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.

Bob Iger Talks Some ‘Star Wars’

Star Wars

Disney CEO, Bob Iger, revealed some Star Wars news today. Along with some information about the new Han Solo Movie he mentioned that the late Carrie Fisher will appear in the next movie and they will not be going with a digital version in the future. The Hollywood Reporter has the run down:

“When we bought Lucasfilm, we were going to make three films — Episodes VII, VIII and IX,” said Iger. “We had to deal with tragedy at the end of 2016. Carrie appears throughout VIII. We are not changing VIII to deal with her passing. Her performance remains as it is in VIII. In Rogue One, we had some digital character. We are not doing that with Carrie.”

Disney Severs Ties With PewDiePie Over Anti-Semitic Posts

YouTube

Disney has severed ties with YouTube star PewDiePie after a series of anti-semitic posts. The Wall Street Journal reports:

Mr. Kjellberg said in a video a few days later that the Jan. 11 clip was a joke that went too far. Alphabet Inc.’s Google, which owns YouTube, pulled ads that run on its videos from the Jan. 11 video within days of its posting, before it was taken down this past weekend. YouTube hasn’t pulled any of the nine videos in question, though PewDiePie’s account took down three of them. Google hasn’t removed ads from any of Mr. Kjellberg’s other videos.

Being a piece of shit is all the rage in 2017.

New Star Wars-Themed Lands for Disney Parks Announced

Disney:

During the “Wonderful World of Disney: Disneyland 60” special that aired last night on ABC-TV, we shared some exciting details about the Star Wars-themed lands planned for Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts. Walt Disney Imagineering has joined forces with the imagination of Lucasfilm to bring this galaxy to life, and the illustrations shared during the TV special show the epic scale of these new lands.

I’m so in. They will open in 2019.

Disney Looking at Potential Twitter Bid

Twitter

Bloomberg is reporting that the Walt Disney Co. is looking at making a bid for Twitter:

The Walt Disney Co. is working with a financial adviser to evaluate a possible bid for Twitter Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. After receiving interest in discussing a deal, Twitter has started a process to evaluate a potential sale. Salesforce.com Inc. is also considering a bid, working with Bank of America on the process, according to other people, who declined to be named because the matter is private.

So Disney could own the happiest place on earth, and one of the biggest collections of hatred the world has ever seen.

‘The Rocketeer’ Reboot in the Works From Disney

Disney

The Hollywood Reporter, with news of a Rocketeer revival:

The new take keeps the story in a period setting and offers a fresh view on the characters. Set six years after the original Rocketeer and after Secord has vanished while fighting the Nazis, an unlikely new hero emerges: a young African-American female pilot, who takes up the mantle of Rocketeer in an attempt to stop an ambitious and corrupt rocket scientist from stealing jet-pack technology in what could prove to be a turning point in the Cold War.