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‘Weapons’ Director Zach Cregger on Aunt Gladys’ Style Inspirations

by admin September 20, 2025

Zach Cregger’s creepy Weapons is now available to watch at home, meaning folks who missed it in theaters can behold its horrors from the safety of their couch. Also, it means anyone in the midst of fashioning a Halloween costume styled after the movie’s most mysterious and memorable character can rewind and freeze-frame to get all the Aunt Gladys details just right.

Like everything in Weapons, Gladys’ looks are very carefully thought out. Her more vulnerable scenes reveal she’s a lot older than you might think—possibly even ancient—but the breakout style definitely comes through when Gladys (wonderfully played by Amy Madigan) has to make a public appearance. She’s got her red wig with the micro bangs, 1970s oversized sunglasses, a thick slash of lipstick, colorful outfits that scream “suburban eccentric,” and that all-important handbag stuffed full of sinister spell-casting tools.

Speaking to Collider, Cregger elaborated a bit on how this frightening style icon came into existence.

“She’s not based on anything I’ve experienced in real life, necessarily,” he said. “But … Gladys as an aesthetic, her aesthetic comes from Cindy Sherman and Twin Peaks and Boca Raton retirees.”

We would have guessed maybe a little Grey Gardens in there too, and perhaps The Witches, as well as hag-spolitation classic What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

Cregger does go on to explain that Gladys, beyond her physical appearance, was influenced by aspects of his own life, something he’s previously discussed.

“Gladys, as a theme, is very autobiographical. And really, it’s about my childhood. And it’s not that there was an evil woman that came into my life, but it was more about just growing up in an alcoholic family,” he said. “And the idea of a new entity coming into your house and upending the family dynamic, and taking a safe place and turning it into a scary place, and what it does to children, and that sort of thing … But no, I never met a crazy woman with red hair.”

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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September 20, 2025 0 comments

Leon from Resident Evil 4 doing the smoulder among a run-down village.

Gaming Gear

Weapons director says his Resident Evil movie will leave everything ‘intact’ from the games: ‘I’m not gonna steal Leon and put him in an original story’

by admin September 19, 2025

Zach Cregger is on a roll. The writer and director of 2022’s Barbarian and this year’s Weapons now has two solid horror hits under his belt, and is in pre-production on his next one: a Resident Evil movie planned for 2026.

That’s good news for Resident Evil fans who might otherwise be a bit wary about yet another new Resi movie—the film franchise was already rebooted once, just four years ago, with the thoroughly mid Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. Cregger’s track record, though based on a small sample size (at least when it comes to feature films) is a good reason to be optimistic.

And for those wondering which game and characters this new Resi movie will be based on, it looks like the answer is: none of them.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Cregger confirmed that while the 2026 film will take place in the Resident Evil universe, “It’s an entirely original story,” instead of being based on any one specific game. Cregger is also steering away from major Resident Evil characters like Leon S. Kennedy.

“I’m not gonna steal Leon and put him in an original story. I think that would be presumptuous,” Cregger told EW. “But I respect the games enough where I’m gonna tell a Resident Evil story in the Resident Evil canon that still leaves everything they love intact from the games, you know what I mean?”

I think I know what he means. When using a character people are already familiar with, like say Master Chief in the recent Halo TV series, you run the risk of disappointing people who have expectations of that character, like when you show his naked butt, or when he has sex. A safer and more creative approach is to handle it like the Fallout series, which creates mostly original characters and sets them loose in a familiar world.

Both Barbarian and Weapons are effective not just because they’re scary, but because they’re intriguing. By presenting the story of both films from the perspective of different characters and jumping around in time, we don’t get all the information in a linear fashion, which gives both movies a fun sense of mystery. At other times we get information before certain characters do, too, and then we’re left dreading the horrible things we know are coming their way.

I’m curious if and how Cregger will use similar methods in his Resident Evil movie.

“I think that when you see it, you’ll understand how I can be obsessed with original ideas and still make a movie that is an IP-based thing,” Cregger said. “I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense now, but I hope that it will later.”

Cregger’s Resident Evil movie is scheduled to be released, wow, exactly one year from today, on September 18, 2026. Confirmed in the cast is Austin Abrams, who played the role of James, the drug-addict, in Weapons, and Paul Walter Hauser, who played Ed in this year’s The Naked Gun and Mole Man in The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

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September 19, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

Fired CDC Director Says RFK Jr. Pressured Her to Blindly Approve Vaccine Changes

by admin September 18, 2025

Debra Houry, former chief medical officer and deputy director for program and science at CDC, who was one of several agency officials to resign in the wake of Monarez’s firing, also testified during Wednesday’s hearing.

“I resigned because CDC leaders were reduced to rubber stamps, supporting policies not based in science, and putting American lives at risk. Secretary Kennedy censored CDC’s science, politicized its processes, and stripped leaders of independence. I could not and in good conscience, remain under those conditions,” Houry said.

She also accused Kennedy of halting flu campaigns despite the severity of the 2024-2025 flu season, as well as spreading misinformation and promoting unproven treatments for measles.

Houry said she learned that Kennedy had changed the CDC’s Covid-19 vaccine guidance from a social media post on X. “CDC scientists have still not seen the scientific data or justification for this change. That is not gold-standard science,” Houry said, referring to a statement in May that HHS will no longer recommend the vaccine for healthy children and pregnant women

Monarez said Secretary Kennedy had not communicated his plans to change the childhood vaccination schedule to her until their meeting on August 25. Monarez said she told Kennedy that she would be open to changing the childhood vaccine schedule if the evidence or science supported those changes. Kennedy responded that there was no existing science or evidence and elaborated that CDC had never collected that data, according to Monarez.

Monarez said she could not agree to approving ACIP recommendations before knowing what they were. “I have built a career on scientific integrity, and my worst fear was that I would then be in a position of approving something that would reduce access to life-saving vaccines to children and others who need them,” she said.

This Thursday, ACIP is set to discuss the hepatitis B vaccine, which has been recommended for newborns within 24 hours of birth since 1991. But the committee is expected to vote on removing that recommendation and delaying the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine until age 4.

Each year in the US, an estimated 25,000 infants are born to women diagnosed with the hepatitis B virus, or HBV, a serious liver infection that can lead to cirrhosis and cancer. Before the vaccine was introduced, nearly 20,000 babies and children were infected with HBV each year in the US. Now, fewer than 20 get the disease from their mothers.

“Now that we’ve controlled it, do we let the genie out of the bottle? If the recommendation goes away, and a parent does want the vaccine, insurance will no longer cover it free of charge. She’ll be forced to pay out of pocket,” Senator Cassidy said at the conclusion of the hearing. Vaccine coverage is typically tied to ACIP recommendations.

Cassidy was initially hesitant about Kennedy’s nomination as HHS secretary, given his prior statements about vaccines, but he supported him after, he has said, Kennedy promised to maintain vaccine availability and not undermine public trust in them.

ACIP is slated to discuss Covid-19 vaccines on Friday.

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September 18, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Silksong’s surprise release was “a little callous”, says Hell is Us creative director

by admin September 16, 2025

Hell is Us creative director Jonathan Jacques-Belletête called the surprise release of Hollow Knight: Silksong “a little callous”, believing it had an impact on his game’s sales.

Rogue Factor’s adventure game was already locked in for its release ahead of Team Cherry’s announcement, but the two games eventually released on the same day.

“When you know you’re that big, I think a shadow drop is a bit like – wow,” said Jacques-Belletête on Skill Up’s Friends Per Second podcast. “As the ‘GTA 6 of indie’… to shadow drop something like this is a little callous.”

Hell is Us Review: Death Stranding meets… ZELDA?Watch on YouTube

After Team Cherry’s announcement, the Hell is Us development team discussed with publisher Nacon whether to change the date. “It was a real thing,” said Jacques-Belletête.

However, the “real pain in the ass”, Jacques-Belletête explained, is that changing release date means refunding pre-orders. And while that wasn’t a deciding factor, the team believed they could weather the storm.

Still, Jacques-Belletête admitted Silksong’s release did impact the launch of Hell is Us. “I don’t have any specific numbers,”he said, “at least not at this time. But for sure it did.”

Above all, Jacques-Belletête highlighted the difficulties of finding an appropriate release window in the current climate.

“That’s the thing nowadays, honestly – getting a window where you’re pretty much alone is almost impossible,” he said. “15 years ago, the mid-end of the summer was always a dead period. But there’s no such thing anymore. It’s just constant madness.”

Plenty of games did change their release date in the wake of Silksong’s launch, including Demonschool and Baby Steps.

“Hell is Us is an absorbing, nightmarish meditation on the horror of war, but divisive design choices prove tedious,” reads our Hell is Us review.

This is a news-in-brief story. This is part of our vision to bring you all the big news as part of a daily live report.

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September 16, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

28 years after the original game, Final Fantasy Tactics could get “sequels and new titles” if The Ivalice Chronicles sells well enough, teases director

by admin September 8, 2025

A sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics could be on the cards if the forthcoming remake sells well, its director has teased.

The PS1 tactical RPG was first released in 1997, and while it established the world of Ivalice that reappeared in subsequent games, it never received a direct sequel. Square Enix also released the Final Fantasy Tactics Advance games on GBA and DS, though the second of these was back in 2007.

“If The Ivalice Chronicles can do well, that’s good for the fans, they can enjoy it. But, at the same time, it shows the business viability of the strategy RPG genre,” Kazutoyo Maehiro, director of the remake told Inverse. “So that could potentially open the door for doing something with Final Fantasy Tactics Advance or A2, or maybe even sequels and new titles as well. I think I speak for everyone who’s worked on the original Final Fantasy Tactics, and is working on The Ivalice Chronicles as well – we’d really like to see that happen.”

FINAL FANTASY TACTICS – The Ivalice Chronicles | Enhanced Opening MovieWatch on YouTube

Final Fantasy Tactics is one of the most beloved entries in the series, praised for its mature, political storytelling. Fans have long-wanted a new Tactics game, with this remake being rumoured for years.

Maehiro also commented on the popularity of the genre overall, alluding to other recent turn-based games.

“Of course, with the different hardware advances that have come, we see a lot more action games,” he said. “But I think, at the same time, that doesn’t really mean turn-based or strategy games went away. They’ve advanced with the hardware advances. I know we have titles that might start with P or have 33 in them, and fans really enjoy these games.

“But strategy RPGs are opportunities where people need to be able to think and strategise to excel at these games. And people do enjoy them overall – so these games have a place.”

Eurogamer’s Alex Donaldson recently went hands-on with Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, and discussed with the developers the need for a remake.

“Obviously, this game came out 28 years ago,” said co-director Ayako Yokoyama. “But the story is amazing, and I think that’s something we want people to experience. At the same time it is a strategy RPG, and maybe for more casual players that’s a little bit of a hurdle. It can even be hard for people who aren’t used to that type of game, but do like story-based RPGs.”

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles releases on 30th September across Xbox, PlayStation, Switch consoles, and PC (Steam).

This is a news-in-brief story. This is part of our vision to bring you all the big news as part of a daily live report.

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September 8, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Kingdom Hearts 4, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 are making “great progress”, confirms director

by admin September 7, 2025

Square Enix director Tetsuya Nomura still doesn’t have any specific Kingdom Hearts 4 news for us just yet, but he wants you to know that the teams are making “great progress” on both the Kingdom Hearts sequel and Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3.

Other than a sneak peek back in May, we haven’t seen or heard anything since Kingdom Hearts 4 was shown back in 2022 for the series’ 20th anniversary, which is likely why Nomura joked in a recent livestream about seeing “a lot of comments” from fans eager to know more about the game.

Kingdom Hearts 20th anniversary announcement trailer.Watch on YouTube

“I’m seeing a lot of comments asking about Kingdom Hearts 4,” Nomura said, as translated by Aitaikimochi (thanks, TheGamer). “We are making great strides and going according to schedule. So please wait for more information on that!”

Admittedly, that doesn’t give us much to go on, but it should be a relief to fans to know everything is “going according to schedule”. And as for Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3?

“[Motomu] Toriyama supposedly said we will have news around the time of the second anniversary of FF7EC,” he added. “We are making great progress on the game! And I can’t say anything else. I’m not gonna be like, ‘Well, actually…’ If I did, people would be really surprised if it’s during this FF7EC livestream.

“But we are indeed making a lot of progress with the game. We already have decided when we will make the announcement as well, and we will stick to that time schedule. So don’t worry, but please wait for it.”

Square Enix finally released fresh screenshots of Kingdom Hearts 4 back in May, giving us our first look at the game in three years. Before then, the last time the game was shown was back in 2022 for the series’ 20th anniversary, in which we were treated to Sora’s return and the expansive metropolis of Quadratum.

The day before those new screenshots, Square Enix cancelled mobile game Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link.

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September 7, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Resident Evil Movie Director Says It “Lives In The World” Of These Specific Games

by admin September 3, 2025

After making the successful horror movies Barbarian and Weapons, writer-director Zach Cregger is directing a Resident Evil movie next. He’s now shared more details about it, including why he decided to adapt a story instead of making another original film.

Speaking to Double Toasted, Cregger said he believes his Resident Evil movie is, in fact, “original,” and viewers will understand that when they see it. He didn’t elaborate on this point, however.

Cregger also said he has never seen any of the half-dozen live-action Resident Evil movies from Paul W.S. Anderson that came before his. “I’ve never seen a Resident Evil movie. If there are people out there who are rabid fans of the movie franchise, they are probably not really prepared for what I am going to be doing. But I think fans of the games are going to be stoked,” he said.

Also in the interview, Cregger said his Resident Evil movie will be “true to the experience” of the video games, and probably “lives in the world” of Resident Evil 2 and 3, but that it adheres more to the tone of Resident Evil 4. The game is not a direct adaptation of any Resident Evil game, however.

Cregger said the video games, too, don’t have a set lore and aren’t rigid with timelines or settings. “I don’t think I am taking any more liberties with this [movie] than the game franchise does. I think I am coloring within the lines,” he said.

“I’ve never seen a movie like it,” he added. “I am beyond excited making this.”

The director added that his sense of tone and his general filmmaking sensibilities honed with Barbarian and Weapons will come through in Resident Evil, albeit on a bigger scale and with a bigger budget.

“It takes place in the world of the games, but most importantly, the journey you’ll have as a viewer watching this movie is going to be similar to the journey you have as a player when you play these games. What that means is it follows one protagonist from point A to point B as they descend deeper and deeper and deeper into hell,” he said. “As someone who has played I don’t know how many thousands and thousands of hours of Resident Evil, I just feel like I know how that pacing can go, and it’s inherently cinematic. I feel like there is a great movie that can live inside this world and inside that sort of pacing. I am really, really pumped about the story that we get to tell here.”

Finally, Cregger confirmed the shooting schedule for Resident Evil, saying cameras are due to begin rolling this October in Prague and continue through the end of January 2026. Why Prague? Cregger cited the city’s generous tax rebates and other factors. “It’s the right place,” he said.

The Resident Evil movie is slated for release in September 2026. Official casting announcements have not been made, but Weapons actor Austin Abrams may appear in it.

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September 3, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Final Fantasy Tactics remaster devs built a replacement for its lost source code from fansite downloads, director says: ‘I do want to thank all of the fans for all of their help in keeping that information archived’

by admin September 2, 2025

Back in June, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles director Kazutoyo Maehiro offered something of an explanation for why it’s been more than a decade since FF Tactics has been playable on current platforms: Square Enix had lost the game’s original source code.

At a recent PAX West 2025 panel on August 30, Maehiro offered additional details on how the devs of the Ivalice Chronicles remaster stitched together a replacement for the original FF tactics source code, and how we should all thank fan archivists for their contributions to that effort.

“It’s true that we didn’t have the source code,” Maehiro said via translator. “The reason we didn’t have that has to do with how we managed things at the time.”

Today, Maehiro said, Square Enix has “some really nice resource management tools” that archive a new version of a game’s code with every minute, daily update. But during the original development of Final Fantasy Tactics, the protocols were… a bit more lax, particularly while localizing the game in different languages.

“We would take the data from the Japanese version and overwrite the English data on it. And then if we wanted to do another language, we would just keep stacking data on top and overwriting and overwriting,” Maehiro said. “Basically, because we kept doing all that overwriting, the true original ceased to exist.”

That sound you hear is the collective shuddering of all the world’s programmers.

(Image credit: Square Enix)

While Square Enix didn’t have to start from scratch for The Ivalice Chronicles, Maehiro said it was “difficult” to reassemble “the true original” of Final Fantasy Tactics from its PS1 release and its ports on PSP and mobile. Eventually, the Square Enix devs turned to the ultimate archival authority: the devoted sickos on Final Fantasy fan sites.

“We were using whatever resources we had available to us. We analyzed all those different versions to try and find what we felt was the original,” Maehiro said. “On top of that, we actually went to different websites made by fans and looked for data there, because we know you guys do such a good job of keeping that all up to date.”

After acknowledging the efforts of the “really good” engineering team that analyzed the various versions to reconstruct the ur-Final Fantasy Tactics, Maehiro offered his gratitude for fan archivists and game preservationists.

“I do want to thank all of the fans for all of their help in keeping that information archived like you do,” Maehiro said. “I think with all of that put together, we were able to make a very good version of the game that is true to the original.”

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September 2, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Future of PlayStation live service project, Fairgames, thrown into further doubt as director leaves studio

by admin September 1, 2025

Daniel Drapeau, recently the game director on Fairgames at Haven Studios, has announced his new role as a creative director over at Warner Bros Montreal.

The move adds further doubt to the status of Fairgames, the live-service shooter published by Sony, following the departure of studio founder Jade Raymond.

Drapeau announced the change in a LinkedIn post: “As of this week, I joined WB Games Montreal Inc. as Creative Director. I can’t wait to start this wonderful adventure with all the great people here at the studio. I also want to particularly thank Yves Lachance, Logan A. Lesage and Bryan Theberge for their trust and support throughout the process. Now, let’s do this!”

Here’s that original Fairgames reveal trailer, back when it had the $ in its name.Watch on YouTube

There’s no word on what game Drapeau is working on as of writing, as nothing is listed on his Linkedin. We do know that Warner Bros is working on a new live service title, thanks to an executive producer job listing over at Warner Bros Montreal no less. Whether or not Drapeau is working on this project or something else entirely remains unconfirmed.

While this is a nice bit of news for Warner Bros Games, especially given the recent overhaul of its leadership team, it marks another wound for Fairgames. The game, first announced in May 2023, has been a ghost ever since, beyond Ramond’s departure earlier this year.

This is a news-in-brief story. This is part of our vision to bring you all the big news as part of a daily live report.

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September 1, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Harry Potter director reveals why a Cursed Child movie is “impossible” to make

by admin September 1, 2025

According to Chris Columbus, a movie adaptation of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child would be “impossible” to make – and the reason has nothing to do with the play.

Ever since Cursed Child premiered in London in 2016, it’s been speculated (and hoped) that it’d be turned into a film, especially as it could hypothetically star Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and several others from the original cast.

JK Rowling denied that it would become a feature film, even though Warner Bros filed for a trademark (which would include motion pictures), and in 2021, Columbus even expressed interest in directing it. In 2022, following HBO Max’s reunion special, Radcliffe said he wasn’t interested in reprising his role “right now… I’m never going to say never.”

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A lot has changed over the past three years, and Columbus believes Rowling’s relationships with the cast could be an insurmountable obstacle.

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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child movie won’t happen, Chris Columbus says

Harry Potter Theatrical Productions

Speaking to The Times in an interview for The Thursday Murder Club, Columbus (who directed Philosopher’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets) discussed the prospect of a Cursed Child movie.

“It’s never going to happen. It’s gotten so complicated with all the political stuff,” he said.

Rowling has been criticized in recent years for her views on transgender people, to the point that Radcliffe issued a statement via The Trevor Project, a suicide-prevention non-profit for the LGBTQ+ community.

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“Transgender women are women. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I,” he wrote.

Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint have all spoken in support of the trans community, and Rowling later suggested they were among “celebs who cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women’s hard-won rights and who used their platforms to cheer on the transitioning of minors.”

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Rowling’s involvement in HBO’s Harry Potter TV show as an executive producer has also raised concerns among some fans, with stars in the new series (such as Nick Frost) addressing it in interviews.

“Everyone in the cast has their own opinion, which is different from her opinion, which makes it impossible,” Columbus continued.

“I haven’t spoken to Miss Rowling in a decade or so, so I have no idea what’s going on with her, but I keep very close contact with Daniel Radcliffe and I just spoke to him a few days ago. I still have a great relationship with all the kids in the cast.”

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In the meantime, read more about the rumors of Cillian Murphy playing Voldemort and the new show’s connection to the Harry Potter movies.

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September 1, 2025 0 comments