If xXx 4 wants to evolve the series, it should take a page out of The Fast And The Furious playbook and bring in some of Xander Cage's family. The original xXx was custom built for Vin Diesel as a star vehicle, following the surprise success of 2001's The Fast And The Furious. Plans to turn it into a James Bond-style series came to halt when the star passed on a sequel, with Ice Cube taking over for State Of The Union in 2005. This follow-up was a box-office dud, but Diesel was later lured back for 2017's The Return Of Xander Cage.While that appeared to right the ship, xXx 4 has been delayed due to lawsuits. Despite being one of Diesel's most well-known franchises, he's only played Cage twice over a 20-year span. Compared to his run as Dom in the Fast & Furious movies - who throughout that series has evolved from street racer to saving the world multiple times - has barely scratched the surface of Cage as a character. Outside of his fondness for tattoos and extreme sports, there's not much depth to Xander.xXx 4 doesn't have to go to Shakespearian depths to get under Cage's skin, but he could use some fleshing out. Given the popularity of the ongoing Fast And Furious saga, the next xXx could dig into his past and explore some of his family ties. Outside of briefly mentioning an aunt in the original movie, the xXx series hasn't revealed much about Cage's clan and a sequel that sees him connect with his family could bring some emotional heft to the movies. Given that F9 focused on Dom going head to head - and eventually somewhat reconciling - with his estranged brother Jakob (John Cena), maybe that's too familiar a beat for xXx 4. That said, a younger brother or sister he barely knows, or even a son or daughter he's never met, could be one direction to explore. Given that Xander's taste for mayhem is one of his defining traits, a xXx 4 where he has to connect with or somewhat keep a child of his own under control has potential. xXx 4 will likely carry on from the events of The Return Of Xander Cage and see the title spy working with his fellow former agents like Cube's Darius Stone. The series is ultimately going for more over the top thrills than the more recent James Bond movies, but it wouldn't hurt to have a little bit of heart mixed in. The next sequel doesn't have to be a straight rip of the Fast And Furious formula, but a Xander Cage family member or two could give some more stakes to the saga.

Disney and Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings continues to outperform expectations at the box office, sailing past $400 million worldwide. The Phase 4 MCU movie is in its sixth weekend since its release, which was back on September 3. Shang-Chi was an immediate success upon release, grossing $29.6 million at the box office on its opening day, which was the third-best opening day during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shang-Chi would go on to take the crown of the largest Labor Day weekend opening ever. The Disney film earned over $94 million at the box office during the 4-day weekend, far surpassing Rob Zombie's 2007 Halloween reboot which previously held the Labor Day opening weekend crown at $30.6 million. Shang-Chi ended up earning $100 million in just five days, making it the fastest to film to reach such a milestone since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The film held the number one spot at the box office for four consecutive weekends, marking it as the third MCU movie to pull off such a feat behind Guardians of the Galaxy and Black Panther. By September 30, Shang-Chi hit another box office record by becoming the first pandemic era movie to achieve the $200 million box office milestone, and it seems the film has just surpassed another one. Forbes reports that Marvel's Shang-Chi sailed past the $400 million milestone at the global box office in the sixth weekend since its release. During the past weekend, the film grossed an additional $4.2 million for a domestic total of over $212 million, setting it up for a final domestic gross between $220 million and $225 million. The film has also earned over $189 million in other territories, including the United Kingdom, South Korea, and France.One of the reasons Shang-Chi's performance is so notable is the fact that its international box office does not include China, since the movie has yet to release in the Middle Kingdom. Owing to comments the film's star, Simu Liu, made in a CBC 2017 interview that referenced negative aspects about his parents living in China, the Chinese government excluded Shang-Chi from their list of upcoming MCU movies scheduled to release in its territories. This is particularly noteworthy because Disney's latest film passed the $400 million global box office milestone without the help of a Chinese release, making it the first pandemic-era Hollywood movie to do so. This has led many to speculate on how well Shang-Chi could have performed if it was allowed to release in China.While Disney was a little reluctant in releasing Black Widow, releasing the movie to both theaters and Disney+, they went all in on Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, allowing for an in-theater only debut. The film has clearly been a success, outperforming all expectations, signaling that audiences may be ready to head back to the movies. The movie's success not only ensures a sequel is in the works, but it will be interesting to see how a follow-up film performs when it releases in a post-pandemic era.Source: Forbes

 While Squid Game has become Netflix’s latest hit, it has sparked worry over kids potentially replicating the survival game.A primary school in England issued a letter to parents expressing concern that children that have watched the brutal show are pretending to shoot other children in the playground as a way of re-enacting the show.The letter states: "Dear Parents/Carers, It has come to our attention that a number of our children are watching Squid Game on Netflix."We have noticed an increased number of children starting to play their own versions of this game in the playground - which in turn is causing conflict within friendship groups."Children who are watching this are being exposed to graphic realistic scenes of violence and sadly children are acting out this behaviours in the playground which will not be TOLERATED."I would like to make you aware that this programme is rated a 15 for a reason."IT IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL AGED CHILDREN. Any child who mimics or demonstrates these behaviours, parents will be called upon and sanctions applied. Please be aware of the dangers of this TV programme for your children and reinforce positive behaviours."Also please explicitly share that pretending to shoot one another is not appropriate - nor acceptable. Please support us in keeping your children safe," the letter concluded.

last week the cryptocurrency market persistently asked the gnawing and annoying question, “Why?”Specifically, why did someone make a massive purchase of $1.6 billion worth of bitcoin on Wednesday in a couple of minutes?While many see this huge buy as a signal of bullishness, there may be more complex answers when one zooms out and looks at the overall picture, one that involves capital markets beyond the relatively small world of crypto.Some of the clues about why – and who – may be found in what, where, when and how this enormous bitcoin trade happened.What?As CoinDesk’s Muyao Shen reported Wednesday, a buyer or a group of buyers entered an order on a centralized exchange to buy $1.6 billion worth of bitcoin. That’s not nothing – to put it in perspective, that’s roughly 4.5% of the average daily volume in the bitcoin spot market over the past two months.That much supply hitting the market in under five minutes (13:11 to 13:16 UTC Wednesday) is a lot to jam into any one exchange (or three). It almost immediately sent bitcoin prices skyrocketing 5% to roughly $55,500.Bitcoin/USDT prices on Binance, midday Wednesday (TradingView)A buyer with a long-term perspective would be more careful if the goal was to get in at the best possible price to mitigate the risk of that rascal known as slippage.Slippage is more than what happens when a bartender fills your glass to the brim and you walk it over to your table while George Thorogood is blaring in the background. It’s the difference between the execution price and the midpoint between the bid and ask price that got you to take on the trade in the first place. With a big buy, filling every offer eventually pushes the transaction price (and thus the average execution price) higher and higher. But do it in dribs and drabs and you give new sellers time to place orders that can be filled slowly but at a potentially lower price than if it were to be done all at once.Here’s an example, albeit on a bigger scale, of how one firm handled a major buy of bitcoin: Last year, when MicroStrategy purchased $450 million in bitcoin, the company did so in smaller clips from Coinbase over the course of five months, not five minutes. While the price eventually moved up over the course of those several months, each trade didn’t cause it to shoot up with the same kind of ferocity seen this past Wednesday, thus keeping CEO Michael Saylor’s costs from, well, slipping away from him as he bought.That wasn’t the case this past week with whoever plunked down the equivalent of $1.6 billion for bitcoin. It seems Wednesday’s big buyer was in a big hurry to get the trade done.Where?Trying to pin down the exchange that took on this trade offers some hints about the buyer’s motivation.The price of bitcoin on Coinbase relative to other exchanges rose sharply as the trade was underway, leading some to speculate that the regulated U.S. exchange was the platform where the transaction happened. However, a little more digging into the data places the trade in Asia.Three exchanges saw particularly large volumes in their perpetual futures contracts, according to Ki Young Ju, CEO of data provider CryptoQuant. Those three – Binance, Huobi and ByBit – while not technically based in China, have long had ties to the country, where yet another crackdown on crypto was recently announced.Bitcoin perpetual futures trading volume, Oct. 6, 2021 (CryptoQuant)“Whales bought up $BTC in the perpetual futures markets yesterday mostly at @binance, @HuobiGlobal and @Bybit_Official. Basis ratio says it was futures-driven, and they punted long positions as open interest skyrocketed at that time. These guys know something,” Ki tweeted Thursday.Ki hypothesized that one possible explanation could be traders taking on huge positions ahead of a rumored approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of a futures-based bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The buzz hit the market after the regulator’s chairman, Gary Gensler, merely reiterated his previously stated preference for a futures-based ETF should one ever get launched.“If this move was the ETF front-running from US whales, they are likely to use non-US exchanges to avoid blame for insider trading IMO,” Ki tweeted, shooting down the idea that the trade came from an order on Coinbase. “Spot trading volume dominance for Coinbase is increasing lately, but not that high compared to early this year.”Again, that doesn’t explain the trader’s willingness to accept slippage. After all, front-running a regulatory action a full week after speculation began by piling all in with one big order wouldn’t be prudent or rational. That doesn’t mean irrational exuberance doesn’t exist in crypto markets; for many participants it’s a feature, not a bug. But that’s not something usually characteristic of an entity with the resources to take on a billion-dollar trade.Rather, the fact these three perpetual futures exchanges originated in China (though no longer based there) may be more significant than just their relative liquidity.When?It’s an eerie coincidence a trade of this magnitude happened on exchanges with ties to Chinese customers in the middle of a week beset by capital market woes in that country.Two days before the transaction took place, Fantasia, a real estate developer based in China, missed a bond payment of $206 million. That led to the company getting downgraded by ratings agency Fitch. The situation isn’t just limited to one company as Standard & Poor’s downgraded fellow Chinese developer Sinic. Of course, the two pale in comparison to Evergrande, the overleveraged real estate behemoth that has been teetering on default. Shares of Evergrande were halted from trading Monday as well.Another large real estate developer, Chinese Estates Holdings, decided to go private Thursday after the market slammed its stock by more than 40%. Chinese Estate Holdings is a major investor in Evergrande.This is a roundabout way of saying there’s some serious contagion going on in the Chinese real estate market. That’s not good for the country’s economy given that roughly one-third of its economic activity is related to the real estate sector, whereas it’s only one-sixth or so for the U.S.Real estate-related activities’ share of GDP by country (KLEMS via National Bureau of Economic Research)How?But wait, there’s more!While the purchase is denominated in the press as $1.6 billion, it wasn’t actually $1.6 billion in greenbacks paid for bitcoin.For one, if CryptoQuant’s Ki is correct, this was first done in the perpetual futures market, not the cash market. That means actual bitcoin may not have gone to the initial buyer. Nonetheless, it will have an effect on the cash market because the two move in tandem.Also, dollars themselves were most likely not the currency used but instead the transaction appears to have been largely done using the stablecoin USDT, issued by Tether, which was an on-ramp for many in China to trade on exchanges like Binance or Huobi.“Most trading volume was from BTC/USDT,” Ki told CoinDesk regarding Wednesday’s trade, “which means buyers already had USDT coins.”A look at trading volumes on data site CryptoCompare.com shows that at the time the trade occurred, the pair of BTC/USDT outpaced BTC/USD (bitcoin for the U.S. dollar) by roughly 2-to-1.That means someone with significant USDT holdings – even if a fraction of the actual transaction since leverage could have been involved – converted their stablecoin holding to bitcoin exposure, if not the actual coin itself.Another odd coincidence?Remember a minute ago when we talked about Chinese corporate debt? Here’s something interesting: On Thursday, BloombergBusinessWeek released its cover story, “Anyone Seen Tether’s Billions?” Toward the end, author Zeke Faux writes, curiously:“After I returned to the U.S., I obtained a document showing a detailed account of Tether Holdings’ reserves. It said they include billions of dollars of short-term loans to large Chinese companies – something money-market funds avoid. And that was before one of the country’s largest property developers, China Evergrande Group, started to collapse.”He goes on to say:“Tether has denied holding any Evergrande debt, but [Stuart] Hoegner, Tether’s lawyer, declined to say whether Tether had other Chinese commercial paper. He said the vast majority of its commercial paper has high grades from credit ratings firms.”What is on Tether’s books remains hidden to the outside world. But if the mystery buyer saw the same document as Bloomberg’s Faux, or other compelling evidence that Tether is indeed exposed to China’s credit market, then they would have a strong motivation to unload USDT. Even $1.6 billion in one fell swoop.Again, that’s just conjecture. Unless and until we know who did it, we may never know the trader’s motivation.Nor will we know if it was the right move, especially if the contagion spreads to crypto.Source:Coindesk

Instagram to introduce new features to nudge teams away from harmful content | Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeInstagram will introduce new measures to nudge teenagers away from harmful content and encourage them to “take a break,” from the platform, Facebook vice president of global affairs Nick Clegg said on Sunday. Clegg made the remarks on CNN’s State of the Union show less than a week after whistleblower Frances Haugen testified before Congress about internal research that showed Instagram can have a negative effect on the mental health of young people.“We’re going to introduce something which I think will make a considerable difference, which is where our systems see that a teenagers is looking at the same content over and over again, and it’s content which may not be conducive to their well being, we will nudge them to look at other...

Cheryl Burke and Cody Rigsby have reunited inside the Dancing With The Stars rehearsal studio following their COVID-19 diagnosis. Within the last two weeks, both Cheryl and Cody tested positive for COVID-19, forcing them to rehearsal and perform virtually and individually. In doing so, they were allowed to remain in the competition despite not being physically present for the live shows.Cheryl was the first to test positive between the dancing duo. Just days before the second live show of DWTS season 30, Cheryl tested positive for COVID-19. In place of their live performance for that week, the four judges based the couple's scores off of a prerecorded rehearsal from before Cheryl's diagnosis. Then just a few short days later, Cody tested positive as well. As the duo continued to rehearse via Zoom, their third performance took place virtually from inside their individual homes. This was the first time ever on the show a couple has performed in such a way.Now as the dancing competition nears its fourth week, Cheryl and Cody are preparing to head back to the ballroom together. Over the weekend, Cheryl took to Instagram to share photos of herself and Cody back inside the rehearsal studio together after being apart for nearly two weeks. In preparation for the upcoming two-part Disney Night on DWTS, Cheryl and Cody posed in their best Disney attire. Cheryl wore a pair of Minnie Mouse ears while Cody rocked a Goofy hat as they prepared for not one but two brand-new dances. Cheryl captioned the post, "Reunited and it feels so good!" Take a look at the post below:Fans were excited to hear that Cheryl and Cody will be rejoining the other remaining couples in the ballroom this week, especially in time for Disney Night. Some referred to them as the "dream team" while others admitted how happy this news made them. Fellow professional dancer Daniella Karagach shared her excitement for their return in the comments section as well, writing, "YAAASSSSSSSS." One user noted, "The judges better be fair for once!!!!" Following Cheryl and Cody's virtual dance last week, many felt the judges were too harsh with their scores. Even Cody admitted their low scores hurt.Since Cheryl and Cody have been quarantined at home for nearly two weeks, this will only be their second live performance together inside the ballroom. In addition to that, they have not one but two dances to prepare for this week. Monday night's episode will feature a Disney-themed Heroes Night. Then on Tuesday night, the couples will take on performances based off of Disney villains. Here's hoping Cody and Cheryl can earn some higher scores now that they are back in the ballroom together.Source: Cheryl Burke/Instagram

The Spawn universe has a variety of hellspawn, created by the demon Malebolgia. There have been a few different iterations of the comics' main character and the hellspawn, including Medieval Spawn, Gunslinger Spawn, and Raven Spawn. Lately, Gunslinger Spawn - a fan favorite - has been garnering some extra attention, but who exactly is he and what do fans need to know about him?Gunslinger Spawn first appeared in Spawn #119 in 2002, in a very brief cameo with no dialogue. In 2008, his backstory was revealed within Spawn #174 and #175. This hellspawn had the name of Jeremy Winston, but was known as "ol' Job". He was a former preacher in Bane, Colorado in 1881, before being framed for the murder of his own family. A rich man named Ed Kemper was after silver on Winston's land. He wanted it so bad, he tried to force a deal which quickly went south since Winston's wife wasn't the kind of person to back down to intimidation. As a result, Kemper and his men killed her, as well as Winston's children. Their power allowed them to place the former preacher into prison to be hanged.At the same time, Henry Simmons (formerly Francis Parker) had stumbled across the murder scene and was also thrown into prison for a fight and murder in another town. Simmons is the ancestor of Al Simmons - the original and current Spawn. He was a Buffalo soldier whose regiment was harassed with one of their fellow soldiers being killed – forcing Simmons’ hand. Both Simmons and Winston were offered deals by Mammon, a fallen angel, to sell their souls to Malebolgia. Winston accepted the deal in exchange for taking his revenge on the town that killed his family. Simmons didn't take the deal, but he was spared since his lineage would eventually result in Al Simmons' birth - and he took on the name of Henry Simmons to partially start his life over.Image Comics' Gunslinger Spawn is easily recognizable thanks to his appearance. While his face appears in the style of many of the other hellspawn with glowing green eyes, he is set apart by his Western attire. He wears a ten-gallon hat and a red duster. He also brandishes a gun on his bandoliers, aptly providing him his name. He is a hellspawn from a long past time, though he has also had a couple of minor cameo appearances throughout the Spawn series.Gunslinger Spawn is not the most powerful of the hellspawn, but he is certainly one of the most interesting and recognizable. Despite that, he has had very few Spawn appearances over the years. That has been changing as of late. In Spawn #308 and 309, Gunslinger's journey to the future was revealed. His life and ability to return to his own time are now connected to Spawn himself as a result of a war Spawn is currently fighting. Gunslinger will soon star in his own ongoing comic series, which bears his name as the title. Most recently, he appeared in Spawn's Universe #1, a one-shot comic kicking off a new era of Spawn stories, as well as King Spawn - a series still focused on Al Simmons' Spawn that began in August. King Spawn #1 revealed that he has also lost a sister who he wants to avenge, waking up from death in 1865, leaving a peculiar gap between this appearance and his prior origin story. Gunslinger's self-titled series will focus on his quest to return to his own time. Fans can follow Gunslinger Spawn's new independent adventures when Gunslinger Spawn #1 releases October 20.

An Animal Crossing: New Horizons player has made an accurate in-game recreation of the main character's bedroom from Pokémon Sword and Shield. Sword and Shield are the 2019 releases in Game Freak's popular Pokémon franchise for the Nintendo Switch. In Sword and Shield, players travel across Galar to collect Pokémon, fight other trainers, and collaborate or compete with other players.Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a versatile game that many players have used to recreate various scenes and maps from their favorite media. Most recently, a fan created a stunning replica of Breath of the Wild's Korok forest, complete with a shrine featuring the Master Sword. This feature is on top of the many activities that players can enjoy in-game, such as fishing, gardening, and interacting with the quirky inhabitants of New Horizons.On Reddit, user LyrianTheWanderer posted an image of their character's bedroom in Animal Crossing: New Horizons decked out in the style of Pokémon Sword and Shield. The user managed to recreate it with aspects from the game, such as the green comforter on the bed, a plushie, posters on the walls depicting Poké Balls and various Pokémon, and a cleverly placed Nintendo Switch in the corner. Many other users congratulated LyrianTheWanderer for the replica, though one did note that the Pikachu poster was a bit on the creepy side. In a reply, the creator specified that the poster was meant to portray Eevee, despite being placed in the same spot as the Pikachu poster in the comparison shot.The customizable nature of the game is nearly endless, and with the seasonal Halloween festivities in New Horizons, players can now spruce up their island with spooky decorations. Many players collaborate on their designs using the game's multiplayer, which was a major selling point for the title during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Animal Crossing allows such a breadth of options that players enjoy tending to their digital life in the game as a relaxing and comforting experience.Aside from the holiday festivities, Nintendo has announced a new Direct focusing on Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which is dated for October 15. The Direct is expected to announce new content for AC:NH, so fans of the game are excited to see what new experiences are waiting for them in the near future. With new content, perhaps players will be able to make even more creative replicas that will go beyond expectations of what is achievable within the game. For the time being, fans have a lot to look forward to in Animal Crossing.Source: LyrianTheWanderer/Reddit