Disney ramps up Star Wars and Marvel franchises

[tysroby]

Disney has unveiled plans for a major expansion of its Star Wars and Marvel franchises on its Disney+ subscription streaming service. The company said that its upcoming films Peter Pan & Wendy and Tom Hanks' Pinocchio would be launched directly on to Disney+, skipping theatres. But it also announced price increases from March next year. Disney is the latest major studio to divert its focus from cinema to streaming. Last week Warner Brothers said all its 2021 releases would debut on HBO Max. The coronavirus crisis has hit the film and entertainment industry hard, and cinemas are desperate for content to lure viewers back with new entertainment that can initially only be seen on their screens. But content producers want to cater to audiences who may not be ready to go back to cinemas.

 

 

DISNEY PLANS

 

As part of the expansion, Disney is raising prices by $1 in the US, to $7.99 from 26 March 2021. In Eurozone countries, it will increase by €2 to €8.99. UK price increases have not been announced, but are expected to be similar. Disney said that it planned to offer 10 new TV series in its Marvel and Star Wars franchises over the next few years. These include new series of Disney+'s biggest hit, The Mandalorian, featuring a Star Wars character who is the same species as Yoda. Another Star Wars series, Andor, starring Diego Luna as the character he played in 2016's Rogue One film, was also announced.

 

More Star Wars animated series, The Bad Batch and A Droid Story are also in the works, the company said. Another 15 live-action Disney Animation and Pixar shows and 15 Disney Animation and Pixar feature films will be available on the streaming service. Executives said that customers should expect something new every week. The news comes after a Warner Bros said last week that it would debut all 17 of its 2021 movies on its HBO Max streaming service on the same day they are released in cinemas. But not every announcement was exclusively focused on streaming. Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins will become the first woman to direct a Star Wars film, Rogue Squadron, which focuses on a fighter pilot team in the Star Wars universe. It is scheduled for December 2023.

 

Other notable announcements included:

• Black Panther 2 will not replace the late Chadwick Boseman in the title role
• A third Ant-Man film, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, is now in development
• Marvel Studios will make its own Fantastic Four movie following the acquisition of Fox, which owned the rights to the iconic Marvel superheroes
• A new Indiana Jones film with Harrison Ford is scheduled for release in July 2022
• Lightyear, an origin story for Toy Story's Buzz Lightyear, is being made by Pixar
• A new Chip N' Dale film combining animation and live action

 

Disney also announced a new streaming brand called Star, which will be part of Disney+ but stream shows from its other brands such as FX and 20th Century. That includes a newly-announced TV series based on the Alien series of sci-fi films, but no date or plot details were given.

 

STREAMING MARKET

 

Disney+, which was launched just over a year ago, now has 86.8 million subscribers - a figure far exceeding its own predictions for customer growth. Together with its Hulu and ESPN sports streaming services the company has about 137 million subscribers in total. Disney+ is still well behind Netflix, which boasts nearly 200 million subscribers worldwide. But the number of subscribers it has amassed, in such a short period of time, will have more established streaming services looking over their shoulders. Disney shares rose during its annual investor presentation.

 

 

SOURCE: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55269531

[Karlston]

Disney+ drops Andor teaser, announces gazillion other Star Wars projects

Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy introduced them all at Disney's Investor Day.

Enlarge / Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy unveiled a slew of forthcoming Star Wars projects at Disney's Investor Day.

Lucasfilm

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Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy gave updates on a slew of forthcoming Star Wars film and TV projects at Disney's Investor Day—including a behind-the-scenes teaser for Rogue One-spinoff series Andor, set five years before the events of the 2016 blockbuster film.

 

"With The Mandalorian on Disney+, we've ushered in an entirely new era for Star Wars," Kennedy said. "These interconnected shows, along with future stories, will excite new audiences, embrace our most passionate fans, and will culminate in a climactic story event."

 

(Some spoilers below.)

 

Andor

 

Andor is being described as a "tense nail-biting spy thriller," with Diego Luna reprising his titular role as Cassian Andor from Rogue One. Tony Gilroy, who co-wrote that film, will serve as showrunner, and Alan Tudyk will be returning as the reprogrammed Imperial droid K-2SO. The cast also includes Genevieve O'Reilly as Mon Mothma, a senator of the Republic who helped found the Rebel Alliance, as well as Stellan Skarsgård, Kyle Soller, Denise Gough, Adria Arjona, and Fiona Shaw. The 12-episode series will be set five years before the events of Rogue One.

 

Andor S1 is set to debut on Disney+ in 2022. Production just started three weeks ago in London. You can watch the behind-the-scenes teaser below.

Diego Luna reprises his Star Wars: Rogue One role as Cassian in Andor, coming to Disney+ in 2021. It was just one of the many Star Wars projects announced at Disney Investor Day.

 

Obi-Wan Kenobi

 

We learned last year at Disney's D23 Expo that Ewan McGregor would be reprising his role as the iconic character Obi-Wan Kenobi in a live-action spinoff series. Kennedy disclosed that the series will be set 10 years after Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith—you know, the one where Obi-Wan faced off against Anakin Skywalker, who turned to the dark side and eventually became Sith Lord Darth Vader. The big news here is that Hayden Christiansen is reprising his role as Anakin Skywalker. Kennedy called it "the rematch of the century."

 

Ahsoka, Rangers of the Republic, Lando, The Acolyte

 

If you were disappointed not to see more of Rosario Dawson's Ahsoka on The Mandalorian this season (at least she told us The Child's name is Grogu), you'll be delighted to hear that the character is getting her own spinoff series on Disney+. In fact, we're getting two spinoffs from The Mandalorian; the second is called Rangers of the New Republic, executive-produced by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni.

 

But wait! There's even more Star Wars live-action goodness in the works. That lovable scoundrel Lando Calrissian will be getting his own limited series, simply titled Lando. And Russian Doll creator Leslye Headland has signed on to create the female-centric The Acolyte, described as "a mystery thriller that will take the audience into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark side powers in the final days of the High Republic era." It's supposedly set in a different timeline, or "pocket," of the Star Wars universe.

 

Rogue Squadron

 

You'd think Director Patty Jenkins would have her hands full with the Wonder Woman franchise, but Kennedy announced that Jenkins will also serve as director for a new Star Wars feature film, Rogue Squadron. The film is currently slated for a Christmas 2023 release.

 

Jenkins tweeted out a special video announcement for the project: "It's been a lifelong dream as a filmmaker to one day make a great fighter pilot film," Jenkins said in her statement. "As the daughter of a great fighter pilot myself, some of the best memories of my life are of seeing my father's squadron take off in their F4s every morning, and hearing and feeling the awe-inspiring power and grace. When he passed away in service to this country it ignited a burning desire to one day channel all of those emotions into one great film. When the perfect story arrived in combination with another true love of mine, the incomparable world of Star Wars, I knew I’d finally found my next film. I’m extremely honored and excited to take it on, and grateful to Lucasfilm, Disney, and the fans for extending that thrill to me."

 

 

And we already knew that none other than Taika Waititi has been tapped to helm an as-yet-untitled Star Wars feature film. "Taika's approach to Star Wars will be fresh, unexpected, and... unique,” said Kennedy. "His enormous talent and sense of humor will ensure that audiences are in for an unforgettable ride."

 

Animated series

 

Disney isn't forgetting about animated series, either. Kennedy introduced a teaser (embedded below) for The Bad Batch, about a group of experimental elite clones first introduced in The Clone Wars. It's set immediately after the events of that series. Each Bad Batch member has a unique skill, and together they will "take on daring mercenary missions as they struggle to stay afloat and find new purpose."

 

In addition to that series, we'll be getting the animated A Droid Story on Disney+, described as "an epic journey" featuring "a new hero, guided by legendary duo R2-D2 and C-3PO." Finally, there is Star Wars: Visions, a series of animated short films set in the Star Wars universe, created by leading Japanese anime studios.

New animated series The Bad Batch.

 

 

Disney+ drops Andor teaser, announces gazillion other Star Wars projects

[Karlston]

More Disney 2021 plans: Kate McKinnon as Elizabeth Holmes, Y: The Last Man on FX

Wait... they got Mahershala Ali to revive Blade, too?

Raya and the Last Dragon, now coming to Disney+ simultaneously in March 2021.

 

Disney held its 2020 Investor Day event on Thursday, and naturally the House of Mouse's high-profile franchises have grabbed all the initial headlines. Yada, yada, Fantastic Four MCU film and Loki series. Blah, blah, seven new Star Wars things.

 

But Lucasfilm and Marvel were far from the only Disney-owned entities making investors tingle with anticipation due to exciting upcoming projects. With the full project rundown now available to peruse, a few announcements in particular caught our eye on first pass.

 

For FX on Hulu, the long-anticipated adaptation of Y: The Last Man will finally debut in 2021. Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's famed DC Comics title centers on a post-apocalyptic world where only one mammal with a Y chromosome survived: a cisgender man who roams this new reality with his pet monkey. The story has been rumored for a film or TV adaptation basically since the comic neared its ending (Disturbia Director D.J. Caruso was once attached back in 2007), but Diane Lane and relative newcomer Ben Schnetzer will ultimately headline the cast bringing it to life.

 

Those critical darlings at FX will also notably bring the Alien franchise to TV for the first time (the show is in development with no firm time frame, though). Fargo and Legion showrunner Noah Hawley will serve as the creator, but Disney noted FX is negotiating with Sir Ridley Scott to have him serve as executive producer. As for the plot? "Set not too far into our future, it’s the first Alien story set on Earth—and by blending both the timeless horror of the first Alien film with the non-stop action of the second, it’s going to be a scary thrill ride that will blow people back in their seats."

 

Elsewhere in the Hulu/FXverse, Disney also announced a fifth season for perhaps the scariest show on TV, The Handmaid's Tale, before its fourth season begins. Counterpart showrunner Justin Marks will adapt the feudal Japan epic Shōgun ("one of the most sweeping, sophisticated and adult series FX has ever created," says the release). And SNL star Kate McKinnon will play Theranos' Elizabeth Holmes in an eight episode adaptation of the ABC News podcast, The Dropout. Disney expects that to debut on Hulu in 2021.

 

For National Geographic, Disney revealed a new Jacques Cousteau documentary, called Cousteau, is coming from filmmakers behind such recent hit docs like What Happened, Miss Simone?, Free Solo, and Icarus. No time frame was announced, but Disney is still planning a theatrical and festival release for the documentary before it hits Disney+. The film has been made by leveraging "a treasure trove of previously unseen archival material... featuring never-before-seen 4K footage from the Cousteau Society’s archives." (Elsewhere, no joke, Will Smith will helm a docuseries called, Welcome to Earth.)

 

Finally, there were a few other Disney+/Marvel development linear notes worth shouting out, such as:

• Oscar winner Mahershala Ali will be taking the title role of Blade in a new feature for everyone's favorite vampire.
• New Marvel Disney+ series announcements included: Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury in Secret Invasion; Ironheart with Dominique Thorne as a genius inventor; and Armor Wars with Don Cheadle as War Machine.
• Upcoming Disney animated feature, Raya and the Last Dragon, will get the Mulan treatment by simultaneously debuting on Disney+ Premier Access and in theaters in March 2021.
• John Mulaney and Andy Samberg (Chip and Dale), Tom Hanks (presumably Gepetto), and Jude Law (Captain Hook) are all reprising iconic Disney characters in the near future. And in 2022, Captain America himself will take over the Space Command headgear from Tim Allen, as Chris Evans voices Buzz Lightyear in the Buzz origin story, Lightyear (srsly).

Listing image by National Geographic

 

 

More Disney 2021 plans: Kate McKinnon as Elizabeth Holmes, Y: The Last Man on FX

[tysroby]

I had to unsubscribe from Disney+ because I am partially unemployed since March because of the pandemic and every Euro I save is useful these days. I am missing out on a lot of great stuff, at least until things get back tu normal and I can re-subscribe.