For director Ruben Fleischer and his fellow creatives, the most nerve-wracking thing about wrangling the Zombieland gang back together for the upcoming Zombieland: Double Tap was whether or not they could match let alone top the 2009 original. Fleischer has found solace in the reactions to the film coming out of early test screenings.
“The responses were fantastic,” Fleischer told the press during a recent edit bay visit on the Sony Pictures lot. “The thing that’s most gratifying to me is one of the questions we asked people was how this compares to the original. I don’t want to blow too much smoke up my own ass but overwhelmingly, like 90 percent of people said it was as good if not better than the original.”
When Zombieland hit theaters in 2009, it was an instant hit, taking in over $100 million at the box office. At the time, it seemed, a sequel was a guarantee. Then the years started passing, and it looked like a potential follow-up wasn’t going to happen. Better late than never, though, Zombieland: Double Tap is ready to hit theaters a decade after the first film. So what took so long?
For Ruben Fleischer, who directed both films, it’s a matter of the right idea and the right time. As it turns out, there was a sequel in the works after Zombieland was a hit. “Immediately after the success of the first film studio naturally wanted to do a sequel and we developed a script with Paul [Wernick] and Rhett [Reese], the original writers,” the director admitted to GameSpot and a small group of other outlets during a visit to Double Tap’s edit bay. “But it just kind of didn’t hit all the… it wasn’t quite what I think everybody was excited to go make. And so we kind of put it on the shelf.”
After that, everyone became pretty busy and a lot harder to pin down for a followup. “I went made a couple other movies, [Wernick and Reese] went and [wrote] Deadpool, Emma [Stone] went and won an Academy Award and Jesse [Eisenberg] got nominated for one, I think. Woody [Harrelson] got nominated for two and so everybody kind of went off and did their own thing,” he said. “But it was sometime after Gangster Squad that I was like, ‘Huh, you know what, in hindsight that Zombieland move is pretty awesome. And that cast was pretty amazing, those writers are pretty good. Maybe we should figure out how to how to get that sequel going again.'”
That was in 2013. While Fleischer said Sony was ready to dive into a sequel, Wernick and Reese were knee-deep in Deadpool. “So they came on as executive producers and we worked with the writer named Dave Callaham to come up with the story for a sequel,” he explained. “And we did a couple of drafts of that, until the point where Paul and Rhett came in and did their pass on it. And it was that draft that the cast all agreed to make.”
The script was vital, as the cast was determined to make sure the sequel would live up to the first film–especially Harrelson. “Woody has said that, of all the movies he’s made, when fans come up to him, the movie that they are always mentioned is Zombieland,” the director said. “And so he felt like a real responsibility that we don’t tarnish the original, and making a sequel. So he especially was like very exacting when it came to the script.”
Once the script was approved, Fleischer was already working on 2018’s Venom. Thankfully, the waiting game wouldn’t last much longer. “As soon as Venom was done, I had a week off and then immediately started prep on [Zombieland: Double Tap], and was in Atlanta again, where we shot the original and prepped it in the fall, and then started shooting in January,” he recalled. “We’re just finishing [post-production], and it comes out in October. So it was a pretty quick turnaround from the actual moment of like getting a script and actors lined up. But it was a long ten years between the original to the release of this one.”
It’s arguably more impressive that Fleischer was able to gather this cast a decade later than had he done it right after the first film. Does the post-apocalyptic comedy sequel stand up as tall as the first movie, though?
You’ll find out when Zombieland: Double Tap hits theaters on October 18.
Season 10 of Fortnite: Battle Royale is almost over, but developer Epic Games is giving players a little more time to earn XP and unlock rewards. As part of its 10.40.1 patch notes, the studio has announced it is extending Season 10 by an additional week, and it’ll soon roll out a set of overtime challenges that includes some new end-of-season prizes to unlock.
Beginning Tuesday, October 8, players will be able to take on a set of “Out of Time” overtime missions. These will be available until October 13, the last day of Season 10. Complete the challenges and you’ll earn XP and unlock rewards, including new cosmetics and a commemorative Season 10 loading screen.
While Fortnite’s Batman crossover challenges may be over, you’ll have a little more time to purchase Batman skins and other cosmetics from the in-game store. The items were originally slated to leave the store on October 6, the original end date of Season 10, but the cosmetics will now be available until October 13. Among the items you can purchase is a Caped Crusader Pack, which includes two different Batman outfits, a Batwing-style glider, and a Batman-themed harvesting tool. The Gotham City Rift Zone will also remain in the game until that day.
As for what’s new in Fortnite this week, Epic has unvaulted the Flint-Knock Pistol and made some changes to the Zone Wars limited-time modes. Now the modes are grouped into two playlists, and you have the option to either queue up by yourself or with a party.
Fortnite Creative, meanwhile, gets a new meteor prop gallery, while Save the World receives the new Surround Pound hammer and an escort quest. You can see all of this week’s changes to Fortnite: Battle Royale below; the full 10.40.1 patch notes can be found on Epic’s website.
Fortnite: Battle Royale 10.40.1 Patch Notes
Weapons & Items
Unvaulted
Flint-Knock Pistol
Gameplay
We may be almost out of time, but we’re not out just yet–Season X has been extended a week!
Gotham City and the Batman Caped Crusader Pack will be available until the end of Season X.
Out of Time
Season X’s Overtime Mission is coming soon! The Out of Time Mission will be available from Tuesday, October 8 at 9 AM ET until Sunday, October 13 at 2 PM ET.
Complete Out of Time’s objectives to earn end-of-Season rewards, including XP, cosmetics, and a Loading Screen that serves as a Season X memento.
Zone Wars
Zones Wars Desert, Vortex, Colosseum, and Downhill River LTMs have been consolidated into two LTM playlists. Queue into either playlist to play one of the four Zone Wars maps at random.
Zone Wars: Party
Queue with a party larger than one into a free-for-all experience.
Zone Wars: Solo
Queue by yourself into a free-for-all experience.
Bug Fixes
Resolved an issue involving some players having difficulty queuing into The Combine.
Because this issue has been resolved, The Combine has been re-enabled on iOS and Android.
Performance
Bug Fixes
Resolved a level streaming issue that occurred with v10.40 causing an increase in players landing in low-detail environments on Nintendo Switch.
Please note that this fix will result in a larger download for the system.
Improved the performance of a cosmetic material to address hitches caused by the material.
Art & Animation
Bug Fixes
The map now shows the correct aerial view for Gotham City.
Mobile
Party Hub
Improved the search bar functionality to make it easier to search for friends.
Bug Fixes
Resolved a visual issue in which microphones would be displayed as on when players weren’t in voice chat.
Recap
From server on September 27
Resolved an issue involving some display names not being presented properly on The Combine’s leaderboards.
The launch of Destiny 2‘s Shadowkeep expansion and New Light was a bit rough, with long queues and servers even being taken down for a period of time on release day. Much of that seems to have been already smoothed out, but there are a variety of other issues that Bungie has acknowledged. One in particular is potentially serious for gameplay, but it’s thankfully something you can avoid if you’re aware of it.
One of the key new additions in update 2.6.0.1 is the Artifact. This is a new type of item players acquire and then level up during the course of the season. You can acquire this whether or not you’ve purchased Shadowkeep; you just have to level up the new battle pass to Tier 7. Once you do, you can claim it from the Seasons menu–but it’s imperative you don’t do so if you’re currently playing an activity where equipment is locked (such as a Nightfall).
Bungie issued a warning on Twitter that players are not receiving the Gate Lord’s Eye when they attempt to claim it while their equipment is locked. You don’t have to worry about hitting Tier 7 while in an equipment-locked activity as long as you don’t actively go and claim it, as you might be tempted to do.
We’re investigating an issue where players aren’t receiving The Gate Lord’s Eye artifact at rank 7 if it’s claimed while in an equipment locked activity, like the Nightfall. This item should only be claimed after players have confirmed their activity is not equipment locked.
Bungie said it’s investigating the issue, but there’s no word on how soon it might be able to get the item into players’ hands. That’s unfortunate because it’s something you want to acquire as soon as possible. Once you have the Artifact, your XP gains will level it up, unlocking rewards and boosting your Power level. This can only be done during the current Season of the Undying, which runs until mid-December. At that point, the Artifact and its rewards will go away for everyone, paving the way for a new Artifact, rewards, and Power climb in the next season.
There is a running list of known issues impacting Destiny 2 right now on Bungie’s forums. More problems are sure to emerge in the coming days, but for the time being it at least seems that most of the ones preventing people from playing are behind us.
Kenneth Branagh is returning to direct and star as renowned detective Hercule Poirot in Death on the Nile, the sequel to 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express, alongside a whole new cast of suspects.
Microsoft has been long rumored to introduce a dual-screen device and now we finally know its the Surface Neo. The Redmond-based company introduced the dual-screen tablet well ahead of its 2020 holiday release date at its press conference in New York City.
The headlining feature of the Surface Neo is of course is it’s two 5.6mm thin screens. However unlike true foldables like the Samsung Galaxy Fold or Huawei Mate X, the Neo doesn’t feature a contiguous display that spans across both sides of the device. Rather the device has two separate screens separated by a hinge.
That’s a little less impressive than I was hoping for but this makes the device a bit more flexible as the hinge can rotate around a full 360-degrees. Without the foldable screen it also folds into one compact booklet that only weighs 655 grams.
Like the character himself, the Joker movie has become the center of numerous controversies–and its October 4 release date hasn’t even arrived yet. That fact hasn’t stopped commentators and critics all over the internet from weighing in, regardless of whether they’ve actually seen the film yet.
But that might not be a bad thing for the movie–films can often provide a solid jumping off point for cultural debates, as is already happening with Joker. And Todd Phillips, the movie’s director and co-writer, told GameSpot that he always intended Joker to be a “real movie”–one that would reach a wide audience than includes both comic book fans and the general moviegoing public.
“I always enjoy movies that are difficult to speak about right after [you see them],” Phillips said during a Q&A after a recent Joker screening in Los Angeles. “You go, ‘I want to process this a little bit.’ I always find those to be particularly rewarding…where you can’t necessarily distill it down into a one-line thing really simply.”
Following the Q&A, Phillips told GameSpot and other journalists about the moment he had the idea for this movie, as he exited the premiere for his 2016 semi-true crime drama, War Dogs.
“I was like, ‘Alright, we made a good movie. Who’s going to really see this? People don’t go to these movies like this anymore,'” the director recounted. “And I’m staring across [the street] looking at a billboard for a comic book movie–one of many–and I’m like, ‘That’s where this business is headed.'”
He remembered thinking that movies he loves, like A Clockwork Orange, Apocalypse Now, and Taxi Driver, couldn’t get made at a big studio today. “And I said, ‘Well, you might be able to do it, if you do it about one of those guys.’ And that’s really where it came from.”
When he pitched the idea for Joker to Warner Bros., the studio went back and forth. “And I go, ‘We’re gonna sneak a real movie in under the guise of [a comic book movie],'” the director continued. That apparently did the trick.
Of course, that’s a controversial statement, as it implies that comic book and superhero movies aren’t what Phillips considers “real movies.” The director took a moment during his story to clarify: “I don’t mean that like disparagingly to comic book movies–those are real movies,” he said. But he went on to double down a moment later.
“All of a sudden kids who wouldn’t care or go to this movie if it was called ‘Arthur’ are going to go sit in this movie and be exposed to something entirely different than Avengers: Endgame,” he continued. “I love those movies. [Robert Downey Jr.] is my boy. But they just watched a real movie, in a way.”
One problem Phillips sees with contemporary comic book movies is they all start to blend together. “How do you cut through the fog?” he asked. “It can’t all be CGI parking lot fights. It’s gonna just burn itself out.”
A Character Study
Some of Joker’s detractors–including both those who have and haven’t seen the movie–are worried about the violence it might inspire in disenfranchised fans who view the villain as a role model. Given the current climate around issues like shootings and gun control, that’s a valid conversation to have.
But it’s not a black and white issue. Joker may be painted as an antihero throughout the film, but most viewers will find they stop rooting for him at some point–although that point will vary from person to person, according to Phillips.
“Our thing was let’s make an origin story about a villain who’s actually the hero in the beginning, and you love him until you can’t love him anymore,” he said. “Other people I’ve shown it to stop rooting for him at different points. But like I said [after the screening], I watch Scarface, I’m rooting until the end of the credits.”
“That’s the fun thing about the movie, and that is one of your goals as a filmmaker–inspire conversation and theories and things,” Phillips continued. “There’s nothing more thrilling than that debate.”
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Phillips said he intended Joker as a character study first and foremost. Given the film’s relative lack of connections with the rest of the DC universe, it’s fair to ask why it’s a Joker movie at all–couldn’t it have just been called “Arthur” and avoided all the messy baggage that comes with this character?
“Could it have been called ‘Arthur’ and just be about a clown? Maybe,” Phillips said. “I just thought there’s a new way to tell a comic book movie–and maybe I’m wrong–let’s do it as a character study.” He added that another goal was to “deconstruct the comic book movie a little bit.”
Setting the movie around the late ’70s or early ’80s (it’s somewhat ambiguous) helped as well. “Tonally, the movie is very much a character study,” Phillips said. “There’s movies we grew up on and loved, and you go, ‘God, those movies don’t get made as much anymore.’ They get made–The Social Network is a great one, There Will be Blood is probably the best in the last 20 years–but in the ’70s and ’80s they were much more frequent. So in a weird way, it was also just an homage to that time. We’re making a movie that feels like that, why not set it there?”
We’ll soon know whether all these gambles paid off, as Joker hits theaters October 4. Read our Joker review here, and keep an eye on GameSpot for more Joker coverage up to and following the movie’s release.
Super Mario Maker 2 was well-received, but it’s gone several months without a promised post-launch feature. That has now changed, as the new 1.1 patch adds online multiplayer modes with your friends, instead of restricting it to random players. The new update adds a few other new features and tweaks as well.
According to the announcement, Version 1.1.0 lets you play with people on your friends list for both versus and co-op modes, for courses uploaded to Course World along with anything saved to Coursebot. The update also adds voice chat support for the mobile app, so you can talk with your friends while running courses too. Nintendo notes that a Switch Online membership is required.
A few other additions were included in the update as well. The “Nearby Play” function now lets you play in co-op mode as well, and if you play a Coursebot stage the host system doesn’t need to be connected to the Internet. It also added an Official Makers list so you can more easily find levels made by Nintendo. Finally, it adds a Play Together option directly from courses uploaded to a player’s profile, Maker Profiles now include more info, and you can play with a horizontal Joy-Con in all modes.
“The Mario series is worth all the admiration it gets, and Super Mario Maker 2 is an excellent tool for picking it apart by pushing its enemies, mechanisms, and Mario, to their limit,” Peter Brown said in GameSpot’s review. “I’ve yet to make a stage of my own that I think is worthy of sending out to other players, but I’m committed to getting there. Whether exploring the full potential of a single element or throwing things at the wall to see what sticks, I’ve got the itch to join the creator’s club. Mario Maker 2 makes the learning process intuitive and enjoyable. Most importantly, it’s enabled designers amateur and professional alike to share their creativity with the world. The community is off to a great start, and thankfully, the fun has only just begun.”
AlphaDream, the developer of the popular Mario & Luigi RPG series, has filed for bankruptcy, according to reports.
Yahoo Japan states the studio filed the claim on October 1 following years of financial difficulty. As of March 2018, the company’s debt stood at ¥465m (approximately $4.3m US).
AlphaDream was first formed in 1991, then working as a construction firm. In the 2000s the company’s focus shifted to video games. It produced multiple Japan-only titles as well as the critically acclaimed Mario & Luigi series.
The team told ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) that it hopes to put the game on PS4 and Xbox One before moving to its next project, but it didn’t specify release plans. It also said on Twitter that it is “still chewing” on the idea of a mobile version and would have to figure out how to make the game work with touch controls.
We’re still chewing on this. It’ll take a lot of design work to make a version that works good for touch controls!
Still, the official site acknowledges that it is actively working on bringing the game to other platforms. The same support page also notes it has no plans for a physical release.
Untitled Goose Game is still on sale on both the Eshop and Epic Game Store, with a Steam release planned for next year. The simple concept puts you in the role of a goose, who causes mayhem around a small town because geese are jerks.
“The important thing is that Untitled Goose Game is a hoot,” James O’Connor wrote in GameSpot’s review. “It’s a comedy game that focuses on making the act of playing it funny, rather than simply being a game that features jokes. Wishing that it was longer speaks to how much fun I had with it. There’s nothing else quite like Untitled Goose Game; it’s charming and cute despite being mean, and both very silly and very clever. It’s also probably the best non-racing game ever to feature a dedicated ‘honk’ button.”
