The origins of Jar Jar Binks now apparently serve as the most popular Star Wars movie on Disney+. A new report claims that The Phantom Menace is the most-watched film in the franchise worldwide for the streaming service.

A Variety retrospective on The Phantom Menace--which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month--noted how much perception of the prequel film has changed over the past two decades. Additionally, this comes after Episode I showed it was still a box office force to be reckoned with after re-releasing in theaters the first weekend in May.

10 Phantom Menace Characters With a Lasting Impact on the Star Wars UniverseSee More

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace originally premiered May 19, 1999, and was one of the most anticipated movies in history. However, critic and fan reaction was mixed at best, as people wrestled with the silliness of Jar Jar Binks and portraying Darth Vader as a young kid referred to as Ani. Yet, the children of that time period are adults now and apparently feel more fond about The Phantom Menace--as well as Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith--than initial feedback from 20 years ago.

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Atlus has announced that it will be delisting Shin Megami Tensei V and its DLC from the Nintendo eShop on June 14, the same day that the enhanced Vengeance port releases. Atlus has also confirmed that those who have already purchased the content will still be able to download them after the delisting.

On n Atlus Japan's website, the company stated that as soon as Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance goes live on digital storefronts, the base version and its corresponding DLC will all disappear. For those who still want the content, it will be available until 11:59 PM on June 13.

Shin Megami Tensei V was first released in November 2021 exclusively for Nintendo Switch. The game is now getting an enhanced re-release in the form of Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. This version has all previously released DLC and an entirely new story route, which Atlus claims to add 75 hours of more gameplay. It's also going to be released on all platforms, including PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

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Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes opened in theaters this past weekend and it had a strong start. The movie made $56.5 million in North America for the Friday-Sunday period. It made $72.5 million from international markets. Combined, the film opened globally with $129 million.

For the domestic numbers specifically, $56.5 million is the second-best start of the new Apes series, trailing only Dawn of the Planet of the Apes ($72.6 million). It's also the best start ever for director Wes Ball, who previously made the Maze Runner movies. What's more, it's the biggest opening for movie studio 20th Century since Avatar: The Way of Water premiered in December 2022 (via Fandango's Erik Davis).

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes had a reported $160 million production budget, and this doesn't include any advertising expenses, according to Variety.

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Tiana's Bayou Adventure, the ride that replaces Splash Mountain at Walt Disney World, will open on June 28, it has been announced. The ride closed for good in January 2023 as part of an effort to redesign the iconic water ride after it was criticized for stereotypes about black people and the glamorization of the American South after the civil war. Water from the original ride hit eBay for more than $150.

Functionally, Tiana's Bayou Adventure is similar to Splash Mountain in that guests will ride a boat through a dark area before plummeting five stories down into the water with a big splash. Tiana's Bayou Adventure will feature characters from Princess and the Frog, including Princess Tiana, Mama Odie, Louis, and "all-new friends." The ride will feature jazz music and aims to capture the essence of a "New Orleans celebration." It also has Disney's newest impressive animatronics, which you can see below.

The ride features cute critters like an otter, rabbit, raccoon, beaver, and others who are playing instruments made of natural materials local to the bayou. The music will be a blend of Zydeco, Rara, and Afro-Cuban tunes, as well as new, original music and songs from the movie.

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Square Enix has revealed its three-year plan to achieve long-term growth within the company. It also gave the plan a catchy name, "Square Enix Reboots, and Awakens."

There are four pillars in this plan. The first one involves enhancing productivity by focusing more on quality rather than quantity. Additionally, there will be an emphasis on making games "fun" and making sure that Square Enix finds more ways to leverage its rich library of IP.

The second pillar sees Square Enix embracing multiplatform releases, including PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo, iOS, and Android. The focus here is on trying to get more customers to enjoy Square Enix properties. Square Enix is also looking into expanding its IP across all media formats, which could possibly mean things like movies.

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The PUBG that took the video game industry by storm in 2017 is coming back for a limited time with the Erangel Classic event. Officially known today as PUBG: Battlegrounds, the battle royale that birthed a frenzied race to dominate the genre is looking to its storied past unlike ever before. From May 14-28 on PC, and May 23-June 6 on consoles, the original version of Erangel, the game's first and, to this day, most beloved map, will be free for all players.

It seems the battle royale genre is now old enough to elicit nostalgia among its players as PUBG is not the first to do this--Fortnite OG saw the game's original map return for a few weeks at the end of 2023, and the original versions of Call of Duty and Apex Legends' oldest maps have returned at different times over recent years, too.

We caught up with PUBG: Battlegrounds' production director, Taehyun Kim, to learn what the team hopes to achieve with Erangel Classic, how it balances nostalgia with quality-of-life improvements, and whether any other map might enjoy a similar blast from the past. He also offered tips to new players who may jump in with the odds stacked against them as they stare down level-500 veterans.

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Sucker Punch Productions' iconic platforming franchise, Sly Cooper, probably isn't getting a brand-new game any time soon.

Bloomberg's Jason Schreier responded to a rumor going around that the reason why an unannounced Ghost of Tsushima sequel has yet to be revealed was because the studio was working on a new Sly Cooper again. He said that there was no basis to the rumor, and that Sucker Punch was a "one project studio," meaning that they reportedly don't work on multiple games at once. Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb also said that the rumor was only speculation and nothing had been confirmed.

Furthermore, video games take much longer to development now, so it's not a surprise when a game that a big AAA hasn't been publicly revealed just yet. Schreier also noted that Sucker Punch is a smaller developer compared to your average AAA studio, such as Ubisoft or Activision.

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After the success of Tim Burton's Batman film in 1989, it was only a matter of time before another DC icon would get the live-action treatment, and a year later, the Flash raced onto small screens around the world. Although it only lasted for a single season, The Flash was a fun show starring John Wesley Shipp as the fastest man alive. The original run of Flash episodes will be available soon on Blu-ray, and you can lock in a preorder at Amazon right now for this box set.

The Flash: The Original Series

See on Amazon

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After a few generations without them, memory cards have made a big return in the last couple of years. Specifically, Xbox Series X|S plug-and-play expansion cards that give users an instant storage capacity upgrade. These were quite pricy at launch, but right now, you can get a nice discount on them through Amazon. For a quick upgrade, the 2TB Seagate expansion card is down from its standard price of $270 to $240 currently. Seagate's Xbox Series X|S expansion cards rarely--very rarely--receive discounts, so deals like this are worth keeping an eye open for.

Seagate 2TB Xbox Expansion Card -- $230 ($270)

• Amazon
• Best Buy

As mentioned above, these expansion cards are very easy to use. Simply plug it into the dedicated port on your Xbox Series X|S console and you're good to go. Thanks to the Xbox Velocity architecture, you're getting the same lightning-fast speed as the internal SSD, so you won't need to sit through lengthy loading screens. At this size, you can also install quite a few games on it, including modern titles infamous for their high storage demands, like Call of Duty or Red Dead Redemption 2.

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One of the most groundbreaking anime of all time, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, recently got a terrific Blu-ray release. Here in the west, you might know the show by its alternate names, Battle of the Planets and G-Force. Debuting in the '70s, this was a fun and surprisingly bleak series with hard-fought victories against various monsters. In case you missed it, you can pick up the entire 105-episode run at Amazon for $65, a huge discount from its original $150 launch price.

Gatchaman: The Complete Series See on Amazon

Normally $77, this collection includes 15 discs of episodes, original video animations, and the Gatchaman movie. Most of the discs feature the incredibly realistic art of comic book legend Alex Ross, and one disc is dedicated to extra features. All episodes are available in their original 4:3 aspect ratio--and mercifully--these aren't the infamously edited versions that were broadcast in the US. Gatchaman may have had a formulaic monster-of-the-week setup as a team of bird-themed heroes took on an evil organization, but it helped popularize the Sentai genre of TV.

Thanks to shows like Gatchaman, the foundation for series like Power Rangers would established. While the main plot was pure anime fun, Gatchaman would also see characters frequently die on both sides, with the bleakness of these violent battles being reflected in the gritty artwork. Final Fantasy illustrator Yoshitaka Amano was responsible for the terrific character designs and Mitsuki Nakamura's mecha designs have proven to be elegantly timeless over the decades.

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Available now for preorder at GameStop, Legend of Zelda fans can get their hands on a $200 prop replica of Link's signature weapon. This fancy Master Sword doesn't just look great, it sounds pretty good as well thanks to a few electronic touches.

Tamashii Nations Master Sword replicaGallery See at GameStop

Out of the box, you're getting a life-sized replica of the sword--it has a total length of approximately 41.3 inches--from Tamashii Nations and Bandai Namco and it's made from a high-quality ABS material. You'll still want to be careful when using it as there is some degree of sharpness to the blade. The colors on this prop are quite nice though, and feature rich silver, purple, and gold metallic layers.

The other cool feature on this is that it can blast some sword-swinging sound effects, as well as several songs from The Legend of Zelda series. When you're not admiring it in your hands, you can proudly display it at home on its included stand.

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The transition from the DC Extended Universe to the DC Universe reboot by James Gunn and Peter Safran isn't a completely clean break from the past. While the major characters, including Superman, are being recast, John Cena is reprising his title role in Peacemaker Season 2. And he'll be going up against Frank Grillo's Rick Flagg Sr., which was one of the first roles cast in the DCU.

Gunn made the announcement on his Threads account, and wrote "Pleased to announce the great [Frank Grillo] will be reprising the role of Rick Flag, Sr.--the role he'll first play in animated form in Creature Commandos--throughout Season 2 of Peacemaker. Christopher Smith and Rick Sr. have a little unfinished business to take care of…"

The unfinished business that Gunn is referring to happened in The Suicide Squad, when Peacemaker/Christopher Smith murdered Rick Flag Jr., as played by Joel Kinnaman. Peacemaker carried over the guilt about his actions into his self-titled series. Gunn's comments suggests that the events of the movie and the show remain in-continuity after the reboot.

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The central conflict of House of the Dragon was always going to lead to war. It was just a question of when. HBO's Game of Thrones prequel series premiered in 2022 and introduced viewers to Rhaenyra Targaryen, the rightful queen of Westeros, and her former best friend, Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke), who married Rhaenyra's father and installed her son, Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), on the Iron Throne. In a new behind-the-scenes video for House of the Dragon Season 2, Glynn-Carney teased "loads more dragons" when the series returns. And that's just the beginning.

"Season two, there is a war brewing," said showrunner Ryan Condal. "We were excited to get into it because this is the juicy part of the drama. The Dance of the Dragons has fully kicked off. The tension is bubbling, with armies being raised and alliances being formed. There are two warring factions, the Blacks and the Greens. Both are convinced of how right their claim is. Both sides have dragons. The stakes keep going up and up and up. It is a very emotional and very intense ride."

House of the Dragons takes place decades before Game of Thrones, and the storyline of the series explains why the dragons were all but extinct by the timeframe of the original show. HBO also recently announced that a second Game of Thrones spin-off series based on George R.R. Martin's Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas is going forward. Recently, the series was officially titled A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and it is expected to debut on HBO and Max in 2025.

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Embark on an unparalleled journey to the summit through an unforgiving landscape of mountains, waterfalls, and ancient ruins, all surrounded by the vast, unending ocean. In "A Difficult Game About Rolling" your determination, patience, and skills are tested to their limits as you navigate treacherous terrain with nothing but a rolling sphere and your wits. You're inside a sphere! Your body contributes its share of chaos to the motion of the ball. Climb to the peaks, swirl in spirals, and overcome routes with unpredictable physics. All of this is part of your journey.