Even With Disney+’s Looming Price Hike, Streamer Is ‘Way Underpriced,’ Says CEO Bob Chapek

Magna also still expects growth for 2023, but with consumer product companies, finance and retail all coming in below average, and a lack of cyclical events weighing down growth.One factor that will be in play is that more states are likely to legalize online gambling, with Ohio likely and the large states of Texas, California and Florida lining up as possibilities.“Finally, there’s hope that the automotive vertical may start to recover in 2023 after two years of decline in car sales and advertising activity,” the report said.

Joshua Alston From the beginning, Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi has approached his career as an artist who would sooner toil in obscurity than be renowned for just one thing. Just two years after dropping “A Kid Named Cudi,” the mixtape that launched him into the spotlight, he was cast in “How to Make It in America,” a short-lived HBO-originals deep cut. In the decade since that show ended in 2011, he’s earned a reputation for bouncing willy-nilly between genres, mediums, and disciplines, and the choices that once seemed fickle now seem confidently eclectic.  Never has Mescudi looked more like a polymath than with the debut of “Entergalactic,” an animated Netflix special timed to the release of his new studio album (also dropping on Sept. 30), which bears the same title. “Entergalactic” was initially announced in 2019 as a series to be created by Mescudi and Kenya Barris, but has since been whittled down to a 90-minute special (which Netflix is calling an “event”). In its final form, the special feels like it’s being torn in several artistic directions at once, not unlike Mescudi himself. The length and formal relationship with the album suggest a Beyoncé-style visual companion piece, heavy on style and symbolism but without a narrative throughline. (Halsey’s “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power” is a solid non-Bey example.)

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic A middling movie with a must-see performance at its core, “The Good House” does something interesting with the notion of the unreliable narrator. As the unfortunately named Hildy Good (blame novelist Ann Leary, not married filmmakers Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky for that decision), Sigourney Weaver brings deceptive self-confidence to the role of a small-town Realtor. We meet Hildy introducing a couple to the fictional New England fishing village of where the Good family has lived for so long, there’s talk of witches in their past. But Hildy can’t be trusted — not because her character is bad (she’s Good, get it?), but because she’s in denial. “I can walk through a house once and know more about its occupants than a psychiatrist … could in a year of sessions,” Hildy boasts, addressing the audience directly. In truth, she’s not talking to us so much as she is rationalizing things to herself. The slyly insightful way Forbes (“Infinitely Polar Bear”) and Wolodarsky (who spent years writing for animation) have constructed “The Good House,” watching Hildy throw down boss energy to clients and the camera is like being inside her head, where the first person she has to convince that she’s in control is herself. We buy it — for a time — but the characters don’t, and that mismatch is the crux of all that follows.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. In HBO’s “The Rehearsal,” Nathan Fielder ended up creating one of the most polarizing series on TV when he set out to broadcast a morally precarious social experiment in which he helped prepare willing participants for certain moments in their life by rehearsing them over and over and over again. With the help of paid actors and elaborately designed sets, he acted the part of a master manipulator who was able to convince a rotating cast of real people that one could perfect any future interaction they might have with enough preparation. Fielder’s dry humor in “The Rehearsal” is of the same breed we saw in his previous Comedy Central show “Nathan for You,” if not a bit more sardonic — and for all the people that hate him for it is a legion of fans who have became obsessed with his genius satire, out-of-the-box thinking and “hot dad vibes.” If you are of the latter camp, then a Nathan Fielder Halloween costume might have already crossed your mind. And the best part about it? All you need is one prop that anyone who saw the HBO series will recognize (and it’s one you can actually make use of all year round). While rehearsing his scenes with the participants, Fielder was never without his handy laptop harness, which he buckled around his waist so he could type and direct orders while pacing around the set. Dressing up as Fielder for Halloween? Strap on this laptop harness and pair it with a grey crewneck sweater for a can’t-go-wrong costume this year. Courtesy of Amazon

Ed Meza @edmezavar Attending the Zurich Film Festival for the screening of his latest film, “The Good Nurse,” Eddie Redmayne spoke about his desire to work with director Tobias Lindholm, the joy of watching Jessie Buckley’s performance in “Cabaret” and the disappointment of missing out on “Games of Thrones.” “The Good Nurse,” which Variety’s Tomris Laffly describes as “soulful” and “devastating,” tells the true story of nurse Charles Cullen, who confessed to murdering at least 29 patients but who may have in fact murdered as many as 400 people, and fellow nurse Amy Loughren (Jessica Chastain), who helped solve the case. It’s based on the book “The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness and Murder,” by Charles Graeber.

Marta Balaga “Dalíland” star Ben Kingsley felt the presence of the famous painter when making his latest film, directed by Mary Harron. “Some days [Salvador Dalí] would come, saying: ‘I will just sit here for a while. Put your brush on the canvas and good luck.’ Later on, I really felt he allowed me to make an attempt at portraying him,” he told Variety during an online press conference at Zurich Film Festival. “He was mercurial, deliberately tried to wrong-foot people and quite difficult to pin down apart from the voice, the moustache, the eyes. We actually looked at several versions of his famous moustache. One could think: ‘It’s just a moustache!’ But it was his vigor, his eccentricity. His signature.”

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Two decades ago, as the turn-of-the-century NYC indie-rock scene burst out of its East Village and Williamsburg incubators, few probably expected that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs would end up having the most wide-ranging career of the bunch. After all, a trio consisting of a wiz-kid guitarist, powerhouse drummer and a fireball lead singer might have made for explosive shows and a scrappy, deceptively diverse debut EP, but with no shade intended to the Strokes, Interpol, LCD Soundsystem, TV on the Radio and all the others, the multiple musical directions the band would go did not seem to be in the cards. The Yeahs had the first hit single of the pack (2003’s “Maps”) and varied their approach with each successive album, peaking with 2009’s unexpectedly electronic-heavy “It’s Blitz.” That album represented the end of that particular thread: The group released one more, rockier album “Mosquito” in 2013 (which, significantly, fulfilled their major-label contract) and then basically went on hiatus. In the years since, singer Karen O released a stellar collaboration with Danger Mouse, “Lux Prima” and co-composed the score for the animated film “Where Is Anne Frank?,” guitarist Nick Zinner also scored films and worked with Phoebe Bridgers and Songhoy Blues, and drummer Brian Chase started his own label. Such hiatuses are often permanent, but the group reunited for a tour in 2017, and five years and a pandemic later, there’s finally a reunion album — and it continues the group’s evolution with a powerful, more seasoned take on their earlier sounds.

William Earl The Gotham Film & Media Institute (The Gotham) announced today the launch of The Gotham/Variety Audio Honors, presented by Wondery, a groundbreaking initiative dedicated to recognizing the boldest voices in the ever-expanding world of audio storytelling. The honorees have been selected in recognition of their innovations in audio storytelling by a committee of distinguished audio industry professionals, chaired by award-winning podcast creator, producer and new host of NPR’s “It’s Been a Minute,” Brittany Luse. The Gotham/Variety Audio Honors are set to take place in person as a luncheon and a staged presentation in New York City on Friday, Oct. 14. “As an organization dedicated to celebrating and nurturing independent creators, we are proud to recognize these brilliant, innovative, and groundbreaking audio storytellers,” said Jeffrey Sharp, Executive Director of The Gotham Film & Media Institute. “As audio content reaches a pivotal point of engagement and innovation, it is crucial that we launch new platforms of recognition, such as The Gotham/Variety Audio Honors, to celebrate the most daring creators in our industry.”

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor People who want to watch ABC News’ “Nightline” no longer have to stay up past 12:30 in the morning. The venerable late-night news show, perhaps the last weekday word in the daily broadcast news cycle, is taking a step into streaming video, with a weekly newsmagazine counterpart that aims to burnish new storytelling tactics for subscribers to Hulu. The first half-hour broadcast of “Impact x Nightline” debuts Thursday, Oct. 6. The new series, produced by the same ABC News team that makes daily “Nightline,” will home in on streaming viewers and the things that will keep them interested, says Eman Varoqua, the program’s executive producer. If you’re looking to see an ABC News anchor sitting behind a desk, you won’t see it here, she vows: “You’ll see them on the ground, in the field, really conducting the interviews, and taking you to the heart of the story,” she says. “It’s very much a ‘journey’ style of reporting, and they will be right there, taking the viewers through the story and all its complexities.”

Andrew Barker Senior Features Writer In September 1963, the first ever New York Film Festival was held in Manhattan’s Lincoln Center, and it counted as something of an experiment, an early test case as to whether the sort of serious, artistically inclined fests that were quickly becoming established in Europe could find real purchase stateside. The inaugural lineup included Luis Buñuel’s “Exterminating Angel,” Roman Polanski’s debut, “Knife in the Water,” and Yasujirō Ozu’s swan song “An Autumn Afternoon.” According to a Film Comment report at the time, the inaugural fest sold more than 20,000 tickets before a single film had unspooled. Not bad for a first time out.

Selome Hailu Media Res has pre-empted the rights to “Luminous,” the debut sci-fi novel from Silvia Park, which the studio will adapt into a drama series. “Luminous” tells the story of three estranged siblings living in a recently re-unified Korea, where sentient, sensitive, very-nearly-human robots are a part of daily life. One sibling working for the lowly robot crimes unit and is tasked with investigating the disappearance of an older woman’s service bot in Seoul. His investigation brings him to reconnect with his sister, a prominent robot designer working for a top manufacturing firm, who is, embarrassingly, dating one of her creations as well. The investigation sparks an epic journey through future Seoul, where the dark truths of this tech future are uncovered while the characters rediscover their humanity, even if not all of them are actually quite human.

is any type of non-mainstream sexual interest according to , research fellow at the Kinsey Institute and scientific advisor to . A is a specific subtype of kink defined by a heightened fascination with a certain object, body part, or bodily fluid. In other words, fetishes tend to have a sensory component wherein people are drawn to the feel, taste, smell, or look of a particular thing.

announced he would be leaving after hosting for seven years, he was spotted in New York City with on a possible date. I don't know what sort of era we would call this, but I'm happy for him!Photos published in show Noah and Lipa having dinner at the downtown Jamaican cafe Miss Lily's before apparently saying goodnight with a hug and a kiss on the street outside the restaurant.

is getting ready to start a busy fall promoting : Master Gardener, The Good House, Call Jane, and Avatar 2. “It's funny that they're all coming out at the same time because they're all so different," she says.

. Like clockwork, September rolls around and brings with it a sharp awareness of our daily routine that was much more relaxed during the blissful months of summer.

A pensioner has been arrested after police and forensics teams were seen on a Lanarkshire street.

Cher is really living her best life at Paris Fashion Week.

Kate Middleton revealed what her kids think of her and Prince William’s engagement photos in a sweet exchange with royal fans this week.

The Beckhams have been gearing up to celebrate Victoria's first ever runway show at Paris Fashion Week. The 48 year old designer and former Spice Girl will debut her latest collection on the runway, and her husband David Beckham, 47, and sons Romeo, 20, and Cruz, 17, have taken to Instagram to show their support for her. Silent on Instagram however, has been her eldest son Brooklyn, 23, amid ongoing rumours of a feud between his new wife, Nicola, and his mother.

Benjamin Clementine has released a new single, ‘Delighted’. Check it out below.The track is the fourth song, after ‘Genesis’, ‘Copening’ and ‘Weakend’, to be released from the Mercury Prize winning singer-songwriter’s forthcoming album ‘And I Have Been’.

Willie J Healey has shared details of his upcoming third album, ‘Bunny’ along with new single Dreams – check it out below.The follow up to 2020’s ‘Twin Heavy‘ will be released on March 24, 2023 via Yala! Records and marks a significant change in sound for the Oxfordshire singer-songwriter. While ‘Twin Heavy’ was an album Healey himself described as sounding like “a 70s orgy”, ‘Bunny’ takes inspiration from funk, Philadelphia soul and R&B.“The whole era is something that I love,” said Healey. “Long before making ‘Twin Heavy’, I had always listened to funk, soul and R&B, but for some reason it never translated into my own music.

Game Of Thrones author George R.R. Martin has said that “the best is yet to come” on the spin-off series House Of The Dragon.The writer has reflected on the first half of the show’s debut season in his blog, and referenced how Milly Alcock and Emily Carey have now finished playing younger versions of Rhaenyra and Alicent respectively (Emma d’Arcy and Olivia Cooke took over the roles in the most recent episode).“The show opened strong and has only been getting stronger,” Martin wrote. “Milly Alcock and Emily Carey were incredible as young Rhaenyra and young Alicent, were they not?“With Sunday’s episode, Emma d’Arcy and Olivia Cooke took over as the adult versions of the characters.

Community actor Joel McHale has confirmed that a film based on the beloved series is on the way.McHale, who played Jeff Winger on the NBC sitcom from 2009 to 2015, shared an image on Twitter today (September 30) which reads: “…And a movie.”The actor tagged several stars from the TV series, including Alison Brie, Ken Jeong, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown and Donald Glover. Jim Rash is also set to return.Gillian Anderson (Sex Education) was also tagged in the tweet, alongside streamer Peacock and Sony TV, with fans believing that McHale had meant to tag Gillian Jacobs, who plays Britta in the series..@alisonbrie @kenjeong @dannypudi @YNB @donaldglover @GillianA @peacock @SonyTV @CommunityTV pic.twitter.com/ynVqgaPuQD— Joel McHale (@joelmchale) September 30, 2022McHale is set to serve as an executive producer on the film alongside the show’s creator Dan Harmon, who will also write the script.

Following an incredibly close race on this week’s Official Albums Chart, 5 Seconds of Summer score a last-minute photo finish victory to claim their third Number 1 album with 5SOS5. 

Jeopardy! mistook a picture of Beck for Ed Sheeran during a recent episode of the US game show.David Sibley, the current reigning champion of the long-running show, buzzed in when he and his fellow contestants were shown a picture of Beck.Responding to the category ‘One-Name Rockstars’, Sibley answered “Who’s Ed Sheeran” after buzzing in.“No,” Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings replied, to Sibley’s dismay. “Remember the category.

Dennis Lim, the artistic director of the New York Film Festival, has a confession.

Six seasons and a movie is finally real after NBCUniversal’s Peacock ordered a feature film closure for Community.

UPDATED, 7 AM: A month ahead of Halloween, Netflix has unveiled the official trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities horror anthology, a four-day, double-episode event.  

An authentic insight into migrant workers in Britain, the feature drama Great Yarmouth: Provisional Figures is an engrossing work that premiered in the San Sebastian Film Festival competition. Directed by Marco Martins (Alice), who co-writes with Ricardo Adolfo, it follows the tough life of Tânia (a superb Beatriz Batarda), who supervises her fellow Portuguese workers in the dilapidated seaside town of Great Yarmouth. Based on interviews with many migrants, it’s a hard-hitting look at working conditions and the moral compromises made by desperate people.

While the Emmys drew mixed reviews, the film festivals closed to strong applause this week, not only for their movies (we’d forgotten some) but for their star turnout (forgot a few of them, too).

With a bit more than a year left before Disney can buy out Comcast’s financial stake in Hulu, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts pushed back on Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s suggestion that Hulu’s value has declined amid public market skepticism about streaming.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Is there a bidding war brewing over Hulu? Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts called Hulu a “phenomenal business” — and said that if Disney were willing to sell it, the cable and media company would be interested in buying it out. “Hulu’s a phenomenal business. Its scale is fantastic. It has wonderful content,” Roberts said, speaking Wednesday at Goldman Sachs’ Communacopia + Technology Conference 2022 in San Francisco. “If it was up for sale, Comcast would be interested” in buying 100% of Hulu, and “others would I think as well.” Disney currently owns 66% of Hulu and Comcast holds the remaining 33% stake. As of July 2, 2022, Disney recorded Comcast’s interest in Hulu as being worth $8.6 billion, implying a valuation of $25.8 billion. In an auction-style sale of Hulu in its entirety, Roberts suggested, Hulu may fetch more than that.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek, coming off a promotional blitz at the company’s D23 conference last weekend, reiterated many of those messages for a Wall Street audience but struck a more confident tone than ever before in outlining the future of Hulu.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek is opening up about ESPN as activist investor Daniel Loeb had been pressuring the company to spin off the sports network.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor “You should see the backstage,” actor Diego Luna told the D23 Expo crowd Saturday morning as he talked up his new “Star Wars”-branded Disney+ series “Andor” to the 5,000 faithful fans who packed the Anaheim Convention Center. The assembly of boldface names that were brought out at the three-day Disney fan event for a wave and brief chat about upcoming projects was a visual representation of the breadth of content produced by the studio these days. The list of boldface names included Harrison Ford, Angela Bassett, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Tom Hiddleston, Don Cheadle, Owen Wilson, Zoe Saldana, Giancarlo Esposito, Christian Slater, Pedro Pascal, Gael Garcia Bernal, Anthony Ramos and more.The star power on display was impressive and so was the brand power that Disney flexed during D23 Expo by releasing dozens of trailers, teasers and first looks at content bound for Disney+ and theaters in the coming year. The rapid-fire delivery of “Coming Soon” messages was music to the ears of Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who has been telling investors and others that Disney+’s has yet to fully hit its stride in content delivery because of pandemic disruptions.

There’s going to be a lot more of Earth’s mightiest heroes and villains at Disneyland and a lot more interaction on Disney+, said Bob Chapek today, kicking off 2022’s D23 Expo.