Dan has Super Mario fever while struggling with Netflix figures
ALSO: Project Hail Mary writer slams Star Trek
It is March 2026 and I have Super Mario fever. I first played Super Mario back in around 1988. Back then no one really knew what a Nintendo or a Super Mario was – my parents had bought an off-brand video game machine (which looked a bit like what would become the Super Nintendo) that had a weird plastic converter in which to shove Nintendo cartridges into it.
But, I was hooked. My family was hooked. When the off-brand console died its pretty quick death, we upgraded to a proper Nintendo. And then in 1992, I moved on to the Super Nintendo with the console moving backwards and forwards between the 34cm TV in my bedroom and the positively massive 68cm
On Saturday I found sitting at a McDonalds with my daughter in Sydney gazing at a Yoshi egg placed on a street corner. We watched as person-after-person the egg attracted people walking out of their way to check out the egg and pose with it. On one side, the egg was cracked with a Yoshi dinosaur inside making random noises every minute or two.
When the first Super Mario Bros animated film was coming out, I knew it would be a monster hit. I have been a Nintendo kid for my entire life and I was an OG Nintendo kid – generations of Nintendo kids had followed. The idea of a Super Mario Bros film felt like an untapped geyser of joy just waiting to be expelled from our hearts and minds.
I kind-of assumed that now that we had experienced what a (fairly well-received) Mario film could be, that hunger had been fed. The idea that the sequel could get audiences that excited again just seemed improbable.
But as I stood on that Sydney street corner alongside around 15 strangers all stopping to look, laugh, and take photos with the egg, I felt the enthusiasm again. The Super Mario Bros Galaxy Movie is going to be another monster hit.
Justifying the Netflix price hike
I’d like to see the work.
With Netflix raising its US prices, Variety has run a story that says that Netflix makes less revenue per hour viewed. The article is basically seeking to justify Netflix’s desire to raise prices. It doesn’t go into exactly why these revenue figures are so low for Netflix (Is it the content? Infrastructure costs?), nor does it examine inventory volume sold on the ad tier.
Nor does it offer detail on the big question I really have here: It says that the dollar figures are drawing information from “company reports” – is this inclusive of content spend on a global scale, or just the spend allocated to US audiences? Because… how can that figure even be broken out?
Internationally, Netflix has a number of different companies set up which licenses content from Netflix global for distribution. For example, Netflix Australia Pty Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Dutch entity Netflix International B.V.
I genuinely don’t understand the dollar figures below. Maybe it is all above board and is exactly how it says it is. But, when I’m taking a look… it appears very rubbery.
Weir talking smack about Star Trek
With the publicity tour still underway for smash hit Project Hail Mary, talent are emboldened knowing that the film is doing some more than solid business. Andy Weir, the author of the book that the film is based on, was interviewed on the Critical Drinker podcast. I don’t think anybody was expecting Weir to make news with this media appearance, but when given the opportunity to talk about Star Trek, he got mouthy. It seems that Paramount at some point made a pretty sizeable mistake by not hiring Weir to create a new Star Trek show (how do you turn down this guy… The Martian was reason enough to just nod and take out the checkbook).
Andy has feelings:
“I’ll give you my opinion and I’m just a consumer. I like Strange New Worlds. I think it’s pretty good. I didn’t hate Enterprise. I thought it was kind of weird. Lower Decks I thought was entertaining and fun. All the others, they can go. And here’s another thing: I pitched a Star Trek show to Paramount and I was in Zoom with the showrunners with all the shows and spent a lot of time talking to [executive producer Alex Kurtzman]. I don’t like a lot of the new Trek. He, as a person, is a really nice guy. But at the same time, those shows are shit. He is a nice guy. But they didn’t accept my pitch so, you know, fuck ’em.”
You can watch the interview in full:
News Desk
James Tolkan died on Thursday at the age of 94. Obits will focus on his roles in Top Gun & Back To The Future, but I’d also note his extensive work in TV shows over the years. He started his career in an episode of The Naked City in 1960 and was seen in a bunch of great shows like Hill Street Blues, The Wonder Years, Miami Vice, and more. He also appeared in junk I loved like Cobra and The Hat Squad. Read: Variety
AMC has cancelled Talamasca: The Secret Order. Read: Deadline
CBS has cancelled two quite terrible shows: Watson and DMV. Read: THR
NBC has renewed its One Chicago shows to each return in teh 2026-27 season. That includes Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago PD. Read: thefutoncritic
Ratings for SNL UK were down 9% in week two on Sky in the UK. Read: Deadline
Crunchyroll is now available on Apple TV with the launch of a new app late last week. Source: Crunchyroll
Apparently Harry Potter won’t be an annual release. So says HBO boss Casey Bloys, who confirmed writing is underway for season 2. Read: Variety
Trailer Park
Sparks of Tomorrow debuts on Netflix July 5.
Baki-Doku: The Invincible Samurai returns for part 2 on Netflix soon.
Steel Ball Run: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure debuts later this year.
Dandelion debuts on Netflix April 16.
Blue Box returns for season 2 on Netflix in October.
That’s the newsletter for the today.
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