‘The X-Files,’ ‘Alias,’ ‘Abbott Elementary’ Among 10 Titles Licensed by Disney to U.K.’s Channel 4 Streaming Service

Katie Thurston is venturing outside of Bachelor Nation to find her next love interest.

Comedy doesn’t always have the easiest time being taken seriously come Oscar season. Movies based on established toy brands don’t either. But, based on reaction to Sunday night’s huge world premiere at the Shrine in Downtown Los Angeles, as well as my own feelings watching it with the packed (6000+) crowd of first nighters, Barbie just may have the stuff to not only become a smash boxoffice hit this summer (I would now guarantee it) but also a surprising genuine awards contender for Warner Bros and Mattel (I can’t believe I just wrote that sentence).

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Ryan Gosling is singing his heart out as Ken in “Barbie.” Warner Bros. has debuted an official music video from the upcoming Greta Gerwig-directed tentpole in which Gosling belts out “I’m Just Ken.” The song finds Gosling’s lovelorn doll wrestling with always being second to Barbie (Margot Robbie) and contemplating what his life means without her. The accompanying clip includes Gosling’s Ken shirtless, crying and incredibly emotional. “I’m Just Ken” is the latest original song released from the official “Barbie” soundtrack, which also includes artists such as Grammy winners Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish. Soundtrack producer Mark Ronson told Variety on the “Barbie” world premiere red carpet that Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash even played on Gosling’s record after being sent the track and finding it cool.

Naman Ramachandran The total U.K. and Ireland box office for June 2023 was £90.3 million ($114.8 million), 28% lower than June 2022, according to numbers released by Comscore. Year-to-date 2023 is currently running 7% behind the same period in 2022, the numbers reveal. The territory is very much weather-driven and June 2023 was the hottest June since records began, per the U.K. Met Office, meaning that potential cinema audiences spent a larger proportion of their leisure time outdoors. June’s highest-grossing film was Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse” with £26.7 million, which comfortably surpassed the lifetime total of its predecessor, “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse” (£10.8 million). The animated sequel is currently the third-biggest release of the year so far.

When it comes to horror movies at the box office, Sony resurrected its track record this past weekend with the opening of Blumhouse/Stage 6 Films’ fifthquel, Insidious: The Red Door which had a $32.65M domestic opening, $64M Worldwide debut.

Two it-girls of their respective generations are officially linking up for a horror-tastic classic.

The Venice Film Festival will start with Luca Guadagnino’s sexy sports comedy “Challengers,” featuring Zendaya as a former tennis prodigy turned coach involved in a love triangle with two professional tennis players, played by Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Of all the impressive skills Barbie has amassed in her 64 years as a working doll, who knew that cartography would be a focal point of her highly anticipated summer movie debut? But here we are. Trailers for the upcoming “Barbie,” from director Greta Gerwig and Warner Bros. Pictures, have led to the dissemination of a controversial map used in the film – one depicted in a scene with stars Margot Robbie and Kate McKinnon (known in the film as “Weird Barbie”) — and the studio is speaking up after days of international headlines. “The map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing,” a spokesperson for the Warner Bros. Film Group told Variety. “The doodles depict Barbie’s make-believe journey from Barbie Land to the ‘real world.’ It was not intended to make any type of statement.”

We can knock Disney all we want over less-than stellar post-Covid results on Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm titles, but the fact of the matter is the brands are still delivering, making the theatrical motion picture studio the continued box office leader with $3.4 billion worldwide for the period of Jan. 1-July 2.

Back in April, it was revealed that Warner Bros. Discovery is hoping to capitalize on the “Harry Potter” brand with a new reboot of the film series.

For fans of the “Batman” film franchise, there are two films that get a lot of shit from the fandom. You see, after Tim Burton released his two “Batman” films, beginning in 1989, Warner Bros.

Refresh for chart…On the bright side for Independence Day bomb Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, its first five days at the box office of $82M aren’t as bad as Paramount/Skydance’s Terminator Genisys.

Disney+ shows are being licensed to Channel 4‘s official on-demand service.Alias (seasons one-five), The Americans (seasons one-six), Empire (seasons one-six), Scandal (seasons one-seven), The X Files (seasons one-11), Bones (seasons one-12), The Killing (seasons one-four), Star (seasons one-three), Grown-ish (seasons one-six), and Abbott Elementary (seasons one-two) are included in the deal.Except for Star, all the series are available to watch as part of a monthly subscription on Disney+ in the UK.The additions to the Channel 4 streaming platform will be available to watch from later this month.Nick Lee, head of acquisitions at Channel 4, said: “We’re so pleased to have agreed such an extensive content deal with Disney, ranging from their most iconic series like ‘The X-Files’ to fresh hits such as ‘Abbott Elementary’ and ‘Star.’ We look forward to our viewers being able to binge series after series on Channel 4.”Meanwhile, sign-ups for streaming giant Netflix have risen by more than 100 per cent since the streaming service began cracking down on password sharing.Earlier this year, the streaming service announced details of its password crackdown, making it impossible to use one account in several locations.The rule then came into force in May, with Netflix receiving major backlash from existing subscribers.Since then though, Netflix has experienced a large rise in sign-ups, with the days between May 25-28 – shortly after the May 23 announcement – becoming the platform’s four biggest days of new sign-ups in the US since 2019, as Variety reports.On those days, 73,000 new users signed up for Netflix, a 102 per cent increase on the previous 60 days.

Naman Ramachandran Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £7.1 million ($9 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. The release marked the fifth biggest opening weekend for a film in 2023 in the territory, including previews, with a market share of 43%. In its fifth weekend, Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” racked up a further £1.5 million in second place, taking its total to £25.9 million. Universal’s “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” debuted in third position with £885,056. In its sixth weekend, Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” earned £837,859 in fourth place for a total of £25 million.

Issa Rae’s Insecure has landed on Netflix.

Before Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie captured the zeitgeist with their Warner Bros-backed Barbie, the popular doll was the subject of a much darker indie pic directed by Todd Haynes.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “Insecure” is now officially available to stream on Netflix, the first HBO original to launch on the streamer under a new licensing deal with Warner Bros. Discovery. It was first reported on June 20 that WBD was in talks to license some of their original shows to Netflix. In addition, the streamer has confirmed that “Band of Brothers,” “The Pacific,” “Six Feet Under,” and “Ballers” will be coming to the service at a later date. “True Blood,” which also currently streams on Hulu, will be available to Netflix subscribers outside the U.S. All of the shows remain available to stream on Max (formerly HBO Max) as well. The deal marks the latest shift in content strategy at Warner Bros. Discovery under the David Zaslav regime. In January, Warner Bros. Discovery made licensing moves by partnering with Roku and Tubi to launch free, ad-supported channels with HBO shows. The FAST channels included all seasons of shows like “Westworld,” “Raised by Wolves,” “Legendary,” “FBoy Island,” “The Nevers,” “Finding Magic Mike,” “Head of the Class,” “The Time Traveler’s Wife” and more. In 2014, HBO and Amazon reached an exclusive licensing deal to stream shows like “the Sopranos,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “True Blood” and more on Amazon Prime Video.

The Barbie movie won’t be seen in movie theaters in Vietnam.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Dubai-based pay-TV and streamer OSN launched its rebranded OSN+ streaming service in March 2022 — and then lost some momentum when Disney+, the following June, pulled out its premium content and started a standalone platform in the Middle East. However, OSN remains a leading small-screen outlet for prime Hollywood scripted fare in 22 territories across the Middle East and North Africa. In March 2023, they extended their relationship with Warner Bros. Discovery, forging a new multi-year licensing deal that makes them the exclusive home for HBO content such as “Succession” in the region. And, they’ve retained exclusive rights to Paramount+ shows, plus a slate of Sky Studios and Peacock Originals produced by NBC Universal — among other Hollywood deals firmly in place — as well as recently expanding their exclusive partnership with ITV Studios in the U.K.

Disney has struck a multi-show deal with Channel 4 for the UK network’s rebranded streaming service including the likes of The X Files, Abbott Elementary and Bones.

Naman Ramachandran Losing streaming rights to the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament has been a blessing in disguise for Indian market leader Disney+ Hotstar, an Ampere Analysis study reveals. Disney won broadcasting rights but ceded streaming rights to rival JioCinema, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani. Ampere estimates that this “saved the company a figure just short of twice its entire streaming revenue from the past five years.” Despite recent subscriber declines, Disney+ Hotstar still leads the market and holds a 29% streaming market share, Ampere said. As of the first quarter of 2023, Disney+ Hotstar had some 50 million subscriptions, far higher than other global SVODs in India including Amazon Prime Video (12.4 million) and Netflix (6.2 million). However, that compares with some 61 million subscribers in October 2022.

Brian Cox is weighing in on the future of Turner Classic Movies (TCM) after executive changes at the cable network made Hollywood worry Warner Bros. Discovery was ready to pull the plug.

Warner Bros. left a cloud of smoke billowing over the Burbank lot, but luckily firefighters were able to quickly contain the blaze. There were no injuries, according to an individual familiar with the incident. The fire was first reported by the Citizen app, which had video of the smoke, as well as a caption that said, “Firefighters report a burning transformer and are working to contain the blaze.” The post also said that, “Firefighters report that a power outage has occurred after an explosive sound.” The fire started right around 1:30 p.m. PT and giant clouds of black smoke quickly gathered in the air. The blaze caused lots of traffic outside the studios as a result of the fire department working quickly.

Selome Hailu Ahead of the July 21 release of “Barbie,” Warner Bros. Discovery and Mattel have partnered with humanitarian organization Save the Children to launch a girls’ empowerment initiative. “Barbie” stars Margot Robbie, America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Simu Liu and Will Ferrell appear in a text-to-donate PSA that will air across WBD’s linear, digital and social platforms to raise money for Save the Children, which is working to connect girls around the world to educational resources. Additionally, there will be an in-show integration on HGTV’s “Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge” as well as consumer activations through different brand partnerships and a charity auction that features tickets to the Los Angeles and London premieres of the movie.

Warner Bros.’ “Barbie” and Universal’s “Oppenheimer,” two films that have captured the internet’s imagination with their shared July 21 release, have hit box office tracking with early projections expecting solid results for both films. “Barbie,” as long expected, is projected to take No. 1 that weekend with a $70 million-plus opening.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Snapchat is pinking out loud for Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.” Warner Bros. Pictures is launching a “Barbie” AR Lens ad campaign exclusively on the social and messaging app — meaning Snapchat is the only place where you can dress up to look like Margot Robbie’s Barbie or Ryan Gosling’s Ken in fashions based on the film. The studio’s paid campaign on Snapchat launches Friday (June 30), three weeks ahead of the movie’s wide opening on July 21. Snapchat users can access the virtual Barbie wardrobe from the app’s Lens Carousel or by scanning the QR code (left). With the debut of the new Barbie Wardrobe AR Lens, Snapchatters can see themselves wearing different outfits and accessories inspired by costumes in the upcoming film. You can share the resulting pics or videos in a Snap message or a Snapchat Story (or save it to your camera roll to share via text or on other social platforms).

The campy romp Cocaine Bear and buzzy comedy series Only Murders in the Building nabbed four trophies apiece and Christopher Nolan’s upcoming Oppenheimer took three at the 23rd annual Golden Trailer Awards, which were handed out Thursday night in Los Angeles. See the full list of winners below.

Timotheé Chalamet and Zendaya are back to saving the universe in the latest “Dune: Part Two” trailer, while Austin Butler embarks on a mission to devour their mission.

EXCLUSIVE: The Gotham Group has secured the motion picture and television rights to two YA novels.

In November, after the likes of “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” “Oppenheimer,” and “Barbie” vie for box office supremacy this summer, another blockbuster awaits: Denis Villeneuve‘s “Dune: Part Two.” If one of those three doesn’t unseat “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” as the highest-grossing film on 2023, Villeneuve’s sequel surely will.

The new Dune: Part Two trailer is finally here!

In three weekends, Greta Gerwig‘s “Barbie” squares off against Christopher Nolan‘s “Oppenheimer” for this summer’s big box-office battle. So which film will walk away victorious? Both movies boast stacked ensemble casts, but given its soundtrack, premise, and Margot Robbie as its lead, “Barbie” may be 2023’s movie to beat.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Warner Bros. Discovery raised the hackles of some in the film community with last month’s launch of Max — the reskinned and renamed version of HBO Max — because the new service’s content details pages consolidated writers, directors, producers and others under a single “creators” heading. Five weeks after issuing a mea culpa and promising to fix the situation, WBD has now updated the listings in Max. The updates appear to be live on platforms including the max.com website and iOS and will be rolling out across all device platforms this week. For example, on Max, Oscar-winning film “Raging Bull,” starring Robert De Niro, now includes the following listings: Directors: Martin Scorsese; Writers: Paul Schrader, Mardik Martin; Producers: Irwin Winkler, Robert Chartoff; Based on Source Material by: Jake La Motta, Joseph Carter, Peter Savage. When Max launched on May 23, the service grouped all of those individuals under a single “creators” heading.

After two full weekends of a decidedly underwhelming release, it’s not hyperbole to say “The Flash” is an unmitigated box office disaster for Warner Bros. Discovery.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Warner Bros. Discovery will rebrand its kids’ TV channel Boomerang to Cartoonito in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong, with effect from July 28. The company said that the “switch is a result of positive feedback to the Cartoonito-branded block on Boomerang and Cartoon Network launched in 2022, and is focused on being more inclusive to pre-school aged viewers.” Sources close to the company explained that the move is “part of a big regional and global commitment by WBD to preschool content.” It follows Cartoonito rebrands and launches in other international territories including EMEA and LatAm.

Gotham Knights co-creator Natalie Abrams didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye.