Netflix’s live-action Assassin’s Creed show has entered production and will officially be set in Rome in the year 64AD, confirming previous reports.
The upcoming adaptation, then, will return to the setting of 2010’s Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, although the latter’s story took place more than 1,000 years after the events we'll see in Netflix's show. Ubisoft confirmed in a press release that the Netflix series will tell an original story centered on a war between the Templar Order and the Assassin Brotherhood, who each have very different ideas on how the future of mankind should look.
The full ensemble cast has also now been announced. Sandra Guldberg-Kampp (Foundation), Youssef Kerkour (A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms), Mirren Mack (28 Years Later: The Bone Temple), and Louis McCartney (Broadway production Stranger Things: The First Shadow) have all been cast as recurring characters. Netflix previously announced Lola Pettigrew (Trespasses) and Toby Wallace (Babyteeth) as possible leads, along with a number of other series regulars.
Roberto Patino (Westworld, Sons of Anarchy) and David Wiener (Halo, The Killing) are serving as creators, showrunners and executive producers on the show, which is primarily filming at Rome’s iconic Cinecittà Studios. No release date has been announced.
Assassin’s Creed won’t represent the first time that Netflix has adapted a Ubisoft property. 2023’s Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remixwas based on a Far Cry 3 expansion, and last year Sam Fisher made his TV debut in the broadly well received Splinter Cell: Deathwatch.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/netflixs-assassins-creed-is-officially-set-in-ancient-rome-171533234.html?src=rss
It's hard not to find the premise of Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary instantly compelling: Something is slowly killing the sun and threatening life on Earth. That same mysterious force, dubbed the Astrophage, also destroyed every nearby star — except one. Our only hope is to visit that solar system and figure out what helped it survive. And there's just one middle school science teacher who can do it.
At its core is Weir's love of technical problem solving, along with a tremendous performance by Ryan Gosling in full nerd hero mode as the aforementioned science teacher (and former molecular biologist). It's the sort of sweeping sci-fi epic that will make a whole generation of kids ready to science the shit out of humanity's future problems. And maybe it'll remind clueless adults that we gain much more by working together to solve global issues, instead of being purely self-interested.
The film starts with Gosling's character, Ryland Grace, waking up from an induced coma with no memory. He's shocked to find that he's light years away from Earth, and that the other two members of his crew are already dead. As he gets his bearings, he recalls that he was sent on a last-ditch mission, Project Hail Mary, to save the sun and everyone on Earth. No pressure! These early moments make it clear that screenwriter Drew Goddard (who also adapted The Martian), as well as directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, can deftly juggle comedy alongside the inherent drama in the story.
There's something genuinely moving about the mission. With about 30 years before the planet is faced with a global cooling event likely ending in mass starvation, Earth's major political powers put aside their differences and deliver their finest scientific minds to come up with a solution. You can really take your pick with real-world parallels, like the impending climate crisis, or the increasing threat of nuclear war. Simply seeing the world work together feels meaningful in these bleak times. And unlike other space disaster films like Armageddon and Interstellar, cooperation, rather than NASA alone, is the only way forward.
Ryan Gosling in Project Hail Mary.
Jonathan Olley for Amazon
Sure, humanity's hope for survival ultimately falls on the shoulders of one of the most attractive white men on (or in this case, off) the planet, but you know, movies. It's also not a spoiler to say that Grace isn't entirely alone on his journey. As already revealed by the film's trailers and a ton of social media clips, he's also joined by a crab-like being made of rock, which he simply calls Rocky. They eventually learn to communicate, and it's revealed that Rocky is also on a mission to save their own home planet.
While we get brief glimpses of life on Earth, and the planning of Project Hail Mary, for the vast majority of the film we're just left with Grace figuring things together with a rock alien. And yet, the film never drags. It's a testament to Gosling's inherent charm, but he also demonstrates an incredible ability to shift from joy and goofiness, to sheer terror, to leading-man heroics on a dime. It's also hard to take your eyes off of Rocky, who is rendered with a loving mixture of practical puppetry and CG. We've never seen a creature like them before – one that, despite having no eyes or mouth, manages to connect with viewers mostly through their very expressive arms.
Ryan Gosling in Project Hail Mary.
Jonathan Olley for Amazon
Project Hail Mary is ultimately a work of pulp sci-fi as told by an author who loves deeply nerdy technical solutions, as well as a writer and directors who know precisely what makes a great blockbuster tick. But the notion that humanity can collectively come together to do the impossible always tugs at my heartstrings a bit. And yes, there’s the power of friendship, too. In this moment, when things seem particularly bleak, these ideas seem especially meaningful.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/project-hail-mary-could-teach-humanity-a-thing-or-two-154327806.html?src=rss
Stranger Things fans will soon have permanent access to the Upside Down, as a full DVD set is now available to preorder. Stranger Things: The Complete Series comes in Blu-Ray and 4K UHD editions.
This collection includes all five seasons of the hit show, which totals 25 discs. It'll be available at brick-and-mortar and online retailers beginning on July 28. Prices range from $200 to $260, depending on the media type and edition.
Return to Hawkins this July with STRANGER THINGS: THE COMPLETE SERIES, available in Special and Deluxe Editions on Blu-ray and 4K UHD.
To that end, there's a deluxe edition available for true diehards. This includes the complete series, of course, but also bonus content like bloopers, interviews with the cast and crew and various behind-the-scenes featurettes. It also comes with a bunch of doodads, like a self-adhesive Hellfire Club patch, five posters, 25 smaller art cards, a fold-out map of Hawkins and a branded twenty-sided die.
There's a collector's box and each season comes in reversible sleeves with new artwork. Finally, this edition ships with a large artbook that includes original design sketches, concept art, storyboards and more. This is a pretty cool and comprehensive package.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/the-complete-stranger-things-dvd-set-includes-25-discs-and-costs-around-200-172222577.html?src=rss
Amazon’s next-generation smart assistant has entered its Early Access program in the UK, marking Alexa+’s European debut following rollouts in the US, Canada and Mexico. Starting March 19, invitations to start using the smarter, more conversational Alexa will be sent out to "hundreds of thousands" of willing participants, Amazon said in a press release, adding that Alexa is the most popular voice assistant in the UK.
As well as its more natural communication, agentic capabilities, contextual awareness and ability to remember previous conversations across devices, Amazon that users across the pond are getting an "authentically British" AI-powered assistant. It understands slang terms like "cuppa" and might even accuse you of taking the mick in the middle of a conversation. Can we rule out some cringe-inducing cockney impersonations? Absolutely not. It also distinguishes between, for example, how people in the UK say the date — "the 1st of April" — versus how it’s said in the US.
Amazon said that engineers, linguists and speech scientists have worked together at the company’s Cambridge-based Tech Hub to ensure the voice assistant understands British users, with naturally flowing conversations being a crucial part of the Alexa+ experience.
On the agentic side of things, the current lineup of UK partners will include OpenTable and, soon, JustEat, alongside existing partnerships with services like Spotify, Philips and Apple Music. Amazon also sources news from the likes of The Guardian and Future Publishing.
UK-based customers who purchase a new supported Echo device will automatically qualify for Early Access, and if you already own one you can register here to receive an invite. You can also try Alexa+ on select Fire TV devices and in a web browser.
During the Early Access period, which ran for nearly a year in the US before its nationwide rollout last month, Alexa+ will be free, and will remain free for Prime members. On its own it will cost £20 per month. As a reminder, Prime costs £9 per month in the UK (£95 annually) so it makes no sense whatsoever to pay more for Alexa+ exclusively when it's included in the main membership anyway.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/alexa-launches-in-the-uk-141058988.html?src=rss
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