Culture Crave Newsletter - #16 ⚔️

Welcome back to another edition of the Culture Crave newsletter 📩

While the gaming industry continues to be in shambles, there are brighter stories across the rest of entertainment. Oh—and Culture Crave made its first national TV cameo! Let’s get into it.

The Odyssey is here

It’s a busy month for Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jon Bernthal

Avengers: Doomsday’s current runtime revealed ahead of ticket pre-sales

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel Studios plans to open up ticket pre-sales for Avengers: Doomsday on July 20. The runtime isn’t final, so expect it to shift at least slightly. It’s also believed that the film’s first full trailer will release sometime this month, likely during SDCC on July 25 🎞️

Internet horror is the new wave in Hollywood

Robert Eggers’ Werwulf gets first look

Eggers’ other projects in the works

The first look at Robert Eggers’ next film, Werwulf, has been released. The film looks like yet another dark, moody, and gothic horror story about a monster terrorizing townspeople. The director has a bunch of other projects in the works, including a sequel to Labyrinth. It’s unclear which film Eggers will choose for his next project, but he has no shortage of options. Werwulf will release on Christmas Day 🐺

Michael continues its box office dominance

Highest grossing original films this decade

How the biggest animated film openings has changed over the past 25 years

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners S2 introduces its new characters

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners S2 is finally releasing on Netflix this fall and we’ve finally gotten a brand new teaser for the show. S2 will feature an all-new cast of characters and a standalone story, but is expected to take place in Night City concurrent to the story of Cyberpunk 2077 🤖

A new Fallout game is reportedly in the works at Obsidian Entertainment

Best-selling video game franchises

 Sonic franchise celebrates its 35th anniversary

Every Batman project in the works at DC Studios

There are currently four Batman-related films in development at DC Studios, including a Bane & Deathstroke movie which is rumored to be a high priority for the studio. It continues to remain unclear what the status is on The Brave and the Bold, the DCU’s Batman film which is expected to be separate from Matt Reeves’ Batman universe 🦇

A promising young star

Archie Barnes has continued to rise as a promising young actor, having caught people’s eyes as the son of Mayor Mitchell in The Batman, serving as a strong thematic parallel to Bruce Wayne. Now, he’s making a name for himself as Oscar Tully in House of the Dragon 🐉

 High on Life 2 releases on Switch 2

High On Life 2 is now out on all major platforms with its recent Switch 2 release, and as promised to our subscribers, here are a few more codes to try it out yourself. Squanch Games also released a demo where you can play the first hour for free, and continue your same session if you decide to purchase.

As for the codes, first come first serve 🎮

Nintendo:
E1FBM6NTFPYY4BK4

PC (Steam):
M23DY-LM4TZ-90DEH
P2V7I-6W5XM-CQGTL

XBOX:
G9W79-VCW2D-JFV3G-93C23-J22JZ

Brickcraft launches new limited-edition sets

Only 200 pre-orders are available each for these Beavis and Butt-Head and Futurama HQ sets. Brickcraft continues to expand into adult animation while also releasing sets for all ages, just months after their Breaking Bad RV set launched.

Find both of their new sets here!

Let’s close out this week’s newsletter with some headlines!

• Jurassic Park actor Sam Neill sadly died at age 78. He filmed four projects before passing away including the Godzilla x Kong: Supernova. RIP legend 🦖 

• Ryan Hurst is no longer playing Kratos in the live-action God of War series after tearing his bicep. The role is being recast 🪓

• Per The Hollywood Reporter, a new Nightmare on Elm Street film is in the works at Paramount. It’s expected to be a remake of Wes Craven’s original script, produced by his estate 💭

• A Nova film is in development at Marvel Studios, according to Deadline. The film is being written by Loki writer Michael Waldron and he’s expected to direct, should it move forward 🌟

• Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has confirmed that it will lay off 3,200 people this fiscal year. 1,600 of those staff members were cut last week, while the other half will happen over the course of the next 12 months. The layoffs will impact virtually all of Xbox’s studios ❎

• PlayStation has announced that it will no longer support physical game releases starting in January 2028. PlayStation 6 is expected to not come with a disc drive as a result 💿

• A new G.I. Joe film has been written and will be directed by Danny McBride. The actor teased the film on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast and revealed that it will feature Duke and the gang in a ‘suspenseful’ story set in Springfield, a town that is populated by secret Cobra members 🥷

• Obsession’s breakout star, Inde Navarrette, revealed to Nylon that she has met with the likes of Michael Mann and Jake Schreier, potentially for roles in their next projects. Mann’s next film is Heat 2, while Schreier is helming the new X-Men film for Marvel Studios 💰

• According to The Hollywood Reporter, a Mr. Terrific TV series is in the works from The Sandman writer Allan Heinberg ⌛

• The Hollywood Reporter also claimed there was a creative dispute between Supergirl director Craig Gillespie and DC Studios, with the studio creating its own cut of the film. Both cuts were tested and the studio’s version ultimately edged out by two points, leading to DC releasing it in theaters 🦸‍♀️

• And finally, a scoop from yours truly. I recently released a documentary about the making of Rockstar Games’ LA Noire on my YouTube channel, which also includes new details about the game’s canceled successor, Whore of the Orient. However, one of the big headlines out of that video is that Mad Men star Jon Hamm was considered for the lead role of Cole Phelps in LA Noire before it went to Aaron Staton🕵️

That’s all for this week, we’ll see you next week for more news!