Disney

Disney Imagineering tells us the ride will now have more than 250 different variations, up from... well, it depends:

At the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in San Francisco, Disney CEO Bob Iger summarized his gameplan for Marvel and Disney movies to get more butts into theater seats, as reported by Deadline:

We’re just a few days out from the Disney Plus debut of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert film, but in case the March 14th premiere somehow slipped your mind, there’s a new trailer to get you hyped back up.

Fubo sued Warner Bros. Discovery, ESPN, and Fox last month over their planned live sports streaming service. Here’s what Fubo CEO David Gandler had to say about the lawsuit during a conference call:

That’s according to data analytics firm Antenna, which reported that streaming subs grew year-over-year in 2023 — albeit more slowly than previous years — but cancellations were up by 36.2 million versus 2022, and weren’t far behind the number of new subscribers.

ESPN will start feeding VR content to the Meta Quest Xtadium app soon. That includes “immersive 180-degree VR” sports highlights from NCAA basketball and football games, interviews, and other content.

The Department of Justice is planning to review the upcoming sports streaming app from ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox, according to a report from Bloomberg. Sources tell the outlet that regulators will look into whether the service will harm consumers, competitors, and sports leagues once the joint venture is finalized.

The show, originally pitched by showrunner Leslye Headland as “Frozen meets Kill Bill,” will be out in Summer 2024, according to Collider. Disney had previously only confirmed it as coming this year.

Disney CEO Bob Iger had previously targeted next year for the launch of a streaming version of ESPN’s main channel (no watered-down ESPN Plus, just ESPN).

The animated sequel follows Moana and friends on yet another journey at sea, as they venture “into the dangerous, long-lost waters” of Oceania. It hits theaters on November 27th.

A mix of 42 popular Disney flicks, including Finding Nemo, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens are headed to the Vision Pro headset in 3D. Disney Plus subscribers will get access to the whole catalog, but non-subscribers can still rent or buy 3D movies from the Apple TV app.

The Awesomer pointed to this screen recording of someone doing just that on YouTube. But that’s no fun, so here’s an Internet Archive link to the requisite files, uploaded the day Steamboat Willie’s version of Mickey Mouse entered the public domain this year.

Former TechCrunch EIC Matthew Panzarino got to touch it — something we’d heard was beyond the reach of mere mortals who don’t work for Disney Parks.

Disney announced the Clone Wars spinoff’s renewal during its Celebration event last spring, and now fans can actually see it before it premieres on Disney Plus with three episodes starting February 21st.

Is apparently a question Marvel’s What If...? is going to ask when its third season hits Disney Plus at some point in the future.

Disney’s Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire was a gorgeous example what kind of magic the entertainment giant could work by collaborating with African animation studios.

I’m very intrigued by the Holo Tile demo that the Disney Parks YouTube account posted earlier this week. It’s a little like an omnidirectional VR treadmill that multiple people can use (just, you know, very slowly).

Chapek and Masimo aren’t names I expected to see linked together!

The lawsuit from movie financier TSG Entertainment alleged that Disney used tricky accounting to withhold millions of dollars from it. For instance, TSG believes it was underpaid by “at least $40 million” for The Shape of Water, making it harder to invest in other films, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Rumors have said Disney wants the NBA and NFL to become part owners of its sports network. A Friday New York Post report indicates that’s close to reality for the NFL, which is said to be in “advanced talks” to gain an equity stake in ESPN.