Apex Legends, the free-to-play battle royale game from Titanfall developer Respawn, continues to have a strong opening week. The game has now crossed 10 million players, with a record of more than 1 million concurrent players, Respawn announced in a blog post."This has been a truly incredible journey. We tested and tweaked. We argued and agreed. We got to a point where we felt some magic. We knew it would be risky to take the franchise in this direction, to go free to play, and do a surprise launch," Respawn founder Vince Zampella said. "But we fell in love with Apex Legends and wanted, needed, other people to play it too."He added that the massive success of Apex Legends so far has exceeded the company's "wildest dreams." Zampella went on to say that launch is "just the beginning" for Apex Legends. As announced previously, the title will offer a Fortnite-style battle pass that will deliver seasons' worth of new content over time.In fact, Respawn said it hopes the game can live on until 2027 or longer. Players can expect "exciting changes and gameplay evolutions" for the game as it progresses.By comparison, the latest statistics from Epic Games show that Fortnite has 200 million players and a peak concurrent record of 8.3 million players. But Fortnite is a sensation unlike almost anything else.Apex Legends was announced and released earlier this week on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It was a quick success, as it picked up 1 million players in eight hours, going on to reach 2.5 million players not much longer and a peak concurrent user record of 600,000 players. As today's numbers demonstrate, the game is enjoying a nice growth trajectory, and it'll be interesting to see how much bigger the game becomes over time.Apex Legends is far from the first competitor to Fortnite and PUBG, but it's different in that it comes from a massive, established publisher in Electronic Arts.In addition to Apex Legends, Respawn is working on something new in the Titanfall universe to release later this year, though whether or not it is the much-requested Titanfall 3 remains to be seen. Additionally, Respawn is developing a Star Wars game called Jedi: Fallen Order, and it is also slated to launch in 2019. Info from Gamespot.com

Crunchyroll has announced the host for this year's Anime Awards. The company also revealed the list of presenters that will be revealing the winners for each award during the ceremony.For 2019's Anime Awards, voice actress Cristina Vee is scheduled to be the host. Vee is well known within the anime and gaming community for voicing dozens of popular characters. For anime, Vee is most famous for portraying The Familiar of Zero's Louise, Sailor Moon's Rei Hino, Hunter x Hunter's Killua Zoldyck, Devilman Crybaby's Miki Makimura, and--most recently--Konosuba's Darkness. In video games, Vee is best known for voicing Riven the Exile in League of Legends, Ophilia in Octopath Traveler, and Shantae in the past two Shantae titles.Crunchyroll has secured several talented folks from the anime and animation industry to present the awards. Some are notable for their creative work within the industry, such as Made in Abyss composer Kevin Penkin and Rooster Teeth director and writer Miles Luna. Others are known for their efforts in reporting on and influencing the industry, like IGN senior editor Miranda Sanchez and YouTube content creator Geoff "Mother's Basement" Thew. The full list of presenters are outlined below.Crunchyroll's Anime Awards 2019 PresentersMichelle Phan -- Entrepreneur, EM Cosmetics, and influencerRyan Potter -- Actor (DC's Titans and Big Hero 6)Justin Briner -- English voice actor (My Hero Academia)Kevin Penkin -- Composer (The Rising of the Shield Hero and Made in Abyss)Freddie Wong -- RocketJump Productions, Director (Anime Crimes Division)SungWon Cho (ProZD) -- Creator/Influencer (Anime Crimes Division)Roger DiLuigi -- Creator/Influencer (Roger's Base)Yssa Badiola -- Animator/Director, Rooster TeethMiles Luna -- Writer/Director, Rooster Teeth (gen:LOCK)Tristan Gallant -- Creator/Influencer (Glass Reflection)Miranda Sanchez -- Senior Editor, IGNGeoff Thew -- Creator/Influencer (Mother's Basement)Victoria Holden, Miles Thomas, and Tim Lyu -- Crunchyroll staff and supporting hostsThis year's Crunchyroll Anime Awards will be held February 16 at 6PM PT / 9PM ET / 2AM UK. You can buy tickets to watch them live in San Francisco, CA or tune in on Twitch to watch Crunchyroll's livestream. New award categories were added to this year's event. As one of the judges, I assisted in deciding the nominations for each category.Info from Gamespot.com

PlayStation Now, the game-streaming service on PlayStation 4 and PC, continues to add more games. February's releases have been announced, and they include a mixture of PS3 and PS4 games. From EA, the new additions include Battlefield Hardline and Need for Speed Rivals, while NetherRealm's fighting game Mortal Kombat X is also out right now on PlayStation Now.Additionally, the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection and Metro Last Light Redux have been added to PlayStation Now, alongside Earth Defense Force 4.1, F1 2017, Magicka 2, Pillars of Eternity, and Rebel Galaxy. You can see the full list of 10 games at the bottom of this post.With February's new additions, the PlayStation Now library feature more than 750 games, including more than 250 PlayStation 4 games.Sony also announced the most-played PlayStation Now games for January, and they include Mafia III, Red Dead Redemption, Steep, and Prey, among others.February 2018 PlayStation Now Games:Battlefield Hardline (PS3)Earth Defense Force 4.1 (PS4)F1 2017 (PS4)Magicka 2 (PS4)Metal Gear Solid HD Collection (PS3)Metro Last Light Redux (PS4)Mortal Kombat X (PS4)Need for Speed Rivals (PS3)Pillars of Eternity (PS4)Rebel Galaxy (PS4)Most played PlayStation Now Games For January 2018:NBA 2K16Mafia IIIFor HonorPreyRed Dead RedemptionSid Meier’s Civilization RevolutionSteepWWE 2K16The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel UnlimitedMortal KombatInfo from Gamespot.com

If you're constantly running out of storage space for your save files, today is your lucky day: Sony's PlayStation Plus storage expansion is now live, giving all PS Plus members 100 GB of cloud storage.That's 10 times the previous allowance PS Plus members received as part of their subscription. The expansion comes as Sony removes free PS3 and PS Vita games from its monthly games selection, focusing on PS4 games only for the near future at least.Expanded 100GB cloud storage is rolling out now to PS Plus members. Enjoy 10 times more cloud storage for all those PS4 game saves! pic.twitter.com/u98QZUHBiv — PlayStation Europe (@PlayStationEU) February 8, 2019February is the final month free PS3 and PS Vita titles will be available to PS Plus members. Those titles are Divekick and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for PS3, along with Gunhouse and Rogue Aces for Vita. PS4 players, meanwhile, get the 2016 Hitman reboot and Ubisoft's medieval fighting game For Honor. The new PS Plus games are out now, along with an additional bonus for Apex Legends players.PS4 will soon receive a new system software update too, after Sony sent out beta invites for version 6.50 of the console's firmware. It seems there are no major features coming in that update as yet.Info from Gamespot.com

It's a great--if confusing--time to be a fan of the Child's Play series. The classic killer doll franchise is now more than 30 years old, and not only is a new TV show in the works, but an unrelated movie remake also hits theaters this summer. The first trailer has now been released for that film.The trailer doesn't give much away, and fans hoping to see or hear Chucky might be disappointed. But we do get the story set-up, which seems to hit the beats of the original 1988 movie. A young boy is given a Buddi toy, the hottest doll on the market. Unfortunately, this doll has a mind of his own and sets about causing all sorts of murderous mayhem. No word yet if the remake Chucky has been possessed by a serial killer like in the original films, but he certainly seems every bit as evil as the first version. Check the trailer out above.Child's Play is directed by Lars Klevberg, who has also helmed the upcoming horror Polaroid. It stars Aubrey Plaza (Legion) and Brian Tyree Henry (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), plus Gabriel Bateman (Light's Out) as the kid who end up in possession of the evil doll Chucky. It's produced by David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith, who also produced the blockbuster 2017 adaptation of Stephen King's It The movie hits theaters on June 21.In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Klevberg spoke about getting involved the remake. "Child's Play was, and is, one of my all-time horror movies and it was one of my introductions to horror," he said. "I got the script [for the remake] and it was really really good, and I knew it was from the producers from It, and I jumped in immediately."As for the Child's Play TV series, it's titled 'Chucky,' and is being developedfor SyFy. While Child's Play creator Don Mancini is not involved with the new movie, he is writing and producing the show.The Chucky series kicked off in 1988 with Child's Play, which was followed by two direct sequels in 1990 and 1991. The series took a more overt comic turn with 1998's The Bride of Chucky and three subsequent films. Mancini wrote every movie in the series to date and directed the last three, including 2017's The Cult of Chucky. Info from Gamespot.com

PlayStation is hosting another flash sale on PSN, offering deals on some games that you may have missed during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Many of the discounts are to games that released in the fall, so you could be forgiven for having them overshadowed by all the big AAA releases of 2018.Darksiders 3 is the long-awaited sequel, and the first entry in the series since THQ Nordic acquired the rights. It's been marked down to $48, or you can pick up the Blades & Whips edition for $70. Similarly, Fallout 76 has been marked down to $36, and the more expensive Tricentennial Bundle is going for $48. You can also snag Monster Hunter World for $25, or its Digital Deluxe edition for $30. In each case, going for the pricier option gets you some exclusive unlocks.Other highlights include Tetris Effect, one of our top games of 2018, for $30, Earth Defense Force 5 for $48, and Moonlighter for $12, among others. Tetris Effect will also let you try it for free this weekend on PS4, so if you like what you play you can grab it at a discount. Check out the full listing below, which is relatively short for a flash sale. These are notably all PS4 games, with no PS3 or Vita games on the list. That appears to be another sign that Sony is slowly phasing out its attention on those platforms, as it will no longer offer games for them as freebies on PS Plus as of March. Plus members are getting a boost to their cloud storage space, though, and that perk went live today.This is a flash sale, so the discounts don't last long. You'll have to make your purchases by February 11 at 8 AM PT.Chasm ($12)Darksiders 3 ($48)Darksiders 3 Deluxe Edition ($60)Darksiders 3 Blades & Whips Edition ($70)Earth Defense Force 5 ($48)Earth Defense Force 5 Deluxe Edition ($72)Evasion VR ($20)Fallout 76 ($36)Fallout 76 Tricentennial Bundlle ($48)Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms: Idle Champions Outfit Pack: Minsc's Giant Boo Costume ($7.50)Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms: Idle Champions: Bruenor Starter Pack ($6)Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms: Idle Champions: Faerie Dragon Familiar ($7.50)Marooners ($4.50)Metal Max Xeno ($30)Monster Hunter World ($25)Monster Hunter World Digital Deluxe Edition ($30)Monster Hunter World Deluxe Kit ($9)Moonlighter ($12)Nascar Heat 3 ($24)Nascar Heat 3 Bundle ($30)Override: Mech City Brawl ($18)Override: Super Charged Mega Edition ($24)Realm Royale Primarch Pack ($10.50)Slime Rancher ($12)Sprint Vector VR ($12)Swords of Ditto ($10)Tetris Effect ($30)The First Tree ($6)The Long Journey Home ($24)Ticket to Ride ($10)Ticket to Ride - First Class ($15)Info from Gamespot.com

A promotion for Orville Redenbacher popcorn has given us our first glimpse at the costumes worn by the heroes in Avengers: Endgame. The image shows the looks for Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Hulk, and Hawkeye--or as he's expected to be known, Ronin.Ronin aside, the photo (via ComicBook) shows the heroes largely returning to their roots. Thor, Cap, and Iron Man all don pretty traditional looks. Iron Man's suit is much more polished and spiffy than the wreckage we've seen in trailers so far, and Cap is back to the clean-cut star-spangled man after his darker, bearded appearance in Infinity War (RIP). Black Widow is wearing a sleek black jumpsuit, and her hair has returned to its fiery red. Hulk is the biggest departure from the norm, wearing a jumpsuit of his own that appears perfectly fitted to his massive frame. The official synopsis suggests that the heroes will attempt to "undo Thanos' actions and restore order to the universe once and for all, no matter what consequences may be in store." We expected as much, given that Marvel has already begun teasing movies starring characters that are ostensibly deceased like Spider-Man. How exactly they'll do this, and who won't live through it, remains to be seen.The first trailer for Avengers: Endgame suggested that Ant-Man could be instrumental to the plan, given Steve Rogers' surprise at seeing Scott Lang appear on his doorstep. It seems that the Avengers presumed he was deceased, when a post-credits scene for Ant-Man and the Wasp revealed he was in the quantum realm during Thanos' genocidal finger-snap.Before Endgame hits, though, Marvel has one more hero to introduce. Captain Marvel is coming on March 8, and the post-credits sequence of Infinity War implies that Nick Fury thinks of her as his trump card. As for Endgame itself, it appears likely to be longer than any other Marvel movie to date--which makes sense given that it's the culmination of a decade of this connected universe. Check out our breakdown of the Super Bowl trailer for more.Info from Gamespot.com

It's somewhat of a quiet week in Destiny 2 given all that's been happening with the game recently, but like clockwork, Xur has checked in for his weekly visit. As always, he's here to sell some Exotic items to hopefully tide you over until the next bit of meaningful Destiny 2 content. Here's where to find him and what he's selling.For this particular trip, Xur is located at The Tower. When you spawn, head left and go all the way to the hangar area where Amanda Holliday is found. From there, turn left and head toward the open back area, past where Dead Orbit sets up shop. You'll find Xur just up a set of stairs.His item lineup is no surprise: three pieces of Exotic armor, with one for each class, and one Exotic weapon. That gun is Skyburner's Oath, a scout rifle that lobs somewhat slow explosive rounds. But aim down the sights and those rounds become more powerful and move significantly faster.The armor side is more notable, because these Exotics (unlike weapons) have random rolls on their perks, so you might find something that suits your playstyle nicely. Hunters get The Dragon's Shadow chest armor, which causes your dodge ability to reload your weapons and grants a buff that improves both speed and handling for a short time. Titans get the Wormgod Caress gauntlets, which increase your melee damage when you pull off a melee kill. And finally, Warlocks get the Sunbreakers gauntlets, which cause your solar grenade to burn for longer, and melee kills restore grenade energy. The full lineup and prices are as follows:Skyburner's Oath (Exotic scout rifle) -- 29 Legendary ShardsThe Dragon's Shadow (Exotic Hunter chest armor) -- 23 Legendary ShardsSunbreakers (Exotic Warlock gauntlets) -- 23 Legendary ShardsWormgod Caress (Exotic Titan gauntlets) -- 23 Legendary ShardsAlso available from Xur is the Fated engram. This costs a whopping 97 Legendary shards but will decrypt into a Year One Exotic you don't already own (assuming you haven't collected them all). While pricey, it's a reliable way to fill out your Exotic collection. Additionally, Xur has the Five of Swords challenge card that lets you add modifiers to Nightfall Strikes.While the first part of Destiny 2's annual pass has concluded, you can still work on getting The Last Word Exotic hand cannon. Next week will bring the Crimson Days event for Valentine's Day; that begins on February 13.Info from Gamespot.com

The Steam Awards for 2018 have been announced, honoring games and developers as voted by the community. This year's awards spanned eight categories, from traditional ones like Game of the Year and VR Game of the Year to more unusual selections like Better With Friends.Unlike many annual awards, though, these categories largely weren't restricted to games that released in calendar year 2018. Instead, ongoing games were eligible for accolades, and many of them received it. Only one of the winners was a game released last year: Assassin's Creed Odyssey for Best Alternate History.Game of the Year was won by PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, the battle royale game that helped start the now popular trend. PUBG was first released into early access in Spring 2017, and then hit its full official release in December of the same year. It has remained popular, though, especially as evidenced by winning the Steam Awards.VR Game of the Year was won by The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR. The Labor of Love award specifically honors games that have seen continued support, and was won by Grand Theft Auto 5. Best Developer was won by CD Projekt Red, based on the strength of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (which won Best Environment) and, presumably, anticipation for Cyberpunk 2077.The Steam Lunar New Year Sale is still ongoing, offering discounts on several PC games and bonuses for your Steam profile. You can check out the full list of Steam Award nominees below, with winners bolded.Game of the Year:PlayerUnknown's BattlegroundsMonster Hunter: WorldKingdom Come: DeliveranceHitman 2Assassin's Creed OdysseyVR Game of the Year:The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VRVRChatBeat SaberFallout 4 VRSUPERHOT VRLabor of Love:Grand Theft Auto VDota 2No Man's SkyPath of ExileStardew ValleyBest Environment:The Witcher 3: Wild HuntSubnauticaShadow of the Tomb RaiderFar Cry 5Dark Souls IIIBetter with Friends:Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six SiegeCounter-Strike: Global OffensivePayday 2Dead by DaylightOvercooked! 2Best Alternate History:Assassin's Creed OdysseyWolfenstein II: The New ColossusHearts of Iron IVSid Meier's Civilization VIFallout 4Most Fun with a Machine:Rocket LeagueEuro Truck Simulator 2NieR: AutomataFactorioSpace EngineersBest Developer:CD PROJEKT REDUbisoftBethesdaRockstar GamesDigital Extremes Ltd.Square EnixCapcomParadox InteractiveBANDAI NAMCO EntertainmentKleiInfo from Gamespot.com

Activision has revealed the PC system requirements fo From Software's upcoming Souls-like game Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice via the title's Steam page. The minimum and recommended requirements aren't all that different from what you needed for Dark Souls III, so if you played From Software's 2016 Souls game on PC, you should be fine.The minimum requirements for Sekiro are slightly higher than what they were for Dark Souls III though. For Sekiro, you need either an Intel Core i3-2100 or AMD FX-6300 processor that's paired with 4 GB of RAM and either a Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 or AMD Radeon HD 7950 GPU. You'll have to bump up your system's specs to run the game on its recommended settings, obviously, but the Steam page does not reveal the difference in targeted resolution and framerate between the two.Below, we've outlined the full list of both the minimum and recommended PC system requirements.Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice PC System RequirementsMinimumOS: Windows 7 64-bit | Windows 8 64-bit | Windows 10 64-bitProcessor: Intel Core i3-2100 | AMD FX-6300Memory: 4 GB RAMGraphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 | AMD Radeon HD 7950DirectX: Version 11Network: Broadband Internet connectionStorage: 25 GB available spaceSound Card: DirectX 11 CompatibleRecommendedOS: Windows 7 64-bit | Windows 8 64-bit | Windows 10 64-bitProcessor: Intel Core i5-2500K | AMD Ryzen 5 1400Memory: 8 GB RAMGraphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 | AMD Radeon RX 570DirectX: Version 11Network: Broadband Internet connectionStorage: 25 GB available spaceSound Card: DirectX 11 CompatibleSekiro is a very different take on the challenging but fair formula that From Software has developed through Demon's Souls, the Dark Souls series, and Bloodborne. The game changes how combat works--opting for a system that focuses more on guard breaks--and also implementing both parkour and stealth mechanics. Because of the new approach to combat, boss battles will play out very differently in Sekiro as well. Sekiro's protagonist, known as The Wolf, will also speak, and journey through a Japanese drama that utilizes flashbacks to flesh out the game's cast of characters. There won't be online multiplayer in Sekiro either, but this means the game will support a pause function.Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice launches on March 22, and it's coming to Xbox One, PS4, and PC.Info from Gamespot.com

Outside of the holidays, it's rare to find deals on Nintendo Switch hardware, but Nintendo has announced a new bundle that serves as a good entry point if you're interested in picking the console up. The bundle goes on sale starting February 15 and includes a system with neon red and blue Joy-Cons, as well as $35 credit for its digital storefront, the Eshop.The bundle will be available at retailers around the US and costs $300, the standard price of a Switch console. While the bonus credit can be put toward any Eshop purchase, the storefront is home to a preponderance of great--and fairly cheap--indie games, such as Golf Story, Celeste, and the recently released Advance Wars-like strategy game Wargroove. The credit can also be used to purchase DLC, which many of Switch's must-have titles have received. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's expansion pass costs $20, as does Splatoon 2's single-player focused Octo Expansion. If you pick up Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, its fighters pass runs for $25 and will give you access to five of its planned DLC characters, including Persona 5's Joker.If you're unsure of what to purchase with the Eshop credit, we've put together a gallery of the best Nintendo Switch games for $20 or less to help you decide what's worth downloading.Nintendo has a number of exclusive games lined up for Switch this year. The adorable platformer Yoshi's Crafted World launches on March 29, while Fire Emblem: Three Houses arrives this spring. Luigi's Mansion 3, an Animal Crossing Switch game, and a "core" Pokemon RPG are also slated to release in 2019, although Nintendo has yet to announce release dates for those games.Info from Gamespot.com

The 61 Annual Grammy Awards will air live on Sunday, February 10 on CBS. But what if you want to watch through one of your gaming consoles? Whether you've cut the cord or you just want to watch in between gaming rounds, you can watch the award show right from your dashboard.Both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 have the CBS All Access app, which will be streaming the Grammy Awards live. A CBS All Access subscription costs $6 per month, or $10 for the commercial-free option. If you'd just like to check out the service and use it to watch the Grammys, you can sign up for a one-week free trial to gain access to the award show along with all of the other content. Keep in mind that charges will start automatically once the free trial ends, unless you manually cancel.If you'd rather watch on Nintendo Switch, you'll need the Hulu app instead. CBS isn't carried in the standard Hulu line-up, but it is carried with the highest-tier Live TV package--ordinarily priced at $45 per month. Like CBS All Access, though, you can sign up for a free trial to test the service and watch the Grammys. Charges will apply automatically after the free trial ends.The Grammy Awards will be hosted by Alicia Keys, no stranger to the awards with fifteen Grammys herself. She'll be the first woman to host the event in more than a decade. The show will also include musical performances by Camila Cabello with Ricky Martin, Arturo Sandoval, Young Thug and J Balvin, Dolly Parton, and more. The show will begin at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET.The Grammys will air air on CBS, the parent company of GameSpot.Info from Gamespot.com

Ubisoft has announced that New Game Plus is coming to Assassin's Creed Odyssey. The mode is scheduled to release before the end of February, but an exact date hasn't been revealed yet.The announcement was made via a tweet on Assassin's Creed's Twitter account. The tweet is fairly vague, so any information on how New Game Plus might work--such as whether you'll be able to restart as the protagonist you didn't play as or whether you'll keep all your ship lieutenants you recruited through story missions--has not been revealed. However, another follow-up tweet revealed that more information about New Game Plus will be coming next week.Next month, the remastered edition of Assassin's Creed III launches for Xbox One, PS4, and PC on March 29. The game includes a remastered version of Assassin's Creed: Liberation HD as well, and includes all the DLC for both--such as the three-part Tyranny of King Washington expansion. Both titles will feature 4K HDR support, and on PC, Xbox One X, and PS4 Pro, the games will play with "higher resolution textures, a new graphics engine, and several other graphical enhancements." You can buy this collection standalone, but it also comes included in the season pass for Assassin's Creed Odyssey.The third and final episode of the first major story expansion for Assassin's Creed Odyssey, titled The First Blade, is also scheduled to release in the coming months. The First Blade continued Kassandra/Alexios' story, telling of how they met Darius, the first known individual to wield the Assassin's iconic hidden blade. The second episode of The First Blade, called Shadow Heritage, drew controversy when it ended with Kassandra/Alexios forced into a heterosexual relationship with Darius' child.In our Assassin's Creed Odyssey review, Alessandro Fillari gave the game an 8/10, writing, "While its large-scale campaign--clocking in at over 50 hours--can occasionally be tiresome, and some features don't quite make the impact they should, Odyssey makes great strides in its massive and dynamic world, and it's a joy to venture out and leave your mark on its ever-changing setting."Info from Gamespot.com

Netflix's new original film Velvet Buzzsaw premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, and the art world thriller may be the last thing you would associate with superheroes. But back in the '90s, its writer/director Dan Gilroy made a name for himself rewriting troubled scripts for Hollywood. One of those scripts was Superman Lives, the proposed fifth live-action Superman movie that would have starred Nicolas Cage and been directed by Tim Burton. It was a dream project for Gilroy, but unfortunately the project was shut down right before filming was due to start, and it has since become one of the most legendary canceled movies ever (check out the documentary The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened? For more crazy stories about the production).You may think this has nothing to do with Jake Gyllenhaal being haunted by a vengeful entity killing people through art exhibits, but according to Gilroy, it helped set him on the road that led to Netflix. "I worked for a year and a half on that movie and it fell apart," Gilroy told GameSpot during an interview at Sundance. "I felt like I'd wasted my time, so I decided I was going to do this job for myself from now on. I decided to include as many personal ideas as I could so if it happens again, I can at least feel that I've grown. Whether it's a big studio film or an indie film, I just write things with ideas or themes that are important to me, so it's easier to make peace with it happening again."Since the '90s, Gilroy has worked on both personal and big budget movies, from The Bourne Legacy and Kong: Skull Island to his directorial endeavors Nightcrawler, Roman J. Israel, Esq., and now Velvet Buzzsaw, which may be his most personal film yet--though not at first glance.This is a movie about a dark entity murdering various figures in the art world. At the center of it all stands Jake Gyllenhaal as Morf Vandewalt, an outlandish art critic who never stops critiquing and has the power to make or break an artist with one sentence. While some may interpret Gyllenhaal's over the top performance as mockery, Gilroy drew from his own experience to make sure the character was as serious as possible. "I was a critic for three years at Variety," Gilroy said. "I certainly wanted the character to be somebody who takes the job seriously and whose integrity is vital to the character."He goes the distance with that portrayal to even show the negative effects of working in criticism, and how it affects both the critic and the artist. There's a line in the film that Morf says: "Critique is so limiting and emotionally draining," which rang true to Gilroy. "I take criticism seriously as a form," explains Gilroy. "But there are instances where a negative review can hurt the artist. I wanted to explore that and how a negative review can affect the artist emotionally, and how that sense of responsibility can affect the critic. It was meant to underline Morf's position and power."Morf is certainly a powerful critic, so when he discovers some disturbing but intriguing paintings at a dead man's apartment, he immediately sets up a plan to sell them and get rich with a few other wacky characters. Greed takes over, until they start dropping like flies. Once the killings begin, one of the most important things a horror movie needs to do is let you know early on whether you should feel sad for the characters that are dying, or if you're meant to celebrate. Halloween? Good people being terrorized, Friday the 13th? Horrible people who deserve to die. Every horror movie has rules that it needs to follow, and Velvet Buzzsaw isn't the exception.Turns out, this was an early discussion, and by no means an easy one. "I remember thinking for about a week about this issue," said Gilroy. "And I eventually decided that there was no way these could be good people we feel bad for. I decided that they all deserved to die, which would make their deaths funny, which helped lean into the satire of it."Not everyone who dies in Velvet Buzzsaw seems to deserve it, and that's where the rules get tricky. A character who goes against the artist's wishes and sells their paintings? Sure, go ahead and get killed by sentient paint. But a guy who realizes their mistake and tries to stop the whole operation? Someone who never even tried to sell a painting, and barely saw one? That's where clear rules are needed, and Dan Gilroy did give this issue some thought."We thought of it like The Ring or Final Destination," Gilroy explained. "We had a rule like traditional horror movies, where if you saw the video in The Ring, that's it. Or if you cheated death in Final Destination, it didn't matter what you did afterwards, you're just going to get killed. So for us if you see or profit from the art, no matter in what way, you're going to die."Velvet Buzzsaw is streaming on Netflix now. Info from Gamespot.com

There are more massive changes afoot on The Walking Dead. After star Andrew Lincoln departed the series earlier in the season--along with co-star Lauren Cohan, who could still return--another character is saying goodbye.According to The Hollywood Reporter, Danai Gurira, who has played Michonne since Season 3, will depart during the 10th season. She has reportedly signed a deal for a "handful of episodes" that will air throughout Season 10--which was just ordered by AMC. THR also notes that it's likely Gurira will take part in the upcoming made-for-TV The Walking Dead movies that Lincoln will also star in.The move comes at an interesting time for the actress. In 2018, she made a splash in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in both Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War. She's set to reprise her role as Okoye once again in Avengers: Endgame and--theoretically--in future MCU films. Given how busy Marvel Studios seems to keep its stars, also fitting in months of filming the zombie series could become difficult.As for what this means for The Walking Dead, the loss of Gurira is huge. She's one of the few main faces of the show left. In addition to Lincoln and Cohan, The Walking Dead has also lost Chandler Riggs (Carl) and Lennie James (Morgan) in recent seasons. Remaining of the main cast. It remains to be seen what will happen with Judith (Cailey Fleming) and RJ (Antony Azor), Michonne's children.While this is sad news for fans, it should be noted that there's still plenty of time left to enjoy Michonne on the show. The second half of The Walking Dead Season 9 premieres Sunday, February 10. If you haven't seen the trailer for the new episodes yet, you should definitely check it out.Info from Gamespot.com