Actor Tom Holland has described the physical pain he endured filming the action scenes for the Uncharted movie, and it sounds intense.
“I was getting so beat,” he told Esquire. “I was battered and bruised, and I had tendinitis in my hamstring. I will never do a sword-fight scene ever again.”
This is not the first time the Spider-Man actor has discussed the Uncharted movie’s action scenes, as he previously said the film contains some of the “biggest action sequences I’ve ever been a part of.” That’s a big thing to say, as Holland has appeared in multiple Spider-Man and Avengers movies over the years.
While his experience filming the Uncharted movie was intense and gruelling, Holland took just three days off after he finished filming Uncharted in Berlin before heading to Atlanta, Georgia to shoot the next Spider-Man movie, he told Esquire.
Also in the interview, Holland said he really liked the haircut that the Uncharted movie hairstylists gave him. He liked it so much that he asked the Spider-Man wig department to give him a special wig so he didn’t have to cut his hair.
“My hair in Uncharted is much cooler,” he said. “I have cool shaved sides and it’s slick at the back, and that’s not very Peter Parker. He’s a bit of a loser. So they put this wig on me that was just around the sides.”
“For the first time in my life, I put my foot down as the leading actor and was like, ‘I’m not f***ing wearing that wig. You can just . . . I’m going to have shorter hair and you’re going to have to deal with it.”
The Uncharted movie has been in various stages of development hell for more than 10 years already, but the film is finally finished and is scheduled to release in February 2022. In addition to Holland, Oscar-nominated actor Mark Wahlberg plays Drake’s mentor, Sully, while Antonio Banderas will appear in an unspecified role. Zombieland and Venom director Ruben Fleischer directed the Uncharted movie off a script written by the Iron Man writing team of Matt Holloway and Art Marcum.
Holland’s next movie is Cherry for Apple TV+, in which he plays a former soldier who robs banks to get money to pay for his drug addiction.
Ubisoft wants to be less reliant on AAA tentpole releases in the future and envisions a business model that also allows for free-to-play games to be major part of its release catalog. In an earnings call this week following the release of the company’s Q3 financial results, CFO Frederick Duguet spoke about expanding its operations beyond the scope of the traditional AAA video game release and more towards other “premium” services.
“We said for a number of years that our normal template is to come with either three or four AAA games, so we’ll stick to that plan for fiscal 2022,” Duguet said via IGN. “But we see that we are progressively, continuously moving from a model that used to be only focused on AAA releases to a model where we have a combination of strong releases from AAA and strong back catalog dynamics, but also complementing our program of new releases with free-to-play and other premium experiences.”
Ubisoft has been dabbling in this space recently, as it launched free-to-play battle royale Hyper Scape last year. Boasting some unique ideas that allowed audiences to have a direct impact on how a match plays, Hyper Scape flopped not long after launch and is currently being overhauled.
One upcoming game that the company has in development for the Chinese market, alongside investor Tencent, is the previously-announced Assassin’s Creed mobile game in Ubisoft’s efforts to focus more on free-to-play games in the mobile space.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot also briefly mentioned the company’s back catalog of games, adding that Ubisoft’s library continues to be profitable after launch and will likely still be a key part of its success. Rainbow Six Siege was a positive example, as the team-based action game managed to add 15 million new players in 2020 and continues to be a big driver of revenue for Ubisoft.
“We are continuing to move toward an increasingly pronounced recurrence of our revenues on the back of growing audiences,” Guillemot said. “Therefore, we expect our highly-profitable back catalog to account for an even larger share of our business going forward.”
Ubisoft’s AAA games still performed brilliantly in 2020, as the company said that it had a “record number” of unique players across all of its games during the quarter. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla hit a new franchise revenue record, Just Dance 2021 rose “sharply” when compared to the previous year’s game, and Brawlhalla, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Far Cry 5, The Crew 2, and Anno 1800 all helped Ubisoft pull in more than $1.2 billion in revenue during the holiday period.
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We recently saw leaks of an upcoming McDonald’s Happy Meal promotion with Pokemon goodies, this time giving out collectible trading cards and stickers instead of plastic toys. The promotion has now begun and we’ve gotten a full listing of the packs, but as you may expect, adults with disposable income are snatching them up.
DualShockers reports that each pack comes with a set of trading cards, along with one of four accompanying toy items: a deck box, plastic frame, sticker sheet, and four stickers. The card packs consist of four trading cards, one of which is a holo card. There are 25 cards to collect in all, and each has a holo (or shiny) version, making for a total of 50 cards. As for the Pokemon represented, to celebrate the series’ 25th anniversary they display every starter Pokemon in the series’ history. You can check out the full listing below.
Not surprisingly, though, the collectible nature has attracted scalpers. Kotaku reports that some people are looking to flip the cards at auction and are buying the packs in bulk. McDonald’s locations don’t have a consistent rule when it comes to these types of purchases–some require customers to buy entire Happy Meals, while others allow individual toy purchases, all with different quantity restrictions. Some resellers are already asking for upwards of $75 for sets that include some rare cards, like holo (shiny) Pikachu.
This is the 25th anniversary of Pokemon, of course, so some of the adults buying these in bulk are just enjoying their nostalgia as genuine fans. If you venture to McDonald’s to claim some cards for yourself, just try to leave some for the kids.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are now the proud owners of a UK football team. The Deadpool star and It’s Always Sunny creator have officially been given approval by the UK government to buy the local club Wrexham, according to Deadline.
Reynolds and McElhenney bought the lower-tier club because they saw potential in its future growth. Wrexham director Spencer Harris said, “They’re really interested in taking something with real potential, which this club has, investing in it, molding it, and watching it grow.”
In a statement, Wrexham confirmed that Reynolds and McElhenney made a£2 million equity investment in the club as part of the buyout. £50,000 of that will go toward helping expand the women’s football program.
“It is a special day for the two of us to become the latest stewards in the long and storied history of Wrexham AFC,” Reynolds and McElhenney said in a joint statement. “Together with the players, the staff, the fans, and the local community, we can now pursue our goal to grow the team and return it to the EFL in front of increased attendances, and in an improved stadium, while making a positive difference to the wider community in Wrexham.”
In a further bid for synergy, Reynolds’ gin company, Aviation Gin, recently made a deal with Wrexham for the booze to become an official partner to the club.
Both Reynolds and McElhenney changed their Twitter handles to “Wryan Reynolds” and “Wrob McElhenney” to promote and celebrate the deal going through. You can see their silly tweets below.
Both Reynolds and McElhenney have video game-adjacent projects, as Reynolds will appear in the video game movie Free Guy while McElhenney stars on the video game TV show Mythic Quest. McElhenney was also lined up to direct the Minecraft movie before he dropped out.
If you’ve ever wanted to play a 1996 game with 2021 visual effects, I’ve got good news for you. As picked up by Nintendo Life, the Super Mario 64PC port that Nintendo tried to shut down last year is still going strong, and one modder is working on a version of the game with ray-traced reflections and lighting effects.
The video is a couple months old, though it’s still the most recent update on the ray-traced Mario 64 project. The modder is named Darío Samo, and the video shows Super Mario 64 running on an RTX 3090. As Darío points out in the video title, it’s a $1500 GPU being used to run a 25-year-old game.
While the YouTube video showcases Wet-Dry world in its shallow-water mode, with some lighting effects provided by electricity-covered Amps and fire-spewing Keronpa Balls, Darío has also shared videos of other levels on Twitter. The most recent update shows the red-and-blue fire lanterns of the castle’s basement, while an earlier video shows some of the complex shadows in Dire Dire Docks’ red coin area.
Things are starting to calm down at last and I’m catching up with some pending work. It’s gonna take a while to get back into making more progress. Thank you all for your patience.
In the meantime, this is how the basement area was looking before I had to take a break. pic.twitter.com/NPlcQsW8jY
The PC port caught the attention of Nintendo’s lawyers last year when it launched, with the company taking steps to remove both videos of the unofficial port and the accompanying download links. Thankfully, it seems to have survived despite the DMCA crackdown.
In September last year, Nintendo re-released Super Mario 64 along with Mario Sunshine and Mario Galaxy as part of Super Mario 3D All-Stars for the Switch. All-Stars is designed to be a limited-edition game celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Mario franchise, with new copies no longer available to buy after March 31, 2021.
Black Myth: Wukong has released a sleek new Chinese New Year trailer, celebrating the incoming Year of the Ox as only a Dark Souls-inspired, Chinese mythology-based game could. While the trailer was created just to celebrate the New Year, and doesn’t represent the plot or bosses of the actual game, it’s still a great look at how the Black Myth’s premise and combat could play out.
As explained by Forbes, the opening text to the video reads: “As the Mouse gives way to the Ox, we have a growing talent and force. Here is a little tune for you, gamers dear, may you have a prosperous year.” The video finishes with the tagline, “be strong like a bull.”
The video showcases a two-headed rat monster that protagonist Wu Kong the Monkey King vanquishes, representing a year that most people would probably be more than happy to brutally murder. The rat monster is then replaced by a hulking ox-headed beast, symbolising the incoming year. The trailer comes with the disclaimer that these concepts have been created just for Chinese New Year, so don’t expect them to end up in the finished game.
Game Science is a Chinese indie studio that previously developed Art of War: Red Tides. While still little known in the West, Black Myth: Wukong has already attracted a lot of attention and hype thanks to its flashy trailers and cool concept.
Sadly Black Myth: Wukong isn’t due out this year, with its loose release date currently scheduled for 2023. In the meantime, check out the game’s 13-minute announcement trailer for more of the game’s combat and unique take on a classic Chinese tale.
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It looks like the PS5’s DualSense is the latest gaming controller facing the irritating problem of drift, where controllers register joystick movement without the player touching them. While it’s unclear how widespread the problem is, gamers looking to get defective controllers fixed are being faced with long wait times and extra shipping charges..
As reported by Kotaku, gamers are starting to post stories and videos online of their controllers drifting, as well as anecdotes about their experiences trying to get them fixed or replaced through Sony. The GameFAQs forum shows at least 9 different threads by users experiencing drift in their brand new PS5 controllers.
“The controller I had packaged with my PS5 had drift only a week in (I got it at launch) and it definitely was not wear and tear since I probably put in less than 10 hours at that point,” user Lionhartwolf explained in one thread. They also detailed their experiences with Sony as far as getting the defective controller fixed.
“They said they would send me a box so I could send it in. I’ve been waiting just under 2 weeks though and still nothing,” the post reads. “Once concerning factor I saw was with the shipping instructions though. Despite the [customer service] guy saying they will pay for shipping the email says I am responsible.”
A customer service worker contacted by Kotaku also confirmed that controller drift is covered by warranty, and explained that the customer was responsible for paying shipping to a Sony repair center, while Sony would pay for the shipping back to the customer once repaired.
Microsoft has also been the target of a class action lawsuit over drift in Xbox controllers, which alleges that Microsoft was aware of controller drift problems and failed to tell customers about it. A judge recently granted Microsoft’s request to take that case to arbitration.
With the PS5 only newly released, and still suffering from stock shortages, it’s unknown whether drift problems will end up as widespread as Nintendo’s, or whether the cases will remain few and far between.
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There are so many Star Wars movies and TV shows on the way, from more than one spin-off of The Mandalorian to Taika Waititi’s standalone film that we, honestly, don’t know too much about. One of the more intriguing projects in the works, though, reached back into the past of the Star Wars franchise. Andor is a Disney+ original series focused on Cassian Andor, the character played by Diego Luna in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
The series is still quite a ways off from actually debuting on the streaming service. In fact, before it premieres we will see The Book of Boba Fett, a spin-off of The Mandalorian. We could also see the third season of The Mandalorian, for that matter.
Still, while there’s a long time before the new original series premieres, we know quite a bit about it–including casting and plot details, as well as the creative team. Take a look below at everything we’ve learned about Andor thus far.
What’s it about?
According to an official description from Disney, the series will follow “Cassian Andor’s adventures as a rebel spy during the formative years of the Rebellion, before the events of A New Hope.” So get ready for a bunch of space espionage and any number of blaster fights set against the backdrop of a brewing rebellion.
Who’s in charge?
Originally, The Americans alum Stephen Schiff was signed on to serve as showrunner on the series. However, he was ultimately replaced by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story co-writer Tony Gilroy. He was also originally set to direct a number of episodes, including the pilot. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, though, he opted not to travel to the show’s set in the United Kingdom. Toby Haynes (Utopia, Black Mirror) stepped in to helm the first three episodes.
How many episodes will there be?
The first season of Andor will consist of 12 episodes. That’s more than other Disney+ originals, like The Mandalorian (8 episode seasons) and WandaVision (9 episodes).
When is it set?
This is a bit of a mystery. As previously noted, it’s set in the “formative years of the Rebellion.” So it’ll be a prequel to Rogue One–in which pretty much all of the heroes died. After all, it’s hard to have a Cassian Andor series if Cassian Andor is dead. At this point, though, there’s no telling how many years before those events it’ll be set.
Who is in it?
While the titular Andor is the focus of the series–and will once more be played by Diego Luna–there’s a massive supporting cast in place. At this point, though, we don’t actually know who any of them will play. You can take a look at the confirmed cast below.
Stellan Skarsgård
Adria Arjona
Fiona Shaw
Denise Gough
Kyle Soller
And that’s just to name a few. According to a behind-the-scenes featurette released by Disney, there will be over 200 named characters on the series.
What about K-2SO?
Thankfully, we know that Andor’s best droid friend K-2SO will return for the series eventually–and Alan Tudyk will voice the character once more. That said, don’t expect the droid to pop up in Season 1. According to Tudyk, “I’m going to be in the show. It’s just that the story that Tony [Gilroy] is telling doesn’t involve K-2SO until later on… I can’t be too specific, but I can definitely say that I’m not going to be in the first season.”
Any other notable Star Wars characters?
One actor whose role we do know is Genevieve O’Reilly. She will reprise the role of Mon Mothma, a Rebel Alliance founder who appeared in both Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One.
Where is it filming?
Filming for the series kicked off in late 2020 in London, England. In a behind-the-scenes featurette released in December, the amount of work being done to create the TV show was revealed–including massive sets, a number of costumes, and plenty of alien designs.
When will it premiere?
A specific release date has not been given. However, we do know that Andor will premiere on Disney+ in 2022.
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The 10.3 patch for Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds is live now for PC players. This patch is expanding Season 10 with new features including a new Weapons Sound Selection System, lighting improvements for Karakin, and team emotes, alongside additional performance upgrades.
Now players can choose between the original and remastered versions of certain weapons with the new Weapons Sound Selection System, including the M249, M416, Kar98k, and SKS. You can set this to your preference in the Settings menu under the Audio tab.
The overall quality of the lighting for Karakin has been improved with a lighting pass. Each area has had its lighting enhanced to give it its own distinctive vibe. Other bugs have also been fixed, improving player experience.
Certain emotes can now be used together with your teammates while playing. You’ll now be able to sync up eligible emotes with teammates within a 15 meter radius of your character. You can check out each emote and see how many players can sync-up with you by accessing the Customization section of the main menu and selecting the Emotes section.
The reputation system that was introduced in patch 10.2 has also been updated. Now if a player exits a match in the starting area prior to boarding the plane, it will not negatively impact their reputation. This is only applicable to normal games, not Ranked ones.
PUBG 10.3 Patch Notes
Squad Emotes
Sync-up your emotes with players within a 15 meter radius of your character in game or in the lobby.
You can choose to stop emoting at any time, independent of the person who had initiated the emotes.
Free-look camera is supported while emoting in TPP only.
View each emote and the maximum number of players who can sync-up with you at once under Customization, Emotes, on the main menu.
You’re unable to use other interactions while emoting, such as vaulting or picking up item
Weapon Sound Selection System
Supported Weapons:
M249
M416
Kar98k
SKS
Select your preference from the Settings Menu, under the Audio tab.
Karakin Lighting Improvements
Karakin has received a major lighting tune up raising visibility and enhancing the atmosphere. Other additional improvements have been made to the map to improve playability.
Kicking AFK Players in Training Mode
Much like in TDM, players who are AFK in Training Mode will be removed from the session, with a 10 second warning prior to removal.
Players will receive a message after being kicked, to let you know why you’ve been removed.
Players who are AFK in Training Mode after queuing for Ranked with our Dual Matchmaking will be removed from the Training Mode session, but remain in their Ranked queue.
Improved Store Experience
We’ve made a few changes to the store to make in game shopping a more intuitive experience.
Improved G-Coin messaging on purchases to ensure players understand the value of their G-Coin purchase.
Previously, any bonus G-Coin was bundled into one G-Coin total. Now, bonus G-Coin is also displayed as an independent figure.
Added Currency Filter
You can sort and browse the items by BP or G-Coin.
Season 10 is Wrapping Up
Haven will only be around until the end of Season 10 so get your close quarters fix while you can!
Survivor Pass Schedule
Survivor Pass: Breakthrough comes to an end on March 24. You still have two weeks from that point to claim all your rewards and access the coupon shop. Although, you’ll no longer be able to purchase or use Level-Up Tokens, purchase the Premium Survivor Pass, or complete missions from that date.
March 23, 7 PM PDT
March 24, 11 AM KST
March 24, 3 AM CET
Reputation System Update
The Reputation System introduced is one of our newest features, designed to encourage positive player interactions within the community. We have received lots of player feedback and a common trend we’re seeing is that some players feel certain penalties are too harsh.
We heard your concerns and are making the following changes with Update 10.3:
Normal Matches: Exiting a match while in the starting area, prior to boarding the plane will NOT negatively impact your reputation.
Ranked Matches: You will lose reputation for exiting Ranked Matches, even if exiting while in the starting area prior to the plane leaving. There are some exceptions, which you can read below.
You can leave a Ranked Match up to 5 minutes after (but not before) the plane has taken off without losing reputation, in situations where matchmaking has provided you with a random teammate who has then exited the match.
Additionally, the same applies if matchmaking fails to provide you with at least one random teammate after queuing for Ranked Squads.
Performance Enhancements
Here’s a rundown of the latest updates we made to improve performance.
Improved performance for low core count CPUs.
Optimized the pipeline for lighting calculation methods to improve performance.
Improved CPU performance by processing both character animation and vehicle physics calculations in parallel.
Improved memory optimization of character models through memory cache optimization.
Improved memory and processing optimization cost.
Optimized CPU/GPU performance with improved character creation/deletion logic.
Optimizations have been made so that objects such as furniture and stairs, can be viewed normally while ADS even at medium/long distances.
Items and Skins
Victory Dance 39
Slow-dodge
Victory Dance 40
Sales Period
2/10 2021 11 AM KST – 2/22 2022 11 AM KST
2/9 2021 6 PM PST – 2/21 2022 6 PM PST
2/10 2021 3 AM CET – 2/22 2022 3 AM CET
Red Hood and Big Bad Skins – February 13, 11 AM KST – March 13, 11 AM KST
RED HOOD’S BUNDLE
Red’s Scar
Red’s Hood
Red’s Jeans
Red’s Gloves
Red’s Boots
BIG BAD BUNDLE
Big Bad’s Hood
Big Bad’s Jeans
Big Bad’s Boots
Bloodlust Weapon Skins
Bloodlust – SKS
Bloodlust – Vector
Emotes
Victory Dance 41
Victory Dance 42
Bug Fixes
Gameplay
Fixed the issue where sometimes respawns wouldn’t work correctly in TDM.
Fixed a clipping issue when Racy Reindeer Top and Lv. 2 Vest is equipped at the same time.
Fixed a clipping issue when a female character equips Sinister Skull Mask and PGI.S Hood.
Fixed a clipping issue when a female character equips Gen.g Jersey and Madsy Utility Belt.
Fixed the issue where the female character’s hair disappears when wearing Shiba Crew Hood Jersey and a hat.
Fixed the clipping issue when Christmas Party Jacket clips with the main weapon.
Fixed the issue where reporting a player in Custom Match – Observer didn’t function.
Fixed an issue where the livestream displays wouldn’t function correctly with certain PC configurations.
Fixed an issue where the video on livestream displays would stop working correctly.
Fixed the issue where when using a controller, the r-stick and d-pad on didn’t scroll or change focus when navigating the inventory in certain occasions.
Fixed the issue where certain vehicle parts were sticking out too low onto the ground.
UI/UX
Fixed an issue with an out-of-date Key Guide on the loading screen.
Fixed the issue where when selecting Emotes in the menu, the wrong sound effect played.
Fixed an issue where the size of a character in the PASS 10-2 loading screen was too large.
Fixed a translation setting issue for Japanese in the Reputation System.
Fixed an issue where filtering didn’t work when entering a banned word after pressing [CTRL] + [Backspace] before entering chat.
Fixed the issue where other players’ reputation levels were not displayed correctly.
Fixed the issue where the number of daily/weekly missions did not match the actual number of missions.
Fixed the issue where the previous season points are incorrectly displayed.
Fixed an issue where the weapon icon in use was displayed as a steering wheel when the observer is watching a player who is shooting while driving.
Fixed the issue where certain nicknames are displayed in the wrong position when the observer zooms in on the map.
Fixed the issue where the visible/invisible hat icons in the inventory weren’t aligned correctly.
Fixed the issue where the Hero section in the News Page wasn’t displayed properly under certain conditions.
Fixed the issue where the attachment UI disappears when switching back and forth fast between the driver’s seat and the passenger seat in a vehicle with the inventory window open.
Australian animation and visual effects digital studio Animal Logic has been tapped by Warner Bros. to produce Toto, a musical adaptation of the book Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz according to The Hollywood Reporter. No release date has yet been announced.
The film, based on the 2017 children’s book of the same name from author Michael Morpurgo, retells the classic The Wizard of Oz story but from the dog Toto’s perspective. This being a musical, it’s safe to assume that the film will not subscribe to the widely held belief that dogs cannot understand English but only tones.
This version comes from writer John August (the recent live-action Aladdin, the 2010 Prince of Persia: Sands of Time movie adaptation), and will be directed by Alex Timbers (Mozart in the Jungle). Animal Logic has worked on animated features including The Lego Movie, The Lego Batman Movie, and Happy Feet.
Additionally, since the publication of the original The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900, there have been many reboots, remakes, and reinterpretations–this upcoming film continues that tradition, but is not even the only new version currently in the works. It was also announced on Tuesday that Nicole Kassell (The Woodsman, HBO’s Watchmen) will be directing a new movie adaptation as well.