The United States Department of Defense has announced the formation of the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG), which, in some ways, is the U.S.' very own UFO task force.

As reported by New York Post, the DoD announced this new group earlier this week and confirmed it would be a successor to the U.S. Navy's Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force.

The AOIMSG will "synchronize efforts across the Department and the broader U.S. government to detect, identify and attribute objects of interests in Special Use Airspace (SUA), and to assess and mitigate any associated threats to safety of flight and national security."

One of the main goals of the AOIMSG is to "address the challenges associated with assessing UAP occurring on or near DOD training ranges and installations highlighted in the DNI preliminary assessment report submitted to Congress in June 2021."

This report was the long-awaited one on UAP that detailed the government's official stance on these mysterious flying objects that have been seen over our skies. It analyzed 144 reports of UAP between 2004 and 2021, but the government determined that any official explanation for what these UAP are is "largely inconclusive."

The report did say there were 18 incidents in 21 reports that were said to have unusual UAP movement patterns or flight characteristics, but there was no determination one way or another as to whether these were alien in origin or from our planet.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

The United States Department of Defense has announced the formation of the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG), which, in some ways, is the U.S.' very own UFO task force.

As reported by New York Post, the DoD announced this new group earlier this week and confirmed it would be a successor to the U.S. Navy's Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force.

The AOIMSG will "synchronize efforts across the Department and the broader U.S. government to detect, identify and attribute objects of interests in Special Use Airspace (SUA), and to assess and mitigate any associated threats to safety of flight and national security."

One of the main goals of the AOIMSG is to "address the challenges associated with assessing UAP occurring on or near DOD training ranges and installations highlighted in the DNI preliminary assessment report submitted to Congress in June 2021."

This report was the long-awaited one on UAP that detailed the government's official stance on these mysterious flying objects that have been seen over our skies. It analyzed 144 reports of UAP between 2004 and 2021, but the government determined that any official explanation for what these UAP are is "largely inconclusive."

The report did say there were 18 incidents in 21 reports that were said to have unusual UAP movement patterns or flight characteristics, but there was no determination one way or another as to whether these were alien in origin or from our planet.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Stephen Sondheim, the composer, lyricist, and Broadway icon who U.S. President Barack Obama said "reinvented the American musical," has died at the age of 91.

As reported by The New York Times, Sondheim's lawyer and friend F. Richard Pappas announced the news of his death and shared that he passed away at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut. He also noted that he "had not been known to be ill and that death was sudden. The day before, Mr. Sondheim had celebrated Thanksgiving with a dinner with friends."

Sondheim's impressive line of work includes Saturday Night, West Side Story, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Assassins, Passion, and many more.

Over the course of his career, he received an Academy Award, eight Tony Awards, eight Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Sunday in the Park with George, the Presidential Medal of Freedom by U.S. President Barack Obama, and was honored with the Kennedy Center Honors.

Speaking of Obama, in the speech he gave when he awarded Sondheim with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he summed up Sondheim's contributions to Broadway and theater as a whole.

"As a composer and a lyricist, and a genre unto himself, Sondheim challenges his audiences," Obama said. "His greatest hits aren’t tunes you can hum; they’re reflections on roads we didn’t take, and wishes gone wrong, relationships so frayed and fractured there’s nothing left to do but send in the clowns.

"Yet Stephen’s music is so beautiful, his lyrics so precise, that even as he exposes the imperfections of everyday life, he transcends them. We transcend them. Put simply, Stephen reinvented the American musical. He’s loomed large over more than six decades in the theater."

What Obama said about Sondheim not creating "tunes you can hum," was an oversimplified explanation of his style and why his words meant so much to so many. His lyrics were "by and large character-driven, often probing explorations into a psyche that expressed emotional ambivalence, anguish, or deeply felt conflict."

Sondheim was born in New York City on March 22, 1930, and found a love for theater early on. He wrote his first musical - By George - when he was around 14 years old. He would continue to hone his craft and would graduate from Williams College magna cum laude and win the Hutchinson Prize that allowed him to continue his study of music.

In his early 20s, he wrote his first professional musical - Saturday Night - that was itself an adaptation of Philip G. and Julius J. Epstein's Front Porch in Flatbrush. While it was set to premiere in 1955, its producer Lemuel Ayers died before he had raised enough money to see it to completion. The show would not make it to New York until 2000 when it opened Off Broadway at the Second Stage Theater.

From there, he would write the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy and, shortly thereafter, his "greatest work began when Harold Prince became his director." Together, they would help create five of Sondheim's most classical musicals in the 1970s - Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, and Sweeney Todd.

Following 1981's Merrily We Roll Along, Sondheim and Prince paused their creative partnership for over 20 years, and this change led to Sondheim working closely with James Lapine. Together, they created the "most cerebral works of Mr. Sondheim's career," including Into the Woods, Passion, and Sunday in the Park with George.

The last major work he completed was 2008's Road Show, a show he wrote the music and lyrics for. He had many projects in progress, including a new musical called Square One that he was working on with David Ives.

Sondheim is survived by his husband Jeffrey Scott Romley. The two got married in 2017.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Stephen Sondheim, the composer, lyricist, and Broadway icon who U.S. President Barack Obama said "reinvented the American musical," has died at the age of 91.

As reported by The New York Times, Sondheim's lawyer and friend F. Richard Pappas announced the news of his death and shared that he passed away at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut. He also noted that he "had not been known to be ill and that death was sudden. The day before, Mr. Sondheim had celebrated Thanksgiving with a dinner with friends."

Sondheim's impressive line of work includes Saturday Night, West Side Story, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Assassins, Passion, and many more.

Over the course of his career, he received an Academy Award, eight Tony Awards, eight Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Sunday in the Park with George, the Presidential Medal of Freedom by U.S. President Barack Obama, and was honored with the Kennedy Center Honors.

Speaking of Obama, in the speech he gave when he awarded Sondheim with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he summed up Sondheim's contributions to Broadway and theater as a whole.

"As a composer and a lyricist, and a genre unto himself, Sondheim challenges his audiences," Obama said. "His greatest hits aren’t tunes you can hum; they’re reflections on roads we didn’t take, and wishes gone wrong, relationships so frayed and fractured there’s nothing left to do but send in the clowns.

"Yet Stephen’s music is so beautiful, his lyrics so precise, that even as he exposes the imperfections of everyday life, he transcends them. We transcend them. Put simply, Stephen reinvented the American musical. He’s loomed large over more than six decades in the theater."

What Obama said about Sondheim not creating "tunes you can hum," was an oversimplified explanation of his style and why his words meant so much to so many. His lyrics were "by and large character-driven, often probing explorations into a psyche that expressed emotional ambivalence, anguish, or deeply felt conflict."

Sondheim was born in New York City on March 22, 1930, and found a love for theater early on. He wrote his first musical - By George - when he was around 14 years old. He would continue to hone his craft and would graduate from Williams College magna cum laude and win the Hutchinson Prize that allowed him to continue his study of music.

In his early 20s, he wrote his first professional musical - Saturday Night - that was itself an adaptation of Philip G. and Julius J. Epstein's Front Porch in Flatbrush. While it was set to premiere in 1955, its producer Lemuel Ayers died before he had raised enough money to see it to completion. The show would not make it to New York until 2000 when it opened Off Broadway at the Second Stage Theater.

From there, he would write the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy and, shortly thereafter, his "greatest work began when Harold Prince became his director." Together, they would help create five of Sondheim's most classical musicals in the 1970s - Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, and Sweeney Todd.

Following 1981's Merrily We Roll Along, Sondheim and Prince paused their creative partnership for over 20 years, and this change led to Sondheim working closely with James Lapine. Together, they created the "most cerebral works of Mr. Sondheim's career," including Into the Woods, Passion, and Sunday in the Park with George.

The last major work he completed was 2008's Road Show, a show he wrote the music and lyrics for. He had many projects in progress, including a new musical called Square One that he was working on with David Ives.

Sondheim is survived by his husband Jeffrey Scott Romley. The two got married in 2017.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Update (11/26/21) - A Warner Bros. spokesperson has confirmed that the broadcast cable version of Birds of Prey was "mistakenly added to the service," and that "the unedited original version will be available on HBO Max instead."

The original story follows.

The HBO Max version of Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) has apparently been censored from the original version that was found on the streamer and in theaters.

As reported by ComicBook.com, HBO Max subscribers that start the DC film are greeted with a message saying, "This film has been modified as follows from its original version: it has been edited for content."

Birds of Prey is rated R and features language and violence throughout the film. As ComicBook.com notes, "one scene featuring Rosie Perez's Detective Montoya sees a phrase on her shirt being clearly edited, confirming the censoring of the outing." The movie that stars both Margot Robbie and Ewan McGregor now boasts a TV-14 rating.

ComicBook.com also writes that this wasn't the first time a streamer has offered a "tamer version of the film," as Netflix had the TV edit of Back to the Future II for a while before it was corrected.

"The blame is on Universal who somehow furnished Netflix an edited version of the movie," writer Bob Gale told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. "I learned about it some 10 days ago from an eagle-eyed fan, and had the studio rectify the error. The version now running is the uncensored, unedited, original version."

Whether this was a mistake or otherwise remains to be seen, but we will update this story if the original version is restored.

Birds of Prey being brought down to TV-14 is somewhat of a big deal as it was the first DCEU title to be rated R beside the "Ultimate Edition" of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Following Birds of Prey, Zack Snyder's Justice League and The Suicide Squad both also earned an R rating.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

The HBO Max version of Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) has apparently been censored from the original version that was found on the streamer and in theaters.

As reported by ComicBook.com, HBO Max subscribers that start the DC film are greeted with a message saying, "This film has been modified as follows from its original version: it has been edited for content."

Birds of Prey is rated R and features language and violence throughout the film. As ComicBook.com notes, "one scene featuring Rosie Perez's Detective Montoya sees a phrase on her shirt being clearly edited, confirming the censoring of the outing." The movie that stars both Margot Robbie and Ewan McGregor now boasts a TV-14 rating.

ComicBook.com also writes that this wasn't the first time a streamer has offered a "tamer version of the film," as Netflix had the TV edit of Back to the Future II for a while before it was corrected.

"The blame is on Universal who somehow furnished Netflix an edited version of the movie," writer Bob Gale told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. "I learned about it some 10 days ago from an eagle-eyed fan, and had the studio rectify the error. The version now running is the uncensored, unedited, original version."

Whether this was a mistake or otherwise remains to be seen, but we will update this story if the original version is restored.

Birds of Prey being brought down to TV-14 is somewhat of a big deal as it was the first DCEU title to be rated R beside the "Ultimate Edition" of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Following Birds of Prey, Zack Snyder's Justice League and The Suicide Squad both also earned an R rating.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

While it may not be Samuel L. Jackson (yet!), Marvel's Nick Fury has arrived in Fortnite as part of a S.H.I.E.L.D. Set in the game's Item Shop.

Announced by The Fortnite Team, Nick Fury - the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. - has sneaked onto Fortnite's Island to "root out Cube corruption."

Alongside the Nick Fury Outfit, fans will also be able to pick up other Marvel-themed items in the Item Shop, including the F.I.E.L.D. Pack Back Bling. The full list of items, with their official descriptions from Fortnite, are as follows;

• F.I.E.L.D. Pack Back Bling - Just the thing for Front-line Infiltration, Espionage, and Long-term Deployment.
• Director's Scythe Pickaxe - Has sliced through many armored hulls.
• First-Strike Infiltration Glider - Lets out a blue flame and emblazoned with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s logo.

Players have the option to purchase the Outfit (which comes with the Back Bling), Pickaxe, and Glider individually or as a complete set in the Nick Fury Bundle. Those who opt for the bundle will also unlock the Quinjets in Flight Loading Screen.

Fury arrives just as Fortnite's Chapter 2 is set to come to a close. This ending will see players facing off against The Cube Queen in a one-time-only in-game event called "The End."

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

While it may not be Samuel L. Jackson (yet!), Marvel's Nick Fury has arrived in Fortnite as part of a S.H.I.E.L.D. Set in the game's Item Shop.

Announced by The Fortnite Team, Nick Fury - the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. - has sneaked onto Fortnite's Island to "root out Cube corruption."

Alongside the Nick Fury Outfit, fans will also be able to pick up other Marvel-themed items in the Item Shop, including the F.I.E.L.D. Pack Back Bling. The full list of items, with their official descriptions from Fortnite, are as follows;

• F.I.E.L.D. Pack Back Bling - Just the thing for Front-line Infiltration, Espionage, and Long-term Deployment.
• Director's Scythe Pickaxe - Has sliced through many armored hulls.
• First-Strike Infiltration Glider - Lets out a blue flame and emblazoned with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s logo.

Players have the option to purchase the Outfit (which comes with the Back Bling), Pickaxe, and Glider individually or as a complete set in the Nick Fury Bundle. Those who opt for the bundle will also unlock the Quinjets in Flight Loading Screen.

Fury arrives just as Fortnite's Chapter 2 is set to come to a close. This ending will see players facing off against The Cube Queen in a one-time-only in-game event called "The End."

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Justice League director Zack Snyder has shared a video that some fans think means he’s taking on another DC movie project.

The clip, which was posted to social media site Vero, shows a thanksgiving turkey with the simple caption: “Thankful”. However, it’s what’s shown in the background that has Justice League fans convinced the director will be returning for another movie.

Sat on the kitchen counter in the background is what appears to be a copy of DC’s Absolute Final Crisis, coupled with a pair of notebooks.

That may not be much to go on, but DC fans are convinced this is teasing a Final Crisis film project – especially since Clay Staub, second-unit director on Zack Snyder’s Justice League, recently tweeted an image (via comicbook.com) of Darkseid and Desaad with the words “Let it begin…”.

Let it Begin...#ZackSnydersJusticeLeague pic.twitter.com/49wfZMoTK8

— Clay Staub (@Clay_Staub) November 22, 2021

Final Crisis was launched in 2008 – a seven issue miniseries by Grant Morrison. This crossover event featured Darkseid heavily, who successfully uses the Anti-Life Equation to enslave millions of humans on Earth, before his defeat at the hands of DC’s heroes.

Both Darkseid and Desaad have roles to play in Final Crisis, making Staub’s sketch particularly interesting. However, Staub later clarified that his drawings were simply something he did while watching the Snyder Cut. Even with that clarification, the timing seems suspicious to some DC fans.

Of course, Zack Snyder was said to be finished with the DC Universe after releasing Zack Snyder’s Justice League, otherwise known as the Snyder Cut. However, earlier sequel plans for Justice League 2 would have involved Superman succumbing to the Anti-Life Equation – a plot that’s in some ways similar to DC’s Final Crisis.

Ultimately, there’s nothing to get excited about – at least, not yet. The video released by Snyder is a long way from any kind of official announcement, and it’s also likely that it’s just a coincidence… or even the director having a bit of fun with his fans.

After all, Snyder previously stated that Warner Bros. has been aggressively against his take on DC’s superheros. Warner CEO Ann Sarnoff also confirmed that the studio has no plans to expand Snyder’s Justice League. So, it seems unlikely that Snyder will return to the DCEU.

Even if his thanksgiving turkey suggests otherwise.

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

Zachary Levi, the actor who has played both Shazam in the DCEU and Fandral in the MCU, discussed that he believes his failed audition to play Peter Quill/Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy may have led to him actually winning the role of Shazam.

As reported by Slashfilm, Levi was a guest on The Playlist's podcast The Fourth Wall and he shared that he got far into the audition process for Star-Lord after his friend and GotG director James Gunn asked him to read for the character. Unfortunately, according to Levi, the role was always Chris Pratt's to lose.

"James and I knew each other, we were friends, we would have game nights at each other's homes, had a lot of mutual friends," Levi said. "And so he had asked me to come in and read for Star-Lord, and I did, and then that led to the next step, and then all of a sudden I was camera testing.

"Oh man, I wanted that role so bad, like so, so, so, so bad. It came down to me, one other guy, and Chris Pratt, but Chris was always their favorite and he was hesitant to take it, which is understandable, I mean it's a big franchise thing, it's Marvel, does it work out, does it not work out? Is this what everyone is going to know me as for the rest of my life? All of those things that go through your head."

While he obviously did not get the role and lost to the actor who will soon be lending his voice to Mario in Super Mario: The Movie, the process led him on the path to another big win.

"But eventually, and I think smartly, [Pratt] decided to take the job and so it didn't go my way or anyone else's way for that matter, but I hoped I left enough of a good impression with James that when I was auditioning for 'Shazam,' and his very dear friend, and manager, and sometimes producing partner, Peter Safran, calls up James because this is how our industry works," Levi said.

"Fortunately, I was in good standing with James, I try to be in good standing with as many people as I can be and try to be a decent person, and I think between that and how well James thought I did in the Star-Lord test, he said, 'Yeah man, you really should give Zach an opportunity at this. I really think he could be great.'

"Was that the thing that sent it all over for me? I don't know that, but I'm sure it was part of that conversation, absolutely. I'm indebted to James that he would believe in me enough to remember that and pass that info on."

Thanks to this, Levi is now finishing up Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Pratt is working on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - two films that are set to be released in theaters on June 2, 2023 and May 5, 2023, respectively.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.