Monthly Archives: April 2017
Fahrenheit 451: Michael B. Jordan, Michael Shannon to Star
Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon have joined the cast of HBO's film adaption of Fahrenheit 451.
According to TheWrap, Jordan (Creed, Fantastic Four) will star as the lead character, a "fireman" named Montag, while Shannon (Man of Steel, Boardwalk Empire) will play his mentor Captain Beatty.
Left: Michael B. Jordan in Creed; Right: Michael Shannon in Man of Steel
The film, based on Ray Bradbury's 1953 sci-fi novel of the same name, takes place in a dystopian reality set in a future America where books have been outlawed, and it's the job of "firemen" to burn any books they discover. After meeting a girl and seeing what books have to offer, Montag opposes Captain Beatty.
Assassin’s Creed Creator’s New Game No Longer Episodic
The new indie project from Assassin's Creed Creator Patrice Désilets, Ancestors, will no longer be an episodic game.
At the Reboot Develop 2017 conference (as reported by Eurogamer), Désilets revealed new information about his upcoming title, Ancestors, which includes the expansion of the project to something more akin to an open world than originally expected.
"Exclusive: the episodic nature is gone," Désilets declared, adding "I'm not sure I was supposed to say that."
The creative director of Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed 2 went on to confirm that his new game will still be "a third-person action game set between 10 to two million years ago" as was first revealed two years ago, only "now I'm letting players tell their own stories."
Wheel of Time TV Series Sets Showrunner, Production Studio
The long-in-development Wheel of Time TV series adaptation has set its showrunner and production studio, IGN has learned.
Rafe Judkins has been tapped to serve as showrunner, executive producer and writer on the Wheel of Time TV show. A longtime fan of Robert Jordan's epic 14-book fantasy series, Judkins previously wrote and produced on Marvel's Agents of SHIELD. He also wrote episodes of Chuck and wrote and produced episodes of Netflix's Hemlock Grove.
Sony Pictures Television will serve as the producing studio for the Wheel of Time adaptation. Red Eagle Entertainment and Radar Pictures will produce. Red Eagle's Rick Selvage and Larry Mondragon will act as executive producers, with Radar's Ted Field and Mike Weber and Goosebumps' Darren Lemke also serving as executive producers. Jordan's widow and longtime Wheel of Time editor Harriet McDougal will serve as consulting producer.
“Gruelling” RPG Code Vein Releases First Official Screenshots
Bandai Namco has officially whipped the cloak off its new project, Code Vein.
An early teaser flirted with Dark Souls' legacy by flashing the tagline "prepare to dine," however it gave us little details regarding how the game actually plays. Fast forward to now, and an official release has described Code Vein as a "gruelling action RPG" that takes you on "a journey across a massive interconnected world."
A series of new screenshots gives us a glimpse at what that world will look like when the game launches next year on "major home consoles." You can check them out in the gallery below.
Why Goldblum Doesn’t Resemble Grandmaster in Thor 3
During our chat with Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi at Marvel Studios' office this week, I asked the filmmaker why he opted not to give Jeff Goldblum's Grandmaster blue skin like he has in the comics. "Because he did another movie where he was blue," said Waititi. Yes, he meant the cult classic flop Earth Girls Are Easy.
Waititi added that, because it's Jeff Goldblum, he didn't want to detract from that by concealing his appearance.
The Magicians Showrunners Tease Season 3 Plans
Full spoilers for The Magicians: Season 2 finale continue below.
Magic is gone, the Fairies are invading, and all hope seems lost yet again for the main characters on Syfy's The Magicians. That's exactly the way showrunners John McNamara and Sera Gamble like it, they tell me, as I beg them to offer some preview of what's ahead in the previously announced Season 3.
We'll still have to wait a while for The Magicians to return and pick back up with these dire circumstances, but until then, here's a look at what the plans are for Quentin, Alice, Julia, Eliot, Margo, Penny, Kady and the rest of the troubled characters we love so much on The Magicians.
IGN: Like last season, you end with our heroes in such a terrible spot. What is it that appeals to you about tossing your characters in such a horrible situation, and what do you look forward to in writing them out of it?
The Last Jedi Director on Why Kylo Ren’s Scar Moved
Kylo Ren's (Adam Driver) scar in Star Wars: The Last Jedi is positioned a bit differently than it was in The Force Awakens, and director Rian Johnson has revealed why.
Upon noticing the scar on Ren's face is in a different location in The Last Jedi's teaser trailer, which debuted this past weekend at Star Wars Celebration, a fan asked Johnson on Twitter why it was moved, to which the director replied, "It was my decision to slightly adjust it, and that was my justification. It honestly looked goofy running straight up the bridge of his nose."
Split: 5 Things We Learned From Its Deleted Scenes
M. Night Shyamalan’s Split is finally out on Blu-ray, which means that audiences will now be able to analyze every frame of this disturbing little thriller and figure out how the director of The Sixth Sense managed to freak us out all over again. But films like Split don’t happen by accident and they don’t spring fully formed out of a filmmaker’s mind. There’s a lot of trial and error involved, and watching the film’s deleted scenes and “alternate ending” can go a long way towards understanding what makes this film so unexpectedly effective.
Here are the five things we learned from watching the film’s deleted scenes. Although none of them revolve directly around THAT moment (and if you’ve seen the film, you know which one I mean) it is definitely necessary to throw up a big ol’ SPOILER WARNING, just in case.
Why Heroes of the Storm 2.0 is Bigger, Bolder and Better
“It's sort of a culmination of everything that has happened in the game since launch. We have reached the point where we feel like the game is different enough that calling it 2.0 makes sense.” That’s Heroes of the Storm Lead Game Designer Travis McGeathy talking about the recent 2.0 announcement, which represents a plethora of changes coming to the game later this month. Most significantly, the popular (don’t call it a) MOBA will have its progression system overhauled, but it will now boast Loot Chests, an Overwatch-themed battleground and introduce numerous cosmetic items designed to cement the fact that you’re playing a game that celebrates all things Blizzard.
The 2.0 moniker is also a branding opportunity, of course – a convenient shorthand to drive new interest in the game and reclaim lapsed players. After all, Heroes of the Storm has seen many changes from the initial beta period until now. “There has actually been a couple of points over the past year where the community has called what we’ve done Heroes 2.0,” Travis tells me. “It's a live game and we're constantly improving it over time. We launched with a ranked version, which many refer to as the second version of the game, but we weren't happy with it so we redid it. The progression update we're talking about here is very similar. The progression system that went out the door was fine for the time, but we've kind of grown beyond that.” Timing, of course, is key and with the changes coming to the game, plus the introduction of new heroes from Diablo (Cassia, the Javazon from Diablo II) and Overwatch (ninja extraordinaire Genji), and new locations to battle in -- adding ‘2.0’ feels right.
Speedrunner 100-Percents Zelda: BotW in Under 50 Hours
The first Zelda: Breath of the Wild 100 percent speedrun has been completed by French player Xalikah, and it clocks in at just under 50 hours.
Polygon reports that the 49-hour playthrough was completed this week on Xalikah's Twitch. His entire run has been split into two parts and the archive is available to watch on his Twitch channel.
The playthrough is the first speedrun to meet the requirements for a 100-percent complete playthrough. These terms include fully upgrading Link's health, stamina, runes, and armor, finishing every quest, finishing all 120 shrines, collecting all key items, and completing the compendium and map.