Oculus Studios and Apex Legends creator Respawn won an Oscar during the 2021 Academy Awards, after co-producing a short documentary included in Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. The World War II documentary Colette won the Best Documentary (Short Subject) award at the 93rd Oscars. Colette was directed by Anthony Giacchino and co-produced by Oculus Studios and Respawn Entertainment, with the film released as part of the Gallery mode of Respawn’s 2020 virtual reality title Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. Respawn addressed the news on Twitter, with the company saying it was “humbled and honored” by the win. If you don’t own a virtual reality headset or Above and Beyond, you can watch it for free on The Guardian’s website after the newspaper helped distribute the film more widely. It's the first Oscar for Respawn, Oculus, or The Guardian.

We're over the moon about Colette's Best Documentary (Short Subject) #Oscars win tonight! From Vince, Peter, and all of us at Respawn, we are humbled and honored. Thank you.

And if you haven't seen the film, you can watch it for free here: https://t.co/CxwNGWMOXv — Respawn (@Respawn) April 26, 2021

Colette tells the story of Colette Marin-Catherine, a former member of the French Resistance, who returns (with history student Lucie Fouble) to Germany for the first time since World War 2, including visiting the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp where her brother was murdered. Colette herself turned 92 on the day the documentary won its Oscar. In his acceptance speech, Anthony Giacchino said “I would just like to thank, of course, Colette and Lucie. I want to thank our amazing E.P., Peter Hirschmann, at Electronic Arts, everyone at Electronic Arts and Respawn, and Oculus." You can check out our review of Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond here. We scored the game a 6 out of 10, calling it an “average-at-best” VR shooter. In other Respawn news, it was recently revealed that the studio is in the early stages of building a new franchise from scratch. We also learned last week that a new Apex Legends hero is coming on May 4, and the character is a Titanfall pilot’s daughter. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/11/medal-of-honor-above-and-beyond-review"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Sir Anthony Hopkins paid tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman in his post-Oscars acceptance speech. Hopkins, who won the Best Actor Oscar at the 93rd Academy Awards for his starring role in The Father, posted a short video on Instagram on Monday morning to acknowledge his win and share his heartfelt gratitude for the honor. The actor expressed his surprise over his second Oscar win, which comes nearly 30 years after his first in 1992, for his chilling portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. In the video, Hopkins also paid tribute to his fellow best actor nominee, the late Chadwick Boseman, who had been widely expected to be named the winner of the Best Actor category for his performance in the Netflix movie Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. "Here I am in my homeland in Wales," Hopkins began. "At 83 years of age, I did not expect to get this award, I really didn't. I'm very grateful to the Academy." "I want to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman, who was taken from us far too early," he added. "And again, thank you all very much. I really did not expect this, so I feel very privileged and honored. Thank you." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=anthony-hopkins-best-movies&captions=true"] The Oscars Best Actor presentation came at the very end of the night's proceedings, making it the final award of the night, in place of the more traditional Best Picture announcement that would typically close the show. The Father star triumphed over Chadwick Boseman, Riz Ahmed, Gary Oldman, and Steven Yeun to win the category at the 93rd Academy Awards. At 83 years of age, Hopkins became the oldest person to ever win an Oscar for acting after scoring the statuette for his role in The Father, playing an aging patriarch grappling with dementia. He also became the oldest recipient of the Leading Actor award at the BAFTAs this year, having been nominated alongside Chadwick Boseman, Riz Ahmed, Mads Mikkelsen, Tahar Rahim, and Adarsh Gourav. The Father was awarded a 10 in IGN's review of the drama, which is based on the 2012 play Le Père. We commended first-time director Florian Zeller for crafting "a devastating masterwork" that "features career-best work from all involved, including Hopkins, as a man trying desperately to cling to his old life, and Olivia Colman as his daughter, who cares for him at great personal cost." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/31/the-father-official-trailer"] For more coverage of the 93rd Academy Awards, check out the full list of Oscars winners and then find out how Chloé Zhao made history with her Best Director Oscar win for Nomadland this year. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Brazilian soccer star Neymar Jr, when he arrives on April 27, will be the first professional athlete to become playable in Fortnite. Neymar Jr, who is currently a forward for Paris Saint-Germain F.C. and the Brazil National Football Team, will be available as part of a special Quest line for all who own the Chapter 2 Season 6 Battle Pass.

He can be contained no more!

Starting April 27, Battle Pass owners can earn the @neymarjr Outfit and other items from his Set. Read about what's happening in @FNCreate and compete in the Neymar Jr Cup where you can win a custom-designed soccer boot https://t.co/pnDCYwkgpk pic.twitter.com/FkiH0Emfdo — Fortnite (@FortniteGame) April 25, 2021

Completing these quests will unlock Neymar's outfit, the Soccer Ball Emote Toy, the Matador Loading Screen, the Joia Trophy Back Bling, the Jaguar Strike Pickaxe, and the Shhh. Emote. This Shhh. Emote is special because it will awaken one of his primal forms that more-or-less turns Neymar Jr into a power ranger-esque super hero. More items can be unlocked by completing all of these Quests, including the I'm Ready! Spray, Stealth Shot Emoticon, Hang Loose Celebration Emote, Aerial Acrobat Glider, and the Exhibition Style of the Neymar Jr Outfit, Jaguar Strike Pickaxe, and Aerial Acrobat Glider. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=fortnite-neymar-jr-outfit-and-unlockables&captions=true"] There will also be a special Paris-themed Welcome Hub in Fortnite Creative to explore, a "Go Crazy Arena" playlist, a Neymar Jr Cup that will allow players to win a custom-designed soccer boot, and much more. As previously mentioned, while Fortnite has offered an Emote honoring Pele and outfits inspired by some of the biggest Soccer clubs in the world and the NFL, this is the first time a professional athelete has been created as a playable outfit in the game. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/19/fortnite-pel-air-punch-emote-trailer"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Mortal Kombat secured the top spot in the weekend domestic box office by earning $22.5 million and narrowly defeating Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train's impressive $19.5 million debut. As reported by Box Office Mojo, Mortal Kombat also saw the second-highest opening-weekend debut since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and now sits behind Godzilla vs. Kong's $31 million opening weekend. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/22/mortal-kombat-movie-review"] However, Mortal Kombat and Demon Slayer both surpassed Godzilla vs. Kong this weekend in North America, helping secure "the biggest overall theatrical session since the coronavirus pandemic began." Mortal Kombat earned another $27.6 million overseas, bringing its worldwide total to $50.1 million. Demon Slayer, which has already become Japan's highest-grossing movie of all time, has accumulated $388.2 million internationally, making its worldwide total to $407.7 million. Godzilla vs. Kong, in its fourth weekend, brought in $4.2 million and has earned over $400 million worldwide. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/18/demon-slayer-the-movie-mugen-train-review"] Bob Odenkirk's Nobody came in fourth place with $1.9 million in its fifth weekend, making its total worldwide gross $38.2 million. Raya and the Last Dragon took fifth place with $1.7 million in its eight weekend, pushing its worldwide tally to $111.9 million USD. In our Mortal Kombat review, we said, "it may not be a flawless victory but the new Mortal Kombat movie is a fun time for fans of the game franchise." In our Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train review, we said, "Ufotable’s jaw-dropping visuals alone make Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train well worth a watch, even if the film stumbles a bit at the climax. Those who enjoyed the TV series will no doubt enjoy the film as it is a solid continuation of the show’s main story and will no doubt be a major moment that shapes the next step in our heroes’ lives." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=best-reviewed-movies-of-2021&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Nomadland director Chloe Zhao has officially made history as she has become the second woman and the first woman of color to win Best Director at the Oscars. This year was also the first time that two women were nominated for Best Director, as Zhao shared the ballot with Promising Young Woman's Emerald Fennell. [caption id="attachment_2504982" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Image Credit: Chris Pizzello-Pool/Getty Images[/caption] Since the first Oscars in 1929, there have only been seven women nominated for best director, including Lina Wertmüller for Seven Beauties, Jane Campion for The Piano, Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation, and Kathryn Bigelow for Hurt Locker. Bigelow was the first woman to win the award in 2010. 2021 is also the first time that two Asian directors were nominated in the same year, as Lee Isaac Chung was also recognized for his work on Minari. In our review of Nomadland, we said that it "is a radiant celebration of humanity and community. Chloé Zhao takes the seeds of real stories and nurtures them with location settings, real people, and a non-judgmental eye at a misunderstood American subculture. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/09/nomadland-official-trailer-1"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Resident Evil Village's latest demo includes a pretty great reference to one of the most iconic characters in Resident Evil 4. Slight Spoilers for Resident Evil Village Ahead! As reported by GameSpot, the Village Demo of Resident Evil Village that will be available for all platforms on May 1 allows you to interact with a weapons merchant known as Duke. As you shop through his wares, he jokingly says, "What're ya buying? - Haha, just something an old friend of mine used to say." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/25/resident-evil-village-14-minutes-of-the-castle-demo-gameplay-full-playthrough"] This old friend, unless it really just is a simple nod, is undoubtedly Resident Evil 4's merchant. YouTuber KendoGunSop captured this moment and included footage of the merchant from Resident Evil 4, showing the connection. As we noted in our preview of Resident Evil Village, this new entry borrows a lot of ideas from RE 4, including its location. RE 4 took place in Spain, and while RE Village's story will take players to Eastern Europe, that seems close enough for these merchants to have formed up a profitable friendship. Could this just be a fun nod to Resident Evil 4, which itself is getting a new VR port on Oculus Quest 2, or a hint to a deeper connection between the two games? [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/19/resident-evil-village-5-hour-ps5-hands-on-preview-ign-first"] We won't have long to wait, as Resident Evil Village will be released on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia on May 7, 2021. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Dark Horse Comics is again expanding on the Cyberpunk 2077 universe with a new tie-in comic. Dubbed Cyberpunk 2077: You Have My Word, this new limited series explores what happens when a new urban development project encroaches on Valentinos gang territory. Cyberpunk 2077: You Have My Word is written by Bartosz Sztybor, who serves as narrative designer and writer for developer CD Projekt Red. The series is drawn by Jesus Hervas, with colors by Giulia Brusco. Check out an exclusive preview of the first issue in the slideshow gallery below: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=cyberpunk-2077-you-have-my-word-1-preview&captions=true"] Here's Dark Horse's official description for the new series:

A new urban development proposal is being pushed through city council--a flagrant infraction on those safeguarded by the Valentinos gang. They enlist the service of three cyberpunks to discreetly and strategically terminate the project, but their subject is more than an ordinary target.

Sztybor is also writing The Witcher: Witch's Lament, a new comic book spinoff of the Witcher games debuting in May 2021. This is the latest in a growing lineup of Cyberpunk 2077-themed collaborations between Dark Horse and CD Projekt Red. Dark Horse previously published a comic called Cyberpunk 2077: Trauma Team, as well as an art print featuring the pop star character Lizzy Wizzy and an art book called The World of Cyberpunk 2077. In other Cyberpunk 2077 news, the game recently received its latest patch, which fixes some of the new bugs caused by the version 1.2 patch. Modders have been busy tinkering with the game, including activating unused quests and adding the wall running feature back into the game. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/cyberpunk-2077-wall-running-returns-through-mod"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Disney Imagineers have made a fully mobile, bipedal version of Guardians of the Galaxy's Groot, and it may one day be walking around Disney Parks. As reported by TechCrunch, this adorable Groot is part of a walking bipedal robotics platform called Project Kiwi, a "first of its kind for Disney and a real robotics milestone." Guardians of the Galaxy writer and director James Gunn shared a short gif of this Groot in action, and it's pretty great. You can also see a more in-depth video of the tech behind Groot and Project Kiwi here.

Groot IRL. pic.twitter.com/6JHMoexoEa

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) April 23, 2021

[caption id="attachment_2504882" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Image Credit: Walt Disney Imagineering R&D Inc.[/caption] Disney has made some impressive robots/animatronics in the past of characters like Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge's Hondo Ohnaka and Avatar's Na'Vi Shaman, but those have always been stuck in place. This version is free to walk around, wave, and be as wonderfully cute as Groot is known to be. This platform was developed over the past three years by WDI researchers and robotics, and while Groot is the character being featured at the moment, this is "a platform first and foremost, which means it could take this form when it gets to the parks, or another form entirely." There are currently no immediate plans to bring Project Kiwi to the parks, as there is still much work to be done, but its an impressive achievement none-the-less and a glimpse of what the future of Disney robotics can look like. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/07/28/guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-2-designing-baby-groot-bonus-feature"] This is another example of Disney working hard behind-the-scenes to bring movie magic to the real world, and follows its announcement that it is working on a realistic, retractable lightsaber from Star Wars. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Man of Steel's Russell Crowe plays Marvel's Zeus in Thor: Love and Thunder.

In celebration of the 31st anniversary of the launching of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers aimed the observatory at a "celebrity star" that is "waging a tug-of-war between gravity and radiation to avoid self-destruction." As reported by NASA, this star, called AG Carinae, is one of the brightest stars in the Milky Way and is surrounded by a glowing halo of gas and dust that is the result of it "living on the edge." The image captured of AG Carinae, which you can see below, is a "composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3/UVIS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample narrow wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter." [caption id="attachment_2504848" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Image Credit: NASA, ESA, STScl[/caption] The expanding shell of gas and dust surrounded this star is roughly five light-years wide and was created by "one of the more giant eruptions about 10,000 years ago." This expelled material is nearly 10 times our sun's mass. This is typical activity for a rare breed of star called a luminous blue variable, a star that "lives fast and dies young." They only live for a few million years, which is a short lifespan when compared to the roughly 10-billion-year lifetime of those like our sun. AG Carinae is also up to 70 times bigger than our sun and "shines with the blinding brilliance of one million suns." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=gorgeous-photos-of-earth-from-space&captions=true"] These outbursts occur only once or twice in a luminous blue variable's lifetime and only happen when the star is in danger of self-destruction as a supernova. The red material in the image is glowing hydrogen gas laced with nitrogen gas, while the blue highlighted material are "dust clumps illuminated by the star's reflected light" that are shaped by stellar wind.

Fun Facts About the Hubble Space Telescope

At the end of the article, NASA shared some info about the Hubble Space Telescope, including that it launched on April 24, 1990 and has made more than 1.5 million observations of about 48,000 celestial objects in its lifetime. It has made more than 181,000 orbits around earth, which equals over 4.5 billion miles, and its observations have produced more than 169 terabytes of data. This data has led to more than 18,000 scientific papers, with 900 of those published in 2020. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2016/04/07/scientists-discover-theory-changing-supermassive-black-hole-ign-news"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.