Month: March 2021

While we do know that Stranger Things Season 4 is likely to be the darkest and scariest yet from the Netflix series, a new interview with actor Gaten Matarazzo by Collider is indicating that it may still be a while before anyone has any clue about its long-anticipated release date. Things had understandably gotten pretty quiet last year on the production front due to COVID-19, but co-creators the Duffer Brothers had explained how working remotely enabled the writing to get done first.

Matarazzo says the Duffer Brothers always intend to have a season completely written before it goes into production, and “This year, because of COVID, there’s no excuse for them not to have the [season] written completely.” Matarazzo added that the cast was able to go in for a table read in February 2020, and the expectation then was to go right into filming with only six episodes completed. As of this writing, that means they’ve gotten more than a year to polish, tighten, strengthen, and write their best version of Season 4.

As far as the release date everyone has impatiently been waiting for since Season 3 finished up in July of 2019, Matarazzo says, “There’s very few dates that are reliable… [due to the pandemic] we still don’t know day-to-day if we’re gonna be filming next week.” Matarazzo further explained that because of how staggered and unpredictable shoots have become, “there’s really no way to figure out when we’re gonna be wrapping.”

On the plus side, director Shawn Levy recently confirmed that “the quality of these screenplays are exceptional, maybe better than ever.” Matarazzo notes that the Duffer Brothers’s directing has also been thrilling: “They’ve been able to relish in directing in their day-to-day… it takes up their entire minds when they’re making this.” With the writing apparently now out of the way, when the cameras are rolling, Matarazzo says the Duffer Brothers “can focus on how they’re going to deliver. And I think it shows.”

In the meantime, you can check out some leaked photos from the set of Season 4.

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Another trailer for The Mitchells vs. the Machines has been released. The animated Netflix movie is produced by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse’s Phil Lord and Chris Miller and it releases on April 30.

The movie focuses on Katie, a teenage girl growing up in a somewhat eccentric family. But although the Mitchells might seem like dysfunctional outsiders most of the time, they are the only family brave enough to take on the technological uprising, as machines start to take over the world. Lord and Miller have already proved themselves masters of hilarious and surreal animated comedy with films like The Lego Movie and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and this is another must-watch. Check the trailer out below:

The Mitchells vs. the Machines is directed by Mike Rianda (Gravity Falls). The voice cast includes Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Fred Armisen, Beck Bennett, Chrissy Teigen, John Legend, Charlyne Yi, Conan O’Brien, Sasheer Zamata, Elle Mills, Jay Pharoah, Alex Hirsch, and Griffin McElroy.

The movie was originally set for a theatrical release in October last year, but was delayed due to the pandemic. In January, it was announced that Netflix had picked up the rights.

Lord and Miller are also set to produce the sequel to Into the Spider-verse, which is currently scheduled for release in October 2022. It will be directed by Joaquim Dos Santos.

Microsoft has rolled out a cheeky new Xbox advertisement that shows off what it might look like if the Xbox button were present “everywhere.” In the silly video, the Xbox button–complete with its famous start-up sound–replace things like elevator buttons, the walk button at crosswalks, and even the engine-starter on a newer car.

It’s a great piece of marketing, and it’s seemingly resonating with viewers The YouTube video has 10,000 likes. The description of the video simply says, “welcome to my life.”

The video was filmed in portrait, too, which is just really funny and self-aware because of how often big brands get roasted for filming in portrait mode.

Microsoft’s marketing for Xbox has, overall, become more tongue-in-cheek and responsive this generation. When the Xbox Series X design was revealed for the first time in December 2019, people quickly poked fun at it for looking like a refrigerator. Microsoft responded by agreeing that, yes, it does look like a fridge and went as far to create real Xbox fridges and send them to influencers like Snoop Dogg and The Rock, which in turn generated positive buzz for the brand. Microsoft is also seriously considering creating real Xbox mini-fridges that you can buy.

Then there is the Xbox Game Pass Twitter account, which is known for its humor and surprises.

Xbox is crushing it right now, with the Xbox Series X|S setting records for Microsoft and Game Pass climbing to 18 million subscribers. Microsoft also just recently closed its deal to buy ZeniMax, bringing Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Wolfenstein, and others into the Xbox family.

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Just after Lawn Mowing Simulator was announced, publisher Sold Out and developer Auroch Digital have revealed a beer brewing simulator game called Brewmaster.

Due for release in 2022 on console and PC, Brewmaster is a game about the art and craft of making homebrewed beer. “Discover, learn, and master the art of homebrewing in the ultimate celebration of craft beer,” reads a line from its description. “From perfecting authentic, chemistry-driven brewing techniques to bottling and labelling, become an ultimate brewmaster in the first ever realistic beer brewing experience.”

Players can follow recipes or go out on their own and experiment with ingredients to create the best brew. The game also lets you create the physical space where you brew your beer, complete with decoration options to furnish your at-home brewery. You can create any type of beer you want, including wheats, blondes, stouts, and IPAs, among others.

Once you’ve created a beer you like, you can design the label and even enter it into a competition. “As your work becomes respected, submit to local breweries for batch production, expand your network, and unlock bigger jobs and more challenging recipes,” the game’s description says.

“We’re building Brewmaster on the science behind the real-life process of homebrewing to deliver an authentic, satisfying experience to players,” Auroch Digital’s Peter Willington said. “From newcomers to professional brewers and homebrewing hobbyists, we’re excited to give players the tools to craft their virtual dream brew, and have fun with the creative side of brewing without the in-depth knowledge required in the real world.”

Katie Clark from publisher Sold Out remarked that hobby simulator games have “become a staple of gaming” over the past few years, and Brewmaster aims to enter the mix with something new and unique.

Brewmaster is slated for release in 2022 on PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

After being on the shelf for almost two years, the Dynasty Warriors movie will be hitting theaters in Mainland China and Hong Kong on April 30. The first trailer is absolutely wild and looks just like gameplay during a battle. You can check it out for yourself below.

The movie is directed by Roy Chow, who got his start on movies like Jet Li’s Fearless. Dynasty Warriors stars Louis Koo as Lu Bu, Wang Kai as Cao Cao, Tony Yang as Liu Bei, Han Geng as Guan Yu, Justin Cheung as Zhang Fei, Ray Liu (Transformers: Age of Extinction) as Yuan Shao, Gülnezer Bextiyar as Diao Chan and Carina Lau as a mysterious character.

The series is a spin-off of Koei’s turn-based strategy Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, based loosely around the Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms, from which it derives its name in Japanese.

It is Koei’s most successful franchise and as of February 2020, the series has sold more than 21 million copies worldwide. Dynasty Warriors 9 came out in 2018 to mixed reviews. The newest Dynasty Warriors game, titled Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires is in development for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows.

The production had wrapped in 2019 but the release was shelved because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dynasty Warriors will hit theaters in China on April 30. No news yet on American distribution.

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One of the stars of the Resident Evil movie reboot has spoken about how the upcoming film does right by the video game series and overall should leave viewers thinking, “Man, it feels like the game.'” Tom Hopper, who plays Albert Wesker, told Collider that he tried to make his version of Wesker something like Agent Smith from The Matrix but “more three-dimensional.” And overall, Hopper said he hopes viewers see the movie, Welcome to Raccoon City, as being “the game plus more.”

“I think fans of the game will be happy, but at the same time, I think they should recognize that we want to make these characters as real and as grounded as possible,” he explained. “I feel like the Wesker in the game obviously has that [Agent] Smith from The Matrix type idea. I wanted him to be a bit more three-dimensional than that, and have a moral high ground.”

For Wesker specifically, Hopper said his take on the character is “not as cut and dry as it is in the game.” It will add more origin details for Wesker, Hopper teased, going on to say that the film overall aims to be “the game plus more.”

“There’s an origin element to Wesker in this, and what he maybe was before he turned into the one we see in a lot of the games,” he said. “But I think from an aesthetic point of view, I think the games really influence this well. It is an aesthetic that, certainly when we were shooting it, that I was like, ‘Man, it feels like the game.’ I’m really hoping that fans of the game take something nice away from it, that it’s the game plus more. Plus more of a depth to these characters.”

The six Resident Evil movies that came before this one, which starred Milla Jovovich, collectively made more than $1 billion at the box office. Welcome to Raccoon City is described as a “whole new starter,” according to Hopper.

“When I started reading it, it really felt more like a script from a game, from one of the games. It felt immersive and it felt dirtier. It felt like Raccoon City was a grim place to be, and I immediately felt like it was a world that I related to more than anything,” he said. “I’ve seen towns like this in America. That’s what excited me about it, that it felt relatable, I think. Even though you’ve got influence from the game, it felt like a relatable place to live.”

Welcome to Raccoon City premieres on September 3. It’s directed by Johannes Roberts and also stars Kaya Scodelario as Claire Redfield, while Robbie Amell plays Chris Redfield. Veteran character actor Neal McDonough (Band of Brothers, Angels and the Outfield) will play scientist William Birkin.

In addition to this movie, there is a live-action series in the works at Netflix following the Wesker family as well as an animated series with Leon and Claire. As for the video game series, Resident Evil Village is slated for release in May.