TV, Movies & Home Theatre News - Page 5

Stan Lee, the face of comic books, will be returning to the big screen in the form of his hit cameos, according to a new report.

A report from The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Marvel has entered into a 20-year-long deal with Genius Brands International and Lee's POW! Entertainment intellectual property company. The deal is to bring back comic book fans' beloved father figures in future Marvel-related products such as upcoming movies, merchandise, Disney theme park rides, or "experiences".

Stan Lee passed away in 2018, and his last cameo appearance was a posthumous digitally de-aged a car driver in Avengers: Endgame. The Hollywood Reporter writes that just because Marvel now has permission to digitally resurrect Lee in future movies, it doesn't mean that it will. The publication cited "insiders" cautioning that Lee's reappearance wouldn't be in the traditional way fans are expecting.

A new report from CNBC has revealed that Netflix plans to cut over a 100 employees from its company, with most of the staffers being located in the US.

According to a Netflix representative that spoke with CNBC, as a result of Netflix's slowing revenue growth, the company has been forced to reduce our cost growth, which has translated into 150 staffers being let go. Netflix's 150-employee cull represents just 2% of the company's 11,000 employees, with the majority of the cut staffers being US-based.

The representative explained that the decision to fire staff had been driven by "business needs rather than individual performance," and for that reason, it makes it especially difficult to "say goodbye to such great colleagues. We're working hard to support them through this very difficult transition". These staff reductions are hardly surprising considering the fall of Netflix's stock price following its forecast for future losses in the coming quarter.

Remedy Entertainment's new Alan Wake TV show has found a home at AMC, the network behind shows like Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead.

The Alan Wake TV series is still happening and Remedy is currently working alongside AMC to develop the show. The project was originally announced in 2018 with game writer Sam Lake executive producing the project. Reports at the time said the show is being produced by Contradiction Films, the studio behind 2011's Mortal Kombat Legacy.

"Making video games takes a long while. Well it turns out making a TV show can take even longer. Some of you might remember that quite a while ago we were talking about an Alan Wake TV show. Well AMC, the wonderful home for absolutely brilliant TV shows, has bought the rights for Alan Wake," Remedy Entertainment's creative director Sam Lake said in a recent anniversary video.

Netflix officials have sent out a note to employees that has leaked to The New York Times. The note states the streaming platform is looking to fast-track its plans on account sharing and an ad-supported tier.

According to a report from The New York Times, two anonymous sources told the publication that a note was issued to employees that stated Netflix is planning on rolling out an ad-supported tier to the streaming platform during the fourth quarter of 2022. The note also stated that it will be addressing the large problem of account sharing across households, which follows an abysmal earning report released last month that revealed Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers.

Co-chief executive Reed Hastings said around the time of the earnings report release that the company would address the issue "over the next year or two". However, the notes sent to employees seem to show Netflix has changed its tune, with the sources saying the note indicated Netflix's plan is "faster and ambitious, and it will require some trade-offs".

Following the defamation suit between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, a petition has acquired millions of signatures to remove Heard from Aquaman 2.

The sequel to James Wan's Aquaman only recently wrapped up shooting in January of this year and is expected to be released in March 2023. However, individuals that have seen the stories that have come out of the defamation trial that describe Depp and Amber's relationship have caused a united online effort to cancel Heard from Aquaman 2, with a Change.org petition already receiving two million signatures.

The petition has a goal of three million signatures, which is where signees hope Heard will be removed from the coming film. The creator of the petition has written in its description that Heard shouldn't be allowed to play her role as Princess Mera, as she has been "exposed as a domestic abuser". Notably, the petition was originally created in 2020, and when Heard found out during that time it had 1.5 million signatures, she dismissed it as "Paid rumors and paid campaigns on social media".

Nintendo and Illumination have delayed the new Super Mario Bros. film from Holiday 2022 to Spring 2023.

Nintendo's new Super Mario Bros. movie, currently in production at Illumination Entertainment (Minions, Despicable Me), was originally supposed to launch late this year. Now both Nintendo and Illumination have announced the star-studded adaptation is being pushed back by a full quarter. Sonic The Hedgehog's $145.8 million success may have had something to do with the delay.

"After consulting with Chris-san, my partner at Illumination on the Super Mario Bros. film, we decided to move the global release to Spring 2023-April 28 in Japan and April 7 in North America. My deepest apologies but I promise it will be well worth the wait," Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto said in an announcement.

Subscription price hikes have pushed consumers towards budget-friendly ad-based offerings.

According to findings from analyst firm Antenna, audiences in the United States are opting for cheaper subscription plans with ads. The firm estimates that 35% of new streaming sign-ups are for the lower-cost ad tiers offered by SVOD services like Peacock, HBO Max, Paramount+, and Hulu. Cord-cutting mentality has nearly gone full-circle as costs pressures consumers back towards the ad-based models of traditional TV.

The annual growth rate of ad-based sign ups has jumped from 19% in 2020 to 35% in 2022, an increase of 17 percentage points.

Zack Snyder has just shared the very first images of his "space opera" exclusive for Netflix, with the images dropping from the first day of shooting Rebel Moon.

Snyder tweeted the images to his official Twitter account, simply teasing "Day 1 #RebelMoon. It's begun". The shots give us a beautiful look at Djimon Hounsou (who plays General Titus), and perfectly displays why Snyder and his team have the best costume designers in the business.

Rebel Moon will be an expansive franchise after a bigger deal with Netflix was inked, as it originally started as Snyder's pitch for a possible Star Wars movie, but with a darker style. Production on Rebel Moon is expected to run through to the end of the year, and will be split into two movies.

Bungie is currently ramping up its workforce to adapt Destiny and other franchises into movies and TV shows.

Bungie hasn't hid its transmedia aspirations and is currently hiring a new Linear Media producer to lead these initiatives. Sony, who will acquire the studio for $3.6 billion, wants to help expand Destiny beyond gaming through its PlayStation Productions and Sony Pictures labels.

There isn't any one format for Destiny's transmedia expansion. Bungie lists different types of media from books to TV shows and films in the listing. "As the Senior Producer for Destiny Linear Media, you'll produce projects that extend the franchise into new categories including TV, films, books, comics and audio formats," the job listing reads.

I still remember walking out of the cinema after watching The Matrix back in 1999, influencing me forever as a 16-year-old geek and gamer. It has been 23 years since then -- if you can believe it -- so let's celebrate by watching the trailer to the movie:

The Matrix pioneered so much at the time with its iconic "Bullet-Time" slow-mo designed by John Gaeta, was copied, used in parodies, and everything in between. Bullet-Time was also joined by the amazing cinematography, soundtrack, acting (especially Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith), the storyline, the action, and so much more.

If you didn't know, The Matrix was shot here in Australia (in Sydney) with the Wachowski Bros. making the New South Wales government change their laws so that they could fly a helicopter above the city of Sydney. Incredible stuff, but totally worth it. It would be all-CG these days, including the crappy Matrix Resurrections.