No Star Wars Trailer at D23 Confirmed
While there's a panel, don't expect a new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer at the D23 Expo this weekend. According to director J.J. Abrams, there won't be any new footage from the flick until the fall. (Cue crying Rancor Keeper.)
Abrams explained to Entertainment Weekly,"It is true, we are showing no footage, behind the scenes or otherwise,” but confirmed for eager fans, "In the fall, there’ll be a trailer.”
Player Choice and Consequence in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
At Gamescom this year, the creators of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided showed off new gameplay for the upcoming game. While the level was the same shown during E3 2015, during Gamescom the approach was switched up.
Bosses in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided can be approached in different ways: either head-on with guns blazing, or a stealth approach can be employed. "Deus Ex is all about freedom, player choice, choice and consequence, that's one of the things we worked really hard on," Eidos Montreal told us during the show.
The Mummy Reboot Is Still a Horror Movie, But …
Universal's plans for a shared universe of their classic monsters hit a hiccup when the release of their reboot of The Mummy was pushed back from June 2016 to March 2017, but the film's director, Alex Kurtzman, said the process is still on track.
"The monster universe is coming together very very quickly, we’re very excited. There will be announcements soon," Kurtzman told Collider at this week's Television Critics Association Press Tour. "We have actually started doing a lot of design work, we’re getting scripts in, everything is feeling really really good, so I don’t want to curse it by saying too much to you, but it’s going well."
Here’s a Look at Skyrim in Cartoon Form
A talented member of the PC modding community is currently working on a graphical mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which gives the game world a charming toon aesthetic.
In a post on Reddit, user UniqueUses offered an early glimpse at their "Toon Skyrim" mod in action. Here's an in-game look at an incredibly cute campfire.
In another image, we get a peek at a slightly different setting, populated by a horse, house, and pale purple sky.
Twin Peaks: New Season Begins Filming Next Month
The return of Twin Peaks is rapidly becoming a reality, as Showtime noted at the TCA (Television Critics Association) press tour that their long-awaited new season of the beloved series will go into production in September. All the episodes are produced and written by the show’s creators, David Lynch and Mark Frost, with Lynch directing the entire series. Nevins noted production will take place both in Los Angeles, and in Washington state, where the show (and prequel movie, Fire Walk With Me), previously shot.
Earlier this year, the project was in jeopardy when Lynch walked away from it, reportedly over money issues, only to return a few weeks later. Asked about that situation today, Showtime's president, David Nevins, said, “I never had any doubts we were going to get him back. This was a huge priority project to me. What happened was it became clear that it was going to take more than nine episodes, which was the originally planned for, originally budgeted for, length of the series. So we had to sort of work out the details. And I really wanted to get David to write the whole thing and he wanted to direct the whole thing. And we eventually got through it, and I think it's going to be they're looking to be in great shape starting in just a few weeks.”
Bradley Cooper Very “Committed” to Limitless TV Series
Premiering September 22nd on CBS is the TV sequel to 2011's Bradley Cooper brain-drug thriller Limitless. Now starring Jake McDorman, Dexter's Jennifer Carpenter, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and...Bradley Cooper, who appears in the pilot episode as his movie character Eddie Mora. Eddie now being the one presenting the drug NZT-48 to an all new lead character named Brian (McDorman).
In fact, Cooper's involvement with the series is one of the big reasons why it's a sequel. "We knew Bradley Cooper was going to be involved," said EP Craig Sweeny, who appeared with the cast at the TCA Press Tour. "And so it seemed like, if we wanted the option of having him on screen, we shouldn't recast the role of Eddie Morra, and that informed the show to a certain extent. But I think we would have done it that way regardless because part of what's appealing about this particular property is that the McGuffin of the NZT pills is infinite. So why not tell the story of somebody else's interaction with this drug?"
Avalanche’s Mad Max Gameplay Screens
Mad Max is less than a month from release, and we had a chance to see an entire Mad Max mission played out during Gamescom this year. Featuring vehicular, weapon, and melee combat, Mad Max looks something like a hybrid of a heavy-handed Borderlands and Just Cause 2.
The studio behind Mad Max, Sweden-based Avalanche Studios, is also behind the Just Cause series, and some of the lessons learned from Just Cause 2 have made their way into Mad Max, most notably the inclusion of a grappling hook that can be used for various purposes throughout the game. Have a look at this gallery of screenshots to get an idea of what the bleak, war-torn future holds.
Hearthstone Garners About $20 Million Monthly
Blizzard's free-to-play digital card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft reportedly brings in $20 million every month.
Research group SuperData (via GameSpot) says Hearthstone is dominating the digital CCG space, thanks in part to its release on smartphones. The firm claims that move alone boosted monthly revenues by 31%.
If accurate, that figure makes Hearthstone a bigger monthly earner than Dota 2, which SuperData reported earlier this year as bringing in $18 million per month. Exact figures for Hearthstone have been hard to come by, since Activision Blizzard has only bundled its figures with Heroes of the Storm and Destiny in its financial reports. Altogether, the three games have brought in more than $1 billion.
The Shield and Downton Abbey Actors Join 12 Monkeys
The second season of 12 Monkeys will see actors Jay Karnes and Brendan Coyle joining the cast.
Entertainment Weekly reports Karnes, known for his work on The Shield, will portray an FBI agent in the 1940s called Robert Gale. While looking into a group of murders, Gale sees a connection to James Cole, reckoning he's from a different time.
Meanwhile, Coyle will pop up in the Season 2 premiere as Dr. Benjamin Kalman. The Downton Abbey actor is playing a former Markridge bioengineer who deeply regrets the role he played in the creation of the deadly virus.
For more on the second season, be sure to check out IGN's Comic-Con coverage of 12 Monkeys. The show is scheduled to return early next year on Syfy.
Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex Renewed
Showtime has announced that Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex have been picked up for fourth seasons.
Both shows are set to start production next year on their fourth seasons, with 12 one-hour episodes planned for each series. “Both Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex are signature series for Showtime,” said company president David Nevins.
“They are emblematic of what Showtime stands for — quality, premium programming that you cannot find anywhere else on television. We’re so proud to continue offering both series across all our platforms.”