Established streaming industry leaders like Netflix and Amazon are facing more competition than ever. Now legacy entertainment giants are in the game with their own subscription services, like Peacock, HBO Max, Paramount Plus, and the Disney Plus / Hulu / ESPN Plus bundle, while Apple TV Plus attacks around the edges. Meanwhile, the rise of ad-supported free platforms like Roku Channel and Pluto TV has attracted enough attention that Plex, YouTube, and Amazon’s Freevee are trying to get a chunk of the action too.
With tickets going on sale today ahead of Spider-Man’s premiere on July 31st, Sony Pictures released a new nearly three-minute trailer to follow the March teaser that quickly racked up a billion views.
This new one still features a world that’s forgotten Peter Parker, and also highlights the movie’s villain, an invisible entity that seemingly takes over even Bruce Banner / Hulk.
Disney and Pixar’s latest feature gets at the heart of how we let tech hurt us.
The Roku Netflix Player was originally a streaming box that then-Netflix CEO Reed Hastings decided not to build.
Now Semafor reports Netflix was interested in acquiring the company before Fox closed its $22 billion deal, losing out once again after Paramount swooped in with a deal to buy Warner Bros. while enjoying a cozier relationship with this administration’s regulators.
The R&D team at Walt Disney Imagineering has embraced Adobe’s Firefly Foundry platform to “accelerate the design and pre-production visualization pipeline” for Disney Parks and Experiences. The partnership will use AI models trained on Disney assets to turn sketches into fully rendered concept art, 2D images into 3D prototypes, and more.
Under Lachlan Murdoch’s leadership, Roku will become a doorway to all things Fox.
Like buying Roku, for example.
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The masculine urge to fold companies into progressively dumber conglomerates
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The two projects highlight how it takes more than nostalgia to reinvigorate a franchise.
Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson said that today during a special event livestream for his YouTube channel becoming the first one to hit 500 million subscribers.
Who agrees with him?
That’s Katie Dippold, creator and showrunner of the horror / comedy hybrid Widow’s Bay, which Apple just confirmed has been renewed. The news comes just ahead of the season 1 finale, which streams on June 17th.
After launching the abilty to create and share lists of movies and TV shows, Plex is now rolling out a “discussions” feature that will allow you to chat about content in its app. Other social features, like emoji reactions, are set to arrive throughout the year.
Movies directed by YouTubers are suddenly blowing up at the box office. Backrooms and Obsession are both smash hits, and The Amazing Digital Circus had a big debut last week. Is this the moment YouTube truly takes over Hollywood? Julia Alexander, media correspondent at Puck, walks us through the much longer history of YouTube on the big screen, and helps us figure out where this all goes next. Is the future just really, really big YouTube videos?
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Following a monthslong carriage dispute, Fubo has announced that it reached a deal with NBCUniversal, restoring access to NBC, Bravo, Telemundo, Universo, NBCSN, and local NBC Sports channels.
Telemundo and Universo have the Spanish-language rights to the World Cup, which kicks off on Thursday.
[Businesswire]
Internal documents, which were disclosed as part of a wave of child safety lawsuits filed by school districts across the US, showed:
Snapchat sent phone alerts to adolescents during school hours, urging them to share what was going on in their classrooms.
Meta paid “teen ambassadors” to promote Instagram and hand out swag to their friends at school.
TikTok gave the National PTA millions of dollars, in part to throw school events about online safety and provide favorable comments to journalists.
The streaming service’s new multiplayer FIFA title — part of its burgeoning library of TV games — launches on June 11th, coincidentally the same day the World Cup kicks off. Netflix also has the US rights for the next two women’s World Cups starting in 2027.
Netflix’s next animated series, Dealies, sounds like a weirdo version of Superstore. But it’s especially interesting as its co-creator Joe Bennett was behind both Scavengers Reign and Common Side Effects. No word on when it’ll start streaming.
According to Variety, “Amazon execs were concerned that [Martin] Gero’s take on the series would not have broad appeal beyond the franchise’s already dedicated fanbase.” Gero formerly wrote, produced, and directed episodes of all three of the original Stargate series and was set to lead Amazon’s reboot as writer and showrunner.
That’s true for folks living underground in Silo, Apple TV’s sci-fi series, as you can see in the new trailer. But it’s also true for the show’s creators, who only have two more seasons to wrap-up the sprawling post-apocalyptic story. Season 3 starts streaming on July 3rd.
Following online backlash, Jorge Gutierrez announced that he will no longer be making the AI series Punky Duck:
My intent was to showcase artists, both new and seasoned, both inside and outside the studios, driving this new tech. My sincerest apology to those I upset. I promise to do better moving forward. Thank you for your patience with me. I will try harder.
Punky Duck was one of three animated AI series set to appear on Prime Video as part of Amazon’s GenAI Creators’ Fund.
That was the case for the previous trailer for season 3 of House of the Dragon, and it’s true for the latest, as well. The Game of Thrones spinoff returns in around a month, premiering on June 21st.
Filmmakers like Kane Parsons are getting their start on YouTube, before moving to bigger productions.
As Deadline reports, ABC filed early renewal applications for its broadcast licenses “under protest” on Thursday, along with a letter condemning the FCC’s demand for the premature license renewal. ABC called it “unlawful, arbitrary, and unconstitutional,” stating:
Simultaneously forcing every station in a media company’s portfolio to file premature license renewal applications is not a regulatory tool. It is an extraordinary demonstration of power and coercion directed at disfavored editorial voices, which sends a clear warning to every broadcaster in America. This is a threat to the First Amendment that this Commission and this proceeding must not be permitted to normalize.
An internal document viewed by Business Insider details efforts to transfer Hulu’s content and features to Disney Plus, which Disney has already started doing. The document says “the Hulu tech stack and app will be decommissioned after all users have transitioned” to the unified app, according to Business Insider.
[Business Insider]
The Apple TV series returns for season 2 next month, and the new trailer makes it clear John Sugar is getting pulled into yet another far-reaching mystery. Interestingly, the trailer barely hints at the show’s sci-fi nature, which — spoiler warning! — you can read about here if you’re curious.
Amazon MGM Studios greenlit three shows as part of its GenAI Creators’ Fund, which gives producers access to the company’s AI filmmaking platform. The projects include Cupcake & Friends from BuzzFeed Studios; Love, Diana Music Hunters from former Nickelodeon exec Albie Hecht; and Punky Duck from animator Jorge R. Gutierrez.
All three shows will debut on Prime Video “at a future date.”
Marvel’s animated throwback X-Men ’97 will be back very soon, streaming on Disney Plus on July 1st. We also got a new trailer to remind you just how dire things are currently for the mutant team.
The redesign, which Roku first started testing last year, puts a new Quick Access section at the top of the page with shortcuts to your most-used apps, followed by a personalized Top Picks row with show and movie recommendations.
The update is rolling out to “all Roku devices in the US,” and once it hits, you’ll also find a new Destinations section, where you can browse titles by category.
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