PlayStation’s State of Play is about games. However, there are a few times when the semi-regular event can spawn hype for something outside the realm of gaming. Today is one of those times. Sony Pictures and PlayStation have released more information about the upcoming Helldivers movie adaptation.

Early last year, Sony teased a variety of upcoming adaptations for its tentpole franchises. This announcement included Horizon Zero Dawn, Ghost of Tsushima, and Helldivers.

Today, as reported by Variety, the Helldivers film finally has a leading man. Jason Momoa, who starred in the Minecraft adaptation previously, will star in the film.

Since the franchise isn’t really known for a specific main character, it’s unknown who the star will play. We also don’t know his co-stars yet.

Alongside Momoa, Justin Lin will direct the film. The director is known for his work with the Fast and Furious franchise.

Plot-wise, the Helldivers franchise seems tailor-made for the movies. It’s not a supremely story-driven game, but its premise is endlessly adaptable. The games always revolve around a group of soldiers called Helldivers, who protect Super Earth from a host of alien threats. These threats include rogue robots and bug-like creatures.

The film, whatever it might tackle, will premiere on November 10, 2027.

Helldivers 2 launched back in 2024. At the time, the game was exclusive for the PlayStation and PC. However, it recently launched on the Xbox, too.

SEE ALSO: Helldivers 2 review: SIP ON SOME LIBER-TEA!

Greenbelt has unveiled its newly reimagined cinemas, raising the bar for premium moviegoing in Metro Manila. The reopening forms part of the broader transformation of the iconic lifestyle destination under Ayala Malls.

Ayala Malls COO Paul Birkett said reinventing Greenbelt required both ambition and detail. Alongside luxury retail, the mall has refreshed its entertainment offering with upgraded theaters, a revitalized lobby, and curated food options.

Familiar formats, elevated experience

The refreshed lineup includes 4DX, known for its multi-sensory effects, and My Cinema, a favorite venue for private screenings and celebrations.

The cinema lobby now features a massive video wall for trailers and visual storytelling. The ticket booth sports a cleaner, more modern look. The Movie Snackbar has also been redesigned. It now comes with expanded offerings and new popcorn flavors including Truffle Parmesan, Smoked Gouda, and Salted Caramel.

Food options now include Mamou, Potato Corner, Toki, Chihuahua, and Carmen’s Best, served in a Greenbelt-exclusive popcorn bucket design.

Comfort takes center stage

Inside the theaters, the upgrades are immediate. New wall panels, plush carpeting, and warmer lighting create a more inviting atmosphere.

All cinemas now use Slider seats. These wider, all-leather seats glide smoothly into a natural recline without electric controls. The result is improved comfort and better ergonomic support throughout the film.

Laser projection and immersive sound

Every screen now runs on laser projection for brighter images and more consistent color. Each cinema is also equipped with a Dolby Atmos sound system. It delivers three-dimensional audio that moves around the audience.

A cinematic unveiling

The refreshed cinemas were unveiled on February 10. Guests experienced the upgrades during an exclusive preview of Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.

The evening included hors d’oeuvres and cocktails from Dillingers, live music from a quartet, and a special screening of the film, now showing in Ayala Malls Cinemas.

Booking made easier

According to Yvette Roldan, Ancillary Business Head of Ayala Malls, every aspect of the cinema experience was upgraded for comfort and quality.

Moviegoers can now check schedules and book tickets online via Ayala All Access at ayalaallaccess.com.

Greenbelt’s reimagined cinemas invite audiences to rediscover the big screen, where design, comfort, and technology come together.

Doing things for the plot used to burn me badly. It always ended the same way: me lying on the floor, crying over choices I insisted were romantic when they were clearly reckless, while my cat stared at me with a look that suggested regret over choosing me as an owner.

I’ve gone through enough heartbreak that someone my age should have learned by now. I should know when to pause before making decisions that feel thrilling only because they are unhinged.

And yet, I still move through life the way I did in my early twenties, convinced that consequences can wait as long as I feel something in the moment.

I had always wanted to go to Cagayan de Oro. The city feels like a threshold, a gateway to Northern Mindanao, opening up to Camiguin and Bukidnon, two places I have romanticized endlessly through saved TikTok videos and screenshots meant for a future version of myself who finally had the time.

Travel felt like a good enough reason to go. It just wasn’t the real one.

It was for love

Four years ago, I noticed him after watching at finish line of an ultramarathon on one of the hardest trails in the Philippines.

There was something about that moment — about the way exhaustion and triumph lived in his body at the same time. That single image stayed with me. Attraction and curiosity followed.

After walking away from my “loml“, loss of my life, unfortunately, as Taylor Swift would put it, I decided to take a risk to start the year. I wanted to see whether my heart would open again, even slightly.

Armed with nothing but courage I wasn’t fully confident in and the OPPO Reno15 mounted on my Ulanzi tripod, I crossed 800 kilometers to see a “friend.”

I used the word carefully, knowing how much work it was doing. I also knew this trip would either become one of the best decisions I made this year or one I would have to process slowly over time.

Touchdown with intentions

I was already on assignment in Northern Mindanao. In almost a decade of traveling for work, I had never extended a stay. I flew in, did the job, and flew out because Manila always waited with something urgent.

This time, I rebooked my flight for the next day, telling myself that one more day was reasonable. A stop at Panagatan Restaurant in Opol, Misamis Oriental made it feel like I had slipped into my own 1989 (Taylor’s Version)-coded vacation.

Blue skies stretched endlessly above a calm sea. The air felt cool against my skin, though there were no birds cutting through the frame.

I sat there soaking in sunlight, staring at the view as it unfolded in front of me. For the first time in a long while, I felt welcomed. I caught myself thinking that life might actually be okay. I could breathe.

Like in the song “Clean,” except this time I was twelve months sober from a love that almost broke me.

A table for one

I checked in at Red Planet because every hotel I genuinely wanted to stay at was fully booked. What remained were family rooms priced at over US$150.

The room I ended up with was simple, featuring a queen-sized bed and costing less than US$40. There was barely enough space for my drum-like American Tourister luggage, but the bed was wide and welcoming.

I spread myself out and slept like a starfish, the way you do when no one is watching.

Just under two kilometers away sat Cucina Higala, known for serving modern Filipino cuisine rooted in Mindanao heritage. A friend from Cagayan de Oro had told me never to miss it, no matter how packed it got.

Of course, I listened.

Lunch there felt indulgent in the best way. The interiors made it feel like someone’s home rather than a restaurant. Even the bathroom caught my attention, tucked into a corner and washed in shaded daylight.

Everything worked together. The low murmur of diners layered with laughter; the smell of food arriving at nearby tables; the clink of cutlery against plates.

There was a sense that time moved slower here, encouraging you to stay longer than planned. I finally understood why the locals insisted going there.

Waiting at six

Before dusk settled in, I headed to Uptown to meet a friend. I wanted to catch up and ground myself. Eventually, I admitted why I was really in the city.

We sat at Milestone Coffee + Kitchen in Uptown, cups of tea and coffee between us. They also have a branch downtown, but Uptown felt easier, more relaxed, like the right place to unravel stories and gossip that carried weight.

The truth was simple: I was there to see someone I had an interest on for years, and we were supposed to meet at six.

I was terrified of being stood up. Crossing land, sea, and sky for a man was something I had never done before. I believed we would meet because he said we would, but I still asked my friend for recommendations on where to go, just in case.

Backup plans felt necessary. I just needed to know there was something to hold onto if my heart cracked open in public.

After sunset

Thankfully, he picked me up at Milestone Coffee + Kitchen and met my friend. We rode back toward downtown through the diversion road, him on his brand-new Yamaha Fazzio in Matte Orange.

His motorcycle had a name. Ophelia. He bought it in October, right before Taylor Swift released her album The Life of a Showgirl and the single “The Fate of Ophelia.”

My 1989-coded escapade shifted into something “Opalite”-coded, as if I had wandered into a version of my own People We Meet on Vacation moment and somehow found my Alex Nilsen-slash-Travis Kelce.

We strolled along the boulevard where people walked, ate, laughed, and leaned into the night market energy. Some sat by the riverside, letting the evening pass without urgency.

I drank fresh coconut juice from a stall that stayed busy even at ten in the evening, while everything across the street had already closed. It tasted exactly like the moment felt — unexpected and sweet.

We ended the night drinking beer we bought from a convenience store, like teenagers sneaking alcohol because our parents would disapprove. It was simple and familiar… and it tasted like home.

On borrowed time

The next morning, I knew it was already my last day in the city. While he was working, like actual adults and not the versions we see in movies, I packed up, freshened up, and walked to Limketkai to grab coffee and brunch.

I took my morning slowly. I journaled in my pocket notebook, listening to “Past Lives” by sapientdream and Slushii, sipping my coffee while watching people move through their own lives.

It felt grounding to exist without urgency, even if only for a few hours.

When my beau finally gave the signal to visit his farm, where I could leave my luggage before heading to the airport, I checked out of the hotel and went on what felt like an almost hour-long ride.

The farm was only about a fifteen-minute drive from the airport, which meant we still had time, real time, to spend the rest of the day together.

I toured his farm on foot and watched livestock being cared for with a gentleness that made me feel like I had stepped into a version of life far removed from mine.

I felt like a Disney princess playing with animals, temporarily forgetting that I had a return flight waiting for me.

We ate together, and at some point I fell asleep on the hammock, only waking up when he gently shook me so we could go to his favorite place.

At the edge of the day

The beach was so close to the airport that my heart sank the moment I saw it. Leaving the city suddenly felt very real. Leaving him even more so.

The entire encounter felt People We Meet On Vacation-coded, and yet I kept hoping this was not just a vacation fling, that he wasn’t merely a vacation boyfriend meant to exist only within a fixed timeline.

I relished the sight of the sea, his favorite spot as he told me, where he went to clear his mind whenever life felt overwhelming.

The water was turquoise, vivid against the rocks, and it was impossible to ignore. The sound of waves crashing against the cliffside rocks and the cool hum of the breeze wrapped around us as we talked.

We pondered about life, about where we were heading, about what this meant, and what it realistically could not be.

That was when I realized there was distance between us, not only measured in kilometers. We were two people meeting at different points in our lives, emotionally and mentally out of sync despite how naturally everything else fit.

We both rejected the idea of dating, even after acknowledging how rare it felt to find someone who matched our freak so effortlessly. I knew this could grow into something more if one of us was brave enough to go the distance.

I also knew that maybe neither of us was in the right place to choose someone else when our own dreams still demanded so much attention.

Goodbyes timed by the sky

The sky turned pink and purple as I headed to the airport. He followed behind me riding Ophelia, while I sat inside a tuktuk, a small motorized, three-wheeled rickshaw carrying me and my luggage through the last stretch of the city.

Rain had been forecasted all day. We both knew it. And yet somehow, the universe held it back, letting us have the beach, conversations, laughter, and pauses.

It waited until everything that mattered had already happened.

He made sure I got to the airport safely. Only after I gave him a tight squeeze and finally let go did the rain arrive, as if on cue, like it understood timing better than either of us.

It was an evening flight, and I looked like a deranged person wearing sunglasses, crying while sipping floral tea at Bo’s Coffee, staring out at the runway as planes lined up for departure.

I kept asking myself why distance suddenly frightened me when I had already crossed eight hundred kilometers for him.

Somewhere above the clouds, the answer floated heavily. I did love him. I just never said it out loud because I was afraid of what it would demand, and I was afraid of opening my heart again to someone I wasn’t even sure I would meet again.

For a moment, I felt loved and desired, and remembered what it felt like to be chosen, even briefly.

When I arrived in Manila, I looked through the photos captured on my OPPO Reno15 and smiled, seeing how a smartphone held on to a fleeting moment of love, written on sand and washed away exactly in time.