Wrinkle in Time Film Hasn’t ‘Shied Away From the Darkness’
Ava Duvernay's adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time is a reimagining of the classic 1963 science fantasy novel for a modern audience, and star Bellamy Young says the forthcoming Disney film will embrace the story's darkness.
"The book meant the world to me as I was growing up, so just to be a part of it at all was such an honor, but to be a part of Ava's vision of it? She has such thoughtful grace to all her work," Young told IGN at the 2017 Television Critics Association, where she was representing her ABC series Scandal. "She's kept all the hope but not shied away from the darkness, and I think it's going to be as magical as your own experience of the book."
Jim Carrey’s New Stand-Up Series is About “Edgy Truths”
Set in LA's celebrated, infamous stand-up comedy scene of the 1970s, I'm Dying Up Here -- premiering Sunday, June 4th on Showtime -- delves into the inspired and damaged psyches that inhabit the hilarious, but complex business of making an audience laugh.
Executive producer Jim Carrey -- along with the cast and writers -- appeared at the Television Critics Press Tour recently for a Q&A session about the series, which is set decades ago on the Sunset Strip where comic geniuses like George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, Dave Letterman, Albert Brooks, Jay Leno, Andy Kaufman, and Robin Williams all began.
"We were coming out of the '60s," Carrey explained. "We were coming out of Vietnam and Nixon. And it was a very intense time, and that helped give birth to a new attitude and a new desire to express yourself and say those edgy things and those edgy truths. And it changed comedy."
For Honor Closed Beta Start Date Announced
The closed beta for Ubisoft's upcoming melee-focused action game For Honor will kick off on January 26 and run until January 29.
The beta will be available for those on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. You can sign up to participate in the beta here.
Alongside the closed beta, Ubisoft will hold an event called War of the Factions, which will run for a limited time and track multiplayer activity across all three platforms during the beta. Participants will receive rewards, with the winning faction receiving additional bonuses.
Additionally, all who participate in the closed beta will be able to receive rewards, and everything earned—be it from the closed beta or specifically from War of the Factions—will transfer over to the final version of the game.
Gears of War 4 to Get 2 Classic Maps in Huge Update
Gears of War 4 is getting a major update this month, bringing with it two classic multiplayer maps that series fans will no doubt recognize.
As detailed on Xbox Wire, Blood Drive returns and blends together the classic Gears 2 map with the "improved flow" of the re-imagined successor featured in Gears 3. Check out the video below for a sneak peek new version coming to Gears 4:
Clocktower will also be added to Gears 4's selection of multiplayer maps this month, "re-imagined as the stunning Bank of Bronn as it's slowly claimed by the Swarm." Watch the clip below for a fly-through look at Clocktower:
Twitch Announces TwitchCon 2017 Dates and Location
Twitch announced its third annual TwitchCon will be held October 20-22 in Long Beach, CA.
The Long Beach Convention Center was chosen for "its impressive main theater and arena," according to Twitch. The company also points to the design of the convention center itself, the "150 restaurants in a 10-block radius," and its proximity to three airports, as key factors.
Similar to previous TwitchCon events, attendees can check out panels, visit exhibitor booths, "participate in live events," and more, according to Twitch.
Steve Aoki headlined TwitchCon 2016 in September, and details for TwitchCon 2017 will be revealed "in the coming months." Updates for the event can be tracked on the TwitchCon 2017 homepage.
Ben Affleck Confirms He Will Direct The Batman
Ben Affleck has restated that he will direct upcoming DC solo film, The Batman.
Despite last week saying that "it's not a set thing", the writer and star appeared to set the record straight on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night:
"I'm going to direct the next Batman", he explained. "We're working on it."
He went on to say that his relative quietness about the movie was down to his work on current project, Live By Night:
"It's one of those things that's really frustrating because, like, Live by Night took me a year-and-a-half to write it and get it ready, and I worked really hard. It's just nobody gave a s**t! No one was like, 'Where's Live by Night?' But with Batman I keep on getting, 'Where's The f**king Batman?!' And I'm like, 'Whoa, I'm working, give me a second!'"
FF7 Remake, Kingdom Hearts 3 ‘Still Have a Way to Go’
Kingdom Hearts III and Final Fantasy VII Remake director Tetsuya Nomura has provided an update on the development state of both games, saying they "still have a way to go" before either title is ready for release.
When asked about Kingdom Hearts III in the latest issue of Weekly Famitsu (via Gematsu), Nomura said "there are still worlds untouched" and that "production is progressing on unannounced worlds, in a state that we cannot show them off."
With regard to how Final Fantasy VII Remake is coming along, Nomura said they are "steadily progressing on production," before apologizing "that the wait will be be a bit longer for Kingdom Hearts III and Final Fantasy VII Remake." He then went on to assure fans that he "will make a game that will meet your expectations."
Heroes of the Storm Holding a Free Weekend
To kick off 2017, Blizzard is unlocking all Heroes of the Storm characters this weekend.
While the base version of the game usually offers a few free characters on rotation, but all will be unlocked for the duration of the event.
That means you’ve got three days to test out any characters you haven’t had the chance to play with yet. The whole shebang runs from January 13 through to January 16.
Heroes of the Storm had a pretty busy 2016. January saw the announcement Diablo characters would be joining the HotS roster, as well as an eSports prize pool totaling $4 million. One month later, in February, the Lunar Festival kicked off.
BAFTA 2017 Nominations Revealed
The BAFTA 2017 nominations are in.
Leading the charge is Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, which is up for a total of 11 mentions, including Best Film, Best Director, Leading Actor, and Leading Actress, closely followed by Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi Arrival with nine nominations. The latter is up for Best Picture, Director, and Actress for Amy Adams, among others.
Bringing up the rear in the Best Film category are Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea, Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake, along with Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight.
On the Star Wars front, Rogue One is up for two awards, Make Up and Hair and Special Visual Effects, while Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is up for five awards, namely Production Design, Costume Design, Outstanding British Film, Special Visual Effects, And Sound.
Sony Announces White PS4 Slim
Sony has revealed the first colour variant for the new slim version of the PS4, 'Glacier White'.
So far announced as a 500GB model for Europe and as 500GB/1TB models for Japan (there's no word on a North American or Australian release as yet), the console also comes with a white edition of the updated PS4 controller.
It appears to be a permanent addition to Sony's console line-up, as opposed to a limited edition. No official price has yet been announced.
The Glacier White console will be released on January 24 in Europe and February 23 in Japan.
Joe Skrebels is IGN's UK News Editor, and this console hurt his eyes. Follow him on Twitter.