Author: Trafficblast

Activision is raising money for the ongoing bushfire relief effort in Australia through an in-game charity campaign with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. The “Outback Relief Pack” is available now, and it contains Australia-themed items and gear.

The Outback Relief pack costs 1,800 Call of Duty Points, which works out to around $18 USD. 100 percent of the net proceeds will be donated to help fire relief efforts in Australia. It’s unclear exactly where the money is going, but GameSpot has followed up with Activision in an attempt to get more details.

The content includes a Bushranger operator skin, a koala charm, and the blueprints for the legendary “Big Game” sniper rifle. There is also a new sticker, gun art, operator quip, and finishing move, as well as a token to skip one tier in the Modern Warfare Battle Pass.

Here’s everything in the Outback Relief DLC

In a tweet, Activision said, “Our thoughts go out to all those affected by the bushfires in Australia.” The message also confirms that the donation campaign runs until January 31.

Activision is not the only gaming company that is giving money to help support the firefighting efforts in Australia. Ubisoft Australia has also donated, while Bungie is raising money through a Destiny 2 campaign to raise funds.

As of January 12, there are still more than 100 bush and grass fires burning in Australia, 40 of which are not contained. The New South Wales Bureau of Meteorology is projecting a good amount of rain across Australia for the coming week, which the NSW Rural Fire Service says would be a very good thing.

Go to GameSpot sister site CNET to see an extensive and informative breakdown of the national crisis and find out what you can do to help.

In a huge leap from its limited release back on Christmas Day, and following the film’s big win at the Golden Globes, Sam Mendes’ critically-acclaimed 1917 shot to to the top of the box office charts this weekend with an estimated $36.5 million. A tally large enough to knock Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker out of the number one spot.

Per Deadline, 1917 has now earned $39.2 million so far. Rise of Skywalker still pulled in enough to land in second place, with $15.1 million, inching closer to earning a billion globally. It now stands at $990 million globally.

Originally projected to make about $20 million, 1917 blew past expectations.

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North American Box Office Estimates

Aside from 1917’s wide release, three new movies hit the multiplex this weekend, all landing in the Top 10 (though none particularly strong).

The biggest debut of the three was Like a Boss, starring Tiffany Haddish, Rose Byrne, and Salma Hayek. It landed in fourth place with an estimated $10 million. Warner Bros.’ Just Mercy, starring Jamie Foxx and Michael B. Jordan followed in fifth, with – well – around $10 million as well. So these two might swap places by tomorrow.

Underwater, however, which stars Kirsten Stewart, tanked with $7 million. Underwater follows the crew of a subterranean ocean laboratory dealing with an aggressive alien threat, with our own review calling it “a slick and enjoyable sci-fi thriller that never quite breaches greatness.”

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Here are the Top 10 North American box office estimates for the weekend (via Box Office Mojo)

• 1. 1917 $36,500,000
• 2. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker $15,059,000
• 3. Jumanji: The Next Level $14,000,000
• 4. Like a Boss $10,000,000
• 5. Just Mercy $10,000,000
• 6. Little Women $7,650,000
• 7. Underwater $7,003,000
• 8. Frozen 2 $5,761,000
• 9. Knives Out $5,725,000
• 10. Spies in Disuise $5,108,000

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Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

A new crime drama, Clarice, is now set at CBS. The show is based on the famous Thomas Harris book character, Clarice Starling, and will take place after the events in Harris’ The Silence Of the Lambs, acting as a sequel story.

Harris, notably, wrote a sequel to Silence, called Hannibal, which was turned into a movie in 2001. In the film, Anthony Hopkins reprised his role as Dr. Hannibal Lecter while Julianne Moore took over as Clarice, from Jodie Foster who won an Oscar for the role in Silence.

CBS’s Clarice will not be based on Hannibal (the book) and — per Deadline — will be “set in 1993, a year after the events of The Silence of the Lambs. The series is a deep dive into the untold personal story of Clarice Starling, as she returns to the field to pursue serial murderers and sexual predators while navigating the high stakes political world of Washington, D.C.”

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Clarice will be written and executive produced by Alex Kurtzman (Fringe, Sleepy Hollow, Star Trek) and Jenny Lumet (2017’s The Mummy).

“After more than 20 years of silence, we’re privileged to give voice to one of America’s most enduring heroes – Clarice Starling,” said Kurtzman and Lumet. “Clarice’s bravery and complexity have always lit the way, even as her personal story remained in the dark. But hers is the very story we need today: her struggle, her resilience, her victory. Her time is now, and always.”

This news comes a soft blow to fans of NBC’s Hannibal, who’ve been hoping the series might return and do a Silence of the Lambs-based fourth season. Previously, Hannibal showrunner Bryan Fuller was never able to adapt Silence, or use the character of Clarice Starling, because he only had the rights to the Harris novels Red Dragon, Hannibal, and Hannibal Rising (all of which were adapted for the show). MGM, who are producing Clarice for CBS, owns the rights to The Silence of the Lambs so that’s why this show is going forward with Clarice as its linchpin, and in a procedural type environment (CBS’ bread and butter), telling a different post-Lecter story.

Side note: Right around the time that NBC ordered Hannibal, MGM and Lifetime tried to develop a Silence of the Lambs prequel series based on Clarice. We’re bringing this up because it’s unlikely Clarice will be able to use the character of Hannibal Lecter because he was introduced in a different book. Same goes for the Jack Crawford character. Which is why the Silence-based show ideas are based on Clarice’s life before or after Lecter.

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Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

One of the first big fights you see on Netflix’s The Witcher happens between Henry Cavill’s Geralt and Emma Appleton’s Renfri, and that clash was sorted and choreographed by Wolfgang Stegemann, who Cavill had worked with on Mission Impossible: Fallout. But Stegemann wasn’t the full-time Witcher series stunt coordinator. No, that was Vladimir Furdik – aka Game of Thrones’ Night King!

Netflix’s Behind the Scenes podcast revealed how Furdik envisioned Geralt as a fighter as well as how he constructed the actual first confrontation on the series: Geralt’s slaying of the Kikimora.

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Though the Kikimora battle was never described in the Andrzej Sapkowski Witcher story “The Lesser Evil,” which is what the premiere episode adapts, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich thought “What’s a better way to introduce [Geralt] than having him killing a monster when you first find him?”

“In the books we actually never see him kill the Kikimora,” she explained to host Brandon Jenkins. “He actually arrives in Blaviken with the Kikimora’s head on his donkey. So we never get to see him kill it.”

“We spent almost one month on this fight,” Furdik said. “I thought that [Geralt] should be fighter who can already predict, three seconds ahead, when he’s going to kill someone else. When he fights somebody he can already predict what they’re doing. So his fight should look like very comfortable, kind of like ballet.”

In his gym, Furdik prepared for the fight, taking into consideration that “the Kikimora is three meters tall and she has eight legs.”

Furdik then constructed massive Kikimora legs from long plastic pips and made a homemade adversary. “I brought in six people,” he said, “and put them on the table.” Giving the legs to the guys on the table, Furdik “just stayed under the legs and and started to build the fight.”

After running through the fight over and over at a slowed down pace, all the moves were taught to Cavill, who never used a stunt double, or a body double of any kind, on The Witcher.

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Hissrich has revealed that The Witcher: Season 2 will land in 2021 and be much more linear in its storytelling. Here’s a full explainer of The Witcher timeline.

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Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

During NBC Universal’s presentation at the TCA winter press tour, it was announced that NBC has ordered up a new series called Young Rock, centered on the “formative years” of WWE Superstar and global box office champ Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

This 11-episode single-cam comedy is being produced by Nahnatchka Khan (Fresh Off the Boat, Don’t Trust the B) and Johnson himself. Johnson will appear in every episode, but the search is on for a young actor to portray the childhood version of him.

The pilot was co-written by Khan and Jeff Chiang (Don’t Trust the B, American Dad!).

“I have talked about this wild and unpredictable and unbelievable childhood that I had,” Johnson said, via video, to the reporters on hand. “I’ve told many many stories, many of them unbelievable, but all of them true. You’ll find Young Rock wreaking havoc in the streets of Hawaii. Getting arrested doing a lot of things I shouldn’t do. We were evicted off the island and moved, to all places, Nashville, Tennessee,” he shared.

“Imagine me being in downtown Nashville, listening to country music at 15 years-old, buying my first car from a crackhead for $70. We go into my high school years as Young Rock, and my role as a University of Miami football star, until I got beaten out of my position by a young man named Warren Sapp, who went on to become one of the greatest defensive tackles of all time.”

You can see The Rock himself make the announcement on Twitter too, calling the show his “Forrest Gump” years …

My formative years, also known as my “Forrest Gump” years were wildly unbelievable, yet incredibly all true.
Ladies & gents, we bring you our exciting new comedy series, “YOUNG ROCK”. @NBC@SevenBucksProd #FierceBabyProductions pic.twitter.com/1AN8AJ8BnU

— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) January 12, 2020

The series will be executive produced by Nahnatchka Khan, Dwayne Johnson, Jeff Chiang, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, Brian Gewirtz and Jennifer Carreras.

The show will be produced by Universal Television, Seven Bucks Productions and Fierce Baby Productions.

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Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

The Uncharted movie has been a long time coming. First announced in 2008, the film has gone through a half-dozen different directors over the years, and all six of the previously announced directors have quit or left the project for a variety of reasons.

Now, it appears film studio Sony is closing in on the seventh director for the Uncharted movie. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony is eyeing Venom and Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer to direct the Uncharted movie. The site says Fleischer is Sony’s top choice, though no deal has been made yet. In fact, negotiations have not even begun, the site said.

Variety also confirmed the news about Fleischer, saying “the job is his if he wants it.”

Sony has officially scheduled Uncharted for release on December 18, 2020. However, it’s expected that the movie will be delayed.

Spider-Man actor Tom Holland is set to star as a young Nathan Drake in the Uncharted movie, which is said to be a prequel to the games. Mark Wahlberg is reportedly set to play Sully.

As mentioned, Fleischer would become the Uncharted movie’s seventh director. The previous six were David O. Russell, Seth Gordon, Neil Burger, Dan Trachtenberg, Shawn Levy, and Travis Knight, who left the project in December 2019 due to scheduling conflicts.

The Uncharted movie’s script has also been re-written numerous times. The most current draft that we know about was written by Rafe Judkins, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway.

As for the Uncharted video game series, 2017’s Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is the most recent entry in the series, following Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End in 2016. No new games have been announced, and developer Naughty Dog’s next release is The Last of Us: Part II, which is due for release in May. Even though Naughty Dog is finished with the Uncharted series and Nathan Drake’s story is over, the developer says a different studio could come in to make Uncharted 5.

During CBS’ presentation at the TCA winter press tour, the first round of casting for Season 2 of CBS All Access’ original anthology series The Twilight Zone, from executive producer (and narrator) Jordan Peele, was announced.

The upcoming 10-episode second season, slated to premiere exclusively on CBS All Access in 2020, will feature Morena Baccarin (Gotham, Firefly), Colman Domingo (Fear the Walking Dead), Ethan Embry (Can’t Hardly Wait, Sneaky Pete), Jenna Elfman (Fear the Walking Dead), Tavi Gevinson (Scream Queens), Tony Hale (Veep, Arrested Development), Abbie Hern, Sophia Macy, Community’s Joel McHale and Gillian Jacobs, Chris Meloni (Law & Order: SVU, Happy!), Billy Porter (Pose), Jimmi Simpson (Westworld) and Daniel Sunjata (Rescue Me).

This announcement, made by EVP of Original content Julie McNamara, also came with the news that Peele has written an episode for Season 2 called “Downtime.”

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Here is a detailed rundown for some of Season 2’s episodes – including titles, writers, and cast:

Episode: “Downtime”

Starring Morena Baccarin (The “Deadpool” franchise, “Homeland”), Colman Domingo (“If Beale Street Could Talk,” “Fear the Walking Dead”) and Tony Hale (“Veep,” “Toy Story 4”). Written by Jordan Peele

Episode: “The Who of You”

Starring Daniel Sunjata (“Graceland,” “Rescue Me”), Ethan Embry (“Grace and Frankie,” “Blindspotting”), and Billy Porter (“Pose,” “Like a Boss”). Written by Win Rosenfeld

Episode: “A Human Face”

Starring Jenna Elfman (“Fear the Walking Dead,” “Dharma & Greg”), Chris Meloni (“The Handmaid’s Tale,” “42”), and Tavi Gevinson (“Person to Person,” “Enough Said”). Written by Alex Rubens

Episode: “8”

Starring Joel McHale (“Community,” “Stargirl”). Written by Glen Morgan

Episode: “Among The Untrodden”

Introducing Abbie Hern and Sophia Macy. Written by Heather Anne Campbell

Episode: “Meet in the Middle”

Starring Jimmi Simpson (“Westworld,” “Black Mirror: USS Callister”) and Gillian Jacobs (“Community,” “Love”). Written by Emily C. Chang and Sara Amini

Season 1’s cast included Kumail Nanjiani, Seth Rogen, Tracy Morgan, Adam Scott, Steven Yeun, Sanaa Lathan, John Cho, Allison Tolman, John Larroquette, Taissa Farmiga, Ginnifer Goodwin, James Frain, and more.

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Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.