Dadnology Week 28: Vaiana, LEGO Insider Days & Esports World Cup

🌊 The Week That Was — Vaiana Sails In, LEGO Insiders Go Big, and Paris Hosts the World

Week 28 had cinemas and shelves both fighting for a dad’s weekend at the same time. Vaiana, Disney’s live-action Moana, splashed into German cinemas Thursday and hit US screens Friday — a straightforward, no-argument family outing, and one we’re genuinely looking forward to despite a soft box-office start (more below). It’s also the first half of a one-two punch: Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey docks exactly a week behind it, so if you’re the one buying popcorn twice this month, budget accordingly. On the shelf side, LEGO Insider Days wrap up today with genuinely useful double-points categories still live, and Paris opened the Esports World Cup with a $75 million prize pool spread across 24 games — a number worth knowing even if you’ve never watched a stream in your life. Add a loaded Xbox Game Pass wave and Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced landing to the series’ best reviews since 2013, and gaming alone could have carried this newsletter.

Streaming didn’t take the week off either. X-Men ‘97 keeps deepening its second season on Disney+, Enola Holmes 3 is still sitting on top of Netflix’s global charts, Silo Season 3 rolls into its second week on Apple TV+, and Death on the Nile lands on Netflix next week if you want to get ahead of it. We also published two new Studio Ghibli deep dives this week that are worth bookmarking for family movie nights. Here’s the full week, sorted by vertical so you can jump to what matters in your house.

Jump to: 🎮 Gaming · 🎬 Movies & TV · 🧱 LEGO & Family

🎮 Gaming News for Dads

The Esports World Cup 2026 opens in Paris with a $75 million prize pool

The Esports World Cup 2026 officially opened in Paris this week with a large-scale ceremony, and the numbers behind it are hard to ignore even if competitive gaming isn’t usually your thing: $75 million in total prize money across 24 games, with over 2,000 players from more than 100 countries competing through August 23. $30 million of that pool is tied to the season-long Club Championship alone. The games on the roster read like a greatest-hits list of what your kids (or you) already play — VALORANT, Dota 2, Counter-Strike 2, Fortnite, League of Legends, Rocket League, Tekken 8 and EA SPORTS FC 26 among them. If you’ve got an older kid who follows any of these competitively, this is seven weeks of legitimate, well-produced content worth pointing them toward — and a good excuse to sit down and actually watch a match together instead of just hearing about it through a bedroom door.

Black Flag Resynced launches to the series’ best reviews since 2013 — and a monetization row

After we covered the build-up last week, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced launched Thursday on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC — and the critical verdict is in: a Metacritic score of 84, the best any Assassin’s Creed has managed since the 2013 original. Reviewers are praising exactly what the remake promised — a genuine Anvil-engine rebuild with faster parry-focused combat, new parkour and a reworked tailing system, not a re-skin (the full breakdown is in last week’s deep dive).

The honest asterisk: Steam players are less charmed. User reviews opened at “Mixed,” and the complaint isn’t the game — it’s the storefront bolted onto it, with over $80 of cosmetic microtransactions and DLC at launch, some of which nudge into gameplay territory via shorter cooldowns. Ubisoft’s response amounts to “it’s all optional,” which is technically true and entirely beside the point. Our take: the game underneath is clearly the real deal — nearly 100,000 concurrent Steam players on day one say as much — just ignore the cosmetics shop the same way you’d walk past the impulse shelf at the supermarket checkout.

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Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced (PlayStation 5) (opens in a new tab)

The Anvil-engine rebuild of 2013's best pirate game, out now on PS5 to a Metacritic 84 — reworked combat, parkour and smarter tailing and forts.

A stacked Xbox Game Pass July wave

Microsoft’s July additions are worth a look regardless of the Black Flag launch. Gears of War: Reloaded landed Thursday, July 9, as a full remaster on Game Pass Premium and Ultimate. Palworld 1.0 followed on Friday — the game’s official exit from Early Access with new locations and creatures. Later in the month, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 and The Planet Crafter are both confirmed additions — the Planet Crafter especially is a good low-stakes co-op pick if you’re looking for something calmer than a shooter to play alongside a kid.

🎬 Movie & TV News This Week

Vaiana (Moana Live-Action) is in cinemas — and yes, we’re still excited

Disney’s live-action reimagining of Moana, titled Vaiana in German-speaking markets, opened in German cinemas Thursday, July 9, with the US release following Friday. Catherine Laga’aia takes the title role, Dwayne Johnson returns as Maui, and Thomas Kail directs. It’s rated FSK 6 in Germany and runs 116 minutes — a straightforward, no-argument family-cinema pick, especially for households where the 2016 animated original is already in heavy rotation.

Full disclosure on where this house stands: the animated original is, for us, the best film Disney has ever made — a straight 10, sharing the throne only with The Jungle Book. So no, a remake was never going to reach that bar, and that’s fine; it doesn’t have to. We like remakes around here and watch them gladly — the bar for a good cinema afternoon is “fun and well-paced,” not “dethrones a masterpiece.” For context, we walked out of Moana 2 more disappointed than the box office suggests anyone did (a 6 from us — our daughter loved it, but it leaned much more kids’-film than the original ever did), and we’re still genuinely looking forward to this one.

The box-office subplot is worth a line anyway: the opening weekend is projected at around $45 million domestic — below the animated original’s 2016 debut and far off Moana 2’s $225 million, against a reported $250 million budget. A soft start, but we’ll judge the film on the screen, not the spreadsheet — expect our own verdict once we’ve seen it.

Next week: Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey docks July 16 (DE) / 17 (US)

Worth planning around now: Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey opens in German cinemas on July 16 and in the US on July 17, with early IMAX previews from the afternoon of the 16th. Matt Damon leads as Odysseus, backed by an enormous ensemble including Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson and Charlize Theron, shot entirely in IMAX on a reported $250 million budget with a 172-minute runtime. This is shaping up to be the actual tentpole event of the month — we’ll cover it properly once it’s out, but if you want 70mm IMAX seats, book ahead.

X-Men ‘97 Season 2 keeps the mutants moving on Disney+

X-Men ‘97 Season 2 has been airing on Disney+ since July 1, with nine episodes running weekly through an August 12 finale. If Season 1 hooked you on the 90s-cartoon nostalgia done properly, there’s no reason to wait — new episodes drop every Friday.

Enola Holmes 3 is still Netflix’s most-watched title

Enola Holmes 3, with Millie Bobby Brown back in the lead, premiered July 1 and has stayed on top of Netflix’s global charts since — over 20 million views in its first week. It’s a lighter, safe pick if Vaiana or The Odyssey are sold out and you need a Friday-night backup at home instead.

Coming July 15: Death on the Nile lands on Netflix

Kenneth Branagh’s star-studded Agatha Christie adaptation, with Gal Gadot and Emma Mackey, arrives on Netflix on July 15. Worth a note in the calendar if you’re the household’s designated whodunit-night organizer.

Silo Season 3 rolls into its second week

A quick continuation note for anyone catching up: Silo Season 3 premiered July 3 on Apple TV+ and is now dropping its second weekly episode, running through a September 4 finale. We covered the premiere in depth last week — both previous seasons earned a 9/10 from us, and our Silo series hub has the full watch order if you need to catch up before diving in.

New on Dadnology this week: two Studio Ghibli deep dives

We published two new evergreen guides this week that are worth bookmarking regardless of what’s new in cinemas: Every Studio Ghibli Movie Ranked sorts all 24 hand-drawn films into honest tiers, and Studio Ghibli Movies for Kids gives an age-by-age guide for exactly when to introduce each one. Both are the kind of reference you’ll come back to more than once — especially if Vaiana leaves your kids in an animated-adventure mood this weekend.

🧱 LEGO & Family Round-up

LEGO Insider Days 2026 end today — last call on the double points

LEGO Insider Days run July 7 through 12 — meaning today is the final day. Unlike some Insider promotions, the double-points list this time actually covers themes dads are likely buying anyway: Disney, Harry Potter, Jurassic World, Marvel, Sonic the Hedgehog, LEGO Speed Champions and Wicked. On top of the points, there are two gifts-with-purchase running, including the new 40912 Sea Serpent. If you’ve been sitting on a Marvel pickup, this is quite literally your last evening to use the window — the points won’t be worth double again for a while.

LEGO Iron Man Mark 3 (76344): our flawless 10, and a genuine double-points pick this week

If you’re looking for where to actually spend those double Insider points, our review of the LEGO Marvel Iron Man Mark 3 Collectors’ Edition (76344) is still the highest-rated LEGO set on the site — a full 10/10. It’s 1,297 pieces of hot-rod red Mark 3 armour at 38cm tall, with gold-lacquered accents, a fully poseable body and a display base with a name plaque, and it qualifies for this week’s Marvel double points. We also tested the BriksMax 2.0 light kit for it, which turns the finished figure into a genuine museum piece with a working arc reactor and repulsors.

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LEGO Marvel Iron Man Mark 3 Collectors' Edition (76344) (opens in a new tab)

1,297 pieces of hot-rod red Mark 3 armour at 38cm tall — our flawless 10/10, and a genuine Marvel double-points pick during Insider Days.

Still deciding? The LEGO Marvel Venom Bust (76356) is the compact alternative

If a 1,297-piece display figure is more commitment than this month’s budget allows, the LEGO Marvel Venom Bust (76356) — which we covered in detail when it launched on July 1 — is the smaller, cheaper entry point at 413 pieces and $49.99, complete with a Tom Hardy-style Venom minifigure. It also falls under this week’s Marvel double points, and it sits well on a shelf right next to the Mark 3 if you’re building out a Marvel corner.

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LEGO Marvel Venom Bust (76356) (opens in a new tab)

A 413-piece adult-display bust of Venom with a Venom minifigure included — the compact, shelf-friendly Marvel pick next to the Mark 3.

The Dadnology Week archive: missed last week? Catch up with Dadnology Week 27.

❓ FAQ

What were the biggest dad-relevant releases in week 28, 2026?

Vaiana (the live-action Moana) opened in German cinemas on July 9 and in US cinemas on July 10, LEGO Insider Days ran July 7 through 12 with double points on Disney, Harry Potter, Jurassic World, Marvel, Sonic and Speed Champions items, the Esports World Cup opened in Paris with a $75 million prize pool, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced launched on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, and the Xbox Game Pass July wave added Gears of War: Reloaded and Palworld 1.0. On streaming, X-Men ‘97 Season 2 kept airing on Disney+ and Enola Holmes 3 stayed on top of the Netflix charts.

Is Vaiana (Moana Live-Action) worth taking the kids to see?

On paper, yes — it’s rated FSK 6 in Germany, runs 116 minutes, and reunites Dwayne Johnson as Maui with Catherine Laga’aia as Vaiana under director Thomas Kail. It’s the safe, crowd-pleasing family-cinema pick for the weekend, especially if your kids already know the 2016 animated original.

What LEGO deals are worth using during Insider Days 2026?

The double-points window (July 7-12) covers Disney, Harry Potter, Jurassic World, Marvel, Sonic the Hedgehog, LEGO Speed Champions and Wicked sets, plus two gifts-with-purchase including the new 40912 Sea Serpent. If you’re eyeing a Marvel set anyway, this is the week to buy it — our LEGO Iron Man Mark 3 (76344) review is a flawless 10/10 and qualifies for the double points.

What's new on Xbox Game Pass in July 2026?

Gears of War: Reloaded landed July 9 as a full remaster on Game Pass Premium and Ultimate, and Palworld 1.0 arrived July 10 as the game’s full release out of Early Access. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 and The Planet Crafter are confirmed for later in the month.