Good news for the fans of the popular anime series, One Piece, as the highly anticipated One Piece Live Action adaptation is set to come to life on August 31st this year. The exciting news was recently confirmed in a Tweet shared by the official One Piece Netflix account, putting an end to months of speculation and rumors regarding the release date.RELATED: The Best Anime Villains Who Turned Into HeroesEarlier this year, rumors had been circulating that the much-awaited live-action adaptation would set sail sometime in August. Now, those rumors have proven to be true, much to the delight of fans worldwide. The announcement was accompanied by a thrilling new trailer, which was released on the official Netflix YouTube channel.

Following a minor appearance in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, one classic Nintendo character is getting a new name for the Japanese market, moving on from his original, racist-sounding moniker, as evidenced by a tweet from the company's Japanese-language Twitter account.If you've seen the Super Mario Bros. Movie, you'll note it's full of references to games across the franchise's four-decade history, but you may have questioned the origins of Spike, the large, Brooklyn-dwelling former employer of Mario and Luigi, who acts as a bully towards them near the start of the film. That character has always been known in predominantly English-speaking countries as Foreman Spike, and he is the bearded antagonist from 1985's Wrecking Crew, a classic NES game in which the Mario brothers use hammers to break down walls at a demolition site.RELATED: Where Can Mario Go After The Mario Movie?However, in Japan, that character's name has always been Burakkī (ブラッキー), meant to sound like the English "Blackie." Nintendo has not given a specific reason for the name change, though it does come just ahead of The Super Mario Bros. Movie's release in Japan later this week. It should be noted that Japan is much more ethnically homogenous than some other parts of the world, and there exist some cultural nuances and language-barrier issues between it and much of the western world, so its highly unlikely that Nintendo intentionally gave the character such a controversial name nearly 40 years ago.

Universal Pictures' upcoming Five Nights At Freddy's feature film — based on the horror video game franchise of the same name — finally has a release date. As first revealed in a tweet shared on Wednesday by producer Jason Blum, the Five Nights At Freddy's movie is set to premiere on October 27 this very year.While the tweet from Blum reveals only the film's release date, production studio Blumhouse has since announced that the film will have a day-and-date release, and as such will arrive on Universal Pictures' Peacock streaming service on the same day as its makes its theatrical debut.

Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, the showrunners behind HBO's The Last of Us recently had an interview with GQ Magazine, where they hinted at the existence of a third season for the series on top of the already confirmed Season 2.When the interviewer of GQ asked Druckmann about how Season 2 could encompass all the events of the second game, he teased that there is more than one season left. "It’s more than one season," said Druckmann. "You have noted correctly that we will not say how many. But more than one is factually correct. [Laughs]," confirmed Mazin.

It appears that word of mouth is still one of the strongest forms of advertisement, for HBO's critically acclaimed The Last of Us show continues to rise in viewer count, with its most recent 8th episode, When We Are In Need, reaching more than 8.1 million viewers during its Sunday night premiere.As reported by Variety, this is a 74% increase from the series' pilot episode, which had approximately 4.7 million day-1 viewers. This was, on its own, no small feat, as it was the second most-watched HBO pilot in the last decade, only behind the highly anticipated Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon.RELATED: HBO's The Last Of Us: Who Is James?The full series got an overwhelming majority of positive reviews from critics, and every episode so far has been widely celebrated by fans as well. It's clear that the show's supremely positive buzz has continued to garner it more and more viewers.And if you feel like you're suffering from deja vu, that's because this is the fourth time this has happened. Episode 2 had more Sunday viewers than Episode 1, and so on, until Episode 4, which reached 7.5 million viewers. According to Variety, Warner Bros. (HBO's parent company), didn't publicize the viewership numbers of episodes 5-7, so it's to be assumed that these were unable to keep the streak going.

The set of the long-in-development Five Nights At Freddy's film has been leaked, revealing that filming for the upcoming adaptation appears to be taking place in Chalmette, Louisiana.Announced over 7 years ago in 2015, the Five Nights At Freddy's film has seen its share of ups and downs on its way to the big screen. When the film was first announced the production was originally helmed by Roy Lee who has credits on The Ring and The Grudge, both of which are American adaptations of Japanese horror titles. Scott Cawthon, the series creator, was also expected to have a large part of the film's development.

Via a recent Twitter post, Nintendo has confirmed that a Nintendo Direct is set to take place on March 9, though it will explicitly have no information about upcoming games and will instead focus on the fast-approaching Super Mario Bros. Movie. The Direct will feature the movie's final trailer, and it's set to premiere at 2PM PT/ 5PM ET.RELATED: New Mario Bros. Movie Footage Shows Off Seth Rogen As Donkey KongThe timing of this trailer seems to be quite deliberate. Although the Direct will occur on March 9 for the western world, it will take place early morning the next day for Japan, March 10, which Nintendo, as well as gamers around the world, have been affectionately referring to as "Mario Day" throughout the years, due to how the date looks when shortened (Mar10).

HBO's The Last of Us has seemingly cast its Dina, according to some fans. Episode 6 has Ellie interact with another young girl who resembles her love interest from the second game.The sixth episode of The Last of Us has aired on February 19 and has some of the largest changes to the source material by far. The episode introduces viewers to Jackson, the thriving community that Tommy, Joel's brother, lives in with his wife Maria. After inviting Joel ad Ellie into Jackson, the pair are taken to a diner to eat. During the scene, Bella Ramsey's Ellie notices a woman staring at her from behind a post. Ellie shoos the girl away and the scene continues. While this scene is brief, the amount of attention drawn to it seems deliberate, which has fans speculating that this unnamed girl is actually Dina, a central character from The Last of Us: Part II.

Apple TV+ will begin streaming Tetris, its dramatic original movie about the development and release of the famous puzzle game of the same name, on March 31. The streaming platform's official Twitter account also released a trailer for the film on Thursday.With production originally revealed back in 2020, this Tetris film stars Taron Egerton as Henk Rogers. The Dutch-born video game entrepreneur was the key architect of negotiating and securing the rights to the Tetris game for Nintendo's consoles, particularly the iconic portable version on the Game Boy. The story of that escalating legal battle is one that featured intercontinental intrigue, including Rogers' trip to the Soviet Union to negotiate directly with Elorg, the company that held the original rights to Tetris, as well as his meeting and befriending of Alexey Pajitnov, the original creator of the game.RELATED: The Most Influential Games Of All TimeThe new trailer shows off how this story has been effectively adapted into a dramatized thriller of a movie. Produced by Matthew Vaughn and directed by Jon S. Baird, the movie will also include Nikita Efremov as Alexey Pajitnov and Toby Jones as Robert Stein. Stein had obtained licensing rights to Tetris years ahead of Rogers' efforts via his own legal maneuvering. The ensuing dispute appears to form the backbone of the film's plot, alongside interactions with Soviet authorities, as well as the story of Rogers trying to sell the appeal of the Tetris game to publishers, including Nintendo. The trailer also shows off a few game-style pixelation effects enhancing the action, notably in a car chase at one point, though it remains uncertain how these kinds of gimmicks will wind up deployed in the actual film.

Upcoming horror comedy film Cocaine Bear has received a free tie-in game available to players now. Cocaine Bear: The Rise of Pablo Escobear is a retro-style arcade game with strong similarities to Pac-Man, where players take control of the titular Pablo Escobear as he goes on a drug-fueled rampage.Making their way through colorful stages, the player must eat as much cocaine as possible while munching on the occasional human for bonus points. The game also has a version of a super meter, and after eating a certain amount of Tony Montana's favorite snack, Escobear moves faster and eats people without stopping, even taking down vans that occasionally cross the stage. The action is bloody, fast, and ultimately plain silly.

The Executive Producers of HBO's The Last of Us have revealed why Bill and Frank's story was changed from what was originally shown in the game. The couple's relationship is the focus of the show's most recent episode, which premiered this past Sunday.In a short video shared by PlayStation on Twitter, The Last of Us Executive Producers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann provide insight into the reasoning behind narrative changes made in Episode 3. The standalone episode stars Nick Offerman as Bill, a stubborn survivalist, and Murray Bartlett as Frank, a free-spirited artist. Mazin shares that he saw a chance to expand the story of Bill and Frank, which was not explored in depth in the game.RELATED: The Last Of Us Star Nick Offerman Reveals He's Never Played The GameThe live-action adaptation was a way to bring Bill and Frank's romantic relationship to life, reveals Mazin. In Naughty Dog's The Last of Us, Joel finds a handwritten note that illustrates Frank's frustration with Bill's "set-in-your-ways attitude." When Joel asks Bill about the note, Bill admits that Frank was his partner. This note and Bill's response, along with other clues in the game, only imply that Bill is gay. "There's this very small allusion to Bill's sexuality and the fact that he had this partner named Frank," Mazin said. In comparison, the show fleshes out the development of Bill and Frank's romance, starting from the tense moment the two first meet. Offerman and Bartlett's emotional performances have drawn high praise amidst homophobic review bombing of the show.Druckmann, who is also co-president of Naughty Dog, highlights how the third episode served to more fully explore the philosophical contrast between Bill and Frank, briefly depicted in the game. The two men take different attitudes towards life in a post-apocalyptic world: Bill takes a purely survivalist approach, while Frank wants to experience more from life. This conflict takes a toll on their relationship — in the game, Frank decides to leave Bill, which eventually leads to his death.

Star Wars Visions has announced a new season of the animated anthology series and this time Disney and Lucasfilm are tapping studios from all over the world for this season's stories.The first volume of Star Wars Visions aired in September 2021 featuring nine shorts from exclusively Japanese studios such as Trigger and Production I.G. Each was its own self-contained take on the Star Wars universe blending genre and animation styles to create striking stories. Some departed from the canon to create unique stories, such as "The Duel", which uses the backdrop of feudal era Japan to create its story, while others like "The Twins" used the canon to tell exciting new tales.RELATED: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Gets Delayed To AprilThe first season proved immensely successful, with anime and Star Wars fans tuning in to see the amazing work done by some of the premiere studios in Japan. With such success, it's no surprise that Disney is looking to expand the series with a second season, this time bringing studios from all over the world on board.

James Gunn, the co-lead of the new DC Studios, has recently confirmed that Ezra Miller's The Flash and Jason Momoa's Aquaman franchise will not exactly be a part of the new DC Universe (DCU). As reported by Screenrant, The Flash and Aquaman will run as their own franchises, completely separate from the universe DC Studios has planned to establish.RELATED: How Black Adam's Origin In The Movie Was Different From The ComicsApparently, James Gunn and Peter Safran (one of the producers of Aquaman 2) have an elaborate plan to create a connected DC Universe in "films, television, gaming, and animation." They announced several new projects as part of their 10-year roadmap of the new DC Universe while also talking about The Flash, Shazam, The Blue Beetle, and Aquaman 2.Shazam! Fury of the Gods will be the first of four films to release outside of DCU. The film will release on March 17, 2023, and it will connect "really well" with The Flash, set to release on June 16th, 2023.As previously rumored, Ezra Miller's The Flash would reboot the entire DCEU, thus laying the foundation of DCU. The consequences of Barry's actions in the upcoming film will allow DC Studios to introduce a new slate of films and TV shows. Gunn said he really loved The Flash and that it's "one of the best superhero films" he has ever seen.However, there's no confirmation whatsoever that Ezra Miller's Flash will exist in the new universe, so it's unlikely that Ezra will be the speedster in the DCU continuity.

Illumination has released a new video from the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Movie, giving us a chance to hear Seth Rogen's take on Donkey Kong. In the clip, viewable below, Mario faces off with Donkey Kong, giving us a brief taste of Rogen as the tie-wearing gorilla. The clip stems from the latest trailer released in late 2022, in which Mario and Donkey Kong battle it out. It starts with a scene akin to the duo's face-off back in 1981 in Donkey Kong, but this time they aren't fighting for the damsel Pauline. The smash 'em up fight starts in a colosseum filled with coin bricks and power-ups, with Mario coming out worse for wear in the confrontation.Related:Blue Archive To Receive TV Anime AdaptationMario's first attack is unsuccessful, and he leaps into the clouds to grab a power-up box, yielding a Cat Suit and gaining the ability to climb-up surfaces and conduct claw attacks against the enemy. Despite the addition, things don't end well for Mario as Donkey Kong threatens to destroy our red-capped hero.

The ink is dry, folks. Multiple Twitter accounts, such as the official The Last of Us HBO account, and PlayStation studio Naughty Dog's account, have confirmed that The Last of Us TV show has been officially renewed for a second season. Note that, so far, only two episodes have been released, yet, they've been so successful that HBO is clearly already confident enough to keep the series going.Not only has the show gotten an enormous amount of viewers, it's been dearly beloved by them as well. The first two episodes both currently have a 9.3/10 rating on the TV & movie data website, IMDB. Interestingly enough, the idea of a season 2 has been hinted at since before the show even began. A few weeks prior to the premiere, The Last of Us' creator, Neil Druckmann, revealed that, if a second season were to happen, it would be based on the original game's sequel The Last of Us Part 2, as he didn't want the series to go beyond adapting the games.RELATED: Naughty Dog Say They Are "Done" With Uncharted And Possibly The Last Of UsMore recently, Ellie's actor, Bella Ramsey, said the prospect of a second season was "pretty likely;" it seems she was right on the money. In case any further confirmation was required, Druckmann responded to The Last of Us HBO Tweet stating, "Part II -> HBO."

A newly-released comparison of critical reception to original HBO programming shows the upcoming The Last of Us outranking the competition, with wildly popular shows like Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon coming up far short of its numbers on the eve of Naughty Dog's classic game series' television adaptation's release.Released on Twitter by gaming metrics account Benji-Sales, the comparison ranks The Last of Us' pre-release professional review scores published on Rotten Tomatoes against those for the first seasons of eight other critically acclaimed HBO originals. While we have previously reported the overwhelmingly critical positive response that Neil Druckman and Craig Mazin's adaptation has been receiving, the comparison takes things even further, pointing out a 98% score on the tomatometer, a score only rivaled on the list by the first season of Barry, the 2016 biographical look into the college years of former US President Barack Obama, which also received a 98%.RELATED: The Last Of Us Part II Should've Gone Even Darker With Its EndingPossibly even more notably, The Last of Us' scores are performing better than the first seasons of both shows taking place in George R.R. Martin's Westeros — Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon — which received amalgamated first season scores of 90% and 93%, respectively. Those numbers are particularly telling, as Game of Thrones has had a massive worldwide cultural impact, from baby names (new Aryas increased more than tenfold annually between 2010 and 2019) to the mass demand for (and eventual abandonment of) Siberian husky and Alaskan malamute dogs that resemble the show’s direwolves. Rounding out the list are Chernobyl with 95%, Peacemaker with 94%, The White Lotus and Succession, each with 89%, and Euphoria with 80%.

High-quality scanned images of McDonald's Happy Meal promotion for the Super Mario Bros. Movie have given us a clearer look at the models for the characters who will be appearing in the upcoming film. A French Reddit user posted images scanned from the pop-together cardboard figurines that will be part of the promotion.Many of the toys are based off renders for characters already seen in pre-release materials, like posters distributed online for the film. These include the stock renders for Mario and Luigi, along with Toad, Princess Peach, Donkey Kong, and Bowser. One of the figurines even features a recreation of the Mario brothers in front of their plumbing van seen on an earlier poster.RELATED: Every Mario Kart Game, Ranked

A Twitter user by the name of kikaim recently posted an image of a promotional flyer seemingly going around in Japan, which allegedly leaks a yet unannounced character that shall appear in the upcoming Super Mario Bros Movie; a blue Luma character.Part of this flyer advertises a set of McDonald's Happy Meal toys that are based on the movie, and though the large majority of them are no surprise (like Mario, Peach, Bowser, and Donkey Kong), one of them is a blue Luma that we haven't seen in any trailer so far. The fact that this character is apparently appearing in promotional material means we'll likely see more of it in some other future trailer before the movie comes out.RELATED: Nintendo Officially Launches Animation Studio Nintendo PicturesWhat's perhaps most interesting about this is what the presence of a Luma character means for the story. Though most of the footage we've seen has been of the Mushroom Kingdom, there have been shots of other locations, like the penguin ice castle, and the most recent trailer shows Mario and Luigi traversing through some sort of dimensional tunnel in the sky.

Indie film and game studio Annapurna, best known for the recently released Stray, has officially launched an animation division led by industry veterans Robert Baird and Andrew Millstein. Annapurna Animation's first production is slated for release sometime in 2023.Entrepreneur and film producer Megan Ellison founded Annapurna Pictures in 2011 and went on to expand the studio to include video game publishing with Annapurna Interactive five years later. Works of both the film and game divisions have received critical acclaim for their high production quality and bold storytelling. In October, Annapurna's newest film, She Said, premiered at the 60th New York Film Festival. The biographical drama follows two New York Times reporters, Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, who helped launch the #MeToo Movement.RELATED: INDIE Live Expo Winter 2022 Reveals First Wave Of Participating GamesThe animation initiative will be headed by former Blue Sky co-Presidents Robert Baird and Andrew Millstein. Baird previously worked as a screenwriter for Walt Disney Animation Studios, with credits on Monsters University and Big Hero 6. Prior to his leadership at Blue Sky, Millstein began as a Production Executive at The Walt Disney Studios in 1997 and went on to serve as President of Walt Disney Animation Studios.

After the Gears of War movie was greenlit by Netflix earlier this week, actor and retired pro wrestler Dave Bautista — known for playing Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy — has posted a video of himself on Twitter in the full COG armor of Marcus Fenix , the iconic protagonist of the Gears of War franchise. Bautista has also added a caption saying that he "can't make this any easier", implying that Netflix should hurry up and hire him for the upcoming movie.

Kevin Conroy, the voice of Batman in countless video games and animated television shows, has died at the age of 66 following a short battle with cancer.Even gaming and animation enthusiasts unfamiliar with Conroy's name are likely to know his voice. He first donned the Dark Knight's cowl in 1992 for the Batman: The Animated Series, which ran until 1995. The same year the show went off the air, he appeared in his second role as Batman — and for the first time in a video game — in the PC puzzle game The Adventures of Batman & Robin.

Netflix has confirmed that Dragon Age: Absolution, an adult animated series based on the Dragon Age video game franchise, will stream exclusively on the platform from December 9th. A new trailer was also released, which highlights action-packed scenes, a diverse cast of characters, and acclaimed voice-acting talent.In June, Netflix gave viewers their first glimpse of Dragon Age: Absolution with an official teaser. Along with the one-minute video, Netflix revealed that the six-episode series was created in collaboration with Canadian developer BioWare, produced by Red Dog Culture House, and led by showrunner Mairghread Scott.READ MORE: Battlefield 2042 Coming To Game Pass Ultimate Next MonthThe new two-minute trailer offers a glimpse at the tragic background of the elven protagonist Miriam, a former slave who carves a path for herself as a mercenary. Working with a ragtag group of friends, Miriam must steal the Circulum Infinitus, a dangerous artifact fueled by Blood Magic, while overcoming her traumatic past. The series will take place in Tevinter, an empire controlled by mages, and tackle mature themes such as power, corruption, and freedom.