Director Rawson Marshall Thurber (Skyscraper, Red Notice) will be helming Netflix’s upcoming feature adaptation of Tom Clancy’s The Division, a popular video game franchise. News of Thurber stepping in to direct comes via Deadline. He will be taking over for David Leitch (Deadpool 2), who had to leave the project due to scheduling conflicts with the currently filming thriller Bullet Train.
According to Ubisoft, the movie “is set in the near future, where a virus is spread via paper money on Black Friday, decimating the city of New York… a group of civilians, trained to operate in catastrophic times, are activated to save who and what remains.” Jake Gyllenhaal (Spider-Man: Far from Home, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) and Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty, Molly’s Game) will co-star, but it’s not yet known what roles they’ll be playing or how they might relate to the original game.
The Division is just one small part of what seems could be a turning tide for video game movie adaptations gaining respect and viability for Hollywood. A recent The Ringer article has broken down how films like Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog proved the formula can work, which in turn led to many studios snapping up adaptation deals.
What we’re starting seeing now is those deals starting to bear fruit. For example, the recent Mortal Kombat movie trailer was the most-watched red-band promo of all time, clocking more than 166 million views in its first week. Other, similar adaptations, like HBO’s The Last of Us, demonstrates that prestige television may also be within gaming’s grasp–or reach, anyway–as well.
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl are set to release exclusively for Nintendo Switch sometime in late 2021 (see at Best Buy). These are 3D remakes of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, a pair of games that originally released in 2006 on Nintendo DS. Both upcoming remakes are available for preorder now.
Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl bring players back to the Sinnoh region, where you’ll go on an adventure while collecting, evolving, and battling Pokemon along the way. The Pokemon Company says these are faithful remakes, preserving the towns and routes found in the originals. However, the games will also include some quality-of-life improvements found in more recent games in the series.
And for those who need a reminder, the starter Pokemon are Chimchar, Turtwig, and Piplup. Brilliant Diamon’s Legendary Pokemon is Dialga, while Shining Pearl’s is Palkia.
Zack Snyder’s much-anticipated zombie action movie Army of the Dead has been in the works for many years, but it finally arrives in May and it is foregoing theaters altogether for a streaming release. You’ll be able to watch it on Netflix.
Snyder made his directing debut in 2004 with his remake of George Romero’s zombie classic Dawn of the Dead. But while he moved onto the hit Frank Miller adaptation 300 next, the filmmaker planned to return to the world of the undead soon after, and Army of the Dead was announced in 2007. At that stage Snyder was only planning to co-write and produce, with Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. hired as director. Unfortunately the movie didn’t happen–in 2011, Heijningen Jr explained that while it came close to shooting, financing fell through before production could start.
The project sat dormant for a decade, while Snyder went on to make movies such as Watchmen, Man of Steel, and Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. But in January 2019, it was announced that Netflix had picked up the project from Warner, and the movie finally started shooting in the summer of that year. With the film now set for release in a few months, here’s everything we know so far about Army of the Dead.
When will Army of the Dead be released?
The movie will hit Netflix on May 21, 2021.
Is there a trailer?
The first teaser for Army of the Dead was released in February. It’s short and doesn’t contain much in the way of dialogue or plot, but it gives a taste of the epic action the film seems set to deliver.
Who’s in the cast?
Army of the Dead features an ensemble cast that mixes established names with up-and-coming stars. The main actors are:
Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Ella Purnell (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children)
Ana de la Reguera (Eastbound & Down)
Matthias Schweighöfer (Valkyrie)
Nora Arnezeder (Mozart in the Jungle)
Hiroyuki Sanada (the upcoming Mortal Kombat)
Raúl Castillo (Knives Out)
Michael Cassidy (The O.C.)
Garret Dillahunt (Fear the Walking Dead)
Omari Hardwick (Kick-Ass)
Tig Notaro (Star Trek: Discovery)
Samantha Win (Man of Steel)
Notaro was not part of the cast when the film was in production. Her character was played by comedian Chris D’Elia, but following multiple accusations of sexual misconduct, the decision was made to remove him from the movie and recast the role. Notaro shot her scenes against a greenscreen and has been inserted into the film.
Who’s the writer?
The script for Army of the Dead is credited to Snyder, Shay Hatten (John Wick 3), and Joby Harold (King Arthur: Legend of the Sword). Harold wrote the film’s first draft back in 2007, based on Snyder’s initial story idea. But the movie wouldn’t be made for over a decade, and in 2019, Hatten was hired to rewrite Harold’s script.
What’s the plot?
Army of the Dead is set in the aftermath of a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas. The movie focuses on a group of mercenaries who venture into the quarantine zone to pull off an extremely dangerous heist on a casino. The trailer gives an idea about just how overrun Vegas is, with thousands of zombies swarming the streets of the city.
Will there be more movies?
Army of the Dead is only the start of what Netflix hopes will be an ongoing franchise. The company is making an animated spin-off titled Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas, with a voice cast that includes Christian Slater, Joe Manganiello, Vanessa Hudgens, and Jena Malone. There’s also a prequel movie on the way, which has already been shot. It’s imaginatively titled Army of the Dead: The Prequel and is written by Hatten and directed by Matthias Schweighöfer, one of the actors in the first film. It was shot in Germany last year, and wrapped photography in December. Neither the animated show nor the prequel movie hasa release date yet.
The demo for Outriders is now out, allowing you to play through the opening hours of developer People Can Fly’s upcoming multiplayer-focused action RPG. You can play the demo on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and PC–the only system that doesn’t support the demo but will play the game at launch is Stadia.
In the video above, we do a side-by-side comparison of the Outriders demo, playing it both on PS4 and PS5. We take a look at how well the game performs on the two systems, both in terms of graphical quality and loading times.
In Outriders, you play as an Outrider, a specialized combat scout charged with leading humanity’s exploration across a new world after the destruction of Earth. Mutated by a freakish storm upon your arrival, you become an Altered–someone who can bend the elements to their will. You have the choice of commanding earth, fire, time, or technology.
The demo for Outriders covers the opening chapter, which includes several campaign missions and optional side quests. Your progress in the demo will transfer over to the full game once it launches on April 1. Like that version, the Outriders’ demo supports co-op, allowing you to team up with other players in three-person squads.
A new Max Raid event is now live in Pokemon Sword and Shield. As part of the Pokemon series’ 25th anniversary festivities, Gigantamax Pikachu is appearing in Max Raid battles again until February 28, and you’ll have a chance to encounter a Shiny Gigantamax Pikachu in five-star Raids.
As was the case with the recent Cramorant Max Raid event, the overarching goal of this particular event is to defeat more than 1 million Pikachu. If players can hit that goal, The Pokemon Company will give away 100 Armorite Ore and 100 Dynite Ore, which are used as currency for certain items and services in the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra areas.
The Gigantamax Pikachu Max Raid event runs until 3:59 PM PT / 6:59 PM ET on February 28. Before you can participate, you’ll first need to refresh your Max Raid dens. You can do so either by connecting your game online or by going into the Mystery Gift menu and selecting Get the Wild Area News.
Time to team up and work together with your fellow Trainers! From now until 3:59 p.m. PT on Feb. 28, cooperate to defeat over 1 million Pikachu in Max Raid battles! Great rewards await if we hit our goal, so let’s get battling! #PokemonSwordShieldpic.twitter.com/OJbQiKLDQ0
In addition to the Max Raid event, The Pokemon Company is giving away a special Pokemon. In celebration of the series’ 25th anniversary, all Sword and Shield players can claim a free Pikachu for a limited time. What makes this Pikachu special is that it knows Sing, a move that it normally cannot learn in the games.
A few other freebies are also available right now. Players in the US and Canada can get a download code for a free Shiny Toxtricity at participating GameStop and EB Games stores. The Pokemon Company is also giving away a free item bundle containing a Toxic Orb, Gold Bottle Cap, and other valuable items until February 28.
A Terminator anime series has been greenlit at Netflix, according to Variety. Details are still pretty sparse at this early stage for the project, but given the franchise’s humble cyberpunk roots with the 1984 original film, an anime adaptation of the series and its world makes sense.
Variety reports that Netflix has partnered with Skydance, the company that holds the rights to the long-running sci-fi franchise, for the series. Mattson Tomlin, who worked on the screenplay for Matt Reeves’ upcoming The Batman, will serve as showrunner and executive producer for this upcoming series.
“Terminator is one of the most iconic sci-fi stories ever created–and has only grown more relevant to our world over time,” said John Derderian, Netflix’s vice president of Japan and anime. “The new animated series will explore this universe in a way that has never been done before. We can’t wait for fans to experience this amazing new chapter in the epic battle between machines and humans.”
How, what, or when (as is important in the Terminator series, which regularly involves time travel in its storytelling) this universe is being explored is unnanounced–but if Derderian’s promise of this being a truly new approach, the anime should be interesting. Tomlin also hinted in a statement, “Anyone who knows my writing knows I believe in taking big swings and going for the heart. I’m honored… [to have] the opportunity to approach Terminator in a way that breaks conventions, subverts expectations, and has real guts.”
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When two fan-favorite characters do battle on the big screen, the one thing fans want is a definitive winner, even though one isn’t always determined. After all, the debate of who won Freddy vs. Jason rages on. However, with the upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong, which hits theaters on the HBO Max streaming service on March 31, there will be one kaiju left standing.
Speaking during the IGN’s Fan Fest panel for Godzilla vs. Kong, director Adam Wingard made sure to note fans of the monsters won’t leave wondering who the victor was. “I just wanted this to feel like the real matchup. I wanted you to walk away from this–wanted there to be no more arguments on the playground,” he said. “This is the decider, you know, you don’t have to debate it anymore you watch this. That’s Godzilla, that’s King Kong, they’re beating the s*** out of each other, and one wins. And, you know, that’s it.”
Wingard’s reason for wanting a true winner of the war goes back to his own experiences watching the Godzilla franchise growing up. “When I think back to the original movie King Kong Vs Godzilla, I remember having conversations with my friends talking about that when I was a kid, and we were still debating who would win in a fight–Godzilla or King Kong–and that film for one doesn’t really pick a winner,” he explained. “It’s very much a draw. It’s very unclear and muddy who wins.”
While Wingard is promising a winner and a loser, the trailers for Godzilla vs. Kong promise, above all else, absolute mayhem and destruction on such a ridiculous level, that perhaps the movie should borrow a tagline from Alien vs. Predator: No matter who wins, we lose.
Godzilla vs. Kong crashed into theaters–and your house via HBO Max–on March 31.
Steven Yeun became a household name as Glenn on AMC’s The Walking Dead, which was based on a comic book by Robert Kirkman. Now, Yeun is starring as Mark Grayson in Amazon Prime’s Invincible, another series based on a comic by Kirkman.
During IGN Fan Fest, Yeun spoke about how he got the role on the upcoming animated show, which arrives on March 26. “Robert just hit me up kind of randomly and said, ‘I’m doing Invincible. Would you come in and kind of like help me realize part of this script?'” said Yeun. “He wanted me to come in and just play around in a booth, and we did this really cool scene that I really enjoyed about two security guards that—I think he’s going to be in it—but it’s a beautiful scene, and it really made me understand like what he was trying to make.
“Not too long after, he asked me if I would play Mark [Grayson] and for me, you know, I love Robert and also like having had that experience reading the some of the script that he wrote, and where the show was going, I was super stoked to be part of it, so I mean who doesn’t want to be Invincible?”
Yeun isn’t the only TWD alumni joining the new mature animated series. Invincible will also feature Khary Payton (Ezekiel) as Black Samson, Sonequa Martin-Green (Sasha) as Green Ghost, Lauren Cohan (Maggie) as War Woman, Chad Coleman (Tyreese) as Martian Man, Michael Cudlitz (Abraham) as Red Rush, Lennie James (Morgan) as Darkwing, and Ross Marquand (Aaron) as The Immortal & Aquarius. So there will be a lot of familiar voices to fans of the long-running AMC series.
Invincible also features J.K. Simmons, Zazie Beetz, Jason Mantzoukas, and Gillian Jacobs, all of whom were on the panel along with Yeun and Kirkman.
Developer Treyarch has dropped a new update for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone that kicks off the double XP weekend event. Alongside the event, the update also addresses some issues with two of the game’s maps. The full patch notes are outlined below.
The headliner of the latest patch is the kick-off of a double XP weekend event. From now until March 1, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone players can earn double XP and double weapon XP. This event coincides with Season Two’s launch, which has officially begun.
Elsewhere in the update are adjustments to two maps. On Raid, players can no longer stand outside of the intended play zones around the basketball court. Checkmate, meanwhile, has been fixed so that players can’t capture the P3 Hardpoint zone outside of its boundary.
Prop Hunt has been added to both the Apocalypse pool and February 25’s featured playlist.
The last point to mention is Black Ops Cold War’s Zombies mode, which gets several quality-of-life updates in this patch. This includes fixes for stability issues related to things like hellhounds and objectives, ironing out problems with progression, implementing gameplay updates like better enemy pathing, and addressing issues with the user interface.
If you’re in the market for a new TV, Newegg has a fantastic deal on the best 4K TV for gaming on PS5 and Xbox Series X. The 65-inch LG CX OLED 4K TV is $2,000 at Newegg right now, and while that’s a pretty typical sale price for the display, it also comes with a $200 Newegg gift card. That means you can snag yourself a gorgeous OLED TV and use the $200 towards new games and gadgets or even toward a PS5 or Xbox Series X when they come back in stock–unfortunately, we don’t know when the consoles will become available again, but you do get 365 days to redeem the gift card.
Amazon currently has a deal on the 65-inch LG CX OLED for $2,000 with a $50 coupon, so Newegg currently has the best deal for this TV.
The LG CX OLED features four HDMI 2.1 ports, which allow for 4K and 120Hz gaming on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. It also boasts support for VRR (variable refresh rate) and ALLM (auto low-latency mode) as well as Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. This makes it not only an incredible TV for gaming but also 4K movies and shows.
If you’re not a PC gamer, there are a few console-focused deals, too. Right now, you can snag a $50 Nintendo Switch card or $50 Xbox Store card for $45 each. To get the Xbox Store deal, you need to use promo code EMCESTE24–the Switch card deal doesn’t require a promo code. There are also quite a few digital Xbox game deals that are worth checking out–alternatively, you can still sign up for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $1 for your first month.
