New Pirate Anime Coming To Toonami/Crunchyroll In 2021

During Adult Swim Con, Toonami had a surprise announcement that it’s once again partnering with Crunchyroll to produce an original anime series. Called Fena: Pirate Princess, the anime will air on Toonami and stream on Crunchyroll in 2021.

Fena: Pirate Princess will run for 12 episodes. Directed by Kazuto Nakasawa (known for directing Netflix’s B: The Beginning and the animated opening for Catherine), Fena: Pirate Princess follows Fena Houtman, an orphan whose mysterious past allows her to break free of her oppressors and set sail in search of a place where she can be free. Her journey leads to a lifetime of adventure and the accruement of a diverse crew of misfits.

“I’m thrilled to be able to announce our next co-produced anime series with our partners at Crunchyroll and bring Nakazawa’s unique vision to life,” Adult Swim SVP and creative director Jason DeMarco said. “I hope you come to love these characters as much as I do.”

“The global anime community is going to love adventuring alongside Fena in this new series setting sail next year,” Crunchyroll head of development Sarah Victor added. “We’re delighted to be working alongside Adult Swim to bring this new series to life.”

Fena is the girl in the middle--the other characters are her crew.
Fena is the girl in the middle–the other characters are her crew.

2021 is still a ways off so if you’re looking for an anime to watch right now, check out our list of summer 2020 anime you should be watching. Of all our recommendations, Deca-Dence is sure to be the one that will most surprise you.

Now Playing: 6 Must-Watch Anime For Summer 2020

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Logo Seemingly Leaked by Doritos Bag

A Doritos bag may have leaked the logo and name for the next Call of Duty, revealing that this new entry will be called Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.

As reported by ModernWarzone.com, TheGamingRevolution received a DM that showcases the new Double XP promotion for what could be 2020’s Call of Duty game that we have yet to hear about.

Screenshot_2020-07-26 (1) TheGamingRevolution on Twitter These are the two Doritos Double XP promotional images that I was [...]Furthermore, it states that the promotion will begin on October 5, 2020, possibly hinting that Black Ops Cold War could be released in late October, that is if last year’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is any indication.

Modern Warfare had a similar Double XP promotion that began on October 1, 2019, and the game was officially released on October 25, 2019.

While there has yet to be any confirmation for 2020’s Call of Duty, there have been reports that Black Ops Cold War is in-fact the name.

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Additionally, there have been leaks of a game called The Red Door that may be an alpha test for this latest Call of Duty.

The description for The Red Door is as follows: “There is more than one truth. If you go looking for answers, be ready to question everything and accept that nothing will ever be the same. The Red Door awaits, do you dare step through it?”

The current Call of Duty, Modern Warfare, is in its fourth season for both multiplayer and Warzone, and it is expected to end on August 4, 2020.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Cyborg Actor Shares More Comments About Joss Whedon During Justice Con

While the focus of the weekend was Comic-Con@Home, there was another virtual convention over the weekend: Justice Con. The Justice League-themed fan event, which is not connected to Warner Bros., had an interview with director Zack Snyder–who showed off a new scene for the Snyder Cut–and one with Justice League’s Ray Fisher, who played Cyborg in the film. During the panel, Fisher discussed more about the alleged conditions with Joss Whedon–who replaced director Zack Snyder during production–at the helm of the superhero movie.

“What I will say toward the Joss Whedon situation is obviously I put out some pretty strong words and some pretty strong comments about Joss Whedon, and every single one of those words, every single one of those comments, is true,” Fisher explained (via Variety).

Fisher is referring to his comments in early July where he said, “Joss Wheadon’s on-set treatment of the cast and crew of Justice League was gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable.”

Producer Jon Berg would later deny that he helped enable any unprofessional behavior, which Fisher directly responded to during the panel. “It’s taken me two and a half years to get all the information I need to be able to build that something that’s strong enough so people can’t dismiss it,” Fisher said. “We’re gonna get to the heart of everything. And if anything I said about that man is untrue, I invite him wholeheartedly to sue me for libel, to sue me for slander.

“His denial of the situation, his denial of the enabling of that situation was asinine, it was tone deaf, and it was completely disrespectful to the situation. That man is scared. He should also be, because we’re going to get to the heart of it. And if you keep in mind, he did not deny that there was any unprofessional behavior. He did not deny knowing about any individual behavior. He said that we–meaning, assuming ‘Geoff Johns and myself’–‘we did not enable any unprofessional behavior.’ You can look at that statement and tell it’s a knee jerk statement of an individual who is scared.”

In December 2019, Zack Snyder confirmed the existence of his cut of Justice League, and in May 2020, the Snyder Cut of Justice League was announced for HBO Max–WarnerMedia’s new streaming service. However, it won’t arrive until 2021. The first clip of the movie shows off the villain Darkseid–one of DC’s most powerful baddies. However, this specific cut of the movie won’t be canon with the rest of the DCEU.

Bill And Ted Face The Music Includes Surprising Cameo By Beloved Character

You’ll get to see Bill and Ted Face the Music yourself in September when the movie is released in theaters and on digital. However, at the movie’s Comic-Con@Home panel, moderator Kevin Smith shared a truly exciting tease about something that happens in the movie.

While discussing viewing the film for the first time, Smith let slip that George Carlin, who played Rufus in the first two movies, does appear in Face the Music. That is kind of a surprise, given that the comedian passed away in 2008. Rufus is in the final cut, though.

As for how that’s possible, chances are this has been done using archived and possibly unused footage from the first two films. It most likely won’t be a major role in the film, though knowing Face the Music is going to pay tribute to a beloved character–and actor, for that matter–is reassuring.

The panel also included a look back on the years-long journey to get a third Bill and Ted movie made, going as far into the past as Keanu Reeves’ and Alex Winter’s auditions for the initial film. “Keanu and I became friends, to some degree, on the audition process,” Winter said. “We kept getting brought back.”

The duo noted that everyone making the film was young and sort of figuring out how to make the movie as they went, not realizing it would evolve to the point where they became a pop culture phenomenon. Reeves remembered the first time he noticed people screaming “Be excellent!” at him on the street and how cool the experience was.

Now, in 2020, a new film finds Bill and Ted all grown up, with kids and lives of their own. Those kids are played by Samara Weaving (Thea Preston) and Brigette Lundy-Paine (Billie Logan), both of whom admitted they’d never seen the original movies before auditioning. In their defense, though, they were both born after the movies came out.

Naturally, they checked out the movies before filming to completely understand the characters, and Lundy-Paine also admitted they watched Winter and Reeves constantly to pick up traits to add to their characters.

Bill and Ted Face the Music arrives on September 1. You’ll be able to watch it either in theaters or on digital release.

Now Playing: Bill And Ted Face The Music – Official Trailer

Pokemon Go Fest 2020 Day 2: Team Rocket Takeover, Shadow Legendaries, And More

Day 1 of Pokemon Go Fest 2020 has wrapped up, but there’s still a lot happening in the game this weekend. The nefarious Team Go Rocket are taking over the second day of the Pokemon Go event, and they’ll have a few Shadow Legendaries in their possession. Here’s what you can expect.

Team Go Rocket Takeover

Team Go Rocket are making their presence felt during Day 2 of Pokemon Go Fest 2020. The villainous team will be appearing in their Rocket balloons and taking over PokeStops much more frequently than normal throughout the day, and all players–even those who haven’t purchased a Go Fest ticket–will have a chance to battle them.

Fittingly, the Pokemon Go Fest confetti raining down on the map will be replaced by Team Go Rocket confetti during Day 2. On top of that, you’ll be able to use Charged TMs to replace Frustration with a different move. This apparently will only be possible for a limited time during Team Go Rocket takeovers, so take advantage of the ability to do so while you can.

Shadow Articuno, Zapdos, And Moltres

Rocket grunts won’t be the only ones out in full force during Day 2 of Pokemon Go Fest 2020. Go Rocket Leaders Arlo, Cliff, and Sierra will also be making an appearance, and it seems they’ll have different lineups of Shadow Pokemon, including Shadow versions of the Legendary birds Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. You can see each leader’s team below:

  • Cliff: Shadow Pinsir, Tyranitar, and Articuno
  • Sierra: Shadow Beldum, Houndoom, and Zapdos
  • Arlo: Shadow Mawile, Scizor, and Moltres

Team Rocket head honcho Giovanni will show up as well during Day 2, and he’ll likewise have a different lineup of Pokemon at his command. If you manage to defeat him, you’ll have a chance to catch his Shadow Persian.

Special Research

Players who have a Go Fest 2020 ticket will gain access to a new Special Research quest line during Day 2 called “Rocket Straight to Victory.” The Special Research will be available throughout the entire day of the event, from 10 AM to 8 PM local time, and will focus on driving back Team Go Rocket. Among the rewards you’ll receive for completing the Special Research quests are Pokemon that will be helpful in battle against the Rocket Leaders.

Additionally, Go Fest ticket holders will earn twice the normal amount of Stardust and Mystery Components for defeating Rocket grunts during the day. Niantic also teases that some “unwanted guests” may photobomb snapshots you take, and Professor Willow may discover the source of “great energy” that he was feeling during Day 1–perhaps the new Mythical Pokemon that was previously teased to be debuting during event. You’ll be able to follow updates about Team Rocket’s activities on Pokemon Go’s Twitter account and the Pokemon Go Fest virtual lounge.

Now Playing: Pokemon Presents – New Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Go, Pokemon Smile And More

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Comic-Con: Here’s How Many Times Kevin Smith Was Bleeped During His Panel

On Saturday evening of Comic-Con@Home, director/writer/pop culture mascot Kevin Smith held his annual An Evening With Kevin Smith panel, where he talked for an hour about his life, movies, and whatever. And he got bleeped (almost) every time he cursed, which was a lot.

In total, throughout the 57 minute and 41 second panel, Smith was bleeped a total of 113 times. If you’ve ever been to one of these events, you know that Smith doesn’t censor himself while talking. He lets the curses fly, and why shouldn’t he? He’s made a living crafting fantastically fun moments of dialogue revolving around 37 acts of fellacio (in a row?), overweight men in Batman costumes “flying,” and transactional songs for purchasing marjiuana that open with numerous mentions of slang for coitus.

And even though YouTube doesn’t have guidelines for cussin’, Smith was bleeped every moment a four or five or twelve letter swear word came out of his mouth. Within the first two minutes of his panel, Smith was bleeped seven times, averaging 3.5 bleeps per minute (BPM) or 210 beeps per hour. At 11 minutes, Smith wracked up 36 bleeps, and he had slowed a bit to 3.27 BPM.

Moving into the section where Smith discussed his current projects, the auteur ramped up a little at the 16 minute mark at 57 bleeps, with a cruising speed of 3.56 BPM. However, when mentioning the Netflix Masters of the Universe: Revelations series he’s producing, Smith slowed down a bit. Between minute 20 and 23, he was only bleeped once, coming in a total of 62–and his BPM at this point was 2.69.

Don’t worry, things picked up again after the MOTU talk. And Smith hit his 69th bleep at 26 minutes and 37 seconds. It was very nice. His BPM was about 2.5 at the time.

However, when Smith was talking about the Jay & Silent Bob Reboot Iron Bob Funko Pop, he swore, but was not bleeped. The audio just went quiet. This was not counted in our final count, nor was the time Smith let the word “s***” slip past the audio editor during that segment as well. Another one slipped by at the 35 minute mark, while Smith discussed the Mooby’s pop-up restaurant.

At 44 minutes, Smith had been bleeped 94 times, which translates to 2.13 BPM or 128 BPH. Obviously, his rate of swearing had slowed down quite a bit. However, the crowning moment came at 46:12 when Smith reached 100 bleeps. There was no grand moment, no confetti, or a “we did it sign.” However, Smith did debut a trailer for the upcoming movie Kilroy Is Here, which you can check out below at the 48:16 mark.

Smith explained that he’s been working on it for a few years, and the film features Chris Jericho–one of the GameSpot wrestling podcast Wrestle Buddies‘ favorite wrestlers. Jericho plays the GaterChaser.

The trailer did have four bleeps in it, but that was not part of the final count, as it wasn’t Smith being bleeped. Interestingly enough, the trailer was incredibly gory and violent, but that wasn’t censored.

Maybe I’m splitting hairs though. Two more curses were silenced and not bleeped as Smith reminisced about Comic-Con’s past. They were not included for the final count.

Smith closed out the panel discussing Twilight of the Mallrats, a film about Brodie Bruce, then discussing breaking his intermittent fast and hit a grand total of 113 bleeps, 3 s*** slips missed by the editor, and 4 audio drops where bleeps should have gone.

EA Sports UFC 4 Dev On The Biggest Gameplay Changes This Year And More

EA’s UFC franchise is back this year with UFC 4 and it’s shaping up to be a punishingly powerful entry in the series. EA is making a series of major changes to the gameplay this year, improving and expanding on striking, grappling, takedowns, and the clinch game. Additionally, UFC 4 brings in EA’s own Real-Player Motion technology from Madden, FIFA, and NHL to provide a more authentic representation of MMA cage matches.

GameSpot recently caught up with creative director Brian Hayes, who dove deep into the numerous gameplay improvements this year. He says the changes to the clinch game will be immediately recognizable and very impactful, while players should appreciate the improvements that EA has made to submissions and striking, Hayes said.

Also in the interview, Hayes spoke about why UFC has parted ways with commentator Joe Rogan, who calls fight in real life for the UFC. “He hasn’t been shy about saying this on his own podcast like he hates doing it,” Hayes said.

Be sure to check out the full interview below, as Hayes also speaks about the benefits of launching at the tail-end of the console cycle and more.

UFC 4 launches on August 14 for PS4 and Xbox One. Those who pre-order get the exclusive fighters Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua:

What are some of the biggest changes and improvements the gameplay this year?

Probably the single biggest change that we’ve implemented/undertaken this year was just completely overhauling and rewriting the clinch game, taking EA Sports, real player motion or RPM tech, as we call it, and just expanding that from beyond just locomotion and striking into an all new clinch system. So the clinch game is much more accessible, fluid–your ability to get into it and out of it using locomotion, throwing strikes inside of the clinch transitioning to different positions and actually doing trips and takedowns, it’s just a completely new system. So the part that’s unique about it is that previously on other iterations of the game, the clinch was essentially an extension of what is the ground game.

And you were essentially playing the ground game standing up, you know, in the clinch. Now, it’s actually more like the closest possible range of stand up fighting and striking. So it’s just much more accessible and fun in that way. It’s from playing the beta on a weekend or you know, earlier this week, just you know, quickly grabbing somebody in single collar and throwing some uppercuts before they break away, it just completely changes the way that clinch factors into every single fight compared to previous iterations of the game.

“If you’re trying to throw a spinning side-kick to the head you don’t have to hold down as many buttons to pull it off as it used to in the past.” — Hayes

So that’s the most significant change we’ve made. But then it’s also been the addition of grapple assists controls to just make the existing ground game more accessible to more players. And we’ve updated the stand up striking controls with sort of dynamic striking inputs. So there’s a tap/hold mechanic to make every single strike not only more responsive, but make some of the more complicated ones previously more accessible to throw. So if you’re trying to throw a spinning side-kick to the head you don’t have to hold down as many buttons to pull it off as it used to in the past.

What about subtle changes?

Some subtle things we’ve done is actually adding levels to some of the strikes. So for a lot of, of the more sort of hardcore fans like that, being able to see that when you’re, if you’re in career mode, or if you’re a a licenced UFC fighter that doesn’t have like high striking ability. The technical prowess with which a fighter throws some strikes will be different based on whether or not it’s a level one or level two strike or level four or level five strike.

So as some strikes get higher and level, they are actually thrown with more technical prowess as I said, so that’s a nice subtle nod that we, we actually hope to expand on moving forward. But it’s a nice little touch to see that like, yeah, this guy isn’t really a great kickboxer. He’s got kind of sloppy looking leg kicks, as opposed to guys like Edson Barboza. Like he’s got some good looking like kicks.

There’s elements inside the submission game like being able to strike. I mean, it’s not really it’s not subtle when somebody punches you in the face when you’re, you know, they’re trying to put an arm bar on you but like, it’s something that’s never existed before in our series. So like when adding new elements like that to the submission game. The big thing is that there are two new submission games, one for choke submissions and one for joint submissions. But so are instances depending on what submission you’re in, where you’ll get the opportunity either as the defender or the attacker to throw hammer fists or different strikes at your opponent to try and mess them up during the submission games, different ways to escape from submissions to like, some slam escapes opportunities that will arise during those experiences.

And then, I mean, I think there’s a lot of subtlety within the clinch game–it is an overhaul obviously, like a technical thing, but the positions, the transitions that occur the, you know, the fluidity with which the players sort of change positions and navigate across the octagon when you know when they’re in the clinch. There’s a lot of subtlety in that like, it’s not just a it’s not just it’s not just a big ticket feature. It’s really something that’s the sum of a lot of parts.

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How has the implementation of Real-Player Motion tech impacted UFC 4?

Well, we’ve expanded our use of Real-Player Motion technology and the two biggest areas would be that complete clinch changes. But then also an overhaul of how takedowns are done in the game. So yeah, clinch game has seen a complete overhaul. So there are new takedown inputs as part of a new dynamic, striking control. So you actually attempt takedowns with button inputs now rather than analogue stick inputs, but then there’s the opportunity for there to be battles for takedown, so I might shoot for a takedown and if your defence is decent, but not perfect, it will actually end up into a situation where you can continue to drive for the takedown and with locomotion to try and steer me toward the cage and get the finish where I can use my locomotion to try and sort of escape from the takedown by countering what you’re doing against me that sort of idea of a takedown battle is something we never had before and that is accomplished by the expansion of RPM tech into the takedown system. And then there’s there’s also a whole whole list of new takedown animations in the game just depending on context–if I time it’s super well and you have low stamina it’ll be just a dynamic like driving spear straight to the ground.

There’s high impact slams, where do you like Daniel Cormier guy up on your shoulder and basically put them ass over teakettle, pardon my French, and slam him on his head. So real player motion tech, basically the two biggest things the extension of that from not just striking locomotion, but overhauling the clinch game and then rewriting the takedown system as well.

In terms of feedback, how much of the changes this year are based on what fans told you about previous games versus your own game design ideas?

I think that a lot of the a lot of the big ticket ideas or a lot of the big things will be based more on sort of internal sort of concepts like looking at at broader sets of data, and then a lot of like the nuance changes …. there’s a lot of tuning and balancing that happens in terms of like, how much how much vulnerability should a fighter have when they’re leaning this direction and their opponent throws a hook. Those kinds of changes and tweaks and tuning and balances are things that when we are sharing the game via like an internal test environment with our community. That’s where a lot of those conversations are driven.

In terms of balancing the minutiae, the subtlety, the nuance of like, very, very sort of, like deep meta changes and rebalances. So if we’re looking at in terms of code change, it probably skews heavily towards like, you know, a lot of the code change is stuff that the team comes up with, but a lot of like the the tuning changes stuff that we partner with with that, that sort of core community so if that makes sense.”

You’re releasing UFC 4 at the tail-end of this console cycle; what are you doing to make the most of the new systems?

Just doing everything we can basically– it’s not an easy thing to … especially coming out on the tail end and with the recent announcement of [PS5 and Xbox Series X], to make a big wow but we’ve always been a title that prides ourselves on strong visuals. And we’ve just done whatever we can to sort of squeeze the most out of our existing technology to create a compelling visual and gameplay experience. So there’s a lot of things that we’ve done with regards to updating gameplay cameras, sort of updating, lighting and shaders to give the characters sort of more shape. Sort of make their their musculature sort of come through in ways that hadn’t in the past. And then there’s just new experiences with things like career mode, having a new onboarding experience with a bit more of an introductory cinematic narrative, introducing characters to help you sort of get onboarded to the experience, but for the most part … we’ve been pretty good at making games on the current generation. You know, this being our fourth, our fourth one on Gen 4, so there wasn’t necessarily a great deal of like now we, we kind of already knew what we were doing by UFC 3. So this was more of a, how can we create new experiences given our knowledge of creating games on Gen 4? How can we just create new experiences rather than necessarily something that’s pushing the technology into a place that has never been before.

“We’ve always been a title that prides ourselves on strong visuals.”– Hayes

For the commentary team this year, you’ve moved away from Joe Rogan. Can you talk about that?

He hasn’t been shy about saying this on his own podcast like he hates doing it. If you’re not a person that you just mentally get into that space, then I can see how it could be a very, you know, challenging, you know, potentially mind numbing experience for a certain type of individual. And he just hates he hated doing voiceover then that was something we knew from from UFC 1. He was open with us from from the very beginning that he hated his experience of doing voiceover on previous iterations of other UFC games, and things were no different for us. He hated doing voiceover on these games as well. That has nothing to do with with us in particular, or, you know, our games versus other games. He just, he does not like sitting in a booth reading lines for hours at a time.

SDCC: What We Do In The Shadows Season 3 Teases Colin Robinson’s Origin And More

Saturday during a very special What We Do In The Shadows panel for Comic-Con@Home, executive producer and writer Paul Simms teased some things fans can look forward to for the show’s upcoming Season 3–and, unsurprisingly, it sounds both hilarious and ridiculous.

“Everyone in the show has had their various dealings with love,” prompted moderator Haley Joel Osment, who guest starred in Season 2 as a familiar-turned-zombie-turned-corpse (RIP). “Can we expect to see something like that for Nandor in the future?”

“It’s almost as if he’s looking at the big bulletin board that I’ve got right in front of me,” Simms joked, referencing something just out of view of his webcam. “Obviously Nandor is lonely.”

Simms continued, elaborating on “searches” that other characters may have in their future. “Nandor might be searching for love. Colin Robinson still doesn’t know how he became an energy vampire–and he’s just rolled with it for all these years, so that might be a search that he goes on.”

Osment then asked if we can expect to see more magical creatures added to the fold for Season 3, continuing Season 2’s trend of adding monsters like trolls and zombies to the mix. “Definitely,” Simms said, before executive producer and writer Stefani Robinson teased “there are some creatures that live on edifices” coming up.

She’s most likely talking about gargoyles, which famously exist on the sides of buildings to scare away evil. Maybe if we’re extremely lucky we’ll even get a shout-out to the cult-classic animated TV series about Goliath and his pals.

Simms went on to tease the vampires getting a “hell hound to protect them,” though this comment came right after actor Kayvan Novak, who plays Nandor, “turned himself into a cat” by bringing his pet into frame on the Zoom chat, pivoting the conversation to pets. So we may want to take that one with a grain of salt.

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Unfortunately, there are no dates set for What We Do In The Shadows Season 3 to begin production or premiere, but you can binge watch all of Seasons 1 and 2 right now with FX on Hulu.

SDCC: Guillermo Del Toro’s Antlers Gets Monstrous In A New Featurette

The wait for the new Guillermo Del Toro produced horror movie, Antlers, may be longer than expected thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the film’s Comic-Con@Home panel helped to take the edge off, if only a little. Before the panel got started in earnest with both Del Toro and director Scott Cooper, fans were treated to a behind-the-scenes featurette that dug deep into the mythology and creation of the movie’s monstrous antagonist: The mythological Wendigo.

While the most prominent representation of a “Wendigo” in pop culture may be the skeletal (and entirely metaphorical) creature in NBC’s Hannibal, the actual folklore behind the creature reaches much deeper. Born from Native American history, Wendigos are allegorical spirits that “come to reconcile what people are doing incorrectly,” First Nations consultant Chris Eyre explains in the video. Take a look at the featurette–and the complete panel–bellow.

“All this rage, all this abuse, incarnates. It’s like an invocation for this creature,” Del Toro added. “It’s truly powerful, what we do to nature, what we do to each other. It is a metaphor made flesh.”

Also featured in the clip was just a taste at some of the horror that fans can expect to see in Antlers, including some disgusting mutilated bodies, animal carcasses, and, of course, just the slightest hint of the Wendigo itself.

Antlers is based on the short story The Quiet Boy, by Channel Zero showrunner Nick Antosca–but Del Toro was quick to point out during the Q&A portion of the panel that the film will deviate from the source material considerably. “You made it quite different,” he said to director Scott Cooper. “You made it like [part of] the Scott Cooper universe.” Del Toro then likened the movie to Cooper’s 2013 drama, Out Of The Furnace, about a veteran unable to adjust to civilian life. “Which is great,” Del Toro praised.

Cooper continued by explaining that Antlers will be his first experience with supernatural stories. “I wanted to be on unfamiliar ground because I think risk is one of the great pleasures of making art, or making films. I think horror is a great way for people to confront the darkness inside them indirectly. It can provide a great way for people to escape.”

“I wouldn’t have made the film if Guillermo wasn’t producing,” Cooper said. “And I said to him at the very beginning–I want this movie to be disquieting, to be tense, and for it to be absolutely terrifying. My hope is, if people happen to see my films more than once, is that there’s something very subtle here that will come to the foreground that maybe they missed the first time around.”

Antlers will hit theaters on February 19, 2021.