Tag: hollywood

Mission: Impossible 8 Delayed to 2025 Due to Hollywood Actors’ Strike

Mission: Impossible 8 has been delayed by nearly a year. Paramount Pictures and Skydance have pushed the highly anticipated Tom Cruise-led spy-thriller to May 23, 2025, from its original release date of June 28, 2024. The move is attributed to the ongoing actors’ strike, which has caused the film and several other major studios to halt production. Other movies will share the same fate if the strike isn’t resolved within the next few weeks. Furthermore, the Christopher McQuarrie-directed sequel to Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is getting a name change — initially Dead Reckoning Part Two — albeit it will serve as a direct continuation of the 2023 film.

A good chunk — 40 percent — of filming on Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two was done prior to the strike, but now, the crew will have to wait until the actors’ strike is over. Several major studios including Warner Bros. delayed their 2023 release dates as well, with Dune: Part Two being the biggest one, whose star-studded cast cannot take part in any promotional work or interviews due to the ongoing strike. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, sequel to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, was taken off its March 2024 release window, as its actors aren’t allowed to provide voiceovers for the characters. As per The Hollywood Reporter, the eighth Mission: Impossible movie will be filmed using IMAX cameras, with plans to screen it in IMAX theatres for three full weeks. This is big for Cruise and McQuarrie, whose previous film Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One didn’t get to run as long, due to Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer securing IMAX theatres around the globe.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One was unable to surpass its predecessor, MI Fallout, at the worldwide box office, collecting an impressive $567.5 million (about Rs. 4,719 crore). Released on July 12, the film was primed for success until a week later Barbie and Oppenheimer arrived in theatres on July 21, dominating the box office and drawing large crowds, thanks in part to the ‘Barbenheimer‘ phenomenon. Mission: Impossible 7 pits Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his spy crew on a globe-trotting quest to track down a bioweapon before it falls into the wrong hands. Making things tough for him are the former IMF director Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny) from the first film, the terrorist Gabriel (Esai Morales), and French assassin Paris (Pom Klementieff). Hayley Atwell, a new addition to the cast, plays an ambiguous thief.

Paramount is also delaying A Quiet Place: Day One by three months, moving from March 8, 2024, to June 28, essentially occupying Mission: Impossible 8’s original slot. Billed as a spin-off to John Krasinski’s 2018 horror film, it’s expected to finally show the alien invasion that plunged earth into dead silence. It stars Lupita Nyong’o (Black Panther), Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things), and Alex Wolff (The Pig). The studio has, meanwhile, moved up Krasinski’s Ryan Reynolds-led film IF from May 24 to May 17, 2024. An untitled animated SpongeBob SquarePants movie has also been postponed from May 23, 2025, to December 19, 2025.

Mission: Impossible 8 is now slated to release May 23, 2025, in theatres worldwide.

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Fallout TV Show Sets April 2024 Release Date on Amazon Prime Video

The Fallout TV series finally has a release date. In a tweet, Amazon Prime Video confirmed that the live-action adaptation of the eponymous Bethesda video game franchise will premiere April 12, 2024, exclusively on the streamer. The news comes in celebration of the annual Fallout Day — October 23 — which marks the day when the retro-futuristic in-game world was turned into a nuclear wasteland, causing survivors to scavenge and live off irradiated junk. HBO’s Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy are developing the series under their Kilter Films banner — billed as an original story set in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles and will be included as Fallout universe canon.

As part of the announcement, Amazon Prime Video dropped a short clip resembling the screen of a Pip-Boy, the fictional wearable computer device from the game, which allows players to manage their inventory, adjust skills, and see the map. For now, it’s unclear how heavily this contraption will be used in the show, considering you need it to activate VATS, an aim-assist technology that lets you target specific vital points on enemies. Similarly, the Fallout series has launched social channels to keep fans updated, though the studio still hasn’t released any footage for public viewing. A brief highlight reel was shown exclusively to attendees during a Starfield presentation, which showed the Brotherhood of Steel military troop trudging along in sync, a mysterious red ghoul character, and a woman shielding her eyes from some nuclear explosions firing off in the distance, while taking refuge in a shelter.

As mentioned before, the Fallout series’ storyline will run separately from the mainline arc, with game director Todd Howard claiming that several producers in the last 10 years had reached out to him, asking for a film adaptation. A TV show, on the other hand, would be more beneficial for character development and worldbuilding — endless hours of playtime is something the RPG took pride in as well, giving players the freedom to go off-path and explore well-written side stories and immerse themselves in the post-apocalyptic world. While there is no information on the episode count, it’s confirmed that Nolan has directed the first three episodes. The Fallout series is part of Nolan and Joy’s overall partnership with Amazon Studios, which also included the Chloë Grace Moretz-led sci-fi series The Peripheral, whose planned second season got cancelled due to the Hollywood labour strikes.

Fallout stars Ella Purnell (Army of the Dead), Walton Goggins (Sons of Anarchy), Aaron Moten (Emancipation), Moisés Arias (Hannah Montana), Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks), Sarita Choudhury (The Green Knight), Johnny Pemberton (Ant-Man), Frances Turner (The Boys), Michael Emerson (Person of Interest), Leslie Uggams (Deadpool), Zach Cherry (Severance), Dave Register (Heightened), Rodrigo Luzzi (Dead Ringers), Annabel O’Hagan (Law & Order: SVU), and Xelia Mendes-Jones (The Wheel of Time). Based on the leaked teaser, it appears Goggins is playing the ghoul John Hancock from Fallout 4.

Fallout premieres April 12, 2024, exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.

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Netflix Geeked Week 2023 Announced, Lineup Includes Stranger Things, Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon, and More

Netflix’s annual Geeked Week digital showcase is back, offering glimpses at its upcoming projects. The virtual event kicks off November 6, marked Stranger Things Day, and continues throughout the week until November 12, with news and sneak peeks from highly anticipated projects such as Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon, Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action adaptation, and more. In addition to the official Geeked Week website, the show will be available to stream on Netflix’s YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook accounts. With the streamer’s gradual pivot into gaming, fans can expect some exciting development on that end as well — presumably, the ability to cloud stream games onto a TV.

The streamer has dropped a partial schedule for what to expect from each Geeked Week showcase, in varying lengths. We kick off with Stranger Things Day, where I’d expect updates for the fifth and final season of the eponymous sci-fi series, still aiming for a 2025 release despite the ongoing Hollywood actors’ strike. In it, Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) is expected to play a major role as our heroes explore the history behind the parallel realm of the Upside Down universe — the place where the Demogorgon and Mind Flayer popped out of. There’s also a Stranger Things animated series in development at Netflix, whose events are supposedly set after the mainline show, with a style similar to cartoons from the 1980s. The company is leaning heavily on animated adaptations, promising new looks from Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft and the Devil May Cry series.

On November 9 at 1pm PT in the US —Nov 10, 2:30am IST in India —Netflix will bring teasers for The Umbrella Academy season 4, The Dragon Prince, and Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action series. The studio just dropped a first look at its multiple Fire Nation characters, with Daniel Dae Kim (Stowaway) playing Fire Lord Ozai, Dallas Liu as Prince Zuko, and Elizabeth Yu (May December) as Princess Azula. The creators of the original Nickelodeon series Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino were attached as executive producers and showrunners, but later exited the project due to creative differences. I’m guessing Netflix will adapt the first season of the anime-styled series akin to how they adapted One Piece live-action from the first East Blue Saga arc from the manga and anime. Speaking of which, it appears that One Piece will be a part of Geeked Week as well, seeing as it was recently renewed for a second season.

November 10 brings more news on the live-action take on Yu Yu Hakusho — out December 14 — the popular spirit detective anime from Hunter x Hunter creator Yoshihiro Togashi. Then there’s 3 Body Problem, an adaptation of author Cixin Liu’s book, where a young woman’s fateful decision in 1960s China reverberates across space and time. It’s from the creators of Game of Thrones — David Benioff and D. B. Weiss — so a lot of eyes will be on this one. On November 11, we get more details on the long-gestating fantasy film starring Millie Bobby Brown, Damsel, alongside some exclusive footage to prime us for the Scott Pilgrim anime, coming November 17.

Closing things off on November 12 at 4:30pm PT — Nov 13, 6am IST — is Snyder’s highly-anticipated dystopian space opera, Rebel Moon. The interstellar adventure follows an enigmatic young woman Kora (Sofia Boutella), who embarks on a trip to seek out warriors from nearby planets to help take a stand against the oppressive empire led by the Regent Balisaurus. For the uninitiated, the film has been divided into two halves, with Part 1: A Child of Fire eyeing a December 22 release on Netflix, and Part 2: The Scargiver out on April 19, 2024. In an interview, the director also promised additional explicit cuts of both parts as well. Bear in mind that the aforementioned titles are merely highlights and that Netflix is likely to have more surprises in store for us.

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Oppenheimer Sets Digital and 4K Blu-Ray Release Date for November, Includes Over 3 Hours of Special Features

Oppenheimer is finally arriving on digital and physical media on November 21. This release window aligns with producer Emma Thomas’ claim from September, and marks exactly four months since the biopic’s theatrical release on July 21. Having shattered global box office records, partly thanks to the ‘Barbenheimer’ craze, the film will soon be available to own in 4K Ultra HD, Blu-Ray, alongside digital streaming options from Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, and YouTube Movies. There is no mention of regional language dubbing yet, but going by Oppenheimer’s (still ongoing) theatrical run, Indians can expect Hindi dubbing, at the minimum.

It’s interesting to see Universal Pictures dropping all formats of Oppenheimer at the same time, as most studios put out a digital version first, followed by a physical release and streaming options. Even its box office competitor Barbie followed the industry standard, and was released on VOD merely 53 days after its theatrical release. Despite being billed as rivals, both films with opposing themes, contributed to each other’s successes, perching them at the top of the worldwide box office charts. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer ranks third, having earned an impressive $942.1 million (about Rs. 7,840 crore), while Greta Gerwig’s candy-coated romp leads the year’s charts with a $1.43 billion (about Rs. 11,901 crore) collection. The former is now the highest-grossing biopic of all time, having surpassed Bohemian Rhapsody, which charted renowned singer Freddy Mercury’s life.

The Oppenheimer VOD release also brings over three hours of bonus special features, which reportedly include the 70-minute-long exclusive behind-the-scenes footage titled ‘The Story of Our Time: The Making of Oppenheimer.’ Expect interviews with the cast and Nolan himself, as they delve into the process involved in bringing the isolated Los Alamos community to life through performances and its technicalities. I highly doubt Nolan would ever divulge how he re-created the atomic bomb explosion using practical effects, but fingers crossed. Then there’s the NBC News documentary ‘To End All War: Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb,’ alongside a ‘Trinity Anniversary Panel Discussion,’ featuring Kai Bird, the Pulitzer award-winning co-author of the biography ‘American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.’ The film is based on that book.

Oppenheimer explores the politics and drama surrounding the creation of the first nuclear bomb, through the eyes of the renowned theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy). The biopic chronicles his life as a Harvard graduate, musing about war crimes, to his obsessive navigation of the Manhattan Project amidst the roars of World War II, leading up to the Trinity Test. Marking Nolan’s first R-rated film in two decades, it also stars Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, and Florence Pugh. It’s also worth noting that when Oppenheimer does eventually come to streaming, it should be available on JioCinema in India and Peacock internationally. There are no deleted scenes either, as lead Murphy confirmed in an earlier interview.

Oppenheimer is still playing in theatres worldwide. It will be available to watch digitally and physically through video-on-demand on November 21.

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Scott Pilgrim Takes Off Trailer Promises Vibrant Battles, Complicated Love Triangle, More

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, the new anime series from Netflix, just got a trailer, promising a vibrantly stylised affair that reimagines the classic battle of the exes tale. While the art style draws heavily from Bryan Lee O’Malley’s original graphic novel series, it brings back the cast from Edgar Wright’s 2010 live-action film. As such, it forms a full-circle moment, though the anime format allows co-writer BenDavid Grabinski to take an ambitious leap — one that would’ve cost more than Avatar if Netflix were to re-interpret the comics accurately in live-action format. The Scott Pilgrim anime is out November 17.

The trailer for Scott Pilgrim Takes Off opens with the titular 23-year-old bass player (Michael Cera) of the ‘Sex Bob-Omb,’ dreaming about Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a rebel delivery girl he recently met and fell head over heels for. She’s the new girl in town, just moved to Canada from her busy life in New York City, and instantly grabs Scott’s attention at a party. “Hey, wanna go out sometime?”, he asks her, while shaking in his boots, only to be met with a polite yes. Unbeknownst to him, Ramona’s got seven evil exes, all of whom he must defeat in distinct standoffs — from video-gamey arcade arenas to a musical faceoff — to be able to actually date her.

As mentioned before, the entire cast from the live-action film is back, starting with Satya Bhabha as Ramona’s first ex-boyfriend Matthew Patel, Hollywood actor Lucas Lee (Chris Evans), the mighty vegan Todd Ingram (Brandon Routh), the specialised ninja Roxy (Mae Whitman), and more. All the while, Scott must also deal with the fallout of his recent breakup with Knives Chau (Ellen Wong), who’s hellbent on winning him back by besting Ramona in combat. Adding onto the pile are the disapproving glares and judgemental comments from his sister Stacey (Anna Kendrick) and his obnoxious former classmate Julie Powers (Aubrey Plaza). Netflix released a clip from the Scott Pilgrim anime last month, in which the latter can be seen strictly forbidding him from going after Ramona. There seems to be some history between the two, which I hope is explored in the show.

While the clip isn’t reflective of the entire eight-episode-long show, I found the dialogue delivery to be quite jarring, with a lack of flow suggesting that the actors were possibly not in the same room/ studio during the recording process. Wright, who directed Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, returns as executive producer on the anime. “Luckily, the Scott Pilgrim cast became a close-knit family and friendships were forged for life,” he said in a prepared statement. “There — to this day — is still a group email with the entire cast on it, that’s been going since 2010. I was happy to be able to reach out to everyone with the news that we had finally come up with a way to continue the adventure.”

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is being produced by Japanese animation studio Science SARU, known for taking traditionally drawn art and moving it around digitally. Some of their renowned works include Devilman Crybaby and Japan Sinks: 2020, both of which featured incredibly rough linework with weird bodily proportions. However, with this new project, the team appears to be sticking with O’Malley’s original vision.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off releases November 17 on Netflix.

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Rick and Morty Season 7 Premiere Reveals New Voice Actors Replacing Justin Roiland

Rick and Morty season 7 debuted Sunday in the US and with that, its new voice actors replacing co-creator Justin Roiland have been revealed. Narrator Ian Cardoni plays the alcoholic scientist grandpa Rick Sanchez, while Harry Belden voices the bumbling grandson Morty Smith. The new voices, or rather ‘soundalikes’ as Adult Swim puts it, were first heard in the trailer but the studio refrained from divulging their names. For the uninitiated, the show’s co-creator Roiland was fired from the company, earlier this year, due to misconduct allegations. The charges were later dismissed, but an NBC report from September alleged that he’d been ‘using his fame to pursue young fans.’

“We want the show to speak for itself. We believe in the strength of the season and our new voices and we want to preserve the viewing experience for fans,” an Adult Swim insider revealed in a report from last month. I can imagine this causing issues like some diehard fans going out of their way to look up the voice actors’ past work and discredit or shun them based on it — albeit the Rick and Morty season 7 trailer was a clear indication that the pair would not stray too far from how Roiland interpreted those characters. As per Variety, the opening credits for the new season also didn’t show the usual ‘Created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon‘ above the logo. It appears the studio will continue using the new voice actors for its upcoming seasons, of which season 8 is already written — there’s a 10-season order.

Rick and Morty season 7 smells of vengeance, as our titular scientist decides to spend the entire chapter hunting down Rick Prime, his alternate version that brutally killed the former’s family. Morty is coming along for the ride, with an entire rescue team-up comprising Birdperson, Gearhead, President Curtis, and Mr. Poopybutthole to race through multiversal tears, as they encounter Robot Ghosts, bloody spaghetti, and much more. The recurring character Mr. Poopybutthole, who was previously voiced by Roiland as well, has been recast, with John Allen, taking the pressure off Cardoni and Belden, who already had a lot on their plate.

“In the time crunch we were in, it was a lot to ask either of them to fully take on Poopy, as well because it’s the most expanded role Poopy has had,” showrunner Scott Marder said in an interview. “We ultimately found another guy, John Allen, who came in late in the game. He took the pressure off of Ian and Harry who were both working on Poopy but it felt like too much for either of them to be doing him in an episode of the show that they had to completely re-do.” They also noted that the search for new voice actors went on for six months, with thousands of applicants — most of whom sounded like the wrestler Macho Man Randy Savage, instead of Rick himself. Turns out, a bunch of tryouts nailed it ‘in splashes,’ but when asked to perform the voices conversationally, they were unable to do it.

Rick and Morty season 7 is out now on Adult Swim wherever available. In India, new episodes drop every Monday on Netflix.

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Netflix House Physical Retail Stores Selling Merchandise, Themed Food and More to Launch in 2025

Netflix is reportedly set to open brick-and-mortar retail stores called Netflix House in the US, as part of the company’s efforts to expand beyond its streaming business. As per Bloomberg, these fun spaces would allow fans to shop for merchandise, eat themed food, and engage in activities based on their favourite movies and shows, such as an obstacle course reminiscent of Squid Game. The streaming platform plans to build the first two sites in 2025 in the US, before expanding to other regions — akin to how studios build theme parks and experiences based on their IP. For now, there isn’t much information on the stores, but the project marks Netflix’s first permanent experience fixture — one focused on multiple IPs.

“We’ve seen how much fans love to immerse themselves in the world of our movies and TV shows, and we’ve been thinking a lot about how we take that to the next level,” Josh Simon, VP, Netflix Consumer Products told Bloomberg. Netflix primarily sells merchandise through its online storefront, ranging from T-shirts based on the popular Stranger Things to a marionette of the long-nosed wooden puppet boy from the stop-motion film Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.

Netflix has previously dabbled with successful pop-up shops, albeit for a limited time, which is possibly how the company decided on the concept for a permanent one. Its most popular one was Stranger Things: The Experience, tossing visitors inside a recreation of the Hawkins Lab with an immersive story and special effects. There was also a Bridgerton-inspired ballroom dance event and a Money Heist-themed escape room.

“Don’t think of it like Disneyland,” Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said at the Bloomberg Screentime Conference. “[It’s] something you might go to a couple of times a month, not just once every couple years.” Netflix House is poised to feature ‘rotating installations’ ranging from ticketed experience shoes to restaurants boasting both fast food and fine dining experiences — including alcohol.

Earlier this year, it launched Netflix Bites in Los Angeles, a pop-up eatery that served dishes based on its original shows. The restaurant has since closed, but it wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume that it served as a testing ground for what the company has planned next. The report also notes that Netflix sees this business as a means to promote its IP, rather than a revenue source.

Netflix retired its 25-year-long running DVD rental service in September, given the demand for physical media slowly diminished as streaming came to the forefront. For now, there’s no word on whether Netflix House would sell any DVDs, which would be ironic given the streamer was effectively involved in the closure of rental stores like Blockbuster.

A report from earlier this month suggested that Netflix was planning to raise its subscription prices once the Hollywood actors’ strike ends, starting with the US and Canada.

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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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Barbie Director Greta Gerwig Reportedly Fought to Keep ‘I’m Just Ken’ Dance Sequence in the Film

Barbie director Greta Gerwig has revealed that the iconic ‘I’m Just Ken’ dance sequence from the film was almost removed from the script. Speaking to Succession creator Jesse Armstrong at the BFI London Film Festival, the filmmaker claimed that the studio executives at Warner Bros. questioned her at a ‘big meeting’ whether the standout scene was necessary. However, she stood her ground and cited the 1952 movie Singin’ in the Rain’s ballet scene as a reference point for Barbie’s ‘dream ballet,’ where all the Kens would be dressed in black and dance across a wide-open, pink and blue-hued space, as they work out their identity issues.

“It just said in the script, ‘And then it becomes a dream ballet and they work it out through dance’,” Gerwig said in the interview (via Variety). “There was a big meeting that was like, ‘Do you need this?’ And I was like, ‘Everything in me needs this.’ They were like, ‘What do you even mean? What is a dream ballet?’” The scene in question does come across as odd in screenplay format, as it just transitions from a musical fight sequence at the Barbie Land beach into a vast emptiness, with Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu beaching off. It appears as though WB was worried whether the quirky change in environment would sit well with a mainstream audience. Also, Barbie was never intended as a musical — in fact, the ‘I’m Just Ken’ track initially didn’t have a solid place until Gerwig heard and ‘loved‘ the small version composer Mark Ronson wrote.

The song is now a certified hit, with over 78.5 million streams on Spotify and 10 million views on YouTube, at the time of writing. Gosling, who previously recorded songs for his 2016 film La La Land, was the vocalist for his part in Barbie as well and placed at No. 87 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in August. “I was like if people could follow that in Singin’ in the Rain, I think we’ll be fine. I think people will know what this is. So that was the big reference point,” Gerwig explained, adding that she was equally stressed about the sequence totally failing. After all, this wasn’t the only time filming was interrupted, as a Time Magazine story revealed that Mattel president and COO Richard Dickson flew over to the location to ‘argue’ with director Gerwig and lead Margot Robbie over an undisclosed scene that felt ‘off-brand’ to him. The duo changed his mind by performing the scene before him, and it stayed.

Barbie is now the biggest film of 2023, having grossed $1.43 billion (about Rs. 11,901 crore) at the global box office, sitting right above The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Oppenheimer. It perched Gerwig as the first-ever woman director to join the billion-dollar club, and follows the stereotypical Barbie doll (Robbie) living her perfect life in the pink-hued Barbie Land until she starts turning sentient and is forced to face an existential crisis. Wanting to reverse those conflicting thoughts, she sets off on a journey to the real world with Ken (Gosling), where she learns about patriarchy, the troubled lives of women and how barbie dolls have perpetuated stereotypes and led young girls to have a skewed perception of themselves. The film is slated to release on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-Ray, and DVD formats on October 17.

Barbie is now available to watch digitally, and is still showing in select theatres across the world.

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