Blizzard has announced it is delaying the release date for the next major World of Warcraft expansion, Shadowlands. The next expansion will not be released on October 27 as originally planned, and there is currently no replacement date announced. In a blog post addressed to the WoW community, Blizzard announced it made the difficult decision to delay Shadowlands to “later this year.” World of Warcraft executive producer John Hight says that this was the “right decision for the game — and for our players.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/27/world-of-warcraft-shadowlands-gameplay-trailer"] “Over the past several months of testing, we’ve made significant progress iterating on and polishing the core features and gameplay of Shadowlands,” writes Hight. “We’re at a point where the zones, the campaign, the level-up questing experience, and the story we have to tell are essentially ready to share.” “However, as everything started coming together and we’ve been listening to and building upon your feedback, it’s become clear we need a little more time for additional polish, and to balance and iterate on some interlocking pieces — particularly those related to the endgame,” Hight explains. Although Shadowlands will be delayed, Hight says that on October 13 the pre-patch for Shadowlands will be released which will include groundwork for the expansion, revamped character leveling, and a new-player experience on Exile’s Reach, along with new character customization. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/27/world-of-warcraft-shadowlands-bastion-story-trailer"] Shadowlands is the eight expansion since World of Warcraft was released and is set to feature the first “level squish” for the MMO along with an overhauled leveling system. Covenants are coming to the new zones which Hight says are “at the heart of the expansion.” Check back on IGN when the new release date for Shadowlands is announced. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Scientists who extracted genetic material from an insect preserved in resin, for the purposes of a newly published study, are aware of the Jurassic Park overtones of what they're doing but assure the public "we have no intention of raising dinosaurs." So far, scientists have been unable to conclude that ancient DNA can viably last for millions of years inside insects preserved in resin, thus dampening the hopes of real-life John Hammonds everywhere. A group of European scientists is specifically studying how long DNA can last in insects preserved in resinous materials -- its shelf life if you will. These scientists successfully extracted genetic material from two-year-old and six-year-old resin samples and hope these new methods can be applied to future studies of much older samples. "However, we have no intention of raising dinosaurs," said Dr. Mónica Solórzano-Kraemer of the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum. "Rather, our current study is a structured attempt to determine how long the DNA of insects enclosed in resinous materials can be preserved." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/jurassic-park-the-t-rex-detail-you-never-noticed-and-other-secrets-revealed"] Past attempts to extract ancient DNA from million-year-old or several hundred thousand-year-old fossil resin have been criticized or deemed unsuitable for genetic studies as "the result of modern environmental contamination and for lack of reproducibility." As recently published in the journal PLOS, the scientists said, "Our objective is far from starting an uncontrolled search for aDNA in amber as it was in the past, but to start resolving basic aspects from the DNA preservation in resin and search from the most modern samples to the ancient ones, step by step. We conclude that it is therefore possible to study genomics from resin-embedded organisms, although the time limits remain to be determined." In other words, they can now successfully extract genetic material from samples preserved in amber but it's unclear if genetic material can actually last for millions of years in such a state (as opposed to in other fossilized remains). This study has proven genetic material can last at least up to six years but could ancient DNA -- OK, let's just say it, dinosaur DNA -- actually survive in fossilized resin for millions of years? Right now, the answer appears to be no or at least highly unlikely but these scientists hope to determine just how long genetic material can be preserved in future studies using the modern genomic techniques applied in this study. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-deaths-in-the-jurassic-park-movies&captions=true"] "Our experiments show that water in the inclusions is preserved much longer than previously assumed. This could also affect the genetic material's stability. The extraction of functional DNA from several-million-year-old amber is therefore rather unlikely," said Dr. Solórzano-Kraemer. But are these scientists so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should? Well, that they're hip to the Jurassic Park of it all suggests they don't want raptors coming back to life either.

Dr. Seuss is coming back to the big screen with multiple Cat in the Hat movies and a J.J. Abrams-produced Oh, The Places You'll Go. Vanity Fair says that three movies have already been greenlit with the third movie a Cat in the Hat spinoff starring Thing One and Thing Two. The animated movies will come from Warner Animation Group, which is the same studio behind the recently-released Scoob! and The LEGO Movie. The Cat in the Hat movie was originally announced in 2018. Susan Brandt, president of Dr. Seuss Enterprises, said that the "Seuss universe" will "not necessarily" intersect characters across different franchises like the Marvel movies. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/15/scoob-review"] “The Cat in the Hat will not meet the boy in Oh, the Places You’ll Go, nor would the Things go visit the Lorax,” Brandt said. “While it will all feel like part of the Seuss universe, they live in their worlds, and they’re not necessarily going to interact in the same films.” However, Brandt said there is still room for sequels and spinoffs like the Thing One and Thing Two movie. “For the first time we’re not just doing one film for one book," Brandt said. "We’re going to franchise-build beyond the initial story of these books and find out what happens next. I call it stretching the fabric. How far can it go, to go a little bit deeper with our characters.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=scoob-images&captions=true"] The Cat in the Hat will be directed by South Park producer Erica Rivinoja and Disney artist Art Hernandez and is expected to hit theaters in 2024. Thing One and Thing Two is aiming for a 2026 release and Oh, The Places You'll Go isn't planned for release until 2027. Oh, The Places You'll Go will be the first animated movie to come from Abrams and Bad Robot Productions. Bad Robot is currently working with Warner Bros. on a Justice League Dark TV series and a TV series based on the hotel from The Shining. The Cat in the Hat was previously adapted into a movie in 2003. It was a live-action movie starring Mike Myers in a cat suit and it bombed at the box office after it was roasted by critics. Dr. Seuss' widow hated the movie so much that she said she would never allow one of her late husband's books to be adapted into a live-action movie ever again. Since then, the creators of Ice Age brought Horton Hears a Who to the big screen in 2008 and the studio behind the Despicable Me movies adapted The Lorax in 2012 and The Grinch in 2018. Netflix recently adapted Green Eggs and Ham as a TV series, which has been renewed for season 2. The developer of that series, Jared Stern, will be an executive producer on The Cat in the Hat movie. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-delayed-movie-due-to-coronavirus-so-far&captions=true"] The IGN review for Scoob! gave the movie a 7 out of 10 calling it "earnest and entertaining." Warner Animation Group is providing animation for the upcoming live-action Tom and Jerry movie and the Space Jam sequel, the latter of which recently showed off the new jersey that Lebron James will wear in the movie. The animation studio is also developing a fully-animated DC Super Pets movie. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN who had a nightmare about Jim Carrey's The Grinch when he was a kid.

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Jamie Foxx's Electro from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is poised to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the upcoming Spider-Man 3, starring Tom Holland. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Foxx is in final talks to once again play Electro, but this time in the MCU. "Story details are being kept under the mask, but having Foxx return is a stunner as it shows a further melding of the previous Spider-Man movies into the current Holland series, which is the first one that has Marvel running point on production," as THR's Borys Kit points out. [caption id="attachment_2415403" align="alignnone" width="720"] Andrew Garfield and Jamie Foxx in 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2.[/caption] Foxx's Electro, of course, isn't the first cast member from past incarnations of Spider-Man movies to reprise their role in a new MCU version as Spider-Man: Far From Home's end credits scene revealed J.K. Simmons once again playing J. Jonah Jameson, albeit a version retooled for the digital era. It's unclear whether Foxx's Electro will indeed be the very same version as the one he played in Amazing Spider-Man 2 or if, like Simmons' J. Jonah, he is a revamped version. If he is the same version then it looks like we're looking at a real multiverse, as opposed to that fake one Mysterio hoaxed people with. This line of thinking of course opens the door to everyone from Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Peter Parkers to Miles Morales or Gwen Stacy being able to show up. Or maybe even Charlie Cox's Daredevil from the Netflix series? The Fantastic Four? Fans are already taking to Twitter speculating if this news means Spider-Man 3 will create a live-action Spider-Verse. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2014/04/17/who-are-the-sinister-six-comics-history-101"] As has been pointed out, the MCU Spidey films have so far introduced five members of the classic Spidey villain team The Sinister Six -- Vulture, Mysterio, Shocker, Scorpion, and now Electro -- so could we be seeing them, ahem, assemble on the big screen sooner than later? It should be noted that Sony Pictures had been trying to do just that with the Amazing Spider-Man movies and had even been developing a Sinister Six movie at one point. The third MCU/Sony Spider-Man movie aims to begin filming in Atlanta this fall, according to THR. Jon Watts is back to direct and returning cast members include Tom Holland, Zendaya, Marisa Tomei, Jacob Batalon and Tony Revolori. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=ranking-the-spider-man-movies&captions=true"] What do you think of Jamie Foxx's Electro joining the MCU? Let us know in the comments!

Guy Ritchie's The Gentlemen is getting a TV series starring Matthew McConaughey. The Gentlemen, which was released in theaters early this year, is about a marijuana grower and dealer named Mickey Pearson (McConaughey) looking to sell his empire and get out of the business forever. A lot unfolds from there as different characters played by Colin Farrell, Henry Golding, Hugh Grant, Charlie Hunnam, and more attempt to make that empire theirs. It seems the story of Mickey Pearson isn't over, though, because Miramax TV is developing a series based on the film and Ritchie will return to direct and write for it, according to a report from Deadline. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/23/the-gentlemen-official-trailer-2"] "Miramax Television is thrilled to break new creative ground in our partnership with Guy Ritchie on The Gentlemen," Miramax Head of Worldwide Television Marc Helwig said. "One for the most distinctive and prolific filmmakers working today and someone whose creativity I have admired for many years, we couldn't be more excited to bring the cinematic journey of The Gentlemen forth into the realm of global premium television." McConaughey and his Mickey Pearson character are set to star in the series with Ritchie writing and directing the episodes. Ritchie will also serve as an executive producer on the show with Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies, who were also producers on the movie.This move from Miramax TV makes sense considering Miramax produced the film and saw firsthand its profit. With a budget of $22 million, the movie grossed over $115 million in theaters around the world. If you haven't yet seen The Gentlemen, check out the official trailer for the film and then be sure to read our review of The Gentlemen. Be sure to watch this exclusive clip of McConaughey's character in the movie too. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

Netflix has released a series of new posters for The Haunting of Bly Manor, revealing nine episode titles for the second season of Mike Flanagan's horror anthology series, which started out with The Haunting of Hill House. The Haunting Twitter page shared spooky one-sheets for each individual episode of the upcoming season, which is scheduled to hit Netflix on October 9. The distressed posters present ominous images beneath the episode titles. The majority of the posters were tweeted alongside a cryptic message, which we have included in our slideshow. Check out the posters and the episode titles below: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-haunting-of-hill-house-season-2-the-haunting-of-bly-manor-episode-titles&captions=true"]  

• Episode 1: The Great Good Place
• Episode 2: The Pupil
• Episode 3: The Two Faces Part 1
• Episode 4: The Way It Came
• Episode 5: The Altar of the Dead
• Episode 6: The Jolly Corner
• Episode 7: The Two Faces Part 2
• Episode 8: (TBC)
• Episode 9: The Beast in the Jungle

A two-part episode is included in the new season, with three episodes splitting up the two parts. Interestingly, episode eight's poster features a series of dashes in place of the title, leaving fans trying to fill in the blanks beneath the tweet. Several people suggested that the currently-untitled episode spells out "The Romance of Certain Old Clothes," which is another short gothic horror story by Henry James. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/23/the-haunting-of-bly-manor-official-trailer"] The Haunting of Bly Manor is a loose adaptation of Henry James' 1898 novel The Turn of the Screw, which is widely regarded to be one of the best and most influential horror novels ever written. The novella is narrated by an unnamed protagonist, who recounts the details of a manuscript written by a governess. This manuscript relays the governess' experiences caring for two children at Bly Manor and her slow realization that the grounds may be haunted. The Turn of the Screw has been adapted to film, stage, and TV numerous times, most famously in the form of 1961's The Innocents. For even more about Bly Manor, check out everything we know about Netflix's Hill House Season 2. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Warner Bros. Interactive president David Haddad has responded to employee questions around the company's involvement with the work of JK Rowling, following the author's repeated transphobic comments, saying, " I might not agree with her stance on a range of topics, but I can agree that she has the right to hold her opinions." As reported by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier (from a video sent out of an internal meeting), Haddad was asked about the company's association with Rowling after the announcement of Hogwarts Legacy. His response was:

"Not a lot I can comment on, other than, since we did get so many [questions], I wanted to be responsive the best way I could. "The way I think I’d like to do it is, I’d like to echo something you’ve heard from our most senior executive leadership. "While JK Rowling is the creator of Harry Potter, and we are bringing that to life with the power of Portkey, in many places, she’s a private citizen also. And that means she’s entitled to express her personal opinion on social media. I may not agree with her, and I might not agree with her stance on a range of topics, but I can agree that she has the right to hold her opinions."

The statement follows months of controversy around Rowling's views on trans women and gender identity, which have drawn condemnation from the likes of Harry Potter actors Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe among others. Warner Bros. has been drawn into the debate because of its somewhat uncertain connection with Rowling. WB Interactive has a licensing deal in place for Harry Potter, and makes franchise games under the Portkey Games label. While the company has made clear that Rowling is "not directly involved" with Hogwarts Legacy, it has declined to comment on whether the author will receive royalties from the game. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/16/hogwarts-legacy-official-reveal-trailer"] It's led to an ongoing discussion about boycotts for the game, with some arguing that the author's views shouldn't be tacitly supported by buying work associated with her, while others point out the potential negative consequences on the developers of the game (most of whom will have little say on the products they make) if sales are low. It's within the context of this debate that Haddad has been asked for his opinion - and his comments are likely to spark further debate around his company's vested interests in Rowling's work, and the intersection between public opinion and what many consider to be hate speech. Schreier added that, later in the Q&A, Haddad answered a question specifically about diversity and inclusion in WB Interactive products, explaining that the company was working with LGBTQ organisations, and he had personally talked to the director of trans media representation at GLAAD. Haddad apparently did not mention Rowling in this context. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

The Pathless, from Abzu developer Giant Squid and publisher Annapurna Interactive, has been confirmed to be a PS5 launch game. Annapurna announced today that The Pathless will hit PS5, as well as PS4, Apple Arcade, and PC on November 12, the same day as the PS5 launches. Players take on the role of master archer the Hunter as they attempt to save a magical island from darkness spreading across the world. Alongside a trusty eagle friend, players hunt down evil spirits across the island's varied landscape. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="legacyId=800003409&captions=true"] Giant Squid originally debuted The Pathless at the 2018 Game Awards, and Sony later highlighted the upcoming adventure at both its PS5 reveal event in June as well as the most recent Sony State of Play, which showed off an in-depth look at The Pathless' gameplay. For more on what you can expect to play at the PS5's launch, be sure to check out our full breakdown of the PS5 launch games list. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/06/the-pathless-gameplay-overview-state-of-play-2020"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.