It was gaming that made the most noise on the pop culture news front this past week. Although there were several notable movie trailer drops and series announcements to make up for it. Time to catch up now.

But before that, prolific German actor Udo Kier has passed aged 81. From appearances in 90s blockbusters like Armageddon and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, to video game work playing Yuri in the Command & Conquer games, to collaborations with Lars von Trier, and the 1970s work with Andy Warhol (1973’s Flesh for Frankenstein and 1974’s Blood for Dracula) that launched his career, Kier racked up over 200 acting credits. His last big screen role was in this year’s Cannes standout The Secret Agent, out of Brazil.

Gaming

The voting is now open for the public portion of annual The Game Awards, which takes place this year on 11 December from 5-8PM PT, which is 3-6AM the next day in South Africa.

Below are your nominees for the biggie accolade, Game of the Year, which is a fairly accurate representation of the year’s most nominated titles:

  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – 12 nominations
  • Death Stranding 2: On the Beach – 7 nominations
  • Ghost of Yotei – 7 nominations
  • Hades II – 6 nominations
  • Hollow Knight: Silksong – 5 nominations

Out of interest, you probably want to put your money on Clair Obscur, which just cleaned up at the Golden Joystick Awards with seven wins (out of 26). You can also watch the full ceremony here for an awards show that is, out of interest, entirely voted for by players.

Film

While we’re on matters of video games, this past week Nintendo revealed the first official images from its upcoming live-action adaptation of epic fantasy adventure The Legend of Zelda. If you need a refresher, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth plays Link while Bo Bragason is Princess Zelda. Behind the camera is Wes Ball, who made Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and the Maze Runner trilogy. The film is out in May 2027.

Coming out next year with far less budget behind it is Return to Silent Hill, a psychological horror film based on Konami’s seminal Silent Hill 2. In the movie, just like the game, grieving James (Jeremy Irvine) receives a mysterious letter from his lost love Mary (Hannah Emily Anderson), driving him to the darkness-shrouded town of Silent Hill. Christophe Gans, who made the well-received original Silent Hill film in 2006 is back directing and co-writing here.

Return to Silent Hill comes to cinemas on 23 January next year.

It’s not all about video game adaptations, though. There’s another The Hunger Games movie on the way. Based on Suzanne Collins’s second prequel book, Sunrise on the Reaping jumps the action back to the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell, where District 12’s Haymitch Abernathy (Joseph Zada) became an unlikely contender. Ralph Fiennes appears in the film as a younger President Coriolanus Snow, while Jesse Plemons is aspiring gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee. Francis Lawrence, who helmed every Hunger Games movie except the first one, is back too following his The Long Walk success.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is only out on 20 November next year.

Finally, Disney – no doubt feeling happier after the massive success of the live-action Lilo & Stitch – is starting to stir up hype for its next animated move adaptation, Moana. Catherine Lagaʻaia plays a title character, a young Polynesian woman who ventures forth from her island of Motunui to save her people from a devastating blight. Having previously voiced demigod Maui in the original film, and its sequel, Dwayne Johnson plays him in flesh and blood here, though the teaser trailer below has kept his look under wraps.

Moana comes to cinemas on 10 July 2026.

Series

December is fast approaching, and with it the second and final season of Netflix animated series, and video game adaptation, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft. Hayley Atwell is back voicing the aristocratic adventurer in a show that serves to bridge the 2010s reboot version of the character with her Classic self.

What’s notable about Season 2 is that it reteams Lara with her former best friend, documentary filmmaker Sam Nishimura (voiced by The Boys’ Karen Fukuhara) in a bid to recover stolen African Orisha masks apparently invested with supernatural power. The billionaire standing in their way may, or may not be, series arch nemesis Jacqueline Natla, though it seems unlikely.

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft S2 swan dives onto screens on 11 December.

In other Netflix animated series news, both Exploding Kittens and Zack Snyder’s Twilight of the Gods have been cancelled after one season.

Finally on the TV news front, Amazon is planning on reviving the Stargate science-fiction franchise with a new rebooted series. Martin Gero, a veteran of Stargate: Atlantis, Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Universe, is showrunner.