Month: February 2021

Update: Paramount+ has officially greenlit a Frasier revival series, with star Kelsey Grammer set to return.

The new series is written by Chris Harris (How I Met Your Mother) and Joe Cristalli (Life in Pieces). Harris and Cristalli will also executive produce the series alongside Grammer and Grammnet Productions’ Tom Russo and Jordan McMahon.

“Having spent over 20 years of my creative life on the Paramount lot, both producing shows and performing in several, I’d like to congratulate Paramount+ on its entry into the streaming world,” said Grammer in a statement. “I gleefully anticipate sharing the next chapter in the continuing journey of Dr. Frasier Crane.”

The original story is below:

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Dr. Frasier Crane may soon be making house calls again. TV Line reports a revival of the critically acclaimed sitcom Frasier is currently in development at Paramount+.

While it sounds as though the new series is in the early stages of development and hasn’t yet been given an official greenlight, star Kelsey Grammer is said to be attached. Production could begin as early as this summer, once Grammer finishes filming his upcoming ABC sitcom with costar Alec Baldwin.

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TV Line’s sources note Paramount is also hoping to bring back costars David Hyde Pierce, Jane Leeves and Peri Gilpin “in some capacity.” Unfortunately, with the passing of John Maloney in 2018, the revival will have to write out his character, Martin Crane.

Word of a possible Frasier revival first surfaced in 2018. At the time, Deadline reported the new series would be set somewhere other than Seattle, paving the way for a new supporting cast. It’s unclear whether that’s still the plan with the current incarnation of the series. But with Frasier making IGN’s list of cancelled shows that deserve revivals, we’re just glad to see progress on the new series.

Frasier itself is a spinoff of the NBC sitcom Cheers. In both shows Grammer played Dr. Frasier Crane, a psychiatrist who hosts a call-in radio show. Grammer won four Emmys for his portrayal, as did Pierce, who played Frasier’s younger brother, Niles Crane. The show aired for 11 seasons from 1993 to 2004 on NBC. If you’re wondering why the revival series is in the works at Paramount+ rather than NBCUniversal’s own Peacock, Paramount holds the rights to Frasier.

Paramount+ launches on March 4. This new streaming service is essentially a rebranding of the current CBS All Access service, and will “feature content from ViacomCBS’ leading portfolio of broadcast, news, sports and entertainment brands.” Paramount+ is also scheduled to launch in international markets in 2021, beginning with Australia, Latin America, and the Nordics. The service will launch alongside the streaming debut of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run.

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

A new promotional video for Destory All Humans‘ 50% off sale on Steam includes a peculiar cameo that seemingly teases a possible remake for the action-adventure game’s sequel.

In the video, revealing a midweek discount for Destroy All Humans on Steam (which also includes sales across other platforms like PlayStation and Xbox), protagonist Crypto-137 is interrupted toward the end by a clone. The clone asks if he is done flaunting yet, to which 137 says for the “little tadpole” of a clone to wait his turn because 137 is “only getting started.”

Fans of the series would immediately be able to recognize the clone, but for the uninitiated, its Cryptosporidium-138, the main protagonist of Destroy All Humans 2. What gives 138 away is his outfit, which differs from 137 in that it’s darker and clad in gold accenting instead of blue.

THQ Nordic hasn’t publicly announced anything about a potential Destroy All Humans 2 remake yet, so it’s unclear if this teaser is a nostalgic cameo to get fans reinvested in the series or something else entirely. Senior producer Martin Kreuch recently told IGN that developer Black Forest Games may be onto something and “may have more intel to share soon.”

Originally launched in 2006, Destroy All Humans 2 is a sequel in the action-adventure series. It follows Crypto-138, who poses as the US president 10 years after the first game’s events.

On Wednesday, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige took questions at the first Disney+ Television Critics Association panel where he shared details about the company’s upcoming plans for the MCU.

Feige kept things mostly spoiler-free but gave insight into the development of ongoing Marvel shows like WandaVision, and provided updates on upcoming programs including She-Hulk and Moon Knight. And Feige left things open for future plans by acknowledging the fanbase for non-Disney+ shows like Netflix’s Daredevil and ABC’s Agents of SHIELD.

Feige’s plans for the MCU on Disney+ are already well underway. The TCA panel was hosted over Zoom, but Feige answered press questions from the set of Ms. Marvel, which he says is finishing up shooting. Hawkeye is also currently filming, with Jeremy Renner returning as Clint Barton and Hailee Steinfeld joining him as Kate Bishop.

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Beyond that, Feige also said She-Hulk will begin production “in a few weeks” and a “week or so after that” Moon Knight will also go into production.

Disney+ is clearly a big focus for Feige as more MCU shows enter the production pipeline. Some of these shows are being looked at as part of multi-season series, though Feige didn’t reveal which ones:

“Some of the shows that I mentioned that we’re about to start filming, we are keeping in mind a structure that would lead into a season two and a season three in a more direct way, than, say, a show like WandaVision, which clearly goes into a feature, but it is new.”

Feige was referring to how Elizabeth Olsen, who plays Wanda Maximoff, is already slated to appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness directed by Sam Raimi. So while there’s no season two of WandaVision planned, characters jumping from a show to a movie is part of the MCU connectivity.

“Sometimes it can go into a feature then back into a series,” said Feige. “We’ve announced that Ms. Marvel, after her debut on Disney+, will be going into the second Captain Marvel film, but sometimes, and yet to be announced, we are thinking of and planning second seasons for some of the upcoming series.”

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Feige also acknowledged the popularity of some non-Disney+ shows, though he made no mention of whether they will join the MCU. Feige said there are “legions of Agents of SHIELD fans and Daredevil fans, Jessica Jones fans and Luke Cage fans” who would disagree with one reporter’s assertion that Disney+ is Marvel’s first successful TV venture.

But whether these shows will join the MCU remains unknown. Though if you know about the big WandaVision spoiler, you’ll know something like that isn’t impossible.

Outside of Marvel’s TCA panel, Loki has received an official release date in June, a month delay after previously being announced for May. In non-TCA Marvel news, it was finally revealed that the title of the next Spider-Man movie is Spider-Man: No Way Home.

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Matt T.M. Kim is News Editor at IGN.

Horizon Forbidden West, the sequel to 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn, launches on PS5 and PS4 sometime in 2021. Without a doubt, it’s one of the most anticipated releases of this year, and with a PS5 State of Play livestream scheduled for this Thursday at 2 PM PT / 5 PM ET, it’s possible we’ll learn even more details about the upcoming open-world adventure. In any case, PlayStation is clearly preparing for increased hype around the game, as new Horizon Forbidden West merch is available now from the PlayStation Gear Store. The Gear Store ships to the US, Canada, and Mexico–and most recently, it now ships to Europe as well.

The new Horizon merch line has released under developer Guerrilla Games’ Horizon Raw Materials brand and adds three T-shirts as well as three pieces of drinkware to the Gear Store’s Horizon collection. Each of the new tees is made of 100% cotton and features imagery from the game. There are also two new mugs and a water bottle, each of which has a minimalistic Horizon design and is vacuum-insulated to keep drinks hot or cold.

In addition to the new Horizon Raw Materials merch, the PlayStation Gear Store has brought back previously released Horizon products, like The Sunhawk graphic novel, Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game, and the Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete OST vinyl. So if you’re on edge waiting for news about Forbidden West, you can at least tide yourself over with some Horizon retail therapy. You can check out the full Horizon Forbidden West and Zero Dawn collection below. In some cases, merch is available for cheaper elsewhere (like Amazon), so we’ve linked that where possible.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is celebrating this week’s launch of Bravely Default II with a new Spirit Board event. The event kicks off at 10 PM PT tomorrow, February 25, and introduces the four Heroes of Light from Square Enix’s newest Switch RPG as Spirits.

The heroes are paired up to make two different Spirits: Seth & Gloria and Elvis & Adelle. Each of those will appear periodically on the Spirit Board throughout the event. You’ll also earn extra Spirit Points each time you defeat the new Bravely Default Spirits. The event runs until 10 PM PT on March 2.

Bravely Default II launches for Switch on February 26. Despite the number in its title, it’s actually the third proper installment in its series thus far, following the original Bravely Default and its sequel, Bravely Second. Bravely Default II is also a self-contained adventure, featuring an original cast of characters and story.

Ahead of Bravely Default II’s release, Square Enix recently shared a new trailer explaining the game’s battle system. A free demo for the game is also available on the Switch eShop, and everyone who downloads it before Bravely Default II launches will earn 100 bonus My Nintendo Platinum points. You can read more about the upcoming RPG in our Bravely Default II preorder guide.

Smash Bros. Ultimate’s next DLC fighters are Pyra and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The newcomers were first revealed during Nintendo’s February 2021 Direct presentation, and game director Masahiro Sakurai will give us an in-depth look at them during a dedicated Smash Bros. stream next week, on March 4. The two-in-one character is slated to arrive sometime next month.

The inaugural Gayming Awards, which was presented by EA Games and streamed exclusively on Twitch, have awarded Supergiant Games’ Hades its first Game of the Year.

Hades, Tell Me Why, and If Found… all led the way with two wins each at the Gayming Awards 2021, and most of the winners were chosen by an international judging panel of LGBTQ+ video game industry professionals. The LGBTQ Streamer of the Year Award and the Readers’ Award were decided by public vote.

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“I am so proud to be able to say we have held the world’s first LGBTQ video game award show,” The Gayming Magazine founder and editor Robin Gray said. “2020 was truly a watershed moment for LGBTQ inclusion in games and to be able to celebrate it with everyone, although virtually, was amazing! Congratulations to all the winners, well done to all the nominees and thank you again to all our sponsors! See you in 2022!”

The full list of winners of the Gayming Awards 2021 are as follows;

• Game of the Year: Hades
• Gayming Icon Award: Robert Yang
• Gayming Magazine Readers’ Award: Hades
• Best LGBTQ Indie Game Award: If Found…
• Industry Diversity Award: I Need Diverse Games
• LGBTQ Streamer of the Year: DEERE
• Best LGBTQ Character Award: Tyler Ronan – Tell Me Why
• Authentic Representation Award: Tell Me Why
• Best LGBTQ Narrative Award: If Found…

Hades was IGN’s Game of the Year for 2020, and it also took home the Best Indie Game and Best Action Game awards at The Game Awards 2020.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

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

The Halo TV series has been in development for a very long time, but it should finally see the light of day in 2022. However, the series is no longer debuting on Showtime, but will instead be exclusive to the Paramount+ streaming service.

Deadline broke the news about this latest change in direction for Halo: The Series, which is being officially announced at the ViacomCBS Streaming Event today.

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Halo: The Series has been plagued by false starts and complications for years at this point. For a while it seemed as though the show’s woes were behind it when it began production in 2020. But as with so many Hollywood projects, production was suspended due to the pandemic. Luckily, Halo is back on track. Production is back underway in Budapest, and ViacomCBS is now teasing a Q1 2022 premiere window.

Halo: The Series stars Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief, Danny Sapani and Olive Gray as Jacob and Miranda Keyes, Bokeem Woodbine as Soren-066, Shabana Azmi as Admiral Margaret Parangosky, and Bentley Kalu, Natasha Culzac and Kate Kennedy as three new Spartan characters. Natascha McElhone plays Dr. Catherine Halsey. Originally McElhone was supposed to play dual roles, also providing the voice of Master Chief’s AI partner Cortana. But due to scheduling difficulties caused by the pandemic, Cortana will now be voiced by her video game voice actress, Jen Taylor.

The Showtime series is being made in production with game developers 343 Industries and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment. Peaky Blinders and Black Mirror director Otto Bathurst is due to direct and executive produce the 9-episode first season.

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It remains to be seen which of the various Halo games, novels and comics might inspire the plot of the TV series. It’s rumored the series may break from tradition by showing Master Chief’s face, but that remains unconfirmed. IGN has been able to see Schreiber’s Mjolnir armor behind closed doors, and can report that it looks fantastic.

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

Henry Cavill, who has already brought Geralt to life in Netflix’s The Witcher, has just teased that he may be working on a project set in the Mass Effect universe.

Cavill shared an photo of himself on Instagram with the words, “Secret project? Or just a handful of paper with random words on it… Guess you’ll have to wait and see. Happy hump day all. #HumpDay #Secrets”

Included with the image was part of what appears to be a script or a “handful of paper with random words on it,” but it is too blurry to clearly make out what is on the page.

GamePressure used a program called Focus Magic to remove the blur, and the clearer image reveals such words as Cerberus, Tali’Zorah, and Geth. IGN has also used Focus Magic to fix the image and can confirm these words do appear, as you can see below.

Fans of the Mass Effect franchise will immediately know that these are words and characters pulled right from that beloved trilogy. Furthermore, it appears that the text Cavill has shown us comes directly from Mass Effect 3’s Wikipedia page.

“Following the events on Tuchanka and a failed coup by Cerberus to take over the Citadel, the quarians offer their support to the Alliance if Shepard helps them reclaim their homeworld, Rannoch, from the geth,” The Wikipedia page reads. “Assisted by a quarian, either Tali’Zorah or Admiral Daro’Xen, Shepard boards a geth dreadnought and rescues a captive geth unit, either Legion or a facsimile occupied by a geth virtual intelligence (VI), then disables the Reaper control signal over the geth.”

A possible Mass Effect movie has been in the works as far back as the late 2000s. In 2010, Legendary Pictures acquired the movie rights to the franchise and was set to feature the producers behind The Dark Knight and Spider-Man. There have been more rumors as the years have went on, but nothing too substantial has come since then.

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This could be a hint that Cavill may soon be taking on the role of Commander Shepard or another character in either a film or TV adaptation. It’s also possible he could be lending his voice to a game project or otherwise.

After a controversial ending to Mass Effect 3 and the mixed reception on Mass Effect Andromeda, BioWare is gearing up to bring Mass Effect back to its prime, and this could be another part in their plan to do so.

The Mass Effect Legendary Edition is set to be released on May 13, 2021, and BioWare has announced that a brand-new Mass Effect game is in “early production.”

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

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