• John Krasinski gave some insight to Business Insider on his plans for the sequel to "A Quiet Place" he's currently writing.
• He said it was his wife, Emily Blunt, who described it best, calling it not really a sequel but "the second book in a series of books. It’s a widening of a world."

John Krasinski is not shy to admit he had no interest in doing a sequel to “A Quiet Place.”

The $17 million horror movie, in which a family fends off creatures that kill you if you make a sound, was a cash cow for Paramount in 2018, as the movie took in an incredible $340.6 million worldwide at the box office. Of course, the executives wanted Krasinski — who wrote, directed, and starred in the movie alongside his wife Emily Blunt — to make another.

But in rewriting the original script from screenwriters Bryan Woods and Scott Beck, Krasinski felt he had pulled off what he set out to do: tell a unique, family-focused genre movie. What else could he offer a potential franchise? Well, he admitted he did have, as he put it, one “tiny idea.”

“I told them I wasn’t going to participate in [a sequel] and to find a new writer and director,” Krasinski told Business Insider. But when the movie’s producer Drew Form asked for some guidance in the search, Krasinski revealed the sequel idea he had. “Drew was very smart and said, ‘Think on it some more while we have these meetings with other people.’ Then he threw the Jedi mind trick of asking me to just write the sequel, and he sucked me in."

Clearly, Form, and likely everyone at Paramount, knew that for a successful “A Quiet Place” franchise to work it would help if Krasinski stayed on board. And the actor-director eventually couldn’t resist the chance to continue telling another story set in this world.

“Me going from not wanting to participate in a sequel to doing it is the same reason I hope people will want to see one,” Krasinski said. “My hope is people want to revisit this world and revisit those stakes and those rules to have to abide by.”

Krasinski said he’s taking a similar approach to writing the sequel as he did to the original. Krasinski wasn't a huge fan of the horror genre before making “A Quiet Place,” so he said he set out to figure out what made him scared and then used that to move forward with the movie. With the sequel, he said he hasn’t reached out to directors he knows for guidance on how to make a follow-up. Instead, he's staying clear of other people's successes and failures and figuring out a way to do it on his own.

Read more: 22 movies coming to theaters before 2018 ends that you need to see this holiday season

“Most sequels are a hero and villain returning, but there’s no story behind it,” he said. “It’s basically, ‘Let’s give the audience the character they want.’ And I think the brilliant thing about ‘A Quiet Place’ is there’s a world.”

And it was Blunt who confirmed that to Krasinski, as well as pointing out that the movie he’s crafting will be hard to call a sequel.

“Emily actually blew my mind by categorizing it the correct way after I pitched it to her. She said, ‘This isn’t a sequel at all — this is the second book in a series of books. It’s a widening of a world,” Krasinski explained.

Krasinski is currently writing the sequel, which Paramount has slated for a May 2020 release.

SEE ALSO: The 8 movies coming to Netflix in December that are worth watching

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Everything you need to know about 'Red Dead Redemption 2' — 2018's most anticipated video game

• Every week, Parrot Analytics provides Business Insider the most in-demand TV shows on streaming services.
• This week includes Netflix's British series "The Last Kingdom" and the recently canceled Marvel series, "Daredevil."

"Daredevil" remains in demand with audiences after Netflix canceled the Marvel series last week. 

Every week, Parrot Analytics provides Business Insider with a list of the seven most "in-demand" TV shows on streaming services. The data is based on "demand expressions," the globally standardized TV demand measurement unit from Parrot Analytics. Audience demand reflects the desire, engagement, and viewership weighted by importance, so a stream or download is a higher expression of demand than a "like" or comment on social media.

This week's most in-demand shows also include newcomer "The Last Kingdom," a British series acquired by Netflix that has become a global hit, and "Narcos: Mexico," which claimed the top spot from "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" after debuting on the list last week. 

Below are this week's seven most popular shows on Netflix and other streaming services:

SEE ALSO: 'Friends' is leaving Netflix in January, as the battle over streaming TV shows heats up

7. "13 Reasons Why" (Netflix)

Average demand expressions: 21,127,210 

Description: "Why did Hannah Baker take her own life? Her classmates all have secrets ... and the truth is about to come out."

Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 2): 27%

What critics said: "It teeters over the exploitative line that it was always in danger of crossing, and then decides that it's not that big of a deal." — Joshua Rivera, Rolling Stone

Season 2 premiered on Netflix May 18. It's been renewed for a third season.

6. "The Handmaid's Tale" (Hulu)

Average demand expressions: 22,591,348 

Description: "A woman forced into sexual servitude struggles to survive in a terrifying, totalitarian society."

Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 2): 91%

What critics said: "The most compelling scenes in the new season are the ones that explore how exactly Gilead took over America, and that draw on contemporary events and figures with eerie relevance." — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic

Season 2 premiered on Hulu in April. 

5. "The Last Kingdom" (Netflix)

Average demand expressions: 23,299,719 

Description: "As Alfred the Great defends his kingdom from Norse invaders, Uhtred — born a Saxon but raised by Vikings — seeks to claim his ancestral birthright."

Rotten Tomatoes critic score (Season 2): 83%

What critics said (Season 3): "Earthy family drama abounds and it's the soapy elements that make it feel like home." — James Donaghy, The Guardian

Season 3 premiered on Netflix November 19.

• "PUBG Mobile" has been named Google Play's Best Game of 2018 and Fan Favorite Game of 2018.
• "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" is a battle-royale shooter and helped inspire "Fortnite: Battle Royale" and the Blackout mode in "Call of Duty: Black Ops 4."
• "PUBG Mobile" is free on Google Play, while the versions on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC are $29.99.

Google Play has released its Best of 2018 list, and battle-royale shooter "PUBG Mobile" tops the list as both Best Game and Fan Favorite Game.

As the name suggests, "PUBG Mobile" is the mobile version of "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds," the PC game that's largely credited with inspiring the battle royale genre leading to "Fortnite: Battle Royale" and copycat game modes in "Call of Duty: Black Ops 4" and "Battlefield V."

Hundreds of millions of players around the world are playing battle royale games on video game consoles and smartphone alike. It helps that the two biggest games in the genre, "PUBG" and "Fortnite," are free on mobile devices. Research firm SensorTower reports that "PUBG Mobile" has been downloaded more than 240 million times and has earned more than $113 million through microtransactions.

"PUBG Mobile" and the console and PC versions of "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" have separate player bases, but the games function the same. "PUBG" throws 100 players onto an island with scattered resources. Once the game starts, they need to find weapons and items to defend themselves with as the safe areas of the island begin to shrink. The last player or team surviving at the end of the round is the winner.

Read more:It looks like the smash-hit game that paved the way for 'Fortnite: Battle Royale' is finally coming to PlayStation 4

While "Fortnite" is more popular than "PUBG" overall, the game is not downloadable in the Google Play Store — Android users must instead install the game directly from the Fornite website — clearing the way for "PUBG Mobile" to dominate on Android devices and Google Play download rankings. "Fortnite" is also unavailable in China, the world's largest video game market, due to the Chinese government's ongoing freeze on new game releases.

Both the PC version of "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" and "PUBG Mobile" were published in China by Tencent prior to the government's call for increased video game regulation. The game has seen tens of millions of downloads in China but Tencent is still not allowed to monetize "PUBG Mobile" in China with in-game purchases.

While "Fortnite" still reigns as the world's most popular game, the global reach of "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" will help ensure that its around for years to come. The console version of "PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds" recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of its launch on Xbox One, and will be released on PlayStation 4 on December 7th. The game's creators have also revealed plans for "PUBG" esports leagues in North America and Europe starting in 2019.

SEE ALSO: It looks like the smash-hit game that paved the way for 'Fortnite: Battle Royale' is finally coming to PlayStation 4

SEE ALSO: The new 'Call of Duty' has a surprisingly fantastic Battle Royale mode aimed directly at 'Fortnite'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Amazon wants to open 3,000 cashier-less grocery stores — and they'll have a major advantage over their competitors

• On Monday morning, Netflix's show page for "Friends" said the sitcom would be available to stream only until January 1, 2019.
• But that may have been a glitch, according to several reporters who cover the media space.
• Netflix removed the date from the show page on Monday afternoon.

Netflix gave the internet a collective heart attack when it wrote on its show page for "Friends" that the 1990s sitcom would be available to stream only until January 1, 2019. The show has been available on Netflix for four years.

But that could be have been a glitch.

Here's how the page appeared on Monday morning:

But on Monday, NBC editor Claire Atkinson tweeted that she had asked Netflix's content boss, Ted Sarandos, about "Friends" while attending the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference. Sarandos indicated that "Friends" would not be leaving Netflix in January, according to Atkinson.

Wall Street Journal reporter Joe Flint also tweeted that the inclusion of the January 1 date on Netflix's show page "appears to have been a mistake and [the] show is not leaving."

Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, but it removed the date from the "Friends" page on Monday.

This is how the same page appeared Monday afternoon:

This apparent glitch on Netflix's site comes at a time when many are wondering about the fate of shows Netflix has licensed in the past.

"Friends" is a Warner Bros. Television series. That would make it a logical fit for AT&T's upcoming streaming service, which is expected to launch in 2019. AT&T bought Time Warner (which includes Warner Bros.) earlier this year.

AT&T's upcoming service will also include HBO, which AT&T now owns and is pushing to be more like Netflix in terms of output. HBO has always focused on a small but acclaimed collection of TV shows that makes up its Sunday-night lineup, but under AT&T quantity will be important in addition to quality.

Read more: AT&T will jump into the streaming bloodbath by launching a Netflix competitor next year

That's not the only new competition Netflix will face in securing licensing rights.

Disney is launching its own streaming service late next year called Disney+, and the effects of that are already being felt on Netflix as well. Netflix has canceled three of its five Marvel shows in the last two months, the most recent cancellation was "Daredevil" last week (Disney owns Marvel).

While data showed that interest in the Marvel shows had been lacking, the cancellations also reflect the bitter battle over content as more players enter the streaming war. "Sons of Anarchy" also left Netflix this month (it can still be watched on Hulu). The FX series might have been a casualty of the Disney-Fox merger, and its removal from Netflix could signal that other Disney- and Fox-owned shows could be in danger once the merger is complete.

Netflix spent an estimated $8 billion on content this year in an effort to have 1,000 original shows and movies on the service.

SEE ALSO: Data predicted Netflix would cancel 'Daredevil,' and its remaining Marvel shows are probably next

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How 'The Price Is Right' is made

• Of all the blockbuster spectacles and indie darlings I played in 2018, one unexpected game was the best by far: "Tetris Effect."
• More than just a modern reimagining of a classic game, "Tetris Effect" is a breath of fresh air for the "Tetris" franchise.
• Despite the age of the source of material, "Tetris Effect" is the best game I played in 2018 — a year that featured blockbusters like "God of War," "Spider-Man," and "Red Dead Redemption 2."

Sorry, "Call of Duty!" So long, "Red Dead Redemption 2!" I can't stop playing "Tetris Effect," and thinking about it, and evangelizing it.

There's a simple reason for that: "Tetris Effect" is the best game I played in 2018.

Better than the excellent "God of War" reboot, and the excellent "Spider-Man" reboot, and the incredibly impressive "Red Dead Redemption 2"? Yes! Better than all those games that I also really liked!

"Tetris Effect" takes a foundational game ("Tetris"), executes it perfectly, and crucially evolves the concept of what a "Tetris" game can be. It's one of the only games I played in 2018 that I'll continue playing into 2019 (and likely beyond). 

Here's what makes it so incredibly good:

SEE ALSO: The 18 best video games of 2018, from 'Red Dead Redemption 2' to 'God of War'

"Tetris" is timeless.

I first played "Tetris" on the Nintendo Game Boy around 1989. I still have the Game Boy and the cartridge (I've been a dork going on three decades now), largely due to how formative the game was on my childhood. It's my all-time favorite game.

Admittedly, in case it weren't already clear enough, I did not need to be "sold" on the idea of a new "Tetris" game. But even I wondered what would make such an old game feel new again — over 30 years after Alexey Pajitnov coded the game in the Soviet Union. 

It turns out that, in 2018, "Tetris" is still as creative and brilliant as it was on the original Game Boy.

The foundation of "Tetris Effect" is still focused on creating/clearing lines from the play field while new blocks are randomly generated from the top. There is no major shift or evolution in this respect — "Tetris Effect" is, at its core, a "Tetris" game. 

"Tetris Effect" is "Tetris" at its finest.

Playing "Tetris Effect" with the PlayStation 4 controller is intuitive, and controls are precise. The game feels sharp and fast, like it should. 

That might sound basic, but it's absolutely crucial for any great "Tetris" game to nail control. 

One of the biggest issues with "Tetris" in the modern era is the clash between its mainstream appeal and its relative unplayability on touch-based devices (like smartphones). Simply put: "Tetris" requires butttons, but most people play games on smartphones (which don't have buttons).

To that end, the PlayStation 4 is a more than capable machine for "Tetris Effect." The d-pad on the DualShock 4 gamepad is excellent at incremental, precise movement. If you fail, there's no confusion over who's at fault — it certainly wasn't the controls.

The game runs at a steady clip, and never slowed down nor skipped a beat even at its most hectic — and "Tetris Effect" gets real hectic.

The "Tetris" effect is real.

The game's title sounds like a psychological phenomenon — and it is, in fact, exactly that, where players start "seeing" the patterns of "Tetris" in the world or in their mind as they drift off to sleep. "Tetris Effect," the game, takes that and twists it back on itself. 

During gameplay, a synaesthetic journey takes place in the background. With each twist of the "Tetris" block ("tetronimo") and lateral movement, the game's music responds in turn. While this auditory collaboration occurs, the game's background visuals take players on a journey through space, or the oceans, or across a vast desert.

It's surreal, and beautiful, and intense — and it's much more than a parlor trick.

Beyond offering an additional audio/visual component, these synaesthetic effects serve to further imprint the game's seemingly simplistic gameplay into consciousness. It deepens an already flow-like experience. 

• Netflix's content boss, Ted Sarandos, said Monday that "The Christmas Chronicles," starring Kurt Russell, had 20 million views in its first week. 
• "If every one of those was a movie ticket purchase, that's a $200 million opening week," he said. 
• We don't know how many of those were repeat viewings, however.

Netflix doesn't release viewership numbers, but claimed "The Christmas Chronicles" is the biggest movie of Kurt Russell's career.

Netflix's Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos discussed the movie, which debuted last month, at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on Monday. It stars Russell as a "savvy, straight-talking" Santa Claus who teams up with young siblings to save Christmas after the pair crash his sleigh.

Sarandos said that, according to Russell, "The Christmas Chronicles" had the "most impact" of any of the actor's movies after its release.

"It's because, even in his successful career, he's never had that many people see one of his movies in the first week ever," Sarandos said. "That's a testimony to what we can bring to the market for storytellers today that we couldn't have ten years ago."

According to Sarandos, "The Christmas Chronicles" had 20 million views in its first week.

"If every one of those was a movie ticket purchase, that's a $200 million opening week," he said. "Even movies that go on to $1 billion don't typically do that in the first week."

But since Netflix doesn't release concrete viewing data, we don't know how many of those views are repeat viewings, or how many people watched the entire movie.

For comparison's sake, according to Box Office Mojo, Russell's biggest theatrical release in the US before inflation is Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" last year. The movie scored $146.5 million in its opening weekend and  $183 million in its first week. It went on to gross almost $390 million domestically and $863 million globally. His biggest movie worldwide is "Furious 7" in 2015, which grossed over $1.5 billion total. 

SEE ALSO: Netflix's show page for 'Friends' said the sitcom would only be available to stream until January 1, but it could have been a glitch

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Everything you need to know about 'Red Dead Redemption 2' — 2018's most anticipated video game

• After two and a half years, Pokémon Go players will finally get the ability to challenge other players to Pokémon battles. 
• The update will literally change the game: It introduces a revamped battle system that lets Pokémon learn a third attack, introducing a whole new layer of strategy. 
• The fights themselves will let trainers take a team of three Pokémon into battle, with otherwise hard-to-find items as a possible prize for the victor.
• To start a battle, you'll generally need to be close enough to your would-be opponent to scan a QR code on their phone — a mechanic designed to encourage real-world interaction.
• Here's how it all works.

Last week, developer Niantic teased that Pokémon Go players will soon be able to battle their fellow Pokémon trainers — a feature that's been in hot demand since the game first launched in the summer of 2016. 

On Tuesday, Niantic announced its first feature, including the key detail that trainers will take teams of three Pokémon into battle with them.

It's not immediately clear when, exactly, this feature will start rolling out, though Niantic says that it's slated for launch before the end of the year. In the past, it's rarely taken Niantic long after the announcement to begin the rollout of new features, though it often brings the new features to high-level players first, before fully rolling out the changes.

What is clear is that the addition of player-versus-player (PvP) battles is slated to completely change the game. And I mean that literally: Among many other things, the trainer battle update will add the ability for your Pokémon to learn a third attack, beyond the two that they already know. The game's battle system itself is getting tweaked slightly, such that you're rewarded for tapping rhythmically to charge up certain attacks in combat.

Much of it builds on the game's new social features, which were introduced a few months ago alongside the also-much-requested Pokémon trading feature. While you can battle strangers, there are a few advantages to fighting your friends. 

Here's how Pokémon Go trainer battles will work:

SEE ALSO: This is how Pokémon trading works in Pokémon Go

The first thing you gotta know is that Pokémon Go battling is sorted into leagues. When you challenge another trainer, you decide ahead of time which league's rules you'll fight under.

Different leagues have different caps on the strength of the Pokémon you can use to battle. The highest-level league, the Master League, takes off (almost) all the limits: You can use any Pokémon, at any level, including so-called Legendaries.

The one caveat are that you can't use Ditto or Shedinja, two weird cases in the larger Pokémon canon, in any kind of player-versus-player battles, including Master League. 

If you want to battle another trainer, you'll use your phone's camera to scan their unique QR code. You'll only be able to battle remotely with your Ultra Friends and Best Friends, as a perk for IRL besties.

• Larry Morrow is a well-connected entrepreneur in New Orleans. He owns a restaurant and throws parties for high-profile clients like Drake, Floyd Mayweather, and Mary J. Blige.
• At first, Morrow spent the money he earned on material items, like a $40,000 diamond-studded watch.
• But once he realized he didn't feel personally fulfilled by fancy items, he started investing in himself and his family.

Larry Morrow is a well-connected entrepreneur in New Orleans.

When he first started making money in his early 20s, he was quick to spend it on flashy things, he said on an episode of Business Insider's podcast "This Is Success."

"I think society, especially in the urban communities, society teaches us so many things. Like, we should have the nice watches, the nice cars, spend money. All the material things," Morrow said.

Traveling with flashy accessories was exciting for Morrow at first, but he soon realized he could make smarter investments in real estate or by helping out his family.

"So, I had this watch, and I paid $40,000 for it. And, I would go out of town. It was cool. It had all the diamonds in it. It was beautiful. But, I didn't want that watch to make me who I was," he said.

"It caused a lot of tension. But, I realized at one point, 'You know what? I don't need this. I've got a house on my wrist. I can go invest in a piece of property. I can make money versus wear this watch.'"

Read more: A 27-year-old entrepreneur who built a million-dollar business with clients like Drake and Lil Wayne says a game he played at age 10 taught him 2 lifelong lessons about money

Morrow said he's glad that "phase" is over.

"And, I had to realize, 'You know what? It's not about the materialistic things. It's more about providing something for my family and creating some stability, creating some generational wealth to where my kid don't have to worry about college tuition,'" he said.

Today he owns a restaurant called Morrow's New Orleans and is the author of a book called "All Bets on Me."

"So, I had to dumb it down a little bit and just get my mind right, not be so focused on material things," Morrow said. "Because, I think you are what you are surrounded by. Once I switched things up and started to think a little different, that's when things really took off."

You can subscribe to "This Is Success" wherever you get podcasts and listen to the full episode below:

SEE ALSO: A 27-year-old promoter and restaurateur explains how he built a million-dollar business with clients like Drake, Lil Wayne, Mary J. Blige, and Floyd Mayweather

DON'T MISS: A 27-year-old entrepreneur who built a million-dollar business with clients like Drake and Lil Wayne says a game he played at age 10 taught him 2 lifelong lessons about money

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why this Bovet watch costs over $450,000

• Roku executive Scott Rosenberg was interviewed Tuesday at Business Insider's IGNITION 2018 conference about his role in driving the company's advertising revenue.
• Rosenberg said that Roku customers are interested in ad-free content — so much so that the most-searched term on the Roku channel is "free."
• He also revealed that Roku users watch almost three hours of streaming content a day, on average.
• Roku is the most popular over-the-top (OTT) streaming device, but is facing growing competition from rivals Comcast, Amazon, and Apple.

Roku users watch an average of almost three hours of streaming content per day, and many crave a viewing experience that is advertising-free, Roku executive Scott Rosenberg said Tuesday at Business Insider's IGNITION conference.

Rosenberg, Roku's senior vice president and general manager of advertising, shared these statistics on stage at IGNITION 2018, Business Insider's ninth annual conference featuring leaders in media and tech. He talked about the cord-cutting trend, where users are consistently turning away from tradition "live" programs on television and moving toward on-demand entertainment through Roku and other over-the-top (OTT) streaming players.

"It's very clear to us at Roku that consumers are cutting and shaving the chord not just because they want more choices in the matter, but because they're looking for value," Rosenberg said. "So, free is a very important selection criteria as consumers get into OTT."

Much of Rosenberg's work revolves around finding the right balance between ad-free viewing that pleases consumers, and ad-supported content that brings in revenue. Rosenberg said that for Roku's users — who on average watch 2.8 hours of streaming content a day — advertisements need to be short, yet clickable and effective, in order to keep viewers' attention.

Despite Roku's efforts to keep ads at a minimum, its customers still crave content that is completely free of advertising. In fact, Rosenberg said "free" is the most-searched term on the Roku Channel, a one-stop channel for free content (some with ads, some without) that launched last year.

With 24 million users, Roku is the most popular OTT streaming player, beating out similar devices from the likes of Amazon, Apple, and Google. 

Read more: 'We outperform all of them': Roku is readying itself for competition from the likes of Amazon and Comcast as the streaming war heats up

Competition is growing in the streaming and on-demand entertainment industry, however, as new players and industry veterans look to enter the market or expand their reach. 

"I would say, broadly, consumers have so many more options now to watch longform, premium video in our living room," Rosenberg told Business Insider in November. "We all should expect that the traditional video distributors will feel compelled to compete more aggressively to keep consumer attention, and to compete at the price point that consumers are demanding."

Tune in to Day 2 of IGNITION 2018, where speakers include Etsy CEO Josh Silverman and Barbara Corcoran from ABC's "Shark Tank:

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Michael Avenatti is an attorney whose most famous client is Stormy Daniels.
• He has inserted himself into the national conversation this year, often making claims about high-profile people, including President Donald Trump and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
• Avenatti was also considering a 2020 presidential bid, but ruled it out after suffering numerous legal and professional setbacks in recent weeks. 
• A federal judge ruled against him in Daniels' defamation suit against Trump, was referred to the FBI on accusations of lying to Congress, and was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. 
• Here's a look at his career, and claims he's made over the last several months.

At the moment, Michael Avenatti may be the most high-profile lawyer in America. The 47-year-old seasoned litigator has made headlines in recent months thanks to his famous client, porn star and director Stormy Daniels.

Just days before the 2016 US election, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen arranged a $130,000 payment to Daniels to keep her silent about an affair she allegedly had with Trump in 2006.

Avenatti has since sued the president, on Daniels' behalf, accusing Trump of invalidating a non-disclosure agreement, and of defaming Daniels. Avenatti says the violation allows Daniels to reveal her side of the story to the public, and in March, she started doing just that with a blockbuster "60 Minutes" interview on CBS News.

Appearing on dozens of cable news shows, tweeting frequently, and often making claims that he has explosive information on people in the news, Avenatti has attempted to make himself a household name.

But in recent months, Avenatti has suffered a number of legal setbacks between a judge ruling against him and Stormy Daniels' in their defamation lawsuit against Trump, being referred to the FBI on suspicion of submitting false statements to Congress, and being arrested on suspicion of domestic violence.

While the Los Angeles district attorney's office declined to press felony domestic violence charges against him, Avenatti decided to rule out a 2020 bid for the Presidency on Dec. 4.

Here's what you should know about Michael Avenatti:

SEE ALSO: Meet 'Stormy Daniels', the porn star Trump's lawyer paid to keep quiet about an alleged sexual affair — who's finally telling her side of the story

DON'T MISS: Here are all the sexual-misconduct allegations against Brett Kavanaugh

Avenatti graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1996. Three years later, he received his JD degree from George Washington University.

During college and law school, Avenatti worked for The Research Group, a campaign research firm founded by Rahm Emmanuel, former President Barack Obama's chief of staff and the current Democratic mayor of Chicago.

Source: Chicago Magazine

After graduating law school, Avenatti worked at O'Melveny & Myers, a high-powered Los Angeles law firm. Over the course of his legal career, he has contributed to several high-profile cases involving Paris Hilton, Jim Carrey, and members of the rock band The Eagles.

• With dozens of killer games available right now, it's a great time to buy a PlayStation 4. 
• Maybe you're one of the millions of people buying one this year!
• After five years, the PS4 has a massive game library. We put together the best games to get you started with your new console.

The time has finally come: You bought a PlayStation 4. Congratulations!

Unbelievably, the PlayStation 4 launched over five years ago at this point. Still feels like a pretty modern, swanky little box, doesn't it?

The good news is there are five full years of major games available to play on the PS4. But that means there's a lot of titles out there to sift through. Where to begin?!

What we've put together below is a bit of a cheat sheet — a look through 10 excellent games across a variety of genres that either can only be played on the PlayStation 4 or are best on PlayStation 4. 

SEE ALSO: Forget 2018 — these are the nine biggest games set to arrive in early 2019

"Horizon Zero Dawn"

In 10 years, people will still be talking about innovative things that "Horizon Zero Dawn" does. They'll still be talking about how gorgeous it is, how smart and funny its main character is, how it succeeded commercially in the shadow of a new Nintendo console and a new "Legend of Zelda" game.

While playing games, I often experience a small handful of emotions: frustration, accomplishment, fear. While playing "Horizon Zero Dawn," that list expanded dramatically — outside of delighting in the graceful, smart gameplay systems that underlie the game's narrative focus, I often laughed out loud at Aloy's smart quips (she's the protagonist you see above). I found myself endlessly curious about the surprisingly deep lore of the game's world, its people and religions, and the main character's story arc. Perhaps most important, I actually cared about the main character, believed her motivations, and wanted her to succeed.

"Horizon Zero Dawn" is a magnificent accomplishment of a game that stands out among standouts. And I didn't even mention the giant metal dinosaurs.

Read our full review of "Horizon Zero Dawn" right here.

"Bloodborne"

Listen, "Bloodborne" is not for the faint of heart.

In "Bloodborne," you're a hunter taking on a world that wants you dead. In practice that means you're playing a third-person action game where constant death is pretty much an expectation. It's only through careful attrition that you'll learn to survive and progress. Like the "Souls" series it comes from, "Bloodborne" is a game that demands focus and mastery.

For some people, that will be a massive turnoff. For others, "Bloodborne" is an obsession.

That said: "Bloodborne" is gorgeous/gruesome, tremendously challenging, and easily one of the best games on PlayStation 4. Here's a review-y thing my colleague Dave Smith wrote about the game— it goes into far more depth on why "Bloodborne" is so fantastic.

"Marvel's Spider-Man"

It's hard to overstate how much fun basic movement is in "Spider-Man."

Even after devoting more than 30 hours of my life to the game, I never tired of high-velocity traversal. If you've seen any of the "Spider-Man" movies, you're already familiar with how swinging around Manhattan works — it's nearly identical in the PS4 game, but you're in control.

And the version of Manhattan that "Spider-Man" lives in is almost as beautiful as the real thing. It's not quite as large, or as detailed, but it's got all the familiar landmarks you'd expect to see: Union Square, Central Park, and much more.

As a NYC resident, I found it shockingly easy to navigate the Manhattan of "Spider-man" without using the in-game map. That it's possible to navigate solely based on my knowledge of the actual Manhattan is incredibly impressive, and a testament to the level of detail in "Spider-Man."

But what's most impressive about the game is that it manages to tell a story and evoke the feeling of a high-budget Marvel superhero film — except you get to play it.

I want to be all the way clear here: I don't even like "Spider-Man" as a character. I never read the comics growing up, and I don't like the few films I saw. I love "Spider-Man" on PlayStation 4. 

Read our full review of "Spider-man" right here.

• A note on Netflix's "Friends" show page on Monday said the sitcom would leave the service in January.
• Netflix pulled the note, however, and posted on social media that "Friends" would be available throughout 2019.
• Netflix and AT&T are finalizing a deal to keep the show on Netflix while allowing AT&T to also include it on its coming streaming service.
• The New York Times reported that Netflix will pay $100 million for the rights.

The internet lost its mind Monday when a note on Netflix's show page for "Friends" said the show would be leaving the service on January 1.

Thanks partly to its availability on Netflix, which acquired the streaming rights in 2015, the 1990s sitcom is still a beloved and hugely popular property. Soon after the news blew up the internet, Netflix pulled the note from the page and, later on Monday, posted to social media that the show would be available to stream at least through 2019.

While "Friends" is safe on Netflix for now, new questions have been raised about its future in streaming.

The Warner Bros. series is the subject of negotiations between Netflix and AT&T, which bought Time Warner earlier this year. Before Netflix announced the show would remain on its service, there was speculation that it would be moving to AT&T's streaming service, which is expected to launch in 2019.

Read more: AT&T will jump into the streaming bloodbath by launching a Netflix competitor next year

According to The Wall Street Journal, that's still somewhat the case. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson confirmed at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on Tuesday that Netflix and AT&T were finalizing a multiyear agreement to keep "Friends" on Netflix but allow AT&T "the flexibility" to put the show on its coming service.

According to The New York Times, which cited anonymous sources, Netflix will pay $100 million for "Friends," which is considerably more than the $30 million it was paying per year previously. But since the show won't be exclusive to Netflix once AT&T launches its service, Netflix is negotiating a lower price in the future. It's possible that "Friends" could leave Netflix after 2019, the sources told the Times. The Times said that the original deal was set to expire at the end of the year, and negotiations have been ongoing for the last few months.

The drama around "Friends" is not the only rights situation Netflix has had to deal with lately.

Disney will end a deal with the streaming giant ahead of launching its own service, Disney Plus, in 2019. Marvel, Star Wars, and other content will be included in the new service. And the Fox-owned "Sons of Anarchy" already left Netflix this month, signaling what could be coming after the Disney-Fox merger is finalized (it still streams on Hulu, which Disney owns a large percentage of).

SEE ALSO: Netflix says 'The Christmas Chronicles' is Kurt Russell's biggest movie ever

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• Forbes recently released its list of the highest paid YouTube stars of 2018, based on data and interviews with industry insiders.
• The list is exclusively male, and half of the top-earning YouTubers share a focus on video games.
• Collectively, the 10 top-earning YouTubers take home more than $180 million a year.

YouTube's impact on the realm of pop culture can't be ignored — the platform's top stars become the world's premiere influencers, coveted for their ability to reach tens of millions of followers on a daily basis.

As influencers become more valuable, many popular YouTubers have been able to turn their personal brands into million-dollar businesses. While the formula for YouTube success varies between channels, the most successful YouTubers have been able to find new sources of income beyond the ad revenue on their videos. For some, that means personal clothing lines and TV appearances, while others have capitalized on their success with sold-out live tours and custom toy brands.

Forbes recently released its list of the highest-paid YouTubers, based on their earnings from June 1, 2017 to June 1, 2018.

Here's how they rank:

SEE ALSO: A 7-year-old boy is making $22 million a year on YouTube reviewing toys

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10. Logan Paul — $14.5 million

Vlogger Logan Paul was YouTube's fourth-highest earner last year. But his personal brand took a tumble after he uploaded a video of a dead body he found in Japan's Aokigahara forest, a location that is notorious for suicides.

As a result, YouTube removed Paul from the Google Preferred program, impacting his ad revenue. However, his channel continued to rack up subscribers, and he continues to earn income from his personal merchandise and celebrity appearances. Despite the scandal in Japan, Paul was able to increase his earnings by $2 million in the course of a year.

One of Paul's most-watched stunts this year was a pay-per-view boxing match against British YouTuber KSI held in London. The fight ended in a draw and the pair are planning a rematch for next year.

9. PewDiePie — $15.5 million

In past years, Felix "PewDiePie" Kjellberg was, without question, the world's most successful YouTuber.

But recent scandals accusing the video game commenter of racism and anti-Semitism have led to a slight decline in sponsorships. Still, like Logan Paul, PewDiePie managed to increase his overall earnings by about $3.5 million between June 2017 and June 2018.

PewDiePie still has the most subscribers of any single account on YouTube with more than 73 million, but will likely be overtaken by Bollywood YouTube channel T-Series in early 2019.

8. JackSepticEye — $16 million

Irish video game streamer Sean "JackSepticEye" McLoughlin was one of the first YouTubers to be a part of PewDiePie's Disney-sponsored Revelmode network, earning him a giant following.

While Disney eventually dumped Revelmode, McLoughlin was eventually signed to create original programming for Disney XD, a TV channel targeted at children and teens. McLoughlin also serves as a host and stage personality for a number of live events and tours in Europe and North America.

• Hulu will add more subscribers in the second half of the year than it did in the first half, CEO Randy Freer said at Business Insider's IGNITION.
• That suggests that Hulu will have more than 23 million subscribers by end of year.
• "We think the live TV market is robust," Freer said. "DirecTV Now announced their numbers in 3Q. We grew 10x of where DirecTV was."

Hulu will add more subscribers in the second half of the year than it did in the first half, CEO Randy Freer said Business Insider's IGNITION Conference in New York on Tuesday.

"We think the live TV market is robust," Freer said. "DirecTV Now announced their numbers in 3Q. We grew 10x of where DirecTV was. We'll have our best October, our best November."

DirecTV, which is owned by AT&T, reported that it added 49,000 new subscribers in the third quarter. Hulu's live TV offering launched in 2017 and added 3 million this year through May, to top 20 million subscribers. At that rate, his comment suggests that Hulu will have more than 23 million subscribers by the end of the year.

Freer said he's optimistic about the opportunity to grow the business, while the industry should focus on profitability.

"I think we all have to ultimately run a business that can turn profit," he said. "We closed the gap on margin from where we started by 50%, and we see that continuing. Our ad revenue has grown north of 50% over the last year."

Looking ahead, Freer said live sports will be on Hulu's radar. 

"We're a subscription driven business, and we know over history that sports has a tendency to drive subscriptions," Freer said. "We will certainly be evaluating sports as an opportunity and hopefully be at the table when the time comes."

You can watch the whole interview here >>

SEE ALSO: 'We outperform all of them': Roku is readying itself for competition from the likes of Amazon and Comcast as the streaming war heats up

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• Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson spoke with Business Insider's media editor, Nathan McAlone, at Business Insider's IGNITION Conference Tuesday afternoon in New York City.
• Jackson said he didn't have to think too hard to come up with the chorus to "In Da Club": "Go shorty. It's your birthday."
• To date, "In Da Club" is the rapper's most popular song.
• "It's not rocket science," Jackson said. "Every day is someone's birthday."

"Go shorty. It's your birthday."

If those words weren't stuck in your head 15 years ago, you were probably living under a rock.

The lyrics made up the refrain to "In Da Club," rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson's most popular song to date, according to Billboard.

But they weren't very hard to come up with, Jackson said Tuesday afternoon at Business Insider's IGNITION conference in New York.

"Simplicity is the key to a lot of success in entertainment," he said. "It's not rocket science," he said of "Go shorty. It's your birthday." "Every day is someone's birthday."

Jackson added, "I didn't have to study" in order to write those lyrics. "It just came out when the music was playing."

Read more: A neuroscientist explains why your first idea is hardly ever the best one

"In Da Club," cowritten with Dr. Dre and Mike Elizondo, was released to tremendous success: It was nominated for Best Male Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song at the 46th annual Grammy Awards. Artists like Beyonce have since produced their own remixes of the song.

Jackson has spoken before about getting into a state of creative flow when he records songs. In 2018, he told The New York Times that, in his studio, "there are no windows so it's very easy to lose track of time. I could be there six hours and not even feel it." 

At IGNITION, Jackson said that even a seeming stroke of genius like "In Da Club" may need some edits. "There are always notes on a project," he said, because everyone "needs a reason why they're getting a check."

SEE ALSO: The 50 best-selling music artists of all time, ranked by platinum albums

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• Gwyneth Paltrow said in an interview with Wall Street Journal Magazine that she hs emailed Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos for advice, but he has never responded.
• A spokesperson for Bezos declined to comment when contacted by the Journal.
• Bezos has been known to read customer emails and forward them on to the relevant department.

Gwyneth Paltrow told the Wall Street Journal Magazine that she has emailed Jeff Bezos for advice, but the world's richest man has never responded.

The actress and entrepreneur told the Journal that she keeps a close-knit circle of advisors including Oprah Winfrey and Disney CEO Bob Iger. However, she said her emails to Jeff Bezos appear to have gone unnoticed. "I've emailed him," she told the Journal. "He won't email back."

Read more:Jeff Bezos pictures Amazon as an inverted pyramid, in which he is the least important person at the bottom

A spokesperson for Bezos declined to comment when contacted by the Journal. Amazon was not immediately available to comment when contacted by Business Insider.

Although it is not incumbent upon Bezos to act as mentor to Paltrow, he has been known to act on emails out of the blue. He once forwarded on an email that was sent directly to him in desperation by a man whose dog was stolen by contractor delivering packages for Amazon. The dog was later returned to her owner.

In April Bezos said that he still reads customer complaints, and will sometimes forward them on to the relevant department. He has a company email address, jeff@amazon.com, where customers can reach out. It is not clear at this stage whether this is address to which Paltrow sent her emails.

SEE ALSO: Jeff Bezos was wrong when he predicted Amazon will be making drone deliveries by 2018

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NOW WATCH: A running coach explains how to get through the NYC marathon this weekend

• The world's biggest game, "Fortnite," is getting a new mode named "Creative."
• The new mode focuses on creation without limitations — it's similar to the creative mode in "Minecraft."
• Players can create minigames in the new mode, or simply use it to build worlds.

"Fortnite" is getting a new "Creative" mode, and it may arrive as soon as this week.

That's according to a leak from popular "Fortnite" YouTuber Lachlan, who published a video detailing the mode — then removed the video, likely due to the fact that Epic Games has yet to officially announce the new game mode.

Between Lachlan's popularity and the internet being what it is, copies of the original video are still swirling around. During the introduction, Lachlan explains that Epic Games flew him and "a bunch of creators" to the North Carolina-based headquarters of the "Fortnite" studio. He says that he spent a few days playing with the new mode, and it's, "awesome."

So, what is it?

Like the name implies, Creative mode allows players to create custom islands within the trappings of "Fortnite." 

Think of it like an infinite version of the building system that's already a crucial component of "Fortnite." You can fly through the air, pick up existing objects and copy/move them, and create from nothing — no need to collect resources! 

If that sounds a lot like the creative mode in "Minecraft," that's because it's very similar. 

Along those lines, friends are able to join up with you to help create and play around on the maps. You can add various game modes to your custom levels as well — traditional stuff like Deathmatch — and revisit your custom levels to play later. 

For now, it looks like the mode may only head to the PC. That said, without an official announcement, there's only so much info to go on thus far. Epic Games didn't respond to a request for comment, but it sounds like something more official is coming in the very near future.

Check out a mirror of the video right here.

SEE ALSO: How big is 'Fortnite'? With more than 200 million players, it's now equal to nearly two-thirds the US population

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The Game Awards has revealed this year's batch nominees — and it will let fans vote to decide the winners across more than 20 categories.

Fans can vote now for their picks at TheGameAwards.com, and via Twitter direct message, Facebook Messenger, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and the official The Game Awards Discord server.

Rockstar Games' "Red Dead Redemption 2" and Sony's "God of War" lead the pack with eight nominations each, including "Game of the Year" and "Best Narrative." Other Game of the Year contenders include Marvel’s Spider-Man (7 nominations), "Assassin’s Creed Odyssey" ( 4 nominations) and the indie game hit "Celeste" (4 nominations). Categories like Best Independent Game, Best Student Game and Best VR/AR Game also make space for some lesser- known titles to shine.

The Game Awards will name the winners and celebrate the nominees on Thursday, December 6 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The awards show will be streamed at 9 p.m. EST, 6 p.m. PST on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and several other streaming platforms.

First established in 2014, The Game Awards advisory board includes executives from a dozen major gaming companies, including Xbox, Nintendo, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Valve, and Tencent.

Here's the list of nominees:

SEE ALSO: Here are the 16 biggest video games launching this holiday, from an all-new ‘Fallout’ to the hotly-anticipated ‘Red Dead Redemption 2'

Game of the Year

"Assassin’s Creed Odyssey" (Ubisoft Quebec / Ubisoft)

"Celeste "(Matt Makes Games)

"God of War (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)

"Marvel’s Spider-Man" (Insomniac Games / SIE)

"Monster Hunter: World" (Capcom)

"Red Dead Redemption 2" (Rockstar Games)

Best Ongoing Game

"Destiny 2" (Bungie / Activision)

"Fortnite" (Epic Games)

"No Man’s Sky" (Hello Games)

"Overwatch" (Blizzard)

"Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege" (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft)

Best Game Direction

"A Way Out" (Hazelight Studios / EA)

"Detroit: Become Human" (Quantic Dream / SIE)

"God of War" (Sony Santa Monica / SIE)

"Marvel’s Spider-Man" (Insomniac Games / SIE)

"Red Dead Redemption 2" (Rockstar Games)

• John Krasinski explained to Business Insider why he decided to put on a motion-capture suit and play the movie's creature in the final scene of "A Quiet Place."
• He also talked about what it was like to show the footage of him in the suit to a test screening audience, as the creature VFX footage wasn't ready to put in the movie yet.

One of the most emotionally draining parts of being a director is showing your movie to an audience for the first time — especially when it isn’t finished yet.

That’s what John Krasinski had to suffer through when he showed “A Quiet Place” to a test audience. Like most test screenings, the movie was not completely done, including the CGI that would show the scary creature tormenting the family in the movie. That meant in many of the shots featuring the sound-sensitive creature, the test audience had to imagine what the actors on screen were frightened by. They saw a crude animation of the creature, or someone in a tight motion-capture suit.

Looking back, Krasinski said he thought most of the test screening audience was into the movie despite the lack of major computer-generated elements. That is, until Krasinski showed up on the big screen in the motion-capture suit playing the monster in the final scene.

“All of a sudden my giant foot with Vans on shows up, and we slowly pan up my very colorful, very tight, revealing suit, and end on me with a beard pretending to roar,” Krasinski told Business Insider, admitting he thought the movie was doomed. “The entire place exploded into laughter.”

Krasinski said he thought to himself in that moment, “What have I done! I’ve just made the worst greatest comedy.”

Thankfully for Krasinski, the test audience didn’t rush to their phones after the screening and reveal what they had seen. Months later, with finished creature graphics in place, the movie went on to wow the audience at its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. Then it became one of the biggest earners of the year when it opened in theaters in April and went on to gross over $340 million at the worldwide box office.

Read more: "Friends" will remain on Netflix in 2019, and the streaming service is reportedly dropping $100 million for the rights

But how did Krasinski end up in that motion-capture suit playing the creature?

He said it all happened spontaneously on set while he was talking to the movie’s visual effects supervisor, Scott Farrar, about how the creature would move during the movie’s thrilling ending, in which Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and her kids are trapped in the basement of their house with one of the creatures.

“Scott kept saying, ‘John, he's low to the ground, so we've got to make sure the camera knows he's low to the grown for eye line,’” Krasinski recalled. “And we were talking it through, and I finally said, ‘Yeah, that's not how I see it — I sort of see it like this.’ And Scott goes, ‘Just put on the suit, man.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ He was like, ‘Just put on the suit and do it.’ And I was like, ‘All right.’ So I went upstairs, put on the suit, still had my Vans on.”

So the footage of Krasinski as the creature that the test screening saw was transformed by the CGI wizards at Industrial Light and Magic into the creepy thing we see in the finished movie.

“I think there is even audio of me being like [high-pitched] ‘Rooooaaaarrr!’” Krasinski said about playing the creature.

Will we ever see this footage of Krasinski as the creature?

"With any luck, no," Krasinski said without hesitation.

SEE ALSO: John Krasinski explains why "A Quiet Place 2" will not feel like a traditional sequel

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• Many modern TVs come with a motion smoothing feature that causes video to appear smoother than many filmmakers intended.
• Tom Cruise and director Chris McQuarrie spoke out against smoothing features on TVs, suggesting it gives their movies a "soap opera" effect, where the movie appears smoother than usual.
• Cruise and McQuarrie suggest movie watchers should disable the feature to enjoy movies the way filmmakers intended. 

Modern TVs have a feature that make movies look like soap operas, which isn't how most filmmakers intend their movies to be watched, actor Tom Cruise and director Chris McQuarrie say in a video tweet from Cruise's Twitter account.

The duo are referring to a feature in many high-definition TVs (HDTVs) called "video interpolation," which can also be known as "motion smoothing" that causes an effect many know as the "soap opera effect," where video appears to be smoother than we're used to. And according to Cruise and McQuarrie, it makes video appear smoother than it should be.

"The unfortunate side effect is that it makes movies look like they were shot on a high speed video rather than film," Cruise said in the video tweet.

"If you own a modern high-definition television there's a good chance you're not watching the movie the way the filmmaker intended," McQuarrie also said in the video tweet.

Different TV brands have different names for this motion smoothing feature, and those features are often automatically enabled by default when you take a TV out of the box. On Samsung TVs, the feature is called "Auto Motion Plus. On LG TVs, it's called "TruMotion." Basically, you should be wary of any feature that has the word "motion" in it, or anything that could suggest it's smoothing out your video.

Cruise said that filmmakers are working with TV makers to change the way that video interpolation features are activated on their TVs. 

Cruise and McQuarrie suggest that finding and disabling video interpolation features on a TV can be difficult, as the feature can be nestled deep in a TV's settings menu, or it could have an unrecognizable branded name. The best way to find out how to disable the feature is to search for "Turn off motion smoothing [your brand of TV here]" on the internet. 

SEE ALSO: Samsung has an upgrade program for TVs that lets you get a new one every two years, but it's probably not right for you

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