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Shaun Escayg Dumps Marvel’s Avengers, Returns to Naughty Dog

Mike Phalin
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Shaun Escayg Dumps Marvel’s Avengers, Returns to Naughty Dog

Square Enix’s troubled ‘Avengers’ game is taking more punches to the gut than The Blob. Unlike the obese mutant, however, the game in question may not be able to withstand a new barrage of bad news.
Via GameSpot, we learned that the creative director of last year’s ‘Avengers’ game had left his post to return to Naughty Dog. Shaun Escayg has dumped Black Widow to go join up with Abby. Trading in Thor’s hammer for Abby’s golf club, I see.


Escayg had been with Naughty Dog during the original ‘The Last of Us,’ acting as the lead cinematic animator. He also wrote and directed the ‘Uncharted’ spin-off game ‘The Lost Legacy.’
What was the straw that broke and had Escayg return to Naughty Dog? That’s not clear. No ill will was present as he stated, “Marvel’s Avengers is in good hands.” Maybe greener grass. Or maybe it was time to join the winning team.
Let’s hope that is true. The AAA title featuring Earth’s Mightiest Heroes hit the market with a bit of a thud. The game sold about 3 million copies but failed to recoup its $200 million budget. This led to a small player base further shrunk by a mediocre post-campaign grind fest.
Further expansions and story content is coming, and PS4 owners have yet to receive their exclusive Spider-Man DLC. Given the amount of time that has passed, will these carrots be enough to keep players coming back?
Did you play Marvel’s ‘Avengers’? What are your thoughts on the game? Did it hold your interest, or did your copy end up at a GameStop? Let us know in the comments.
[Source: GameSpot]

The Mitchells vs The Machines: Special Premiere Event Ahead of it’s Netflix Release

Sarah Leone
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The Mitchells vs The Machines: Special Premiere Event Ahead of it’s Netflix Release

Last year, Sony Animation’s 21st theatrical film The Mitchells vs The Machines was set to be released on October 23, 2020. But, as with everything else, it was to be postponed into the next year. The movie was renamed Connected. But after it was bought by Netflix earlier this year, the movie title reverted back to The Mitchells vs The Machines.

In March, Netflix announced the movie would be released on April 30th. But you may not have to wait that long to watch it. Netflix has teamed up with a theater company called Little Cinema. They specialized in an immersive theater experience, which were massive successes. When everything began to shut down last year, Little Cinema had to find a creative way to keep up with engaging with the audience, even if they were not physically there. After a week of planning and preparing, they took the immersive concept to the digital platform, which received critical acclaim from Vanity Fair. From that first digital experience, Little Cinema had developed a way to give Hollywood virtual red carpet events for new movies and specials. After things start to settle down from the pandemic, it will be interesting to see if the entertainment industry continues to use this digital platform, instead of the red carpet high profile events.

On Netflixs’ part, they hold on average 20 premiere events per month through Little Cinema. Other companies who also use Little Cinema include WarnerMedia, Paramount Pictures, and Amazon, to name a few.

On Monday afternoon, The Mitchells vs The Machines social media pages announced a special premiere event will be held on April 24th, for those who sign up for RSVP access. Spots are limited, so sign up as soon as you can if you want to see the movie before April 30th.

Here is the trailer for The Mitchells vs. The Machines:

I think it looks like a fun movie, so I’m looking forward to watching it this Saturday! Will you be watching it early, or are you content enough to wait until the official release date on April 30th? Let me know!

Bipartisan Bill Hopes To Bring The Film Industry To Minnesota

Jacob Airey
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Bipartisan Bill Hopes To Bring The Film Industry To Minnesota

A bipartisan bill in the Minnesota state legislator hopes to bring the film industry to the Gopher State with tax incentives.
If passed, Senate bill SF 1986 would create a transferable tax credit of up to 25% on in-state purchases for the production of movies and TV shows, according to the West Central Tribune.
The bill’s author, State Senator David Tomassoni of Chisholm, explained, “An incentive program like a film credit is the only way to build a thriving industry in Minnesota because so many other states and countries have implemented film credits.” He added, “Due to their success, it’s now a necessary condition for attracting large projects.”
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Minnesota entertainment rep Brian Simpson praised the measure before the Senate tax committee.
“It is sometimes said that film and TV is nothing but temp jobs, but we are just as temporary as the construction industry in that we are a project-based industry,” he said. “We are not temp jobs.”
‘American Skin’ associate producer and Minnesota native Van Hayden also shared his support for the incentive.
“Unfortunately, because of the lack of tax incentives in Minnesota, all but two of those 90 feature films or TV series, I’ve had to go out of state to work on,” he told the Senate tax committee. “I would love to bring production back to Minnesota.”
This incentive follows a regional incentive passed by the St. Louis County’s board of commissioners in December creating a rebate of up to 25% in the county, which encompasses parts of Duluth.
“Here in Duluth, we are seeing tremendous interest in this area,” explained Duluth Mayor Emily Larson to the Senate tax committee Thursday morning. “Part of it is that Duluth is so beautiful. Part of it is that we have this incredible workforce. Part of it is that we have this amazing geography. It’s deep and rich and tells a beautiful story.”

‘The Crown’ Producer Glad The Netflix Show Did Not Film At Buckingham Palace

Jacob Airey
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‘The Crown’ Producer Glad The Netflix Show Did Not Film At Buckingham Palace

Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ production designer Martin Childs recently opened up about how the TV series was barred from filming at Buckingham Palace and why Childs was happy about it.
The show chronicles the lives of Queen Elizabeth II, her family, and her relationships with various other historical figures including British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former US President John F. Kennedy, and even evangelist Billy Graham.
Initially, the studio was hoping to shoot some scenes within Buckingham Palace in London but was denied permission. Childs discussed why this ultimately was a blessing for the critically acclaimed and audience-adored show.
“I did a little exercise recently to work out how many locations we’ve used to play the parts of Buckingham Palace, and it was 50, including the five places that we built at Elstree,” he explained to the Express that he did an ‘undercover tour’ of the palace.
“So part of the exercise really is looking at all those rooms in all of those houses, connecting them to look like one house,” Childs said. “So the invisible thread between all of them needs to establish itself so that all of the bits that you have to necessarily invent, like private apartments, must feel real must feel like they belong to all of the bits that we’re more familiar with.”
“And I went through all of these rooms, and I thought how on earth we were going to distinguish one from another,” he continued. “So in the sense that using many houses, although they have a sort of constant thread of continuity, was helpful to me, because all of those rooms could then look different. But if you walk through Buckingham Palace, there’s no noticeable distinction between all the roles.”
“And so in the end, I thought, ‘I’m really pleased they’re not giving us permission to shoot’, because we’re going to have difficulty making this look great,” Child said.
‘The Crown’ starred Claire Foy as the Queen of England for the first two seasons before Olivia Colman took over the role in seasons three and four. ‘Sense and Sensibility’ actress Imelda Staunton will take over the role for its final two seasons.

Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ MMO Has Been Canned

Mike Phalin
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Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ MMO Has Been Canned

A “free” massively multiplayer online game based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien to compete with Codemasters’ ‘Lord of the Rings Online’ has come to an end before even hitting the market. It looks like now there is only one way to have an online adventure in Middle Earth.
Kotaku reports that the MMO in development via Amazon and Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited is kaput. Last year LTHL was purchased by Tencent. This looks to be the source of the issue. A statement was released by Amazon recently. It narrows down what caused the cancellation. The company mentions that it had “been unable to secure terms to proceed with this title at this time.”
I wouldn’t entirely rule the project out yet. Tencent won’t want to pass up what could be a potential cash cow. Possibly more negotiations will be had. Perhaps we’ll see something announced when Amazon’s ‘LotR’ series debuts.
The ‘Lord of the Rings’ title was announced in 2019. After the initial news, things had been pretty quiet. Given the time it takes to craft an MMO, a year or so is far too soon to expect anything worth showing. So, we really have no idea how this thing was coming along.
If you’re looking for a way to enjoy the characters and lore of Tolkien’s stories, the original MMO from 2007 is still up and running. Best of all, it’s free. I had played it for a time in the late 2000s. It isn’t as polished as, say, ‘World of Warcraft,’ but it has a lot of charm of its own.

Though LotRO is a bit dated, the game is still fun to play. You can sign up to play for free by clicking here.
Were you eagerly awaiting this game? Did you play Codemasters’ version of ‘LotR’? Let us know in the comments.
[Source: Kotaku]

Rumor: Skrulls May Return In MARVEL’s She-Hulk

Mike Phalin
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0
Rumor: Skrulls May Return In MARVEL’s She-Hulk

The Skrulls may be returning to the MCU soon. It was already hinted that they were still among us in the current part of the MARVEL timeline. So, it only makes sense that they would return via one of the upcoming Disney+ series.
The DisInsider posted a story regarding a casting call for a unique character who will appear in ‘She-Hulk.’ The supposed character description of the casting notice reads as such, “She is a 20-30-year-old female described as a mysterious shapeshifter that embraces Earth’s pop culture. Enjoying the way she lives life, she uses her power in any way that she can to make her happy, including to get herself power, money, and attention.”
To be fair, there are lots of shapeshifters in the MARVEL universe. The mention of Earth’s pop culture tells us that this person is an alien or at least from another dimension. So, it’s most likely a Skrull. If the rumors are true that MARVEL will start merging dimensions in future films to incorporate the Fox and Sony versions of characters, she may be someone else.
If the description isn’t totally nailing down that she’s an outer space alien and maybe just someone who isn’t from our version of Earth, let’s see who she can be. A female version of Morph? An alternate dimension Mystique? A Symbiote like Venom? Miss Sinister? Maybe Excalibur’s Meggan?
Nah, it’s probably gonna be a Skrull. Not super exciting, but it could be a lead-up to “The Secret Invasion” arc. That event stretched over several comics, including ‘She-Hulk’ and other active MARVEL Studios properties. That’d be a hell of a way to tie this new series in with the bigger players like The Avengers, Captain Marvel, and potentially the X-Men.
That storyline is a big event. This could possibly be the next multi-movie arc now that Thanos is gone. The seeds were already sown in ‘Captain Marvel.’ Will Skrulls be able to captivate audiences that same way that Thanos did, though?
‘She-Hulk’ is currently in production, and many of the rumored characters have yet to be confirmed. The series will most likely premiere in 2022 and will star Tatiana Maslany (‘Orphan Black’) in the lead role of Jennifer Walters / She-Hulk.
She-Hulk first appeared in the 1980’s ‘Savage She-Hulk.’ Her first origin on Earth-616 occurred due to a blood transfusion with her cousin, Bruce Banner. However, Jennifer’s Hulk form was a bit different than Bruce’s. Rather than becoming a being of unhinged rage, Walters still possessed the mind of her human form and could, eventually, transform at will.
This explains why Mark Ruffalo will be returning as Bruce Banner. Rumblings are that this series may mark the end of his run as the Hulk. Hopefully, we get to see the angry green giant trade punches with a couple more of his old foes before that happens.
[Source: The DisInsider]

Funimation Announces Three Demon Slayer TV Specials To Recap First Season

Kambrea 'Geeky Sparkles' Pratt
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0
Funimation Announces Three Demon Slayer TV Specials To Recap First Season

Funimation has announced they have put out three episodes of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba on their streaming service. These episodes will be recapping the first season as the the Demon Slayer: Mugen Train film releases in the North America on April 23rd.

Previously, these were released in Japan, but they will be offered in both subtitled and dubbed versions. Portuguese and Spanish subtitles will arrive later.

Each episode will focus on part of season one with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Sibling’s Bond, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Mt. Natagumo Arc and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Hashira Meeting Arc.  The Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Hashira Meeting Arc episode will also feature “never-before-seen footage” that focuses on Hashira.

The new episodes are currently available for streaming on the Funimation app. Right now those in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Brazil can watch them. They will also stream on AnimeLab for those in Australia and New Zealand.

I can’t wait to see the Demon Slayer: Mugen Train when it releases later this month! You can get tickets at Fandango.com.

What do you think? Comment and let us know!

Source: CBR and Funimation.

Candace Cameron Bure’s TV Dad Bob Saget Defends Her From Critics Calling Her “Fake”

Jacob Airey
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0
Candace Cameron Bure’s TV Dad Bob Saget Defends Her From Critics Calling Her “Fake”

Bob Saget, best known for playing Danny Tanner on ‘Full House,’ defended his “TV daughter” Candace Cameron Bure, who played the eldest sibling DJ Tanner on the sitcom.
While speaking to Saget on his “Here For You” podcast, Bure explained that she gets accused of being “fake” because of her upbeat personality, according to Today.
Saget replied that she is the “opposite of fake” and that she was “raised all positive” with “a lot of love and a lot of family.”
“When you are doing anything, you don’t phone it in,” he said. “You’re a businesswoman. You sell things and you try to put your branding on it. That means something to you. You’re not going to sell something that doesn’t mean anything to you, and you’re not faking. … It’s beautiful the way you’re doing it, and you’re doing it earnest. And I’m sorry you’re perky sometimes! What’s wrong with being perky?”
“When you watch the old episodes (of Full House), when it first started, you did have that positive light in your eyes that I did at 10 years old,” he continued. “You had a very positive glow about you, period.”
“That’s what you were like,” Saget said. “And that doesn’t mean you don’t become a teenager and go through the stuff that girls and women and men and boys go through. You know, you’re a positive person. So if you’re perky, it’s because you’re excited and/or you’ve had a lot of caffeine.”
Bure elaborated that it is hard for her to ignore criticism “when people are annoyed that I’m such a happy person,” she added. “I’m just like, let someone speak into this who’s known me since I was 9 years old.”
“That’s what people should know,” Saget replied. “There’s nothing fake about you.”
‘Full House’ produced 192 episodes across eight seasons. The two would reprise their roles as Danny and DJ Tanner in the sequel series ‘Fuller House,’ which ran for seventy-five episodes, concluding with the fifth season on Netflix.

‘Wolverine’ Actor Hugh Jackman To Executive Produce And Star In ‘The Son’ Film Adaption

Jacob Airey
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0
‘Wolverine’ Actor Hugh Jackman To Executive Produce And Star In ‘The Son’ Film Adaption

‘X-Men: Days Of Future Past’ actor Hugh Jackman is set to star in a film adaption of the stage play ‘The Son,’ the third in playwright Florian Zeller’s trilogy of family dramas.
The movie version will be produced by Zeller and Christophe Spadone. This is their second collaboration after the Oscar-nominated version of ‘The Father,’ starring Anthony Hopkins. Zeller will direct.
According to Deadline, Jackman will not only star in the film but will also serve as executive producer. The ‘Kate and Leopold’ star will play Peter, the father of the protagonist Nicholas, who is suffering after his parents’ divorce. ‘Jurassic Park’ star Laura Dern also joins the cast as Kate, Peter’s ex-wife.
“The Son is a deeply human story which, I believe, connects us all; I hope audiences will be profoundly moved by this family’s journey,” Zeller told Deadline. “Both Hugh and Laura naturally convey great warmth, compassion, and vulnerability… inviting our audience to embrace and feel every moment. The story is set in a vibrant and very much alive New York, an important character. The movie should make us call family and friends to tell them that they are wholly loved and not alone.”
“Having been lucky enough to see ‘The Father’ at Sundance 2019, we knew that Florian was a uniquely talented filmmaker,” Producer Emile Sherman added. “‘The Son’ is a story that needs to be told — a story that rings an alarm. Through examining the human condition and our vulnerabilities, this film will strike a chord with audiences and leave an indelible mark on all who see it.”
‘The Father’ has been nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It previously won two BAFTAs including Best Actor in a Leading Role for Anthony Hopkins.
Playbill reports ‘The Son’ is the third chapter in the series. ‘The Mother’ is the final chapter.

New Photos Showcasing Nicole Kidman As Lucille Ball Released

Jacob Airey
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New Photos Showcasing Nicole Kidman As Lucille Ball Released

Photos of Nicole Kidman channeling ‘I Love Lucy’ sitcom star Lucille Ball were released, showing the ‘Aquaman’ actress with a wig on the set of ‘Being the Ricardos.’


“She’s an amazing woman,” Kidman said of Ball in an interview with Variety. “I’m very excited for people to see what Aaron found out about her and the way he’s interpreted Desi and Lucy and the way that it’s so rich. I didn’t know any of this.”
The movie is a biopic that also stars Javier Bardem as Cuban-American actor Desi Arnaz, Ball’s divorced husband, co-star, and business partner. ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ director Aaron Sorkin is set to helm the project.
Some fans expressed a lack of enthusiasm over the casting choices of Kidman and Bardem, respectively. However, Lucille and Desi’s daughter, Lucie Arnaz, who is also executive producing the movie, reassured fans that the casting was done with great care.
“My brother Desi and I signed on because this is a story of our folk’s real-life passionate, tempestuous and complicated relationship and not a recreation of I Love Lucy—no one could do that,” she said according to E Magazine. “We felt exploring that relationship could be an enlightening challenge. We asked Amazon for the best and we got it with every hire. Aaron Sorkin has not told this tale as a ‘cradle to grave’ biopic. Instead, he’s chosen to illuminate a snippet of time during an incredibly intense period of their show’s enduring success.”
Sorkin also defended the casting.
“I think that the people thought that we’ve cast them as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo,” the director said according to People Magazine. “The film takes place during a production week of ‘I Love Lucy’ – a Monday table read to Friday audience taping, with a whole bunch of long flashbacks which are telling the story that got us here – and because there’s a table read, there’s rehearsals and then there’s tape night, we do see moments of them being Lucy and Ricky Ricardo.”

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