Disney CEO Bob Iger Says Company “Embarking On A Significant Transformation” As Parks Power Quarterly Financials, Streaming Losses Narrow

Daron James Along with its record setting box office numbers and four Oscar nominations, “Avatar: The Way of Water” brings a “Metkayina” wave of impressive next-gen technology that will undeniably set new industry standards in motion capture, animation and underwater photography.  The original facial motion capture rig that also impressively immersed Andy Serkis as Gollum and Caesar, received an overhaul. Not only physically but also in the way the software replicates a performance.  “We looked at how the muscles in the face, eyes and lips are all related and created a neural network that maps all the connections between them,” says senior VFX supervisor Joe Letteri. “This gave us this sympathetic motion in the actor’s face which allowed us to translate the performance to the character and make each frame more believable.” 

Kali Uchis took to Instagram yesterday (February 27) to call on her followers to stop drinking alcohol.Sharing an Instagram story, Uchis wrote “Please stop drinking liquor!!! There are spiritual consequences & no one can convince me otherwise. The root of the word “Alcohol” comes from Arabic “al-kuhl” which means “BODY EATING SPIRIT”.She added: “By consuming it into the body, it extracts the very essence of the soul, allowing the body to be more susceptible to LOW frequencies & even demonic energies.“It takes us away from our purest selves & our good soul.

Prince William and Kate Middleton took a little spin during their series of engagements on Tuesday. The Prince and Princess of Wales had an impromptu 45-second race while visiting the Aberavon Leisure and Fitness Centre in Port Talbot.Their business casual attire didn't get in the way, as Kate — who wore a skirt, sweater and heels, hopped on the bike and defeated her husband — who sported his usual smart blue suit.At the start of the race, Kate, 41, showed off her competitive nature as she adjusted the resistance on her bike.

The Academy continued its slow rollout of Best Original song performers for the 95th Academy Awards today. After already announcing Rihanna, Sofia Carlson, Dianne Warren and David Byrne, executive producers and showrunners Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner and executive producer Molly McNearney revealed that “Naatu Naatu” from “RRR” will also grace the Oscars stage.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer In the Season 2 finale of “The Mandalorian” — which first streamed on Disney+ on Dec. 18, 2020, over two years ago — Mando (Pedro Pascal) bid a moving farewell to Grogu, handing over his adorably wee ward to Grogu’s new Jedi master, Luke Skywalker (played by a digitally de-aged Mark Hamill). The wrenching final scene culminated in Mando removing his helmet — violating the core precept of Mandalorian doctrine — so Grogu could see his face for the first time. It felt like the definitive end of a two-season journey, one painstakingly crafted by executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni to reset the show and send it into a new storytelling galaxy. As the trailers for Season 3 of “The Mandalorian” have already made clear, however, the new season will begin on March 1 with Mando and Grogu back together. It’s almost as if the events of the Season 2 finale hadn’t happened.

Todd Gilchrist editor Even with predecessors such as  “Paths of Glory,” “A Very Long Engagement,” “1917” and of course Lewis Milestone’s 1930 best picture winner of the same name, director Edward Berger’s adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s bestseller “All Quiet on the Western Front” conveys the meat-grinder brutality — the violence, the blood, and the mud — of trench warfare unlike almost any film in the history of the medium.  “These kids are chewed up by the merciless war machine,” says Berger. “They sign up for this war full of hopes and ideals, but very quickly they realize that they have lost everything in the mud, especially their innocence and their youth.”

A post shared by Ben Kweller (@benkweller)Benadded, “My last text with him was about the merch he wanted to make. My baby boy was at the starting line with so much life ahead of him… I have no idea why things like this happen.

Tory Lanez has come to an end. On Dec.

Ozzy Osbourne is setting the record straight. On the latest episode of SiriusXM's Ozzy Speaks, Osbourne sat down with co-host Billy Morrison and gave an update on his health and touring status.“I’ve been working my guts out to try and get back on my feet. I’ve come to the point where Sharon says to me, ‘You know what, the truth of the marriage, you can't keep booking tours and failing, canceling," the singing legend said. Earlier this month, Osbourne made the difficult decision to end his touring career.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Reelz, the small independent cable network behind the live P.D. series “On Patrol: Live,” has landed distribution on Peacock. Reelz’s linear feed will be available to Peacock Premium and Peacock Premium Plus subscribers starting March 1. Some Reelz library content, including next-day episodes of “On Patrol: Live,” will also be available on-demand on the platform. Reelz programming also includes “On Patrol: First Shift,” “Jail,” “Cops,” “Autopsy: The Last Hours of…” and more. The deal means Peacock subscribers will be able to stream “On Patrol: Live” on Peacock as it airs live on Reelz every Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to midnight ET.

Variety Staff Follow Us on Twitter Variety has promoted Michelle Fine-Smith to Senior VP of Global Consumer Partnerships. Based in New York, Fine-Smith manages Variety’s consumer teams on both coasts, overseeing sales across digital, social, branded content, print and live and virtual events. She has driven multiplatform programs for such top brands as Audible, DirecTV, Cadillac, City National Bank, Chanel, Google, Meta, TikTok and United Airlines. She joined Variety in 2008 and continues to report to Michelle Sobrino-Stearns, CEO and Group Publisher of Variety. “Michelle has transformed consumer brand partnerships for Variety with creative initiatives that integrate our diverse portfolio,” Sobrino-Stearns said. “Her passion, leadership and collaborative approach drove Variety in 2022 to the most successful year ever for our global consumer business.”

Julia MacCary editor Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult’s vampire horror-comedy “Renfield” will get its world premiere at the Overlook Film Festival on March 30. Hoult (“The Menu,” “About a Boy”) stars as Renfield, the tortured aide to Dracula, who is being played by Cage (“Face/Off,” “The Rock”). Chris McKay (“The Tomorrow War,” “The Lego Movie”) directed the film, and Ryan Ridley (“Rick and Morty,” “The Wastelander”) penned it. Additional cast members include Awkwafina, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Brandon Scott Jones and Ben Schwartz. Lee Cronin’s “Evil Dead Rise” will close out the festival on April 2. Lily Sullivan and Alyssa Sutherland star in the film about estranged sisters reuniting, only to have flesh-possessing demons force them into a battle to survive. Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi and Bruce Campell produced the film.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Dish Network is working to recover from a cyberattack that disrupted its internal servers and customer-service operations — and said the hack may have resulted in the theft of personal information. On Feb. 23, Dish execs announced on the operator’s earnings call that the company had experienced a network outage. After an investigation by cyber-security experts and outside advisers, Dish determined that the outage was due to “a cyber-security incident and notified appropriate law enforcement authorities,” the company disclosed in an SEC filing Tuesday. On Monday, Feb. 27, Dish said, it “became aware that certain data was extracted from the corporation’s IT systems as part of this incident” and said it’s possible that an investigation “will reveal that the extracted data includes personal information.”

elena Gomez, Kylie Jenner, and Hailey Bieber are circulating online prompting Selena to take a social media break, Selena's younger sister, Gracie Teefey, is enjoying hanging out with Kylie's niece, North West.In a four-part series of videos posted to North and her mom, Kim Kardashian's, joint TikTok account, the two girls and longtime friends make homemade pasta together and goof off in the kitchen while making a mess.Gracie puts her hair into two braids, prompting North to tease her, saying, «OK, Wednesday,» and even imitating the viral Wednesday Addams dance online.Gracie later claims she looks like «Cindy Lou Who» and the two girls break into a chorus of «Where are you, Christmas?»They don't mind making a mess, putting flour on each other's noses and mixing the eggs into the flour on the countertop. At one point, North even admits to farting on camera, proudly declaring, «Ooo, that's a stinky one.»Part three yaGo to part forPart fiveThe fun between friends comes as there seems to be some drama brewing online between Gracie's sister, Selena, and North's aunt, Kylie, and family pal, Hailey.After Kylie seemingly squashed fan theories that she and Hailey were shading Selena's eyebrows online calling them «reaching,» Selena publicly agreed, calling the conversation «all unnecessary» and adding, «I’m a fan of Kylie!»But shortly after a resurfaced clip of Hailey pretending to gag at the mention of Selena's bestie, Taylor Swift, prompted Selena to reply, «So sorry, my best friend is and continues to be one of the best in the game,» on the video, which called Bieber a “mean girl.«The back and forth caused Selena to take a brief break from social media, saying, „I'm 30, I'm too old for this. But I love you guys so much.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Welcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.” Ever since I broke the news that is playing Madame Morrible in Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked” movies, she has been saying that the films will mark her singing debut. However, Yeoh’s biggest fans have posted videos on social media of her showing off her vocal chops while singing the theme song of her 1993 movie “Butterfly and Sword.” Yeoh laughed when I brought it up at the Mandarin Oriental-hosted dinner in honor of her Oscar nomination for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” “That was so many years ago in Taiwan,” she said. At the time, she asked the song’s lyricist to make things simple for her. “I said to him, ‘I don’t sing, and I don’t speak Mandarin. Can you please not have many words?’” Yeoh recalled. “But then the first time he showed me, I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Singer-songwriter Ben Kweller’s 16-year-old son, Dorian Zev Kweller, died on Monday, the singer confirmed. Kweller’s wife Liz wrote in a social media post that Dorian died in a car accident. Dorian was an aspiring musician and released several songs under the name Zev.A post shared by Ben Kweller (@benkweller) “There’s no way that I can be typing this but I am…. Our son, Dorian Zev Kweller, was killed last night,” Ben Kweller wrote in statement posted to Instagram on Tuesday. “He was only 16 and he was a true legend. Kindest, gentle soul, a friend to all. If you knew him, you know. We’ll never get over him as long as we’re here on earth. Please keep his spirit alive with your memories and the music he made: @reallyzev.”

Aubrey Plaza was not in a bad mood or annoyed while onstage Sunday night at the SAG Awards. And now her co-star, Jon Gries, can vouch for that.In an interview with, Gries revealed what exactly was said onstage between him and Plaza as co-star F. Murray Abraham accepted the SAG Award for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Star Wars actor Liam Neeson has spoken out against the explosive growth of the Lucasfilm franchise, expressing the belief that it’s been damaged by the constant churning out of spin-offs.

Tatiana Siegel On Nov. 20, Disney shocked Hollywood when it announced that Bob Iger would return as CEO after less than a year away. Two days later, Disney’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” landed a coveted China release. Then, the sci-fi film received a rare release extension in China that allowed it to run through Feb. 14, enabling it to gross more than $240 million in the country.  Though Disney insiders say China’s embrace of “Avatar” was unrelated to Iger’s return, its success and a string of good fortune for the company has raised eyebrows at rival studios. That’s because after seeing its Marvel releases denied entry to China for nearly four years, Disney recently announced that “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” were being waved into the country. (“Avengers: Endgame” in 2019 was the last Disney Marvel movie to secure a release in the Middle Kingdom, earning $632 million there.) And if things seem cozier between Disney and China, there’s no missing that a recent “Simpsons” episode that took a shot at the country’s human rights record never appeared on Disney+ in Hong Kong. The episode’s infraction involved a bit where a virtual tour guide tells Marge: “Behold the wonders of China. Bitcoin mines, forced labor camps where children make smartphones.” That joke was enough for the episode to receive the boot. The “Simpsons” move represents a stark difference from Disney’s recent approach elsewhere in Asia, where it chose to forego the release of titles including “Thor” and “Lightyear” rather than cave to pressure from censors over those films’ LGBTQ characters.

Paramount is betting that new and existing subscribers to Paramount+ are big fans of Showtime. Executives touted thr integration of the streaming service and the cable television channel as a key justification for raising prices for the direct-to-consumer service’s premium tier Thursday as they discussed the media giant’s earnings.  Later this year, the top tier of Paramount+ will rise from $9.99 per month to $11.99 per month.

EXCLUSIVE: HBO content, including tentpoles such as House of The Dragon and Succession, is on the verge of moving from Indian platform Disney+ Hotstar, where it has been streaming since 2016, according to local industry sources. 

Disney shares slid into red numbers Thursday after jumping 5% earlier in the day on the news that activist investor Nelson Peltz has ended his proxy fight with the company.

The Walt Disney Company announced details Thursday of its strategic restructuring, which will, according to an official release, “refocus the organization on creativity, empower creative leaders and ensure they are accountable for all aspects of their businesses globally, and put the company’s streaming business on a path to sustained growth and profitability.” This offers some clarification and insight into the expanded roles of top executives Alan Bergman, Dana Walden and Jimmy Pitaro, first announced during the February 2023 earnings call with CEO Bob Iger on Wednesday. Thursday’s announcement states that, effective immediately, the company will be organized into (and around) three business segments: Disney Entertainment, ESPN and Disney Parks, Experiences and Products (aka DPEP, which was created by Iger in 2018).

Disney CEO Bob Iger today called Marvel chairman Isaac Perlmutter’s backing of activist investor Nelson Peltz “a curious dynamic.”

Disney CEO Bob Iger said today that he’s open to selling Hulu — instead of forking over billions of dollars to buy out Comcast’s stake in the streaming platform.

Activist investor Nelson Peltz said this morning that he’s ending his proxy fight againt Disney after CEO Bob Iger announced sweeping restructuring and cost cutting plans yesterday alongside the company’s latest quarterly earnings.

Deadline reports that Disney CEO Bob Iger had good and bad news on a Q1 earnings call yesterday. The bad first: Disney initiates a $5.5 billion cost-saving plan that nixes 7,000 jobs across the entire company.

Disney CEO Bob Iger on Wednesday reaffirmed the company’s longstanding guidance to investors that its streaming business will become profitable by the end of fiscal 2024.

Bob Iger said Wednesday that ESPN is not for sale, though that possibility was explored by the previous regime.

The Walt Disney Company will be laying off thousands of employees as a part of a new round of cost cutting measures, CEO Bob Iger revealed today.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company has asked its board to reinstate the dividend by the end of the calendar year. The payouts, beloved by investors, especially Disney’s legion of retail shareholders, was stopped abruptly during Covid to conserve cash.

Animated sequels to Toy Story, Frozen and Zootopia are in the works, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced on today’s Q1 earnings call.

Disney is moving back closer to how things used to be run on the content side with the creation of a new Disney Entertainment unit that will encompass TV and film.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said a new attraction based on the Avatar franchise will hit Disneyland soon.

Disney is reorganizing its sprawling businesses under three core segments — Entertainment, ESPN and Parks, Experiences & Products — as CEO Bob Iger moves to restructure the company.

Walt Disney is targeting $5.5 billion in cost savings, including $3 billion in non-sports related content, CEO Bob Iger said today on a meaty call after earnings where he detailed a company-wide restructuring.