This time around, Jack Kesy dons the iconic prosthetics to play the superpowered demon based on the limited series of the same name. Set in the '50s, it follows Hellboy in rural Appalachia as he finds himself mixed up with a small community haunted by witches. Controlling the malevolence is a devil-like figure called the Crooked Man. 

The early trailers have teased the dark tone of the new reboot, as well as leaning into the scares. "It's a horror story, it’s a horror film – it’s very simple," director Brian Taylor told GamesRadar+ at San Diego Comic-Con recently.

"I took to this like, 'This is an adaptation. I'm adapting the story the way I would adapt a Stephen King story, it's all there in the texts. I'm just gonna execute it with as much love and care as we can.' I think fans of the original comic book are gonna love this. I know already like there's people online who’ve seen the teasers and things like that and they're like, 'This is the comic.' That’s what we want."

Taylor also explained that it was important to keep The Crooked Man separate from what we've seen on screen before. After all, Hellboy has been adapted several times before, including three-live action movies, Hellboy (2004) and its sequel The Golden Army (2008), and the 2019 reboot film Hellboy.

"I knew we weren't gonna be referential to the other films at all, they're their own thing," Taylor added. "They're great but this is not a this is not a space opera, right? It’s a folklore story, it’s contained. It's an attempt to make things a little simpler, I think. I kind of feel like movies have got really, really complicated. And we're talking about this I mean, movies nowadays, it's like two or three hours long and an hour of that people explaining things and I still don't understand it."

The director, previously best known for his work on Crank and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, continued: "It makes me tired. I think a beautiful folk horror story is a simple thing, and that's how we approached it."

Hellboy: The Crooked Man is due to be released in 2024. For more upcoming movies, check out our breakdown of 2024 release dates and new superhero movies on the way.

On August 8, the platform took to Twitter to share a cryptic first look at the new chapter, which features a soldier and a windswept Kate Wyler (Keri Russell) alongside the caption: "The call is coming from inside the house. The Diplomat season 2 premieres October 31." Another image sees Wyler looking stressed, as she leans up against the sink in some swanky venue's bathroom.

We weren't necessarily expecting a Halloween drop for the acclaimed political thriller, but we'll take it. All episodes will be available at once, in keeping with Netflix's traditional boxset strategy.

Created by Debora Cahn, The Diplomat follows Wyler, a United States ambassador to the United Kingdom, as she tries to defuse an international crisis while navigating her failing marriage to a fellow civil servant. 

"Season 1 ended with Kate's realization that the attack on a British warship [that] brought her to the UK wasn't the work of a hostile nation – it was the British prime minister," Cahn tells Tudum. "Now she has to prove it."

"The US and the UK don't spy on each other," she continues. "In fact, they share all their intelligence. So how do you investigate the PM? Who do you trust?"

Allison Janney, Rufus Sewell as Hal Wyler, David Gyasi as Austin Dennison, Ali Ahn as Eidra Park, Rory Kinnear as Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge, and Ato Essandoh as Stuart Hayford are all likely to be back. Though it's worth noting that some of their fates are up in the air following the second attack in the season 1 finale.

The Diplomat season 1 is streaming now. For more, check out our list of the best Netflix shows for some viewing inspiration.

Based on the video game series of the same name and directed by Thanksgiving helmer Eli Roth, the film follows outlaw Lilith (Cate Blanchett), who leads a ragtag team of misfits on a mission to rescue a missing girl. The cast also includes Jack Black, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Hart, and Ariana Greenblatt. Ahead of its theatrical release, though, the movie currently only has a score of 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on reviews from 23 critics.

"The Gearbox title gamers loved has spawned a frenetic and disorderly shambles they’re likelier to loathe. Claptrap? You said it," is the verdict on Total Film's own two-star Borderlands review.

"Is Borderlands the worst film of the year? It’s definitely in contention – so laughably bad, in fact, that it feels like being catapulted back to a time when video game adaptations were a byword for mediocrity," says The Evening Standard's Vicky Jessop.

"It’s dragged us back to a time when studios used to make these with all the grace and acuity of a drunk person attempting to place a 3am chicken nugget order," echoes The Independent's Clarisse Loughrey.

"In her chameleonic career, Cate Blanchett has donned many guises – but never before has she had the chance to be a gun-toting, ass-kicking action star. Sadly, Borderlands is an unworthy vehicle for her swaggering performance," writes Screen Daily's Tim Grierson.

"Since the characters remain one-dimensional -- not much more than cartoonish gamer avatars – we’re never terribly invested in their survival, or their quest to get to the vault first," says The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney.

Borderlands hits theaters on August 9. For more, check out our guide to the rest of this year's biggest movie release dates at a glance. 

Amazon's upcoming show Like a Dragon: Yakuza, based on the beloved video game series, is therefore the latest in a long line of these stories set in the Japanese criminal underworld. So, the question is then, what makes this stand out within such a crowded sub-genre?

According to actor Ryoma Takeuchi, who portrays the fearless Yakuza warrior Kiryu, it all comes down to the nature of the relationships within the gang that features in the new Prime Video series. Speaking to GamesRadar+ at SDCC, via translators, Takeuchi emphasized: "Even though it's perhaps a strange community, it's still very human. They consider these feral gang members as family even though they are not related by blood. There are strong bonds which is a really interesting factor."

Meanwhile for co-star Kento Kaku, who plays Kiryu's brother-in-arms Akira Nishikiyama, it has more to do with the show's tone, which continues the original one that has been set by the games. As any gamer knows, the Yakuza series is known for balancing dark drama with wacky humor, a fine tightrope it walks very carefully. The team therefore wanted to achieve the same balance with their TV adaptation, believing this is what makes both the games and their show unique.

Kaku emphasizes: "It's so colorful in a way, it has this wackiness to it - it's a very deep human drama that has a fun side. That's the thing that makes it different to other stories, that lighter element. The game creators we talked to spoke about how they had this certain point of view - it's very fearless and dark, but fun and human. I think that's the very unique way they cut out the city and part of why it's very attractive to people outside of Japan. When you play the games you feel you have to go there and try it out."

That place you will want to head to after watching the show is the fictional Kamurochō district, which is where all the action takes place. Set across two timelines, we see how childhood friends Kiryu and Nishikiyama navigate Japan's criminal underbelly, seeing how their decisions can have serious consequences.

The first three episodes of Like a Dragon: Yakuza will premiere on Prime Video on October 24, with new episodes following weekly.

For what else should be on your radar, check out our guide to the upcoming TV shows to watch out for.

Cat Video Fest showcases a hand-picked reel of the best cat videos pulled from public submissions. The best part? The event raises money for cat charities, animal welfare organizations, and shelters. In fact, since 2019, the event has made over $150,000 for local shelters and more, and even encourages attendees to adopt a kitty for themselves as well.

This year, the 73-minute reel consists of videos of varying length, tone, and subject matter. No matter what kind of feline fan you are, there is something for everyone from grumpy cats, feisty cats, musically talented cats, and even a kitty climbing the wall whilst 'Spider Pig' from The Simpsons Movie plays in the background.

The lucky person who gets to choose which cat videos appear is Will Braden. In an interview with Variety, Braden revealed that he watches 15,000 cat videos per year and selects about 200 for the reel. The whole process from picking clips to displaying them takes him all year long. "It's my full-time job. My business cards say I watch cat videos," he said. But even so, it sounds like the dream, right? "As long as people laugh, and as long as we raise money for cats in need," added Braden. "Then I'll have the greatest job ever for as long as I want it."

But it looks like Cat Video Fest has some competition as The NY Cat Film Festival, led by pet wellness advocate Tracie Hotchner, is also making its way through New York City this October. The festival will screen a 90-minute film made up of cat-themed filmed from animated shorts to mini-documentaries, all hosted by a panel of cat anchors called Cats Eye Witness News. Let the kitty wars commence! All for a good... paws, of course. 

For more information on where the film is playing and how to get tickets, visit the Cat Video Fest website here and keep up with new movies heading your way this year. 

The first teaser for new horror Presence is here – and it's giving us big In A Violent Nature vibes.

While the chilling clip (which you can watch above) is very brief, it effectively showcases the film's unique selling point: the fact that it's a haunted house movie told from the perspective of the evil entity doing the spooking. (Released earlier this year, In A Violent Nature is a supernatural slasher seen, in part, through the eyes of a bloodthirsty serial killer).

Directed by Steven Soderbergh, whose previous works include Ocean's Eleven, Magic Mike and Unsane, and written by David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Carlito's Way, Panic Room), Presence stars Lucy Liu as Rebekah, a mother who moves her reluctant family to a quiet suburban neighborhood, into a hundred-year-old house.

While Rebekah has two children, a fact her husband Chris (Chris Sullivan) has to remind her of on the regular, she devotes her attention solely on her mean-spirited, competitive swimmer son Tyler (Eddy Maday). With her focus elsewhere, Rebekah barely notices when her daughter Chloe (Calliana Liana), who is mourning the loss of a friend, starts claiming that all isn't right with their new home. Uncut Gems' Julia Fox rounds out the supporting cast.

NEON, its distributor in the US, seems to have learnt valuable lessons from the marketing it did for Longlegs, which genre fans praised for being deliberately withholding and refreshingly creative. 

"Hats off to you NEON. You had my attention, now you have my curiosity," one viewer commented on the promo's YouTube link, while another said: "Every other studio in the industry needs to take cues from NEON when it comes to marketing their films."

Presence releases in US theaters in January 2025, though it's yet to confirm an exact date or when it'll reach UK cinemas. While we wait, check out our list of the best horror movies of all time, or our guide to the most exciting upcoming horror movies heading our way.

While speaking to GamesRadar+ at San Diego Comic-Con, Kento Kaku – who plays Kiryu’s best friend Nishiki – says (via translation) that there will be a "close connection" to RGG Studio’s long-running series.

"We have some Easter eggs in the show where we have the voice actors performing in the drama," Kaku reveals.

It’s not yet clear who exactly will appear, though we suspect the likes of Kiryu voice actor Takaya Kuroda and Majima voice actor Hidenari Ugaki will be high on fans’ wishlists to pass through Amazon’s depiction of Kamurocho. We’ll even take a what-the-cluck cameo from everyone’s favorite manager chicken, Nugget.

Expanding on how the Prime Video series will pay homage to the games, Kiryu actor Ryoma Takeuchi points to the multi-faceted personalities of the characters as something that will be mirrored on the small screen when it debuts this October.

"I think the most important part [is] focusing on the character arc. There’s immense growth over the course of the series. Knowing and embodying the flaws as much as the strengths of each character is quite important," Takeuchi says. "Having to learn the internal struggles the character has was the biggest element we wanted to pour in as the essence that represents the game itself."

Like a Dragon: Yakuza will explore the dual timelines of 1995 and 2005 as childhood friends – Kiryu and Nishikiyama – deal with the fallout from an event which reverberates across the criminal underworld in the fictional district of Kamurocho. 

The first three episodes will premiere on October 24, with new episodes following a week later.

For more, check out our picks for the best shows on Prime Video and best Yakuza games.

The company had already begun rolling it out across a few markets in June, and Iger says the feedback has been good. "We've been talking a lot about adding the technology features that we need to basically make it a higher return, higher margin business, and a more successful business, and we're doing that right now," he said, according to IGN.

"We started our password-sharing initiative in June. That kicks in, in earnest, in September. By the way, we've had no backlash at all to the notifications that have gone out and to the work that we've already been doing."

However, despite the announcement, details about what it will entail are pretty thin on the ground. It’s expected that users will start to get a notification on their accounts about how much it will cost to add another household to their subscription.

This is how Netflix rolled out the changes, blocking households that were not seen as the main account holders, and giving them the choice to open a new account or to add on another subscriber. The cost of an extra subscription to Netflix is $7.99 a month, and it seems fair to assume that Disney Plus may be similar. 

The news of the password-sharing crackdown also comes after Disney Plus announced a price hike too. Tough times for subscribers.

For more, check out our guide to the best shows on Disney Plus and the best movies on Disney Plus.

Based on the crime video game series of the same name, the Prime Video show will see actor Ryoma Takeuchi take on the lead role of Kiryu, a fearless Yakuza warrior. Spanning two timelines, we will see how his actions affect not only the criminal underworld but his relationship with childhood friend Akira Nishikiyama, who here is portrayed by Kento Kaku.

Speaking to GamesRadar+ at SDCC (via translators) following the reveal of the show's first teaser trailer, the actor duo spoke passionately about the series but had arguably a surprising answer when we asked them whether they played the games ahead of shooting - either for research or just for fun.

Not only has both of them never played the Yakuza games, but as Takeuchi revealed the team behind the new Amazon show actually asked them to avoid doing so. As he explained though, they had their reasons: "I know these games - everybody in the world knows these games. But I haven't played them. I'd like to try them but they had to stop me because they wanted to - for the character in the script - explore from scratch. That's why I decided not to play."

Adding onto that, Kaku emphasized that whilst their show does continue the legacy of the games, they also wanted to put their own stamp on it. He concludes: "I definitely knew the property very well but I didn't realize the franchise was this globally big. We decided we would make sure we would do our own version, relive the characters, take their spiritual elements, and embody them on our own. There was a clear line we wanted to draw but everything on the bottom was respect."

The first three episodes of Like a Dragon: Yakuza will premiere on Prime Video on October 24, with new episodes following weekly.

For what else should be on your radar, check out our guide to the upcoming TV shows to watch out for.

From background details you almost missed to love letters to Borderlands past, we're here to found up the biggest Easter eggs from the adaptation, which stars Cate Blanchett, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

You ready? Catch a ride and zip on down to our round-up of the biggest and best Borderlands Easter eggs. For more, check out our breakdown of the Borderlands ending and whether there's a Borderlands post-credits scene.

Spoilers for the Borderlands movie follow. You have been warned! 

Borderlands Easter eggs

Borderlands characters

Some familiar faces crop up during the runtime of the Borderlands movie. Of course, the core gang of main characters from the series are all present (Lilith, Roland, Tannis, and Tiny Tina among them). But let's go a little deeper.

One of the more obvious character cameos is Marcus, the munitions vendor found in practically every Borderlands title. In the movie, he gives Lilith a ride towards Fyrestone and later appears outside Marcus' Munitions in Sanctuary.

Ellie and Scooter, both allies from the Borderlands titles, appear during the end celebrations on Sanctuary, though we catch a glimpse of a Scooter Truck earlier in the movie as the gang make their way out of the city.

Tailing the band of misfits is Knoxx, a commander of the Crimson Lance, played by Janina Gavankar (herself a prolific actor across several major video game franchises, including Star Wars Battlefront and God of War). The game version, however, is slightly different: General Knoxx was the antagonist of the Borderlands DLC pack 'The Secret Armory of General Knoxx.'

While not exactly an Easter egg and, instead, a fully-fleshed out character, it was still nice to see Moxxi show up during the events on Sanctuary.

Mini Psychos are also present during Lilith's hunt for the second vault key, while an even bigger problem poses itself in Borderlands' as the black-helmeted Krom makes an appearance next to Atlas. The character looked markedly different in the film. In the games, is a prison warden and one of the first bosses players encounter in the original Borderlands.

In one blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment on Sanctuary, there's a wanted poster for Mick Zaford, the bowler hat-wearing leader of the Zaford clan from Borderlands 2.

And, yes, we're counting Tiny Tina's rabbit Mushy Snugglebites (here called Bob) as an Easter egg.

Borderlands locations

Some of Pandora's finest (and not-so-fine) locales were explored in the Borderlands movie.

But, first up, a surprise trip to Promethea is where we first find Cate Blanchett's Lilith. The neo-futuristic city is home to all sorts of villainy. It's also a major location in Borderlands 3. While there, Lilith mentions she's bringing in a bounty from a heist on what sounded like Lectra City. The location was found in Borderlands 3.

Once on Pandora, the film rattles through a handful of iconic locations. There's Fyrestone and the first lead to find Tina. Fittingly, it's also the first named location players will encounter in the Borderlands franchise.

From there, Lilith then finds Tannis in Sanctuary, a sprawling location seen in Borderlands 2. That also features Moxxi's Bar. The mission to find three Vault Keys then sees the team head to Caustic Caverns, a Dahl mining operation that carries the same function in Borderlands 2.

Borderlands weapons and enemies

Of course, it's not Borderlands without things that go boom. In that respect, the movie certainly packs a punch (and more than its fair share of explosions).

Lilith's weapon of choice is a Vladof Infinity Pistol. Good luck getting that in-game: it's only found as a legendary drop in a handful of locations. 

Tiny Tina, as to be expected, as her own litany of death-dealing weapons. There's the Badonkadonk, which Tina makes players collect in the Borderlands 2 mission 'A Train to Catch.' Ariana Greenblatt's foul-mouthed character also pulled out a Vladof RPG during an early showdown with Lilith. Several weapons manufacturers are also present throughout, including Maliwan, Hyperion, and, of course, Atlas.

We've already mentioned the Psychos but did you catch a reference to the Bloodshots and Raiders in Caustic Caverns? The former were found, infamously, in Borderlands 2's Bloodshot Stronghold, a sharp difficulty spike for players.

And what are weapons without a few targets? Throughout the movie, there are skags, rakks, and most notably a Thresher roaming the wastes. Rakks are even a delicacy of choice at Sanctuary food stall Rakk's Snacks.

Upon meeting Lilith, Claptrap tells her that she has an extremely high chance of being eaten by a Craw Maggot. She can count herself lucky that Crawmerax the Invincible never turned up.

Other Borderlands game references

Of course, there are plenty of singular references to the Borderlands games. You may have had a good chuckle at the return of Claptrap's greatest enemy: stairs.

Other elements pulled directly from the games include the Borderlands money audio cue when Lilith is offered a bounty on Promethea; the ECHONet service; and an Outrunner vehicle.

Speaking of vehicles, Lilith says she needs to "catch a ride" on Pandora and, lo and behold, Marcus and his bus show up. That's a cheeky nod to the games' handy Catch-A-Ride service, which allows you to spawn any vehicle you own at certain locations.

Krieg's quick, brutal one-liners are assuredly a nod to Psycho one-liners, as the mobs of low-level enemies taunt you across several Borderlands games. Our favorite? Krieg will "lick your spine clean", apparently. Charming.

There's also a welcome sight for any weary Vault Hunter: a gun vending machine. Jack Black's Claptrap tries to flirt with it. Naturally. In the games, it's where you can spend your hard-earned money on new weapons and upgrades.

Finally, the end of the movie makes good on its promise of the Eridians setup. Both in the movie and in the games, they're presented as the galaxy's forebears and a race that came equipped with advance technology, much of which was hidden away in the Vault on Pandora.

Much like the games, Lilith learns to Phasewalk (essentially a rapid teleport) and discovers she is a Firehawk and can open the Vault. That name is a nod to her alias in Borderlands 2, while her abilities closely resemble that of the game's Siren powers.

She uses those powers to overcome Atlas (his shield is certainly a wink at the games' rechargeable shields that players can use on top of their health) in the Vault. There, Lilith rescues Tina and allows Atlas to be consumed by a mysterious creature in the Vault who, we suspect, is The Destroyer.

For more from Borderlands, check out our chat with Ariana Greenblatt and Florian Munteanu about prepping for their roles, and an interview with Randy Pitchford about the pressure of making a live-action video game adaptation.

Then dive into the latest releases with our guide to upcoming video game movies.