ENTERTAINMENT

Sydney Sweeney is slated to star in a new video game adaptation for Universal Pictures. The film is slated to adapt Sega's 1986 arcade driving adventure titled OutRun, directed by Michael Bay.Best known for his action-packed Transformers franchise, Bay is producing the film along side Brad Fuller throug hthe Platinum Dunes' first-look deal with Universal. Sweeney is also set to produce the film while Toru Nakahara will do so for Sega. The entire project will be overseen by Sega Corporation president and COO Shuji Utsumi. Jayson Rothwell has been tapped to write the screenplay, though details have been kept under wraps so far. The original Sega OutRun franchise was known to be one of the most successful arcade games in the 1980s. The game was a pioneer of driving games, spawning and entire ...

Pope Francis has died at the age of 88 on Easter Monday. From modest beginnings in Argentina, he became the first Jesuit and Latin American pontiff who was known to overcome fierce traditionalists as the voice for the poor, reshaping the Catholic Church. Francis has steadily steered the church away against conservatism, as he sought out to open up the church by reaching out to the destitute, migrants, victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy members and the alienated gay Catholics. Known for his shake up by demoting conservatives in Vatican offices and even restricting the use of the old Latin Mass dear to traditionalists, he opened up influential meeting to women and other laypeople. He also allowed for priests to bless same-sex couples and has been vocal about allowing transgender peop...

Ryan Coogler's Sinners is shaping up to be a major box office hit for Warner Bros. The Michael B. Jordan-starring horror film has surpassed expectations, hitting an impressive $45 million USD box office opening over Easter Weekend.Sinners is set in the Mississippi Delta in 1932, the film sees Jordan portray twin brothers who face a supernatural being after returning to their hometown for a fresh start. Starring alongside Jordan are Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller, Buddy Guy and Delroy Lindo as a part of the cast. It appears the hype for the film is true, as Sinners becomes the first-ever horror film to earn an "A" CinemaScore.Previous horror films have gotten close to the "A" ranking but have still fallen short. Popular films like A Qu...

On the final day of the three-day Star Wars Celebration fan event hosted in Tokyo, Lucasfilm announced that a longform series titled The Ninth Jedi will be arriving soon. The latest series is slated to be a spin-off of the new earlier Star Wars: Visions shorts on Disney+. A new batch of nine episodes are slated to arrive on the streamer under the Star Wars: Visions banner on October 29. As for the new longform series The Ninth Jedi, Lucasfilm's senior VP of franchise content and strategy, James Waugh, made the announcement by calling up Visions writer-director Kenji Kamiyama on stage. According to Disney's Star Wars official fan site, Waugh "thanked the audience for being so supportive and enthusiastic about the adventures of Kara and Juro in The Ninth Jedi and the upcoming Child of Hope. ...

Ryan Coogler's Sinners is gearing up for an impressive $45 million USD box office opening over Easter weekend. The Michael B. Jordan-starring film will surpass its original $30 million USD predictions, as per Deadline.47% of the period horror film's opening weekend gross comes from Imax, PLF and several 70MM screenings. Sinners has a strong presence in the East, South and West, with New York City's AMC Lincoln Square currently topping the list with $114,000 USD. Deadline adds that 47% of audiences cited Jordan as a reason as to why they saw the film in cinemas, and 40% named Coogler. 45% of these attendees shared that their friends and family put in a good word to see the movie.Another 45% of moviegoers shared that they looked forward to a second installment, and 81% would tell their frien...

Hayden Christensen is returning as Anakin Skywalker in Disney+'s Ahsoka season two.The news was announced at the Star Wars Celebration event in Tokyo, with a scene of Anakin and Ahsoka played during the panel. Christensen also made a special appearance, although his return wasn't confirmed until near the end. “There’s not much I can share, but Anakin will be back for season two,” he said via THR.Series creator Dave Filoni, executive producer Jon Favreau and titular star Rosario Dawson were also at the panel. During the panel, they opened up about season one as well as the "heavy influence" of Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke. Dawson also confirmed that filming is set to begin next week.Christensen portrayed the role of Anakin in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. He showed aud...

Following the popularity of the AI-generated images in Studio Ghibli-style that took over the internet a few weeks ago, Japanese lawmakers are considering making them illegal. The images, created by tools like ChatGPT sparked debate amongst the animation world. Centering around the iconic animation style of Studio Ghibli, which is beloved by the communities world wide and has been seen as a big part of Japan's cultural identity, the images sparked a debate that sees lawmakers and Hayao Miyazaki enter into the conversation about whether or not it crosses any lines of copyright infringement. Now lawmakers in Japan are planning on potentially taking action over the "Ghiblification" of images. At a recent government committee meeting, lawmakers posted questions of ethics and copyright law to t...

Now that Sinners is in theaters, Ryan Coogler is already gearing up for his next project. It was first reported that Coogler would be developing X-Files series back in 2023. Coogler is now turning his attention back on the reboot, confirming on the Last Podcast on the Left recently, "I’ve been excited about that for a long time and I’m fired up to get back to it." He shares that the project is "immediately next. Some of those episodes, if we do our jobs right, will be really f**king scary." In 2023, series creator and showrunner Chris Carter confirmed that he had spoken to Coogler about reviving the supernatural detective drama, starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. On talking to Anderson, Coogler confirms that he has spoken with her about t...

The long-awaited official trailer for Marvel's upcoming The Fantastic Four: First Steps has arrived. In a "retro-futuristic, 1960s vibe," Marvel gives audiences an glimpse of the first family in action.The trailer begins with an introduction to the main group, Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Stomre/Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing. The officially synopsis shares that the group finds themselves facing "their most daunting challenge yet." Aside from the introductions, Marvel also teases Julia Garner's Silver Surfer and an unexpected pregnancy. The synopsis continues to read, "Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a r...

After months of speculation, Lucasfilm has officially confirmed that a new Star Wars film is in the works starring Ryan Gosling. With Shawn Levy directing, the new installment is set to be titled Star Wars: Starfighter. Lucasfilm's president Kathleen Kennedy and chief creative officer Dave Filoni officially unveiled plans for the new film on Friday morning at the annual Star Wars Celebration event in Tokyo. Levy and Gosling were both present for the livestreamed event and the Canadian actor was introduced for the first time to the public as a part of the franchise. Gosling told the screaming audience, "Being here and seeing all of you [makes it] more inspiring to do it. There’s so much creativity and imagination in this room and there’s so much love. It’s such a great reminder of how much ...