An unnamed Batgirl actor has hit out at Warner Bros. Discovery. The actor, who worked on the now-canceled Batgirl movie, has some choice words for Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

“None of these things matter to an imbecile like [WB Discovery CEO David Zaslav],” they told IndieWire. “His cowardice is breathtaking. I am glad I got to participate, and I wish the best for all those involved — except the suits at Warner Brothers. But they all get replaced sooner than later.”

The anonymous actor also praised star Leslie Grace, who was recently tipped for a new Warner Bros. Discovery project that might even see Batgirl return.

“I am very offended by what happened and feel terrible for the directors and Leslie Grace, who were all wonderful to work with, as well as all of the technicians,” said the unknown actor. “It was an enormous, rewarding challenge to make this movie during Covid, and during the cold weather in Glasgow.”

As well as Batgirl’s fellow actors hitting out at the studio, it was also reported that WB chief Walter Hamada almost quit his job due to the cancellation of the movie.

Zaslav has since defended his decision to can the upcoming superhero flick.

“We're not going to release any film before it's ready,” he said. “We're not going to release a film to make a quarter, we're not going to release a film — the focus is going to be, how do we make each of these films, in general, as good as possible. But DC is something that we think we could make better, and we're focused on it now.”

After canceling Batgirl, Warner Bros. Discovery announced a new ten-year-plan for its DC film slate, attempting to mimic the success of Marvel Studios with a more structured, phase-like approach.

Whether or not this pays off remains to be seen. But at the moment, the studio is still looking for its very own Kevin Feige… and still hasn’t found them.

Want to read more about Batgirl? Check out our rundown of why Batgirl was canceled, not to mention which other DC properties could be affected.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Walmart and Paramount have made a deal to offer Paramount+ to the subscribers of Walmart's membership program, Walmart+.

First reported by The Wall Street Journal, Walmart is hoping to better compete with Amazon, which has a huge amount of streaming content at its disposal thanks to Amazon Prime. Walmart+ subscribers will get access to the Essential tier of Paramount+, which usually costs $4.99 and includes advertisements.

This move comes just a week after The New York Times reported that Walmart was pondering streaming deals with Paramount, Disney, and Comcast. While Walmart does not report subscription numbers, estimates say Walmart+ has between 11 and 32 million subscribers, compared to Amazon Prime's 200 million.

Walmart+ is the chain's subscription service, similar to Amazon Prime. Members get free shipping and fuel discounts among other benefits, but apparently Walmart decided it lacked the content angle that can compete with Amazon's Prime Video.

Paramount+ is one of the bevy of streaming services available right now. It has plenty of Star Trek content, including Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. It's also home to a few video game adaptations, including the Halo TV series, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and the upcoming Knuckles series. Meanwhile, Amazon Prime has series like The Boys, Invincible, and more.

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

Walmart and Paramount have made a deal to offer Paramount+ to the subscribers of Walmart's membership program, Walmart+.

First reported by The Wall Street Journal, Walmart is hoping to better compete with Amazon, which has a huge amount of streaming content at its disposal thanks to Amazon Prime. Walmart+ subscribers will get access to the Essential tier of Paramount+, which usually costs $4.99 and includes advertisements.

This move comes just a week after The New York Times reported that Walmart was pondering streaming deals with Paramount, Disney, and Comcast. While Walmart does not report subscription numbers, estimates say Walmart+ has between 11 and 32 million subscribers, compared to Amazon Prime's 200 million.

Walmart+ is the chain's subscription service, similar to Amazon Prime. Members get free shipping and fuel discounts among other benefits, but apparently Walmart decided it lacked the content angle that can compete with Amazon's Prime Video.

Paramount+ is one of the bevy of streaming services available right now. It has plenty of Star Trek content, including Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. It's also home to a few video game adaptations, including the Halo TV series, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and the upcoming Knuckles series. Meanwhile, Amazon Prime has series like The Boys, Invincible, and more.

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

A new Saw movie is coming from Saw 6 director, Kevin Greutert.

The upcoming Saw sequel was announced today by Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures, with the film heading to theaters on October 27, 2023.

“We have been listening to what the fans have been asking for and are hard at work planning a movie that Saw aficionados and horror fans alike will love,” said producers Mark Burg and Oren Koules. “And part of that is giving the reins to Kevin Greutert, director of Saw 6, which is still one of the fans’ favorites in the entire series. More details will be revealed soon.”

This will be the tenth Saw film to date, and the latest in the now billion-dollar franchise.

Greutert directed both Saw 6 and Saw: The Final Chapter while also serving as editor on the original Saw through to Saw 6, as well as the recent Jigsaw. Of course, it’s a welcome return for fans, many of which hold Greuter’s entries in high esteem as some of the best in the franchise.

The plot is currently firmly under wraps, but producers promise that the film will feature all-new “twisted and ingenious” traps, as well as a new mystery to solve.

It’s unknown whether the upcoming sequel will tie into the recent Saw spin-off film, Spiral.

Starting back in 2004 with the original Saw, the increasingly blood-curling film franchise has been a horror staple for many years. The franchise’s most lucrative installment to date was Saw II starring Donnie Wahlberg, which grossed $147 million worldwide.

The recent spin-off Spiral: From the Book of Saw earned just $40.6 million and failed to capture the hearts of fans as it tried to switch up the franchise’s well-worn formula.

IGN’s own review gave it just 3/10 and called it “a sequel that hopes to court Saw fans and mainstream audiences alike, Spiral: From the Book of Saw is likely to alienate them both. It’s a hollow imitation of the series, unable to meet its most basic visual and narrative expectations. It’s also a bad film in general, which tries to tell a socially relevant story that it can’t seem to handle.”

Want to read more about Saw? Check out how Spiral fits into the Saw timeline, as well as our rundown of the Saw saga’s complicated backstory.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

A new Saw movie is coming from Saw 6 director, Kevin Greutert.

The upcoming Saw sequel was announced today by Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures, with the film heading to theaters on October 27, 2023.

“We have been listening to what the fans have been asking for and are hard at work planning a movie that Saw aficionados and horror fans alike will love,” said producers Mark Burg and Oren Koules. “And part of that is giving the reins to Kevin Greutert, director of Saw 6, which is still one of the fans’ favorites in the entire series. More details will be revealed soon.”

This will be the tenth Saw film to date, and the latest in the now billion-dollar franchise.

Greutert directed both Saw 6 and Saw: The Final Chapter while also serving as editor on the original Saw through to Saw 6, as well as the recent Jigsaw. Of course, it’s a welcome return for fans, many of which hold Greuter’s entries in high esteem as some of the best in the franchise.

The plot is currently firmly under wraps, but producers promise that the film will feature all-new “twisted and ingenious” traps, as well as a new mystery to solve.

It’s unknown whether the upcoming sequel will tie into the recent Saw spin-off film, Spiral.

Starting back in 2004 with the original Saw, the increasingly blood-curling film franchise has been a horror staple for many years. The franchise’s most lucrative installment to date was Saw II starring Donnie Wahlberg, which grossed $147 million worldwide.

The recent spin-off Spiral: From the Book of Saw earned just $40.6 million and failed to capture the hearts of fans as it tried to switch up the franchise’s well-worn formula.

IGN’s own review gave it just 3/10 and called it “a sequel that hopes to court Saw fans and mainstream audiences alike, Spiral: From the Book of Saw is likely to alienate them both. It’s a hollow imitation of the series, unable to meet its most basic visual and narrative expectations. It’s also a bad film in general, which tries to tell a socially relevant story that it can’t seem to handle.”

Want to read more about Saw? Check out how Spiral fits into the Saw timeline, as well as our rundown of the Saw saga’s complicated backstory.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Apple could soon bring ads to its other native apps that are available on its devices, including the iPhone.

In the latest edition of the Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that Apple has already tested adding ads to search results in the Maps app. Gurman also believes that Apple's Books and Podcasts apps could also have ads appear on their storefronts in the future as well.

It would not be the first time Apple introduced ads into its native apps, as the iPhone maker does have ads appearing on its other services. The most notable one is the App Store, where there are two ways for an ad to be displayed on the digital storefront — one in the Search tab with the first result under "Suggested" displaying an ad, while the other has an ad that will display first before the organic results.

However, reports from MacRumors, 9to5Mac, and Apple Insider suggest that Apple is also planning to display ads on the App Store's "Today" tab.

More interestingly, Gurman notes that Apple could create a cheaper, ad-supported tier for its streaming service, Apple TV+. Currently, the service costs $4.99 a month, where mostly everything is ad-free, with the exception being the Friday Night Baseball live streams, which show commercials.

Apple looking at ways to expand its ad business comes as no surprise. As reported earlier this year by Insider, the research firm Omdia noted that Apple's ad business grew by 238 percent in 2021, generating nearly $4 billion in revenue annually from advertisement alone.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Apple could soon bring ads to its other native apps that are available on its devices, including the iPhone.

In the latest edition of the Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that Apple has already tested adding ads to search results in the Maps app. Gurman also believes that Apple's Books and Podcasts apps could also have ads appear on their storefronts in the future as well.

It would not be the first time Apple introduced ads into its native apps, as the iPhone maker does have ads appearing on its other services. The most notable one is the App Store, where there are two ways for an ad to be displayed on the digital storefront — one in the Search tab with the first result under "Suggested" displaying an ad, while the other has an ad that will display first before the organic results.

However, reports from MacRumors, 9to5Mac, and Apple Insider suggest that Apple is also planning to display ads on the App Store's "Today" tab.

More interestingly, Gurman notes that Apple could create a cheaper, ad-supported tier for its streaming service, Apple TV+. Currently, the service costs $4.99 a month, where mostly everything is ad-free, with the exception being the Friday Night Baseball live streams, which show commercials.

Apple looking at ways to expand its ad business comes as no surprise. As reported earlier this year by Insider, the research firm Omdia noted that Apple's ad business grew by 238 percent in 2021, generating nearly $4 billion in revenue annually from advertisement alone.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

While programming drama has captured most headlines to this point since the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, now layoffs are hitting HBO and HBO Max.

According to THR, it's estimated that 14%, which amounts to about 70 people, have been let go from HBO Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys' teams. The layoffs are the latest cost-cutting measure for Warner Bros. Discovery, as CEO David Zaslav looks for $3 billion in cost savings.

The report says that HBO Max's original reality, casting, international, and acquisitions departments are the most impacted by the layoffs. The layoffs are also leading to a restructuring of leadership within HBO, but it will not result in the cancellation of HBO Max's original content, as some rumors suggested.

The report says HBO Max will continue to work on its slate of original content, including The Sex Lives of College Girls, Gossip Girl, and more. The report also says more layoffs at separate Warner Bros. Discovery divisions are expected, but this is all of the layoffs expected for HBO.

Big changes for Warner Bros. Discovery started rolling out earlier this month when we learned that HBO Max and Discovery+ will merge into one streaming platform beginning next year. This led to the company beginning to enact cost-cutting measures, including the cancellation of DC's nearly-completed Batgirl film, among a handful of other projects.

For more, you can check out our opinion piece on why Warner Bros. Discovery is making all the wrong moves with HBO Max and DC.

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

While programming drama has captured most headlines to this point since the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, now layoffs are hitting HBO and HBO Max.

According to THR, it's estimated that 14%, which amounts to about 70 people, have been let go from HBO Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys' teams. The layoffs are the latest cost-cutting measure for Warner Bros. Discovery, as CEO David Zaslav looks for $3 billion in cost savings.

The report says that HBO Max's original reality, casting, international, and acquisitions departments are the most impacted by the layoffs. The layoffs are also leading to a restructuring of leadership within HBO, but it will not result in the cancellation of HBO Max's original content, as some rumors suggested.

The report says HBO Max will continue to work on its slate of original content, including The Sex Lives of College Girls, Gossip Girl, and more. The report also says more layoffs at separate Warner Bros. Discovery divisions are expected, but this is all of the layoffs expected for HBO.

Big changes for Warner Bros. Discovery started rolling out earlier this month when we learned that HBO Max and Discovery+ will merge into one streaming platform beginning next year. This led to the company beginning to enact cost-cutting measures, including the cancellation of DC's nearly-completed Batgirl film, among a handful of other projects.

For more, you can check out our opinion piece on why Warner Bros. Discovery is making all the wrong moves with HBO Max and DC.

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

Predatory dinosaurs may have evolved beady eyes and strangely shaped skulls in order to be better hunters, according to the results of a newly published study.

Over the past 4.5 billion years, life on Earth has been steadily but surely evolving into a fantastic variety of forms. Dinosaurs, prior to their existence being rudely interrupted by the cataclysmic impact of a 10 - 15 km wide asteroid some 66 million years ago, were no exception to this rule.

Fresh research posted today in the journal Communications Biology suggests that some of the largest and most fearsome dinosaurs may have undergone an evolutionary bargain that saw the size of their eyes reduced — and the shape of their skulls altered — in favor of a more powerful attack.

Dr. Stephan Lautenschlager, the lead author of the study from the University of Birmingham, examined the skull shapes of over 400 dinosaurs in order to determine whether there was a relationship between a dino’s eye sockets and the strength of their bites.

While there were many types of eye sockets observed in the fossil skulls, they can largely be broken down into two groups — dinosaurs with more regular, circular eye sockets, and those who had more unusually shaped, and often elongated sockets.

"The results show that only some dinosaurs had eye sockets that were elliptical or keyhole-shaped. However, all of those were large, carnivorous dinosaurs with skull lengths of 1 m or more." said Dr. Lautenschlager.

The results of the study revealed that the majority of dinosaurs involved — including small species, juveniles, and herbivores — boasted circular eye sockets. However, the skulls of larger predatory dinosaurs that existed nearer the top of the food chain, such as the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex, featured relatively small eyes with elliptical or figure-of-eight-shaped sockets.

This structural divergence seemed to be driven by the size of the carnivore’s skull, with nightmarishly large skulls being more likely to evolve the strangely-shaped sockets.

“In these species, just the upper part of the eye socket was actually occupied by the eyeball. This also led to a relative reduction of eye size compared with skull size,” explained Dr. Lautenschlager.

Computer simulated stress tests also revealed that dinosaur skulls with divergent eye sockets were better at managing the mechanical stresses of feeding on large prey compared to those whose skulls retained a circular socket.

In other words this evolutionary curveball allowed larger dinos to bite down harder without hurting themselves — a trait which is both useful and horrifying in equal measure. For more dinosaur talking points check out this article detailing the most ancient belly button ever discovered, and thank us later.

Anthony Wood is a freelance writer for IGN.

Article Image Credit: Shutterstock, Elisa Manzati