TV, Movies & Home Theatre - Page 8

Apple is reportedly getting ready to make a change to the way people buy and rent movies, with the familiar iTunes Movie Store set to be killed off. Instead, it's claimed that Apple will move the same functionality into the Apple TV app, somewhere where it arguably makes more sense.

The news comes after 9to5Mac spotted code in the second beta releases of iOS 17,2 and tvOS 17,2 that show Apple will merge the iTunes Movie Store into the Apple TV app. Notably. users can already buy movies and TV shows in the TV app but those using Apple devices like the iPhone and iPad still have a dedicated iTunes Movie Store available as well. That, it seems, is about to change.

The strings seen by 9to5Mac mention text that suggests a new message will be displayed to say that the iTunes Movie Store has moved to the Apple TV app. However, it isn't yet clear whether the change will be implemented when iS 17.2 and tvOS 17.2 are rolled out to the public. That being said, the 9to5Mac report does say that comments left over from Apple engineers suggest that the tweak will be rolled out remotely. That means that it might not be strictly tied to the release of these new software updates after all.

Take-Two Interactive CEO confirms the company is currently "in discussions" to adapt more of its video game IPs into films.

The success of the Super Mario Bros. movie has catalyzed more film adaptations of big games, and Nintendo recently announced that a new Zelda movie is in the works (with Sony Pictures, no less). Take-Two already has two films in the works--a Borderlands movie with an all-star cast from Lionsgate, and a new BioShock film--but company CEO Strauss Zelnick says that more IPs could be licensed out for future movies.

In TTWO's recent Q2'24 earnings call, Zelnick gave a thorough answer that underlines the high risks of film and TV, saying that if any more movies are made (like, say, a Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption feature length film) that the company would be extremely careful and very selective. At no point does Take-Two plan to self-finance a film, instead opting for licensing. One wrong move could essentially dilute or damage the IP which is something that Take-Two absolutely does not want to do.

The reports were correct: Nintendo has officially announced that it is developing a live action film based on The Legend of Zelda franchise.

Shortly after releasing strong Q2 earnings results, Nintendo today formally announced that is working on a new live action Zelda movie. The film will be produced by Shigeru Miyamoto and Avi Arad, former CEO of Marvel Studios and current chairman of Arad Productions, a studio that's had a hand in multiple live action Marvel adaptations including Uncharted, Spider-Man Homecoming, Ghost in the Shell, and many more.

Sony Pictures Entertainment will be co-financing the film, with Nintendo paying for the majority of production costs. Wes Ball, the director of the Maze Runner films and the upcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, will direct the Zelda film.

Here's some more bad news in the world of streaming services, as Apple is hiking the price of Apple TV+ - and sadly, it's a big old increase, plus it's not the only subscription charge to increase among Apple's offerings.

As TechSpot noticed (and Mark Gurman raised on X), Apple TV+ is going to increase from a $6.99 monthly fee to $9.99, which is a 43% hike - ouch indeed. The yearly price will go up from $69 to $99, we're told.

It's particularly painful as with the pricing on other streaming services like Netflix on the way up, and Amazon planning to show ads with Prime Video (and charge to remove them) early next year, Apple has remained a wallet-friendly alternative.

Today has special significance in the world of Fallout, with October 23 being the day that the bombs fell and thermonuclear war broke out between the world's superpowers. When you look at it that way, it might not sound like a cause for celebration, but Bethesda has taken the opportunity to offer a Fallout Day Sale across storefronts like Steam and GOG.

With up to 80% discounts on games like Fallout 4 and Fallout 76, with the sales extending to the many bits of DLC that dropped post-launch - if you haven't played Fallout 4's Far Harbor or Nuka World expansions, now's the time - it's the perfect time to catch up on or jump into any of the many Fallout gaming experiences out there, which includes older titles like Fallout 2 and the iconic Fallout: New Vegas.

The biggest Fallout-related news of the day is definitely the word coming from Amazon, with confirmation that the highly-anticipated Fallout TV series will begin streaming on April 12, 2024.

The ad-free plan for Discovery Plus is going up in price in the US, and it's a fairly hefty jump.

Currently the subscription runs to $6.99 per month, but that is being hiked to $8.99 (and then applicable taxes on top).

The change will kick in with the next billing cycle for subscribers after (or on) November 2, so as you might expect, nothing is happening this month.

Apple has become the go-to destination for those looking to enjoy Major League Soccer thanks to its MLS Season Pass while Major League Baseball is also covered off via the Apple TV app. What's next? A new report suggests that we might see Apple turn its attention to motorsport.

That new report comes via the Business F1 magazine and was picked up by 9to5Mac. If a deal is done, it's thought that it could cost Apple around $2 billion per year to become the exclusive rights holder for streaming Formula 1 sport around the world.

However, the move would take time to come to fruition. It's noted that there are already F1 deals in place that would need to expire before Apple would be able to swoop in, including an ESPN deal that runs until 2025. The report claims that Apple would look to sign a seven-year deal, with the global rights becoming available around five years into that timeframe.

Hot on the heels of Netflix's change of stance on password sharing in an attempt to drive up subscriber numbers, Disney+ looks set to become the next streaming service to follow suit. That's after the news that the streamer will start to crack down on password sharing starting from November 1, with Canada being the first to make the change.

The news comes after Canadian Disney+ subscribers began to receive emails warning them that password sharing will be a big no-no from November. The email says that Disney+ will begin to implement restrictions on account sharing.

The email, first reported by MobileSyrup, included notification of a new agreement that warns Disney+ may limit or terminate access to its service if people are discovered to be sharing their password with people outside their household. Disney+ says that the household is defined as a collection of devices associated with a primary personal residence and that are only to be used by people who live in those residences.

If you're binge-watching the latest must-watch Apple TV+ show you might find that actually watching it isn't all that easy after viewers started to report a number of issues relating to content on the streaming service.

The problem has the potential to prevent people from actually watching content at all, but it isn't one that's affecting everyone which means you might be one of the lucky ones. For those who aren't, you might find that you'll wind up watching the credits much sooner than you wanted to. Other issues include episodes skipping with the next one being started before the previous one has finished.

As reported by 9to5Mac, social media is currently full of people complaining about various issues. One of those is that they see foreign language dubbing credits appear at the beginning of watching a new episode rather than at the end, where they would normally live. That then seems to mean that the overall length of the show changes enough to make the Apple TV app believe that the episode has finished before it actually has.

Disney is celebrating a long 100 years of incredible storytelling with the release of what can only be assumed as its most expensive Blu-ray box set yet, the Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection.

According to a new report from The Wrap, Disney will be releasing the Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection on November 14, which will include 100 movies for a staggering price tag of $1,500. Only massive Disney fans will likely still be interested in the box set, which includes movies from both Disney and Pixar across three volumes. These volumes fold out into a storybook that takes buyers through Disney's animated studio history, showcasing original movie poster designs and digital codes for every movie.

Furthermore, the Blu-ray box set includes a lithograph from Disney's upcoming feature "Wish," a certificate of authenticity, and crystal Mickey Mouse ears that are engraved with "Disney 100". Looking at the certificate of authenticity, the box set also includes 18 Blu-ray discs with bonus content from Pixar. Pre-orders for Disney's biggest box set yet will become available at Walmart on September 18, and according to The Wrap, will be priced at $1,500.

A movie insider has taken to their personal X account to reveal that Universal Studios is working on a new live-action Nintendo movie.

The movie insider is called MyTimeToShienHello and recently took to X to claim that Universal Studios is developing a live-action movie of The Legend of Zelda, which has no doubt thrown Nintendo fans into a 50/50 situation where they aren't sure if they should be excited or simply terrified of an awful adaptation. The leak of a live-action The Legend of Zelda movie isn't too surprising considering the massive success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie., Nintendo's first movie with Illumination, an animation studio owned by Universal.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie quickly became one of the biggest animated movies of all time. Additionally, Hollywood insider Jeff Sneider previously stated that Nintendo began working with Universal on the upcoming Zelda title back in June, with the insider saying on the Hot Mic podcast, "I'm told that Universal is, in fact, closing a 'big deal' with the Nintendo corporation for The Legend of Zelda."

TV, movie, and documentary fans in some countries are going to have to pay for Apple TV+ just to check it out after Apple apparently decided to cancel the free trial that was previously available. That trial would give people a full week to try the streaming service before having to pay for it.

Right now this decision only appears to have taken place in the UK and South Africa, which is just as interesting as the fact that the trial has gone in and of itself. There has been a trial available for Apple TV+ ever since it debuted in November of 2019, so it's odd that Apple has taken the decision to remove it at this point.

Those looking to subscribe to Apple TV+ right now will see the monthly price without the previous seven-day free trial that preceded it. Previously, people could sign up and then cancel their subscription within that seven-day window to avoid paying a thing. Those who liked what they saw could continue to pay, something that Apple obviously hoped that people would do. However, that is no longer something that will happen in the UK and South Africa.

Netflix has released a new trailer on its YouTube channel, revealing the first trailer for an upcoming David Fincher-directed crime thriller called "THE KILLER".

David Fincher has been planning on adapting The Killer into a feature-length film since 2007, which is based on the graphic novel of the same name written by Alexis Nolent. The movie premiered at the Venice International Film Festival over the weekend and showcased Michael Fassbender as the assassin who is battling his employers and himself on an international manhunt following an attempted assassination.

The trailer is very fast-paced, exponentially growing in speed and intensity, with Michael Fassbender's character repeating his "rules" to himself, especially "stick to the plan". Other lines from the trailer that give some clues to Fassbender's character are "forbid empathy", "ask yourself what is in it for me", "trust no one", and "this is what it takes to succeed". From this small amount of information, it seems that Fassbender's character is well trained, organized and will be attempting to devolve himself of any humanity in order for his plan to be fulfilled.

A new ad for Amazon's upcoming Fallout TV show has fans scratching their heads in disbelief.

It's no surprise that Amazon is making a Fallout adaptation for its Prime subscription service. The show stars Walter Goggins of Justified fame, and is being put together by Westworld showrunners Lisa Joy & Jonathan Nolan, Amazon, and Bethesda. Originally announced in 2020, filming on the first season has wrapped and the show is set to premiere sometime in 2024.

While previous captures and images show that Amazon is indeed focused on authenticity, the same can't be said for the recent Fallout TV show promo image. Amazon's choice of image used to advertise the 2024 premiere has been mostly glanced over. Upon close inspection, the ad has all the puzzling and strange trappings of an AI-generated image, including inconsistencies that defy logic.

It's commonplace for internet users to take an unfounded rumor and simply run with it. The newest one circulating is that porn star Johnny Sins will be playing Lex Luthor in James Gunn's upcoming Superman film.

For those that don't know, Johnny Sins is a famous male porn star that has become the face of many internet memes over his countless performances playing different professions within pornographic movies. X users began circulating the rumor that Sins, whose real name is Stevie Wolfe, will be playing Lex Luthor in James Gunn's Superman: Legacy film, and now the director of the upcoming movie has put the rumor to bed.

Gunn replied to an X user that asked if it were true that Sins was playing Lex Luthor in Superman: Legacy, "You didn't cast a porn star as Lex, right? It's so ridiculous.... It could be true," to which Gunn replied, "Oh my God, you can't possibly believe that." While it's safe to assume that most people who heard about the rumor immediately dismissed it as not plausible, there are always internet users out there that simply read text on their screen and take what they read as factual.

You'd need to have been living under a rock to have missed the fact that superstar athlete Lionel Messi is now plying his trade in the MLS. He's only played two games so far, but it looks like Apple is already benefiting from his presence as viewing figures have spiked in the last week.

Apple famously paid $2.5 billion to get in on the MLS streaming rights for the next decade, with MLS Season Pass being the result. It's available via the Apple TV app and is of course a subscription service, although those who already pay for Apple TV+ do at least get a discount. Messi even gets a cut of that money as part of the deal that saw him ditch European football in Paris and it looks like the deal is already proving to be mutually beneficial.

While Apple doesn't share specific figures, it has confirmed that the last week has been a bumper one in terms of viewership. In a statement given to The Verge, Apple spokesperson Tom Neumayr confirmed that the week running from July 19 to July 26 saw the three most-watched matches ever on MLS Season Pass. The statement went on to say that viewers watched from almost 100 countries and regions around the globe with those viewers roughly split between English and Spanish broadcasts.

Netflix's password sharing gambit has paid off big time as subscribers grow by the millions.

A bit ago, Netflix announced that it would no longer allow users to share passwords with people who live outside of their primary home location. In an effort to maximize revenues, the streamer revealed pricing plans to add members to their subscriptions. Gone are the days of being able to leech off of a family member's or ex's subscription.

The move sparked widespread controversy, however it was indeed effective. Netflix's worldwide subscriber counts rose by over 6 million users following the password sharing crackdown. In Q1 2023, Netflix had 232.5 million subscribers, and in Q2 2023, shortly after the new policy went into effect, Netflix subscribers rose to 238.4 million. The addition of subscribers also reflects the relatively new ad-based streaming tier.

Netflix has just got rid of its 'basic' subscription plan for the US and UK, and while those who are currently signed up to it can stay on the basic tier, nobody else can take this option going forward.

The basic subscription was the cheapest way to watch Netflix without adverts, but now, as spotted by Cordbusters, that's the 'standard' plan in the US and UK (following Canada's lead, where this policy was already adopted).

The difference is that you'll pay $15.49 per month for a standard subscription, whereas basic was pitched at $9.99, a good deal cheaper.

If you own a PS4 or PS5 you can now get yourself an extended Apple TV+ trial to watch shows like Ted Lasso and Succession without having to pay a penny.

Surprisingly, this offer seems to also extend to people who are already current members or have previously used a free trial, which is unusual. But that's the way this seems to have been set up. At least, that's on the PS5. Those who own a PS4 are only getting three months and it's only available to those who haven't previously been a subscriber.

Signing up for the freebie isn't difficult, thankfully. All you have to do is open the Apple TV app on your PlayStation and then sign in using an Apple ID. You can also create one if you don't yet have one of your own.

On January 25, 2023, Adult Swim announced that Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland would no longer be voicing Rick or Morty, following a myriad of serious incriminating allegations that have since been dropped.

Roiland was accused of domestic battery, corporal injury, and false imprisonment by menace, fraud, violence, or deceit against his former girlfriend in 2020. These accusations led to Roiland being dropped by Adult Swim, and the show announcing that Rick and Morty would continue and that staff are still continuing to work on season 7.

Roiland's lawyer at the time this matter was on track to being dismissed by the district attorney's office, then in late March, California prosecutors dropped the charges against Roiland, citing "a lack of sufficient evidence beyond a reasonable doubt".