Author: Trafficblast

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Has At Least Two Celebrity Cameos, See Them Here

It appears December’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will keep with the series tradition of featuring celebrity cameos. A new “special look” video for the upcoming movie seemingly confirms that Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran will appear in the big-budget sci-fi film.

Miranda appears at around 53 seconds, and he seems to be playing the role of a rebel fighter. Sheeran plays a soldier for the Empire, as he can be seen at 55 seconds in a Stormtrooper outfit. Maybe they will meet up for a sing-off.

Miranda contributed to 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens by co-writing the song “Jabba Flow” for the scene in Maz Kanata’s cantina. As for Sheeran, The Sun UK reported a year ago that Sheeran would play a Stormtrooper in Episode IX, but the new video is the first we’re seeing of Sheeran in costume. Sheeran had a cameo in Game of Thrones as well.

The Star Wars series has welcomed numerous celebrity cameos over the years, including Justin Theroux (The Last Jedi), Joel Edgerton (Attack of the Clones), Tom Hardy (The Last Jedi), Sofia Coppola (The Phantom Menace), Daniel Craig (The Force Awakens), and Gary the Dog (The Last Jedi).

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker stars Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran, Richard E. Grant, Keri Russell, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, and Lupita Nyong’o. The movie hits theaters on December 20.

In related news, the first live-action Star Wars show, The Mandalorian, came to Disney+ earlier in November. The first three episodes are available–check out GameSpot’s reviews of Episode 1, Episode 2, and Episode 3.

Now Playing: Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker – Official Final Trailer

Hideo Kojima Is Hinting At A Return To Horror

Kojima Productions’ Death Stranding released on PlayStation 4 this month, earning a 9/10 in our review and marking a new era for director Hideo Kojima, four years after his split with Konami. Before Death Stranding, Kojima was working on a new Silent Hill game called Silent Hills. A much-loved demo, P.T., was released, but Konami ultimately cancelled the game much to the chagrin of fans. Now, years later, it’s starting to look like Kojima is thinking about horror again.

On Twitter, Kojima has made reference to making “the scariest horror game,” and he’s watching horror movies to prepare. The film in question, The Eye, is not actually a Thai film, as Kojima claims–it’s the work of Hong Kong directors the Pang brothers. Part of the film is, however, set in Thailand.

From this, it’s not clear whether Kojima is actually moving ahead with a horror game development, or just exploring the possibility. In 2017, Kojima said that he did not plan on returning to horror, but P.T. continues to be relevant, despite having been delisted years ago. Earlier this month actor Norman Reedus said that he was okay with Silent Hills not going ahead, as it meant that he was able to work with Kojima or Death Stranding instead. But since Konami holds the rights to Silent Hill, any horror game Kojima works on now would have to be different anyway.

Kojima has not tweeted about the movie again since, so it’s not clear whether he got through The Eye or not, and whether it has inspired him to return to horror, or awakened “his horror soul.”

Now Playing: Quick Look Solo: Silent Hills (P.T.)

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Cyberpunk 2077 Multiplayer Spin-Off May Have Microtransactions; PS5, Xbox Scarlett Under Consideration

CD Projekt Red continues to speak about the unannounced Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer game. As part of an earnings presentation, management confirmed that the game is only in the “relatively early stage” of development and that it will feature some form of microtransactions, though the company isn’t ready just yet to confirm specifics.

“We believe right now it is definitely too early to share any details on that or give guidance [as] the project is in the relatively early stage,” management said about the Cyberpunk multiplayer game’s microtransactions.

The company added that it is continually experimenting with the Cyberpunk multiplayer game, which is in fact the first multiplayer game made by CD Projekt Red. For the business model specifically, the analyst who asked about it suggested it would be a free-to-play title supported by microtransactions. However, management wasn’t ready to say one way or the other.

That being said, CD Projekt Red wants to make sure it continues to be a consumer-friendly company as it relates to delivering content that feels valuable to players. The Polish studio is known for being relatively generous with its post-release content releases. For The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the studio offered up more than a dozen pieces of free DLC.

“We keep experimenting. It’s our first multiplayer game. We check different options and possibilities, and it’s definitely not the time to point you to a specific direction on that. But you can expect that we won’t change our general policy toward deals with gamers. So expect wise monetization and always value for money,” the company said.

Also in the presentation, CD Projekt Red said the Cyberpunk multiplayer game is a “smaller project” with “smaller staffing” compared to the main team working on the Cyberpunk 2077 single-player game.

Cyberpunk 2077, which features Keanu Reeves in a big role, is set to launch in April 2020 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The multiplayer title would presumably follow thereafter, though no official announcements have been made at this stage.

Another hot-button topic touched on in the presentation was next-generation consoles. Management was asked if the company plans to support the upcoming PlayStation 5 and Xbox Scarlett, in the wake of rumours that Cyberpunk 2077 will come to these systems.

“Of course we do have insight into what’s around the corner; what’s happening with PlayStation and Xbox. We’re watching it closely,” CD Projekt Red said. “And one may safely assume that at some point we’re going to do something with the next-gen [consoles]. However, we cannot really be very specific; what that might be, when exactly that might be. I would only safely assume that it’s not going to be around the launch timeframe of those consoles.”

The company went on to say that CD Projekt Red is known for making games that play best on high-end PCs. And in that regard, the company is technically more prepared for the upcoming release of the PS5 and Scarlett, which have improved specs.

In October, a CD Projekt Red developer said the studio might consider releasing Cyberpunk 2077 on PS5 and Xbox Scarlett, but those consoles aren’t a focus currently. Another developer, John Mamais, spoke about how excited he is about the prospect of new consoles.

“It’s going to be awesome. It’s always cool to have new consoles coming out and I can’t wait to work on those things,” Mamais said. “We’ll see what we can do with those. It’s fun watching games evolve; they’re looking more and more realistic, which is–I like working on games like that. The more powerful the technology, or the consoles, the more it is [good] for me as a game developer.”

Read next: Cyberpunk 2077, Avengers, And Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Developers Talk Crunch Culture

Now Playing: Bringing Cyberpunk 2077 To Life

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The Good Place Star Says The Ending Will Be A Satisfying Gut Punch

The Good Place is currently airing its fourth and final season, and fans are curious to see how the twist-filled NBC sitcom will end when the triple-length finale airs on January 30, 2020. We don’t know what will happen when the show reaches its conclusion, but one of the main characters has given a statement in an interview assuring fans that the show will wrap up neatly and conclude well.

Kristen Bell, who stars in the show as reformed hedonist Eleanor Shellstrop, told Collider that the finale is definitive and satisfying. “It’s an incredibly worthy ending,” she said. “I don’t know that the show will ever come back, because the ending is satisfying. It’s a variety of things. It’s also a punch to the gut, but it is satisfying and it feels like that’s where the story ends.”

While it might not seem like big news that the star of a show believes that the finale will be good, it’s worth noting that actors often take opportunities to temper expectations before a show ends–Kit Harington warned that the end of Game of Thrones would not satisfy everyone before the final season premiered. It’s also worth noting that the show is ending on its own terms, and is unlikely to ever come back, in an age where reboots and late revivals are common.

The Good Place was one of our favorite shows of 2018, and has remained extremely engaging in its fourth season. Bell’s voice can also be heard in Frozen II right now, which broke box-office records over the weekend.

Now Playing: Frozen 2 – Official Trailer

Joker Movie Director Todd Phillips To Earn $100 Million After The Movie’s Huge Success – Report

Joker movie director Todd Phillips is reportedly going to take home a huge payday in the wake of the comic book movie’s massive box office success.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Phillips will make close to $100 million from the film thanks to how his contract was arranged. The report says Phillips declined being paid an upfront salary in exchange for earning a bigger piece of Joker’s box office performance. With Joker making more than $1 billion at the box office, Phillips is getting paid big-time.

THR noted that Phillips also had same deals with Warner Bros. for the first Hangover movie, which he directed. He earned a sizable payday from this as well given the movie made more than $467 million on an budget of only $35 million.

This is not the first time we’re hearing about Phillips’ contract with Warner Bros. for Joker, as The Wall Street Journal was among the first to report on it back in October. This is, however, the first time that a major publication is putting a number to Phillips’ reported earnings.

Phillips was asked by IndieWire to comment on the reported $100 million payday for Joker, but he declined to say anything. For what it’s worth, star Joaquin Phoenix also reportedly signed a “generous” profit-sharing deal with Warner Bros. for Joker, but there is no word on how much he might have made from the film. Warner Bros. agreed to the deals with Phillips and Phoenix because they reportedly did not see Joker being such a big hit.

The same THR story said Warner Bros. is moving ahead with a sequel to Joker, but Deadline followed up with a report of its own saying no firm plans are in place yet. Phillips himself told IndieWire that he has spoken about ideas for a Joker sequel with Phoenix and executives at Warner Bros. However, there are no solid plans yet for a sequel, he said.

When Phillips pitched Joker to Warner Bros. executives, he did so with the idea that it could be the first movie in a new series of “darker, more character-focused comic book films.” However, Phillips said the executives said no to this idea, but decided to greenlight Joker anyway as a standalone movie.

Joker has been in theatres for more than a month, and it continues to make money. This past weekend, the movie made a further $3 million to stay inside the Top 10.

Now Playing: Origins Of The Joker

Gris, A Soulful Indie Platformer, Hits PS4 This Week

Gris, which first launched on PC and Switch back in December 2018 and came to iOS earlier this year, is getting a surprise release on PlayStation on November 26 (or November 27, depending on your time zone). The impending release was announced on the PlayStation Blog, where programmer Roger Mendoza detailed what is different about Gris on PS4. Essentially, it’ll be the same game but with higher quality assets.

The team at Nomada Studio wanted to create “the absolute best version of Gris possible,” and to that end the art team went over the game again to prepare it for 4K displays. According to the post, the art team has “revamped over five thousand unique assets”, increasing the resolution by up to four times. This resolution bump will be possible for anyone playing the game on a PS4 Pro. The game’s score will also be less compressed for the PS4 version of the game.

This version of the game will also receive a physical release from Limited Run Games. The boxed copy costs $30, and pre-orders are open for the next five weeks. It comes with three reversible art cards and interior case art.

Gris received a 9/10 in our review of it, with Tom Mc Shea writing that Gris “understands intrinsically how magical video games can be and continually pushes your imagination until you’re almost bursting with joy.” Earlier this month, the game made headlines after a wellness app was found to have plagarized artwork from it.

Now Playing: Gris: 20 Minutes Of Beautiful, Colorful Platforming Gameplay

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