Eiichiro Oda has returned to the Reverie during the Egghead Island arc. Joe and Suki take their time to retrace the steps on where the current story is heading for One Piece, while also discussing some of the latest live-action news.
Author: Joseph Aberl
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REPORT: ‘Persona 5’ Spinoff Announcement On the Horizon
Persona 5 was released in 2016 and since we haven’t had a new mainline entry to the franchise. Persona 5 Royal found its way into the market three years later but the pandemic has definitely left its impact with various productions being pushed back throughout many industries. Now, it almost seems like rumors have gone haywire for the franchise with a remake of Persona 3, the sixth entry supposedly dropping next year, and a new spinoff for the fifth entry.
Not too long ago, a new website matching Atlus’ usual naming structure found its way online. P5T.JP hinted that something is happening and further added weight to the rumors of a potential spinoff existing in the first place. Now, a new update to the registration may be hinting that the official reveal is sooner than we think.
As shared by Persona Central, the website domain received an update that matches what was seen with past entries before an official announcement was made. It moved to the company’s nameserver rather than the domain registry from Japan, Onamae and the timing would hint that it could be unveiled at the Summer Game Fest later next week.
There were rumors that the Persona 3 Remake will be revealed at the Xbox Showcase on June 11th. It would be strange to showcase two games from the same franchise as it may overshadow, but going in with a spinoff at the biggest event only to surprise people with a remake of the game that technically started the day system it became famous for. It also seems fitting with the remasters getting showcased at an Xbox event as rumors have it Persona 6 will be a timed exclusive for PlayStation.
Source: Persona Central
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‘Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth’ Devs Teasing Open World and Side Quests
The wait still continues for the second entry in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy. Titled Rebirth, there have been many questions on how they will continue the story beyond Midgard as our team of unlikely heroes heads out into the open world. While the original featured a fully open world, there was some concern that the remake would move further away from the original to tell a more streamlined story.
Surprisingly, the developers started sharing some answers to questions on Twitter with the seventh seemingly lining up for Summer Game Fest, which may hint that we’ll have a trailer soon (hopefully). Still, the second question was if we’ll be able to travel through the open world, and the answer seems quite promising:
Players will be able to journey across the wide and multifaceted world with . high degree of freedom, experiencing a myriad of different stories along the way.
So, it seems like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will allow players to travel across Gaia but the big question is how it might accomplish this. It’s been a while since we saw the first teaser and here’s hoping that the wait isn’t much longer. Square Enix is quite focused on Final Fantasy XVI’s release, and we might have to wait until afterward before they push their next major 2024 release. Who knows if they may also give us a Kingdom Hearts tease at some point in the near future?
Source: Twitter
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‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Nabs Biggest Opening Day of 2023
You read that correctly, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has opened to $51.7M on opening day, which makes it the biggest of 2023. Yes, it outgrossed Super Mario Bros.’ $31.7M Wednesday and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s $48.1M. It’s not yet clear if this is a bit of a frontloading due to the animated film’s growing popularity since the release of Into the Spider-Verse, but it makes the third-best opening day for any Spider-Man movie. Only Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 at $59.8M and Spider-Man: No Way Home’s $121.9M are ahead of it.
That’s not all, as it is also the third highest animated opening ever only beaten by the Pixar film Incredibles 2 at $71.2M and Finding Dory’s $54.7M. Either way, it is Sony Pictures Animation’s biggest opening day ever and about to become its biggest opening weekend. If the film does end up being a frontloaded film it might land at $113.5M but has a chance that strong word-of-mouth might push it towards $125M.
As of now, 93% are positive with 82% recommending the film according to PostTrak, which is already a good sign. It also nabbed an A CinemaScore, which isn’t quite No Way Home’s A+ but still the score that gives superhero films strong legs moving forward. Even if the film ends up frontloaded, it’s still quite an accomplishment in just how big of a jump it is from the first film which highlights that films that don’t make the biggest mark on the box office have the potential to grow exponentially.
The only other major release here is The Boogyman, which pulled around $11.5M, which is slightly behind its initial tracking. The counterprogram was a smart placement even with a PG-13 rating, but it seems all eyes are on Across the Spider-Verse for the weekend. The curious case will be how the films perform internationally, as The Little Mermaid wasn’t quite the performer some may hope outside of the States.
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Konami Open to Remake More ‘Metal Gear Solid’ Games
It was rumored for quite some time but there was still some surprise that Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is getting a remake before the original first entry. Yet, there’s also the fact that the numbered series starts to jump between the past and present. The stories of Naked Snake and Solid Snake are deeply intertwined. With a new Delta in the title, it seems the franchise is moving towards a new direction and Konami offered some insight into why they decided to kick it off with Naked Snake’s story.
A Konami spokesperson shared the following statement offering insight into why they went with Snake Eater first:
We chose Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater because it depicts the birth of BIG BOSS (Naked Snake), which is the starting point of the Metal Gear series. Another reason is that many fans have been requesting a remake of this game for a long time.
They also highlight that they are using the Greek letter Delta as a way to highlight that this remake is a change but won’t change the structure.
The Delta symbol (Δ) was chosen because its meaning fits the concept of the remake project. Delta is a character from the Greek alphabet that means ‘change’ or ‘difference’ in mathematics and variables, and also has the meaning of changing an amount without changing the structure.
The big takeaway from an interview with IGN, however, is that they are quite open to remaking other projects even as they are re-releasing the originals for those that haven’t had the chance to play these iconic gaming titles.
Regarding remakes of previous games in the series other than Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, we will listen to player demand and consider accordingly.
Metal Gear Solid is quite popular as a franchise and a modern take on a classic; if proven they can keep it on the same level as the Resident Evil remakes. So, it wouldn’t be too surprising if they could start their own take on reviving the classic franchise as they build the story from Snake Eater to The Phantom Pain.
Source: IGN
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Hideo Kojima Not Involved with ‘Metal Gear Solid 3’ Remake
We’ve kind of suspected it but the long-rumored Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater remake won’t have an involvement from Hideo Kojima, who created the original franchise. After he left Konami, they kept the rights to his creation and he went on to found his own production studio, Kojima Productions. While he’s currently busy with Death Stranding 2, Konami is trying to revive the franchise with a remake of the original.
Sadly, Kojima is not involved at all with the project and neither is Yoji Shinkawa, who created the iconic designs for the various characters from the franchise. Though it seems that Konami developers are actively working on the game even though they wouldn’t outright confirm who was the development team. Virtuos is supporting and has worked on the Metal Gear series in the past.
A Konami spokesperson only had the following to say in an interview with IGN:
They are not involved. However, the development team will work hard to create this remake and also the ports (for Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection) so that they can be enjoyed on multiple platforms by even more players all around the world.
It’s uncertain if Konami will even try to get Kojima’s sign-off on the project, especially with how their relationship ended some years ago. Long-time fans are still uncertain about his involvement and if the team can truly keep the spirit of the original alive. His work was a very personal one and you always knew it had his hand in some form or another involved. So, we’ll see if Konami can carry on the torch and avoid another Metal Gear Survive.
Source: IGN
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‘The Flash’ Director Won’t Recast Ezra Miller in Possible Sequel
The hype surrounding The Flash is a troubled one. While the film has been in development hell for quite some time, Andy Muschietti is finally going to reveal it to the world in just a few more weeks. Yet, the discussion surrounding its leading star, Ezra Miller, has left some questioning his future as the iconic hero.
In 2020, the actor made headlines due to choking a woman before it started going to new questionable levels in 2022. Miller was stated to be in treatment for “complex mental health issues” and is completely absent from the film’s promotional run. Yet, Muschietti believes that they are the only one right to play Barry Allen.
If [a sequel] happens, yes. I don’t think there’s anyone that can play that character as well as they did. The other depictions of the character are great, but this particular vision of the character, they just excelled in doing it. And, as you said, the two Barrys — it feels like a character that was made for them.
Andy MuschiettiHis wife and co-producer, Barbara Muschietti, also highlights Miller’s role during filming and highlighting that he was “the most committed” actor on set to bring the different variations of Barry to life.
In principal photography, Ezra was brilliant and the most committed and the most professional [actor]. Ezra gave everything for this role — physically, creatively, emotionally. They were absolutely supreme.
Barbara MuschiettiIt’s hard to say what people will take away from the film and if Miller will still stick around once the new era of the DC Cinematic Universe kicks off under James Gunn and Peter Safran’s management. Warner Bros. Discovery has put all its money into this film’s box office and we’ll see if it’ll manage to do just that once it finally releases next month.
Source: Variety
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Live-Action ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Finds its Hiccup and Astrid
While many have been hoping Disney’s attempt to bring their classic animated franchises to live-action would end, Dreamworks has just started with their own attempt. The animated film How to Train Your Dragon is heading back to the silver screen but not with an animated sequel or spinoff, but rather a live-action adaptation. With a March 14th release date in 2025, Dean DeBlois is attached to direct and it seems they found their leading duo.
Deadline has reported that Mason Thames and Nico Parker will take on the roles of Hiccup and Astrid in Universel’s upcoming adaptation. They will retell the story of Hiccup’s journey as a young Viking that ends up bonding with a dragon, who he eventually names Toothless. Dreamwork’s original trilogy was nominated for Academy Awards and a Golden Globe, so it’s not surprising they want this adaptation featuring human characters to make its way to live-action
Thames just had his first big hit with The Black Phone staring opposite Ethan Hawke. He even got the lead role in Incoming and is also going to star alongside Mel Gibson in Boys of Summer. Parker just had a role in The Last of Us alongside Pedro Pascal. She’s also appeared in the live-action Dumbo film by Tim Burton and is set to appear in HBO’s The Third Day.
Source: Deadline
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‘The Little Mermaid’ Front-Loads to $117M+ Opening
Disney’s latest live-action adaptation pulled a reverse Fast X, as while it did quite well domestically, its international box office is a very different story. Still, The Little Mermaid has opened to $163.8M globally through Sunday and now stands at $117M+ over its four-day opening weekend. There’s a chance it’ll still hit $119M but that’s still slightly off from the initial expectation of it to go beyond the $121M+ range after that strong Friday opening.
The film has an A CinemaScore rating and word-of-mouth should’ve been in its favor, but there are always external factors that you might not expect to have their influence on performances. We saw it with families not showing up until the summer box office kicked off and the film still passed Aladdin’s $91.3M three-day weekend.
Disney put a big gamble into this film being a massive success with a variety of promotional tie-ins, which makes it probably their biggest for a non-tentpole IP from their subsidiaries. The issue is that its overseas performance is a bit questionable for the film’s chance of pushing to compete with Aladdin‘s long-term box office. That film went on to pass a billion but it’s uncertain with this remake.
The Little Mermaid overall had an international box office of $68.3M by Sunday, which put it at $163.8M excluding the Memorial Day Monday. The problem is the film is facing some harsh right-wing review bombings in multiple countries. IMDb’s of the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Brazil alongside AlloCiné in France have warned that their systems are seeing irregular activities.
China has also shown a rather harsh reaction to the film. Maoyan has no audience score which is very unusual. The film is likely to just pull in $4M which is not a good sign after Fast X and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 finally re-awakened some trust with Western releases in that market. So, we will have to see just how much the domestic market can hold carry the film if it was front-loaded on Friday.
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REPORT Marvel Studios ‘X-Men ’97’ Series May Be Eyeing an Early 2024 Release
Marvel Studios took quite a step back during 2023 with their Disney+ ventures. While we still have three live-action series set to release, it’s been a while since She-Hulk, Attorney at Law found its way into the service back in August. We’re still some weeks away until Secret Invasion will release, but it seems their latest animated venture might take just a tad bit longer than initially expected. Originally set for a Fall 2023 release during last year’s San Diego Comic-Con, it seems we might have to wait until January of next year.
It seems that the US Copyright Office may be the leaker this time around. First discovered by @ScarletWitchUpd on Twitter, the series is seemingly scheduled to release on January 3rd, 2024. There’s a chance that it might just be a placeholder release date set by the copyright office for the pilot episode, as it supposedly is a pre-registration. Still, it wouldn’t be too surprising given that Echo is now set to release in November as a binge release.
Marvel Studios’ animated ventures have been showcased as something separate from the rest of their projects with the exception of What If…?. We’re still waiting for the second season of that series to release, but they generally have gone quiet on the various entries. We’ll have to wait just a bit longer but perhaps a trailer will arrive sometime in the fourth quarter that confirms the release date.
Source: The Direct, Twitter
