Entertainment Central

Just announced, coming to Max (formerly HBO Max). Live-action series filmed over a decade with a speculated season per book. The live-action series, based on all seven books in the series published between 1997 and 2007, will become a “decade-long series produced with the same epic craft, love and care this global franchise is known for”, according to a statement from the newly branded Max. “The series will feature a new cast to lead a new generation of fandom, full of the fantastic detail, much-loved characters and dramatic locations that Harry Potter fans have loved for over 25 years.” “Each season will be authentic to the original books and bring Harry Potter and these incredible adventures to new audiences around the world, while the original, classic and beloved films will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch globally.” JK Rowling will executive-produce the series, alongside Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts. David Heyman, who executive-produced all eight of the Harry Potter feature films (released between 2001 and 2011), is also in talks to executive-produce. I always thought the films cut too much out and didn’t really portray the relationships/friendship between the main three very well due to the time constraints so hopefully this will be good.

Netflix's ad-supported tier will launch 3rd November 4pm GMT (in 12 Countries including the UK) - From £4.99 Unmissable entertainment at unbeatable value: Basic with Adverts will cost just £4.99 a month in the UK and will launch on 3 November at 4pm GMT. Available in 12 countries: Basic with Adverts will be available in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, the UK and the US. A plan for every fan: Our current plans and members will not be impacted. Basic with Adverts complements our existing advert-free Basic, Standard and Premium plans. Basic with Adverts offers all the features people expect from Netflix’s Basic plan, with a few differences: What stays the same: A wide variety of great TV series and films; personalised viewing experience; available on a wide range of TV and mobile devices; change or cancel your plan at any time. What’s different: Video quality up to 720p/HD (now for both our Basic with Adverts and Basic plans); average of 4 to 5 minutes of adverts per hour; a limited number of films and TV series won't be available due to licensing restrictions, which we’re working on; no ability to download titles. In short, Basic with Adverts is everything people love about Netflix, at a lower price, with a few adverts in-between. Starting in November, signing up will be easy – visit Netflix.com, and register with your email, date of birth and gender to get started. Basic with Adverts also represents an exciting opportunity for advertisers – the chance to reach a diverse audience, including younger viewers who increasingly don’t watch linear TV, in a premium environment with a seamless, high-resolution adverts experience. Ad format: At launch, adverts will be 15 or 30 seconds in length which will play before and during series and films. Advertiser controls: To help advertisers reach the right audience and ensure our adverts are more relevant for consumers, we’ll offer broad targeting capabilities by country and genre (e.g. action, drama, romance, sci-fi). Advertisers will also be able to prevent their adverts from appearing on content that might be inconsistent with their brand (e.g. sex, nudity or graphic violence). Verification tools: We have partnerships with DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science to verify the viewability and traffic validity of our adverts starting in Q1 2023 Basic with Adverts will launch just six months after we first announced the option of a lower-priced adverts plan. None of this would have been possible without our team’s hard work or Microsoft’s extraordinary partnership. The switch from linear is happening at an ever-increasing speed, with streaming now surpassing broadcast and cable in the US. We’re confident that with Netflix starting at £4.99 a month, we now have a price and plan for every fan. While it’s still very early days, we’re pleased with the interest from both consumers and the advertising community and couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead. As we learn from and improve the experience, we expect to launch in more countries over time.

Disney has come out of nowhere with a certain “shock and awe” approach to new project announcements, including a large number of new Star Wars TV shows on the way to DisneyPlus. Rangers of the New Republic is a new series set during the same era as The Mandalorian. Likewise set in that same era (and hinted at recently in The Mandalorian), we’re also getting a dedicated series called Ahsoka, focused on Anakin Skywalker’s former Padawan. While it has been known for some time it was in the works, we also got word that Andor is an original series hitting DisneyPlus in 2022, following the spy/operative seen in Rogue One. Obi-Wan Kenobi, a series long desired by fans of the venerable Jedi, is set 10 years after Revenge of the Sith. Previously announced, there was also got a new look at The Bad Batch from Lucasfilm Animation, focused on the unusual squad of troopers seen earlier in the final season of The Clone Wars. Star Wars: Visions is an original series of animated short films, created by a set of some of the “world’s best Japanese anime creators,” set to release in 2021 on DisneyPlus. There is also a new event series called Lando, being developed by Justin Simien, who is known for his previous work on Dear White People. Disney has previously stated that it’s investing significant creative energy into a new era of Star Wars storytelling called the High Republic, set many decades before the prequel trilogy. In addition to the already-announced novels coming to that narrative timeframe, another new Star Wars TV series called The Acolyte has been revealed. Described as a mystery/thriller, and being developed by Leslye Headland, known for her films Bachelorette, Sleeping with Other People, and her co-creation of Russian Doll on Netflix. Lucasfilm Animation is collaborating with Lucasfilm’s visual effects team, ILM, and creating a new adventure film called A Droid Story, in which a new hero will be led through an adventure by R2-D2 and C-3PO. During the announcement, there was also confirmation that Taika Waititi is in active development for his own new Star Wars feature film. Finally, Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins offered up a brief video highlighting her enthusiasm for fighter pilot stories, and her plan to parlay that passion into a new film entitled Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.

LIke a lot of my generation, I am only familiar with Larson's version. I think the old movie serials might actually be floating around on Youtube but that might have been Flash Gordon I saw there. However, if you are interested in seeing "where it all began", Armageddon 2419AD, the original Buck Rogers pulp s-f story is up on Project Gutenberg. I haven't read it but the synopses make it sound rather different from later adaptations. It is most ground-based, with the villain being a "yellow peril" Asian empire that conquered the US rather than an alien empire. IOW, typical early twentieth-century anti-Asian racism. To be fair, there's a bit of a yellow peril feel even in the eighties Draconians so hopefully a new version will find a way to tone that down. As for Gerard returning in the new series, I could see it. The 1990s Flash, John Wesley Shipp, has appeared in multiple roles on the current CW Flash TV series, and the CW DC shows in general have brought back a lot of actors from previous DC adaptations. It's in vogue in other words. I loved the spaceships and hope that, like BSG revival, they keep the basic designs. Twiki and Dr. Theopilos, on the other hand, need to be treated more seriously. I love the idea of New Chicago being ruled by AIs but it was played as a bit of joke on the 80s show. There's some good stories to be had just from playing that more seriously. Another thought is to keep it in the Solar System, even the Draconians. IOW, make it "hard" s-f or at least harder than the old show. New BSG did a good job of hardening this up a bit, at least as far as how spacecraft operated, so it can be done. And, really, that second season where Buck and Wilma were on a starship doing more of a Star Trek thing didn't play as well as the resistance defending the Earth storyline of season 1.

After Netflix cancelled Marvel’s The Punisher after two seasons, fans had hoped to see their fan-favourite superhero series on the television screen once again. A new report suggests that the show might be rebooted in different streaming platforms. However, Jon Berthnal will continue playing the vigilante Frank Castle / Punisher in the reboot show as well. Several sources speculated that the show might be heading towards Disney+ with the same storyline. The Punisher takes place in the same universe as the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer and International chairman, Kevin A. Mayer, once reported that there were high chances for Disney+ to pick up series from Season 2. But, the new report doesn’t support Mayer’s claim. Mikey Sutton, a renowned tipster, reported that Marvel is planning to develop the Punisher series for adult audiences. Since the proposed plan couldn’t be possible with Disney, and Marvel is looking to send the series either to Hulu or FX. The Punisher, without any violence,, would be like an action-comedy. Even fans wouldn’t want to see the PG version of Frank Castle. The Punisher: War Journal Sutton added that the upcoming series would be based on the popular War Journal comic book. If the series moves forward, then it wouldn’t be the continuity of the story arc from Netflix’s The Punisher. The show creators could use the multiverse theory, and introduce another Frank Castle from a different dimension. The revival of the Punisher could also help to make the way for the revival of other fallen shows like Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones. This isn’t the confirmation for now, because Disney might be changing its traditional ways after the acquisition of 20th Century Fox. Ryan Reynolds already confirmed that the third Deadpool movie is in the works with Disney and Marvel Studios. Reynolds’s confirmation simply suggests that the Mouse House is finally heading to develop R-Rated movies. So, The Punisher in Disney isn’t dead, for now.

Amazon has announced that it plans to create a TV show based on the Fallout game series with Westworld creators, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, at the helm. Currently, in pre-production, the techno-thriller drama series is something that Bethesda has wanted for a while, it seems. In a statement, Todd Howard, Executive Producer at the games studio explained, 'over the last decade, we looked at many ways to bring Fallout to the screen.' He continued, 'but it was clear from the moment I first spoke with Jonah and Lisa a few years ago, that they and the team at Kilter were the ones to do it right. We’re enormous fans of their work and couldn’t be more excited to work with them and Amazon Studios.' Due to the very early stages of production, there aren't any concrete details of what to expect here. There are some positive glimmers though. Most notably, in the statement, Joy and Nolan explained that they're keen to 'bring this massive, subversive, and darkly funny universe to life' which should indicate a little bit of what to expect here. That same statement also goes onto point out that the Fallout world is 'serious and harsh in tone, yet sprinkled with moments of ironic humour and B-movie nuclear fantasies' suggesting this will be the crux of the TV series. Nolan and Joy already have a deal with Amazon, working on a techno-thriller drama, The Peripheral, based on the William Gibson novel of the same name, and, of course, Westworld has been a smash hit with a fourth season recently commissioned. So, the pedigree is certainly there for success. Fallout isn't the first games based TV series to be released with The Witcher succeeding remarkably well in recent times and a Halo TV series also currently in the works.

Despite a somewhat disappointing final season I still rank Game of Thrones as my favourite TV show. During lockdown I've been rewatching from the start and the first few seasons were fantastic.