We’re about to be thigh deep in gaming showcases, but this past week Netflix got in on the action too, kinda, with their annual Tudum event, a hybrid in-person and livestreamed special (on Netflix only!) covering the most highly anticipated series and films hitting their platform.
And because pop culture news is skewed in certain directions right now, we’re mixing things up too, temporarily, with a different event-focused approached to delivering the standout stories. Let’s start now.
Netflix Tudum 2025
Starting with film news out of Tudum first, the teaser trailer dropped for Guillermo del Toro’s take on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Looking considerably faithful to its source material, with the addition of del Toro’s eye-searing visual flair, Frankenstein stars Oscar Isaac as the titular scientist, whose experiments in defying death lead to tragedy, for himself, his loved ones, and his monstrous creation. Also starring are Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Felix Kammerer, Charles Dance, and Christoph Waltz.
Look out for Frankenstein on the streamer in November.
The other big movie reveal was the first trailer, and release date announcement, for Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, the third entry in Rian Johnson’s Benoit Blanc whodunnit film series. Daniel Craig is back as the contemporary Hercule Poirot, and is joined this time by the all-star likes of Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack, and Thomas Haden Church.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery makes its Netflix debut on 12 December 2025.
Moving on to series, Squid Game Season 3, AKA The Final Season, AKA Season 2.2, which releases at the end of June, got a trailer.
Meanwhile, another record-breaking series comes to an end in the form of retro sci-fi horror show Stranger Things Season 5. Tudum outlined exactly how things are going to wrap with a four-episode Volume 1 on 26 November, the three episodes making up Vol. 2 on Christmas Day, and The Finale on New Year’s Eve. Expect episodes to be movie length as well.
One other thing to be aware of is that with episodes dropping simultaneously around the globe, times will differ per region. For example, in South Africa, Volume 1 actually releases on 2 November, Vol. 2 on 2 December and The Finale on 1 Jan. The exact time is 3am locally in all instances.
Finally, if you were wondering how reindeer-boy hybrid Tony Tony Chopper is going to look in Netflix’s live-action One Piece, you don’t have to scratch your head any longer. Chopper will be a CGI creation, voiced by Mikaela Hoover, who also provides facial capture for the character. One Piece Season 2, which is filmed in South Africa, returns to Netflix in 2026.
Thinky Direct
While most of the big gaming showcases and presentations are taking place this coming week around Summer Game Fest, Thinky Games delivered their first ever Thinky Direct last week Thursday for fans of puzzle games and cerebral challenge. You can watch the timestamped 30-minute showcase here, but of the dozens of indie titles spotlighted, these ones stood out.
City of Voices, from Kini Games, is a 4-6 hour deductive experience inspired by the Golden Idol games. In fact, Voices is co-developed by one of the writer/designers behind The Rise of the Golden Idol. What begins as a slice-of-life tale about a bullied girl soon transforms into a time-travelling mystery. Coming soon.
Parallel Experiment, from Eleven Puzzles, is a rarely seen beast: an online co-op puzzle adventure for PC and mobile devices. You and your Player 2 assume the roles of detectives forced into a twisted survival experiment in this noir-inspired tale. Typically, each player is dealing with separate clues and challenges, which in turn makes voice communication crucial as the pieces come together. It’s out this week, 5 June.
He Who Watches, from Danga Games, looks like a trippy delight that could be a sleeper hit when it releases in Q3 2025. It’ll certainly scratch that Portal itch. Classified as a dungeon puzzler, here you advance deeper into a dungeon using your gravity-defying abilities, and your bow with its lone arrow. Every room promises a unique challenge.
For something less high intensity, but clearly not lacking in mental demands, there’s Is This Seat Taken? from Poti Poti Studio and Wholesome Games Presents. A cosy and consciously silly logic game, you have to seat people in situations while acknowledging and accommodating their pet peeves. A release date has yet to be announced for this matchmaking PC game.
Finally, there’s Echo Weaver, from Moonlight Kids and Akupara Games, which again has the potential to be a breakout hit. In this “metroidBRAINia,” time is a consumable resource as you try to escape a glitching time loop: you can grab pickups to extend your run, then draw from it to unlock gates, heal, trade, and more. Coming to PC, Xbox and Game Pass day one at some point.
Miscellaneous news from the period
Cinema chain Ster Kinekor is closing another cinema complex in South Africa. This time in Cape Town. Cavendish Square, the only cinema serving the city’s Southern Suburbs, is officially closed as of the end of today, Monday, 2 June 2025. At least this closure came with some warning, though, unlike last month’s sudden shuttering of the flagship Gateway cinemas in KZN. Reportedly, rival Nu Metro is taking over the Cavendish location too (as they’re set to do at Gateway), with plans to open the site under their branding in October.
As previously noted, we won’t be providing much coverage of HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series due to the vindictively anti-trans actions of franchise creator J.K. Rowling. That said, if you’re curious to see who beat out over 30,000 other hopefuls to play the new onscreen iterations of Harry, Hermione and Ron (over the course of a planned seven seasons), you can see the trio of young actors here.
Finally, we have our first guest announcement for Comic Con Africa 2025, coming up in Johannesburg on 28 – 31 August (one month earlier than usual due to upgrades happening at its Nasrec venue). Appearing on all four days is Majed Cosplay out of Kuwait. Majed has a wealth of judging experience and his signature cosplays include Seiro, Chainsaw Man, Mortal Kombat and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
