17 Movies to Geek Out Over Before Star Wars: The Last Jedi
In a year full of blockbuster sequels and reboots, no movie is more eagerly anticipated than Star Wars: The Last Jedi. At long last, we'll see Luke Skywalker step out of the shadows and train Rey in the ways of the Force.
But as tough as it is for any upcoming film to compete with a new Star Wars movie, this fall is nevertheless shaping up to be a pretty great time for movie geeks of all stripes.
Here are 17 upcoming films that should help fill that Star Wars-shaped hole in your life for the next few months:
Hollywood studios are surely hoping that moviegoers will keep heading to the theater leading up to The Last Jedi. The industry recently suffered the single worst weekend box office in over 12 years, a fitting cap to a generally sluggish summer. But it hasn't been all bad news. Wonder Woman recently became the highest-grossing superhero origin movie ever, and Stephen King's IT is currently tracking to have the biggest opening weekend ever for a Stephen King movie.
Leonardo DiCaprio Reportedly Eyed for Joker Origins Movie
Warner Bros. reportedly plans to use producer Martin Scorcese to lure longtime collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio to play the lead in the in-development Joker origin story movie.
The Hollywood Reporter says that the studio would like DiCaprio (or another extremely high-profile actor) to play the Joker "as a gritty crime boss in a Scorsese-esque Gotham underworld." However, no offer has yet been made.
The split between this standalone movie and ongoing DC Extended Universe projects has seemingly already confused one big name - current Joker actor Jared Leto (who, in Suicide Squad, already portrayed the iconic villain as a crime boss of sorts) was apparently surprised and upset by the idea of another actor taking on the role. Leto is currently lined up to reprise the Joker in Suicide Squad 2, and the Joker & Harley Quinn spin-off movie.
Final Fantasy XV Director Discusses What’s Next
The Final Fantasy XV team has been busy. After a long development cycle, XV finally launched late last year and was followed by DLC episodes focusing on Gladio and Prompto, with one focused on Ignis still to come later this year, as well as a new multiplayer mode and VR experience.
King of Cards Is a Fitting Goodbye to Shovel Knight
I love Shovel Knight. I’ve played through the main campaign at least half a dozen times across Wii U, 3DS, and Switch, and I absolutely adore the Plague Knight and Specter Knight campaigns that followed. After three years with the game, knowing the final campaign is coming makes it hard to say goodbye, but after some time playing it at PAX West, I’m glad to see that developer Yacht Club Games is making sure to go out with a bang.
King of Cards, the last bonus campaign promised as a stretch goal in Shovel Knight’s original Kickstarter, introduces King Knight as a playable character. As in the other boss campaigns, King Knight has a completely new moveset and different skills than Shovel Knight, including a bash attack called King’s Shoulder (though Yacht Club says that name is subject to change).
Pixar’s Coco Seizes Its Moment
“Seize your moment” is one of the key mottos within Pixar’s next film, Coco, but it could easily be applied to the team that brought the movie to life. Most of Pixar’s previous films have been very American stories starring toys, bugs, superheroes, and robots. Coco is a Mexican story, but its themes and characters are universal. It’s about a young boy named Miguel, and his dreams of becoming a musician in a family that despises music. Miguel’s quest to achieve that goal leads him to uncover a family secret that will ultimately send him into the Land of the Dead. But returning from the afterlife may be easier for Miguel than winning the acceptance of the family that he loves.
IGN recently visited Pixar’s headquarters in Emeryville, California for a crash course in everything Coco. Several members of the media were invited to take part in the two-day presentation that broke down the film’s inspirations, story, characters, and the lengths that the story and animation teams went through to get every detail absolutely right.
11 Awesome Games You Probably Missed This Month
Tons of awesome games come out every month, but in the shadow of high-profile AAA titles, even the best ones can slip under our radars. Whether you’re a fan of weird, ultraviolent battle simulators, cute word puzzles, brutal survival games, or weird cyberpunk horror, there’s plenty to love in this month’s roundup.
For more, check out our list on the most-anticipated 2017 indie games, a love letter to the glory of weird, free web games, or dive into last month's must-play games roundup.
Star Wars: Rey Build-A-Bear Plush Revealed
Adding to its line of Star Wars plush toys, Build-A-Bear has announced a Rey plush bear as part of Force Friday II, now available for purchase.
The Rey Build-A-Bear costs $35 and comes with an optional lightsaber attachment for $12. Check out the bear below:
Rey can be purchased in the U.S., U.K., and Canada and joins Build-A-Bear's lineup of Star Wars toys, including Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, Boba Fett, and more bears.
Suicide Squad 2: Will Smith’s Schedule Delays Filming
Any fans of last year's DC villain-centric Suicide Squad hoping to see their favourite misfits back on the big screen sooner rather than later may be in for a disappointment, thanks to Will Smith's (Deadshot) busy upcoming schedule.
That's according to Justin Kroll, film reporter for Variety, who reports on Twitter that Smith's commitment to the upcoming Aladdin remake and Ang Lee's clone assassin drama Gemini (also known as Gemini Man) mean that filming will not be taking place any time soon.
Earlier this year, Will Smith was announced as playing the Genie in Disney's live-action remake of Aladdin alongside the rest of the cast; filming for the Disney remake has already begun and is scheduled to run until January 2018. Following that, Smith moves on to Ang Lee's long-gestating Gemini (or Gemini Man) - a movie which was first written in 1997.
PS4: Crystal Dualshock 4 Coming This October
Following a limited edition release last year, PlayStation has announced in a blog post that translucent "Crystal" versions of its updated DualShock 4 controllers will be releasing this October.
Translucency aside, these controllers are essentially identical to the current iteration of DualShocks; these are the latest modification to Sony's controllers which feature a redesigned touch pad on which a second light bar is located to provide players with in-game cues.
Sony's Crystal Dualshock.
IGN UK Podcast #398: Mario + Rabbids + Dragons + Thieves + Wrestlers
What do Uncharted, Mario + Rabbids, and Game of Thrones have in common?
Stumped?
Actually there's no meaningful connection between them apart from them all being smushed together within this week's podcast.
Join Gav, Joe, and Krupa as they talk about all of the above, play Keyword Countdown, and get into a very impassioned chat about spoilers. Sorry, just spoiled the podcast for you there. Deal with it.
Get your ears around this...
IGN UK Podcast #398: Mario + Rabbids + Dragons + Thieves + Wrestlers
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