Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • ‘Persona’ Producer Shares Why They Decided to Remake ‘Persona 3’

    ‘Persona’ Producer Shares Why They Decided to Remake ‘Persona 3’

    Persona 3 Reload sadly leaked a bit earlier than Atlus may have planned, but it’s definitely something many have been hoping to see for quite some time. The visuals are already teasing a promising return to the iconic franchise but many still are wondering why they decided to go with Persona 3. Well, the reasoning is quite simple actually: they see it as the turning point of the franchise that many have fallen in love with.

    We believe Persona 3 was the game that marked the actual turning point in the Persona franchise, it’s a very important title for Atlus as well for the development team who were involved in the original version of the game.

    Ryota Niitsuma

    A strong focus was on pushing people to learn more about the Persona series beyond just the rising popularity of the fifth entry. It seems though that they started working on the project around 2019. It’s crazy to think that they started production on the game just shortly before the pandemic hit, which makes you wonder if it may have been released earlier if things went as originally planned.

    They also highlight that they remade everything from scratch from the original version of the game, but they have quite a few details they will reveal as we close in on the release. They do highlight that they updated the game to the level that players have gotten accustomed to with Persona 5, which does open many possibilities of modern elements making their way into the game.

    Source: YouTube

  • DC Studios CEO Confirms Blue Beetle as First Character of the New DCU

    DC Studios CEO Confirms Blue Beetle as First Character of the New DCU

    The DC Cinematic Universe is about to be reborn and it’s going to be quite a messy transition. James Gunn is taking on a rather challenging movie franchise, as he’s set to not only end what Zack Snyder started but also start his own take on the iconic comic universe. The only challenge is that he still carries over some of the old projects.

    So, the question remains what exactly will be the new beginning for this franchise? While taking part in the Inside of You podcast with Michael Rosenbaum, he revealed that while Superman Legacy will be the first true DCU film, Blue Beetle is the first DCU character; hinting at Jamie Reyes’ future in the franchise.

    I mean the first DCU character, for sure, is Blue Beetle, and the first full DCU movie is Superman.

    James Gunn

    It’s definitely interesting and leaves a lot of room for interpretation. As perhaps Reyes ends up being transported into the DCU as part of The Flash’s consequences across the multiverse. Of course, it could also be something we’re not even considering as there’s always something that is adapted shortly before the release.

    You can watch the full interview with James Gunn here:

    Source: The Wrap via YouTube

  • ‘Rise of the Beasts’ Director Steven Caple Jr. In Talks to Return for Next ‘Transformers’ Movie

    ‘Rise of the Beasts’ Director Steven Caple Jr. In Talks to Return for Next ‘Transformers’ Movie

    Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has finally been released in theaters with a surprisingly strong $171M. Early projects believed the film might not even make $40M domestically but it managed to even dethrone Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in its second weekend. The audience’s are also seemingly enjoying their time back with the Transformers, as it pulled in an AudienceScore A- while critics were quite mixed on the project with a RottenTomatoes score of 51% currently.

    The important thing is that Paramount and Hasbro seem quite happy with the film. In a new interview with director Steven Caple Jr. from Deadline, he seemingly revealed that he’s already in talks to tackle the next film in the franchise. He highlights that he’s also ready to tackle the cliffhanger from the project pertaining to Anthony Ramos and Michael Kelly.

    They definitely had a sequel in mind with that ending, and it seems they aren’t going to waste too much time before jumping into it. It’s unclear though if they already have a script ready before the WGA strike happened, or they might be waiting it out as well before jumping into the sequel. Caple Jr. managed to revive a long-dormant franchise and Paramount is definitely not done to ensure it grows to what it once was.

    Source: Deadline, Rotten Tomatoes

  • Sarah Polley to Direct a Live-Action ‘Bambi’ Film

    Sarah Polley to Direct a Live-Action ‘Bambi’ Film

    Bambi is about to return to theaters but this time in live-action. Disney continues its goal of adapting various of its animated classics into the new format. Now, they are set to tackle probably the one that destroyed many’s childhoods. Woman Talking director Sarah Polley has seemingly decided to tackle the live-action adaptation next, a project they’ve been trying to bring to life since 2020. Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Lindsey Beer were attached to write, but there’s no word if their script is being used.

    Of course, just because the film has a director, It doesn’t mean that they’ll also have someone set to write given the WGA strike. They might have made the deal to ensure they have someone attached to the project once the strike ends (if it does at this rate). This is the latest adaptation after The Little Mermaid just hit theaters, which currently has pulled in $414M in theaters.

    Bambi is actually an adaptation of a 1923 novel by Felix Salten titled Bambi, a Life in the Woods. Disney’s adaptation is only their fifth-ever animated movie directed by David Hand. It’ll be interesting if this adaptation is going to take the same route as Jon Favreau’s The Lion King with a “live-action adaptation” consisting of mostly CG characters. Perhaps they cast the infamous Hunter with an actual actor or he remains a shadow in the background.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Persona 3’ Remake Will Not Include Portable or FES Content

    ‘Persona 3’ Remake Will Not Include Portable or FES Content

    We’ve kind of expected it but luckily Persona 3 Reload producer Ryota Niitsuma and chief director Kazuhisa Wada did not let fans speculate for long if we’re going to see any additional content from previous Persona 3 editions included in the upcoming remake. In an interview with IGN, they confirmed that the game is a remake of the 2006 PlayStation 2 original.

    So first I’d like to mention that since the basic concept of the Persona 3 remake was to remake the Persona 3, we don’t have the FES and Portable contents included. We wanted to really genuinely work on recreating the Persona 3 experience.

    Ryota Niitsuma

    This might naturally annoy some as there’s the hunt for the “definite” edition of the iconic entry. FES is no longer accessible for those that don’t already won’t the game for PlayStation 2 and Portable doesn’t include that content. Plus, the female main character (FeMC as fans call her) was a great addition that brought along new social links and a new twist on the familiar story.

    So we can’t really go into the details at this point yet, but we have remade basically everything from scratch as for Persona 3 the original version,” Niitsuma said. “So we have newly recorded voices, we have new scenes and events. We also have both new and arranged music. We’ll be kind of releasing that information, following everything. So please look forward to that
    Ryota Niitsuma

    Their goal was to bring the original game to the modern era and preserve what made it stand out, while still taking the big learnings they had from Persona 5‘s experience. The franchise has changed quite a bit and while there is some skepticism on taking on these P5-esque elements, it does make sense they want to make sure of them to expand upon what made the original stand out.

    So the basic concept of recreating the Persona story was that we wanted to keep everything from the original version, but update everything to the modern day. So at the same level of Persona 5, basically. So we have the newest graphics, we have updated the system to the newest usability… We have the voice lines in [both Japanese and English.] We also have the text available in 13 languages. So you should be able to have similar experiences to that of Persona 5.

    Kazuhisa Wada

    Many are speculating that we might either see a new version that includes the missing content or we might even just have it as DLC. It’s surprising they didn’t just create two versions of the game similar to the Pokémon franchise but that might be for the best considering that those elements haven’t aged great for those wanting a fuller experience from a game. We’ll have to see if FES‘ story The Answer or even the FeMC might appear at a later point in this game.

    Source: IGN

  • New Details and Voice Cast Revealed for ‘Persona 3 Reload’

    New Details and Voice Cast Revealed for ‘Persona 3 Reload’

    Ahead of the Xbox Game Showcase, Atlus West accidentally leaked the trailer early for Persona 3 Reload; a remake of the iconic game that started the day system the franchise became famous for. Now that the trailer is officially released, we finally have some insights into what exactly we can expect from the new take on the iconic game that started Persona’s growth into the franchise it is today.

    The one complaint some had was that Junpei Iori’s design in the footage shown was a bit off. And interestingly enough, the new website, P3RE.jp (which was part of why we knew the remake was coming eventually) gave us some brand new character portraits highlighting the updated designs that pay a bit more tribute to the original designs.

    It also looks like they are, indeed, going to have a new dub for the entire game. Some of the voice acting hasn’t aged too well when replaying Persona 3 Portable’s remaster and it wasn’t too surprising they’d go down this route but it’s definitely great to get a confirmation that they will add a new voice cast. It’s uncertain if some will return but it seems the one’s confirmed so far are:

    • Dawn M. Bennett as Aigis
    • Allegra Clark as Mitsuru Kirijo
    • Alejandro Saab as Akihiko Sanada
    • Zeno Robinson as Junpei Iori
    • Suzie Yeung as Fuuka Yamagishi
    • Justine Lee as Ken Amada
    • Justice Slocum as Shinjiro Aragaki
    • Heather Gonzalez as Yukari Takeba
    • Aleks Le as the Protagonist

    That isn’t all, as a few screenshots from the game have also been released that offers a first look at some more gameplay with you interacting with some of the cast members. While the menu and everything remains pretty much the same (keep in mind this is very likely still an early version of the build that is being shown off and quite a few elements can change throughout the production) it does confirm that we are getting an animated opening and sequences. So, it won’t all just be in-game animations for this adaptation.

    The game looks quite promising and we’ll hopefully get a good look at more in the coming months. While the primary focus will very likely be on Persona 5 Tactica ahead of its release, they may still share a new trailer that confirms the already leaked multi-console release of the game. There’s already a second trailer that does seem to show some slight changes from the initial showcase so we’ll see what else they might share.

    Source: Twitter, P3RE, Twitter, Twitter, Twitter

  • ‘Transformers’ & ‘Spider-Man’ to Battle for Top Spot at the Domestic Box Office

    ‘Transformers’ & ‘Spider-Man’ to Battle for Top Spot at the Domestic Box Office

    Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has finally been released in theaters and is surprising quite a bit. While early predictions expected the film to open around $40M, it had a stronger Friday opening and is heading to $60M opening weekend at the domestic box office. Surprisingly though, that might not be enough to dethrone the current box office reign of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Currently, it is slightly edging out the film with $60M against $55.9M but Sunday could still make all the difference.

    The film overall is showing a strong international box office and is going to open north of $160M worldwide. China remains the biggest fan of this robot-in-disguise franchise with an $11.8M Friday. The market has overall shown quite a bit of healing over the last few months. The Little Mermaid struggled quite a bit but it seems Transformers might reignite the excitement before the next major release The Flash.

    It’s a strong jump from the initial expectations. While it didn’t hit the highs of the hopeful $70M, it does give the film a bit more of a chance to make its money back. There’s hoping to build up the iconic franchise again even after Bumblebee underperformed with $21.6M and The Last Knight’s $44.6M. There’s a chance that if they keep pushing it could return to a $100M+ opening again but it’s definitely a hopeful start for the franchise, especially with a decent A- CinemaScore.

    The big question is if the latest Spider-Verse entry will surprise given it already has shown some strong legs. The summer box office is stacked and it definitely has proven that family fare and strong word-of-mouth can carry quite a few projects. Fast X is the only big release that one could say lost any momentum going into its second weekend but we still have a few big releases that will show if people put all their money in early or not.

    Source: Deadline, Deadline (WW)

  • Spanish Retailer Leaks ‘Persona 3 Reload’s Multi-Platform Release

    Spanish Retailer Leaks ‘Persona 3 Reload’s Multi-Platform Release

    Well, if the trailer didn’t leak in advance, it seems Spanish retailer Xtralife was going to do it for Atlus. A new listing has surfaced online and it confirms that while Persona 3 Reload was an Xbox Showcase exclusive, the game is going to be a multi-platform release. The retailer includes the games on multiple consoles which also includes a Switch release; which is not too surprising given Persona 5 Royal was recently made available on the console.

    It also matches Atlus seeing the potential of multi-platform releases to truly bank on the success of their franchise. Though, rumors did point to Persona 6, the next actual mainline entry, potentially being an exclusive for PlayStation 5 for some time. That would make sense given that Persona 5 was a huge hit when it was first released and it would also allow the game’s core audience to stick with it while others get a chance to catch up on the remake of Persona 3.

    What is interesting is that the box art is also included, which seems pretty much set in stone alongside the Reload logo. Though it does say “Not Final Artwork” and could change given its Early 2024 release. While personally wished they’d updated the logo, the visual of the game’s main character in water is seemingly going to be a recurring theme moving forward for the entry. Here’s hoping that they may have also added some elements into the actual remake that make this aspect come across outside of just the UI.

    Source: Xtralife (Switch), Xtralife (Xbox), Xtralife (PS)

  • ‘Superman Legacy’ to Introduce DCU’s The Authority

    ‘Superman Legacy’ to Introduce DCU’s The Authority

    It’s Friday and that means we get the traditional Heat Vision newsletter from Hollywood Reporter. This usually comes with a big scoop but sometimes they hide away big reveals in the smallest sections of the text. This time around, it seems THR has gotten its hands on the details that James Gunn’s upcoming film is set to introduce one major addition to the new DC Cinematic Universe.

    Hidden away in a section on the recent casting bits for Superman Legacy, they reveal that The Authority will also be introduced in the upcoming film. While they don’t state which members will appear, it does seem like Gunn is dead set on using the upcoming film as a jumping-off point for his overarching storyline.

    They also mention that they are likely to cast Lex Luthor, which is a tradition at this point given how closely tied the character is with Superman, but it’s curious that they’d not try to build it up over time but instead jump straight in. It does make you wonder how he is setting up this universe and if we’ll see way more crossovers rather than individual projects.

    We knew for some time that The Authority will be introduced and while most might be disappointed we’re not just getting the Justice League, it’s a clever way to give audiences a new group of superheroes that are quite obscure. With Justice League having left a bad taste with audiences some years ago, it’s a way to have a major crossover team without retreading familiar ground.

    Source: Hollywood Reporter

  • Netflix’s Password Crackdown Led to Highest Subscriber Growth Since COVID

    Netflix’s Password Crackdown Led to Highest Subscriber Growth Since COVID

    There was a lot of controversy when Netflix started its password-sharing shutdown. It took big steps to avoid people sharing passwords cross-country and most of the Internet pointed to dropping their involvement with the streaming service. Most expected a massive loss in subscriber numbers but once again the Internet remains a smaller space than one might think.

    Netflix has reported that since their mail on password sharing was released on May 23rd, they saw around 100K daily new subscribers on May 26th and May 27th. Their current growth is even higher than what they saw during COVID, which is when people had nothing to do and were stuck at home most of the day.

    Antenna shared the following graph with The Wrap on how the sign-ups have developed since pre-pandemic times.

    Of course, cancelations have increased as well but they did not keep up with the sign-ups. It seems the rate has gone up by 25.6% in the previous 60 days. They are continuing to push the narrative that a Netflix subscription share is meant for a “household” and it#s surprising that there wasn’t a bigger drop overall.

    It’ll be interesting to see if this continues to keep up long-term subscriber growth going or if this is just a blip for now. Either way, Netflix is very happy with its decision and most of the PR discussions will be forgotten over time. Of course, the question is if their content will remain more consistent with fewer cancelations moving forward to keep people watching.

    Source: Deadline, The Wrap