No Time to Die: Hans Zimmer to Reportedly Score James Bond 25

It looks like legendary composer Hans Zimmer may score the upcoming James Bond film.

According to Variety, multiple sources have come forward claiming that Zimmer is the composer for No Time to Die, the 25th James Bond movie. This comes after Dan Romer was dismissed only last month over what were said to be creative differences.

Variety also reached out to previous Bond film composer David Arnold who confirmed he had not been contacted regarding the role, giving more weight to Zimmer’s likely position.

This latest and final addition to Daniel Craig’s Bond is reportedly already in post-production so Zimmer, who’s best known for his work on films like Inception, Gladiator, and Interstellar, won’t have much time and may even need to bring others in to help with the project.

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New Bob Dylan Movie Finds Lead Actor

A new movie about singer-songwriter legend Bob Dylan is in the works, and it’s now reportedly found its lead actor. Timothee Chalamet is in discussions to play Dylan in the upcoming film, according to Deadline. The movie is called “Going Electric,” and it’s being directed by Logan and Ford v. Ferrari director James Mangold.

According to Deadline, Chalamet will play a young Dylan at the point in his life when he elected to pursue rock music ahead of folk. Dylan himself is said to be “actively” involved with Mangold and production company Fox Searchlight (which is owned by Disney) on the film.

Deadline reports that Chalamet has begun taking guitar lessons to prepare for the role, though it’s uncertain if he will sing as well.

Dylan made waves at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival when he played electric guitar instead of acoustic. Some people got really upset, leading to a huge controversy, while others praised his new sound. It was certainly dramatic, so it’s no surprise a movie is finally being made about it.

The film will also reportedly feature portrayals of other ’60s music icons like Joan Baez and Pete Seeger.

Mangold has a history with biopics about legends of the music world. He also directed the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.

Chalamet was recently seen in Greta Gerwig’s new Little Women movie, and also starred in the Netflix movie The King. Later this year, Chalamet will appear in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, which features numerous other big-name stars. One of Chalamet’s most memorable performances was in Call Me By Your Name, for which he earned an Oscar nomination for his performance as Elio.

Going Electric won’t be the first Bob Dylan movie, as 2007’s I’m Not There featured an unusual setup where six different actors played Dylan, including Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Ben Whishaw, and Marcus Carl Franklin. The Irishman director Martin Scorsese also made a documentary about Dylan’s life called “No Direction Home.”

Alienware’s Concept UFO Is Like A Switch That Plays PC Games

Alienware has shown off a new prototype during CES 2020, and it looks an awful lot like the Nintendo Switch. The Concept UFO–which, as the name suggests, is still a concept that the company is working with rather than a finalized product–is a portable system with a screen that can detach from the controllers on either side of it, much like the Joy-Cons slide off the Switch.

CNET has gone hands-on with the Concept UFO, and said that, compared to many other prototypes shown at CES 2020, it “looks and feels finished, with a high degree of polish.” The prototype consists of a small Windows 10 tablet with two attached controllers on either side, and like the Switch it can output to a bigger screen as well.

There’s no news of a release date, or even definite confirmation that Alienware will release this as a consumer product, according to CNET, but they report that World War Z was “surprisingly playable” on the Concept UFO.

The Nintendo Switch, which serves as the clear inspiration for Concept UFO, is currently discounted on eBay. Here’s our list of the best games on the system.

Now Playing: A Gaming PC And PS4 Pro In One System: We Test Origin PC’s Big O (2020 Prototype)

19 Years Ago Today, The Rock Announced The Xbox — Watch The Video

Today is a memorable day in Xbox history. 19 years ago today on January 6, 2001, Microsoft formally unveiled the original Xbox during CES 2001. With that in mind, it’s as good a time as ever to re-watch the delightfully cringe-y announcement from all those years ago.

To reveal the OG Xbox, Microsoft recruited wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who at this time was not the bankable movie star that he is today. The announcement is a treat, as Microsoft founder Bill Gates repeatedly refers to him as “Rock” instead of “The Rock,” while the wrestler truly showed his acting chops reading the teleprompter.

Here’s what The Rock had to say about the Xbox:

“The Xbox is everything The Rock is. Cutting-edge, powerful, exhilarating, and like The Rock, it will be the most electrifying thing coming out this year. What The Rock is to sports entertainment to the WWF, the Xbox will be to the video game industry: a breakthrough and certainly an original. The Rock doesn’t impress easily–you know that, Bill. But I’m pretty damn impressed with what we’re seeing here today.”

The original Xbox, with its wimpy-by-today’s-standards 32-bit 722 MHz processor, went on to release in November 2001. Thanks in part to launch title Halo: Combat Evolved, the Xbox was a success that created an entirely new business unit within Microsoft, which at the time did not have a gaming presence beyond the PC.

The Xbox would be followed up by the Xbox 360 in 2005 and the Xbox One in 2013. The next iteration of the Xbox, the Xbox Series X, is set to launch in Holiday 2020.

Death Stranding’s Reveal Trailer Saved The Band Low Roar From The “Gutter”

Death Stranding was first announced to the world via an enigmatic trailer at E3 2016, featuring the track “I’ll Keep Coming” by the band Low Roar. The trailer, which showed a naked Norman Reedus cradling a baby on a beach, ended up being fairly indicative of the final game–and it also meant a lot to the band whose song it featured.

Low Roar went on to have several songs on the Death Stranding soundtrack, but according to an interview with VG247, before Kojima’s game came along the band was struggling. The band was recording their music on a laptop, according to lead singer Ryan Karazija, and was “in the gutter” when they received an email from Sony asking if they could use their music in a trailer.

“Sony contacted us in an obscure email offering us a certain amount of money to use the song ‘I’ll Keep Coming’, and they were not willing to tell us what they’re going to use the song for,” Karazija told VG247. When their song showed up in the trailer, the band’s popularity immediately skyrocketed.

According to Karazija, the band has had dinner with Kojima twice, and “he’s a lovely man.”

Death Stranding received a 9/10 in our review, and reviewer Kallie Plagge made special mention of the game’s music. “The soundtrack, which is largely composed of one band–Low Roar–is phenomenal, the kind of contemplative folk-ish music that suits a trip alone through a meadow or down a mountain. Because the act of walking is so involved, it’s not a time to detach completely and zone out; it’s a time to feel your feelings or at least consider what’s next in your travels.”

Now Playing: Death Stranding Video Review

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Microsoft Trademarks The Xbox Series X Slogan, “Power Your Dreams”

When Microsoft announced the Xbox Series X during The Game Awards in December, the company did so with the accompanying tagline: “Power Your Dreams.” The marketing slogan is meant to communicate that the new console is so powerful it can create things you can only dream of. Microsoft really likes the slogan, so much that it has now trademarked it.

As Wccftech noticed, Microsoft filed trademark applications with the United States Patent & Trademark office during the last week of December for the slogan. Microsoft registered a total of five different applications, including the expected ones covering video games and online entertainment. One of the more unusual but not completely unexpected registrations for Power Your Dreams covers clothing such as headwear, footwear, jackets, coats, and other shirts. In short, you should expect Microsoft to slap “Power Your Dreams” onto pretty much everything it can to get the message across that Xbox Series X is a really powerful, must-have next-generation system.

For comparison, the catchphrase for the Xbox One was “Jump Ahead,” while Microsoft later referred to the Xbox One X as the “World’s Most Powerful Console.”

The Xbox Series X debuts in Holiday 2020 with Halo Infinite releasing as a launch title. The “Series X” name is meant to signify that different models of the next-generation system might be released. The ongoing rumour is that Microsoft is also developing a less expensive and less powerful next-generation console, though this has yet to be confirmed.

The official name of the next-generation Xbox platform of systems is simply “Xbox,” with “Series X” designating the model name of the new console. This naming convention is similar to Apple’s line of iPhones that have different models that exist within the same family.

Sony, meanwhile, is launching its new console this year with a simpler and more straightforward name–the PlayStation 5.

In other next-gen news, Microsoft recently showed off the Xbox Series X’s CPU. Additionally, AMD recently admitted to using fake renders of the Xbox Series X during its CES briefing.

Microsoft “Power Your Dreams” Trademarks:

Now Playing: Xbox Series X – Full Stage Presentation | The Game Awards 2019

Yakuza: Like A Dragon Might Be Getting An English Language Dub

Yakuza: Like A Dragon, the next game in the Yakuza series, might be getting an English dub. While the first Yakuza on PS2 received a much-derided dub when it released outside of Japan, subsequent entries have been in Japanese only; now, it looks like the latest Yakuza might give players the option of playing in English.

An eagle-eyed fan on forum Resetera noticed that the game was listed on the site for PCB Productions, with the studio receiving a credit for “talent direction / mocap / vocap /dialog production” in the game. This suggests that they have worked on an English language track for the game, and the credit has since been removed. The company is based in Los Angeles, and has produced English dialog for Persona 2-4, Catherine, and several other Japanese titles.

Yakuza developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio also included an English-language voice option in their 2019 game Judgment, and since the latest Yakuza introduces a fresh new cast it makes sense to add English voice acting to the game despite not doing so with previous Yakuza titles. PCB Productions handled talent direction and dialog production on that title.

This is, it’s worth noting, not absolute confirmation that Yakuza: Like A Dragon will definitely receive an English language voice track. However, it seems very likely.

Yakuza: Like A Dragon releases in Japan on January 16, 2020, and will be available in the west at a later date. It will offer turn-based combat, which is a radical change for the series. It’s also review editor Edmond Tran’s most anticipated game of 2020.

Now Playing: Yakuza: Like A Dragon (7) – English Localization Announcement Trailer | TGS 2019

Will There Be A Destiny Movie Or TV Show? Bungie Dev Says “Anything Is Possible”

Will Bungie’s Destiny become the latest video game to be adapted for a TV show or a movie? It’s too soon to say for sure, but design lead Robbie Stevens said in a new interview that all possibilities are on the table.

He told The Hollywood Reporter that because Bungie owns the Destiny IP, the studio controls the franchise completely–and this includes any transmedia efforts.

“Anything is possible,” he said about the Destiny series expanding beyond video games. “One of the advantages of Bungie fully owning the Destiny IP is that we have the freedom to make those choices whenever we think the time is right. That’s all I can say about it.”

The Destiny series is known for its narrative depth–there is a lot going on in the sci-fi world. As such, it would seem the Destiny series is a rich tapestry for storytelling beyond games. However, as of yet there have been no transmedia projects for Destiny on TV or the big screen.

There are numerous video game adaptations in the works, including the Halo TV show for Showtime (which is owned by GameSpot parent company ViacomCBS) and the Division movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain. Additionally, Nintendo is working with Minions studio Illumination on a Mario movie.

As for the Destiny video game series, many are speculating that Bungie is well into development on Destiny 3 for release in 2020, though the studio has made no official announcements. In addition to that game (if it is real), Bungie is making non-Destiny projects thanks to the $100 million it received from Chinese internet company NetEase.

Bungie underwent a big shakeup in 2019 when it split up with Activision for the Destiny series. Bungie also changed Destiny with a free-to-play version and the release of the Shadowkeep expansion. Bungie also put Destiny 2 on Steam after breaking up with Activision and started allowing cross-platform character progression.

Now Playing: Destiny 2: Shadowkeep Video Review

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