Brad Pitt Leads Sony Action Thriller Bullet Train With Hobbs & Shaw Director

Brad Pitt’s next project will be an adaptation. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Pitt has signed on for Bullet Train, an adaptation of Kotaro Isaka’s Maria Beetle. The story follows a group of five assassins on a high-speed train.

Retitled Bullet Train, Pitt will lead the cast, and Hobbs and Shaw director David Leitch will helm the project. Fear Street writer Zak Olkewicz has also signed on to adapt the script. Antoine Fuqua along with Leitch and Kelly McCormick will be producing Bullet Train under their 87 North banner as well as Kat Semick, who has a history of production action films such as The Equalizer franchise.

This will be Pitt’s first feature after finally winning an Academy Award for acting earlier this year for Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Pitt was previously nominated three times for 12 Monkeys, Moneyball, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. However, Pitt has won an Oscar as a producer for 12 Years A Slave, which won Best Picture.

No other cast members or release date have been announced.

Captain Marvel’s Brie Larson Has An Unexpected Favorite Super Mario Game

It’s no secret that Captain Marvel actress Brie Larson loves Nintendo, and her Nintendo Switch. But if you had to ask her which of the many Mario games are her favorite, the answer might surprise you.

As a guest on First We Feast’s Hot Ones, Larson was asked about the time she proclaimed Super Mario 3D World was “one of the greatest achievements in Nintendo history.” Larson laughed before breaking down the sense of wonder the Wii U platformer gave her.

“Man, that game blew my mind when it came out because I had such a deep love for it in its two-dimensional form,” Larson explained. “I would’ve said that same quote when Paper Mario came out…I love illusions, I love optical illusions, I love magic. Games that use that, that use the idea that there’s other worlds, other ways of looking at the world–which I think Paper Mario and Mario 3D World did–yeah. Nintendo continues to top itself.”

The quote, which Larson clarified was from 2014, isn’t entirely accurate anymore either. “I might say that the new Zelda has kinda topped that,” Larson added. referring to 2017’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Brie Larson has recently started a new YouTube channel, which might feature some gaming content in the future given the appearance of her Nintendo Switch during the announcement. A new Paper Mario is around the corner too, with Paper Mario: The Origami King launching on July 17.

Now Playing: Paper Mario: The Origami King – Closer Look Trailer

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Adds New Seasonal Item

Animal Crossing: New Horizons‘ first summer content update is now live, and it’s added swimming, mermaid furniture, and sea creatures to the game. That’s not all that’s new right now, however; Nintendo has also added another limited-time seasonal item, Bamboo grass.

The item is listed in the Seasonal tab of the Nook Shopping catalog and ties into the Japanese festival of Tanabata, which takes place on July 7. Like previous seasonal items, the Bamboo grass will only be available for a limited time–until July 31–and costs 3,080 Bells to order.

Beyond the new seasonal item, another event is happening in Animal Crossing: New Horizons this week–the Fishing Tourney. The event takes place this Saturday, July 11 and will give you another chance to earn fish-themed furniture and other items. Because the Fishing Tourney will be happening Saturday, K.K. Slider will show up for his weekly concert on Friday this week, so make sure you don’t miss him.

The aforementioned summer content update arrived on July 3. As previously mentioned, it added the ability to swim in the ocean around the island, which lets you dive for new sea creatures that you can donate to the museum. The update also brought back series regular Pascal, who will trade mermaid DIY recipes for scallops.

Nintendo has a second summer content update on the way for Animal Crossing in August. The company didn’t detail what that update will add, but the graphic that accompanied the announcement teased fireworks, which traditionally happen during August in previous Animal Crossing games.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Fortnite’s Fog Of War Limited Time Mode Is Back For Summer Splash

The limited-time Fog of War mode is returning to Fortnite as a part of the games Summer Splash series of events. It fills the map with a thick smoke and replaces all guns and loot in the game with suppressed weapons and stealth items for quiet and tense matches.

The Summer Splash series of events is bringing a number of previous limited-time modes back to Fortnite. Other events like One Shot Duos, where players jump around in low gravity with nothing but snipers, have also returned. Available limited time modes change every other day.

Fog of War is the same as the previous limited time mode, sneaky silencers, with a few minimal changes. New additions include siphoning, where you gain health for eliminating other players, and the ability to mark opponents by shooting at them.

The available weapons in Fog of War include the suppressed submachine gun, suppressed assault rifle, suppressed pistol, suppressed sniper rifle, and a few other items like the newly added flare gun. The automatic sniper is also available even though it isn’t suppressed. The mode is only accessible in for solo play so you can’t play it with duos or squads.

Epic has also rolled out yet another Aquaman challenge and has also released a Captain America skin that’s currently available for 2000 V-Bucks.

GameSpot’s Play For All–a celebration of all things gaming–is ongoing. Join us as we bring you the summer’s hottest news, previews, interviews, features, and videos, as well as raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts and Black Lives Matter with the help of our friends from around the gaming world. Check out the Play For All schedule for more.

Now Playing: 6 Big Changes In Fortnite Season 3’s Splashdown

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Weird West Keeps The Immersive Sim Alive

Weird West is an upcoming immersive sim and action-RPG set in the wild west that’s being developed by WolfEye Studios, which is led by former Arkane president Raphael Colantonio. For GameSpot’s Play For All, we spoke to Colantonio–who is best known for his work on Prey and the Dishonored series–about Weird West and how his history as an experienced game developer makes working on a new game feel like a New Game Plus mode.

In the video above, Colantonio talks about how Weird West is inspired by early immersive sim games like System Shock, the original Fallout, and Ultima VII. Though Weird West begins as a traditional western-style story, the narrative quickly descends into the supernatural. These supernatural themes tie into the immersive sim mechanics.

You’ll play as five different people in Weird West, but not all at once. Instead, you’ll go from one hero to the next–like the baton in a relay race. This means that if the hero you’re playing as is still alive by the time the story transitions to the next playable protagonist, you can meet the character you were previously playing as. You can even recruit the heroes you’ve already played as to your party.

Weird West is set to release for PC in 2021 and may have a closed beta later this year.

The Office Oral History Podcast Coming Soon

The Office fans are getting another podcast both hosted by and featuring guest appearances from stars. Entertainment Weekly is reporting that starting July 14, Spotify will be the exclusive home for the upcoming Oral History of the Office podcast. The new show will be hosted by Brian Baumgartner–who played everyone’s favorite slow-witted accountant, Kevin–and the 12-episode run will feature interviews with Steve Carrell, John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, Angela Kinsey, Jenna Fischer, and many more.

The new podcast will cover the show’s 2005-2013’s history, starting with the BBC adaptation’s search for its own distinct voice for American audiences and its search for a network home. How the cast, crew, and major storylines came together will also be covered.

Three episodes will be released on July 14, with weekly releases coming on following Tuesdays.

Kinsey and Fischer started the aptly titled Office Ladies back in October 2019, a rewatch podcast that similarly features other series stars weighing in with memories, trivia, and lots of behind-the-scenes information unavailable in existing DVD commentaries. Their show is already up to the season three episode, Diwali.

If you’re already current on Office Ladies, back in March, Krasinski launched the feel-good web series Some Good News. It’s not about The Office, but there is lots of Krasinski looking directly at the camera. Krasinski recently sold Some Good News to ViacomCBS–GameSpot’s parent company–but he will not be hosting the show.

Mario Odyssey, New Super Mario, Mario Maker 2 on Sale Right Now

UPDATE: Super Mario Odyssey is now on sale for $49.99. The article has been updated.

If you’re a Switch owner who doesn’t have either New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe or Super Mario Maker 2 (or both), great news: they’re both marked down right now at Amazon. If you’re not a Switch owner, bad news: those have been consistently difficult to buy since we started this whole worldwide supply chain disruption.

Nintendo Switch consoles come in and out of stock pretty frequently, but not in any sort of predictable rate. I recommend following IGN Deals on Twitter if you’re looking to grab one at MSRP.

Nintendo Switch Game Deals

[poilib element=”commerceDeal” parameters=”slug=nintendo-switch-mario-game-deals”]

The $40 price point seems to be pretty popular for video game deals on Amazon today. If you have $39.99 burning a hole in your pocket but don’t want one of the Mario games on sale, you can pick up the supremely excellent SEGA Genesis Mini on sale right now for just $40. I reviewed that, too, and I think it’s the best mini all-in-one console out there.

[widget path=”ign/modules/recirc” parameters=”title=&type=articles%2Cvideos&tags=us-shopping&count=3&columnCount=3&theme=article”]

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Seth Macy is Executive Editor, IGN Commerce, and just wants to be your friend. Find him on Twitter @sethmacy.

Sylvester Stallone Says There’s A Rocky IV Director’s Cut Coming, Hopefully With More Robot

The 1976 film Rocky is what launched the career of Sylvester Stallone. Prior to starring in and writing that film, Stallone was best known for his role as Machine Gun Joe in the over-the-top Roger Corman flick Death Race 2000. There have been eight films in the Rocky franchise–counting the two Creed films as well–and Stallone just announced a Director’s Cut of one of them.

On his Instagram account, Stallone was promoting the “extended cut” of the most recent Rambo movie, Last Blood. One fan asked Stallone about a Director’s Cut of Rocky Balboa–the sixth movie in the franchise from 2006. Stallone’s response probably threw everyone through a loop as he said, “I am not doing that but I am doing a directors cut on Rocky IV which will be amazing!!!!!”

Yes, Stallone posted with that many exclamation points, which means the new cut of Rocky IV will be four times more exciting than we can imagine. 1985’s Rocky IV is a bit out an outlier within the series. Many people–like myself–see the fourth installment of the series as their favorite in the franchise. However, it’s a little goofy compared to the other films.

The film starts off with Rocky as rich. He owns a mansion, a variety of cars, and a robot that delivers his friends’ birthday cakes. Yes, there’s a robot in this movie. Rocky’s friend Apollo Creed has a boxing match against Russia’s top fighter, Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren). Prior to Creed’s match, James Brown plays the song “Living in America”–that’s not important to the plot, but it is spectacular. Drago kills Creed in the ring and Rocky has to avenge his death with another boxing match. It’s the ’80s and so many action movies during that time revolved around the “USA vs. USSR” plotline.

But what would a Director’s Cut of Rocky IV look like since it’s such a near-perfect product of its time? Yes, it’s a weird movie, but those bizarre moments are what make it great. Will this Director’s Cut have more of Rocky’s robot in it? Maybe a love story between Paulie and said robot? Maybe there will be an extended James Brown performance. Most likely, the Rocky/Drago training montage will be extended, and if there’s a way to make it even more epic, please do so, Mr. Stallone.

Stallone didn’t say when there this Director’s Cut of Rocky IV would arrive, only that he’s working on it. Given how 2020 has turned out so far, a new cut of this classic “boxing” movie would be a rare bright spot for those who love this movie. Sadly, at this time, Rocky IV is not available to stream online with any subscription service, so if you want to watch it, you’ll have to rent or buy it.

Shadow Warrior 3 Announced

Flying Wild Hog and Devolver Digital have announced Shadow Warrior 3 for release in 2021.

The latest addition to the first-person shooter-melee series sees antihero Lo Wang on the hunt to recapture an ancient dragon that he and sidekick Orochi Zilla have accidentally freed.

You can watch a teaser trailer below, which features lots of violence, gratuitous use of a grappling hook, magic powers, and a very upset rabbit:

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/06/shadow-warrior-3-announcement-teaser”]

The game will arrive in 2021, but no specific release date has been announced as yet. The game will get a PC release, but no console platforms have been listed as yet.

Gameplay for Shadow Warrior 3 will be revealed during this month’s Devolver Direct broadcast, taking place on July 11.

We awarded Shadow Warrior 2 an 8.6 review, calling it “an energetic shoot ‘n’ loot with great melee and ranged combat, co-op, and a pile of dirty jokes.”

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].