Wrestling Wrap Up: Why Bobby Heenan Was the Greatest
RAW flubbed its go-home show for this Sunday's No Mercy while SmackDown Live more or less killed the momentum created by the outstanding Kevin Owens/Vince McMahon segment from last week. It wasn't the best showing for WWE programming. So while I will touch on a few things from TV, and maybe a few non-TV items, what I wanted to write about mostly this week was Bobby Heenan.
Oh, and post this .gif of Braun bulldozing Enzo...
Minecraft’s Better Together Update Is Here
Minecraft's Better Together Update is finally live.
As detailed on Mojang's blog post, you can get the updated version free if you already own Minecraft on Xbox One, and it will automatically be available on Android, iOS and Windows 10.
The Better Together Update lets Xbox, mobile, VR and Windows 10 players of Minecraft play together. The update won't be available for Nintendo Switch until sometime this winter.
The update introduces cross-platform play, allowing players across all of these platforms to play together. It also brings the Xbox One and Switch versions into the Bedrock Engine family for the game. Saved data, purchased content, and world progress will transfer over from the older versions of Minecraft to the new one. "It lets you play your Realm on console (for example), hop off, then pick up where you left off on your phone," the blog post says.
New to Netflix for October
Halloween's almost here, and Netflix is ready to creep us all the eff out with a new season of Stranger Things, David Fincher's FBI profiler series Mindhunter, and the latest installment in the Child's Play franchise.
Yes, Cult of Chucky, the seventh film featuring the killer "Good Guys" doll, rolls out at the top of October while other movies, like Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights, Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, and Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight fill out the rest of the month.
Keep an eye out too for 1922 — starring Thomas Jane, adapted from a Stephen King short story — as well as a dramatic turn from Adam Sandler in Noah Baumbach's The Meyerowitz Stories. Plus, new Voltron Legendary Defender episodes!
Tomb Raider Director Reveals 6 Major Video Game Influences
The first trailer for WB's Tomb Raider movie reboot has arrived, and it's clear just from watching the footage that the film is drawing a lot of inspiration from the 2013 game and its sequel.
In an interview with director Roar Uthaug, IGN learned that the film is drawing from those two games in some very specific ways. Watch the full trailer commentary below, and continue reading for the key influences:
Naturally, the look of Alicia Vikander's Lara Croft is modeled very closely after the more rugged Lara seen in the games. “When casting this movie, we wanted to stay pretty close to the 2013 game," Uthaug said. "Looking at actresses around the world, we found that Alicia Vikander really stood out to us. What’s great about Alicia is that she really pushes herself above and beyond, and that’s kind of what Lara is doing in this movie, as well. When she starts out, she’s more an everyday girl, and then, in the end, she becomes a survivor and becomes the Tomb Raider.”
Vampyr Delayed to 2018
Vampyr has been delayed to spring 2018, developer Dontnod Entertainment announced today.
The action RPG was initially scheduled to be released in November, but a now-solved "technical issue" set back development, Dontnod CEO Oskar Guilbert explained in a statement.
"Delaying the release of a project you hold dear is always a tough decision," said Guilbert. "However, we believe that meeting a deadline should never compromise quality. We were still convinced just a few weeks ago that we would be able to release Vampyr this year. Unfortunately, a technical issue — now solved — has set our teams’ schedule back at the end of the development."
The additional development time will ensure the game is polished and balanced, he added.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch to Return With Horror TV Show
The CW and WBTV are developing The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, a horror drama based on the comic of the same name featuring teenage witch Sabrina Spellman from Archie Comics. The show will have a tone similar to Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, focusing on Sabrina’s struggle being half-witch, half-mortal as she confronts evil forces threatening those she cares for.
The show will be a companion series to Riverdale, essentially starting a shared universe of Archie Comics characters. It’s being produced by Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who writes the The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comic series drawn by artist Robert Hack. Greg Berlanti is also producing, architect of the DC Comics superhero TV universe with Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl. They are currently in script development and are aiming to debut the show during the 2018-19 television season.
New Mutants: 3 Movies the X-Men Spin-off Is Like
In a new interview, 20th Century Fox chairman and CEO Stacey Snider likened the studio's upcoming X-Men spin-off The New Mutants to a trio of classic films and revealed that it will have a horror movie vibe.
In a chat with Variety, Snider disclosed that "New Mutants is about these teenagers who are just coming into their powers. It’s like watching mutants go through adolescence and they have no impulse control, so they’re dangerous. The only solution is to put them in a Breakfast Club detention/Cuckoo’s Nest institutional setting."
This institution, Snider said, "protects the people on the outside, but it’s strange and combustible inside."
Game of Thrones Producer Developing Prequel Series
A fifth Game of Thrones prequel in development is being produced by a longtime producer on the existing HBO series, a new report confirms.
EW has revealed that Game of Thrones co-executive producer Bryan Cogman is writing a prequel series — in addition to the other four we previously learned HBO was developing — and has worked closely with George R. R. Martin in the project's development. Martin is also involved in the creation of some of these other prequel spinoffs.
Pokemon Go Event Offers Double Stardust
Niantic has announced a new Equinox event in Pokemon Go. From September 22 to October 2, players will earn double Stardust when catching Pokemon or hatching eggs.
New bundles will be available in the in-game store that offer Lucky Eggs and Lure Modules, as well as a new Super Incubator item that hatches eggs 1.5 times more quickly than normal egg incubators.
Fortnite Battle Royale Is Free to Play
Fortnite's latest new mode, Battle Royale, will be free to play when it launches on September 26.
All players across Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC will be able to download the 100-player PvP mode for free. Check out the new gameplay trailer for Battle Royale below.
In Battle Royale, skydive onto an island arena, scavenge for weapons, run from an encroaching electricity field, and fight your way through 99 other players to victory, similar to a round of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
For IGN's thoughts on Battle Royale, be sure to read our detailed preview of the new mode. And for more on Fortnite, which will have an official release next year, read about the PS4 and Xbox One cross-platform play that was accidentally featured this past weekend.