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As part of its 10th year anniversary celebrations, Toho’s Godzilla gets a constellation courtesy of NASA and scientists with NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. While the most well-known 88 constellations, such as Orion and Cassiopeia, are devised by International Astronomical Union (IAU), the staff of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center mapped this newest constellation based on gamma-ray sources (i.e., black holes). Other characters who’ve had the honor include Hulk, the product of a gamma-ray experiment gone awry, and the Little Prince, the famous fictional visitor of asteroid B 612. In 2019, Godzilla will celebrate its 65th anniversary with, among other things, the latest installment in a multi-movie series by Legendary and Warner Bros.
Entertainment Takes the Stage
CBS Consumer Producers and the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) send Star Trek on the road with the debut of Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. The fully immersive exhibition features more than 100 rare artifacts, set pieces, and props from the television series—it will pack up from its popular Seattle location and head over to the world’s largest children’s museum from Feb. 2 to April 7, 2019.
Fred Rogers Productions teams up with the Brad Simon Organization and Bay Area Children’s Theatre to bring the first Peg + Cat musical to audiences across the U.S. The production will feature large-scale puppets, light-up math facts, songs from the show, and other elements. Purdue University will be on-site at select performances to administer a unique nationwide study of the basic math skills children learn after attending the live show.
As a result of a strong, early demand for tickets, Feld Entertainment and Universal Brand Development extend the run of DreamWorks Trolls The Experience in New York City for an additional five months. The location-based, social-worthy adventure will now run Oct. 22 through May 12, 2019.
Sports Jumps to Attention
Varsity Spirit partners with Fabletics, the active lifestyle brand launched by Kate Hudson in 2013. Fabletics will be the official, exclusive 2018-19 and 2019-20 sponsor for activewear apparel for Varsity Spirit’s cheer and dance educational camps and over 600 competitions. As part of the deal, Fabletics will launch pop-up shops, custom collections, and active lifestyle experiences at up to 20 premier championship competitions each season and also have a presence at events held at the Walt Disney World Resort.
USPA Global Licensing Inc. (USPAGL), the official licensing arm and national broadcaster of the U.S. Polo Assn., plans to add roughly 100 retail stores in 2018 in key regions such as India, China, Turkey, Middle East, and Eastern Europe. The brand now counts 1,050 monobrand retail stores globally (only 10% in outlet locations) and plans to exceed 1,300 stores over the next several years. The $1.6 billion brand is now represented in 166 countries worldwide and enjoyed strong double-digit growth in 2018.
Forbes unveils its ranking of the most valuable esports companies. The list was created after “talking to company owners, bankers, and industry experts,” and the numbers were “applied during each company’s most recent capital raise, comparable esports transactions, and their prospects.” Here are the rankings:
- Cloud9 — $310 million
- Team SoloMid — $250 million
- Team Liquid — $200 million
- Echo Fox — $150 million
- OpTic Gaming — $130 million
- Fnatic — $120 million
- G Gaming — $110 million
- G2 Esports — $105 million
- Immortals — $100 million
- Envy Gaming — $95 million
- 100 Thieves — $90 million
- Counter Logic Gaming — $50 million