Once the public face of squeaky-clean, harmless family entertainment, the Walt Disney Corporation has evolved into a widespread conglomerate known as much for the properties it controls as the films it produces. With subsidiaries including Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, National Geographic, A&E, 20th Century Fox, ESPN, Hulu, and Pixar, Disney has a commanding control of some of the world’s most lucrative franchises, plus an extensive library of film and TV classics. Its streaming service Disney+ signals a new interest in controlling its own online distribution, setting aside decades of licensing partnerships. Follow along with The Verge as we look at Disney’s new films and shows, and its strategies for dominating the box office and the streaming dollar.
Disney Plus’ Eyes of Wakanda animated miniseries was slated to debut on August 6th, but the streamer has just bumped the show’s premiere up to August 1st and decided drop all four episodes at once.
Disney Plus is continuing to take steps into the world of live streaming, this time to promote The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Subscribers will be able to watch the red blue carpet event on July 21st, live from the film’s premiere at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. For the rest of us, the movie hits theaters on July 25th.
For cinematographer Alison Kelly, the key to Ironheart’s stunning visuals was strong behind-the-scenes communication.
The new “Walt Disney – A Magical Life” attraction debuting at Disneyland on Thursday, July 17th, marks the first time that the parks have portrayed the man himself as an audio-animatronic figure. The movements are fairly impressive, but the facial likeness requires a little imagination.
The new trailer for Marvel’s Eyes of Wakanda Disney Plus series doesn’t give all that much away, but it does make the show look like it’s going to be cool as hell when it premieres on August 6th.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ latest trailer features some cool new shots of the team using their powers to take on Galactus and the Silver Surfer, but its most surprising reveal is the fact that Ben Grimm can apparently grow a beard made out of his rock-like carapace.
Streaming platforms might be having a hard time bringing on new subscribers, but according to Nielsen’s most recent Gauge report, services like YouTube, Pluto TV, Roku, and Tubi overtook traditional broadcast TV and cable in terms of viewership for the first time last month.
That’s according to The Telegraph film critic Robbie Collin, who also said, “It felt less like watching a blockbuster in the modern sense than the greatest game of dressing up in the desert anyone ever played.”
The Hollywood Reporter points out that George Lucas has been tweaking the flick going back to its rerelease in theaters in 1981, along with this YouTube report from Cinema Savvy detailing “so many little things” that are different. If you want a better blend of the updates without CG fluff and “Greedo shot first,” you may have to wait for Harmy to get back from his honeymoon.
While Comcast / NBCUniversal argued for a Hulu valuation that could’ve cost Disney another $5 billion on top of the $8.6 billion it had already paid, a third-party appraiser reached a number much closer to Disney’s. That ended their dispute -- simmering since 2019 -- for only an extra $438.7 million, as reported by THR and Axios.
Bob Iger said this clears the way for deeper integration between Hulu and Disney Plus ahead of the launch of ESPN’s direct-to-consumer streaming service in the fall.
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The latest trailer for Marvel’s Ironheart Disney Plus series is (thankfully) light on plot details, but it’s chock full of snazzy shots of Riri Williams’ latest suit, which seems like it’s going to be able to channel magical energies when the show premieres on June 24th.
Deadline reports on another round of mass layoffs at Disney, affecting hundreds of people. “...across divisions of Disney Entertainment, including marketing for both film and television as well as television publicity, casting and development,” as well as corporate financing.
This latest round comes just weeks after 200 employees were laid off in the TV and ABC News divisions.
While you may have forgotten that Elio is hitting theaters next month, the film’s latest trailer makes it seem like Pixar has been listening to the ridiculous 100 men vs 1. gorilla hypothetical fight people have been debating about for the past few weeks.
Alongside a shiny rebrand and airline integration, Google is expanding the range of trackers in its Find Hub network. But not with boring practicalities like better battery or more accurate tracking — no, we get Baby Yoda, thanks to a new set of Disney-themed tags from Pixbee.
During Disney’s earnings call on Wednesday, Iger admitted the company “lost a little focus” by making too many Marvel films. He added that Thunderbolts* is the “first and best” example of a more consolidated and focused Marvel:
We all know that in our zeal to flood our streaming platform with more content, that we turned to all of our creative engines, including Marvel, and had them produce a lot more. We’ve also learned over time that quantity does not necessarily beget quality.
The MCU’s new crossover tentpole is focused on trauma, bad jokes, and getting the movie franchise back on solid footing.
It has been 30 years since A Goofy Movie first hit theaters, and to celebrate the film’s anniversary, Disney just uploaded an immersive, virtual reality version of the Powerline concert sequence that features 360 degree audio and a handful of new easter eggs.
Fifty years after The Rocky Horror Picture Show premiered in 1975, the Walt Disney Studios Restoration team has overseen a 10-month project that included a “meticulous digital scan and preservation process that ensures every frame of the cult classic is presented with unprecedented clarity and vibrancy.”
The 4K restoration will also feature a “newly mixed Dolby Atmos audio track” and a restored version of the film’s original mono audio for fans wanting the most authentic experience.
Andor’s final chapter feels like a series of mini-movies about how wars for freedom are won in fits and starts.
Hayden Christensen will return to Ahsoka as Anakin Skywalker and rebel commander Admiral Ackbar will go “head-to-head” with Grand Admiral Thrawn, series creator Dave Filoni told the audience at Star Wars Celebration in Japan last night.
That’s according to Deadline, which also writes that the series will feature Rory McCann as the fallen Jedi Baylen Skol, following the May 2023 death of actor Ray Stevenson.
It’s been a while since Darth Maul last appeared Star Wars Rebels, but during this year’s Star Wars Celebration, Luscasfilm announced that the horned Sith is set to star in a new animated Disney Plus series due out in 2026.
Though Disney Plus and Marvel haven’t officially announced when the second of Daredevil: Born Again will debut, showrunner Dario Scardapane seems fairly confident in a recent Instagram post that it’s happening next March.
Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies sees the new season’s first villain as a reflection of our times.
Doctor Who stars Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu open up about how Miss Belinda Chandra is going to shake up the series.
While fans of Andor and The Mandalorian are busy arguing with one another about which is the superior Star Wars spinoff, Tony Gilroy is out here telling Empire what should be obvious to anyone with a basic understanding of how franchises work:
“The success of The Mandalorian gave us the platform to jump off. Their success is what would fuel the whole thing. I mean, no Baby Yoda, no Andor. Seriously. Don’t think that we don’t know that.”
As reported by the New York Times and CNBC, FCC chair Brendan Carr has followed up on a previous threat against Disney in a new letter (pdf). Now he says its enforcement bureau will investigate to see if it’s “violating FCC equal employment opportunity regulations by promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination.”
Along with an administration-wide push to remake government and industry that targets the catch-all buzzword, Carr has said it will be a focus for merger and acquisition approvals, and has begun inquiries into other companies.
If you’re tired of a family member messing up your Continue Watching queue, you can now remove TV shows and movies by pressing and holding your remote’s select button on Apple TV and hitting “Remove.” You can also find the option within the three-dot menu next to a show on the iOS app and the web.
Disney says this feature is coming to more platforms “in the coming weeks.”
A Death Star is coming together in the latest trailer for Andor’s final season, and every member of the Resistance seems to know exactly what needs to be done to take the thing out.
That’s according to The Wrap, which says the showrunners from Percy Jackson and the Olympians are in line to produce the show. This adds one more to the list of rumored Hasbro IP adaptations we’ve heard about, like the in-development live-action film and TV “universe” based on Magic: The Gathering, a Monopoly movie, new Clue projects, and a D&D series with Netflix.
