Weird Mind News Room Episode 53: Feb 26th - Mar 3rd

 *insert the ancient chant Dune song for the music*

Hello there everyone of you beautiful, beautiful people to the 53rd episode of Weird Mind News room where this week we will be delving into all that their is to offer in terms of New releases, Trailers and News so lets not worry about any concerns or messes and lets get to the content for this week

The Rich spice of New releases

Movies

Dune Part 2

So it is time we start with the first film of this week that is essentially what is labelled as many's first big blockbuster of 2024 and that is of course the 2nd half of the grand Sci-fi epic with Denis Villeneuve Dune Part 2. Now this film will follow on from the first films ending with Paul and Lady Jessica escaping deep into the desert of Arrakis where they have come into contact with the natives of the desert planet of the Freman and they will soon become part of their culture and band together to create an army to fight against the Harkonnen who destroyed their family and stop them at all costs and also for them to prevent a possible dark future that only Paul can foresee. Now the reception on this film has been universally praised for being a massive step up over the well recieved first part from the action, cast, writing and set pieces and some labelling it as the best piece of Sci-fi ever made. Now it was a case that Part one I think is a very good movie but I feel the visuals overwhelmed more of the plot and nuance of the story and hopefully this will be an improvement when I go and see it and you can do so now as it is out in Cinemas.

Lisa Frankenstein

But if a massive Sci-fi is not much of an interest and much rather a horror rom-com then look no further then the new teen 80s romance of Lisa Frankenstein. This new film follows Lisa, a misunderstood teenager who becomes infatuated with a reanimated Victorian era corpse where they will soon go on a murderous journey together to find Love, Happiness and a few missing body parts along the way. Now the reception on this film has been a little more mixed with praise to the tone of the 80s teen horror's but feeling too close to them to have much of a say in things, though the concept and cast has garnered decent opinions as well and if you want something to show that love isn't dead then you can check out this new film now in Cinemas.

Spaceman

but if you are up for something with a sci-fi tinge mixed with drama but don't want to leave the comfort of home then you can head on over to the last new release film of the week as we have the new Adam Sandler led film of Spaceman. This film follows Jakub Prochazka, an astronaut who has been sent on a mission to the vast edge of the solar system to investigate the Chopra cloud, and while on this journey will come into contact with a strange creature of a giant talking spider that will help him find and resolve some of the problems that he left behind back on earth and has taking a toll on him through this lonely mission. Now the reception on this film has also been a little bit of a mixed bag as while the performances and the themes and issues discussed are very strongly praised, it leaves it few and far between to give them all a well worth outcome by the films end, but if you want to experience this new film for yourself then you can check it out now on Netflix.

Tv Shows

Shogun

Now on the show side of things for this week we are heading to the realm of the ancient era of the Samurai as we have recieved an all new series known as Shogun. This series is set in the year 1600 in Japan and follow the collisions of 2 ambitious men from different worlds and a mysterious female samurai at the dawn of a century-defining civil War. Now the reception on this series has been very strongly praise for its story, setting, characters and has been described as the new Game of Thrones from some critics (lets hope it is in a long lasting good thing and not into the mess the last seasons become), but if you want to see a series of ancient Samurai you can catch the first 2 episodes now on Disney+ and a new episode every Tuesday.

Video Games

Brothers a Tale of 2 sons remake

Now on the first of the 2 games that have released this week is starting off with the remake of a 10 year old game that was very well recieved at the time as we have gotten an upscaled remake of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. This will have the player follow the siblings travelling across a vast fictitious land full of orcs and trolls, in order for them to find a cure for their ailing father. Now the reception like the original has been very well praised from all of the charm of the original as well as the impressive 4K visual upgrade and if you want to try it out for yourself, it is available now to play on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. 

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

And wrapping up the new releases of this week is with the 2nd biggest release of the week and after 4 years since the now first part of a planned remake trilogy of one game, it is time to return for the 2nd part of the Final Fantasy VII remake with Rebirth. Now this game will be set immediately after the events of Remake and follow Cloud Strife and his party of characters as they embark on their journey across the planet to prevent the megacorporation of Shinra from using the Lifestream as a powerful energy source and stopping Sephiroth from merging with the Planets power for ultimate power and control. Now the reception on this game has been universally praised for its visuals, combat story and vast amounts of content to keep many of the fans satisfied and may be seen as a game of the year contender so far and if you want to try it out for yourself, you can do so now to play on PlayStation 5.

Harking to the trailers

Horizon: An American saga

So we start off with the trailers for the week with a turn to the form of the western, a genre style that has become a lot more popular in recent years thanks in no small part to the series like Westworld and Yellowstone and its subsequent spin-off prequels and one of those stars is now off to make his own duology of westerns as we have gotten a trailer for the films of Horizon: An American Saga. Now not much is known on the film but will be set in the American Civil War period and will depict the expansion of the American West. Now I think that it has some sense of looking like an interesting watch and I am sure we will get a full explanation of the plot for the 2 films as they will be dropping onto Netflix soon with Part 1 on June 28th and Part 2 on August 16th this year.

The Watchers

Now for the only form of a Horror thriller trailer for this week and that is coming to us in the form of an all new project from the daughter of the Horror Thriller and Twist extraordinaire of M. Night Shyamalan with her new film of The Watchers. Now this new film will follow Mina, a young woman who gets stranded and trapped in a giant bunker like structure in the vast expansive woods of western Ireland and must survive amongst three strangers who are watched and stalked by mysterious strangers in the night. Now I think what the trailer does here is a really well done established form of not telling us too much and showing elements of calm and tension and helps sell the film well and in most case I will be giving this film a look into when it releases in cinemas on June 14th.

The Bikeriders

On the last of the movie trailers was a film that was supposed to come out at the beginning of December but was pulled from cinemas about a week and a half before release and now we have gotten a release of the 2nd trailer for the new film of the Bikeriders. Now this film will follow a fictional biker group of the Vandals MC during the 1960s and will be told their story through the lives of its members over the course of a decade going from a place for local outsiders to a sinister group that threatens the original groups unique way of life. Now I was looking forward to checking this one out back at Christmas as I heard good things from the film festivals and it even has garnered some award season buzz so it may be a knock on affect from Disney but I am sure we will see how this one will turn out when the film will now release on June 21st. 

Pokemon Legends Z-A

And the last trailer for the week is coming to us from the Pokémon Direct from this week and while we may be also getting the trading card game now coming to mobile, we did also get one more big announcement and that comes in the form of a follow up to 2022's open world game with Pokémon Legends Z-A. Now from what I am gathering and from the more established knowledgeable person in Pokémon from my friend Kay, this will be delving into skipping over Gen 5 and going towards Gen 6 or the X/Y era (which is their least favourite Gen and was hoping for Gen 5 content but maybe it could be out by the end of the year as the yearly Pokémon game) and will be seeing your Pokémon trainer character travelling across the massive city of lumiose city (this worlds version of Paris) in a new redevelopment plan in the Kalos region and have you collecting the many pocket monsters you may come across. Now it does seem like ambitious project and I am sure we will get some more new info on the project when it releases possibly as the Switch 2 launch title in early 2025.

The News of Rich Prophet

New announcements of Wizards, Turtles, Goofy Police and AI

So I am going to start off this weeks news with some of the announcements of some upcoming projects that have garnered some release date announcements and go in the order of when they plan to release and give an idea of when to expect them.

So starting with Disney and to the news that may be a surprise to the likes of many but we are actually getting a 3rd Tron movie and this one has now garnered a few things, a full name, a first look, a description of the plot and the projected release date. So the new film is now called Tron Ares, It has provided us with a first look at the main character in this being played by Jared Leto, the plot will see the highly sophisticated program of Ares, is sent from the digital world to the real world on a very dangerous mission which marks the first human encounter with AI beings and will be releasing sometime next year. Now it is a case that this will hopefully be like the original and the sequel of Legacy as both of them are really well liked films and hopefully this will be well worth a watch and not be a complete mess by the release sometime next year.

The next one with a bit of concern is coming to us from Paramount and this is with that long running rumour now being confirmed that we are getting a new reboot version of the Naked Gun film that will be starring Liam Neeson in the main role, being directed by Akifa Schaffer and produced by Seth Mcfarlane and has a planned release date for July 18th 2025. Now the concern I have would be if audiences are up for the attempt of a slapstick spoof comedy as the likes of the spoof comedy or parody comedy has died out by in the late 2000s and the case that the worry that it will not live up to the classic role portrayed by the late Leslie Neilson but hopefully if its the team behind 2022s Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers working on it I do hope it will work out and not end in a disaster.

As for the following year, we have gotten word earlier this week that we now have an official release date for the upcoming sequel to last years Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film with the sequel planned for release on October 9th 2026. Now this will see the main cast of the Turtles and Splinter return as well as Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg back working on the project and most we do know is that the main focal villain teased at the end of the film will be this sequels villain which is of course Shredder. Now I really enjoyed the first film and can check out my opinion here or video here and hopefully this film will follow up in the appeal and enjoyment of the first and give great continuing development for the characters overall.

And lastly is another one that I am a bit on the fence about and that is with the confirmation from Warner that we will be likely seeing a release of the new reboot to the Harry Potter Universe from 2026. Now this is established that each season will delve into each book but as I mentioned a while ago in a blog from the early days, something about it just seems like a cash grab and not one to be giving more money to someone that has become a person a lot of people have come to hate due to her upsetting views about people who are people and not the rhetoric comments she says that are untrue. The other issue is that it will leave more of a case of people caring more on the original films and I know that the season may help the likes of books 4-6 get all the content made and each season may vary in length due to the books lengths where the first 3 are all less then 350 pages each where the following books are all over 500 pages (and some delve into some questionable topics) and the case as well they seem to not have learned the lesson from the disappointing outcomes from the Fantastic Beast Franchise that it has died before its planned 5 film series so it will have to be seen on if this will live up to the low expectations I have for this in general but I may be in my own field on this.

But what are your thoughts on all that was announced and is there any of these in particular you are looking forward to checking out in general. Let me know what your thoughts are down below in the comments section.

Going from Spider's to possibly Bats (as long as a studio doesn't continue their destruction)

Now this next story is relating to the last studio I mentioned in the previous story as well as delving into a sector that they seem to not care about (although they claim to be the "only pure storytelling" company in the industry, and to that I say is total bullshit) and that is with the possibility of some beautiful form of Animation. Now I have made countless mentions over the last year that I love animation and we have seen a new defining style that was blessed to us from the Spider-verse films that followed into a few other studios films to great success and it seems to be the case that now there may be hope that a form of the world's greatest detective may get a chance at a film themselves. Now earlier this week, Patrick Harpin and Yuhki Demers, two industry creators that worked on the Spider-verse movie had pitched the concept of a Batman Beyond animated film in the style of the 2 critically acclaimed films they worked on and I mean just look at that animation it is so beautiful. Now they said that the likes of a film like that at the studio may seem unlikely but they appreciate the enthusiasm they brought to the table so it may be a possibility in the future, but then again it is with Warner that will not care much on the form of Animation and just write them off for Tax purposes, but I do hope that Mr James Gunn could possibly make it happen with Mr Peter Safran for being part of the growing DCU they are making but I guess we will find out overtime and when I hear anything I will let you know in a later update.

But what are your thoughts on all of this info and would you be down for a Batman Beyond project in any form? Let me know what you think of it all in the comments.

It seems Aliens drive Cars in Hawaii

Now lets delve into the next story and that is with the discussion of the Live action project courtesy of Disney. Now it is a case that it has been very quiet for a lot of the projects with little talk on the Lion King Prequel Sequel, Snow White being delayed a year means a bit more time before we hear info or footage is released for that and we know the likes of projects on Hercules and possibly with Hunchback, Moana and maybe others are still being processed and all seems to be quiet, that is except for one that is currently deep into filming and that is with the live action adaptation of Lilo and Stitch. Now we have seen some form of filming take place over the last few months before and after the strikes last year and since then we haven't seen much of a major behind the scenes imagery but recently over the last little while we got some images and of course the one I want to bring up is the first look at the popular Blue Alien itself as a behind the scenes photo has given us the proper first look of Stitch sitting in a small pink car. Now we do not see the full look at the character besides the head and ears but from how it looks it seems to be keeping it close to the design of the original with that updated live action version. Now most case it may be given a little bit of movement touchups with CG but it maybe a bit of time before we see it in motion. Now I think it looks like a good design and a lot better then the form of monstrosities people were making over the last 5 years since its announcement and hopefully it will turn out well and I am sure we'll get some form of a release date for this project soon and once I hear word I will update in a later piece.

But what are your thoughts on the image, do you think the design looks good or not and do you think this live action remake will be any good or just another whatever attempt at a live action version from Disney? Let me know your thoughts down below and lets discuss your opinions on it there.

It no longer seems like the way and Bob is off to make his own toys

Now let us discuss some news from the video game industry as it has been quite the heavy and concerning output lately that I may give it a focused video on soon and we start with the news that relates to a story I brought up about 2 weeks ago that we were getting a planned Star Wars game based on the Mandalorian Guild but it now seems to be the case that it looks like that dream vision has not been shelved for the foreseeable future. The reason for this announcement was due to the sudden  major layoffs at the company of EA that saw around 700 jobs suddenly laid off at the studio which just came a few days after PlayStation laid off around 900 employees across its studios. Now it was an interesting concept to talk on and delve into a chance of playing in the future but maybe we may see it but its a very very slim chance that'll happen. I may delve more into the topic of what has been going on and the worry for the industry sometime soon.

As for a bit of some more positive studio news we turn to one of the companies owned by Activision and that was with the company of Toys for Bob. Now they have been around for years making tie in games for films like Madagascar and Disney as well as the creation of toys to life with Skylanders and more recently with the remakes of the Spyro Trilogy and Crash Bandicoot 4 and Team Rumble. Now there was worried rumblings that the studio was about to be shut down due to some of the layoffs that were affected on Microsoft but it seems that is not the case but rather it was announced that we will be seeing the company announcing that they are becoming an Independent gaming company and that they are getting full support from Activision and Microsoft in the decision making and everything in the process and I do hope that all of the success for them in the future. Now it is a case of whether they still have the likes of being able to make games in the franchises like Spyro and Crash still or if they will now be worked on by other departments of the studios of Activision (but then again every studio that actually made games are now being demanded to make content for Call of Duty so it may be a case it is unknown of where things stand right now) but I am sure I will hear word and will update in a later video.

But what are your thoughts on these 2 news topics, are you disappointed in the cancellation of a Mandalorian game and what are your thoughts of that long running studio going independent? Let me know what your thoughts are down below in the comments.

Casting for an apocalypse, a Hotel in New York and a Small superhero from Kansas

Now the last story for the week is that we have recieved some casting news for 3 different projects this week and instead of dividing them up into 3 separate stories I decided to lump them together into one story and I will be delving into each of them now.

So we will start with the news of some new casting announcements for the upcoming 2nd season to the HBO video game adaptation of The Last of Us. Now we have seen castings over the last few weeks for the characters of Abby, Jesse, Dina and for an undisclosed role being played by Catherine O'Hara and now we have recieved a selection of 4 more cast members that will make up some of the members of Abby's gang of friends. So we have the confirmation of Ariela Barer (how to blow up a pipeline) playing the role of Mel, Danny Ramirez (Top Gun Maverick) playing the role of Manny, Tati Gabrielle (Uncharted, You) will be playing the role of Nora and Spencer Lord (Heartland) will be playing the role of Owen. Now whether or not we will see any other members from the group of WLF members in this is anyone's guess but I am sure we will learn more as the series begins to start filming or continue to film for the release of the next season in 2025.

Next we are taking a trip to the Arconia as it is time to begin the mystery of the next Murder in the Building as the 4th season has gotten underway filming as of Friday and we have some confirmed returning faces for the 4th season which includes the return of Meryl Streep from the 3rd season but we have also seen some confirmation of 3 new faces joining the line up which include Molly Shannon (A good person), Eva Longoria (Flamin' Hot) and Eugene Levy (Schitt's Creek) have all been confirmed for the new season. Now it is unclear if we will see the eventual return of at least Nathan Lane in the 4th season given he was absent from season 3 but I am sure we will learn more as the series continues to film over the next few weeks.

And lastly is with a new casting confirmation for the newest Superman movie now just retitled as Superman. Now this also started filming on Thursday of this week and we have seen a massive stacked cast but it has just recieved one last casting addition in the form of Wendell Pierce (The Wire, Jack Ryan) will be playing the character of Perry White, the head of the Daily Planet in the film that has multiple metahumans and villains in a very stacked and I think it is a very well established and made cast and I am sure we will learn more and start to see more of the film as it begins its filming process and am looking forward to how it turns out for Release Next July.

But what are your thoughts on all of the casting news below and what are you looking forward to the most on the list discussed, let me know of all of your opinions on the comments section down below.

and with all of that this brings us to the end of episode 53 of Weird Mind News room and I do hope that you have enjoyed all of my content and discussion this week as always if you check out my stuff and would love to hear all your thoughts and opinions down below in the comments. As always I hope you all stay being wonderful people and have a great day everyday and I shall see you all in the next blog piece.

Take Care, Signing off,

Sam H