Disney Announces New Streaming Service

Disney

Peter Kafka, writing at Recode:

Disney+ will launch in the US on November 12, for $7 a month. It will have a very large library of old Disney movies and TV shows — crucially, including titles from its Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars catalog — along with new movies and series made exclusively for the streaming service. It won’t have any ads. And it will allow subscribers to download all of that stuff, and watch it offline, whenever they want.

So much new TV. I’m already looking forward to The Sandlot series.

‘High Fidelity’ TV Series With Female Lead in Works

Disney

Deadline is reporting that a new TV series based on Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity will be coming to Disney’s new streaming service:

I hear a romantic comedy TV series inspired by Nick Hornby’s 1995 novel High Fidelity and the 2000 feature starring John Cusack is in early development for Disney’s upcoming direct-to-consumer service. The project, a gender-swapped take on the classic title, comes from writers Veronica West and Sarah Kucserka (Bull, Ugly Betty), the Midnight Radio producing team and ABC Signature Studios (SMILF), the cable/streaming division of ABC Studios.

Disney Buys 21st Century Fox

Disney

The Walt Disney Company has purchased 21st Century Fox:

The Walt Disney Company and Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. (21st Century Fox) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Disney to acquire 21st Century Fox, including the Twentieth Century Fox Film and Television studios, along with cable and international TV businesses, for approximately $52.4 billion in stock (subject to adjustment).

So, Disney and Amazon are going to just own everything now? Great. Wonderful.

Disney’s Vindictive LA Times Ban Prompts Critics and Media Boycotts

Disney

Adam Rosenberg, writing for Mashable:

Four major film critic organizations released a joint statement, directed at Disney, that sends one blunt message: Enough with this bullshit.

The statement in question is a response to Disney’s media blackout of the Los Angeles Times, a retaliatory response to what the Lucasfilm and Marvel owner has characterized as “biased and inaccurate” coverage of the company’s business dealings with the city of Anaheim, California. The Los Angeles Film Critics Association, New York Film Critics Circle, Boston Society of Film Critics, and National Society of Film Critics all joined together to send the message early Tuesday.

Dear Disney, here’s your crash course in the Streisand Effect.

Update: Amid backlash, Disney has ended the ban on the LA Times.

Disney Moving From Netflix to Own Streaming Service

Disney

Michelle Castillo, writing for CNBC:

CEO Bob Iger told CNBC’s Julia Boorstin Disney had a “good relationship” with Netflix, but decided to exercise an option to move its content off the platform. Movies to be removed include Disney as well as Pixar’s titles, according to Iger. Netflix said Disney movies will be available through the end of 2018 on its platform. Marvel TV shows will remain.

The new platform will be the home for all Disney movies going forward, starting with the 2019 theatrical slate which includes Toy Story 4, Frozen 2, and the upcoming live-action The Lion King. It will also be making a “significant investment” in exclusive movies and television series for the new platform.