The post TATTOO OF THE DAY appeared first on Berkeley Place.

Nova v5 #9 (2013)
pencil by Paco Medina
ink by Juan Vlasco
color by David Curiel

Chad Stahelski and David Leitch came a long way coming full circle from their many years of stunt work to becoming successful directors in Hollywood. Without their work on The Matrix trilogy, we would never see the likes of the John Wick franchise or Deadpool 2 come to fruition. Cinemablend reports Stahelski and Leitch assisting director Lana Wachowski in the fourth film. Lana and her sister Lily wrote and directed the original Matrix trilogy. With Lily out of the picture, Lana's sharing co-writing duties with Aleksandar Hemon and David Mitchell.

Stahelski and Leitch Return to The Matrix in Consulting Capacity

Stahelski described how he and Leitch's involvement in the production. "It's more about the creative concept of some of the choreography and backing them up with stuff," he said. "Other than the Matrixes, most of their stuff…what makes [Lana] so great is she directs her own action. We've had second unit directors on some of the Matrixes just because of the logistics involved. But of late, and especially on Matrix 4, she's directing her own action. The second units for them are mostly establishing shots, the B-sides of some of the compositions for some locations. But Lana, she does her own action. She weaves it into the main unit stuff, which is why their stuff looks so good." Rather than rely on a second unit director to help with action sequences, Wachowski's supervising with the two advising on a conceptual level. Stahelski fulfilled the same capacity during the Birds of Prey (2020) reshoots.

Picking Up Where They Left Off

For Stahelski and Leitch, it was also an opportunity to reunite with the crew they bonded with while working on the original trilogy. "They were really cool," Stahelski said. "They asked us to help out with the choreography and some of the physical training for the guys. I'm helping out a little bit for a sequence. I think Dave's helping out for a sequence. Lana's come back with a lot of love to have a pseudo-family reunion, so that's been a lot of fun. It's been good to see a lot of the crew members again. We just finished doing a sequence in San Francisco before the pandemic started." Returning for the fourth Matrix are Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and Lambert Wilson. Joining them are Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, and Toby Onwumere. The film slates for a 2021 release.

The post Matrix 4: John Wick Directors Chad Stahelski, David Leitch Return appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

Klabater and Mandragora Games announced this week that their isometric survival-horror game Skyhill: Black Mist is coming in May. In fact, the game will debut on PC on May 28th, as a follow-up to the original Skyhill game from 2015. The game plays out a little bit like a comic book inspired by classic horror cinema, while also introducing mysterious and paranormal elements to the game that make it a unique storytelling event. You can read more about it below along with a quote from the announcement, plus check out the live-action story trailer at the bottom. The console version will hit all three major platforms on August 27th.

Skyhill: Black Mist, the second installment of the series, is a combination of classic horror and gameplay straight from survival games. The game loosely parallels the original concept, but gameplay-wise it's a revolutionary step forward. This time the developers moved from 2D to 3D, presenting the action in an isometric view. The game mechanics have been significantly enhanced with stealth elements and solutions known from metroidvania-like games, including the ability to re-explore already visited locations to find previously inaccessible items and information. An important element of the game, also improved compared to the original, is a crafting system that allows players to craft items that will help them survive in the most difficult conditions.

"I think of the first Skyhill as a kind of an introduction to what we're creating now for Black Mist. We had time to significantly improve and expand the main concept; only the haunted building was left from the original game," said Eugene Kisterev, head of the project at Mandragora Games. "The scale and the scope of this new adventure are incomparably greater, both in terms of gameplay solutions and due to the transition to extensive 3D locations that can be freely explored. It's a big game, full of surprises and plot-twists. I hope both fans of the original game and new players will like it."

The post Skyhill: Black Mist Receives A May 2020 Release Date appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

Two WWE executives have sold over $2 million of stock, an SEC filing reported today reveals. Executive Producer Kevin Dunn sold a whopping 33,000 shares of his stock, which, at a rate of $45.46 per share, comes to more than $1.5 million. The 33,000 shares represent about one-fifth of Dunn's total WWE stock ownership, leaving him with around 125,000 shares. WWE Executive Vice President of Operations Bradley Blum, on the other hand, sold nearly all of his shares of stock. Blum unloaded 16,358 shares, leaving just 3,103 shares in his portfolio. Blum's stock sales netted over $740,000.

It's interesting to try to read into the reason for this massive stock dump. WWE's shares shot up after their first-quarter financial report, which touted potentially record-breaking profits even though the company's live event revenue stream is completely shut down and WrestleMania had to be taped in an empty building. That money is built on the strength of WWE's lucrative television contracts, as well as money the company has raked in from a deal with the government of Saudi Arabia to hold shows in the country. But as we talked about earlier this week, it's entirely possible that WWE has peaked with these deals. Ratings are lower than expected and continue to decline despite the big money paid for the rights to air WWE broadcasts. Will Fox and USA be willing to pay as much money the second time around for shows proven to underperform? If so, the current bump could be temporary and now might be a good time to dump the stock before reality sets back in.

This does splash some cold water on a recent rumor that WWE could be up for a sale, as surely that stock would be worth more in the near future if a sale is in the cards. Another possibility is that both men may have been hoping to become the next president of WWE. WWE Co-Presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson left the company earlier this year, and while WWE appointed Frank Riddick III as Interim Chief Financial Officer, a new president wasn't named. Dunn was rumored to be a favorite for the job, but maybe it didn't work out. Then again, for Dunn, the sale of large amounts of WWE stock isn't that unusual. Dunn has sold large sums of stock before, as recently as in 2018. Of course, it's possible there's no juicy explanation behind the sales at all. Maybe Dunn and Blum just prefer to keep their money in cash. Or maybe they're planning to buy an island together to quarantine from coronavirus. It's really anybody's guess.

WWE was recently sued by a group of its own shareholders in a class-action suit due to alleged insider trading. However, neither of the two men above were named in the lawsuit. Blum has been with WWE for nearly 14 years, while Dunn has been with WWE his whole life. Dunn's father, Dennis Dunn, worked for Vince McMahon's father, Vince McMahon Sr., and legend has it Dennis Dunn once saved tapes of WWE shows from a burning car, and as a result, McMahon Sr. promised to always take care of Dunn's son.

The post WWE Executives Just Sold Off More Than $2 Million in Stock appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

Avengers v5 #16 (2013)
pencil & ink by Stefano Caselli
color by Frank Martin, Jr.