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.
A story about parallel worlds featuring cool martial arts and a cast that includes Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Stephanie Hsu? No, I’m not talking about that movie that dominated the Oscars, but American Born Chinese, a new series coming to Disney Plus. It starts streaming on May 24th.
It may be called Star Wars Celebration, but at this year’s event Disney made sure to show off another one of its properties with a trailer for the next Indiana Jones film. The Dial of Destiny (yes, that is the real name) hits theaters on June 30th, but will premiere at Cannes in May.
We already knew The Daniels were set to direct an episode of Disney Plus’ Star Wars: Skeleton Crew series, but at this year’s Star Wars: Celebration (Europe) event, the rest of the directing lineup was revealed to include Jon Watts, David Lowery, Jake Schreier, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Lee Isaac Chung.
The latest shakeup in the streaming industry has Hulu president Joe Earley replacing Michael Paull as Disney’s direct-to-consumer president, a role that oversees Disney Plus, ESPN Plus, and Hulu.
There isn’t any word on who will take over for Earley just yet, as Disney says he’ll keep leading Hulu until they find a replacement. Earley first joined Disney in 2019 to help launch Disney Plus and became the president of Hulu last year.
[The Walt Disney Company]
Finally we can see what all the fuss was about! Here’s how it apparently works. Shame you can’t touch one, not even if you pay thousands to stay in the fancy Star Wars hotel.
Disney also showed off a new robotic stuntbunny: Judy from Zootopia.
One year after the grand opening of its incredibly detailed Star Wars-themed hotel, Disney may have finally realized that not everyone has $5,000 to spend on a two-night “voyage” aboard the Halcyon.
Disney confirmed to the Theme Park Tourist that it will only schedule voyages two days per week starting in October, down from the three to four weekly bookings it offers right now. It’s too bad Disney didn’t take this as an opportunity to lower the price instead.
And then what if Marvel Studios made sure that the episode introducing Kahhori, the MCU’s new character who hails from the precolonial Haudenosaunee Confederacy, was “created in close collaboration with members of the Mohawk Nation” in order to make sure her debut was both respectful and authentic to Haudenosaunee culture?
You know, what if?
The Mandalorian’s Chapter 17: The Apostate is a big, breezy, and action-packed reminder that Star Wars has always been a magical space adventure for new fans first and everyone else second.
Feeling insecure about the Canadian presence on digital streamers and social media, the Canadian government is days away from passing a law requiring more Canadian content on TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, Netflix and so on...
The idea, said Peter Menzies, a former official at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, is to promote Canadian artists, tell Canadian stories and “defend Canada from being completely swamped by American programming.”
Sad, isn’t it?
Disney’s brilliant new Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur cartoon has smarts, style, substance, and one hell of a musical score.
‘When I watched cartoons as a kid, there was a lot of serious orchestration. A lot of funk, a lot of R&B, and a lot of soul — all kinds of different styles of music. I wanted that for Moon Girl, too.’
After reports detailing the domestic violence charges Justin Roiland is facing first surfaced last month, it seemed like Adult Swim might not have been sure about how to proceed. Eventually, Roiland was fired by Adult Swim, Hulu, and Squanch Games.
But according to The Hollywood Reporter, that decision only came down after Rick and Morty’s staff sent a pointed letter to Adult Swim and parent company Warner Bros. Discovery demanding answers about whether Roiland would continue working for them.
[The Hollywood Reporter]
According to a report from Bloomberg, Disney CEO Bob Iger is weighing the idea of licensing more original shows and movies to rival media companies.
Aside from raising prices on subscribers, licensing content to other services is just one of the ways Disney can make more money and reverse the $1.5 billion its streaming business lost last quarter.
