The cast and showrunner of The Witcher have spoken about the future direction of the show’s planned seven seasons, and how the original novels will always be the guiding light.

Talking to IGN, The Witcher showrunner and Executive Producer, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, said of the seven season plan, “It would be a straight translation of the books… I think there's just so much material that I don't feel the need to start inventing my own to keep it going.”

“We really try to stick to a book a season,” she elaborated. “We did combine some of the short stories for the first season, and there are things in the short stories that we want to continue to return to, because there was just too much good material to tell in eight episodes. So for instance, that's why we did A Grain of Truth at the beginning of this season, and it's our hope to keep peppering those in as we go.”

“For me, it is all about the books,” said Henry Cavill, who plays Geralt of Rivia. “The books are so nuanced, and there is so much complexity to the characters in there that it is ultimately that. As far as the show goes, I just want to make sure that the character and the books are done justice in live action, because I'm always of the mind that if it's not broken, don't try and fix it. And I don't think they're broken, and I absolutely love those books. For me, that's my focus.”

“If there are things that happen after that, then exciting things to explore as well,” Cavill continued. “Because it's a fantasy world and we don't quite know what happens to Geralt at the end of the books. There's a strong suggestion, but then we also have the games, which have happened after the books, and then the games all have different endings as well, so maybe something happens after that? Maybe something has happened before that? I've actually heard that Sapkowski spoke once about writing another book, and whether it was just going to be a solo adventure of Geralt or something else I do not know, but that could be interesting to explore as well.”

As far as Hissrich is concerned, any exploration beyond the books would likely come in one of the spin-off shows. “I think that one of the beauties of building out a Witcher universe is that you can actually use those spin-offs to do slightly different things than the books did,” she said. “But to me that actually makes it even more important that in the mothership series we always stick to what Sapkowski intended. To me, I just don't think it's my responsibility to continue those stories when he clearly felt there was a natural ending.”

Henry Cavill has previously said that he is committed to playing Geralt until that ending, and Yennefer and Jaskier actors Anya Chalotra and Joey Batey are on-board, too. “I'd follow Lauren to the ends of the Earth,” said Batey. “This show has given me so much, I would support the show and be in it until the end,” added Chalotra.

Chalotra is unsure exactly where Yennefer’s story will take her over the planned seven seasons, due to the amount of original material included. “From the books we all know where it's headed, and I just can't wait to kind of fulfill that and enhance those character's storylines. A lot of Yennefer's storylines have been created, so anything's possible really.”

The same can be said for Jaskier, which makes Batey excited for what’s to come. “I think Lauren [Scmidt Hissrich] gets to have fun with some of the characters we don't see as much in the books,” he says. “And so the writing team get to go 'Ah! Fun, where do we put them in this world?'. So I'm keen for the surprises.”

Freya Allen, who plays Ciri, has one thing she definitely wants to achieve before the seven seasons are done. “One thing I definitely want is for her to finally get a nice silver sword rather than this wooden stick that she's currently got,” she says. “And I want to see her fight monsters and fight people.”

For more from The Witcher, check out the plan for introducing The Wild Hunt into the show, as well as Henry Cavill saying he’d like Blood & Wine’s Toussaint region to feature in the show. We’ve also got Henry Cavill talking about characters he’d like to play in a Warhammer show, and our The Witcher season 2 review.

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

Henry Cavill has said that he thinks Toussaint would be a good location for future storylines in The Witcher Netflix show to explore.

Talking to IGN at a recent press event for The Witcher, Cavill spoke about where the show could go beyond adapting the novels of Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski.

“We don't quite know what happens to Geralt at the end of the books,” he said. “There's a strong suggestion, but then we also have the games, which have happened after the books, and then the games all have different endings as well, so maybe something happens after that. Maybe something has happened before that.”

When asked if Toussaint, the setting of The Witcher 3’s acclaimed Blood & Wine DLC, would make a good location for the show, Cavill said, “It would be, yes, Toussaint exists within the books, and Geralt spends some time there, because he gets trapped there when the pastors get snowed in. And so I think there is a beautiful opportunity to explore Toussaint.”

But while Cavill has visited Toussaint via his reading of the Witcher novels, he’s never been there in video game form. “I actually haven't played the DLC,” he admitted. “The audacity of me! But I'm saving that because I've heard that they are both brilliant. And I'm going to perhaps sit down at Christmas with my nephews and see if we can have some fun there.”

For more, check out Henry Cavill talking about the seven-season plan for The Witcher, and which Warhammer characters he'd like to play in a TV show. We've also got The Witcher's showrunner explaining how The Wild Hunt is the show's equivalent of Thanos, and our The Witcher season 2 review.

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

Anne Rice, the Gothic author who wrote Interview With the Vampire alongside over 30 other novels, has died at the age of 80.

As reported by The New York Times, her son Christopher Rice wrote on his mother's Facebook page that she died from complications after a stroke.

"Dearest People of Page," Christopher wrote. "This is Anne's son Christopher and it breaks my heart to bring you this sad news. Earlier tonight, Anne passed away due to complications resulting from a stroke. She left us almost nineteen years to the day my father, and her husband Stan, died.

"The immensity of our family's grief cannot be overstated. As my mother, her support for me was unconditional - she taught me to embrace my dreams, reject conformity and challenge the dark voices of fear and self-doubt. As a writer, she taught me to defy genre boundaries and surrender to my obsessive passions.

"In her final hours, I sat beside her hospital bed in awe of her accomplishments and her courage, awash in memories of a life that took us from the fog laced hills of the San Francisco Bay Area to the magical streets of New Orleans to the twinkling vistas of Southern California. As she kissed Anne goodbye, her younger sister Karen said, 'What a ride you took us on, kid.' I think we can all agree.

"Let us take comfort in the shared hope that Anne is now experiencing firsthand the glorious answers to many great spiritual and cosmic questions, the quest for which defined her life and career. Throughout much of her final years, your contributions to this page brought her much joy, along with a profound sense of friendship and community.

"Anne will be interred in our family's mausoleum at Metairie Cemetary in New Orleans in a private ceremony. Next year, a celebration of her life will take place in New Orleans. The event will be open to the public and will invite the participation of her friends, readers and fans who brought her such joy and inspiration throughout her life."

Anne Rice was relatively unknown before she turned a short story she wrote in the 1960s into Interview With the Vampire in 1974 - her first published novel and one that would change her life forever. While critics weren't initially positive on her story, the public couldn't get enough.

It quickly became a best seller and Rice would go on to write over a dozen follow-up novels in her Vampire Chronicles series, and her work is widely regarded as bringing the popularity of vampires into the modern era.

In 1994, Interview With a Vampire was adapted for the big screen, and Neil Jordan directed Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Kirsten Dunst in a film based on Rice's own screenplay.

While she found success in the world of vampires, she wasn't afraid to explore other types of stories. She wrote everything from a story about the careers of two castrati in Cry to Heaven to an erotic series known as the "Sleeping Beauty" novels under the name A.N. Roquelaure.

She was also a hit with her fans, who she said made her look like the most boring one in the room.

“When I go to my signings,” she told the ABC News program “Day One” in 1993, “I’m the most boring person there. Everybody else is dripping with velvet and lace, and bringing me dead roses wrapped in leather handcuffs, and I love it.”

Anne Rice was born Howard Allen O'Brien on October 4, 1941, in New Orleans. She had been named after her father, Howard, and would adopt the name Anne by the time she was in first grade.

Her mother died when she was 15, and her father remarried and moved their family to Texas. It was there, at her high school, that she would meet her future husband Stan Rice. After an "intense correspondence" in college, Stan would propose to Anne by mail.

They married in 1961 and Stan passed away in 2002. Rice is survived by their son Christopher and her sisters Karen O'Brien, Micki Jenkins, and Tamara Tinker.

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.

Analogue has announced that preorders for the Pocket - its long-awaited handheld game console - will reopen on December 14 at 8am PT/11am ET/7pm GMT with a higher price.

Analogue announced the news in a blog post, saying that "due to industry wide component price increases, the price of Pocket is now $219. All other Pocket accessories will remain the same price." Before this price hike, the Analogue Pocket retailed for $199.

Those who are lucky enough to secure a preorder this time around - the first batch sold out in 15 minutes - will fall into one of three fulfilment groups. This is to help ensure that "everyone who wants a Pocket will be able to secure an order."

Group A currently has an estimated shipping date of Q1 2022, Group B's is Q4 2022, and Group C's is 2023. These fulfilment groups are assigned on "a first-come first-serve basis", and "your order status will be updated a few days after you place your order to reflect what fulfilment group you are in."

Analogue is limiting orders to 2 Pockets per customer, and it says this "system is put in place due to ongoing global supply constraint." Additionally, orders may be cancelled at any time for a full refund before they are shipped.

All current preorders are still on track to ship out on Monday, December 13, and Analogue has even upgraded all orders to FedEx 2-day so customers will get their orders as "quickly as possible."

The Analogue Pocket was originally announced in 2019 and allows users to play three generations of Game Boy games and another of other handheld games using adapters. It also can display games at 10 times the resolution of the originals.

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.

Analogue has announced that preorders for the Pocket - its long-awaited handheld game console - will reopen on December 14 at 8am PT/11am ET/7pm GMT with a higher price.

Analogue announced the news in a blog post, saying that "due to industry wide component price increases, the price of Pocket is now $219. All other Pocket accessories will remain the same price." Before this price hike, the Analogue Pocket retailed for $199.

Those who are lucky enough to secure a preorder this time around - the first batch sold out in 15 minutes - will fall into one of three fulfilment groups. This is to help ensure that "everyone who wants a Pocket will be able to secure an order."

Group A currently has an estimated shipping date of Q1 2022, Group B's is Q4 2022, and Group C's is 2023. These fulfilment groups are assigned on "a first-come first-serve basis", and "your order status will be updated a few days after you place your order to reflect what fulfilment group you are in."

Analogue is limiting orders to 2 Pockets per customer, and it says this "system is put in place due to ongoing global supply constraint." Additionally, orders may be cancelled at any time for a full refund before they are shipped.

All current preorders are still on track to ship out on Monday, December 13, and Analogue has even upgraded all orders to FedEx 2-day so customers will get their orders as "quickly as possible."

The Analogue Pocket was originally announced in 2019 and allows users to play three generations of Game Boy games and another of other handheld games using adapters. It also can display games at 10 times the resolution of the originals and features its own music and game design software.

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.

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.

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.