In what might be an early contender for 2022's most unexpected collaboration, Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar is joining with the creators of South Park for a new live-action comedy film, Collider reports.

The film will be written by Vernon Chatman, longtime producer, and writer on South Park for the last 20 seasons. Chatman's credits also include production on Adult Swim cult classics like Wonder Showzen, Delocated, The Shivering Truth, Xavier: The Renegade Angel, and FX's Louie.

The film's synopsis reads: "The past and present [come] to a head when a young black man who is interning as a slave reenactor at a living history museum discovers that his white girlfriend’s ancestors once owned his."

Paramount will handle theatrical distribution, and the film will eventually land on Paramount+. Lamar's company pgLang will handle film production. It will be the first film produced under the company, which was originally founded as a record label, but also a publishing and production house.

Production is set to start in spring, but no director or cast have been tied to the project as of yet.

South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker signed a $900 million deal with ViacomCBS Inc last year, giving them at least six more seasons of South Park and 14 movies.

Lamar is a critically-acclaimed, Grammy Award-winning musician, though he has been relatively quiet on the music front recently, dropping the single "Family Ties" alongside Baby Keem in mid-2021. Lamar is also scheduled to perform during the Super Bowl LVI's halftime show.

Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.

[Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]

Actor Brian Cox, who plays Logan Roy in HBO's Succession, says that he turned down a role in the first season of Game of Thrones because the pay wasn't good enough.

In a recent GQ-published excerpt from Cox's memoir, Putting the Rabbit in the Hat, the actor recalls the time that he was offered the role of Robert Baratheon in Game of Thrones - explaining that the money involved wasn't good enough to bring him into the fold.

"I’m often asked if I was offered a role in Game of Thrones - reason being that every other bugger was - and the answer is, yes," says Cox in the excerpt. "I was supposed to be a king called Robert Baratheon, who apparently died when he was gored by a boar in the first season. I know very little about Game of Thrones so I can’t tell you whether or not he was an important character, and I’m not going to google it just in case he was, because I turned it down."

"Why? Well, Game of Thrones went on to be a huge success and everybody involved earned an absolute fortune, of course. But when it was originally offered the money was not all that great, shall we say. Plus I was going to be killed off fairly early on, so I wouldn’t have had any of the benefits of the long-term effects of a successful series where your wages go up with each passing season. So I passed on it, and Mark Addy was gored by the boar instead. (I lied. I did google it.)"

While Baratheon's role in the show ended relatively quickly in comparison to the show's eight seasons, he plays a pretty significant part in the show's first season. Prior to Game of Thrones final outing, IGN caught up with Mark Addy to ask how he wanted the late king to be remembered by viewers.

"I think he's an interesting character because your first impression of him is that of somebody who is not a great king, and it's really only when you see some of the guys that follow him that you go, actually, he wasn't as bad as he could have been," explained Addy.

"He was never happy with his lot, by the time we meet him in the series, he has gone from being a warrior, that was where he was happiest. Those days are behind him now, and he's in a decline, and realizes too late that he's surrounded himself with enemies and married into half of them. It's taken him a while to realize that, but it's just about too late. I think he's very misunderstood. I would say... I'd like him to be remembered as a misunderstood king."

As for Cox, it's not like the actor has been short of work. Most notably, Cox has played media magnate Logan Roy in HBO's hugely lauded Succession. In the latest season, we said, "Cox is once again in formidable form as Logan. His ability to switch between quiet dominance, sweet manipulation, and cruel rage makes every scene he’s in a Russian roulette for how it’s going to pan out for the people in his crosshairs."

In other Game of Thrones news, George R.R. Martin recently confirmed that he's seen a version of the first episode for HBO's upcoming prequel to the show, House of the Dragon. Detailing the experience in a blog post, Martin wrote, "I’ve seen a rough cut of the first episode. And loved it. It’s dark, it’s powerful, it’s visceral… just the way I like my epic fantasy."

For more from House of the Dragon, check out this article detailing who's who in the show's teaser trailer.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

PUBG developer Krafton has filed a lawsuit against mobile developer Garena, as well as both Apple and Google, over two mobile games that the developer believes copy its popular online shooter.

As detailed in a lawsuit filed by the company (and spotted by The Verge), Krafton has accused Apple and Google of distributing a "blatantly infringing mobile version of Battlegrounds" developed by Garena on their mobile app stores.

Krafton is currently seeking damages from Garena (and the other companies involved) over what it describes as "rampant, willful copyright infringement" surrounding the release of two Garena-developed games, Free Fire and Free Fire Max.

Garena describes Free Fire as "the ultimate survival shooter game available on mobile", pitting 50 players against one another (or in squads of 4) in 10 minute rounds set on island locations, which involve parachuting down, staying within a safe zone and becoming the last surviving players.

Krafton argues in its lawsuit that both Free Fire and Free Fire Max "extensively copy numerous aspects of Battlegrounds", including the game's "copyrighted unique game opening 'air drop' feature" as well as a "combination and selection of weapons, armor, and unique objects, locations, and the overall choice of color schemes, materials, and textures" apparent in the game.

While both Free Fire and Free Fire Max are available for free on Google Play and the Apple App store, they do include a number of additional in-app purchases. Krafton claims that Garena has made "hundreds of millions of dollars" from sales made across the two games and that by hosting them Apple and Google have “similarly earned a substantial amount of revenue from their distribution of Free Fire.”

According to the lawsuit, Krafton has previously made contact with Garena over the games in question. "On or about December 21, 2021, Krafton demanded that Garena immediately stop its exploitation of Free Fire and Free Fire Max," reads the lawsuit, which goes on to state that Garena refused the request.

The company also states in the lawsuit that it had similarly reached out to Apple and Google over the distribution of the two games on their respective platforms. The lawsuit alleges that in both cases Apple and Google failed to address legitimate claims of copyright on their networks and that in doing so their "selective enforcement of copyright laws" renders both companies liable for "willful infringement."

The lawsuit also takes aim at YouTube, which is owned by Google, stating that it asked the company to remove "numerous posts" that feature Free Fire and Free Fire Max gameplay. The lawsuit also specifies a live-action movie titled 'Biubiubiu', which Krafton says is "nothing more than a blatantly infringing live-action dramatization of Battlegrounds.” To date, the lawsuit claims, YouTube has failed to remove the posts.

While the current lawsuit may be the most recent to have been filed surrounding PUBG, it isn't the only recent court case to have made news surrounding the game. Last week, members of a hacking group known for creating cheats for PUBG Mobile were ordered to pay $10 million in damages by federal courts in the US. Following the legal victory, the developer noted that it would be reinvesting the money into anti-cheat technology for the game.

For more on PUBG, make sure to check out this article detailing how the developer's recent decision to make the game free-to-play on consoles and PC is said to be "in no way a response" to similar successful free-to-play shooters such as Fortnite and Apex Legends.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

All Javier Bardem wants in the world is to ride a sandworm. Fresh off his turn as Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos, Bardem talked to Deadline about his hopes for Dune: Part 2, where he is set to reprise the role of Stilgar, the blue-eyed Fremen warrior.

Specifically, Bardem talks about how he hopes he gets to ride one of the massive sand beasts in the forthcoming sequel. He even says he asked director Denis Villeneuve if he can make it happen.

Bardem is quick to point out that there's precedent in the series for Stilgar riding a sandworm.

"[Denis Villeneuve] told me he's going to try to make that happen. That does happen in the book, by the way. Stilgar teaches Paul [Atreides] how to take the desert power, which is to domesticate those huge animals in order to use their force, their strength, and their huge size against the Harkonnen. Hopefully, that will happen," Bardem says.

In the Dune books and the movies, sandworms are enormous predators who emerge from the sand to devour travelers and even whole books. A Fremen is spotted riding a sandworm at one point in the movie, but only for a moment. Who knows, Bardem may well get his wish.

In the meantime, Bardem says he remains in the dark about the direction of the planned sequel.

"I haven’t read anything yet, so I’m not sure what's coming up next for me in 'Dune.' I know as much as you do at this point. I hear there are scripts but I haven’t read anything," Badem says. "I cannot wait to put myself into the hands of Denis Villeneuve again. I love the guy."

Dune: Part 2 was officially announced back in October, not long after the release of the first movie. It is currently slated for release in Fall 2023. While you wait, check out our explainer on what to expect from the sequel.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN

It looks as though Quantum Leap will be leaping back onto our screens in a new reboot.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the upcoming reboot of the classic sci-fi series Quantum Leap has been greenlit for a pilot episode by NBC.

“It’s been 30 years since Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished,” says the official synopsis. “Now a new team has been assembled to restart the project in the hopes of understanding the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it.”

The description indicates that a whole new team will be firing up the Quantum Leap project, but Scott Bakula could also return.

There’s been no official announcement regarding Bakula’s involvement, but the 67-year-old actor has previously revealed that talks were underway.

“There are very significant conversations about it right now going on,” said Bakula. “I don't know what it would be. I don't know who would have it. The rights were a mess for years. I don't know if they're even sorted out now. That's always been the biggest complication.”

Quantum leap starred Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a physicist who created a time machine that allowed the user to travel through time within their own lifetime. After finding himself adrift in the Quantum Leap machine with no way home, Dr. Beckett resolves to put things right what once went wrong… hoping that his next leap would be the leap home.

The series also starred Dean Stockwell as Al, a US Navy rear admiral and friend (and assistant) to Dr. Beckett, as well as Deborah Pratt voicing Ziggy, the self-aware computer system which runs Project Quantum Leap.

Quantum Leap creator Don Bellisario is on board for the reboot as executive producer alongside Deborah Pratt and Martin Gero. Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt will act as showrunners.

Only a pilot has been ordered so far, and if successful the project will be up for series consideration next year.

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

Valve has announced that its Steam Deck handheld is on track to ship on time in February, following its previous delay late last year. Additionally, Valve is sending out more developer kits to studios to help test their games for Steam Deck.

"First and foremost, we’re on track to ship Steam Deck on time. Global pandemic, supply issues, and shipping issues notwithstanding, it looks like we'll be able to start getting these out the door by the end of February," Valve said in a statement.

The Steam Deck Verified program has already started and it allows players to know which games will be playable on Steam Deck. The list of Steam titles with the Deck Verified status will continue to grow as Valve has been approving more dev kits to send. Compatible games will have a green checkmark and will be playable on the Steam Deck right out of the box.

"It’s also important that we give developers the ability to test their games in order to get that nice green Verified check, so we’ve been sending developer kits out in quantity," said Valve. "We've been approving another wave of dev kits, and hundreds have been shipped out in the last month"

Happy January! We have a small update for you today - tl;dr - we're still on track to ship in February.

Check it out here: https://t.co/pQXC101JCV

— Steam Deck (@OnDeck) January 13, 2022

Valve also provided a picture of the first in-house units of Steam Decks to test and evaluate. Those who preordered the handheld will be able to check the status of their orders. The first wave of orders will go out in February, and the second wave will ship in Q2 2022.

There was reportedly a Half-Life game tailored towards the Steam Deck in the works, but Valve has confirmed that there won't be any exclusive titles for the handheld.

IGN was the first media outlet to get a hands-on with the Steam Deck. You can read our full hands-on preview here and our interview with Valve boss Gabe Newell about the philosophy and design of the Steam Deck.

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

Real Steel, the sci-fi classic starring Hugh Jackman, is getting its very own Disney+ show. According to Variety, a Real Steel adaptation is on its way, but it may be some time before we get to see it.

Variety reports that the potential series will be based on the 2011 film of the same name, which in turn was based on the short story ‘Steel’ by Richard Matheson.

It’s said that the project is still in the early stages of development at Disney+ and doesn’t yet have a writer attached. It’s also unclear whether the Real Steel show will follow on from the events of the film or start anew with new characters.

Either way, Real Steel fans are bound to be pleased.

The original film starred Hugh Jackman as a former boxing pro who turns to robot-boxing with his estranged son. Together, they fix up an obsolete model called Max, which they then get fighting fit to turn him into a true robot champion. Taking on the current robot-boxing champ, Zeus, it’s a heart-warming family film with some incredible robot-fighting action.

And it has its fair share of fans.

Alongside Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, Dakoto Goyo starred as his son, Max, with Evangeline Lily as Bailey Tallet, a boxing gym owner, and daughter of Charlie’s former coach. They were joined by Anthony Mackie, Olga Fona, and Karl Yune.

It’s unknown whether any of the original movie’s stars will return for the TV show.

Real Steel director Shawn Levy will executive produce the series, along with Robert Zemeckis and Jack Rapke of Compari Entertainment, as well as Jacqueline Levine, as well as Susan Montford and Don Murphy of Angry Films.

Disney+ also recently announced many new major projects, including a new Marvel spin-off, Agatha: House of Harkness, and a Big Hero 6 show focussing on the loveable robot, Baymax.

As the project is still in the early stages, no broadcast date has yet been set.

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

PlatinumGames' Kenichi Sato announced Thursday that he is stepping down from his position as president and CEO of the Bayonetta and Nier: Automata studio, with veteran developer Atsushi Inaba rising to take his place.

"Currently I feel that PlatinumGames is ready to push forward towards more innovative forms of play, and so now is better a time than ever to hand the reigns to Inaba, who has led the initiative on building the company’s creative output for many years now," Sato said in a blog post.

Sato will continue to serve PlatinumGames as an advisor, "offering my help where needed." He served as president of the company for a little over five-and-a-half years.

As for Inaba, he got his start working as the CEO of Clover Studio, the team behind Viewtiful Joe, Okami, and God Hand. He co-founded Platinum in 2007 alongside Resident Evil/The Evil Within director Shinji Mikami, Bayonetta's Hideki Kamiya, and Tatsuya Minami, taking on the role of lead producer, which he'll keep alongside his new role as president and CEO.

Inaba elaborated on his design philosophy in a separate post on Platinum's official site, saying he believed in "approaching 'fun' with complete sincerity. I believe every one of our staff take pride that they are entertainers, always attempting the perfect balance between play and professionalism."

Inaba added that "our overarching goal for entering self-publishing has been unchanged since its conception: to invent something new and share it with the rest of the world – showing our sincerity towards creation every step of the way."

PlatinumGames' upcoming slate includes Bayonetta 3, due out on Switch this year. It's also got Babylon's Fall, Sol Cresta, and the teased Project GG in the works as its first self-published game.

Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.

Logan Paul made headlines when he purchased a box of first-edition Pokemon Card booster packs. But following speculation that Paul may have spent millions on fake cards, the YouTuber went to verify his purchase and confirmed they are indeed fake.

Paul posted a new video today simply titled “I lost $3,500,000 On Fake Pokemon Cards,” which seems pretty self-explanatory. But the saga on how he got to this point is quite the roller-coaster.

There is currently a Pokemon card gold rush with first-edition cards hitting valuations well into the thousands of dollars. In December 2021, Paul — an avid Pokemon card collector who owns a $150,000 Charizard — announced he purchased a “sealed & authenticated” box of first-edition booster packs which could contain rare cards worth a small fortune.

However, Pokemon card experts began to question the veracity of Paul’s purchase. Observers noted that the box Paul purchased doesn’t resemble previous boxes for a similar set, and the original seller changed their story on how they acquired this valuable case at least three times in the past. The box first sold for $75,000, well below the auction price.

In response to the online speculation, Paul traveled to Chicago to verify his purchase with the Baseball Card Exchange (BBCE) — a previous owner of the set claimed the BBCE verified the legitimacy of the set before, but Paul set out to authenticate his purchase in person.

update on this: I’m flying to Chicago this weekend to verify the case with BBCE, the company who insured its authenticity

to be continued… https://t.co/grLMa92JCM

— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) January 5, 2022

The findings were that while the exterior box showed signs of authenticity based on the aging of the case, once opened Paul, BBCE, and everyone else there discovered the Pokemon Card boxes were filled with G.I. Joe collectible cards. Paul reacts to the discovery angrily, and the owner of the BBCE says “we all got duped.”

Paul brought with him a card collector named Matt Allen who purchased the case for $2.7 million before selling them to Paul for $3.5 million. In the video, Allen says he never would’ve purchased the set if it wasn’t approved by the BBCE, and Allen says he will begin a new process to remedy the situation.

“I’m a super positive person, bro, and I’ll always be the one to look at the bright side. And I’m trying but this is very hard,” Paul says.

With the speculation for Pokemon Cards continuing at a fever pitch, forgeries and fakes are more common in the market, so exercise caution.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

iPhone gamers haven't been able to access Fortnite for some time now after Apple banned Fortnite on the App Store, but that looks like it might be changing thanks to a new update from Nvidia's GeForce Now streaming service.

Epic Games and Nvidia have teamed up to put Fortnite on GeForce Now, streaming via the Safari browser on iOS, starting with a closed beta test sometime next week. The test will only be available to GeForce Now subscribers.

Nvidia has also worked with Epic Games to implement a new type of touch-based controls for Fortnite. Touch controls were previously part of Fortnite's mobile version, but, presumably, these new controls will be more friendly for streaming the game from the cloud.

Fortnite was previously removed from the iOS App Store in August 2020 after Epic sued Apple over its App Store policies, launching a protracted trial between the two companies. Apple later effectively banned Fortnite from the App Store for five years when it decided not to reinstate Epic's developer account on the platform.

Google similarly removed Fortnite from the Android Play Store, but players could still download the game via the Epic Games app.

We've reached out to Apple PR for comment and will update this story if we receive a response.

It's currently unclear if Apple will allow such a move by Epic Games and Nvidia, considering the high profile of the case and ensuing controversy between Epic and Apple, neither of which indicated an interest in reaching a compromise during legal proceedings.

Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.