Tag: disney plus

Disney Using New AI-Backed Advertising Tool For Disney+, Hulu Ads

Walt Disney is harnessing artificial intelligence to power a new advertising tool that will help brands tailor their commercials to fit the mood of specific scenes within a movie or television series.

Dubbed “Disney’s Magic Words,” this tool introduces a new form of contextual advertising for the Disney+ and Hulu streaming services. It uses a combination of AI and machine learning to analyse and tag scenes across its library, identifying the contents, brands, images and mood.

Brands can use these descriptive tags, known as metadata, to identify a specific scene or mood and then personalise messaging to match.

“What that means is leaving broad demos (demographics) behind and buying specific audiences,” said Geoffrey Calabrese, Omnicom Media Group’s chief investment officer. “These magic words are literally going to be able to connect me to the emotions of the consumer, at an audience level. And for us, that’s really a game changer.”

Omnicom is one of six global advertising companies taking part in an early beta test of this advertising product, Disney told Reuters. The other beta partners are Dentsu, GroupM, Horizon Media, IPG Mediabrands and Publicis Media. The company announced the new ad features last month, at a showcase at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Rita Ferro, Disney’s global head of ad sales, said the feature allows advertisers to maximise the impact of their messages “because it resonates with concepts that the viewers experience.”

Disney’s investment in streaming ad technology comes as advertisers are moving away from broadcast and cable TV, along with viewers. The company’s advertising revenue fell nearly 3 percent in its fiscal 2024 first quarter to $3.35 billion (roughly Rs. 29,100 crore), according to LSEG, reflecting declines in traditional TV viewership. Researcher eMarketer estimated Disney+ accounted for about $790 million (roughly Rs. 6,600 crore) in revenue last year.

Disney does not report its advertising revenue.

CEO Bob Iger told investors during the company’s quarterly investor call on Wednesday that the ad-supported version of the Disney+ service has attracted more than 1,000 advertisers in the first quarter, a tenfold increase from launch.

“Our revolutionary approach to technology ensures that our entire streaming portfolio will be the ultimate destination for brands in the years ahead,” Iger said in a statement to Reuters.

Half of consumers who sign up for Disney+ opt for the less-expensive version of the service, which includes advertising, said Joe Earley, president of Disney’s direct-to-consumer business. He said the company has spent years refining ad technology that has been designed specifically for streaming. Its Hulu service launched as a free, advertising-supported service in 2008.

“Disney+ didn’t have to ramp up,” Earley said. “It hit the ground running.”

© Thomson Reuters 2024

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Apple Vision Pro Optimised Third-Party Apps to Include Zoom, Microsoft 365 Apps, More: Report

Apple is gearing up to launch its Vision Pro mixed reality headset, with preorders for the device live right now in the US. The ambitious product, which Apple calls a “spatial computer,” will be the company’s first new hardware category in nearly a decade. Apple Vision Pro claims to cater to productivity, entertainment, and gaming needs of users, offering over one million apps to make the device more lucrative. Ahead of its February 2 launch, however, major streaming apps like Netflix, YouTube and Spotify have opted to shun the new platform. But the Vision Pro won’t have a shortage of apps at launch. Apple has reportedly received submissions from developers for around 250 apps with native support for visionOS.

According to a report from MacRumors, citing data compiled by Appfigures, popular third-party apps like Airmail, Box, Carrot Weather, Fantastical, Facades, JigSpace, and Mubi will natively support visionOS when the Vision Pro launches. Other supported apps include Night Sky, OmniPlan 4, Parcel, PCalc, Red Bull TV, Sky Guide, Tides, Webex, Zoom, and more.

Additionally, developers have been sharing a few apps that will be available and optimised for the Vision Pro at launch. Developer Steve Troughton-Smith and X user @M1Astra posted images and videos of several apps running on visionOS on Mastodon and X, respectively. According to the report, Microsoft’s suite of apps like Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Teams, will run natively on visionOS. Their posts also show visionOS supported apps like LEGO Builder’s Journey, Art Universe, Qlone, J.Crew, Lowe’s and more.

The third-party optimised apps will come on top of natively supported apps from Apple that will come pre-installed on the mixed reality headset. These reportedly include App Store, Files, Freeform, Mail, Messages, Music, Notes, Photos, Safari, Apple TV, and more. Additionally, the Vision Pro will also come with bunch of unoptimised apps preinstalled, including Podcasts, Books, Shortcuts, Reminders and more.

Bear in mind, apps available on the iPad and iPhone will automatically be available to download on the Vision Pro, too, unless the developer opts out of making their app available on the visionOS. Major streamers like Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube have done exactly that.

Last week, it was reported that Netflix won’t offer a standalone app on the Vision Pro, dealing a blow to Apple’s entertainment offerings on its new headset. The Netflix app app is available on iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS operating systems, but the streamer opted out from bringing its app on visionOS. Users can, however, access the Netflix website via a Web browser on the Vision Pro to stream content.

Popular video-content platform YouTube and audio streaming giant Spotify also followed suit, reportedly confirming that they had no plans to launch dedicated apps on visionOS. The iPad version of both apps will also not be available on Apple’s newest platform.

Apple, has, however, confirmed a host of streaming and entertainment that will be running on visionOS when the Vision Pro launches February 2. According to the company’s newsroom post, apps from streaming services like Disney+, ESPN, NBA, MLB, PGA Tour, Max, Discovery+, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+, Peacock, Pluto TV, Tubi, Fubo, Crunchyroll, Red Bull TV, IMAX, TikTok, and Mubi will be available to download on the headset.

Apple unveiled its first mixed reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro, at its annual developer conference, along with new Mac models and upcoming software updates. We discuss all the most important announcements made by the company at WWDC 2023 on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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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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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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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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Disney+ to Begin Password Sharing Crackdown This November in Canada

Disney+ will begin restricting password sharing starting November 1 in Canada. Subscribers in the region received an email stating they’ll soon be prohibited from sharing accounts with people outside their ‘household.’ Household, in this case, refers to the devices associated with a primary personal address used by people living within the same residence. The announcement isn’t quite clear, so the impression I’m getting is that as long as outsiders sign in at the main account holder’s residence, they could qualify as members of the ‘household’? There are no details on how Disney plans to enforce this policy, but it promises to always monitor account activity to see if people are complying with it.

Indeed, if Disney+ realises or believes its users are breaking the rules, access to the streaming platform might get limited or entirely terminated. “You will be responsible for any use of your account by your household, including compliance with this section,” the new agreement reads (via MobileSyrup). During its Q3 2023 earnings call, last month, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that his team was aware that a ‘significant’ number of users had been sharing passwords with friends and family, and that the company has the ‘technical capability’ to monitor those sign-ins. At the time, he alluded that crackdown plans might start sometime in 2024, though now it seems like Disney+ jumped the gun a little.

Interestingly, a phrase on the agreement — “Unless otherwise permitted by your Service Tier” — suggests that certain Disney+ tiers might let you share passwords, after all. Of course, this would be the more expensive tier, which I’m guessing will work similarly to Netflix’s new policies that let users add extra members to their accounts for a higher monthly subscription fee. The latter was among the first major streaming platforms to begin cracking down on account sharing by tracking IP addresses and asking for verification codes every 31 days. For now, it’s unclear if Disney+ will follow the same methods and as to what new subscription plans it might introduce. However, Iger’s primary concern is that once people get booted off someone else’s Disney+ account, how many are willing to become new subscribers and boost revenue for the company?

Despite the initial backlash, the password-sharing crackdown approach seems to have heavily worked in favour of Netflix, which reported a climb of 6 million new subscriptions in July, for a total of 238 million subscribers. Meanwhile, Disney+ has been struggling to maintain its numbers — specifically, the Disney+ Hotstar segment, which lost a staggering 12.5 million subscribers from April to June, dropping from 52.9 million to 40.4 million subscribers. The drop largely had to do with the platform losing the rights to livestream IPL (Indian Premier League) cricket to Viacom18 until 2027. Another contributing factor has to be the removal of all HBO content from Disney+ Hotstar, which caused many on the internet (including me) to question whether the subscription was still worth it.

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Amazon Prime Video Shows and Movies to Include Limited Ads in Early 2024

Amazon Prime Video will include advertising during shows and movies starting early next year, the streaming giant confirmed on September 22. Ads in Prime Video content will be initially introduced in countries including the US, UK, Germany, and Canada in early 2024. Prime Video users in France, Italy, Spain and Mexico will start seeing ads later next year. Amazon has introduced a new ad-free option as well. Amazon Prime members in the US can pay $2.99 (roughly Rs. 200) a month to access ad-free services. The latest move by Amazon Prime Video follows the launch of similar plans by rivals Netflix and Walt Disney.

Starting early next year, Amazon plans to add limited advertisements to Prime Video movies and shows, the company announced through an official release on Friday. The company says the move is to “continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time.” Prime Video subscribers in the US along with those in the UK, Germany and Canada will see ads starting early next year. Prime Video users in France, Italy, Spain and Mexico will start seeing ads later in the same year.

Prime Video users in the US can purchase an “ad-free” option at an additional cost of $2.99 per month. Amazon says it will share pricing for other countries at a later date.

For users in the US, Amazon said it will send out an email to Prime members several weeks before ads are introduced into its programs with details on how to sign up for the ad-free option if they would like. Amazon says it aims to have “meaningfully fewer” ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers.

Amazon’s new initiative to include commercials during movies and shows is not a first-of-its-kind feature in the streaming space. Amazon’s major rivals in the market, Netflix and Disney+ also launched similar ad-supported services earlier.

Amazon Prime Video membership currently costs $8.99 (roughly Rs. 600) per month in the US. Amazon is currently charging Rs. 1,499 annually for Prime membership, Rs. 599 for three months, and Rs. 299 per month in India.

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Stranger Things Season 5 Production Halted Due to Hollywood Writers’ Strike

Production on the fifth and final season of Stranger Things has been delayed, owing to the ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike. In a tweet, co-creators Matt and Ross Duffer confirmed that they stand in solidarity with the strike and hope that a fair deal is reached soon. The rules set by the Writers Guild of America state that all writer-producers are barred from participating in any writing or creative-based duties on film and television productions during the strike. It’s also refreshing to see Netflix respecting the creators’ wishes and delaying filming until further notice — a huge undertaking, given how popular the Stranger Things IP is. Meanwhile, on Disney’s side of the fence, Andor will resume production on season 2 without its primary writer.

“Duffers here. Writing does not stop when filming begins. While we’re excited to start production with our amazing cast and crew, it is not possible during this strike,” the tweet reads. “We hope a fair deal is reached soon so we can all get back to work. Until then — over and out.” Back in November, the creators revealed the title for episode 1, ‘The Crawl,’ with the chapter being set primarily in Hawkins, charting the lead characters’ investigation of the parallel world — the realm where demons like the Demogrogon lived in.

Stranger Things 5 was originally planned to begin filming this month, as per actor Noah Schnapp, who was revealed to have a massive part in this season. It is also worth mentioning that the Duffer Brothers have struck an overall partnership with Netflix for multiple Stranger Things projects, including an animated series and a stage play.

As per Variety, Andor season 2 is among the few shows that will continue production amidst the ongoing strike, with executive producer Tony Gilroy not showing up on set or writing scripts. However, he will continue working on non-writing aspects such as picking a musical score and casting. Reports from last week confirmed that Amazon Studios was continuing production on The Lord of the Rings: the Rings of Power season 2 without its showrunners on set.

Despite 19 days of filming remaining on the LOTR spinoff show, the team feels a bit relaxed as showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay planned things in advance for a potential writers’ strike. Meanwhile, in the case of HBO’s House of the Dragon season 2, executive producer Ryan J. Condal is reportedly present on the UK set, albeit in a strictly non-writing capacity. Scripts for the season were completed long before.

Earlier this month, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos confirmed that the streamer was better prepared than most studios, in case a writers’ strike did go through, which eventually did happen. The executive pointed at its large slate of upcoming movies and shows, noting that it would keep any disruptions from the strike to the minimum. Meanwhile, other studios had been stockpiling screenplays and greenlighting series renewals earlier than required.

Currently, there is no release window for Stranger Things season 5. Andor season 2, however, is aiming for an August 2024 release on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar.

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Star Wars Celebration 2023: Ahsoka Teaser, Daisy Ridley Returns, Andor Season 2 Release Window, and More

Star Wars Celebration 2023, held on April 7 in London, had a ton of surprises from Lucasfilm’s galaxy far, far away, ranging from new information on TV shows and movies. This year’s event coincides with the 40th-year anniversary of Return of the Jedi and drops details on three new theatrical movies, a teaser for the Rosario Dawson-led Ahsoka limited series, and exclusive first looks for Star Wars: The Acolyte and Andor season 2 for attendees at the event. The upcoming Star Wars movies would mark the first in the franchise to grace the silver screen since 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of the Skywalker. Since then, we’ve only had Disney+ shows such as The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.

For your convenience, we have listed below the biggest film, TV, and game news from Star Wars Celebration 2023:

Three new Star Wars movies confirmed

Daisy Ridley is set to reprise her role as Rey Skywalker in the long-gestating Star Wars movie directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel). Development on this film has been in limbo for a while now, where at first, Disney hired Damon Lindelof (Lost) and Justin Britt-Gibson (Counterpart) to write the script. However, they exited the project last month, paving way for Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) to take over. The untitled film is set 15 years after the events of The Rise of the Skywalker and follows Rey’s struggle to build a new Jedi Order by recruiting Force-sensitive warriors.

Rey Skywalker will try building a new Jedi Order in the untitled Star Wars movie
Photo Credit: Lucasfilm

Dave Filoni — best known for co-creating The Mandalorian — is helming the second Star Wars film, set in the same timeline as the Disney+ shows. A blog post notes that the film will focus on the New Republic and ‘close out interconnected stories’ told in his other shows. Jon Favreau previously confirmed that all upcoming shows, which includes the Jude Law-led Skeleton Crew, take place within the same time period, so it isn’t unusual for his work partner Filoni’s film to follow suit. The entire arc and its characters’ interactions have been mapped out already, and Favreau has already finished writing The Mandalorian season 4.

Then there’s a third from James Mangold (Logan), which will go back to the dawn of the Jedi — set 25,000 years before the sequels. There are no release windows for any of these movies, and this update arrives a while after Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron was quietly removed from Disney’s production schedule. “Rogue Squadron, that definitely is something that we still talk about. Whether it’s a movie, or whether it ends up being in the series space, that’s definitely something,” Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said at the event.

Meanwhile, Taika Waititi is still writing his standalone Star Wars film, with Kennedy adding that he ‘doesn’t really want to bring others into that process’.

Ahsoka teaser and release window

Ahsoka finally got a teaser trailer at the Star Wars Celebration 2023, stressing the titular Jedi’s (Rosario Dawson) next adventure as she anticipates Admiral Thrawn’s return — though, it is unclear who’s playing him. The women of Star Wars: Rebels take centre stage in the series, with Mary Elizabeth Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane) assuming the role of ace pilot general Hera Syndulla and Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Guns Akimbo) as the Mandalorian warrior Sabine Wren. In the trailer, Ahsoka is also seen fighting Ray Stevenson’s Baylon in a dark arena, alongside a quick glimpse at Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), one of the founders of the Rebel Alliance who played an important role in the battle against the Empire.

Ahsoka premieres in August on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar.

Andor season 2 release window

Andor creator Tony Gilroy and a few cast members at the Star Wars Celebration event showed an exclusive first look at the second and final season. The footage was only shown to attendees and as of now, there is no word on when it will appear online. That said, Gilroy confirmed that the show is aiming for an August 2024 release window. “We started shooting in November,” he said at the event (via IGN). “We’re about halfway through. We’re going to shoot through August. We’re on the exact schedule. Finish in August, spend another year on post. I suppose we’ll come out the following August.”

After revealing its massive cast lineup back in November, Disney reportedly showcased the first footage for its upcoming show Star Wars: The Acolyte, at the event. The eight-episode series is directed by Leslye Headland (Russian Doll) and is best described as a mystery-thriller set during the final days of the High Republic era, exploring the Dark Side of the Force. “This is when the bad guys are outnumbered. They are the underdogs. I’m really excited for you guys to see things you haven’t seen in live-action yet,” Headland said.

The Acolyte stars Amandla Stenberg (Bodies Bodies Bodies), Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix), Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game), Dafne Keen (Logan), Rebecca Henderson (Inventing Anna), and Dean-Charles Chapman (1917).

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor features Coruscant as a playable planet

Stig Asmussen, director of the upcoming Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, confirmed that the city-covered planet Coruscant will be available in the game, albeit not entirely open world. “We’re taking our Metroidvania approach a step further and, just to talk about another planet, we’re going to have Coruscant as well. I think there’s been a lot of speculation on that,” he said.

Following his comments, Andy McNamara, communications lead, EA’s Star Wars, lowered fan expectations by stating that Coruscant was merely one of the destinations in the game and that there are plenty of other planets to deeply explore with their ‘biggest environments to date.’ Star Wars Jedi: Survivor releases April 28 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X.

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