Here's some good news for the "Han shot first" crowd. The original cut of Star Wars (1977), the film known today as A New Hope, is coming back to theaters. We first learned in August that some version of the film would be screened again in 2027 for its 50th anniversary. But we know now this will indeed be the version everyone saw before George Lucas made those questionable, CGI-heavy changes in the 1997 Special Editions. The re-release arrives in theaters on February 19, 2027.

In a short update posted Friday on the official Star Wars website, Lucasfilm all but clarified that this will be the original cut. It described it as "a newly restored version of the classic Star Wars (1977) theatrical release." Gizmodo reported that it received further clarification that this will indeed be the OG one, before those "improvements” in the Special Edition (and subsequent re-releases).

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Those mid-'90s edits included early CGI effects that essentially served as a testing ground before Lucas moved on to the Prequel Trilogy. It also added a CG Jabba the Hutt / Han Solo scene (originally shot with actor Thomas Declan Mulholland as Jabba) that was cut from the original version.

Perhaps most infamously, Lucas made Greedo shoot first at Han in the canteen scene. Hardcore fans hated the change. It smoothed some of the rough edges of Han's start. It gave him a shorter, less dramatic journey into the reluctant hero he grew into as the story progressed. It's as if Lucas was signaling, "Okay, Han may have started as kind of a jerk, but he wouldn't shoot a bounty hunter in cold blood! Think of the children watching!"

But in my view, Return of the Jedi had the worst changes in 1997 and later. Although I didn't mind the new celebration music and location montage at the end (others disagree), it also added that cringey and out-of-place musical number in Jabba's palace. But I despised the change Lucas made for the film’s 2011 Blu-ray release: Darth Vader's overly telegraphed "Nooooooo…" as he makes the climactic decision to chuck the Emperor into the Death Star's reactor shaft. C’mon, George: It’s so more powerful for the audience to project Vader’s thought process onto his silent helmet. But if Disney sticks with the 50th Anniversary scheme, we'll have to wait until 2033 to see the untainted version of that movie in theaters again.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/the-1977-cut-of-star-wars-will-return-to-theaters-in-2027-221113091.html?src=rss

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RAM prices have gone wild, mostly thanks to AI. In this episode, Devindra chats with Will Smith (Brad and Will Made a Tech Pod) about the state of the RAM industry, as well as other hardware we expect to get more expensive. (SSD prices are definitely creeping up too!). Also, we discuss Meta poaching Alan Dye, one of Apple's design executives, and what this could mean for Meta's upcoming devices. And yes, whatever they have next will likely revolve around AI.

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Topics

• Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, plans deep cuts to his company’s metaverse development – 1:09

• Longtime Apple UI designer Alan Dye to join Meta’s AI division – 7:08

• US DOT cuts fuel efficiency standards, doubles down on gas cars – 25:40

• Waymo autonomous cars recently started driving more aggressively – 31:30

• Amazon halts its anime dub beta because it sounded terrible – 38:00

• WTF, RAM?? Will Smith joins to talk about why RAM prices are spiraling upward – 44:05

• Around Engadget: Metroid Prime 4 is a return to form after 18 years on ice – 1:04:42

• Working on – 1:07:36

• Pop culture picks – 1:08:32

Credits

Host: Devindra Hardawar
Guest: Will Smith
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/engadget-podcast-wtf-is-up-with-ram-with-will-smith-from-the-tech-pod-141442002.html?src=rss

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It's that time of year again, when all of our favorite streaming platforms start dropping personalized lists of what we've been consuming. Spotify Wrapped is perhaps the biggest of the bunch and it's available for perusal right now.

As always, users can access Wrapped to find their most listened-to genres, artists, songs, albums and podcasts from the past year. This information is shareable via social media if you want random bald eagle avatars to comment on your music taste, but there's a new interactive feature called Wrapped Party.

Spotify

This is a game of a sort. Spotify says it "turns your listening data into a live competition." Wrapped Party hands out awards for stuff like listening to smaller artists and obsession with a particular artist, in addition to total minutes streamed. Finally, friends can settle the age-old debate of "who listens to music more."

Spotify Wrapped is also about the platform itself, so we have plenty of little tidbits from the global user base. Bad Bunny was named the most streamed artist in the world, just ahead of his Super Bowl performance that internet bozos have turned into a controversy for some reason. This is the fourth time he's come out on top in the past five years. He also had the most popular album of the year.

Spotify

The global top song is something of a surprise, as it's not Bad Bunny or even Taylor Swift. It's the Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars duet "Die With a Smile." The top podcast is, as always, The Joe Rogan Experience. At least Spotify is getting what it paid for with Rogan.

If you don't use Spotify for whatever reason, other major streaming platforms offer something similar to Wrapped. Apple Music has Replay and Amazon Music has Delivered. Even YouTube got in on the act this year, unveiling a recap for video watchers.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/spotify-wrapped-2025-is-here-and-now-its-a-competition-130052418.html?src=rss

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It's time for the annual Rockefeller Christmas tree lighting! The Christmas in Rockefeller Center tree lighting special will air tonight, Dec. 3 from 8-10 PM ET — though coverage will start an hour prior, at 7 PM ET. The Voice and Happy's Place star Reba McEntire will host and perform at the Rockefeller Tree lighting, which will also feature performances from Halle Bailey, Michael Bublé, Kristin Chenoweth, Laufey, the Radio City Rockettes and more. Here’s how to tune into the 2025 Rockefeller Tree lighting.

When is the 2025 Rockefeller Tree lighting?

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree will be lit on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025.

2025 Rockefeller Tree lighting time:

Coverage of the 2025 Rockefeller Tree lighting will start at 7 p.m. ET. The official Christmas in Rockefeller Center tree lighting special will air from 8-10 p.m ET.

2025 Rockefeller Tree lighting channel:

The Christmas in Rockefeller Center special will air on NBC and stream on Peacock.

How to watch the 2025 Rockefeller Tree lighting without cable:

Who is hosting the 2025 Rockefeller Tree lighting?

Reba McEntire will host NBC's annual holiday special, and perform throughout the evening.

2025 Rockefeller Tree Lighting performers:

Alongside Reba McEntire, the tree lighting ceremony special will feature performances from Marc Anthony, Halle Bailey, Michael Bublé, Kristin Chenoweth, Laufey, New Edition, Brad Paisley, Carly Pearce, Gwen Stefani and the Radio City Rockettes, who are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year.

Ways to watch the Rockefeller Tree lighting for free: 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/how-to-watch-the-christmas-in-rockefeller-center-tree-lighting-special-tonight-111504725.html?src=rss

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We've known there was a film adaptation of Helldivers coming for a while, but we now have a director and writer. Justin Lin will helm the movie and Gary Dauberman is writing the script, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Justin Lin is a great choice here. He directed many of the more beloved Fast & Furious entries and helmed the criminally underrated Star Trek Beyond. Helldivers is kind of a mix of both. It has outer space stuff, but also stylish action that occasionally borders on satire. Lin hasn't made that many movies in recent years, but did sign on to adapt the Keanu Reeves comic BRZRKR for Netflix.

However, he's been all over TV screens. Lin has become a prolific TV producer, with credits on shows like S.W.A.T., Scorpion, Magnum P.I. and Warrior.

As for the script, Dauberman penned both It and It Chapter Two. He also wrote Annabelle and both of its follow-ups, along with The Nun and a recent adaptation of Salem's Lot. He's mostly a horror guy, so we'll have to see how he does with over-the-top action.

For the uninitiated, Helldivers is a co-op shooter franchise that's heavily inspired by the movie Starship Troopers. The games are set in a hyper-patriotic dystopia called Super Earth. Helldivers 2 dropped in 2024, but just came out for Xbox earlier this year. Sony has yet to announce a release date for the film adaptation, so it might be a while.

As an aside, Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios just dropped a nifty update for the PC build. It brings the file size down to 23GB from 154GB. That's a massive reduction of 131GB. We aren't sure what kind of compression wizardry went into that. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/fast--furious-director-justin-lin-is-making-the-helldivers-movie-173429140.html?src=rss

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The Sonic the Hedgehog movies have been a success for Paramount and Sega, and the pair are looking to build on that with a spin-off movie. An expansion of the Sonic cinematic universe, if you will. The companies haven’t revealed more details about this “Sonic universe feature,” as Deadline described it, but the flick is set to hit theaters on December 22, 2028.

There have been rumors for a while that a film focused on Shadow the Hedgehog is in development, so that might be the direction Paramount and Sega take here. Keanu Reeves voices Shadow in the film series. There have also been suggestions that a movie starring Amy Rose is in the pipeline. I’m hoping there’s one centered on my fave, Tails, in the works too, even though it took me decades to realize that his full name, Miles Prower, is a pun on “miles per hour”.

This Sonic universe film will arrive after Sonic the Hedgehog 4, which is scheduled to arrive in theaters on March 19, 2027. A Knuckles spin-off series arrived on Paramount+ last year. Meanwhile, just before the Sonic spin-off movie, Paramount will bring a hybrid live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film to theaters on November 17, 2028.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a-sonic-universe-movie-will-hit-theaters-in-2028-163424265.html?src=rss

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One of the newer traditions of the holiday season is reading itemized lists of what we watched, played and listened to on our favorite streaming platforms throughout the year. Spotify Wrapped is perhaps the most famous of the bunch, but Amazon Music has its own year-end recap called Delivered and this year's edition is available right now.

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Amazon Music Delivered started last year and provides subscribers with a list of their favorite songs, artists and podcasts. It also shows off "the top request you've made with Alexa." I use Alexa primarily as an alarm, so that particular statistic won't be setting my world on fire.

This year, there's a "Best of 2025" section that highlights the biggest songs, albums and podcasts from every user across the app. This list includes songs by Taylor Swift, Geese, Bad Bunny and others. Finally, the app will generate a fake music fest based on a particular user's favorite artists.

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Amazon Music Unlimited costs $11 per month for Prime members and $12 per month for everyone else. As previously mentioned, Prime members do get a streamlined version of the service as a perk.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/amazon-musics-year-end-recap-arrives-today-130029446.html?src=rss

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According to the tabloids, celebrities are just like us. They run errands, they wait in lines and they also know which strains of cannabis they love best. In the past few years, many of the world’s most iconic stoners have embraced the legalized industry by launching branded pot products. Willie Nelson has Willie’s Reserve, Snoop Dogg has Leafs By Snoop, and more famous faces are getting in on the action every day. But what is Nelson smoking when he hangs up his guitar after a long day? What’s in the blunts that Snoop allegedly smokes up to 80 of a day? With so many different strains now available — bred to highlight various terpenes and capable of inducing a wide array of physical and mental sensations — what are celebrities reaching for when it’s time to toke up?

Willie Nelson

In the case of the most famous pothead on the planet, country legend Willie Nelson claims he has no preference. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Nelson suggested that cannabis was like sex — “It’s all good, some is great.” Later in the same article, Nelson’s wife, Annie D’Angelo, did note that Nelson prefers sativas (“He’s already funny, so it just makes him funnier.”) For the “On the Road Again” musician, a practice of smoking what you’ve got does feel rather fitting. Nelson recently made news for admitting he’s no longer smoking, but hasn’t stopped enjoying cannabis.

Miley Cyrus

The superstar pop singer has made no secret of her love affair with weed — a stance that likely shocked some fans who best knew her as a squeaky-clean Disney star. Yes, even Hannah Montana is riding the green rush. During a 2013 trip to Amsterdam, a member of Cyrus’s entourage revealed that Miley’s strain of choice was Super Lemon Haze, a sativa-dominant hybrid known for sparking energy and joy. Given the sunny vibes of her most 2017 album, ‘Younger Now,’ it appears to have done the trick.

Doug Benson

For some of us, the challenge of performing live comedy may seem daunting, but seasoned comic and podcaster Doug Benson is always at ease when he hits the stage. His secret? Being really, really high, of course. Like Nelson, Benson isn’t too picky when it comes to strains, but in a 2013 interview with Cannabis Now, he did express a fondness for the delightfully named Chocolope. A cross of Chocolate Thai and Cannalope Haze, this strain has notes of coffee and is recognized for its ability to induce a happier mindset.

Snoop Dogg

The legendary West Coast rapper has been hyping cannabis since the day he first hit the studio. One could make the argument that Snoop has done more to bring weed to the mainstream than any other celebrity out there. When it comes to what he likes to burn, he’s given a number of different answers over the years. One that Snoop’s mentioned several times is Herijuana. According to Leafly, this hybrid of Petrolia Headstash (a variety of Humboldt County Afghan) and Killer New Haven “was worked by breeders for 15 generations.” The result is a powerful high that is likely best enjoyed by heavyweight consumers like the D-O-double-G.

Seth Rogen

While Seth Rogen has not officially confirmed his favorite strain, there’s reason to believe it might just be Pineapple Express. After all, the strain didn’t actually exist before he and co-writer Evan Goldberg invented the name for their 2008 stoner comedy. Borrowing the name from a weather phenomenon (an atmospheric river that begins in the islands of Hawaii and moves up towards the West Coast), Pineapple Express is now a bona fide strain the combines Trainwreck and Hawaiian for a sativa-forward blend that will get you up and moving if the afternoon starts to drag.

TELL US, what’s your favorite strain?

Originally published in Issue 39 of Cannabis Now. LEARN MORE

The post Hollyweed: What Strains Do Celebrities Smoke? appeared first on Cannabis Now.