Author: Trafficblast

Bad Boys For Life Gets First Trailer, Everything Blows Up

It has been 24 years since the first Bad Boys movie hit theaters, and finally, we’re getting a look at the third movie in the series, titled Bad Boys For Life. Detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett are back, and they’re older but maybe not much wiser, as you can see below in the new trailer.

In the new film, Lowrey (Will Smith) and Burnett (Martin Lawrence) are still working together–even though Burnett wanted to ditch Lowrey in Bad Boys II–but both men are teaming up one last time as Burnett plans on retiring. Lowrey, on the other hand, is still creating a ton of collateral damage and giving Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano) an ulcer. The first trailer is filled with over-the-top action sequences and comedic dialogue, a staple of the series.

Bilall Fallah and Adil El Arbi will direct the film–they have also signed on for Beverly Hills Cop 4. And aside from Lawrence, Smith, and Pantoliano, Bad Boys For Life stars Alexander Ludwig (Vikings), Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical), Paola Nuñez (The Purge TV seres), Charles Melton (Riverdale), and Happy Anderson (The Tick).

The journey to get this movie made has been a roller coaster. Aside from the massive delays–as the movie was supposed to be released in November 2018–Martin Lawrence was positive the movie would never happen because of Will Smith’s other film projects. Then, right when things were getting rolling in the summer of 2018, director Joe Carnahan left the movie. While the movie seemed like it was destined to never come out, Will Smith posted a video from the set, hanging out with Martin Lawrence back in late 2018.

In the box office, Bad Boys was a smashing success in 1995, making $141 million worldwide on a $19 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo. 2003’s followup Bad Boys II was also successful with a $273 million worldwide take on a $130 million budget. Hopefully, this series still has steam, as there was once a planned fourth movie, which was scrapped during the delays.

Bad Boys For Life hits theaters on January 17, 2020.

Scarlett Johansson Feels “Liberated” By The Black Widow Movie

Natasha Romanoff’s fate may have been sealed in Avengers: Endgame, but the inevitability of her demise hasn’t deterred actor Scarlet Johanson from feeling excited about the upcoming Black Widow solo film–in fact, if anything, she feels “liberated” by the entire process and her newly minted executive producer credit on the movie. In a profile interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Johanson opened up about making the film, and her relationship with Marvel Studios as a whole.

“I feel like I’m in control of the destiny of this film, which gives me a lot more peace of mind,” explained Johanson. “I know her better than anybody. What was her childhood like? What is her relationship to figures of authority? This character is gritty and multi-dimensional but has a lot of trauma and has led an unexamined life. In order to operate at this elite level, she has probably had to push away a lot of stuff.”

She also praised her character’s Endgame ending–but was quick to admit that it was a tricky thing to handle. “The finality of it was sad, but I was excited to die with honor. It felt in-character that she would sacrifice herself, of course for humanity but actually for her friends, for the people she loves. It was bittersweet.”

As for her post-Black Widow future, Johanson doesn’t think anything is set in stone. It seems unlikely that we’ll be seeing a return for Natasha after her solo outing, however–Johanson was candid about her interest in directing new projects but “hasn’t found the right fit” as of yet. It’s also worth noting that she has not signed on to any of the MCU-related Disney+ projects and isn’t among the confirmed voice cast of the animated What If…? Show that would allow Natasha to make a temporary return, even after her Endgame death. Unsurprisingly, it seems like we won’t be seeing the original Black Widow–or at least Johansson’s version of the original Black Widow–again in the MCU for the foreseeable future.

Black Widow arrives in theaters May 1, 2020.

Tomb Raider Movie Sequel Gets A Release Date And Director

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You haven’t seen the last of Lara Croft on the big screen. A sequel to 2018’s Tomb Raider starring Alicia Vikander is in the works. While the film is still relatively early in the process and no story details have been revealed, it’s being reported that two significant steps have been taken toward the movie becoming a reality.

According to Deadline, MGM has officially dated the film for March 19, 2021, giving those involved over a year to get the Tomb Raider sequel made and ready for theaters. Additionally, the site says Ben Wheatley has been hired to direct the film. Wheatley has the movies Kill List and Free Fire to his name, along with episodes of Doctor Who and Strange Angel.

He’s stepping in for Roar Uthaug, who directed the previous film but will not be returning. Joining Wheatley on the next movie is screenwriter Amy Jump and producers Graham King and Elizabeth Cantillon. Naturally, Vikander will be along for the ride reprising her role as Lara Croft.

This will be the fourth Tomb Raider film, but only the second in this particular incarnation. Angelina Jolie played the character in 2001’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and its 2003 sequel. Vikander’s first outing as the character, which was based on the current video game series made $275 million at the worldwide box office and was met with mixed reviews. In his review, GameSpot’s Michael Rougeau called it “a pretty good action movie and a better than average video game adaptation,” citing “smart story choices and a winning performance from Alicia Vikander.”

Production on the Tomb Raider sequel is expected to start in early 2020.

Here’s Why Netflix Is Releasing Shows Weekly

Recent reports surrounding Netflix’s change from a binge model to a weekly release schedule for select shows released in the United States are suggesting that this will be a paradigm shift for the company, but that’s simply not true.

While the streaming provider is releasing the upcoming season of The Great British Baking Show and its new music competition show Rhythm + Flow on a weekly basis, this has nothing to do with a change in Netflix’s overall strategy. It’s also a method the company has used numerous times before, especially in countries outside of the US. Star Trek: Discovery, for example, which airs on CBS All Access in the US, releases weekly in the UK to coincide with its US schedule. The same goes for AMC’s Better Call Saul and USA’s Suits, which are both referred to as “Netflix Originals” in the UK, even though the company has nothing to do with their productions.

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Ikumi Nakamura, Ghostwire: Tokyo Creative Director And E3 Star, Leaves Studio

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In a surprise announcement via Twitter, creative director of the upcoming game Ghostwire: Tokyo, Ikumi Nakamura, stated that she is leaving Tango Gameworks and Bethesda/Zenimax. She made a huge splash at E3 2019 when she gave a presentation for the reveal of Ghostwire: Tokyo and charmed everyone with her own charisma. She spent nine years with the studio and was a lead art designer for both The Evil Within and The Evil Within 2. She also worked on Bayonetta with Platinum Games and Okami with Capcom.

Nakamura-san hasn’t stated what she’ll be doing next, but her follow-up tweets suggest that she could be moving on to another project. It’s not uncommon for creative directors to leave their positions before their project launches–recently, Sebastian Stępień left CD Projekt Red as creative director of Cyberpunk 2077 and Tim Longo left 343 Industries having worked on Halo Infinite.

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The Nintendo Switch Finally Gets A Wireless Headset That Works Out Of The Box

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The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.

When it comes to headsets, a comfortable fit is just as important as sound quality, and in my experience, Steelseries’ Arctis line of headsets are some of the most enjoyable to wear. For the Nintendo Switch, however, your choices have been limited. The Switch doesn’t allow Bluetooth headphones to be used with the system, so if you wanted to use them or any other wireless headset, your only option was to buy a third-party dongle. Now Steelseries has released the Arctis 1 Wireless, which is the first wireless headset to work with the Switch straight out of the box.

No Caption Provided

Arctis 1 Wireless Headset

$100 USD / $140 CAD

See it at Steelseries.com

This is made possible due to the inclusion of a 2.4 GHz dongle that plugs into the Switch’s USB-C port. In docked mode, the USB-C dongle can be plugged into a USB adapter that is also included. This USB adapter also makes the headset compatible with the PS4 and PC. Xbox One users can plug this headset into their controller with the bundled 3.5 mm cable but unfortunately won’t be able to take advantage of the wireless functionality.

Unlike other Arctis headsets, the microphone doesn’t slide into the headset. Thankfully, it is still detachable (just make sure you don’t lose it). All of this coupled with the Arctis 7’s speaker drivers and the Arctis 1 Wireless seems like a great, versatile option for someone on a budget.

The Actor For Control’s Dr. Darling Has A Surprising Past Movie Role

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As is typical of any game developed by Remedy, live-action is used in wonderful fashion in Control. These primarily come in the form of short informational clips featuring Dr. Casper Darling, the head researcher of the Federal Bureau of Control. He’s played by Matthew Porretta, who absolutely shines in these videos. If he seems familiar to you but you simply chalked that up to his role in past Remedy games, you might be as shocked as I was to dig a little further into his IMDB history.

Remedy fans may know Porretta best as the star of the Alan Wake games, in which he voices the titular character (even that might come as a surprise to you, given he doesn’t play the live-action version). But go back a couple more decades, and you’ll find Porretta also portrayed Will Scarlet O’Hara in Mel Brooks’ Robin Hood: Men in Tights. If, like me, you both watched Men in Tights numerous times as a kid and found yourself captivated by Darling throughout Control, this revelation is downright flabbergasting.

While perhaps not as memorable as some of Robin Hood’s other companions (namely, Dave Chappelle’s Ahchoo), O’Hara does have one of the movie’s best moments, in which he mistakenly cuts his pants off.

None are quite as revelatory as Porretta, but Control does have a number of other actors with past roles you might be familiar with, including Director Trench’s James McCaffrey, who starred in the Max Payne games and played Jimmy Keefe on Rescue Me. Emily Pope is played by Antonia Bernath, who’s been in a number of video games (including Hitman 2‘s Sierra Knox) as well as Downton Abbey. Meanwhile, Simon Arish actor Ronan Summers (who was in Hitman 2 as Rico Delgado, as well as in Forza Horizon 4 as Scott Tyler) is hilariously credited as “‘drop the leg’ guard” in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Whether or not the names and faces of Control are familiar to you, the performances are terrific across the board. Darling’s videos and the various Hotline calls, as well as the semi-hidden puppet show, are real highlights. The curious use of live-action, along with things like the large, bold font that announces your entrance into a new area for the first time, combine to help provide Control with an extra dose of flavor that helps to elevate an already great game into something that will likely stick with you for a long time.

Game Pass: September’s Xbox One And PC Titles Include A New Release

Six more games are coming to Xbox Game Pass over the next two weeks. Two are arriving tomorrow, another two later this week, and the last two will launch on the games-based subscription service next week.

On September 5, Dead Cells and Metal Gear Solid HD Edition: 2 & 3 come to Game Pass. Two heavy hitters–Creature in the Well and Gears 5 Ultimate Edition–arrive on September 6. Finally, on September 12, Game Pass subscribers gain access to Enter the Gungeon and Gonner Blüeberry Edition. All six of those games are coming to Xbox One. Both Shadow Warrior 2 and Bad North are coming to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate as PC titles.

Among all six of the Xbox One games, the most notable additions are Dead Cells, Creature in the Well, and Gears 5. That isn’t to say the others are bad–all the titles being added are good. But Dead Cells is one of GameSpot’s best games of 2018 and both Creature in the Well and Gears 5 are brand-new games launching on Game Pass the day they release.

In GameSpot’s Gears 5 review in progress, Phil Hornshaw wrote, “Gears 5 is very much a return of those best elements of Gears of War, but with a focus on making the game feel somewhat more adaptive to your particular ways of playing. Whether you want campaign or co-op, Competitive or Quickplay, there’s an option for you in Gears 5, and plenty of stuff to reward you for time spent and skill gained. Gears 5 might suffer from some of the same storytelling missteps as its predecessors, and it might not venture far out of the past, but the new ideas it brings to the series are all good reasons for fans to return.”

The embargo for Creature in the Well isn’t up yet, so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow for GameSpot’s review on Flight School Studio’s “pinbrawler,” though you can watch us play through the first few areas in the top-down hack-and-slash dungeon crawler with creative director Adam Volker as he explains how the studio created a The Legend of Zelda-like game with pinball-inspired mechanics.

Unfortunately, Game Pass is losing out on a few titles this September as well. We’ve listed the games leaving the service below.

  • Onrush (September 4)
  • Lego Batman 2 (September 6)
  • Joy Ride Turbo (September 6)
  • Splosion Man (September 6)
  • The Maw (September 6)
  • Lego Indiana Jones (September 30)
  • Shantae: Half-Genie Hero (September 30)
  • Split/Second (September 30)
  • Ninja Gaiden Black (September 30)
  • The Hunter: Call of the Wild (September 30)

Pokemon Masters Has Already Hit A Huge Milestone

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Pokemon Masters, the new Pokemon mobile game from DeNA, officially arrived on iOS and Android last week, but the title is already off to a strong start. Following its launch, mobile analytics company Sensor Tower reported Masters was the No. 1 free App Store game in 27 countries, and now The Pokemon Company has confirmed the title has hit an impressive milestone.

The official Pokemon Masters Twitter account revealed that the game has reached 10 million downloads worldwide in only four days. For comparison, Niantic’s hit Pokemon Go reached that milestone in a week, although that game was initially only available in the US, Australia, and New Zealand, so Masters has the benefit of being available to a much wider audience from the outset.

In other Pokemon Masters news, the game’s first story event is now underway. These events will happen periodically and focus on specific Sync Pairs. The first story event is dubbed Reach for the Top, and it teams you up with Blue and his Pidgeot as they take on other trainers from the Kanto region. To coincide with the event, Blue and Pidgeot are also featured in the Sync Pair Scout. The Reach for the Top event will run through September 29.

Pokemon Masters is set in an island region called Pasio, where famous Pokemon trainers and their partner Pokemon have gathered for a Pokemon Masters League tournament. Unlike most traditional Pokemon games, you aren’t able to catch your own Pokemon in Masters; rather, you recruit other Sync Pairs and form teams with them to take part in three-on-three real-time battles.

If you’re just setting off on your Pasio adventure, be sure check out our roundup of everything you need to know about Pokemon Masters. We’ve also broken down what Scout Points are and how to get them, as well as how to evolve and Mega Evolve Pokemon in the game.