Thor Director Taika Waititi Making “Rollicking” New Pirate Comedy Show

Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi is set to make a new period comedy show for HBO Max. It has been reported that Waititi will produce and direct a show titled Our Flag Means Death for WarnerMedia’s streaming platform.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show is based on the life of a real-life man named Stede Bonnet, who in the 18th century was known as The Gentleman Pirate. Bonnet was a wealthy aristocrat on the island of Barbados, who gave up his privileged life to become a pirate. Waititi will produce Our Flag Means Death alongside showrunner David Jenkin, and direct the pilot episode.

In a statement, HBO Max head of originals Sarah Aubrey said, “A series concept like this jumps off the page and you can instantly envision every moment. David and Taika’s unique take on Bonnet’s rollicking misadventures on the high seas is sure to thrill and delight audiences everywhere.”

Waititi will start work on Our Flag Means Death once he has finished directing the Thor: Ragnarok sequel, Thor: Love and Thunder. The Marvel movie is currently scheduled to hit theatres in February 2022, and will star Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Christian Bale.

The director is also developing two animated shows based on Roald Dahl’s classic book Charlie And The Chocolate Factory for Netflix. The first will reportedly be an adaptation of the book itself, while the second will focus on the Oompa-Loompas, the diminutive creatures who work in Willy Wonka’s factory.

Sadly, one Waititi project that is no longer happening is his adaptation of Akira. Waititi was the latest director to be attached to long-in-development live-action version of the manga classic, but in February admitted that he was now unlikely to make it.

Now Playing: Thor: Ragnarok Video Review!

Netflix Announces New Quarantine-Themed Drama, Social Distance

Further confirming that earlier COVID-19 fears that the widespread pandemic and resulting quarantine might signal the end of new TV may have been misaligned, Netflix has announced the cast and release date for Social Distance, a new anthology series. The eight-part, limited-run drama debuts on October 15 and, according to a release, “showcases the power of the human spirit in the face of uncertainty and isolation.”

The show is set in the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has been “conceived, cast, and executed entirely remotely during quarantine.” Social Distance consists of standalone episodes “told through a virtual lens and captures the unique emotional experience of being forced apart by circumstance and having no choice but to communicate remotely and rely on technology to maintain any sense of connection.” The idea being, in other words, to explore the ways that although many of us have entered quarantine, our individual experience of that change and learning to still stay connected has been distinct, unique, and ongoing.

Social Distance is created and executive produced by showrunner Hilary Weisman Graham and executive-produced by Tara Herrmann, Blake McCormick, and Jenji Kohan (Orange is the New Black, Weeds). The expansive cast includes Oscar Nunez (The Office), Marsha Stephanie Blake (When They See Us) with real-life daughter Rocco Luna, and Steven Weber (Get Shorty, Drunk History) with real-life son Jack Hohnen-Weber.

Alongside HBO’s Coastal Elites, which premiered on September 12 and features a similar conceit with actors Dan Levy, Bette Midler, Sarah Paulson, and Issae Rae navigating life during the pandemic, it seems like we will indeed be able to continue to get new TV during the pandemic. But it also looks like, for better or worse, we will not be able to escape thinking about it.

Fortnite Gatherer Locations: Where To Destroy Gatherers (Week 4 Guide)

Fortnite’s Week 4 challenges are going to send you on more bot-hunting quests. Two challenges this week pit you up against Gatherers, floating bots that spawn randomly throughout the map. One challenge tasks you with destroying Gatherers while a second one needs you to deal damage with a Gatherer’s remains. This guide will show you how to find Gatherers, how to destroy them, and then how to use them as a weapon.

These two challenges leaked early; check back on Thursday to see them live in Fortnite.

What Are Fortnite’s Gatherers?

Fortnite Season 4 Gorger
Fortnite Season 4 Gorger

There are two types of floating robots that you’ll encounter this season. The first is a large one called a Gorger shown in the image above. These bots spawn somewhere on the map and can be located by finding a large red beam that is shooting directly up. Head towards the beam to find a Gorger.

These Gorgers spawn smaller robots called Gatherers. Both robots will shoot beams of energy at you, although the Gorger’s weapons are far stronger and will take you out if you’re not careful. The Gorger will continue to spawn Gatherers until it’s destroyed. You should let it spit out twenty of the smaller robots before destroying it so you can complete the challenge.

Gatherers will fall to the ground for a few seconds after you eliminate them. You’ll need to pick one up quickly in order to complete the second challenge, deal damage with a Gatherer’s remains, before it explodes. One good strategy is to use Gatherer remains to fight the Gorger in order to deal the 10,000 points of damage required to complete the challenge. Luckily Gorgers are tanks with a ton of health, although you can deal damage to other bots and players too.

What Will I Get For Completing These Challenges?

You’ll get 25,000 experience points for destroying 20 Gatherers and 50,000 experience points for dealing 10,000 damage points with their remains. Be sure to check out our guides on how to hack Stark Robots at Stark Industries and destroy collector cases at The Collection. Don’t forget to complete every weekly Wolverine challenge as well.

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Apple Arcade Will Get Folded Into New Apple One Subscription This Fall

During its September 2020 event, Apple announced a brand-new subscription service called Apple One that bundles many of the company’s services like Arcade and Music into one monthly price.

For $15 a month, you get Apple Arcade, Music, TV+, and 50GB of iCloud storage in what is called the Individual plan. This is the starting plan, but there are three in total. Along with Apple One Individual, there’s also Family for $20 and Premier for $30. Apple One Family packages the same services as Individual but includes 200GB of iCloud storage and the ability to share the subscription with up to six family members. Meanwhile, Apple One Premier–as its name suggests–bundles all of Apple’s premier services together, including the newly revealed Fitness+ and News+, as well as 1TB of iCloud storage and the ability to share the plan with up to six family members.

Apple One will start rolling out this fall, with a 30-day free trial available for anyone who isn’t already subscribed to a service. The Individual and Family plans will be available in over 100 countries and regions, while the Premier subscription is only available in Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US.

Apple Arcade has mostly flown under the radar since its launch in September 2019. The latest news on the service was Apple’s decision to cancel Arcade games in June 2020. According to Bloomberg, Apple wants to keep developers who meet the company’s stringent “engagement” criteria. As such, some studios who didn’t meet these requirements have had their contracts scrapped.

One of the most prominent games on Apple Arcade is Grindstone, a bloody puzzle-adventure developed and published by Below creators Capybara Games. The studio announced that Grindstone will hit Nintendo Switch this fall with every update that’s been released for the game on Arcade so far.

Apple also announced two new iPads and two additional Watches during its September 2020 event. The company also confirmed that all of its software updates–including iOS 14, macOS Big Sur, and others–will launch on September 16.

Now Playing: Top New Game Releases On Switch, PS4, Xbox One, And PC This Week — September 13-19, 2020

Fortnite Stark Robot Guide: How To Hack Robots At Stark Industries (Week 4)

Fortnite’s Week 4 challenges will put you in lots of big gunfights at Marvel locations. One challenge tasks you with hacking five robots at Stark Industries. This guide will show you the best way to hack five robots and complete the challenge with ease.

These challenges leaked early; check back on Thursday to see them live in Fortnite.

How Do I Hack Robots At Stark Industries?

Stark Robots are one of the many computer-controlled characters that roam the Fortnite map in Season 4. You can also find them at the Quinjet locations, but you’ll need to head to the Stark Industries location that replaced Frenzy Farms last week in order to complete this challenge.

Fortnite Week 4 Hacking Stark Robots Hangar Location
Fortnite Week 4 Hacking Stark Robots Hangar Location

Once you land there, head to the hangar on the right side of the compound in the F4 tile on the map. Stark Industries is a hectic landing spot–an Iron Man bot is located there with legendary weapons, so everyone drops there. Head to the hangar first to avoid some of the initial fighting.

Once there you’ll find several Stark Robots patrolling the area. Take them out, but don’t eliminate them. Once they’re knocked to the ground you can follow the button prompts to hack them and they’ll fight alongside you. You need to do this to 5 robots at Stark Industries in order to complete the challenge. You can only have three robots hacked at the same time, though.

Fortnite Week 4 Hacking Stark Robots
Fortnite Week 4 Hacking Stark Robots

What Do I Get For Completing The Challenge?

Hacking 5 robots will earn you another 25,000 experience points towards unlocking Groot, Storm, and other heroes in the battle pass. Be sure to check out our guide on how to destroy twenty Gatherers and use their remains to deal damage. Remember to complete your weekly Wolverine challenges too.

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Anderson .Paak Will Host A Virtual Concert In Fortnite

Epic Games announced on Twitter that the next artists to hold a Fortnite concert are Anderson .Paak and The Free Nationals. The performance will take place live on September 19 at 5 PM ET and will be played again on September 19 at 11 PM ET and September 20 at 1 PM ET.

Travis Scott’s virtual performance in Fortnite was a remarked success, and it makes sense that the battle-royale game will continue to partner with artists to hold in-game concerts, especially since COVID-19 has made real-life concerts impossible for the foreseeable future. A staggering amount of people–12.3 million, to be exact–logged into the game at the same time to watch Travis Scott’s performance. A free Astroworld Cyclone glider and two free loading screens was also given to anybody who attended the concert, and it remains to be seen if Fortnite will offer similar perks for Anderson .Paak’s concert attendees.

To watch Anderson .Paak’s performance, Fortnite players can jump into Party Royale. To do so, you can press the Change box in the Lobby screen’s bottom-right corner, and select the Party Royale mode from the available options. After the selection, you’ll be back at the Lobby screen. Press play and go to the Main Stage for the performance. The map button in Party Royale can help you orient yourself and locate the Main Stage.

The concert will be available for Android, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC players. Due to the ongoing lawsuit between Apple and Epic, iOS and macOS owners will not be able to watch Anderson Paak’s performance. (If you want to know the latest on the strife between the two companies, check out our guide to Apple and Epic’s legal battles.)

Now Playing: Fortnite – Stark Industries Reveal Trailer

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Disney+’s She-Hulk Series Eyes It’s Always Sunny’s Kat Coiro – Report

Writer-director Kat Coiro is in talks with Marvel and is, according to Deadline, currently in negotiations to direct the pilot and several subsequent episodes of Marvels’ She-Hulk series for Disney+. Coiro (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) will executive produce on the upcoming series.

Marvel has not yet released a statement, but Rick and Morty’s Jessica Gao will reportedly be leading the writers room. Gao wrote the famous Pickle Rick episode, and has also contributed to Comedy Central’s Corporate and HBO’s Silicon Valley.

She-Hulk, one of the last original characters co-created by the prolific Stan Lee at Marvel, differs from her male-cousin counterpart in that when Jennifer Walters “Hulks out,” she maintains her original intelligence and personality, while of course gaining considerable strength.

Casting choices have not yet been revealed–there aren’t even rumors yet–but there have been hints that Mark Ruffalo is open to the possibility of reprising his role. Speaking with Variety earlier this year, Ruffalo said, “There’s some talk of having Banner/Hulk show up in She-Hulk. If we come up with something good, that would be really interesting. Right now that’s about it. That’s all there is on the table.”

It’d be reasonable to expect some sizable delays before further and additional concrete information about the show surfaces. In addition to coronavirus-related complications on production, Marvel is currently a little backed up: Projects including The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Black Widow, Eternals, and the super-weird WandaVision have all been delayed. There’s not likely to be any new major Marvel releases for the rest of the year.

Coiro’s next film, Marry Me, starring Jennifer Lopez, Owen Wilson, and Sarah Silverman is due out Valentine’s Day 2021.

Marvel’s Black Widow Will Likely Be Delayed Yet Again – Report

In a completely unsurprising move, Disney is reportedly looking at delaying the upcoming MCU Black Widow movie out of its November slot, according to Variety. This news comes hot on the heels of the announcement that the already heavily delayed Wonder Woman 1984 was being pushed back yet again from its planned October release to late December.

There is no indication of what the new Black Widow release date might actually be, but if it follows the current trend in COVID-19 related delays, we can expect it to inch back to the end of the year where studios seem optimistic for theater re-openings. In addition to the newly delayed Wonder Woman 1984, December is also the current home of the new Dune movie–however, given the fluid nature of the pandemic situation, it is unclear whether any of these planned release dates will hold.

Variety also reports that the upcoming Pixar release, Soul, was eyed for delays as well and potentially a release on Disney’s streaming platform, Disney+, but explains that a Disney insider has refuted these rumors. Soul is, however, “unlikely” to release on its currently scheduled date of November 20.

This will be Black Widow’s second major delay, after having been bumped out of its original May 2020 slot at the start of the pandemic. If, for whatever reason, it is pushed out of a 2020 release date entirely, this will be the first year since 2009 where an MCU movie has not been released. Additionally, if this delay follows the trend in the year’s earlier MCU shuffling, it could have fallout that affects the rest of the planned MCU movie release dates moving forward.

Black Widow stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, and David Harbour as Red Guardian.

Now Playing: Black Widow (2020) – Official Final Trailer

Amnesia: Rebirth Will Release In Time For Halloween

Developer Frictional Games has announced that Amnesia: Rebirth is scheduled to release for PC and PS4 on October 20. Alongside the announcement, a new trailer for Rebirth was released as well.

Embedded below, the new trailer showcases protagonist Tasi Trianon exploring the Algerian desert following a plane crash. Her situation becomes both more unnerving and unsettling as time goes on, largely because Tasi has to resort to lighting her way for most of the trailer with a box of matches. As you can probably surmise, matches do not last very long as a viable light source. Thankfully, it looks like she finds a lantern at some point.

“If you look at SOMA and [Amnesia: The Dark Descent], I’d say [Rebirth] is the game that the studio has made that has the most variety in the environments,” Frictional Games executive producer and creative lead Fredrik Olsson told us in an interview. “So, hopefully you’ll feel claustrophobic throughout the game but there might be other aspects explored outside the closed-in environments. The vastness of a desert could give you a different kind of horror.”

Though not a direct sequel to Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Rebirth does tie back to the 2010 first-person horror game. “[Rebirth] takes place in a desert,” Grip said. “And, in The Dark Descent, there are in-game diaries of a dig in the Algerian desert. You’re going to visit some of those places that you heard about it in the dig. So for people who are into the lore and may be wondering, ‘What happened to that person,’ you’re going to be able to see what happened or see some clues as to what might have or might not have happened to that person. And then there are other aspects mentioned in The Dark Descent that are brought up in [Rebirth] as well.”

Now Playing: Amnesia: Rebirth – Official Release Date Reveal Trailer

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Grab Some Xbox Games on Sale With These Deals

We are so very close to Xbox preorders for the next-generation Xbox Series X and Series X, I can practically taste it. With a September 22 preorder date, a $299 and $499 price points, and a November 10 release date, that’s pretty much all we wanted to know on Xbox availability and Xbox preorders.

So what does that mean for the Xbox One? Well, in terms of price drops… there aren’t any. The supply of Xbox One and Xbox One X consoles is still constricted, so in spite of the fact most people are ready to move on, those who want to snatch a deal on a current-gen Xbox are out of luck for the time being.

However, there are some good bargains to be had on Xbox games, and since they’re going to work on the Xbox Series S and X, there’s no reason to not snatch up a few now if you’re planning on upgrading to Xbox Series X.

Xbox One Console Deals

Right now, there basically aren’t any deals on Xbox One X or Xbox One S. Again, you’re lucky if you can even find an Xbox for sale at MSRP, as most major retailers don’t have them available online.

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Best Xbox Game Deals

There are some good chances to save on games for Xbox right now, including a preorder discount for the upcoming Far Cry 6 at Amazon and Walmart.

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Best Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold Deals

Even when it’s not on sale, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is an incredible value, combining Xbox Live and Game Pass into one subscription.

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When Will Xbox Series X Be Available for Preorder?

We still have no news on when Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S preorders are going live, but that will change at basically any time now. The release date for the Xbox Series X/S is November 10, and we’re really close to preorders. In the meantime, you can sign up for Xbox Series X preorder notifications.

Can I Play Xbox One Games on Xbox Series X?

Yes indeed, which is why it makes sense to grab yourself some Xbox One games when they’re on sale. You won’t need to bother swapping cables around or hoping you have enough inputs on your home theater or 4KTV, since the release of the Xbox Series X will carry over your Xbox One library. Some games, like Halo Infinite, Cyberpunk 2077 and Far Cry 6, have Xbox Series X upgrades. That means you can buy the game now for your Xbox One and get Xbox Series X performance from it when the console releases. Not a bad deal.

Will Xbox One Controllers Work With Xbox Series X?

The good news is while Microsoft is releasing controllers designed specifically for Xbox Series X, your existing Xbox One controllers will also work with the new system. So in the rare case there’s a new deal on something like the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller, you can go ahead and snap it up and carry it over to your new console, something Sony said won’t be possible with PS4 controllers on PS5.