biteho.com

Martin Scorsese’s next movie, Killers of the Flower Moon, was originally meant to film this past March. Now, the film has set new production dates after delaying due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Osage News is reporting that the film, which will film in Osage County, Oklahoma, is now set to begin filming in February 2021.

According to Geoffrey Standing Bear, the principal chief of Osage, the film will be shot over 16 weeks. The film is expected to create a lot of work for local residents. Chad Renfro and Addie Roanhorse are serving as Osage Nation ambassadors for the film, which is an adaptation of David Grann’s non-fiction book of the same name.

“With safety for all being of greatest concern, once the industry protocol has been established and it is safe to embark on this important project, they will reach back out to us,” Renfro said in a statement.

The film is set to star Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro in starring roles. DiCaprio has previously worked with Scorsese on The Departed, Shutter Island, and The Wolf of Wall Street, whereas this will be De Niro and Scorsese’s 10th film together.

Another (much smaller) part will be played by the auction winner who scored a walk-on role in the film.

The movie, which will release on Apple TV+, is said to have a budget of $200 million–which could still be lower than what it cost to make The Irishman.

Despite The Fellowship Of The Ring being almost 20 years old, Lord Of The Rings is the film trilogy that keeps on giving–at least as far as physical releases are concerned. In 2016, the Middle Earth Collection included The Hobbit trilogy and LOTR together for the first time–and now, that collection will be re-released in 4K.

While it’s been reported that the 4K remasters would release in October this year, a new report from The Digital Bits suggest that date may be a little ambitious. While Warner Bros’ internal databases have pointed toward the October/Q4 date, internal sources cited by The Bits suggest the remaster is only half done at this point, making an October release unlikely.

The remaster is being handled by Weta Digital in New Zealand, the studio that handled the original digital effects for the Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. The Bits has concluded that the 4K collection will most likely launch next year, though it’s not impossible for it to release by the end of the year.

The Lord Of The Rings trilogy was shot on 35mm film, while The Hobbit was shot digitally in 48fps, up to 5K resolution. The 4K release should include both the theatrical editions and the extended editions of all six films.

Amazon is currently producing a Lord of The Rings TV show set in the Second Age of Middle Earth. Here’s everything we know about that project so far.

Actor John Rhys-Davies pulled double duty for Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings series. He portrayed the dwarf warrior Gimli while also voicing the ancient Ent named Treebeard.

In a new interview with Comicbookmovie, Rhys-Davies said Treebeard was especially difficult to perform because he had to find a way to give a voice to a character who has no lungs.

“Treebeard is one of the very few parts that I’ve had that I wake up in a sweat at night thinking, ‘I don’t know how to play this,'” he explained. “The hardest part I’ve ever done. I don’t know how to play it, and it’s not right. It’s not the way it is in the book … I could find no way … how the hell do you voice something that has no lungs?”

At East European Comic Con in 2013, Rhys-Davies said he also struggled with how Treebeard speaks and acts so slowly.

“When you read it on the page of the book you can imagine the slowness of it, but your eye is moving quickly. In film, you just have to get a move on,” Rhys-Davies said. “The more I worried about it, I started losing sleep over it.”

Rhys-Davies said he experimented with all different kinds of voices for Treebeard, including slowing it down so much that he was basically making whale noises. He also worked on a version of Treebeard that was a combination of various tree-like elements such as the tree-rattle of leaves and the suction sound of roots coming out of the ground. However, this approach didn’t work out either, and he went on and on and got nowhere, Rhys-Davies said.

In the end, Rhys-Davies settled on a voice for Treebeard that came across as gentle and old, while also communicating an element of power and strength. He’s still not satisfied.

“Of all the parts I’ve ever done, I think that was probably the least successful one. I don’t think I got that right. And I don’t know how I could have got it better,” Rhys-Davies said.

Disney’s 1996 animated adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame is now regarded as a classic, but new stories about the film’s casting prove it could have turned out completely differently. For one–Meat Loaf, aka Michael Lee Aday, was almost cast as the titular hunchback Quasimodo, according to a recent Collider interview.

Collider talked to the directors of Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, who revealed that they were closer to a Meat Loaf casting than you would expect. “The first person that was actually cast as Quasimodo was Meat Loaf,” Wise said, though Trousdale corrected him with, “he wasn’t cast, he read for it. He was almost cast. It was an almost kind of thing. I don’t think we actually put pen to paper.”

“There was never a signed contract,” Wise agreed. “But we got so far as to meet with Meat Loaf at a recording studio off Santa Monica Blvd. We talked with Meat Loaf. He ran through ‘Out There,’ Quasimodo’s song a few times.”

“He was really good,” Trousdale said. “It was pretty far along in the process. Like almost cast. To the point where Kirk and I were asking each other on the way to the car, ‘Do we call him Meat? Or Mr. Loaf?'”

Other near-castings included Cyndi Lauper, who at one point was cast as one of Quasimodo’s gargoyle friends, though she was released from the role. More infamously, Mandy Patinkin went for a disastrous audition for Quasimodo, which saw him bring his own arrangement of the song to perform for the original composer and lyricist. You can check out the full rundown of the so-called “Patinkin Incident” on Collider.

The Hunchback Of Notre Dame is one of the Disney movies said to be in the queue for a live-action reboot, with the most recent news indicating Josh Gad was signed on to produce.

Illustrator John Howe is known for his beautiful depictions of Tolkien’s works, having served as an artist on Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films, as well as illustrating maps for various editions of the books. Howe was one of the earliest names known to be attached to both Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films and Amazon’s new TV show. In an interview with Swissinfo.ch, translated from French, Howe has talked about how he became a go-to artist for Tolkien’s work.

Howe says he has been fascinated by J. R. R. Tolkien since he was 14 years old. “He is one of those authors whose visual evocation is extremely strong: what he describes triggers visions,” Howe told Swissinfo. “Things that are unknown are the most interesting. They are full of decisions to be made, challenges that have to be mastered. Heroic fantasy, when written well, answers questions every generation is asking.”

The illustrator lives and works in Switzerland, a country whose beautiful mountainous landscape inspired many of Tolkien’s magical locations. However the version of Middle-earth Howe is currently working on, for the Amazon Lord of the Rings TV show, is returning to New Zealand where Peter Jackson’s two trilogies were filmed. Unfortunately the interview doesn’t offer much in the way of details on the still-mysterious TV project.

Recent reports suggest the TV show is back to filming in the functionally COVID-19-free haven of New Zealand.

One of Microsoft’s worst-kept next-gen secrets is the rumored second Xbox model, which is believed to be called the Xbox Series S. Now, even more evidence of the console has emerged in the wild thanks to a controller that seemingly went on sale too early.

The Verge has confirmed that the leaked images making the rounds today of a white next-gen Xbox controller are indeed real. The text on the packaging mentions that the controller works with the Xbox Series X and the Xbox Series S consoles, the latter of which has not been announced. The controller will also work on the standard Xbox One and PC, as well as iOS and Android for xCloud streaming.

The enduring rumor is that the Series S console is the cheaper next-gen Xbox model, the one known popularly by its “Lockhart” codename. This system is rumored to have 4 teraflops of GPU performance and 7.5 GB of usable RAM. It will reportedly have the same CPU as the Series X.

The latest rumor is that Microsoft will officially announce the Series S during an event in August, so it may not be long until we know more about it. There are also rumors that the Series S will not have a disc drive, which would put it more in line with the disc-free PS5 that’s on the way.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer told GameSpot that it might release additional next-gen Xbox SKUs, and Lockhart is expected to be one of them. “Obviously, in the name ‘Series X,’ it gives us freedom to do other things with that name so that we can create descriptors when we need to,” Spencer said in December 2019, all but confirming multiple next-gen Xbox consoles are coming.

For more on Microsoft’s next-gen strategy, check out GameSpot’s editorial below.

Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.

This video has an invalid file format.

New Releases highlights some of the top games releasing each week, and this episode has two games you can grab for free. Hyper Scape, Ubisoft’s take on the battle royale trend, is totally free to play, while A Total War Saga: Troy will be free at lunch. This week you can also jump into Metamorphosis, EA Sports UFC 4, and Risk of Rain 2 as it leaves early access.

Hyper Scape — August 11

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC

Ubisoft is mixing up the battle royale formula with Hyper Scape, most notably when it comes to looting. When you pick up the same weapon multiple times, you’ll upgrade it with things like an improved fire rate and extended magazine. You’ll also loot special powers, called Hacks. You don’t have to defeat every other play to win either: hold onto the special crown at the end of the match long enough, and you’ll win.

More Coverage:

Risk of Rain 2 — August 11

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch

Risk of Rain 2 might be taking the roguelike survival game into the third dimension, but it still requires you to collect resources and fight monsters if you hope to escape its alien planet. Luckily, you can play it solo or with friends in co-op. It’s leaving early access this week, at which point it will have a slight price increase.

More Coverage:

Metamorphosis — August 12

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch

This is definitely the most Kafkaesque game that’s appeared on New Release because you literally control a person trapped inside the body of a bug. You’ll have to use your newfound bug abilities to solve puzzles, save your friend, and return to normal.

A Total War Saga: Troy — August 13

Available on: PC

The Total War series is known for its grand strategy and deep combat tactics, and this entry sprinkles in some Greek flavor with its Trojan War setting–a conflict you can “rewrite” depending on your wins and losses. It’s coming exclusively to the Epic Games Store initially, and it’ll be free for its first 48 hours on the market.

More Coverage:

EA Sports UFC 4 — August 14

Available on: PS4, Xbox One

UFC 4 doesn’t have Joe Rogan or Ultimate Team, but there are still a bunch of improvements to this year’s game. Clinches, takedowns, and ground work have all been retooled. You can also jump into Blitz Battles online, taking on opponents back to back in a fast-paced tournament.

More Coverage:

There’s still a lot of August to go, and the month has more anticipated games on the horizon. Next week, we’ll take a look at two games making their comeback: Microsoft Flight Simulator and Battletoads.

Technology giant Microsoft recently confirmed that it was speaking with TikTok about a potential purchase of the viral app’s operations in the US and other countries, and this led to a significant surge in the company’s stock price and total value.

Business Insider noticed that Microsoft’s stock price rose by more than 5 percent following the news, and this works out to an increase of around $77 billion to Microsoft’s total market value. The company is now worth more than $1.6 trillion.

Microsoft plans to complete its acquisition discussions with TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, by September 15. Social media platform Twitter is also reportedly interested in purchasing TikTok’s US operations. Apple, Google, and Facebook have also supposedly expressed some level of interest in buying TikTok. For what it’s worth, Facebook’s Instagram app just added a new feature called “Reels” that borrows the basic idea of TikTok.

CNBC reported that Microsoft might end up paying between $10 billion and $30 billion to acquire TikTok’s US operations, depending on how the deal shakes out and how much of the company Microsoft might take on. That would make it one of Microsoft’s biggest acquisition in its history based on purchase price. For comparison, Microsoft paid $26.2 billion to buy LinkedIn, while the company forked out $8.5 billion to buy Skype, and $2.5 billion to buy Minecraft and developer Mojang.

US President Donald Trump has called out TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, which is based in China. The president has suggested he may try to ban TikTok in the US unless an American company buys its US operations by September 15.

Microsoft shut down streaming site Mixer last month as it continues to focus on its enterprise-related businesses. It’s unclear how or if a TikTok acquisition might factor into the Xbox business as the Xbox Series X‘s release approaches. It could be as simple as Xbox ads appearing in the app or deeper integration for sharing videos, but at this point, it’s merely guesswork.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.