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      New Star of ‘The Prom’ Sees a Chance to Make L.G.B.T.Q. Characters Visible

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best MoviesBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest TheaterBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyNew Star of ‘The Prom’ Sees a Chance to Make L.G.B.T.Q. Characters VisibleLike her character, Jo Ellen Pellman identifies as queer, and she is making her film debut in the Netflix musical alongside A-listers like Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman.“It’s the best feeling in the world knowing I can bring my authentic self to the role,” Jo Ellen Pellman said of “The Prom.”Credit…Da’Shaunae Marisa for The New York TimesPublished More

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      The Biggest Casting News From Disney’s Investor Day

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best MoviesBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest TheaterBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyThe Biggest Casting News From Disney’s Investor Day“Black Panther 2” will not recast King T’Challa. Harrison Ford is picking up the hat and whip again. And “Star Wars” recruited Rosario Dawson for her own show.Lupita Nyong’o, Chadwick Boseman and Danai Gurira in the 2018 film “Black Panther.” Disney will not recast King T’Challa in the wake of Mr. Boseman’s death, the company announced.Credit…Marvel Studios/Disney, via Associated PressDec. 11, 2020Updated 6:27 p.m. ETIn unveiling a huge raft of content coming to theaters and its streaming service at a four-hour investor presentation on Thursday, Disney announced major cast news for many of its highest profile properties, including Pixar, Marvel and “Star Wars.”Each division of Disney’s entertainment empire brought big names to the table, though some landed with a bigger splash than others. Film and TV fans will have a hard time missing what’s coming.Here are some of the biggest casting announcements for Disney’s film and streaming projects:Marvel will not recast King T’Challa in “Black Panther,” first played by Chadwick BosemanPerhaps the biggest news at the event was a decision not to make a casting announcement. Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, said that, after the indelible mark that Chadwick Boseman, who died this year, made playing King T’Challa in the 2018 movie “Black Panther,” Marvel would not recast the role out of respect for the actor’s legacy. The film’s sequel, however, is still scheduled for release on July 8, 2022, with the director Ryan Coogler and much of the original cast returning.Mr. Boseman died at 43 on Aug. 28 of colon cancer. The news stunned the industry and fans, some of whom mounted a campaign demanding that Disney not recast the role. In a tribute shared with The Hollywood Reporter, Mr. Coogler wrote, “It is with a heavy heart and a sense of deep gratitude to have ever been in his presence, that I have to reckon with the fact that Chad is an ancestor now. And I know that he will watch over us, until we meet again.”Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker in “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.” Credit…ILM/Lucasfilm LTD, via 20th Century FoxHayden Christensen will again play Darth VaderIn the upcoming “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series for Disney’s streaming service, Disney+, the actor Hayden Christensen will reprise his role as Anakin Skywalker, this time behind the mask of Darth Vader. The series will take place 10 years after the events of the 2005 movie “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith,” with Mr. Christensen starring opposite Ewan McGregor’s title character.After starring in two of George Lucas’s prequels to the original “Star Wars,” Mr. Christensen largely moved on to other projects. He did not completely part from the franchise, though: Die-hard fans could make his voice out at the end of last year’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” “Obi-Wan Kenobi” will debut in 2022.Amy Adams returns as Princess GiselleAmy Adams — who has been nominated for six Academy Awards — will reprise her role from the 2007 revisionist fairy tale “Enchanted” in a follow-up titled “Disenchanted” for Disney+.In The New York Times’s review of the original film, the critic Manohla Dargis called Ms. Adams “superb,” adding that she was an “irresistibly watchable screen presence and a felicitous physical comedian.”Harrison Ford in the 2008 film “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”Credit…David James/Paramount PicturesHarrison Ford will play Indiana Jones one last timeThe fifth and final “Indiana Jones” film is officially in preproduction, and Harrison Ford will, of course, play the title role. The director of “Logan” and “Ford v Ferrari,” James Mangold, will lead the project. Not much else is known about the film so far, other than that there will need to be a hat and a whip.The new Indy film is set to reach theaters in July 2022.Chris Evans will play Buzz Lightyear. No, the real Buzz Lightyear.Chris Evans, best known for playing Captain America and that guy with the great sweater in Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out,” will play the starring role in Pixar’s “Lightyear,” set for a release on June 17, 2022. The film will set out to explore the back story of the human whose likeness was turned into the toy that Tim Allen played in the “Toy Story” series. You get it.Rosario Dawson gets her own “Star Wars” seriesRosario Dawson will star in “Ahsoka,” a Disney+ series that, along with “Rangers of the New Republic,” will be a spinoff from “The Mandalorian.”Ms. Dawson first appeared in a “Star Wars” feature, “The Mandalorian,” only weeks ago, as Ahsoka Tano, a character whose exploits “Star Wars” fans have followed from the 2008 film “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” to the more recent animated series “Star Wars Rebels.” The new series doesn’t yet have a release date.Whoopi Goldberg, right, in “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.”Credit…Buena Vista PicturesWhoopi Goldberg signs on for “Sister Act 3”Whoopi Goldberg, who played the iconic Deloris Van Cartier in “Sister Act” nearly 30 years ago, will star in and produce “Sister Act 3” for Disney+. The writer-director Tyler Perry will produce alongside her.“Sister Act” was one of the top grossing movies of 1992, and went on to inspire a sequel and a Tony-nominated Broadway musical. “Ms. Goldberg starts out with some tough talk, but this turns out to be one of her ultra-lovable roles,” the Times critic Janet Maslin said in a review of the original.John Mulaney and Andy Samberg will play Rescue RangersThe “SNL” alumni John Mulaney and Andy Samberg will play the title roles in “Chip n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers,” a live-action-animated hybrid heading to Disney+.The film will be an update on the 1989 animated series of the same name, wherein two chipmunks start a detective agency. It was a different time. Akiva Schaffer, a member of The Lonely Island with Samberg, will direct.Tatiana Maslany in “Orphan Black.” For Disney, she will play the character She-Hulk, a lawyer.Credit…Ian Watson/BBC AmericaTatiana Maslany will join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as She-HulkTatiana Maslany, best known for award-winning turns as several clones on the BBC’s “Orphan Black,” will star in the upcoming Marvel series “She-Hulk” on Disney+. The series will involve her character, Jennifer Walters, taking on superhero-related legal cases.Mark Ruffalo, who plays the Hulk in the Marvel movies, will also appear, along with Tim Roth, who played the Abomination in the 2008 movie — pre-Ruffalo entry in the series — “The Incredible Hulk.”HBO meets Marvel in Ant-Man and the Wasp: QuantumaniaThe stars of a few recent prestige dramas on HBO will appear in the next “Ant-Man” film. Jonathan Majors, a lead of “Lovecraft Country,” will appear as the villain in the movie, playing the classic Marvel character Kang the Conqueror. Kathryn Newton, who played a rebellious teenager opposite Reese Witherspoon in “Big Little Lies,” will play Cassie Lang, who comic fans know goes on to become the superhero Stature.Warwick Davis will reprise his role from WillowWarwick Davis will star as the title character in a sequel series to the 1988 cult classic “Willow” on Disney+, set to air in 2022.The original film, conceived by George Lucas and directed by Ron Howard, involved a farmer and would-be sorcerer, Willow Ufgood, tasked with helping an infant — the future empress of the realm — fulfill her destiny. Val Kilmer helps them out. The series will take place years after the film’s events.Christian Bale goes from Dark Knight to God ButcherChristian Bale, who donned superhero tights for three Batman movies, has officially joined the cast of “Thor: Love and Thunder,” the fourth installment in the “Thor” series and the second from the director Taika Waititi. Mr. Bale will play Gorr the God Butcher, a being who wants to kill all of the gods. Straightforward stuff, really. The film is scheduled for release on May 6, 2022.Hailee Steinfeld may be the next HawkeyeHailee Steinfeld, who could last be heard in “Spider-Man: Enter the Spider-Verse” as Gwen Stacy, will appear alongside Jeremy Renner in Marvel’s “Hawkeye” series, airing on Disney+ next year. She plays Kate Bishop, who in the comics takes the Hawkeye name for herself.Ms. Steinfeld has already been spotted in set photos from the series:Happy birthday, Ms. Steinfeld.Multiple series will deal with Tony Stark’s legacyDon Cheadle, already busy picking up Emmy nominations for his work in the Showtime series “Black Monday,” will star as James Rhodes, a.k.a. War Machine, in a new series called “Armor Wars.” No longer playing second fiddle to Iron Man after Tony Stark’s death in “Avengers: Endgame,” his character will instead have to deal with, according to Mr. Feige, what happens when Stark’s tech falls into the wrong hands — something of a trend for Stark Industries.Dominique Thorne, whose film debut was in “If Beale Street Could Talk,” will star in “Ironheart,” Marvel’s first series featuring a Black female lead. The actress will play Riri Williams, a young inventor who reverse-engineers Iron Man armor to protect her neighborhood.Finally, Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn will return as Nick Fury and Talos in a Disney+ series based on Marvel’s “Secret Invasion” comics event. The series explored what happened when Marvel’s superheroes were replaced by Skrulls, the aliens first seen in the 2019 film “Captain Marvel.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Same-Sex Kisses Under the Mistletoe: Holiday Movies Rethink a Formula

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best MoviesBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest TheaterBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storySame-Sex Kisses Under the Mistletoe: Holiday Movies Rethink a FormulaIn a conservative genre that has mainly told straight stories, six new films, including titles on Hallmark and Lifetime, center on gay or lesbian characters.With Daniel Levy by their side, Kristen Stewart, center, and Mackenzie Davis play a couple in “Happiest Season.”  Credit…Lacey Terrell/Hulu, via Associated PressDec. 11, 2020, 4:36 p.m. ETWill the adorable couple adopt a baby in time to celebrate Christmas with Mom and Dad and the neighborhood kids? Sounds like a delightful holiday TV movie. But this is disruptive 2020, so here’s the thing: the couple are Brandon and Jake and the channel is Hallmark.“The Christmas House” is one of six new original holiday films released since November with something rare: main characters in same-sex relationships. Others include Hulu’s “Happiest Season,” a lesbian coming-out comedy starring Kristen Stewart; “The Christmas Setup,” a Lifetime rom-com debuting Saturday and starring the real-life husbands Ben Lewis and Blake Lee; and “Dashing in December,” a drama starting Sunday on the Paramount Network about two men who fall in love on a ranch.More under the radar but still noteworthy are two indies: “A New York Christmas Wedding,” a drama on Netflix about a woman who has relationships with both a man and a woman, and the scrappy on-demand “I Hate New Year’s” (for rent on major platforms), a lesbian romance set on New Year’s Eve in Nashville.L.G.B.T.Q. characters aren’t new to holiday movies, and six films may not sound like a revolution. But so many leading queer love stories — and same-sex kisses! — is a sea change for Christmas cinema, a conventionally heterosexual universe with more stories about puppies than gay people.“It’s the start of something bigger,” said Clea DuVall, the director and co-writer of “Happiest Season.” She added, “Networks and streamers are starting to see the value in telling these stories that have always been there but were not given the platform to get out to wider audiences.”According to Hulu, “Happiest Season” is the first holiday rom-com about a same-sex couple from a major Hollywood studio. Nicole Brown, the president of TriStar Pictures, which sold “Happiest Season” to Hulu in October, called the queering of the Christmas picture “very organic.” So what took so long?“Film has always been under the assumption that the safest kind of characters are the way to go,” Brown said. “Our studio felt confident that the script and Clea’s vision and her ambition were aligned to make a commercial story, and that the quality of her storytelling would bring everybody in. When something’s great, it’s great.”This shift is most seismic for Hallmark, which has become shorthand for “holiday movie.” “The Christmas House” is one of 40 new holiday films released this year on the Hallmark Channel and its sister network Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, the leaders in the holiday moviemaking machine. What’s most striking about “The Christmas House” is that Brandon and Jake, played by Jonathan Bennett and Brad Harder, are unconditionally accepted as part of the family.L.G.B.T.Q. people “work on a lot of these Christmas movies,” said Bennett, who is gay but has played straight in Hallmark films before. “For the first time we feel we belong at the holiday table.”Last December, the Hallmark Channel faced a firestorm when it pulled four television ads with kissing brides after a conservative group petitioned the network to “reconsider airing commercials with same-sex couples” and to refrain from adding L.G.B.T.Q. movies to its schedule. Days later, Hallmark apologized for removing the commercials, and said it would work with GLAAD, the media advocacy organization, “to better represent the L.G.B.T.Q. community.”Michelle Vicary, executive vice president of programming and network publicity at Crown Media Family Networks, the parent company of the Hallmark Channel, said in an interview that her chief goal this year was to make “a bigger holiday table where people can see themselves on TV.” In 2021, Hallmark “will be moving forward, not backward,” she said, with more L.G.B.T.Q. tales at Christmas and during the year.“We are really focused on continuing our commitment to the authenticity in our storytelling for all of our characters, and making sure that everyone can see themselves represented on Hallmark services,” she said. “It’s the right thing to do.”Jonathan Bennett, center, and Brad Harder in “The Christmas House.”Credit…Hallmark ChannelLifetime, Hallmark’s biggest Christmas competitor, has featured original holiday films with L.G.B.T.Q. characters in supporting roles and story lines before; last year for the first time it ran one with a same-sex kiss. But “The Christmas Setup” — one of 34 new holiday movies on Lifetime this year — breaks ground as the channel’s first such film with an L.G.B.T.Q. romance front and center.Tanya Lopez, Lifetime’s executive vice president of movies, limited series and original movie acquisitions, said having gay leading characters in a film was “an incredible positive.” But the real breakthrough?“Remember when we would lower our voices and say a movie has a very special holiday twist?” she whispered. “We’re not doing a very special kind of Christmas.” Gay characters “being treated normal in storytelling is what feels fresh,” she added, “and that’s the norm I want to create.”Holiday TV movies generally follow a formula — a young city gal unexpectedly finds love with a small-town handyman or prince in disguise. Viewers show no signs of fatigue with that basic plot, and it’s a pretty white world. But while racial diversity has become more prevalent in the genre, if only a little, queer representation has not kept pace with even that minimal progress.Guaranteed, aspirational feel-good: that’s the name of the holiday movie game, said Joanna Wilson, the author of the Christmas entertainment encyclopedia “Tis the Season TV.”“These movies are fantasies where the real world doesn’t exist,” said Wilson, who also runs the blog ChristmasTVHistory.com. “Families don’t worry about different political viewpoints or health care. These are very cautious, conservative stories to begin with. But changes are coming, and that matters.”Wilson traces the holiday TV bonanza to ABC’s “Carol for Another Christmas,” a 20th-century “Christmas Carol” written by Rod Serling and broadcast in 1964. Original holiday films blossomed on the networks in the ’70s and ’80s, and in the ’90s, cable TV first marketed them as niche programming, Wilson said. This year, there are an estimated 115 new holiday movies on cable and major streaming platforms, including original films on Fox Nation, the Fox News streaming service.If ratings are an indication, the move toward L.G.B.T.Q. story lines isn’t a fluke. Hallmark said “The Christmas House” attracted over two million total viewers in its premiere last month. “Happiest Season” got the biggest audience for any Hulu original film in its opening weekend, according to Hulu.Complaints remain. One Million Moms, the conservative group that took credit for Hallmark’s decision to pull ads last year, is boycotting the company. Some L.G.B.T.Q. advocates are dissatisfied that the husbands in “The Christmas House” take more of a back seat to the film’s straight romance. There’s also disappointment that trans characters and actors are scarce.But for holiday movie fans like Kevin A. Barry, a higher education administrator in West Hollywood, Calif., there’s joy in knowing the days are numbered for watching only straight people smooch under a snow-coated gazebo.“We’ve always had to fight for love,” Barry said. “These movies remind us that love always wins.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Tommy Lister, Actor Who Menaced as Deebo in ‘Friday,’ Is Dead at 62

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best MoviesBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest TheaterBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyTommy Lister, Actor Who Menaced as Deebo in ‘Friday,’ Is Dead at 62The actor was found dead in his California home on Thursday after friends and business associates could not reach him, the authorities said.Tommy Lister’s acting career started in the 1980s, and he also developed a following in wrestling.Credit…Rob Kim/Getty ImagesDec. 11, 2020, 3:57 p.m. ETTommy Lister, a 6-foot-5-inch actor nicknamed Tiny who played the hulking neighborhood bully Deebo in the “Friday” films, has died at his home in Marina del Rey, Calif. He was 62.Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies visited Mr. Lister’s home on Thursday to do a welfare check, urged by friends and business associates who had grown concerned after not hearing from him. Mr. Lister was found dead inside the home, the Sheriff’s Department said.The department said that Mr. Lister’s death was being investigated and that a cause would be determined by the county medical examiner-coroner’s office, but added that the actor’s death “appears to be of natural causes.”Cindy Cowan, Mr. Lister’s friend and manager, said in an interview on Friday that by Wednesday night, none of his friends had heard from him for several days. After one of them knocked on his door and got no answer, the person contacted the authorities. “I think we are all shocked,” she said.Ms. Cowan said that Mr. Lister had struggled with his health after testing positive for the coronavirus several months ago, and that more than a week ago he was unable to keep a meeting at her home because he felt sick and weak. He later told her he was having trouble breathing and was unable to show up to work on a new project last Sunday, Ms. Cowan said.Mr. Lister’s acting career started in the 1980s, with roles in movies including “Runaway Train,” “Blue City” and “Beverly Hills Cop II,” according to his IMDb profile, which lists more than 250 film and television titles.Tributes to the actor from co-stars were shared on social media.Ice Cube, a writer and star of “Friday,” the 1995 comedy that gave Mr. Lister perhaps the signature role of his acting career, praised Mr. Lister as “a born entertainer who would pop into character at the drop of a hat terrifying people on and off camera” before following up with “a big smile and laugh.”Mr. Lister was also cast as President Lindberg in “The Fifth Element” in 1997, and would joke that he was the “first Black president,” Ms. Cowan said.He also gathered a following in the world of wrestling, where he was known as Zeus or the Human Wrecking Machine. He appeared with Hulk Hogan in the film “No Holds Barred” in 1989.Thomas G. Lister Jr. was born on June 24, 1958, in Los Angeles County, according to California birth records.Keith Lister, a brother of Mr. Lister, said the actor was married to Felicia Forbes and had a daughter, Faith, 12. Other survivors included Mr. Lister’s mother, Mildred Edwards Lister, and his siblings Anthony and Jill.During public appearances Mr. Lister would often oblige requests from fans to act out a few lines as the character Deebo, jokingly “scaring” them, Ms. Cowan said.“Then his teddy bear would come out, and he would break into these great, goofy smiles,” she said.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      ‘Wander Darkly’ Review: After Death, a Fractured Life

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best MoviesBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest TheaterBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘Wander Darkly’ Review: After Death, a Fractured LifeIn this drama, Sienna Miller plays a woman who gets to witness her own funeral after a car crash.Sienna Miller and Diego Luna in “Wander Darkly.”Credit…Lionsgate, via Associated PressDec. 11, 2020, 2:50 p.m. ETWander DarklyDirected by Tara MieleDramaR1h 37mFind TicketsWhen you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.Surviving a car crash, even a minor one, is a singular experience. In “Wander Darkly,” a film written and directed by Tara Miele, Adrienne (Sienna Miller) has an extra-singular experience — she dies in her auto accident, but lives on.At the time of the crash, she and her partner Matteo (Diego Luna) are at an impasse. Unmarried, with a child they thought would focus their relationship, they’re angry at each other: Adrienne at Matteo’s inattention, Matteo at Adrienne’s flirtation at a party. After the collision, Adrienne, believing herself a ghost, wanders out of a hospital and to her own funeral. The experience is more “Carnival of Souls” than “Tom Sawyer,” and that’s encouraging.[embedded content]Then Matteo shows up. For reasons never thoroughly rationalized or explained, he can see her, while others can’t. He becomes her docent in scenes from their shared past and possible future. They can converse privately while witnessing various scenarios, just like Marley and Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol.”But instead of a revelation of past sins, we walk through the travails of yet one more generationally vague bourgeois bohemian Los Angeles couple grappling with the question, “What’s the point of us?”Miele presents some interesting, insinuating imagery — a sidewalk that morphs into a wave-lapped beach, a Day of the Dead dance popping up in the middle of an idyllic Saturday-in-the-park scene.But Adrienne and Matteo are, even as insular indie couples go, poorly developed. “You are my calm and my truth,” Adrienne says to Matteo in one scene. Only he doesn’t appear to be anything of the sort. Rather, both characters are attractive, socially presentable people who are ordinarily, aimlessly and stubbornly self-absorbed. Car crash, or baby, or neither, their alliance never seems worth sustaining.Wander DarklyRated R for intense content and language. Running time: 1 hour 37 minutes. In theaters and available to rent or buy on Amazon, Apple TV and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators. Please consult the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before watching movies inside theaters.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      ‘Safety’ Review: It Takes a University to Raise a Child

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best MoviesBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest TheaterBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘Safety’ Review: It Takes a University to Raise a ChildThis Disney+ film isn’t your typical sports or adversity movie; it asks questions of what educational institutions owe to their community.Jay Reeves and Thaddeus J. Mixson II in “Safety.”Credit…Chuck Zlotnik/DisneyDec. 11, 2020, 9:00 a.m. ETSafetyDirected by Reginald HudlinBiography, Drama, SportPGFind TicketsWhen you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.They say it takes a village to raise a child, but in “Safety,” it takes an entire university campus to do so. Overly sentimental traps line the plot of the film, streaming on Disney+. But it scores points for giving its lead characters complicated situations, emotional depth and political dimension.Based on a true story, the movie follows the Clemson University freshman football player Ray McElrathbey (Jay Reeves), affectionately called “Ray Ray” by his peers. The ambitious student athlete has a lot on his plate. When his mother (Amanda Warren) goes into addiction recovery, he’s forced to take care of his younger brother, Fahmarr (Thaddeus J. Mixson), housing him in the dorm. With this new task, Ray Ray’s ability to balance family, school, friends and athletics risks being toppled. That’s when his coaches and teammates step in.[embedded content]“Safety” is, for better, neither a strict sports movie nor a rigid tale of adversity. Banal time management scenes are enlivened by the director Reginald Hudlin’s fun camera swooping and rollicking tumbles as Ray’s life grows dizzyingly busy. Some of the earlier moments in the film, like when Fahmarr hides in increasingly ludicrous spots, have the humor of a heist comedy. And Hudlin intermittently blends in sharp visual gags.But the film’s touchdown is its sincere questioning of what colleges and universities owe to its students and, more broadly, the community around them. Hudlin transforms a film that would be, in lesser hands, a formulaic hardship-as-aesthetic drama, into an earnest examination of what community means on the field, in the classroom and in our society.SafetyRated PG. Running time: 1 hour 58 minutes. Watch on Disney+.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Pinocchio’ and More as Disney Leans Sharply Into Streaming

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘Star Wars,’ ‘Pinocchio’ and More as Disney Leans Sharply Into StreamingThe company unveiled a blitz of new projects on Thursday, including 10 series from the “Star Wars” universe for Disney+, which now has 87 million subscribers. Hulu will also get a major content boost.The Disney+ hit “The Mandalorian” will soon have two spinoffs.Credit…Disney Plus, via Associated PressDec. 10, 2020Updated 7:36 p.m. ETLOS ANGELES — In February, Robert A. Iger stepped down as Disney’s chief executive and became executive chairman, saying he would decamp entirely in 2021. But he saw himself as having one final task. “I want to make sure that our creative pipelines are vibrant,” Mr. Iger said in an interview at the time. “That is very, very important, especially as we roll out Disney+ around the world.”On Thursday, as part of a four-hour investor presentation focused on the future of Disney’s streaming business, Wall Street got a sense of what Mr. Iger was talking about. Never have Disney’s content engines been turbocharged like this.Disney unveiled a blitz of new “Star Wars” projects, including 10 television shows — two of which will be “Mandalorian” spinoffs, another that will follow C-3PO and R2-D2 — and a new theatrical film, “Rogue Squadron,” directed by Patty Jenkins (“Wonder Woman”). Ms. Jenkins will be the first female filmmaker in the 43-year history of the “Star Wars” movie franchise.Patty Jenkins will direct a new “Star Wars” movie called “Rogue Squadron,” becoming the franchise’s first female filmmaker.Credit…Mike Coppola/Getty Images For TNTIn the coming years, 15 movies will be released directly on Disney+, with new installments in the “Ice Age,” “Night at the Museum,” “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” “Sister Act” and “Cheaper by the Dozen” franchises on the way. Amy Adams will star in a sequel to the 2007 musical “Enchanted,” while Tom Hanks will appear as Geppetto in a live-action “Pinocchio.” Multiple sports dramas fill out the slate, including one based on the life of the Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.National Geographic, another Disney division, also announced a flurry of Disney+ shows, including an endurance-focused series starring Chris Hemsworth (“Thor”) and directed by the Oscar-winning Darren Aronofsky.Bob Chapek, Disney’s new chief executive, disclosed that Disney’s flagship streaming service had 87 million subscribers as of Thursday, nearing the high end of its initial five-year goal after only a year in operation. Disney+ has benefited from a low monthly price ($7), a smash hit (“The Mandalorian”) and the coronavirus pandemic, which has prompted Disney to reroute theatrical releases like “Hamilton” to the service and created spiking demand from homebound consumers. (A significant percentage of Disney+ subscribers — nearly 30 percent — come from India, where the monthly subscription price is much lower.)Wall Street has started to value Disney less as an old-line entertainment company with challenged businesses (traditional television networks in secular decline, theme parks closed or operating with coronavirus-forced capacity restrictions) and more of a streaming colossus in the making. Disney shares reached roughly $160 in after-hours trading on Thursday, an all-time high.The out-of-the-gate success of Disney+ has generated much of the excitement. Many analysts initially thought it would be lucky to achieve 55 million subscribers within five years. Having missed the mark in such epic fashion, Wall Street is now more willing to give Disney the benefit of the doubt.But daunting challenges lie ahead. Building streaming services is monstrously expensive, and Disney now has four: Disney+, Hulu (39 million subscribers), ESPN+ (11.5 million) and Star+, an overseas version of Hulu that will roll out in Latin America in the coming months. Losses in Disney’s direct-to-consumer division totaled $2.8 billion in the company’s 2020 fiscal year. The company has given up billions of dollars in licensing fees as it has amassed library content on Disney+ rather than selling to outside companies like Netflix.Disney also faces an increasingly competitive streaming environment. HBO Max, CBS All Access (soon to be renamed Paramount+), Peacock, Apple TV+ and the recently announced Discovery+ are determined to make inroads. Netflix and Amazon continue to pour billions of dollars a year into original programming.A significant portion of the presentation was dedicated to Star, which will be stocked with programming from Disney properties like ABC, FX, Freeform, Searchlight and 20th Century Studios, which Rupert Murdoch sold to Disney last year. In Latin America, Star+ will roll out as a stand-alone service in June and also include some ESPN coverage of sporting events. In Europe, Canada, Australia and several other markets, Star+ will be integrated directly into Disney+, which will add a vast amount of more mature programming to the service (“Deadpool 2,” the “Family Guy” cartoon series), allowing Disney to potentially reach an audience far beyond families.The addition of a Star channel inside Disney+ will also justify a price increase of roughly 28 percent, to about $11 a month.New programming is also headed to the Disney-owned Hulu, including the series “Nine Perfect Strangers,” a mystery from David E. Kelley and starring Regina Hall, Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy — what Dana Walden, chairman of entertainment for Walt Disney Television, called “juicy, can’t-turn-it-off content.” The Disney-owned FX, which funnels its programming to multiple Disney streaming services, is working on a television spinoff of the “Alien” movie franchise and a retelling of “Shogun,” the James Clavell saga, along with a half-dozen other high-profile projects.As part of the presentation, Disney discussed its evolving approach to movie distribution. The coronavirus pandemic has forced Disney and other studios to push back the releases of big-budget films — more than half of the cinemas in the United States are closed — and reroute others to streaming services. In September, Disney debuted “Mulan” on Disney+ as part of a “premium access” experiment, charging subscribers $30 for indefinite access. “Soul,” the latest Pixar film, will arrive on Disney+ on Christmas Day for no additional cost.Disney debuted “Mulan” on Disney+ as part of a “premium access” experiment, charging subscribers $30 for indefinite access.Credit…Jasin Boland/Disney, via Associated PressDisney said that some movies would continue to arrive in theaters for an exclusive play period. Others will follow the “Mulan” model; a coming animated film, “Raya and the Last Dragon,” for instance, will be made available on Disney+ in March for a premium price.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      ‘The Prom’ Review: Showbiz Sanctimony, and All That Zazz

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best MoviesBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest TheaterBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘The Prom’ Review: Showbiz Sanctimony, and All That ZazzRyan Murphy takes on the Broadway hit “The Prom,” with help from Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Keegan-Michael Key.The bright (small) lights of Indiana meet Angie Dickinson glam: Nicole Kidman and Jo Ellen Pellman in “The Prom.”Credit…Melinda Sue Gordon/NetflixDec. 10, 2020, 7:00 a.m. ETThe PromDirected by Ryan MurphyComedy, Drama, MusicalPG-132h 10mFind TicketsWhen you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.Early in Ryan Murphy’s “The Prom,” a Broadway flack starts reading the reviews of a newly opened show about Eleanor Roosevelt, “Eleanor!” The gang’s all here, including the self-adoring stars, Dee Dee Allen (Meryl Streep) and Barry Glickman (James Corden). The drinks and laughs are flowing, and everyone is as lit as their bedazzled outfits. And then the flack starts reading the notice from The New York Times (hiss, boo). “This is not a review you want when you have crappy advance sales,” he bleats. “This is going to close us.”In his review of “The Prom” on Broadway, my Times colleague Jesse Green amusingly reassured readers that this wouldn’t happen, deeming it “a joyful hoot.” It won’t happen with the movie, which is based on the show, for other reasons. “The Prom” starts streaming on Netflix on Friday, which means no amount of cheers or jeers will matter. On Netflix, the movie will sit alongside thousands of other titles, subject only to mysterious algorithms and sheltered from both critics and the box office. Its canny mix of nostalgia and idealism, old-fashioned conservatism and new-age liberalism will hit the spot for some, even if its vision of American unity is hard to recognize right now.In its broad outlines, the story — a show-people lark wed to a morality tale about a teenage lesbian’s triumph — seems unchanged. Called out as unlikable narcissists (who can’t even make a hit), Dee Dee and Barry decide to rehabilitate their tainted reputations with celebrity activism. With their overripe second bananas, the archly named Angie Dickinson and Trent Oliver (Nicole Kidman and Andrew Rannells), they travel to an Indiana town, intent on taking up (uninvited) the cause of the heroine, Emma (Jo Ellen Pellman), a high schooler who’s been barred from bringing her girlfriend to the prom.The theme and the story’s arc emerge when Dee Dee et al. descend on the town, waving placards and trumpeting indignation. “We are here from New York City and we are going to save you,” Barry announces to Emma, who’s embedded in a meeting filled with parents and other students. This joke is soon repeated, as often happens in this movie, where every rose is gilded and every laugh squeezed until it’s dry. “Who are you people?” asks the mother (a misused Kerry Washington) leading the homophobic charge. “We are liberals from Broadway,” Trent says, assuring that Team New York will fall on its smug face while securing its own redemption.The tolerance message in “The Prom” is sincere, no matter how satirically delivered. And it’s easy to imagine that onstage the whole thing came off as charming (as a friend insisted), a quality not in Murphy’s paint box. (The charm of his TV series “Glee” sprang from the youth of his cast and the musical genre itself.) Murphy likes to go big and lightly bonkers, and his aesthetic is best described as Showbiz Expressionism: it’s splashy and ostensibly excessive without being threatening. In contrast to, say, the shocks of John Waters, for whom tastelessness is a revolt (aesthetic, political), Murphy’s excesses are tastefully vulgar strokes rather than a value.The story unwinds with histrionics and homilies, jazz hands and twinkle toes, overly busy camerawork and hookless lung bursters. (Matthew Sklar wrote the music and Chad Beguelin wrote the lyrics and, with Bob Martin, the screenplay.) Some of the songs are cheeky (“we’re gonna help that little lesbian/whether she likes it or not”); others are as earnest as a daily affirmation (“life’s no dress rehearsal”). Taken together, they create a parallel narration that makes swathes of dialogue superfluous. “If you’re not straight,” Emma sings early on, “then guess what’s bound to hit the fan.” Later, she sings “nobody out there ever gets to define/the life I’m meant to lead.”Pellman doesn’t look remotely like a teenager, but her melancholic sweetness is appealing and she has a quality of stillness that creates a much-needed oasis amid Murphy’s insistent din. It helps that, in contrast to her famous co-stars, she hasn’t been directed to oversell every note, whether musical or emotional. With her open face and pretty soprano, she turns her character into a recognizable adolescent and lets you see — and feel — Emma’s yearning, her hurt and belief that something better, more soul-nurturing, waits beyond the prejudices and provincialism of her town. Like Dorothy and countless others, Emma dreams of her place over the rainbow.She gets it, with assistance from her soon humbled, ultimately victorious New York helpers (and the warm presence of Keegan-Michael Key as the principal). How this all goes down is as predictable as expected except that, in the year 2020, it’s also more fantastical than “The Wizard of Oz” at its trippiest. Here, all it takes for bigots to accept Emma and L.G.B.T.Q. rights is for Trent to call them out as hypocrites who should — in a sublimely narcissistic move — be more like their fabulous, righteous interlopers. In other words, if the haters would open their tiny, hard hearts, everything would be fine. You don’t have to be a cynic to know that is a crock. You just need to be an American.The PromRated PG-13 for who knows? Musical theater? Glitter? Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes. Watch on Netflix.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More