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Dave Bautista's Kratos, EA's Saudi Takeover, Eli Roth's AI Horror — Pop Culture Digest — August 5, 2026
Dave Bautista in talks for Kratos after Ryan Hurst's injury, EA's $55B Saudi acquisition closes, Eli Roth admits using generative AI in Ice Cream Man, The Mummy reboot brings back original cast, and a teen nearly made a million on Steam with a meme game.
🎧 Narrated by Skylar
Dave Bautista in Talks for Kratos After Ryan Hurst's Bicep Injury
Amazon's God of War series has hit a casting reset — and landed on a name that might actually be an upgrade. Dave Bautista is in talks to play Kratos after original star Ryan Hurst (Sons of Anarchy) tore his bicep on set, an injury that would have delayed production on the already-ordered two-season Prime Video series.
Bautista makes a startling amount of sense here. He's one of the few actors in Hollywood who can step into the physically monstrous role on short notice, and he already has a relationship with Amazon MGM Studios through The Wrecking Crew, My Spy, and the upcoming Afterburn. More importantly, he's spent years proving he's far more than a muscle-bound wrestler-turned-actor — his work in Blade Runner 2049, Dune, and Knock at the Cabin showed genuine dramatic range.
The series, showrun by Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica, For All Mankind), adapts the two most recent games, following Kratos as he raises his ten-year-old son Atreus in the Norse realm. Callum Vinson remains attached as Atreus, with Mandy Patinkin as Odin and an ensemble that includes Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor. Frederick E.O. Toye directs the first two episodes.
The Hurst-to-Bautista pivot is the kind of accident that sometimes produces better art. Hurst has the right physicality, but Bautista brings something rarer: a weathered stillness that the role demands. If the deal closes, this could be the best-cast video game adaptation yet.
Sources: Variety
EA's $55 Billion Saudi Buyout Is Complete — And Jared Kushner's Firm Is Involved
Electronic Arts is now officially owned by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, alongside Silver Lake and — notably — Affinity Partners, the investment firm founded by Jared Kushner in 2021. The $55 billion deal closed after receiving regulatory approval and an SEC filing confirming the transaction.
The PIF already held stakes in Nintendo, Capcom, Nexon, and Take-Two, and owns 97% of SNK. But outright ownership of EA — the publisher behind Battlefield, The Sims, Apex Legends, Madden, and FIFA's spiritual successors — represents a seismic shift in who controls the games industry's infrastructure.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson, who made $38 million last year while his company laid off Battlefield 6 developers, says "our values and our commitment to players remain unchanged." Skepticism is warranted. The PIF has already influenced content at SNK — Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves features Saudi-government-affiliated guest characters — and the fund recently cut financing for its LIV Golf tour, suggesting a mercurial investment philosophy.
The Kushner connection adds another layer. Affinity Partners is overwhelmingly financed by Saudi capital, and its presence in the buyout consortium places a former president's son-in-law at the table of one of gaming's largest publishers. Whether this affects creative output or not, it redefines who profits from the industry's biggest franchises — and where those profits ultimately flow.
Sources: Polygon
Eli Roth Admits He Used Generative AI in Ice Cream Man — After Initially Denying It
Eli Roth's new horror film Ice Cream Man is already sitting at a 26% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a freshly surfaced controversy isn't helping. Roth admitted to Polygon that he used generative AI in "a very small portion of a few scenes" — after initially claiming an eerie, Fleischer Studios-inspired animated sequence was hand-drawn by his animation team.
"I misspoke," Roth said in a follow-up statement. "It was an opportunity where technology and creativity came together to help bring my vision for the film to life." He declined to specify which scenes used AI or how the technology was incorporated, and distributor Dark Half has not responded to follow-up questions.
The admission lands in a charged moment for AI in filmmaking. While AI-assisted VFX tools have been standard for years, generative AI — the kind that creates images and sequences from prompts — remains a flashpoint for audiences and guilds alike. Roth framing it as a creative tool rather than a replacement is the industry line, but the initial misdirection suggests he knew it wouldn't play well.
The film itself, about an ice cream truck driver who turns children into homicidal killers, has been described by early viewers as "a mess" featuring repeated use of ableist slurs. The AI controversy may end up being the least of its problems.
Sources: Polygon
The Mummy Reboot Brings Back Original Cast Members from 1999
Universal's The Mummy reboot is assembling something rare: a legacy sequel that's actually bringing back the actors fans want to see. Kevin J. O'Connor and Oded Fehr — both introduced in Stephen Sommers' 1999 original — have signed deals to return alongside Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, and John Hannah. Numan Acar (Homeland, Young Sherlock) has also joined the cast.
O'Connor played Beni Gabor, Fraser's duplicitous former Foreign Legion comrade whose apparent death was never shown on screen — a convenient ambiguity the new film can exploit. Fehr played Ardeth Bay, the Medjai warrior who became a fan favourite across two films. The plot is being kept under wraps, but Radio Silence (Ready or Not, Scream 2022) are directing from a script by David Coggeshall.
The film has locked in an October 15, 2027 wide release. That's a long wait, but the casting signals Universal understands what made the '99 film work: chemistry, character, and a tone that knew when to wink without undermining its own stakes.
Sources: Deadline
Teen Made $1.3 Million on Steam with a $200 Meme Game — Then Most of It Was Refunded
Michael Major, a teenage developer from New Hampshire, published a game called This Game Costs $200 on Steam as a joke. The description reads: "This game is unlike anything you've ever seen or ever will see." The screenshots are abstract shapes and fourth-wall-breaking text. Against all odds, thousands of Steam users in China bought it — generating $1.3 million in revenue.
Then the numbers collapsed. The vast majority of purchases were refunded by players who never opened the game. Major theorised the buyers might have been farming Steam points — or something darker. "I have heard of expensive games on Steam being used for money laundering," he told WMUR.
The stunt has nevertheless expanded Major's audience. A multi-paragraph review from a buyer who expected a troll-worthy purchase ended with: "I would be willing to buy your next game fully if it priced lower... MUCH." Major responded graciously and confirmed there will never be a price drop: "That would ruin the joke."
The whole episode is a perfect snapshot of Steam's weird economy — where joke pricing, Chinese market dynamics, and Valve's generous refund policy collide into something that briefly looked like a teenager's lottery win.
Sources: Polygon
Nuggets
- Dominic Sessa is the next Anthony Bourdain. The Holdovers breakout stars in Tony, a biopic about Bourdain's early years, which Deadline calls "a splendid origin story." The casting is inspired — Sessa has the same scrappy charm.
- Dropout just acquired Don Hertzfeldt's animation collection. The streaming service (formerly CollegeHumor) has picked up the complete works of the cult animator behind Rejected and World of Tomorrow, one of the most significant acquisitions in independent animation history. Polygon
- Baldur's Gate 3 devs reveal the NPCs players murdered most. For the game's third anniversary, Larian shared stats including that players have killed the tiefling children in the Druid Grove over 3 million times. Community response: "Yeah, that tracks." Polygon
- Galaxy Express 999 returns after nearly 50 years. Leiji Matsumoto's beloved space opera anime is getting a new film, with a trailer that honours the original's melancholic beauty. One of anime's foundational sci-fi texts deserves this. Polygon
- Samantha Morton says she was "fired" after The Odyssey. The two-time Oscar nominee told Deadline she hasn't worked in a year since Nolan's epic wrapped, calling the experience "sad" and "hurt." A rare candid window into how even prestige projects can leave actors in career limbo. Variety
Sources: Variety · Deadline · Polygon
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