Welcome to this week’s Ultimate Roundup! This is the first Ultimate Roundup and it focuses on films, television, and games!
Every Friday in every week is the Ultimate Roundup.
First: Netflix has finally unveiled Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew. Whoa! Going back to Narnia. The first full trailer arrived on Tuesday 13 October (on YouTube). It gave us all the first substantial look at Gerwig’s adaptation, including Narnia’s creation, Aslan and the White Witch. The film gets a theatrical release from 12 February 2027 before going to Netflix. This was probably the week’s biggest outright film announcement. Unfortunately, I do not have Netflix. So, I will probably have to watch it in cinemas.
Second: VisionQuest launched on Disney+ UK. The actor Paul Bettany returned as Vision on Wednesday 14 October, with James Spader, the other actor, returning as Ultron. The first two episodes released together. It’s the final chapter of the WandaVision/Agatha All Along trilogy, with eight episodes running through 11 November. If you have Disney+ (which I do not have) and you love Marvel, then this is the television series for you!
Third: This is for UK readers. In the United Kingdom the government threatened to intervene in Sky’s £1.6bn ITV takeover. £1.6 billion. On Thursday 15 October, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she was “minded to intervene” over concerns including media plurality, control of news media and the range of programming available to UK audiences. Sky’s proposed acquisition: it includes ITV’s channels and ITVX, but not ITV Studios. This could reshape British commercial television. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen.
Fourth: Games! Cambridge’s Frontier Developments (Frontier Developments is a games developer studio) released Planet Zoo 2. The British-developed sequel launched on Tuesday 13 October for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, adding more than 130 animals alongside fully aquatic species, flying birds, aquariums and large wildlife reserves. It’s one of the week’s most significant UK-made game releases. I wonder how much it costs. I have forgotten.
Fifth: Another film. Jenna Ortega and Amy Adams premiered Klara and the Sun in London. Taika Waititi’s adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival on Thursday 15 October. Ortega plays the artificial companion Klara, alongside Amy Adams, with Florence Pugh and others also appearing. For Jenna Ortega fans and non-Jenna Ortega fans. It sounds highly interesting to me.
Sixth: Another film. This has been in the news a lot. Andrew Garfield’s OpenAI film Artificial became one of the intriguing LFF titles of the week. Luca Guadagnino’s film, with Garfield playing Sam Altman alongside Monica Barbaro, Mark Rylance, Yura Borisov and Ike Barinholtz, screened again at the London Film Festival on 15–16 October. The BFI describes it as an origin story of OpenAI centred on the extraordinary period when Altman was briefly ousted as CEO. It will definitely be in cinemas.
That’s it for this week’s Ultimate Roundup!
Want to read more? Here are some articles: I did get my pre-ordered Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced – Apple Pie (on Assassin’s Creed Black Glad Resynced) and ‘HBO’ and ‘HBO Max’ reveal new Series 3 character posters for the Greens – Apple Pie (HBO’s House of the Dragon Series 3).
That’s super cool!