Netflix’s The Crown Will Take A Longer Break Before Its Fifth Season

Earlier in the year when coronavirus started to shut down productions around the world, Netflix assured fans of royal drama The Crown that its fourth season was already filmed, and would release this year on schedule. However the series is preparing for a longer break that may or may not be related to the COVID-19 crisis, THR reports, similar to the break between Seasons Two and Three when the new, older cast was introduced.

It’s already been revealed that Imelda Staunton will be taking over the role of Queen Elizabeth from Season Five–first played by Claire Foy, and currently by Olivia Colman. New information has revealed that Season Five won’t begin filming until 2021, with release not scheduled until 2022.

The upcoming fourth season is set to introduce Princess Diana (Emma Corrin) against the backdrop of the 1980s, while the following seasons will progress into the 2000s–though there are no plans currently to continue to the present day.

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Cinemas Partially Reopen In China, And Doolittle Tops The Box Office

Cnemas remain closed in many parts of the world–including across the US, where AMC is looking to re-open in mid-to-late August. In China, however, some cinemas have started to reopen, with social distancing enforced, as certain areas are declared safe from the COVID-19 pandemic. While the weekend box office is a fraction of what it usually would be, the figures are higher than they’ve been in some time.

As reported by Variety, China has reopened 4900 cinemas over the July 24-26 weekend–about 44% of the cinemas in the country, each allowing for about 30% capacity. This included 369 IMAX screens. Topping the box office was Robert Downey Jr.’s latest film, Doolittle, which earned $4.71 million–higher than any film has earned over a weekend in some time.

The movie, which bombed at the US box office, currently stands as the third highest grossing cinema release of 2020. The film’s success in China over the weekend is unlikely to lift it above the second highest film, Sonic the Hedgehog, any time soon.

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Fortnite Is Hosting Another We The People Panel About Voter Suppression

Since its introduction in May, Fortnite’s Party Royale mode has hosted concerts, movie nights, and even a panel on racial injustice. Now, more of the latter is coming, with an announcement that the second installation of We The People x More Than A Vote will be coming to Fortnite on July 28.

The first We The People event took place on Saturday July 4, and the new event looks to continue that conversation. Hosted by Cari Champion, the second event will feature athlete Jason Heyward, rapper and activist Bun B, athlete and sports host Jalen Rose, actress and comedian Yvonne Orji, and rapper Russ as they discuss the voter suppression crisis that disproportionately affects Black communities.

Attendees at the We The People event will receive the Verve emote for free for their participation–though all emotes will be disabled for the duration of the event to help foster an atmosphere of respect for all players.

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Halo Infinite Does Not Support 4-Player Split-Screen

Initial reports suggested that Halo Infinite will offer four-player local split-screen support for its campaign mode, but this is not the case. 343 Industries head of design, Jerry Hook, said on Twitter that Infinite will support two-player split-screen locally. Up to four players can play the campaign together online, however.

“Sorry about the confusion,” Hook wrote. No details about split-screen support for Halo Infinite’s multiplayer mode have been announced yet.

Halo Infinite simply having split-screen is a big deal because 343 controversially left it out of Halo 5: Guardians. Xbox boss Phil Spencer says only a small percentage of people play local split-screen in Halo games, so that’s why the feature was cut for Halo 5.

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Halo Infinite Boss On Releasing The Game Across Console Generations And Why It Won’t Be Held Back

Halo Infinite is a launch title for Microsoft’s next-generation console, the Xbox Series X, but it’s also coming to the relatively less powerful Xbox One. Not only that, but the game will also be released on PC. This multiplatform release strategy is far different than 2015’s Halo 5: Guardians, which was only released on Xbox One (before a scaled-back edition came to PC for free).

343 studio head Chris Lee recently spoke about this multiplatform development, saying it was made possible thanks to Microsoft’s investment in its new SlipSpace Engine.

“When we started building Halo Infinite we knew we had to really invest in our technology to achieve the ambition that the vision of this game had. So we invested a lot in our SlipSpace Engine,” Lee said during a recent interview. “We’ve been developing it over time with the idea and the concept of being cross-platform so we could support the Xbox One family of devices, the Xbox Series X, and of course, PC when we release on Steam as well.”

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Top New Games Out On Switch, PS4, Xbox One, And PC This Week — July 26 – August 1, 2020

New Releases highlights some of the top games releasing each week. This episode has a lot of variety: Skater XL for the skateboard kids, Ageless for the puzzle solvers, and Fairy Tail for the Shonen Jump fans. Did you miss out on the original Destroy All Humans? Good news, the remake is on its way. Lastly, Xbox One gamers get their own Yakuza Kiwami 2 port this week.

Destroy All Humans! — July 28

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC

This is a remake of the original Destroy All Humans from 2005. Once again, you’ll be stepping into the space boots of alien invader Crypto as he extracts DNA from the residents of a Midwestern town, using all types of alien weapons and gadgets. This remake includes content cut from the original game, too.

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Madden NFL 21’s Next X-Factor Superstar Abilities Will Be Revealed Soon

After announcing all the player ratings for Madden NFL 21, EA Sports will reveal the first of the new X-Factor super-abilities for the professional football game on Monday, July 27.

The Madden NFL 21 Twitter account revealed the news with a nice-looking poster made by illustrator/concept artist Conrad Javier. The poster teases, “New abilities unleashed,” while a graphic in the top-left corner seems to suggest that the X-Factor reveals will happen over the course of the week, wrapping up on July 31.

Introduced in Madden NFL 20, X-Factor abilities are special abilities that some of the highest-rated players in the game that players unlock during gameplay by completing certain objectives.

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Netflix Spends Big On The Rights To Reddit Horror Story

If you’re an aspiring horror writer with an established Reddit account, the tale of “My Wife And I Bought A Ranch” is a dream-come-true. Deadline is reporting that Netflix has won the rights to a short story posted to the No Sleep subreddit. You can see the post here, although the full story is divided across six parts.

The story, about an ex-marine and his wife who purchase a ranch and soon find out that there’s a malevolent force at work there, was written by Matt Query. It’s well-regarded among the No Sleep community, and has received 3000 upvotes since the first part was posted five months ago.

The rights to the story were bought for a figure in the low seven-figure range, likely meaning between $1-5 million.

The script will be handled by his brother, Harrison Query, who is already working on a Three Musketeers project for the streaming service. Scott Glassgold and Ground Control Entertainment are producing, but talks are underway with potential co-producers, including Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen at 21 Laps (Stranger Things) and Aquaman-director James Wan’s Atomic Monster.

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