Disney’s new ‘Star Wars’ and Marvel films to its own streaming service instead of Netflix

We heard last month that Disney planned to put up its own streaming service set to come out late 2019. And that meant it’ll be pulling out of their deal with Netflix that just took effect about a year ago. While we knew that the upcoming Disney films that will be coming out that year will be available on that service instead of on Netflix, the Star Wars and Marvel films were a mystery. Until now that is. Disney CEO Bob Iger announced at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2017 Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference that upcoming movies like the fourth Avengers film, Frozen 2, the live action The Lion King, and Star Wars: Episode IX will be shown on its own service instead of on Netflix. Disney’s streaming service will also be home to four exclusive movies and between four and five TV shows.

But for the upcoming immediate Marvel and Star Wars titles. Those still have a home at Netflix. These include Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and the untitled Han Solo movie. We don’t know what the fate of the Netflix-exclusive Marvel shows will be, though.

Source: Android Authority

‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ loses its director

Red Carpet Report on Mingle Media TV/Flickr

Trouble is brewing yet again at Disney and Lucasfilm. The upcoming last film to the current Star Wars trilogy just lost its director Colin Trevorrow. Disney issued a statement about the news saying, “Lucasfilm and Colin Trevorrow have mutually chosen to part ways on Star Wars: Episode IX. Colin has been a wonderful collaborator throughout the development process, but we have all come to the conclusion that our visions for the project differ. We wish Colin the best and will be sharing more information about the film soon.” The company has yet to name a replacement. According to Variety’s sources, the split was caused by differences regarding script treatment. The news comes out a month after Wonder screenwriter Jack Thorne was brought on by Disney to polish the film’s script. Trevorrow and his writing partner Derek Connolly were the ones who penned the most recent draft of the script.

Disney announced that Trevorrow was working on Episode IX back at the August 2015 D23 Expo. He was fresh off directing the hugely successful Jurassic World film. Episode IX is expected to hit theatres two years from now on May 24^th with filming expected to start early next year. Whether this news will affect the schedule, we can’t say yet. Trevorrow joins the likes of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who were booted from the Han Solo spinoff, and Fantastic Four director Josh Trank, who was supposed to direct a standalone Star Wars spinoff.

‘Star Wars’ BB-8 gets an evil twin?

Just in time for Force Friday II, when merch for the upcoming Star Wars film comes out, Disney together with Sphero unveiled new droids we’ve definitely been looking for. One is a tiny incarnation of R2-D2 (at least that’s what it looks like to us based on the video) and another is what Hollywood Reporter calls the evil twin trope incarnation of Star Wars: The Force Awakens’s BB-8. Called BB-9E (or if Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson had his way, BB-H8), the new droid will be debuting in the Dec. 15 film as part of the Astromech unit of the First Order. BB-9E helps keep the starships and machinery running. The toy itself is being called a “rolling menace” and you see it toppling a Jenga tower in the video above.

The BB-9E is almost identical to BB-8, down to the markings on the body, but this time it comes in black and gray and has a more angular head and a red-eye, making it look similar to Darth Vader with his helmet on. The BB-9E will be available for US$149.99 (around CA$190), while if you’re more interested in R2-D2, the iconic droid goes for US$179.99 (around CA$220).

Source: Variety

Disney set to leave Netflix, plans to launch own streaming service in 2019

Looks like Disney wants a piece of the streaming service pie. The company plans to end its distribution deal with Netflix to launch its own service, which they plan to unveil two years from now and it’ll come first to the US and then internationally. It seems like a natural move for Disney with its big library of movies and shows to offer, which they’ve kept mostly close to their chest. The Netflix deal, which was secured back in 2012, only took into effect last year, so this is going to be a big blow to the streaming giant.

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