Tag: Hulu

Posted on in Features

Marvel Studios Needs To Hire The Creative Team Behind FX’s ‘Mr. Inbetween’ For A ‘Wolverine’ Series

Earlier in the week, I mentioned a desire to see Loki series director Kate Herron tackle Marvel’s X-Men reboot. Keeping with the mutant topic, I’ve been watching the Aussie hitman series Mr. Inbetween from FX (now it’s in it’s third season) lately and I can’t help to get huge Wolverine vibes from this show. I’m come to the conclusion that the show’s creator/writer Scott Ryan (also stars as Ray) and director Nash Edgerton (brother of actor Joel Edgerton) could be the perfect duo to bring a solo Wolverine series to life for Marvel Studios.

The show is dark, emotional, funny and action-packed something that I believe would be extremely attractive to Marvel. Nash Edgerton, like the John Wick fellas Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, is a director with a background as a stuntman.

If you’re unfamiliar with the show here’s a rundown and trailer from Mr. Inbetween.

Mr. Inbetween stars Scott Ryan as Ray Shoesmith, a hitman for hire who makes a life out of balancing his criminal activities with his obligations to friends and family. He tries to be a father to Brittany (Chika Yasumura), his daughter with his ex-wife, a loving boyfriend to Ally (Brook Satchwell), and a good caretaker to his sick brother Bruce (Nicholas Cassim). Ray also covers for his friend Gary (Justin Rosniak) when needed, and follows his boss Freddy’s (Damon Herriman) orders without question.

Marvel hasn’t officially announced any upcoming plans for any Wolverine projects despite online rumors of a Wolverine show potentially being in the works. Officially, they are indeed moving forward Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool 3 with writers working on the script and lacking any real updates are expected to reboot the X-Men movies sometime in the future.

Giving Wolverine his own series could be a way to properly tackle his military service during World War II that has been teased a couple of times, a real version of the Weapon X Program, Logan’s connections to Department H/Alpha Flight, his time in Japan/Madripoor, and potentially what he was up to during the Cold War against the Soviet Union. It could also help give other characters on the X-Men roster to take more leading roles in the MCU reboot.

We don’t have any idea who’ll ultimately take the Wolverine role from Hugh Jackman, but I’m leaning towards former Batman contender Cillian Murphy (The Dark Knight Trilogy, Peaky Blinders, 28 Days Later, Dunkirk, A Quiet Place Part II). The Irish actor has rubbed shoulders with plenty of MCU stars co-starring with Brie Larson in Free Fire, Chris Evans in the sci-fi thriller Sunshine alongside appearing with Thor’s Chris Hemsworth and Spider-Man’s Tom Holland in Ron Howard’s In The Heart of The Sea.

He’s a little bit older, however, not too much older than Moon Knight’s Oscar Isaac (42) or Doctor Strange’s Benedict Cumberbatch (44). While Cillian is slightly younger than Marvel’s new Blade actor Mahershala Ali (47).

Murphy is one of the few cast members from Danny Boyle’s Sunshine that hasn’t landed an MCU role as Chris Evans became Captain America, Benedict Wong plays Doctor Strange pal Wong, Hiroyuki Sanada briefly appeared as sword wielding Yaukza boss killed by Clint Barton in Avengers: Endgame, and Michelle Yeoh will be seen in Shang-Chi this September.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8BSlqHAhuY

If they wanted to hire a younger actor, Aussie lad Dacre Montgomery (Power Rangers, Stranger Things, Baz Lurman’s Elvis Biopic) wouldn’t be a horrible choice and he happens to have family connection to Canada. His Power Rangers co-star Naomi Scott took the Princess Jasmine role in Disney’s live-action Aladdin movie with Stranger Things leads playing Marvel characters as David Harbour is The Red Guardian in Black Widow and Charlie Heaton played Cannonball in The New Mutants.

I can’t help but be reminded that Legion and Fargo showrunner Noah Hawely was developing a Doctor Doom film for 20th Century Fox before the merger, who knows if that will ever see the light of day. However, Hawley has since pivoted to an Earthbound series set within the Alien universe for FX On Hulu that has Ridley Scott (Raised By Wolves, Prometheus, Alien, Blade Runner, Alien: Covenant) attached to produce. I wouldn’t be shocked if we eventually saw Marvel Studios also look at the creatives at FX and Hulu to develop shows for them like Scott Ryan and Nash Edgerton.

Hiring a couple of Aussies could help the idea of shooting a would-be Wolverine series at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Fox Studios also happens to be where Mr. Inbetween is shot.

It’s the same studio facility used for The Matrix, Star Wars: Attack of The Clones, Star Wars: Revenge of The Sith, Superman Returns, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Wolverine, Mad Max: Fury Road, Alien: Covenant, Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings, Thor: Love & Thunder, and George Miller’s upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa.

Anyways, we’ll keep our fingers crossed Marvel will consider them for a hypothetical Wolverine series.

Posted on in Television News

Brian Tyree Henry & Kate Mara Tapped To Lead FX On Hulu Limited Sci-Fi Crime Series ‘Class Of ’09’

FX On Hulu is moving forward with a brand new limited series titled Class of ’09 focusing on a group of FBI agents in a near future setting as artificial intelligence has transformed the U.S. criminal justice system. The news comes from Deadline, who also add that it will be led by Brian Tyree Henry (Widows) and Kate Mara (House of Cards).

The eight-part limited series is from Tom Rob Smith, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson

Follows a class of FBI agents set in a near future where the U.S. criminal justice system has been transformed by artificial intelligence. A group of FBI agents who graduated from Quantico in 2009 are reunited following the death of a mutual friend. Spanning three decades and told across three interweaving timelines, the series examines the nature of justice, humanity and the choices we make that ultimately define our lives and our legacy.

There are also character breakdowns for the two main leads.

Henry will play Tayo Miller, one of the most brilliant and unorthodox Agents ever to join the Bureau, a man who seeks not merely to make his mark on the institution but to remake it entirely. Mara will play Amy Poet, a woman who never imagined joining the world of law enforcement and finds herself at the center of its most pivotal moment of transformation.

Brian Tyree Henry has been a busy bee with recently roles in Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, Joker, Child’s Play, Hotel Artemis, White Boy Rick, Widows, Godzilla Vs. Kong, Brad Pitt’s Bullet Train, and plays an openly gay MCU character in Chloe Zhao’s Eternals.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Television News

Marvel’s ‘M.O.D.O.K.’ Series Adds Jon Hamm, Whoopi Goldberg, Nathan Fillion & Bill Hader To The Voice Cast

Today, it was revealed at WonderCon@Home’s Q&A for the upcoming animated Marvel series M.O.D.O.K. that they’ve added some big names to the voice cast. Those new names include Jon Hamm as Tony Stark aka Iron Man, Whoopi Goldberg as the villain Poundcakes, Nathan Fillion getting a second crack at Wonder Man, and lastly Bill Hader will be doing double duty voicing both The Leader and Angar The Screamer.

They’ll be joining a well-rounded main cast that consists of Patton Oswalt, Melissa Fumero, Aimee Garcia, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ben Schwartz, Beck Bennett, Jon Daly, and Sam Richardson.

The series will debut May 21, 2021 on Hulu.

In “Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K.,” the megalomaniacal supervillain M.O.D.O.K. has long pursued his dream of one day conquering the world. But after years of setbacks and failures fighting the Earth’s mightiest heroes, M.O.D.O.K. has run his evil organization A.I.M. into the ground. Ousted as A.I.M.’s leader, while also dealing with his crumbling marriage and family life, the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing is set to confront his greatest challenge yet!

You can check out the full panel below along with a special cameo and nifty clip.

SOURCE: WONDERCON@HOME

Posted on in Television News

Mike Judge & Greg Daniels Are In Negotiations To Bring Back ‘King of The Hill’ With A Revival

It looks like Mike Judge isn’t only aiming to bring back his classic MTV animated characters Beavis & Butt-Head.

While speaking on a Reddit AMA (via SlashFilm), King of The Hill executive producer and writer Brent Forrester revealed that Mike Judge and Greg Daniels are currently in negotiations to bring back the animated Texas family.

FORRESTER: “I am sure Greg Daniels and Mike Judge will murder me for sharing this but… HELL YES. They are in hot negotiations to bring back King of the Hill. The Trump administration made it suddenly very relevant again. The characters have all aged 15 years. The project is sooooo good. Okay I’ve said too much.”

King of The Hill originally aired between 1997-2009 on Fox, but it’s unclear where the revival would land given that Disney now owns the television division and could grab the series for Disney+.

SOURCE: REDDIT

Posted on in Television News

‘Trainspotting’s Danny Boyle Directing Sex Pistols Limited Series At FX – Toby Wallace & Maisie Williams To Star

Director Danny Boyle is returning to television with a 6-episode limited series for FX titled Pistol according to Deadline.

The project will focus on the British punk band The Sex Pistols, told from the perspective of guitarist Steve Jones and based on his memoir. Boyle, who will direct the limited series is best known for his break-out films Trainspotting and Oscar-winner Slumdog Millionaire.

Pistol is written/created by Moulin Rogue!’s Craig Pearce and is co-written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, the latter was responsible for the amazing British comedic biopic 24 Hour Party People. Let’s just say the combination of people working on the project should make any music fan excited to see what they come up with.

Australian actor Toby Wallace recently seen in Babyteeth will play Jones with Game of Thrones alumni Maisie Williams playing punk icon Pamela Rooke aka Jordan.

Here is the rest of the cast.

  • Anson Boon as John Lydon 
  • Louis Partridge as Sid Vicious
  • Jacob Slater as Paul Cook
  • Fabien Frankel as Glen Matlock
  • Dylan Llewellyn as Wally Nightingale 
  • Sydney Chandler as Chrissie Hynde
  • Emma Appleton as Nancy Spungen

Filming is said to begin on March 7th.

Danny Boyle previously worked with FX on the limited series Trust which was essentially the television version of Ridley Scott‘s All The Money In The World.

This wouldn’t be the first time the punk bank has been explored before as the Gary Oldman film Sid & Nancy attempted to cover volatile and drug addicted guitarist Sid Viscous and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in News

Disney Combining Hulu and Disney+ To Give Older Subscribers Mature Content Options?

Disney has had huge success with their family-friendly streaming service Disney+, however, the service is indeed geared towards families and younger audiences which means other Disney-owned content can’t really appear there.

A new report from Collider claims things might be changing soon with sources suggesting that their domestic service Hulu is being prepared to be folded into Disney+, Disney is a majority owner of Hulu and plenty of people have suggested this becoming an option given that Hulu doesn’t have an international presence being a domestic service but could with some help from Disney/Disney+ take the leap into the global realm like Netflix.

Sources say Disney is looking to combine its two streaming services into a single juggernaut.

For more than a year now, there has been speculation that Disney might one day fold Hulu into its Disney+ streaming service, and sure enough, Collider is hearing that multiple Hulu executives have been leaving or let go from the streaming service in anticipation of the move, which makes a lot of sense from a business perspective.

They phrase the report’s headline as a question which could mean this might be more of a rumor circulating among reliable people they’re talking to.

If this officially happens, Disney+ adding Hulu’s content, the 20th Century Studios library and their multiple television offerings from 20th Television/FX would add a massive under served demographic to their international streaming service. Another upside is that Disney might be forced into developing mature content with the Disney branding moving into the 21st Century as the media company will need to attract adult audiences as well and move beyond children’s entertainment.

We’ve already seen this with 20th Century Studios moving forward with Predator 5 and Marvel Studios hiring screenwriters for Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool 3, both expected to be R-rated offerings. This could be a way for Disney+ to start making mature shows using their budgets that they’ve used for Star Wars and Marvel series. I’m sure that Alien series that Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion) wanted to make wouldn’t have as much trouble getting the budget it would need to look proper. It also gives a home to franchise films like Die Hard, Alien/Predator franchises, Logan, and Deadpool.

Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video are doing a lot to attract older subscribers with original content which to some extent HBO/HBO Max is doing as well but like Hulu isn’t on the global stage.

Speaking of HBO Max, does this mean Disney announces this and then throws their entire 2021 slate of films on the combined service? We don’t really know if they’re going to mirror HBO Max’s new release model for 2021 and if this happens it could be another ding on the theatrical runs of future films. Alongside their potential to earn the billions at the box office that Disney is accustomed to. Hulu could be placed in an odd spot here and might see massive layoffs as jobs become redundant.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Posted on in Television News

Noah Hawley Comments On The Status of An ‘Alien’ Series – Plus Talk of Renewed Interest

A while back it was reported that Fargo and Legion series creator Noah Hawley had attempted to pitch 20th Century Fox to develop a series at FX set within the Alien universe which was ultimately rejected before the merger with Disney.

An Alien series wouldn’t be the first new project that was purposed.

District 9’s Neill Blomkamp had tried to finally get an Alien 5 movie (Ridley Scott and James Cameron pitched a version before AVP years ago) off the ground with Sigourney Weaver attached to star and Ridley Scott producing but that never materialized. As Scott has been talking up a third installment of his Alien prequel, a follow-up to Alien: Covenant that had been once called Alien: Awakening and more recently has been indicating that it’s in development stages. Franchise screenwriters/producers Walter Hill and David Giler seemingly inspired by Blomkamp’s concept of erasing the two sequels had written a couple of drafts for Alien V with Weaver reading an early draft of it.

It was announced that Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Land, Black Mirror) would be directing Predator 5 aka Skulls, that according to him had been in the works for almost four years. An old synopsis for the project suggested it could be taking a period western setting with the main human character being “a female Comanche warrior”.

There had been some hints that Disney might want to circle back to Noah’s Alien series idea and Deadline asked him about it in their interview for Season 4 of Fargo. Admitting he’s since had talks about the show since the merger which sounds like new interest in making it as Deadline suggests a deal for a show is incoming.

DEADLINE: Are you still involved with the Alien reboot TV series? I understand deals are trying to be done.

HAWLEY: “I know that there’s an effort to reshuffle a lot of things post-Disney takeover and it was a conversation that I had a couple years back. And I have not in the last few weeks been having those conversations about it. But I know that like any studio that there’s a great desire to make the most of one’s library so I wouldn’t be surprised to see something like that.”

DEADLINE: But you’re involved in it?

HAWLEY: “Ya know, I have conversations from time to time but I’m not committed.”

DEADLINE: And there isn’t a hard conceit to it yet?

HAWLEY: “No, I haven’t — nothing is at that stage.”

Back in September, Noah gave some insight to Observer what he wanted to do and hinted that he would like to explore a character-driven series set in the universe that may have focused on the humans behind the Weyland-Yutani company and those underneath them. An interesting proposal given that filmmakers have really only scratched the surface of what that futuristic universe looks like.

HAWLEY: “Alien is on some level the complete opposite of Stark Trek. It’s sort of about humanity at its worst. There’s this moment in the second film when Sigourney says, ‘I don’t know which species is worse. At least they don’t screw each other over for a percentage.’ If you look at what Aliens tends to be, it’s usually a trapped story – trapped in a ship, trapped in a prison, etc. And because the Alien has this life cycle to it, where it goes from egg, to chestburster, to xenomorph, there becomes a certain routine to it.”

“I thought it would be interesting if you could expand. If you’re going to make something for television, you’ve got 10 hours let’s say. Even if you have a lot of action, like two hours, then you’re still going to have eight hours left. So what is the show about? That’s what I tried to talk to them about. As I did with Legion, the exercise is: Let’s take the superhero stuff out of the show and see if it’s still a great show. What’s the show about? Let’s take the Alien out of the show. What’s the show about? What are the themes, who are the characters and what is the human drama? Then we drop the aliens back in and we go, ‘This is great. Not only is there great human drama, but there’s aliens!’”

We had heard a while back there had been some interest in Ridley Scott getting involved with a Hulu series, the streamer now has a strong relationship with FX’s programming post-merger and would be a perfect home for an Alien series if/when it come together. If there were to be any Alien series Scott is most likely landing an automatic executive producer credit given his current status on the franchise and previous involvement with Alien 5 as a producer.

It’s also worth noting that Ridley Scott’s sci-fi series Raised By Wolves (formerly at TNT) had been touted by HBO Max as their most successful original series and that could help influence folks at Disney, 20th Century Studios, FX, and Hulu to give Noah’s series a second look as it sounds like they might already have.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Television News

Jon Bernthal Still Hopeful Marvel Will Ask Him To Reprise ‘The Punisher’ Role – “I’ll Be Ready”

Despite fan wishes and rumblings that Marvel Studios was going to resurrect the Netflix lineup of Marvel shows for Hulu/Disney+, that doesn’t seem to be happening as Marvel Television was re-branded as Marvel TV Studios with Kevin Feige overseeing future television projects after Jeph Loeb exited the company.

This hasn’t detoured The Punisher actor Jon Bernthal and has been vocal about reprising the Frank Castle role if Marvel wants him to. This is reinforced in a new interview with Geek House Show (via The Playlist). As great as Jon’s enthusiasm is, as he points out himself he’s not part of those decisions.

BERNTHAL: “I think with that, there’s always hope, you know? It’s unbelievably humbling how much people responded to this version of Frank. I can’t tell you how much he means to me. He’s in my blood. He’s in my bones. And for me, it’s not really a question ever with this kind of stuff about whether you get the opportunity to do it or not…It’s not about whether we do it, it’s about doing it right. And doing the version the fans really deserve.”

“We’ll see. All of those decisions are made in rooms I’m not invited into. That’s okay with me…When we get the call to go, I’ll be ready. And I’ll do everything I can to make sure we do it right or we don’t do it at all.”

The actor first played Frank Castle in Season 2 of Daredevil before getting his own solo Punisher series that landed two seasons itself before it was cancelled.

Jon Bernthal sounds more optimistic than Daredevil’s Charlie Cox, who said he wasn’t even expecting the series to get a Season 3 despite the online fan campaign #SaveDaredevil and poured cold water on the rumor he was going to be involved with Spider-Man 3.

We ultimately don’t know what Kevin’s plans are for characters like Frank Castle, Matt Murdock, Elektra Natchios, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Danny Rand (despite Iron Fist connections rumored for Shang-Chi). Also, if he wants to bring them into the real Marvel Cinematic Universe I’m unconvinced he’ll even ask those actors to return to their roles or attempt soft-reboots with new actors instead. Even if characters are slowly reverting back to Marvel from Netflix the contracts for actors and showrunners (many have found new gigs) have expired, meaning that Marvel TV Studios has zero obligations anymore.

Fiege didn’t seem terribly interested in continuing the Loeb era of Marvel Television projects as reflected with the cancellations and it doesn’t look like those projects will find new lives elsewhere. It might also irk Disney to have off-shoots on places like Netflix and rebooting might be a way to sever any ties to those Netflix shows or being branded as “MCU”.

However, speaking of Spider-Man 3, Jamie Foxx is seeming getting a second shot at playing Electro in what is likely going to be an MCU take on the character not unlike J.K. Simmon’s new version of J. Jonah Jameson first seen in Spider-Man: Far From Home. There is a chance they could bring Cox and Bernthal back but ignore the events of the Netflix shows entirely given that Feige and the producing team didn’t have oversight on that material which would suggest they’re more likely to just jettison it.

There has been zero sign from Marvel that they’re even interested in using those characters anytime soon, so we’ll just have to be patient.

SOURCE: GEEK HOUSE SHOW

Posted on in Television News

‘Y: The Last Man’ Series Adds ‘Dredd’ Actress Olivia Thirlby – Production Resumes In Toronto

Deadline reports that the FX On Hulu series Y: The Last Man has found two replacement actresses for the sci-fi project based on the DC Comics property. As Dredd’s Olivia Thirlby and Shameless’ Ashley Romans are taking roles previously played by Imogen Poots (Filth, 28 Weeks Later) and Lashana Lynch (No Time To Die, Captain Marvel).

The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which a cataclysmic event decimates every mammal with a Y chromosome but for one cisgender man and his pet monkey. The series follows the survivors in this new world as they struggle with their efforts to restore what was lost and the opportunity to build something better.

Production on the pilot has resumed in Toronto and is expected to complete on November 17th.

Eariler this year Ben Schnetzer took over the lead role of Yorick Brown from Barry Keoghan (Chernobyl, Eternals), who is currently filming The Batman in the United Kingdom. The rest of the cast consists of Diane Lane (Judge Dredd, Man of Steel), Amber Tamblyn, Marin Ireland, Diana Bang, Elliot Fletcher and Juliana Canfield.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in News

Disney To Prioritize Content For Their Streaming Services From Sports, Television, and Film Arms – Adds New Division Called Media & Entertainment Distribution

Yesterday, the Walt Disney Company announced a new initiative to get more content going for its streaming services such as Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu from its sports, television, and film divisions. The new division will be called The Media & Entertainment Distribution group led by Kareem Daniel. 

It sounds like they’ll be dedicating a lot more resources and money than they have previously as means to compete with competitors like Netflix and Amazon. However, this announcement says nothing about them throwing their 2021 theatrical slate on Disney+ and never mention a thing about ending theatrical releases altogether only pushing to place more content on their streaming services. 

We will get more details on these plans on December 10th. 

During an interview with CNBC, Disney’s new CEO Bob Chapek was quick to point out that they aren’t looking to stop the theatrical experience and would be announcing further details. 

Also, specifically downplayed COVID-19’s role in the decision. 

CHAPEK: “I would not characterize it as a response to Covid. I would say Covid accelerated the rate at which we made this transition, but this transition was going to happen anyway. Because essentially what we want to do is separate out folks who make our wonderful content based on tremendous franchises from the decision making in terms of prioritization is on how it gets commercialized into the marketplace. And what we want to do is leave it to a group of folks you can really see objectively across all of the constituents we have and various considerations we’ve got and make the optimal decision for the company as opposed to having it predetermined that a movie is destined to theaters or that a TV show is destined for ABC. So what we really want to do is provide some level of objectivity and really make it a decision that benefits the overall company and its shareholders.”

When pressed on Disney’s commitment to the theatrical model Bob said the following that gives the impression they’re not giving up on the theatrical model just yet. 

CHAPEK: “We’ve benefited from a tremendous relationship with theatrical exhibition for many many many years as dynamics change in the marketplace though we want to make sure that we are giving consumers who want to go to theaters to experience everything that a theatrical release can give them, we want to continue to give them that option but at the same time there are a lot of consumers that want to experience a movie in the safety, comfort, and convenience of their own home for whatever reasons they do.”

To me, it sounds like either they are going to pursue a shorter theatrical window or a mixed model of day-and-date which obviously the theater industry wouldn’t be terribly pleased about on either front. 

Here is the official press release from the Walt Disney Company website that gets a little more into the weeds about what all this means.  

In light of the tremendous success achieved to date in the Company’s direct-to-consumer business and to further accelerate its DTC strategy, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) today announced a strategic reorganization of its media and entertainment businesses. Under the new structure, Disney’s world-class creative engines will focus on developing and producing original content for the Company’s streaming services, as well as for legacy platforms, while distribution and commercialization activities will be centralized into a single, global Media and Entertainment Distribution organization. The new Media and Entertainment Distribution group will be responsible for all monetization of content—both distribution and ad sales—and will oversee operations of the Company’s streaming services. It will also have sole P&L accountability for Disney’s media and entertainment businesses.

The creation of content will be managed in three distinct groups—Studios, General Entertainment, and Sports—headed by current leaders Alan F. Horn and Alan Bergman, Peter Rice, and James Pitaro. The Media and Entertainment Distribution group will be headed by Kareem Daniel, formerly President, Consumer Products, Games and Publishing. All five leaders will report directly to Bob Chapek, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company. Disney Parks, Experiences and Products will continue to operate under its existing structure, led by Josh D’Amaro, Chairman, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, who continues to report to Mr. Chapek. Rebecca Campbell will serve as Chairman, International Operations and Direct-to-Consumer. Bob Iger, in his role as Executive Chairman, will continue to direct the Company’s creative endeavors.

“Given the incredible success of Disney+ and our plans to accelerate our direct-to-consumer business, we are strategically positioning our Company to more effectively support our growth strategy and increase shareholder value,” Mr. Chapek said. “Managing content creation distinct from distribution will allow us to be more effective and nimble in making the content consumers want most, delivered in the way they prefer to consume it. Our creative teams will concentrate on what they do best—making world-class, franchise-based content—while our newly centralized global distribution team will focus on delivering and monetizing that content in the most optimal way across all platforms, including Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and the coming Star international streaming service.”

Under the new structure, the Company’s three content groups will be responsible and accountable for producing and delivering content for theatrical, linear and streaming, with the primary focus being the Company’s streaming services:

  • STUDIOS: Messrs. Horn and Bergman will serve as Chairmen, Studios Content, which will focus on creating branded theatrical and episodic content based on the Company’s powerhouse franchises for theatrical exhibition, Disney+ and the Company’s other streaming services. The group will include the content engines of The Walt Disney Studios, including Disney live action and Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures.
  • GENERAL ENTERTAINMENT: Mr. Rice will serve as Chairman, General Entertainment Content, which will focus on creating general entertainment episodic and original long-form content for the Company’s streaming platforms and its cable and broadcast networks. The group will include the content engines of 20th Television, ABC Signature and Touchstone Television; ABC News; Disney Channels; Freeform; FX; and National Geographic.
  • SPORTS: Mr. Pitaro will serve as Chairman, ESPN and Sports Content, which will focus on ESPN’s live sports programming, as well as sports news and original and non-scripted sports-related content, for the cable channels, ESPN+, and ABC.

The Media and Entertainment Distribution group, led by Mr. Daniel, will be responsible for the P&L management and all distribution, operations, sales, advertising, data and technology functions worldwide for all of the Company’s content engines, and it will also manage operations of the Company’s streaming services and domestic television networks. The group will work in close collaboration with the content creation teams on programming and marketing.

It’ll be interesting to see if Disney+ will start mining IP from the 20th Century Studios side of things soon as Disney+ series and limited series focused on properties like Avatar and Planet of The Apes could be extremely successful. In the press release they suggest that they could end up making episodic projects based on 20th Century properties.

A live-action Flash Gordon series stands out as a property that Disney really could do justice with on Disney+ and be a counter of sorts to their Star Wars shows as it could be way more swashbuckling than the Lucasfilm property that was inspired by it. Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Thor: Love & Thunder, Jojo Rabbit) is attached to direct an animated Flash Gordon film and at one time 20th Century was developing a live-action feature as well from directors Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class, Stardust, Layer Cake) and Julius Avery (Overlord) involved at different points.

I wouldn’t even put it past Disney to reboot John Carter eventually given the Volume/StageCraft would allow them to make a series more cost effective that world like Flash Gordon is different enough from Star Wars it would be worth pursuing.

Of course, this could mean a major influx of more shows from Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar universes but might also see Hulu getting a bump of adult content as well with franchises like Alien (Noah Hawley pitched an Alien series to FX) and Predator just collecting dust while they could be helpful to get more eyeballs on Hulu. HBO Max had recently crowed about Ridley Scott’s sci-fi series Raised By Wolves being the most popular original on their service when announcing they were moving forward with a Season 2 order. 

Matthew Vaughn has also been talking up the idea of a Kingsman spinoff series that could fit nicely at Hulu.

Disney certainly has a massive gap in the adult market and places like Canada don’t have access to Hulu and that really needs to change if they want to compete with Netflix/Amazon on an international level as those services offer content to both kids and adults alike. Cornering the kid market just won’t be enough for Disney if they want to grow their streaming presence. 

I guess we’ll have to wait for December 10th to get more concrete answers about what all this actually means for content that is already in the can or is about to begin filming. 

SOURCE: CNBC & DISNEY