Month: January 2021

Disney+’s first Marvel Cinematic Universe series has arrived, WandaVision. The first two episodes of the series were released on January 15, and the MCU show leans heavily into every aspect from classic sitcoms. So much so that WandaVision was filmed before a live studio audience.

In a recently released featurette for the new Disney+ original, we get a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of the show, along with some cast and crew interviews. And it’s revealed that the series really did have a live studio audience watching the filming.

“It was nerve-wracking, but I think it was so rewarding and so funny,” Paul Bettany (Vision) says during the video.

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Apple Studios is looking to compete with Netflix, Amazon, and other streaming services, and the iPhone company just made a big move. According to Deadline, Apple Studios has reached a deal with famed director Ridley Scott for his new Napoleon Bonaparte movie, Kitbag, that will star Joaquin Phoenix in the title role.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the investment might have been significant given the talent attached to the project. Production on the film is expected to begin in early 2022 in the UK.

This is the first time that Scott and Phoenix are working together since Scott directed the actor in Gladiator. Phoenix played Commodus in a memorable performance that earned him an Oscar nomination.

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Netflix has released a trailer for Animals on the Loose: A You Vs. Wild Movie, which is an upcoming action-packed interactive feature starring outdoorsman Bear Grylls. The film will land on the streaming platform February 16–check out the trailer below.

The official synopsis indicates that the 90-minute interactive story focuses on the chaos after a protective fence surrounding a wildlife sanctuary has mysteriously suffered a breach, thereby setting all the animals on the loose. Afterwards, “Bear is called in to help rescue a mischievous baboon, track down a hungry lion, and fix the fence before any more animals get out. Three urgent missions await you with only so much time and Bear needs your help.”

This is not the first such interactive film to hit Netflix, nor the first to feature Bear Grylls. In 2019, Grylls launched a series titled You Vs. Wild, which had viewers navigate Grylls through “dense jungles, towering mountains, brutal deserts, and mysterious forests.” In a release accompanying this announcement, Netflix also indicates that there will be another You Vs. Wild movie “later this year.”

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An artist that worked on the Elden Ring teaser trailer has posted concept art made for it – and made very clear that he has no intimate knowledge of the game. Of course, this being Elden Ring, the community has gone wild with delight nonetheless. It’s been genuinely lovely.

Posted on his Artstation account, Gabriel Björk Stiernström showed off several concept pieces, along with observations about why they weren’t eventually used in the game’s E3 announcement trailer. On the Elden Ring subreddit, Stiernström posted a statement to contextualise the work – and cool any speculation about potential new details hidden in the art. He ends that statement by saying, “You can read into the concept art as much as you like, but I really have no knowledge of the game.”

The images include various takes on the hammering scene we see in the trailer – including a version of the scene covered in tree roots that was described as “too much Dark Souls” – different takes on the scepter and dais being used in that scene, and an ‘exploration concept’ for what the final hit effect could look like (below).

Stiernström explained the process of his work at Digic Pictures, the company tasked with helping to create the hammering scene in the E3 teaser, saying “I had no idea what I was working on”.

“Most of these were made for internal discussion at Digic Pictures between the Art Director, Director, Producer and Leads,” Stiernström continues. “When they were happy with something they would then share those concepts with the client. In the end FromSoftware would more or less provide us with most of the concept art in any case.

“I received a brief for each task, but ideas change during production and so does the brief. What you do today is irrelevant tomorrow. Sometimes a brief is very clear and other times it’s open for interpretations. We try to provide our expertise regarding how we can convey the clients wanted mood and style through lighting, animation, composition, camera angles, focal lengths, colors etc.”

Famously, with so little to go on since that teaser arrived, the Elden Ring community is incredibly hungry for new details, even creating an entire lore for the game themselves as they wait. So, while it might not be the actual Elden Ring, this art is about as close as we’ve come to official images since that trailer. As you can imagine, it’s gone down well among fans, with many thanking Stiernström for the post, calling the artist a hero, and praising the art itself.

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Of course, others took this as an opportunity to make self-deprecating jokes at the expense of the community, with memes galore appearing shortly after the post.

And, of course, there were still those that, despite Stiernström’s caveats, went looking for information. GoatKiddclxvi wrote, “Roots everywhere! Indeed, the scene takes place in a tree! Man this is nuts, thank you very much”, to which ForeverEqual replied, “That was I first noticed as well. This pretty much confirms the tree theory!” (That theory being that the game draws inspiration from Yggdrasil, the world tree of Norse folklore).

Others have taken the unexpected post to mean that internal NDAs around the game are coming to an end, meaning they may get more news in the near future. LentStories wrote “The fact that he has this posted on his official portfolio makes me think he isn’t doing this without some kind of permission; either an NDA ending, or direct permission from Fromsoft. Both give me some degree of hope for further news.”

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Most strikingly, the overriding response, across all the posts I’ve read, has been one of positivity. It’s genuinely a joy to read through the Elden Ring subreddit today, as people celebrate something new to pore over, and build it into the self-reflexive lore the community’s built. If this is the response to concept art for a trailer, I can’t wait to visit after FromSoftware finally reveals more.

So, what do we actually know about Elden Ring? We know it’s an open world Soulslike from Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki and Game of Thrones writer George R.R. Martin. Miyazaki says it’s an evolution of Dark Souls, and we know that head of Xbox Phil Spencer has played it. Aside from that, it’s very much a blank page. Here’s hoping 2021 is when it’s filled in.

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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com

After years of rumors and fans clamoring for it, BioWare announced a remastered edition of the Mass Effect Trilogy during last year’s N7 Day celebration. Mass Effect: Legendary edition is set to release this spring for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Though an exact release date hasn’t been revealed, recent retailer listings have suggested that the remaster could arrive March 12. Regardless of whether that turns out to be true or not, it’s clear fans won’t have to wait much longer to replay the beloved role-playing series with performance and visual upgrades. If you already know you’re going to dive back into the saga at launch, you can preorder Mass Effect: Legendary edition now.

The console versions of Mass Effect: Legendary edition come with free upgrades to PS5 and Xbox Series X. While BioWare hasn’t shown off any gameplay of the collection since announcing it on N7 Day, the studio has promised updated textures, shaders, and technical enhancements. Mass Effect: Legendary edition will include all three single-player campaigns as well as every piece of DLC. At this time, it’s unclear if the multiplayer mode from Mass Effect 3 will be featured in the collection, but the wording of BioWare’s blog post suggests it won’t be included.

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Epic has expanded its Fortnite legal battle with Apple and Google to the United Kingdom, now asking an antitrust tribunal to rule against the hardware and software giant as well.

Bloomberg reports that in its latest filing, Epic said that Apple has abused its “dominant position” and that its removal of Fortnite from the App Store was unlawful. The complaint was similar to another one filed the same day against Google. The Fortnite developer raised its legal challenge to the Competition Appeal Tribunal, a public body that oversees antitrust law.

Though the legal challenges have been ongoing in the States, this is the first time Epic has made a move to bring Fortnite back to the British App Store.

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