TV, Movies & Home Theatre - Page 2

Netflix is introducing a new generative AI search that allows viewers to surface shows they want using natural language queries.

This is all part of a major redesign implementing a new home page (as flagged up by TechCrunch, via TechRadar).

That includes a more streamlined and modern design for the home screen, and shifting around some elements of the interface that were more hidden away to give them better visibility (namely the Search and My List options).

The hit video game Split Fiction is receiving its own movie adaptation starring Sydney Sweeny and from the director behind Wicked, Jon M. Chu.

A new Variety article has revealed that Split Fiction, developed by Hazelight Studios and published by Electronic Arts (EA), will be receiving its own movie adaptation, with the script for the movie being written by "Deadpool & Wolverine" screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.

For those who don't know, Split Fiction is a co-op title that follows a pair of authors, Mio and Zoe, as they embark on an adventure through the stories they have written. The game was written and directed by Josef Fares, who also wrote and directed Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, A Way Out (2018), and It Takes Two (2021), with each of these titles being a co-op-driven experience.

Recently, Microsoft launched a new marketing campaign for Xbox that stated that every device is an "Xbox." Naturally, when gamers think of Xbox, they think of consoles like the Xbox Series X|S. But, with Xbox and PC Game Pass now an integral part of Windows, alongside Xbox Cloud Gaming offering access to Game Pass titles and other select games owned by Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers, everything from a laptop to a smartphone to a gaming handheld like the ROG Ally from ASUS is an "Xbox."

At least, that's the idea. And now, thanks to the latest LG Smart TV webOS update, LG's impressive range of OLED and QNED TVs has finally delivered a native Xbox app for device-free cloud gaming using a controller connected via Bluetooth. The new Xbox app for LG Smart TVs is rolling out this week in over 25 countries and is accessible from the LG Gaming Portal.

Although Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming is currently limited to 1080p 60 FPS, the good news is that LG's latest OLED and QNED TVs will upscale gameplay to 4K for "lifelike visuals."

A Minecraft Movie has been a pop culture hit, earning itself the most successful opening weekend for a video game adaptation, taking the crown from The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Now the director of the movie has responded to teen fans participating in a viral meme where theaters are destroyed with the throwing of popcorn and drinks.

Since the release of A Minecraft Movie a viral trend has captured the minds of the youth on the internet and a viral meme has formed where fans of the movie are preparing to throw food and drink around, and in some cases body slam theater employees during a specific part of the movie. The part of the movie that has spawned numerous videos of teens trashing cinemas is when Jack Black's character says "Chicken Jockey," and at this moment, teens proceed to scream "Chicken Jockey" and throw their food and drinks around the theater.

This phenomenon is happening in viewings of the film around the world, and in one case, the police were called. The director of the film Jared Hess has now responded to the response from passionate fans of the movie, saying, "It's weird when you're having too much fun and the cops get called."

The Tomb Raider TV series, in production at Amazon for its Prime Video service that recently found success with another videogame adaptation, Fallout, is reportedly dead. According to the Daily Mail's sources, the Phoebe Waller-Bridge-led series (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Fleabag, Killing Eve) went through two writers' rooms and "tens of millions of dollars in development costs."

The series would have been a big-budget adaptation of one of the most beloved video game franchises, with filming scheduled to take place this year. Phoebe Waller-Bridge has previously noted that she was a big fan of the games growing up. However, the Daily Mail report notes no script for the Lara Croft series had been produced. Regarding someone taking on the iconic role, Game Of Thrones star Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) was reportedly set to star.

Interestingly, the report also notes that Jennifer Salk, the former head of Amazon Studios who was let go last week, green-lit the project.

Families trying to enjoy the new Minecraft movie are having to deal with delinquent fans who are deciding to trash the cinema by throwing food and drink around over an internet meme.

Cinemas are having to warn movie fans about attending the newly released "A Minecraft Movie" over several instances of fans participating in a social media trend and a seemingly weird internet meme where viewers scream "Chicken Jockey" at a specific scene in the movie. If it were just the screaming, it would be annoying, but as part of the meme, viewers are throwing popcorn, drinks, and other items around the cinema when the "Chicken Jockey" appears on screen. In one instance that was captured on TikTok, the police were called as a result of the outburst.

WarnerBros. has mined gold with its adaptation of Mojang's voxel indie hit with over $300 million in opening box office sales.

It's official: The Minecraft movie is a mega hit. The film has had the best opening in the history of video game movie adaptations, beating out Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. Movie, which earned a thunderous $204 million.

According to figures from The Hollywood Reporter, the Minecraft picture raked in $163 million in domestic sales, and $150 million globally, closing the weekend with $313 million earned total.

Riot Games is reportedly working on a live-action League of Legends TV show to build off the massive success of Arcane, the animated series based on the universe created for the hugely popular multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game, League of Legends.

The news of a live-action League of Legends TV show comes from an official Vietnamese government Facebook account, which posted that Riot Games is researching and planning to shoot 9 episodes of a TV series in Cat Ba, Hai Phong, later this year. The post states the episodes will be released on multiple streaming platforms such as Netflix and HBO. Additional information in the post reveals Riot representatives have already met with Vietnam's Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

According to reports, Riot has already surveyed other countries within Asia, such as Japan, Korea, and Thailand, but landed on Vietnam as the most suitable for the upcoming show. Sheep Esports has speculated that the "rugged cliffs, deep blue waters, and maritime atmosphere of Cát Bà" may be the perfect setting to recreate Bilgewater, which in League of Legends is a pirate haven similar to Tortuga, the pirate haven seen in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Nintendo has already begun to show the value of its newly announced and launched Nintendo Today app by revealing the release date of its upcoming The Legend of Zelda Movie directed by Wes Ball, the director of The Maze Runner and Kingdom of the Planet of the apes.

The upcoming live-action movie is set to be released on March 26, 2027. Unfortunately, there isn't any more information to reveal on the movie, as we don't know who will be playing any of Nintendo's iconic characters such as Link, Zelda, and Gannondorf.

Additionally, we don't know how much of the movie will be animated versus live-action, but if we use the success of the Super Mario Bros. Movie as an example, we can assume that Nintendo will be attempting to replicate the popularity of that movie with The Legend of Zelda Movie by keeping to the same approximate format.

Amazon has confirmed it's making two seasons of the God of War TV show, as the news has come from the showrunner Ronald D. Moore, who is overseeing the project that's currently in the works.

Moore appeared on The Sackhoff Show with Katee Sackhoff, where he was asked about what he's currently working on. The showrunner explained his current workplate consists of an "adaptation of this video game called God of War" and that his job is to be in the writer's room, adapting the video games to TV. Moore goes on to say the challenge is daunting with such a large and well-respected IP, and is especially daunting considering he doesn't consider himself a gamer.

Sackoff followed up by asking Moore if he has tried to play any of the God of War games, and the showrunner said he has taken a "stab at it" but gave up as he can't work out the controls. Moore goes on to explain that he grew up in '80s where video games were in arcades, making this whole business with what are traditional video game controllers nowadays extremely foreign to him. "The controllers now..." he laughs, "Press R1, which one's R1, oh I'm dead! I can't quite get a hold of that."

Amazon just revealed Alexa+, the freshly upgraded assistant that's powered up considerably by AI, and one of the niftiest tricks unveiled is a handy sounding ability for movie addicts watching via Fire TV.

This is a piece of functionality that allows you to tell Alexa+ to skip to a particular bit of a movie as a verbal instruction.

The 'jump to a scene' feature was demonstrated by Amazon with A Star Is Born, where Alexa+ was told to skip to the part of the film where Bradley Cooper sings a song, and it duly obliged.

Netflix has been the subject of viewer backlash following the release of their latest true-crime docuseries American Murder: Gabby Petito. The series, which chronicles the murder of 22-year-old Petito, utilizes voice recreation technology to simulate the voice of the victim, used throughout the show to read out journal entries and text messages and provide narration.

The three-part series, released this week, opened with a disclaimer stating: "Gabby's journal entries and text messages are brought to life in this series in her own voice, using voice recreation technology." It's reported that the Petito family gave their blessing for the recreation; however, viewers have been quick to slam the creative decision. Calling it"a violation", "weird as hell," and an "unsettling use of AI".

In an interview with Us Weekly, filmmaker Michael Gasparro defended the decision, stating that the AI narration brings her story to life in a more powerful way, and that they wanted to tell the story "as much through Gabby as possible."

The pursuit of exponential growth is on full display, as Netflix recently announced it will be increasing its prices in the US, Canada, Portugal, and Argentina.

Fortunately, Oceanic and European audiences will keep that extra change in their pockets (for now). As reported by The Verge, the ad-supported tier is increasing from $6.99 to $7.99 per month, and the standard ad-free tier from $15.49 to $17.99 - effectively a 15% increase. The premium tier will also receive a 9% bump from $22.99 to $24.99.

If you're wondering, 'Why do they keep doing this to me?' - then look no further than the quarterly earnings report, which essentially highlights that they executed their 2024 plan (to grow) and highlights their 2025 plan (to grow). The following rationale was outlined by a Netflix spokesperson:

The first trailer for James Gunn's new Superman is here, showing Kal-El battered, bruised, and bleeding before Krypto comes to save him. Check it out:

The new Superman movie is being directed by James Gunn, who helmed the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy for Marvel and the MCU, but is now the co-chief of DC and the writer + director on Superman. In the opening scene of the trailer, Krypto is called to (well, whistled) by Superman who needs help... as the trailer cuts to other parts of the movie.

We get to see the visual style and color grading that James Gunn has used for Superman, shots of Lois Lane and Clark Kent in the Daily Planet, cuts to the Kent Farm with Clark and Pa Kent embracing... it shapes up so well, but then Superman flies in front of a little girl that has just been attacked by a... KAIJU... an epic shot, absolutely epic.

The Premiere 8K is Samsung's latest flagship premium projector for home theaters. It's the first to receive 8K Association (8KA) certification for 8K projectors, a new standard implemented this month.

To obtain 8KA certification, a projector must meet a series of standards, including a proper 8K resolution (7680 x 4320), brightness, contrast, and color gamut ratings that meet a certain standard, high dynamic range (HDR) support, and the ability to upscale lower resolution content to 8K - also, immersive audio capabilities with support for the latest formats.

Samsung's Premiere 8K projector will debut at CES 2025 in January. It will have a world-first feature and bring "unmatched immersion to home cinema."

"Everything you are, everything you've done... has come to this". Paramount Pictures have unleashed the teaser trailer for Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, which debuts in theaters on May 23, 2025. Tom Cruise's last mission is nearly here... check it out:

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning has been renamed from its last movie in the franchise -- Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 -- from Dead Reckoning Part 2, to "The Final Reckoning". This is reportedly Tom Cruise's last mission as protagonist Ethan Hunt, but I'm sure we could see one last mission...

This is the 8th entry in the franchise, with Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning to be the conclusion from the events of the cliffhanger in Dead Reckoning Part 1 from 2023. We don't know the full plot details just yet, but Ethan and his team must stop one of the most dangerous weapons from destroying the world, and will take to the depths of the oceans again to stop it.

The upcoming Lord of the Rings animated prequel movie is scheduled to release in December, and ahead of the release, Phillipia Boyens, one of the movie's writers, has given some behind-the-scenes details on one of the characters, Saruman the White.

Boyens also co-wrote Peter Jackson's trilogy of Lord of the Rings films and is now, along with Peter Jackson, producing the War of Rohirrim. This animated prequel will take viewers back 183 years before the events of Jackson's trilogy, and will tell the story of Helm Hammerhand, a legendary kind of Rohan that is required to defend his people and family from the Dunlendings, a group of wild mountain people that are bitter foes to Rohan.

This story includes Saruman the White, and according to Boyen's Christopher Lee, he will post-humorously reprise his role as the character in the new animated movie. According to the writer, the team behind the project gained access to Lee's archive and was able to sample enough authentic voice recordings that it was possible for Lee to voice the character once again.

Videogame TV adaptations have come a long way, partly thanks to the critical and commercial success of both The Last of Us on HBO and Fallout on Prime Video. Award-winning drama, engaging action, and faithfully staying true to the spirit and tone of iconic interactive experiences are now the expectation or new bar for a new high-profile videogame to TV adaptations.

Announced in 2022, a live-action God of War series from Sony Pictures TV and Amazon MGM Studios entered production - with the series set to follow in the footsteps of the most recent games. The story follows Kratos, now in the Norse realm of Midgard, looking after his son Atreus as they embark on a mission to spread his recently departed wife's ashes from the highest peak.

Those who have played God of War and the sequel, God of War Ragnarok, on PC or PlayStation 5 will undoubtedly be excited about the possibility of a new TV series - especially when the games are incredibly cinematic. It might be time to temper those expectations, as the TV adaptation is in trouble.

Can you believe Interstellar was released into theaters 10 years ago? Paramount Pictures is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Christopher Nolan's epic space movie being re-released into theaters, into IMAX, and a new 10th Anniversary Collector's Edition 4K Blu-ray box set.

The new 10th Anniversary Collector's Edition was created with Christopher Nolan's participation and approval, which includes Interstellar in both 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray disc, as well as a third Blu-ray. There's also a digital copy of Interstellar, reproductions of the 5 costume patches, 5 theatrical poster reproductions, and a never-before-seen storyboard sequence from Nolan's archives.

Interstellar's new 10th Anniversary set also includes over 2 hours of new and legacy bonus content that drives deeper into the science of the film, its groundbreaking production, and a brand-new discussion on the impacts Interstellar has had in the last 10 years.

Amazon is planning on increasing the amount of money it makes on its Prime Video streaming service by increasing the number of available advertisement slots, meaning users will be blessed with even more ads than they are already consuming.

Notably, current Prime Video users consume between 2 and 3.5 minutes of advertisements every hour. According to a recent Financial Times interview with Kelly Day, Amazon's Vice President of Prime Video International, currently, standard-tier Prime Video users don't receive ads in the middle of content, but that could change in 2025 with Amazon's plan to revise its advertising structure across its platform.

The FT article also revealed Amazon's plan to roll out different forms of ads on Prime Video, such as shoppable ads, carousel ads, intermissions ads, and brand quiz ads. Currently, advertisements on Prime come in two forms; a trailer for Amazon's next upcoming big piece of content (movie/TV show), and then additional slotted ads from brands that have purchased these slots.