Aubrey Plaza and Danny DeVito Are Getting Their Own Animated Horror Sitcom

In what might be a perfect alignment of actor and concept, Aubrey Plaza and Danny DeVito, along with DeVito's daughter, Lucy DeVito, will be voicing a new animated sitcom called Little Demon, Variety reports. It's a slice of comedy set in Delaware. It also features the Antichrist. The new show will feature Lucy DeVito as the Antichrist daughter of Plaza's character, where they deal with both the challenges of daily life and Satan. It will premiere first on FXX, the stream the following day on FX and Hulu. In addition to lending their voices to LIttle Demon, Plaza and both DeVitos will executive produce the show. It is being produced by FX Productions. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/24/always-sunny-star-reveals-what-happened-to-his-minecraft-movie-ign-news"] Plaza, for her part, has been in the news a fair amount lately. She recently confirmed her marriage to Jeff Baena, and she is also set to team up with Alison Brie for Spin Me Round, a new indie comedy. DeVito is keeping busy as well, with It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia being renewed for four more seasons back in December. There is no release date yet for Little Demon. Thumbnail Image Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / Jon Kopaloff / Getty Images [poilib element="accentDivider"] Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN.

Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 Could Also Get a Re-Release

After the surprise re-release of the original Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance on consoles (PC and mobile to come later), it seems fan reaction has been strong enough that a re-release of Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 is “on the table,” according to developer Black Isle Studios.

Black Isle took the time to thank fans on Twitter and respond to additional comments and concerns.

“The sequel is on the table. Stay tuned!” Black Isle said.

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Dark Alliance 2 came out in 2004 on PS2 and Xbox, three years after the release of the original. The cult classic hack-and-slash RPG released to generally positive reviews, receiving an 8.4 out of 10 from IGN for its continuation of the original’s formula, moderately mixed up with the new necromancer class and workshop feature.

Just don’t expect a full remake. The first Dark Alliance re-release has 4K support, backwards compatibility, and two-player co-op, but new features aren’t really a draw here.

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If you’re a fan of the D&D realm, the upcoming Dark Alliance from Tuque Studios combines modern design with that old school combat feel, but we’ll find out for sure when that launches on June 22. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/Drizzt fanboy for IGN.

Overwatch 2: Two Hours of Gameplay Being Shown This Month

Blizzard will show off two hours of Overwatch 2 gameplay on May 20, including a first look at changes to the game's PvP mode. Announced by new director Aaron Keller in a short development update, the livestream will begin on May 20 at 12pm Pacific / 3pm Eastern / 8pm UK (that's May 21 at 5am AEST). It will focus on PvP, and will include footage of changes coming to the mode – and will serve as our biggest public look at the game since it was announced. You'll be able to watch the stream with us on IGN. The livestream will feature Keller, lead hero designer Geoff Goodman, and associate art director Dion Rogers, and will be hosted by Matt “Mr. X” Morello and Mitch “Uber” Leslie (with appearances from Overwatch influencers Stylosa and Cuppcaake). [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/overwatch-2-55-new-details"] Exactly what the livestream will introduce for PvP is unknown, but it will definitely affect both Overwatch 2 and the original Overwatch, with the two games sharing a single player-vs-player set-up. "From new maps to major gameplay updates," reads a press release, "we’re reinvigorating the core Overwatch experience." Those PvP changes could be fundamental, with Overwatch 2's BlizzCon panel explaining that the team was making experimental changes to the game, including adding passive abilities across hero roles, wildly altering how tank characters work, and potentially even removing the Assault mode type altogether. Now-departed game director Jeff Kaplan previously hinted to IGN that PvP changes would be evolutionary for the game: "We're trying to rethink maybe the way the game is played a little bit and redefine what PvP needs – go, 'Hey, we're not in Overwatch 1 anymore. We're in Overwatch 2 now. It's okay for it to be different. In fact, how many years are we going to play the same game before it's time to move on and experience something different and allow us to evolve?' Which I think is good." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/jeff-kaplan-blizzards-brilliant-innovator"] With no release date in sight, it's not clear how far along Overwatch 2 is in development, but Blizzard is aiming to update fans more regularly than it has done, so this may well be the first in a line-up of showcases for the game. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Edward Norton Joins Knives Out 2

Edward Norton is joining the cast of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out sequel, reports Deadline.

Norton is joining Daniel Craig’s gentleman sleuth Benoit Blanc’, along with the recently cast Dave Bautista. Neither Norton nor Bautista's characters have been revealed.

Director Rian Johnson is returning to both direct and write the Knives Out sequel.

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The cast for the sequel is already stacking up, and considering the original Knives Out very much capitalized on a strong cast of well-known actors (including Captain America’s Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more), we may see some more well-known names join the cast in the future.

Just don’t expect any familiar faces to show up besides Craig’s Blanc. Director Rian Johnson confirmed any sequel will be centered around a new mystery and cast.

Netflix certainly spent the money to merit some strong casting, paying a record $450 million in March to acquire the rights to Johnson’s films, and ordering two sequels for the streaming service.

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Norton is best known for his breakout roles in the late 90’s Fight Club and American History X. He’s also appeared in Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel and Isle of Dogs. His latest work was seen in 2019’s Motherless Brooklyn, a neo-noir film where Norton plays a private investigator with Tourette syndrome attempting to solve the murder of his mentor. He also briefly joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a turn as Bruce Banner in 2008's The Incredible Hulk before being replaced by Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/donut for IGN.

Tig Notaro Herself Is an Incredible Visual Effect in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead

Despite being a movie featuring countless zombies, including an undead tiger, one special effect in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead stands out for being particularly peculiar. In an interview with Vulture, actress, and comedian Tig Notaro explained how strange it was to completely digitally replace an actor in the upcoming Netflix action film, acting out almost her entire role by herself.

Moviegoers who’ve been paying attention to Snyder’s Army of the Dead may remember that Notaro’s role (a helicopter pilot who joins Dave Bautista’s heist crew) was originally given to comedian Chris D’Elia.

After D’Elia was accused of soliciting porn from underage teenagers (an accusation the actor still denies), the production crew behind Army of the Dead was left with a difficult question: How do they replace an actor when reshoots would be financially difficult and a pandemic makes it unsafe to gather actors back together?

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The answer was to bring on Notaro, in what was a pretty unusual role for the 50-year-old, and have her film her scenes entirely against greenscreen and receive weapons training over Zoom calls.

“I did firearm training over Zoom in my office while my children were playing Lego in the next room,” she says. “I hid it from them, not because they’d get hurt but because I didn’t want them to think I had a machine gun.”

Notaro is understandably very different physically from the taller D’Elia, which made framing the reshoots an interesting challenge.

“I had to do this incredibly technical experiment, re-creating every scene, shot for shot,” Snyder says. “My visual-effects supervisor, Marcus Taormina, did the work of taking Chris completely out of the movie so Tig could have freedom [to move] within the scenes.”

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The crew effectively recreated entire sets with Notaro’s character using greenscreen and green props. Notaro also had to match the pace and tone of her dialogue to what was originally recorded so other actors looked like they were reacting realistically.

“They’d line up a piece of tape on the ground and say, ‘Okay, you’ve fallen in line with a group of people. You’re walking into a building,’ ” Notaro said. “I’d be like, ‘Is it kind of a mosey? Okay, I’ll mosey.’ Then Zack might say, ‘That’s a little too fast with the moseying,’ and we’d start over again.”

One of the film’s most difficult shots involved Notaro flying a helicopter while Bautista fought a zombie right behind her, a scene he’d shot a year earlier.

“That’s where I’m like, ‘I am not a trained actor,’ ” she says. “I had to be yelling lines, I have a zombie in the back of my helicopter, I have to press the right buttons and flick the right switches. You’re sitting there with all these adults standing ten feet away while you’re alone, acting like you’re crashing. I thought, Oh my God, I feel like an idiot. Can we be done with this?”

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To acknowledge the awkwardness of the whole situation, and to recognize Notaro’s efforts in a difficult situation, Snyder presented Notaro with a fake Oscar award for “Best Out-of-Focus Actor.”

If you can’t wait for Snyder’s Army of the Dead, the good news is that starting on May 14, 250 Cinemark locations will play it a week before its May 21 Netflix launch date. This isn’t the first time Snyder has touched the zombie genre, but he told reporters during a set visit that he’s hoping to deconstruct the action genre in a way similar to his Dawn of the Dead remake. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.

Xbox Is Making Quick Resume Even Quicker

Microsoft's May Xbox update is set to make Quick Resume even quicker, as well as introduce several new features including audio passthrough and extra family controls. The full update notes can be found over on the Xbox Newswire, where it's explained that Quick Resume will benefit from "improved reliability and faster load times" with this latest patch. Quick Resume on Xbox Series X and S lets users suspend a set of their favorite games so that they can hop into them whenever they please. This update will make that process faster, as well as making it easier to identify which games are Quick Resume compatible with new groups and tags. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/16/xbox-series-x-quick-resume-tech-demo"] Beyond the Quick Resume buffs, audio nerds will be pleased to hear that an Allow Passthrough option is set to be added to the Xbox audio setting screen. This will let you bypass the console audio decoding in apps like Disney+, Plex, and Apple TV to improve sound quality on your external sound system. Many smaller features are also on the way including the ability to watch game trailers for Xbox Game Pass games within the library, and a new dynamic background. Parents will also be able to approve multiplayer games directly from their phone with the Xbox Family Settings app when a child boots a game on their console. Elsewhere in the Xbox ecosystem, performance improvements and push notifications are coming to the Xbox app for iOS and Android, while the Smart Glass app for PC will be removed from the Windows Store in June. In other Xbox news, it looks like the platform holder is working on a set of shoes with Adidas. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Skull and Bones Delayed Yet Again to 2022

Skull and Bones has been pushed back yet again. Ubisoft confirmed the ship sim is now targeting a release date sometime between 2022 to 2023 The latest Skull and Bones delay was confirmed in Ubisoft's full-year earnings report for 2020. Ubisoft boasted its robust product lineup for 2021 including Far Cry 6, Rainbow Six Quarantine, Rider Republic, The Division Heartland, and Roller Champions, but also snuck in the new Skull and Bones delay into its report. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/06/11/skull-and-bones-cinematic-trailer-e3-2018"] Skull and Bones was originally announced at E3 2017 and was set to be released in 2018. Skull and Bones was later delayed to 2019, then 2020, and again to 2021. It was announced as a standalone game and seemed to build on top of the popularity of the ship combat gameplay from the Assassin's Creed series. The game's creative director Elisabeth Pellen announced that the development team has expanded and there is a new vision for the game. Ubisoft Singapore is in charge of the project but is joined by Ubisoft studios in Berlin, Chengdu, Kieve, Paris, and the Phillippines to help fulfill this expanded scope. Ubisoft is currently presenting its full-year earnings so check back with IGN as we hear more details about the company's 2021-2022 plans from CEO Yves Guillemot. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor.

EA Play Live Showcase Coming in July

EA Play Live, the developer's summer showcase, will return this year on July 22. While EA hasn't formally announced plans for the show, it feels likely to be an all-digital event in the vein of E3 2021 and Gamescom 2021. Usually timed around E3, this year's EA Play Live comes more than a month later than gaming's biggest showcase. We can likely expect announcements for EA Sports' flagship series like FIFA and Madden, and perhaps new looks at previously announced games like Dragon Age 4 or Skate 4. Of course, there will likely be some brand new announcements spinkled in there too. EA has also recently completed some major acquisitions, picking up racing expert Codemasters and Super Mega Baseball developer Metalhead, so we could see what's to come from the new studios too. Last year's EA Play Live saw teasers for Dragon Age 4 and Battlefield 6, the announcement of Skate 4, a gameplay reveal for Star Wars Squadrons, and the announcement of It Takes Two, among other things. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

The HTC Vive Pro 2 is a 5K VR Headset

HTC has announced the Vive Pro 2, the company’s first 5K VR headset. With its two 2.5K panels combine, the Vive Pro 2 displays a total of 4,896 x 2,648 pixels. By comparison the Valve Index has a 2,880 x 1,600 total resolution and the HP Reverb G2 is the sharpest mainstream option with 4,320 x 2,160 pixels. The only other virtual reality headsets that have even tried to approach that level of resolution are the Pimax 5K Super and Pimax Vision 8K X. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=htc-vive-pro-2&captions=true"] The Vive Pro 2 isn’t just a higher-resolution headset, HTC also reworked its display technology to use real RGB sub-pixels. Essentially this means that every pixel has three sub-pixels to cover the red, green, and blue color spectrum. HTC claims the screens inside of the headset are more color accurate than an OLED panel that only comes with two sub-pixels. HTC Vive Pro 2 The Vive Pro 2 also features new bespoke dual stacked lenses designed to reduce motion blur and minimize the ‘screen door effect’ (where you can see the space between each pixel). Another benefit of the new lenses is the field of view has been increased to 120-degrees – which perfectly complements this headset’s 120Hz refresh rate too. Unfortunately, the Vive Pro 2 doesn’t feature any inside-out tracking system so you’ll still need to setup your infrared lighthouses. HTC’s new headset also is strikingly similar to its predecessor featuring the same head strap design, integrated 3D audio headphones, and adjustable size dial at the back. The good news of being basically the same headset, is the Vive Pro 2 will be compatible with any old accessories. This includes both the Base Station 1.0 or Base Station 2.0, Vive Wireless Adapter, Vive controllers, and Valve’s Index ‘knuckle’ controllers. HTC Vive Pro 2 The HTC Vive Pro 2 will retail for $749 ($799 after the special preorder period discount ends) for just the headset by itself and $1,399 for the headset, plus Vive controllers, and Base Station 2.0. The headset will be available for preorder staring May 11th and release on June 4th. We’ve been waiting for VR headsets to take a big leap in resolution and we hope it’s achievable with the new significantly more powerful Nvidia and AMD graphics cards out there. And for those who are still running older GPUs, HTC has told us it has worked closely with Nvidia and AMD to make its headset backwards compatible with DisplayPort 1.2 using Display Stream Compression. Of course, we’ll be testing and reviewing the HTC Vive Pro 2 soon, so stay tuned for more. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=htc-vive-focus-3&captions=true"]

Professional Virtual Reality

On top of announcing the Vive Pro 2, HTC also introduced an even more professional-focused Vive Focus 3 for the enterprise world. Like the Vive Pro 2, the HTC Vive Focus 3 is a 5K headset that uses the same real RGB sub-pixel display and new bespoke dual stacked lenses – the only thing lacking is the only 90Hz refresh rate. The biggest difference about this headset is it’s an all-in-one VR headset powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 processor and it uses an inside-out tracking system similar the Oculus Quest 2. HTC Vive Focus 3 Now HTC’s previous inside-out tracing system on the Vive Cosmos hasn’t worked out perfectly, but the company promises it has completely revised its system with four high-resolution cameras and optically tracked controllers. HTC has also spent a lot of time engineering and elevating the profile of the new Vive Focus 3. Instead of a plastic shell, the new Focus 3 features a magnesium alloy chassis. The headset also features a perfectly balanced 50% weight ratio from front to back thanks to the 45-degree headband and moving the swappable battery to the back of the headband too. HTC Vive Focus 3 HTC hasn’t said exactly how long the Vive Focus 3 can run on its batteries, but they can quick charge up to 50% in just 30 minutes. A few other niceties on the Vive Focus 3 include magnetic front and back gaskets and open-back speakers built into the headset. The HTC Vive Focus 3 retails at $1,300 and it will go on sale on June 27th. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Kevin Lee is IGN's Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam