Joker Director: No Plans to Make a Sequel
"We have no plan for a sequel," Joker director Todd Phillips recently said at a post-screening reception for press in Los Angeles. The director was clarifying comments he made in an earlier interview after reports of Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix wanting to make a Joker sequel swirled online, which Phillips admitted he found "annoying."
Phillips took the opportunity to say his words about a potential sequel were taken out of context in a Total Film interview. "The quote was, 'I will do anything Joaquin wants to do.' And I would. But the movie's not set up to
Dan Aykroyd to Appear in Ghostbusters 2020, Actor Confirms
Actor Dan Aykroyd, star of the original two Ghostbusters films, is set to appear in the upcoming Ghostbusters 2020, THR reported Monday.
Aykroyd may have sort-of-spoiled the existence of Ghostbusters 2020 way back in 2018, but the actor has now confirmed his involvement in the sequel, where he’ll once again be playing the scientist-turned-Ghostbuster Raymond Stantz.
Stallone on Last Blood and the Central Contradiction of Rambo
Rambo: Last Blood, the fifth and presumed final film in the Rambo saga (at least until the inevitable reboot) opens in theaters this weekend, leading fans of the series to contemplate its lasting pop culture legacy.
John Rambo himself, as played by Sylvester Stallone, now 73, is something of a contradiction. On the one hand, Rambo – as depicted in First Blood – is a symbol of wartime trauma, a man pushed back into violence when he has already left the Vietnam battlefields behind. In the Rambo sequels, however, the character changed, altered from a sad, tragic figure into an unstoppable action badass. Rambo became an admirable symbol for American military might and forthright American aggression as it was perceived in the Reagan era.
Check Out What’s New to Amazon Prime This October
Amazon Prime Video is dropping seven original series in the month of October, including the third season of Billy Bob Thorton's Goliath, and newcomer Modern Love -- a romantic anthology series based on the long-running New York Times column of the same name, starring Anne Hathaway, Tina Fey, Dev Patel, Caitlin McGee, John Slattery, Brandon Victor Dixon, and Catherine Keener.
On the movie front, Amazon is adding Robert Pattison's sci-fi film High Life, and the Tiffany Haddish rom-com Nobody's Fool.
If you're not a Prime member, you can sign up for a free 30-day Amazon Prime trial and reap all the benefits, including streaming Amazon Video. That means you have the opportunity to check out every new video this month without having to pay for it.
Shane Gillis Fired from SNL After Racist Slurs Surface Online
Comedian Shane Gillis will no longer be joining the cast of Saturday Night Live in the show's upcoming 45th season.
Gillis was among three new "featured players" announced earlier in September, alongside Bowen Yang and Chloe Fineman. Gillis' casting quickly drew heavy criticism stemming from several podcast clips featuring Gillis making racially insensitive jokes and using racial and homophobic slurs.
Gillis' hiring was also criticized for coming at the same time Yang is making SNL history as the show's first Chinese-American cast member.
A spokesperson for SNL producer Lorne Michaels released the following statement online:
“After talking with Shane Gillis, we have decided that he will not be joining SNL. We want SNL to have a variety of voices and points of view within the show, and we hired Shane on the strength of his talent as comedian and his impressive audition for SNL. We were not aware of his prior remarks that have surfaced over the past few days. The language he used is offensive, hurtful and unacceptable. We are sorry that we did not see these clips earlier, and that our vetting process was not up to our standard.”
First Details for Final Fantasy 14: Shadowbringers’ Nier Automata Raid Revealed
Square Enix has revealed the first details about Patch 5.1. The upcoming patch will include the release of the first Shadowbringers 24-Player Alliance Raid based on Nier: Automata.
In a new Letter from the Producer livestream, Final Fantasy 14 director Naoki Yoshida revealed the first details about the upcoming Patch 5.1 update, Titled Vows of Virtue, Deeds of Cruelty. The update will include the YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse alliance raid, which is a collaboration beween Final Fantasy 14 and the Nier series and guest directors Yosuke Saito and Yoko Taro.
Updates coming to Final Fantasy 14 Patch 5.1:
- New Main Scenario Quests – New quests continuing the Shadowbringers storyline.
6 Things to Look For at the Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle Experience
Universal Orlando Resort is bringing on the bad guys for its newest Harry Potter light projection experience.
Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle, which just debuted at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade at Islands of Adventure in Orlando (after its spring debut at Universal Hollywood), puts the spotlight on the villainous forces of J.K. Rowling’s magical universe. The new production is nearly nine minutes long and the blend of imagery, fog and music is mesmerizing. It also includes the use of light-equipped drones for the big finale (as long as the weather cooperates). From the early whispers of Parseltongue to the flames at the climax, fans will find this new addition to the park’s Potterville a great thrill.
GameStop’s Store Redesign Leaked
IGN can confirm the accuracy of a recent Facebook video, which appears to show what one of the redesigned GameStop stores could look like under the company's GameStop Reboot plan.
A GameStop store in Pryor, Oklahoma posted a video tour of what looks like a new layout for the store. A source familiar with GameStop’s operation, who’s requested anonymity, has confirmed that the store matches the blueprint layout of the redesigns shown at GameStop’s annual conference.
IGN’s sources say there’s a test store in Oklahoma, the same state from which this video is from. A second source familiar with GameStop's future reboot plans said that not all stores will look like the one in the video, with some stores redesigned to focus more on esports, retro games (as shown here), or a more traditional design similar to existing stores. Other features, like the wall-mounted tablet, are more universal features that corporate will implement across all stores.
Gears 5 Has Biggest First-Party Launch for Xbox Since Halo 4
With over 3 million players since it was released, Gears 5 had the biggest first-party launch for Xbox since Halo 4, in terms of player count.
Gears 5 "easily doubled the first week’s debut of Gears of War 4," according to Xbox Wire, making it the "biggest launch week of any Xbox Game Studios title this generation." The 3 million-player count was tracked from the early access launch on September 6 through this past weekend.
The shooter also set first-party records on PC, becoming the biggest Xbox Game Pass launch on the platform and Microsoft’s "best-ever" first-party launch on Steam. It also tripled the "performance" of Gears of War 4 on PC, though specific numbers weren't revealed.
Seinfeld Coming to Netflix After Losing Friends and the Office
Seinfeld, the massively influential sitcom that ran from 1989 to 1998, is coming to Netflix, the streaming giant announced Monday.
Seinfeld will be coming to the service starting in 2021 and will run for five years. All 180 episodes of the show will be made available globally. Hulu currently holds the exclusive streaming rights to Seinfeld, and the comedy will move to Netflix when that deal expires in 2021.
“‘Seinfeld’ is a one-of-a-kind, iconic, culture-defining show,” Sony Pictures Television Chairman Mike Hopkins said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. “Now, 30 years after its premiere, ‘Seinfeld’ remains center stage. We’re thrilled to be partnering with Netflix to bring this beloved series to current fans and new audiences around the globe.”