One of my favourite movie-going experiences was seeing The Hateful Eight. The film itself is, well, it’s not one of Quentin Tarantino’s best. But, the screening I saw was the incredibly indulgent Roadshow edit, which clocked in with a longer running time than the regular theatrical release, had an overture and intermission, plus had some alternate takes. What made the screening great was the Q&A straight afterwards with Tarantino and stars Samuel L Jackson and Kurt Russell. It was incredible.

But, I’ve never felt inclined to see the film since. That may change now that it is streaming.

US Netflix (it isn’t on the Australian Netflix service, unfortunately), is now streaming both the theatrical cut and another extended version. But it isn’t the Roadshow cut. This is another edit entirely, turning the film into a 4-part mini-series.

So, there are now three versions:

  • Theatrical - 1467 minutes
  • Roadshow - 187 minutes
  • Mini-series - 210 minutes
The four episodes of “The Hateful Eight: Extended Edition” are titled “Last Stage to Red Rock” (50 minutes), “Minnie’s Haberdashery” (51 minutes), “Domergue’s Got A Secret” (53 minutes), and “The Last Chapter” (56 minutes). The first three episodes match up to corresponding chapter titles in Tarantino’s theatrical cut. The film’s second chapter, “Son of a Gun,” has been absorbed into the extended cut’s first episode. The “Last Chapter” episode encompasses the final two film chapters: “The Four Passengers” and “Black Man, White Hell.”

Source: Indiewire

A lot of fanboys and fangirls may be a bit tender this weekend. Following Avengers: Endgame, in which not every character makes their way to the end, fans will also be watching the on-screen deaths of a whole bunch of Game of Thrones characters with the next episode.

But, which characters are marked for death? The Ringer has this conversational article in which the future of these characters are debated.

Source: The Ringer

Me? Who do I think is a goner? I say kill them all and just replace them with Spider-Ham. Even in Game of Thrones.

The Deadwood movie might actually really be happening? HBO claims it is going to air on May 31. And it claims that this trailer is ready to be watched now…

Imagine running Fox News and holding a meeting with viewers. Now imagine that you have set the meeting up to hear pitches from loyal Fox News fans on what sort of programming the service should carry.

Is your head hurting yet?

Well, get this. Fox Nation, the dedicated streaming service for Fox News content with all sorts of off-network opinion, is hosting a fan summit.

Hosted by FOX Nation personality Abby Hornacek, the summit will showcase a live 90 minute program featuring some of the platform’s top hosts including  No Interruption ’s Tomi Lahren, The Quiz Show ’s Tom Shillue,  The Wise Guys’ Bill Bennett,  FOX & Friends Weekend co-host Pete Hegseth, Reality Check ’s David Webb, Front Row Seat ’s Ed Henry, FNC contributor Lawrence Jones along with Diamond & Silk.  

During the event, both subscribers and fans will have an opportunity to pitch programming ideas to FOX Nation producers for a chance to win a trip to New York City and film a pilot production of their show. Additionally, fans will get the chance to meet several of the platform’s hosts as well as participate in The Quiz Show with Tom Shillue. FOX Nation Founding Members will also have behind the scenes access to the event and be able to take photos with the FOX Nation stars.

Source: AP News

There’s been a lot of talk about Disney+, but an equally important key to Disney’s streaming service will be Hulu. While all of the large property, family-friendly, Disney brand-safe content will stream through Disney+, all of the more adult productions, such as all of the content it just acquired through its purchase of Fox, will land on Hulu.

And then Disney will probably offer bundles for Disney+, Hulu, and sports platform ESPN.

But the future for Hulu isn’t 100% locked in, with Comcast still owning a (minority) 30% chunk of the company. Will Comcast sell? According to CNBC, it is open to the idea.

Disney and Comcast are holding talks about working out a deal for Comcast’s 30% stake, according to people familiar with the matter. Comcast is now weighing the pros and cons of doing a deal now rather than later, said these people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. It’s still unclear if a deal will transpire.

The article does a good job weighing up the pros and cons of selling its stake now, or whether Comcast should hold onto the asset until later when it can be used for greater leverage.

Source: CNBC

And finally…

Remember those Netflix Marvel TV shows? Well, for all those fans insistent that Disney+ could be the revived home for the shows, they should probably just give up. Word has it that Disney’s lawyers have advised that the company cannot even work on new material related to these shows until 2020.

According to a production executive, Disney has been warned by lawyers not to even think about developing new content featuring the characters of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Punisher until the two-year mark. The clarification is an important once, as it means Disney probably won’t be spending time during the next two years working on new material with these characters to launch new series in 2020. If Disney can’t even begin developing a new Daredevil series until 2020, then it’s going to take much longer than just two years for the character to return to the big or small screen. Another option is Disney does not revive the superheroes at all.

It would seem more likely to me that Daredevil will be used for a feature film rather than for a new TV series.

Source: Indiewire