A live-action Scooby-Doo TV show is reportedly in development for Netflix, among other things immediately causing actor Matthew Lillard to begin trending on social media.

"If they’re really gonna do this, they gotta have Matthew Lillard be the culprit being exposed at the end. Especially after what happened to him in [Five Nights at Freddy's]," one user wrote, referencing the film adaptation released in 2023.

if it’s not matthew lillard we don’t want it https://t.co/a290yXvBuj

— sar-AAH! 🎃 (@saraaaaahh) April 29, 2024

Social media users were reacting to a report from Variety, which claims that a new live-action Scooby-Doo is headed to Netflix. It will reportedly be a "one-hour drama" that's based on the Hanna-Barbera cartoon of the same name. There are few other details, including who will take on the roles of the Scooby gang, but social media users certainly have ideas.

The fervor for Lillard is driven by his now-iconic performance as Shaggy in the live-action film released in 2002. While the movie was mostly panned by reviewers, many critics pointed out that Lillard was "uncannily spot-on as Shaggy." Lillard has since gone on to voice Shaggy in numerous animated projects as well as MultiVersus.

Whether or not Lillard is involved, the new Scooby-Doo project will reportedly be penned by Josh Appelbaum , who served as an executive producer on the live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop, and Scott Rosenberg, who wrote 2018's Venom among other projects. The project is said to be nearing a deal, though plot details remain elusive.

Elsewhere, Warner Bros. Animation recently released Velma Season 2, which has once again received mixed reviews from critics. You can find the rest of the biggest TV shows releasing in 2024 right here.

Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Earnings calls tend to be pretty standard fare: an overview of quarterly revenue, maybe some news here or there, and then a Q&A with analysts and investors, usually lasting around an hour.

Paramount, however — a company swirling with big behind-the-scenes moves at the moment — took a different approach during its Q1 earnings call today. Chris McCarthy, one of three newly-instated leaders at Paramount, reiterated the main points of the earnings already shared with investors, made some brief comments about their new leadership structure, and then swiftly ended the call after just about nine minutes.

The company did not take questions and, somewhat hilariously, instead loudly played the Mission: Impossible theme song on a loop. Well, that's one way to pivot.

The unconventional earnings call came on the same day that Paramount Global announced some big news. Just hours prior, the company confirmed that CEO Bob Bakish would be stepping down, replaced by a trio of executives in McCarthy, George Cheeks, and Brian Robbins, who will now collectively make up the "Office of the CEO." Bakish had been with Viacom since 1997, becoming CEO in 2016. When Viacom and CBS merged in 2019, Bakish became the CEO of the combined company, which was renamed Paramount Global.

Basically, the announcement was a big one, and Paramount's investors no doubt have questions. Media watchers on X/Twitter were quick to take notice of the avoidance of those questions.

so in summary: Paramount fired its CEO, then hosted an earnings call for only 9 minutes, refused to take any questions, and played the mission impossible song on a loop

— Anna Nicolaou (@annaknicolaou) April 29, 2024

We were on hold longer than the Paramount earnings call lasted -- 7 minutes of saying nothing beyond what was in release $PARA pic.twitter.com/czJf16KlXu

— Rich Greenfield, LightShed 🔦 (@RichLightShed) April 29, 2024

Paramount playing the Mission Impossible music at the end of its earnings call is a bit on the nose.

— Matthew Belloni (@MattBelloni) April 29, 2024

As for the actual earnings, Paramount did see a big boost from its broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII, adding 3.7 million subscribers to Paramount+ for a current total of 71 million subscribers. It managed to cut its streaming losses by 40% and, overall, earnings were up 6% from the same period last year.

Big Moves at Paramount

On the call, McCarthy did comment on the new structure, calling his dealings with Cheeks and Robbins "a true partnership." "We have a deep respect for one another and we’re going to lead and manage this company together," he added.

Bakish's exit comes as Paramount moves closer and closer to a merger with Skydance Media. According to reports, Bakish had privately dissented against the merger and had "lost the trust of Paramount Global controlling shareholder Shari Redstone," sources told CNBC. The same report over the weekend said Paramount Global's board was indeed planning on firing Bakish as early as Monday morning.

And while the Skydance negotiations continue, the New York Times reported earlier this month that Sony was in talks to join a joint bid with investment firm Apollo Global Management to acquire Paramount.

Basically, the trio of new CEOs have a lot on their plate - with that in mind, that Mission: Impossible theme seems like a fitting choice.

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Spider-Man is one of the few Marvel heroes with a supporting cast and rogues gallery wide enough to support an entire cinematic universe. And that's exactly what Sony has been trying to launch. Even as Tom Holland fans await word on where the actor will play Spidey again, Sony continues to release films in its Spider-Man Universe. Madame Web and Morbius came, went, and will never be forgotten, Aaron Taylor-Johnson is starring in the upcoming Kraven movie, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is getting another sequel after Across the Spider-Verse, and the live-action series Silk: Spider Society and Spider-Man Noir series are in the works.

To help make sense of the many Spider-Man-adjacent movies in the works, we're breaking down every Sony Marvel movie that's either been officially announced or rumored to be in development. Check out the slideshow gallery below or scroll down to get the scoop on Spidey's cinematic future.

Spider-Man Spin-Off Movies

Here's a quick bullet list of all the movies and TV shows that are in various stages of development:

• Venom: The Last Dance (a.k.a. Venom 3) - October 25, 2024
• Kraven the Hunter - December 13, 2024
• Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (In Production) - Date TBD
• Tom Holland Spider-Man Sequels (In Development) - Dates TBD
• Silk: Spider Society Series (In Development) - Date TBD
• Spider-Man Noir Series (In Development) - Date TBD
• El Muerto (Status Unknown/Possibly Dead)
• Untitled Female Cast Into the Spider-Verse Spin-Off (Status Unknown/Possibly Dead)

Read on for more details on each project.

Venom: The Last Dance (a.k.a. Venom 3) (October 25, 2024)

Status: In Production

A third Venom movie is in the works, but little is known about it at this time. Sony officially announced the film at CinemaCon in April, 2022. In February of 2023, Tom Hardy revealed that Venom 3 was in pre-production. In July, 2023, Sony announced that the film has a release date of July 12, 2024 (which was later pushed to November 8, 2024, and then October 25, 2024). Check out what Spider-Man: No Way Home means for the future of Venom here.

Kraven the Hunter (December 13, 2024)

Status: In Production

Sony is shining a spotlight on Kraven the Hunter. One of Spider-Man's oldest rogues, Kraven is a skilled hunter who sets his sights on Spider-Man after conquering all other prey in the animal kingdom. He's also the central antagonist in the seminal comic storyline Kraven's Last Hunt, which could easily serve as a source of inspiration for the movie. Richard Wenk (The Equalizer) and the team of Art Marcum and Matt Holloway (Iron Man) wrote the screenplay. Triple Frontier director J.C. Chandor is directing the film, which will star Avengers: Age of Ultron's Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Kraven. Christopher Abbott, Alessandro Nivola, and Russell Crowe have also been cast in the film.

Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (Date TBD)

Status: In Production

The third Spider-Verse film is called Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (dropping the Part One and Part Two from the Into the Spider-Verse sequels' titles that had previously been announced). Obviously Across the Spider-Verse, the second film in the series, leaves a lot of questions that will need to be answered in Beyond. Beyond the Spider-Verse was expected to be released on March 29, 2024, but in July of 2023, Sony changed several of its slate's release dates, including this film. It currently does not have a date. Learn more about the Spider-Verse here.

Tom Holland Spider-Man Sequels (Dates TBD)

Status: In Development

It's a little unclear when the next appearance of Tom Holland's wallcrawler will come. When Sony and Marvel made a new deal in 2019 to continue to share the character, which allowed No Way Home to be made, an MCU crossover film was also said to be part of that agreement. What that crossover film might be is unclear, however.

As for future solo films, during No Way Home's press tour, producer Amy Pascal said that the thinking is that there will be at least three more Spider-Man films starring Tom Holland. It should be noted, however, that has not yet been confirmed by Sony or Marvel.

Silk: Spider Society Series (Date TBD)

Status: In Development

A more recent addition to Spider-Man's world, Silk is a heroine who was bitten by the same radioactive spider that gave Peter Parker his powers. Resurfacing after a decade spent locked in an underground bunker, Cindy Moon has followed the example of Spider-Man and become a costumed superhero. Cindy has actually made small appearances in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Avengers: Infinity War (played by Tiffany Espensen). But we assume the role will be recast for any new Silk project.

Silk was originally announced as a movie, but has since evolved into a series that will air on MGM+ and Prime Video (the first in a new partnership between Sony, MGM and Prime Video). Into the Spider-Verse's Angela Kang will serve as showrunner, and the series will follow Cindy's origin story as she escapes imprisonment, comes to terms with her powers and seeks out her missing family.

Spider-Man Noir Series (Date TBD)

Status: In Development

Following the announcement of Silk: Spider Society, word came that Spider-Man Noir is the second series to come about from Sony and Prime Video's new partnership. The Spider-Man Noir series is a live-action show set in this Depression-era version of the Marvel Universe, though Peter Parker himself reportedly won't be the main character.

Spider-Man Noir is being developed by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and 22 Jump Street writer Orien Uziel, who will write and executive produce. Steve Lightfoot (Netflix's The Punisher) was hired in December, 2023, as co-showrunner and executive producer with Uziel.

El Muerto

Status: Unknown/Possibly Dead

At CinemaCon 2022, Sony announced El Muerto, a Spider-Man spin-off movie starring musician, producer, actor, and wrestler Bad Bunny as the title character. El Muerto is a wrestler with superpowers whose mask and abilities are passed down from generation to generation. The film was reported to have a release date of January 12, 2024, at that time, and yet as of April, 2023, filming had still not begun and Bad Bunny's publicist said the film was "at a standstill" only to later clarify that it was "in development." On June 21, 2023, a Sony press release said that the film had moved to a TBD date. And in September, 2023, Bad Bunny seemed to tell Vanity Fair that he had dropped out of the film. Hmmm...

Untitled Female Cast Into the Spider-Verse Spin-Off

Status: Unknown/Possibly Dead

An Into the Spider-Verse spin-off featuring an all-female cast was said to be in the works at one point, with Spider-Gwen expected to make her return. Other characters like Spider-Girl, Spider-Woman, Madame Web, Silk and even Black Cat might've been featured. Not much has been heard of this project since it was first revealed in 2018, however, and it seems likely to have died on the vine (web?).

Unrealized Projects

There has been a host of rumored or reported Spider-Man spinoff movies over the years that have never actually gotten made. Along with Venom, one of the earliest Spider-Man spinoff movies Sony pursued was Silver & Black, a team-up film featuring mercenary Silver Sable and master thief/occasional Spider-Man love interest Black Cat. While Sony went as far as hiring director Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Secret Life of Bees) and dating the film for a February 2019 release, it was eventually canceled. Last we heard, the studio was reworking Silver & Black into solo movies for the characters, though it's unclear if there's any movement on these projects at this point. In 2020, reports indicated that Black Cat and Silver Sable might become TV projects for Sony instead.

Variety reported in March 2018 that director Spike Lee was in talks to direct a Nightwatch film, though Lee has since said he is not attached. The vigilante hero wears a durable nanotechnology costume that enhances his strength by stimulating his adrenal glands, but apparently is not capable of getting him out of development hell.

Another fairly recent addition to the Spider-Man universe, Jackpot has often fought alongside Spider-Man in defense of New York City. When she was first introduced, readers were led to believe she was actually Mary Jane Watson in disguise. Instead, it was eventually revealed that Jackpot is an identity used by two different women - genetic researcher Sara Ehret and her admirer, Alana Jobson. It was reported in August 2018 that a Jackpot movie was in development, and in 2020 further news came that Marc Guggenheim was writing the screenplay. No cast or director have been revealed so far and this one also seems unlikely to happen at this point.

Sony Pictures Entertainment execs clearly have plans for the Marvel characters they have the rights to. “We have the next seven or eight years laid out as to what we’re going to do with that asset, and that will not only be on the film side -- it’ll be on the TV side,” said Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Tony Vinciquerra. “Our television group will have its own set of characters from within that universe that we will seek to develop.” Of course, that was in 2019, so we're already five years into his seven...

Could the Olivia Wilde-directed Spider-Woman movie that was reported on in 2020 still be in the works? Or the Roberto Orci-scripted Marvel project that was also rumored that year? How many of the projects already reported on fall under Vinciquerra's plans, or have been dropped by now? Madame Web probably already knows, but for the rest of us, time will tell.

Which of the Spider-Man spin-offs are you most looking forward to? Let's discuss in the comments!

Note: This story originally ran in August, 2018. It was updated with the most recent information available on April 29, 2024.

Google Play recently decided to pay tribute to Sonic the Hedgehog on social media. Reasonable, given that the famous mascot is currently having a bit of a cultural moment. The only problem? Most of it was completely wrong.

Over the weekend, Google Play’s X/Twitter account took it upon itself to make an impromptu Sonic The Hedgehog appreciation thread where the chili dog-eating hero gets older the more you scroll through it. But the Google Play’s scrapbook-esque thread's dabbling in historical revisionism of the blue hedgehog would spark a wave of corrections, even prompting Sega's own social media account to ask what was on every Sonic fan’s mind: What are you doing?

Google Play’s Sonic-themed thread, which sporadically covers the blue blur’s evolution from 1991 to 2022, is now riddled with community notes criticizing the social media account for its litany of factual errors.

1991 Sonic. The cover? Rotund. Husky. Still fast as lightning. The actual game? 8-bit GLORY 🙌 pic.twitter.com/a2k2j9mvXH

— Google Play (@GooglePlay) April 27, 2024

For instance, Google’s first threaded post of Sonic and Tails in 1991 is actually of Sonic’s 2013 mobile game. The key signifier of this error on Google Plays part is the fact that Tails isn’t Sonic’s companion in the original game. The post also refers to the original Sonic the Hedgehog as "8-bit glory" despite first releasing on the 16-bit Sega Genesis. And that's just the beginning.

what are you doing

— Sonic the Hedgehog (@sonic_hedgehog) April 28, 2024

Other blatant errors in Google Play’s thread include a screenshot of Sonic from 2014’s Sonic Boom cartoon saying this was the “short king” in 1993; a 2022 screenshot of Paramount Picture’s live-action Sonic that was actually from the 2020 movie, and a 2006 Sonic image from the 2017 mobile game Sonic Forces Mobile —which is available on the Google Play store.

Fans went so far as to wonder if AI was used to create the strange thread, not the least because one of the images is poorly altered to remove background characters.

2022 Sonic. Just like us, he’s healed from 2020 but isn’t quite the same 😆 pic.twitter.com/f9XYSeLtxm

— Google Play (@GooglePlay) April 27, 2024

While the endgame of Google Play’s Sonic thread remains a mystery, what isn’t is the fact that Sonic fans are treating it like material for Twitter's version of a comedy club's open mic night with a sea of hilarious memes at Google Play’s expense. Here's one of our favorites.

We all know who's behind this https://t.co/CMgSvvd31X pic.twitter.com/1qpmQu6RRc

— Artvader || Commission Season (@Artvader_AF) April 29, 2024

All in all, it was a strange moment for Sega's biggest franchise, which is otherwise celebrating the release of the Knuckles TV series on Paramount+. We called it a "fun, chaotic bonus level that nails everything that made the Sonic movies great, earning a well-deserved fist bump," and is one more step along the path toward a potential Sonic Cinematic Universe.

In the meantime, the third Sonic the Hedgehog film, starring Keanu Reeves as Shadow the Hedgehog, hits theaters on December 20, 2024.

Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer at IGN.

There's something truly magical about special events at Disney Parks, and one of the most exciting parts is all the new, exclusive merch you can snag up and wear or display with pride. Keeping up with that trend, Pixar Fest has a ton of wonderful options for fans of all ages, and Disney invited me out to Disneyland to check out what guests can expect from the event that has officially started and will run through August 4.

While there is a ton to talk about, the popcorn buckets may just be the highlight of all the merch out there. Pixar Fest will allow guests to purchase three buckets - a Coco Guitar, an Alien Pizza Planet Truck, and one modeled after Up's Dug that's exclusive for Magic Key holders - and they are all spectacular. You can read their full descriptions below, but they are great for so much more than just popcorn as you can play the guitar, play with the truck, and can make the Dug bucket talk.

Move aside Dune 2 and whatever ridiculousness Deadpool & Wolverine will throw our way, as we have some new champions in town!

Speaking of the Alien Pizza Planet Truck, the team behind Pixar Fest really made them a focus as it has also put 50 unique Alien Pizza Planet Trucks around Disneyland for guests to find. I won't spoil where they are, but I will tell you there is a Guardians of the Galaxy one in Disney California Adventure and a Mad Max-esque truck with Grogu as the driver (!) in Downtown Disney! Happy hunting!

As for the merch as a whole, the Pixar Fest team built the items with a theme of "friendship and beyond" and wanted to go with a style that could unite all of these films that all have their own unique look to them.

"The coolest thing for Pixar Fest 2024 is that there are 15 unique items that all celebrate the ‘friendship and beyond’ idea and what we love about Pixar," Disney's Carlos Martinez told me. "For me, I love the fact that everything has that comic book style, which is very unique, and it bonds all the characters together from across the different stories. After all, it's not very common that you get to see Woody and Miguel together in a store with Mei and Lightning McQueen. This comic book style gives us that opportunity to be able to celebrate all the stories in one, unified way.

“Also, there is a versatility of having items that are gender inclusive, so it's not a male or female thing. There's sizing for young and old, big and small, and it's a just great opportunity to be able to just showcase your love for Pixar no matter who you are.”

Inside Out 2 was a big question on a lot of minds going into Pixar Fest 2024 as it is set to be released in theaters on June 14, 2024. While the original Inside Out is represented, there is nothing yet quite specific to the sequel in the merch department. However, Disney didn't shut the door on something being added closer to its release.

“You'll have to come out and see,” Martinez said when asked about Inside Out 2 at Pixar Fest. “You'll have to wait, because you never know what's going to happen here at the Disneyland Resort. As we learned from the original Pixar Fest, there's fun and excitement at every corner.”

WIthout further ado, please check out the slideshow below and the details below that to learn all about the best merch you can buy at Pixar Fest 2024! For more, be sure to check out my Ultimate Pixar Fest Guide and my guide focused on the best food and treats you can get!

The Best Merch and Popcorn Buckets at Pixar Fest 2024

Pixar Fest Spirit Jersey

This Pixar Fest Spirit Jersey was one of the most popular items I saw on the opening day of the big celebration at Disneyland and it's easy to see why. The Spirit Jersey features such fan-favorite characters as Mei, Woody, Miguel, Lightning McQueen, Joy, Sadness, Anger, and Sulley, and they are all in that wonderful comic book style the other Pixar Fest gear has.

Coco Guitar Popcorn Bucket

Considering Coco is one of my favorite films of all time, this guitar, which is based off the one from the film used by Héctor and Ernesto de la Cruz, was probably the winner of the entire Pixar Fest merch collection for me. It has such a nice shine to it and you can actually play the guitar, even if it isn't the most high quality instrument out there. It also has really nice touches like skulls for the tuners and a picture of Miguel ane members of his family on the back. That picture is also where you'll find the compartment to store popcorn or another favorite treat.

Alien Pizza Planet Truck Bucket

While the Coco guitar popcorn bucket may have been my favorite, this Alien Pizza Planet bucket comes very close as it is so much more than just a thing to hold popcorn. The truck is a high-quality build and my son has been using it as a toy ever since I got home. The truck also lights up and comes with an Alien dressed in his best Pizza Planet attire that you can take out and use as a figure! The merch team knocked it out of the park with this one.

Magic Key Dug Popcorn Bucket

This Magic Key-only Dug popcorn bucket rounds out the trio of truly amazing popcorn buckets on offer at Pixar Fest 2024. This adorable version of Dug not only holds popcorn, but it talks and has a soft tongue. Simply put, this is another winner.

Pixar Fest Gear

If you love that comic book style of all your favorite Pixar characters for Pixar Fest, there are a few other options to own items with it while Pixar Fest is underway. This includes shirts, hoodies, a bucket hat that is reversible, a hat, a water bottle, a mug, and more!

Pixar Fest Lug Bag

This Pixar Fest Lug Bag, which features a very similar design to the bucket hat inside and out, is a first for Disneyland Resort. It is meant to be the perfect size for carrying the essentials, whether that be a phone, external battery, snacks, sunscreen, or a lucky charm, and nothing more! Instead of carrying around a big, heavy bag, this is meant to give guests the option of travelling light and wearing it as a fanny pack, satchel, or even backpack. Oh, and it has a see-through slot for your ID!

Slinky Dog Sipper

While not a popcorn bucket, this Slinky Dog sipper can stand tall with those juggernauts as it's adorable and can hold your favorite drink. Seeing these characters being brought to life in different, functional ways is just so great.

Pixar Lamp, Alien Macaron, Mei, and Edna Straw Friends

If you've been bored with your drinks lately, I've got some great news for you! Pixar Fest 2024 is offering straw clips and bottle toppers featuring the Pixar Lamp, the Alien Macaron, Mei, and Edna.

Create Your Own Headbands

These may not be strictly Pixar, but they are debuting for the first time at Disneyland for the event and they absolutely deserve a mention for how cute they are and how they will probably brutally attack all of our wallets. These headbands first debuted at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, and now guests at Disneyland can purchase a headband and a wide selection of mini plush accessories to put on them.

Do you want to make them like a Mickey Ears Headband and choose your two favorite characers as the ears? Do it! Would you rather try to fit three or four since you have trouble choosing? Also an option!

At launch, some of the characters available include Mickey, Donald, Minnie, Chip, Dale, Daisy, Alien, Lotso, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Stitch, and Buzz, and you know more are going to be on the way. If this is a new collection you can't wait to try out, you'll be able to find these at The Mad Hatter in Disneyland and Bing Bong's Sweet Stuff in Disney California Adventure.

Pixar Fest 2024 Medallions

If you love collecting medallions like I do, you'll be happy to know there will be vending machines across Disneyland that will let you collect 28 coins from across Pixar's biggest hits! Will you collect them all?

We'll be updating this article with new additions to Pixar Fest throughout the next few months, so be sure to check back often! Until then, you can check out the full Disney Parks Merch Guide for Pixar Fest 2024!

Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.

Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron is getting three physical editions in July, including the first-ever 4K UHD release of a Studio Ghibli film.

Independent film distributor GKIDS announced on X/Twitter that The Boy and the Heron will hit shelves on July 9, and physical media enthusiasts will have three different versions to choose from, including a 4K UHD and Blu-ray release, a Blu-ray and DVD combo, and a Limited Edition Steelbook housing a 4K UHD and Blu-ray.

The Academy Award-winning THE BOY AND THE HERON will be available in three physical editions on July 9, including the first-ever 4K UHD release for a Studio Ghibli film.

The first run of all versions will include a limited edition poster! ✨https://t.co/9sPENkmNb7 pic.twitter.com/sfrWX2wUAQ

— GKIDS Films (@GKIDSfilms) April 29, 2024

As detailed on the pre-order pages for the three editions on the GKIDS website, the first run of all versions will include an 11.5" x 14" fold-out poster that depicts Mahito Maki, the protagonist of the film, during an early encounter with the heron he befriends in the hand-drawn animated tale, written and directed by Miyazaki.

Those wanting to learn more about The Boy and the Heron will have a flock of bonus features to watch. The Blu-ray contains storyboards, a music video, teasers and trailers, plus a drawing feature with supervising animator Takeshi Honda. There are also interviews with Honda, composer Joe Hisaishi, and producer Toshio Suzuki.

The Boy and the Heron will also be available to purchase on all major digital platforms starting on June 25, including the likes of Apple TV+, Prime Video, and Vudu. The critically acclaimed fantasy adventure will also head to Max and Netflix (outside the U.S. and Japan), though its premiere date has yet to be announced.

The Boy and the Heron is Miyazaki's first feature film in 10 years. It won an Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA for Best Animated Feature, with critics praising it as a triumph. IGN awarded the movie a 9/10, calling it "a stunning animated adventure that reminds us how lucky we are to live at a time when Studio Ghibli is making movies."

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter @AdeleAnkers.

Potential Spoilers! If you don't want to risk being spoiled on the plot of Captain America: Brave New World, consider yourself warned!

Captain America: Brave New World gets a new McDonald's promotional advert, offering a first look at Danny Ramirez as the Falcon.

X/Twitter user @UpToTASK shared a photo of McDonald's Captain America: Brave New World tie-in poster, showing Ramirez suited and booted as the MCU's new Falcon. He is pictured wearing a predominantly green suit to match his comic book counterpart, along with a helmet and the character's mechanical wings.

First look at the new Falcon for Captain America: Brave New World. pic.twitter.com/omlns7jksh

— It Was All a Dream, I Used to Read Wizard Magazine (@UpToTASK) April 29, 2024

Ramirez first starred as Joaquín Torres in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier alongside Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan. However, the upcoming Captain America movie will see him take on the mantle of Falcon after Mackie's Sam Wilson gifted him his busted wings in the show's penultimate episode.

The MCU's new Falcon also showed up in a McDonald's toy ad from Brazil, which featured several characters in minifigure form, including two versions of Captain America and an unexpected appearance from Thaddeus Ross' alter ego, Red Hulk, suggesting Harrison Ford's character will transform into a super-strong CG monster.

Kevin Feige and Anthony Mackie debuted the first footage from Captain America: Brave New World at CinemaCon 2024, but plot details are still largely under wraps. However, it looks like the story will, at least in part, see Falcon and the movie's titular Star-Spangled Avenger take on the general-turned-president-turned-Hulk.

Captain America: Brave New World will arrive in theaters on February 14, 2025, as part of the next wave of MCU movies after Deadpool & Wolverine.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter @AdeleAnkers.

The first trailer for Mufasa has arrived and it gives us our best look yet at the live-action prequel to The Lion King that is set to roar into theaters on December 20, 2024.

The trailer starts with a new version of Circle of Life and we hear John Kani's Rafiki retelling the story of Mufasa, a "lion who would change our lives forever."

In this tale, Mufasa is a lion who was "born without a drop of nobility in his blood" but rose up to greatness despite his beginnings. The official description of the film reveals that Mufasa's whole story is being told to Kiara, the daughter of Simba and Nala who is being played by Beyonce's daughter Blue Ivy Carter. Beyonce will also return as Nala.

"Mufasa: The Lion King enlists Rafiki to relay the legend of Mufasa to young lion cub Kiara, daughter of Simba and Nala, with Timon and Pumbaa lending their signature schtick," the official description reads. "Told in flashbacks, the story introduces Mufasa as an orphaned cub, lost and alone until he meets a sympathetic lion named Taka—the heir to a royal bloodline. The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of an extraordinary group of misfits searching for their destiny—their bonds will be tested as they work together to evade a threatening and deadly foe."

While James Earl Jones voiced Mufasa in the original The Lion King and the live-action remake, Aaron Pierre will be taking on the legendary role this time as his younger version.

Pierre will be joined by Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Taka, a "lion prince with a bright future who accepts Mufasa into his family as a brother," and Mads Mikkelsen as Kiros, a "formidable lion with big plans for his pride."

The rest of the cast includes Tiffany Boone as Sarabi, Kagiso Lediga as Young Rafiki, Preston Nyman as Zazu, Thandiwe Newton as Taka’s mother, Eshe, Lennie James as Taka’s father, Obasi, Anika Noni Rose as Mufasa’s mother, Afia, Keith David as Mufasa’s father, Masego, Seth Rogen as Pumbaa, Billy Eichner as Timon, and Donald Glover as Simba.

Mufasa: The Lion King is directed by Barry Jenkins and will see Lin-Manuel Miranda writing the film's songs and producing them alongside Mark Mancina. Additional musical and performances are being done by Lebo M.

Much like the original remake, Mufasa will be a blend of "live-action filmmaking techiques with photoreal computer generated imagery."

In our The Lion King review, we said that "Disney delivers their most successful remake yet. A strong cast, outstanding visuals, and the classic animal-centric take on Hamlet make this infinitely more watchable than some of the studio's previous retellings. The only issue here is that The Lion King is a beat-for-beat adaptation that will make even the coldest hearts warm with nostalgia but could potentially disappoint those looking for a new take on the iconic story."

For more from the world of Disney, check out Jenkins comments on the movie that helped convince him to make this prequel, the other upcoming Disney and Pixar movies, and our Ultimate Pixar Fest 2024 at Disneyland Guide

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.

Sony Pictures has revealed a few shifts in its upcoming theatrical release calendar, including that Kraven the Hunter has been delayed from August 30, 2024, to December 13, 2024, and that Karate Kid will move from December 13, 2024, to May 30, 2025.

Kraven the Hunter, which stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the Spider-Man villain and will be Sony's first R-rated Marvel movie, was originally scheduled to be released in theaters on January 13, 2023. It was delayed a couple of times and one pushback was due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.

We've only received one trailer for Kraven the Hunter so far and it was a Red Band one that featured a ton of violence, a rift between a father and son, and a glimpse of The Rhino.

"Kraven the Hunter is the visceral story of how and why one of Marvel’s most iconic villains came to be," the movie's official description reads. "Set before his notorious vendetta with Spider-Man, Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as the titular character in the R-rated film."

As for Karate Kid, Sony Pictures revealed in 2023 the news of a new entry in the beloved franchise that will see Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio return to their roles of Mr. Han from 2010's The Karate Kid and Daniel LaRusso from the original films, respectively.

Back then, Sony said it was kicking off a global casting search to find the new Karate Kid for the film, and we have yet to hear an update on that search.

With this delay, it means this new Karate Kid film will now air after the sixth and final season of Cobra Kai, which currently has a release window of 2024.

In addition to these delays, Sony Pictures also gave They Listen a release date of August 30, 2024, and Animal Friends a date of August 15, 2025.

For more, check out all the other upcoming Sony Spider-Man Universe films and our explainer of Kraven the Hunter.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.

After a four-and-a-half-year hiatus, Transformers is back with Rise of the Beasts, a sequel to 2018's Bumblebee. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts sees Optimus Prime and the Autobots team up with Optimus Primal and the Maximals to save Earth.

If you're wondering how and where you can watch it yourself this weekend, take a look at the information below.

Where to Stream Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Online

• Amazon Prime Video - Subscription
• Paramount+ - Subscription
• FuboTV - Subscription
• Amazon Prime Video - Rent for $5.89
• YouTube - Rent for $5.99

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts on Blu-Ray

• Transformers: Rise of the Beasts 4K Blu-Ray + Digital - $23.49
• Transformers: Rise of the Beasts DVD - $11.30
• Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Blu-Ray + Digital - $14.25

What Is Transformers: Rise of the Beasts About?

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a '90s-set sequel to the previous Transformers movie, Bumblebee. Here's the official overview for Rise of the Beasts from Paramount:

Returning to the action and spectacle that have captured moviegoers around the world, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts will take audiences on a ‘90s globetrotting adventure with the Autobots and introduce a whole new faction of Transformers – the Maximals – to join them as allies in the existing battle for earth.

How to Watch Previous Transformers Movies

Rise of the Beasts is the seventh Transformers movie in the live-action franchise that debuted in 2007. If you're interested in watching or re-watching the entire saga, check out our guide on where to stream the Transformers movies online.

Do You Need to Watch Other Transformers Movies First?

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a direct sequel to Bumblebee, so if you want to fully understand what's happening chronologically, you should watch that film first. You don't have to watch any of the other Transformers movies to be caught up, however. Take a look at our guide to the Transformers movies in order for more info.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Cast

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts was written by Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters, Erich Hoeber, and Jon Hoeber. It was directed by Steven Caple Jr. and stars the following actors:

• Michelle Yeoh as Airazor
• Pete Davidson as Mirage
• Ron Perlman as Optimus Primal
• Peter Dinklage as Scourge
• Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime
• Anthony Ramos as Noah Diaz
• Dominique Fishback as Elena Wallace
• Colman Domingo as Unicron

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Rating and Runtime

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and language. The film runs for a total of 2 hours and 7 minutes including credits.

Is There a Post-Credits Scene?

While there isn't a post-credits scene in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, there is a mid-credits scene. So you don't need to sit through all of the credits at the theater to get the most of your experience.

Jordan covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN.

What started as a popular toy line has quickly become one of the biggest action movie franchises on the planet. With a total of 7 Transformers movies in the franchise, it's showing no signs of slowing down.

Now that Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is available to rent on YouTube or to stream on Amazon, you may be wondering where you can stream all of the movies online to complete the marathon. We've compiled a list of where to watch every Transformers movie in the series in 2024.

Where to Watch the Transformers Movies Online

With Transformers: Rise of the Beasts now available to rent on YouTube or to stream on Amazon, FuboTV, or Paramount+, moviegoers are likely wondering where to stream the rest of them. Unfortunately, there is no single streaming service that houses all of the movies in the franchise. Six of the films are available to stream on Paramount+, five are available on FuboTV, and one is available to stream on Max.

Here's our full breakdown of how to watch the Transformers movies online in 2024:

What's the Best Order to Watch the Transformers Movies?

There are multiple ways you can approach watching the Transformers movies in order. The first and most obvious one is to watch them in the order they were released, starting with Transformers. However, you could also instead opt to start with the prequel Bumblebee if you're looking to do a chronological binge.

Our How to watch the Transformers movies in order explainer can help set you down the right path. Check out the gallery below or click the link above for our full breakdown of the Transformers movie timeline.

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Streaming Options

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is now available to stream on Amazon Prime, Paramount+, and FuboTV. See our guide to Transformers: Rise of the Beast streaming options for more info on where to watch the film online.

Looking for more new movies to stream online? Check out these franchise guides:

• Where to Stream Fast and Furious Movies
• Where to Stream Lord of the Rings Movies
• Where to Stream Jurassic Park Movies
• Where to Stream Spider-Man Movies

One of the best parts of going to a Disney Park is experiencing the world-class food and treats that not only taste delicious, but also give you another way to connect to the stories you love. For fans of Toy Story, Coco, Turning Red, Luca, Cars or any of the other Pixar films, Pixar Fest 2024 will be a place where your heart will be just as full as your belly.

From a cupcake that looks like the Marigold Bridge from Coco where the dead return to the world of the living to visit their loved ones to Nemo and Dory cake pops to a Ratatouille Pizzetta and the return of the iconic Pixar Cake, there is SO much to try over the next few months at both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.

Disney invited me to Disneyland to preview Pixar Fest 2024, which has already begun and will run through August 4, and you can check out my ultimate guide right here to learn everything you need to know about the event and also my Pixar Fest 2024 at Disneyland Merch guide if you want to know the best things you can buy!

To learn more about what guests can expect from Pixar Fest 2024 in terms of food, we had the chance to hear from Chef John State, Disney’s Culinary Director, about this year’s offerings and how they came to be.

“There is a recipe that we use to help get us to the goal line when we're developing these ideas and there are three main ingredients,” State shared. “The first one is collaboration and you’ll hear that a lot throughout Pixar Fest – the fact that it's better together. Then, you have to take the fun seriously. It was just cool to drill down to help bring those characters to life. And then you have to do your homework. You have to watch the films. I can't tell you how many people I talked to that went back and re-watched to learn something even more than they didn't already recognize the first time.”

All of these ingredients lend to dishes that feel so much more than food. They feel like they were pulled right out of the world of these beloved Pixar films and are ones you could actually try if you were pulled into Monsters, Inc., Up, or Inside Out. Speaking of Monsters, Inc., there’s one behind-the-scenes story that truly shows how much love and care is put into each creation, and this comes courtesy of Disney’s David Nguyen.

He shared with me that the Shake 2319, which is inspired by George Sanderson and the time he got a sock on himself and caused a wide-spread panic. When creating the dessert, they topped the vanilla, orange, guava, and pineapple shake with whipped cream, orange coconut shavings to represent his fur, an ice cream cone for his horn, and a chocolate sock. However, they soon realized that, if he had that sock on him, the CDA would come and shave off his fur (i.e. coconut shavings) and he’d be left with just his skin (i.e. whipped cream). So, to avoid another emergency situation, they chose to let George shine and keep things consistent! It’s all about the little things!

Ratatouille Pizzetta (Available May 10 – August 4 at Gusteau’s To-Go at Disney California Adventure Park’s Pixar Fest Marketplaces)

This was a DELIGHT. Not only was it an adorably-sized pizza with a beautiful array of Ratatouille (eggplant, squash, and zucchini) on the front, but it also comes with a wedge of French Camembert cheese that adds a great depth of creamy flavor that brings up what would otherwise be a run-of-the-mill pizza. This dish really shows how a link back to a story and some small touches can elevate the food we experience.

Supper Club Chicken & Potato Waffles (Available May 10 – August 4 at The Spark inspired by ‘Soul’ at Disney California Adventure’s Pixar Fest Marketplace)

This play on chicken and waffles was a fun journey of flavors that is inspired by jazz. The popcorn chicken has a satisfying crisp to it and the potato waffle is accompanied by a peach cobbler sauce and cinnamon-herb crumble. It’s a dance of sweet and savory that may not have been my favorite dish, but it is one I’m glad I tried.

Fried Bologna Sandwich (Available April 26 – August 4 at Disneyland’s Carnation Café)

Sometimes it’s hard to beat the simple things in life, and this Up-inspired Fried Bologna Sandwich is the epitome of that notion. There’s nothing revolutionary going on here, but it, much like the Ratatouille did for Anton Ego, brought me right back to my childhood when my Dad would take us to get sandwiches like these which he loved so much. While I LOVE when Disney and Pixar go all out with their creativity, there’s nothing wrong with perfecting the basics by throwing some fried bologna, Monterey Jack cheese, mustard, and mayo on some wonderful white bread.

Huarache (Available April 26 – August 4 at Disney California Adventure’s Recuerdame at Paradise Garden Grille)

This plant-based meal inspired by Coco is a Huarache with soy chorizo beans and seasoned steak tips and it’s all topped with lettuce, cheese, avocado crema, and tomatillo salsa. I really enjoyed the flavors going on here and it had a little bit of a kick with the salsa, but it felt a bit mushy and some of the ingredients got lost in the process. I’d be hard-pressed to tell this wasn’t meat if I wasn’t told, but I wish the base was a bit more solid.

‘Smoked Fire Wood’ BBQ-Spiced Impossible Chicken (Available May 10 – August 4 at Elemental Table at Disney California Adventure’s Pixar Fest Marketplace)

This was the highlight for me at our tasting event during the Pixar Fest preview and I would never have been able to tell this wasn’t actually chicken. The Impossible Chicken was formed into a perfectly crispy and delicious patty and they were topped with a tangy hot mustard sauce, some pickles with a spectacular crunch, and charred onions that really made it feel like it could have been created by a fire family like Ember’s from Elemental. The flavors were not only strong and bold, but they stood side-by-side and let their strengths glow. I went back for seconds and thirds of this dish because it was that good.

Mood Swing Mac & Cheese (Available May 10 – August 4 at Hanger Management inspired by ‘Inside Out’ at Disney California Adventure’s Pixar Fest Marketplace)

This Mood Swing Mac & Cheese definitely wins the Pixar Fest 2024 Creativity Award that I just made up as I’m typing this. While you can get these two types of mac & cheese separately, Mood Swing brings the Joyful Yellow Comforting Mac & Cheese with happy cheesy puffs and the Angry Red Hot Mac & Cheese with spicy cheese crunch together for a warring flavor battle in your mouth. It was such a fun thing to try some of the happy yellow mac & cheese with an airy cheese poof and just savor the creamy cheesy flavor and then try the very red mac & cheese with what looked like a hot Cheeto and get wonderfully attacked by an actually pretty spicy dish. I then tried them both together and the creaminess of Joy’s mac & cheese calmed down the rage of Anger’s mac & cheese and it was another enjoyable way to enjoy this dish. Highly recommended.

Gusteau Macaron (Available May 10 – August 4 at Gusteau’s To-Go inspired by ‘Ratatouille’ at Disney California Adventure’s Pixar Fest Marketplace)

This macaron filled with crème brûlée mousse and a caramel center literally made me gasp with how incredible it looked. The already delicious looking macaron has Gusteau’s To-Go logo on it and it just made me so, so happy. I was then overjoyed when I discovered it wasn’t all looks as it tasted just as great. You start with the crème brûlée around the edges and the caramel center is a nice surprise when you get to it that adds another level of flavor that builds to just a stellar dessert Remy would be proud of.

Red Panda Bao (Available May 10 – August 4 at 4*Town Fav*4*ites inspired by ‘Turning Red’ at Disney California Adventure’s Pixar Fest Marketplace)

When you look at this bao, you just know it’s from Turning Red. It’s a massive bao that has a chile-garlic sauce on top of it and a red color that just screams Mei. It is filled with pork and vegetables and has a nice balance between heat on the outside and a good hearty filling on the inside. I wish it had a bit more of a flavor punch, but the bao itself was soft and pillowy and it just looks so good.

Kol Nut Whoopie Cookie Pie (Available May 10 – August 4 at Elemental Table at Disney California Adventure’s Pixar Fest Marketplace)

These cake cookies baked with cocoa powder are filled with a cream cheese frosting that looks like bright lava and it’s topped with crushed cinnamon candies that add to the fiery look and taste. These were very thick and I found them to be very dense and filling. It had a good flavor and it looked great, but it was a bit heavy for me and I wish the cinnamon had a more pronounced flavor.

Sea Monster Friends Parfait inspired by ‘Luca’ (Available April 26 – August 4 at Disneyland’s Jolly Holiday Bakery Café)

The Sea Monster Friends Parfait is like the ocean and beach in a cup and it is just SO great looking. There is a base of graham cracker crumbs for the sand, mascarpone cheesecake for the white of the waves, and a berry blue gelatin and blue Chantilly for the ocean. For the proverbial cherry-on-top, guests will find a delicious chocolate disc with Luca and Alberto swimming atop it. It’s a very sweet treat, but if that doesn’t scare you away from diving into this one, I can’t recommend it enough as the cheesecake and crumbs pair so nicely with the texture of the gelatin and the cream on top.

Pixar Fest Cotton Candy (Available April 26 – August 4 at Outdoor Vending Carts at Disney California Adventure)

Guests walking around Disney California Adventure will get to try the exclusive Pixar Fest Cotton Candy, which surprisingly tastes like marshmallows. It is blue and yellow so I was hoping for another flavor to balance it out, but that was not the case and the flavor was a bit strong for me. I much prefer regular cotton candy, but it sure does look good!

Shake 2319 inspired by ‘Monsters, Inc.’ (Available April 26 – August 4 at Disney California Adventure’s Schmoozies!)

You can read all about the behind-the-scenes story of this tasty milkshake above, but here I’ll tell you that it is a vanilla, orange, guava, and pineapple treat that has shaved coconut, whipped cream, and an ice cream cone on top. It’s all arranged in such a way to look like George Sanderson from Monsters, Inc. and it is just such a fun treat that is also so refreshing with its coldness and tropical flavors. It’s one of those dishes that you almost feel bad eating because it looks so great but then you remember that you deserve to treat yourself.

Junkyard Jamboree Churro inspired by ‘Cars’ (Available April 26 – August 4 at Disney California Adventure’s Cozy Cone Motel 1 – Churros)

Sometimes something sounds like a great idea and looks so fun but just doesn’t quite come together. For me, this was the Junkyard Jamboree Churro. This churro, which is dusted in chocolate-espresso sugar, is topped with a drizzle of ‘chocolate engine oil sauce and topped with ‘candy parts’ like sour gummy rings and worms and M&Ms. It all sounds fun, and I bet kids will LOVE it if they can handle the mild coffee taste, but it just kind of tastes like a churro that had a bunch of random things dropped on it. All the flavors and textures didn’t work together so well for me as I didn’t love chewing through the churro and then having to take a ton more bites for the gummies.

With all that being said, Disneyland churros are still the best so it's not like a regret trying it or anything!

There were a few food items that we got to see on display but didn’t get to try, and I just have to point them out to you because they look so great.

Nemo and Baby Dory Cake Pop (Available July 5 – August 4 at various candy locations around Disneyland Resort, including Bing Bong’s Sweet Stuff, Candy Palace and Candy Kitchen, and Trolley Treats)

These may be the cutest cake pops I have ever seen in my entire life and I’m not exaggerating. First up we will talk about the Nemo Cake Pop that is vanilla-flavored and point out how Nemo even has his lucky fin. Then, you throw in Baby Dory with her big eyes and markings we all know from the film and you have a true winning combination. I can’t get over these cake pops and I sent them to everyone I know and now I’m so happy you now know of them too.

The Marigold Bridge inspired by ‘Coco’ (Available April 26 – August 18)at Disneyland’s Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante)

Sometimes you come across a piece of food that takes your breath away and this Marigold Bridge cupcake that’s inspired by Coco was one of them. It is absolutely stunning and evokes the bridge from Coco where the dead cross back to the world of the living to visit their loved ones. It brought back all the feelings I had while watching Coco, and I could hear the music playing in the background as I was transported to that beautiful flower-filled walkway that keeps us connected to those that mean the most to us.

As for the cupcake itself, it is a tri-colored white sponge treat with cinnamon croquantine, cinnamon mouse, and cream cheese frosting all decorated with a chocolate bridge and orange chocolate shavings. A true work of art that I can’t wait to try.

Portorosso Pesto Pasta (Available May 10 – August 4 at Portorosso Pasta inspired by ‘Luca’ at Disney California Adventure’s Pixar Fest Marketplace)

The scene where Giulia’s dad serves Luca and Alberto some pesto pasta in Luca is one of the most memorable and hilarious scenes from the film and soon you’ll be able to try a variation of it at the Pixar Fest Marketplace. This pasta that is jumping from the big screen to Disney California Adventure is ribbon pasta tossed in basil pesto with potatoes and green beans and just screams authenticity. If you loved Luca like I did, this is one to put on your list.

Pixar Cake and Pixar Cake Pop (Pixar Fest Cake Available April 26 - August 4 at Disneyland's Plaza Inn/Pixar Ball Cake Pop Avaialble May 31 - July 4 at Candy Locations Around Disneyland)

These two deserts are two of the centerpieces of Pixar Fest as they feature the iconic Pixar Logo on them. I wasn't able to try the cake, but it is a returning favorite from 2018 with layers of yellow, blue, and red vanilla sponge cake alongside cream cheese fosting and a chocolate Pixar Ball decoration.

As for the Cake Pop, this treat is a vanilla cake pop dipped in yellow-colored white chocolate with blue sanding sugar and a red fondant star.

We'll be updating this article with new additions to Pixar Fest throughout the next few months, so be sure to check back often! Until then, you can check out the full Disney Eats Foodie Guide for Pixar Fest 2024!

Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.

Pixar Fest 2024 has officially begun at Disneyland Resort and brings with it a ton of ways to celebrate your favorite Pixar stories, from the first Toy Story all the way up to Elemental. This includes themed food, drinks, and merch, a new parade and revamped nighttime spectacular, first-time appearances by fan-favorite characters, and so much more.

Disney flew me out to preview all the fun Pixar Fest has in store for fans while it runs from April 26 - August 4, and I'm here to break down everything you need to know about the celebration and all the best food, merch, entertainment, and so much more.

There's a lot to cover in this guide, and we're making it a bit easier to get to the exact section you'd like to visit by clicking any of the links below! We also encourage you to check out my Pixar Fest Food and Treat Guide and Pixar Fest Merch and Popcorn Bucket Guide to dive deep into the best options at the Disneyland event!

• Pixar Fest 2024: Celebrating Friendship and Beyond
• Just Keep Eating, Just Keep Eating
• My Name is Dug (the Popcorn Bucket) and I Love You (and Merch)
• Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration
• Together Forever – A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular
• Pixar Pals Playtime Party and Club Pixar

Pixar Fest 2024: Celebrating Friendship and Beyond

Disneyland's first Pixar Fest took place in 2018 and it hasn't returned until this year. To learn why now was the perfect time for Pixar Fest's second run, Tasha Sounart, a creative director in Pixar's theme park group, shared with us a bit of the inspiration behind the coolest Pixar party in town.

"We want the feelings and the emotions that you've connected with these characters from the films to be carried forward in the parks in many different ways. We thought this was a really great time to bring back Pixar Fest because it's been a while and we've come out with a lot of films since then. Luca, Turning Red, Soul, and others have a lot of fun stuff in them that hasn't really been seen in the parks before, so this is an opportunity to celebrate some of those new films."

Alongside the films Sounart mentioned, Pixar also released Onward, Elemental, and Lightyear, and Pixar Fest 2024 is a chance to experience those stories in a whole new way at both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.

We also have to mention that Pixar is gearing up to release Inside Out 2 on June 14, 2024, and Pixar Fest is laying the foundation for some potential fun to come from our favorite emotions. While there isn't much Inside Out 2 quite yet since the film hasn't been released yet, that doesn't mean their aren't some surprises in store for eagle-eyes guests.

"We've got a new film coming out in June called Inside Out 2 and we obviously wanted to bring back Riley and Sadness and some of our favorite characters from Inside Out 1. And yeah, there is actually a very small cameo of Inside Out 2 in the fireworks show at the end if you keep an eye out."

All in all, Sounart shared that Pixar Fest has the "theme of togetherness and friendship," and that has spread across all the festivities at Disneyland Resort.

"I always think of coming to the park with my family or friends," Sounart said. "And so for me that's what is so meaningful about Pixar Fest is that sense of togetherness and that sense of appreciating your friends and family and having fun together, and so that is what I'm most excited about."

Just Keep Eating, Just Keep Eating

Without a doubt, one of the biggest selling points for Disney Parks' special events is the limited-time themed food and drinks that you can't get anywhere else. Furthermore, a lot of these offerings aren't just delicious treats to enjoy, but they also tell a story and become an extension of the films we all love so much.

Pixar Fest is no exception and there's quite a few options that I got to try that I highly, highly recommend you make the time to try if you can get yourself to Disneyland. You can check out my full thoughts on the items I got to try and see in person in my Best Food at Pixar Fest 2024 Guide and in the slideshow below, but I wanted to share a few top level thoughts with you below for some of my favorites.

My two favorite items I had the chance to check out were actually two items I wasn't able to try, but you better believe I will be doing my best to get back to Disneyland before August 4 to find them! First up are the Nemo and Baby Dory cake pops. I mean, just look at the images above to understand why I fell in love with this immediately. They are SO cute and have such a great attention to detail, including Nemo's lucky fin and the big eyes of baby Dory.

The second is The Marigold Bridge, which is inspired by Coco and literally took my breath away. This cupcake, which is a tri-colored one with cinnamon mousse, cream cheese frosting, and a chocolate bridge with orange chocolate shavings, looks just like the bridge from Coco that let the dead journey back to the land of the living to be with their loved ones. Even though I didn't get to taste it, this is one of the most beautiful pieces of food I've ever seen. It's not often food can make you truly emotional, but that's what happened here and the power of these stories and the incredible artists at work.

From what I got to try, I think my favorite might just be the 'Smoked Fire Wood' BBQ-Spiced Impossible Chicken, which is inspired by Elemental. This delicious not-chicken patty was so crispy and was topped with a delicious hot mustard sauce, some pickles with a perfect bite, and charred onions. The flavors just came together so well and I would never have been able to tell this wasn't chicken, it was that good.

I also have to recommend that Ratatouille Pizzetta and Gusteau Macaron from Gusteau's To-Go at Disney California Adventure Park's Pixar Fest Marketplace that will be open from May 10 - August 4. The pizzetta is a perfectly small-sized pizza with an arrangement of Ratatouille (eggplant, squash, and zucchini) on the front and a wedge of French Camembert cheese that just added a whole other level of flavor. And the macaron is just SO GOOD in the taste and looks department. From the Gusteau To-Go logo to the crème brûlée cream and caramel center, it is just a delight.

FYI, The Pixar Fest Marketplace will be a joy to visit as there are also stalls dedicated to Turning Red, Luca, Elemental (the Impossible Chicken will be there!), Soul, and more! However, it doesn't open until May 10, so keep that in mind!

Once again, check out all of my thoughts right here on the best food at Pixar Fest 2024 and let me know below what your favorites are!

My Name is Dug (the Popcorn Bucket) and I Love You (and Merch)

We all love food with all our hearts, but there is a part of us that craves merch just as much, if not more! Lucky for us but unlucky for our wallets, Pixar Fest 2024 is filled to the brim with some fun, colorful, and unique items that all celebrate everything Pixar and should please that merch monster within us all. Oh, and there are some popcorn buckets that, while maybe not as shocking, can rival those of Dune 2 and whatever ridiculousness Deadpool & Wolverine will undoubtedly throw our way.

I had the chance to speak to Disney’s Carlos Martinez about Pixar Fest 2024’s merch and what inspired its striking, comic book-style designs, and it was all in an effort to blend together the different looks of all the Pixar films.

“The coolest thing for Pixar Fest 2024 is that there are 15 unique items that all celebrate the ‘friendship and beyond’ idea and what we love about Pixar. For me, I love the fact that everything has that comic book style, which is very unique, and it bonds all the characters together from across the different stories. After all, it's not very common that you get to see Woody and Miguel together in a store with Mei and Lightning McQueen. This comic book style gives us that opportunity to be able to celebrate all the stories in one, unified way.

“Also, there is a versatility of having items that are gender inclusive, so it's not a male or female thing. There's sizing for young and old, big and small, and it's a just great opportunity to be able to just showcase your love for Pixar no matter who you are.”

A big question on everyone’s mind once again was Inside Out 2, especially considering it is set to be released in theaters on June 14. While only the first Inside Out will be part of Pixar Fest 2024's merch offerings at the start, you never know what surprises are in store down the road.

“You'll have to come out and see,” Martinez said when asked about Inside Out 2 at Pixar Fest. “You'll have to wait, because you never know what's going to happen here at the Disneyland Resort. As we learned from the original Pixar Fest, there's fun and excitement at every corner.”

Now, before we get to some of the awesome Pixar Fest 2024 merchandise fans can look out for, we have to talk about the popcorn buckets. Special popcorn buckets have long been a big part of Disney Parks but the popularity has skyrocketed with the likes of Dune 2’s shocking bucket that took the internet by storm. While not as wild, Pixar Fest will have some popcorn buckets that will make you the envy of all your friends.

First up is the Pizza Planet Truck Popcorn Bucket, which lights up and comes complete with a Toy Story Alien that is dressed up in his best Pizza Planet attire. As if that wasn’t enough, you can take the Alien out and you’ve got yourself a new figure to play with!

And speaking of Pizza Planet Trucks, there are 50 unique Pizza Planet trucks hidden around both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure for guests to find, including a Guardians of the Galaxy one and a Mad Max-esque truck that is driven by none other than Grogu himself. I won’t spoil where those are for you, but make sure to keep your eye out for them!

Now, as for the rest of the merch, one of the highlights include a Pixar Fest Spirit Jersey that features Woody, Mei, Miguel, Lightning McQueen, Sulley, Joy, Sadness, Anger, and more. This was flying off the shelves when I visited the parks on the first day of Pixar Fest and is likely to be a popular one.

Fans can also discover a bucket hat that is reversible and gives you two ways to wear your love for Pixar, one blue side with a bunch of Luxo Balls and another that yellow and blue and a bit more minimalist. There is also mugs, water bottles, bags, sweatshirts, zip-up hoodies, and more sporting that unified comic book artstyle of these characters.

Next, I want to highlight the Pixar Lug bag, which is a first for Disneyland Resort. It’s meant to be the perfect size for all your essentials, whether it be your phone, charger, external battery, snacks, sunscreen, etc., and not any more. And you can wear it across your body as a satchel, as a small backpack, or even as a fanny pack. The goal of this bag is to provide guests with a smaller way to carry with them what they need and avoiding bigger, heavier bags. Oh, and it has a see-through slot for your ID!

Lastly, Pixar Fest 2024 is bringing more than just Pixar characters to the festivities as there is a brand new, customizable headband that is now available that are basically a new sort-of Mickey Ear variation. You will be able to purchase the heads of different characters and place them on the headband in any way you like, whether that be in a way mimicking Mickey Ears or putting three or four at a time because you love them so much.

This new product is all about making the perfect headband that represents you, and the collection will continue to grow as time goes on. At launch, it now includes such characters as Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Chip, Dale, Daisy, the Toy Story Alien, Lotso, Buzz, Stitch, Winnie, and Tigger.

Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration

Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration is Pixar Fest 2024's brand-new parade that not only features such iconic characters as Woody, Buzz, and Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, but, for the first time, characters from Turning Red, Luca, and Soul!

This new parade runs twice a day from April 26 - August 4 at Disney California Adventure and, all in all, stars over 24 characters from 10 Pixar films to "celebrate friendship and beyond." There has never been more Pixar characters on display in any Disney Park and, in total, there will be almost 70 performers when you factor in the (excellent!) dancers that surround each of the eight floats.

To learn more about the parade, we heard from Robin Trowbridge, show director at Disney Live Entertainment, and he shared what we can expect and how it differs from the Pixar Play Parade back in 2018.

"We wanted to go into this parade with a message," Trowbridge said. "And the messages from the stories that we helped bring to life were basic. They were like, the truth about life is that friendship matters. And that friendship is a great thing. And that when we have friends, we are better together.

"We've learned from our Pixar Pals that friends will accept us or help lift us up no matter what we're going through, no matter what stages we are in life and we love that message. And so Better Together: a Pixar Pal Celebration is literally an invitation to celebrate friendship and beyond."

As for the floats themselves, the iconic Pixar lamp kicks off the parade, and that one is just ahead of a Turning Red one that stars Mei in her giant red panda form for the first time at a domestic Disney Park. 4*TOWN and Mei's father and friends are also dancing along on the float.

Next up is the Up float, and running all around it is Russell on Kevin's back and they look so great. The costume makes it look like it was pulled straight from the film and Kevin's feathers shine with brilliant colors in the light. Carl is on the float itself with his house and balloons behind him, and Dug is on the back and, yes, he loves you very much!

The Soul float grooves on by next and sees Joe Gardner and his students having a big jazz jam session to celebrate 'Mr. G.' In a nice touch, the music notes you see on the float make up the actually musical track for the song that the class is performing.

Joy and Sadness headline the Inside Out float and they are riding atop Riley's Rocket Wagon and a bunch of her memories. We clearly all haven't forgotten about our dear, sweet Bing-Bong so he is there with a big smile on his face.

Luca, Alberto, and Giulia follow and they are on a float that looks like it was taken right from Portorosso. Luca and Alberto are in what looks like water and you can see their blue-green scales and fins when they move, but they are in their human form when they lift their legs above the "water." Giulia is riding her Vespa above them.

The finale brings in the heavy hitters as we first see Mr. and Mrs. Incredible and Frozone drive by on their hovercraft vehicles. Then a big float with Sulley and Mike Wazowski, Buzz Lightyear and Jessie, and Miguel and Dante zooms by right before Woody rides his toy truck by to say goodbye.

Trowbridge then had one more great story to share with us about the parade, one that shows the power of the little things.

"In an effort to reach out to all of our guests, in the effort to communicate out our message, you'll see in our choreography at the end of the parade that we are signing 'better together,'" Trowbridge said. "It is literally the last statement we make at the gate when we close, that we do better together and then we wave goodbye. So that's just kind of a nice little thing that we dropped in there to help reach out."

Together Forever – A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular

While the Better Together: A Pixar Pals Celebration parade is a brand-new show, Together Forever - A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular is actually an upgraded version of the show guests enjoyed during 2018's Pixar Fest, but now with the inclusion of Turning Red, Soul, Elemental, Luca, and Onward.

Alongside fan-favorite returning elements like Buzz Lightyear and Carl and Ellie's house from Up soaring above the castle and the 59 Pixar character that were part of the original, this show will have "enhancements" like new pyrotechnics, Magic Band+ integration, and 17 new characters. There will also be a new Walkout/post-show that will keep that party going on Main Street, USA, and other locations around Disneyland with songs like an instrumental version of Turning Red's Nobody Like You.

KC Wilkerson, principal media designer for Disney Live Entertainment at Disneyland and show director for Together Forever, walked us through the inspiration behind this new Nighttime Spectacular that's filled with fireworks, projections, and more.

"Originally, the idea was that we were just going to add the new characters to the old show," Wilkerson said. "The more we dove into it, however, the more we decided that we really needed to do something a little bit different. So, we decided to sort of break the show apart in little ways and add in the new characters to our appropriate chapters because remember, Together Forever is a story.

"It's about meeting new friends. It's about taking those friends and setting out on adventures. And it's about overcoming adversity together, which helps form everlasting bonds. We wanted to choose moments from the newer films that really reflected the overall story that we were trying to tell. And we also realized that, since 2018, we have improved on the technological side. So we we added new projectors to a number of our locations. And those projectors provide us with greater detail, greater clarity, and much richer colors. And I don't know about you guys, but what I think of when I think of Pixar is color, and the opportunity to render Pixar colors effectively on all of these incredible projection surfaces was a tremendous challenge. But I think when you see pictures and video of the show and hopefully see it in real life, then you can see that the show really delivers."

And deliver it does, from everything mentioned above to Mei running down Main Street and transforming from her panda self into her human form via new, custom Pixar animation to the dead from Coco appearing above the buildings in a memorable moment to the colors of films like Elemental being represented in the fireworks. It really is the ultimate celebration of all things Pixar.

Oh, and be sure to look out for the six Hidden Mickeys throughout the projections as well as a glimpse of some of the new emotions you'll be able to catch in Inside Out 2.

Pixar Pals Playtime Party and Club Pixar

There are so many more ways for families to enjoy the fun of Pixar Fest 2024, and two more highlights are the Pixar Pals Playtime Party and Club Pixar.

Pixar Pals Playtime Party takes place at Fantasyland Theatre in Disneyland and the area has been transformed into a literal Pixar play area that is filled with Pixar characters like Elemental's Wade and Ember, Luca and Alberto from Luca, Mr. and Mrs. Incredible in their retro super suits for the first time alongside Edna and Frozone, Inside Out's Joy and Sadness, Ian and Barley from Onward, and even Russell and Dug from Up.

"We really transformed that whole space to an immersive location," Disney Live Entertainment creative director Tracy Halas told us. "You get to join some of the characters for a dance party and even learn some their dances. There are great oversized photo locations where you can meet some of the our Pixar Pals. There are locations for crafts and for creating a very fun time with family. There's specialty foods and so much more to experience, so this is really a can't-miss location at Disneyland Park."

While the Pixar Pals Playtime Party is a fun activity to do during the day, Club Pixar becomes the hot spot in the afternoon and evening as it keeps the Pixar fun going at the Hollywood Backlot at Disney California Adventure. This DJ-led experience features live performances, Pixar-themed games, photo ops, themed food and beverages, and much more.

One of the cooler aspects of Club Pixar is The Shorts Stop Drive-In Theater, where guests can sit in chairs modeled after old-time cars and watch a continuous loop of Pixar Shorts. It's a great place to relax and just take in all the joy of Pixar, and the games are on either side of it to keep the kids busy as well, including fishing, ball toss, and more.

"Club Pixar is the hottest club in town and is made for guests of all ages," Halas said. "One of my favorite parts is how you can learn some dances from the stage show, including a little Monsters U pep rally cheer and some fun from 4*Town. We've also taken some scenes like from Wall-E and from Up and share a little bit of the films before transitioning into an interactive interpretive dance moment where these great dancers come out and take that story and finish telling it through the world of dance. This is one of my favorite things. I'm not supposed to have favorites, but I do. I love how these transitions bring the emotion and heart to what these stories represent."

This part also really captured my heart, especially during the Inside Out segment. Each emotion got a chance to shine, and words and colors played on the screen behind the dancers that represented what those emotions make us feel. It was a very special dance that fit so well into the theme of Pixar.

And with that, there is everything you need to know about Pixar Fest 2024 at Disneyland! As we previously mentioned, there should be more to enjoy from now until August 4, and we'll be updating this guide with any major developments, including any related to Inside Out 2!

Until then, be sure to let us know what you are most excited for at Pixar Fest 2024 and what your favorite things are when you get to go!

For more, check out our rankings of all all the Pixar movies, our Disney 100 retrospective about how a century of Disney Magic began, and our breakdown of the latest Inside Out 2 trailer.

Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.

The Boy and the Heron, the latest (and perhaps not the last) feature film from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki and the animation gurus at Studio Ghibli, received expectedly great reviews for its debut in North America. IGN's The Boy and the Heron review awarded it a 9 out of 10, calling it "Studio Ghibli's most visually complex film to date" and the "most emotionally raw Miyazaki has ever gotten."

If you're wondering how and where to watch The Boy and the Heron in 2024, take a look at the info below.

The Boy and the Heron Streaming Release Date

The Boy and the Heron is not currently available to stream but will be available to purchase on all major digital platforms starting on June 25, including the likes of Apple TV+, Prime Video, and Vudu. Amazon already has an option to pre-order a digital copy, so it will be in your streaming library when it's finally released. Despite this, it's worth noting that all but one of Studio Ghibli's previous films (Grave of the Fireflies) are streaming on Max. We'll update this with new information as it becomes available.

The Boy and the Heron Is Coming to 4K UHD and Blu-ray in July

For more information on this new development, read our article about the 4K UHD Blu-ray release coming soon. In the meantime, you can also pre-order those physical copies of The Boy and the Heron on Amazon now. Check out the link below.

What Is The Boy and the Heron About?

The Boy and the Heron is acclaimed filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki's first feature film in 10 years. Here's the official plot "introduction" from Studio Ghibli:

A young boy named Mahito yearning for his mother ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning. A semi-autobiographical fantasy about life, death, and creation,
in tribute to friendship, from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki.

How to Watch Previous Studio Ghibli Movies

Every Studio Ghibli movie, excluding Grave of the Fireflies, is available to stream on Max. Grave of the Fireflies can be rented or bought on Apple TV:

Studio Ghibli Channel

• Max (Stream)

Grave of the Fireflies

• Apple TV (Rent/Buy)

The Boy and the Heron Voice Cast

The Boy and the Heron was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It stars the following actors:

English Voice Cast

• Christian Bale as Shoichi Maki
• Dave Bautista as The Parakeet King
• Gemma Chan as Natsuko
• Willem Dafoe as Noble Pelican
• Karen Fukuhara as Lady Himi
• Mark Hamill as Granduncle
• Robert Pattinson as Gray Heron
• Florence Pugh as Kiriko

Japanese Voice Cast

• Takuya Kimura as Shoichi Maki
• Jun Kunimura as The Parakeet King
• Yoshino Kimura as Natsuko
• Kaoru Kobayashi as Noble Pelican
• AIMYON as Lady Himi
• Shohei Hino as Granduncle
• Masaki Suda as Gray Heron
• Ko Shibasaki as Kiriko

The Boy and the Heron Rating and Runtime

The Boy and the Heron is Rated PG-13 for some violent content/bloody images and smoking. The film runs for a total of 2 hours and 4 minutes including credits.

Jordan covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN.

Stephen King is not only a famously prolific writer, but he's known as the modern master of horror. For 50 years, Stephen King has been producing masterpieces of the macabre. It's no wonder there have been heated debates over which Stephen King books are the best of the best.

For our list below, we chose from among King's published novels and rounded up our top 10 favorites. This list is in no particular order, (although we numbered the list for ease of scrolling). So, no compilations, novellas, or short stories. Also, note that this list represents top Stephen King novels, not the most obscure. So, if you're already familiar with this work in 2024, you can probably guess what made the cut. Many of these books also made our ranked list of the best Stephen King movies, too.

TL;DR – These are the Best Stephen King Books to Read:

1. Carrie

King struck gold starting with his very first novel, Carrie. The titular character is immediately recognizable to most readers as most of us went to school with someone like her. The themes of ostracism and bullying continue to resonate as much now as they did when the novel was published in 1974. Unlike some of the other books on this list, Carrie is a brisk read and makes a great introduction to King's writing style. It's no surprise this novel was turned into a movie version, Carrie in 1976.

2. Christine

If Carrie is one side of the proverbial coin, then Christine is the other. A beat-up 1958 Plymouth Fury catches the eye of high school outcast Arnie Cunningham, and after purchasing it, he becomes obsessed with restoring it. Unfortunately for him, the car is possessed by evil, and he becomes its pawn. The book critiques car culture, bullying, and masculine self-image and is another title from King that remains incredibly relevant.

3. The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger

While the latter half of The Dark Tower book series – and the Dark Tower Movie – missed the mark for some fans, no one can deny it started with a bang. The first book in the multi-decade epic, The Gunslinger, is a western at heart, much more so than the following volumes. Our introduction to Roland Deschain and Mid-World is a short gritty tale full of heartache and death, which snakes its tendrils throughout King's other works.

4. It

It is just a bit shorter than The Stand, but it’s essentially two books. Just like the recent It movies, part one deals with a group of children as they try to deal with an entity preying on the citizens of Derry, Maine. The second half finds them reuniting as adults to take It (otherwise known as Pennywise) down for good. The book drives home the horrors the kids faced in a way the films didn't quite have time to and is lauded as one of the best horror novels of all time.

5. Misery

They say misery loves company, and Annie Wilkes proves that in spades. King was somehow prescient about toxic fandoms because when Wilkes finds her favorite novelist, Paul Sheldon," after a car accident and nurses him back to health, she begins to demand that he start writing the books to her liking. Unfortunately for him, she uses a hammer instead of mean tweets. The movie is an absolute classic, but the source material is definitely worth a read as well.

6. The Shining

As with It, The Shining takes readers deeper than The Shining film ever could. It's evident that Jack Torrance is somewhat of a King self-insert if you know his history of addiction. As a result, the novel is a bit more sympathetic to him, making the end result much more tragic. It also drives home the isolation and the growing madness Jack feels, which makes his inevitable rampage that much scarier.

7. The Stand

A plague devastates the world in The Stand, and two societies form in the post-apocalyptic aftermath. This 1,000-page tome traces humanity's fate from the virus outbreak to the conclusion of a fight between good and evil. The Stand is an excellent read, but like many books this size, there are some pacing issues. However, it's worth slogging through the few meandering sections as it has a very satisfying ending.

8. Pet Sematary

Pet Sematary follows the Creed family, who relocate from Boston to Maine. While settling into their new home, they stumble on a mysterious burial ground in the woods. When they discover it has the power to bring dead animals back to life, they become entangled with an unspeakable evil they'll wish they had never crossed. It's a difficult read for animal lovers, but an outstanding slow burn of a thriller that'll keep you equal parts terrified and engaged to the end.

9. The Mist

In The Mist, a group of small town locals find themselves trapped together inside a busy grocery store when a thick fog rolls in. Attempts to leave during the mysterious storm are met with terrifying attacks and confusing disappearances. This novella is a quick but exciting read that'll have you thinking twice about what could lie in the fog – lest there be dangerous predators looking to snack on human beings. If you haven't read this one yet, it's worth it, even if you've already seen the movie adaptation! For those who haven't read the novel or seen the movie, let me ask you; what lies within the mysterious mist, and how will anyone ever make it out alive?

10. The Green Mile

The Green Mile is widely considered one of King's masterpieces, though it's less of a horror tale than the rest of the books on this list. It follows death row supervisor Paul Edgecombe as he interacts with an inmate named John Coffey. Coffey has been placed on death row for a crime he may not have committed, and he displays powerful, otherworldly healing abilities. If you still haven't seen this movie or read the book, be warned; this thriller is a tearjerker that'll leave you contemplating the meaning of life far beyond you reach its shocking conclusion.

Stephen King FAQs

How many Stephen King books are there?

There are 64 total novels (and more than 200 short stories) by Stephen King to-date.

How many Stephen King adaptations are there?

There are 51 total Stephen King Movies and 28 TV adaptations at this moment in time. Currently, there are three movies planned and one TV series in the works. However, there haven't been any details or updates since production was announced for each title:

1. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (Movie)
2. Hearts (Movie)
3. Sleeping Beauties (AMC TV series)
4. Suffer the Little Children (Movie)

Can we expect a sequel to Salem's Lot?

"Actually, I'm hoping to write a sequel to almost all of my novels and you will find those in Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah, and The Dark Tower—really in the whole Dark Tower sequence. You'll find out a lot of what happened in 'Salem's Lot for one thing and one character in particular - I'm not going to tell you which one. This is in no way an advertisement for The Dark Tower books, but it is my way of saying that The Dark Tower books finishes up a lot of business from the other books." - StephenKing.com

New and Upcoming Stephen King Books

Stephen King is never done writing. A new book, You Like It Darker will feature 12 short stories, many of which have never been published. You can expect this book to arrive on May 21, 2024, but you can pre-order it now on Amazon and other booksellers:

Pre-Order 'You Like It Darker'

Brittany Vincent is a freelance video game and entertainment writer for IGN, covering anime, thrillers, and more.

This story contains spoilers for Challengers. If you haven't had a chance to watch yet, check out our spoiler free review.

Love triangles are a trope as old as time, but Challengers' central entanglement offers a new spin on the cliche. We still get two boys trying to one-up each other for the attention of a girl, but she's not looking for the best one to fulfill a white-picket fence fantasy. Zendaya's Tashi Duncan wants greatness. She demands it of herself and from those who wish to be in her company. It shouldn't come as a surprise that a Luca Guadagnino film is more about Patrick (Josh O'Connor) and Art's (Mike Faist) relationship with each other than it is about their relationship with Tashi, but the dynamic works because Tashi doesn't love either of them. She loves tennis. And it is that love that drives all three of them to the emotional connection they seek.

The movie bounces between timelines, following the trio through college and into their professional careers, examining their shifting power dynamics as Patrick and Art face off in the adult timeline for their shot at competing in the U.S. Open. It's so refreshing to see a female character, especially at the center of a romantic movie, whose primary drive isn't finding a husband and starting a family. Tashi is never coy about what drives her. Art and Patrick are just too distracted by their own dreams and desires for her to listen to what she's saying.

She spells it out for them after the duo sequesters her on a beach after her junior tournament win celebration early on in the film. "You don't know what tennis is," she informs the boys, "It's a relationship." She goes on to explain how her match earlier was like being in love and that she and her opponent "went somewhere beautiful together." The high of a perfect volley is what Tashi is chasing, while Art and Patrick spend the movie attempting to replace that rush for her.

Patrick thinks he's the early winner when he defeats Art in their own junior championship final the day after the beach party and gets Tashi's number but, the thing is, Tashi's attraction to Art at that point in the film has nothing to do with how he feels about her. She instantly admonishes him when she realizes he's trying to manipulate her—"What makes you think I want someone to be in love with me?"—but Art has been putting in the work to be a better tennis player while Patrick cruises at the bottom of the rankings on the pro circuit. That's why Tashi entertains Art's antics. When Patrick asks to stop talking about tennis, Tashi loses interest and their relationship instantly implodes. A few hours later, she tears her knee and Art is there to dry her tears and pick up the pieces of her broken heart.

With her personal aspirations destroyed, Tashi pivots to coaching. She can't be far from the game. Patrick temporarily fades into the background and Art steps up to be the engine for Tashi's new dream. He realizes that positioning himself as the better boyfriend isn't the move, so he swears he'll be the better tennis player. This is the moment where Art seems to understand Tashi the most, but it is also his downfall.

Art's tactic does work for a while. He and Tashi get married and have a kid. They have a foundation and lots of money. He became a very good pro tennis player, almost great, even, but he grows tired and ultimately wants to quit before his promise to Tashi to reach her dream is fulfilled. When Tashi realizes he's giving up, her affection wanes.

Challengers isn't a movie for people with a weak stomach for infidelity. If this movie were about either Patrick or Art finding love with Tashi, then maybe it would matter more how she bounces between the two. But there's a reason that you see the moment she agrees to coach Art but you never see footage of their wedding. Art resents that Tashi doesn't find their marital life enough, but Tashi never wants to be the prize. Her mission throughout the entire film is to get either of these men to want greatness for themselves.

She breaks up with Patrick in the first half of the movie because he doesn't want to talk about tennis and she sees him as an unserious person. She cheats on Art when he announces he wants to quit the game before winning the open, but even the infidelity is about getting Patrick to lose the match against Art so Tashi doesn't have to see her dream deferred yet again. She isn't interested in either of them when they don't respect her love, and her love is being great at the game.

Many people may accuse Tashi of being unlikable because she's not reciprocating the affection of these men but, in truth, she's playing them the same way they are playing her. While she may not be in love with them, she does still care for them. She makes sacrifices for them, especially Art; she encourages them; she inspires them. They are just not able to give her what she truly craves in return, and that frustration grows into resentment for everyone involved.

Each of these relationships comes with conditions. Patrick and Art both love Tashi as long as she makes them shine or feel better about themselves; Tashi loves them as long as they are putting in the effort to be the best after she loses the thing she loves most when she injures her knee. Both Art and Patrick volunteer to be the new vessel for her dream at different parts of the movie, and when they fail to be that for her, she doesn't just see them as disrespectful, she sees them as impotent. In the end, they are all using each other for their own gains. What's so special about Challengers is that no one, even Tashi, gets punished for it. In fact, they are all rewarded in the closing moments of the film.

We are so used to movies that prioritize functional relationships as the end goal. The destination in Challengers is a perfect tennis volley, but it's a metaphor for pushing yourself beyond your limits. When you commit to something wholeheartedly, you can become something greater than yourself. This is a trio of messy, flawed characters but even they can find magic when they drop their pretenses and put their bare souls on the line. It's actually inspiring to think any of us messy, flawed, beings can achieve real connection when we ditch fear and resentment and just hit the damn ball.

The climax of the film takes place at the final for the challengers tournament, culminating in Patrick and Art in competition for a spot in the U.S. Open. By the time they reach match point, Art knows that Patrick and Tashi slept together the night before and Patrick knows that Tashi isn't going to leave Art for him. And none of it matters. It’s here that Guadagnino shows his visionary style as a director.

This final sequence is tense and hypnotic as Art and Patrick swat the ball back and forth. It's a symphony of grunts, sneaker squeaks on asphalt, and the hollow pang of a rubber tennis ball making contact with a racquet. It's sweaty but also sexy as Art and Patrick finally reach the level of tennis that Tashi waxed poetic about on the beach years prior. They understand each other completely, and so does everyone watching. It's like they're in love, or like they don't exist. They go somewhere really beautiful together. Art comes to the net and jumps for the final hit, slams the ball, and collapses into Patrick's arms.

They embrace in the euphoria of the moment. We don't even see who wins the match, because at this point in the story, that’s not what’s important. This is the first time that Art and Patrick understand what Tashi has been chasing since they've known her. The resentment and passive aggression of the past ten years melted in the volley and the former best friends were able to connect in a way they never had before. They never would have reached that moment with another opponent, and they never would have allowed themselves to go there if it wasn't for Tashi pushing both of them. They were finally able to fulfill their promise to her, and everyone wins.

Challengers is now playing in theaters.

There’s a scene in 1982’s Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan where Admiral James T. Kirk is visited by his estranged son, David Marcus, following the death of Kirk’s best friend and first officer, Spock. In their exchange, Kirk admits, “I haven't faced death. I've cheated death. I've tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing.”

Unlike his most famous character, 93-year-old actor William Shatner knows he can’t cheat death. Indeed, he faces his mortality head-on in the compelling new documentary You Can Call Me Bill, available now on VOD.

IGN recently had the opportunity to discuss the film with Shatner, who proved as candid and philosophical musing about his mortality with us as he is in You Can Call Me Bill. (This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.)

IGN: I found the documentary very moving because I've never seen a star, even in anything autobiographical, be as emotionally open, honest, and raw as you were in this. You're talking about your life, your death. At what point did you feel like, "I want to talk about this and I want to do it on camera"?

William Shatner: Well, over the years you can imagine people came up and say, "We'd like to do a documentary about you." And I would turn them down, "No, it's not time." When Legion M, with their unique way of financing, people are going to get their money back before I get paid sort of thing. And it's now going to be released and we're in a peculiar time in films. Releasing a film that doesn't have all this hullabaloo. So I've been asked over the years to do a documentary about me and I've turned them down.

So here comes Legion M with all their smart guys and then the credentials of the director [Alexandre O. Philippe, who also directed The People vs. George Lucas]. And then my thought [was], "Jesus, I'm an old man. I don't know when that happened. And I better if I'm going to say anything to my children rather than, 'My child, dear old dad is...' I could do it in a documentary and leave what your father, your grandfather was like, to some degree. Here I am, child, in all my blacks and whites, and take me for what I am." I am talking to my family. I keep hearing the word legacy and I keep saying legacy doesn't exist. They tear down the statues, the boats sink, the name comes off the building.

But what I can leave my kids is this documentary and the knowledge that your legacy is based on the good things you do in your life. The people you help, the good deeds, being a Boy Scout even once will make a difference. And if you can sort of keep that in mind, it's what you leave behind. The other things, the money, the fame disappear immediately. If it's not in a day, in a week, if not in a week, in a year. And if not in a year, in the blink of an eye when things rot and decay anyway. So that's what I was thinking. This is a legacy to my kids.

IGN: Talking about mortality can make people uncomfortable. Would you have felt as comfortable exploring that on camera or on the record back when you were a leading man?

William Shatner: I didn't know it, I didn't consciously know it, but looking back sometimes you make intuitive choices based on “oh, that's why I did that” looking back. And I think the reason held somewhere in my brain that I didn't do a documentary before and did this documentary. And without consciously [being] like, “I'm going to be absolutely honest.” It's just that I've discovered over the years that by being yourself and calm, calmness inside and being yourself, you can't do any – if you trust yourself, you can't do anything wrong because that's you.

The question I keep asking myself [is], "How do you know when you're going to die?" How do you know that the cough you just had isn't a harbinger of a heart attack, or it's just a cough? And you get to a certain age, you think, "Wait a minute, am I dying?" You don't know when you're dying, until what? A friend of mine said – the daughter was sitting beside this friend of mine, her mother, sitting on the bed, her mother's dying. And so they're there, the daughter's keeping company. And suddenly the mother says, "Veronica, I'm dying." Like with incredulity at the grotesqueness of dying. "I'm dying." And then thereafter she died. How do you know when you're dying?

IGN: You also talk a lot in the film about nature. What do you think [Star Trek creator] Gene Roddenberry – known for this show that's all about hope in the future – would make of the deeply precarious state of our planet?

William Shatner: I'm sure he would feel exactly what you've just described. He was a tough guy. He'd been through many careers, pilot, policeman, something else, then a writer. And then he had to learn to write. And then somehow this idea of Star Trek came about. He was also a guy who had his own demons. So he was fighting his own personal battle in life and having this Star Trek concept, this voyage to the universe. He would, like all of us, would be angry, hurt, disappointed, so many negative emotions about how... Christ's sake, in our American government today there are people that say there's no such thing as global warming. It's idiotic. All the coral are bleached because of the hot water, the air, the plastics, which we thought would save us are all infecting us. It's terrible.

And yet, I had a program on the air called I Don't Understand, I did an interview show. And one of the guys I interviewed was an award-winner … and I said to him, "I don't understand why all the scientists in the world are [not] getting together for a Manhattan Project to find out the cure for getting rid of all these poisons." And he said, "We are." And subsequent to that conversation of a couple of years ago, I've read and heard and spoken about all kinds of incredible possibilities of cleaning the air, cleaning the water, and cleaning the ground, all kinds of weird inventions and things that scientists have come up with that are just a few years away from being useful.

So I would now do discovery on that and talk to people like yourself about, "My God, do you realize they're this close to taking the carbon out of the carbon dioxide and burying it?" There's pilot programs that are doing that. The water, the cleaning the ocean, suddenly everybody's being galvanized. Not everybody, but a lot of people are being galvanized into action to protect the world. It seems that this growing perception of the danger that we're in is becoming apparent, and it's a race between finding the answer to some of these problems and killing ourselves.

What comes to mind is in my will and now publicly, I've said, "I want to be a tree. When I'm dead, I want a tree planted over my ashes and let the earth feast on whatever I can add," as against some tombstone. And then I wrote a song for this album that's out now called I Want to Be A Tree. Ben Folds plays the piano accompaniment. So that's all apropos of the intertwining of nature. The more I read, the more I talk about it, see how intertwined everything is. So this tree and my body will be intertwined.

You Can Call Me Bill is now available on VOD.

"So Fragile, So Blue," William Shatner's 2022 live recording with the National Symphony Orchestra, is now available on all digital platforms and will be released on vinyl and CD on July 19. The concert was led by Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke and NSO Artistic Advisor Ben Folds.

Building a post-apocalyptic future on a budget takes imagination, or at least resourcefulness. If nothing else, the pared-down science-fiction thriller Breathe has plenty of the latter. It's set in 2039, after pollution has rendered the air on Earth mostly toxic, sending large portions of the planet’s population to an early grave and placing the rest at the mercy of gas masks and oxygen tanks. While a few reasonably convincing establishing shots of a crumbling New York City help set the doomsday mood, the world-building is mostly a suggestive tint: Through filters and color correction, the filmmakers give their Brooklyn backdrop a sickly orange – the same hue of contamination that bathes stretches of Fallout’s nuclear wasteland and the Las Vegas of a much more expensive sci-fi movie set exactly a decade later. You want to cough just looking at it.

If that unnatural dustbowl shade doesn’t immediately plunge you forward in time, the casting should. Turns out that Quvenzhané Wallis, a.k.a. the little girl from Beasts of the Southern Wild, is now in her 20s – a revelation sure to leave some viewers feeling as old and dilapidated as Breathe's NYC skyline. Wallis plays Zora, the tinkering teenage offspring of scientist Darius (Common) and his no-nonsense wife, Maya (Jennifer Hudson). The three live together in a Brooklyn bunker, staying alive thanks to a high-tech filtration system.

For better and worse, the storytelling is as economical as the production design. At first, that seems like purely a blessing. We’re spared, at least, any unnecessary exposition, as screenwriter Doug Simon and director Stefon Bristol (See You Yesterday) simply reach the natural, probable conclusion that the world will end up literally choking on its environmental mistakes. The opening runtime is better spent on getting us acquainted with the close-knit survivors. With quick brushstrokes of sensitivity – and the mood-setting hum of John Coltrane on the record player – the filmmakers paint an oasis of warmth and affection at the end of the world. We’ve only just met these folks, but we feel the loss when Darius treks into the poisoned outdoors to bury his dead dad, disappearing from the movie and the lives of his wife and child.

Breathe works best as a clash of needs and uncertain motives. The main plot unfolds months after Darius' departure, when Maya and Zora – having mostly given up on ever seeing him again – face a threat to their sanctuary. It comes in the form of Tess (Milla Jovovich), Lucas (Sam Worthington), and Micah (Raúl Castillo), who have traveled from Philadelphia in search of answers to their own encampment’s dwindling oxygen supply. The movie withholds certain pieces of key information from both the audience and some of the characters, and then builds the increasingly tense standoff between the two parties around those. Tess claims to have worked with Darius in the before times, which is how she knows about the bunker, but Maya has never heard of her. Is the stranger lying to steal their technology and safety? Or are these travelers just desperate people in need of a lifeline?

Most of the action takes place on the same block of abandoned city street, placing the at-odds survivors in each other’s crosshairs or dropping a heavy door between them. It helps that the actors are mostly top-notch – Hudson all steely distrust, Wallis tempering Zora’s fear with optimism, Worthington liberated from the bland virtuousness of his Avatar avatar. And Jovovich, no stranger to orange-hued fallen worlds, racks up the urgency from the moment her baby blues appear behind a shield of glass.

There’s the basic outline of a crackerjack thriller here, set to the ticking clock of an O2 reserve always on the wane. But Breathe could have used a few more complications and a little more clarity of message, too. As an allegory of trust and community, it’s muddled at best: COVID optics and the prominent introduction of Malcolm X’s autobiography – a gift Darius gives to Zora – beg for a larger meaning that doesn’t emerge. Perhaps Simon and Bristol are too sentimental to draw any truly withering conclusions from the tussle between these two desperate, disparate groups. Though there’s a sharp ambivalence to the setup, the kind that could leave a viewer wondering what they’d do in the situation, it eventually devolves into a cleaner binary of scrupulous and not.

The “movies are too long these days” crowd may release a relieved sigh upon learning that Breathe runs a cool 93 minutes. Certainly, no one could accuse the film of wasting much of their precious time. But there’s a fine line between efficiency and skimpiness, and by the end of this very brisk hour and a half, it’s the drama that’s started to look rather asphyxiated. Plenty of sci-fi movies overstay their welcome luxuriating in a fancifully conceived future. This one could have used a little more room to, well, you know.

In celebration of Alien Day, Alien: Romulus director Fede Álvarez shared a behind-the-scenes set video of the series' Facehuggers in action.

In the nearly 20-second X/Twitter clip, Álvarez showed a practical prop of a facehugger under an RC car scuttling about the floor of the Alien: Romulus set like an overgrown horseshoe crab.

“Playing with my favorite toy on set of Alien Romulus last summer,” Álvarez wrote. “Happy #AlienDay everybody!”

Playing with my favorite toy on set of #AlienRomulus last summer. RC Facehugger created by the amazing team from @wetaworkshop Happy #AlienDay everybody! pic.twitter.com/XKqc5StFtR

— Fede Alvarez (@fedalvar) April 26, 2024

Álvarez also revealed that Alien: Romulus’ facehugger (i.e. the source of his commenters' nightmares) was created by the New Zealand-based special effects and prop company Wētā Workshop.

In a previous interview with IGN, Álvarez said that facehuggers were the creatures from the Aliens franchise that scared him the most. Naturally, this led to his decision to pit Alien: Romulus’ protagonist (played by Cailee Spaeny) against a herd of them.

“The idea of what would happen if the Facehugger gets you, you'll wish for the Xenomorph. You'll wish for a quick death instead of what happens to you if you get caught by one of them,” Álvarez said. “Conceptually, that's just so terrifying. And though in a way, there's a lot of things that happened here that although they're familiar, they never really technically ever happened again since the first movie, or they hint in the others of some version of it. But here we went very purist in a lot of these things.”

Alien: Romulus is a standalone film that follows a young group of space colonists trapped on a remote station infested with xenomorphs. Aside from Spaeny, its cast includes David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu.

Alien: Romulus hits theaters on August 16, 2024.

Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.

Earlier this month, Robert Downey Jr. expressed his interest in reprising his role as Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Although the Oscar winner is game to suit back up as the billionaire playboy philanthropist, Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo, better known as the Russo brothers, aren’t sure about the likelihood that Tony Stark could return to the MCU.

Speaking with GamesRadar at the Sands: International Film Festival, the Russos voiced their confusion surrounding Downey’s comments about a potential return to the superhero franchise.

Warning: Spoiler for Avengers: Endgame below.

“I don’t know how they would do it,” Anthony Russo told GamesRadar. “I don’t know what the road to that would be."

“I mean, we closed that book, so it would be up to them to figure out how to reopen it,” Joe Russo added.

Rumors that Marvel Studios was considering bringing back Downey and actors from the original Avengers film for a new film were first sparked by a November Variety report. Despite Avengers: Endgame’s final act serving as a prime example of previously deceased (or "blipped") Marvel heroes returning from beyond, Marvel head Kevin Feige refuted the claim it was mulling over bringing Iron Man back. Speaking with Vanity Fair, Feige said Marvel Studios would never “magically undo” Tony Stark’s emotionally climactic death in Avengers: Endgame.

“We are going to keep that moment and not touch that moment again,” Feige told Vanity Fair. “We all worked very hard for many years to get to that, and we would never want to magically undo it in any way.”

Prior to winning an Oscar for his supporting role in Oppenheimer, Downey portrayed Tony Stark for 11 years in the MCU. The role, which resparked his career, also made him one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood during the height of the MCU.

Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.