Sonos has launched its new voice control software that features the voice of Star Wars, Breaking Bad, and Far Cry 6 villain Giancarlo Esposito.

Best known for his roles as Gideon in The Mandalorian and Gus Fring in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Esposito was chosen by Sonos as a voice familiar to U.S. customers.

"With careful recording, advanced processing and mastering, the voice is natural, unobtrusive, yet confident and engaging," Sonos said in its announcement.

The voice control software will be available in all voice-capable Sonos speakers on June 1, which start at $179 before climbing into the high hundreds.

While Sonos is only launching the software in the U.S. (and France later this year), it said more voices will join Esposito's in the future, as it expands to more people and places – meaning we may see different actors to match what's popular in different countries.

The system's voice control system is apparently designed with privacy in mind, with Sonos making clear that any commands will be processed solely in the device and not transferred to the cloud or anywhere else to be listened to or analysed.

"One of the most natural ways to connect to your music is with your voice, but when we speak to our customers, we hear that privacy concerns mean many are choosing not to use voice control," said vice president of voice experience Joseph Dureau.

"Created purely for listening on Sonos and designed with privacy at its core, Sonos Voice control delivers the Sonos app experience using only your voice."

Various celebrities and characters have already arrived on Amazon's Alexa, headlined by Samuel L. Jackson but also including Shaquille O'Neal, Deadpool, and R2-D2.

Thumbnail image credit: RB/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

NASA is using Epic Games' Unreal Engine 5 to create a virtual reality environment that will help prepare astronauts for life on Mars.

The project is still in its early stages, and while Epic Games is better known for its collaborations regarding Fortnite, the developer is teaming up with NASA (alongside the simulation's creator Buendea) to launch a competition letting developers submit Mars-themed assets and scenarios to be used in the engine.

Using NASA and Buendea's Mars XR Operations Support System, budding astronauts will be able to simulate aspects of Mars life, from building a home base, performing maintenance, exploring the planet on foot or by rover, conducting detailed scientific research, and more.

NASA is offering a prize pool of $70,000 across five categories in the competition: 'Set Up Camp', i.e. building the initial base; 'Scientific Research', such as geological surveys; 'Maintenance', which includes automated robots; 'Exploration', so tools for getting around; and 'Blow Our Minds', which is anything that NASA hasn't thought of yet.

All successful submissions will be added to the Mars XR simulation which, though still in its early stages, already has 400 square kilometres of realistic Mars terrain programmed in, with full Martian days that transition from the orange hues in the day to blue at night.

Realistic weather conditions, Martian gravity, and a handful of existing assets, such as space suits and rovers, are also already built.

Unreal Engine 5 was released in April and developers are already doing some pretty impressive stuff. Working by himself, Lorenzo Drago created an incredibly realistic scene of a Japanese train station that's almost indistinguishable from real life.

While these ones wouldn't necessarily be suitable for Mars - though maybe NASA's "blow our minds" category - a Superman-style flight experience and Spiderman demo have also shown off Unreal Engine 5's incredible graphics.

Several game studios have also confirmed they're now developing games using Unreal Engine 5, including the new Tomb Raider game from Crystal Dynamics and the new game in the Witcher saga from CD Projekt Red.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Crimes of the Future hasn't even received a wide release yet, but director David Cronenberg is already working on his next film. The veteran filmmaker is so well-known that his name is directly associated with the body horror genre he popularized. If you're a horror fan, "Cronenberg" is whispered in hushed tones for his combination of thoughtful narrative and shocking imagery.

According to Deadline, Cronenberg's next film is called The Shrouds. The film will star Vincent Cassel, who previously worked with the director on Eastern Promises and A Dangerous Method.

Cassel will play a man named Karsh, who has invented a device that allows people to view their loved ones decomposing in real-time. Karsh is a widower himself, using his invention to help connect people with their dead loved ones. When his unique and state-of-the-art cemetery is attacked, several graves are vandalized, including the grave of his wife. The story is about Karsh's responses to the attack and how it forces him to take stock of his past and future.

Producers Saïd Ben Saïd, Martin Katz, and Michel Merkt, who previously worked with Cronenberg on Maps To The Stars, are currently looking for distributors and The Shrouds is expected to start filming in 2023. "We are thrilled to be going on a journey into the newest world from the distinctive imagination of David Cronenberg. His ability to write smart and unconventional screenplays and then translate them into unique experiences on screen makes him a unique voice in film,” said Ben Saïd.

Right now, Cronenberg is at Cannes showing off Crimes of the Future, a film that's actually unrelated to his 1970 short film of the same name. The film involves a performance artist in a future where body modification is the norm. Cronenberg recently said that he expects walkouts during screenings of the film at Cannes. He joked that viewers "might be revulsed to the point that they want to leave." Crimes of the Future is getting an official release in June.

Crimes of the Future is the latest release from the 79-year-old director. Cronenberg rose to prominence with science fiction body horror, including films like Scanners, Videodrome, and The Fly. That said, he's also done more straightforward dramas and thrillers, like Crash, A History of Violence, and A Dangerous Method. His son, Brandon Cronenberg, also has a directorial career with his last film being 2020's Possessor.

Mike Williams is a freelance writer at IGN

Crimes of the Future hasn't even received a wide release yet, but director David Cronenberg is already working on his next film. The veteran filmmaker is so well-known that his name is directly associated with the body horror genre he popularized. If you're a horror fan, "Cronenberg" is whispered in hushed tones for his combination of thoughtful narrative and shocking imagery.

According to Deadline, Cronenberg's next film is called The Shrouds. The film will star Vincent Cassel, who previously worked with the director on Eastern Promises and A Dangerous Method.

Cassel will play a man named Karsh, who has invented a device that allows people to view their loved ones decomposing in real-time. Karsh is a widower himself, using his invention to help connect people with their dead loved ones. When his unique and state-of-the-art cemetery is attacked, several graves are vandalized, including the grave of his wife. The story is about Karsh's responses to the attack and how it forces him to take stock of his past and future.

Producers Saïd Ben Saïd, Martin Katz, and Michel Merkt, who previously worked with Cronenberg on Maps To The Stars, are currently looking for distributors and The Shrouds is expected to start filming in 2023. "We are thrilled to be going on a journey into the newest world from the distinctive imagination of David Cronenberg. His ability to write smart and unconventional screenplays and then translate them into unique experiences on screen makes him a unique voice in film,” said Ben Saïd.

Right now, Cronenberg is at Cannes showing off Crimes of the Future, a film that's actually unrelated to his 1970 short film of the same name. The film involves a performance artist in a future where body modification is the norm. Cronenberg recently said that he expects walkouts during screenings of the film at Cannes. He joked that viewers "might be revulsed to the point that they want to leave." Crimes of the Future is getting an official release in June.

Crimes of the Future is the latest release from the 79-year-old director. Cronenberg rose to prominence with science fiction body horror, including films like Scanners, Videodrome, and The Fly. That said, he's also done more straightforward dramas and thrillers, like Crash, A History of Violence, and A Dangerous Method. His son, Brandon Cronenberg, also has a directorial career with his last film being 2020's Possessor.

Mike Williams is a freelance writer at IGN

Fans of the Chrono series have clamored for a sequel for years, ever since the 2000 release of Chrono Cross posed even more questions about the Square RPG's universe. And while the March release of the Chrono Cross: Radical Dreamers Edition was just a remaster, not a new entry, it did contain a hidden snippet of new content from the original creator himself: Masato Kato.

Spoilers Ahead for the Ending of Chrono Cross: Radical Dreamers Edition! Read at your own risk if you have not finished both Chrono Cross and the packed-in text-based adventure Radical Dreamers:

The new content is small, subtle, and may not be an obvious find for most players. To access it, you need to first complete both Chrono Cross and the text-based adventure Radical Dreamers, obtaining at least one ending for both.

Once you do, you'll need to go to the main menu of the Radical Dreamers Edition (where you select which of the two games you want to play) and choose to watch the credits. Watch them through to the end, and you stumble upon the following text over a black background, without imagery, music, or animation:

That's a lot of text, sure, but what does it mean? IGN reached out to Square Enix for comment, and while the publisher declined to comment on the meaning or context behind this addition, it did confirm that it was written by the original Chrono Cross creator: Masato Kato.

The clear takeaway from this extra content seems to confirm the identity of one of the protagonists of Radical Dreamers: Magil, the mysterious magician. Though it's largely been accepted by the fan community over the years that Magil is in fact the once-antagonist and late party member of Chrono Trigger, Magus, this section of text seems to fully canonize that theory, by giving us a look at Magil's perspective of the final battle in Radical Dreamers and tying it to memories that would only have been experienced by Magus.

As a refresher, Magus is the secondary villain of a large portion of Chrono Trigger. Once the young prince of the magical kingdom of Zeal, his mother's attempt to gain power through the space parasite Lavos sends him hurtling through time into the middle ages, separating him from his sister Schala. He then makes it his mission to kill Lavos and find Schala, ultimately gathering an army in the middle ages and facing off against the protagonist Crono and his friends. When they spare his life, he joins the party and ultimately fights Lavos with them, but neither Chrono Trigger nor Chrono Cross sees him reunited with Schala despite her rescue from a Lavos offshoot at the end of Chrono Cross.

Another possible read of this text is that it's either a hint toward future Chrono content or, alternatively, a final farewell to the Chrono franchise from Kato himself. Magus' lines seem to suggest the coming of a new battle, but the final line cryptically implies that while individual moments and stories may eventually end, the memories of those moments live on as their legacy.

Whatever the true meaning is, it's incredible that Kato stepped in to create new content, however secretive, over two decades after the Chrono franchise was shelved. We loved the original Chrono Cross and recommend people take this opportunity to play the strange artifact that is Radical Dreamers now that it's more widely available. Hopefully we get a chance to see more of Kato's work in the near future.

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

Fans of the Chrono series have clamored for a sequel for years, ever since the 2000 release of Chrono Cross posed even more questions about the Square RPG's universe. And while the March release of the Chrono Cross: Radical Dreamers Edition was just a remaster, not a new entry, it did contain a hidden snippet of new content from the original creator himself: Masato Kato.

Spoilers Ahead for the Ending of Chrono Cross: Radical Dreamers Edition! Read at your own risk if you have not finished both Chrono Cross and the packed-in text-based adventure Radical Dreamers:

The new content is small, subtle, and may not be an obvious find for most players. To access it, you need to first complete both Chrono Cross and the text-based adventure Radical Dreamers, obtaining at least one ending for both.

Once you do, you'll need to go to the main menu of the Radical Dreamers Edition (where you select which of the two games you want to play) and choose to watch the credits. Watch them through to the end, and you stumble upon the following text over a black background, without imagery, music, or animation:

That's a lot of text, sure, but what does it mean? IGN reached out to Square Enix for comment, and while the publisher declined to comment on the meaning or context behind this addition, it did confirm that it was written by the original Chrono Cross creator: Masato Kato.

The clear takeaway from this extra content seems to confirm the identity of one of the protagonists of Radical Dreamers: Magil, the mysterious magician. Though it's largely been accepted by the fan community over the years that Magil is in fact the once-antagonist and late party member of Chrono Trigger, Magus, this section of text seems to fully canonize that theory, by giving us a look at Magil's perspective of the final battle in Radical Dreamers and tying it to memories that would only have been experienced by Magus.

As a refresher, Magus is the secondary villain of a large portion of Chrono Trigger. Once the young prince of the magical kingdom of Zeal, his mother's attempt to gain power through the space parasite Lavos sends him hurtling through time into the middle ages, separating him from his sister Schala. He then makes it his mission to kill Lavos and find Schala, ultimately gathering an army in the middle ages and facing off against the protagonist Crono and his friends. When they spare his life, he joins the party and ultimately fights Lavos with them, but neither Chrono Trigger nor Chrono Cross sees him reunited with Schala despite her rescue from a Lavos offshoot at the end of Chrono Cross.

Another possible read of this text is that it's either a hint toward future Chrono content or, alternatively, a final farewell to the Chrono franchise from Kato himself. Magus' lines seem to suggest the coming of a new battle, but the final line cryptically implies that while individual moments and stories may eventually end, the memories of those moments live on as their legacy.

Whatever the true meaning is, it's incredible that Kato stepped in to create new content, however secretive, over two decades after the Chrono franchise was shelved. We loved the original Chrono Cross and recommend people take this opportunity to play the strange artifact that is Radical Dreamers now that it's more widely available. Hopefully we get a chance to see more of Kato's work in the near future.

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

While it may seem that Disney films are ubiquitous, there's one major market where they're missed more often than not: China. And on today's Disney earnings call, CEO Bob Chapek told shareholders that while the situation may be complicated, he's confident that Disney's doing just fine without China, thank you very much.

On the call, one analyst pointed out that Disney has historically struggled to get its films released in China, an issue that has impacted films such as Shang-Chi and Marvel's Eternals in recent years. Each rejection has occurred for different reasons, but all of them stem from the same problem of China's government censors being incredibly strict about what content they'll permit for a box office release, as well as limiting the total number of international films they admit each year. Films have been rejected, for instance, due to casting actors who have spoken critically about the Chinese government.

As Chapek points out, both Encanto and Death on the Nile were recently released in China, and he confirmed that Disney will continue to submit films for release there. But, he adds, a given movie's success is hardly riding on the market. After all, Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness did not get a release in China, and according to Chapek, its box office earnings just crossed $500 million in less than a week.

"We're pretty confident that even without China, if it were to be that we continue to have difficulties in getting titles in there, that it doesn't really preclude our success given the relatively lower take rate that we get on the box office in China than we do across rest of the world," he said.

Chapek's figure for Dr. Strange is a jump above the previously-announced $450 million box office total from three days ago in an international release that excludes China, Russia, and Ukraine. Its US debut alone reached $185 million, ahead of Shang-Chi's $75 million and Eternals' $71 million. You can read our review of the film here.

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

While it may seem that Disney films are ubiquitous, there's one major market where they're missed more often than not: China. And on today's Disney earnings call, CEO Bob Chapek told shareholders that while the situation may be complicated, he's confident that Disney's doing just fine without China, thank you very much.

On the call, one analyst pointed out that Disney has historically struggled to get its films released in China, an issue that has impacted films such as Shang-Chi and Marvel's Eternals in recent years. Each rejection has occurred for different reasons, but all of them stem from the same problem of China's government censors being incredibly strict about what content they'll permit for a box office release, as well as limiting the total number of international films they admit each year. Films have been rejected, for instance, due to casting actors who have spoken critically about the Chinese government.

As Chapek points out, both Encanto and Death on the Nile were recently released in China, and he confirmed that Disney will continue to submit films for release there. But, he adds, a given movie's success is hardly riding on the market. After all, Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness did not get a release in China, and according to Chapek, its box office earnings just crossed $500 million in less than a week.

"We're pretty confident that even without China, if it were to be that we continue to have difficulties in getting titles in there, that it doesn't really preclude our success given the relatively lower take rate that we get on the box office in China than we do across rest of the world," he said.

Chapek's figure for Dr. Strange is a jump above the previously-announced $450 million box office total from three days ago in an international release that excludes China, Russia, and Ukraine. Its US debut alone reached $185 million, ahead of Shang-Chi's $75 million and Eternals' $71 million. You can read our review of the film here.

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

After 8 years in the MCU as the Scarlet Witch, it looks as though Elizabeth Olsen has had enough.

During an interview with the New York Times, the 33-year-old Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness star opened up about losing out on roles due to her Marvel commitments.

“It took me away from the physical ability to do certain jobs that I thought were more aligned with the things I enjoyed as an audience member,” she revealed. “And this is me being the most honest.”

Olsen made her Marvel debut in a post-credit scene in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. She then went on to join the MCU proper in Avengers: Age of Ultron as Wanda Maximoff – one of Baron Strucker’s super-powered test subjects.

She would go on to star in many more Marvel movies… but even by 2015, the frustrations were beginning to grow. One of the major films Olsen lost out on was Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster, which went on to win the jury prize at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

She previously said that losing The Lobster was a “heartbreak”

“I was in a contract [for Marvel] I could not get out of,” she explained. “So that didn’t work out.”

Now, Olsen explains that the experience left her feeling left out. “I started to feel frustrated,” she explained. “I had this job security but I was losing these pieces that I felt were more part of my being. And the further I got away from that, the less I became considered for it.”

Although Olsen appears in the recent Doctor Strange sequel, it’s unknown whether she will return. But Olsen admits that she would be tempted.

“I think I would,” she confirmed. “But it really needs to be a good story. I think these films are best when it’s not about creating content, but about having a very strong point of view — not because you need to have a three-picture plan.”

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, alongside Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch. They’re joined by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, and Xochitl Gomez.

Sam Raimi directed the movie from a script by Michael Waldron, based on characters created by comic book legends, Steve Ditko, and Stan Lee.

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

After 8 years in the MCU as the Scarlet Witch, it looks as though Elizabeth Olsen has had enough.

During an interview with the New York Times, the 33-year-old Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness star opened up about losing out on roles due to her Marvel commitments.

“It took me away from the physical ability to do certain jobs that I thought were more aligned with the things I enjoyed as an audience member,” she revealed. “And this is me being the most honest.”

Olsen made her Marvel debut in a post-credit scene in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. She then went on to join the MCU proper in Avengers: Age of Ultron as Wanda Maximoff – one of Baron Strucker’s super-powered test subjects.

She would go on to star in many more Marvel movies… but even by 2015, the frustrations were beginning to grow. One of the major films Olsen lost out on was Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster, which went on to win the jury prize at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

She previously said that losing The Lobster was a “heartbreak”

“I was in a contract [for Marvel] I could not get out of,” she explained. “So that didn’t work out.”

Now, Olsen explains that the experience left her feeling left out. “I started to feel frustrated,” she explained. “I had this job security but I was losing these pieces that I felt were more part of my being. And the further I got away from that, the less I became considered for it.”

Although Olsen appears in the recent Doctor Strange sequel, it’s unknown whether she will return. But Olsen admits that she would be tempted.

“I think I would,” she confirmed. “But it really needs to be a good story. I think these films are best when it’s not about creating content, but about having a very strong point of view — not because you need to have a three-picture plan.”

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, alongside Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch. They’re joined by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, and Xochitl Gomez.

Sam Raimi directed the movie from a script by Michael Waldron, based on characters created by comic book legends, Steve Ditko, and Stan Lee.

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