Isabela Merced Says The Last Of Us Star Bella Ramsey Gave Her “Really Good Advice” For Season 2
Actress Isabela Merced joins the cast of HBO’s The Last of Us for its upcoming second season as Dina, one of the main characters. Speaking to Flaunt, Merced revealed more of how she prepared and what fans can expect from Season 2.
Merced said she was asked to audition for Season 2 and played both The Last of Us and The Last of Us: Part II in one weekend. But Merced didn’t even know who she was auditioning for.
“I guess I could’ve just gotten on YouTube and watched scenes from the game,” she said. “But it’s just so different. I am so glad I did play the game, because now when I am on these sets that look just like the game, I am familiar with it.”
Merced went on to say Ellie actress Bella Ramsey gave her “really good advice” for Season 2, but she didn’t go into specifics. “She really just laid it all out there and her advice has been great and true. They put people first on this set, and that’s a really lovely and often rare thing to see in this industry,” she said.
Merced previously talked about how she had a “mind-blowing instant connection” with The Last of Us bosses Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann and that she had chemistry with Ramsey on day one.
The Last of Us Season 2 is just one of Merced’s high-profile projects debuting in 2025, as she’s also starring in James Gunn’s Superman as Hawkgirl. She will be seen next in the horror movie Alien: Romulus from director Fede Alvarez; the movie debuts this August. “I’ve already seen a lot of the scenes from it, and it’s truly terrifying,” she said.
In addition to Merced, The Last of Us Season 2 adds Kaitlyn Dever as Abby and Young Mazino as Jesse. Ramsey returns as Ellie and Pedro Pascal comes back to play Joel. Season 2 releases in 2025, and filming is now underway.
Oppenheimer Star Emily Blunt Gets Blunt About Algorithms In Hollywood
Don’t talk to Oppenheimer and The Fall Guy star Emily Blunt about algorithms. She isn’t a fan, to put it lightly. Speaking with Variety, the actress expressed her annoyance at the mathematical equations being utilized to decide what movies and shows get made in Hollywood.
“Some new things frustrate me: algorithms, for example,” Blunt said. “I hate that f**king word, excuse the expletive! How can it be associated with art and content? How can we let it determine what will be successful and what will not?”
Recently, A Knight’s Tale director Brian Helgeland talked to Inverse about how Netflix tested a sequel to that film in one of its algorithms and concluded it wouldn’t be successful. Additionally, Helgeland opened up about writing the Game of Thrones spin-off 10,000 Ships, an HBO show that’s no longer in development.
Blunt believes an algorithm, like in the Netflix example above, would have never given the greenlight to Oppenheimer, the highest-grossing biopic ever. “I was in a three-hour film about a physicist, which had the that impact it had–the algorithms probably wouldn’t have grasped it,” she said. On top of the blockbuster box office success, Oppenheimer was also the big winner at the 2024 Oscars. The Christopher Nolan-directed film took home seven Academy Awards.
For more, check out GameSpot’s Oppenheimer review. Blunt will next be seen on the silver screen alongside Ryan Gosling in The Fall Guy, which premieres May 3 in theaters.
Manor Lords Out Now With Limited-Time Discount
Manor Lords, the medieval strategy game, is out now in Early Access/Game Preview, and publisher Hooded Horse is offering a nice discount at launch. The game is priced at $40 USD but Hooded Horse is offering a 25% discount on the full game for the first two weeks, dropping the price to $30.
“Early Access isn’t for everyone, [and] if you check back later the game will just keep getting better and better,” Hooded Horse CEO Tim Bender said. “We want you to make the right decision for you, without any pressure or rush of any kind.”
Now Playing: Manor Lords – Official Medieval City Builder/RTS Launch Trailer
The game’s digital soundtrack and artbook are also marked down by 25% for the first two weeks, dropping their prices down to $4, down from $5. These launch discounts will end on May 10.
PC Game Pass users can get the game at no extra cost, and like other Game Preview titles, there is a free trial available. The Windows PC store page lists a price of $40 for Manor Lords and also mentions that the game is optimized for Xbox Series X|S despite not even being announced for console. GameSpot has contacted Hooded Horse in an attempt to clarify.
Manor Lords was developed by a single person, Greg, who is asking people to leave their feedback.
This is it everyone! In about an hour the game will be out in early access. Thank you for your support along the way, I promise to continue to work hard and listen to your feedback. I have one request. Please leave a review. It really matters to me as a developer. Thank you!
— MANOR LORDS (@LordsManor) April 26, 2024
Manor Lords was one of the most wishlisted games on Steam, reaching 3.2 million player wishlists, according to Hooded Horse. The publisher is promising regular updates to the game.
Russell Crowe Loses Himself To Evil In The Exorcism’s First Trailer
A year ago this month, Russell Crowe put on a priest’s collar and vestments in The Pope’s Exorcist to play Father Gabriele Amorth, who was supposedly a rock star in the field of sending demons back to Hell. But in his next horror movie, The Exorcism, Crowe’s character, Anthony Miller, is much more vulnerable to evil and he’s not a man of God. Instead, Anthony simply plays a priest in a film within the film. That’s right, he’s an actor who gets possessed while making a movie about possessions.
The trailer reveals that Anthony was not the first actor cast in this role, and his predecessor apparently committed suicide. That should have been Anthony’s first cue to turn down his part. Instead, Anthony accepts the role and feels evil tugging at his body and soul. But his daughter, Lee Miller (Fear Street’s Ryan Simpkins) interprets Anthony’s vulnerability as signs that he’s relapsed into his old addictions.
However, any doubts about whether Anthony is simply giving into his vices are dispelled when he apparently goes the full Linda Blair during an on-set possession that horrifies his daughter, the cast, the crew, and even Father Conor (David Hyde Pierce), who was brought in to consult on the film. The trailer hints that Father Conor may have had prior experience dealing with a real demon, and if so, he’ll need that here. Because it looks like no one is safe when Anthony loses control of his own body to the evil within.
Chloe Bailey also stars in the film as Blake Holloway, with Sam Worthington as Joe, Marcenae Lynette as Monica, Tracey Bonner as Regina, Samantha Mathis as Jennifer Simon, Adrian Pasdar as Tom, Adam Goldberg as Pete.
The Exorcism was written and directed by M. A. Fortin and Joshua John Miller in 2019, and it spent the last five years on the shelf. It will finally escape into theaters on Friday, June 7.
See How The Fallout 4 Next-Gen Update Compares To The Old Version
Over eight years later, Fallout 4 might be more popular now than ever, thanks to Amazon Prime Video’s TV show based on the video game franchise. On top of that, Bethesda Game Studios has just released a next-gen update for the post-apocalyptic RPG that was originally released in 2015. One of the major features of this patch is updated visuals on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
GameSpot has a comparison video–seen below–that shows Fallout 4 running on Xbox Series X before the next-gen update and afterward on Quality Mode. The main difference between the two versions is the frame rate. The improvement is noticeable even with the Quality Mode after the next-gen update, and there’s a Performance Mode available too. Otherwise, visual quality seems pretty similar between versions.
Now Playing: Fallout 4 Next Gen Update Comparison
Along with frame-rate improvements, the Fallout 4 next-gen update also adds new Creation Club content to the RPG. For instance, check out our Echoes of the Past guide, a new quest that focuses on the Enclave faction in Massachusetts.
Unfortunately, Fallout 4’s free update is bugged for PS5 players who previously obtained the game through the old PS Plus Collection. As of now, Bethesda tried to clear up some confusion by saying: “The Fallout 4 next-gen update will be available to PlayStation Plus Extra members through the PlayStation Game Catalog.”
For more, check out the 50 best Fallout 4 mods available for the RPG today.
