Category: Gamespot

The movie adaptation of the classic comic series Sandman has hit another set-back. The film has been in development for some time, and now its writer has left the project.

Eric Heisserer wrote the recently-released sci-fi drama Arrival and joined Sandman in the spring. But as IO9 reports, Heisserer has now quit, and has said that he doesn’t believe the property will ultimately work as a movie.

“I had many conversations with Neil [Gaiman, Sandman‘s creator] on this, and I did a lot of work on the feature,” he told the site. “I came to the conclusion that the best version of this property exists as an HBO series or limited series, not as a feature film, not even as a trilogy.

“The structure of the feature film really doesn’t mesh with this. So I went back and said here’s the work that I’ve done. This isn’t where it should be. It needs to go to TV. So I talked myself out of a job!”

Heisserer’s departure is just the latest change of personnel on the film. It looked as if it was a step closer to happening when Dark Knight Rises star Joseph Gordon-Levitt came on board as a producer and potential star last year. However, in March the actor confirmed that he was exiting, citing a difference in approach with the studio.

“I came to realize that the folks at New Line and I just don’t see eye to eye on what makes Sandman special, and what a film adaptation could/should be,” Gordon-Levitt said at the time. “So unfortunately, I decided to remove myself from the project. I wish nothing but the best for the team moving forward.”

Sandman is one of the titles published by DC’s Vertigo imprint. Last year parent company Warner made the decision to move the film development of Vertigo properties over to its subsidiary New Line Cinema.

At the time, co-producer David Goyer spoke to Collider about the decision to move the Vertigo titles to New Line. “I think that the Vertigo properties are a bit more quirky and off-center than kind of the mainstream superhero stuff at Warners,” he said. “But I understand the decision because we’re not having to fight for release dates with the Vertigo stuff like we would have been having to do over at Warner Bros.”

The original run of Sandman lasted for 75 issues, plus one special, between 1989 and 1996. Gaiman has returned to the title a number of times since, including a novella and a six-part prequel series. The comic has won over 26 prestigious Eisner Awards, and by the end of its run was DC’s most popular title, outselling the likes Batman and Superman.

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Black Friday is coming up later this month, and if you’re in the market for a new PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, yet another retailer has an offer you may want to consider.

BFAds.net posted the Kohl’s Black Friday ad today, revealing $250 PS4 and Xbox One offers. You can get the 500 GB Uncharted 4 PS4 Slim model with $75 in Kohl’s Cash for only $250. Additionally, the store will sell the 500 GB Minecraft Xbox One S bundle with the Kohl’s Cash for the same price.

The Kohl’s ad says some Black Friday deals will be available online starting on Monday, November 21 while supplies last. Physical stores open at 6 PM on November 24 (Thanksgiving Day), though hours vary by state and location. All “door-buster” deals, which include the console offers, will end by 1 PM on Black Friday, November 25, thus making it necessary to shop early if you want one.

Go to BFAds.net to see all the Black Friday deals that Kohl’s will offer.

It appears that $250 for a new PS4 or Xbox One is the standard console deal this year, as Sam’s Club and Dell are offering the systems at the same price. Dell may have the deal to beat this year for Xbox One, as it’s offering the 500GB Battlefield 1 Xbox One S bundle with a free copy of Gears of War and an extra controller for $250.

Keep checking back with GameSpot in the days and weeks ahead for more on the best Black Friday gaming deals.

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Sony Pictures may have found a director for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo sequel, The Girl in the Spider’s Web. Sources told Variety that Fede Alvarez, who directed this year’s well-received horror movie Don’t Breathe and 2013’s Evil Dead, is “the choice” to direct Spider’s Web.

The movie is based on the David Lagercrantz novel, who continued the Stieg Larsson series after the author died in 2004. In the book, according to Variety, main character Lisbeth Salander “teamed up with journalist Mikael Blomkvist to enter a world of a ruthless underworld of spies, cybercriminals, and government operatives–some willing to kill to protect their secrets.”

Salander was played by Rooney Mara in 2011’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, with James Bond star Daniel Craig portraying Blomkvist. Whether or not they will return for the sequel remains to be seen.

Variety reports that Spider’s Web has been a “high priority” for Sony since it picked up the rights to the book last year. The film is now being “fast-tracked” and will reportedly enter production in 2017. Eastern Promises writer Steven Knight is writing the screenplay for Spider’s Web.

David Fincher directed The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. The movie won an Oscar for Best Achievement in Film Editing, while Mara earned a nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo made around $233 million from a $90 million budget, but this was ultimately what co-financiers MGM described was a “modest loss.” Fincher’s film followed the acclaimed Swedish adaptations of Larsson’s three Millennium books, which starred Noomi Rapace as Salander.

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Westworld‘s sixth episode, “The Adversary,” airs this Sunday, November 6. Ahead of that, HBO has released a series of images from it, showing off the main characters and teasing what’s to come.

Go to IGN to see all the images, while some spoilers about the show so far follow below.

In IGN’s image gallery, we see Dr. Ford standing next to the mysterious young boy seen in a past episode. We also see the Man in Black and Teddy out on the road together, in search of the Maze. In another image, the host Maeve is being examined by two park programmers. Episode 5 ended with a major cliffhanger about Maeve and her ability to understand her reality.

Westworld Episode 5, “Contrapasso,” aired this past Sunday, October 30. You can watch GameSpot’s spoiler-filled video about the episode here, while a teaser for future chapters can be seen here.

As for Episode 6, here is the official plot synopsis for “The Adversary,” as posted by IGN:

“Elsie discovers a possible source of sabotage, while Bernard searches for clues to anomalies in a sector thought to be abandoned. Theresa questions Ford’s leadership while Lee encounters a new arrival at Westworld. The Man in Black and Teddy run afoul of a Union garrison in their attempt to cross a border.”

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The Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is yet to hit theaters, but things are moving ahead with the sequels. It has now revealed that the next movie will be set in Paris.

The news was reported by Empire Magazine, who state “what we do know is that the already-underway sequel will travel to Paris.” (via Digital Spy.) This links into previous comments made by director David Yates, who said in a Q&A that “we next see Newt in another big capital city. It’s not going to be New York. It’s somewhere else entirely.”

“[Potter creator JK Rowling] has actually written the script and it’s just as magical and just as marvellous as the first one–but very different,” he added.

Last month, Rowling confirmed that there would be no fewer than five movies in the series, and earlier this week it was reported that Johnny Depp will star in the first sequel.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them hits theaters on November 18 and stars Eddie Redmayne, in addition to Colin Farrell (In Bruges), Katherine Waterston (Steve Jobs), Zoe Kravitz (Mad Max: Fury Road), Ron Perlman (Hellboy), and Ezra Miller (Justice League). While it is set to make a lot at the box office in its debut weekend, it will still make less than any Harry Potter movie, according to projections.

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The Witcher developer CD Projekt’s PC store, GOG, has launched a fall sale. Dubbed the “Monstrous Fall Sale,” the promotion offers “hundreds” of deals where games are up to 90 percent off.

There will be 10 days of deals in all, running now through November 13. Some of today’s offers include The Witcher 3 Game of the Year edition for $30, Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition for $20, Superhot for $15, and Stardew Valley for $11. Go to GOG’s site to see all the deals–there are lots more.

New deals will be added every day for the duration of the sale. Additionally, Little Big Adventure 2 is now completely free, but only for 48 hours, ending on Saturday, November 5. The game normally sells for $6.

Another element to GOG’s Monstrous Fall Sale is that shoppers unlock XP for every dollar spent and every time they “check in” to the sale. Unlock enough XP and you can get free copies of Expeditions: Conquistador, Dex, and Victor Vran. You can learn more about how this works here on GOG’s site.

One of the differentiating factors for GOG is that all of its games don’t have DRM. In other news about GOG, three EA games–Crysis, Crysis Warhead, and Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault–are each now available on GOG. It’s the first time they’ve been offered without DRM.

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Universal’s classic monster movie universe will kick off next year, when the Tom Cruise-starring The Mummy hits theaters. There are plenty more connected films in the works, and new details have emerged about the Van Helsing reboot.

Speaking to Collider, co-writer Jon Spaihts explained that the film will present a new take on the classic vampire hunter. “It’s a new creation, so it doesn’t owe much of a debt to prior films,” he said. “It is still a very romantic departure from the character as incepted in Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula. This is a monster hunter with encyclopaedic knowledge, but it’s set in the present day and it’s filled with good stuff I’m not allowed to talk about.

“I’m very excited about this new incarnation of Van Helsing, and I hope that as the Universal monsters cinematic universe begins to take flight, we’ll see him cropping up in other stories as well.”

Spaihts is working on the film alongside co-writer Eric Heisserer. In July, Heisserer said that “early on, our inspiration for [Van Helsing’s] behavior and his mannerisms was all in Mad Max.” The last version of the vampire hunter was played by Hugh Jackman in the 2004 movie.

The Mummy is the only film in Universal’s monster universe to have a confirmed released date, and will arrive on June 8, 2017. It is directed by Alex Kurtzman, who co-wrote the first two Star Trek movies in the current reboot series. Russell Crowe is set to make an appearance as Dr Jekyll, and is expected to then reprise the role in a Jeykll and Hyde film.

It has also been reported that that Johnny Depp will star in The Invisible Man, while Dwayne Johnson is rumoured to be in consideration to play The Wolfman. Universal have scheduled further films in the series for April 2018 and February 2019.

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