Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reboot Names Its Cast

NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock has announced the cast for its Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot, which will be named simply Bel-Air. Among the cast of series regulars will be Jabari Banks, Adrian Holmes, and Cassandra Freeman.

Bel-Air is a “dramatic analogue” reimaging of the 90s sitcom Fresh Prince, which looks deeper into the conflicts, emotions, and biases of its characters during hour-long episodes. Will Smith’s character, Will, is set to be played by newcomer Jabari Banks. His wealthy aunt and uncle from Bel-Air, Phillip and Vivian Banks, will be portrayed by Adrian Holmes and Cassandra Freeman respectively.

The remainder of the cast are as follows: Olly Sholotan as Carlton Banks, Coco Jones as Hilary Banks, Akira Akbar as Ashley Banks, Jimmy Akingbola as Geoffrey, Jordan L. Jones as Jazz, and Simone Joy Jones as Lisa.

The show will executive produced and run by T.J. Brady and Rasheed Newson, who are working with Westbrook Studios, a division of Will Smith’s Westbrook Inc.

Last year a Fresh Prince reunion was held, which celebrated the 30th anniversary of the original sitcom. It seems safe to say from the stated direction of Bel-Air, it will be a fairly different show to the original and beloved Fresh Prince. Bel-Air is currently planned to air in 2022.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer.

Ubisoft Is Working on a Live-Action Driver TV Series

Ubisoft and Binge are teaming up for a live-action series adaptation of the popular Driver video game franchise.

GamesIndustry.biz reports that Driver is officially shifting gears and returning to screens with a live-action series that will “focus on undercover agent and ex-racecar driver John Tanner as he tries to take down a crime syndicate.” The series will be released exclusively on Binge, a new streaming platform dedicated to delivering premium entertainment for gamers.

The Driver series will be produced by Binge’s Vincent Talenti and Allan Ungar, who directed and co-wrote the Uncharted live-action fan film that took the internet by storm upon its release in 2018. The Driver series’ executive producers hail from Ubisoft Film & Television, with Jason Altman, Danielle Kreinik, and Genevieve Jones attached to the project.

“Our mission at Ubisoft is to bring our games to life in new and exciting ways and create content set in the world, culture and community of gaming,” Kreinik said of the new series. “Working with Binge will allow us to bring a Driver series directly to the audience who is most passionate about seeing this franchise come to life.”

“Having the opportunity to adapt Driver alongside the team at Ubisoft Film & Television is a dream come true,” Ungar added following the project’s announcement. “As longtime fans of the franchise, we’re excited to deliver an original, premium and rich storytelling experience that will take fans and newcomers on a thrilling ride.”

The first game of the Driver series was released for the PlayStation in 1999 and its runaway popularity fuelled five further main installments. IGN’s review of 2011’s Driver: San Francisco called it a “game-changing, eyebrow-raising idea” infused with “unparalleled variety and a ridiculous supernatural twist whilst staying true to its Seventies chase-movie roots.”

The new Driver series adaptation joins a growing slate of Ubisoft TV and movie projects, including a live-action Assassin’s Creed series for Netflix, a Beyond Good and Evil movie helmed by Detective Pikachu director Rob Letterman, and a movie based on The Division starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain.

Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Venom 2: Let There Be Carnage Pushes PG-13 to the ‘Very Limits’

After a series of release date shifts, Venom: Let There Be Carnage is finally only a few weeks away. Earlier this month, Sony and Columbia Pictures’ symbiote sequel received a PG-13 rating from the MPAA for “intense sequences of violence and action, some strong language, disturbing material, and suggestive references,” despite reports that an R rating was being considered for the follow-up.

In IGN’s Instagram Live interview with Andy Serkis on Tuesday, the Let There Be Carnage director explained how a PG-13 rating was necessary for the film to reach a larger audience. However, that imposition did not stop the filmmaker from focusing on the more disturbing elements of the story’s supervillain.

“You could go down an R-rated adult version of this. Of course you could,” Serkis explained. “You could have done that with the last film. But we wanted to reach a big audience with this and… there are several rules you have to abide by. However, having said that, I think we have pushed to the very limits [with] the danger and darkness and the threat and the menace of Carnage.”

Serkis elaborated on his approach, explaining that on-screen violence can be much more than buckets of blood.

“Just because you don’t see so much gore — perhaps there’s not so much blood or… seeing heads being bitten off — you can still suggest that,” Serkis continued. “The suggestion, leaving it to the audience’s imagination, can be just as powerful. I think that’s just what we managed to do. It’s certainly not shying away from the darkness. And the real heart of Carnage as a character isn’t compromised at all.”

After being delayed multiple times throughout the pandemic, Venom: Let There Be Carnage was most recently moved up two weeks on Sony’s release calendar. The sequel will hit theaters on October 1.

In our review of the first Venom, IGN gave the film a 4, saying that “Tom Hardy’s committed performance can’t overcome a painful script and indecisive direction.”

J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.

Call of Duty 2022 Will Reportedly Be a Modern Warfare Sequel About the Drug War

Activision Blizzard is currently facing serious ongoing allegations of harassment and mistreatment of marginalized workers. To learn more, please visit our timeline as well as our in-depth report on the subject.

Next year’s Call of Duty game will be a sequel to 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, according to new reports.

Industry insider Tom Henderson tweeted that Call of Duty 2022, codenamed Project Cortez, is expected to be a sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare reboot.

VGC also reports that Modern Warfare 2 is on the way next year and that it will include a campaign featuring U.S. special forces fighting Colombian drug cartels. Project Cortez was part of this week’s GeForce Now datamine, with Infinity Ward slated to be the developer.

In IGN’s Modern Warfare 2019 review, we called the game “great,” saying, “Modern Warfare’s gorgeous new Realism mode, the large-scale Ground War, and quick and dirty Gunfight help mix things up for a good time.” It would make sense for the series to follow up the 2019 reboot since Modern Warfare broke multiple sales records at the time of its release.

This year, it’s Sledgehammer Games’ turn to release the new Call of Duty, with Call of Duty: Vanguard set to come to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC on November 4. For more, check out our Call of Duty Vanguard multiplayer beta impressions. Or, read about how Call of Duty banned 100,000 accounts in a single day.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Destroy All Humans! 2 Remake Announced Seemingly By Mistake

It appears a remake for Destroy All Humans! 2 is real and in development.

In a now-deleted tweet, PlayStation officially announced the Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed noting the game will come to PS5. A trailer was also shared in the tweet as well but mentioned no release date. The end of the trailer also notes that THQ and Black Forest Games are tied to the remake; the latter also developed the remake for the original Destroy All Humans!

The tweet has since been deleted ahead of a planned THQ Nordic 10th-anniversary livestream set for later this week.

Destroy All Humans! 2 was originally released back in 2006 on PS2 and Xbox. Set 10 years after the original game’s events, players control Crypto-138, a clone of the first game’s protagonist, Crypto-137. A remake for the game was originally teased earlier this year, but not much info was shared other than Destroy All Humans! senior producer Martin Kreuch saying that there may be more details shared “soon.”

IGN reviewed the 2020 remake of Destroy All Humans!, which received a 7 on our review scale calling the game “simple but satisfying.” While we do not have a release date for Destroy All Humans! 2 – Reprobed, we do know that THQ Nordic is part of Embracer Group, a holding company that has said it has 150 games in development; 70 of those games are to be completed by March 2022.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Watch Mario from Super Mario 64 Take Over Minecraft

A modder has put the Super Mario 64 engine inside of Minecraft, creating a playable version of Mario in the game.

@pdxdylan posted on Twitter, showing off his work to get the polygonal plumber inside the blocky world of Minecraft. You can see Mario running around multiple biomes, showing off his triple jump, long jump, swimming, climbing, and more moves straight from the classic N64 title.

IGN spoke to Dylan, who says he was inspired to make this project, simply because he knew it was possible, and that it would look a bit funny.

“I’ve done other work with Super Mario 64 before on other engines, but the thought of Mario in a completely different game intrigued me, so I decided to do it as a fun project,” Dylan said. “I’ve always been into tinkering with games, figuring out how they work, and making mods for them.”

Dylan says that this project was made possible by the n64decomp community, a group of fans and modders who reverse-engineered Super Mario 64 to decompile the source code. However, due to Nintendo’s history of issuing cease and desist orders for fan projects, Dylan doesn’t have any plans to release the Mario Minecraft mashup.

“I really do wish I could release it to the community. There’s a lot of potential for this mod, especially ideas like players being able to build their own courses for Mario to run around in, or speedrunners trying to beat Minecraft as Mario in the quickest time,” Dylan said. “However, due to Nintendo’s strict enforcement on fan games and mods, I don’t believe it will ever reach that point.”

Dylan says his personal end goal is to make Minecraft playable from start to finish as Mario. In a follow-up tweet, he also said he’ll continue posting videos of the project online, to keep giving the community glimpses of this fun mod.

For more wacky Super Mario 64 mods, you can watch the gameplay of Peach’s Castle as a playable level in GoldenEye 007. Or, for something Nintendo encourages you to build and modify yourself, check out the recently-revealed LEGO Super Mario 64 playset.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed Announced Early By PlayStation

Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed has been announced for PlayStation 5. Revealed in a now-deleted tweet by PlayStation, Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed appears to be a remake of the original Destroy All Humans 2, a follow-up to the remake of Destroy All Humans released last year.

The trailer shows off some gameplay of the 1969-based game, including psychedelic hippies and Cold War-era Russian spies. It also shows off a new weapon and a set of goggles that set off a colorful blast around Crypto, forcing people to dance.

The now-deleted PlayStation tweet announcing Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed
The now-deleted PlayStation tweet announcing Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed

The trailer did not include a release window for Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed and the only platform announced was PlayStation 5. THQ Nordic teased the possibility of the remaster earlier this year in a video, where Crypto-137, the protagonist of Destroy All Humans, is interrupted by a clone of himself which fans believed to be Crypto-138, the protagonist of Destroy All Humans 2.

The reveal of Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed comes only a few days before THQ Nordic’s digital showcase, celebrating its 10th anniversary. The showcase will be hosted by The Game Awards Geoff Keighley and will feature six game announcements.

In GameSpot’s review of Destroy All Humans, I gave it a 6/10, writing, “The stealth missions are rudimentary, the boss fights are tedious, and some poor audio work won’t let you forget that this is a game from 15 years ago. However, its core loop of causing destruction and mayhem, laying waste to humans and cities, still feels satisfying. Destroy All Humans often feels like the PS2 game it is, but a fresh coat of paint and updated controls definitely make this remake enjoyable to play through today.”

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Triplets: Tracy Morgan Will Join Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito in Twins Sequel

A sequel to the 1988 comedy Twins is officially a go, with Tracy Morgan set to join Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito as the pair’s third brother, per Deadline. Triplets is currently being shopped in the Toronto Film Festival market, with the production sending out a reel of the three actors to potential buyers. The production is aiming to begin filming in January 2022, with director Ivan Reitman also set to return to the director’s chair.

“I haven’t directed in a couple years, but Arnold kept saying, ‘C’mon, we had such a great time,'” Reitman said. “I had a great time doing the first one, and this is going to be fun.”

Triplets will reportedly follow Schwarzenegger and DeVito’s Benedict brothers as they come into contact with a long lost brother played by Morgan.

The original Twins was an impressive commercial success for Universal when it released in theaters in 1988. The film grossed $216 million worldwide against a reported production budget of $18 million. A sequel has been in the works for nearly a decade, with reports of Eddie Murphy’s attachment to the project emerging in 2012.

Reitman confirmed that Murphy was a large factor in the sequel’s conception, though the director assured that Morgan will be a fantastic replacement.

“This whole thing started with Arnold meeting Eddie Murphy, and the suggestion came from one of them,” Reitman said. “We started a script with Eddie, and after the success he had with Amazon Prime on Coming 2 America, he got himself booked up heavily. And we knew we were going to make it at the beginning of next year. I’d been good friends with Tracy Morgan for a long time and always thought he was one of the funniest men in the world. I thought he would make a terrific triplet, and we rewrote the whole script for him.”

For more on Twins and twins in general, check out how DeVito and Schwarzenegger stack up in our rundown of the best movie twins of all time.

J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.

Life Is Strange: True Colors Chapter 5 Guide – Dream Puzzle, Confronting Jed

Congrats! You’ve made it to the end of Life is Strange: True Colors. There aren’t many major choices to make in Chapter 5: “Side B” as this chapter delivers on the consequences of your actions. There is, however, one missable choice you’ll need to make in order to determine what ending Alex gets. There’s an escape room puzzle you have to beat too.

True Colors can end in several different ways and most of those endings are dependent on decisions you made in Chapters 1-4. So if you’re unsatisfied with how Alex’s journey ends, you’ll need to go back and replay the game. Thankfully, True Colors isn’t all that long–you can knock out the game in one or two sittings if you want to. You can also replay certain chapters without affecting Alex’s story if you want to go back and nab any Achievements/Trophies that you missed.

More Life Is Strange: True Colors Guides

Chapter 5: “Side B” Walkthrough

Alex’s Dream Puzzle [Mandatory]

After falling down the mineshaft, Alex has a dream of being locked in the office where she started the game–this is a dream-based escape room, so you’ll need to use clues in the environment in order to find your way out.

If you’re having trouble, follow these steps to get out of the room.

  1. Try the door, only for the doorknob to not work
  2. Inspect the guitar case, which will reveal that the case doesn’t recognize you and needs your “true” identity
  3. Inspect the file on the desk, revealing that Alex perceives herself as a patient with mental and emotional baggage, and her patient number is 53322
  4. Inspect the number lock on the guitar case and enter Alex’s “true” identity–since you’re Patient 53322, the combination needed is 53322
  5. Take out the guitar–Alex will notice she can’t play it since it’s not correctly tuned
  6. Inspect the photos on the wall, Alex will take note that one is of a tuning peg for a guitar–removing the photo from the wall causes a real tuning peg to fall into your hand
  7. Go back to the guitar–Alex can now play it, which allows you to get out of the room

What Alex Wants [Mandatory]

After going through Alex’s backstory, the memory of Gabe has some words of wisdom for Alex. He also asks Alex what she wants for her future, with your choices boiling down to wanting to play music, wanting to belong somewhere, or wanting to help people.

This may seem like it’s locking you down a specific path but it’s not. It will inform the dialogue in following conversations but this choice will not fundamentally alter the ending to Alex’s journey. So pick whichever choice speaks to you and the Alex that you’re playing.

Confronting Jed [Mandatory]

Time to confront Jed over what he did to you in the final moments of Chapter 4. How your confrontation with him plays out will highly depend on what choices you’ve made in the game thus far. If you’ve been following our guides, you should get the “good” outcome. But that leaves the lingering question: Do you condemn Jed for his actions or forgive him?

Neither option has major consequences on the outcome of the story, so it really depends on just how much you want to twist the metaphorical knife that Alex stabs into Jed’s heart during this confrontation. As far as we can tell, True Colors never outright states whether Alex’s forgiveness in this moment is sincere, so you could argue that forgiving Jed can be read as either the “good” or “bad” choice. Maybe she’s being sincere or maybe she’s saying the one thing that she knows will show how much of a monster Jed is.

Forgiving Ryan [Missable]

This choice will only pop up if you romanced Ryan. Following the vote, he will show up at Alex’s door. If he sided with Alex and her accusations against his father, then he will hug Alex and everything is fine. However, if he doesn’t (which is highly possible as you need to do a lot of things right to get him to side with you), he will show up at your door, begging for forgiveness. You then get to decide whether Alex forgives him or not.

This choice does have an impact on the ending of True Colors. There are six possible endings to the game, and the biggest influence to what ending you get is whether Alex is dating someone. So it’s up to you: Do you want Ryan in Alex’s life or would you prefer she face her future solo?

Alex’s Future [Mandatory]

This is the last choice you make in True Colors. You must decide whether Alex stays in Haven or pursues a life of adventure. There is no bad choice here–just decide how you want the game to end. Depending on who you romanced, as well as who left Haven and who stayed, the ending of True Colors can play out in a few different ways. But there’s nothing you can do to change that now. You’ve made all the choices you could–time to see how Alex’s story plays out.

Activision Blizzard Hires Former Disney Exec to Oversee HR and Rebuild Employee Trust

Activision Blizzard has announced it has hired Julie Hodges from The Walt Disney Company to become the new Chief People Officer and help “build a more inclusive workplace.” Hodges hiring comes as Activision Blizzard continues to confront the fallout of an ongoing gender discrimination lawsuit from the state of California.

Hodges was previously senior vice president of corporate HR, compensation, benefits, and talent acquisition at The Walt Disney Company. According to a press release provided by Activision Blizzard, Hodges was responsible for helping shape corporate culture at Disney.

Hodges will oversee all aspects of human resources “including diversity, equity and inclusion, talent acquisition, employee experience, learning and development, compensation, and benefits and workplace planning,” at Activision Blizzard.

Hodges was hired alongside Delta Airlines’ Sandeep Dube who will serve as the new Chief Commercial Officer, a revenue role.

Hodges will replace Claudine Naughton who is the former Chief People Officer.

The company’s former HR executive, Jesse Meschuk also left in August 2021 alongside president J. Allen Brack. Meschuk left following a lawsuit by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing which accused the video game developer of systemically discriminating against women employees in regards to salaries and promotions. Furthermore, Activision Blizzard was accused of fostering a work environment where female employees were sexually harassed.

The lawsuit claims Activision Blizzard’s human resources department was complicit in this workplace and employees were discouraged from reporting to human resources as they “were known to be close to alleged harassers.” An HR employee at Blizzard was pictured in the “Cosby Suite,” photograph.

In a statement, Activision Blizzard’s incoming chief people officer says, “I share the company’s belief that a work environment should welcome all perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds.”

“A workforce where everyone feels valued is critical to the success of our business, as is a trusting, engaging, and safe environment that encourages creativity and innovation and in which all employees can thrive,” says Hodges. “It takes a collective effort to do this, and I’m looking forward to ensuring that we support the diversity of our talent to bring our people together and continue creating amazing entertainment.”

IGN’s own internal investigation within Blizzard has revealed that there is work to be done to regain this trust. Reports have also emerged that Activision Blizzard is retaliating against employees who are speaking out against the company.

Correction: An earlier version of this story suggested Hodges replaced HR executive Jesse Meschuk. Hodges will be replacing Activision Blizzard’s former Chief People Officer Claudine Naughton who is leaving the company. The story has been edited to reflec this.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.