Monthly Archives: August 2020

John Carpenter Teases Reboot of The Thing

During an online Masterclass Q&A panel, as part of this weekend's Fantasia International Film Festival, director John Carpenter mentioned that out of all his movies -- including Halloween, Escape from New York, and more -- the project he's most proud of is 1982's The Thing. On top of this, Carpenter offered up a vague, mini-update on a Blumhouse reboot of the iconic alien horror film, saying "I think [Jason Blum's] gonna be working on The Thing. Rebooting The Thing. I may be involved with that. Maybe. Down the road.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-25-best-horror-movies&captions=true"] Carpenter is referring to the news, from back in January, that Universal Studios and Blumhouse Productions were developing a remake of The Thing, which will adapt the long lost pages (titled "Frozen Hell") of the horror classic's original 1938 science-fiction novella, Who Goes There? Below is the full conversation with John Carpenter. The director talking about his possible involvement with the remake comes around the 27:00 mark... [youtube clip_id="GnRBtjgUWbo"] The original Antarctic horror story has spawned three previous film adaptations; the first being Howard Hawks' 1951 classic The Thing from Another World and the second being Carpenter's pioneering The Thing. In 2011, a prequel to the Carpenter feature, starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, also titled The Thing, was released to box office disappointment. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/23/the-batman-trailer-breakdown-riddler-penguin-catwoman-and-no-more-lies-explained"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

Tenet Reviews Hail Nolan’s Latest as a Thrilling Spectacle Despite Being Cold, Confusing

Reviews have flooded in for Christopher Nolan's Tenet, which was released in many territories outside the U.S. on August 26 (and is slated to land stateside on September 3). Critics have praised the film, which currently holds an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes, as an exciting, but confusing, spy thriller, with our own review touting the project as "a thrilling addition to the Nolan canon, but is slightly held back by a sense of over-familiarity." After ruminating on the major themes and ideas of Tenet for over a decade, Nolan spent five-years crafting the script. Did the endeavor pay off, or is the finished project to much of a thinker to resonate with a mass crowd? Variety's Guy Lodge hails Tenet as being a “big, brashly beautiful, grandiosely enjoyable” movie. Though Tenet is no "Holy Grail," Lodge says the "sheer meticulousness of Nolan’s grand-canvas action aesthetic is enthralling, as if to compensate for the stray loose threads and teasing paradoxes of his screenplay — or perhaps simply to underline that they don’t matter all that much." Tenet stars John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Michael Cain, and Kenneth Branagh in an time-bending espionage adventure film that, while captivating most critics, is leaving some cold. The Guardian's Catherine Shoard says the flick is a "pandemic dud" and that she's not even sure "in five years’ time, it’d be worth staying up to catch on telly." If critics do agree on one thing however, it's that Tenet's plot isn't the easiest to follow. The Independent's Clarisse Loughrey says Tenet is Nolan's most confusing film, but that it's also a "rare action film where the characters don’t just say the world will end if they fail in their mission - you feel it, too." Meanwhile, GameSpot called the film a "mind-melting stunner" while THR said the movie was "rich in audacity and originality, but almost impossible to love, lacking as it is in a certain humanity." The New York Times' Jessica Kiang noted that the film was “undeniably enjoyable, but its giddy grandiosity only serves to highlight the brittleness of its purported braininess.” Both The Telegraph and Total Film both loved Tenet, calling out the movie's "heart-stopping grandeur" and saying "one viewing just won't be enough." Empire's Alex Godfrey writes that Tenet "proves Nolan’s undying commitment to big-screen thrills and spills." Check out IGN's Tenet review here... [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/21/tenet-review"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

Summer Games Done Quick 2020 Raises $2.3 Million for Charity

Summer Games Done Quick 2020, the video game speedrunning marathon that raises money for charity, has just raised over $2.3 million for Doctors Without Borders. @GamesDoneQuick announced the wonderful news on Twitter, and noted that the next two Games Done Quick events will be Fleet Fatales (November 15-21) and Awesome Games Done Quick 2021 (January 3-10, 2021). SGDQ 2020 took place from Sunday, August 16 - Sunday, August 23, and saw 33,639 donations from viewers around the world, according to the official donation tracker. There were 148 runs, 159 prizes given out, and 20,430 donors who made an average donation of $68.71. These donations were made through direct donations, Twitch subscriptions and bits given during Games Done Quick's streams, and purchases from partners like The Yetee and Fangamer. This year's SGDQ featured its first ever VR speedrun in Half-Life: Alyx, alongside games like Final Fantasy VII Remake, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Bros., and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. The Games Done Quick events usually take place in person, just like Awesome Games Done Quick 2020 that raised $3.13 million, but the COVID-19 pandemic made it so SGDQ 2020 was fully online. It was an unfortunate change, but it's great to see it was still a huge success. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/14/half-life-2-developers-react-to-50-minute-speedrun"] You can rewatch all the speedruns on Games Done Quick's YouTube channel, and learn more about donating and getting involved at their website. For more speedrunning goodness, also be sure to check out our Devs React to Speedruns series for games like Half-Life 2, Doom Eternal, and SpongeBob: Battle for Bikini Bottom. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

The Batman Trailer: First Look at Catwoman, Penguin and Gordon

The Batman director Matt Reeves and star Robert Pattinson provided fans with their first extended look at the 2021 reboot at DC FanDome. And, boy, what a hell of a trailer it was. Moody, atmospheric, a murder mystery, and all of it set to Nirvana's "Something in the Way". While Reeves had previously posted The Batman costume camera test (with its hint of Michael Giacchino's score) and Batmobile photos from the set, the DC FanDome panel reveal offered the first extended look at Pattinson's Dark Knight in action, the new Batman costume, what Robert Pattinson's Batman sounds like, the movie's cast, and the new Batmobile in action. The Batman trailer features a lot of Jeffrey Wright as GCPD's Jim Gordon who, along with his fellow cops, are investigating a brutal murder within an affluent mansion. Could it be the home of a mob boss? Who is that masked killer? All we know for sure is that the killer left a message for Batman. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/23/the-batman-trailer-dc-fandome-official-footage"] Want a closer look at the trailer? We've done the work for you! Here are 63 stills, screencapping just about every unique still in the first official teaser trailer for The Batman: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-batman-official-trailer-1-stills&captions=true"] Reeves revealed during the panel that the murders Batman is investigating in the story are tied to the history of Gotham, and the deep corruption in the city, which leads to  Batman exploring his origins without the movie necessarily having to depict that. Matt Reeves also confirmed that Bruce Wayne made the Batsuit himself and that star Robert Pattinson had a lot of input into the suit's creation since he was the one who had to wear it and be able to move around and fight in it. (It took about a year to design both the Batsuit and Batmobile, Reeves revealed.) Batman and the GCPD appear to be fine working together ... until some sort of altercation breaks out in that holding cell. Was Batman caught? Or are Gordon and the cops trying to keep him from beating the tar out of a suspect? Gordon appears to be either warning or restraining him at one point. We get a lot of footage of Zoe Kravitz in her Catwoman outfit, which seems very homemade and less of a costume per se. She even spars with Batman at one point, who seems surprised by her martial prowess. But as Reeves pointed out in the panel, she is not yet Catwoman in this movie, She will emerge as Catwoman. We get a very quick shot of what appears to be of a heavily made-up Colin Farrell as Penguin standing in the rain. Someone get that man an umbrella! Reeves said he is still "Oz" at this point and doesn't like being called Penguin. The movie is about the snowballing of these characters into who they will become. Reeves also said Riddler is just starting out at this point in the story. While we don't see Andy Serkis' Alfred we do hear him speaking to Bruce Wayne at one point, where he observes that he's becoming quite the celebrity. We do see Batman's work station in the Batcave, the Batmobile parked nearby. Much of the trailer establishes the face-painted street gang members Batman confronts, including one prolonged shot where he beats the living crap out of one goon's face before telling, "I'm vengeance." Betcha thought he was gonna say "I'm Batman," didn't you? [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-batman-how-robert-pattinsons-batsuit-draws-from-the-past&captions=true"] We see much more of Batman's costume here, including the lenses that cover his eyes (but notice at the end that Bruce still wears black makeup over his eyes). It should also be noted that Bruce goes out in public at one point on a motorcycle with half his face covered but not in his Batman costume. And that voice at the end of the trailer -- is it Riddler? Hush? The Holiday Killer? "You're a part of this, too," the voice says. "How am I part of this?," Batman asks. "You'll see ..." Matt Reeves said that gothic Liverpool, England -- yes, the home of the Beatles! -- is the stand-in for Gotham City, although the director hopes that viewers won't be able to identify where this Gotham is exactly. Reeves also said Gotham City is afraid of Batman in this story. He's in his second year and is not yet the symbol of hope that he will become so they are unnerved -- those who believe he's even real -- by his violent vigilantism. He also said we will see this Batman mistakes during his investigation and grow from it. Reeves cited Darwyn Cooke's "Ego" storyline as a comics influence on Batman/Bruce Wayne peering into himself but also cites the movie Chinatown as a detective story about a gritty, flawed investigator looking into murders in a deeply corrupt place. The French Connection and Taxi Driver were also cited as film influences. For more Bat-coverage, feast your eyes on the first images from The BatmanThe Batman's new logo and this sweet Jim Lee artwork, get the latest on when The Batman will resume filming, and learn about the GCPD spin-off series coming to HBO Max. And for more from DC FanDome, check out what we learned about Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton both returning as Batman in The Flash movie!

The Batman Trailer: First Look at Catwoman, Penguin and Gordon

The Batman director Matt Reeves and star Robert Pattinson provided fans with their first extended look at the 2021 reboot at DC FanDome. And, boy, what a hell of a trailer it was. Moody, atmospheric, a murder mystery, and all of it set to Nirvana's "Something in the Way". While Reeves had previously posted The Batman costume camera test (with its hint of Michael Giacchino's score) and Batmobile photos from the set, the DC FanDome panel reveal offered the first extended look at Pattinson's Dark Knight in action, the new Batman costume, what Robert Pattinson's Batman sounds like, the movie's cast, and the new Batmobile in action. The Batman trailer features a lot of Jeffrey Wright as GCPD's Jim Gordon who, along with his fellow cops, are investigating a brutal murder within an affluent mansion. Could it be the home of a mob boss? Who is that masked killer? All we know for sure is that the killer left a message for Batman. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/23/the-batman-trailer-dc-fandome-official-footage"] Want a closer look at the trailer? We've done the work for you! Here are 63 stills, screencapping just about every unique still in the first official teaser trailer for The Batman: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-batman-official-trailer-1-stills&captions=true"] Reeves revealed during the panel that the murders Batman is investigating in the story are tied to the history of Gotham, and the deep corruption in the city, which leads to  Batman exploring his origins without the movie necessarily having to depict that. Matt Reeves also confirmed that Bruce Wayne made the Batsuit himself and that star Robert Pattinson had a lot of input into the suit's creation since he was the one who had to wear it and be able to move around and fight in it. (It took about a year to design both the Batsuit and Batmobile, Reeves revealed.) Batman and the GCPD appear to be fine working together ... until some sort of altercation breaks out in that holding cell. Was Batman caught? Or are Gordon and the cops trying to keep him from beating the tar out of a suspect? Gordon appears to be either warning or restraining him at one point. We get a lot of footage of Zoe Kravitz in her Catwoman outfit, which seems very homemade and less of a costume per se. She even spars with Batman at one point, who seems surprised by her martial prowess. But as Reeves pointed out in the panel, she is not yet Catwoman in this movie, She will emerge as Catwoman. We get a very quick shot of what appears to be of a heavily made-up Colin Farrell as Penguin standing in the rain. Someone get that man an umbrella! Reeves said he is still "Oz" at this point and doesn't like being called Penguin. The movie is about the snowballing of these characters into who they will become. Reeves also said Riddler is just starting out at this point in the story. While we don't see Andy Serkis' Alfred we do hear him speaking to Bruce Wayne at one point, where he observes that he's becoming quite the celebrity. We do see Batman's work station in the Batcave, the Batmobile parked nearby. Much of the trailer establishes the face-painted street gang members Batman confronts, including one prolonged shot where he beats the living crap out of one goon's face before telling, "I'm vengeance." Betcha thought he was gonna say "I'm Batman," didn't you? [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-batman-how-robert-pattinsons-batsuit-draws-from-the-past&captions=true"] We see much more of Batman's costume here, including the lenses that cover his eyes (but notice at the end that Bruce still wears black makeup over his eyes). It should also be noted that Bruce goes out in public at one point on a motorcycle with half his face covered but not in his Batman costume. And that voice at the end of the trailer -- is it Riddler? Hush? The Holiday Killer? "You're a part of this, too," the voice says. "How am I part of this?," Batman asks. "You'll see ..." Matt Reeves said that gothic Liverpool, England -- yes, the home of the Beatles! -- is the stand-in for Gotham City, although the director hopes that viewers won't be able to identify where this Gotham is exactly. Reeves also said Gotham City is afraid of Batman in this story. He's in his second year and is not yet the symbol of hope that he will become so they are unnerved -- those who believe he's even real -- by his violent vigilantism. He also said we will see this Batman mistakes during his investigation and grow from it. Reeves cited Darwyn Cooke's "Ego" storyline as a comics influence on Batman/Bruce Wayne peering into himself but also cites the movie Chinatown as a detective story about a gritty, flawed investigator looking into murders in a deeply corrupt place. The French Connection and Taxi Driver were also cited as film influences. For more Bat-coverage, feast your eyes on the first images from The BatmanThe Batman's new logo and this sweet Jim Lee artwork, get the latest on when The Batman will resume filming, and learn about the GCPD spin-off series coming to HBO Max. And for more from DC FanDome, check out what we learned about Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton both returning as Batman in The Flash movie!

Matt Reeves Explains The Batman’s Connection to HBO Max’s Gotham PD

The grand finale at DC FanDome today was not surprisingly The Batman panel, which finally gave us our first real sense of what to expect from the Robert Pattinson/Matt Reeves reboot of the Caped Crusader. And during the event, the director also addressed how the film's universe will connect to the recently announced HBO Max series Gotham PD. Pattinson stars as a younger version of Bruce Wayne/Batman, and Reeves writes and directs the highly anticipated film, which got a new trailer during the panel. Reeves confirmed that the film is set during "Year 2" of Batman's career, but Gotham PD will be set during "Year 1." (Be sure to also check out all of DC FanDome's Biggest and Best Announcements as well as the full DC FanDome Schedule while you're here.) [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/23/the-batman-trailer-dc-fandome-official-footage"] Want a closer look at the trailer? We've done the work for you! Here are 63 stills, screencapping just about every unique still in the first official teaser trailer for The Batman: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-batman-official-trailer-1-stills&captions=true"] "The idea of this story was a story in which Gotham, which has this depth of corruption, and the idea that we could do a series that is going deeper into an aspect of it, which in this case is the corrupt police department, the corrupt inner workings of the city," said Reeves. "And the way we’re gonna do this series… [Executive producer] Terence Winter is just an incredible writer, so the idea that we got him to do this, just is literally a dream. The idea is, we go back to year one, and year one is the beginning of the first emergence, the first appearance of this masked vigilante that starts to unsettle the city, and you start to see the story through the POV of these corrupt cops, and one in particular. And the story is actually a battle for his soul." Reeves didn't elaborate on who this cop is, but it's clear he will form some kind of connection with the mystery of Batman. "He’s a cop over generations," continues Reeves. "And the history of corruption in Gotham is enormous and goes back many years, and the story is like, as you realize that there’s this myth building in the background, you’re actually in a new place where you’ve never seen these characters before - some of them we’ll touch on that you may have seen in the comics, but others are totally new. Then you can go down an avenue and go into detail that you couldn’t do in a movie, and to go into these rich places and meet entirely new characters that Terence is going to create." For more on The Batman, check out The Batman costume camera test and Batmobile photos from the set. Or watch our mini-doc on the Batman: Year One R-Rated reboot that almost was. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/batman-year-one-the-r-rated-reboot-that-almost-was-ft-frank-miller"]

Matt Reeves Explains The Batman’s Connection to HBO Max’s Gotham PD

The grand finale at DC FanDome today was not surprisingly The Batman panel, which finally gave us our first real sense of what to expect from the Robert Pattinson/Matt Reeves reboot of the Caped Crusader. And during the event, the director also addressed how the film's universe will connect to the recently announced HBO Max series Gotham PD. Pattinson stars as a younger version of Bruce Wayne/Batman, and Reeves writes and directs the highly anticipated film, which got a new trailer during the panel. Reeves confirmed that the film is set during "Year 2" of Batman's career, but Gotham PD will be set during "Year 1." (Be sure to also check out all of DC FanDome's Biggest and Best Announcements as well as the full DC FanDome Schedule while you're here.) [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/23/the-batman-trailer-dc-fandome-official-footage"] Want a closer look at the trailer? We've done the work for you! Here are 63 stills, screencapping just about every unique still in the first official teaser trailer for The Batman: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-batman-official-trailer-1-stills&captions=true"] "The idea of this story was a story in which Gotham, which has this depth of corruption, and the idea that we could do a series that is going deeper into an aspect of it, which in this case is the corrupt police department, the corrupt inner workings of the city," said Reeves. "And the way we’re gonna do this series… [Executive producer] Terence Winter is just an incredible writer, so the idea that we got him to do this, just is literally a dream. The idea is, we go back to year one, and year one is the beginning of the first emergence, the first appearance of this masked vigilante that starts to unsettle the city, and you start to see the story through the POV of these corrupt cops, and one in particular. And the story is actually a battle for his soul." Reeves didn't elaborate on who this cop is, but it's clear he will form some kind of connection with the mystery of Batman. "He’s a cop over generations," continues Reeves. "And the history of corruption in Gotham is enormous and goes back many years, and the story is like, as you realize that there’s this myth building in the background, you’re actually in a new place where you’ve never seen these characters before - some of them we’ll touch on that you may have seen in the comics, but others are totally new. Then you can go down an avenue and go into detail that you couldn’t do in a movie, and to go into these rich places and meet entirely new characters that Terence is going to create." For more on The Batman, check out The Batman costume camera test and Batmobile photos from the set. Or watch our mini-doc on the Batman: Year One R-Rated reboot that almost was. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/batman-year-one-the-r-rated-reboot-that-almost-was-ft-frank-miller"]

Suicide Squad Game Is Set in Batman: Arkham Universe

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League may focus on Task Force X taking down the beloved superhero team, and the universe the game takes place in is actually one that will be familiar to fans of developer Rocksteady Studios. Speaking during DC FanDome, Rocksteady Studios' Sefton Hill confirmed Suicide Squad is a "continuation of the Arkhamverse" that began in Batman: Arkham Asylum and came to its seeming end in Batman: Arkham Knight. Hill explained that Suicide Squad is part of this world and will actually let players see the continuation of plot threads and characters first introduced in those Arkham games. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league-game-announcement-trailer-dc-fandome"] "This is a continuation of the Arkhamverse, so a lot of the threads and storylines you're going to see come to fruition in this game," Hill said. This also means that Suicide Squad will not be in the same universe as WB Games Montreal's upcoming Gotham Knights, which focuses on the extended Bat-family of heroes in a new continuity. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league-trailer-screenshots&captions=true"] Rocksteady confirmed Suicide Squad is set for a 2022 release for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and the Kill the Justice League playable characters will feature Harley Quinn and more. [poilib element="accentDivider"]

Suicide Squad Game Is Set in Batman: Arkham Universe

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League may focus on Task Force X taking down the beloved superhero team, and the universe the game takes place in is actually one that will be familiar to fans of developer Rocksteady Studios. Speaking during DC FanDome, Rocksteady Studios' Sefton Hill confirmed Suicide Squad is a "continuation of the Arkhamverse" that began in Batman: Arkham Asylum and came to its seeming end in Batman: Arkham Knight. Hill explained that Suicide Squad is part of this world and will actually let players see the continuation of plot threads and characters first introduced in those Arkham games. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league-game-announcement-trailer-dc-fandome"] "This is a continuation of the Arkhamverse, so a lot of the threads and storylines you're going to see come to fruition in this game," Hill said. This also means that Suicide Squad will not be in the same universe as WB Games Montreal's upcoming Gotham Knights, which focuses on the extended Bat-family of heroes in a new continuity. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league-trailer-screenshots&captions=true"] Rocksteady confirmed Suicide Squad is set for a 2022 release for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, and the Kill the Justice League playable characters will feature Harley Quinn and more. [poilib element="accentDivider"]

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Playable Characters Announced

During a panel at DC FanDome on Saturday, the main characters for Rocksteady's upcoming game, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League were revealed, along with the announcement trailer. The four main characters are:
  • Harley Quinn a.k.a. Dr. Harleen Quinzel, the "mistress of mayhem"
  • King Shark a.k.a. Nanaue, the "demigod humanoid shark"
  • Deadshot a.k.a. Floyd Lawton, the "most dangerous marksman alive"
  • Captain Boomerang a.k.a. Digger Harkness, the "Aussie assassin extraordinaire"
[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league-trailer-screenshots&captions=true"] Each member of the squad will have moves and abilities unique and specific to themselves, along with a slew of customizable weapons, all while trying to bring down the Justice League – including the all powerful, otherworldly Superman. Rocksteady also revealed the game will allow single player or grouping up with friends to play 1 to 4 player co-op, all while swapping between characters at any moment. The game will be released in 2022 on Xbox Series X, PS5, and PC. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/23/suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league-game-announcement-trailer-dc-fandome"] Rocksteady announced the Suicide Squad game earlier this month, revealing only an image of Superman and the title of the game. For more on DC FanDome, stay tuned to IGN's complete coverage, including the latest on WB Games Montreal's rumored Batman game and check out the full DC FanDome schedule and how to watch it live. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jessie Wade is Homepage Editor at IGN and is very hyped for this game. Follow her on Twitter @jessieannwade.