While it is great to spend time with family and friends during the holiday. Sometimes, after the big meal and before the dessert, conversation lags. Could be everyone is full, or run our of safe or fun topics, or everyone is just slightly sleepy. So why not all plop down and watch something fun? Here is the best Thanksgiving movie guide to watch with parents.
Die Hard
What more can you say? This classic is the perfect way to tie together Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The Safe Choices
Moana: An animated film that’s comfortable and reassuring in its familiarity, but does enough differently to delight you.
Rogue One: The best war movie this year, and darkest Star Wars entry since The Empire Strikes Back
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: You’re straggling if you haven’t seen this yet, but it’s a pleasant return to Rowling’s Wizarding World
Passengers: While it’s receiving a bashing critically—it isn’t as bad as its Rotten Tomatoes score indicates—but also has old friends Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt doing J Law and Pratt things
The Serious Movie Fans
Silence: Martin Scorsese’s 3-hour epic based on Shūsaku Endō’s 1966 novel that really goes for it with its epic subject matter and performances
La La Land: Reviving old-school musicals with endearing performances by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. Be prepared for singing and dancing.
Jackie: The history biopic that should have “Natalie Portman really wants an Oscar” as its tagline. If high-minded actor vehicles are your thing, this is your movie.
Paterson: Adam Driver stars as bus driver named Paterson living in Paterson, New Jersey. A classic Jim Jarmusch people just hanging out movie. It’s great, according to our wonderful photo editor.
The Denzel Washington Movie
Fences: Tour-de-force performances by Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, which is exactly what you want.
The Funnies
Office Christmas Party: Its actors seem tired and not really interested in the movie, but it has enough bits to please.
Why Him? James Franco and Bryan Cranston battling it out for the love of a daughter. In a bizarro world, this is a Breaking Bad spin-off. Instead it’s a formulaic laughie.
Daisy Ridley has a lot going on these days, but she made a point to carve out some time to support The Marsh King’s Daughter, a film that was a promotional casualty of the now-resolved SAG-AFTRA strike. The English actor has plenty of reasons to be proud of her work in Neil Burger’s thriller, as she’s tasked with playing the psychologically complex and physical role of Helena. As a child, the character lived off the grid with her mother (Caren Pistorius) and father (Ben Mendelsohn) until she was abruptly and dramatically whisked away to lead a more civilized life.
Ridley shares the role with Brooklynn Prince, who plays young Helena in flashbacks. The two actors happened to have a viral moment in 2017, as Prince met Ridley backstage at Good Morning America. Ridley then surprised Prince once more during a The Florida Project Q&A with THR’s Scott Feinberg. And while it was a complete coincidence that the two were playing the same character in Marsh King’s Daughter, Ridley was amazed that they both portrayed Helena in a similar fashion.
“We were playing the same person, and while we didn’t really talk about it, we both approached Helena in very much the same way,” Ridley tells The Hollywood Reporter. “When I got to Canada, she sent me those pictures [from our previous interactions]. It’s quite surreal when you’re an adult and you see a tiny person growing. You’re like, ‘Where have the last few years gone? Why are you a teenager now?’”
Ridley last spoke to THR in late January for her Sundance gem, Sometimes I Think About Dying, and at the time, she didn’t know what was in store for her and Star Wars. That quickly changed in April, when Ridley’s return was announced by director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy on the Star Wars Celebration stage. She’ll be leading Obaid-Chinoy’s film that’s set 15 years after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Peaky Blinders and Locke scribe Steven Knight is helming the script.
“When I was at Sundance, I did not know. I shot my movie [Magpie] when I got back, and I had a breakfast with Kathy [Kennedy] that I thought was just breakfast,” Ridley recalls. “And then it was mentioned, so I thought about it. I loved the story, and I was like, ‘Okay.’ Things then happened quite quickly, and it felt like I was instantaneously on a stage being introduced by [director] Sharmeen [Obaid-Chinoy]. It honestly took me back to being 20 or 21, however old I was, when [Star Wars: The Force Awakens] was announced. I was petrified, I was overwhelmed, I was really nervous but the response was really wonderful. And I’m genuinely really excited about the next one. I haven’t read anything, but I know the story. It’s really worth telling, worth exploring, and I think people will be excited.”
Below, during a recent conversation with THR, Ridley also breaks down her most emotional Marsh King’s Daughter scene and how she instantly bonded with Ben “Mendo” Mendelsohn.
The Marsh King’s Daughter was right before Sometimes I Think About Dying, so I filmed this, went home for two weeks and then went and played Fran [in Astoria, Oregon].
When you started reading this script, what was the first detail to pique your interest?
It was the exploration of the father-daughter bond and what it means to have raised your child in such a way that they revere you and are terrified of you. The rest of Helena’s life is really shaped by that and the fear that she has, but also the excitement. She’s desperate to see him once she just innately knows that he’s not dead. So it was really that exploration and what it means to be a parent. And then it’s about what it means for her to be a parent and how he has informed her. Where is the line? If it wasn’t for her own child and him talking about her child, there’s a chance that the ending wouldn’t be the ending, but it’s about the lengths you will go to protect your own child from the person who raised you.
Daisy Ridley as Helena Pelletier in The Marsh King’s Daughter.
Philippe Bossé
Fran’s unknown backstory is something you and your Dying director debated, but in this case, Helena’s upbringing is clearly laid out through flashbacks. As an actor, do you prefer to have all the pieces of the puzzle like you had with Helena?
It was an interesting but different thing. I actually didn’t watch Brooklynn’s stuff till it was done, obviously, because I wasn’t on set. So it was an interesting thing. We were playing the same person, and while we didn’t really talk about it, we both approached Helena in very much the same way. It’s subjective and memory is hazy, and sometimes, things are wrong. How you viewed something as a 10-year-old and how you view it as a 30-year-old are two different things. So, [with regard to backstory], I don’t know that I can say I prefer either. Both ways challenge you and both leave a lot of room, strangely. There are a hundred ways to skin a cat, which is probably the wrong phrase, but that’s a really long answer to say that I like both.
You met Brooklynn Prince backstage at Good Morning America in 2017, and then you surprised her during a Q&A that she was doing with THR’s Scott Feinberg. Did you play the role of agent? Did you recommend her to play your character’s younger self?
I actually didn’t, but when I heard it was her, I was like, “What!?” So, when I got to Canada, she sent me those pictures, and she’s such a little baby in them. I remember how sweet and tiny she was, and I remember watching The Florida Project and being like, “Oh my God, this girl is unbelievable.” And then the producer [Alex Saks] who made Sometimes I Think About Dying also made Florida Project, so there were all these strange links. So I didn’t play agent, but I was so thrilled. It’s quite surreal when you’re an adult and you see a tiny person growing. Time seems different, and you’re like, “Where have the last few years gone? Why are you a teenager now?” Yeah, she’s amazing.
Had you and Ben Mendelsohn previously met at a Lucasfilm Christmas party, or was this your first time crossing paths?
(Laughs.) This was our first time crossing paths, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled. We FaceTimed, because we were both in quarantine, and I loved him immediately. (Ridley begins a stellar impression of “Mendo.”) He was like, “Dais, let’s just get a relationship. Let’s just chat. Let’s just FaceTime, hang out and talk to each other.” And then when we met, it felt like I’d met him many times before. He’s the most phenomenal actor, and I loved all the scenes with him, because they’re so confusing, heartbreaking, scary and joyful. He’s just so wonderful and he brings everything every time. So it was really fun playing with the different shades of it, because there are so many opposing things in their relationship, particularly how Helena feels about him. So, to have all of that space to fill in was quite wonderful.
I believe this was your first time playing a mother as well. How much did that affect your typical approach to a character?
I called Joey [Carson] little Meryl Streep. She was five or six; I think she turned six after we stopped filming. What’s interesting with a child is you are just serving a child. So, in a way, it’s an amazing acting thing, because you’re really not thinking about yourself at all. It’s like, “Is this child okay?” I don’t think it’s in the film, but there was a bit where I grabbed her and I had to look a certain way, but I was just so concerned about her that it was sort of amazing. I don’t know what being a parent is like, but I suppose that’s what it’s like. So she was so amazing. I had to grab her wrist and I kept saying, “Are you okay? Are you okay? And she said, “I’m fine, I’m fine.” And then she goes, “It’s weird, though, because after a bit, it feels like it hurts.” She was imagining so much that it started hurting, and I was like, “Oh my God, this brilliant child.” But it was just wonderful when she came to set, whether we were filming or not. It was all about serving her, and we played all the time. So it takes you out of yourself in a really wonderful way. It’s the opposite of self-consciousness. I just wanted her to be okay.
Gil Birmingham as Clark Bekkum and Daisy Ridley as Helena Pelletier in The Marsh King’s Daughter.
Philippe Bossé
The psychology of people who went from off-the-grid lifestyles to civilized life must be quite complex. How deep did you go to try and figure that out?
I did reading on cults and the feelings of people that were indoctrinated into something and have difficult parental figures. And the thing that I came across in what I saw involved tears. Even way after people had left things that were maybe not serving them in a healthy way, they didn’t cry. People don’t cry for years and years after they’ve left certain groups, so that was a big thing. With Helena, she’s desperately trying to not show anything, because her father literally tells her that the only tears he ever wants to see are the tattoos on her face.
So it was an interesting exercise in restraint until the moment where she says to her husband, “This is who I am. This is who made me. Will you please accept me now?” And it did make that scene feel so much more vulnerable and intimate. For someone who has been married for a while and lied to their partner about a lot of things, to then say, “This is me,” it made that scene feel so emotional, knowing that she’s unusual in that way but is open to receiving love or rejection. So a lot of it was an exercise in restraint, and when Ben and I were doing scenes together, it was really hard to not be emotional because he’s so … (Ridley gasps.) So I don’t know if I succeeded, but yes, a lot of it was not being too showy with emotion.
Yeah, that driveaway scene where she bares her soul to her husband is one of the best scenes you’ve ever done.
Oh, thank you.
Outside of the physical acting you had to do, was that the scene you anticipated the most or perhaps dreaded the most?
I was anticipating that, yes. Every time I read that bit in the script, I was like, “Oh my God, this poor woman, this poor woman.” Strangely enough, with Sometimes I Think About Dying’s last scene, I always thought, “This poor woman.” There’s always that moment where you think, “Oh my god, this is the most human essence of this person.” So I was anticipating that scene, but I also felt excited to see what it was because you just never know. You can prep and you can talk and you can discuss what it might be and what it is, but the actual expression of that is always going to be in the moment. So I was anticipating it, and then it was quite beautiful, particularly having held so much in and then being able to take a breath as Helena. It was very moving.
Daisy Ridley as Fran in Sometimes I Think About Dying
Dustin Lane/Courtesy of Sundance Institute
Not counting last-minute shoots at Bad Robot, is Sometimes I Think About Dying the only time you’ve shot a movie in the States?
Yes! I did The Marsh King’sDaughter in Canada, and then we shot [Dying] in Astoria [Oregon]. In England, you’re not allowed to drive yourself [to set], but I drove myself to certain stuff on [Dying]. It was such a different feeling. But yes, that was my first time in America.
Speaking of England, seven months ago, you were showered with adulation on the Star Wars Celebration stage. What was the basic course of events that led to that moment?
The basic course is when I was at Sundance, I did not know. I shot my movie [Magpie] when I got back, and I had a breakfast with Kathy [Kennedy] that I thought was just breakfast. (Laughs.) And then it was mentioned, so I thought about it. I loved the story, and I was like, “Okay.” Things then happened quite quickly, and it felt like I was instantaneously on a stage being introduced by [director] Sharmeen [Obaid-Chinoy]. It honestly took me back to being 20 or 21, however old I was, when [Star Wars: The Force Awakens] was announced. I was petrified, I was overwhelmed, I was really nervous but the response was really wonderful. And I’m genuinely really excited about the next one. I haven’t read anything, but I know the story. It’s really worth telling, worth exploring, and I think people will be excited.
*** The Marsh King’s Daughter is now available in movie theaters and on PVOD.
An eagle-eyed Star Wars fan has come to the realization that his family was very likely photobombed by George Lucas during a trip to Walt Disney World nearly 20 years ago.
Mark Chase took to X, formerly Twitter, to share a photograph of his family posing for a picture at the world-famous Florida theme park in February 2005.
He was 11 at the time. In the background, sitting down just to the right is a man who looks suspiciously like Lucas.
A family photo featuring “George Lucas.” Mark Chase is convinced the ‘Star Wars’ creator photobombed his family. markvchase
Chase and his family didn’t really pay much attention to the man in the backdrop until around a decade after the picture was first taken. Even then, they were initially convinced it was little more than a doppelganger.
Though doppelgangers do exist, the chances of finding one remain slim at best. In fact, a 2015 study published by researchers from the University of Adelaide, Australia, put the probability at around one in a trillion.
Chase told Newsweek: “We kind of joked that it looked like him, put the photos away and didn’t think about it again, until just recently when we decided to go to Google and see what we could find.”
After a little Internet sleuthing, Chase discovered evidence that Lucas was at Disney World when they visited.
According to an article published on the website wdwmagic.com, Lucas was indeed at Walt Disney World in February 2005, on a week-long vacation. As part of the trip, Lucas visited the “Jedi Mickey Mouse” at the Disney-MGM Studios.
The visit came ahead of the release of Revenge of the Sith, the final film in his Star Wars prequel saga, which hit cinemas in May of that year.
Chase said he was surprised how “shockingly easy” it was to find proof, with the website carrying several images of Lucas in similar attire to that of the man in the photo.
Eager to find confirmation, Chase decided to share the picture to X, under the handle markvchase. At the time of writing, the post has been viewed 4.2 million times, earning 1,900 retweets and a glut of comments.
Several fellow Star Wars fans were quick to spot signs the picture was indeed that of Lucas having found other pictures of him from the visit wearing the same belt, watch, and shoes.
Some were left in disbelief at the idea of being photobombed by Lucas. “This can’t possibly be real,” one user wrote. Others felt sure it was. “It’s 100 percent him,” another X user said.
A few were impressed to the point of being borderline jealous. “Dang that’s so freakin cool! I love that!,” one tweeted. Others, meanwhile, just decided to have fun with it. “That’s Elvis,” one user declared while another reflected that it was “Funny how sightings of George Lucas have the same vibes as sightings of Bigfoot.”
The official Star Wars X account also acknowledged the sighting. Newsweek has reached out to a representative for Lucas to try and get confirmation.
In the meantime, Chase has been blown away by the response to the tweet.
“The discovery was pretty crazy,” he said. “The Internet seems to be running with it. They love a good mystery. Hopefully, the virality can get us some confirmation as to whether it really is him or not.”
If you have a similar family dilemma, let us know via life@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured in Newsweek.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Titled “Joining the Panderverse,” the episode details Eric Cartman’s worst nightmare—that he’ll be replaced by a woman of color. When Eric wakes from the bad dream, he declares, “They were taking all my favorite people and replacing them with diverse women who complain about the patriarchy!” later adding, “And Disney stock keeps going down and down!”
Cartman’s dreams become reality in the form of a multiverse occupied only by women of color is led by South Park Elementary’s “PC Principal,” who accuses the characters of bigotry when they say recasting South Park’s white male characters “doesn’t make any sense.” Says the administrator, “If you don’t think Eric Cartman can be a Black woman, then maybe the problem is you. You probably don’t like that Indiana Jones got replaced by a female either, huh? You probably have a problem with Black Spider-Man, too“—referencing controversies that have cropped up around recent Disney titles like Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which notably didn’t replace Harrison Ford as Indy with Phoebe Waller–Bridge, and Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse. The kids do, at least, support the latter film: “No! Miles Morales is sweet! That’s a whole constructed thing with its own character and narrative. This is just taking the same old Cartman and putting a Black woman in it!”
At one point, the episode features a fictionalized version of Disney CEO Bob Iger, who tells his fellow executives to “pander harder” to frustrated audiences via the “panderstone” that the studio uses to remake the same stories over and over. This is where Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy enters the episode to repeat the same note over and over again: “Put a chick in it! Make her lame and gay!”
But before episode’s end, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone acknowledge the hatred that can spew from the anti-woke fans and commentators who place Kennedy directly in the crosshairs. Kennedy tells Cartman of the “hate mail” she’s received on the job, “ugly letters from racists who couldn’t stand that some of the panderstone’s rehashes had diverse women characters in the lead.” She admits that using the panderstone to “fight all bigotry in our society” was the wrong method. “All I ever wanted was to make great entertainment, but as as soon as you start getting piles of hate mail, endless messages calling you the c-word, you can’t think straight,” Kennedy says before apologizing to Cartman for being “so reckless with the things you love. It was just lazy.” To this, Cartman replies, “Well, I’m sorry I wrote all those letters…I guess just railing on woke stuff all the time is pretty lazy, too.”
X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn has some ideas for another popular franchise.
The filmmaker would be interested in rebooting the original Star Warsfilms with a fresh set of actors playing Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones).
“For me, doing a Star Wars movie is to play with the characters that I loved,” he said on a recent episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “If they said to me, do you want to reboot Star Wars and actually have Luke Skywalker, Solo and Vader and do your version of it? Everyone would say you’re an idiot to try, but that would excite me. … Why are the characters so hallowed that from 1977 that you can’t re-do it for a new audience?”
He explained that Star Wars is the Skywalker family, and he feels like Lucasfilm and Disney have sort of strayed from that original group of people, and that’s where he thinks they’ve gone wrong. He shared that, to him, the TV shows are still good, but the franchise is missing an epic new film.
“That’s what I would do,” he said. “Everyone is going to go batshit crazy, but let’s bring it on. If you want a new generation, make the movie for them. The old generation, hopefully, you make it well enough that they go, ‘Oh, OK, I’m enjoying it.’”
But Vaughn likely won’t be getting an opportunity anytime soon to remake the originalfilms, as Kathleen Kennedy told Vanity Fair last year that Lucasfilm is focused on expanding George Lucas’ universe beyond the Skywalker saga and is not planning to tell new stories with new actors playing the iconic characters. Her comments came after a negative reception to Solo: A Star Wars Story.
“We also can’t go do something with Luke Skywalker that isn’t Mark Hamill,” she said in the interview. “We’re not going to suddenly go try to do that.”
Up next for Vaughn, however, isn’t a new Star Wars film. It’s ensemble pic Argylle, starring Dua Lipa, Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, John Cena, Ariana DeBose and Samuel L. Jackson.
The thriller follows Cavill’s Argylle, a fictional super spy created by writer Elly Conway (Howard), whose life is turned upside down when her new book hits a little too close to the real life of actual spies who hunt her down when they read it.
We love video games for their interactivity and immersion, and a big part of this is thanks to their settings. Whether it’s the opportunity they present for exploration or deep lore that surrounds how they came to be, these games offer some of the best worlds to get lost in. Strap in and explore our top 10 best settings and worlds in video games.
Night City (Cyberpunk 2077)
Image Source: CD Projekt Red
Cyberpunk 2077’s aesthetic is so rich and drenched in neon-soaked atmosphere that it’s nearly impossible not to add Night City to this list.
CD Projekt Red went overboard with their attention to detail and design when constructing Night City’s streets. Every building has unique patterning and architectural design suited for the particular district it’s cramped in.
Even within the confines of a single district are various themes and styles unique to each sub-district. Northside Watson has a spread-out gritty industrial aesthetic far removed from the absolutely cramped and colorful Kabuki district in Watson. You really do feel like a smushed sardine among the crowds of people and bunched-up apartments in Night City, and it’s glorious.
But it’s not just that each subdistrict differentiates itself; each block feels unique from the next in the way the terrain is diversified. You never feel like you’re walking around a map populated by Speedtree copy-paste techniques. Every single square inch feels hand-crafted to some extent, propelling the player to explore off the beaten rebel path.
Spira (Final Fantasy X)
Image Source: Square Enix
There’s no doubt that living in Spira would be nightmarish. From the constant Sin attacks and the ferocious monsters patrolling the highways, Spira is a literal spiral of death.
It’s a true achievement, then, that Square Soft could create such an absolutely enchanting dreamscape of a setting amid such devastating death. I’d argue that this dichotomy between horrific death and sublime beauty is what really makes Spira so magical, as Spira’s outward beauty contrasts the cycle of death that the whale-like Sin brings.
The simplistic nobility surrounding the almost-subsistence island village of Kilika is beautiful in the kind of hardworking and honest people it fosters. And yet, these people will only live a short time before being wiped out with the village having to restart its development again.
Final Fantasy X is drenched in themes and symbolism too. The religion of Yevon serves as an analogue of real-life cults. And of course, there’s absurdly detailed symbolism permeating through every facet of the game, such as the Al Bhed script and Yevon mandalas. There are many unique symbols on ornately carved temple walls and store signs in Spira; each has deep significance and meaning making the setting rich and immersive.
The Al-Bhed language goes the extra mile in immersing us in Spira’s unique world too. Without hyperbole, Final Fantasy X really does have some of the most unique storytelling elements in gaming.
The Lands Between (Elden Ring)
Image Source: FromSoftware
Elden Ring manages to represent FromSoftware’s entire philosophy in a single game, and it does this with great success.
FromSoft games are known for their rich environmental storytelling and obtuse lore. Like Dark Souls before it, Elden Ring’s main character is its setting.
FromSoft’s lead designer, Hidetaka Miyazaki, has stated that the philosophy behind his storytelling consists of scattered puzzle pieces left for inquisitive players to find and place together. The puzzle pieces themselves are represented by the various characters, landmarks, and item descriptions found throughout the dark fantasy setting. Characters, in particular, carry a mysterious aura begging to be further explored.
I’ve put over 100 hours into Elden Ring and own a hardcover lore book describing the game, and yet I still don’t feel I’ve put together most of the puzzle pieces it’s laid out for players. If you like unfettered exploration amid a profoundly dynamic fantasy world, Elden Ring offers all that and way more than you probably have time for.
Thedas (Dragon Age)
Image Source: EA Bioware
On the very tail-end of Bioware’s golden age was Dragon Age, and its setting of Thedas is sublime.
Heavily inspired by Baldur’s Gate, Dragon Age was Bioware’s attempt at a fresh homebrewed fantasy setting, and boy, did they succeed. Sure, Thedas is filled with your typical fantasy dwarves and elves, but even these tropes are spiced up with their own religions, factions, and sub-cultures. This gives rise to several memorable locales to explore ranging from bustling cities to vast ancient ruins colored by the people and cultures that once called them home.
What really makes Dragon Age’s world stand out, though, is the complex political intrigue between all the various races and cultures. For example: Mages enjoy remarkable power and ability, yet are abused by factions looking to use them and outright feared by society as a whole — which results in them remaining under strict control and surveillance. After all, it’s mages who are susceptible to the demons of the Fade, which is itself a kind of dream realm comprised of its own political rifts.
This is why Dragon Age fans continue to be vocally excited for Dragon Age 4, and for the changes it could bring to the world they’ve spent so much time in.
Taris (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic)
Image Source: Bioware via starwars.fandom
The Old Republic is an era developed by Bioware and set some 4,000 years before the time of the films. The series has tremendous worldbuilding for each planet you visit. Taris, in particular, gets ample treatment in the first Knights of the Old Republic.
The scale is so absolutely perfect during this initial Taris section that it almost feels like a game within a game. You feel like you’re on this alien planet, living among the locals. You don’t have a lightsaber or any force powers yet, and you’re pretty much a nobody to the citizenry of the occupied planet.
While dated by today’s standards, Knights of the Old Republic is filled with these immersive moments that reaffirm our love of the role-playing genre.
Hyrule (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom)
Image Source: Nintendo via Twinfinite
The Zelda series has introduced us to many versions of Hyrule through the years. They all share many elements between them; from races to atmosphere, even shared timelines and characters. It’s difficult to choose any one version of Hyrule over the other, so we went with the largest: Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom.
Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom feature truly magnificent versions of Hyrule. Breath of the Wild in particular set a new standard across the entire industry in a similar way that the original Zelda did back in 1987. It finally realized Shigeru Miyamoto’s original vision for the series with its ability to immerse players and make them feel lost within its giant world.
Tears of the Kingdom shares a similar Hyrule as Breath of the Wild, but adds aerial zones and subterranean nooks and crannies. And trust me, players will want to explore every nook and cranny in these games due to the organic, lived-in environments and the rewards they offer.
Whether you’re a first-time traveler to Hyrule’s longstanding legacy or you’re looking for a fun world to get lost in, these Zelda settings offer some of the best sightseeing in video games.
Zemuria (The Legend of Heroes: Trails series)
Image Source: Nihon Falcom
Ah, the niche JPRG series that has more entries than I do brain cells. Where do I even start? First, the most obvious. Every game in the Trails is connected together with masterfully done internal continuity.
For those out of the loop regarding these lore-intensive JRPGs, The Legend of Heroes comprises a franchise of disconnected, though similar-styled games. The Trails series within broad The Legend of Heroes, however, has some of the best continuity in all of gaming.
What really makes the Trails series immersive is the interconnected socio-political machinations going on between each nation. Set during a time of political upheaval at the dawn of Zemuria’s industrial and technological boom, there’s a metric ton of really good internal continuity going on between each Trails game.
The plot twists are usually well-earned too. Since the games are 50 hours minimum each, there’s a ton of build-up leading to the inciting incident at the tail-end of each story. You really get to know the various characters and explore the world they live in; almost too well, considering the vast swaths of dialogue and heaps of side content present in these games.
Halo Universe (Halo Series)
Image Source Bungie
Halo is a blending of sci-fi space opera, militaristic fiction, and horror. Dealing with the alien threat to humanity sets the first Halo game in motion, which also gives players a glimpse into alien cultures and religions.
But because Halo is largely played from the perspective of a super-soldier, the player often finds themselves on the front lines of militaristic campaigns across the galaxy. Halo’s wonderful scene direction draws attention to its clever nods to classic films such as Apocalypse Now and its epic set piece moments reminiscent of 1997’s Starship Troopers.
And then, there’s the parasitic Flood, destroyer of worlds and species. The Flood permeates Halo’s setting in such a way to expound on the history behind the Forerunner precursor race. There’s always a history lesson when the Flood are involved, and Halo Rings and alien cultist Prophets are usually wrapped up somewhere in the mess too. Halo is great at using horror and military heroics to tell a grand saga that we just can’t get enough of.
Tamriel (The Elder Scrolls)
Image Source: Bethesda
Whether it’s Morrowind, Oblivion, or Skyrim, the world of Tamriel is teeming with things to do and see. For this list, however, Morrowind still takes the crown as the most atmospheric and organic province we’ve ever seen of Tamriel.
One of my favorite aspects of Morrowind is the unique vibe you get exploring the cities and countryside. I still have dreams every now and then of Balmora, the first major hub town players call home in the game. The unique stone architecture holding up the numerous guild factions among a progressively cultish populace is still so wonderfully presented today. So was the water, which looks way, WAY too good for a 2001 game.
The bizarre species and fauna native to Morrowind are more inspiring and unique than anything Cyrodil or Skyrim have to offer. The way some of these creatures are incorporated into the infrastructure of Morrowind is cool too: Tall shelled creatures called Stilt Striders serve as the transit system between towns, and giant mushrooms house some of the more magically inclined residents.
The lore and world of The Elder Scrolls is vast, beautiful, and often violent in a very gritty way. Morrowind in particular highlights the most otherworldly aspects of the series, and stands among the best video game settings of all time as a result.
Azeroth (World of Warcraft)
Image Source: Activision Blizzard
The Warcraft setting easily takes the crown as having the most overwhelmingly vast lore on this list. Azeroth was first introduced in 1994 with Warcraft: Orcs and Humans. It’s a setting older than many gamers reading this and has enough history to fill several libraries. The lore in Warcraft isn’t just large, though, it’s also surprisingly well-thought-out and complex.
The scope of Warcraft’s cosmology has a quasi-biblical weight to it. With each planet and lifeform consisting of some greater history and purpose laid for it, there’s a cool deep-rooted mythological feel to the Warcraft setting that sets it apart as one of the very best in gaming.
Besides the lore and mythology, World of Warcraft also set itself apart with its boundary-breaking MMO mechanics. Players felt a freedom of exploration and camaraderie with others that was simply unheard of when it was released back in 2003, setting the standard for MMOs to come.
That’s our list of top 10 best settings and worlds in video games. For more interesting features and game guides, check out our other content here on Twinfinite!
About the author
Matthew Carmosino
Matthew Carmosino is a freelance writer for Twinfinite. He started gaming in the mid-90s where his love for SquareSoft RPGs like Chrono Trigger changed him forever. Matthew has been working in the game industry for two years covering everything from story-rich RPGs to puzzle-platformers.
Listening to piano music on a rainy day is his idea of a really good time, which probably explains his unnatural tolerance for level-grinding.
Last month, the three-time Oscar winner revealed he was once in talks to direct a “Star Wars” film. Now, he’s opening up about why his origin story of the crime lord space-slug never materialized.
Del Toro, a master of the macabre, told Collider, “We had the rise and fall of Jabba the Hutt, so I was super happy. We were doing a lot of stuff, and then it’s not my property, it’s not my money, and then it’s one of those 30 screenplays that goes away.”
Though undeniably disappointed, the “Pan’s Labyrinth” filmmaker said he learned to accept how the situation played out.
“Sometimes I’m bitter, sometimes I’m not,” he said. “I always turn to my team and say, ‘Good practice, guys. Good practice. We designed a great world. We designed great stuff. We learned.’”
Guillermo del Toro attends an event at the Hammer Museum on Dec. 15, 2022.
Amanda Edwards via Getty Images
“You can never be ungrateful with life,” he went on. “Whatever life sends you, there’s something to be learned from it. So, you know, I trust the universe, I do. When something doesn’t happen, I go, ‘Why?’ I try to have a dialogue with myself. ‘Why didn’t it happen?’ And the more you swim upstream with the universe, the less you’re gonna realize where you’re going.”
Del Toro basically spelled out his “Star Wars” secret after screenwriter David S. Goyer dished about the ill-fated LucasFilms project, which he said was in the works about four years ago.
Confirming Goyer’s story in a post on X, formerly Twitter, del Toro told fans, “True. Can’t say much. Maybe two letters ‘J’ and ‘BB’ is that three letters?”
While there doesn’t appear to be a Jabba the Hutt movie on the horizon, “Star Wars” fans still have a full slate of projects to look forward to in coming years.
The new TV series “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” and “The Acolyte” will debut on Disney+ next year, along with the return of “Andor” and “The Bad Batch.”
“Star Wars” lovers will have to wait a little longer for Grogu and “The Mandalorian,” which will likely premiere its fourth season in 2025.
While it was somewhat divisive among fans, Rogue One is one of the most interesting Star Warsstories that’s been told in a long time. We wouldn’t have Andor without Rogue One, whether we’re talking about the narrative or the much darker tone. Rogue One was also one of the most expensive movies ever made, costing between $200-$265 million dollars. It managed to bring in $1.058 billion.
Despite the general public being aware of some of the production process, there are also tons of inaccuracies about what exactly happened floating around online. There were extensive reshoots and rewrites, but maybe not on the level people assume. Some have said that when Lucasfilm brought in Tony Gilroy in 2016, he essentially took over as the director despite not being credited as such.
The film’s director, Gareth Edwards, recently spoke with Kim Masters on The Business to dispel some misinformation about the film.
“The stuff that is out there on the internet about what happened on that film — there is so much inaccuracy about the whole thing,” Edwards said. “Tony [Gilroy] came in, and he did a lot of great work, for sure. No doubt about it. But we all worked together until the last minute of that movie … The very last thing that we filmed in the pickup shoot was the Darth Vader corridor scene. I did all of that stuff.”
Edwards also insisted that he’s “proud of the movie we all made.” His new film, The Creator, is now playing in theaters.
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For many, seeing Hayden Christensen return to the role of Anakin Skywalker was a huge deal. That’s even more true for the actor himself. The character is the defining role of his career so far, and one of the most iconic characters in Star Wars itself.
It’s more than a little bit cathartic to see Anakin return on Star Wars:Ahsoka so late in the timeline, even if this Anakin just exists as a ghost or a memory or whatever he was supposed to be. Either way, it gave Ahsoka the guidance she needed to continue fighting and to realize that she could carve out her own path in life. Dwelling in the past will only lead to her downfall.
In a short behind-the-scenes featurette posted to YouTube, Ahsoka series creator Dave Filoni recently talked about his idea to bring Anakin back on the show.
“You know, as I was figuring out the story for Ahsoka, I just really thought, ‘Well, there’s an opportunity, could bring Anakin and Ahsoka together.’ It’s just awesome,” he explained.
Rosario Dawson also spoke about the history she had with Christensen before they were reunited to work on the show together. They worked together on a 2003 film called Shattered Glass, but they’d also been in touch for years:
I met Hayden when I was 16. We were in an acting school together over a summer. To have that kind of history with him, it really was like seeing my old friend.
Christensen himself also talked about how amazing it was to be back in his Jedi garb, once again wielding a lightsaber.
Putting on the Anakin costume, getting to wear those Jedi robes, it kind of blows your mind every time. I just feel very grateful.
You can watch the full featurette on Anakin’s return on Ahsoka below:
2018’s “Solo: A Star Wars Story” may not have done too well at the box office, but one enduring highlight from it is Donald Glover’s performance as Lando Calrissian. The smooth-talking, cape-wearing smuggler effortlessly stole every scene he was in, which is why conversations about a Lando-focused spinoff have been swirling for years.
In December 2020, Disney announced that a series centered around Lando was in the works with “Haunted Mansion” director Justin Simien as showrunner. However, Simien wound up exiting the project and Donald and his brother, Stephen Glover, took over, per The Hollywood Reporter. During a Sept. 14 appearance on the podcast “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” Stephen revealed that the project is now a movie being made in partnership with Lucasfilm. “It’s not even a show . . . the idea right now is to do a movie. Right now, because of the strike, it’s kind of like telephone, all of the information,” he said. Reps for Lucasfilm did not immediately respond to POPSUGAR’s request for comment.
Donald briefly discussed the project in an April interview with GQ, though remained evasive about its status. “I would love to play Lando again. It’s a fun time, being him. It just has to be the right way to do it. Time is precious. The past couple of years, this pandemic sh*t, it really had people experience time . . . People realize their time is valuable. You only get so much. I’m not interested in doing anything that’s going to be a waste of my time or just a paycheck,” he said. “I’d much rather spend time with people that I enjoy. It just has to be the right thing, and I think it could be. Lando is definitely somebody I like to hang out with.”
While we likely won’t see Donald in all his caped glory for quite a while, especially given the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, you can always travel back 40 years ago to Billy Dee Williams’s original take on the character in “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” for more Lando content. Donald has also kept busy in the years since debuting as Lando, working on everything from “Atlanta” and “Swarm” to a forthcoming remake of “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”
Stig Asmussen, the director behind Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and its recent sequel has left publisher Electronic Arts for unspecified reasons.
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2019’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was a huge hit, selling millions of copies and garnering rave reviews from critics and fans. Earlier this year, the game’s sequel, Jedi: Survivor, debuted to equally positive reviews and sales. Both games were seen by many as a huge improvement over EA’s previous Star Wars output, which included multiplayer shooters and canceled projects. And now, the man who helped lead development on the Jedi games is no longer with Respawn or the studio’s parent company EA.
When asked about the departure, EA provided Kotaku with this statement:
After careful thought and consideration, Stig Asmussen has decided to leave Respawn to pursue other adventures, and we wish him the best of luck. Veteran Respawn leaders will be stepping up to guide the team as they continue their work on Star WarsJedi: Survivor.
The specific reason for Asmussen’s departure is not yet known. His exit from Respawn, at least from the outside, does seem surprising, as the Jedi games have been considered huge successes for EA and its stewardship of Star Wars. His sudden exit seems even more surprising when you consider that, according to Asmussen, the Jedi series of games was always meant to be a trilogy, implying a third game is coming in the future.
In March, a month before the launch of Jedi: Survivor,Asmussen told IGNthat he “always wanted to see [the Jedi saga] as a trilogy.” He explained further that the team had “ideas of what we could do beyond [Jedi: Survivor].”
While it’s very likely EA and Respawn will develop a third game in the popular franchise, completing the presumably planned trilogy, it will seemingly be without the director who helped make the first two chapters memorable.
The following post contains spoilers for Episode 4 of Star Wars: Ahsoka.
While a lot of Disney+’s Ahsoka is pretty familiar, some of key players in the story still remain shrouded in mystery. That’s never been more true than after Episode 4.
The series so far tells the story of Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), Anakin Skywalker’s former apprentice. Unfortunately, her master fell to the dark side and became Darth Vader. Ahsoka remained valiant, and has grown into a powerful Jedi, now with her own apprentice. With that comes a lot of ire from the remains of the Galactic Empire.
Much of the threat on the show so far has come from a mysterious Inquisitor character named Marrok. Fans have been abuzz about who this character might actually be. He shows up and presents a solid challenge to our heroes; and his full mask and armor suggested he may secretly be an existing Star Wars character in disguise. With so much of Ahsoka focused on the search for missing Star Wars hero Ezra Bridger, many fans suspected Marrok could be Ezra turned to the Dark Side.
This week’s episode put an end to most of the mystery, when Ahsoka ends up bisecting Marrok with her saber. Marrok’s body emits a strange green smoke as he dies — which has only lead to further speculation, most of it centered around the character of Morgan Elsbeth, the witch who is trying to bring about the return of the evil Admiral Thrawn, and whose Force powers could explain the power behind Marrok’s smoky interior. We’ll know more in future weeks and on subsequent episodes of Ahsoka, if Marrok is forgotten or returns from the dead thanks to some strange Dark Side magic.
New episodes of Ahsoka premiere on Tuesday nights on Disney+. Sign up for Disney+ here.
You could certainly accuse creators within the Star Wars franchise of needlessly injecting their media with heavy doses of fan service, and Ahsoka series creator Dave Filoni might be the guiltiest of them all. There’s a reason a tweet from April 2023 sharing a fake page from a Filoni script that follows the famous “and my ax” format from The Lord of the Rings but with Star Wars characters is so funny—because it feels, in part, like something the man blessed with George Lucas’ trust would try to pull off.
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There are moments throughout the first episode of the new Disney Plus Ahsoka series that feel a bit like that tweet, and a bit like Filoni, who helmed the animated Star Wars: Rebels series, just wanted to finish telling that show’s story. But even though the frequent nods to content and characters from that beloved series may sometimes make Ahsoka feel like it’s only for the initiated, it still manages to be a compelling standalone story in its own right—maybe not as well as Andor does, but far better than, say, The Book of Boba Fett.
Ahsoka begins with something that makes me genuinely squeal with delight: a traditional Star Wars opening crawl (though in a striking red font), filling you in on the key story beats you’ll need to know going in. This is a brilliant move by Filoni—not only does it help Ahsoka feel more like a full-blown film (which it does throughout the first two episodes that aired on August 23 thanks to fantastic VFX and excellent pacing), but it gives a little bit of context for fans who may not have sat through some 200 episodes across two different kids’ shows.
The crawl tells us that Morgan Elsbeth, an ally to Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn, has been captured by Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and is being transported by the Rebel Alliance. Cue a giant Rebel ship sweeping into view, and a nice look at how the new government is running—a ship sending out an old Jedi signal is asking to board, but the Rebel captain thinks its passengers are bluffing. Most of the Jedi were wiped out during The Clone Wars, remember?
The captain was right to suspect them, because it turns out they’re two red-lightsaber-wielding bad guys named Baylan Skoll (RIP Ray Stevenson) and Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno). Both Stevenson and Sakhno shine in their respective roles—Stevenson playing Baylan like a classically trained Shakespearean villain, Sakhno imbuing Shin with a feral, twitchy energy like a corner feral cat. They kill everyone on the ship and release Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto, who first played the role on The Mandalorian), who tells Baylan that there’s someone after the “map”: Ahsoka Tano.
This is an early reminder that Filoni likes the toys in his sandbox a bit too much, as Inosanto’s somewhat bizarre line-read (she just says the name “Ahsoka Tano” before it cuts to the show’s title card) would have been so much more powerful if she never said it all. Instead, we just get snapped right to the name of the show. Listen, Ahsoka is Filoni’s best girl (and mine, too), so I’ll let him have this one.
Dave Filoni loves Ahsoka Tano.Photo: Kate Green / Disney (Getty Images)
Then we see Ahsoka herself, walking through the ruins of what appears to be an old Jedi temple. It’s great to see Dawson physically embody the role—she is reserved, almost stoic as she moves through this space, but still occasionally offers flashes of playfulness that remind us of a younger Ahsoka. And, thankfully, her fucking lekku are finally the right length. In a scene that feels straight out of Indiana Jones, Ahsoka uses her dual lightsabers to slice through the ground and drop straight into a secret room that demands she complete a puzzle to get the object she’s looking for. She does so with ease, but when she tries to communicate with Huyang (a Jedi engineer droid voiced by David Tennant), she realizes something’s not right.
She’s attacked, and we get our second lightsaber fight of the show before we even hit the 15-minute mark (hell yeah). The fight is choreographed well, and it’s clear that the team made sure Dawson’s movements (and that of her stunt double, Michelle Lee) echo Ahsoka’s competency with many fighting styles—she can move swiftly and lithely when needed, but stand tall and powerful to deflect hard hits or blaster shots as well.
It’s a great fight, but it’s the scene afterwards that gives me pause—Dawson, clearly trying to embody an older, more stoic Ahsoka than the one we know from the animated shows, can occasionally feel stiff, a stark contrast to the lively take that voice actor Ashley Eckstein brought to the character. This could, perhaps, be because this is a much older Ahsoka Tano than the teenage girl in Clone Wars (she’s certainly more reserved in Rebels, and she’s in her forties now), but it feels jarring, especially since she is such a beloved character. As my partner said during the first episode, “Those contacts don’t help, do they?” Dawson feels the most like Ahsoka when she invokes a sort of bemused disdain, which we luckily get more of in the second episode.
Ahsoka and her rebels
I love a motomami.Image: Lucasfilm / Entertainment Weekly
Ahsoka believes the map will help lead her to the location of Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), the last leader of the Empire and its heir apparent. At the end of Rebels’ final episode (which aired back in 2018), Jedi Ezra Bridger used hyperspace-traveling space whales called purrgil to banish himself and Thrawn to the remotest corner of the universe. Ahsoka hopes that the map will find them both, so that she can save Ezra and also prevent Thrawn from retaking his mantle as imperial leader and plunging the galaxy back into war.
She’ll need help, however, so she turns to two of her oldest and closest allies: General Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo). Here is where Ahsoka slows down a bit too much for some, as it tries to give the audience a better understanding of the dynamics between these three women, which were properly fleshed out across 75 Rebels episodes. Ahsoka used to train Sabine, a Mandalorian warrior and close friend to Ezra, as her Padawan, before it became clear that the two weren’t a good fit, and they both fought alongside Hera (who lost her partner, a Jedi named Kanan Jarrus) in the rebellion for years.
Unfortunately for Dawson, her reserved approach to Ahsoka only makes it harder to fully dig into her relationship with Hera (who Winstead plays like a concerned but feisty aunt through several pounds of some of the worst FX makeup I’ve ever seen) and Sabine (who Bordizzo portrays beautifully as a brash, angsty riot grrrl who uses her cool speeder bike to do an Akira-esque slide when you first meet her). Whenever they’re interacting, she feels more like an exasperated mom than a former pain in the ass herself (which Ahsoka was, just ask her older master, Anakin Skywalker). It’s unfortunate, but I’m hoping that the three women stretch and flex into their roles in future episodes.
Awoop, jumpscare.Image: Lucasfilm / Entertainment Weekly
Aside from the trio’s dynamic, however, Ahsoka looks and feels great. The lovingly recreated locations from the animated series (Ahsoka’s ship, the planet Lothal, Ezra’s crow’s-nest home that Sabine now lives in), all look amazing, like something out of a full-fledged Star Wars blockbuster. The animatronic Lothal cat has dethroned Grogu as the cutest Star Wars puppet in my opinion, and aside from Ashoka’s contacts and Hera’s far-too-cartoony outfit, the costuming and set-dressing are all top-notch. The lightsaber battles crackle and snap—there’s energy in every swing of the sword or blaster deflection that feels purposeful and well-directed, and the ASMR-heavy moments (Ahsoka twisting and turning stone columns to complete a puzzle, Sabine shifting a metal sphere to reveal a map) are tactile and almost sensual.
The episode ends with a fantastic lightsaber fight—Sabine, ever the stubborn one, takes the map off of Ahsoka’s ship despite her protestations, and discovers exactly where it leads before she’s attacked by Shin and her droids. Sabine gets a saber straight through her abdomen, something that Star Wars doesn’t do all that often (I gasped so loud I woke up one of my cats), and it fades to black. We know Sabine survives, but will her already fractured relationship with her former master, Ahsoka?
There’s love in every Ahsoka detail, like a jade heart sewn into the pocket of your jeans. You just have to allow for the hope that, like all things, it’ll get better with age.
Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai is one of the most trending shows of Star Plus. The fandom has been divided into two groups, AkshNav and AbhiRa. In the past few months, the two fan bases have been at each other throats on social media. Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai maker Rajan Shahi spoke at length on the immense criticism for the show, and the delayed reunion of Abhimanyu and Akshara. He told India Forums that a show is made for the audience, and the criticism is as crucial as the praise. He said the team has seen how extreme people can be on social media. Rajan Shahi was quoted as saying, “A considerable section of the audience needs to be more vocal and active on social media; however, whenever we meet them, they are hot when we go across the country when they meet us.” Also Read – Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai twist: Abhinav becomes reason for Akshara’s happiness again, will she forget him and forgive Abhimanyu?
Rajan Shahi on Boycott DKP Trends
He said that the response of both audiences mattered, the ones who were on Twitter and ones who watched it on ground and were inactive. Shahi said he has full respect for both these categories. He said he wants appreciation from both the fan bases. Fans are livid on how Abhimanyu’s character was ‘butchered’ and writers brought Abhinav (Jay Soni) and Akshara closer on the show. He was quoted as saying, “Right from Akshara and Naitik to Kartik and Naira, the criticism was always there on certain things. During the time of Kartik and Naira, the digital came so much into the forefront that things became more vocal. We have gone through a phase where people would trend ‘Boycott DKP.” Also Read – Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai upcoming twist: One more strom brews in Akshara’s life; how will she tackle it this time?
On Jay Soni’s exit from the show
He said that some liked the entry of Abhinav ( Jay Soni) but others were against it. Rajan Shahi said the arc of the character was more or less predetermined. He said it took longer because people loved Abhinav Sharma on the show. He said that every show reaches a point of stagnation after a period of time, Shahi said it was needed to boost the story. He told the portal, “A considerable section of the audience is reaching out to us and telling us that they do not want Abhinav to go. Still, then this was all planned and at the right time; his exit has happened because the next level of storytelling will be more interesting because of this exit.” Also Read – Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai upcoming twist: Abhir goes missing, Akshara’s condition worsens; will Abhinav, Abhimanyu fix everything?
Rajan Shahi on trolls
The maker said that he is aware of every kind of reaction or backlash. He clarified he is very very aware. But he said he refrains from the word ‘trolls’ and prefers reactions/reactors instead. Shahi said he did not believe in retorting to some of the vile comments. He said he is anticipating more reactions with the coming tracks. He was quoted as saying, “More than the good part, I always listen and remember the complaint. However, a story that must be told in a particular manner will be told.”
As if starring in the title role of the upcoming Disney+ series Lando wasn’t enough, triple-threat Donald Glover will be writing the series too.
Initially, the project was being written by Justin Simien of Dear White People and the new Haunted Mansionmovie. According to Above the Line, Glover and his brother Stephen will write the entire series, replacing Simien.
When the show was first announced, it wasn’t made clear which version of Lando would appear in the show — either Billy Dee Williams from the original films or Glover from Solo: A Star Wars Story — but they note that this indicates we should expect the show to be about the younger Lando “as it’s unlikely that [Glover’d] write the script for another actor to play the smooth-talking smuggler.”
Simen recently addressed the status of the Lando show, which was first announced back in 2020, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter:
I am attached, I think, but I don’t really know. (Laughs.) The last thing I was told was that they loved it but needed to put a pin in it until they could figure out everybody’s availability. I haven’t investigated further, but I’m not an idiot. I’m not alone in that experience. But I can’t help but wonder, ‘Am I too Black? Am I too queer? And people just don’t want to say that?’ Because it seems like I develop things with these companies and they just never happen for reasons unknown.
Now it seems that Simien is out and the Glovers are in. If Donald Glover’s work on the critically-acclaimed Atlanta is anything to go off of, it seems like a phenomenal fit.
Back in April, Glover said of a potential Lando series that he was “not interested in doing anything that is going to be a waste of my time or just a paycheck. I would much rather spend time with people I enjoy. It just has to be the right thing, which I think it could be. Lando is definitely somebody I’d like to hang out with. We’re talking about it. That’s as much as I can say.”
The next Star Wars series, Ahsoka, premieres on Disney+ on August 23.
It’s been assumed that the Hollywood summer blockbuster was born with the 1975 release of Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws,” followed two years later by “Star Wars.” But the film industry’s desire for box office blockbusters existed long before a shark prowled the waters off Amity. Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz talks with actor Stephen Lang (star of the “Avatar” films), critic Dana Stevens, and Charles Acland, author of “American Blockbuster,” about the origin of blockbuster movies – both big-budget spectacles of Biblical proportions, and low-budget films with heart that won a huge audience.
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Disney has finally released a full trailer for the long-awaited Ahsoka. The new Star Wars series is premiering on Aug. 23 with a special 2-episode debut. The rest will likely be released on a week-to-week basis.
Unfortunately, the official synopsis from Disney doesn’t really tell us too much about the plot. That being said, it takes place well after the Clone Wars and even the fall of the Galactic Empire. Ahsoka is one of the few people willing to try to prevent the rise of Thrawn.
The official Disney synopsis is as follows:
Set after the fall of the Empire, Star Wars: Ahsoka follows the former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy.
Ahsoka stars Rosario Dawson, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ray Stevenson, Ivanna Sakhno, Diana Lee Inosanto, David Tennant, Lars Mikkelsen and Eman Esfandi. The episodes are directed by Dave Filoni, Steph Green, Peter Ramsey, Jennifer Getzinger, Geeta Vasant Patel and Rick Famuyiwa. Dave Filoni is the head writer and executive produces along with Jon Favreau, Kathleen Kennedy, Colin Wilson and Carrie Beck. Karen Gilchrist serves as co-executive producer.
In addition to the trailer, there’s also a short featurette that explores the path Rosario Dawson took to get to her role as Ahsoka Tano. What started as just a petition on the internet actually turned into a major Star Wars role.
The higher-ups must have taken notice of what the fans wanted and agreed that it was a good choice. From there, they brought her on board and gave her the role of a lifetime.
You can watch the trailer below:
You can watch the featurette here:
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Aaliya Siddiqui the wife of Nawazuddin Siddiqui was seen on Bigg Boss OTT 2 as a contestant. She was eliminated rather early. The lady who is also a film producer has given an interview to a leading channel. In a clip that is on Reddit, she says she feels Nawazuddin Siddiqui is wrong to discuss his multiple affairs in public. Fans will remember how he spoke about his one-night stand with a waitress in New York City, and the entire chapter about actress Niharika Singh in his biography. The actress who worked with him in Miss Lovely has later slammed him as sexually repressed and said he had sense of toxic male entitlement. Also Read – Kangana Ranaut dances with Avneet Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui watches in awe [Video]
Aaliya Siddiqui in the video interview to ABP channel says that Nawazuddin Siddiqui did not do the right things by talking about all this. She said a lot of famous successful men have dalliances with women but they keep it to themselves. Aaliya said their daughter Shora is now a teen, and such stories about her father could impact her young mind. She said he should have been a more responsible father. Aaliya Siddiqui also talks about Sunita Rajwar. The actress was also in a relationship with him for some time. Aaliya Siddiqui says in the video that his details of his personal life caused much damage to Sunita Rajwar. Also Read – Kangana Ranaut REACTS to fashion influencer claiming she hates fashion; pens, ‘I never said…’
Sunita Rajwar had later said that she did not leave him because he was a struggler but because of his cheap thinking. It seems she found out that he was discussing intimate details of their relationship with other people. Aaliya Siddiqui has said that she is quite happy with her Italian boyfriend. It seems he has brought the feel-good factor in her life. Under this post, netizens have said that makers might have eliminated her soon so that she does not talk much about Nawazuddin Siddiqui on the show. It is a known fact that he is on good terms with Salman Khan. Their kids, Shora and Yanni were with the actor who took them to Paris where he was shooting. Also Read – Bigg Boss OTT 2 Aaliya Siddiqui BREAKS SILENCE on demanding alimony from Nawazuddin Siddiqui; makes THIS big clarification
Rick the Door Technician might not be the most powerful or dangerous enemy in Respawn’s fantastic sequel,Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. But he is a fan favorite who, in a game filled with great boss fights, provided one of the game’s most memorable and shortest.
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Fairly late into Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s main campaign, while exploring a large Imperial base, your protagonist, Jedi warrior Cal Kestis, runs into a single stormtrooper. Right before this, Kestis had to fight off a large garrison of Imperial baddies in one of the game’s biggest, toughest fights. After surviving all that, and likely injured with no checkpoint, you encounter a new boss: Rick the Door Technician. While another boss encounter seems like an unfair challenge after such a big fight, this lone trooper is really just a joke character who Kestis can defeat with one hit. So why is he here? Well, according to Respawn, he was created to make you laugh and feel better after a tough fight. Isn’t that nice of Rick?
In an interview with IGN, Jonathan Wright, the lead encounter designer at Respawn, explained the origin behind this odd “boss fight.” After that very large fight, players were stressed out, as Respawn purposely designed that section to be even tenser by not including a checkpoint. This makes players nervous about what’s coming next, as they desperately search for a checkpoint. While this all worked to create a tense moment, Repsawn wanted to eventually provide something that would “be a release of all that built-up tension.” Its solution: making players laugh.
Fuzzy Bearbarian / Respawn
“Players have just come from an extremely hard fight. Players are more than likely very low on health at this point, and are probably very stressed with finding the next meditation point so they can rest,” said Wright. “The moment with Rick allowed us to build up another moment of tension as players think they are in for another hard fight, but then release all that built-up stress when they fully realize the moment with Rick. It’s a good emotional reset to prepare players for what is to come.”
This is all part of Respawn’s effort to balance the mostly serious narrative and events in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor with moments of humor. According to Wright, this balance is what makes the jokes “land.”
“The seriousness of the rest of the game is what makes the more humorous moments land,” said Wright. “The contrast between funny and serious elevates both kinds of moments. We knew that the moment with Rick was important because of this.”
Respawn didn’t expect people to fall in love with Rick
However, nobody at Respawn could have predicted how fans would react to Rick, quickly embracing the character and creating fan art, mods, and other content based on the lonely stormtrooper who tried to stop Cal Kestis. The character has become one of the most talked about moments in the game, and has players asking for more of Rick the Door Technician. (It would probably have to be in a prequel, considering what happens to him…)
Wright told IGN that seeing all the fan love and community support for Rick has been “indescribable” and that he “never imagined [Rick] would explode in popularity to this extent.”
“To me, there is no greater achievement than something you had a hand in creating [then inspiring] other people to be creative,” said Wright. “All the comments on videos from people describing their experience with Rick’s heroic last stand, all the jokes and the memes, the videos and stories, it’s all a spark of creativity that started with Rick and I think that is amazing.”
As for if Rick will return, as so many Star Wars Jedi: Survivor fans have asked about, Wright told IGN that it isn’t his call, but he added that he doesn’t think more Rick content is “needed.”
“Rick’s story already has a valiant ending,” said Wright. “The explosion in popularity and fan creativity shows that we already did a good enough job with Rick. Let players have fun with it and let people be creative with Rick’s backstory in their own minds.”
Actor Mark Hamill sits down with Tracy Smith to discuss his years playing Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars series and what the future looks like for the character. Then, Luke Burbank meets with author David Von Drehle who wrote a book on his 102-year-old neighbor, Charlie White. “Here Comes the Sun” is a closer look at some of the people, places and things we bring you every week on “CBS Sunday Morning.”
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