FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S MOVIE MAY LAND AT BLUMHOUSE

Blumhouse is reportedly close to acquiring the film rights to Five Nights at Freddy’s . Deadline reports Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema pulled the movie from production a few months ago, and numerous distributors have been interested in picking it up. Additionally, Five Nights at Freddy’s creator Scott Cawthon recently teased Blumhouse’s potential acquisition on Twitter. The Five Nights at Freddy’s movie was first announced in 2015 and the director of the Poltergeist remake, Gil Kenan, was attached to helm the film; however, Blumhouse is looking to start the project fresh. For those unfamiliar with the popular horror video game series, Five Nights at Freddy’s follows a group of animatronic robots terrorizing a security guard at a kid’s restaurant called Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Both of Blumhouse’s movies this year, Get Out and Split, have enjoyed commercial and critical success. 

Assassin’s Creed Movie Doesn’t Feature Any Video Game Characters

Assassin’s Creed is set in a world that will feel familiar to fans of the video game franchise, but its characters and artifacts are all new. During a visit to the set of the 20th Century Fox film, the creative team behind the movie explained the decision to start from scratch with their mythology. “We essentially did them all on our own because we wanted to have an original script,” said executive producer Pat Crowley. “It’s a movie that’s based on the game, but it’s not a movie that is the game.”Director Justin Kurzel explained that the decision to differentiate the characters and storylines was because the Assassin’s Creed games already have so much backstory for each of their characters. Since those had already been mined, he wanted to offer viewers something new.

“It was about trying to inject a new character who can have some sort of relationship with the game perhaps in the future. It was essentially about finding a character that was fresh,” Kurzel said. “It’s an origin story too. It’s about a man that doesn’t realize he’s an Assassin in the present day and discovers that and discovers skills and discovers an identity and discovers that he’s part of a tribe. That became the real focus that we concentrated on. We needed, especially in the present day, a character that enabled us to do that.” To make sure their new storyline stayed true to the Assassin’s Creed franchise, Crowley and Kurzel worked closely with Ubisoft. They used Ubisoft’s encyclopedia of Assassin’s Creed rules, which included details like how much of an ancestor’s memories you can access and how you can’t change the past, to set up the framework of the script. Ubisoft ambassadors also would come to set to offer their approval.

“[The movie] exists within the rules and the world that Ubisoft has set up that Assassin’s Creed can take place in,” said Crowley. “We just went ahead and created a new [story] that respected the rules, that a gamer could come and go, ‘I know this world.’” Even though the characters aren’t the same, there will be a handful of nods to previous Assassin’s Creed figures from the game scattered throughout the film. Armorer Tim Wildgoose was a huge fan of the Assassin’s Creed games when he signed on to make the movie’s weapons, and because of that he littered Easter eggs throughout various sets. “Justin basically said to me, because I know the games very well, ‘Pick whatever you think would be iconic,’” said Wildgoose. “That also means I get to choose my favorite weapons and make them for real.”

Though 80% of the weapons were created from new (and, according to Wildgoose, many were inspired by real-life weapons in the Wallace Collection), expect to see the Guillotine Gun from Assassin’s Creed Unity, Connor’s bow from Assassin’s Creed III, Baptiste’s sword from Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation, Shao Jun’s sword from Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China and more if you keep your eyes peeled. “We’re just going to have it in the background somewhere so the fans can watch it and spot these things,” he said.

Production designer Andy Nichols also left nods to the games throughout the movie. Various uniforms, outfits, literature and engravings will be references to Assassin’s Creed games that eagle-eyed viewers can spot (though, here’s a hint: a lot of them are going to be in Abstergo CEO Alan Rikkin’s office). The groundwork laid in this movie will be used going forward if Fox’s Assassin’s Creed movie becomes the trilogy it’s intended to be. On set, star and producer Michael Fassbender said that work had already begun on a second movie, and they have the idea for what a third will be as well. “It’s not a one-off,” said Crowley. “Everybody expects that this movie will continue.”

Assassin’s Creed hits theaters on December 21, 2016.

Seth Rogen in Talks to Produce Where’s Waldo Movie

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg—who’ve previously worked together on The Interview and This Is The End—are currently in talks to produce MGM’s live-action Where’s Waldo? movie. According to Deadline, the duo have been in discussions with the studio for the past week and “the deal is getting closer.”

Where’s Waldo? was created by Martin Hanford in 1987

Once a deal has been struck, Goldberg and Rogen will officially be on board to produce the project with their Point Grey partner James Weaver, and their proteges—Kyle Hunter and Ariel Shaffir—will write the script. Where’s Waldo? was created by Martin Hanford in 1987 and has become an incredibly-successful franchise for Classic Media, with over 55 million books featuring the iconic character sold across the globe. Rogen and Goldberg’s other projects include the risky and fast-approaching animated film Sausage Party, as well AMC’s Preacher series, on which they’re executive producers.

J.J. Abrams: Portal, Half-Life Movies Still Happening

Movies based on Portal and Half-Life are still in the works, according to J.J. Abrams. In an interview about the recently released 10 Cloverfield Lane, which Abrams produced, the Star Wars director was asked for an update on his joint project with Valve. “Not yet, but they’re in development,” he answered. “And we’ve got writers, and we’re working on both those stories. But nothing that would be an exciting update.” Movies based on the pair of games were first hinted at during DICE 2013. At that time, Abrams and Gabe Newell expressed the desire to partner up to create games and films. The most notable being movies based on Portal and Half-Life. Since then nothing new about the projects has emerged. Interestingly, 10 Cloverfield lane director Dan Trachtenberg first rose to prominence for his short fan film Portal: No Escape, but hasn’t been linked to Abrams’ Portal project.

Images Released for The LEGO Batman Movie

A handful of images showing off The LEGO Batman Movie have been released ahead of tomorrow’s trailer. According to USA Today, LEGO Batman voice actor Will Arnett says “the Batcave is even better than we remembered it, it’s awesome.”

The LEGO Batman Movie, Image credit: Warner Bros, USA Today

The LEGO Batman Movie, Image credit: Warner Bros, USA Today

“We thought if we can tell a well-rounded, funny story that’s action-packed, we can build a big movie around this character,” says director Chris McKay. “This is the movie we would want to see.” “Batman is an island unto himself, the only thing he doesn’t have is relationships,” McKay continues. “We’re making About a Boy as directed by Michael Mann.” The LEGO Batman Movie is due for release on February 10, 2017. It has a star studded cast, including Ralph Fiennes as Alfred, Rosario Dawson as Batgirl, and Zach Galifianakis as the Joker.

Daisy Ridley Confirms Talks for Lara Croft Role

After rumours linking her to the upcoming Tomb Raider film reboot, Star Wars: The Force Awakens star Daisy Ridley has confirmed that she has had talks to take on the role of Lara Croft. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at the Empire Awards, Ridley said there “have been conversations” about her taking on the role once played by Angelina Jolie, but that “I’m waiting for someone to say ‘I want you, let’s do it’.” When asked if she would have time to make such a commitment alongside filming Star Wars Episode VIII, she said, “absolutely, I’m trying to fill up my calendar.”

 She also made clear that no script for the film exists at this time – although that might be expedited somewhat, considering director Roar Uthaug has said the film’s inspired by Crystal Dynamics’ reboot of the series. Also speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, Star Wars co-star John Boyga said “she should be” Lara Croft: ““I played Tomb Raider the game, it’s a new take and I think the movies are going to be based on that version. But I texted Daisy [and] was like, ‘this is you!’ and ‘you need to get on that because you could be Lara Croft.’”

 

Five Nights at Freddy’s is Getting a Film Adaptation

Five Nights at Freddy’s, the point-and-click survival horror series from developer Scott Cawthon, is getting a feature adaptation after Warner Bros. picked up the rights. THR reports the film adaptation will be produced by Vertigo Entertainment‘s Roy Lee (Run All Night, the upcoming Poltergeist remake) along with KatzSmith Productions’ Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg (Beetlejuice 2). Jon Berg and Nik Mavinkurve are overseeing for Warners while Adam Stone and Jay Ireland will executive produce, according the report. The project is currently out to writers. “The story really lends itself to being a movie and it taps into a largely unexplored niche of horror that a lot of people will be able to relate to,” Cawthon told the publication. “We’re looking forward to working with Scott to make an insane, terrifying and weirdly adorable movie,” said Grahame-Smith. Five Nights at Freddy’s is set in a family fast food restaurant called Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, where animatronic robots entertain by day and become twisted killers at night. Five Nights at Freddy’s was first released last August and the third installment launched on Windows PC just  last month. The game takes place 30 years after Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza closed its doors, with the murderous events taking place there decades ago evolving into an urban myth.

Star Wars: Attack Squadrons Cancelled

Disney has cancelled development of Star Wars: Attack Squadrons, a free-to-play dogfighting game announced in December last year. “We want to thank all of the fans who participated in the closed beta of Star Wars: Attack Squadrons,” the Attack Squadrons website now reads. “After much consideration, we have decided to cease development so that we can focus on other Star Wars game experiences. We truly appreciate the time you spent engaging in the beta.” Star Wars: Attack Squadrons aimed to allow players to customise their own versions of iconic Star Wars ships such as X-Wings and TIE fighters, with multiplayer fights of up to 16 players supported. It entered a closed beta period in January; this has now been taken offline. Attack Squadrons was being developed by Area 52 Games, and was to be published by Disney Mobile. A ten-year exclusivity deal between EA and Disney was signed last year, granting EA exclusive rights to develop Star Wars games for “core audiences;” one such game in development is Visceral’s unannounced Star Wars project, which former Naughty Dog creative director Amy Hennig is now working on.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Goes Back to the Future

On a list of potential ideas that could make Borderlands feel fresh again after two years of non-stop shooting and looting, “Take it to the Moon” certainly would’ve been high on my list, right up there with adding new character classes. Happily, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is coming this fall, and it checks off both of those boxes and a few more to boot. Any thoughts of Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel merely being a glorified bit of standalone DLC melted away within the first few seconds of my demo, when I saw one player moon-jump clear over an enemy, freezing them solid with one of the new cryo weapons as he slowly floated by. Is this more of the Borderlands you love? Sure, but it’s also the Borderlands you never knew you wanted. See, being on the moon is more than just a gimmicky change of scenery. For one, it sets the stage for the story, which takes place between Borderlands 1 and 2. Handsome Jack has crashed the Hyperion space station into the moon, and as one of his employees, you’re helping him un-crash it. That’s right, you work for Borderlands 2’s big bad, and you’ll be watching his journey from a benevolent leader to the nasty, Butt Stallion-riding creep you know and love. You may recall Jack claiming himself, not you, to be the true hero of this story near the beginning of BL2, and in The Pre-Sequel, we’re going to find out why. 2K Australia has also taken the change in setting as a good excuse to add some new mechanics to the mix. O2 is an entirely new resource to manage, but rather than make it an ever-depleting meter that limits how long you can be out in space, it powers a handful of new mobility options that rewrite the rules of engagement for firefights. Double jumps, air boosts, and meteoric ground pounds are all at your disposal, giving enemy encounters an entirely different, more vertical flow. Supporting this new resource is a new gear slot, the O2 or “Oz” pack, each of which comes with different O2 capacities and can add special effects to your ground pound, much in the way grenade mods work. One added an elemental effect, while another temporarily created a bubble of atmosphere for players to refill their O2 packs with. The new gearing opportunities don’t stop there either. On top of the new cryo element that lets you freeze fools solid, lasers are now their own discreet weapon type. Sure, there have been a select number of energy weapons before, but from Ghostbuster-esque proton throwers to more “pew pew” style repeaters, the variety promises to be much greater. Of course, new weapons can only shake things up so far, but put them in the hands of a fresh batch of characters and suddenly you have a lot of new juice to sip. And don’t expect renamed versions of existing classes, but rather four all-new classes with full, distinct skill trees. The one I saw the most of was Athena, who you might remember from the Secret Armory of General Knoxx DLC for Borderlands 1. Her action skill utilizes a shimmering, hand-held energy shield called the Kinetic Aspis, which absorbs incoming fire and then deals double the damage absorbed when she tosses it Captain America-style. Skills in her defense-oriented branch allowed her to provide healing and damage reduction for nearby allies, and even gave her the ability to taunt surrounding mobs, keeping her friends out of enemy crosshairs for a bit. Another skill allowed her aspis to pinball from one enemy to the next before zipping back to her.

Little is known about the skill-sets of the remaining three characters so far. Not everyone will remember Wilhelm, or Nisha the Lawbringer, but something tells me more than few players will pick Claptrap as their go-to. You read right – the fan-favorite, one-wheeled robot makes his playable debut, and one can only guess at what he’ll be capable of. Paired with a campaign that’s bigger than Borderlands 1, The Pre-Sequel isn’t a simple spin-off, but a full-featured – albeit last-gen-only – new Borderlands game to get addicted to all over again.

Doug Liman to Direct Splinter Cell with Tom Hardy

Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity) is in final negotiations with New Regency and Ubisoft to direct Splinter Cell, based on the popular video game franchise of the same name. Tom Hardy is attached to star as Sam Fisher, a highly-trained operative that works for a fictional government organization called Third Echelon. Eric Singer (American Hustle) wrote the screenplay. Liman will also produce Splinter Cell, along with Basil Iwanyk of Thunder Road Pictures and Jean-Julien Baronnet of Ubisoft Motion Picture Group. The film is targeting an August production start and 2015 release, according to THR.