John Wick fan favorite Ian McShane is back in Ballerina – the upcoming John Wick spin-off.

The actor will reprise the role of The Continental manager, Winston, who was last seen seemingly double-crossing John Wick in the final scenes of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.

“We’re thrilled to have Ian McShane joining us for a pivotal role in Ballerina,” said John Wick producer Basil Iwanyk. “He’s been such an integral part of the franchise since the original John Wick. It’s been fun to have him on this journey as the Wick universe expands.”

At the moment, little is known about the John Wick spin-off, except that it will focus on the titular Ballerina – a young female assassin who is motivated to seek out the people responsible for killing her family and bring them to justice.

McShane will join Ana de Armas who landed the leading role.

Fans of the franchise will know this isn’t the first time we’ve seen the Ballerina – she actually first appeared in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and was training to become an assassin at the time. She was originally played by American ballet dancer Unity Phelan.

Of course, this isn’t the only appearance of Winston we’ve got to look forward to – McShane will also reprise the role in John Wick: Chapter 4, which is due to be released on March 23, 2023.

Additionally, a younger version of Winston will be the focus of The Continental – a John Wick spin-off series heading to Peacock. This time, Winston will be played by Colin Woodell.

“John Wick has become part of the cultural zeitgeist with a massive, passionately engaged fan base around the world,” said Lionsgate Television Group chair Kevin Beggs. “We’re delighted to partner with Peacock to continue expanding the John Wick Universe."

Production on Ballerina is now underway with director Len Wiseman taking the helm. Shay Hatten wrote the screenplay while Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, and Chad Stahelski are on board as producers.

It’s unclear whether or not Keanu Reeves will make a cameo as the legendary John Wick.

Want to read more about John Wick? Check out what we know about Lionsgate’s potential John Wick video game and find out which action movies you should watch if you love John Wick.

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

John Wick fan favorite Ian McShane is back in Ballerina – the upcoming John Wick spin-off.

The actor will reprise the role of The Continental manager, Winston, who was last seen seemingly double-crossing John Wick in the final scenes of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.

“We’re thrilled to have Ian McShane joining us for a pivotal role in Ballerina,” said John Wick producer Basil Iwanyk. “He’s been such an integral part of the franchise since the original John Wick. It’s been fun to have him on this journey as the Wick universe expands.”

At the moment, little is known about the John Wick spin-off, except that it will focus on the titular Ballerina – a young female assassin who is motivated to seek out the people responsible for killing her family and bring them to justice.

McShane will join Ana de Armas who landed the leading role.

Fans of the franchise will know this isn’t the first time we’ve seen the Ballerina – she actually first appeared in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and was training to become an assassin at the time. She was originally played by American ballet dancer Unity Phelan.

Of course, this isn’t the only appearance of Winston we’ve got to look forward to – McShane will also reprise the role in John Wick: Chapter 4, which is due to be released on March 23, 2023.

Additionally, a younger version of Winston will be the focus of The Continental – a John Wick spin-off series heading to Peacock. This time, Winston will be played by Colin Woodell.

“John Wick has become part of the cultural zeitgeist with a massive, passionately engaged fan base around the world,” said Lionsgate Television Group chair Kevin Beggs. “We’re delighted to partner with Peacock to continue expanding the John Wick Universe."

Production on Ballerina is now underway with director Len Wiseman taking the helm. Shay Hatten wrote the screenplay while Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, and Chad Stahelski are on board as producers.

It’s unclear whether or not Keanu Reeves will make a cameo as the legendary John Wick.

Want to read more about John Wick? Check out what we know about Lionsgate’s potential John Wick video game and find out which action movies you should watch if you love John Wick.

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

Publisher Take-Two Interactive has announced another milestone for Grand Theft Auto V with 170 million units sold, while Red Dead Redemption has hit the 70 million mark.

During Take-Two’s quarterly earnings call, the company’s investor presentation revealed sales numbers for both series. As a franchise, Grand Theft Auto has sold more than 385 million units, with 170 million of those attributed to GTA 5.

As pointed out by @DomsPlaying on Twitter, that’s a smaller jump from the “nearly 170 million” mentioned in Take-Two’s last earnings report. In that same report, GTA 5 sold around 5 million copies in a single quarter. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Take-Two executive VP of finance Hannah Sage noted the company only updates GTA 5’s sales in increments of 5 million.

As for Red Dead Redemption, sales are up by another 2 million units since the publisher’s last earnings call. The franchise, which includes both Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2, has sold 70 million units worldwide.

Back in August, Take-Two had an optimistic outlook on its mobile future after the Zynga acquisition. However, Barrons highlights that the financial forecast took a dip, with cuts for the fiscal year outlook attributed to a weakened global economy and reduced mobile spending.

Regardless, both Rockstar Games’ series have crushed industry records for years now. GTA 5 made $1 billion in retail sales faster than any other entertainment release in history, a feat it achieved in only three days. And despite being a decade old, the developer is still pushing out next-gen patches for its open-world heists.

Andrea Shearon is a freelance contributor for IGN covering games and entertainment. She's worn several hats over her seven-year career in the games industry, with bylines over at Fanbyte, USA Today's FTW, TheGamer, VG247, and RPG Site. Find her on Twitter (@Maajora) or the Materia Possessions podcast chatting about FFXIV, RPGs, and any series involving giant robots.

Publisher Take-Two Interactive has announced another milestone for Grand Theft Auto V with 170 million units sold, while Red Dead Redemption has hit the 70 million mark.

During Take-Two’s quarterly earnings call, the company’s investor presentation revealed sales numbers for both series. As a franchise, Grand Theft Auto has sold more than 385 million units, with 170 million of those attributed to GTA 5.

As pointed out by @DomsPlaying on Twitter, that’s a smaller jump from the “nearly 170 million” mentioned in Take-Two’s last earnings report. In that same report, GTA 5 sold around 5 million copies in a single quarter. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Take-Two executive VP of finance Hannah Sage noted the company only updates GTA 5’s sales in increments of 5 million.

As for Red Dead Redemption, sales are up by another 2 million units since the publisher’s last earnings call. The franchise, which includes both Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2, has sold 70 million units worldwide.

Back in August, Take-Two had an optimistic outlook on its mobile future after the Zynga acquisition. However, Barrons highlights that the financial forecast took a dip, with cuts for the fiscal year outlook attributed to a weakened global economy and reduced mobile spending.

Regardless, both Rockstar Games’ series have crushed industry records for years now. GTA 5 made $1 billion in retail sales faster than any other entertainment release in history, a feat it achieved in only three days. And despite being a decade old, the developer is still pushing out next-gen patches for its open-world heists.

Andrea Shearon is a freelance contributor for IGN covering games and entertainment. She's worn several hats over her seven-year career in the games industry, with bylines over at Fanbyte, USA Today's FTW, TheGamer, VG247, and RPG Site. Find her on Twitter (@Maajora) or the Materia Possessions podcast chatting about FFXIV, RPGs, and any series involving giant robots.

Grand Theft Auto and NBA 2K publisher Take-Two is lowering its revenue projections for the 2023 fiscal year, as the company faces delays and mobile gaming drops.

As part of Take-Two's FY Q2 2023 results, the company revealed it is lowering the expected revenue by $320 million for the current fiscal year. Previously, Take-Two expected between $5.73 and $5.83 billion, but those numbers have been lowered to $5.41 and $5.51 billion. The company is blaming lowered expectations in its mobile business and shifts in the upcoming release schedule for the reduced projections.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said "there have been some modest pipeline shifts" for some games in development, but that "the good news is that those games are still coming." The CEO added that "I'll choose delays any day over taking some flops. That's really the key in this business," saying delays in the past have always been worth waiting for.

Those changes to Take-Two's release schedule include a mobile title from 2K, Marvel's Midnight Suns delays on both PS5/Xbox Series and Nintendo Switch/last-gen consoles, and Kerbal Space Program 2 shifted to early access. In total, Zelnick said 87 games are on the way from Take-Two Interactive's various studios.

Many of those games are coming from the recently-acquired Zynga. In fact, 38 of the 87 games in development at Take-Two are set to be Mobile titles, another sign that the publishing giant is pushing harder into its mobile future. The rest of the software lineup is as follows:

• 24 "Immersive Core" games
• 10 Independent games
• 28 Mobile games
• 7 "Mid-Core" games
• 8 New Iterations of Previously Released Titles

Take-Two defines "Immersive Core" games as titles with deep gameplay and hours of content, like GTA, Red Dead Redemption, and NBA 2K. "Mid-Core" games are defined as arcade titles like WWE Battlegrounds, or games that don't feature the same volume of content as Immersive Core games, like New Tales from the Borderlands. And, it's worth noting that some of the 87 games have already released this fiscal year, like The Quarry, New Tales from the Borderlands, and NBA 2K23.

The company did report some successes from the last quarter, reporting $1.39 billion in revenue revealing that Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption passed 170 million and 70 million units sold, respectively.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Grand Theft Auto and NBA 2K publisher Take-Two is lowering its revenue projections for the 2023 fiscal year, as the company faces delays and mobile gaming drops.

As part of Take-Two's FY Q2 2023 results, the company revealed it is lowering the expected revenue by $320 million for the current fiscal year. Previously, Take-Two expected between $5.73 and $5.83 billion, but those numbers have been lowered to $5.41 and $5.51 billion. The company is blaming lowered expectations in its mobile business and shifts in the upcoming release schedule for the reduced projections.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said "there have been some modest pipeline shifts" for some games in development, but that "the good news is that those games are still coming." The CEO added that "I'll choose delays any day over taking some flops. That's really the key in this business," saying delays in the past have always been worth waiting for.

Those changes to Take-Two's release schedule include a mobile title from 2K, Marvel's Midnight Suns delays on both PS5/Xbox Series and Nintendo Switch/last-gen consoles, and Kerbal Space Program 2 shifted to early access. In total, Zelnick said 87 games are on the way from Take-Two Interactive's various studios.

Many of those games are coming from the recently-acquired Zynga. In fact, 38 of the 87 games in development at Take-Two are set to be Mobile titles, another sign that the publishing giant is pushing harder into its mobile future. The rest of the software lineup is as follows:

• 24 "Immersive Core" games
• 10 Independent games
• 28 Mobile games
• 7 "Mid-Core" games
• 8 New Iterations of Previously Released Titles

Take-Two defines "Immersive Core" games as titles with deep gameplay and hours of content, like GTA, Red Dead Redemption, and NBA 2K. "Mid-Core" games are defined as arcade titles like WWE Battlegrounds, or games that don't feature the same volume of content as Immersive Core games, like New Tales from the Borderlands. And, it's worth noting that some of the 87 games have already released this fiscal year, like The Quarry, New Tales from the Borderlands, and NBA 2K23.

The company did report some successes from the last quarter, reporting $1.39 billion in revenue revealing that Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption passed 170 million and 70 million units sold, respectively.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

We have a warning for all of you trainers out there excited to go to the Paldea region — spoilers for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet have unfortunately begun to leak.

As reported by VGC, the leaks arrive just over a week before Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's November 18 release date. IGN won't be sharing any of them, but we wanted to warn all of you out there to be careful on social media and beyond.

It appears that the first leaked screenshots began to arrive on social media on Sunday, and they look to include never-before-seen Pokémon. The leaks may originate from a Spanish-speaking country as the screenshots have Spanish dialogue on them.

It doesn't seem as though the game is in very many hands as of yet, but the danger or broken street dates and early copies gets greater each and every day, as it did for God of War and Sonic Frontiers and so many more.

Pokemon has also had a few unfortunate leaks over the years, including for Pokemon Sword and Shield, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, and more.

For more on Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, be sure to check out our hands-on preview, the new ghost puppy Greavard, and how Scarlet and Violet's NPCs break an age-old tradition.

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.

We have a warning for all of you trainers out there excited to go to the Paldea region — spoilers for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet have unfortunately begun to leak.

As reported by VGC, the leaks arrive just over a week before Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's November 18 release date. IGN won't be sharing any of them, but we wanted to warn all of you out there to be careful on social media and beyond.

It appears that the first leaked screenshots began to arrive on social media on Sunday, and they look to include never-before-seen Pokémon. The leaks may originate from a Spanish-speaking country as the screenshots have Spanish dialogue on them.

It doesn't seem as though the game is in very many hands as of yet, but the danger or broken street dates and early copies gets greater each and every day, as it did for God of War and Sonic Frontiers and so many more.

Pokemon has also had a few unfortunate leaks over the years, including for Pokemon Sword and Shield, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, and more.

For more on Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, be sure to check out our hands-on preview, the new ghost puppy Greavard, and how Scarlet and Violet's NPCs break an age-old tradition.

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.

Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard says the annualized franchise will see a "full premium release" in 2023.

During its Q3 2022 earning results, Activision Blizzard wrote about Call of Duty heading into next year, revealing that the company has plans for "the most robust Call of Duty live operations to date, the next full premium release in the blockbuster annual series, and even more engaging free-to-play experiences across all platforms."

However, whether this means a brand new game or more premium-priced content for this year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 remains unclear. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier addressed Activision Blizzard's wording, saying the "full premium release" Activision Blizzard is talking about is "a continuation of Modern Warfare II. It's called a full premium release because they're probably going to market and sell it as a $70 game with new single- and multiplayer content. But it's more MWII".

Man lol you keep falling for the same PR language. It's a continuation of Modern Warfare II. It's called a full premium release because they're probably going to market and sell it as a $70 game with new single- and multiplayer content. But it's more MWII

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) November 7, 2022

Schreier also clarified his knowledge of the upcoming Call of Duty timeline. According to Schreier, 2023 will see a Modern Warfare 2 paid, premium expansion from Sledgehammer, which is set to have a lot of content. Apparently, the size of the expansion is what could justify Activision's "full premium release" wording. Then, Schreier claims the next Call of Duty entry is coming from Treyarch in 2024.

Officially, Call of Duty 2023 has not been delayed. In a statement to IGN earlier this year, Activision said “We have an exciting slate of premium and free-to-play Call of Duty experiences for this year, next year and beyond. Reports of anything otherwise are incorrect. We look forward to sharing more details when the time is right."

Activision Blizzard's revenue drops

Elsewhere, the company also reported its revenue dropped nearly $300 million year-over-year from the third quarter in 2021, and is pointing the blame at 2021's Call of Duty: Vanguard. In Q3 2021, the company's net revenue was $2.07 billion, compared to Q3 2022's $1.78 billion.

Activision Blizzard wrote that the lower financial performance was due to "reduced engagement for Call of Duty following the weaker reception for last year's premium release." The company is expecting to see improvement for the rest of 2022, thanks to the blistering hot start from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Modern Warfare 2, which just became the fastest Call of Duty game to cross the $1 billion sold mark, is also seeing great success on PC. Activison Blizzard said Modern Warfare 2 PC sales are around double the level of "recent strong titles in the series." The game is also setting franchise records for engagement, with with hours played in the first 10 days over 40% higher than the previous record.

Vanguard's comparitive sales struggles when pitted against the rest of the franchise have been well documented. Even though it was the best-selling game of 2021, Activision Blizzard was unhappy with its performance, saying “The game’s World War II setting didn’t resonate with some of our community.”

For more on Call of Duty, check out why the future of the franchise on PlayStation is safe, according to Xbox's Phil Spencer.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard says the annualized franchise will see a "full premium release" in 2023.

During its Q3 2022 earning results, Activision Blizzard wrote about Call of Duty heading into next year, revealing that the company has plans for "the most robust Call of Duty live operations to date, the next full premium release in the blockbuster annual series, and even more engaging free-to-play experiences across all platforms."

However, whether this means a brand new game or more premium-priced content for this year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 remains unclear. Bloomberg's Jason Schreier addressed Activision Blizzard's wording, saying the "full premium release" Activision Blizzard is talking about is "a continuation of Modern Warfare II. It's called a full premium release because they're probably going to market and sell it as a $70 game with new single- and multiplayer content. But it's more MWII".

Man lol you keep falling for the same PR language. It's a continuation of Modern Warfare II. It's called a full premium release because they're probably going to market and sell it as a $70 game with new single- and multiplayer content. But it's more MWII

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) November 7, 2022

Schreier also clarified his knowledge of the upcoming Call of Duty timeline. According to Schreier, 2023 will see a Modern Warfare 2 paid, premium expansion from Sledgehammer, which is set to have a lot of content. Apparently, the size of the expansion is what could justify Activision's "full premium release" wording. Then, Schreier claims the next Call of Duty entry is coming from Treyarch in 2024.

Officially, Call of Duty 2023 has not been delayed. In a statement to IGN earlier this year, Activision said “We have an exciting slate of premium and free-to-play Call of Duty experiences for this year, next year and beyond. Reports of anything otherwise are incorrect. We look forward to sharing more details when the time is right."

Activision Blizzard's revenue drops

Elsewhere, the company also reported its revenue dropped nearly $300 million year-over-year from the third quarter in 2021, and is pointing the blame at 2021's Call of Duty: Vanguard. In Q3 2021, the company's net revenue was $2.07 billion, compared to Q3 2022's $1.78 billion.

Activision Blizzard wrote that the lower financial performance was due to "reduced engagement for Call of Duty following the weaker reception for last year's premium release." The company is expecting to see improvement for the rest of 2022, thanks to the blistering hot start from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Modern Warfare 2, which just became the fastest Call of Duty game to cross the $1 billion sold mark, is also seeing great success on PC. Activison Blizzard said Modern Warfare 2 PC sales are around double the level of "recent strong titles in the series." The game is also setting franchise records for engagement, with with hours played in the first 10 days over 40% higher than the previous record.

Vanguard's comparitive sales struggles when pitted against the rest of the franchise have been well documented. Even though it was the best-selling game of 2021, Activision Blizzard was unhappy with its performance, saying “The game’s World War II setting didn’t resonate with some of our community.”

For more on Call of Duty, check out why the future of the franchise on PlayStation is safe, according to Xbox's Phil Spencer.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.