Disney+ no longer offers free trial period

Disney+ is rescinding its free seven-day trial, which it has offered since the streaming service launched in November 2019. It's standard practice for streaming services to offer free trials, but Disney believes its offerings are enough to ask subscribers to pay from the get-go. A Disney spokeswoman told CNET, "The service was set at an attractive price-to-value proposition that we believe delivers a compelling entertainment offering on its own."

This development happens as Disney+ is set to debut the Broadway recording of the hit musical, Hamilton. Perhaps it hopes to draw in new paying subscribers with this move. CNET noted that the company stopped advertising its free trial weeks ago, but the change took place this week. Disney+ costs $8.99 per month or $89.99 per year in Canada.

Disney+ to release 'The Simpsons' in original 4:3 format on May 28

The day has finally come. Disney seems to have hit its target to release The Simpsons in its original 4:3 aspect ratio before May ends. According to tweets from showrunner Al Jean, the new/old format will be available on Disney+ starting May 28. Disney drew flak for releasing all The Simpsons seasons in 16:9 HD format, which resulted in having cut out some key details and even jokes from some of the earlier seasons. The Simpsons only switched to this format sometime in Season 20. But now, all episodes that aired in 4:3 will be available in that format.

MobileSyrup reports that Disney also plans to release The Simpsons short "The Longest Daycare" on Disney+ on May 29. It is a Maggie Simpson-centric short that was shown in theatres before the screenings of 20th Century Fox's Ice Age: Continental Drift.

Timothy Olyphant joins 'The Mandalorian' for season 2

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Rumour has it that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star Timothy Olyphant is the newest star to join the upcoming season of The Mandalorian. The Star Wars series is set to come back this October on Disney+. It isn't known what role Olyphant will play, but that isn't surprising as executive producer and showrunner Jon Favreau and the rest of the production team have kept all things The Mandalorian under wraps. Olyphant joins Temuera Morrison as a rumoured recent addition to the cast. We're hoping to hear more updates soon.

Source: ComingSoon.net

'Percy Jackson' book series is being developed into a TV series for Disney+

Logan Lerman plays Percy in 'Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters' (Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox)

Fans of Percy Jackson and the Olympians will have new content to watch for and be excited over. The book series' author Rick Riordan, together with his wife Becky, announced on Twitter that a new series based on the books is in the early stages of development for Disney+. He said in a follow-up statement, "We can't say much more at this stage but we are very excited about the idea of a live-action series of the highest quality, following the storyline of the original Percy Jackson five-book series, starting with The Lightning Thief in season one. Rest assured that Becky & I will be involved in person in every aspect of the show."

Percy Jackson books follow Percy's adventures, who is a demigod that discovers he's the son of a human mother and the Greek god Poseidon. The books The Lightning Thief and Sea of Monsters were turned into feature films by 20th Century Fox, which was acquired by Disney last year. But so far, there's no indication that those involved in the movies are part of the series.

Source: Variety