This week, another hit game becomes a feature film – A Minecraft Movie is out on Friday.
However, the week does not end there. The popular TikTok star Djo, better known by his stage name Steve from Stranger Things, has released SIX The Musical Live! hits cinemas, and we're finally going to find out about the Switch 2.
Find out what's coming up this week by reading on... Mining for big screen success
A Minecraft Movie is finally here, despite significant delays. Jason Momoa, Jack Black, and Jennifer Coolidge are among the star-studded cast of the critically acclaimed video game, which opens on Friday. It is about four oddballs who are suddenly pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld, where all Minecraft players begin. Because Minecraft is one of the most popular video games in the world, there is a lot of pressure on developers to satisfy fans of the blocky world. In fact, my 11-year-old nephew is actually more excited for this than he was for Christmas. "I think this movie is a big deal for a lot of people, because now it's generational," Black stated. "This game has been loved by millions and millions all over the world for years now." Game-to-film failures have a long history. But others, such as Sonic, were massive hits, so that's what Warner Bros will no doubt be hoping for.
Do you see what I mean? By Mark Savage, music correspondent
Joe Keery, an American actor, is best known for playing Steve Harrington, a reformed jock who is one of the show's most popular and important characters in the sci-fi series Stranger Things. However, he also has a clever line in retro indie-pop that he performs as Djo. At first, he used the pseudonym to avoid being accused of profiting from his fame. He would even perform masked. That changed when he had a breakout hit with End of Beginning – a synth-heavy slice of psychedelia that went viral on TikTok last year, often the soundtrack to videos about what people would do if they won the lottery.
The Stranger Things finale was "incredibly emotional" to film. The attention put a rocket under his music career. His most recent album, The Crux, was created in the illustrious Electric Lady studios in New York, whereas his first two albums were self-produced and recorded in a few days. Released on Friday, it's packed full of off-kilter lyrics and squiggly synth lines that burrow into your brain. The first two singles, Delete Ya and Basic Being Basic have already been radio hits, and the rest of the album pulls on influences as diverse as Electric Light Orchestra, New Order, Cake, Hall & Oates and Bruce Springsteen (coincidentally, all bands that would work perfectly on the Stranger Things soundtrack).
Gap Toothed Smile, a crunchy garage rock gem, and Link, a choppy New Wave anthem, are two standout tracks, but the album's strength lies in its variety. Keery imagined that each song would tell the story of a different hotel guest who is at a spiritual or emotional crossroads. On the screen, the Queens A picture from SIX The Musical Live! from Universal Pictures UK Universal Pictures UK
The many wives of Henry VIII are the focus of SIX the Musical, which follows their efforts to reclaim the narrative by emerging from the shadow of their infamous husband. Now, the queens are moving to the screen.
On Sunday, a stage version of SIX The Musical Live! with the original West End cast will be shown on film. Creators Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss told me what to expect.
“It's not simply a live capture of what's on stage, but an immersive, pop-concert experience,” they said.
“You get to witness the incredible performances up close – noticing little details and subtleties you might miss in the theatre. But you also get exciting, inventive, explosive visuals that make you feel like part of the party.”
The big Switch 2 reveal is here. By Tom Gerken, tech reporter
This week has been in the calendars of gamers all over the world for months because we are about to learn more about the much-anticipated Switch 2, the sequel to the Nintendo Switch, which is known as the third-best selling console in history. So it's no surprise that we're going to get some news on Wednesday – but the question is, what?
Almost certainly Nintendo will unveil a price and a launch date. But quite what that will be, who knows – July 2025 feels like a safe bet, but to be fair, would anyone be surprised if it came out in December?
Fans are desperate for news on games. There are rumors of a new Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon, but there is no evidence to support them. (For a new Fire Emblem, I'd personally bite your hand off, but that's just me...) Will new graphics be incredibly eye-catching? A high quality screen? A better battery life? To list all of the questions is impossible. There is only one thing that is absolutely certain: following Nintendo's announcement, we will be left counting down the days until the console's actual release, whichever comes first.
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