Tag: disney plus hotstar

Reliance, Bodhi Tree Said to Take 60 Percent Stake in Disney India Merger

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance is close to merging its India media business with Walt Disney with a 51 percent-54 percent stake, a deal that values the US giant’s Indian operations at just $3.5 billion (roughly Rs. 29,043 crore), said three sources with direct knowledge.

The valuation of Disney’s India unit is sharply lower than the $15-$16 billion (roughly Rs. 1,24,475 crore – Rs. 1,32,774 crore) estimated when Disney acquired it in 2019. Disney’s TV and streaming business in India has struggled over the years, with its digital platform facing a user exodus in stiff competition over cricket streaming with Ambani’s platform.

The deal will strengthen Reliance’s hold over India’s $28 billion (roughly Rs. 2,32,351 crore) media and entertainment market, especially after a separate $10 billion (roughly Rs. 82,982 crore) merger deal between Japan’s Sony and India’s Zee Entertainment collapsed last week.

The three sources said Bodhi Tree, a joint venture between James Murdoch and former top Disney executive, Uday Shankar, is also set to take a stake of around 9 percent in the new merged entity. Disney will hold around 40 percent.

Reliance, Disney and Bodhi Tree did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Reliance and Disney, which each have a streaming service as well as 120 television channels between them, have been in talks for months to create an entertainment superpower in the world’s most populous nation.

Under the deal being discussed, Viacom18, the broadcast division of Ambani’s Reliance Industries, will merge with Disney’s India businesses. Viacom18’s shareholders include Paramount Global as well as Bodhi Tree, which invested $500 million (roughly Rs. 4,149 crore) in the Indian company last April. Shankar also serves on Viacom18’s board.

Two of the sources said the final percentage stake numbers could change. The sources declined to be identified because the talks are confidential.

A deal could be closed by mid-February, the sources said. One of the executives said Viacom18 was also likely to infuse some cash in the merged entity.

The third source said the deal talks were in advanced stages and some tax related matters were still being ironed out, though broad contours were almost finalised.

Antitrust, cricket rights

A Disney-Reliance merger could face many antitrust challenges due to the market power they could wield, especially as Sony and Zee were close to a separate merged entity in India.

Those regulatory hurdles may now ease.

“With the collapse of the Zee–Sony merger, the market will now be less concentrated, making it easier for Disney-Reliance,” said Karan Singh Chandhiok, head of competition law at Indian law firm Chandhiok & Mahajan.

In India, despite its large population with growing incomes, the Burbank-headquartered entertainment giant has struggled to make money. Its streaming service makes less than a tenth of its Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) there compared to the United States and other international markets.

The US firm’s streaming service lost nearly 34 percent of its subscribers between October 2022 and August 2023, as Ambani started offering free cricket on his new streaming platform after out-bidding Disney for the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament rights.

Several top Disney India executives have joined Viacom18 in recent months.

Disney misjudged Indians’ willingness to pay, Disney sources have said, and the company recently changed tack by offering free cricket on smartphones, hoping the strategy will boost advertising revenue and offset the impact of a subscriber exodus, Reuters reported.

In November, Disney CEO Bob Iger said Disney’s TV channels were doing well in India, but other parts of the business were struggling and it was seeking to “improve the bottom line.”

© Thomson Reuters 2024

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Here’s Your Binge Watch Guide for the Weekend: Killer Soup, Lift, Tiger 3 and More

With the biting cold winters lingering on our heads, binge-watching through the weekend in the warm comfort of your blanket, with a hot saucer of soup sounds like the perfect plan! To save you the hustle of scrolling through endless titles to stream, we have hand-picked a few OTT releases of the week for you.

If you are looking for that adrenaline rush, we would recommend Konkona Sen Sharma and Manoj Bajpayee’s Killer Soup. Another pick could be Comedian Kevin Hart’s money heist drama Lift, where he tries to steal millions of dollars up in the air in a commercial plane.

Reacher Season 2 has also released its 45-minute-long penultimate episode. However, if you are in the mood for some superhero drama, Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Echo could be a good choice (spoiler alert: she has different superpowers from comic books).

Salman’s Tiger 3 and Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, (both of which had a theatrical release), are also now available to stream on Amazon Prime. While at it don’t forget to check the extended version of Tom Cruise’s Dead Reckoning Part 1.

Happy binge-watching!

Killer Soup

When: Streaming

Where: Netflix

Abhishek Chaubey’s dark comedy thriller Killer Soup is a broiling pot of intense emotions, crimes, lies, cover-ups, poetic references, brilliant cinematography, and too many criss-crossing subplots!

Swathi (Konkona Sen Sharma) is a terrible cook and housewife to the chauvinistic Prabhakar Shetty (Manoj Bajpayee). When the latter learns about her illicit affair with his look-alike masseuse, things get heated up. One thing leads to another, and Swathi decides to disguise her lover as Prabhakar and present him in front of the world. As expected, many twists and turns follow.

Lift

When: Released Today

Where: Netflix

Stand-up comedian Kevin Hart returns to Netflix with this crime comedy. He is playing a heist crew lead who conspires to steal $500 million gold bullion being transported on a 777 passenger flight from London to Zurich. As he stages this mid-air crime, he is being suspected of identity theft by the authorities.

Break Point Season 2

When: Now Streaming

Where: Netflix

The second season of this sports docu-series comes with plenty of behind-the-scenes looks into the life of select tennis players. From dramatic injuries, candid moments, and on-field performances to some of the older players reminiscing their good old days, the show has it all.

Echo

When: Now Streaming

Where: Disney+ Hotstar

Marvel’s Cinematic Universe officially enters 2024 with its limited series Echo – although the series is quite different from the comic books (she even has different powers here).

After shooting Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) in Hawkeye, Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox), returns to her hometown. Here a galley of Fisk’s men are waiting to make her and her family’s life a living hell.

Cheran’s Journey

When: Now Streaming

Where: Sony LIV

The five-time National Award winner Cheran makes his OTT debut with this nine-episode-long web series. Here we meet five characters competing for a lucrative well-paying job at an automobile company – all with different motives. As Cheran’s character assesses potential candidates, he tests them for their true capabilities.

Reacher Season 2

When: Now Streaming

Where: Amazon Prime

The seventh episode of Amazon Original Reacher Season 2 was released on January 12. It begins with Reacher trying to come up with a rescue plan and find a safe place to send Jane — the child witness for whose protection Detective Gitano sacrificed himself — and her mother, New Age executive Marlo Burns. Action sequences, hospital scenes, serious calls, and a lot of chasing follow. The final episode drops on January 19.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

When: Now Streaming

Where: Amazon Prime

Tom Cruise’s international spy character Ethan Hunt is back for yet another world-saving adventure along with his IMF team. This time they are fighting “the Entity”, a powerful rogue AI. The film serves as a sequel to Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) and is the seventh instalment overall in the Mission: Impossible film franchise. A ten-minute long extended preview is also available to stream on Amazon Prime.

Tiger 3

When: Now Streaming

Where: Amazon Prime

Box-office hit Tiger 3 is now finally available to stream. In this third instalment of the spy franchise Tiger, a new threat emerges in the form of Aatish Rehman (Emraan Hashmi), the head of a terrorist military group who has a personal vendetta of his own against Tiger (Salman Khan). The protagonist must now embark on a dangerous mission to protect his family as well as the nation, whilst clearing his name.

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The Creator, Starring John David Washington, Is Set to Release on Disney+ Hotstar on December 20

The Creator is headed to Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar on Wednesday, December 20. Gareth Edwards’ latest sci-fi affair set amidst a futuristic war between humans and AI, will arrive 82 days after its theatrical release on September 29, during which it collected $104 million (about Rs. 866 crore) at the global box office. That’s just short of the 90-day window Disney allows for its standard releases, which gradually grows in time based on how they perform in cinemas. The longer it generated money in theatres, the longer it took for the film to come to streaming. Avatar: The Way of Water was a critical example of that, coming to Disney+ after a whopping 173-day period, during which it shattered several box office records.

Disney continues its trend of providing poor localisation for movies that aren’t from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, by only presenting The Creator in the original English language. There is no mention of dubs anywhere across the press release or the announcements on Hotstar’s social channels. While the film managed to break the $100-million mark, as predicted by analysts, it still underperformed in Disney’s eyes, with the studio forking over $80 million (about Rs. 666 crore) in production budget. A disappointing $40.8 million (about Rs. 340 crore) was made within the US and Canada, with signs of a further failure of reach in international markets, which contributed another $63.2 million (about Rs. 526 crore). The PG-13 rating didn’t help its cause much, and it seems like any new IP — like The Creator — is failing to succeed with Disney.

Director Edwards’ previous film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, helped Disney dominate the box office by crossing the $1 billion mark — thanks to an established universe and a passionate fan base. Even the recent live-action remakes of classic Disney animated movies, such as The Little Mermaid, have performed incredibly well, generating around half a billion across a 90-day theatrical run. The Creator’s failure raises the question of whether the company will continue to experiment with and establish new franchises, instead of milking sequels and remakes.

Set in the year 2070, The Creator follows a grieving ex-special forces agent Joshua (John David Washington), who is tasked with hunting down the elusive architect of an AI that holds the power to end the raging war and mankind itself. The film also touches upon religious elements, while crafting a story about survival and parenthood, all the while Joshua ponders on the mysterious disappearance of his wife (Gemma Chan).

The Creator is out December 20 on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar. Unfortunately, in India, the movie will only be available in the original English language audio.

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OTT Releases This Week: Jawan, The Killer, The Railway Men, and More

Winter is fast approaching, but that’s never going to put a dent in the streaming content output that’s governed by a revolving slate that switches trends so fast. It can be hard to find time to watch something, even during the weekend, so we’ve returned to make selections easy for you. David Fincher’s The Killer is the top release on Netflix this week, as we follow a nameless hitman on a globe-trotting path of revenge against his employers in a killing spree he insists isn’t personal. On the same platform, we’ve got The Railway Men, charting the untold story of brave railway workers who risked their lives to save others during the terrifying Bhopal gas tragedy. The series is out on Saturday, November 18, on Netflix.

Those keen on some superhero action can watch the Ezra Miller-led The Flash — not listed below — which is finally out on JioCinema, centring around Barry Allen’s attempt at using the Speed Force to change his past, only for things to go wrong when he inadvertently creates a world without metahumans. Paired with an alternate version of himself and Michael Keaton’s Batman, he must engage in multiversal shenanigans to fix the timeline from a returning intergalactic overlord. With that, here’s a guide on what to stream this weekend:

The Killer

When: Now streaming
Where: Netflix

David Fincher doing comedy is always refreshing to see, and with The Killer, he takes it up a notch by somewhat bashing his ideas about perfectionism. In it, we follow a nameless OCD-driven assassin (Michael Fassbender) lying in wait at an abandoned Parisian WeWork, with a sniper rifle pointed at the opposite building and repeatedly chanting a mantra about sticking to the plan and how one must ‘forbid empathy’ to do what he does. That egotistical self-hype all goes down the drain when he misses his target, driving him into panic mode and altering his psyche, leading him onto a revenge path to clean up all loose ends. The premise driving The Killer is undoubtedly cliché, but Fincher’s tactile execution sheds light on how a realistic John Wick would play out in a contemporary world. There’s an incredibly well-choreographed fight scene, cautionary ad placements, and The Smiths’ music to jam along.

The Railway Men

When: November 18
Where: Netflix

On the night of December 2, 1984, the cheerfulness of Bhopal came to a screeching halt when the highly toxic gas from the nearby Union Carbide India pesticide plant leaked into the air, poisoning and killing countless citizens. In the face of this disaster, four men played by Madhavan (Rocketry: The Nambi Effect), Kay Kay Menon (Farzi), Divyendu Sharma (Mirzapur), and Babil Khan (Qala), unite their efforts to escort as many breathing civilians out of the state — despite being abandoned and cut off from all kinds of aid. To make matters worse, running trains are heading into the state, unaware of the catastrophe that our brave heroes must stop. All four episodes of The Railway Men are out this Saturday.

Apurva

When: November 15
Where: Now streaming

Tara Sutaria (Ek Villain Returns) makes her digital debut in Apurva, who on a trip to Agra to surprise her boyfriend, gets kidnapped by a group of gangsters, headed by Jugnu (Rajpal Yadav) and Sukkha (Abhishek Banerjee). After being tortured and harassed for hours, her narrow escape causes disarray within the group when one of the members starts fancying her and affecting his judgement on their next heist mission. Amidst this, there’s an unfolding conspiracy, which Apurva is drawn into and forced to solve to ensure her survival. Nikhil Nagesh Bhat — best known for The Gone Game — helms the film.

The Crown season 6: Part 1

When: Now streaming
Where: Netflix

Netflix is bringing its dramatised reimagining of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign to a close with the sixth season of The Crown, which now sets eyes on France, where Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) is out on holiday, constantly tailed by the paparazzi for her continued involvement with Dodi Fayed (Khalid Abdalla). If you’ve been keeping up with the British royal monarchy series, you’ll know that the said events are a precursor to the princess’ death in a traffic collision and its resulting ramifications across the world. Back at home, the queen (Imelda Staunton) mourns the loss while grappling with the future of her bloodline and displaying strong resolve as the mother of England. Season 6 is divided into two halves, with the second part dropping on December 14.

Jawan

When: Now streaming
Where: Netflix

After shattering Indian box office records, Jawan is finally out on streaming, with Shah Rukh Khan returning as a rebel prison warden looking to correct the wrongs in society and expose deep corruption. As part of it, he recruits a group of inmates — Priyamani (The Family Man), Sanya Malhotra (Kathal: A Jackfruit Mystery), Ridhi Dogra (Asur), and Sanjeeta Bhattacharya (The Broken News) — who would help him commit outrageous crimes to send a message, as he unexpectedly reunites with his ex-commando lookalike father, played by SRK himself. Jawan also stars Nayanthara as the hard-nosed special agent trying to thwart his plans, while Vijay Sethupathi (Farzi) plays an arms dealer.

Remember that while the Netflix version is labelled as an ‘Extended Cut,’ it is only 5 minutes long.

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Echo Series Will Debut Under New Marvel Spotlight Banner to Help Reduce MCU Homework

Echo, the upcoming Marvel Studios’ web series, will kickstart a new label in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Dubbed ‘Marvel Spotlight,’ the new banner will allow audiences to jump into a superhero’s arc without worrying about continuity or having to catch up on other projects in the franchise. It is named after the anthology comic book series — originated in 1979 — serving as standalone origins stories for Spider-Woman and Ghost Rider as a gateway for new audiences. While the character of Echo, played by Alaqua Cox, was featured in the Jeremy Renner-led Hawkeye series, there’s absolutely no reason for newbies to be aware of its events.

“Marvel Spotlight gives us a platform to bring more grounded, character-driven stories to the screen, and in the case of Echo, focusing on street-level stakes over larger MCU continuity,” Brad Winderbaum, Marvel’s Head of Streaming said in a prepared statement. “Just like comics fans didn’t need to read Avengers or Fantastic Four to enjoy a Ghost Rider Spotlight comic, our audience doesn’t need to have seen other Marvel series to understand what’s happening in Maya’s story.” While the concept of standalone shows under a new banner makes sense, especially considering the massive catalogue of MCU films and shows, I’m a little sceptical given how heavily the MCU is used to incorporating callbacks and easter eggs to other films. I wouldn’t be surprised if the series finale ended with a post-credits scene that tied it into Hawkeye or some larger event in the franchise.

A complete detachment from other projects is pretty much impossible since Echo is poised to have run-ins with Charlie Cox’s Daredevil and her adoptive father Kingpin, played by Vincent D’Onofrio. The new Disney+ Daredevil arc is also undergoing a complete reboot, so who knows where that story is headed. Regardless, Marvel Studios has now indirectly admitted that there’s way too much content to comb through and that it’s basically crumbling under its own weight since the epic saga began with 2008’s Iron Man. Teenagers who grew up with those movies are adults now, and it’s kind of silly to expect a new generation of audience to keep up with 15 years’ worth of lore — especially when the superhero movie fatigue is at an all-time high. With new projects piling on, it’s better to make a distinction between larger MCU tales and the stories that are disconnected from it — while still retaining the same actors.

Try not to confuse this with DC Studios’ Elseworlds strategy, which is set to introduce two Batmen — Matt Reeves’ The Batman: Part II and Andy Muschietti’s The Brave and the Bold — whose unique arcs run parallel to each other. The stories told in Marvel Spotlight do eventually tie into the larger MCU mythos, but you don’t need to do any homework to get into them. Last week, the studio dropped the first trailer for Echo, which showed Wilson Fisk protecting and raising a deaf Native American Maya Lopez into an adept assassin. Canonically, set after the events of Hawkeye, the five-episode series will see her try to reconnect with her Native roots while resolving some deep vendetta with her adoptive father.

All five episodes of Echo drop January 10 on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar.

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  • Genre Superhero
  • Cast

    Alaqua Cox, Zahn McClarnon, Vincent D’Onofrio, Charlie Cox, Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, Devery Jacobs, Cody Lightning, Graham Greene

  • Director

    Sydney Freeland, Catriona McKenzie

  • Producer

    Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Stephen Broussard, Richie Palmer, Marion Dayre, Jason Gavin, Amy Rardin, Sydney Freeland, Christina King, Jennifer Booth

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Further reading:
echo, echo series, marvel spotlight, echo release date, echo cast, alaqua cox, marvel, mcu, disney plus, disney plus hotstar, echo trailer, hollywood

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ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: India vs New Zealand Sets Live Streaming World Record With 4.3 Crore Viewers

India recorded a convincing four-wicket win over New Zealand — their first over the Black Caps in an ICC tournament since 2003 — to climb to the top of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 table on Sunday. Handing New Zealand their first defeat of the tournament, India have now won five games on the trot at the World Cup, looking strong favourites to lift the trophy for the first time since 2011. Rohit Sharma and co. chased down a target of 274 with 12 balls to spare, courtesy an emphatic 95 from Virat Kohli. In the process, the match also set a new world record for live streaming, with Disney+ Hotstar recording 4.3 crore live concurrent viewers.

Disney+ Hotstar owns the digital streaming rights for the ongoing World Cup and, according to the streamer, 4.3 crore live concurrent viewers tuned in on Sunday to watch India versus New Zealand. This marks a new world record for streaming, breaking the previous record set by the India versus Pakistan match on October 14.

Hosts India and 2019 World Cup finalists New Zealand were the only two undefeated sides at the tournament heading into the match, with the Black Caps sitting top of the table on the basis of a higher net run rate. While New Zealand fielded an unchanged side from their win over Afghanistan, India made two changes. Suryakumar Yadav and Mohammed Shami came in for the injured Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur.

India won the toss and put New Zealand to bat, who set up a total of 273 with the help of Daryl Mitchell’s 130 off 127 balls, with Shami taking five wickets in the process. While Kohli narrowly missed out on another century, his 95 helped India reach 274 with two overs remaining.

The India versus Pakistan match on October 14 also set a global streaming record when over 3.5 crore live concurrent viewers tuned in on Disney+ Hotstar to see the much-awaited clash. The streamer holds the streaming rights for the World Cup in India and is also offering new viewing features for the tournament in association with the ICC. Its new MaxView feature allows cricket fans to watch matches in portrait mode on their smartphones, with ICC providing a dedicated vertical feed.

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iPhone 13, OnePlus 11R, Redmi 12, Galaxy M14 and More Available With Discounts on Amazon: Here Are Top 15 Mobile Deals



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OTT Releases This Week: Kaala Paani, King of Kotha, The Fall of the House of Usher, More

As we approach the end of October, OTT platforms continue to put out fresh content, offering plenty to binge on during lazy weekends. We’ve all experienced the mundanity of scrolling through streaming apps for hours as our food grows cold, so we’ve returned with a list of recommendations to keep you engaged. First up, Mona Singh and Ashutosh Gowariker come together for Kaala Paani, a Netflix survival drama set in the isolated Andaman and Nicobar Islands. On the same platform, we’ve also got filmmaker Mike Flanagan’s not-so-surprising return during the Halloween season — this time, with The Fall of the House of Usher, a modern-day take on the eponymous Edgar Allan Poe short story.

The Dulquer Salmaan-led King of Kotha is another standout, debuting on Disney+ Hotstar less than two months after its theatrical release. Then, of course, you can catch a new episode of Loki season 2 — not mentioned below — to follow the God of Mischief on more of his time-hopping adventures. The series premiere drew 10.9 million viewers globally, marking the second-most watch premiere for Disney+. With that, here’s a guide on what to watch this weekend:

Kaala Paani

When: Now streaming
Where: Netflix

When a mysterious illness spreads throughout the lush Andaman and Nicobar Islands, its inhabitants — including a group of tourists gathered together for a festival — are trapped within and forced into a fight for survival under the perpetual delusion of a cure being developed soon. Politicians and law enforcers struggle to keep the denizens calm while the medical professionals toil all day, tallying fatalities and figuring out what caused them. It’s also why this thriller show is named the way it is — Kaala Paani, a reference to the prison in Port Blair, whose actual walls aren’t made of brick and mortar, but thousands of kilometers of seawater that make ideas of escape impossible. The story, however, is unveiled through its cast — Mona Singh (Made in Heaven), Ashutosh Gowariker (Lagaan), and Amey Wagh (Asur) — differing perspectives.

Permanent Roommates Season 3

When: Now streaming
Where: Amazon Prime Video

One of TVF’s most-beloved couples, Tanya (Nidhi Singh) and Mikesh (Sumeet Vyas), is back with a third instalment of Permanent Roommates. The pair is still together after seven long years, navigating fresh challenges, albeit Tanya feels stuck in her partner’s so-called ideal life. Attributing this unhappiness to her mundane career, she brings up the idea of wanting to move abroad Canada and sort of restart their life from scratch. Mikesh, however, isn’t fond of that and wants to stick to his Indian roots, having spent years in the US before and finding some solace here. As you’d expect, this decision puts the couple at odds, taking them on a bumpy ride as they rekindle their love and interests.

The Fall of the House of Usher

When: Now streaming
Where: Netflix

Ruthless siblings Madeline (Mary McDonnell) and Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood) turned Fortunato Pharmaceuticals into a huge corporate empire, albeit with a fair share of malpractice. But things get wild when a mysterious woman from their past, Verna (Carla Gugino), invades their life, causing the Usher bloodline to die one by one in horrific ways that are reminiscent of renowned author Edgar Allan Poe’s works. As usual, creator Mike Flanagan is reunited with some of his previous collaborators in The Fall of the House of Usher, including Rahul Kohli (Midnight Mass), Kate Siegel (The Haunting of Hill House), and Samantha Sloyan (The Midnight Club).

King of Kotha

When: Now streaming
Where: Disney+ Hotstar

Dulquer Salmaan stars in this period drama as Raju, a power-hungry individual who grows up to become a merciless gangster like his father, much to his family’s dismay. Some depressive circumstances in his crime-infested town of Kotha cause him to leave forever, that is, until he is summoned back by Inspector Shahul Hassan (Prasanna) to take down the ruthless drug empire built by Kannan (Shabeer Kallarakkal), an old friend of Raju. On a mission to save the youth of Kotha from living on narcotics, the two go head-to-head, dissolving past differences in gung-ho style action and fight sequences. King of Kotha is directed by debutant Abhilash Joshiy and it also stars Aishwarya Lekshmi (Ponniyin Selvan: II) in the lead.

Upload season 3

When: October 20 (Now streaming)
Where: Amazon Prime Video

Newly-downloaded Nathan (Robbie Amell) and his handler Nora (Andy Allo) are now officially in a relationship, living an ideal life, albeit with the risk of the former being deleted. For the uninitiated, Upload is set in a futuristic world whereupon computer programmer Nathan’s mysterious death his conscience is uploaded onto a digital afterlife called Lakeview. Through this, he continues living and interacting with people he knew in real life, though in season 3, a new problem presents itself. Turns out, there’s another version of him living elsewhere, which the ‘real’ Nathan ponders whether it counts as identity theft. Meanwhile, the clone has presented his ex-girlfriend Ingrid (Allegra Edwards) with a second shot at making their lost relationship successful, which is bound to cause some drama.

The Conference

When: Now streaming
Where: Netflix

Halloween season always calls for slasher movies, and this week we’ve got The Conference, a Swedish language thriller trapping a group of municipal employees in a fight for survival. The public-sector workers are at a modest countryside resort in order to celebrate their latest achievement, when accusations of corruption start getting hurled around, unravelling the dysfunctional relationship between them. Meanwhile, a mysterious masked figure stalks and trudges along the compound, killing the members one-by-one in a brutal fashion. The Conference stars Katia Winter, Maria Sid, and Adam Lundgren as leads.

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Daredevil: Born Again Gets Major Creative Reboot With Original Writers Being Let Go

Daredevil: Born Again is reportedly undergoing a massive creative overhaul. As per The Hollywood Reporter, during the writers’ strike production break in mid-June, Marvel executives, including President Kevin Feige, reviewed shot footage from the soft reboot and came to the conclusion that the ‘show wasn’t working’. Its effects were seen in September when the studio quietly let go of head writers Chris Ord and Matt Corman, alongside directors for the respective 18 episodes. Turns out, the duo took a new direction with Daredevil, switching from its violent Netflix origins to a legal courtroom procedural, where returning lead Charlie Cox didn’t even show up in costume until episode 4.

It is worth mentioning that merely half of the first season was shot prior to the Hollywood labour strikes, but it seems to have been enough for Feige to call off production. The team is currently looking for new writers and directors for Daredevil: Born Again, which would also reunite Cox with Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/ The Punisher and Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk/ Kingpin. The THR report notes that Marvel, as a whole, is looking to reset their TV series development process by having creators deliver a pilot for approval, instead of spending over $150 million (about Rs. 1,247 crore) on seasons, right away. “We’re trying to marry the Marvel culture with the traditional television culture,” Brad Winderbaum, Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation at Marvel Studios said in the interview. “It comes down to, ‘How can we tell stories in television that honour what’s so great about the source material?’”

While Marvel shows had a great start, with the Emmy-nominated WandaVision and Loki, the franchise struggled to keep audiences invested with its new lineup of superheroes and hollow stories, thereby affecting metrics. It appears now that instead of having showrunners run the TV series, the studio got executive producers to do the job, in addition to fixing any issues during post-production and via reshoots. For what it’s worth, Daredevil: Born Again will still keep some of the recorded scenes, albeit it’s expected to have a ton of changes. Meanwhile, original writers Ord and Corman will stay on as executive producers on the two-season series.

For now, it’s unclear whether the Disney+ reboot will follow the eponymous 1986 comic book run — written by Frank Miller — in which Matt Murdock’s former secretary Karen Page, who’d turned into a heroin addict strapped for cash, sold out Daredevil’s identity. Upon learning this information, the Kingpin uses his influence to meddle with Murdock’s life personal life — closing his bank accounts and such — and driving him to the brink of insanity. There is no official synopsis for the show yet and neither Deborah Ann Woll nor Elden Henson is confirmed to be part of it. They played Page and lawyer Franklin “Foggy” Nelson in the original Netflix series.

Daredevil: Born Again currently does not have a release window, but when it does, it should be out on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar.

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Loki Season 2 Premiere Draws 10.9 Million Viewers Globally in Just Three Days

Loki season 2 is celebrating a solid opening weekend. As per Disney, the premiere racked up an impressive 10.9 million viewers globally during its first three days, since its October 5 premiere in the US (October 6 in India, and everywhere else). With these numbers, it has become the second-most-watched premiere of 2023, sitting right behind The Mandalorian season 3, which dropped in March. A view is calculated by hours viewed divided by the total runtime of a film or show, which is the same format Netflix embraced in June. Given Loki season 2 episode 1 has a 45-minute runtime, the total viewed hours equate to 490.5 million minutes/ 8.17 million hours.

These are great numbers for Disney+, whose Marvel Cinematic Universe small-screen lineup has struggled to gain mass appeal. For instance, their newest Samuel L. Jackson-led Secret Invasion premiere only drew 994,000 viewers in the US, within the first five days. While Disney hasn’t released regional breakdowns for Loki season 2’s viewership, its popularity is clear as day, considering the streamer is confident enough to release numbers within just three days. You see, it was only recently that Disney started reporting viewership numbers, and even then, they were all based on a five-day time span. The Star Wars series Ahsoka opened to 14 million views, with two extra days, proving that Loki’s numbers are stronger.

The same five-day tally system is being applied to Disney+’s movies as well, with The Little Mermaid live-action remake pulling in 16 million views and Elemental reporting 26.4 million views. It’s not surprising to see Loki season 2 doing well, given the first season was Marvel’s most successful show, as confirmed by MCU President Kevin Feige in 2022. The new chapter sees Tom Hiddleston reprising his role as the titular God of Mischief and embarking on time-hopping adventures with an alternate version of TVA agent Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson), who doesn’t recognise him. Loki’s plans to reunite with his original team hits a hurdle when his body begins to distort and plops him into past and future timelines. Oscar-winner Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once) is a new addition to the cast, playing a TVA archivist OB.

Late last month, Disney+ confirmed in an email to its Canadian subscribers that it will begin restricting password sharing, starting November 1, a lot sooner than CEO Bob Iger’s original plans. The terms were quite unclear, but it suggested that users would soon be prohibited from sharing accounts with those outside their ‘household’ — which refers to devices associated with a primary personal address. The company will constantly monitor user activity and if it detects a user breaking the rules, it will limit access to streaming or entirely terminate the account. Netflix was the first to crack down on password-sharing and in the process, gained 6 million new subscribers in July.

New episodes of Loki season 2 drop every Friday on Disney+ Hotstar.

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OTT Releases This Week: Loki Season 2, Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse, OMG 2, and More

We’re just a week into October, and our binge list is filled to the brim with new content. No one likes wasting time scrolling through OTT apps for hours, and therefore, we’re returned with an updated list of films and shows that’ll keep you entertained this weekend. Loki season 2 leads the pack of new releases this week, as we follow the God of Mischief’s time-hopping adventures and his encounter with alternate versions of beloved characters. In a similar multiversal vein, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is finally available to stream on Netflix, tasking a young Miles Morales with solving a major conspiracy involving countless Spider-People.

It’s going to be a busy weekend, as Akshay Kumar’s OMG 2 also debuts Sunday, October 8, on Netflix — less than two months since its theatrical release. Oh, and let’s not ignore its box office competitor Gadar 2, starring Sunny Deol in the lead, which drops today on Zee5. With that, here’s a guide on what to stream this weekend:

Khufiya

When: Now streaming
Where: Netflix

Hardened R&AW operative Krishna Mehra (Tabu) is tasked with tracking down a mole within the organisation — one whose actions have led to an undercover spy’s death. Ali Fazal plays the suspect in question, often seen photocopying documents from his workplace and taking them back home, presumably to feed India’s defence secrets to enemy nations. Through 24/7 surveillance and bugs placed in his home, Agent KM and team relentlessly pursue him — across countries — all the while ensuring his innocent wife (Wamiqa Gabbi) and child remain safe. Directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, Khufiya also stars Ashish Vidyarthi (Kuttey).

Khufiya to Killers of the Flower Moon: The Biggest Movies Releasing in October

Tabu in a still from Vishal Bhardwaj’s Khufiya
Photo Credit: Netflix

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

When: Now streaming
Where: Netflix

A fledgling Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is catapulted into the multiverse and trapped among an elite army of Spider-People in the hopes of saving its very existence. Joined by Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) and the rebellious Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya), he encounters the leader Miguel O’Hara/ Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac), a traumatised, driven, and almost vampiric leader of the Spider society, who believes the ends justify the means — no matter how severe. But when a choice is offered to prioritise the safety of every multiversal world over one person, Miles rejects it, spawning a wild goose chase where he must fight off and escape all kinds of Spider-Men.

Bear in mind that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is only part 1 of a two-part story, and it also brings in a clumsy new villain, The Spot (Jason Schwartzman). The animated film is also available to buy as VOD across multiple platforms.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Review

Loki season 2

When: October 6 (Now streaming)
Where: Disney+ Hotstar

Lost and confused in an alternate timeline where no TVA members recognise him, the God of Mischief Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is forced to navigate uncharted timelines with a new Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson). His goal is to be reunited with his original team, but his body won’t let him do so by randomly distorting and plopping him into past and future timelines. Things are getting wild and even the TVA archivist OB (Ke Huy Quan) has no solutions to the time slipping. What he does have, however, is some specialised equipment that’s meant to help out our heroes — presumably, with multiversal travel. In Loki season 2, Sylvie is now a McDonald’s employee, Hunter B-15 is a doctor, and Kang the Conqueror appears to be a stage magician?

OMG 2

When: October 8
Where: Netflix

Following a scandal involving his son, Kanti Sharan Mudgal (Pankaj Tripathi), a concerned citizen and strong devotee of Lord Shiva, requests the court to mandate sex education in his school’s courses, spawning an amusing courtroom drama. But his journey there was filled with tragedy, ranging from judgemental jeers from the neighbourhood to his son’s attempted suicide — all of which are subtly prevented by a mysterious messenger (Akshay Kumar) sent by the three-eyed god himself. Amit Rai (Road to Sangam) directs OMG 2, which also stars Yami Gautam as an opposing lawyer.

Choona

When: Now streaming
Where: Netflix

Jimmy Sheirgill stars in this heist comedy series as a corrupt politician obsessed with astrology, planning to overthrow the government. Unfortunately, he’s got a quirk — his day-to-day activities are carefully planned based on whether the stars and planets align in his favour. In his meteoric rise to the top, he’s created a bunch of enemies, all of whom thirst for revenge and conjure a strategy to steal Rs. 600 crore from under the politician’s nose. The location is a little tricky though: a heavily fortified party office teeming with 10 armed police officers, over 100 goons, and CCTV cameras at every corner. The team in Choona includes a rebel (Aashim Gulati), a shape-shifting informer (Namit Das), a mute man (Chandan Roy), an astrologer (Atul Srivastava), and a demoted police officer (Gyanendra Tripathi).

Watch the Trailer for Choona, Starring Jimmy Sheirgill

Jimmy Shergill (centre) in a still from Choona
Photo Credit: Netflix

Gadar 2

When: October 6 (Now streaming)
Where: Zee5

When Tara Singh (Sunny Deol) goes missing during a skirmish in Pakistan and is believed to be captured, his now fully-grown son Jeete sets out to rescue him, entering uncharted territories from which they both must escape. Ameesha Patel reprises her role as Tara’s wife Sakeena Ali Singh, who’s now in shambles upon hearing about her husband’s disappearance, constantly reciting prayers for his and Jeet’s safety. An interesting thing to note here is that the child actor who played Charanjeet in the original 2001 film is the same person playing the adult version in Gadar 2.

Mumbai Diaries season 2

When: October 6 (Now streaming)
Where: Amazon Prime Video

Dr. Kaushik Oberoi (Mohit Raina) and his team of medics are served with a new set of challenges when a series of torrential rainfalls threaten to submerge Mumbai. The medical thriller continues to focus on the resilience of the crisis doctors, despite limited resources, lack of sleep, and fighting personal battles — some of which is remnant trauma from dealing with the 26/11 attacks. Much of the original cast returns in Mumbai Diaries season 2, including Konkana Sen Sharma, Tina Desai, and Natasha Bharadwaj.

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