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NERDY NEWS
NETFLIX CONFIRMS SHE-RA SEASON 2 PREMIERE Netflix renewed its original series She-Ra and The Princesses of Power for a second season. Showrunner and creator Noelle Stevenson announced that the critically acclaimed animated series will return on April 26. The original voice cast, which includes Aimee Carrero (Adora/She-Ra), Karen Fukuhara (Glimmer), AJ Michalka (Catra), and Marcus Scribner (Bow), will return to continue defending the land of Etheria. Stevenson created the Netflix series with executive producer Chuck Austen, who was also producer and director for Cartoon Network’s Steven Universe. DreamWorks Animations’ She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is a reboot of the 1985 series She-Ra: Princess of Power, a spin-off of the 1980s animated TV series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. The creators kept She-Ra’s famous twin brother He-Man out of the reboot, which debuted last November, so that Adora’s origin story could stand on its own. The orphan Adora, who is a member of the evil Horde, finds a sword that turns her into the warrior princess She-Ra. She gathers and leads a resistance group of magical princesses called the Rebellion to fight the Horde and protect Etheria. The show, which leans more progressive and inclusive than the original, also features LGBTQ characters and gender-bending scenes. ✪
RESIDENT EVIL TV SERIES COMING SOON TO NETFLIX Resident Evil, the horror video game turned-movie-franchise, is coming to Netflix with a scripted series. The studio behind the new series is German production and distribution company Constantin Film, the same company that developed the six Resident Evil films. The Resident Evil film franchise earned $1.2 billion worldwide to date, ranking it as the highest-grossing film series based on a video game. The first movie debuted in theaters in 2002 and the last in 2016, both starring Milla Jovovich and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. The Netflix original series will expand on the original premise, exposing the sinister inner-workings of the Umbrella Corp. and the new world order caused by the outbreak of the T-virus. ✪
BLOCKBUSTER GAME COMES TO TARGET THIS SPRING This spring, Big Potato Games heads back to the golden age of video rentals with 8 | Issue No. 2 | THE POP INSIDER
The Blockbuster Game. It’s a simple party game for anyone who’s ever seen a movie. First shown at the recent London Toy Fair, The Blockbuster Game will be available as a Target exclusive in the U.S. this March, with a UK release set for June. To start, players split up into two teams. In round one, each team chooses one of their members to go head-to-head in a quickfire buzzer battle. From categories such as famous trilogies to movies with a zombie, the two players must think quick, shout out a movie, and slap the buzzer to put the pressure on their opponent. The first player to run out of ideas loses the round (and gives their opponents a serious advantage in round two). Round two is movie charades with a twist. The player that wins the buzzer battle picks up six movie cards, gives the hardest
three to their opponent, and keeps the rest for themselves. When ready, the player will have 30 seconds to get their team to shout out the movies by using three tricky techniques—acting out the film, making up a quote, and describing it with just one word. Get them right quick enough and the team will have a chance to steal from their opponents. Go too slowly and the other team might get a chance to steal from you. It’s an all-out race to collect a film from every genre and be crowned the new Blockbuster big shots. The Blockbuster Game features 200 classic movies, 60 category cards, and a replica of a Blockbuster parking lot and sign packaged inside a classic VHS-style clamshell case. ✪
NPD REPORTS DECEMBER VIDEO GAME SALES, RECORD-BREAKING 2018 The U.S. video game industry grew 18 percent last year, according to a new report from the Entertainment Software Association with data provided by the NPD Group.