So HBO’s The Last of Us is almost here, but Sony forges forward with even more shows and/or movies based on PlayStation game franchises. With mixed levels of anticipation, I’d say.

Sony is reportedly working on a Gravity Rush movie with Ridley Scott's production team. The movie will be based on the original 2012 PlayStation Vita game, featuring Kat, an amnesiac who can manipulate gravity to traverse an open world in a novel way. Emily Jerome, the writer of upcoming thriller Panopticon, is working on the script. Anna Mastro, who helmed Disney+ film Secret Society of Second Born Royals, has been tapped to direct.

On top of that, Days Gone’s post-apocalyptic tale is going to be a film, with Outlander actor Sam Heughan reportedly to star in a script penned by Up in the Air and X-Men: First Class writer Sheldon Turner. It may seem like an odd choice: The game has sold nine million copies to date, making it one of the company’s least well-received first-party titles. But Days Gone has picked up a new audience since its release on Steam — a movie could repeat that magic.

— Mat Smith

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James Webb telescope captures Jupiter's auroras in gorgeous detail

The ethereal images are composites.

NASA

The JWT has snapped a pair of near-infrared photos showing Jupiter's polar auroras. You can also see, above, the planet's extremely faint rings and two of its smaller moons, Amalthea (the bright spot to the far left) and Adrastea (the dot at the left edge of the central ring). Astronomers created composites with filters mapped to multiple colors. In several images, the Great Red Spot and other cloud formations are white because they reflect large amounts of sunlight.

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MoviePass will return on September 5th

Plans will start at around $10 per month.

MoviePass’ return is almost here. A beta of the revived service will launch on or around September 5th (Labor Day). Pricing depends on the market, but it will be a tiered system costing around $10, $20 or $30 per month. Insider, which reported the relaunch details, noted users will get a number of credits each month. There won't be an unlimited plan — maybe lessons have been learned.

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VESA announces a new standard for display motion performance

The organization wants to end confusing response time specs.

The Video Electronics Standards Associated (VESA) wants to make buying your next monitor or TV easier, and it’s doing so by introducing a new standard. I know what you’re thinking: Between DisplayPort, DisplayHDR and AdaptiveSync, aren’t there already enough VESA standards? Well, yes.

But here comes another. VESA’s new Clear Motion Ratio Compliance Test Specification, or ClearMR for short, has tiered ranking designed to communicate the ratio of clear to blurry pixels a screen will produce when displaying a fast-moving image.

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Elon Musk subpoenas Jack Dorsey

Dorsey previously endorsed Musk’s bid to buy Twitter.

Lawyers representing Elon Musk in his battle with Twitter have subpoenaed former CEO Jack Dorsey. It’s not yet clear how Dorsey factors in Musk's legal strategy. As noted by the Chancery Daily Twitter account, the subpoena refers to “documents and communications reflecting, referring to, or relating to the impact or effect of false or spam accounts on Twitter’s business operations.” Interestingly, it also requests “documents relating to incorporating mDAU (monetizable daily active users) into executive or director compensation.”

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The Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake is reportedly back in development... at a different studio. According to Bloomberg, one of Saber Interactive's studios in Eastern Europe has taken over the project after it was put on indefinite hold by Aspyr Media in July. Aspyr had been working on the project for years and had industry veterans, as well as people who worked on the original game released back in 2003, on board. It even finished a demo of the game to show Lucasfilm and Sony on June 30th. But a week later, the company reportedly fired design director Brad Prince and art director Jason Minor.

The situation surrounding Prince and Minor wasn't quite clear, but a source that talked to Bloomberg at the time suggested that the demo cost a disproportionate amount of time and money. Rumors reportedly circulated among Aspyr personnel that Saber Interactive, which has been doing outsourced work for the project, would take the helm. Those speculations may turn out to be true.

While neither developer has issued an official statement yet, mega game publisher Embracer may have alluded to the studio switch in its most recent financial report. Embracer, which owns both Aspyr and Saber Interactive, said one of its "AAA projects has transitioned to another studio" within the company. "This was done to ensure the quality bar is where we need it to be for the title," it added.

Embracer also said that it's not expecting any major delays as a result of the transition, but it's not like the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake was scheduled for release in the near future anyway. It doesn't have a launch date yet, and it will reportedly take at least two more years before it's ready.

Sony seems determined to turn every gaming property it has ever laid a finger on into a movie or TV show. PlayStation Productions has a whole heap of projects in the works and the latest, according to Deadline, is a Gravity Rush film.

The movie will be based on the 2012 PlayStation Vita game of the same name from Japan Studio's Team Gravity (the title was later remastered for PlayStation 4). You play as Kat, an amnesiac who can manipulate gravity to traverse an open world in a novel way. Kat uses her powers to protect the people of Hekseville from gravity storms and monsters. A sequel arrived on PS4 in 2017.

Ridley Scott's production company Scott Free Productions is reportedly working on the movie. Emily Jerome, the writer of upcoming thriller Panopticon, is working on the script. Anna Mastro, who helmed Disney+ film Secret Society of Second Born Royals and episodes of many notable TV shows, is onboard as director.

The Gravity Rush project underlines just how serious Sony is about expanding its gaming IP into the realms of film and television. It finally released an Uncharted movie earlier this year and over the weekend, it emerged that a Days Gone film is in development. That's on top of shows based on Twisted Metal,God of War and the Horizon games, as well as upcoming Gran Turismo and Ghost of Tsushima movies.

Last, but by no means least, a show based on The Last of Us is coming to HBO next year. The network released the first footage from the series in a sizzle reel on Sunday. With The Last of Us Day fast approaching, we likely won't have to wait long for a full trailer.

Companies already use The Game Awards to pitch related movies and shows, but now the event will officially recognize those productions. Organizers have revealed that the 2022 Game Awards will take place December 8th with a new Best Adaptation category. Companies will receive statuettes for any project that translates games to "popular media," including movies, TV series, podcasts and books.

The event will not only retain an in-person component, but extend that to theaters. The Game Awards will offer a live "IMAX Experience" in cities worldwide. While more details are due in the months ahead, it's safe to presume you'll get a richer audiovisual presentation as you watch ceremonies and game trailers.

The creation of an adaptation category isn't surprising. This year has had a flurry of game-inspired media, including the long-in-the-making Halo TV series, a well-received Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie and an anticipated (if unspectacular) Uncharted film. This gives The Game Awards a chance to capitalize on the trend, of course, but it could also reward those studios that do justice to favorite gaming franchises.

MoviePass is about to write the next chapter in its turbulent history. A beta of the revived service will launch on or around September 5th (Labor Day). Pricing will vary depending on each market, but it will be a tiered system costing around $10, $20 or $30 per month. Insider, which first reported the relaunch details, notes that users will get a number of credits each month to see movies in theaters. There won't be an unlimited plan at the outset.

MoviePass cofounder Stacy Spikes announced at a launch event earlier this year that users will be able to transfer credits. There was no mention of that in an FAQ, though it says more details will be revealed later. The FAQ does not provide details of the Web3 framework Spikes said the service would use, nor was there any mention of the eye-tracking tech the app will supposedly employ to reward users with credits for watching ads.

Those who want to try out the revamped MoviePass can join a first-come, first-served waitlist, which will open at 9AM ET on Thursday on the company's website and close at 11:59PM on Monday. The beta will have a limited number of users and MoviePass will start sending invites on September 5th. If you're selected and you become a member, you'll receive 10 invites that you can send to friends. Returning users who are on the waitlist will receive extra credits when they join.

The beta won't go live across the entire US at once. In the FAQ, MoviePass says the "launch determination will be weighted on level of engagement from the waitlist in each market as well as locations of exhibition partners." It added that the service will be available at all major theaters in the US that accept major credit cards. The company says it has officially partnered with a quarter of US theaters.

There will be a physical card again, though it will be black instead of red. You can use it to pick up tickets at a theater's box office. Alternatively, you can book tickets through the MoviePass app.

Spikes, who regained control of MoviePass last November, created the service with Hamet Watt in 2011. Helios and Matheson Analytics (HMNY) bought the service in 2017. A subscription plan introduced that year offered users a movie ticket a day for $10 per month. That approach unsurprisingly proved unsustainable despite the plan's popularity. The app shut down in 2019.

HMNY filed for bankruptcy the following year amid investigations from the Federal Trade Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, several district attorneys in California and New York's attorney general. Among its other questionable business practices, MoviePass at one point forced those on an annual plan to renew their subscription three months early if they wanted to keep it. Former CEO Mitch Lowe suggested that the app was tracking users' locations too. Lowe, fellow principal Theodore Farnsworth and HMNY reached a settlement with the FEC last year over charges that they prevented subscribers from using the service and didn't do enough to secure users' data.

The revival of MoviePass comes at a time when theaters are still struggling to drum up business in the wake of pandemic-imposed closures. Regal Cinemas owner Cineworld, the second-largest movie theater chain in the world, said today that it's considering filing for bankruptcy. The company has around $5 billion in debt. It claimed that the relative lack of blockbusters this year has left it struggling to draw movie fans back to theaters. Global box office revenue this year is down by a third compared with 2019.

HBO has shared the first footage from its upcoming live-action adaptation of The Last of Us. In a trailer the streamer published on YouTube before the premiere of House of the Dragon, we see about 20 seconds of Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie. Despite the short length of the clip, it's filled with moments fans will recognize. We see an exchange between Joel and Ellie that's lifted directly from the original game. There's even a flashback featuring Joel's biological daughter. The footage also offers a glimpse of Nick Offerman as Bill.

Expectations for the series are already riding high. In addition to a star-studded cast, Craig Mazin of Chernobyl fame is involved in the project as writer, creator and executive producer, as is the game's original creative director, Neil Druckmann. The series is expected to premiere in early 2023. The first season will feature 10 episodes.  

Netflix’s forthcoming ad-supported tier could include programming without commercials. According to Bloomberg, the company doesn’t plan to run ads during original movies, at least when they first premiere on the platform. In doing so, Netflix reportedly hopes to keep its service appealing to high-profile filmmakers who may find the idea of commercials interrupting their stories unappealing.

Content for children could also be free of ads. Netflix has reportedly told partners it won’t run commercials during original kids programming. Some of the company’s current agreements would not allow it to run ads during licensed content either. Netflix may feel serving commercials to kids would be more trouble than it’s worth. In 2019, Google paid $170 million for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act after the FTC found YouTube had illegally collected data from kids.

Bloomberg warns Netflix is still finalizing plans for its ad-supported tier, and the company’s strategy could change between now and when the service eventually launches. On that note, code recently found by developer Steve Moser suggested the new tier could also drop support for offline viewing. Netflix quickly responded to the rumor by pointing out it was still in the “early days of deciding how to launch a lower priced, ad-supported option.”

Days Gone may never get a proper sequel, but its post-apocalyptic story could eventually make its way to the silver screen. According to Deadline, Sony’s PlayStation Productions unit is developing a film adaptation of the 2019 game. Outlander actor Sam Heughan is reportedly set to star in a script penned by Up in the Air and X-Men: First Class writer Sheldon Turner. Deadline reports Turner envisions the final film being a “love ballad to motorcycle movies.”

After greenlighting adaptations of critically acclaimed games like The Last of Us and Ghost of Tsushima, Days Gone may seem like an unusual choice from Sony. After all, while the game has sold 9 million copies to date, it’s one of the company’s least well-received first-party titles in recent memory. However, since Sony decided to port Days Gone to PC, it has enjoyed newfound success. Search for the game on YouTube, and you’ll find countless videos trying to answer the question of whether you should play Days Gone in 2022. Almost every video on the subject agrees: it’s an experience worth your time. Steam reviews tell much the same story. Across 26,146 submissions, it has a “Very Positive” rating. If there's a project for Sony to take a risk on, it's Days Gone.

Jurassic World Dominion will begin streaming on September 2nd, Peacock announced on Friday. The service will host two versions of the film. In addition to the original theatrical cut, fans can watch an extended edition that is 14 minutes longer and includes an alternate opening. If you weren’t a fan of the latest movie, Peacock is also adding Jurassic Park, The Lost World and Jurassic Park 3. All three films will arrive on September 1st.

As The Verge points out, Dominion’s move to Peacock isn’t a surprise. At the end of last year, NBCUniversal said the “majority” of its films would appear on the streaming service, with most making the jump as little as 45 days after their theatrical debut. By September 2nd, it will have been 84 days since Dominion debuted in theaters. The longer wait probably has something to do with Dominion being the year's second highest-grossing film.

The rise of the worker productivity score

Jodi Kantor and Arya Sundaram, The New York Times

Imagine if your employer only paid you for the hours you were actively working on your computer. Time spent on the phone, doing tasks on paper or reading isn't part of your compensation since your job can't track those things with monitoring software. It's no far-fetched scenario — it's already happening. Companies are tracking, recording and ranking employees in the name of efficiently and accountability. And as you read this piece, a simulation shows you what it's like to be monitored. 

Social media was a CEO’s bullhorn, and how he lured women

Karen Weise, The New York Times

Weise writes about Dan Price, the former CEO of a payment processing company who used his social media persona to "bury a troubled past."  

Harlan Band’s descent started with an easy online Adderall prescription

Rolfe Winkler, The Wall Street Journal

A 29-year-old man sought help from online mental-health startup Done, a company that "prescribes stimulants like Adderall in video calls as short as 10 minutes." Band was already in recovery and lax patient monitoring didn't keep adequate tabs on him. Done advertises on social platforms, "promoting a one-minute ADHD assessment ahead of its 30-minute evaluations" before charging "a $79 monthly service fee for 'worry-free refills' and clinician responses to questions."