Top Gun: Maverick star Tom Cruise wants to return as Les Grossman from Tropic Thunder.

According to Deadline, the 60-year-old actor and Mission: Impossible producer Chris McQuarrie are “fixated” on Grossman.

“It’s unclear if they will create a whole movie around Grossman or borrow him for inclusion in [one of two upcoming movies],” they explained.

The two projects in question are an upcoming musical that Cruise and McQuarrie are said to be putting together, as well as another “original action film” with franchise potential that’s presumably unconnected to Mission: Impossible.

But their fixation on Les Grossman is far less straightforward.

Tom Cruise starred as producer Les Grossman in the 2008 comedy film, Tropic Thunder. Starring Robert Downey Jr, Ben Stiller, and Jack Black, the action comedy followed a band of actors shooting a war film in the middle of the jungle… only to find themselves thrust into the middle of a real-life conflict.

Grossman was the film’s crass, over-the-top producer – not exactly a shoo-in for Tom Cruise, but a role he made his own with some extraordinary one-liners and a killer dance routine.

How they work Grossman into their upcoming films remains to be seen. The thought of Les Grossman appearing in a musical is certainly an intriguing concept, especially if the film has firm comedy roots. But Les Grossman in a straight action flick? I can’t exactly see that happening.

Then there’s the prospect of a Les Grossman solo film… surely an extraordinarily difficult watch. But the cringe-inducing producer could well make an excellent addition to another project – especially if it’s one about filmmaking.

Cruise and McQuarrie will next reteam for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One with Dead Reckoning Part 2 soon to follow.

The upcoming Mission: Impossible flick is said to include Cruise’s most dangerous stunt ever and recently unveiled its thrilling first trailer.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Valve has finally added Nintendo Switch Joy-Con support to Steam through its Client Beta program.

As reported by PCGamer, the Steam Client Beta was re-released and updated on August 5, allowing for official support of Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers. They can be used individually as a mini-gamepad or combined into pairs.

The update also provided improved support for the Nintendo Online Classic controllers.

In order to use this function, users will need to go into the Steam Client Beta and at the top left corner, click "Steam," then "Settings." After that, go into the "Account" tab and in the "Beta Participation" section, click "Change."

Click the dropdown menu and select "Steam Beta Update." After that, restart Steam and you should be good to go.

Steam supports a wide variety of controllers, both wired and wireless. Unfortunately, there's no way to wire your Joy-Cons to your PC set up so you'll have to use bluetooth.

While Nintendo insists that Joy-Con durability and manufacturing have improved since the Switch's launch in 2017, some repair centers reportedly felt overwhelmed due to the sheer volume being sent in for fixing.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey

There's a lot Game of Thrones star Sean Bean didn't like about, well, being a star.

Speaking to the U.K.'s Times Magazine (via Variety), Bean, who played Ned Stark in the Game of Thrones, said he disliked the intimacy coordinators production would bring in to help film the show's many sex scenes because they would "spoil the spontaneity" of a scene.

“It would inhibit me more because it’s drawing attention to things,” Bean said. “Somebody saying, ‘Do this, put your hands there, while you touch his thing… I think the natural way lovers behave would be ruined by someone bringing it right down to a technical exercise.”

Speaking about Snowpiercer, another series Bean worked on, the actor said he doesn't like when TV companies or advertisers cut out the most "experimental" part of a sex scene.

"I think they cut a bit out actually. Often the best work you do, where you’re trying to push the boundaries, and the very nature of it is experimental, gets censored when TV companies or the advertisers say it’s so much. It’s a nice scene, quite surreal, dream-like and abstract. And mango-esque.”

When asked if the intimacy coordinators are present to protect the performers, Bean said it depends on the actress.

Some other Game of Thrones stars don't agree with Bean's take on the steamy scenes in the show. Actress Gemma Whelan, who played Yara Greyjoy in Game of Thrones, said the sex scenes were "a frenzied mess" due to the lack of direction, and that other projects benefit from intimacy directors. "With intimacy directors, it’s choreography – you move there, I move there, and permission and consent is given before you start. It is a step in the right direction.”

Bean is also not a fan of fan conventions, citing a bad experience he had at one Lord of the Rings convention. Bean said the fans were "good-natured, positive people who were getting tossed around and overcharged for things.”

The conversation surrounding Game of Thrones' sex scenes is continuing with the franchise's prequel show, House of the Dragon. Just over the weekend, House of the Dragon star Matt Smith said he thinks there are too many sex scenes in the series.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Grease star Olivia Newton-John has died today aged 73.

Newton-John passed away surrounded by family and friends at her home in California according to a statement from her husband, John Easterling.

“Dame Olivia Newton-John (73) passed away peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends,” he said via Facebook. “We ask that everyone please respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.”

Renowned for her iconic role as Sandy in Grease, she was also a four-time Grammy winner and even represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974.

“Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer. Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer.”

Back in 2017, Newton-John announced that the breast cancer she first developed in 1992 had since returned and spread to her spine.

She also revealed that she had been given a second cancer diagnosis in 2013 but had not spoken publicly about it.

“I believe I will win over it and that's my goal,” she told the Australian TV show, Sunday Night (via BBC News). She also called upon the Australian government to follow California in legalizing marijuana for medicinal use – a cause she continued to support via the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund.

“My dream is that, in Australia soon, it will be available to all the cancer patients and people going through cancer that causes pain,” she said.

Her family has asked for donations to the Olivia Newton-John Foundation in lieu of flowers.

Following her role in Grease in 1978, Newton-John enjoyed several smash hits with the Grease soundtracking spending 12 consecutive weeks at number 1 in the US, while her performance was nominated for a Golden Globe.

She also performed Hopelessly Devoted to You at the 1979 Oscars.

More recently, she appeared in Sharknado 5: Global Swarming and made an appearance as herself in the first season of Glee, as well as appearing as a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race and Dancing with the Stars.

Olivia is survived by her husband John Easterling, daughter Chloe Lattanzi, sister Sarah Newton-John, and brother Toby Newton-John.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Take-Two has just released its first set of earnings since it fully acquired mobile developer and publisher Zynga, and it looks like mobile is already playing an absolutely massive role in the publisher's future.

Take-Two's net bookings for the quarter were up 41% year-over-year in no small part thanks to Zynga. And recurrent consumer spending was up 48% and accounted for 73% of that total, again largely thanks to Zynga, though NBA 2K22 and Tiny Tina's Wonderlands also played a role.

What's more, Take-Two is expecting Zynga to account for a whopping 45% of its total net bookings for the entire fiscal year ending March of 2023, with 2K making up 37%, Rockstar accounting for 17%, and Private Division making up 1%. Admittedly, Take-Two has officially folded in its former T2 Mobile division into Zynga, so it's not all Zynga. But for context, during its previous fiscal year, mobile games accounted for only 12% of Take-Two's net bookings. So this is a pretty massive jump.

In a call with IGN ahead of today's earnings release, CEO Strauss Zelnick affirmed the company's strategy to use its new mobile flexibility to create more mobile spin-offs of its existing IP, assuming the conditions were right.

"The first criterion would be that we have a team that's incredibly passionate about working on that IP and bringing it to mobile. And then of course we'd look at the connection that the historic intellectual property has with an audience, the format in which it would reside, and the like."

When asked if Take-Two was looking at mobile ports of existing games or spin-offs, he pointed out that Take-Two has historically brought many of its games to tablets and smartphones, but added that "what we're talking about when we talk about bringing Take-Two core intellection property to mobile is a brand new title made for mobile."

On the same call, we also learned that NBA 2K22 has sold over 12 million copies, GTA V has once again sold around 5 million in a single quarter and brought its lifetime total to nearly 170 million sold, and Red Dead Redemption 2 has sold over 45 million copies. We also learned that Marvel's Midnight Suns has been delayed once again.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

This article was amended after publication to correctly read that Rockstar accounted for 17% of net bookings.

Marvel's Midnight Suns has been delayed a second time, and while it doesn't seem to be a long delay, we're now once again without a clear release date for the Firaxis tactical RPG.

In today's Take-Two earnings results, the publisher revealed that it has moved back the launch of Midnight Suns "to ensure the teams at Firaxis Games and 2K deliver the best possible experience for our fans."

It's expected to arrive "later this fiscal year," which for Take-Two means sometime before March of 2023, but we don't have a specific date yet. Additionally, only PC, PS4, and Xbox Series X and S players will get to jump in on that date - the PS4, Xbox One, and Switch versions are planned for even later.

Midnight Suns was originally planned for Take-Two's previous fiscal year with a scheduled release this past March. But it was delayed once already, pushing it into October of this year. At the time, it was implied that the delay was at least in part connected to increases in the difficulty of making games as technology has improved.

Speaking to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, he reiterated that this second delay was due to a "search for quality, and a great deal of confidence that we have a wonderful title on our hands and we want to make sure it's as good as it can possibly be." When asked if there was any concern that Midnight Suns would dip out of the fiscal year a second time (aka, get delayed a third time) he replied, "I'm not concerned about that."

On the same call, we learned that Take-Two had a couple of other games that moved "within the year" that impacted its financials, but it has not confirmed what those are.

Midnight Suns was first revealed almost a year ago at Gamescom 2021 as a superpowered version of XCOM featuring characters like Captain Marvel, Iron Man, and Wolverine.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Jon Bernthal’s Punisher may not be returning after all…

After comments suggesting that Marvel’s Punisher would be back in a new series, it looks as though actress Rosario Dawson has had second thoughts.

“I can’t be trusted,” she said via Twitter. “Getting intel from fans during signings is iffy apparently. My bad. I get excited. Confirmation is key when you’re told what you want to hear…”

I can’t be trusted…!
Getting intel from fans during signings is iffy apparently.
My bad.
I get excited.
Confirmation is key when you’re told what you want to hear…

— Rosario Dawson (@rosariodawson) August 8, 2022

The 43-year-old actress played Claire Temple (aka Night Nurse) in several of Marvel’s recent Netflix shows, including Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist, not to mention their eventual team-up in The Defenders.

She first encountered Bernthal’s version of The Punisher in Daredevil Season 2 and clearly enjoyed working with the iconic Marvel character after she excitedly told fans that Jon Bernthal would be returning as Frank Castle.

“I found out yesterday that The Punisher was happening again,” she said. “So, I feel like it's my second chance because that's the only one of the shows I wasn't in and I love Jon Bernthal. So, let's all make it happen collectively, guys.”

However, now it looks as though she’s completely walked it back – playing dumb while claiming that her info came from fans and not Marvel itself.

If that’s true, it looks as though Bernthal’s Punisher may not return after all.

There’s certainly been no hint of The Punisher getting his own series once more after there was no mention of Frank Castle in Marvel’s upcoming slate that was announced at San Diego Comic Con.

Of course, The Punisher could return in one of Marvel’s other projects – the upcoming Daredevil series is a likely candidate since the pair already have a history on screen. But with Rosario claiming she had no insider info, that’s looking less likely, too.

Whether or not The Punisher returns to our screens remains to be seen… and while it could happen, it looks as though Dawson may not have the inside info we thought.

Find out more about Marvel’s upcoming slate with our full look at Marvel’s Phase 5 line-up as well as what to expect from Phase 6 and The Fantastic Four.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Netflix has been working on its video game initiative for a while now, but it seems Netflix subscribers aren't catching on. Acording to a new report from CNBC, 1.7 million Netflix subscribers are interacting with the service's games on a daily basis, which is less than 1% of Netflix's 221 million subscribers.

Netflix's games have been downloaded 23.3 million times, which equals about 10% of Netflix's subscribers. However, that doesn't account for individual users who may have downloaded multiple titles. Any way you look at it, it's a very small slice of Netflix's customers that are taking advantage of the available games. This data is according to Apptopia, a global app tracker.

Netflix's current game catalog consists of 24 games, from Netflix adaptations like Stranger Things, to multiplatform indies like Moonlighter. We also know the company is working on adaptations of some of its original streaming content, including The Queen's Gambit, Shadow and Bone, and The Money Heist.

In January, Netflix said it was aiming to have "the absolute best" gaming service for its customers. It began rolling games out in November 2021, where active Netflix subscribers can access the catalog of available games for no additional cost. The company is hoping to increase its catalog to nearly 50 available games by the end of 2022.

It's been a rocky few months for Netflix. In July, the company announced it lost nearly 1 million subscribers over the last quarter. Netflix is also in the midst of a password sharing crackdown, as it blames customers sharing accounts for part of its struggles.

It hasn't been all bad for Netflix, though, as Stranger Things 4 rapidly became the second most-watched series in Netflix history, only trailing Squid Game.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson really wanted to forget making those movies.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 60-year-old filmmaker explained why he wanted to forget all about Middle-earth… and it was for a very good reason.

“When we did The Lord of the Rings movies I always felt I was the unlucky person who never got to see as a coming-out-of-the-blue film,” he said. “By the time they were screening, I was immersed in it for five or six years. It was such a loss for me not be able to see them like everyone else.”

Jackson was instrumental in bringing The Lord of the Rings to the big screen, starting with The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001. He followed it up with The Two Towers in 2002 and finally The Return of the King in 2004.

Additionally, Jackson followed them up with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey as well as its sequels, The Desolation of Smaug, and The Battle of the Five Armies. That’s a lot of Tolkien over the years.

But he still yearns to watch the films solely as a fan.

“I actually did seriously consider going to some hypnotherapy guy to hypnotize me to make me forget about the films and the work I had done over the last six or seven years so I could sit and enjoy them,” he said. “I didn’t follow through with it, but I did talk to [British mentalist] Derren Brown about that and he thought he could do it.”

Thankfully, he didn’t go through with it and still remembers making the Lord of Rings films… and Amazon, who made the upcoming Lord of the Rings show The Rings of Power were all too aware of his contributions, too.

Even if they did end up ghosting him after asking for his help.

Still, it looks as though this time around, Jackson will finally get to enjoy a Tolkien project that he hasn’t worked on… and he gets that fan experience for the first time.

“I’ll be watching it,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m not the sort of guy who wishes ill will. Filmmaking is hard enough. If somebody makes a good film or TV show, it’s something to celebrate. The one thing I am looking forward to is actually seeing it as a perfectly neutral viewer.”

Want to find out more about the Rings of Power? Check out our guide to the best way to watch the Lord of the Rings movies as well as what the upcoming TV show is all about.

Blogroll image credit: Hagen Hopkins / Getty Images

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Classic video game Pac-Man is getting a live-action movie. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the retro arcade classic is heading to the big screen with a live-action adaptation.

Although video game movies don’t have the best reputation, this one is coming with quite a pedigree – produced by original game creators Bandai Namco Entertainment with a script based on an idea from none other than Sonic the Hedgehog producer, Chuck Williams.

A coin-op classic, Pac-Man was a pivotal title during the rise of video games in the 1980s. Released in 1980, it soon became an arcade staple and was followed by Ms. Pac-Man as well as the inimitable Pac-Land in 1984.

Everyone has played a version of the classic game. Pac-Man follows the titular hero making his way through a series of mazes while avoiding several ghosts – Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde.

Quite how this will translate into live action remains to be seen.

However, the long-running arcade series has already seen several cartoons over the years, notably the Hanna-Barbera classic, Pac-Man, which first appeared on ABC in 1982, with Disney XD taking a swing at the arcade classic with Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures in 2013.

The Pac-Man live-action film will be made by Bandai Namco Entertainment as well as Wayfarer Studios – the studio behind Disney+ movie Clouds, as well as The CW series My Last Days.

Justin Baldoni, Manu Gargi, and Andrew Calof of Wayfarer Studios join as producers alongside Chuck Williams and Tim Kwok of Lightbeam.

How Pac-Man will work in live-action remains to be seen, but it’s not the first time we’ve seen the classic video game character on the big screen.

Pac-Man recently appeared in the video game movie, Pixels, starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Josh Gad, and Peter Dinklage. Several Pac-Man characters also made predictable cameos in Wreck-It Ralph and its sequel.

Want to read more about video game movies? Here are the upcoming video game adaptations in 2022 and beyond, not to mention every video game movie coming to Netflix.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.