that we know where all three locations are, all you need to do is make your way to each one and you’ll complete the challenge. You don’t need to visit all three within a single match, so the quickest way to complete the challenge would be to head to one, get yourself eliminated, then jump into another match and go to another one until you’ve visited all of them.

Fortnite’s Winterfest challenges will only be around a few more days, so you’ll need to act quickly if you’re hoping to complete them and unlock the special Winterfest rewards. You can see the full list of challenges, along with all of our maps and guides for this season’s trickier missions, in our ongoing Fortnite Chapter 2 challenges roundup.

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Former Disney CEO Wasn’t A Fan Of Star Wars: Rise Of Skywalker

Star Wars: Rise Of Skywalker has proven to be pretty divisive amongst Star Wars fans, and Disney’s former CEO can now be counted among the less-than-impressed. In his social media reaction to the film, Michael Eisner called Episode IX “an acceptable film” that “lacks emotion.”

Eisner went on to stack Rise Of Skywalker against Disney+’s The Mandalorian, which recently wrapped up its first season on the new streaming service, saying that the series’ showrunner Jon Favreau has cemented himself as the modern-day George Lucas.

Eisner is certainly not alone in his Rise Of Skywalker feelings. Our reviewer, Michael Rougeau, called Episode IX a “galactic disappointment” layered with “cloying, saccharine sentimentality.” In GameSpot’s official review, he wrote “In the end, it all feels simply empty. It should never be so clear to audiences that something in the filmmaking process has gone so terribly wrong–that the people who made the first film in a trilogy apparently didn’t bother to sketch out a plan for the second and third, and that the movies’ directors had visions for the series’ future that were so fundamentally at odds.”

The good news is, regardless of your Rise Of Skywalker feelings, the Star Wars bubble is far from busting. The Mandalorian has been renewed for a second season with Jon Favreau returning as showrunner, slated for release in the fall of 2020–there’s even the potential for some Skywalker Saga characters to make the jump from big to small screens, so you’ll definitely want to keep your eyes peeled. And if Baby Yoda and company aren’t enough to get you excited for the future of Star Wars, Disney+ also has its Obi-Wan and Cassian Andor streaming TV shows as well.

Now Playing: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Spoiler Review & Breakdown

Pokemon Sword & Shield: All Max Raid Events Happening Right Now

Pokemon Sword and Shield introduce a few exciting new features to the series, such as Max Raid battles. At certain dens dotting the Wild Area, you can team up with three other trainers–either locally or online–and take on supersized Dynamax Pokemon together.

Pokemon you encounter in these Max Raids are special in a few different ways. First, there’s a chance the monster will have its Hidden Ability. Regular wild Pokemon you come across in Sword and Shield will never have their Hidden Ability, making this the only way to obtain it in the games (outside of breeding, and in that case one of the parents would need to have the Hidden Ability in order to pass it down).

Depending on the level of the Raid, the Pokemon will have a couple of perfect IVs (base stats) as well, making them useful for breeding if you’re trying to put together a competitive team. You’ll also receive an assortment of rewards for clearing Max Raids, including Exp. Candy and TRs, which can otherwise only be purchased with Watts (and are quite costly). Finally, Max Raids are the only way to encounter Gigantamax Pokemon; unlike standard monsters, these Pokemon take on a different appearance when they Dynamax.

Which Pokemon you encounter in Max Raids is typically up to chance, but Game Freak periodically hosts Max Raid events that bring out certain monsters for a limited time, such as Shiny Magikarp and Gigantamax Snorlax. You can see the full list of Max Raid events happening right now in Pokemon Sword and Shield below. Be sure to also check out our Max Raid guide for tips to help you defeat these Dynamax monsters.

Pokemon Sword & Shield Current Max Raid Events

Pokemon Version End Date
Shiny Magikarp Sword and Shield January 3
Gigantamax Snorlax Sword and Shield January 9
Gigantamax Butterfree Sword and Shield January 9
Gigantamax Drednaw Sword January 9
Gigantamax Sandaconda Sword January 9
Gigantamax Corviknight Shield January 9
Gigantamax Centiskorch Shield January 9

Now Playing: Pokemon Sword & Shield Have Free Battle Points Right Now – GS News Update

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The Witcher 3 And More Xbox One Games Discounted In Latest Sale

The first week of 2020’s Xbox One game deals is a good one. Netflix’s The Witcher Netflix series has stolen viewers’ hearts, causing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to spike in popularity. And if you want to get in on that, The Witcher 3, its Complete edition, and the expansion pass are all discounted on the Xbox One for the next week–if you’re subscribed to Xbox Game Pass for console, then you can play the base game free of any extra charge.

However, there is much more than just The Witcher on sale. Both Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 are discounted, in addition to some of the best games from this year: Resident Evil 2, Mortal Kombat 11, and Devil May Cry 5. The Outer Worlds is also on sale. Now while these games are discounted, it’s important to note that some of them are available as part of Xbox Game Pass. These include GTA 5, Devil May Cry 5, and The Outer Worlds.

We’ve collected a selection of the best deals and compiled them in a list below. The majority of these deals are valid until 3 AM PT // 6 AM ET on January 7, though there are a few exceptions–The Witcher 3 and its various add-ons and editions are discounted until January 9.

In related news, Microsoft still has an awesome deal for Game Pass. You can get your first three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $1. Ultimate grants you access to the Xbox Game Pass libraries for console and PC, in addition to Xbox Live Gold, which grants you access to online multiplayer, free monthly games, and exclusive discounts.

Xbox One game deals

Now Playing: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Review

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A Quiet Place 2 Trailer Explores What’s Happened To The Rest Of Humanity

2018’s A Quiet Place was a smashing success, so it was a no-brainer when a sequel was announced shortly after its initial theatrical release. Now, the first trailer for the followup has arrived, just a couple weeks after the recent teaser.

The film will follow Evelyn Abbott (Emily Blunt) as she navigates the post-apocalyptic world with her three children–one of which is an infant. However, if you remember the first movie, there are blind creatures that attack anyone and anything that makes a noise. However, if you need to have a chat, just head to your nearest waterfall, as the creatures can’t hear you there. Check out the trailer below.

The latest film is taking a step outside of the farmhouse, as it will explore the beginnings of this invasion as well as what happened to the Abbott family after the events of the first film. Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds reprise their roles as the Abbott children. New to the franchise are Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou, currently in unnamed roles. However, it’s apparent from the trailer these two men have a history together and possibly live together in complete silence.

While John Krasinski won’t be returning to play Lee Abbott–for obvious reasons–he will be returning to direct the movie. He joins Bryan Woods and Scott Beck, once again, as writers for A Quite Place 2 as well.

A Quiet Place 2 hits theaters on March 20.

Killing Eve Has Been Renewed For Season 4, Showrunner Not Named Yet

BBC America’s stylish thriller-slash-drama-slash-romance (or, well, “romance”) Killing Eve has been renewed for a fourth season, Variety reports. This announcement comes ahead of the show’s Season 3 premiere, which is slated for some time this spring.

Executive producer Sally Woodward Gentle called the early renewal “a testament to everyone involved that we have been picked up so early–the magnificent actors, writers, directors and production team. We are extremely lucky to work with such fierce and dedicated people.”

AMC Networks Entertainment Group and AMC Studios president Sarah Barnett praised the show as an easy pick for renewal, calling it “the highest growing show on U.S. television for six years,” and explaining that the devoted fanbase and repeated award show accolades are thanks to “this series’ emphatic embrace is the brilliant women who breathed it into being: Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Emerald Fennell, Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer, Fiona Shaw, and its fairy godmother, executive producer Sally Woodward Gentle.”

Season 4’s showrunner has yet to be set, but the upcoming Season 3 will continue Killing Eve’s tradition of female talent with Suzanne Heathcote (Fear The Walking Dead, See) acting as both showrunner and head writer following in the footsteps of Season 1’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Season 2’s Emerald Fennel.

Based on the Villanelle novel series by Luke Jennings, Killing Eve stars Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer, and Fiona Shaw.

Now Playing: GameSpot’s Top 10 TV Shows of 2019

Game Of Thrones Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray Box Set Gets Big Discount

Game of Thrones gained a controversial reputation after the series wrapped with Season 8. It was one of the defining shows of the decade, but many thought it stumbled towards a disappointing conclusion. For that reason, Game of Thrones is still fascinating to think about and definitely worth a rewatch at some point. If you’re ready to relive the series from the very beginning, Amazon has a great deal on Game of Thrones: The Complete Series 1-8 Collector’s Edition.

Game of Thrones Blu-ray box setGame of Thrones Blu-ray box setGallery image 1Gallery image 2Gallery image 3Gallery image 4

Game of Thrones: The Complete Seasons 1-8 Collector’s Edition | $198 ($250)

Released in December, this stunning Blu-ray box set regularly goes for $250. It’s on sale at Amazon for $198. Yes, that still sounds quite pricey, but you’re getting each season for about $25. Individual seasons of Game of Thrones sell for roughly $30 at Amazon, so this is actually a worthwhile investment if you’re a big Game of Thrones fan.

Each case is adorned with exceptional illustrations by Robert Ball, the artist behind the Beautiful Death series, which commemorated a significant death in each of the series’ 73 episodes. The cases fit snugly inside a wooden shadow box, which creates a new image with pieces and parts of each panel.

In addition to the beautiful presentation, this 33-disc box set includes 15 hours of bonus features and never-before-seen footage.

Since this is an Amazon sale, there’s no telling how long this price will hold. If you’re interested, it’d be smart to scoop up the box set quickly.

Now Playing: Game Of Thrones Season 8: 8 Most Convincing Fan Theories

The Best Nintendo Switch Deals on Consoles, Games, and Bundles of 2020

The Nintendo Switch was the best selling console of 2019 and we’re not surprised at all. The Switch was released nearly 3 years again and still no other console is able to match the Switch’s versatility. In addition, the already stellar gaming library has been bolstered with several high quality games in 2019, including Pokemon Sword and Shield, Super Mario Maker 2, Link’s Awakening, Ring Fit, and much more. With increased pressure from Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo is likely to be more aggressive with deals and promotions during 2020. Check here for all the best deals on Nintendo Switch consoles, accessories, and games.

New Nintendo Switch “V2” with Increased Battery Life And Free 2nd Controller

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