Once the public face of squeaky-clean, harmless family entertainment, the Walt Disney Corporation has evolved into a widespread conglomerate known as much for the properties it controls as the films it produces. With subsidiaries including Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, National Geographic, A&E, 20th Century Fox, ESPN, Hulu, and Pixar, Disney has a commanding control of some of the world’s most lucrative franchises, plus an extensive library of film and TV classics. Its streaming service Disney+ signals a new interest in controlling its own online distribution, setting aside decades of licensing partnerships. Follow along with The Verge as we look at Disney’s new films and shows, and its strategies for dominating the box office and the streaming dollar.
In addition to revealing a new Marvel-themed Fortnite season, Disney and Epic Games also announced at D23 that three Disney villains (Maleficent, Cruella de Vil and Captain Hook), three Incredibles characters (seemingly Mr. Incredible, Mrs. Incredible, and Frozone), and two Star Wars characters (IG-11 and Moff Gideon — and a new Grogu backbling) are coming to the game.
Disney invested $1.5 billion in Epic Games earlier this year.
While Fox will show most of it, Simpsons executive producers said at Disney’s D23 showcase that some episodes from the show’s 36th season will only show on Disney Plus, according to Variety.
The episodes include a Christmas one titled “O Come All Ye Faithful” on December 17th. The streamer will also get an exclusive Halloween-themed short in October.
At its D23 showcase, Disney Imagineering showed off HoloTile, a very fancy floor that lets you move things on it or stay in place while you walk. It uses tilting, circular discs that spin in synchrony, moving the “floor” as you walk.
The middle video below shows what each of those pieces looks like.
The world likes Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman’s team-up, which injected Deadpool into the MCU and brought Jackman’s Wolverine (and lots of other Marvel characters) along for the ride.
Deadpool & Wolverine has made $1.029 billion at the global box office, through today, putting it just a little behind 2019’s Joker as the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, according to Deadline.
Correction: Deadpool & Wolverine made $1.029 billion, not $1,029 billion.
During the Horizons: Disney Experiences panel at this year’s D23 event, Kevin Feige announced that Marvel’s next collab will, unsurprisingly, revolve around Doctor Doom. But the most promising thing about the event’s trailer is the number of X-Men (like Emma Frost) who popped up.
Pixar posted a short Toy Story 5 tease during D23 2024 last night that featured brief, wordless animations of the characters Woody, Buzz, and Jessie.
Some folks on social media realized the animations look a lot like those from a certain Apple Watch face. The video below, spotted by 9to5Mac, drives it home.
But Disney’s live-action/CGI Lilo and Stitch feature will hit theaters next summer.
If Rachel Zegler’s live-action Snow White wasn’t so busy humming and whistling while she worked in the film’s new trailer, she might notice that Gal Gadot’s Evil Queen is clearly trying to poison her.
Even though Marvel’s Agatha All Along Disney Plus series is going to be something of a comedy, its latest trailer is big on witchy vibes that’ll be perfect for its September 18th two-episode premiere.
We knew Disney Plus’ new Star Wars: Skeleton Crew series (out December 3rd) would feature Jude Law as clever Force user, but the show’s first trailer is all about the kids getting into Goonies-style space mischief.
Disney chief creative officer and Frozen co-director Jennifer Lee took to the stage at this year’s D23 to announce that the Frozen 3 will debut some time in 2027, and be followed up by a subsequent film.
Pixar closed out its D23 presentation with some solid news: Incredibles 3 is in the works.
Look like modern electronics (read: tablets) are going to be the hot new toys in Toy Story 5, which now seems to be coming out in “Summer 2026.”
Though Pixar’s Elio was initially slated to debut next March, during its presentation at this year’s D23 expo, the studio announced that it will now hit theaters sometime in the summer.
After spending two films knocking around Riley’s waking mind, Disney is taking the Inside Out franchise in a new direction with Dream Productions. It’s a Disney Plus series (out next year) about how dreams are kinda sorta like movies.
Disney kicked off its big Entertainment Showcase at this year’s D23 with a new Moana 2 trailer that reveals more about how its titular wayfinder will set sail to reconnect the islands across Oceania.
A multiverse kinda feels like the last thing Star Wars needs right now, but the first trailer for Disney Plus’ LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy mini(fig)series actually makes its premise seem like the rare modern Luke Skywalker story that might liven up the franchise when it premieres on September 13th.
Visit the “Disney Horizons Live from D23” island in Fortnite (island code 7908-6413-2516) at 11:30PM ET on August 10th to catch the show. If you miss it live, the in-game island will be available until August 16th, where the presentation will be on a loop.
After Disney agreed to buy Comcast’s 33 percent stake in Hulu with an initial payment of $8.6 billion, the two companies entered arbitration to determine Hulu’s fair value. Now, Disney says in an SEC filing that it could end up paying up to $5 billion depending on the outcome of arbitration.
In the Apple Vision Pro, that is. Disney Plus has rolled out a National Geographic edition virtual environment for its visionOS app that lets you watch movies in a snowy corridor in Iceland’s Thingvellir National Park.
The environment uses “3D models captured on-site using photogrammetry,” according to Disney’s announcement. When you watch a movie, it turns dark and shows you the Northern Lights!
It’s probably going to be a while before we see some of Disney Plus’ new Doctor Who spin-off series, but Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor will be back this winter in a new Christmas special featuring Nicola Coughlan.
Disney says the movie has now passed $1.462 billion globally, making it the top-grossing animated film ever, passing the likes of Frozen II and the Super Mario Bros. Movie. It also remains the highest-grossing film of 2024 so far.
Beneath the dick jokes and solid X-Men cameos, Deadpool & Wolverine feels like Marvel’s way of admitting how much of a mess its multiverse era has been.
Season 1 of The Acolyte was a master class in deepening Star Wars’ lore rather than just playing into its nostalgic past.
Though it seemed like the Russo brothers were ready to put the Marvel Cinematic Universe behind them, the duo are in early talks to direct both Avengers: Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars according to The Hollywood Reporter.
