Letitia Wright denies a report that claims she is expressing anti-vaccination views on the set of Black Panther 2. Following a few COVID-19 related delays, production of the sequel to 2018's Black Panther began in Atlanta this past June ahead of its July 2022 release date. Original director Ryan Coogler is returning along with writer Joe Robert Cole. However, the sequel had to be reworked considerably following the tragic passing of T'Challa actor Chadwick Boseman. The film will see Black Panther stars Angela Bassett, Martin Freeman, Danai Gurira, Daniel Kaluuya, Lupita Nyong'o, and Winston Duke reprising their roles.There has been a lot of intriguing news coming out of the Black Panther 2 set as of late, including the revelation that Dominique Thorne will be making her MCU debut in the film as Riri Williams, a brilliant inventor who creates her own Iron Man suit, ahead of her upcoming Disney+ series, Ironheart. Letitia Wright, who will be returning as Shuri, was hospitalized in late August after suffering a minor onset injury, though she was able to return soon after. Earlier this month, Wright became embroiled in another controversy when The Hollywood Reporter claimed she was speaking out against the COVID-19 vaccine on set.Now, Letitia Wright denies those claims in an Instagram post. The actress says it "saddens" her to have to address the report published by THR and went on to "honestly assert" that the claims made about her conduct on the set of Black Panther 2 are "completely untrue." Wright went on to defend her work ethic and say that her "main focus is always to do work that's impactful and inspiring." Read Wright's entire statement on Instagram below:Click here to see the original post.While Wright unequivocally denies the claims made by THR, she didn't clarify her actual beliefs about the COVID-19 vaccine or whether or not she has been vaccinated herself. Wright has shared similar sentiments on social media, including a YouTube video that questioned the legitimacy of the COVID-19 vaccine. The report claims this resulted in her parting ways with her entire US team of representatives, though Wright didn't address that claim specifically.Wright has since deleted that video from her social media, and this statement on Instagram is her first post since the controversy began. Though she has now denied claims about espousing anti-vaccine beliefs, the evidence is undoubtedly mounted against her. Disney will start requiring proof of a COVID-19 vaccination for anyone working on their productions, though those already filming, like Black Panther 2, will be exempt from this mandate. While Wright could finish the rest of the film without further controversy, this could pose challenges for her future in the MCU.Source: Letitia Wright/Instagram

Adult Swim Festival 2021 has announced its lineup, including a Rick and Morty panel and several musical performances. This is the latest in a run of exciting live stream festivals featuring huge announcements from popular properties. Just a few weeks ago, Netflix had its TUDUM event, which included the trailer drop for Stranger Things season 4 and the announcement that Chris Hemsworth would be returning for Extraction 2. On October 16, DC FanDome 2021 is poised to feature similar blockbuster announcements for its popular superhero projects. This year's Adult Swim Festival will be the fourth annual iteration of the event, which includes live music performances in addition to panels and screenings. Last year, when the festival switched to a virtual format, the lineup included The Eric Andre Show, Toonami, and Run the Jewels. Back in 2019, the in-person event included a performance from Lil Nas X hot off the success of "Old Town Road," as well as a screening of a full episode from the then-upcoming Rick and Morty season 4. This year's Adult Swim Festival will be live-streamed on the Adult Swim YouTube channel on Friday, November 12 and Saturday, November 13 with additional exclusives on HBO Max. This year, the musical lineup is huge, including Lil Baby, Karol G, 21 Savage, Flying Lotus, Alessia Cara, and Angel Olsen along with 19 additional artists. There will also be star-studded watch parties of 12 shows including Rick and Morty, Tuca & Bertie, Robot Chicken, and The Eric Andre Show. Check out the lineup poster below:The Festival features some big-ticket panels this year. The Rick and Morty panel will find the series' cast competing to see "who is the Rickiest Rick in the multiverse," Squidbillies will be celebrating its final season with cast and crew, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force will look back at the storied history of the series which first aired in 2000. Also, the upcoming series Smiling Friends, about a company designed to bring happiness facing its greatest challenge, will be discussed by creators Michael Cusack and Zach Hadel. Last but not least, the animated series Blade Runner: Black Lotus will be featured in a panel exploring the long history of the property, which stretches all the way back to the 1982 Ridley Scott film and the 1968 Philip K. Dick novel it's based on.Adult Swim Festival 2021 is more oriented toward having fun with existing and past properties. However, there are still certain to be big announcements coming during the panels, especially for Rick and Morty, which continues to be one of the network's most popular shows. Fans should also look forward to the full announcements of what stars will be attending the panels and watch parties because the options are truly endless.Source: Adult Swim

An Animal Crossing: New Horizons content creator has devised their own Squid Game contest within the Nintendo game. The YouTube streamer invited players to their island to take part in a series of Animal Crossing minigames, and while competitors weren't playing for their lives, they were playing for an impressive 99,000 Bell prize. Netflix's Squid Game is one of the biggest shows of the year, engrossing viewers with its dark premise and narrative twists and turns. The Korean drama focuses on a series of competitive games in which players compete for a cash prize, with those eliminated from the games also losing their lives. The show has been a global success that has spawned countless fan-made video game recreations in releases including GTA Online, Roblox, The Sims 4, and of course, players have also been reimagining Squid Game in Animal Crossing. Streamer and YouTuber Nikachu has created their own competitive Animal Crossing Squid Game, with seven of their viewers invited to their island to take part in three minigames. First is the "Red Light, Green Light" game seen in the first episode of Squid Game. In Nikachu's Animal Crossing version, Nikachu plays the ocarina as contestants try to reach a Face-Cutout Standee, with players eliminated if caught moving when the music stops. The second game pits teams against each other to pick flowers, while the final showdown puts a simple spin on the Squid Game itself, with players needing to push their opponent out of a square to win. The result is a hilariously cute take on the dark Netflix show, with Squid Game-inspired custom designs used throughout.Watch the video on YouTube here. A lack of gameplay is one of the biggest criticisms of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but as the content creator has shown in their video, the game's tools can be used for player-made fun with the help of some imagination and inspiration. Other popular minigames that can be made for multiplayer madness in AC include treasure hunts where players have to search for a prize in an area filled with buried trash, as well as races, and obstacle courses. Nikachu's channel is filled with inspirational and hilarious videos perfect to reintroduce fun for Animal Crossing players who've grown tired of the core gameplay. Fans of the game are hoping that November's new Animal Crossing content will help add more gameplay and more ways to enjoy the game. The update will welcome the coffee-loving NPC Brewster and his Roost Cafe to New Horizons for the first time, but could also add even more gameplay elements, items, and design tools to help creative players continue creating new and exciting ways to experience ACNH. An Animal Crossing Nintendo Direct is scheduled for this week and will announce what's coming to the game in the future.Source: YouTube/Nikachu

The script for Blumhouse Pictures remake of The Wolfman starring Ryan Gosling is still in development says producer Jason Blum. The Wolfman is one of the most iconic of the Universal Monsters, having first appeared in the 1941 film starring Lon Channey Jr. In 2010, a remake starring Benenco Tel Toro in the title role opened in theaters after a very troubled production to negative reviews and was a box-office bomb.After Universal attempted to relaunch their monster's property with the critical and box-office failure of 2017's The Mummy, they scrapped their plans for their cinematic universe called the Dark Universe. The studio decided to do stand-alone horror stories, the first being 2020's The Invisible Man, which was a box office and critical success. Hot off the success the studio reteamed The Invisible Man director Leigh Whannell and producer Jason Blum to do another monster property, The Wolfman, which had already secured actor Ryan Gosling for the lead role.In an interview with Collider, producer Jason Blum confirmed they are still developing a script for The Wolfman. The successful horror producer says they are waiting on the script to be just right for star Ryan Gosling, one that the actor feels comfortable with. Ryan Gosling is very involved with The Wolfman as the film was green-lit from his pitch to Universal Pictures. Blum said:"Wolfman, we are also working on the script, got to get the script, right. In that case, it's Ryan Gosling...But working on trying to get a script that he feels good about and comfortable about and excited about." The Wolfman is one of many projects based on the Universal Monsters the studio has planned. Eternals director Chloé Zhao is developing a sci-fi western Dracula movie at the studio, while a separate Dracula project from Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman based on the side character Reinfeld is in development. Elizabeth Banks is set to direct The Invisible Woman, which has no connection to the already released Invisible Man. James Wan is working on a new version of Frankenstein. Meanwhile, Toy Story 4 Josh Cooley director has the live-action/animated hybrid Little Monsters which will be aimed at a younger audience. Gosling's involvement with The Wolfman was a surprise to many, as the actor has tended to avoid big franchise IP-driven films in favor of character-centric stories like First Man or original properties like Drive and La La Land. Gosling has been considered for a number of high-profile films including The Lone Ranger, 2017's Beauty and the Beast, The Joker in Suicide Squad, and the Sinister Six film Sony was developing. Gosling did star in the lead role of Blade Runner 2049, a sequel to a highly influential film and Gosling himself has never expressed any disinterest in franchise films. Given he pitched The Wolfman to Universal, it appears he is very passionate about this particular project.

The Suicide Squad director James Gunn says he once pitched a movie of Gilligan’s Island with a cannibal twist. The original show about a group of castaways becoming stranded on a desert island during what was supposed to be just a three-hour-tour aired on CBS from 1964 to 1967.Years after that original three-year CBS run, the show received a revival in the form of three TV movies: The Castaways on Gilligan’s Island, The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island and Rescue From Gilligan’s Island. Today Gilligan’s Island is probably most known by younger people for its barroom-argument-inspiring “Ginger or Mary Anne?” question and its classic theme song, and of course older folks still cherish it. But despite the enduring popularity of the CBS sitcom, Gilligan, The Skipper and company have to this day never been brought back in theatrical movie form. It was just revealed by James Gunn however that efforts have been made to revive Gilligan’s Island as a movie. In fact, according to Gunn legendary screenwriter Charlie Kaufman at one time pitched a Gilligan’s Island movie that in true Kaufman oddball fashion added the gruesome twist of the castaways turning on and cannibalizing each other (unsurprisingly the idea went nowhere). Gunn went on to say that he revived the pitch some years later and actually received studio interest, but the whole thing was shot down by the family of Gilligan’s Island creator Sherwood Schwartz. Gunn tweeted his story as part of the recent “Pitch a movie with two pictures, no captions” meme that has taken over Twitter. See his tweets in the space below:Click Here To View The Original PostIt’s interesting to note that Schwartz himself originally shot down Kaufman’s cannibal Gilligan’s Island pitch and that even after Schwartz’s death his family continues refusing to allow this take on the original show to see the light of day. But it seems Gunn is still keen to make this movie happen, as he says “If the Schwartz estate changes their mind, I’m here.”Indeed if "Gilligan’s Island but they all turn cannibal" ever did become a movie, it would be hard to envision a better team to make that happen than Kaufman and Gunn. The former is of course a notedly eccentric writer responsible for quirky scripts like Adaptation, Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. And Gunn obviously is known for his own rather bizarre sensibilities through movies like Guardians of the Galaxy and this summer’s The Suicide Squad.But though Cannibal Gilligan’s Island might seem like an amazing idea to fans of both Gunn and Kaufman, not to mention fans of bizarre movies in general, it’s also easy to understand why Schwartz and later his family would shoot down the idea. Gilligan’s Island obviously remains a Boomer favorite with a wholesome reputation and some twisted version of the show where everyone becomes cannibals could only undermine that image and would certainly add no value to the property. So as long as Gilligan’s Island remains something that has value as corny nostalgia, it’s certain the Schwartz family will continue protecting the show’s legacy from the crazed imaginations of people like Gunn and Kaufman. But perhaps things will change in the future and a Gilligan’s Island where they all lose their minds and eat each other will become a reality.Source: James Gunn/Twitter

The latest adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune is making its way to the screen on October 22 when the film premieres in theaters and on HBO Max. The film features an incredible cast and epic science fiction story with warring factions, alien races, and political scheming. Including in this cast are Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, the leader of House Harkonnen and enemy of Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac), and his nephew, Glossu Rabban played by Dave Bautista.Screen Rant spoke to Skarsgård and Bautista about bringing Dune to life.Screen Rant: I'm curious what the biggest hook was for you in stepping into this world. Was it something about the character, was it a new challenge, or was it just a chance to work with director Denis Villeneuve?Dave Bautista: For me, it was Denis. I really pursued this, because I was tracking Dune. I kept asking my agent, "When auditions would become available? When are they going to release these roles?" But I never hit up Denis personally, because I didn't want to be that guy. I didn't want to try to capitalize on our friendship, so I just waited and waited and waited - and finally, I got a phone call from him, and he offered me the role. I almost broke down; I was so emotional about it. Still, it's like, "Wow, this is crazy that I'm even here."Stellan Skarsgård: For me, it was Denis as well. I admired him for so many years as a director and knew he would be wonderful to work with. Because I knew that he also was a very nice person. I don't want to work with geniuses that are assholes. But then I read the script, and there was barely anything in it. I mean, there [were] a few small scenes and stuff, but I didn't care, I wanted to do it anyway. But then I got fascinated by the idea of creating this monster and trying to make him feel human physically. He moved me, not in a prosthetic way, but in a very direct physical way. You could feel that, in all that fat, there was a lot of muscles underneath and all that stuff; the sensuality in how he moves. I'm really happy I did it because working with Denis is an experience any actor would think was absolutely fantastic. This is obviously such a huge franchise, and there's another huge franchise that I'm a big fan of that Stellan is a part of. I don't know if you've heard, but ABBA released some new music. What do you need from me personally to make Mamma Mia! 3 happen? Stellan Skarsgård: I wish I could say. It took 10 years between Mamma Mia! and Mamma Mia! 2 - if it's going to take another 10 years, then I'll be dead. I'm worried we might not get there. But if they call, I will say yes immediately, because the experience of doing those two films was fantastic.Dave Bautista: It's not going to be ten years. I guarantee you that people are on the phone; they've been anticipating this. And there is such a search for good entertainment, with all the new outlets that are constantly in search of media. I think there have been phone calls made, and Stellan will get a phone call when he gets home.Stellan Skarsgård: Yeah, and hopefully you'll be in it, Dave. We talked about that. I want to dance with David on an island in Greece.

The Radeon RX 6600 and RX 6600 XT are two of AMD's most affordable PC gaming GPUs, but which one is ultimately worth buying? While top-of-the-line graphics cards are a lot of fun to talk about, the reality is that most people aren't buying them. The vast majority of gamers are relying on low and mid-range cards to power their rigs. They may not be capable of the best graphics or highest frame rates, but budget GPUs are getting better every year. Along with affordable options from Nvidia, AMD also understands the need for these types of GPUs. AMD launched the Radeon RX 6600 XT in July 2021. At the time, AMD was hailing it as its cheapest GPU launched during the year. A few months later in October, however, AMD one-upped itself with the even lower-priced RX 6600. Both graphics cards are compelling options for budget-minded gamers, but which is the best overall choice? Here's what you need to know.As the nearly identical names imply, the RX 6600 and RX 6600 XT are very similar graphics cards. Both are powered by the same Navi 23 chipset, albeit with a couple of tweaks mentioned below. Each card also has the same 32MB infinity cache and 8GB of GDDR6 RAM. At the end of the day, both cards should be able to run most games at 1080p with very high graphics enabled (and even max graphics in some cases).Looking a bit deeper, there are some clear advantages of the more expensive RX 6600 XT. The Navi 23 chip may be the same across both cards, but the RX 6600 XT delivers 32 compute units compared to the 28 of the RX 6600. It also has better clock speeds across the board, with the RX 6600 XT kicking out a 2359MHz game frequency and up to 2589MHz boost frequency. The RX 6600 clocks in at 2044MHz and up to 2491MHz, respectively. Gamers are also treated to faster RAM with the RX 6600 XT. It's capable of 16Gbps speeds and has a memory bandwidth of up to 256 GB/s, compared to 14Gbps and up to 224 GB/s on the RX 6600.What does all of this mean for real-world use? In general, AMD says to expect a difference between 10 and 15 percent for the two cards. Running in 1080p at max settings, AMD shows the RX 6600 XT achieving 83fps in Cyberpunk 2077 while the RX 6600 gets 70fps. Forza Horizon 4 pulls in 137fps on the RX 6600 XT, but moving to the RX 6600, it goes down to 120fps. In a newer title like Resident Evil Village, the RX 6600 XT has 176fps compared to 145fps for the RX 6600.And, of course, there's the price. At normal retail pricing, the RX 6600 XT costs $379 and the RX 6600 is a bit cheaper at $329. Based on the retail cost, it probably makes sense for most gamers to spend a little bit more for the RX 6600 XT. It has a more powerful chip, faster RAM, and delivers a better gaming experience across the board. On the off chance someone finds a unit in stock and priced as it should be, the RX 6600 XT is a fantastic little card.Source: AMD

Marvel never asked actor Richard Madden to dye his hair blond or change his accent for his role in Eternals. Madden plays Ikaris, who has traditionally had blonde hair in his comic-book incarnation. Created by Jack Kirby in 1976, Ikaris is an Eternal, created by the Celestials thousands of years ago, gifted with superhuman abilities that are meant to protect and guide humanity. Ikaris' earliest appearance shows him with longish blonde locks and he is fitted with a blue-and-red costume with three circular-shaped designs on his chest. Eternals is directed by Academy Award Winner Chloé Zhao and stars Madden, Gemma Chan, Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Lauren Ridloff, Ma Dong-seok, Bryan Tyree Henry, and Barry Keoghan. The film takes place in the MCU's Phase Four series of films, which ushers in a new era for the franchise universe, introducing a bevy of new characters, which began with last month's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Eternals will be the first live-action realization of the characters in the MCU.During the Eternals set visit in January 2020, Screen Rant and other venues were on-hand to talk to the filmmakers about the film, including producer Nate Moore, who gave some insight into the appearance of Ikaris in the film. In the live-action Eternals film, Ikaris is featured as a short-cropped brunette and sports a blue-and-gold costume, which similarly replicates the comics uniform minus the red trim. When asked if there was ever a time that they considered making actor Richard Madden go blond for the role in order to look more comics-accurate, Moore said that not only did they not ask him to dye his hair, but they also had him keep his accent, saying, "We did not ask him to go blonde. So he gets to keep essentially his natural hair and the Scottish accent which he was very excited about."Madden previously cut his teeth on projects like HBO's Game of Thrones, Bodyguard, and Rocketman. Also joining Madden in the film is fellow Game of Thrones star Kit Harington, who played Jon Snow on the show and is playing Dane Whitman in Eternals, a character who eventually becomes The Black Knight. Snow was the "half brother" of Madden's Robb Stark, so the two actors have a strong history together on the mega-popular show. It's unclear if either of them will share screentime in Eternals, but it's a reunion nonetheless from a casting perspective. Many comic-to-film adaptations change up appearances of characters and Ikaris is just another link in that chain. Ultimately, the blond hair feels less consequential to the character than the origin, powers, and performance, so it's easy to overlook that aspect that's lost in translation. Jack Kirby created a massive backstory for these characters, which is far more important than getting every color and hue lifted off the page and put on screen. With such a diverse and talented cast, Eternals is already primed to make a big splash at the box office and is sure to make these longtime comic characters household names, just as Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor did years ago.