Month: January 2020

Producer Dan Lin has revealed that a fifth and “final” Lethal Weapon movie is close to happening, with original stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover on board to reunite with series director Richard Donner.

Speaking at The Hollywood Reporter’s Producers Roundtable, Lin, who served as executive producer on the Lethal Weapon TV series, announced that Warner Bros. is looking to reload the franchise with the original team.

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“We’re trying to make the last Lethal Weapon movie,” Lin said about the long-gestating sequel. “And [Richard] Donner’s coming back. The original cast is coming back. And it’s just amazing. The story itself is very personal to him. Mel [Gibson] and Danny [Glover] are ready to go, so it’s about the script.”

The first rumblings that Lethal Weapon 5 might be happening surfaced in 2008, as it emerged that Shane Black planned to direct Riggs and Murtaugh’s next adventure. However, after several rumoured changes, the project was squashed in 2012 when Donner revealed that Gibson turned down a reprisal of his role.

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Lethal Weapon is the latest in a string of classic franchises being revived on the big screen. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence recently teamed up for Bad Boys for Life, the third film in the long-dormant Bad Boys series, which has exceeded expectations at the box office. It has since been announced that a fourth Bad Boys movie is in development.

For more on Bad Boys for Life, watch an exclusive action clip from the film and then read our review of the threequel. Also, find out IGN readers’ most wanted movie franchise return.

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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

With Sony already announcing that they will skip E3 for the second year in a row, the ESA and its annual trade show, E3, haven’t had the best start to 2020.

But in the wake of Sony withholding the PS5 from the show, the ESA is determined to convince press and attendees that this year will be different. In a new statement, the ESA details how it’s listening to criticism from last year’s show and teaming up with new partners to “shake things up” in 2020.

“You’ll be happy to know that we’re not producing E3 2020 in a vacuum,” the statement reads. “For E3 2020, we’re collaborating with industry insiders and new creative partners, including the tastemakers at iam8bit.com, to reinvigorate the show and, frankly, to shake things up.”

The ESA also addresses the issue of data integrity, following last year’s embarrassing leak of attendee information via its website. In order to protect registration information in 2020, the ESA states that it has overhauled its registration process to only require the minimum amount of information required from attendees while also securing captured data far more securely.

“Earning back your trust and support is our top priority,” the statement reads.

The rest of the statement, which you can read in full on the ESA’s website, again mentions new attendee attractions and shows in vague terms, reiterating ideas around high-profile guests, stage experiences, experiential zones, and more that will “delight the senses.” The statement notes that more concrete details will be revealed in the near future.

Microsoft will be attending E3 2020 despite Sony’s absence, with Phil Spencer confirming that the Xbox Series X will be the highlight of their show.

Nintendo can’t stop selling Switch consoles, and its latest financial earnings results are another strong sign of that. Nintendo has announced that the Nintendo Switch has now sold over 52 million units, taking it past the overall sales figures of the SNES.

The Nintendo Switch has now sold a total of 52.48 million units as of December 31, 2019, with the large majority of those being made up of the original Switch model. The original Switch (which includes the latest model with improved battery life) accounts for 47.3 million of overall sales, while the Switch Lite, which launched in September last year, has already reached 5.19 million units sold.

Nintendo noted that sales during its last financial quarter were particularly strong, with 10.8 million consoles sold in this period alone. This has led the company to increase its sales projections for the rest of its financial year, from 18 million to 19.5 million by the end of March.

The total confirms that the Switch has now surpassed lifetime sales of one of Nintendo’s most popular home consoles. The SNES, which originally launched in 1991, went on to sell 49.1 million units, and has now been surpassed just 34 months into the Switch’s lifecycle.

It’s not all hardware though. Switch software sales have been equally strong too, with Pokémon Sword and Shield already boasting over 15 million units sold just a month and a half after launch.

Borderlands 3 is getting a new hotfix with a load of changes and additions to the loot shooter. Gearbox says the hotfix will be live on PC, PS4, and Xbox One by 3 PM PT on January 30. It will activate a Rare Chest Riches event, give you a better shot at opening Legendary loot, and address some bugs, among other adjustments.

The hotfix patch notes list a few key areas. The biggest new addition with the 1/30 hotfix is the Rare Chest Riches event, which will run through February 13 at 8:59 AM PT. During that time period, rare chests will drop rare loot more often, increasing your chances of Legendary items. You’ll also get better odds to score better loot when watching a Twitch streamer if you’ve linked your account with the EchoCast Twitch Extension.

Other changes include an increased chance to receive legendary loot from red car trunk chests, and fixing an issue with the “One Man’s Treasure” mission in the recent Moxxi’s Heist of the Handsome Jackpot expansion. The studio also says it is permanently increasing the spawn rate for rare spawns, and buffing the drop rates and Anointed chance to be similar to bosses.

Finally, Gearbox announced that the scaled event that it began with Takedown at the Maliwan Blacksite will be permanent. Another update to come in February will allow players to switch to “True Takedown” mode, which will be similar to the launch version of Takedown. It says that this change, along with the rare spawn rate change, is based on reviewing player data.

Borderlands 3 Hotfixes: January 30, 2020

• Activate the Rare Chest Riches event, running until February 13
• Increased the chance to receive Legendary loot from red car trunk chests
• Addressed a reported issue that the player could sometimes rise into the sky with the cannon during the “One Man’s Treasure” mission in Moxxi’s Heist of The Handsome Jackpot

Netflix has shared new details about The Witcher: Nightmare of The Wolf, confirming Vesemir will be the movie’s central protagonist.

The streamer released an official synopsis on the listing page of the recently-announced movie, revealing the upcoming anime will serve as an origin story for Vesemir, aka Geralt of Rivia’s mentor and father figure.

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The description reads: “Long before mentoring Geralt, Vesemir begins his own journey as a witcher after the mysterious Deglan claims him through the Law of Surprise.”

A young Vesemir was previously teased in the final episode of Netflix’s Witcher series, as Geralt recollected a voice saying, “I’ve been waiting for you.” He then responds by calling out Vesemir’s name. In this case, Vesemir’s short line of dialogue was delivered by Divergent star Theo James. So, it is not outside the realms of possibility that the actor also recorded lines for the character’s appearance in Nightmare of the Wolf, though it is unconfirmed at this stage.

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This new movie comes from The Witcher’s producers Lauren Hissrich and Beau DeMayo, with Studio Mir – the renowned Korean animation studio behind The Legend of Korra and Voltron: Legendary Defender. Presently, it is unknown whether Nightmare of the Wolf will release before or after the return of Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri in Season 2 of The Witcher in 2021.

For more on The Witcher, find out why Netflix decided to adapt the books and not the games, check out our review of the first season and episode ratings, and read about the fantasy elements we can expect in Season 2.

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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

It might have had a delayed release and complete redesign of its main character, but the Sonic the Hedgehog movie finally arrives next month. A new trailer is set to screen during the Super Bowl this weekend, and it has now been released online.

The new Sonic trailer starts with a series of high-profile sports stars–footballers Michael Thomas and Christian McCaffrey, sprinter Allyson Felix, and stock car racer Kyle Bush–talking about the incredible athletic ability of the legendary hedgehog. The rest of the trailer delivers lots of funny and action-packed clips from the film–check it out below:

Sonic the Hedgehog is directed by Jeff Fowler and hits theaters on February 14, 2020. Sonic is voiced by Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation), with Jim Carrey as the evil Dr. Robotnik. Westworld’s James Marsden will feature as a state trooper who catches onto Sonic’s super speed. Early box predictions suggest that the film will have a strong opening weekend at the box office.

The Sonic the Hedgehog movie has gone through a turbulent production, with a full character redesign being commissioned after the film’s disastrous first trailer. Thankfully, a team led by Sonic comic illustrator Tyson Hesse gave gaming’s premiere hedgehog a much more lovable look.

For more, check out GameSpot’s guide to all the Super Bowl commercials released so far. You can also read our list of the biggest upcoming movies of 2020.

Adapted from the iconic Nintendo franchise, The Legend of Zelda manga series by Akira Himekawa debuted in 1998 in Japan, the same year Ocarina of Time released. Himekawa–a pen name for a pair of Japanese comic book authors–has since added more than a dozen books to the well-received series. The Legend of Zelda Box Set compiles the first 10 volumes and is currently on sale for a spectacular price at Amazon.

The Legend of Zelda Box Set | $42 ($80)

Regularly $80, the box set is discounted to $42 right now (roughly $4 per book). Each book in the series is based on one of the video games and adds new details and context to the plots you might already know quite well. Here are the tales you’ll get to relive in the manga:

• Ocarina of Time (two books)
• Majora’s Mask
• Four Swords (two books)
• Oracle of Seasons
• Oracle of Ages
• The Minish Cap
• A Link to the Past
• Phantom Hourglass

At the time of publication in 2011, the box set included every book in the series. More Himekawa Zelda mangas have been released since, including a multi-volume adaptation of Twilight Princess. The seventh volume in the Twilight Princess arc releases August 11. Himekawa also contributed an exclusive comic to Hyrule Historia, the wonderful art book that chronicles the history and timeline of The Legend of Zelda franchise.