Despite not having a stellar opening domestic box office performance, West Side Story's $10.5 million debut was still enough to secure the #1 spot above Disney's Encanto.

As reported by Variety, West Side Story's box office debut was not what Disney and 20th Century Studios were hoping for as it cost $100 million to produce. There is a chance it may pick up some steam during the rest of the holiday season, but it is not a great start for a film that chose to open exclusively in theaters.

Its international run hasn't been much help either, as it has generated $4.4 million from 37 markets so far. The film's global total is now sitting at $14.9 million

Musicals on the big screen have failed to succeed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Dear Evan Hansen premiering to $7.4 million and In The Heights only bringing in $11.5 million.

In our West Side Story review, we said, "Not everything works in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story — how could it, when the 1961 classic is nigh unimpeachable? — but his visual translation of some of the original’s latent ideas makes it a complementary piece."

Encanto's win streak at the domestic box office ended at two, as it took second place with $9.4 million, making its global total reach $150 million.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife took third place with $7.1 million, House of Gucci placed fourth with $4 million, and Marvel's Eternals rounded out the top five with $3.1 million.

While this weekend's box office didn't bring in the so-called big bucks, that will undoubtedly change when Spider-Man: No Way Home swings its way exclusively into theaters on December 17.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

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

The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman's Skybound is reportedly in talks to take over both GI Joe and Transformers comics from IDW.

As reported by THR, Skybound is said to be in negotiations with Hasbro to acquire the publishing license for these two beloved properties. If successful, these new comics from Skybound would be the first GI Joe and Transformers comics from anyone but IDW since the mid-2000s.

While Kirkman is known to be a fan of toy brands and has "personally gotten involved in chasing the rights," he is not expected to write any of these new comics should the deal go through. Speaking of, these new stories will most likely not arrive on shelves until 2023.

When Hasbro re-launched GI Joe in 1982, it partnered with Marvel to not only produce a comic tie-in, but also a Saturday morning cartoon. While the show ran from 1983-1986, the comics would run until 1994. In 2001, Devil's Due took over publishing rights and made comics until 2008, when IDW secured the rights.

Marvel also began publishing Transformers comics in 1984, and IDW took over in 2005 after taking over for the now-defunct Dreamwave Productions who had the license in the early 2000s.

This may be a troubling development for IDW, as the company has also "reportedly lost rights this year to an all-ages Star Wars comic and an all-ages Marvel comic." Souces have also said Hasbro has "not been happy with the publisher’s output in recent years."

If Skybound gets its wish, the comics may be ready just in time for the release of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on June 9, 2023.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

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

The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman's Skybound is reportedly in talks to take over both GI Joe and Transformers comics from IDW.

As reported by THR, Skybound is said to be in negotiations with Hasbro to acquire the publishing license for these two beloved properties. If successful, these new comics from Skybound would be the first GI Joe and Transformers comics from anyone but IDW since the mid-2000s.

While Kirkman is known to be a fan of toy brands and has "personally gotten involved in chasing the rights," he is not expected to write any of these new comics should the deal go through. Speaking of, these new stories will most likely not arrive on shelves until 2023.

When Hasbro re-launched GI Joe in 1982, it partnered with Marvel to not only produce a comic tie-in, but also a Saturday morning cartoon. While the show ran from 1983-1986, the comics would run until 1994. In 2001, Devil's Due took over publishing rights and made comics until 2008, when IDW secured the rights.

Marvel also began publishing Transformers comics in 1984, and IDW took over in 2005 after taking over for the now-defunct Dreamwave Productions who had the license in the early 2000s.

This may be a troubling development for IDW, as the company has also "reportedly lost rights this year to an all-ages Star Wars comic and an all-ages Marvel comic." Souces have also said Hasbro has "not been happy with the publisher’s output in recent years."

If Skybound gets its wish, the comics may be ready just in time for the release of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on June 9, 2023.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

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

Keiko Nobumoto, the writer behind such anime as Cowboy Bebop, Macross Plus, Wolf's Rain, and Tokyo Godfathers, has passed away at the age of 57.

As reported by CBR, news of Nobumoto was made public via a Facebook post from writer Dai Sato, who had worked with Nobumoto in the past on Wolf's Past and Cowboy Bebop. She allegedly passed away after a battle with esophageal cancer.

Nobumoto was born on March 13, 1964 in Hokkaido and began her career as a professional screenwriter after winning the 1989 Third Fuji TV Young Scenario Grand Prix. One of her earlier works was 1991's Tobé! Kujira no Peek - a film that followed kids attempting to save an albino whale from the circus.

1994's Macross Plus OVA series was where she began her working relationship with director Shinichrio Watanabe. After the success of the series and adapted feature film, they would continue to work together on projects such as Cowboy Bebop.

Nobumoto was in charge of series composition on the beloved series, and wrote nine of the 29 episodes of the show, including "Jupiter Jazz" and "The Real Folk Blues." She also wrote 2001's Cowboy Bebop: The Movie.

On IMDB, she is listed as a producer for the "Cowboy Gospel" episode of Netflix's now-cancelled live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop.

2003's Wolf's Rain was an anime of her own creation, and she wrote nine of the 26 episodes of the series, and all four concluding OVA episodes. Throughout the rest of her career, she would also work on Tokyo Godfather and is credited as a "scenario supervisor" on Kingdom Hearts and received a "special thanks" for her work on Kingdom Hearts II.

Her work had an impact on so many, as we've ranked it as our second-favorite anime of all time, and IGN alum Jacki Jing wrote a an op-ed about how this series changed her life.

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

Keiko Nobumoto, the writer behind such anime as Cowboy Bebop, Macross Plus, Wolf's Rain, and Tokyo Godfathers, has passed away at the age of 57.

As reported by CBR, news of Nobumoto was made public via a Facebook post from writer Dai Sato, who had worked with Nobumoto in the past on Wolf's Past and Cowboy Bebop. She allegedly passed away after a battle with esophageal cancer.

Nobumoto was born on March 13, 1964 in Hokkaido and began her career as a professional screenwriter after winning the 1989 Third Fuji TV Young Scenario Grand Prix. One of her earlier works was 1991's Tobé! Kujira no Peek - a film that followed kids attempting to save an albino whale from the circus.

1994's Macross Plus OVA series was where she began her working relationship with director Shinichrio Watanabe. After the success of the series and adapted feature film, they would continue to work together on projects such as Cowboy Bebop.

Nobumoto was in charge of series composition on the beloved series, and wrote nine of the 29 episodes of the show, including "Jupiter Jazz" and "The Real Folk Blues." She also wrote 2001's Cowboy Bebop: The Movie.

On IMDB, she is listed as a producer for the "Cowboy Gospel" episode of Netflix's now-cancelled live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop.

2003's Wolf's Rain was an anime of her own creation, and she wrote nine of the 26 episodes of the series, and all four concluding OVA episodes. Throughout the rest of her career, she would also work on Tokyo Godfather and is credited as a "scenario supervisor" on Kingdom Hearts and received a "special thanks" for her work on Kingdom Hearts II.

Her work had an impact on so many, as we've ranked it as our second-favorite anime of all time, and IGN alum Jacki Jing wrote a an op-ed about how this series changed her life.

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

Fans of Persona have reason to celebrate as iam8bit has just put a special Persona 25th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set that gathers newly remastered music from Persona 1-5 together in one beautiful package.

Not only is iam8bit offering up the Persona 25th anniversary box set, but the vinyl soundtracks of Persona 1 + 2, Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5 will also be made available. Additionally, each cover comes with new art from Drew Wise.

Today we're announcing iam8bit's most ambitious project ever: The Persona 25th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set! This collection bundles together 15 LPs with 8.5 hours of music from Persona 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Pre-orders open 7AM PT on 12/14. https://t.co/iDY96aY98R #P25th @Atlus_West pic.twitter.com/SbUUCEpAJU

— iam8bit (@iam8bit) December 10, 2021

The Persona 25th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set will cost $400 USD and will be released in two waves, with the first wave shipping in Q3 2022 and the second wave shipping in 2023. Pre-orders will open on December 14 at 7amPT/10am ET/3pm GMT.

The box set comes packaged with 15 vinyl that feature "over 8.5 hours of newly remastered music from Persona 1, 2 (Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment), 3, 4 and 5." Each vinyl is colored to the proper color for each game and the set includes "exclusive sticker sheets and post card pack-ins unique to each game."

The individual Persona vinyl will be released in Q3 2022 and will all cost $100 USD, except for the Persona 1 + 2 vinyl that will run $89.99 USD. Pre-orders for these will also open on December 14 at 7amPT/10am ET/3pm GMT.

This wasn't the only good news for fans of Persona this week, as The Game Awards 2021 revealed that Persona 4 Arena Ultimax will be arriving on PS4, Switch, and PC in 2022.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

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

Fans of Persona have reason to celebrate as iam8bit has just put a special Persona 25th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set that gathers newly remastered music from Persona 1-5 together in one beautiful package.

Not only is iam8bit offering up the Persona 25th anniversary box set, but the vinyl soundtracks of Persona 1 + 2, Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5 will also be made available. Additionally, each cover comes with new art from Drew Wise.

Today we're announcing iam8bit's most ambitious project ever: The Persona 25th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set! This collection bundles together 15 LPs with 8.5 hours of music from Persona 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Pre-orders open 7AM PT on 12/14. https://t.co/iDY96aY98R #P25th @Atlus_West pic.twitter.com/SbUUCEpAJU

— iam8bit (@iam8bit) December 10, 2021

The Persona 25th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set will cost $400 USD and will be released in two waves, with the first wave shipping in Q3 2022 and the second wave shipping in 2023. Pre-orders will open on December 14 at 7amPT/10am ET/3pm GMT.

The box set comes packaged with 15 vinyl that feature "over 8.5 hours of newly remastered music from Persona 1, 2 (Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment), 3, 4 and 5." Each vinyl is colored to the proper color for each game and the set includes "exclusive sticker sheets and post card pack-ins unique to each game."

The individual Persona vinyl will be released in Q3 2022 and will all cost $100 USD, except for the Persona 1 + 2 vinyl that will run $89.99 USD. Pre-orders for these will also open on December 14 at 7amPT/10am ET/3pm GMT.

This wasn't the only good news for fans of Persona this week, as The Game Awards 2021 revealed that Persona 4 Arena Ultimax will be arriving on PS4, Switch, and PC in 2022.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

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

In a new six-part documentary series Microsoft has said that its handling of Lionhead Studios, which was shut down in 2016, was a “mistake” that helped shape the way Microsoft now works with its acquired developers.

The sixth episode of Power On: The Story of Xbox features a short segment dedicated to Lionhead. “One of the biggest missteps that we learned from in the past was Lionhead,” said Shannon Loftis, who was General Manager of Global Games Publishing when Lionhead was shuttered. “We had already published Fable 1, and it was a hit... People wanted more, and so we bought Lionhead. Those were good years.

“But after Fable 2, Kinect came along and the Fable-Kinect marriage just never really took,” she explained. “And then Fable: The Journey was a passion project for a lot of people, but I think it deviated pretty significantly from the pillars of what made Fable 1 and 2 so popular.”

“We acquired Lionhead in 2006, and shut it down in 2016,” said Sarah Bond, Head of Game Creator Experiences and Ecosystem at Xbox. “A couple of years later we reflected back on that experience. What did we learn, and how do we not repeat our same mistakes?”

So what did Microsoft learn? “You acquire a studio for what they’re great at now, and your job is to help them accelerate how they do what they do, not them accelerate what you do,” said Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox.

It’s clear, at least among those interviewed for the documentary, that Microsoft realises that they messed up with the British studio. “I wish Lionhead were still a viable studio,” said Loftis.

While Lionhead is sadly no more, the studio's legacy lives on with a new Fable game, currently in development at Playground Games. This new version will balance old and new ideas for the fantasy RPG, and will be built on the Forza engine, which is no bad thing considering Forza Horizon 5 is one of the most beautiful games ever made.

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

In a new six-part documentary series Microsoft has said that its handling of Lionhead Studios, which was shut down in 2016, was a “mistake” that helped shape the way Microsoft now works with its acquired developers.

The sixth episode of Power On: The Story of Xbox features a short segment dedicated to Lionhead. “One of the biggest missteps that we learned from in the past was Lionhead,” said Shannon Loftis, who was General Manager of Global Games Publishing when Lionhead was shuttered. “We had already published Fable 1, and it was a hit... People wanted more, and so we bought Lionhead. Those were good years.

“But after Fable 2, Kinect came along and the Fable-Kinect marriage just never really took,” she explained. “And then Fable: The Journey was a passion project for a lot of people, but I think it deviated pretty significantly from the pillars of what made Fable 1 and 2 so popular.”

“We acquired Lionhead in 2006, and shut it down in 2016,” said Sarah Bond, Head of Game Creator Experiences and Ecosystem at Xbox. “A couple of years later we reflected back on that experience. What did we learn, and how do we not repeat our same mistakes?”

So what did Microsoft learn? “You acquire a studio for what they’re great at now, and your job is to help them accelerate how they do what they do, not them accelerate what you do,” said Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox.

It’s clear, at least among those interviewed for the documentary, that Microsoft realises that they messed up with the British studio. “I wish Lionhead were still a viable studio,” said Loftis.

While Lionhead is sadly no more, the studio's legacy lives on with a new Fable game, currently in development at Playground Games. This new version will balance old and new ideas for the fantasy RPG, and will be built on the Forza engine, which is no bad thing considering Forza Horizon 5 is one of the most beautiful games ever made.

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

343 Industries has confirmed that Halo Infinite's multiplayer will not only get Slayer, Fiesta, Free-For-All, and Tactical Slayer (SWAT) playlists on December 14, but there will also be changes to make challenges less frustrating.

Halo's community director Brian Jarrard shared the news on Reddit, confirming that the much-requested Slayer playlist will be available to all Spartans very soon.

Jarrard notes that the "team's original plans for a Slayer playlist included a variety of new variants that weren't going to be ready in time to deploy before the holiday break." In the meantime, players will still be able to enjoy a "basic Slayer offering to start and [the team] will look to bolster and expand with more variants in a future update."

Alongside these new playlists, 343 is also adjusting challenges to remove "some particularly frustrating mode-specific ones, reducing some requirements for others, making the weekly ultimate challenge less intensive (getting there is tough enough), and adding brand new challenges specific to the new playlists."

There will even be one that is "based on accumulating player score" and is a "small initial step towards 'performance based XP.'" 343 will share more details about these changes on next week's Halo Waypoint.

To end the post, Jarrard also wanted to let Halo Infinite players know that the team is "aware and actively investigating reports of intermittent hiccups affecting some players in BTB over the last few days." It is also continuing to look at Ranked matchmaking and "player feedback around potential anomalies."

The lack of dedicated playlists was one of the few complaints that we and many others had for Halo Infinite's otherwise "spectacular modern version of gaming's most esteemed first-person shooters."

While you wait for these new playlists to arrive, we hope you enjoy your time exploring Zeta Halo in Halo Infinite's campaign. If you haven't check it out yet, be sure to read our thoughts on how Master Chief's latest adventure turned out.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

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