Dune: Part Two has been officially greenlit by Legendary Pictures. Director Denis Villeneuve is set to return and is scheduled to premiere on October 20, 2023 exclusively in theaters.

Legendary and WB announced the news on social media. In a pair of Tweets, Legendary thanked fans and said it's "excited to continue the journey."

This is only the beginning...

Thank you to those who have experienced @dunemovie so far, and those who are going in the days and weeks ahead. We're excited to continue the journey! pic.twitter.com/mZj68Hnm0A

— Legendary (@Legendary) October 26, 2021

Dune was always set up as a multi-part movie, especially after the full title was revealed to be Dune: Part One. But there were concerns that a high-concept sci-fi movie like Dune might not gain the kind of audience that would justify multiple movies.

But WB and Legendary executives were bullish on Dune and WarnerMedia Ann Sarnoff all but confirmed a sequel when she said, "Will we have a sequel to Dune? If you watch the movie, you see how it ends. I think you pretty much know the answer to that."

Dune has shown to have a strong box office showing, taking in $40 million on its opening weekend. A respectible performance, especially for a movie that launched simultaneously on HBO Max.

Based on the sci-fi novel by Frank Herbert, Dune: Part One ends as Paul Atreides and Jessica finally link up with the Fremen. Check out IGN's explainer on what to expect from the now-confirmed Dune Part 2.

IGN's Dune review called Villeneuve's luxurious sci-fi vision an "imperfect epic," that feels incomplete. But perhaps a full viewing of Part 1 and 2 will give Dune greater clarity and context.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

Idris Elba says Knuckles the Echidna will not be sexy in the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie sequel.

Speaking to Screen Rant about Knuckles' characterization in the film, Elba said, “Honestly, I cannot say. Contractually, I cannot say anything. But I wouldn't say he was sexy. I don't think I'm going for that. That's for sure.”

Elba was named People's Sexiest Man Alive in 2018, and he's known for commanding the screen in shows and movies including The Wire, Luther, and most recently, The Suicide Squad. This has led fans to speculate Elba will bring that same appeal to his animated counterpart. However, we now know not to expect Elba's trademark sex appeal when he voices Sonic's best frenemy, at least on purpose.

While Knuckles has never been known for his sex appeal, he's arguably at the top of his game when he's romping around Pumpkin Hill to the iconic (and endlessly memed) Pumpkin Hill rap soundtrack. Conversely, Knuckles fans weren't head-over-heels for his Sonic Boom redesign, which saw him become much larger, and much less intelligent. We'll have to see where on the scale Elba's portrayal of Knuckles lands.

We first learned Elba would voice the red echidna earlier this year, when the actor posted a photo of Knuckles' knuckles on Instagram. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is set to release on April 8, 2022.

For more, check out our Sonic the Hedgehog movie review, where we said, "While this family-friendly action-comedy suffers from a simplistic story and leans too heavily on tired visual cliches, Sonic the Hedgehog is nevertheless boosted by solid performances from Ben Schwartz as Sonic and Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik."

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

HBO has announced that it is renewing Succession for a fourth season. The show started its third season on October 17 and continues to stay strong as the season premiere drew in over 1.4 million viewers across HBO and HBO Max.

“With each season of Succession, Jesse Armstrong has continued to surpass our wildest expectations, pulling us deeper into the Roy family’s inner sanctum with indelible wit, humanity, and precision,” said Francesca Orsi, executive vice president of HBO Programming in a statement. “This season is undoubtedly no exception, and we couldn’t be more excited for all that’s in store in this next season ahead.”

Renewed for Season 4. pic.twitter.com/iDrJMzEvqd

— Succession (@succession) October 26, 2021

The third season of Succession has Logan Roy, played by Brian Cox, trying to secure various familial, political, and finances after his son Kendell, chose to expose his role in a company scandal. The corporate frenzy risks becoming personal as the Roy family decides who will fill in for Logan after his downfall.

In an interview earlier this year Succession executive producer Georgia Pritchett said that Succession is being developed with an end in sight and that the show might end after five seasons. "I think the maximum would be five seasons, but possibly more like four," Pritchett said to The Times. "We've got a good end in sight."

In IGN's Succession Season 3 review, Hanna Flint says, " Succession Season 3 returns with just as much petty hilarity, punishing woes, and blazing performances as previous seasons with a civil war storyline to keep you hooked on the exploits of these awful rich people."

New episodes of Succession air on Sunday nights at 9 PM ET/PT on HBO and are available for streaming on HBO Max.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter at @yinyangfooey.

Blaseball, the absurdist player-driven online fantasy sport, is making a return after its last lengthy hiatus ("siesta") on November 1 with Short Circuits — a mini-series of sorts intended to reimagine the game from the ground up.

Short Circuits are "a low-stakes mini-series of temporary universes where anything can happen," each lasting two weeks. The first Short Circuit, which starts on November 1 at 8am PT/11am ET, will last for two "seasons," with each season lasting a week.

Historically, Blaseball's major storylines have taken place over the course of two major "eras," each consisting of several seasons lasting about a week. Short Circuits is not considered a full era in Blaseball, but rather is serving as a test ground for developer The Game Band to return the game to its fundamentals and use feedback to ensure future eras are a more welcoming experience to new players.

Blaseball is an absurdist fantasy sport played entirely in a browser that largely follows the rules and conventions of baseball, but with fictional, AI-driven teams, occasional bizarre events, a few rule modifications, and future changes to the game voted on by the spectators. We wrote in-depth about what Blaseball is earlier this year prior to the game's last era, and while the story since then has taken some pretty wild and confusing turns, Short Circuits appears to be an attempt to reign things in and ensure that everyone can participate easily without knowing what came before.

Per the press release, no prior Blaseball experience is required to participate in Short Circuits. The game is free and playable only in-browser via the official website.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Scientists have found signs of a planet transiting a star outside of the Milky Way, potentially representing what could be the first-ever planet to be detected in another galaxy.

Researchers found evidence of a planet in the Messier 51 galaxy, located some 28 million light-years away from the Milky Way, as they detected a dip in brightness in the luminous "whirlpool" system. They used NASA's Chandra X-ray Telescope to observe transits, which can sometimes occur when planets pass in front of stars and block out a portion of the light.

The transit technique has been used by astronomers for years to aid the discovery of exoplanets and exoplanet candidates — all of which have been found in the Milky Way up until now. It's a method that has produced successful results, though it also presents a few challenges, particularly for scientists wanting a second viewing to confirm their findings.

"Unfortunately to confirm that we're seeing a planet we would likely have to wait decades to see another transit," said Nia Imara, who co-authored the recently published paper, presenting data that is consistent with a model of a planet candidate. "And because of the uncertainties about how long it takes to orbit, we wouldn't know exactly when to look."

While attempts to confirm the observation may be thwarted, the study's lead author, Rosanne Di Stefano, recognized that the potential discovery may help to broaden future studies and "open up a whole new arena for finding other worlds by searching for planet candidates at X-ray wavelengths, a strategy that makes it possible to discover them in other galaxies."

Astronomers previously discovered 139 new "minor planets" in the far reaches of our solar system, just beyond Neptune's orbit in the vast expanse of the galaxy, which also plays host to a free-floating world without a host star, a "hell planet" strangely similar to Darth Vader's lava homeworld of Mustafar, and a Super-Earth that's nearly as old as the universe itself.

Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Thumbnail image credit: NASA/CXC/M. Weiss

A video game based on A Quiet Place is currently in development and due for release in 2022.

The game is being created by Saber Interactive, iLLOGIKA, and EP1T0ME, and is said to be an "untold story of survival in the A Quiet Place universe", suggesting this will not follow the events of the acclaimed horror movies from John Krasinski.

"This first official video game set in the terrifying A Quiet Place universe will deliver an original story and gameplay that captures the compelling suspense, emotion and drama for which the series is famous," said a statement from Saber Interactive. "The game is in development by iLLOGIKA, the Montreal-based studio with veteran talent from the Rainbow Six and Far Cry franchises, and published by Saber Interactive, the Embracer Group company behind the hit game World War Z and the upcoming Evil Dead: The Game."

An official website is already live, but provides nothing beyond a logo and a promise that the game is "coming 2022".

The original A Quiet Place movie received a glowing review from us, and we were also impressed by its sequel. Krasinski has discussed the possibility of making the series a trilogy, but this is the first word of his world going beyond the borders of cinema and into the realm of games.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

The official graphic novel for the movie adaptation of Dune has been launched via Kickstarter. This has already raised questions among fans, as the Kickstarter is being run by Legendary Comics, rather than a cash-strapped indie outfit.

The publisher states on its Kickstarter page that there is little risk in backing the project due to the fact that the graphic novel has already been completed, and so some fans are wondering why a publisher the size of Legendary Comics has felt the need to launch the project via Kickstarter in the first place.

"Eight months after the movie release, and Kickstarter both puzzle me," says one commenter on the project's page. Another asks, "Why is this a Kickstarter? Did Legendary run out of money?"

The answer, according to a representative, is not that the studio is unable to fund the comic, but instead that it is using the Kickstarter project to produce extra content. "The graphic novel is certainly being released into retail," says a spokesperson from the publishing company Rocketship Entertainment who has partnered with Legendary Comics to create the graphic novel. "But campaigns like these are the only way we can give back extras to the fans like the free stretch goals or many of the other items that will be made in very limited supply and are exclusive to this campaign, or be able to offer this many variant covers!"

For those investing their hard-earned cash in order to back the campaign, there are a wide array of options to choose from. They range from a $15 pledge that guarantees you a copy of the graphic novel in PDF form (as well as a mobile/desktop wallpaper) to a whopping $2500 tier that, among other things, will add a character of your likeness into the novel itself.

Established in 2010, Legendary Comics is a sister company to Legendary Pictures, the movie production studio known for producing a wide array of films including Christopher Nolan's Batman series, Jurassic World, and Denis Villeneuve's Dune. In the past, the graphic novel publisher has worked on a number of projects linked to Legendary's big-screen adaptations such as Godzilla: Aftershock, Pacific Rim: Aftermath, and Skull Island: The Birth of Kong but to name a few.

Denis Villeneuve's movie adaptation of Dune was released in theatres last week and has since set new pandemic records for Warner Bros. With Dune part 2 all but confirmed, make sure to check out our review of the sci-fi epic in which we awarded it a 7/10.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter

A new version 2.0 update for PlayStation 5 exclusive Returnal has added a system that allows players to temporarily save their progress and shut down their console. This fixes a long-standing player complaint, and will allow players to play a run of the roguelike across multiple sessions of play.

Revealed on the PlayStation Blog, the new system is called Suspend Cycle. This feature allows you to pause your current run, exit the game, and turn off your console. Rebooting the game will then allow you to continue your run.

It's important to note that while Suspend Cycle creates a save state, this save is not permanent, and can only be reloaded once. As Returnal's Game Director, Harry Krueger, explains: "The structure of the game remains unchanged, so this functionality is not a traditional mid-game “Save Game” option: by suspending the cycle, Returnal will simply create a single use suspend point, and once you resume playing the suspend point is deleted and cannot be used again. Your game will continue directly from the moment you left it, and if you want to suspend the cycle again, your progress will be captured from that new point onwards."

"With this approach, we can keep the roguelike spirit and “high stakes” commitment to your run intact, while still providing some quality-of-life convenience for players who like to experience Returnal in shorter bursts," concluded Krueger.

The Suspend Cycle system does have some limitations; it will not be able to create suspend points during boss battles, cinematics, first-person sequences, or "intense combat scenarios".

In addition to Suspend Cycle, the Returnal 2.0 update adds a photo mode, which functions much like similar modes seen in many other games. Alongside fine tuning an angle for your subject, there are also different sources of light to highlight the scene, a variety of different filters, effects, frames, coloring options, and more to be used.

Returnal was critically acclaimed, but players quickly became frustrated by how long its runs are. Roguelikes typically do not have saves, but are usually short games that can be attempted in a single session. The multi-hour length of a single run of Returnal meant that it demanded a lot of time from players, especially if they died and had to start over. Where roguelikes such as Hades have systems that hold your progress from the start of an area, Returnal's design did not originally incorporate anything like that. This new Suspend Cycle system will hopefully make it accessible to those who don't have so many hours each day to dedicate to playing games.

For more, check out this breakdown of Returnal's VFX features, and the devs reacting to a blisteringly fast 46 minute speed run.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

Charles Martinet, the actor known for his iconic work as the voice of Mario (as well as a number of other characters in the Nintendo franchise) has said that he would like to continue in the role until he dies.

Martinet, who has been voicing Nintendo's beloved character since 1992, recently answered questions about his time as Nintendo's renowned mascot as part of a Q&A session at FAN EXPO Canada: Limited Edition.

As reported by The Game Creator, when asked by a fan how long he could see himself continuing as Mario, Martinet told the audience, "I want to voice Mario until I drop dead," though he quickly followed this up with a further caveat, adding, ‘‘If someday I think I am no longer capable of doing it, I will tell Nintendo to look into finding someone else.’’

Examples of Martinet's work can be seen far and wide across the popular video game franchise where his voice work has also brought to life the characters Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi. When asked whether or not someone would be able to fill that void once he'd left, Martinet said, ‘‘I am very touched by that. But I hope there will still be Mario after I am gone. Anyways, there are over 5 million audio files of me voicing Mario. I go into the studio and record 45 takes of every sound I can think of, so I’m not going anywhere for a long time!’’

Despite having been synonymous with the role of Mario for so long, Martinet is not set to play the character in the franchise's upcoming Super Mario movie, where Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World star Chris Pratt will voice its lead. Martinet is set to appear in the film, however, his role will take shape in a number of featured cameos in the movie.

Following the film's casting announcement during September's Nintendo Direct, it's fair to say that initial reactions to Pratt stepping into the role of the legendary character have been mixed, and fans took to social media to post their own reactions to the news. To keep up with the latest from Nintendo and Illumination's upcoming Super Mario Movie, make sure to check out our dedicated IGN page for the film.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Blue Origin has announced plans to launch a commercial space station called Orbital Reef, which the company aims to open for business in the latter half of this decade.

As reported by Space.com, the Orbital Reef station will be built in partnership with multiple other space companies, including Boeing, Sierra Space and several more. The outpost is scheduled to be up and running by the late 2020s, aligning itself as a possible successor to the International Space Station, which is expected to be retired between 2028 and 2030.

Blue Origin's press release for the newly announced project describes the Orbital Reef station as a "mixed use business park" that will be built in low Earth orbit. It will be designed to support a diverse portfolio of uses across the commerce, research, and tourism sectors and will initially feature 29,311 cubic feet of pressurized volume to accommodate up to 10 people.

Whether film-making in microgravity, opening a space hotel or conducting cutting-edge research, the website for the project suggests Orbital Reef will lease locations according to each vision. The spacious modules host distinct quarters for both living and working, with large Earth-facing windows that allow travellers to "take in the beauty of our planet."

"For over 60 years, NASA and other space agencies have developed orbital spaceflight and space habitation, setting us up for commercial business to take off in this decade," Brent Sherwood, Senior Vice President of Advanced Development Programs for Blue Origin, said in a statement as the plans for the commercial destination in space were unveiled this week.

"We will expand access, lower the cost, and provide all the services and amenities needed to normalize spaceflight," he added, offering further insight into how the team will reimagine living and working in space. "A vibrant business ecosystem will grow in low Earth orbit, generating new discoveries, new products, new entertainments and global awareness."

Other groups involved in the project include Redwire Space and Genesis Engineering Solutions together with Arizona State University — leading a consortium of universities that will act as an advisory council on research. As of now, it's unclear how much of an investment each of the partners has committed for the construction of the Orbital Reef outpost.

Blue Origin has made the headlines a few times on its mission to build a road to space. Star Trek legend William Shatner recently became the oldest person to ever reach space following the successful completion of a flight aboard the company's New Shepard rocket. It was only the second crewed outing for the ship, which had Jeff Bezos aboard for its first launch.

Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.