Famed director Wes Anderson is bringing a film of “poetic meditation on the meaning of life” to screens called Asteroid City. The film partners Anderson as director with Focus Features, who he last collaborated with for Moonrise Kingdom in 2012.

Asteroid City is written by both Anderson and his Moonrise Kingdom co-writer Roman Coppola. The film tells the story of a fictional American desert town circa 1955 and its Junior Stargazer convention, which brings together students and parents from across the country for scholarly competition, rest/recreation, comedy, drama, romance, and more.

“We are beyond thrilled to be the global home for Asteroid City, bringing Focus back in business with Wes and his producing partners. Wes is a generational talent whose films delight audiences around the world; and we’re sure that the combination of his incredibly emotional story and vision combined with the insanely talented group of actors he has assembled, will mean that Asteroid City will be no different,” said Peter Kujawski, Chairman of Focus Features.

In true Anderson fashion, the film features a cast of well known names. The star studded cast includes Margot Robbie, Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Tilda Swinton, and many others.

Earlier this year, Netflix revealed Anderson was lending his directorial talents to The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, based on a tale from Roald Dahl. Previously, Anderson had directed the stop motion film adaptation of Fantastic Mr. Fox, another Dahl story. Most recently Anderson directed The French Dispatch which we called “a whimsical homage to The New Yorker in one of his most richly detailed and thoughtful movies.”

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.

Blogroll image credit: Lorenzo Palizzolo, Contributor, Getty Images

Famed director Wes Anderson is bringing a film of “poetic meditation on the meaning of life” to screens called Asteroid City. The film partners Anderson as director with Focus Features, who he last collaborated with for Moonrise Kingdom in 2012.

Asteroid City is written by both Anderson and his Moonrise Kingdom co-writer Roman Coppola. The film tells the story of a fictional American desert town circa 1955 and its Junior Stargazer convention, which brings together students and parents from across the country for scholarly competition, rest/recreation, comedy, drama, romance, and more.

“We are beyond thrilled to be the global home for Asteroid City, bringing Focus back in business with Wes and his producing partners. Wes is a generational talent whose films delight audiences around the world; and we’re sure that the combination of his incredibly emotional story and vision combined with the insanely talented group of actors he has assembled, will mean that Asteroid City will be no different,” said Peter Kujawski, Chairman of Focus Features.

In true Anderson fashion, the film features a cast of well known names. The star studded cast includes Margot Robbie, Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Tilda Swinton, and many others.

Earlier this year, Netflix revealed Anderson was lending his directorial talents to The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, based on a tale from Roald Dahl. Previously, Anderson had directed the stop motion film adaptation of Fantastic Mr. Fox, another Dahl story. Most recently Anderson directed The French Dispatch which we called “a whimsical homage to The New Yorker in one of his most richly detailed and thoughtful movies.”

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.

Blogroll image credit: Lorenzo Palizzolo, Contributor, Getty Images

San Diego Comic-Con is back in-person at the San Diego Convention Center for the first time since 2019, and it promises to be an exciting show that will reveal a ton of new details on upcoming movies and TV shows, including Marvel Studios to The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, House of the Dragon, and more.

IGN will be at the show providing up-to-the-minute coverage of the biggest trailers, reveals, and exclusives, as well as hosting our own live show from SDCC this week on July 22 and 23. This watch guide will provide you with everything you need to know to watch all the biggest moments of San Diego Comic-Con 2022, including how long the show is, a list of places you can watch the panels and live coverage with us, and what you can expect to see at the convention.

How to Watch San Diego Comic-Con Online 2022

San Diego Comic-Con 2022 will take place from July 21 - 24 with IGN’s live show on July 22 and 23, which will be broadcast here and across the many channels we have on a variety of platforms. Here’s the full list of places you can watch IGN’s live show at San Diego Comic-Con:

• IGN.com (homepage)
• IGN's Facebook Channel
• IGN’s Twitter
• IGN's Twitch Channel
• IGN’s Youtube Channel
• IGN’s TikTok Channel
• IGN's iOS App
• IGN's Android App
• IGN's PlayStation 4 App
• IGN's Xbox One App
• Roku
• IGN App for Android TV
• IGN for Amazon Fire TV
• Apple TV
• IGN 1 on Samsung TV Plus
• Pluto TV
• Plex Live TV

On Wednesday, July 20, IGN will be hosting a TikTok Live at the Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Tavern Experience. We will be giving viewers a first look at the experience, as well as talking to some of the cast/crew from the film. This will be streaming exclusively on IGN’s TikTok starting at 5pm PT.

IGN Live Show Lineup at San Diego Comic-Con 2022

As mentioned above, IGN’s live show will take place Friday, July 22, and Saturday, July 23, 2022 in San Diego. You can check out a list below of everyone to expect to see on our live show!

Friday, July 22

• Prey
• William Shatner
• Gotham Knights
• Moriarty: The Devil’s Game
• Primal
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection
• Vampire Academy
• Dragon Ball Super
• Superman & Lois
• Clerks III
• Paper Girls
• BODIES BODIES BODIES
• Dark Crisis
• Avatar: Braving the Elements
• Harley Quinn
• Archer
• MultiVersus
• Resident Evil Village
• The Riddler: Year One
• AEW Wrestling
• Saints Row

Saturday, July 23

• Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
• Reginald the Vampire
• The Sandman
• The Dragon Prince
• David Dastmalchian
• The Walking Dead
• Star Trek: Picard
• What We Do in the Shadows
• Mythic Quest
• Tales of the Walking Dead
• Barbarian
• Bill Nye
• For All Mankind
• Tuca and Bertie
• The Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country
• Teen Titans Go!
• The Callisto Protocol
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
• Shazam! Fury of the Gods

Along with the above, we will have various exclusive reveals throughout our live show, such as the following below:

Kitbash Creatures: The Callisto Protocol

This year at San Diego Comic-Con, Max Scoville takes his cosplay to the next level by teaming up with Hollywood FX House, Ojala Productions, in building a terrifying mutated creature from The Callisto Protocol, an upcoming survival horror action game that challenge players to escape the maximum security prison set on Jupiter’s moon Callisto. Presented by The Callisto Protocol, watch from the beginning as we sculpt, mold and paint one of the mutated creatures from the game, giving Max the perfect costume to terrorize the floor of Comic-Con.

Reservation Dogs

Skoden! Tune into IGN Live at San Diego Comic-Con to catch FX’s Reservation Dogs trailer, and see behind-the-scenes footage of the all-new season returning August 3rd. Only on Hulu. Presented by Reservation Dogs.

San Diego Comic-Con 2022 Full Panel Schedule

The full programming schedule at San Diego Comic-Con has been released and can be viewed here for Wednesday, July 20 - Sunday, July 24. As mentioned above, IGN will be covering all of the biggest panels out of SDCC 2022.

What to Expect at San Diego Comic-Con 2022

Some of the biggest names in entertainment have confirmed they will be in attendance at the show, along with others released in the SDCC program lineup.

Perhaps most exciting is the news that Marvel will be returning to San Diego Comic-Con for the first in-person SDCC since 2019. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige revealed the news during a press conference for Thor: Love and Thunder in June, but gave no hints as to what fans can expect to see at the show.

In 2019, Marvel Studios revealed its initial plans for Phase 4 at San Diego Comic-Con and some of the projects featured were Eternals, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s premiere date, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, WandaVision, Loki, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and many more. If that show is any indication, Marvel fans should have a lot to look forward to.

We do know a decent bit about the future of Marvel, so we very well may learn more about She-Hulk, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and/or the Holiday Special, Fantastic Four, and, who knows, maybe X-Men! Hey, we can dream!

Warner Bros. Discovery revealed that the Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, Sandman, and Harley Quinn will all be present at San Diego Comic-Con alongside Gotham Knights and MultiVersus on the games side of things.

Fans of Middle-earth will be treated to an “exclusive early look” at The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and Apple has shared it will be hosting panels for Severance, For All Mankind, Mythic Quest, and more.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Harley Quinn is getting to tell her own story, and it’s coming in the form of a podcast. Harley Quinn & The Joker: Sound Mind is being produced for Spotify and will feature Harley’s origin story from her own perspective and will not be filtered through the Joker, reports Variety.

The podcast will star Christina Ricci, who currently stars as the unhinged Misty Quigley in Yellowjackets, as Harley Quinn. The audio drama will co-star Billy Magnussen as The Joker and Justin Hartley as Bruce Wayne. It is being written and directed by Eli Horowitz of Homecoming fame.

Harley Quinn & The Joker: Sound Mind will follow Harley Quinn when she is still Dr. Harleen Quinzel, a psychologist at Arkham Asylum in Gotham City. She is determined to help patients “her colleagues have written off.” The show will follow her meeting of The Joker, AKA Patient J, a criminal who holds power over everyone but her. With her father sick and in need of an expensive treatment, Harley will use The Joker to get what she needs to save him.

The series will be the second in line under Spotify’s agreement with Warner Bros. and DC. The first podcast, Batman Unburied, hit the number one spot in more than a dozen markets when it debuted in May.

Season 3 of the animated Harley Quinn series comes out July 28. It follows the titular character as she tries her hand at making it in the Gotham City underworld without The Joker by her side. We’ve also gotten to see Margot Robbie as Harley in Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey, the Harley-centric spin-off.

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.

Harley Quinn is getting to tell her own story, and it’s coming in the form of a podcast. Harley Quinn & The Joker: Sound Mind is being produced for Spotify and will feature Harley’s origin story from her own perspective and will not be filtered through the Joker, reports Variety.

The podcast will star Christina Ricci, who currently stars as the unhinged Misty Quigley in Yellowjackets, as Harley Quinn. The audio drama will co-star Billy Magnussen as The Joker and Justin Hartley as Bruce Wayne. It is being written and directed by Eli Horowitz of Homecoming fame.

Harley Quinn & The Joker: Sound Mind will follow Harley Quinn when she is still Dr. Harleen Quinzel, a psychologist at Arkham Asylum in Gotham City. She is determined to help patients “her colleagues have written off.” The show will follow her meeting of The Joker, AKA Patient J, a criminal who holds power over everyone but her. With her father sick and in need of an expensive treatment, Harley will use The Joker to get what she needs to save him.

The series will be the second in line under Spotify’s agreement with Warner Bros. and DC. The first podcast, Batman Unburied, hit the number one spot in more than a dozen markets when it debuted in May.

Season 3 of the animated Harley Quinn series comes out July 28. It follows the titular character as she tries her hand at making it in the Gotham City underworld without The Joker by her side. We’ve also gotten to see Margot Robbie as Harley in Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey, the Harley-centric spin-off.

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.

It looks as though Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon won’t tell a linear story.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, co-showrunner Ryan Condal revealed that the Game of Thrones spin-off will jump through time several times.

“This is how you tell this story correctly,” said Condal. “We’re telling a story of a generational war. We set everything up so by the time that first sword stroke falls, you understand all the players.”

It all came about due to a simple problem – at what point should the show start?

The rich history of Games of Thrones makes that a little problematic. After all, there are so many places that would provide an excellent jumping-off point. Ultimately though, they decided to tell the story of House Targaryen using multiple time periods.

The show begins with its female leads as teenagers (played by Emily Carey and Milly Alcock). Halfway through the season, the story jumps 10 years forward, allowing Olivia Cooke and Emma D’Arcy to take over the roles.

As for the show’s two male leads, these are both a little older and played by the same actors throughout.

“It made me nervous,” said HBO chief content officer Casey Bloys. “It’s hard enough to cast any role, but if you’re casting two characters of different ages, you have to be right four times. Now that I’ve seen the result, I feel really good about it.”

House of the Dragon is set two hundred years before the events of Game of Thrones.

Starring Paddy Considine and Emma D’Arcy, it chronicles the ultimate fall of House Targaryen, including the Targaryen civil war, also known as the Dance of the Dragons.

House of the Dragon also happens to be the first Game of Thrones spin-off to head to our screens, with an earlier project canceled despite being made into a $30 million pilot. Then there’s the upcoming Jon Snow series, which will presumably act as more of a sequel.

Thankfully, you won’t have to wait long to watch the inter-generational exploits of House Targaryen – House of the Dragon will debut on HBO on August 21, 2022.

Want to find out more about Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon? Check out the latest details from the show and find out everything you need to know before it airs.

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

It looks as though Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon won’t tell a linear story.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, co-showrunner Ryan Condal revealed that the Game of Thrones spin-off will jump through time several times.

“This is how you tell this story correctly,” said Condal. “We’re telling a story of a generational war. We set everything up so by the time that first sword stroke falls, you understand all the players.”

It all came about due to a simple problem – at what point should the show start?

The rich history of Games of Thrones makes that a little problematic. After all, there are so many places that would provide an excellent jumping-off point. Ultimately though, they decided to tell the story of House Targaryen using multiple time periods.

The show begins with its female leads as teenagers (played by Emily Carey and Milly Alcock). Halfway through the season, the story jumps 10 years forward, allowing Olivia Cooke and Emma D’Arcy to take over the roles.

As for the show’s two male leads, these are both a little older and played by the same actors throughout.

“It made me nervous,” said HBO chief content officer Casey Bloys. “It’s hard enough to cast any role, but if you’re casting two characters of different ages, you have to be right four times. Now that I’ve seen the result, I feel really good about it.”

House of the Dragon is set two hundred years before the events of Game of Thrones.

Starring Paddy Considine and Emma D’Arcy, it chronicles the ultimate fall of House Targaryen, including the Targaryen civil war, also known as the Dance of the Dragons.

House of the Dragon also happens to be the first Game of Thrones spin-off to head to our screens, with an earlier project canceled despite being made into a $30 million pilot. Then there’s the upcoming Jon Snow series, which will presumably act as more of a sequel.

Thankfully, you won’t have to wait long to watch the inter-generational exploits of House Targaryen – House of the Dragon will debut on HBO on August 21, 2022.

Want to find out more about Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon? Check out the latest details from the show and find out everything you need to know before it airs.

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

Marvel’s Black Widow is once again a legal battleground between Marvel and its talent.

The co-creators of Yelena Belova say they thought they had signed a contract entitling them to $25k apiece for the Black Widow movie and the various other appearances that came along with it, such as action figures and video games. Instead, they were paid just $5k.

“Having spoken to a number of creators, Marvel’s financial offerings seem a bit of a bait and switch,” artist J.G. Jones told The Hollywood Reporter. “They throw out a large number, then little by little they whittle down the actual payout.”

“It’s like the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes,” said writer Devin Grayson. “You could win $1 million, but you won’t.”

Essentially, the contract seems to offer very clear terms of payment. Her agreement, signed in 2007, states that Grayson would receive $25,000 for a theatrical film appearance of the character, $2,000 for an episode of TV over 30 minutes, and $1,000 for an episode of TV 30 minutes or less.

There’s even an agreement for toy sales and other merchandising, including action figure sales - $5,000 for one figure released in a single year, $10,000 for two, or $25,000 for three or more. When it comes to video games, there was a maximum of $30,000 to be shared among all creators who had a character in the game.

Not exactly huge amounts for properties that regularly make the company billions of dollars. Unfortunately, it doesn’t end there.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the contract includes language that would grant Marvel broad discretion to dramatically lower payments.

One method of doing so is to split the sum of $25,000 between both artist and writer, meaning that Grayson and Jones would only ever have been entitled to a maximum of $12,500 each. Worse still, if the film features more than one character covered by a Special Character Agreement, the company is entitled to share the pot among all creators involved in that film.

Essentially, that original $25,000 would be shared between all stakeholders, including those behind characters such as Red Guardian and Melina Vostokoff. However, a Marvel source states that there is no ceiling to payments made in these cases – it’s likely that the studio paid more than $25,000 to all the artists and writers involved in the film.

Quite how much, remains a mystery,

Another way Marvel allegedly reduces its payments is by classifying some appearances as cameos. If a character appears for less than 15 percent of the film’s runtime, that’s considered a cameo, and this also reduces the amount creators are entitled to.

Hilariously, as THR points out, Captain America would be considered a cameo in Avengers: Infinity War after he only appeared for less than 7 minutes and 30 seconds.

Additionally, the Special Character Agreement – the contract at the heart of this dispute – is said to include an NDA, stopping writers and artists from speaking out. In many ways, creators who refuse to sign the agreement are better off.

One such creator, Joe Casey, says he received no payment for the use of his character, America Chavez, in the recent comic book movie, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

“Maybe $5,000 means something to some kid in his early 20s that doesn’t have a career,” said Casey. “For a lot of us who have been in the business for decades, it comes off as an insult.”

Unfortunately, $5000 sounds like a huge amount compared to a more recent payment.

After Yelena Belova appeared in the recent Hawkeye series, Grayson was expecting a $2000 payment per episode as per her contract. Instead, Marvel offered her just $300 per episode.

Of course, it’s not the first time Black Widow has been the source of legal proceedings with star Scarlett Johansson accusing Disney of breach of contract in a lawsuit following the release of the film on Disney+. Johansson’s suit has since been settled.

Want to find out more about Black Widow? Check out our review of the recent Marvel comic book movie, and find out where its villains rank on our list of the best big bads.

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

Marvel’s Black Widow is once again a legal battleground between Marvel and its talent.

The co-creators of Yelena Belova say they thought they had signed a contract entitling them to $25k apiece for the Black Widow movie and the various other appearances that came along with it, such as action figures and video games. Instead, they were paid just $5k.

“Having spoken to a number of creators, Marvel’s financial offerings seem a bit of a bait and switch,” artist J.G. Jones told The Hollywood Reporter. “They throw out a large number, then little by little they whittle down the actual payout.”

“It’s like the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes,” said writer Devin Grayson. “You could win $1 million, but you won’t.”

Essentially, the contract seems to offer very clear terms of payment. Her agreement, signed in 2007, states that Grayson would receive $25,000 for a theatrical film appearance of the character, $2,000 for an episode of TV over 30 minutes, and $1,000 for an episode of TV 30 minutes or less.

There’s even an agreement for toy sales and other merchandising, including action figure sales - $5,000 for one figure released in a single year, $10,000 for two, or $25,000 for three or more. When it comes to video games, there was a maximum of $30,000 to be shared among all creators who had a character in the game.

Not exactly huge amounts for properties that regularly make the company billions of dollars. Unfortunately, it doesn’t end there.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the contract includes language that would grant Marvel broad discretion to dramatically lower payments.

One method of doing so is to split the sum of $25,000 between both artist and writer, meaning that Grayson and Jones would only ever have been entitled to a maximum of $12,500 each. Worse still, if the film features more than one character covered by a Special Character Agreement, the company is entitled to share the pot among all creators involved in that film.

Essentially, that original $25,000 would be shared between all stakeholders, including those behind characters such as Red Guardian and Melina Vostokoff. However, a Marvel source states that there is no ceiling to payments made in these cases – it’s likely that the studio paid more than $25,000 to all the artists and writers involved in the film.

Quite how much, remains a mystery,

Another way Marvel allegedly reduces its payments is by classifying some appearances as cameos. If a character appears for less than 15 percent of the film’s runtime, that’s considered a cameo, and this also reduces the amount creators are entitled to.

Hilariously, as THR points out, Captain America would be considered a cameo in Avengers: Infinity War after he only appeared for less than 7 minutes and 30 seconds.

Additionally, the Special Character Agreement – the contract at the heart of this dispute – is said to include an NDA, stopping writers and artists from speaking out. In many ways, creators who refuse to sign the agreement are better off.

One such creator, Joe Casey, says he received no payment for the use of his character, America Chavez, in the recent comic book movie, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

“Maybe $5,000 means something to some kid in his early 20s that doesn’t have a career,” said Casey. “For a lot of us who have been in the business for decades, it comes off as an insult.”

Unfortunately, $5000 sounds like a huge amount compared to a more recent payment.

After Yelena Belova appeared in the recent Hawkeye series, Grayson was expecting a $2000 payment per episode as per her contract. Instead, Marvel offered her just $300 per episode.

Of course, it’s not the first time Black Widow has been the source of legal proceedings with star Scarlett Johansson accusing Disney of breach of contract in a lawsuit following the release of the film on Disney+. Johansson’s suit has since been settled.

Want to find out more about Black Widow? Check out our review of the recent Marvel comic book movie, and find out where its villains rank on our list of the best big bads.

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

As the current conflict in Ukraine rages on, many across the world are seeking ways to help those affected. Comic book fans have a new option in the form of Flowers for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds, an anthology collection designed to benefit Operation USA's relief efforts.

Flowers for Ukraine is spearheaded and edited by IDW's Scott Dunbier, in collaboration with Zoop. This 112-page graphic novel features new stories from a number of high-profile creative teams. To get a better idea of what's being included, check out the slideshow gallery below:

Alongside stories inspired by the war in Ukraine, this book will also include new short stories from a variety of creator-owned franchises, including Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson's Astro City, Matt Wagner's Grendel, Sergio Aragones' Groo, Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo and Howard Chaykin's American Flagg. The hardcover edition features a cover by Alex Ross, while the three different softcover editions feature covers by Arthur Adams, Dave Johnson and Bill Sienkiewicz, respectively.

Comics for Ukraine is currently being crowdfunded on Zoop. While the campaign is already well past its initial fundraising goal, it's being extended to mark the start of Comic-Con and will now run until August 1.

The book will also be the focus of a special SDCC panel on Friday, July 22 at 11am PT in Room 10, where Dunbier and several creators will discuss the creation of Comics for Ukraine and officially hand over the campaign's first $100,000 check to an Operation USA representative.

For more on the ongoing situation in Ukraine, find out how Ukranian game developers are coping with the crisis, and learn more about how you can help civilians affected by the crisis.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.