November 18, 2016

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Best of the Week: Trailers for Live-Action Remakes of 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Ghost in the Shell' and More

The Important News

The Wizarding World: David Yates might direct all five Fantastic Beasts movies.

Jurassic World: Jurassic World 2 will be connected more to Jurassic Park.

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 had to make a special trade deal with Deadpool. The Inhumans will be a TV series with an IMAX pilot.

DC Extended Univers: Willem Dafoe joined Aquaman.

Muppets: Sesame Street is heading to the big screen again.

Spinoffs: Matt Damon says he’ll appear in Ocean’s Eight.

Sequels: Isla Fischer says a Wedding Crashers sequel might happen.

Remakes: Oscar-winning animated short The Dam Keeper is being redone as a feature.

Reboots: Gavin O’Connor is making another go of The Green Hornet. The reboot of The Crow has jumped to another company.

Comic Book Movies: Amblin is making a movie based on the graphic novel Dan and Sam. Mark Osborne is now directing the Bone movie.

Video Game Movies: Steve Carell will star in the Minecraft movie.

Horror: Fede Alvarez wants to make a Don’t Breathe sequel.

Disaster Movies: The Hindenburg disaster will be the subject of another movie.

True Stories: Forest Whitaker joined the Biggie and Tupac movie LAByrinth.

R.I.P.: Robert Vaughn died at the age of 83.

The Videos and Geek Stuff

New Movie and TV Trailers: Beauty and the Beast, Ghost in the Shell, The Zookeeper’s Wife, Kong: Skull Island, Patriot’s Day, Jackie, Monster Trucks, Before I Fall, Detour, Justice League Dark, A Kind of Murder and Netflix’s Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.

TV Spots: Allied.

Movie Clips: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Manchester By the Sea and Passengers.

Featurettes: How Rogue One fits into the Star Wars franchise and Army of One.

Behind the Scenes: Doctor Strange effects breakdown, A Wrinkle in Time cast and crew do the mannequin challenge, Kubo and the Two Strings shows off massive sets and Transformers: The Last Knight IMAX showcase.

Trailer Remakes: Ghost in the Shell with animate footage and Fantastic Beasts with 8-bit video game graphics.

Recaps: The Harry Potter series in 90 seconds.

Mashups: Frozen meets Suicide Squad, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs meets X-Men and Beauty and the Beast meets The Avengers.

Fan Theories: The magic of Doctor Strange explained with science.

Short Films: Foodfellas.

Movie Posters: All of this week’s best new posters.

Our Features

Interviews: Alden Ehrenreich on his first step onto the Millennium Falcon and on how his Han Solo will be different.

Comic Book Movie Guide: We list five alternate cuts of superhero movies that made a difference.

Interview: Andrew Stanton on what’s stopping a Pixar Cinematic Universe.

Interview: Vin Diesel on reinventing the xXx franchise.

Home Viewing: Our guide to everything hitting VOD this week.

and

MORE FROM AROUND THE WEB:

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This Week In Race: Sisterhood, Immigration, And The 'Official Shoe Of White People'

A Neo Nazi group has declared New Balance the “Official Shoes of White People.” (Really. They’re serious.) Pablo Cuadra/Getty Images hide caption

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Pablo Cuadra/Getty Images

Yep. President-elect Donald J. Trump. That’s still a thing. So while you continue to process that, we wanted to catch you up on some of some things you ought to read, hear and watch around the world of race and culture. And — good news — not all of it is election-related. (Okay a lot, but not all.) So.

The Post-Election Hangover Continues (pass the Alka-Seltzer)

Never mind trying to understand the mindset of victors in last week’s election, says Baratunde Thurston in a (long-but-worth-it) Vox column. Thurston says there’s gotta be multilateral, not unilateral, outreach if that much-talked-about healing is going to begin. But he wants to stay mad for a few more minutes. Thurston, Vox.

Amidst all the hand-wringing and angst about how the Trump campaign revealed all the ill will toward those who are different by race, ethnicity gender or sexual orientation, Hus Hsu at The New Yorker says, nah! That bigotry? It was there all the time. Hsu, The New Yorker.

Writer Amy Alexander isn’t feeling the sisterhood from the 53% of white women in the 43-54-year-old demographic who voted for Donald Trump. She has words in The Root. Alexander, The Root.

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Lots of immigration news, some good, some bad:

From NPR’s the Two Way, the latest about a Korean-American who turns out to be Korean, period. He’s about to be deported back to the country of his birth; a country he doesn’t remember. And he’s not the only person in this situation. Domonoske, NPR.

Well, looks like people who want to build That Wall are going to have to find other property to build it on: The Tohono O’Odham Nation tribal leaders say “not in our back yard…” Carrie Jung, from NPR Member Station KJZZ in Phoenix, Ariz. reports. Jung, KJZZ.

Far, far away, in an alternate universe somewhere:

Someone is seriously suggesting that there be a registry for Muslims, just in case, you know, the government needs to find them at the last minute. Code Switch’s Kat Chow reports on who’s trying to revive the plan, and why. Chow, Code Switch.

A Neo Nazi group has declared New Balance the “Official Shoes of White People.” (Really. They’re serious.) Apparently New Balance shoes are the only athletic shoes still made in the US, and receive stiff competition from shoes manufactured abroad. The company was against the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), fearing it would leave them at a competitive disadvantage. For the Neo Nazis, the enemy of their enemy is their friend. Or something. New Balance fans who aren’t Neo Nazis responded by torching or tossing their shoes. New Balance responds. Mettler, Washington Post.

And don’t miss:

NYT Magazine writer Nikole Hannah-Jones’ excellent piece on her visit to her home state, Iowa. She wanted to find out how people who voted for Barack Obama in 2008 were moved to vote for Donald Trump last week. She writes about it in The End of the Post-Racial Myth. Jones, New York Times.

Finally, a little advice:

Thanksgiving is next week, and it could end up being a tough one, people. Besides the obligatory drunk uncle asking—again—why you aren’t married yet, and the Nana who wants to tell you it’s not too late to spend more time at church, and your mom insisting everyone turn off his/her cellphone (wait…what?), there will be discussions about politics that will be more heated than the yam casserole. Trust. But we have help: a mini-roundup of how to get through the day and still stay close to your people. You’re welcome.

Gail Rosenblum at the Minneapolis Star Tribune says go anyway, just make your visit shorter. (Maybe leave before Drunk Uncle starts to rant?).

Our play cousins, Wesley Morris and Jenna Wortham over at the New York Times, talked with Times food writer Sam Sifton about the various ways to deal with the conflict. Sifton urges us to “practice radical acceptance of where you are and who you’re with.” After all, it’s a couple of hours, right? Jenna has another solution: forgoing the gravy and mashed potatoes for a trip abroad. Listen and be warned: It will make you hungry.

And a heads up: the Code Switch podcast will deal with post-election tension at Thanksgiving, too. Check it out next Wed.

Finally, a little help from Leathershirts. His 2015 Vine on reactions to out stuff people might say at Thanksgiving will give you a roadmap on how you might look when Drunk Uncle goes off.

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Zika No Longer Global 'Health Emergency,' WHO Declares

A mother holds her baby, who has microcephaly, in Recife, Brazil. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption

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Mario Tama/Getty Images

The World Health Organization announced Friday that it no longer considers the Zika epidemic a public health emergency of international concern.

But Zika’s threat to pregnant women and babies is not going away anytime soon, the agency says. Instead, the virus is now a chronic problem, says the WHO’s Dr. Pete Salama.

“It is really important that we communicate this very clearly: We are not downgrading the importance of Zika,” Salama says. “In fact, by placing this as a longer term program of work, we’re sending the message that Zika is here to stay. And WHO’s response is here to stay, in a robust manner.”

One thing is clear: Zika is still spreading. And microcephaly cases are still growing. Argentina reported its first potential case this week. And Florida continues to find people who caught Zika inside the state.

For these reasons, pregnant women — and their partners — still need to pay attention to where they travel, says Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Regardless of how WHO defines Zika, [the disease] is unprecedented, and it’s an extraordinary risk for pregnant women,” Frieden says. “That’s why it’s important that pregnant women not travel to places where Zika is spreading.”

Right now, those places include countries across Latin America, the Caribbean, parts of Southeast Asia — and neighborhoods in Miami.

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WHO first declared Zika a public health emergency back in February. Back then, the situation looked dire.

Brazil was investigating more than 4,000 cases of microcephaly — a horrible birth defect where babies have brain damage and small heads. And health officials were predicting thousands of more cases, as Zika spread across the Western Hemisphere.

“If this pattern is confirmed beyond Latin America and the Caribbean, the world will face a severe public health crisis,” WHO’s director-general, Dr. Margaret Chan, said in February.

But so far, that pattern hasn’t repeated itself. Brazil has confirmed the most Zika-linked microcephaly cases, about 2,100. Other counties in Latin America have reported far fewer. Colombia has the second highest with 57 confirmed cases and the U.S. is third with 31, WHO said Thursday.

Such a vast difference between the situation in Brazil versus other countries has raised some eyebrows. Could some other factor in Brazil be increasing the risk of microcephaly there? Perhaps a pesticide or another virus?

“I think it’s too early to draw conclusions,” says Alessandro Vespignani, who models the spread of Zika virus at Northeastern University in Boston.

Colombia is still investigating more than 300 microcephaly cases to see if they’re linked to Zika. Several countries, such as Venezuela and Haiti, have not been vigilant about reporting cases. And countries that are on top of reporting, such as Mexico and Puerto Rico, aren’t expected to have microcephaly cases until next year — it takes around 9 months after a Zika outbreak strikes for the bulk of microcephaly cases to appear.

“We can’t rule out the possibility that something unique is happening in Brazil,” Vespignani says. “But, right now, we have to wait and see what happens elsewhere.”

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Daily Fantasy Sports Sites DraftKings And FanDuel Agree To Merge

Daily fantasy sports sites DraftKings and FanDuel say they expect the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, will close in 2017. Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption

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Scott Olson/Getty Images

FanDuel and DraftKings announced Friday that they have agreed to merge, ending months of speculation over the fates of the two largest players in the daily fantasy sports industry.

Both sites have faced recent legal challenges that center on the question of whether their contests, in which people create and bet on fantasy teams of professional athletes, amount to games of skill or gambling. NPR’s Nathan Rott has reported on the legal questions, which you can read about here.

A Q&A on DraftKings’ site hints that reducing legal costs was a factor in the decision to join forces. “By combining and streamlining resources, FanDuel and DraftKings can work more efficiently and economically with state government officials to develop a standard regulatory framework for the industry,” it reads.

DraftKings and FanDuel have had to “defend themselves as well as lobby for legislation to make the games legal in several states that have declared them illegal gambling operations,” as Reuters reported. They recently reached a “$12 million settlement over false advertising claims with the New York Attorney General.”

Joining forces, the companies said in a statement, will “help the combined company accelerate its path to profitability” and drive “more variety in contest formats, loyalty programs, enhanced social functionality and ancillary sports-oriented content and experiences” as well as promote industry growth.

“Being able to combine DraftKings and FanDuel presents a tremendous opportunity for us to further innovate and disrupt the sports industry,” FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles said.

The merger requires federal approval before it is final, and the companies did not release the financial terms of the deal. Some analysts are asking whether the deal could potentially violate antitrust laws, The Associated Press reported, because the two sites “represent about 90 percent of the daily fantasy sports market.”

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FanDuel and DraftKings will operate under their own names “for the foreseeable future,” and “both platforms will remain separate and operational through the 2017 NFL season while the deal is finalized,” the companies said. The combined operation will be headquartered in New York and Boston.

The daily fantasy sites added that the deal is expected to close in 2017. DraftKings CEO Jason Robins will be CEO of the new company, with Eccles as chairman of the board.

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