Spider-Man actor Tom Holland has been cast as Nathan Drake for the upcoming Uncharted movie that won’t follow any of the previous game’s stories but instead tell a new one focusing on a young Drake.
Had Sony Pictures went with a 1:1 adaptation of the games, actor Nolan North–who plays Drake in the game series–believes Chris Pine would have been a top choice for the role. North had a small role in Star Trek: Into Darkness, and working with Pine on some scenes, he saw that Pine would have made a very fitting Drake.
“I got to watch Chris Pine work, and [I] sat with him at lunch. One time in the makeup trailer I said, ‘If a script called Uncharted ever comes across your agent’s desk you should take a good hard look at it. Because I think you’d be perfect for it,'” North told Fandom.
North said he doesn’t believe it’s smart for the Uncharted movie to be a 1:1 adaptation of any of the games–which it won’t be. But if it were to be, Pine has all the qualities that would make for a good Drake, he said.
“Uncharted is a movie [already]. And you’re the star of that game. You’re the star of that movie. You’re Nathan Drake. Not me [Nolan North]. It’s my voice, it’s my movements, but you’re Nathan Drake,” North said. “You make the decision to jump, run, fall off a cliff. If they were doing a 1:1, Chris Pine is … I think he’s got the everyman quality. Charm. Humor. I really liked working with him. He’s a good solid actor and a good guy. That would be my top choice.”
The Uncharted movie also stars Mark Wahlberg as Sully. After many years and numerous delays, filming was set to begin earlier this year, but the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything. For more on the Uncharted movie, check out GameSpot’s rundown of the movie’s Development Hell.
Back in March, which feels like far longer than four months ago, Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson became some of the first high-profile cases of COVID-19, testing positive while filming in Australia. Now, Hanks is using some of the interviews for his upcoming film Greyhound to share a simple public health message–wear a mask.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly’s Today for Greyhound, Hanks also sent a message about the unfolding pandemic. “The idea of doing one’s part… should be so simple–wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands,” he said. “That alone means you are contributing to the betterment of your house, your work, your town, your society as a whole, and it’s such a small thing. It’s a mystery to me how somehow that has been wiped out of what should be ingrained in the behavior of us all.”
“Those things are so simple, so easy, if anybody cannot find it in themselves to practice those three very basic things–I just think shame on you,” he said.
Hanks has also talked about his experience with battling coronavirus back in March, saying that his main symptom had been “crippling, cracking body aches.” Hanks later donated his convalescent plasma to help research the emerging disease.
Greyhound will be available on Apple TV+ from July 10.
This week marks the beginning of Johnny Depp’s libel trial in a London courtroom, fighting The Sun’s description of him as a “wife beater” in regards to his nasty and very public divorce with ex-wife Amber Heard. The whole case could be more trouble than it’s worth for Depp’s career, according to a THR report.
Through the libel case, Depp aims to prove that he was never violent towards Amber Heard, but that she was the one who was violent towards him–however it could be a no-win situation for the actor as the details and evidence of the case are dragged out for the media all over again.
“This is not a case about money. It is about vindication,” Depp’s lawyer said in opening statements about the case, yet insiders believe Depp would be better to not drag the controversy out for longer.
Disney has announced a new entry in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise Depp has long been the backbone of–this time with Margot Robbie at the head of a woman-led cast. A source referenced by THR suggested that producer Jerry Bruckheimer would like to acknowledge Depp’s popular character in the upcoming film, but that Disney was resistant while Depp was still a controversial figure.
The experience of waking up with a foggy mind in a weird, unfamiliar hotel room is already distressing, but there are myriad ways it could be even worse. Let’s say you blacked out so hard that not only do you not remember last night, you don’t remember anything at all. Making things even more upsetting, there’s an unconscious woman with her hands tied up laying in the bathtub. The real kicker, though, would be seeing a news report with your face on it describing you as a wanted serial killer. And now someone’s knocking on your door…
Death Come True is the latest project from Danganronpa creator Kazutaka Kodaka. Much like that beloved adventure series, Death Come True places the protagonist in a horrifying, deadly situation where the only way out is to uncover the mystery of what’s really going on. But the approach here is very different: Where Danganronpa told its twisted sagas of death and despair through visual novel-style presentations, Death Come True is presented as a live-action film with branching paths. While the heavy use of full-motion video (FMV) has seen an interesting comeback in games like Her Story and Control, Death Come True hearkens back to the simpler, experimental FMV adventure games of the mid-’90s–all the while reminding us of what was good and bad about those titles.
Protagonist Makoto has no idea where he is, how he got here, or even who he is–save for the TV report describing him as a serial killer–but he knows something’s deeply amiss in this hotel. Things quickly go from bad to worse when Makoto, through your choices, makes another unsettling discovery: When he dies, he wakes up again in the same hotel bed to restart and repeat the same sequence of events over again, so not even death can free him from the bizarre reality he’s trapped in.
The constant repeating of the scenario upon Makoto’s untimely demise allows Death Come True to establish an interesting gameplay loop, since he can only remember things that have happened to him since he woke up in the hotel the first time. For example, you may make some choices where he encounters a particular character, gets killed, and then wakes up again–but now, he can remember specific details about that character and what they wanted, and use those to open up different paths and choices. Sometimes you may even be able to get a different outcome by picking the same choice as you did in a previous run, since Makoto now has additional information that can alter how things play out.
While gameplay doesn’t get much more complex than “pick an option and watch things play out,” Death Come True’s narrative is nonetheless compelling and engaging, revealing plenty of interesting twists as the mystery behind the hotel and Makoto’s identity unravels. The scenes are acted out by established Japanese film and TV talents, and while they are clearly filmed on a limited budget, the crew works well with what they have to establish an oppressive and unsettling atmosphere that often feels like it’s collapsing inwards on its characters.
However, there’s only so much live-action footage to work with and very limited interaction. As a result, Death Come True is very short, with a single playthrough lasting only a couple of hours. It’s unfortunate, since it feels like there is a lot to be expanded on in the game’s setting and story–it left me wanting to know so much more about these characters, their backgrounds, and the weird world they now find themselves trapped in. Everything wraps up pretty solidly, and there are two different endings, but I couldn’t help but want to see more. Alas, the issues of brief length and lack of gameplay depth have cursed FMV games since their inception, and sadly, Death Come True encounters these same pitfalls. While you can go back to see the alternate ending, behind-the-scenes footage, and some of the deaths you may have missed, you’ll still likely be wishing you just had more story to chew on.
Death Come True is an enjoyable but all-too-brief trip into a disturbing live-action mystery world that is a blast while it lasts. Unfortunately, when everything ends and the credits roll, you’re left longing to spend more time with the characters and world you just experienced. Death Come True’s throwback gameplay definitely scratches an itch, but it ultimately leaves you wanting for more.
Yet another podcast featuring big Hollywood names has been announced. Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes are teaming up for a new interview podcast called “Smartless,” and The Hollywood Reporter has the first details.
The twist of Smartless is that, for each episode, one host will know who the interview subject is, while the other two will only find out in that moment. The idea is that this will prompt a more genuine back-and-forth because two of the guests can’t do any prep work.
Smartless’ first announced guests include Will Ferrell, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Seth Rogen, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Awkwafina, and Dax Shepard.
Bateman, Arnett, and Hayes have been friends for a long time, but this is the first time they’re working together on a project. “Jason and I were casually talking about podcasts and how fun it would be to do one and we wanted to include a third person so we went through my Rolodex and wouldn’t you know, Arnett was first,” Hayes said in a statement.
The idea for the podcast came out of the COVID-19 crisis.
“Why not ask a bunch of smart and talented people questions about the world instead of constantly bothering our spouses,” Hayes said. “We really just wanted to create an atmosphere where we can be authentically us in our humor and thirst for understanding and invite the audience to laugh and learn along with us.”
The first episode of Smartless premieres on July 20 wherever you can find podcasts.
There are more podcasts than anyone has time to listen to these days, and they just keep coming. In addition to Smartless, a new podcast focused on The Office was announced this week. Brian Baumgartner–who played Kevin on the show–is the host of the series that will feature interviews with Steve Carrell, John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, Angela Kinsey, Jenna Fischer, and many more.
A series of images from Watch Dogs: Legion have leaked, offering a glimpse at the game in action.
An Imgur link featuring four images from the game was posted to the Gaming Leaks and Rumours subreddit by user joelioio. According to the post, they stem from recent media previews of the game and, as such, they may look blurry due to the gameplay being streamed from Ubisoft computers.
We can see the game’s Team menu screen in the leaks, which shows a series of operatives that the player can swap between as part of their legion of NPCs, with each one having different abilities. One character shown, Phil Ahuja, is a Football Hooligan who can use a Rally Cry ability to call his friends to fight and boasts a Tough Drunk ability that mitigates damage.
A Spy character, Brian Casey, is shown in another screenshot, who offers a Spy Watch that can jam enemy weapons, a silenced pistol and a car with cloaking capabilities.
One of the images from the game lacks the UI and features a user-drawn ring around a background asset which features the date “16 SEPT.” It’s unclear why it has been circled, but some think it could be a potential release date for the game.
The final image sees the player distracting an Albion police officer while in disguise – par for the course as far as Watch Dogs gameplay is concerned. Little of this is new information – we know that Legion will see players recruiting characters from among the AI population of a future London – but it’s a nice reminder of how wildly different the game could be fore different players, given we’re seeing football hooligans and old-school spies sharing screen space.
We’ll be seeing and hearing more about Watch Dogs: Legion during the Ubisoft Forward conference, which arrives this Sunday, July 12. For more details on the event, check out our article covering the event’s lineup.
Warframe developer Digital Extremes has announced Inaros Prime will be available from July 14 in all regions and on every platform. The new Prime Gear will include saw launcher Panthera Prime and heavy blade Karyst Prime.
Inaros Prime boasts “altered mod polarities for greater customization,” Panthera Prime has been upgraded with “a larger mag, faster fire and a radial, slashing ricochet,” while Karys Prime is described as “the heavier, oversized and far more lethal version of the signature weapon of an extinct order of Tenno assassins.” Inaros Prime’s accessories include the Mittahk Prime Armor, Kahtuss Prime Syandana, and 90-Day Credit and Affinity boosters.
In-universe, Prime refers to “technology as it was during the height of the Orokin Era,” as opposed to the non-Prime copies of that technology used by the Tenno.
Digital Extremes’ online Warframe event Tennocon is coming up on August 1, after a slight delay. This will be the developer’s first online-only event, due to the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Persia talks about Halo 3 finally coming to PC on July 14. The update will be live at 10 AM PST / 1 PM EST and will also include changes to the game’s battle pass: you will be able to select rewards instead of earning them at certain tiers. With Halo 3 on the PC roster, this just leaves Halo 3: ODST and Halo 4 to join the collection at a later date. The full series is available on the Master Chief Collection on Xbox One.
Persia also goes over 2K Games’ recent announcement that Mafia: Definite Edition has been delayed. The release date has been shifted from August 28 to September 25, after complications due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Developer Hangar 13 and 2K want to ensure the quality of the remaster by delaying the game but promised to show off gameplay on July 23 to hold fans over for the extra month.
Lastly, Persia talks about a new job listing from Shovel Knight developer Yacht Club Games, which suggests a new 3D title may be in production. Yacht Club is known for retro-style, 2D games like the upcoming Shovel Knight Dig and Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon. We don’t currently know anything about this 3D title, but the listing also mentions the use of a custom engine.
We are in the final week of #PlayForAll, where we’ve been bringing you all of the news and action this summer has to offer while raising money for #BlackLivesMatter and COVID-19 relief efforts. Although our summer coverage will be coming to a close, there will still be ways for you to support these cause through to the end of July. Snag all of your Play For All merch at store.gamespot.com, and the proceeds will be donated to our causes.
Jurassic World Dominion is about to start filming again in the UK, becoming one of the first major studio movies to resume production amid the COVID-19 crisis.
Only two weeks into filming back in March, Universal pulled the plug and announced that production would stop due to ongoing concerns about the global pandemic. With filming set to begin again this week, director Colin Trevorrow spoke to Empire about the challenges of getting back to work under new health protocols.
Even before the lockdowns, Dominion was the “biggest creative challenge of our lives,” Trevorrow said. He clarified that the VFX team was able to stay working on the project during lockdown for the scenes that were filmed before the production paused.
“The shooting schedule really worked to our advantage–the first four weeks we put to film were mostly sequences with dinosaurs in them,” he said. “So that allowed us to get a head start on VFX and workshop some of the newer elements without the pressure of a looming deadline.”
Universal is said to have spent $5 million on new health and safety measures for Dominion, and Trevorrow said he feels “confident our guidelines will keep us safe.” The challenge, he said, will be to find ways to allow the actors and other key creatives to express themselves in this new environment.
“The hard part will be constructing a creative environment within all the precautions. Once the cameras roll, we have to forget our world and live in the world of the movie. That may take some practice,” he said.
“We’re all fired up to get back to work. This is what we do, and we’re all eager to get back out there and do it,” Trevorrow added.
In addition to Howard, Jurassic World: Dominion brings back Chris Pratt in his starring role, while the stars of the earlier Jurassic Park movies–Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum–are returning in major roles as opposed to cameos. In addition, the character Dodgson is returning, but with a new actor.
Two years after launch, Ubisoft’s open-world racer The Crew 2 continues to receive updates. The latest one is pretty substantial and arrives on July 8 for PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One. The full patch notes have been outlined below.
Summer in Hollywood is The Crew 2’s sixth free update. It packages tons of stuff in it, including new cars, modes, vanity items, and more. For the next five weeks, Summer in Hollywood will also introduce some special themed events and live summits that will change up the overall look of The Crew 2. You can check out the announcement trailer below.
Some of the events that will be introduced include sci-fi-themed races and vehicles drenched in neon, ’70s-tinged overlays with music and vehicles to match, and more. Ubisoft shared a roadmap of what Summer in Hollywood’s next five weeks will bring to The Crew 2, which you can view below.
So much to earn and, maybe, so much time?
Ubisoft also outlined the patch notes, below, that will accompany the Summer in Hollywood update once it goes live. It’s approximately 23 GB on all platforms and makes several quality-of-life changes ranging from physics adjustments to sprucing up the main menu’s look and much more.
Full The Crew 2 Patch Notes
Features
Vanity Items:
48 new vanity items added to be released on a weekly basis through the shop or as Live Summit rewards:
9 Custom Nitros
2 Horns
8 Window Tints
6 2D Emotes
6 Smokes
10 Tires
7 Underglows
Summit
17 New Live Summits added with their associated activities & rewards:
Main Menu
New main menu look, themed for Summer in Hollywood.
New boot menu video for Summer in Hollywood.
Hobbies
[Fixed] Action names & descriptions are broken when accessing Hobbies from the Summit menu.
[Fixed] Incorrect vehicle type listed when language changed to Arabic.
[Fixed] A to B Actions can be completed by using the Photo Mode timeline.
[Fixed] Number of Stars displayed in animation when first accessing the Hobbies menu, is not the same as the Total Stars Earned number.
[Improved] Visual Parts Actions now require fewer parts, and are easier to complete.
[Improved] The “Live Battle Influencer” Action has been changed to “Live Battle Money,” and now requires the player to earn Bucks to progress rather than Followers to make it fairer to those at ICON 9999.
Any previously unlocked Stars from this Action will be kept, but progress will be completely reset. Tiers unlocked for a second time will still award new Stars.
Vehicles
24 New Vehicles added:
Shop additions:
Koenigsegg One:1 (2014) – Hypercar (available July 8)
Porsche 911 Carrera 4S (2020) – Street Race (available July 8)
Volkswagen Beetle (1967) – Street Race (available July 15)
Volkswagen Kombi 21 Window Bus (1966) – Street Race (available July 15)
Elite Bundle 5 (available July 15)
Porsche 935 2.0 Coupé “Baby” (1977) – Touring Car
Nissan R390 GT1 Road Version (1998) – Hypercar
Ducati draXter (2016) – Street Race Bike
LIVE Summit rewards:
Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Rift (2017) – Street Race (Summit beg. July 8)
[Fixed] Incorrect power gauge animation on Bugatti Veyron.
[Fixed] Yellow neon underglow cannot be applied to Mazda RX 7 Drift Edition.
Physics
[Fixed] Wheelie is detected after fast fav from Motocross to Monster Truck.
[Fixed] Ground vehicles can move forwards and accelerate to 719 km/h in reverse gear.
3C/Handling
[Improved] Reduced Air Nitro acceleration on all disciplines by 50%, except MT & MX which have a smaller reduction of 15%.
[Improved] Enhanced MX handling featuring new tire-model, improved suspensions and rider animations. New follow cameras have also been implemented, for a smoother feel and better track readability.
[Fixed] A water glitch can be seen in underwater tunnels while driving hovercrafts and boats.
World (Visual and Audio)
Events:
7 brand-new events added, to be released in PvE progressively alongside the corresponding special themed LIVE Summits.
[Fixed] Players are able to hop over walls with TC Bikes on Miami Race Track and on The Giants Chaebung Cup.
[Fixed] MT event Wreck and Havoc lists “Get -1 Points” as objective.
[Fixed] Some bridges have Off-Road physics.
[Fixed] Floating objects near Little Eagle.
Miscellaneous
[Add] New themed weathers available in Photo Mode.
Technical
[Fixed] Actvities tab UI overlaps with other tabs, when skipping over it in the Main Menu.
[Fixed] Black dot appears after using Photo Mode or LIVE Replay.
Audio
[Improved] In the audio options, sliders sound changes in volume for each channel.
GameSpot’s Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming–is ongoing. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts and Black Lives Matter with the help of our friends from around the gaming world. Check out the Play For All schedule for more.
