Actor Peter Cullen, best known as the booming voice of Optimus Prime in the Transformers franchise, has died at the age of 85. TMZ reported the news, which was corroborated by trade publications including The Hollywood Reporter. Cullen passed away peacefully in his Los Angeles home on Wednesday, according to his agent. Beginning his career as a live-action performer and an announcer, Cullen's run voicing Optimus Prime started with the original 1980s Transformers animated show. Optimus Prime was famously killed off in the 1986 Transformers film, and backlash led to the Autobots leader being resurrected in the show in 1987. It wasn't until 2007 with Transformers: The Game, a tie-in to the Michael Bay live-action film, that Cullen got to voice Optimus Prime in a video game project. Cullen would reprise the role in several other Transformers games, including the acclaimed Transformers: War for Cybertron and Platinum Games' Transformers: Devastation. Cullen even voiced the character when he debuted in Fortnite. Other than Optimus Prime, Cullen also voiced the chronically pessimistic Eeyore in several Winnie the Pooh films, shows, and video games. One of his more obscure video game credits is acting as the narrator in the 2019 puzzle game Crystal Crisis. Cullen's other iconic voice roles outside of Optimus Prime and Eeyore include the eponymous Predator in the original Predator film, Monterey Jack in Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, and KARR in Knight Rider. He won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2023 Children's and Family Emmy Awards. It has been a tough week in the entertainment world, with many mourning the passings of Dolly Parton and Tim Curry, the latter whom had a small but memorable presence in video gaming...
Following the report that said Battlefield 1's Jack Lowden is circling the role of James Bond for the next 007 movie, it’s now rumored that another actor who appeared in a video game, Jack Barton, could be in the mix as well. PageSix reported that Bond 26 director Denis Villeneuve and casting director Nina Gold are looking at a "stream of unknowns" to play James Bond next. One such person is Barton, who played Messmer the Impaler in Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. That is Barton's only video game credit. On TV, he appeared in Steven Knight's SAS: Rogue Heroes and the TV show War of the Worlds. In film, Barton appeared in Yorgos Lanthimos' Oscar-winning 2023 movie Poor Things. The report went on to say Barton will do a screen test to play James Bond, as will other contenders, including Lowden. These tests will begin in early September and will also reportedly include people like Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi, Paul Mescal, and Harris Dickson. In May this year, Bond movie production company Amazon MGM Studios said the search for the next James Bond actor was underway and that the film studio would not comment on the casting process. It has been a long wait for the next James Bond movie, as the latest entry, No Time to Die, was released in 2021. However, it was expected to be release much sooner, but had three delays due in part to COVID. Daniel Craig played James Bond in five 007 films, and wrapped up his run with No Time To Die. Amazon MGM Studios bought the franchise and reportedly paid a lot of money to regain creative control from the longtime series stewards Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. The new James Bond movie will be directed by Villeneuve, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker known for the Dune franchise. He’s also directed the movies Prisoners, Sicario, Blade Runner 2049, and Arrival...