Maybe the world just had a DC FanDome hangover this week – or we were too busy to pay attention to the headlines – but it seems like the past few days have been lighter on pop culture news. Here’s what did stand out for us.
Film
Breaking news is the story of a tragic incident on the set of upcoming Western Rust. Investigation is ongoing, but evidently star Alec Baldwin discharged a prop pistol, which misfired, killing Director of Photography Halyna Hutchins, and injuring director Joel Souza. More here.
Before the Rust drama, the Internet was abuzz about the first trailer for Uncharted, a big screen adaptation of the beloved Naughty Dog game series. Having gone through several iterations over the years, when Uncharted hits cinemas on February 18, 2022, audiences will witness the origin story of wise-cracking treasure hunter Nathan Drake (Tom Holland). Uncharted: The Movie has shaved 15 to 20 years off fan favourite characters like Drake and morally dubious fortune seeker Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali), while the signature moustache of Nate’s mentor Sully (Mark Wahlberg) has been a casualty too.
In other news, Disney has shuffled its release date schedule, pushing back a lot of its blockbusters, including Indiana Jones 5 and a chunk of Marvel sequels, like those for Doctor Strange, Thor and Black Panther. Some of these delays are only a few months. Others, like in Indy’s case, are almost a full year – jumping from July 29, 2022 to June 30, 2023. All the release date changes here.
In happier news LEGO has just unveiled its Home Alone tie-in set for the holidays, which falls under its Ideas collection. This ultra-detailed, almost 4000-piece build of the McAllister home (+ tree house and burglar van) becomes available from November 1. It’s priced at $250, which should see it retail locally at around R3 600 – R4 000. Check out even more images here.
Streaming television
To be honest, I’ve never watched beloved anime Cowboy Bebop, but people have been going wild over the stylish teaser trailer for Netflix’s live-action adaptation. Space bounty hunter series Cowboy Bebop starts streaming November 19.
After years in development hell, an adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan’s acclaimed comic Y: The Last Man finally became a reality this year. As a 10-episode TV series, it debuted on Hulu in September. But, joining the ranks of Jupiter’s Legacy, the dystopian sci-fi series has already been abruptly cancelled. It may not be the end for Y though. There’s a good chance it will be shopped around to other streaming services. More here on the show’s status.
Finally, it was a big week for they-said-they-said as ex-Batwoman star Ruby Rose delivered a scathing attack on the showrunners of the lesbian superhero series, and its toxic, dangerous set environment. Warner Brothers has responded with a statement that Rose has been rewriting past events to their benefit, and was let go after multiple complaints about their “workplace behaviour.”
Gaming
Stardew Valley solo developer Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone this revealed his long-awaited next game, Haunted Chocolatier. Described as a “town game” (as opposed to a farm game), in this shop sim, you take ownership of a spooky chocolate shop, meet your neighbours and live in a haunted castle. More here.