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Max, Disney+, Hulu ad-free bundle coming amid high streaming cancellation rates

9 May 2024 at 13:03
Shot from Avengers Infinity War

Enlarge / Streaming services are assembling... into a bundled package. (credit: Marvel Entertainment/YouTube)

Sometime this summer, US customers will be able to buy a subscription to Max, Disney+, and Hulu together for a discounted price. The Wednesday announcement from respective owners Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and Disney comes as the streaming industry combats a competitive subscription marketplace burdened by constant cancellations.

WBD and Disney didn't provide a specific release date for the package but said that people will be able to buy it from "any of the three streaming platform’s websites offered as both an ad-supported and ad-free plan.”

The companies didn't confirm a price, but the bundle should be cheaper than all three services combined, which would start at $47.97 per month for no ads and $25.97/month with ads.

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Disney, Hulu and Max Streaming Bundle Will Soon Become Available

8 May 2024 at 18:58
The offering from Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery shows how rival companies are willing to work together to navigate an uncertain entertainment landscape.

Β© Todd Anderson for The New York Times

Disney announced this week that Disney+ was profitable last quarter, a first.

Doctor Who’s sparkling new season feels like a fresh return to form

6 May 2024 at 09:00
black man and pretty blonde woman examining a strange contraption

Enlarge / Ncuti Gatwa is the Fifteenth Doctor, and Millie Gibson is his new companion, Ruby Sunday, in new season of Doctor Who. (credit: Disney+)

A new season of Doctor Who is almost upon us, featuring Ncuti Gatwa's first full run as the 15th Doctor, with a shiny new companion. It's also the first time Doctor Who will stream on Disney+, after the platform acquired the international broadcasting rights. That could translate into a whole new generation of fans for this beloved British sci-fi series.

(Spoilers for "The Power of the Doctor," "The Giggle," and "The Church on Ruby Road" below.)

Here's a brief summation for the benefit of those who may not have kept up with the more recent seasons. Russell T. Daviesβ€”who revived the series in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctorβ€”has returned as showrunner. Davies lost no time introducing a few new twists. When it came time for Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor to regenerate, fans had expected Gatwa to be introduced. Instead, the new Fourteenth Doctor was played by former Tenth Doctor David Tennant, reuniting with former companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) for three specials.

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It’s Star Wars Day, and we have a new trailer for The Acolyte to celebrate

4 May 2024 at 15:45

"No one is safe from the truth" in new trailer for The Acolyte.

It's Star Wars Day, and to mark the occasion, Disney+ has dropped a new trailer for Star Wars: The Acolyte. As previously reported, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the Galactic Republic and its Jedi masters symbolized the epitome of enlightenment and peace. Then came the inevitable downfall and outbreak of war as the Sith, who embraced the Dark Side of the Force, came to power. Star Wars: The Acolyte will explore those final days of the Republic as the seeds of its destruction were sown.

The eight-episode series was created by Leslye Headland. It's set at the end of the High Republic Era, about a century before the events of The Phantom Menace. Apparently, Headland rather cheekily pitched The Acolyte as "Frozen meets Kill Bill." She drew on wuxia martial arts films for inspiration, much like George Lucas was originally inspired by Westerns and the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa. Per the official premise:

In Star Wars:Β The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master (Lee Jung-jae) against a dangerous warrior from his past (Amandla Stenberg). As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems…

In addition to Lee (best known from Squid Game) and Stenberg (Rue in The Hunger Games), the cast includes Manny Jacinto (Jason on The Good Place) as a former smuggler named Qimir; Dafne Keen (Logan, His Dark Materials) as a young Jedi named Jecki Lon; Carrie-Ann Moss (Trinity in The Matrix trilogy) as a Jedi master named Indara; Jodie Turner-Smith (After Yang) as Mother Aniseya, who leads a coven of witches; Rebecca Henderson (Russian Doll) as a Jedi knight named Vernestra Rwoh; and Charlie Bennet (Russian Doll) as a Jedi named Yord Fandar.

In addition, Abigail Thorn plays Ensign Eurus, while Joonas Suotamo plays a Wookiee Jedi master named Kelnacca. Suotamo portrayed Chewbacca in the sequel trilogy of films (Episodes VII-IX) and in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Also appearing in as-yet-undisclosed roles are Dean-Charles Chapman, Amy Tsang, and Margarita Levieva.

The first trailer dropped in March, in which we saw young padawans in training, Indara battling a mysterious masked figure, somebody out there killing Jedi, and a growing sense of darkness. This latest trailer reinforces those themes. The assassin, Mae (Stenberg), once trained with Master Sol (Lee), and he thinks he should be the one to bring her inβ€”although Master Vernestra correctly suspects Mae's killings are a small part of a larger plan, i.e, the eventual return of the Sith.

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