It’s been a busy week for pop culture news, especially with blockbuster movie event CinemaCon taking place. Before we enter catch-up mode, there is one notable celebrity death to point out for the period.

Footballer turned actor O.J. Simpson has died from cancer at age 76. While Simpson appeared in the likes of the Naked Gun movies, he will likely remain best known for the infamous headline-dominating 90s murder trial where he stood accused, and was acquitted, of the murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.

Film

Kicking off this week’s film news is the highly anticipated teaser trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux – the sequel to 2019’s Joker. Taking place in the alternate universe DC “Elseworlds” continuity, Todd Howard returns to direct Folie à Deux, while Joaquin Phoenix reprises his role as Arthur Fleck. Lady Gaga stars as Harleen Quinzel, who looks to be a fellow inmate of Arkham State for a change, instead of Joker’s doctor. Also new to the cast are Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland, Steve Coogan, Ken Leung, and Harry Lawtey, while Zazie Beets reprises her role from the first film as Sophie Dumond.

The part musical Joker: Folie à Deux releases on 4 October. The film also has a brand new poster.

Continuing the story of aspiring movie star Maxine, there’s MaXXXine, a sequel to both X and its prequel Pearl. Writer-director Ti West reunites with his leading lady Mia Goth for the third outing in the acclaimed and cultishly popular horror series released under the A24 banner.

Set six years after the events of X, MaXXXine sees Maxine get her shot at mainstream fame in 1985 through a role in a horror film franchise, while she evades the Night Stalker and a private detective who knows about bloody events from her past. For a prestige slasher, MaXXXine has racked up an impressive cast, with familiar faces including Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Monaghan, Halsey, Lily Collins, Giancarlo Esposito and Kevin Bacon.

MaXXXine comes to cinemas starting 5 July.

If you have one of those weirdo relatives that loves to bring up conspiracy theories at family gatherings, this one’s for you. Fly Me To The Moon is a sharp, stylish comedy-drama set against the high-stakes backdrop of NASA’s historic Apollo 11 moon landing.

Brought in to fix NASA’s public image, sparks fly in all directions as marketing maven Kelly Jones ( Scarlett Johansson) wreaks havoc on launch director Cole Davis’s (Channing Tatum) already difficult task. When the White House deems the mission too important to fail, Jones is directed to stage a fake moon landing as back-up and the countdown truly begins. Now the next time you hear the moon landing was faked, point to Fly Me To The Moon and say, “Oh I know, Scarlett Johansson put it all together.”

Fly Me to the Moon releases in cinemas on 12 July, before coming to Apple TV+ at a later date.

CinemaCon, a gathering of the world’s movie theatre owners, has just wrapped in Las Vegas, and while it’s an industry-only event, with no public access and phones banned during certain panels, news does seep out of the event. Especially since many of the biggest studios present their upcoming film slates and provide peeks at high-profile titles in production or post-production.

Some of the standout revelations:

Series

When it comes to prestige science fiction, Apple TV+ has consistently ensured home viewers eat good. From Foundation, For All Mankind and Severance to Silo and Constellation, and, now, Dark Matter. The nine-episode series is based on the contemporary sci-fi classic by Blake Crouch, and centres on a physicist and professor (Joel Edgerton) who is abducted from his life and finds himself in an alternate reality. As he attempts to return to the life he shares with his wife (Jennifer Connelly) and son, he must navigate a deadly maze of other existences and worlds. Alice Braga also stars

Dark Matter premieres on 8 May with 2 episodes, and then runs through to 26 June.

Gaming

The 2024 BAFTA Games Awards took place last night as one of the last big events in the gaming awards calendar.

Here are all the winners (or check out the winners with nominees here), but in summary it was another strong evening for Baldur’s Gate 3, with the role-playing game taking home five awards, including Best Game. On the indie front, Venba won for Debut Game, Viewfinder for British Game and New Intellectual Property, and the Game Beyond Entertainment award went to Tchia.

If one Prince of Persia game already released in 2024 wasn’t enough, Ubisoft has just announced another, which releases in Early Access on Steam on 14 May, with other platform expansion at a later date. Distinguishing itself from The Lost Crown, The Rogue Prince of Persia is more roguelite than metroidvania, taking the form of a fast-paced 2D action platformer.

The game comes from Dead Cells makers Evil Empire, and centres on a Persian Prince who must save his Empire’s capital city Ctesiphon from malevolent Hun chief, Nogai and his army of possessed soldiers. Along with expected acrobatic abilities to enhance combat and traversal, the Prince is aided by a mystical bola that resurrects him each time he dies so he can take advantage of the knowledge and skills he’s developed. Each run is unique.

The plan with The Rogue Prince of Persia is to release new levels, bosses, weapons, enemies, and upgrades over time, in addition to a story extension.

Star Wars Outlaws landed a story trailer this week. In the first-ever open world Star Wars game, players assume the role of Outer Rim scoundrel Kay Vess, who, with her companion Nix, sets out to pull off one of the greatest-ever heists in order to secure their freedom from their various underworld debts. You’ll have to fight, steal, and outwit your way through the galaxy’s crime syndicates, while also avoiding Imperial forces, as Outlaws is set in the period between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. There’s certainly a lot of Assassin’s Creed DNA present here, which is not a bad thing.

Star Wars Outlaws is set for release on 30 August 2024. Owners of the Gold and Ultimate Edition will be able to play up to 3 days early. The game will be playable on Xbox Series X|S consoles, PlayStation 5, Amazon Luna and PC through Ubisoft Connect.

On the indie front, here’s something for fans of Venba, A Little to the Left and Botany Manor. From Polish developers RedDeer.Games, Tell Me Your Story is a cosy storybook-puzzler coming to Switch and PC (Steam) on 26 April.

Designed with all ages in mind, Tell Me Your Story sees a young girl Amelia discover that her grandmother Rose had a colourful past as a world traveler. As Amelia delves into Rose’s past through artifacts and scrapbook items, she undertakes a nostalgic journey of connection through the Amazon rainforest, across the Yunnan province in China, and aboard the famous Orient Express.

Wishlist Tell Me Your Story, and play the PC demo, here.

For a substantially different upcoming indie game – more raunchy than cosy – there’s The Crush House, a darkly comic sim set in 1999 that sees players take control of Big Brother/Temptation Island-esque reality show The Crush House. As aspiring producer Jae, you must cast, film, and produce each season, maximising drama, fighting, tension, and romance in the show’s iconic Malibu mansion for all-important ratings success.

Described as a “thirst-person shooter,” The Crush House comes from Nerial and Devolver Digital and is set for release on PC at some point this year. You can wishlist it here.