Month: February 2019

It has been rumoured for some time now that Mr. Robot star Rami Malek, who recently won an Oscar for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, would play the main villain in the upcoming 25th James Bond movie. Now, a report from Variety claims producers are still looking at Malek for the role, while the story also has other interesting casting details yet to be confirmed.

Starting with Malek, Variety’s report says there is “renewed interest” in hiring Malek to play the villain. Previously it was thought that Malek may not be able to play the part due to scheduling conflicts related to shooting the final season of Mr. Robot. Producers have reportedly met with other actors to play the role, but Malek has always been the top choice, apparently. The report doesn’t say what other actors may be in consideration for the role.

Outside of the villain casting, the Variety report says producers are searching to fill three more roles, two of which are expected to be played by women. One is a new MI6 agent and the other is a friend to James Bond not unlike Olga Kurylenko’s character in Quantum of Solace. Variety reported that producers are going through “chemistry reads” with James Bond actor Daniel Craig to find the best actresses to play the roles. “These two characters will spend the most amount of time with him on screen,” the report said.

Another role producers are looking for is an American CIA agent likened to Jeffrey Wright’s character in previous movies. Billy Magnussen (Into the Woods, The Big Short) is reportedly the top choice to play the CIA agent. Magnussen recently appeared in Bond 25 writer-director Cary Fukunaga’s Netflix show Maniac.

Also in the report it’s claimed that Fukunaga submitted his latest draft at the start of 2019. It contained no significant changes, despite rumours of big changes, according to Variety. The site added that Craig and other producers were excited by Fukunaga’s latest draft.

As for what we do know concretely about Bond 25, it’s confirmed that Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, and Lea Seydoux are coming back to reprise their roles. The movie is scheduled to start shooting sometime this Spring and hit theatres in April 2020.

2015’s Spectre is the latest James Bond film. It was a gigantic commercial success, making around $880 million worldwide at the box office. The upcoming 25th film will be the final one starring Craig as the British super-spy.

Ray Liotta, who played Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese’s classic mobster movie Goodfellas, is joining another gangster film. Liotta will play an unspecified role in the Sopranos prequel film The Many Saints of Newark, joining other cast members such as Alessandro Nivola, Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga, and Billy Magnussen, according to Deadline. Michael Gandolfini will play Tony Soprano, a role his late father portrayed in the HBO show.

The Many Saints of Newark is set in the ’60s during the Newark race riots. Sopranos TV show creator David Chase co-wrote the script with another Sopranos veteran, Lawrence Konner. Game of Thrones and Thor: The Dark World director Alan Taylor is directing.

Liotta grew up in Newark in the ’60s, and according to Deadline, the actor has a “personal connection to the story.”

“David’s talent is unmatched and the directing of Alan Taylor makes this even more exciting. I respect them both immensely and look forward to making this special project with New Line,” Liotta told Deadline.

Nivola plays Dickie Moltisanti in The Many Saints of Newark. He is the father of Christopher Moltisanti, who was played by Michael Imperioli in the TV series.

In other mobster movie news, the eerie first teaser for Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman starring Robert de Niro and Al Pacino has arrived–watch it here.

According to sources, Will Smith will not be returning as Deadshot in Suicide Squad 2.

As reported by Variety, even though it appears Margot Robbie will return as Harley Quinn, Smith will be bowing out of the sequel to 2016’s Suicide Squad due to scheduling issues, although the “decision was made on amicable terms between both sides with no hard feelings.”

These same sources have said that the studio had wanted Smith and Robbie to return and have the rest of the cast be new faces.

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The upcoming Suicide Squad sequel has lost one of its biggest stars. Sources told Variety that Smith, who played Deadshot in the 2016 Oscar winning film, is not expected to return for the follow-up reportedly due in part to scheduling issues.

Smith and Warner Bros. reportedly parted ways amicably. It’s also worth nothing that Smith was never even officially confirmed to return as Deadshot in Suicide Squad 2. According to the report, producers wanted Smith and Margot Robbie, who played Harley Quinn, to return for the sequel. No official casting announcements about Suicide Squad 2 have been made as of yet, however.

Suicide Squad might not have been a critical hit, but it made $746 million at the global box office, which basically guaranteed a sequel. As mentioned, it won an Oscar–for Makeup and Hairstyling.

The sequel is to be written and directed by James Gunn, who directed the Guardians of the Galaxy movies before Disney fired him. Production on Suicide Squad 2 is expected to begin this fall, and the movie has a release date of August 6, 2021.

In a recent interview, 343 Industries boss Bonnie Ross said Halo Infinite‘s sandbox multiplayer is potentially capable of delivering a battle royale experience as one of its modes. Nothing is confirmed at this stage, and that remains the case, according to Halo franchise manager Frank O’Connor.

He responded to someone on Twitter who said Ross’s comments equated to a confirmation that Halo Infinite will have a battle royale mode. That’s not the case.

“I don’t know how you get from ‘Sandbox is capable of’ to ‘basically confirmed,'” O’Connor said. “The sandbox is also capable of 1:1 Big Team Invisible Low G SWAT Vehicle Fiesta and I can tell you that’s not happening because I’ve pitched it for five games straight now.”

So there you have it, again.

It’s also worth noting that Halo 5 already has numerous battle royale modes made by fans through Forge and published as Custom Games that you can play right now. Presumably Halo Infinite will bring back Forge mode, and players will be able to make whatever they want, including battle royale, if Microsoft doesn’t make it an official game type as franchises like Call of Duty and Battlefield have.

343 already poured some cold water on the idea of a battle royale mode in Halo Infinite. In 2017, a Halo developer said, “I’ll tell you right now, the only BR we’re really interested in is Battle Rifle.”

What’s particularly interesting now is how Ross specifically mentioned Apex Legends in her comments about battle royale. People would generally agree that Fortnite and Halo are not much alike, but Apex Legends is more of a core shooter like Halo. It makes sense that 343 would constantly evaluate industry trends. It would be surprising if they didn’t.

Halo Infinite is in development for Xbox One and PC. No release date has been announced, but more details about the game are coming at E3 2019. It’s rumoured that Microsoft will also talk about its next console at E3; Halo Infinite is said to be to be a launch title for the new Xbox.

Since The Sims entered the video game market in 2000 on the PC, it has defied easy categorization. Designed to be a mix of an architectural simulator and a high-tech doll-house, The Sims’ release marked some of the most extensive customization in a video game at the time. All iterations of The Sims since have continued the trend. There is no definitive story mode or sense of linearity; the draw is in the details.

Your sim pays their bills, cleans themselves, eats, and remembers if they had a sour social interaction with another sim. Players have a great deal of freedom to guide their sims in whatever way they wish. Whether that’s toward success — through wealth, fame, family, popularity, a stylish vampire coven, or unbeatable cooking skills — or death. You can kill your sims in progressively stranger ways (because, at some point, we’ve all put our sims in a pool and removed the ladder to observe as nature takes its course).

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