Author: Trafficblast

HBO Max Orders The Real Magic Mike, An Unscripted Series About Getting Nude

HBO Max has given the green light to an unscripted competition series with the working title The Real Magic Mike, according to a release. The reality series is currently conducting a nationwide casting search, and is expected to debut on the streaming service later this year.

As the name suggests, the series is a spiritual companion to the 2012 film Magic Mike and its 2015 sequel Magic Mike XXL–both loosely based on the experiences of actor Channing Tatum, who was an 18-year-old stripper in Tampa, Florida. So, it’s only appropriate that Tatum and the producers behind the Magic Mike franchise are bringing about “an exhilarating and sexy series that will transform a group of men into real-life Magic Mikes.”

The show will feature “10 men who have ‘lost their magic'” as they “bare their souls… evolve their bodies, learn to perform spectacular routines, and develop a new level of self-confidence.” Although casting is not yet even complete and it’s unknown who will star, the release promises that “as [these contestants] strip off their clothes, they will rid themselves of emotional baggage and regain their mojo.”

What will likely also go a long way in helping them regain their mojo is the last man standing, who “will be the Real Magic Mike… [and] win a cash prize and an opportunity to perform on the blockbuster Magic Mike Live stage in Las Vegas.”

In the meantime, check out our rundown of everything coming to HBO Max this month, including the recently released Godzilla vs Kong. Mortal Kombat, hitting on April 16, is also worth making note of.

Resident Evil Village Map Shows Off Four Distinct Locales For You To Visit

An in-game map for Resident Evil Village has been revealed, showing off four distinct locales that you’ll visit when exploring the game’s new European-inspired setting.

The map, revealed by IGN, shows that Castle Dimitrescu is just one of four areas that you’ll be surviving through during the game’s runtime. This is similar in style to Resident Evil 7, which had a large focus on the Baker household but expanded beyond that later in its story. The other locales aren’t named, but do feature images depicting a windmill, reservoir, and factory.

Speaking to IGN, director Morimasa Sato explains that each new area will introduce new mechanics and dangers for you to compete with, like how Resident Evil 4 continued varying its gameplay as you travelled to new areas.

Resident Evil Village in-game map
Resident Evil Village in-game map

“When you hear the word ‘village’, you might imagine quaint houses lined up along a street, but that’s not really enough to make a video game out of,” Sato says. “Especially in a horror game, I think it’s important to keep providing new experiences along the way. Within the village, it’s important to keep delivering new surprises to the player.”

One of the other big mysteries around Village is Mother Miranda, the antagonist that Lady Dimitrescu is seen talking to in previous gameplay trailers. Sato wasn’t open to discussing Mother Miranda further, instead teasing that she will be an important character for players to discover for themselves. A new screenshot does give us a first look at the character, albeit a vague one.

A depiction of Mother Miranda
A depiction of Mother Miranda

“For Mother Miranda, I think it’s better for the players to find out for themselves by playing the game. But I’ll say this: Mother Miranda and the inner side of her character are extremely important factors in the game,” Sato concluded.

Resident Evil Village launches for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, PC, Xbox One, and PS4 on May 7. Capcom recently revealed some footage of the game running on a PS4 Pro, and is scheduled to hold another event for the sequel on April 15. If you’re looking for more Lady Dimitrescu content, a former Russian Olympian has produced probably the closest cosplay to date for the new antagonist.

Now Playing: Resident Evil Village – Official Gameplay Reveal Trailer

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Robert DeNiro Was Originally Cast As Lead In Tom Hanks’s Classic Movie Big

Actor Elizabeth Perkins recently revealed that Robert DeNiro was very nearly her co-star on the classic 1988 dramedy Big. On Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Perkins says the only reason he didn’t move forward with the role was due to “scheduling conflicts.”

Perkins says she auditioned for her role opposite DeNiro, who “was more moody” than Tom Hanks, who later stepped in to play adult Josh Baskin, who is actually a young boy who wishes to be “big” and then ages into adulthood overnight. With Hanks, the movie was funny, light, and packed with many colorful moments like performing a duet on a foot-operated electronic keyboard. Perkins says a lot about how the movie would have been different with DeNiro by not saying a whole lot: “He was more moody… it was a little bit of a horror movie.” Check out the clip of Perkins discussing it, shared online by the Bravo show.

DeNiro has long been a staple impression for comedian and more recently a go-to actor to use in deepfakes–so here’s hoping some enterprising soul out there with a lot of time on their hands makes a contribution to the world by creating a feature-length deepfake of Big with DeNiro’s face in for the Josh Baskins role. Either that, or maybe they could do reshoots with The Irishman‘s infamous digital de-aging technology?

Hanks’s most recent film is News of the World, and he has at least three other movies on the horizon, including playing Geppetto in the live-action Pinocchio. DeNiro has two films currently in post-production. Perkins recently had a memorable run on the short-lived Netflix series Glow, playing Birdie Howard.

Mortal Kombat’s Classic Techno Anthem Gets A New Movie Remix: Listen To It Here

With a new Mortal Kombat film on the way this month, The Immortal’s classic Techno Syndrome track that was introduced in the 1995 movie has been remastered and updated by Shazam composer Benjamin Wallfisch. Famed Skrillex and Lady Gaga music producer Tom Norris added some additional audio engineering to the track, which you can listen to below

“When I was invited to come on board Mortal Kombat, I was very aware of the responsibility that comes with scoring a franchise so deeply embedded in pop culture and with such a passionate fanbase,” Wallfisch said in a press statement about remastering the cult classic track. After receiving the blessing of The Immortals to reimagine the EDM single, Wallfisch got to work alongside Mortal Kombat director Simon McQuoid to update the track while retaining its uplifting energy.

“Ben and I both knew that we needed to use the classic Immortals track Techno Syndrome as source material for the entire score of Mortal Kombat,” McQuiod added. “But along with that we knew that an updated elevated version of the song also needed to be created. And Ben certainly delivered, I am so excited by this new 2021 version of the track, when I first heard it, it blew my mind. Actually, Ben kind of blew my mind on a daily basis through the making of this film, so we can all thank Benjamin Wallfisch for his genius and passion in creating Techno Syndrome 2021.”

The full soundtrack will be released on April 16 and features 24 tracks by Wallfisch, with a number of the tracks being dedicated to characters such as Raiden, Sub-Zero, Sonya Blade, Shang Tsung, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, and the film’s original character Cole Young. If you’re interested in picking it up, it’ll be available on multiple music streaming and download services such as Apple Music, Deezer, Spotify, the iTunes Store, and more.

This isn’t the first time that Mortal Kombat’s signature track has been remastered either, as Mortal Kombat 11‘s launch trailer also featured a catchy adaptation of the Earthrealm anthem.

Just like the games, Mortal Kombat features Earth’s greatest champions uniting to fight back against the forces of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe. Unlike the previous two films, this version of Mortal Kombat is rated R and if you’ve seen its red band trailer, you’ll know that it more than earns its age restriction for its brutal violence.

Mortal Kombat was delayed by a week and will be released in theatres and on HBO Max on April 23. It’ll be available on the streaming service for a period of one month before it moves to regular On Demand platforms. The film stars Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, Josh Lawson as Kano, Sisi Stringer as Mileena, Max Huang as Kung Lao, Lewis Tan as Cole Young, and Chin Han as Shang Tsung.

March’s Top-Selling PSN Games Revealed For PS5, PS4, PSVR, And Free-To-Play

Sony has announced the most-downloaded games on the PlayStation Network for March 2021 in the US, Canada, and Europe, and there are few surprises to be found.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War took the top spot for PS5 in the US and Canada, with Spider-Man: Miles Morales, NBA 2K21, It Takes Two, and Rainbow Six Siege rounding out the top five. For Europe, FIFA 21 was No. 1 in March.

On PS4, Grand Theft Auto V remains a top-seller, coming in at No. 3 in both the US/Canada and Europe. It’s an extremely impressive result for the game that originally released for that system 2014. Overall, GTA V has sold more than 140 million copies, and it’s expected to grow bigger still in 2021 with its release on PS5/Xbox Series X and the launch of GTA Online standalone.

On the free-to-play charts, Fortnite reigned supreme in the US/Canada and Europe, taking the top spot in each region. Call of Duty: Warzone was the second most-downloaded free game in the US/Canada, while Rocket League was No. 2 in Europe.

For PlayStation VR games, Beat Saber was No. 1 in the US/Canada and Europe, with Job Simulator and Superhot VR making up the second and third most-downloaded games in each region. You can see the top ten most-downloaded PS5 games below, while the complete download charts can be seen here on the PlayStation Blog.

Top 10 Most-Downloaded PS5 Games On PSN For March 2021

US/Canada Europe
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War FIFA 21
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
NBA 2K21 It Takes Two
It Takes Two Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Demon’s Souls WRC 9 FIA World Rally Championship
FIFA 21 Mortal Kombat 11
Watch Dogs: Legion Demon’s Souls

Now Playing: Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War – Official “Season Two Reloaded” Trailer

Black Adam Movie For DC Casts Bodhi Sabongui Cast In Mystery Role

Bodhi Sabongui, the 13-year-old Canadian-American actor from A Million Little Things and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, has joined the cast of Black Adam, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Sabongui’s role is being kept secret but it’s believed to be “a key role in the Black Adam-DC canon.”

Keeping his role under wraps is consistent with previous casting announcements–The Old Guard’s Marwan Kenzari was also recently cast in a mystery role–but also in stark contrast to Black Adam’s recent addition of Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate. Aside from the movie’s overall arc and role of introducing the Justice League of America to the DC movie universe, all we really know so far is Black Adam will also feature Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell), and, of course, Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson). A recent teaser has Johnson saying, “The hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change.”

Filming on Black Adam is expected to begin in April, and the movie is due out July 29, 2022–moved up several months from its original release date of December 2022. Black Adam is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who also directed Johnson in the upcoming Disney film Jungle Cruise.

Check out our list keeping track of every upcoming DC movie we know about so far, including The Suicide Squad in August and The Batman in March 2022.

Hotel Transylvania 4 Gets New July 23 Release Date

Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, the fourth movie in the popular animated franchise, has a new release date. It’ll now hit theaters on July 23.

The movie was originally set for release in December last year and was subsequently delayed to August 6. By moving forward two weeks, it will avoid a clash with highly anticipated DC movie The Suicide Squad. The only other film currently set for wide release on July 23 is M Night Shyamalan’s thriller Old.

Sony has also released new title treatment for Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, which you can see below:

No Caption Provided

The Hotel Transylvania series focuses on the adventures of the monsters who live in the hotel of the title. The new movie once again stars Adam Sandler as Dracula, Selena Gomez as Dracula’s daughter Mavis, and Andy Samberg as Mavis’s human husband Johnny. It’s directed by Jennifer Kluska and Derek Drymon, and written by Genndy Tartakovsky, who helmed the previous three films.

The first movie was released in 2012, and the series has grossed over $1.3 billion at the worldwide box office so far. There has also been a Hotel Transylvania animated Disney Channel show, two short films, and several video games.

Sony Has An Xbox Game Pass “Counterpunch,” God Of War Creator Says

Xbox Game Pass doesn’t really have a comparable service on PlayStation systems, with the streaming service PlayStation Now not offering same-day launch for Sony’s games or the same selection from other companies. According to the original God of War director, however, that could be changing in some fashion.

In YouTube stream on April 8 spotted by VGC, God of War and Twisted Metal developer David Jaffe said staff at Sony had let him know about a “counterpunch” to Xbox Game Pass. He admitted he didn’t know what for that would take, nor does it sound like he knows when there will be an announcement.

Jaffe hasn’t worked at Sony since 2007, founding a few independent developers, though he did continue working with PlayStation exclusively in the years to follow. His most-recent game was Drawn to Death, which he directed at The Bartlet Jones Supernatural Detective Agency. It was free for PlayStation Plus at launch in April 2017, and the studio closed less than a year later.

This wouldn’t be the first time Sony–or someone with information–has teased a PlayStation service that would challenge Game Pass. Back in November, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan said there was “news to come” regarding plans it has to compete with Game Pass.

Making something that really resembles Game Pass will be very difficult, if not impossible, for Sony, as Jim Ryan has said in the past. He said a Game Pass model would not be “sustainable,” adding that they can cost over $100 to create, in some cases. PS Now offers streaming for a selection of games via several devices, but not every game can be downloaded. PlayStation Plus does also offer certain games for free when they launch, such as Oddworld: Soulstorm, but it’s relatively rare.

Now Playing: Best Games On Xbox Game Pass

Call Of Duty: Warzone Zombies Outbreak Is Getting Worse

The zombies outbreak in Call of Duty: Warzone is getting worse. A new teaser for the rumored nuke event has appeared online, alerting players that the containment levels have reached 66% and telling them not to worry as part of what is certainly propaganda and a big lie that is trying to cover up the truth of what is going down in Verdansk.

The message posted by Armistice Central Command alerts players that the zombie outbreak, while it is getting worse, is nothing to worry about.

Uh oh
Uh oh

“Per recent models, everything is under control,” the message says. “We can assure you that the estimated threat, and physical manifestations thereof, continue to be at manageable levels. Without a full and clear picture, personal evidence of so-called ‘zombie’ activities from Operators on the ground continue to be speculative and anecdotal.”

The 66% containment level might be concerning, but Armistice Central Command says this pertains to the presence of toxic matter and not total contamination.

“We are aware that numerous forms of this hostile force have manifested, and that they should be neutralized immediately. We will not issue any demerits for avoiding this area entirely, but encourage any and all efforts to contain this threat within this zone,” it said.

“More importantly, I want to further assure you that everything is under control. This anomaly will be defeated. Do not falter. Hold the line. You are encouraged to stay frosty and execute the mission,” the statement goes on to say.

It’s widely believed that this is all a bunch of nonsense and propaganda, and that the zombies spread will continue to get worse until the outbreak reaches a critical state. At this point, which is said to be later this month at the end of Season 2, a nuke will go off and destroy the map, Verdansk. After this, a new, ’80s-themed map based on Black Ops Cold War will show up, according to leaks and reports.

Now Playing: Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War – Official “Season Two Reloaded” Trailer

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Muslim Advocacy Group Asks Digital Storefronts To Ban Six Days In Fallujah

A Muslim advocacy group has issued a statement asking Valve, Microsoft, and Sony not to distribute the controversial upcoming game Six Days in Fallujah, saying it glorifies violence against Iraqi civilians and reinforces anti-Muslim bigotry.

The statement issued by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a DC-based civil rights and advocacy group, called on the three major games platform-holders “not to host or digitally distribute” the game. It argues that the battle that the game is based upon killed more than 800 Iraqi civilians, and that the US military’s use of white phosphorous has led to birth defects in the years since.

“We call on Microsoft, Sony and Valve to ban their platforms from hosting ‘Six Days in Fallujah,’ an Arab murder simulator that will only normalize violence against Muslims in America and around the world,” said CAIR research and advocacy coordinator Huzaifa Shahbaz. “The gaming industry must stop dehumanizing Muslims. Video games like Six Days in Fallujah only serve to glorify violence that took the lives of hundreds of Iraqi civilians, justify the Iraq war, and reinforce anti-Muslim sentiment at a time when anti-Muslim bigotry continues to threaten human life.”

Six Days in Fallujah has been controversial since it was first announced by Atomic Games in 2009, having been based on events that at the time were only five years old. Those plans were ultimately shuttered, but it was revived just recently by Highwire Games. The messaging surrounding the game has been at times inconsistent, though, with publishing head Peter Tamte saying it is not “political commentary” followed shortly thereafter by the game’s social media acknowledging that its subject matter is “inseparable from politics.”

In particular the game has been criticized for how it appears to treat the deaths of Iraqi civilians, and how it will address the use of white phosphorous. (The US military has acknowledged using it as an incendiary weapon against combatants in the battle of Fallujah.) The first gameplay trailer showed the basics of its procedurally-generated missions, including a brief moment of interacting with civilians, but did not address some of its critics’ broader concerns.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.