The long-running and wildly popular American sitcom The Big Bang Theory is ending with its current 12th season, and now we've learned more details about how it will wrap up. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Harold & Kumar actor Kal Penn and Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin will guest-star in the show's final season. Penn and Astin will play physicists who by accident confirm Sheldon and Amy's super-asymmetry theory, which could have a major impact on how things turn out. There is no word yet on when the episode featuring Penn and Astin will air.There were reportedly discussions about a 13th season, but they never materialised. The five original actors are set to make around $900,000 per episode for the 12th season, according to Variety.Season 11 averaged 14 million viewers per episode, making it one of the most popular shows on TV, according to Variety. A spinoff, Young Sheldon, premiered in 2017.In other news, Home Alone actor Macaulay Culkin says he was pursed for a part in The Big Bang Theory years ago but he turned it down multiple times.The Big Bang Theory airs on CBS, whose parent company--CBS Corp.--owns GameSpot parent company CBS Interactive.Info from Gamespot.com

True Detective Season 3's release date is drawing ever closer--the series returns to HBO for its Season 3 premiere on January 13. For True Detective fans, that comes with some trepidation, as the general consensus is that the show's second season in 2015 did not live up to the high bar set by Season 1. But there's some hope: True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto said during a recent press conference that he didn't shy away from the backlash against Season 2."I understood that there was a lot of stuff in Season 2 that people hadn't really wanted to see, based on Season 1 of True Detective, but I'm very proud of the work everybody did," he told a room of journalists. "I just try to keep getting better at what I do, and move forward, and I think substantive criticism is a big part of that, so I try not to shut myself off from any of it, and really just try to get better."He added that for True Detective Season 3, he wanted to "narrow the focus" of what they're trying to do, and he emphasized that creating the show is "a big team effort."True Detective Season 3 focuses on Wayne Hays, a detective played by Mahershala Ali, and a single investigation that spans three separate time periods: 1980, 1990, and 2015. Hays remains the focus in all three settings, which made for unique challenges in every aspect of this season's creation, from the writing to Ali's multi-faceted performance of the same character at three very different points in his life.Pizzolatto said he started with the character, Wayne Hays, "and the desire to tell a man's life story in the form of a detective story." In the most recent setting, Hays is beginning to suffer from dementia, and he struggles to recall aspects of the case. "If he's losing his life story near the end of his life, then who he is becomes a mystery to himself, in a way," Pizzolatto said.With those ideas and themes in place, Pizzolatto began to conceive of the case itself, in which two children go missing in the Arkansas Ozarks. "I wanted a case that it was possible could be revisited over these three separate timelines, so there would have to be an element that was unresolved in each of those timelines," he said. "And I also wanted something that was--even though there is that murder, something that was less sensationalistically violent and perhaps more closely tied to the idea of family, because so much of the case would ultimately impact this character's family and haunt the family in its own way...It kind of haunted me the more I thought about it." Comparisons with True Detective's beloved Season 1 will be inevitable, but Pizzolatto said Season 3 is vastly different--both structurally and thematically--from the original eight episodes, which aired all the way back in 2014."It's a much, much more complicated structural thing we all tried to do this year than existed in Season 1," he said. "I feel like this one has a lot more light in it than previous seasons, and maybe reaches for hope a bit more. I'm not even sure this is properly 'noir,' given where it goes."Ali, who was also present during the press conference, added that he thinks the anthology show's treatment of its settings provides a through line between seasons. "Your setting is always a character in the story in a very real way," the actor said, turning to address Pizzolatto. "Even looking for the children, as the mystery unfolds, we were really with a camera crew hiking 30 minutes to start work, with gear, and finding our location, and then beginning our day's shooting. So to really be in that space, I really can't put words to it, but I will say that I'm confident that it feeds you with something, as an actor, to be in the environment of the real mountains or the caves in which this mystery started."Season 3's structure seems inherently at odds with its genre, as a mystery is generally dependant on withholding some information from viewers until it's time to make the reveals. With Hays revisiting the case in later time periods, how can the events of earlier ones remains mysterious? How do you keep viewers engaged when huge chunks of the show are set decades after the initial case? "It was the most challenging thing I'd ever tried to do," Pizzolatto admitted. "When I originally had this idea, I was like, 'Yeah, but how would you even do that?' It's like some impossible math problem, how you keep a mystery going and have these reversals and revelations without cheating the audience and going, 'Well, I could have shown you this, but I just didn't show you.'"He said one of his goals this season was to have "no tricks up his sleeve"--in other words, not to mislead viewers simply to keep the mystery going. "Because 2015 and 1990 are happening at the same time as 1980, you're sort of constantly being told what is going to happen," he said. "It's telling you everything that's going to happen before it happens. I wanted to be able to do that--to not play any cheap games with the viewer, to respect their attention and their time, but still reward them with revelation and reversal."With that goal in mind, it seems possible that True Detective Season 3 will swing too far in the other direction. But Pizzolatto said he'd love if viewers restarted Season 3 from the beginning after watching the finale, to pick up on things they missed the first time around."I'd love it if they did that, but I don't know," he said, clearly humbled: "I mean, they might get to the end and be like, 'I never want to watch this again.'"Let's hope, when True Detective Season 3 premieres on HBO on January 13, that isn't the case. Info from Gamespot.com

Disney had a monster year in 2018 at the box office. Its movies collectively made $3.092 billion in the United States and $7.325 billion globally, according to a box office roundup by Entertainment Weekly. The domestic box office performance is a new all-time record, while the global result is the second-highest ever, only behind the $7.605 billion that Disney movies collectively made in 2016.Marvel movies helped Disney's performance substantially in 2018. Avengers: Infinity War raked in $2.049 billion globally, while Black Panther made $1.347 billion worldwide. The Disney Pixar movie Incredibles 2 pulled in $1.24 billion globally, while Ant-Man and the Wasp took in a mighty $623.1 million. New releases Ralph Breaks the Internet and Mary Poppins Returns are also expected to be big-time money-makers.Disney movies were not guaranteed box office smashes in 2018, however, as Solo: A Star Wars Story took in $393.6 million worldwide--the worst result in the history of the Star Wars series. The Oprah-starring A Wrinkle in Time, meanwhile, only made $132.9 million worldwide.Disney is expected to have another massive year in 2019 thanks to major new releases like Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame from Marvel, along with new live-action versions of Aladdin, Dumbo, and The Lion King. Disney also has Toy Story 4 coming up this year from Pixar, while the long-awaited Frozen 2 hits theatres just before Thanksgiving, and it's expected to be a huge success. On top of those, the final entry in the new Star Wars trilogy, Episode IX, comes to theaters in December 2019.What's more, Disney is buying many of competitor Fox's assets, including Deadpool and X-Men, so even bigger box office returns in the future are expected. Info from Gamespot.com

Below, Capy's long-in-development roguelike, has cultivated a sense of mystery across the course of its entire gestation. The question of what Below is, exactly, doesn't go away once you're playing it--the game offers minimal instruction beyond the occasional button prompt, and much of the first few hours is spent figuring out how everything fits together. Your objective is simple enough and spelled out in the game's title--you're on an island, and you need to go as deep below the surface as you can. How you do that slowly becomes clear, although reaching any suggestion as to why you make this voyage takes far longer.Below opens with a long, slow cutscene of a boat arriving on an island, with no context or explanation. It's a suitable introduction to a game that you'll want to take at a considered pace; from the beginning, there's no instruction, although it won't take you long to find the lantern at the island's apex and begin your journey through the first floor. From there it's a matter of exploring each floor of the island's depths, finding keys to unlock doors that will take you further down, and managing your resources and health as you deal with a series of hardships.Whenever you die in Below, a different boat will arrive at the island's shore and you'll be given a new disposable character to take up the quest with. The distant camera and simple character designs mean there's not much to differentiate each individual you control: they're not named or unique in any way, and the game never makes it explicitly clear how or whether they're connected. You start each life armed with a sword and hunting bow, which can be used to fend off any enemies you encounter, as well as a single refillable bottle of water that's needed to replenish your character's thirst meter. From there it's up to you to gather the resources you'll need to survive--by defeating enemies, finding chests, and exploring any part of the world that's sparkling--as you delve deeper into Below's world.Early on, Below can feel generous by roguelike standards. You unlock multiple shortcuts as you go, allowing you to jump to a deeper level from the beginning of your next life, so that you don't need to go all the way back through the whole game every time. Before long you unlock the ability to activate campfires as single-use checkpoints, letting you warp straight back to them with your next character. Resting at campfires will take you into a little room where you can store excess items that your next explorer can collect if need be, although storage space is limited, and if you exit out of the game you'll start right back in the room you left when you start the game up again.It takes a while to encounter an enemy that can do real damage too, meaning that instant-kill traps are a much greater danger for the first few levels, conditioning you to take a slow, cautious approach. Each time you respawn, the layout of every floor will have changed slightly, with room positions shifting and your map (which helpfully shows which direction you can exit each room from) having reset. It's essential that you return to where you last died when you were carrying your lantern, which provides some challenge--you can retrieve resources from any corpses you leave behind, but your lantern is absolutely vital for progress.For the first seven or so hours, Below hits a good balance between the intrigue of its atmospheric aesthetic and the punishing nature of its mechanics. Unfortunately, the balance shifts in a major way later on, and the game's increasing difficulty is matched by harshened conditions. While early floors are rich in the essentials, letting you exploit swarms of bats for meat and enemies that drop gems that power your lantern, later floors are more miserly. Gathering resources from chests and defeated enemies is important--there's a rudimentary crafting system letting you combine them to create weapons and items, but which resources you have access to depends on which floor you're exploring. It's not unusual to end up with an inventory full of items that can't be combined or used for anything.Once you're midway through the game, each new restart is going to involve some early grinding, as jumping right to a lower level without the resources needed to keep your character fed, and without retrieving the lantern from where you last died, can turn the game into a disastrous slog. The areas you can use to gather resources need light so that you can avoid the instant-kill traps planted all over them, and although you can craft limited-use torches, that's not going to do you much good in later stages where the lantern is your main way of fighting back against some of the game's harsher nasties.Your mileage may vary depending on your patience, but this isn't a case where the game's brutality works in service of its excellent combat and astonishing world. Below's main thrills come from discovering new things, and when you're forced to repeat the same sections multiple times, the game's difficulty feels excessive and unnecessary. Below's combat is simply not interesting enough to make the tough sections feel worthwhile--the rudimentary dash/shield/attack system has little room for nuance, and when enemies can do extreme damage with a single hit (often with a "bleed" effect that requires you to use resources to patch yourself up), death doesn't always feel like your fault.Later floors ask you to play very differently compared to the earlier ones. Suddenly you need to keep moving constantly, and the slow, methodical exploration that made the early parts of the game interesting is lost. The game's sense of foreboding mystery begins to dissipate as well, as the mechanics reveal themselves to be relatively uncomplicated and the game's art design relies on some tired tropes and enemy designs. Overall, the art design and Jim Guthrie's imposing soundtrack are both excellent but become much harder to properly appreciate when you're suffering through the game's more tedious sections. Below also feels much better suited to PC--the distant camera and tiny characters had me moving closer to the television while playing on Xbox One.Below's extreme demands for patience and tolerance remain right through to the game's mysterious ending. But despite its assured aesthetic and the initial pleasures of discovery, Below will eventually turn into a slog for all but the most committed of players. Info from Gamespot.com

If there's one thing that's been a hallmark of Vikings since the very beginning, it's the deaths of major characters that viewers hold near and dear. Still, in the latest episode-- titled "Hell"--a death came that was particularly surprising, even to the show's creator Michael Hirst. In a battle against King Harald Finehair (Peter Franzén) and his forces Bishop Heahmund (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) was killed, bringing his short story in the Vikings universe to a close. With his final breaths, as he was being pierced by arrows, he screamed out "Lagertha," showing his ultimate allegiance to the former queen of Kattegat one last time.It was only the end of Season 4 that saw the introduction of Heahmund, who became enamored with Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick) in Season 5. So it comes as something of a shock that he was dispatched of so quickly. "It was a bit of a surprise for me," Hirst told GameSpot. "These things sometimes, you have different possibilities in your head and then you think, not just about that character but how they fit into the pattern--the general pattern of where you want to take the other characters."And while Heahmund's death will have a lasting impact, especially on Lagertha, his death also meant something to the tale being told about the bishop himself. In the episode, he saw visions of Hell that led him to believe his soul was doomed, after aligning with the pagans and falling in love with one. For Hirst, that's what was so surprising. He didn't realize that in writing Heahmund's story the way he did, he was also crafting the most logical ending for a bishop and a warrior for Christ."Because he felt he was a great sinner and that he was bound for hell, itt was difficult for me then to think how I could regroup and where I could take it," he admits.In the end, though, Heahmund died in a way that was true to himself, regardless of where he may have ended up in the afterlife. "He's not particularly, political and scheming he's a warrior--a warrior for Christ," Hirst said. "And so when all those things were added up, then it made sense, that he should die, spectacularly, and he should die recognizing that, although he was going to hell, he loved her. He loved her. To me, that was a beautiful thing that despite his real fear of going to hell he was willing to admit that he was in love and that was great."Still, Hirst admits it would have been nice to keep Heahmund around, should it have made sense in the story. "I thought Johnny was brilliant," the writer said. "He's absolutely wonderful, but it just seemed a kind of natural place to do that, poor guy."As is usually the case with Vikings, though, nobody is truly safe or eternal. Viking history is long and caked in the blood of the fallen. From Ragnar Lothbrok to Christian monk Athelstan. When the time comes, everyone in this world faces certain death and chances are it's not going to be pretty.Info from Gamespot.com

It's been nearly nine years since the first How to Train Your Dragon film arrived in theaters, launching an animated franchise that has spun off into sequels, a TV series, and a number of short films. Now, with February’s How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,, the adventures of Hiccup and his best dragon friend Toothless are coming to an end.This third and final movie--for now, at least--will give fans a closure that a lot of other franchises don't get the luxury having. "I think they're gonna be simultaneously sad and satisfied," star Jay Baruchel, who voices Hiccup in the films and TV series, told GameSpot.It's not just the fans that will have to come to terms with the end of the franchise, though. Baruchel himself is saying goodbye to a character he's played longer than any other. "It's hard not to get a bit kind of wistful, a bit melancholy," he said. "You know, I auditioned for this movie when I was shooting a movie called Tropic Thunder... There's very few things I've done for this long. I've been a son for 36 years. Been an actor for 20 some odd [years]. [I've] never played a part for as long as I played Hiccup. So it's gonna be [melancholic] to say goodbye."Still, as producer Brad Lewis explained to GameSpot, it's best to go out on top. "When you fall in love with characters and you fall in love with a world in a story, obviously, you don't want that to end," he said. "At the same time, you also don't want it to get cheap. You don't want it to feel artificially extended, and relationships start to meander, right? You want it to have an intense emotional focus. So, for me, the great thing is we've been really focused on taking this trilogy and having these characters and these stories really have a conclusion to them."Like Baruchel, though, Lewis expects there to be a bit of sadness from the audience, now that it's coming to a close. "Like all great endings, there's bittersweet aspects to it," he teased. "There's things that you're happy about, things that you wish emotionally that were really tough to accept. But that's, you know... if we can do that to an audience, then we've really done our job."How to Trains Your Dragon: The Hidden World hits theaters on February 22. Info from Gamespot.com

Back in 2016, when Scarlett Johansson was cast as the lead in the live-action Ghost in the Shell remake, critics balked, lamenting that such a prominent blockbuster role, which should have been performed by an Asian woman, was instead given to a white woman. It was part of a larger Hollywood trend, of Asian roles being performed by white leads, that began all the way back in the silent film era, when Mary Pickford performed as Cho-Cho-San in Madam Butterfly. Beyond that, the practice was common in theater as well.Defenders and justifiers of this practice make their argument upon "pragmatic" concerns -- a rhetorical trick that dismisses the more complex, difficult-to-solve dynamics at play. For example: "Hollywood would create a film with Asian leads," they reasoned, "if those movies made money." "The films would not even be in production," they claimed, "unless a white lead actor signed on in the first place."This argument, at its core, absolves the studios, the actors, and filmmakers of blame, and instead, places the onus upon the paying audience. But this is a self-defeating, self-serving proposition. The major Hollywood studios are at least complicit in this "whitewashing" effect; they determine what the public consumes, and they help to establish the norms. It's not worthwhile to play "chicken or the egg" over how things got this way; it is worthwhile to break a cycle that was created.And 2018 will be remembered as the year that the lie--about minority leads and their lack of bankability--got exposed. The hit, minority-helmed films of 2018 were not "niche" interest, making a killing on the awards circuit but nowhere else; they were multi-million dollar blockbusters. Black Panther, released in February 2018, grossed over $1.3 billion at the global box office. It is the highest grossing solo superhero movie, to date, and it is only behind the Avengers films for superhero films overall. That's more than PR talking; that's money talking.And in what has since become known as "Asian August," Asian-led films led the global box office in August 2018. Crazy Rich Asians, starring Constance Wu, raked in close to $240 million, while low budget indie film Searching, starring John Cho did close to $74 million against a $1 million budget. These actors are not A-List, instant-hit movie stars like Tom Cruise or George Clooney. But backed by a solid script and solid camera work, they shone on their own merits.Black Panther, Crazy Rich Asians, and Searching were all written and directed by people of color; even writer/director Spike Lee, who is normally minimized as a niche filmmaker, had his biggest hit in 12 years with BlacKKKlansman. All of this raises another key point; it is not enough to cast minorities haphazardly, in a bid for token diversity and the appearance of progressivism. Minorities need to be in control of their own stories and narratives. And audiences need to demand it, rather than accept co-option as a necessary reality to doing business.There is still work to be done. Minority filmmakers, writers, and actors are empowered and have their foot in the door, but that is all it is; it takes a sustained push over years, not a single month, to move the needle. And one day, these filmmakers should not bear the burden of being THE film that carries an entire group's hopes and expectations. Writer/director Jordan Peele had to clarify that his new horror/thriller film Us, (due out on March 15, 2019) does not make race its main issue. One looks forward to a time, hopefully sooner rather than later, that this is no longer a necessary point of clarification.Info from Gamespot.com

With the new year comes Destiny 2's weekly reset, and while the game's holiday event, The Dawning, might have ended, there are still lots of ways to chase Powerful gear to get up to the new Power level cap of 650. Most notable is the rotating Ascendant Challenge, which takes you into the strange recesses of the Dreaming City. This is the end of the six-week cycle of challenges, and it's one of the most spookiest and most involved. Here's where to find the Taken portal and what to do once you're inside.As always, the first step is to pick up the Ascendant Challenge from Petra--this is what nets you a piece of Powerful gear for completing it. Once that's done, make sure you have a Tincture of Queensfoil. With that in hand, you'll enter the Lost Sector in Rheasilvia, the Chamber of Starlight. You'll need to make your way through the entire thing, as the portal is located just behind the chest that unlocks after killing the boss. While optional, you might as well complete the Lost Sector to make things easier on yourself. With that out of the way, use the Tincture to gain the Ascendance buff, which allows you to see the Taken portal. The exact location can be seen in the video above and map below.Jump through the portal to head to Cimmerian Garrison, located in the Ascendant Plane. Here, you'll be faced with what amounts to a gauntlet--you'll need to make your way through and kill an enemy at the end. Once you go inside, you'll be chased by three knights. As you progress, you'll have to deal with various enemies, including hobgoblins, shriekers, and thrall with yellow health bars. Take them out as you go, and you'll reach a point where you have to platform across some rocks (because it wouldn't be an Ascendant Challenge without some first-person platforming). Along the way, be mindful of the Taken corruption that will periodically explode with a blast of energy, which can send you falling you to your death if you aren't careful.Once you're done platforming, you'll have to kill a knight to finish things out, but beware the shrieker that spawns nearby. With the knight dead, open the chest to complete the Ascendant Challenge. There may not be any special rewards inside there, but you'll get a piece of Powerful gear for turning in the associated bounty.This week's reset marks the end of the Iron Banner as well as The Dawning, and you'll have to wait a bit if you're itching for something new to do. There's one last Forge activity to unlock in Destiny 2's latest expansion, The Black Armory, but it won't become available for to find and unlock until the weekly reset on January 8. In the meantime, though, there's the Izanami Forge, which is the toughest and most involved to unlock yet--check out our guide for help. Info from Gamespot.com

The Netflix series The Punisher has dropped a new teaser trailer for its second season along with, seemingly inadvertently, a release date. It appears that the return of the vigilante Frank Castle is right around the corner.The brief teaser shows a hand taking a drink of liquor and then burning a full pardon for one Frank Castle, aka The Punisher--followed by the tagine "back to work." The video only vaguely teases that the second season is coming soon, but we may know the release date regardless.ComicBook reports that the Netflix Twitter account for the Middle East and North Africa tweeted a list of release dates for new content, which listed The Punisher on January 18. That tweet has since been deleted, so it's likely that the account let the cat out of the bag before Netflix intended to announce it.Back to work. pic.twitter.com/egCCC2qX3y— The Punisher (@ThePunisher) January 1, 2019The Punisher spun off from Netflix's Daredevil, after that series' second season featured Castle as a prominent character being defended by the law firm of Matt Murdock (aka Daredevil). Being a part of Netflix's Marvel universe probably places it on the chopping block, since Netflix has been progressively canceling its Marvel shows. The company canceled Iron Fist, then Luke Cage, and most recently, Daredevil.That only leaves The Punisher and Jessica Jones remaining. Generally Netflix has given these cancellation announcements shortly after releasing the last production season, so we could hear about The Punisher being cancelled by the end of the month. Jessica Jones has a third season currently in production.There is some hope for more of all of these shows, though, as a Disney executive recently left the door open to bringing them to its new streaming service, Disney+. The impending launch of that service has been interpreted as a reason behind Netflix scuttling its Marvel shows.Info from Gamespot.com

After over a year, it's finally time to start getting ready for the next trip to the Upside Down. To celebrate the new year, Netflix released the first teaser trailer for Stranger Things 3 at midnight on December 31. While the quick clip didn't contain any new footage--it did include some vintage Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve imagery--it revealed when the hit series would return.The third season of Stranger Things will premiere on Netflix on July 4, because what better way is there to celebrate America's independence than with Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) using her mental powers to throw cars around and fight demodogs? Along with the teaser, Netflix also released the first poster which gives a hint at the theme for the new season.In the poster, the show's stars are watching 4th of July fireworks explode in 1985, leading us to believe that the series won't just be released over Independence Day, but also be set around it. The tagline reads, "One summer can change everything," which sounds like a totally cliche '80s movie line--something that is very appropriate for the series. It would be hard enough for the show's youngest characters to enter their teenage years just as normal kids. It's an entirely different situation for them, though, given the awful hellscape of a dimension they just can't seem to get away from.In the image, only Eleven and Will (Noah Schnapp) are looking back as the Upside Down makes its way into their world. Mike (Finn Wolfhard), on the other hand, is looking at Eleven with concern, while their friends are too mesmerized by the fireworks to realize anything is wrong.The new teaser and poster still manage to keep most of what Season 3 will be about under wraps. Thus far, Netflix has been revealing tiny pieces of information about Stranger Things 3--like the list of episode titles--while managing to leave us knowing very little. However, there are some things we've learned, like the arrival of some new faces that include Cary Elwes and Jake Busey, or that the new shopping mall in town will play a major role.If you're dying to find out all of the details about Stranger Things 3, make sure to take a look at everything we've learned so far. Otherwise, you've got seven months to get ready for the show's return on Netflix on July 4.Info from Gamespot.com

New year, new Happy Death Day 2U trailer! The upcoming sequel to 2017's Happy Death Day is heading to theaters on Valentine's Day, with the original cast returning for a new take on its horror-tinged Groundhog Day-like premise.In the new film, Tree (Jessica Rothe) isn't the only one dying every time the day resets. Now she's leading a ragtag group of college buddies in an attempt to stop whatever force it is that wants them all very dead. As seen in the new trailer, she's also figured out a clever way around being constantly murdered--killing herself. Whether it's falling off a building, jumping out of a plane without a parachute, or blowing herself up, Happy Death Day 2U is mixing things up when it comes to killing off its star just as much as the first one did.Happy Death Day 2U is set two years after the original movie and throws Tree back into the time loop that started it all.. By this point, though, she's a pro as reliving the same awful day over and over, so she quickly jumps into action to mobilize her group of friends and figure out who it is that wants her so dead.The latest film in the franchise sees the rest of the originals cast returning alongside Rothe, as well as writer/director Christopher Landon. Happy Death Day 2U hits theaters on February 14.Info from Gamespot.com

The Halo TV show, which has been in development for a very long time, hit a bit of speedbump at the end of 2018 when director Rupert Wyatt (Planet of the Apes) dropped out. Microsoft has now confirmed it is is "knee-deep" in conversations with potential replacements.Kiki Wolfkill, the head of Transmedia efforts at 343, said in a blog post that 2018 was a "year of momentum and energy" for the Halo TV show, and this included "a few roadbumps." In better news, the project continues to move ahead, and work is being done on the scripts and even prototyping of physical props. As for who may replace Wyatt in the director's chair, Wolfkill said more details will be shared in the time ahead.It sounds like the Halo TV show is still in the very early stages, however, as Wolfkill said she and colleague Frank O'Connor (Halo franchise director) are still building the "foundation" of the series. Whatever the case, Halo fans eager to know the project hasn't been abandoned or forgotten have some good news in this update."It's been a year of momentum and energy and a few roadbumps along the way but we are ending the year on the Halo TV series happily exhausted," Wolfkill said. "Not unlike game development, it has been a very rapid pace over the last few months of script refinement, concepting, and practical prototyping (but unlike game development, much of this is physical prototyping which is a whole other thrill)! There have been short flights, long flights (ask [Frank O'Connor] about his unobtainium flight status), skype calls, and working sessions all of which have left us excited to come back in January and continue to build our foundation for this show."In the meantime, we're knee-deep in director conversations and will share deets when we're back!"Wyatt, who directed Rise of the Planet of the Apes, left the Halo TV show due to scheduling conflicts. He said he enjoyed the time he spent working on the show, saying it was a "creatively rich and rewarding experience with a phenomenal team."The Halo TV show will air on Showtime, whose parent company, CBS, also owns GameSpot. Network president of programming Gary Levine said in his own statement that the Halo show is "evolving beautifully with rich characters, compelling stories, and powerful scripts."The production demands for the Halo TV show continue to be "enormous," Levine said. As such, Showtime needed to add more time to the production schedule, and this meant that Wyatt had to drop out. Showtime said previously that Halo is the network's "most ambitious series ever," and that's notable given Showtime is behind some massive productions such as Homeland, Shameless, Billions, and more recently the Jim Carrey show Kidding.The Halo TV show will feature Master Chief in some capacity, but it remains to be seen if he is the lead, or what other characters might join him. Kyle Killen (Awake) will serve as writer, showrunner, and executive producer.Showtime has ordered 10 hour-long episodes of Halo for its first season. The Halo show was originally announced back in 2013 with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television set to produce, which it still is.In other Halo news, Microsoft recently shared more details about the much-anticipated Halo Infinite. Specifically, we learned the game will feature four-player split-screen support, which is notable considering Halo 5 had no split-screen at all.Info from Gamespot.com

Aquaman, the latest DC superhero movie, has been and continues to be a juggernaut at the box office. After another weekend at No. 1, the movie has now made $751.8 million worldwide. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Jason Momoa-starring film is now on track to make $900 million during its theatrical run. If it does, it'll end up becoming the biggest DC movie since 2012's The Dark Knight Rises ($1.09 billion).After just a few weeks, Aquaman has already exceeded the lifetime gross figures for DC movies Man of Steel ($668 million), Justice League ($657.9 million), and Suicide Squad ($746.8 million). Aquaman is expected to soon pass Wonder Woman ($821.8 million) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($873.6 million).Aquaman is doing much better from international markets. It's made $562.4 million from international markets, including a whopping $260 million from China alone. The film has pulled in $189.4 million from the United States. Aquaman stars Jason Momoa as Aquaman, with a cast that also includes Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, and Nicole Kidman. For more on Aquaman, you can check out GameSpot's review and related feature content linked below.Does Aquaman's Timeline Make Sense? Geoff Johns And The Writers ExplainAquaman Review Info from Gamespot.com

Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski has revealed his next project, and it's probably not what you expect. Bleszinski is becoming a co-producer on the musical Hadestown. The game developer, who also founded LawBreakers studio Boss Key which has since closed down, invested in Hadestown at an undisclosed amount to become a co-producer."Crazy, eh?!" Bleszinski said about the announcement.NEWS! I'm officially co-producing this show.That's my next gig! (Crazy, eh?!) It's on Spotify, give it a go. It's fantastic! https://t.co/Ew7Tr1QsHA — Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) December 26, 2018At the end of December, Bleszinski said he would probably never work in the video game industry again. He found massive success at Epic with the Gears of War franchise, and he no doubt made a sizeable chunk of money when Tencent invested in Epic. After leaving Epic he started his own studio, Boss Key, but its games--LawBreakers and Radical Heights, failed to find audiences, and the studio closed down.In a deleted tweet captured by Eurogamer, Bleszinski said he was distancing himself from video games because the culture around them can be "toxic AF."As for Hades town, it's a Greek history story from singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell that tells two connecting love stories between Orpheus and Eurydice and king Hades and Persephone. In addition to his co-producing role on Hadestown, Bleszinski is writing a book about his life.The Gears of War franchise is now run by Microsoft, which bought the series from Epic back in 2014 for an undisclosed sum. As for Epic, it's doing quite well right now thanks to the massive success of Fortnite. In fact, it was Bleszinski who revealed Fortnite to the world seven years ago. Info from Gamespot.com

Activision Blizzard, the gaming giant behind franchises like Call of Duty, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, and Diablo, has lost one of its senior executives. The California-based publisher announced that chief financial officer Spencer Neumann was notified on December 31 that his contract with Activision Blizzard was terminated.The company decided to terminate Neumann's contract "for cause unrelated to the Company's financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures," Activision Blizzard said in US Securities & Exchange Commission filing.Neumann is now on paid leave, and he's been given the opportunity to "demonstrate why cause does not exist to terminate his employment or why termination of his employment is not otherwise justified."Activision Blizzard chief corporate officer Dennis Durkin is taking over for Neumann as CFO in the interim. Should Neumann end up leaving Activision Blizzard, Durkin will officially step into the role of CFO, the company said.A source told Reuters that Neumann is leaving Activision Blizzard to join video streaming giant Netflix. Netflix's former CFO, David Wells, announced last August that he was leaving the company after 14 years. The source told Reuters that Netflix wanted its next CFO to be based in Los Angeles, which Neumann is.According to Reuters, Neumann is expected to start at Netflix in early 2019, so an official announcement might be coming soon.Neumann had been Activision Blizzard's CFO since May 2017. Before joining the company, he rose through the ranks at Disney, eventually becoming the CFO of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Info from Gamespot.com