Category: Games

A new feature from The Hollywood Reporter shines a light on the massive paydays that some Hollywood A-listers get. Sources told the site that Leonardo DiCaprio was paid a jaw-dropping $15 million USD for his starring role in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

That’s a huge sum of money, but it is reportedly $5 million USD below the veteran and in-demand actor’s normal $20 million USD pay per movie. DiCaprio took less for the new Tarantino movie reportedly to help the movie get off the ground.

He appears to have agreed to less money up front in exchange for a share of the backend, which is the Hollywood industry term for a share of the box office profits. THR states that if Once Upon a Time in Hollywood only meets expectations, he could end up making $45 million or more off the film. Presumably if the film exceeds expectations, DiCaprio could take home even more.

This sounds similar to the unique deal that Robert Downey Jr. reportedly struck with Marvel for the Avengers movies. He was reportedly paid less up front, but took home a share of the box office profits, which turned out to be immensely lucrative for Downey Jr.

The report claims that DiCaprio’s deal for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is “structured in a way that certain territories yield higher percentages than others.”

The entire story at THR provides a fascinating and in-depth look at DiCaprio’s history in the movie-making business. Among many other things, a source from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood told the website that some crewmembers were told to not make eye contact with DiCaprio. Additionally, producer Shannon McIntosh said there is a singing and dancing scene in the film, and DiCaprio was initially concerned about being able to pull it off. But in only a week, DiCaprio returned “absolutely fearless” and performed the scene which is said to be outside of his comfort zone.

Read the full DiCaprio story here at THR.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood premieres in theatres in August. DiCaprio stars as ageing movie star Rick Dalton, while Brad Pitt plays his stunt double, Cliff Booth. The movie is set in Hollywood in 1969, and the Tate murders will be one of the storylines. Margot Robbie plays Sharon Tate, while Damon Herriman plays Charles Manson. The movie features a long list of huge names in other roles, including Timothy Olyphant, Bruce Dern, Al Pacino, Dakota Fanning, Emile Hirsch, and Kurt Russell. Luke Perry appears in the movie in his final role following his death.

Bandai Namco has released the opening animation for Digimon Survive, which has been embedded below. Originally scheduled for a summer 2019 release, Digimon Survive has been delayed to 2020.

The opening animation introduces all of the major human characters for Digimon Survive, including protagonists Takuma, Aoi, and Minoru. The three are prepped to go on a trip with the rest of their class, which is composed of several other school stereotypes such as a beautiful girl who’s always on her cellphone and a delinquent-looking boy who’s just misunderstood. The class is headed to some ruins, though mysterious earthquakes in the area have caused several students to voice concern over whether it’s safe.

As the class gets ready to leave, several mysterious supernatural phenomena begin to pop up: an elderly man is surrounded by monstrous creatures, a trouble-making girl encounters snow in the midst of spring, and Takuma notices a ghost-like girl watching him from the window of his classroom. As the students leave, the ghost girl starts singing, the classroom begins to decay become overrun with vegetation, and we see the girl stroking the head of a sleeping child.

Digimon Survive is a survival strategy RPG that also incorporates visual novel elements. The game stars the aforementioned Takuma, Aoi, and Minoru who wander into a strange world and become partnered with Agumon, Labramon, and Falcomon respectively. Taking inspiration from the original Digimon Adventure anime, Survive has you shape the emotional and mental evolution of Takuma, Aoi, and Minoru, which in turn affects how Agumon, Labramon, and Falcomon digivolve. Survive also revisits the concept of what a Digimon is that was first conceived by Digimon Adventure director Hiroyuki Kakudō–that they’ve always been a part of human history and mistakenly identified as shikigami, yokai, or demons in the past.

Digimon Survive is scheduled to launch for Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Amazon’s big-budget Lord of the Rings TV show is one of the most-anticipated programs in development anywhere. But up until now, there hasn’t been any word as to who would appear in it or what stories it would tell. Now, some of those details are coming into focus.

Variety and other Hollywood sites are reporting that Amazon has cast Australian actress Markella Kavenagh (Romper Stomper) as a series regular. She will reportedly play a character known as Tyra, but no other details were made available. Tyra could be a brand-new character invented for the show, similar to how Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit series created Evangeline Lilly’s non-canon character, Tauriel.

According to Deadline, Amazon has tasked its casting directors to seek out talent for the show from all around the world.

JD Payne and Patrick McKay are the showrunners for Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show. Like D.B. Weiss and David Benioff before they created Game of Thrones, Payne and McKay have no TV credits. Game of Thrones veteran Bryan Cogman and Breaking Bad’s Gennifer Hutchison are believed to be among the writers of the new Lord of the Rings show.

J.A. Bayona, who directed Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, is set to direct multiple episodes of The Lord of the Rings TV show. Bayona is also known for the Guillermo Del Toro-produced horror The Orphanage and the acclaimed drama A Monster Calls.

The Lord of the Rings show is set before the events of JRR Tolkien’s trilogy of books and Peter Jackson’s movie adaptations. It will take place during the Second Age, which is a 3,441-year period that covered major events like the forging of the Rings of Power, the War of Sauron, the beginning of the Ringwraiths, and the Numenor island sinking into the ocean.

The show will air on Amazon Prime, though a release date has not been announced.

In Lord of the Rings video game news, a new Lord of the Rings title focused on Gollum is in development at Daedalic Entertainment, while a brand-new Lord of the Rings MMO is coming from Amazon–though it is not connected to the TV show.