He's back, baby.

Tommy Wiseau, the mind behind the 2003 cult classic The Room, has debuted the trailer (which you can watch here) for his new movie, Big Shark. And don't worry, it seems Wiseau's newest will surely be worthy of the Criterion Collection.

According to Variety, the premise of the film is pretty self-explanatory. There's a really, really big shark in New Orleans, and it's causing all sorts of havoc. Now, it's up to a trio of firefighters — Georgie, Patrick, and Tim — to stop the shark before it destroys the city entirely.

Real Wiseau-heads already knew this film was coming, but the new trailer is the first time most of us are feasting our eyes on the beautiful beast. The first look at Big Shark, which debuted online exclusively through Variety on Thursday, has already been playing for audiences at theatrical screenings of The Room over recent months.

Big Shark stars Wiseau alongside Isaiah LaBorde and Mark Valeriano, and Wiseau also serves as the sole director and writer. The film will begin its rollout on April 2 with a debut screening at Cinema 21 in Portland, Oregon, and additional screenings will follow over the coming month. Wiseau also reportedly plans to appear in person for this first series of “Pre Premier” screenings.

Wiseau’s first feature, The Room, is a magnum opus of the so-bad-it's-good (or maybe it's just really bad) genre of moviemaking. The romantic drama follows Wiseau as Johnny, a successful banker in San Francisco. When his fiancée, Lisa, inexplicably starts to gets bored of Johnny, she decides to seduce his best friend, Mark.

Wiseau, who wrote, directed, and produced the film, has continued to support and promote The Room despite it frequently being billed as one of the worst movies ever made. In fact, he still attends Q&As at specialty screenings nationwide and sells merchandise through his official website.

Greg Sestero, who also stars in The Room, wrote a book in 2013 called The Disaster Artist in which he documents his experience with Wiseau as well as the process of making The Room. Actor/director James Franco adapted the book into a feature film in 2017, which earned an Oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay.

Carson Burton is a freelance news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter at @carsonsburton.

Paramount Pictures has preemptively bought a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s psychological thriller Vertigo, IGN has confirmed.

Robert Downey Jr. is eyeing the lead role of John “Scottie” Ferguson, while Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is set to write the screenplay.

Davis Entertainment’s John Davis and John Fox are producing with Robert and Susan Downey via Team Downey.

Paramount released the 1958 original film, starring James Stewart as John, Kim Novak as Madeleine Elster and Judy Barton, Barbara Bel Geddes as Marjorie “Midge” Wood, and Tom Helmore as Gavin Elster. Based on the French novel D’entre les morts (From Among the Dead), Vertigo follows John — a former police officer that suffers from an intense fear of heights — who is hired to prevent an old acquaintance’s wife from taking her own life. Hitchcock directed from a screenplay written by Samuel A. Taylor, Alec Coppel, and Pierre Boileau.

On the horizon, Downey stars alongside Cillian Murphy in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Knight was recently tapped to write an untitled Star Wars project, after previous screenwriters Damon Lindelof and Justin Britt-Gibson’s departed the film.

The news was first reported by Deadline.

Thumbnail: Phillip Faraone/Getty Images

Michaela Zee is a freelance news writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @michaelakzee.

Keanu Reeves has fought his fair share of movie villains in his career, from the various assassins in the John Wick series to Speed's Dennis Hopper to Point Break's Bodhi.

But his favorite? Well, it's probably who you think it is.

During a Q&A after a special IGN screening of John Wick: Chapter 4, Reeves was asked by a fan who his favorite movie villain that he's gotten to face off against is. And of course, he went to Neo's famous enemy in The Matrix series.

"I mean, it's gotta be Smith, right?" he decided to cheers from the crowd. "Agent Smith. Hugo Weaving."

As fans will know, Agent Smith is the menacing villain introduced in 1999's The Matrix, who uses his superhuman abilities to relentlessly hunt down Neo and anyone or anything else that would disrupt order in The Machine.

Weaving, as Reeves called out, played him in the original Matrix trilogy that ended with Revolutions. In 2021's long-lead sequel The Matrix Resurrections, however, Weaving was replaced with Jonathan Groff due to scheduling issues.

Reeves and director Chad Stahelski discussed a wide range of other topics at IGN's Q&A, including Stahelski's upcoming movie adaptation of Sucker Punch's hit video game Ghost of Tsushima and what the filmmaker learned from John Wick.

John Wick: Chapter 4 hits theaters this weekend. If you're looking forward to it, check out our 10/10 review, which says Chapter 4 "firmly cements John Wick as standing shoulder to shoulder with The Matrix’s Neo as part of Keanu Reeves’ nearly unparalleled action hero lineup."

Thumbnail credit: Monica Schipper

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.

A familiar character is returning for Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning — as long as it doesn't turn out to be another mask reveal, that is.

Revealed by director Christopher McQuarrie on Instagram (via Slashfilm), Rolf Saxon's CIA Analyst William Donloe is getting back in the game for Dead Reckoning. McQuarrie posted a photo of the actor that simply said, "And Rolf Saxon.. #MissionImpossible #Dead Reckoning".

This will mark Saxon's first appearance in the series since 1996's Mission: Impossible. McQuarrie didn't specifically reveal if William Donloe will return in this summer's Dead Reckoning Part One, or if fans will have to wait until next year's Dead Reckoning Part Two. However, it seems Donloe's return is likely set for Part Two, which is still in production.

In the original Mission: Impossible, Donloe is the protector of the NOC CIA list that the plot revolves around. Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt steals the list from Donloe, causing the disgraced CIA agent to get sent to work in Alaska. It's unclear what role Donloe will serve over 25 years since he last interacted with Ethan.

There's a lot of hype building for Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, as the two-part movie will reportedly serve as a send-off for Cruise's Ethan Hunt. Cruise also said he performed the most dangerous stunt of his career in the new movie, which you can check out in Dead Reckoning's first trailer.

Dead Reckoning Part 1 is set to hit theaters on July 14, 2023, with Part Two coming about a year later on June 28, 2024. Part One will star Cruise alongside Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Hayley Atwell, Vanessa Kirby, Henry Czerny, Esai Morales, and Frederick Schmidt.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Filmmaker Chad Stahelski is busy these days - not only is his John Wick: Chapter 4 hitting theaters this weekend, but he's also directing the highly anticipated Ghost of Tsushima movie adaptation.

During a Q&A after a special IGN screening of John Wick: Chapter 4 last night, Stahelski was asked about what he learned from his work on the John Wick series that he'll bring to Ghost.

His answer? It's all about technological achievements and those bold colors.

"With every John Wick, we try to build the world a little bit bigger with the characters and set pieces and lighting," he explained. "Just what we've learned over the past couple years with DI, digital intermediate - the coloring at the end [of production] - and what you can do with new technology and with new Alexa cameras, that's kind of allowed us, hopefully, to take cinematography to the level that Ghost deserves."

He used examples from John Wick: Chapter 4 in particular, talking about combining digital world-building with real locations to get the kind of color palettes that pop.

"You can see the purples and pinks, and we can push the color and highlights about as far as you can push in Chapter 4," he went on. "So it was a big technological achievement to get the colors that we did in this and to get them to really stick, especially in the theaters you're seeing them in."

That should no doubt be exciting for fans of Sucker Punch's 2020 hit, which was especially praised for its stunning world. In our 9/10 review, IGN called it an "absolutely gorgeous adventure through one of history’s most strikingly beautiful landscapes."

But that world didn't always have to be so saturated; Sucker Punch included a Kurosawa Mode in Ghost of Tsushima, paying homage to the Akira Kurosawa classics that inspired it by giving the player the option to play the game in a grainy black-and-white filter.

So, are there any discussions about including a version of a Kurosawa Mode in the Ghost of Tsushima movie?

"It's definitely a conversation," Stahelski teased.

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Are you wondering if there’s an end-credits scene in the latest Keanu Reeves movie? Well, we’ll tell you right here: There is one end-credits scene and no mid-credits scene.

Be sure to check back this weekend for all the details on that scene in our full, spoiler-filled ending explained!

John Wick’s vendetta against the High Table reaches a fever pitch in Chapter 4, and the globetrotting battle royale that results has given us one of the best action films of our time. The latest movie in the franchise thrives and expounds on previously established John Wick mythology and character histories, while introducing new villains like the Marquis de Gramont to keep John chained to the violent life he longs to leave behind. So how does John’s latest attempt to get out from under the High Table go?

We'll have all our spoiler-filled thoughts on that question here starting on Friday, but in the meantime, check out our John Wick Story So Far right here:

Is There an End-Credits Scene in John Wick: Chapter 4?

Yes, there is one scene at the very end of the credits. There is no mid-credits scene.

Again, we'll have all the details on that right here on this page starting on Friday, so check back then!

As long as movies have been putting butts in seats, stunt performers have been putting their butts on the line for the sake of Hollywood’s jaw-dropping spectacles. And because it’s such a cool gig, some actors even want in on the action. And of those action-y actors, some even lose themselves in the world of adrenaline.

Whether it’s the martial arts magic of Jackie Chan or Tom Cruise hanging from dangerous heights, insane stunts performed by headlining thespians help immerse fans in the movies. And no one goes Whoa-verboard quite like Keanu Reeves.

Keanu is one of the good ones, constantly challenging himself for the sake of cinema. He’s learned Kung Fu, Gun Fu, Wire Fu, and even tried out an English accent in Bram Stoker's Dracula. All equally difficult. What began with Speed and the Matrix movies now extends into the John Wick saga, and that’s Keanu’s devotion to delivering the goods when it comes to mass murder. Here’s a quick look at some of Reeves' most awesome stunt work from some of the best Keanu Reeves movies.

Surfing in Point Break

Surf's (and we cannot stress this enough) up.

Wetter is indeed better as we start the Keanu stunts humbly with a small swell off the coast of Hermosa Beach. Keanu may have left the actual skydiving to plane-leaping enthusiast Patrick Swayze in 1991’s Point Break, but surfing – man, those tasty waves became Johnny Utah’s Hang 10 hobby both on and off screen. Keanu learned to surf for the film and… look, we’re mostly in awe that Keanu wasn’t already a surfer somehow.

Riding Under a Moving Bus in Speed

The bus that couldn't slow down.

A few years later Keanu would feel like a freak on a leash in 1994’s Speed, about a bus in Los Angeles carrying an explosive secret. No, not that public transportation is a cheaper, more environmentally-friendly alternative to driving. An actual bomb. The movie itself was not a bomb of course, thanks in part to stunts like this where Keanu was slowly fed under a moving bus like someone was fishing for devil’s concubines. Or advocates. And it’s one of the best bits in the film.

Martial Arts in the Matrix Movies

I know Kung Fu.

Keanu would strike action/sci-fi gold with 1999’s The Matrix, which had him and his castmates training for months to get dope at Kung Fu so that they could do the fights themselves, as demonstrated in the iconic dojo sparring scene between Neo and Morpheus. Keanu’s impressive regimen included learning Jiu-Jitsu, Wushu, Boxing, Aikido, and Krav Maga.

Wire Fu in the Matrix Movies

Down to the wire.

Having gotten a taste of dangling in Point Break and Speed, it was time for Keanu to graduate to Wire Fu, which he’d utilize in all four Matrix films - whether he was going round and round with Agent Smith or cartwheeling over those guys in the chateau he took too long to defeat in The Matrix Reloaded.

Bullet Time in the Matrix Movies

There's no time like...

Of course, there’s also the game-changing “bullet time” visual effect introduced in The Matrix, which Keanu graciously bent over backwards for. No, he didn’t have to spend weeks getting trained by experts in the art of the limbo dance to do this, but still it was mighty cool of him to be physically there for the process.

Jumping Off a Building in The Matrix Resurrections

Tall building, multiple bounds...

...Just like it was for him and co-star Carrie-Anne Moss to careen off this skyscraper for The Matrix Resurrections, which he reportedly did 19 times. Which 9 out of 10 doctors agree is 19 more times than anyone should jump off a building. That one doctor just wants to see what happens.

Sword Work in 47 Ronin

45, 46... Yeah, we're gonna need another Ronin.

For those of you who think this list will now be nothing but John Wick movies… correct. Well, mostly. There’s still 47 Ronin. We know. That many Ronin? In this economy? But Keanu learned the way of the blade for this role and the time he spent with stunt departments on the multiple Matrix outings definitely helped him sink his katana into this one.

More Martial Arts in the John Wick Movies

Wiki fights.

Now we get to Wild Wild Wick, where Keanu not only put all his previous training to excellent use but then also went several steps beyond with Judo and Jiu-Jitsu, even becoming a black belt in Judo over the past decade while in the John Wick role.

Gun Fu in the John Wick Movies

Wiki shoots.

And then there’s the shooting. All the shooting. Wherein John Wick’s gun just becomes a seamless extension of his body. Keanu was schooled in firearms and close-quarters tactics training so that he could become a One-Man Band of death.

After three decades of doing elaborate action films, Keanu has become a huge advocate for the stuntmen and women who create all the awesome thrills, so much so that he’s actively called for a new Oscars category for Best Stunt. And with each John Wick movie, Keanu seems closer and closer to nabbing that hypothetical award himself.

Horse (and Car) Mastery in the John Wick Movies

Dude, where's my horse?

...Like in John Wick: Chapter 3, where Keanu took horsing around to a new level as he galloped through Manhattan and then used Glamorous Glue as a human... er, equine shield.

And in the upcoming John Wick: Chapter 4, Keanu was behind the wheel more than usual, doing a lot of his own stunt driving, all taking place around Paris’ Arc de Triomphe, where he’s doing 180s and shooting guns and just living the Fury Road dream.

At nearly 60, Keanu Reeves is still gifting us with glorious action, and there’s still more on the horizon as the Canadian killbot is set to star in the live-action Netflix adaptation of his own Boom! Studios comic, BRZRKR. Which, to put lightly, does not skimp on violence.

John Wick: Chapter 4 is the first movie of 2023 to receive a review score of 10 from IGN. It's a must-see for action fans, as Keanu Reeves turns in his best Wick performance yet in a film that our John Wick: Chapter 4 review called "a modern action masterclass." It's one of the best Keanu Reeves movies you'll ever see.

John Wick: Chapter 4 will be in theaters on March 24. If you're wondering how and where you can watch it yourself, take a look at the information below.

Where to Watch John Wick: Chapter 4 – Showtimes

John Wick: Chapter 4 will be available in theaters this afternoon with a wider release date of March 24. To find when and where you can watch the movie near you, check the local showtime listings at the links below:

• Fandango
• AMC Theaters
• Cinemark Theaters
• Regal Theaters

John Wick: Chapter 4 Streaming Release Status

There's been no official announcement regarding John Wick: Chapter 4's streaming release. However, given it's a Lionsgate film, John Wick: Chapter 4 will eventually be released on Starz, the Roku Channel, and Peacock rather than Netflix, HBO Max, or Disney+.

Lionsgate has signed multiple streaming deals over the past couple of years that see the company's movies stream first on Starz, then the Roku Channel, then Peacock. Given this multi-tiered approach, we can't provide a solid estimate on when you can expect John Wick: Chapter 4 to hit streaming services. We'll update this article with the latest information as it becomes available.

Where to Watch the Previous John Wick Movies

If you're looking to catch up on the first three John Wick movies, you have a couple options. If you have a Peacock subscription, you can stream all three movies on that service. Alternatively, you can rent or buy the movies on Prime Video or Apple TV.

John Wick

• Peacock (Stream)
• Prime Video (Rent/Buy)
• Apple TV (Rent/Buy)

John Wick: Chapter 2

• Peacock (Stream)
• Prime Video (Rent/Buy)
• Apple TV (Rent/Buy)

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

• Peacock (Stream)
• Prime Video (Rent/Buy)
• Apple TV (Rent/Buy)

What is John Wick: Chapter 4 About?

John Wick: Chapter 4 continues the saga of Keanu Reeve's legendary assassin. Here's the official synopsis from Lionsgate:

A retired hit man is forced back into the underground world of assassins when he embarks on a merciless rampage to hunt down his adversaries. With the skill and ruthlessness that made him an underworld legend, John Wick fights to overcome the world’s top hit men and women in a stylish tale of revenge and redemption.

John Wick: Chapter 4 Cast

John Wick: Chapter 4 was written by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch. It was directed by Chad Stahelski and stars the following actors:

• Keanue Reeves as John Wick
• Donnie Yen as Cain
• Bill Skarsgard as Marquis
• Laurence Fishburne as Bowery King
• Ian McShane as Winston
• Lance Reddick as Charon

John Wick: Chapter 4 Rating and Runtime

John Wick: Chapter 4 is Rated R for pervasive strong violence and some language. The film runs for a total of 2 hours and 49 minutes including credits.

Jordan covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN.

Lionsgate's action-packed John Wick 4 was initially almost four hour long before its director and editors cut it down to a final runtime of two hours and forty-nine minutes.

Director Chad Stahelski and editor Nathan Orloff told IndieWire that the "first cut was three hours and 45 minutes, and it felt like three hours and 45 minutes.

"We were like, 'oh, we're so screwed'," they added. The increased runtime came from world building, though a lot of this was obviously left on the cutting room floor as the film was edited over and over again.

The process wasn't easy, however, as Stahelski and Orloff struggled to maintain good pacing throughout John Wick: Chapter 4 as they stripped such significant chunks of the film.

But it took a long time for other reasons too, "because even if we just took 30 seconds out of something, I'd make everybody watch the movie again," Stahelski said, joking that his editorial staff probably hated him.

The process seemingly worked, as IGN awarded the film a 10/10 in our review. "John Wick: Chapter 4 stands above its predecessors — and the past decade's worth of action films as a whole — as a modern epic, something Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski have been driving at since 2014."

Hi Luis Joshua Gutierrez is a freelance writer who loves games. You can reach him at @ImLuisGutierrez on Twitter.

Victoria Alonso, the longtime Marvel president in charge of physical production, post-production, VFX, and animation, was fired at the behest of Disney co-chair Alan Berman, according to new reports by Variety.

The report follows Alonso's sudden departure from the company, which surprised many observers. Alonso had been with Disney since 2006, and she was known as one of the company's most influential producers. Her work dates back to 2008's Iron Man, where she was a co-producer and visual effects producer.

It's unclear why Alonso was fired, though problems around Marvel's visual effects have been in the news for some time now, with Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania the latest MCU project to garner criticism. Alonso was reportedly "blindsided" by the decision. Kevin Feige, who was her direct boss, was apparently not involved in the decision.

IGN has contacted Disney for a statement, but has not yet received a response.

Developing...

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Flamin' Hot does not revolutionize the biopic, nor does it reveal anything particularly biting or insightful about the creation of the groundbreaking and beloved snack from which it draws its name. But what it does offer is a crowd-pleasing story of perseverance, a celebration of Chicano culture, and a rather funny story with an unreliable narrator that plays out like a feature-length version of Michael Peña's Luis narrating gossip in the Ant-Man movies.

Eva Longoria's feature directorial debut deals primarily with two moments in history: first the Chicano movement of the '60s and '70s, as Mexican-Americans fought back against systemic racism and oppression with a movement that celebrated their culture and identity in the open. It’s tackled with a solemn eye that celebrates how far Latinos have come in America while condemning the systemic oppression that still plagues the community. Then, Longoria takes what can be a boring subject – the Snack Wars of the 1990s, where manufacturers struggled with slumping sales in a post-Reagan recession and innovation became key – and makes it fun.

Smack in the middle of these two events we find Richard Montañez (Jessie Garcia), one of 10 siblings raised in a migrant labor camp in California where he faces a lack of opportunity, racist bullies at school, and police discrimination on the daily.

But Richard is smart, he is charismatic, and he works around things. The first act has some of Flamin’ Hot’s best moments as it plays kind of like a comedic Latino Goodfellas that pokes fun at rise-and-fall stories with tongue firmly in cheek. First, we see Richard hustling his way into a lucrative business selling burritos at school to the very bullies who mock his traditional food. Then, after marrying his childhood sweetheart Judy (Annie Gonzalez) and spending a brief time in crime, Richard turns his life around by getting a job as a janitor at a Frito-Lay factory to support his growing family, telling the hiring manager he has a Ph.D.: he's poor, hungry, and determined.

But wait, you might ask – isn't this supposed to be the movie about the creation of the titular Flamin' Hot Cheetos? Well yes, kind of. Flamin’ Hot gets to its invention and (the now-disputed claims of) how the real Richard Montañez single-handedly came up with the idea of the spicy snack that forever changed Frito-Lay. But the script, written by Lewis Colick and Linda Yvette Chavez, smartly sidelines the snack and instead focuses squarely on Richard’s inspirational underdog story about trying to make a name for himself in a world that wants to bring him down, even if that results in a superficial film.

Flamin' Hot doesn't get that deep into its characters or its plot. After about 15 minutes into this 99-minute movie you pretty much know exactly what each character is about and what they'll do throughout the story. There are all the classic archetypes for an inspirational biopic, including the supportive wife, the disappointed and estranged father, the strict and judgemental (and also racist) boss, and the initially uncaring mentor who grows to be an important figure in the life of our protagonist. The script has as much nutritional value as a single Cheeto, but it compensates with cheerful charisma and a feel-good tone that's primed to please crowds.

That starts with the performances. Jessie Garcia is fantastic as Richard and capable of carrying Flamin’ Hot, capturing the sense of perseverance required by the story, balancing the more business-talk parts of the plot with a good sense of humor and plenty of one liners, turning a character that is otherwise a one-dimensional aspirational figure into someone who’s at least entertaining to listen to.

This is where Flamin’ Hot truly shines: its constant shifting of tones and hilarious fantasy sequences. Longoria uses Richard's narration in a Drunk History manner, showing us a group of actors (mostly businessmen in meetings) acting out what he narrates. This serves two purposes: First, it makes comedy out of dull corporate meetings, as Richard explains the inner dealings of the Frito-Lay company at the time and how it allowed for his success story. But the second purpose is that these scenes paint him as an unreliable narrator, one that gets too excited about his own story, commenting on how his wife always says he exaggerates certain bits. Aided by some fantastic editing and the use of quick cuts, these scenes are the highlight of Flamin’ Hot.

Likewise, Annie Gonzalez's performance adds enough to the character of Judy to give what is a typical supporting wife enough depth and nuance to stand out. She is the rock that supports the entire story, the brains of the operation who wouldn't just sit around waiting for Richard to accomplish something – she is already 10 steps ahead of him. Plus, her no-nonsense attitude when dealing with injustices and naysayers seems designed to instantly bring about cheers in theaters.

All the while, Longoria avoids the washed-out look that plagues so many movies nowadays, instead choosing vibrant colors to celebrate the cultural history of the story being told. During early scenes of protests and parades, or just smaller moments like the family going to markets to buy out every hot pepper they can find, the colors of the chiles pop to a point where you might almost think Flamin’ Hot is presented in Smell-O-Vision. She even plays with – and mocks – Hollywood's usual oversaturation for scenes set in Latin America in a clever way.

Warning: this article contains full spoilers for The Mandalorian: Season 3, Episode 4! If you haven't already, be sure to check out IGN's review of "The Foundling."

The fourth episode of The Mandalorian: Season 3 brings back a familiar Star Wars face, albeit not necessarily in the way fans might have expected. Ahmed Best returns to the franchise, not to reprise the role of the controversial Gungan goofball Jar Jar Binks, but as Jedi Master Kelleran Beq.

Who exactly is Kelleran Beq, and why is this appearance such a big deal? Let’s break down the history of the character and why his Mandalorian appearance is so meaningful.

Who Is Ahmed Best’s Kelleran Beq?

Best is well-known for playing Jar Jar Binks in all three Star Wars Prequels, but he’s pivoted to a very different Prequel-era role in recent years. Best served as the host of the short-lived web series Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge. A kid-centric competition show in the vein of Wipeout and Legends of the Hidden Temple, Jedi Temple Challenge shows contestants battling obstacle courses and trivia challenges in order to collect the parts needed to construct their lightsabers and complete their Jedi Trials. Best hosts the series, playing the part of kind Jedi Master Kelleran Beq.

Given that it’s a reality series, Jedi Temple Challenge shouldn’t necessarily be taken as part of the official Star Wars lore. However, Best’s character has now been inducted into canon thanks to The Mandalorian. Beq’s in-universe role is still basically the same as it was on Jedi Temple Challenge. He’s an instructor at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant who supervises the Padawans undergoing the trials to become full-fledged Jedi Knights.

It’s certainly a treat to see Best’s Jedi Temple Challenge character back in action and swinging lightsabers. The show made a point of emphasizing Beq’s sword-fighting ability, with the character going by the nickname “The Sabered Hand.” Now we finally see that skill firsthand, as Beq deftly wields two blades at once and fights his way through Darth Vader’s finest troops.

Most importantly, we learn Master Beq played a critical role during the events of Order 66. He survives the initial attack on the Jedi Temple, helping escort Grogu to safety and escape aboard a Naboo ship. It’s clear that Grogu would never have survived to partner up with Din Djarin if not for the quick thinking and handy lightsaber work of Kelleran Beq.

It's also worth pointing out that Best previously cameoed as a character named Achk Med-Beq in Attack of the Clones. Med-Beq is one of the denizens of the Courscanti cantina in the scene where Obi-Wan and Anakin are pursuing bounty hunter Zam Wesell. According to Best himself, Med-Beq is somehow related to Master Beq, though they definitely seem to have grown up on opposite sides of the tracks.

The Star Wars Redemption of Ahmed Best

This episode is quite a change from the days when Best was effectively the poster child for anti-Prequel sentiment online. Jar Jar is not a well-liked character, to put it mildly, and that dislike had an unfortunate carryover effect in the real world. Best revealed he even faced death threats as part of the backlash to The Phantom Menace in 1999.

“"I had death threats through the internet,” Best told Wired in 2017. “I had people come to me and say, 'You destroyed my childhood'. That's difficult for a 25-year-old to hear."

That backlash took a heavy psychological toll on Best. The actor posted a heartfelt message on Twitter in 2018, revealing he struggled with suicidal thoughts during that dark period.

“20 years next year I faced a media backlash that still affects my career today,” Best wrote in a now-deleted Twitter post. “This was the place I almost ended my life. It’s still hard to talk about. I survived and now this little guy [referring to Best’s son] is my gift for survival. Would this be a good story for my solo show? Lemme know.”

Though Best persevered and seems much more at peace with his time as Jar Jar, his tweet is an uncomfortable reminder of how cruel subsets of Star Wars viewers can be to the actors and filmmakers working on these stories. Best’s Phantom Menace co-star Jake Lloyd faced similar struggles following the backlash to the movie, to the point that he quit acting entirely. Sequel Trilogy stars like John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran have hardly been safe from online harassment, either.

However disliked Jar Jar Binks may be, he’s hardly the root cause of the Prequel Trilogy’s storytelling failures. And certainly, no one can argue that Best or Lloyd deserved the vitriol being directed their way in 1999. They were actors hired to play roles, and they became pariahs because of it.

But for Best, at least, The Mandalorian is offering a second chance to leave his mark on the franchise. Free from the motion capture tech and cartoonish mannerisms of Jar Jar, Best is able to play a character defined by heroism and compassion in the what of battle. In an episode about Mandalorians waging war on dinosaur-like birds, Kelleran Beq is the coolest hero of the week. Best’s Mandalorian role is a welcome reminder that some Star Wars actors can find redemption by returning to the franchise.

What’s Next for Kelleran Beq and Grogu After Order 66?

Kelleran Beq has already played a pivotal role in the ongoing Grogu saga, but “The Foundling” makes it clear his role in the series isn’t finished yet. When we last see Beq and Grogu in the flashback sequence, the two have escaped aboard a Naboo starfighter while the guards heroically sacrifice themselves. So that raises an obvious question - what’s next for these two?

We know very little about Grogu’s life during the roughly 30 years between Order 66 and his first encounter with Din Djarin. Master Beq helped him escape the Jedi Purge, but at some point Grogu does fall into the hands of the Empire. He becomes a vital test subject in Dr. Pershing’s cloning experiments. Based on what we’ve seen so far, Grogu’s midichlorian-rich DNA may be the foundation on which Supreme Leader Snoke was built.

There’s clearly a story to be told about what happens next to Beq and Grogu. How long is Beq able to protect his Youngling ward? Do they flee to Naboo? Star Wars lore has revealed that the planet remains a site of anti-Imperial resistance, with even Queen Amidala’s former handmaidens joining the fight. Is Beq eventually killed defending Grogu? Just what hardships does the little guy have to endure before he’s taken into Imperial custody?

There’s a good chance we’ll get answers to many of these questions in the weeks to come. Grogu is clearly very haunted by the ghosts of his past, and those memories are flooding back to him during his time with the Armorer. We’ll probably see more flashbacks in future episodes, as the series continues to slowly fill in the gaps of Grogu’s mysterious past. And with any luck, we’ll get to see the Sabered Hand work his magic again.

For more on The Mandalorian, brush up on the troubled history of the planet Mandalore and the importance of the Mythosaur.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof is reportedly no longer involved with the unannounced Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Star Wars movie.

Reported by Deadline, both Lindelof and co-writer Justin Britt-Gibson have left the project, but Obaid-Chinoy is still set to direct the film. Deadline's sources also say more details about the project are set to be revealed at next month's Star Wars Celebration, and it could still be one of the next Star Wars movies to hit theaters. No specifics on the writer departures were shared.

We first heard of this movie last October, when Lindelof and Britt-Gibson were said to be writing a standalone Star Wars film that could lead to additional movies if it turned out to be a success. Reports said the movie could take place after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, which is currently the end of the canon timeline across movies and TV shows.

There hasn't been a Star Wars movie since The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, which proved to be a divisive end to The Skywalker Saga. The franchise has instead been focusing on Disney+ series, including The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Andor, and more.

The movie side of Disney's Star Wars plans are very unclear, with question marks surrounding a number of Star Wars projects. Kevin Feige's Star Wars movie was canceled, Rian Johnson's trilogy may or may not still be happening, Rogue Squadron was removed from Disney's release calendar, and Taika Waititi's project appears to be up in the air. We'll have to wait and see if any of these questions are answered at London's Star Wars Celebration in April.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Warning: The below article contains spoilers for Black Adam and its post-credit scene.

Zachary Levi is taking aim at Dwayne Johnson, seemingly backing a The Wrap report that said Johnson blocked a post-credits scene that would've featured Levi's Shazam.

The report, posted early today, also alleged that Johnson's attempts to put himself at the center of the DCU, which is getting a revamp under the new leadership of James Gunn and Peter Safran, "kneecapped" both Black Adam and Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

Levi took to his Instagram Story (see screenshot below) to repost details from the report, captioning it, "The truth will set you free."

According to the report, the scrapped post-credits scene would've seen the Justice Society of America recruit Shazam. It would've been a natural marketing boon for Fury of the Gods, which opened this past weekend under expectations.

However, Johnson apparently pushed for Henry Cavill's Superman to instead appear in a post-credits scene, although Cavill would later be axed as the Man of Steel. Johnson also confirmed that he wouldn't be returning as Black Adam in Gunn and Safran's DCU, despite the movie being a long-running passion project for him.

Both Black Adam and Shazam! Fury of the Gods were met with rough reception both at the box office and in reviews. Fury of the Gods director David F. Sandberg responded to the middling reviews earlier this week, tweeting, "On Rotten Tomatoes I just got my lowest critic score and my highest audience score on the same film. I wasn't expecting a repeat of the first movie critically but I was still a little surprised because I think it's a good film. Oh well."

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.

There might not be any new Pacific Rim movies on the immediate horizon, but the franchise is alive and well in toy form. IGN can exclusively reveal a new lineup of Pacific Rim: Uprising action figures produced by Diamond Select Toys.

This new line of figures is dubbed the Special Ops Series. Each figure features a familiar Jaeger from the sequel movie with a brand-new and more stylized color scheme. Get a closer look at Series 1 in the slideshow gallery below:

The lineup in Series 1 includes Saber Athena MK2, Obsidian Fury (Energy Dispersion Armor) and Valor Omega (Jungle Ops). Each figure measures between 7 and 9 inches tall and feature 16 points of articulation. The figures were designed and sculpted by Big Shot Toy Works.

These Pacific Rim figures are priced at $29.99 each and are slated for release in Fall 2023. Preorders will open on Friday, March 24 through the Diamond Select Toys website and various other retailers.

For now, you can head over to the IGN Store's Diamond Select page to see more action figures and statues currently available to order.

In other Pacific Rim news, director Guillermo del Toro revealed his plans for a Pacific Rim sequel, and they're very different from what we saw in Uprising.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Jon Spaihts has been tapped to write Netflix's live action Gears of War movie, the streaming platform announced today. Spaihts is known for writing 2016's Doctor Strange, 2021's Dune, and the upcoming Dune: Part 2. The writer also penned 2012's Prometheus and 2016's Passengers.

“Gears of War is one of the all-time great action games, with vivid characters, a beautifully designed world, and a combat system that drives home the lethality of war and the importance of standing by your squadmates," Spaihts wrote in a statement. "It wants to be cinema, and I’m thrilled to have the chance to help that happen.”

After years of rumblings, a Gears of War movie was officially announced by Netflix last November. The streamer is partnering with Gears of War developer The Coalition to create a movie based on the video game franchise, as well as an adult animated series.

Now that the film has a writer, we're one step closer to learning who will star in the Gears of War movie. One person that's surely holding their breath more than anyone else is Dave Bautista, who has described Marcus Fenix as a "dream role." After the movie was announced, Bautista even posted a video of himself in Gears of War armor, with the text, "I can't make this any easier."

Gears of War is just one Xbox property set to get a movie or television adaptation. We've previously seen the Halo TV series on Paramount+, and we're still expecting movies or shows based on Minecraft, Fallout, and a lot more.

The news was first reported by Variety.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Good Burger, home of the Good Burger, is officially back in business.

Paramount+ and Nickelodeon Studios have greenlit a sequel to the cult '90s movie, with original stars Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell returning to reprise their roles as Dexter and Ed.

The duo proudly announced the news on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday. Thompson called it a "blessing" to be back, saying that they have both wanted to make a sequel since the first movie hit theaters over two decades ago.

According to Variety, the cameras will start rolling on Good Burger 2 in a matter of months, with production set to begin in May ahead of the sequel's premiere on Paramount+ later this year.

Per the official logline for the movie, "Dexter Reed is down on his luck after another one of his inventions fails. Ed welcomes Dex back to Good Burger with open arms and gives him his old job back. With a new crew working at Good Burger, Dex devises a plan to get back on his feet but unfortunately puts the fate of Good Burger at risk once again."

The first movie, released in 1997, was based on the Good Burger sketch from the Nickelodeon series All That. The sequel will bring back its original writers, Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert, who also serve as executive producers, along with fellow writer James III.

"I can't believe it's been a little over 25 years since great customer service was born at Good Burger!" Thompson said in a statement. "Being a part of something so many generations of people have come to love has made me so proud, and now to be back where it all began working on the sequel is surreal!"

"Ed is one of those timeless characters that has brought so much joy and laughter to fans, and it's such a beautiful blessing to still be doing it after all these years," Mitchell added. "It's super awesome to come back and continue the stories of Dex, Ed and Good Burger for both the people who grew up watching and their kids."

Phil Traill will direct Good Burger 2, which comes after years of talks of a potential sequel or reboot and follows a 2015 reunion sketch on The Tonight Show, which previously whet fans appetites for what could happen if Good Burger ever decided to open its doors again.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Cover image credit: Paramount/Getty Images.

With an intriguing set up, Vasilis Katsoupis’ Inside features a captivating performance by Willem Dafoe as an art thief trapped in a billionaire’s penthouse. However, its unfocused use of space, plot, and theme render it mostly dull until it eventually peters out instead of offering any kind of discernible ending, let alone a cathartic one. Whatever it hopes to say about the meaning of art and materialism it says in scattered spurts which rarely add up to a satisfying whole. It approaches its one-location survival story much the same way, leading to similar results.

Set in a New York skyrise, Inside casts Dafoe as Nemo, one member of an otherwise-unseen heist crew, and a character whose opening voiceover hints at his undying love of paintings. This gives him something of a personal connection, at least in theory, to the numerous works of art he’s been sent to steal, when – with help of his cohorts over walkie talkies – he breaks into an enormous luxury apartment while its haughty owner is overseas for several months. Things go awry, and Nemo is unable to either exit the penthouse or call for help, leaving him trapped in a high-tech prison that slowly begins to fail him.

Katsoupis and screenwriter Ben Hopkins are adept at setting up physical hurdles, just as Dafoe is stellar at portraying subtle annoyance that eventually turns into desperation the longer he’s indoors. Food and water are limited, and Nemo must contend with the absurdity of “Macarena” blaring over loudspeakers each time he opens the scantly stocked refrigerator – one of just a few effective comedic gags.

However, once Inside lays its roadmap of potential hurdles, from dwindling supplies and broken plumbing to a thermostat on the fritz, it rarely returns its focus to any of these issues as continued problems. Instead, the edit (by Lambis Haralambidis) treats them merely as tidbits of information – the kind which you might recall and wonder about once they’ve been off-screen for lengthy periods – rather than as evolving elements of Nemo’s confining environment. Inside’s structure is almost too mechanical to leave a lasting impact; dramatic hurdles, like a lack of proper toilet facilities or dental hygiene, are set up clearly, but Inside’s idea of “payoff” simply means a single shot to get us up to speed on these problems once time has passed. It has little sense of continuity in between, rendering it less of an ongoing story and more of a checklist.

The passage of time in Inside is yet another oddity. While it’s unclear just how long Nemo spends in this apartment – the seasons change enough outside the window that it’s conceivably several months – there’s little care for what time actually feels like for its protagonist, and how it stretches or contracts from his point of view. It’s simply another logistical screenplay element unfolding in the background rather than something experienced through human eyes, or through its toll on the human form. Dafoe’s performance is physically painstaking and emotionally introspective as Nemo is driven further into isolation. However, few filmmaking elements complement his work.

It’s hard not to think of Inside as a pandemic lockdown movie in spirit, one meant to reflect familiar frustrations and feelings of isolation; Nemo even finds comfort in people-watching, by tuning into live security footage of people all around the building. However, cinematographer Steve Annis’ camera rarely works in tandem with the space to enhance Nemo’s emotions or his physical experience. The penthouse seldom feels uncomfortable; it’s shot neither claustrophobically, like its walls are closing in, nor like its emptiness is truly vast.

The soundscape does, on occasion, enhance the idea that Nemo might slowly be losing his mind, but Katsoupis and Hopkins’ conception of this idea never comes to fruition beyond fleeting phantasmagorical imagery. We see the outside effects, but we’re never allowed a window into Nemo’s psychology; we see the “what” of his fractured visions, but Inside is rarely concerned with presenting them in a manner that suggests a “why.” Dafoe’s frequent voiceover (and even his spoken lines, to no one in particular) often hints at scattered thoughts about modern art, both as status symbols and things which people may hold personally dear. In fact, one of the paintings Nemo is sent to steal happens to be an expensive self-portrait, which inherently rides the lines between these two outlooks. However, this tension never comes to the fore, no matter how long Nemo spends watching and considering the art around him – or creating his own, whether in the form of ritual as he slips into a more primal existence, or by repurposing furniture to build enormous structures in the hopes of reaching a vent in the ceiling.

Despite having numerous paintings and sculptures scattered across its space, and despite its character frequently alluding to deeper artistic thoughts and feelings, Inside has little to no perspective on modern art. And yet, it spends so much of its 105-minute runtime ruminating on the subject that it leaves little room to establish the urgency of Nemo’s situation the further it goes on.

It may recall other films which are similar in concept, like Danny Boyle’s wilderness-survival drama 127 Hours, or more pertinently, Vikramaditya Motwane’s Trapped, a 2017 Indian thriller also featuring a character stuck in a high-rise apartment. But these comparisons feel almost unfair, since both Boyle and Motwane quickly and effectively establish a balance between the characters themselves and the stakes of their respective situations. Katsoupis, in contrast, struggles to visually string together the handful of ideas that make up Hopkins’ already scattered screenplay, yielding a story that buckles under the weight of its faux-profound ending, which not only lacks momentum, but meaning. The result is a film that you could narrate or re-edit in practically any order, but no matter what, it would be just as plain.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods director David F. Sandberg is planning to take a long break from superhero movies following poor critical reception for the Shazam sequel.

On Twitter, Sandberg posted a thread of thoughts following Shazam 2's opening weekend, sharing that he plans to return to his horror roots.

"On Rotten Tomatoes I just got my lowest critic score and my highest audience score on the same film," Sandberg wrote. "I wasn't expecting a repeat of the first movie critically but I was still a little surprised because I think it's a good film. Oh well. As I've been saying for a while now I'm very eager to go back to horror (as well as trying some new things). After six years of Shazam I'm definitely done with superheroes for now."

On Rotten Tomatoes I just got my lowest critic score and my highest audience score on the same film 🤷‍♂️ I wasn’t expecting a repeat of the first movie critically but I was still a little surprised because I think it’s a good film. Oh well.

— David F. Sandberg (@ponysmasher) March 20, 2023

Sandberg's right about the disparity between Shazam 2's Rotten Tomatoes critic score and audience score. The critic average currently sits at 52%, while over 1,000 fan ratings have the movie's audience score at 88%.

Prior to directing the pair of DC films, Sandberg directed 2016's Lights Out and 2017's Annabelle: Creation, which were both supernatural horror films. While the director wants to go back to horror, Sandberg was quick to point out that he is grateful for his time working on Shazam.

"Just to be clear, I don't regret even for a second making the Shazam movies. I've learned so much and gotten to work with some truly amazing people. Will forever be grateful that I got to direct two of these! They've been very challenging but valuable experiences. One thing I've really been looking forward to is disconnecting from the superhero discourse online. A lot of that stresses me out so much and it will be nice not having to think about that anymore."

Sandberg's not the only filmmaker to speak out about negative review scores recently. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania screenwriter Jeff Loveness said he was "really sad about" the Ant-Man threequel's poor critical reception, telling The Daily Beast, "To be honest, those reviews took me by surprise... I was in a pretty low spot… Those were not good reviews, and I was like, ‘What the …?’”

IGN gave Shazam! Fury of the Gods a "Good" rating in our review, calling the sequel "a breezy, often funny second outing for Billy Batson and his family of young heroes."

For more, check out Sandberg's previous comments about the possibility of more Shazam sequels, or read our Shazam 2 ending explained.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Tetris premieres on Apple TV+ on March 31, 2023.

Using every trick in the book, including stretching the limits of what can be called a “true story,” Tetris manages to make international video game rights negotiations seem interesting. This convoluted film deals with Cold War paranoia on the verge of Mikhail Gorbachev’s resignation by telling the insanely tangled story of how Tetris game cartridges reached worldwide customers. It’s a litigation drama masquerading as a flashy political thriller in which companies like Bullet-Proof Software and Nintendo find themselves in a treacherous bidding war that writer Noah Pink and director Jon S. Baird attempt to adapt into an entertaining story jazzed up with Hollywood exaggerations, to overwhelming results.

Taron Egerton stars as the eventual real-life Tetris Company, Inc. founder Henk Rogers, who we meet as a struggling publisher living in Tokyo before some falling digital blocks changed his life. Egerton plays the part with business-savvy charisma and unstoppable tenacity, carrying scene after scene where the most exciting development might be convincing Russian tech company managers to sign on the dotted lines. He’s the American agent infiltrating Russia, except he’s just a businessman trying to start a megacorporation if he can secure the proper licenses.

Supporting players feel more like outlined stereotypes next to his star power, from Roger Allam’s portrayal of sleazy Mirrorsoft owner Robert Maxwell to Oleg Stefan as Russian Elorg director Nikolai Belikov. Egerton’s performance feels like he’s always fighting against the sped-up music in the game when the pieces stack up and almost smash into the ceiling, but he pushes through, carrying Tetris with underdog charms like he’s done in other movies (such as the impressively heartwarming Eddie the Eagle).

It’s tough to keep track of the names of all of these now-defunct companies, from Henk’s Bullet-Proof Software to Andromeda, headed by Robert Stein (Toby Jones plays to his strengths as a snakey partner). Baird does his best to explain all the complications that arise, not only between five separate companies (Bullet-Proof, Elorg, Andromeda, Mirrorsoft, and Nintendo) but also the trickier situation when console, arcade, computer, and handheld rights are all thrown on the table at once. Sometimes the director’s best effort isn’t good enough, and Tetris piles on enough legal jargon to bog down any political statements about communist Russia’s oppressive 1980s nature. Baird ultimately cobbles together a semi-biographical dramedy that tells a unique story through a gamer lens that tries a bit too hard, even though its history lesson elements can feel like a Saturday morning cartoon version.

It’s too much happening at once, which can have a numbing effect. Tetris is a ping-pong match that bounces between overstuffed corporate information dumps and meta video game entertainment, one minute burying us in character introductions, threatening Henk’s life like something out of a Jason Bourne movie the next. Back-alley interrogations that should be laced with tension barely raise an eyebrow, yet Henk’s conversations about dollar signs and royalties somehow hit the right notes. Tetris tries to have its Succession-style darkness while being as bright and joyful as an 8-bit side scroller, which becomes a strange mix of tones, especially with the Russian themes that feel like they have nothing substantial to say beyond, “The KGB sure was bad, huh?”

Everything gets awfully batty as Henk Rogers is presented as a fearless cowboy risking his life to secure Tetris’ handheld console rights. Baird uses colorful pixelated graphics that resemble early Nintendo-era games to introduce each chapter in the story — aptly referred to as “Levels” – to make Tetris feel like an adventurous quest with treasure at the finish. Lorne Balfe’s original score, meanwhile, is an early frontrunner for my favorite of the year; the familiar notes of Tetris’ stage background music bounce around Balfe’s compositions like smooth Synthwave jams or quirky chip-tune remixes. There are so many strides taken to make this movie feel like a video game despite its dry nature – characters are introduced as players, and game-ripped sound effects like bricks breaking or punches landing distort reality – all of which add an element of fun that a contract-negotiation story like Tetris would sorely lack otherwise.

Even the car chase, where Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov) plays wheelman for Henk and two Nintendo dealmakers as corrupt KBG officials tail behind – a purely fabricated event – finds its place in Baird’s movie because it’s played for laughs (a Russian cover of “Holding Out For A Hero” hilariously blares). It’s all so daffy, but the director ensures we know that’s the point.