Culture Crave Newsletter — #8 🐧

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I was busy with D23 last weekend, and I will be on vacation this coming weekend. Therefore, I am sending out this edition a bit early. Enjoy! 🍿

Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, and Lupita Nyong’o all join Christopher Nolan’s next film

Two rumors on what the film is about have been debunked:

• It’s a period vampire thriller 🧛
• It’s a helicopter action thriller 🚁

Hollywood Reporter says ‘insiders maintain that nothing has come close to nailing Nolan’s real idea’ 🤔

More film news 

• Denzel Washington says he’s going to have a role in Black Panther 3 🐾

• HBO confirms a Game of Thrones film is in early development with George R.R. Martin involved 🐉

• Mattel has apologized after accidentally releasing official Wicked dolls that linked to a porn site 😬

• Gladiator 2 is receiving rave reviews — rivaling the Oscar-winning OG film ⚔️

• Ridley Scott is ‘trying to embrace AI’ and wants to use it for animation 😬

• Denis Villeneuve responded to Quentin Tarantino’s refusal to watch his Dune films: 'I don’t care' 🤷‍♂️

• RIP to horror icon Tony Todd

Nintendo Switch closes in on the highest-selling console ever

Nintendo announced the Switch has now sold over 146M units. Shortly before retiring, Jim Ryan stated the PS2 sold 160M units. The Switch successor will not release until the first half of next year, and it’s very possible by that time the OG Switch will be over 150M sales. Will it pass the PS2? This may depend on the pricing. Nintendo has generally maintained pricing for its consoles even after new models are released, but a strategic price reduction could boost sales to challenge the PS2's record. For comparison, the PS5 has now sold 65.5M units in its first 4 years. In approximately the same timespan, the Nintendo Switch sold over 80M units 🕹

Super Smash Bros Ultimate is the highest-selling fighting game ever

The Penguin takes flight with soaring ratings

• Finale is IMDB’s highest-rated live-action episode ever for a comic book adaptation (9.7)

• Finale is up 50% viewership from the premiere

• Matt Reeves says S2 is now being explored

• Colin Farrell says he was told Penguin appears in 5-6 scenes in The Batman 2

• Cristin Miloti is ‘ready to tear shit up’ with Zoe Kravitz's Selina Kyle

• Batman was never going to show up — at one point early in development they played with an idea of him appearing to Vic

• James Gunn says there’s ‘absolutely no truth’ about a Joker spinoff show starring Barry Keoghan in the works

Peacemaker S2

• First footage was released

• Series wraps filming shortly

• Releases August 2025 — one month after James Gunn’s Superman

Hollywood Reporter drops new report on Star Wars film troubles

Here are the key details from the report:

• There are multiple films in development that overlap characters and timelines. They could impact the others from happening

• Rey is a key character in several of them and one source says she is their ‘most cinematic asset’ right now

• Some Lucasfilm directors are aware of what others are working on while others are not

• The OG trilogy is considered the Old Testament — 'You’re being asked to create the new New Testament. And no one can agree on anything and there’s a lot of second guessing about meanings'

• Another source says 'Star Wars is a nostalgia-based enterprise and they are running out of ways to create nostalgia'

• 'To make standalone movies or continuing the Skywalker Saga in any form is a fundamental question the company faces as it tries to move forward'

• TV side has a lot more freedom and is not having these problems

Sounds messy. At least we have Andor S2 to look forward to on April 22, 2025 📺

That’s all for this week. Hit the subscribe button if you enjoyed it 🤝

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