News Drop Ep. 57: Highlander, Spider-Man, Marathon, Hulu & More

The entertainment landscape is undergoing seismic shifts across film, gaming, and streaming platforms, with winners and losers emerging in this rapidly evolving ecosystem.

At the box office, "Weapons" has delivered a powerful $42.5 million opening weekend, continuing Warner Brothers' winning streak following earlier successes with "Superman" and "Minecraft." Director Zach Cregger is capitalizing on this momentum, announcing his approach to the upcoming Resident Evil reboot as "a love letter to the games" that will tell an original story rather than retreading familiar character arcs. This creative decision might finally break the curse of mediocre Resident Evil adaptations that have plagued the franchise for decades.

Meanwhile, the streaming wars enter a new phase with Disney's announcement that Hulu will cease to exist as a standalone app by 2026, fully integrating into Disney+. This consolidation raises important questions about content diversity and pricing strategies as the market continues to contract. Will consumers benefit from fewer apps to manage, or will they ultimately pay more for the same content once competition diminishes? The pattern of mergers continues across the industry as companies scramble to achieve profitability in an oversaturated market.

The gaming industry faces its own turmoil as Microsoft continues canceling projects despite record profits. Games like "Contraband" join the growing list of casualties, while thousands of employees face layoffs. Perhaps most shocking is the revelation of a player who spent $32,000 on NBA 2K25 microtransactions in just five months—yet still doesn't possess all the best cards in the game. This extreme example illuminates why publishers continue releasing minimal improvements to established franchises year after year: the monetization model works too well to risk meaningful innovation.

These developments represent an industry at a crossroads, balancing creative ambition against financial consolidation. As we navigate this changing landscape, the question remains: will these shifts ultimately benefit creators and consumers, or simply maximize profits for the increasingly concentrated power players who control our entertainment options? The answer may determine what stories get told—and how we experience them—for years to come.

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Chapters

• 0:16 Welcome and Weather Delay Explanation
• 2:44 Box Office Results: Weapons and Freaky Friday
• 9:10 Kevin Hart and John Cena's New Action Comedy
• 14:57 Resident Evil Reboot with Original Story
• 20:49 Spider-Punk Spinoff and Highlander Casting
• 27:26 Final Destination Franchise Continues
• 32:37 Diablo Boss Departs Blizzard
• 36:56 Marathon's Uncertain Future
• 44:57 Marvel Rivals Cross-Progression Possibilities
• 48:26 Microsoft Cancellations and Dragon Age Remaster
• 56:27 $32,000 Spent on NBA 2K Microtransactions
• 1:09:57 Hulu Shutting Down and Merging with Disney+
• 1:15:38 One Piece Renewal and Gina Carano Settlement
• 1:21:33 Byron Allen's TV Station Sale and Conclusion

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:16

Hello, all you awesome people out there, welcome, or welcome back, to Geek Visions Entertainment, the place dedicated to the big three of visual media, of course, that being film, video games and television. I'm your host, as always. Yet again, hoover, we are back with a brand new episode of News Drop. First off, let me just get in front of you right now Apologies, this is coming out late. Y'all already know these things. I typically record these on Monday, so they could drop either that Monday or Tuesday, but, um, these on monday, so they could drop either that monday or tuesday, but um, but uh, yeah, um, we were having some, uh, we were having some flood, some flash flooding here. Heavy rain happened over the weekend over here in wisconsin. Uh, we dealt with the big flash flood like the, the biggest flood I think we've seen in like my lifetime at least. Um, yeah, so your boy, your boy's good, I was cool, you know everything, everything's all good over here. Um, can't say couldn't say the same for my internet provider, though, uh, because, uh, yeah, the internet, internet was out, it was, it was, it was real shaky. On sunday, that was the day of the actual rain, uh, and then on monday, it was, uh, it was just it was out for a majority of the day. By the time it came back it was late. I didn't want to record and also like because these things take like fucking like four or five hours to record it, edit it, upload it all in one go. So I didn't do want to do it. So here we are on the following day, but I'm back and we are here to record this one. So we're back here to do this, doing this new one. Hopefully this will be up by the end of the week at least is what I'm thinking right now. So hopefully we can get it up by then. But, uh, yeah, so we're back.

Speaker 1: 2:06

Another news drop here not too long. Uh also, um, it's the next day. Your boy just did his you know his his eight hours of contributing to society. Um, I just ate. I wanted to make sure I ate. Before we jumped on here, I just had had dinner and I'm old now, so that means once you eat, it ain't too long until you're going to be out to go to sleep. So we kind of going to get through this one pretty damn quick. I don't want to try to sit here for, you know, fucking three damn hours doing all this.

Speaker 1: 2:40

So let's go ahead and kind of go over what we're going to be talking about here in this news drop today. So let's go ahead and kind of go over what we're going to be talking about here in this news job today. Of course, as always on the music, on the music side, on the movie side, we're going to be talking about the box office results from the past weekend. We got an update with a kevin hart, john cena talk. Um, uh, the director of the newest resident evil talks about handling the new franchise. We got a spider punk spinoff in the works right now. Uh, we got some casting for a highlander film and we also have an update on the next final destination.

Speaker 1: 3:11

On the video game side, we're going to be talking about diablo's boss. Um, we're also going to be talking about, uh, a little funny one here. I kind of had to put it on there because I just thought this shit was funny. We got some 2k news. We're gonna be talking about, uh, a possible update on marathon and its new release window. Um, another xbox cancellation. They've been canceling games crazy lately, so I'm talking about that as well um, an update on a possible what happened to a dragon age, um, remaster as well. And then we got to talk on a possible cross progression coming to marvel rivals. And then on the tv side, we got some terrible news when it comes to hulu. Uh, we got a renewal coming from netflix's one piece. Uh, a cancellation coming from disney plus. And then we got an update, a final, a big update on the gina carano disney lawsuit. Y'all remember that? That was a while ago. And then we're gonna finish things off with some, with some positive black man news. Uh, what, um, byron Allen and what it's like to have actually have a good payoff in investing in small business. All right, but that's everything we're gonna be talking about here on the news drop today.

Speaker 1: 4:20

So, without further ado, let's drop right into the news. Also. We're gonna try I I realized I did this one time and never went back to it we're gonna try out the music again in the background, so it's not too too dead when I'm sitting here talking to y'all or when I'm not talking. So I need just empty space here, royalty free music. So I ain't gotta worry about, I ain't gotta worry about nothing coming back on you, boy, I don't make money from this shit anyway, but I ain't gotta worry about no copyright claims, and I like that all right. So let's go ahead and talk about this news.

Speaker 1: 4:49

Weapons and presents with the impressive 42.5 million debut, while freakier friday opens to 29 million. Uh, weapons and freaky friday uh, deliver a potent one-two punch at the box office this weekend, losing ticket sales as the summer movie season draws to a close. Uh, the films catch with the top two spots of the charts. Weapons debuted when I mentioned 42.5, freakier friday with 29 uh million. I, by the way, I didn't even know this damn movie was out freakier friday didn't even know that was out in theaters already. Uh, last weekend's champ fantastic fourth first step surrendered the crown, earning 15 and.5 million in its third weekend of release For a third place finish. It started with a strong $117.6 million. It has plummeted in subsequent weekends, falling more than 67% we talked about that in the last episode and another 60% over that weekend. So for its third weekend it fell another 60% with the 67% from the previous weekend. But it has grossed 230 million domestically and will likely earn less money than superman. Um, I don't know why they put that, but I mean I do. I'm not even saying I don't even know. I said that I do know why they put that, because that's been the big running thing of fantastic four versus superman, marvel versus dc, whatever. But, yeah, weapons extends a hot streak for Warner Brothers, which released the film through its new line label. The studio started with bombs like Mickey 7 and the Mickey 17 and the Alto Knights, but it regained its stride with last summer's Spring Sinners and a Minecraft movie, and also Superman this summer.

Speaker 1: 6:21

Weapons is directed by director Zach Kriegar's follow-up to the critically acclaimed barbarian, which was released by 20th century in 2022. Um, yeah, and then the cast julia guard uh, julia gardner, josh brolin, eldon anreich, austin abrams uh, benedict wong and amy madigan uh, the succession catapult him to the top of the filmmaking ranks. Uh, a creaker has already been enlisted to reboot resident evil. We'll be talking about that a little bit later. Um, y'all know this movie has been on my list for a while. I do want to go see it. I was going to go see it but, like I mentioned, the uh, the raining and the flooding over the past weekend, you know, sort of, you know, ruined those plans. So, uh, we might have to check it out because, also, what's we're calling is in theaters right now too. Um, together, which I also want to see, um, and then something's coming out this weekend. That's all that was also on my list. So I'm kind of uh, I'm kind of in a bad spot on my movies already, so we're gonna have to figure something out. All right, uh.

Speaker 1: 7:32

Next up, disney released freak your friday, a follow-up to the 2003 film freaky friday, bringing back jamie lee curtis and lizzie lohan as a mother and daughter who trade places. Uh, the budget is at 42 million and the family film was off to a strong start. Both movies had a positive word of mouth, earning an, a minus from weapons and an a from us from freak your friday, from susan also. By the way, I did hear that weapons um at the pre-screenings and on the uh, on the um, on the festival market, the you know, the independent markets outside theaters. I heard the reception being very positive. I heard uh words that it kind of received the same reception that, like sinners, got in its early, like press screening stuff. So, you know, might have a, might have another w, a w, get it w because it's weapons. So, uh, that could set them up nicely for repeat business over the coming weeks, which is uh understandable. All right, and let's talk about the rest of our uh top moves this week.

Speaker 1: 8:26

Fourth place was bad guys 2. It picked up another 2 million in its sophomore outing. It dropped 53 percent in its opening. Uh, it's going to push it to 43.4 million. Uh, the last one. It went 97 million in north america, so that might end up making a little less than the first one. Uh, naked gun rounds it out. Uh, the top five. Um, and that one. It picked up 8.3 million. Its second weekend, bringing its north american haul to 33 million.

Speaker 1: 8:53

Other eye releases uh, a sketch that came out with 2.5 million. I gotta remember what the heck is coming out this weekend. Da-da, I'll just build that wall. Uh, bitch, what the fuck is this? Uh, that's sonia. Highest to lowest, that's what it is that's coming out this weekend, and I want to. I want to see that too, that that shit looks fire. Uh, damn so, I'm already. I'm already like three movies. I'm already three movies behind right now, so we gotta work them out. But anyway, that was our box office this weekend. Uh, weapons off to a strong start.

Speaker 1: 9:51

Freak your friday. I've been hearing, uh, audiences are loving freak your friday, critics not so much. But you know, you know, it's one of those family it's, you know, it's definitely, I feel like one of those like millennial nostalgia movies. You know, everybody remembers freaky friday, second one coming out 20 years later, so a lot of people gonna go out and see it. But, yeah, there we go, all right.

Speaker 1: 10:11

Next up, we got kevin hart and john cena to star in and produce the leading man, which is a uh netflix action comedy uh from john and eric hober I don't know who those are. So, uh, writers, john and eric holber, have sold netflix on the pitch for the leading man, an action comedy based on the comic book series from jeremy hawn and b claymore I've never heard of this uh to star and be produced by kevin hart and john cena. So kevin hart is now moving on to another ex-wrestler third actor uh, that he can star in movies uh alongside uh, fantastic, uh, it's in early development. But the pixlog line follows when a self-absorbed movie star who's cena, who's going to be cena's character discovers that his co-star slash man in the chair, heart, is an actual agent. He's forced to swallow his pride and accept the action that action stars aren't really action heroes while trying to save the world. Bitch, this is just ain't this just fucking, uh, cia, the movie he did with the rock, ain't that just what that is? It just sounds very similar to that, all right, so johnson is a big action star. He's a big action movie guy. Uh, leading man in the movie, kevin hart is, like his co-star, uh, always kind of more of the. You know, he's the, the nerdy man in the chair. He's the. You know, cena spider. Cena is tom holland spider-man, while uh, kevin hart is, uh, jacob battle on's dead leads from the spider-man movies. But it turns out kevin hart is an actual asian. So there you go. All right, heart were produced alongside, uh, luke, kelly klein and brian smiley for heartbeat. Um, uh, under the company's multi-film deal with netflix, john roth and jeff okay, whatever, for arcade films. So a lot of producers, a lot of fucking producers, gonna be attached to this damn thing. Uh, news of hearts.

Speaker 1: 12:00

Involvement with the leading man comes to mid. His work on 72 hours, which is, is a Netflix comedy held by Tim Story where it starts, alongside Marcella Hernandez and Mason Gooding. His previous output for the streamer includes Fatherhood, me Time, the man from Toronto and Lift, along with the limited series True Story. The comedic multi-hyphenate is written by. You know that shit.

Speaker 1: 12:22

Recently I worked on Little Brother, a Netflix comedy where he was the opposite, eric andre, seen as coming off heads of state. Uh, the amazon movie, yeah, yeah, with andres elba. That brought 75 million worldwide viewers. What's this movie he got with, uh, eric andre, that just sounds that actually kind of sounds interesting. John cena, john cena and eric andre. That actually sounds like that could be like legit funny. Uh, there you go.

Speaker 1: 12:45

He's also on the coyote for zagny. Yeah, yeah, that's coming to theaters. We got it, which we got to go see people. We complained about wb taking away coyote versus zagny. We can't fuck up and not go see the movie. We gotta go see the movie. Uh, then, more more producer talk. Uh, yeah, just more producer talk. So, yeah, so we got a uh, we got a john cena, kevin hart movie coming in the future. Um, once the trailer drops, we'll have it on the channel. We'll see how it is.

Speaker 1: 13:15

Um, I don't know, but kevin hart, kevin hart exists in a very weird kevin hart. Kevin hart exists in a very weird spot. For me. He's very typecast and like all his shit, he's a short, loud guy and like every, like every damn movie. Um, unfortunately, his fit he he's moving into, like tyler perry, uh, space for me, if that makes sense. If y'all understand my relationship with Tyler Perry, um, I'm not the biggest fan. Uh, I respect the hustle and the accomplishments, but I feel like they just kind of find their niche, they find their audience, they stick to that niche, they stick to that audience and they just cater to them in some of the worst ways. I feel like kevin hart is kind of inching into that territory for me. He is funny sometimes, but but it's sometimes and I feel I feel like I feel like he very quickly oversaturated himself. He did a lot in a very small window of time and now it just kind of seems like, you know, it really ain't there no more. I like Cena Cena has his moments. I still feel like he's in that very weird spot where he's still kind of, he's still kind of earning his knocks, if that makes sense. He's still kind of taking on a movie roles. They probably aren't the greatest movies, but he's still kind of building out his, his, his portfolio. You know, until he gets, even though peace baker could, is, could possibly be like a big, big role for him, seeing you know where the dc universe goes after that. But we'll keep an eye. We keep an eye on it, we'll see how it goes. All right.

Speaker 1: 15:09

Next up, zach krieger explains his resident evil is a different story, but a love letter to the games. Um, zach krieger. But, by the way, I gotta remember to put this in there. I'll put a card on the video right here, hopefully. Hopefully I'll remember. I'll see myself when I'm editing this. But hey, remember, you gotta put a put the card up here.

Speaker 1: 15:32

Um, I had a video entitled shows. I'm still pissed it got canceled and there was a series on there I had called wrecked, which was I'm short selling it, but basically it's a lost parody. It's a comedy series. That was a lost parody and he was in this and I did not, for the fucking life of me, know that this was the same guy who directed Barbarian. Barbarian, by the way, is a phenomenal horror film. I love that movie very. Subjecting subverting expectations in that movie and it was great. I didn't know this was that guy. Um, so like him and like jordan peele, uh, a very strange thing of like comedy guys who just make this seamless, great transition to horror stuff. I don't know what it is, but anywho, as that critic prepares to bring resident evil to the big screen once again.

Speaker 1: 16:23

He's venturing outside the canon for a new story. The director who is rebooting the franchise for sony explained, uh, that although he's not breaking the rules of the games, the story depicts the movie depicts a story outside of the characters of the game. He's the biggest horse for the game. So I'm telling a story that is a love letter to the games and follows the rules of the games. It is obedient to the lore of the games. It's just a different story. I'm not going to tell Leon's story because Leon's story is told in the games. Fans already have that instead of a caught in march, uh, krieger echo. Uh, echo teased that his adaption is built in the spirit of those games and follows one such protagonist from point a to point b as they descend deeper into hell. A co-writer with, co-written with shea hadden, krieger's resident evil ended up landed at sony in march. Austin Abrams in some talks to star. I've been a regular fan of these games for decades and to be able to bring this amazing title to life is a true honor.

Speaker 1: 17:19

And then just information on Resident Evil. I will say just to kind of start off from this he's a little lucky because the bar is very the bar is very low for Resident Evil movies. None of the Resident Evil movies are good. None of them have done the franchise justice. I feel, not the original major motion pictures by that star, mila Jovovich Is that how you say her name? And her husband I forget what the fuck his name is with anderson w s anderson, paul west, anderson, whatever his name is. Uh, yeah, those not good. The sec. The first one has slight promise, but they kind of just ruined all that as the series went on. Uh, the netflix resident evil series was ass, uh, so there was that. And then there was also another recent movie that was so ass. I heard absolutely nothing about it. Yeah, resident evil, welcome to raccoon city. Anybody remember this? They made another resident evil movie in 2021. Why the fuck that shit? So small? There we go. They made another resident evil movie in 2021 called welcome to raccoon city.

Speaker 1: 18:43

This one actually followed the game, the story of the game, a lot closer than the original movies did, but it was still compete as pretty solid. Goddamn cast on here too. Uh, uh, even, uh, even. Jojo I don't know his name, oh, boy from, uh the fuck was he from? It's from victorious. Right, this is the thing from victoria's. Yeah, yeah, the nigga from victorious, he was in it. Uh, fucking robbie amell, hannah john came in, neil mcdonough was in a tom hopper y'all remember tom hopper from uh uh umbrella academy? You got old girl from thunderbolts, the fucking uh firestorm for like three episodes from uh, from the flash. So I felt like it was a. It was a pretty solid cast here, but yeah, it was so, so, ass that I feel like it's just completely forgotten about and nobody even remembers the fucking thing existing. So yeah, the bar for Resident Evil movies is very low.

Speaker 1: 19:38

I'm interested to see how the fandom responds to the fact that he's saying it's going to be an original movie, set kind of like in the world of the game, but not following any of the characters. I like that. I feel like it gives more room for creativity and more original ideas and also, you won't have to worry about, you know, pissing off the fandom by spondering the way a character is presented or not handling a storyline correctly, laundering the way a character is presented or not handling a storyline correctly, uh. But at the same time, I feel like it might, you know, first glance people who don't even know this thing is happening. When, like, the first trailer drops and they see that it doesn't follow anybody from the actual games, they might be turned off a little bit. So I'm interested to see what the recession is going to be once it comes out. But we'll see. But the guy has a really good track record barbarian, like I mentioned, was fucking great weapons, is doing numbers. Um, we just talked about how much it made at the box office. Uh, positive word of mouth, positive reviews. So the guy, the guy's on the hot streak right now. We'll see if you can continue it all right.

Speaker 1: 20:45

Next up uh, spider-verse spinoff. Spider-punk is in the works with daniel kaluuya. Um, spider-punk is a spinoff from the 2023 across the spider-verse movie. It's an early development and sony pictures animation, daniel kaluuya, who voiced the character, uh, and john sing are developing and co-writing the feature. Uh, still very early, so no plot details, but it's going to center on the pop, punk, rock version of spider-man, aka hobie brown, whose main weapon is his guitar. Uh, he was introduced in the uh second movie. Um, uh, across spider-verse. It seems like he is going to come back in beyond the spider-verse whenever, when you know when? When the fuck that comes out next year, um, so it's unclear when spider-pun will be ready to swing into theaters. For now, beyond the spider-verse is the third entry and it won't be in theaters until june 25th, 2027. Uh, so, yeah, so we got, uh, we got a spider-punk movie in the works. Um kaluuya's working on it. Uh, behind the scenes as well, so that's pretty cool. So, yeah, we might be seeing it. Uh, definitely one of the one of the cooler characters in the spider in the beyond I mean beyond the spider-verse in the uh cross the spider-verse movie. So I'm interested. It's interesting to see, like, if it's going to take place after the the trilogy or before the trilogy or some point, uh, in between them. So, but, like I said, it's still very early, but it is being worth talking about. This is older news, but I didn't want to talk about this because I think that's pretty cool.

Speaker 1: 22:07

All right, next up, highlander Dave Bautista to play villain opposite Henry Cavill in Amazon MGM's remake. There can be only one. Bautista will be the second actor to play the part of the raging immortal. Is that fucking? Um, I know this nigga just from that face. Is this, um, this nigga plays Dexter's dad? No, oh shit, that's clancy brown. I fucking knew I'd do this nigga somewhere. Fucking young clancy brown uh, that's a rare sighting for me. A young clancy brown. I feel like this thing has been old ever since I've seen him. Y'all know, clancy brown is right actor, voice actor, fucking. Uh, mr crabs, he's in, uh, detroit, become human. He does a lot of shit, uh. But dave patista is in the final negotiations to play the villain in amazon's remake of the 80s cult classic highlander. Uh, they have to rejoin henry cavill and russell crowe in the action fantasy which hails from amazon and uh, the united artists banner and it's slated to get a theater release. That's what grows into two big, big, big burly boys in this movie. Those patista slim down. So I don't know, I I guess I can't say that anymore.

Speaker 1: 23:21

Chad stolinski is directing the feature that is due to begin principal photography at the end of september and shoot in locales in the UK as well as Hong Kong. I don't know this guy. Oh, he's directed a shit ton of the John Wick movies, okay, so I mean, you know, the fucking action in this bitch is gonna be top tier. Ghost of Tsushima. What the fuck Wick is? Pain, what is this? What the fuck? What the fuck? Bill stars, guard keanu reeves, donnie yin, what the fuck I mean? This is just somebody taking liberties from a fucking world too far. This all from april, fucking went too far. This was from april, okay, whatever, off topic, uh, yes, so so you know the action is gonna be top tier. He's the guy who directed all the fucking john wick movies.

Speaker 1: 24:23

The original highlander, released in 1986, starred christopher lambert and connor mcleod mcleod, I don't know how to say that name a medieval Scottish Highlander who discovers he is an immortal warrior. With the help of a swordsman named Ramirez, played by Sean Connery, the titular Highlander battles other immortals across the centuries, culminating in a modern battle in which, like the classic line of dialogue goes, there can be only one. The movie will go back and forth from various times. By the way, all my knowledge of this movie, all my knowledge of this movie, comes from a fucking robot chicken sketch where they had like a bunch of fucking uh uh like female teen stars of the time uh uh battle as highlanders, like lindsey lowen was like the main character. It was fucking. That's. That's where all my knowledge of this franchise comes from.

Speaker 1: 25:17

In the remake, cavill is playing mikhail, while crow is ramirez. Industry actress marissa abella is also a leading part. Patista will have the plum role of a mortal barbarian known as the krugen, who has been killing other mortals across the centuries in order to absorb their essence. A classy brown memory played the character in the original movie. Uh, batista's imminent boarding is both a full circle moment and a fan cast materializing IRL. Batista was circling Krugan back in 2015 when a version was being put together under the direction of Cedric Nicholas Troian for some entertainment. Oh, so he's been chasing this role for a while. Huh, in recent months, fans have shipped cavill and patista as opposing immortal warriors and fan made trailers uh, and there's a link to one. But it's just bad. But it's just bad, uh, so that's cool. It's cool that he got it. Then, uh, michael fit god damn, I hate. When does that?

Speaker 1: 26:03

Michael finch wrote the script for the remake scott stuber and nick nebbitt are producing alongside neil h morris. Uh, uh, 8711 entertainment. So, okay, more producer talk. Uh, patisa has been making amazon one of his prime destinations with highlander just the latest feature he has started amazon comedies, my spy and a sequel in the uh and a sequel and is in post on what am I reading that wrong? He started amazon. Action comedy's my spy and its sequel and is in, is in post. On action comedy the wrecking crew opposite jason, I think they're saying the wrecking crew is currently in post-production. Action comedy the wrecking crew is in post-production. Okay, I think that's what they're trying to say. He's also on toaster star in the secret roadhouse, patista. Amazon's the number one guy apparently. So that's cool.

Speaker 1: 26:58

Uh, if anybody's been a fan of the highlander then you know you got to remake. Uh, some cool names attached to it so far. I will say that. So that's pretty cool, all right, and our final tv uh, tv, goddamn, that's like that's. That's how you know. I got that itis right now I'm tired, I'm saying all the wrong shit. Our final destination is in the works, with the bloodlines co-writer returning. A seventh final destination movie is in the works and new line with bloodlines co-writer laurie evans taylor returning to pin the new installment. Uh, more producer talk. Final destination bloodlines is.

Speaker 1: 27:39

This was the sixth movie in the 25 year horror franchise. It opened number one dismayed with the 51 million dollars domestic movie. She's the best opening weekend of the series to date. By the end of its theatrical run it became the franchise's high grossing film, with a 286 million dollar global haul. Good for them.

Speaker 1: 27:54

It's very I feel like it's very rare a franchise that's been going on for so long and takes a really big like pause, takes like a large break and then they come back, um, succeeds, especially one that's like, hasn't reached like this, like I was. As I was saying it, I immediately thought of, like Jurassic Park between you know, jurassic Park 3 and then Jurassic World, the remake, but it's Jurassic Park that was always like a massive franchise. Uh, I feel like Final Destination hasn't been a massive franchise, so it's good that that works. So it's understanding that they got this uh sequel working. Hopefully they work it out better, because that became the problem with the original movies is that they started to make too fucking many of them and then, you know shit, just kind of the shit started to have uh diminishing returns. Diminishing returns, uh, taylor Cole with the screenplay for Bloodlines, with Gary Busek, rewinding a franchise that had been dormant for 14 years. Uh, following 2011's fight of destiny 5, the pair with, along with zach lapovsky and adam steen, expanded the scope of the franchise via a plot that saw death. Uh attempted to reclaim his victims across multiple generations of the same family, ultimately delivering a movie that was clever, unpredictable and fun.

Speaker 1: 29:08

Providing reviews, by the way, I will say that I was thinking about this today when I heard that Weapons was doing very well, because I have heard as much positives I heard about Weapons, I have been reading some negative and some of the negative just kind of revolves around the movie just isn't that scary. Um, so I always want to give credits the fact that we're getting horror movies that actually want to focus on making good stories in them as well, because everything doesn't have to be a fucking gore fest and jump scares and shit like. If you want to do that, that's fine. But clearly the this new wave of like making sure you put a fucking good story along with some at least some fairly decent horror, um seems to make a, seems to make be making for a good movie. Final destination bloodlines uh, barbarian, like I mentioned earlier, weapons, even fucking sinners. I remember, uh, that was one of the negative I was reading very early on with sinners. It's the fact that it was a horror movie, but it just wasn't that scary and I'm like you could still take horror elements and just put them into a good-ass fucking story. It's still a horror movie. Uh, everything does have to be a fucking, you know, fucking, just gore fest and shit. Uh, so kudos to them for like making you know this recent surge of like horror.

Speaker 1: 30:30

Because for to the longest time, uh, for me growing up, horror movies were always very niche and they were always just kind of meant to be that, just horror movies. Either, you know, they were slashers or there was paranormal stuff, um, but everything was kind of that. But they were never like good stories with like good characters. So you got some occasionally, you know, like the first scream, um, the first couple, uh, nightmare on elm streets, um, but very rarely was like horror movies like viewed good, especially, oh my god, especially when fucking paranormal activity came onto the scene and for as good as it was, that shit changed for me so much and did now everything was like, you know, the fucking handheld pov shit. Uh, more focus on jump scares. So I'm glad, I'm glad to at least see a lot of story stuff. It's actually coming back.

Speaker 1: 31:32

Taylor's known for the psychological thriller Sailor Door, oh, what you would call it the Black Phone. That one, I heard, was real good too. Best read a supernatural thriller starring Marissa Barrera, in which Taylor made her directorial debut Upcoming. She penned the adaption of Carla Norton's the uh. It adapted I am still alive for universal, with ben affleck attached. So we got a another, we're gonna. I forgot to read everything over here, but basically y'all know what the fuck going on. Another part of destination is coming, so hopefully they got the same writer, so hopefully she's able to uh deliver the same. Uh, make it just as good as this was, because I did hear that this one was good, uh, and, and I did.

Speaker 1: 32:12

I do remember seeing the trailer, thinking that was a very interesting concept of you know, this is a bunch of people who are descendants of people who survived from those first I think I think it was from the first movie, right, a bunch of people who got off that, who got off the plane from the first movie. Uh, had avoided death for so long and now it's kind of coming back to take out the whole family because they shouldn't exist, because they're descendants should have died on the plane. I thought that was a very interesting concept. All right, but that's it for film. Now let's move on over to video games. Stop spoiling my movie, shit bitch. All right.

Speaker 1: 32:47

Diablo boss Rod Ferguson is leaving Blizzard after five years he was in charge of Diablo 4, which I have been playing on PC and it's pretty fun. I play it as it is. I play the story, so I don't know if there's any other problems outside of just the main campaign, but I've been playing just the main campaign and I've been enjoying it. Blizzard is losing the head of one of the biggest franchises. Diablo general manager, rob Ferguson, announced friday that he's leaving the studio after five years to pursue a new opportunity. He's worked with epic, the coalition and more uh known for and more is known for okay.

Speaker 1: 33:23

The veteran who worked with those is known for closing trouble projects and helping and help blizzard ship diablo forum 2023, spending the last two years overseeing its seasonal updates, including last year's expansion of the vessel of hatred. This is a quote from him. When I joined blizzard five years ago, I had two main goals to blow up and then act like I don't know nobody besides getting my sword. To revitalize one of my favorite franchises of all time and to have a meaningful impact on the company I admire. It is with great pride and gratitude that I can now look back on this period of my career and say that not only did I achieve those goals, but having the privilege of leading this team alongside some of my favorite people in the world and shipping amazing experiences for our players helped me grow as a leader and as a person. Yeah, big Phil Spencer, you brought strength, hellfire and vision to one of the game's most iconic franchises. Playing Diablo 4 with you was a blast. Thanks for everything you gave to the game and to the community. So he arrived in 2020 after five years in charge of the coalition, worked on Gears, blizzard faced a workplace reckoning shortly after he arrived. Oh yeah, oh yeah.

Speaker 1: 34:30

Following the California lawsuit that was later settled by activision blizzard, his tenure at the company coincidentally brought him back to microsoft. He began his career back in the 90s after giant tech acquired blizzard uh for 70 billion uh. He has a reputation throughout the industry for being a closer, someone who could be brought in during tough development cycles to make hard choices and ultimately get a game out of the door. But that's what happened when he joined Irrational in 2012 and made fears that Bioshock Infinite might be trapped in developmental hell following missed target releases and lots of thrown out work. You see, like, like, like. This is an example of like a person who does this and it works, unlike that fucking, that fucking dickhead over running WB discover right now. David zaslav y'all already know forever fuck wb discovery over here. At a time when big budget blackbusters across the board are taking longer than ever to develop, including the latest bioshock ferguson experience uh, ferguson's experience and skill set are no doubt in high demand.

Speaker 1: 35:29

His parts also come shortly after the latest run of mass layoffs at Microsoft. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I think I've missed a lot of this, a lot of the Microsoft layoffs. They've been laying off a lot of people, closing up a lot of games. We're going to have to go talk about one here today. I don't think I talked about the fact that they canceled Perfect Dark, the remake of Perfect Dark, and shut up the studio that was making it all the while they're making record profits.

Speaker 1: 35:57

The fucking CEO of fucking EA just gave himself a fucking price. The Smackers are on here. I don't think they do right. No, they don't. Okay, my bad, my bad. As you know, I ain't gonna say my bad, my. I made the. I incorrectly made that connection, but you know it still kind of fucked up what he did. But yeah, but microsoft is making record profits and they've been laying off all these people canceling the fucking games, uh, shuttering studios, fucking um, raising the price of xbox despite the fact that the bitch already ain't selling um, but yeah. So this guy's leaving, uh, hopefully he could. He goes somewhere. Seems like he does good work, seems like he has a reputation that speaks for itself, so hopefully he bumps back.

Speaker 1: 36:49

All right, next up, marathon will be out before march 2026, says sony cfo. But this is not a commitment. We, we believe the launch will happen. We think we believe the game still gonna come out. We still just don't know. We still gotta put this little fuck out. We just we just don't know when. Right now, I need to buy some damn coasters, I need to buy some coasters.

Speaker 1: 37:26

Marathon's grand unveiling earlier this year did not, I suspect, go with Sony. Sony hoped Gameplay reveals were met with overwhelmingly negative reactions, then a scandal over stolen art and a surgical port of low morale at the studio that is in free fall. Finally, an indefinite delay and a new release date to be announced in the autumn. All that would be troubling enough on its own, but crucially, it came only a few months after the spectacular, hugely expensive, studio-killing failure of Concord. The serious risk of history repeating itself, and I'm sure I'm not the only one to have wondered whether Sony will actually release Veradot at all, risking another disaster or simply cutting its losses. For now, at least, the party line hasn't changed. During a qa filing a financial report, cfo lentile not only reaffirmed that a new release date will come in autumn, but also that we expect the loss to happen within the fiscal year. Get the fuck out my face. All right, that means before the end of march 2026. So we know that if they're going to try to do reach that goal, it's still going to be out before march 2026, which I still feel like.

Speaker 1: 38:35

The way the gang was talked about, the controversy surrounding it, the fact that it was already going to launch very bare. I still feel like that's not enough time to kind of turn all that shit around, though she did immediately then caveat with, but having said that, this is not a commitment, no official announcement has been given yet. She also addressed the possibility of cancellation, saying we believe this launch will happen, but if this launch is canceled we need to do a revision of the valuation. Basically, she's just talking both sides, saying that we're going to release it before the end of the fiscal year, but we're not committed to. Uh, we're not, but that's not a commitment. We still don't have a date. Uh, we do believe the game is still going to launch.

Speaker 1: 39:18

But if it does get canceled, we we know what we got to do. If it doesn't get canceled, just fucking talking on both sides of the fence, so I don't need to update its financial projections. If it does happen which sounds like putting it mildly and if it does get canceled, what a? What move would they make to make up? Because I gotta realize they've put up. They thought there's already a fuck ton of money poured into this game already, like it already has. It already has like two major fucking uh, uh weights on his back one, it has to be another, it has to be another live service game that sony has to fucking work after concord's failure. So if they're gonna put out another fucking, you know, playstation sony exclusive live service game and these to fucking be a hit if they can't have a repeat of cog horde, which already has them walking on, uh, you know, tiptoeing and trying to be a little bit more careful and mindful.

Speaker 1: 40:15

Secondly, bungie itself needs another fucking win because destiny 2 has um has started to become diminishing returns on shit. Um, it hasn't been the uh the lucrative uh hasn't been as lucrative as sony would hoped when they fucking bought the bitch for you know, 50, 50, 50, 11 billion dollars, whatever the hell. They bought it for, um, and then they have a cultural fear like layoffs, um low morale themselves. So it's it they need this to be a win for. So bungie and sony both need this to be a win. So Bungie and Sony both need this to be a fucking win, because they are not in the best space right now. So I'm not surprised that they're behind the scenes. They probably are really fucking pushing to actually release this thing, but they know they got to do the shit right.

Speaker 1: 41:10

But if they do have to cancel it, what moves would be made to sort of make up for the money they put into this and the money that they are now not going to fucking make with the release of this, for both sony and for bungee as well? Because bungee released um, the final shape, which was like the, the big finale for like the main story of destiny too. But, um, it didn't sell well, uh, and now they've sort of they've changed up their model to now it's more like a free updates kind of model now. Uh, so they are doing the big, massive expansions which I would put money on were massive, uh, uh, very lucrative things that uh that they had for the first game, releasing those big expansions. So they're not doing those anymore. Destiny 2, I feel like, is kind of starting to be on the decline. Uh, they're probably not on the biggest, they're probably not on the most positive relationship with sony right now. So if it does get canceled, what moves would sony make to make up the money for having to cancel this? Because, remember, if they do cancel this, that's two huge fucking losses back to back this and concord, because, remember, concord costs 100 million dollars too. Uh, it's not the strongest statement of confidence then.

Speaker 1: 42:27

Uh, and it's very much still possible that internal reviews around marathon's future are ongoing, especially as she went on to describe some fairly ominous changes at bungee. What the hell is that about? Reducing its independence, going forward and integrity and integrating it to places? Oh, no, we do remember that. I do remember that. I do remember this. This is, yeah, this is a little older. Uh, I know this is august 7th. Sony has seen enough.

Speaker 1: 42:51

Three years after calling bradley, sony said the days of independence are getting lighter and its future is to become a part of playstation studios. So they're right, there they. They put the fucking leash on them. They ain't. They ain't let them operate on their own so much anymore. They're going to be under the fucking eye of of playstation now and they're not going to operate as an independent studio anymore. It seems like anymore. So, as I just said, but bungie and sody probably do not have the most positive relationship right now. Uh, and that goes to show, probably don't.

Speaker 1: 43:23

It's not easy to see a positive path forward for marathon at this point, regardless of whether the game itself is good or not. The court of public opinion has already made its judgment, also very, very true, and it seems like it can only be folly just to release just release it in its current form. At the same time, march 2026 doesn't seem likely to allow anywhere near enough time for the. I just said that it just does not seem like that's enough time to fix all the issues that seem to be present with this game. This motherfucker might need like a legitimately an entire, like fucking grounds up redo, but of course they aren't gonna get the time for that because there's already too much fucking money put into this bitch. Uh, yeah, and like they mentioned the two, yeah, the court of public opinion, uh is, is, is a bitch. That's. That's literally what led to the death of Concord. Everybody got behind making that motherfucker a joke and it was never able to crawl under it. It was never able to crawl up from under. That Sunday didn't do anything to help that shit either. So now you got Marathon, which is already people are already calling it the next Concord. It's gotta jump over that hurdle and it's gonna be fucking difficult. They gotta come with some fire, they gotta work overtime for this shit, which sucks because it, which fucking sucks because they probably are already fucking running the fucking dance to the fucking ground to redo this whole thing. But yeah, so that's some marathon info for you there Up.

Speaker 1: 44:50

Next, something that makes me pretty happy, being a brand new PC player Marvel Rivals cross-progression discussions have launched. Cross-progression discussions for Marvel Rivals have launched. According to the game director, guangguan shoutouts to my boy, guangguan though inside the gaming industry, its plans are still in the early stages. Since launching last year, demands for cross-progression support in Marvel Rivals has been constant, particularly as the closed alpha test with exclusive rewards was PC only. As such, anyone who participated in the cat then and now prefers to play on console uh cannot take advantage of their bonuses. Cross progression is very much at the forefront of developers mind, however, but implementation to the game could still be way off. Speaking to in uh. Speaking to insider games at the marvel rivals ignite mid-season finals in guangzhou.

Speaker 1: 45:42

In guan I don't know how to say that guanguang deferred a question on cross progression to the recently launched discord community event asking players to submit their ideas. Cross progression is the main focus of the new axe, the devs event from our rivals, which began on august 8th because players asked to submit their ideas, ask questions and shape the future of the game. The event will end on august 22nd, so it's still going right now, uh. So guanguang informed him that the feedback from the event will be collected and the team will discuss internally to come up with ideas, which suggests plans, if there are any, are still very early in the stages. I hope this turns out to be true. Like I said, it's still very early, um, but it seems that it's one of the top things from the fandom, from the community Cross-migration. I very much hope so.

Speaker 1: 46:25

Like I said, I've been playing on PS5 since Season 0. And, like I said, I built my PC earlier this year. I do have R rivals downloaded on steam. I don't play it too much, though, because I'm still very stuck. I've been thinking about jumping over the pc and playing it, but I have a hard time leaving ps5 because I got fucking you know, uh, fucking lord progression with the heroes. I pour stuff into all the cosmetics I've gotten so far, all the shit that uh that I have on the PlayStation version. I'm I'm struggling to to to move past it, uh, even though I I've been I haven't been playing the game as much as I used to, but still it's it's hard to move forward. Uh, so that means cross progression could still be a ways off.

Speaker 1: 47:28

Uh, previously outlined to you inside the games how new characters around a year. It takes characters around a year to develop, while cross progression is unlikely to have the same amount of developmental stages as a new character. It certainly doesn't seem like it's something that could be added immediately, imminently. Good news, though, is that the discord event is further evidence that netizens give me a close eye on community discussions to shape development, and the new event could be. It could open the door to more direct form the feedback in the future. So, uh, it's just one of the top things in the fandom. It's still very early, but it the talks of it have started, but when we'll see it, we don't know. Okay, it's probably still going to be a ways off. So so it just means it just gives me more time to sit on the fence and just wonder what happens, because when it happens that I can import all the shit I made on my place into my pc account, then I'll be on the pc account, but until then we'll probably just just lightly play the pc when and all that shit. So all right. So, speaking of the microsoft stuff from earlier this is a little older, but I did want to talk about it microsoft cancels yet another long in the works xbox game. Turn it down a little bit slow out. There we go, all right. So what was that? There we go.

Speaker 1: 48:38

Microsoft says that a stop development on contraband, the co-op action adventure open world game in development at avalanche studio group, the studio behind the just cause game. While not explicitly calling it a cancellation, the fate of contraband sounds similar to the script longer development projects like rares every while and the initiative's perfect dark. So contraband was first revealed at e3 2021, announced with a pre-rendered trailer. Um, contraband was pissed as a co-op smugglers paradise uh, set in the fictional world of 1970s uh, buy-in brought to you by evelyn studios games. Uh, the game was said to be an xbox console exclusive with a release plan for pc. Contraband did not have an announced uh, an announced date, and little has been heard about it over the past four years.

Speaker 1: 49:25

I do remember when this was announced at E3. Jesus Christ, that's how fucking long has been. This shit was announced at E3. E3 don't even fucking exist anymore. But yeah, I do remember this. I don't think it was E3. What the fuck? Fuck, what was that? It had to be like Summer Games Fest or something. Oh no, I guess it was E3. Yeah, cause it's the exact one I was thinking of. It's just like a bunch of shots of like a warehouse or some shit. Yeah, yeah, it was this. So, god damn, that was E3. Holy shit, it was like a little fucking truck at the end or some shit, right? Oh no, it was like this a trunk, not a truck. It's like a little fucking truck at the end or some shit, right? Oh no, it was like this A trunk, not a truck Damn. So, yeah, microsoft canceled yet another game In a statement on Avalanche's website.

Speaker 1: 50:36

The studio, over the past several years, avalanche Studio Group and Xbox Game Studios Publishing have collaborated on contraband. Active development has now stopped. While we evaluate the project's future, we're thankful for the excitement we've seen from the community since we announced and we'll give an update on what's next as we move uh, I mean as soon as we can microsoft. So here's. Here's the big problem. Microsoft slashed nearly 9 000 jobs in july as part of a new round of cuts at the company. Ceo, phil spencer said and notes to employees that the time at the xbox division has been impacted. To position gaming for enduring success and allow us to focus on strategic growth areas, we will end or decrease work in certain areas of business and follow Microsoft's lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness. But yeah, but yeah.

Speaker 1: 51:18

At the same time, microsoft has seen record profits, like you know they, you know they, you know they stocks up. Let's see, yeah, income, net income for the quarter ending in june 30th 2035 was a 23.5 58 increase year over year. They have increased profits. Uh, their net for 2025 was 100, 101.83 billion dollars, representing a 15.54 increase from 2024 and a 13 increase in annual gross profits. They're making money and yet they're fucking canceling jobs and shuttering studios.

Speaker 1: 52:17

Uh, I don't know what the fuck is going on with xbox. It microsoft, xbox. I don't know what the fuck is going on, but it ain't good, it ain't good, it ain't good. Speaking of shit, that ain't good. Bioware apparently pitched a dragon age remaster and ea said no. The soft pitch for dragon age, the champions trilogy, never got off the ground.

Speaker 1: 52:35

Ever since the legendary edition, dragon age fans have been hoping and praying bioware's fantasy rpg might get the same treatment. There's every time to put one out, which we all know it would have been before the veil guard launched in 2024, which was I don't know why they didn't think that was a smart fucking move, especially considering the fact that veil guard was in development for 10 goddamn years. I don't know. Also, probably also it could you could have did the fucking remaster and released it and gave the team another, fucking another I don't know four or five years of development, maybe another two if you wanted to play it tight, at the least of development for doing the game if you released it. You know, uh, in the middle of that, but whatever uh, and seemingly wrapped up most of the universe's ongoing story threads.

Speaker 1: 53:20

According to x byware boss, mike dara, the studio was more than up for remastering dragon age origins to an inquisition in one collection and told ea as much, but the publisher turned down the pitch. Youtuber, mr maddie play shout out to mr maddie sat down with dara, who worked at a executive producer on the dragon age and the trouble looter shooter anthem. During the conversation, dara revealed that the that buyware soft pitched a remaster of the original Dragon Age games, but EA turned it down partially due to its noted dislike of remasters. Yet they couldn't say hey, look at what the fucking Mass Effect Legendary Edition did.

Speaker 1: 53:55

Also, wait, hold on hold on hold on Bitch, on hold on bitch, and you gotta be Steve. But just just remaster, let's see, do they have? Do they have a lot of them? Oh, let's talk about the fucking dragon. Let me stay, damn. I want to see if there was any more uh games that they got that have been remastered. Let's talk about the fucking dragon. Let me stay, damn. I want to see if there was any more uh gangs that they got that have been remastered. But I hear it. I found something.

Speaker 1: 54:31

I thought actually let's see at least a few games that have gotten remastered. We got Command Conquer, the Dead Space remake. We had the Bioshock 1 and 2 got remasters. Battlefield games have been remastered. A Bars trilogy got remastered. So it ain't like they've never done the shit before talking about they fucking dislike for remasters. I don't know what the fuck they're talking about EA's historic event and I don't know what they're talking about ea. Uh, historic ea's historically been, and I don't really know why they've even said this publicly. They're kind of against remasters. I don't really know why. It's strange for a publicly traded company to basically be against free money, but they seem to be against it, so that's part of it. However, one of the bigger issues of remastering dragon is compared to mass effect. Is that the resources to what? What to what the fuck? What the fuck is this?

Speaker 2: 55:57

judge, judge judge, judge.

Speaker 1: 56:02

I've never heard this fucking word in my life make something more stylish, lively or attractive. An act, addition or quality that makes something more stylish or attractive, making something look good. Yeah, you judge, you judge, you judge it up. Okay that the resources to judge up those games is that they're on different engines than the first two Dragon Age games were made on Bioware's Eternal Eclipse engine before the team transitioned to Frostbite for Inquisition, whereas the first three sci-fi games are all on the Unreal, the first three Mass Effect games are all on the Unreal engine. This meant that the technical lift would have been significantly higher for Dragon Age Remastered than it was for the Mass Effect Legendary Edition. Dario says the project would have either required hiring a new team to work full-time, learning how to use the game's old tech, or that existing staff at Bioware would have to handle the entire thing on their own. He also says that the Eternal Remastered within Bioware would have been the ideal scenario, but that didn't pan out. The EA just wanted to be fucking cheap. That's all. It was the soft pitch. Darda also remember, remember, we gotta, we gotta go back to that. Uh, we gotta go back to that. That was the. That was ea right, actually fucking perplex. I got perplexed. You're better than fucking google, anyway. I think it was a co, some shit. The motherfucker was like oh yeah, don't worry, ea games are like they fucking, they fucking cave dwellers and they all still stay in their mom's basement. Whatever RPG will make them, motherfuckers will just buy it.

Speaker 1: 57:54

Andrew Wilson commented on RPG games in the context of financial underperformance are increasingly seek shared world and deeper engagement on side quality. That's not what it was, damn. Just saying this ain't the story I'm thinking of. Yeah, but we talked about it before. It was like what are the fucking? Somebody at fucking ea was just like fucking rpg players living caves and they're gonna buy whatever bullshit we put out because it's an rpg, didn't have lives, what the? Let me stretch your eyes up. Uh, your rpg players are cave drilling nerds. Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah, this is it right here? This is it right here? It was ea exec. He was like oh yeah, our fucking rpg players are just fucking cave drilling nerds and they all fucking live like their mom's basement and they're gonna buy whatever the fuck we put out, as long as it has rpg on there. So you, you, you. So that's what they think about people who buy rpgs, so of course they don't.

Speaker 1: 59:00

Weren't going to get behind a high fantasy, deep rpg like the dragon age series to remaster it. Uh, let's see, let's see, soft pitch. Uh, about including a sort of rebrand of the original games as a trilogy called the champions trilogy? Uh, referring to the three protagonists of each game. Uh, if that had come, I think they should have read. I think they needed to shop this a little bit more, because literally one of the one of the protagonists is named. His thing is a champion. Uh, hawk, the protagonist from dragon age 2. He is the champion, so it feels like he more talking about them. I feel like they maybe needed to continue to workshop the name. Uh, if that had come to pass, I would have written you a novel on my feelings about it, considering, I think community is one of dragon age dragon age's weakest as, oh, continuity, I'm sorry, it's one of dragon age 2's weakest aspects.

Speaker 1: 59:52

It really fucking. I talked about that in my video before veil guard came out. I was not supposed to make this episode too long, but I'm rambling on like every other ramble on like every other article. I talked about that in my video before Veil Guard came out Dragon Age. Uh, dragon Age's biggest issue is the fact that all three games, uh, are so different. It's a franchise and a trilogy that somehow is still struggling to find an identity of itself, like it still struggles on what it really wants to be, uh. But, yeah, the continuity is one of his weakest aspects and brainy lugging as a trilogy when it decidedly doesn't follow through on on a lot of its connective tissues would be an odd hail mary. But since that isn't happening, I'll bite my tongue.

Speaker 1: 1:00:41

Uh, of course he doesn't know. He of't know. He left in 2020. By the way, my, there was like one of the one of the best motherfuckers they had over there, and the fact that they let him go was a it's a damn shame. He left the company in 2020. He returned to consult on the veil guard, uh, to have it past the finish line.

Speaker 1: 1:00:54

But since he's been pretty candid about, uh, what he and his colleagues felt was unfamiliar trip meet of the dragon age scene by management, oh, yeah, also, he's the one who came out and said that basically, ea always viewed dragon age as mass effect's little brother. Uh, that was the thing too, as they they they have more faith in the mass effect ip, and they also give more leeway and freedom to the mass effect teams than they ever did with the dragon age teams. So that's probably also a big reason why they ever did with the dragon age teams. So that's probably also a big reason why they passed on making the dragon age remaster which, by the way, it's a motherfucking shame, because fucking origins is one of the best fucking, uh, video game rpgs ever made in my opinion. But I stand on that, I stand to the, I stand on booze for that one, one of the greatest rpg games ever fucking made. And if that bitch could get a fucking remaster with updated fucking graphics and updated controls, because the fuck, the, the, because it's actually making me so fucking bad that they actually did not fucking do this. Uh, because even origins on fucking pc is damn, they fucking is a fucking unstable mess. You gotta install some stability mods to play that bitch with no problems. That's how fucking old that motherfucker is. But yeah, the fucking, I don't. It's legitimately like making me upset the more I talk about and think about this.

Speaker 1: 1:02:25

As I said, remember fucking the veil guard and inquisition has a fucking 10 year gap. Dragon age has never been, uh like the most popular thing from bioware's caveat, but it's always been a strong ip, but it's been. It was 10 fucking years between Inquisition and Veil Guard, which means there was there now a whole generation of players who never even heard of Dragon Age or who really only got into Dragon Age from Inquisition, because Inquisition did have a lot of hype when it came out. It won quite a few awards and shit. So that's probably a lot of people who never played out. It won quite a few awards and shit. So that's probably a lot of people who never played origins, who've never played two. I've even been seeing it on youtube.

Speaker 1: 1:03:09

A lot of people who played the mass effect legendary edition for the first time went and tried the dragon age series for the first time. So it ain't like it ain't like there's no interest in this shit. So I feel like this needed this a hell of a lot more than mass effect did. Because the mass effect trilogy uh, plain and simple, as it exists in its base form, which is like the, the 360 and the and the ps3 versions, are still solid mass effect.

Speaker 1: 1:03:42

The one is a little janky, pretty damn janky, but it ain't as janky as fucking Origins is, and I feel like this. It needed to get this refresher on the series before the Veil Guard came out and also, like I mentioned before, it might have even allowed if they released that in the time between Veilguard came out. And also, like I mentioned before, it might have even allowed if they released that in the time between Inquisition and Veilguard, you know, in like maybe, like you know, 2019, 2020 or something that's like that'd have been like what that'd have been like five, six years after Inquisition released. If they released that on the new consoles, the PS5 and Xbox series, I feel like that would have did wonders for drag for the velgar because, like I said, one of the biggest problems is it's been 10 fucking years since the last one. A lot of people aren't gonna know what the fuck dragon age is. I'm moving on.

Speaker 1: 1:04:37

I'm mad, all right, and this one I just had to throw this one in there because I just thought this shit was fucking hilarious, but also very fucking sad for all you fucking uh madden fifa 2k, call of duty, fortnite niggas who just play those fucking games and refuse to play anything else, and y'all wonder why player spends 32 000 on nba 2k25 in just five months. This is how these motherfucking companies. Get you dumb asses. One player has gone viral for spending and astonishing 32 000 in nba 2k in just five months on micro transactions. A clip was posted to twitter which show uh youtube 2k og going through his michael, going through his michael transaction purchases on 2k25 on a ps store and reveal he spent an astonishing 32 831 hundred dollars and 68 cent holy fucking shit. All the transactions for just a fucking vc pack the highest one, by the way, which cost $160 fucking dollars.

Speaker 2: 1:05:47

What the fuck $32,831.68 on this game. I'll say it again $32,831.68. Say it again OG $1,831.68. Say that again, OG $1,831.68.

Speaker 1: 1:06:17

There you go $700,000 VC $160. $450,000 VC $107. $160. $160. $107, $160, $160, $107, $106, $107, $107, $107, $107. At least he went cheap right here, nigga. By the way, nigga there are, these are multiple packs in one fucking day, nigga. You spent $200 on 2k in a fucking day this game.

Speaker 2: 1:06:56

I'll say it again $32,800 and $31.68.

Speaker 1: 1:07:05

That's a fucking shame. Just to go 3 and 17 at the fucking park. That's fucking crazy. They're spending thousands of dollars just to go fucking eat ales at the wreck. That's insane.

Speaker 1: 1:07:34

The youtuber himself revealed that he's learned his lesson from spending such a large amount of money and warn others that it's not worth chasing cars or spending a large amount of money for content creation. I mean good for you, brother. I feel like you should have noticed that shit when you spent. When you spent fucking damn near 300 goddamn dollars in a day on the shit. What's worse is that, despite him spending that, he's still not obtained all the best cards in the game. In fact, just by watching his video, he would probably need to spend an equal amount of money to get near completion. That's fucking crazy. Oh, I think it's for sure. I will not spend this much again, because you don't get rewarded for it. As much as I spent, I should have. I should have everything in the game and it's not even close. Nigga, nigga. To make this shit even worse, he ain't even spending it on fucking bills, he's spending it on my team. Is we talk this? Is this, is what we fucking talking about all you niggas who spend all this fucking money on this bitch. This is why. This is why you motherfuckers can't get off of it. This is why they will never stop making this shit and this is why they will never stop making it and while they will never put any actual fucking effort to make the shit better, because you niggas will spend a hundred dollars on the base game and then go on to spend thirty two thousand dollars on the fucking game after purchasing the shit. This is fucking crazy easy. Niggas won't, won't, motherfuckers won't spend one minute to play expedition 33. Motherfucker, motherfucker, motherfucker will view it as a fucking offense if you offer cyberpunk 2077 to them, if you offer a fucking metaphor refantasio to them, if you tell them to check out fucking you know, final fantasy or the fucking witcher 3, these motherfuckers will view it as a capital offense that you dare insult them by offering, by fucking recommending, a fucking platformer or a fucking rpg, and then go spend fucking 300 hours on vc to fucking ball on the fucking 2k boat, on the fucking ps4 version and shit. This is crazy, but y'all, y'all go ahead, y'all do what y'all do. That's it for video games, and now we will move on to television.

Speaker 1: 1:09:57

Some really big, big news right here. Uh, hulu, the hulu app to be shut down in 2026 as disney fully merges platform into disney plus. This is one of those things when I I every time these conglomerates and these motherfuckers like have some kind of huge merger, always say okay, but it's a slight worry that all these fucking companies are all going to be under one massive fucking umbrella. Uh, because then they can just do whatever the fuck they want to it. And well, here you go. This is one of them.

Speaker 1: 1:10:33

Hulu will be phased out as a standalone app in 2026, with dst confirming it is fully integrating the service. Let me zoom in. This is one of them. Them all white backgrounds, the small ass text uh, fully integrating the service. Let me zoom in. This is one of them all white backgrounds and small ass text fully integrating its service, and now wholly owned by the company, into its flagship Disney Plus platform.

Speaker 1: 1:10:51

Starting at autumn 2025, hulu will replace the star brand on Disney Plus internationally. What the fuck? I just thought. What the fuck is this going to mean? For the fucking price of Disney Plus. Then they're going oh my god, they. For the fucking price of Disney Plus. Then they're going to shoot that bitch. Way the fuck up, way the fuck up. Put that shit in some kind of bundle Like the base Disney Plus with just Disney Plus, or you can get a Disney Plus and the Hulu bundle together, as you thought they already have that, don't they?

Speaker 1: 1:11:19

A unified Disney Plus and Hulu streaming app were launched in 2026, the company announced. A Disney representative said customers will still be able to purchase a standalone Hulu subscription as well as a standalone Disney Plus plan. Today we are announcing a major step forward in strengthening our streaming service by offering a fully integrated Hulu into Disney Plus. Bob Iger said CFO Hugh Johnston said in prepared commentary on the media giant's quarterly earnings. Said in prepared commentary on the Media Giants quarterly earnings. This will create an impressive package of entertainment appearing the highest caliber brands and franchises, great general entertainment, family programming, news and industry-leading live sports content in a single app. Investors at the single Disney Plus app with Hulu will deliver an improved customer experience, which will lower churn. Both services will be on one tech platform, which will lower churn. Both services will be on one tech platform, which, is said, will result in cost synergies.

Speaker 1: 1:12:09

Already, sales ask for Disney Plus and Hulu together. It also is a new opportunity for YAYO. Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. Okay, first of all, let's look at the date. Um, okay, hulu's live TV business merged with Fubo under a proposed joint venture majorly owned by disney. While hulu plus live tv and fubo remains separately marketed for now, a confirmed hulu plus live tv will be integrated into disney plus in 2026.

Speaker 1: 1:12:33

Uh, so no date but 2026. This is the most important thing. At what price will we get the to purchase a hulu subscription? Oh, I'm thinking like what the Disney Plus price is going to be. Also, on Wednesday, disney announced they will stop reporting streaming subscriber numbers for Disney Plus, hulu and ESPN Plus, following the lead of Netflix and others. The company also set August 21st as a launch date for its ESPN standalone streaming product, priced at $29.99 a month.

Speaker 1: 1:13:02

By the way, they also just that wwe is going to air all of its uh ples through fucking espn. So for all my wrestle fans, being a fucking wrestle fan is gonna get fucking expensive. So there you go, hulu. The 2026 hulu will cease to exist. It will fully merge with disney plus. Many disney plus is probably going to jack up the fuck out of its prices later in 2026. But there you have it, um, I mean. But there you have it. Um, I mean, I don't know if this is better or worse for the consumers, cause now you know, now you got two apps merging into one so you can save your pocket. But, like I said, they probably just gonna jack up the price of Disney Plus. But you know, we shall, we, we'll, we'll see, we'll see, we'll see.

Speaker 1: 1:14:08

Uh, next up, speaking of disney plus, goosebumps canceled at disney plus after two seasons. Uh, producers, sony princess tv will try to find a new home for the series based on the rL Stine books. The streamer has canceled Goosebumps based on the popular books after two seasons. The most recent season, the Vanishing, premiered in January. Sony Pictures, who owns the rights to the books and producer series, will shop Goosebumps to other outlets and also look for other creative directors for the property. There are more than 200 stories in RLA's original Goosebumps books, spinoff series and short story collections, so it was an anthology series.

Speaker 1: 1:14:44

The first season premiered on Disney Plus in October 2023, a few weeks before Halloween. It performed solidly, ranking among the top 10 original streaming series in four weeks. Season 2 debuted in January and didn't do as well, never making the charts. Who the fuck still even uses Nielsen anyway? To date, sources say viewers have watched uh 118 million hours of goosebumps worldwide 75 million in the us and 43 million international markets. Uh season one cast feature justin long, zach morris, isa baronis and mila mckenna. Uh anna yi ping, uh will price and rachel harris he's a two-star david schrimmer, jayden bark, uh bartles, sam mccarthy, anna ortiz, elijah and cooper, francesca, noel and gayella la sevilla. So goosebumps, they're gonna try to find somewhere, somewhere else to put it, but it ain't gonna be on dd plus, no more. So there you have it up.

Speaker 1: 1:15:36

Next, some positive news for netflix's one Piece. The live action adaption of the beloved anime and manga is getting an early renewal for Season 3 on Netflix. It came out the annual One Piece Day celebration in Tokyo. It was also revealed that Ian Stokes will be joining Joe Trax as showrunner on Season 3. Stokes was previously a co-executive producer on Season 1. Production on the third season will begin later later this year in cape town, south africa.

Speaker 1: 1:16:05

Is that the guy who, uh, who left? No, that's not him. Well, I don't know. I don't even know what these are, these bitches. Is this the guy who was the original showrunner but then he left? The guy who was the original showrunner but then he left. Uh, no, no, that's not him. That's not him. Okay, so one piece is getting a season three. We also got our first look at season two. We'll cover that in our trailer section.

Speaker 1: 1:16:32

Uh, so gina carano pal drivers disney, pal drives disney over mandalorian firing, with a settlement and job offers. So if y'all remember a while, while while ago, when the Mandalorian was at the heights of its popularity, gina Carano was a character on the show. Uh, she was also supposed to be involved in a spinoff. Uh, I forget what the spinoff was called, uh, but then she put out some tweets. Um, I can't, I don't even remember what the tweets were. They were frowned upon, viewed very negatively. Disney released her from her contract, they released her from the Mandalorian show and then she took them to court and it seemed like, after all these years, they have finally settled. So, ahead of a September trial day, disney and Gina Carano put down their lightsabers over the former MMA fighters More than a year-long discrimination lawsuit over her, 2021 firing from the mandalorian over political postings and a joint filing today in federal court.

Speaker 1: 1:17:27

The x-star war star and bob eiger run kagamari asks for the eli must batch legal action to be dismissed. What the fuck. What with the company killing killing on bended knee, uh, pursuant of federal court civil procedure? For I'm not reading all that shit. Uh, the defense of wad, disney and huckleberry? Okay, on the other, I'm not reading all this shit. I'm reading all that fucking legal mumble jumble. Uh, judge will have to sign off on the request, but this is, uh, de facto done and dusted in the galaxy far, far away. Okay, let's get started with the fucking. We get it, bro. We get it is. Is this fucking Jordan again? Is this Jordan on deadline?

Speaker 1: 1:18:04

While no specific details on the cinema have been revealed, like whether she's getting her rebel shock trooper Cara Dune role back as Desire or any of the millions of damage she was seeing, I don't know if she wants to come back. I mean show's been on a bit of a downswing. They're already filming the movie, but probably I mean maybe in some other capacity, some other you know capacity or show. We see her in disney and carano clearly are back in business. To that, a source close to carano told me that she is happy with how things were dealt with online.

Speaker 1: 1:18:33

Earlier today, a deaf carano posted somewhat cryptically at the time, with a scattering of emojis and the truth style set free, hoping this brings some healing to the forest. She later put. She later put our. She later put our. A full step, I guess, supposed to be out. She later put out a full statement, thinking musk, a man I've man, I never met, a man I never met who did this good samaritan deed for me in funding my lawsuit. I'm excited to flip the page and move on to my next chapter, my desires to remain in the arts, which is where I hope you will join me.

Speaker 1: 1:19:09

But okay, sure, on the other side of this era of knee bending and ring kissing in the face of miga forces, the house of hope once again, the house of mouse may, once again today adopted that trying to please red state tone has been putting out there since trump took back an office. Well, I can't read, bro, I'm tired, uh, basically, basically saying uh, I'm guessing her tweets were very, uh, uh, very far right, very right centric and that's why they released her. And then, of course, now we live in a different time, so, you know, in an effort to try and avoid, um, the cheetah and chief maybe getting involved, they decided to like, okay, let's just settle this shit, because you know people who are all people who are on that side of the fence. You know there's actually some some weight and validity to shit now, uh, putting out that we have reached an agreement, carano, to resolve the issue in our pending lawsuit against the companies. Uh, miss carano was always well, was always well respected by her directors, co-stars and staff, and she and she worked hard to perfect her craft while treating her colleagues with kindness and respect. You know, the funny thing about this is this they settle it because of that, but also feel like, especially now, what times being so much different now will this positive relationship with co-stars and staff and shit will, are people, are people in an individual people setting? Are they going to be willing to just be fine with this shit because again, these companies gotta do shit like this, because now, you know, now shit, now money would be on the line for shit, but just in terms of like a human interaction and experience, that's different. Like cause now, now, now motherfuckers gotta stay in on business for shit and a lot of, and this motherfuckers doing a lot of, a lot of dumb shit and and now just people who who agree with that and is on that side of the fence. You know a lot of people ain't going for it now, but whatever, uh, whatever, I'm not reading all this legal shit. Jenna cron knows back in the image, her and disney working together. They settled, so we'll see what this means for carra dune's character in the future. All right, it's the positive news. Round of applause for the black man, as always.

Speaker 1: 1:21:33

Byron allen sells 10 tv stations to gray media for 171 million dollars. Uh, byron Allen's Allen Media Group Inc has sold 10 local TV stations to Gray Media for $171 million. The deal was Gray expected to close in the fourth quarter. Subject to regulatory approval and closings, we'll bring Gray into three new local TV markets Columbus to Columbus, to Pello I feel like I'm saying that wrong To P To Pello I don't like I'm saying that wrong. Topi Topelo I don't think I'm saying that right. Mississippi, terre Haute God, I cannot talk. Indiana and West Lafayette. Indiana, per Gary. The sale is expected to strengthen the company's presence in the seven other markets by creating new policies that will allow gray to preserve and deepen public service to their communities and expand local news, local weather and local sporting programs.

Speaker 1: 1:22:28

So not only is that, it's also just the fact that it's all local shit, small local markets running out part of something bigger that allows, you know, granted, it is a big company buying the smaller guys to put to uh, penetrate those markets, but it's good for them because now they are attached to a larger name and now they probably get a lot of some more better funding now too, uh, following a decade of investing in local tv stations, the media mogul alan hired investment bank moments ago, in june, to help him sell the collection of 28 network affiliate stations in medium and small markets across the country. The sale of these two stations marks the first big transaction in alan's offloading process. Alan started his company more than 30 years ago with a single talk show that he hosted. Today he owns numerous lifestyle channels, the weather channel and digital outlets, including the griot and hbcu go. So again, just just just some little positive news on some little tv front. You know, black man invested in the local, in the local communities and actually, you know, being rewarded for it and and helping out, helping out the little guys. So I just thought that was a little cool story there.

Speaker 1: 1:23:33

All right, but that is it for our story, our tv section, and end of our stories in general, which of course means on the audio section if you're listening on you which, by the way, audio listeners. I'm so sorry. I only I've recently realized that I have not. I have not posted any of the I just watched I obviously did to the audio platform, so I gotta do that. Uh, I have a limit. I can only upload so much on there until I have to pay some extra shit. Uh. So they're gonna be, they're gonna get uploaded on there, but it's gonna be a lot slower. So there you have it.

Speaker 1: 1:24:11

But anyway, audio listeners, thank you all so much for listening. I very much appreciate it. Check out some of the other videos and the other episodes of the podcast. Uh, wherever you listen to your podcast spotify, google podcast, apple podcast, all that good shit feel free to check it out on all those platforms. Uh, check out the youtube channel if you haven't already. Uh, come on over and check out the trailers you're about to watch if you're interested in that as well. But in the meantime, audio listeners, thank you all so much for listening. I very much appreciate it. Always remember to stay watching, to stay playing, to stay awesome and, most importantly, to stay safe out there until next time. I will speak to you all later, goodbye.