In a lengthy profile on filmmaker Josh Trank by Polygon, details were revealed about why Trank departed the Boba Fett movie he had signed on to write and direct mere minutes before it was supposed to be announced at Star Wars Celebration 2015. In 2014, Trank, coming off the success of Chronicle, was brought on by Disney to develop a Boba Fett solo movie, although at the time we only knew of it as an untitled Star Wars spin-off project. Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy sung his praises in a public statement, saying, “He is such an incredible talent and has a great imagination and sense of innovation. That makes him perfectly suited to Star Wars.” One year later, according to Polygon’s report, word of the troubled production on Trank’s 2015 Fantastic Four movie had reached Disney and Kennedy. No one had seen a cut of the film that would go on to become one of the biggest commercial and critical flops of the year, but hearing about all of the issues involving Trank were enough to cause Kennedy to lose confidence in him. Trank explained that Kennedy and he agreed he should cancel his appearance at April’s Star Wars Celebration where he was going to share the first details of his Star Wars movie with the world. At the time, he had tweeted he had come down with the “worst flu of my life.” Days later, industry insiders reported he was fired from the project. Trank said in a personal statement that he had departed the film “to pursue some original creative opportunities.” Now, Trank claims, “I quit because I knew I was going to be fired if I didn’t quit.” Trank shared that he privately told his managers that he was done looking for work making blockbuster movies. At the time, it was a shock for a director to depart a Star Wars project in such fashion, but since then the list of would-be Star Wars filmmakers has only grown, with Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss leaving the trilogy of Star Wars movies they had signed on to develop, Phil Lord and Chirs Miller being fired from Solo during production, and Colin Trevorrow being fired from Episode IX, not to mention director Gareth Edwards being sidelined on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=star-wars-and-its-weird-recent-history-of-director-drop-outs&captions=true"] Trank has been laying low for the past several years, but recently made headlines when he decided to post a review of his own Fantastic Four movie four years after its release. He’s now gearing up for the release of Capone starring Tom Hardy, a film he wrote and directed. You can watch the new trailer for Capone below: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/16/capone-official-trailer-1"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joshua is Senior Features Editor at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.

In a lengthy profile on filmmaker Josh Trank by Polygon, details were revealed about why Trank departed the Boba Fett movie he had signed on to write and direct mere minutes before it was supposed to be announced at Star Wars Celebration 2015. In 2014, Trank, coming off the success of Chronicle, was brought on by Disney to develop a Boba Fett solo movie, although at the time we only knew of it as an untitled Star Wars spin-off project. Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy sung his praises in a public statement, saying, “He is such an incredible talent and has a great imagination and sense of innovation. That makes him perfectly suited to Star Wars.” One year later, according to Polygon’s report, word of the troubled production on Trank’s 2015 Fantastic Four movie had reached Disney and Kennedy. No one had seen a cut of the film that would go on to become one of the biggest commercial and critical flops of the year, but hearing about all of the issues involving Trank were enough to cause Kennedy to lose confidence in him. Trank explained that Kennedy and he agreed he should cancel his appearance at April’s Star Wars Celebration where he was going to share the first details of his Star Wars movie with the world. At the time, he had tweeted he had come down with the “worst flu of my life.” Days later, industry insiders reported he was fired from the project. Trank said in a personal statement that he had departed the film “to pursue some original creative opportunities.” Now, Trank claims, “I quit because I knew I was going to be fired if I didn’t quit.” Trank shared that he privately told his managers that he was done looking for work making blockbuster movies. At the time, it was a shock for a director to depart a Star Wars project in such fashion, but since then the list of would-be Star Wars filmmakers has only grown, with Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss leaving the trilogy of Star Wars movies they had signed on to develop, Phil Lord and Chirs Miller being fired from Solo during production, and Colin Trevorrow being fired from Episode IX, not to mention director Gareth Edwards being sidelined on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=star-wars-and-its-weird-recent-history-of-director-drop-outs&captions=true"] Trank has been laying low for the past several years, but recently made headlines when he decided to post a review of his own Fantastic Four movie four years after its release. He’s now gearing up for the release of Capone starring Tom Hardy, a film he wrote and directed. You can watch the new trailer for Capone below: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/16/capone-official-trailer-1"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joshua is Senior Features Editor at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.

Walt Disney executives provided the first official details on the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had across their businesses, particularly on their theme parks, cruise lines, and experiences, during a quarterly investors call Tuesday. Disney revealed its earnings plummeted 63% during the second quarter of 2020 when COVID-19 forced the closures of theme parks, theaters, and other consumer-facing facets of the Disney empire. The company estimates it lost $1.4 billion this quarter, $1 billion from theme parks alone. (And yet Disney still posted $18 billion in quarterly revenue.) [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/06/we-rode-star-wars-rise-of-the-resistance-at-galaxys-edge"] While Disney theme parks and resorts, such as Disneyland in Anaheim and Disney World in Orlando, remain indefinitely closed, the company announced that Shanghai Disneyland will reopen May 11. One saving grace for the conglomerate remains the Disney+ streaming service, which expanded operations into Europe and India and has now garnered 54.5 million subscribers worldwide. Speaking of streaming, while Disney reaffirmed its commitment and love of the theatrical filmgoing experience, they also reiterated that they will pivot some movies once earmarked for cinemas to digital instead. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=disney-plus-spotlight-may-2020&captions=true"] "We also believe that either because of changing and evolving consumer dynamics or because of certain situations like COVID, we may have to make some changes to that overall strategy," said Disney CEO Bob Chapek. "We’re going to evaluate each of our movies as a case-by-case situation, as we are doing during this coronavirus situation.” For more Disney coverage, check out these new attractions you can look forward to when the parks reopen, such as Avengers Campus and the Spider-Man ride featuring Tom Holland.

Walt Disney executives provided the first official details on the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had across their businesses, particularly on their theme parks, cruise lines, and experiences, during a quarterly investors call Tuesday. Disney revealed its earnings plummeted 63% during the second quarter of 2020 when COVID-19 forced the closures of theme parks, theaters, and other consumer-facing facets of the Disney empire. The company estimates it lost $1.4 billion this quarter, $1 billion from theme parks alone. (And yet Disney still posted $18 billion in quarterly revenue.) [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/06/we-rode-star-wars-rise-of-the-resistance-at-galaxys-edge"] While Disney theme parks and resorts, such as Disneyland in Anaheim and Disney World in Orlando, remain indefinitely closed, the company announced that Shanghai Disneyland will reopen May 11. One saving grace for the conglomerate remains the Disney+ streaming service, which expanded operations into Europe and India and has now garnered 54.5 million subscribers worldwide. Speaking of streaming, while Disney reaffirmed its commitment and love of the theatrical filmgoing experience, they also reiterated that they will pivot some movies once earmarked for cinemas to digital instead. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=disney-plus-spotlight-may-2020&captions=true"] "We also believe that either because of changing and evolving consumer dynamics or because of certain situations like COVID, we may have to make some changes to that overall strategy," said Disney CEO Bob Chapek. "We’re going to evaluate each of our movies as a case-by-case situation, as we are doing during this coronavirus situation.” For more Disney coverage, check out these new attractions you can look forward to when the parks reopen, such as Avengers Campus and the Spider-Man ride featuring Tom Holland.

EA hosted its Q4 2020 financial results today and announced, among other things, plan to release 14 games between now and March 2021. The company also announced it will bring even more titles to the Nintendo Switch, a console the company hasn’t supported very strongly in the past. During a call with investors today, EA announces plans to launch 14 titles in the next fiscal year. The list includes EA’s traditional, annual sports games like FIFA and Madden, as well as previously announced games like Command and Conquer Remastered, games on mobile, and Burnout Paradise on Switch. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/08/01/ea-says-people-dont-want-to-play-its-games-on-switch"] Speaking of Burnout Paradise, EA also announced that it will launch “multiple” EA games on Switch this year. The company has supported the Switch with games like FIFA, but have been notably slower to adopt the console compared to other third-party developers. One mystery is whether the next Battlefield game is part of that list. EA confirmed a new Battlefield will skip 2020 and instead release in 2021. Since the list only includes games up until March 2021, there’s a chance Battlefield isn’t the mysterious HD game EA mentioned in the call. Other highlights from EA’s investor calls include big growth in its live service sector driven by games like Apex Legends and Ultimate Team sports games. Coincidentally, EA and Respawn revealed the Apex Legends Season 5 today. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/05/apex-legends-season-5-fortunes-favor-launch-trailer"] The next game EA announced for Switch is Burnout Paradise Remastered which will retail for a whopping $50. Check out our Burnout Paradise review here. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

EA hosted its Q4 2020 financial results today and announced, among other things, plan to release 14 games between now and March 2021. The company also announced it will bring even more titles to the Nintendo Switch, a console the company hasn’t supported very strongly in the past. During a call with investors today, EA announces plans to launch 14 titles in the next fiscal year. The list includes EA’s traditional, annual sports games like FIFA and Madden, as well as previously announced games like Command and Conquer Remastered, games on mobile, and Burnout Paradise on Switch. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/08/01/ea-says-people-dont-want-to-play-its-games-on-switch"] Speaking of Burnout Paradise, EA also announced that it will launch “multiple” EA games on Switch this year. The company has supported the Switch with games like FIFA, but have been notably slower to adopt the console compared to other third-party developers. One mystery is whether the next Battlefield game is part of that list. EA confirmed a new Battlefield will skip 2020 and instead release in 2021. Since the list only includes games up until March 2021, there’s a chance Battlefield isn’t the mysterious HD game EA mentioned in the call. Other highlights from EA’s investor calls include big growth in its live service sector driven by games like Apex Legends and Ultimate Team sports games. Coincidentally, EA and Respawn revealed the Apex Legends Season 5 today. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/05/apex-legends-season-5-fortunes-favor-launch-trailer"] The next game EA announced for Switch is Burnout Paradise Remastered which will retail for a whopping $50. Check out our Burnout Paradise review here. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Like many other businesses, employees and game developers at Activision Blizzard have transitioned to working from home. However, that hasn’t stopped Activision from confirming that the next “Premium Call of Duty” is on track to release later this year. Activision Blizzard’s new Chief Operating Officer and president Daniel Alegre spoke with investors today to share Activision’s Q1 2020 results. Despite the changes to the workplace caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Alegre confirmed that the next mainline Call of Duty game is “on track for later this year.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-ign-call-of-duty-review&captions=true"] Alegre also said two titles “based on library IP” from Activision are in development. This means there are two games not based on Call of Duty in development. This could potentially mean games like Crash Bandicoot or Spyro. Activision did not confirm what these titles are so there’s space for speculation. Call of Duty has overperformed in recent months thanks to the huge sales for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the popularity of Call of Duty: Warzone. Activision confirmed the sell-through for Modern Warfare is the highest in the franchise months after launch, and Warzone hit 60 million players. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/09/call-of-duty-warzone-official-trailer"] While Activision still hasn’t announced what the next Call of Duty game will be, you can read our Call of Duty: Modern Warfare review here. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Like many other businesses, employees and game developers at Activision Blizzard have transitioned to working from home. However, that hasn’t stopped Activision from confirming that the next “Premium Call of Duty” is on track to release later this year. Activision Blizzard’s new Chief Operating Officer and president Daniel Alegre spoke with investors today to share Activision’s Q1 2020 results. Despite the changes to the workplace caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Alegre confirmed that the next mainline Call of Duty game is “on track for later this year.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-ign-call-of-duty-review&captions=true"] Alegre also said two titles “based on library IP” from Activision are in development. This means there are two games not based on Call of Duty in development. This could potentially mean games like Crash Bandicoot or Spyro. Activision did not confirm what these titles are so there’s space for speculation. Call of Duty has overperformed in recent months thanks to the huge sales for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the popularity of Call of Duty: Warzone. Activision confirmed the sell-through for Modern Warfare is the highest in the franchise months after launch, and Warzone hit 60 million players. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/09/call-of-duty-warzone-official-trailer"] While Activision still hasn’t announced what the next Call of Duty game will be, you can read our Call of Duty: Modern Warfare review here. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Louis Leterrier is in negotiations with Netflix to direct Bright 2, a sequel to the streaming service's 2017 film which starred Will Smith and Joel Edgerton. Leterrier helmed the second MCU film, The Incredible Hulk, as well as movies such as Now You See Me, Clash of the Titans, and the first two Transporter features. The buddy-cop/action/fantasy sequel will reunite Smith and Edgerton as the pair of LAPD officers from the first film, the latter of whom happens to be an orc. Suicide Squad's David Ayer, who directed the original and had been attached to the follow-up, is busy rewriting his remake of The Dirty Dozen for Warner Bros, according to Deadline. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/12/21/bright-review] Ayer wrote Bright 2 with Evan Spiliotopoulos, and T.S. Nowlin handled rewrite duties on the script. The first film was touted by Netflix's Chief Executive Reed Hastings as one of the service's most-viewed original titles ever in the weeks after it debuted. At that time in January 2018, a sequel was announced but we've heard little about it since then. The title had a total audience of more than 11 million in its first three days of release, according to Nielsen estimates. According to Deadline's sources, the Bright sequel will feature the unlikely partnership of Smith's Daryl Ward and Edgerton's Nick Jakoby "on an international stage." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-action-movies-on-netflix-right-now&captions=true"] In our review of Bright, IGN's David Griffin gave the film a 7 out of 10, saying "Bright could have been something truly special if it had slowed down the pace of its narrative to allow for a fuller exploration of its engaging world. Will Smith and Joel Edgerton are a compelling duo I’d love to see again in a sequel, or even a new series produced by Netflix, so hopefully, this isn’t the last we’ll see of the world of Bright." Sounds like it isn't!

Louis Leterrier is in negotiations with Netflix to direct Bright 2, a sequel to the streaming service's 2017 film which starred Will Smith and Joel Edgerton. Leterrier helmed the second MCU film, The Incredible Hulk, as well as movies such as Now You See Me, Clash of the Titans, and the first two Transporter features. The buddy-cop/action/fantasy sequel will reunite Smith and Edgerton as the pair of LAPD officers from the first film, the latter of whom happens to be an orc. Suicide Squad's David Ayer, who directed the original and had been attached to the follow-up, is busy rewriting his remake of The Dirty Dozen for Warner Bros, according to Deadline. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/12/21/bright-review] Ayer wrote Bright 2 with Evan Spiliotopoulos, and T.S. Nowlin handled rewrite duties on the script. The first film was touted by Netflix's Chief Executive Reed Hastings as one of the service's most-viewed original titles ever in the weeks after it debuted. At that time in January 2018, a sequel was announced but we've heard little about it since then. The title had a total audience of more than 11 million in its first three days of release, according to Nielsen estimates. According to Deadline's sources, the Bright sequel will feature the unlikely partnership of Smith's Daryl Ward and Edgerton's Nick Jakoby "on an international stage." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-action-movies-on-netflix-right-now&captions=true"] In our review of Bright, IGN's David Griffin gave the film a 7 out of 10, saying "Bright could have been something truly special if it had slowed down the pace of its narrative to allow for a fuller exploration of its engaging world. Will Smith and Joel Edgerton are a compelling duo I’d love to see again in a sequel, or even a new series produced by Netflix, so hopefully, this isn’t the last we’ll see of the world of Bright." Sounds like it isn't!