TV, Movies & Home Theatre - Page 32

The streaming wars have well and truly begun, with WarnerMedia securing streaming rights for The Big Bang Theory on HBO Max for $1 billion and Netflix getting exclusive rights to Seinfeld in a deal worth over $500 million.

Now... it's NBC Universal's turn with a new deal seeing Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail rebooting Battlestar Galactica (for the second time). It will be an exclusive show to Peacock, NBC Universal's new streaming service.

NBC didn't spill any details on the Battlestar Galactica reboot, but anyone who has seem Esmail's work on Mr. Robot knows that this is definitely an interesting move. I didn't expect anything like this, and I'm kind of intrigued as to what Esmail can do differently in a space setting versus the world of Mr. Robot.

J.J Abrams was presented with a half-a-billion dollar signing offer from Apple and declined it, essentially walking away from one of the largest production signing deals.

If you happened to miss the news last week, famous director J.J Abrams signed a huge deal with his production company Bad Robot Productions and WarnerMedia, the deal was reported to be worth about $250 million. The Hollywood Reporter is now saying that before this deal was signed Apple offered Abrams a staggering half-a-billion dollars to sign with them, but Abrams declines and here's why.

THR Claims that it was included in Apples contract that Abrams would be required to develop content exclusively for Apple and only Apple. Meaning that Abrams would have to drop all current work on projects that weren't Apple related. For those who don't know Abrams is currently partnered with Disney on the upcoming Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as the director. He is also partnered with Paramount for something new in the Star Trek series, and in video games he is working with Epic Games on brand new game titled Spyjinx.

WarnerMedia has just signed a gigantic $1 billion deal to grab exclusive rights to one of the biggest TV shows ever; The Big Bang Theory. It will be an exclusive on HBO Max for five years.

Another big part of this deal are the syndication rights on traditional cable TV, especially for a show the size and popularity of The Big Bang Theory. The $1 billion deal will see the syndication deal extended with TBS and have the show air on the WarnerMedia-owned basic cable network all the way through to 2028.

All 12 seasons of The Big Bang Theory will be available to stream on HBO Max when its direct-to-consumer service launches in 2020. The Big Bang Theory is one of the biggest bangs in TV history (I had to) where after its 12-season run it became the longest-running multi-camera comedy series ever (beating Cheers!), and laid claim to the #1 scripted half-hour in the most-important 18-49 demographic.

There is an ever-growing amount of streaming platforms that are coming out and snatching up the rights to TV shows and movies. Netflix is one of these platforms and they have now got a new 5-year deal with one of the most successful sitcom TV shows of all time.

The new Netflix deal focuses in on Jerry Seinfeld's and Larry Davids 'Seinfeld' sitcom, which will feature all 180 episodes of the Emmy-Award winning show. The episodes will come to Netflix and be available worldwide starting sometime during 2021. At the moment, Seinfeld is currently available on Hulu where it has been since 2015.

Netflix will be losing the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe when Disney+ launches their goliath Disney IP-filled streaming platform. Netflix will also be losing Friends and The Office in the somewhat near future, so the company has to make some quick moves into picking up some culturally popular TV shows such Seinfeld, while also providing as much Netflix produced content as possible.

Marvel has huge at this years Comic-Con and one of the attracts that had built for the event was the life-size Iron Man statue built out of LEGO.

Above we have a behind-the-scenes look at how the statue was designed and built. Firstly the designers created a 3-D model of what the statues pose was going to look like from a reference image Marvel gave to them. Then they continued on to design the internal lighting of his eyes, arc reactor and gauntlet.

The statue weights 188 pounds, stands at 6.5 feet and contains exactly 35,119 individual LEGO pieces. The design and building process took Lead Model Designers Greg Omartian and Senior Model Builder Jeff Rusby over 255 hours to complete. The video shows the entire building process and how construction was strategized and executed perfectly.

During an awards show, the mastermind behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) revealed to fans a deleted movie scene from their first MCU movie, Iron Man. The scene made direct references to the inclusion of the X-Men.

The reveal was held at the Saturn Awards this past weekend and Marvel head Kevin Feige introduced the never-before-seen scene that came out of Marvels 'deleted scenes' vault. The post-credits scene features Nick Fury talking to Tony Stark in his apartment, saying "As if gamma accidents, radioactive bugs, and assorted mutants weren't enough. I have to deal with a spoiled brat who doesn't play well with others, and wants to keep all his toys to himself."

He goes on to say he is talking about the Avengers Initiative which appears of the original Iron Man movie, but the main we take out of this is the mentioning of "mutants". If you didn't know, when Disney acquired Fox the obtaining many of the rights to the X-Men characters, giving them full power into implementing them into their movies if they so choose to. This deleted scene proves that idea was at least present within the MCU's storyline and writing.

I'm a huge fan of The Matrix, so I know some of the trivia behind it and some of it is gold -- like Will Smith turning down the role of Neo and instead choosing to star in Wild Wild West. But now, Keanu Reeves has been replaced by Will Smith in a new deepfake of The Matrix:

Just in case you wanted some background on how and why Will Smith turned down the now iconic and trend-setting role that Keanu went to the next level in, Smith has a YouTube channel and vlog that he covers this in:

I think it's kinda freaky... but man these deepfakes are getting really, really good. The Matrix was more real than the real-world, and now deepfakes are more real than The Matrix.

Netflix has just secured Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins for a multi-year overall deal that will see Jenkins get behind the camera to create original TV shows exclusive to Netflix.

Variety reports that the deal between Netflix and Jenkins is worth $10 million over 3 years, and pales in comparison to the huge 9-figure ($100M+) deals with the Game of Thrones writers and Netflix recently.

Netflix VP for Original Sales, Channing Dungey, said in a statement: "Her trailblazing work has pushed boundaries and she confidently tells stories that leave an unforgettable mark. We look forward to fostering her many ideas and helping them come to life".

The first teaser trailer for Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) has leaked online, with our first look in a tweet below:

The trailer shows us Harley Quinn just before she destroys a bunch of red balloons on the screen, with the red balloons and Quinn's quip of "I'm so f***ing over clowns" in reference to It Chapter Two, which just came out.

Warner Bros. produces both It Chapter Two and Harley Quinn, so it's a nice breaking of the fourth wall for Quinn to reference a franchise in the real-world. The trailer itself shows off some quick shots of the action, with quick glimpses of Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez).

The Witcher TV is one of the most anticipated TV shows to come to the streaming platform, and now recent rumors are now pointing towards a solid release date that isn't even that far away.

According to Redanian Intelligence, Netflix's Giovanni Eugene Altamarquez, who is an executive producer for the show recently discussed possible release dates and when fans could expect the release to be.

During the discussions, Altamarquez said that fans could expect the show arriving on the streaming platform around late October, he than further clarified that November first would be a more "likely" release date. We cannot say if this is a solidified release date as it's not an official announcement by Netflix themselves, but either way we will be getting The Witcher TV show before the end of the year.

A full list of the upcoming TV shows and movies heading over to Netflix next month has been released, what will you be watching?

Netflix will be adding a plethora of new content for subscribers to enjoy next month, as numerous different types of TV shows and movies will taking charge on the streaming platform. What is coming? Almost every type of movie/TV show for every type of subscriber.

Just to cherry pick some of the additions that we will see throughout September, we have: Matt Groening's Disenchantment part 2, American Horror Story: Apocalypse, 300, Superbad, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Igor and many, many more. The full list has been provided with the individual release dates in the entirety of this article.

Ever wondered what it would take for someone in real-life to turn into the Joker? Well, you will have a chance of exploring that when the upcoming Joker film releases.

The Joker stars the brilliant actor Joaquin Phoenix, and despite not being based on the Joker comic books at all, the movie is gearing up to be unique, cinematically beautiful and full of acting talent. Above we have the final trailer before the film hits theaters, and just like a good trailer is meant to do - it shows off barely any story but still entices the audience to find out what the movies about.

Todd Phillips has directed this film and according to recent interview with Total Magazie, Phillips says that depending on the audiences reaction that he would love to do a sequel of some sort. Phillips must of loved working with Phoenix on this film, here is what he had to say about the actor "There's nobody like him. If he was willing to do it, and if people show up to this movie, and Warners came to us and said, 'You know what? If you guys could think of something...' Well, I have a feeling that he and I could think of something pretty cool."

The first Netflix film 'The Irishman' directed by legendary director Martin Scorsese will be arriving on Netflix on November 27th.

The announcement comes from the official 'The Irishman' Twitter account, and says that the film is expected to arrive on the streaming platforming starting from November 27th. The film is originally planned to release in theaters November 1, but according to Deadline this release window of 4 weeks was not enough to convince major theater chains to sign up.

Scorsese's 'The Irishman' stars Robert De Niro as Frank Sheeran and Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa. The film will be using groundbreaking VFX "de-aging" technology that will allow for De Niro and Pacino to play younger versions of their characters. If you are after the films trailer, head on over to this article here.

Netflix is predominately a streaming platform, but by no means does that mean its physical-based media service is dead and buried. The company actually recently achieved a new milestone its now celebrating.

Originally, Netflix was only a physical media service and since the 21 year old delivery services massive adoption in online streaming, the company is still moving heaps of physical media units. According to DVD Netflix Twitter account, "5,000,000,000 shipments" have been made, the 5 billionth disc was Rocketman.

Even though the physical media sales are still moving, its subscribers are plummeting. Back in 2011, the subscribers were sitting at 14 million and by the end of this year it fell to a staggering 2.4 million. In comparison to online streaming subscribers, Netflix is currently sitting at around 151 million streaming customers.

It was only last month when we heard about Warner Bros. casting Joe Taslim to play iconic Mortal Kombat character Sub-Zero, and now we have two more actors added to the list.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Meg's Jessica McNamee will be stepping into the shoes of Sonya Blade and Australian actor Josh Lawson will be playing the ruthless Kano. The Hollywood Reporter also says that British actor Lewis Tan (Deadpool 2) is currently in talks about taking the lead role, but the character that he would be playing has yet to be disclosed.

Screenwriter Greg Russo announced last month that this reboot of Mortal Kombat will be the most brutal one yet, as the film will be R-rated and feature the games' famous fatalities on-screen. His tweet reads: "Since it's already been stated by other members of the team, I'm gonna put this one to bed. MK WILL be R-Rated and for the first time EVER, FATALITIES will FINALLY be on the big screen (and no I'm not gonna say which ones) You'll just have to wait for the movie & see!!!"

Back in 2017, the internet was on flames regarding the push to ban Apu from The Simpson's under 'stereotyping' a specific race. While many people were quite divided on the issue, we now have confirmation that Apu will not be leaving us.

Variety has reported that when speaking to Matt Groening, The Simpson's creator, about Apu and whether or not the character will be written out of the show, he responded with "Yes. We love Apu. We're proud of Apu." On top of this, Groening says he takes the matter "Very seriously" and that "I don't want to offend people but we also want to be funny. We don't want to be totally politically correct. That has never been us. It's given us a lot of thought."

Back in 2018, Groening commented on the outrage about Apu, saying "People love to pretend they're offended" and that this is just another "outrage of the week". "I think particularly right now, people feel so aggrieved and crazed and powerless that they're picking the wrong battles." 30 Seasons of The Simpson's will be available on Disney+ once it releases, as well as a bunch of other content - more on that here.

What if Rey turned to the dark side and became a fallen Jedi? Then she'd have a foldable dual-handed lightsaber that'd make Darth Maul jealous and Samsung proud, of course.

Disney just dropped a new Episode IX: Rise of Skywalker teaser, and it shows a dark Sith lord Rey ready for total destruction. The footage shows a murderous Rey in black apparel, armed with a wicked folding red lightsaber, hinting at possible outcomes for the film. Does Rey turn evil, thus killing the Jedi once and for all? If we had to guess this is just one of those nebulous Force trials where Rey has to face off against her evil self--or maybe it's a vision of what could happen if she succumbs to Palpatine's will.

The new footage is very brief but it hints at big things. There's thousands of Star Destroyers in formation for an epic battle, Kylo and Rey duke it out on a floating barge in some faraway world, and even C-3PO gets corrupted. The new Death Star (aka the Starkiller base) might've also gotten resurrected to annihilate Rebel scum.

During the D23 Expo, Disney announced that some upgrades will be heading over to Disneyland and that these new attractions will take visitors to the magical land of 'Wakanda'.

The news was announced during the Disneyland parks panel and the upgrades come in the form of a new ride that will be added to the Californian Avengers Campus phase 2. This new ride will be featured in the corner of the campus that is directly Black Panther themed and visitors will get to experience a flight from Avengers HQ to Wakanda.

What kind of ride would this be if its visitors didn't get to experience an epic Avengers-level fight? Disney have of course included this, as visitors will be thrown into a major fight scene with an undisclosed villain at the end. The Avengers Campus is currently under construction and the park is scheduled to open sometime during 2020.

The release of Disney's new goliath streaming platform is almost upon us, and the company is currently in full swing with trailer releases and announcements.

Above we have the cult classic 'Lady and the Tramp''s official trailer, and if you didn't already notice by first glance this movie will be a live-action remake of the cartoon version. According to Firstshowing, this movie will be dodging theaters and heading straight to the new streaming platform in November when the service launches.

'Lady and the Tramp' is no doubt one of the movies Disney is using to sway people into grabbing a subscription to their new service, and do you know what, I'd say that its going to work. Disney's library of content that will be available on their platform at launch and what they have planned for the future is going to be simply immense. Just to name a few there is: 30 Seasons of The Simpsons at launch, National Geographic Documentary series', a new Star Wars series and not to mention additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Clickbait isn't just something online, as it has become somewhat real with Netflix picking up the thriller that will be produced in Melbourne, Australia.

Australian film and TV creator Tony Ayres will be involved, as well as Harry Potter producer David Heyman and Christian White. Ayres is the creator, showrunner, and executive producer of Clickbait while White acts as the co-creator, co-producer, and writer. Anderwon will sit in the directors chair for the 8-part series.

Clickbait will look into the dangers of social media, and the chasm between our digital selves and our real-world selves. No casting has been announced yet, but we should expect news on that soon.