Sister Act wasn’t the first franchise that came to mind when I heard Disney+ were leaning on its library for familiar titles to revive/remake, but here we are. A third Sister Act is in the works. One would assume it’ll feature a new lead, replacing Whoopi Goldberg.
But, this got me thinking about the Touchstone Pictures catalogue. Touchstone films were the movies Disney released that were too adult/risque for a direct association with the Disney brand. In addition to Sister Act, there’s also a series due based on the Touchstone film High Fidelity.
What else could we see remade? A modern Pretty Woman would be interesting based on the cultural politics of the moment (too risky?). I could very easily see them doing something with films like Big Business, Three Men and a Baby, Adventures in Babysitting (though, Disney Channel already had a go at a remake already), Father of The Bride, Face/Off, Rushmore (would they dare?), and Keeping The Faith.
The Doctor Who new years day episode will be called Resolution. Use this information however you so choose.
The Brooklyn Nine Nine trailer for season 6 has dropped, leaning into the shows fixation with Die Hard nicely.
The Umbrella Academy, based on the Gerard Way / Gabriel Ba comic series of the same name is coming to Netflix starring Ellen Page. And there’s now a trailer:
Respected Ghost in The Shell directors Kenji Kamiyama and Shinji Aramaki will be involved with the new Netflix Ghost in The Shell series, set to debut in 2020.
Journalist Michael Lallo has taken a look at Australia’s broadcast multi-channels, explaining their value to TV networks despite relatively low viewership. It comes down to this:
To remain viable, TV networks need mass audiences. So why do they fragment their own viewership with lower-rating offshoots such as 9Go and the newly-rebranded 10Peach?
"They can't afford not to," says media analyst Steve Allen, managing director of Fusion Strategy. "When the government gave them the capacity to launch extra digital channels, they knew they had to grab that gift with both hands. If they didn't, others would occupy that space."
Joss Whedon’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly are all now streaming in the US on Facebook Watch - for free. All three shows have passionate fan bases, so you would expect the move would drive quite a number of people to the streaming platform? Not so.
One week in, the trio of shows had generated around 949,00 views (598,000 for “Buffy,” 205,000 for “Angel,” and 146,000 for “Firefly”). Nearly half the total was for one episode: “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” season 1, episode 1, which had 433,000 views.
My initial thoughts were that people just aren’t that familiar yet with Facebook Watch as a viewing platform, but it’s worth considering that Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk talk show has 4.2 million followers on Facebook, with 234 million views across 17 episodes so far. So, why didn’t Buffy work?
My guess: A lot of people don’t know it’s there and aren’t familiar with using Facebook Watch for scripted drama yet. I would guess that Jada Pinkett Smith’s FB account was actively promoting viewership of her talk show. Plus, a talk show is generally more in line with FB consumption.
If Buffy started appearing in more timelines, I would assume viewership would rise dramatically. Regardless, I’d be a little nervous if I were involved in that Buffy revamp right now.
Speaking of Buffy, The Student has a look back at the shows season 6 villains ‘The Trio’ and their similarity to the incel movement.
And finally…
After the success of the Tim Burton Batman movie, there were a whole bunch of movies and shows commissioned to capitalise on its popularity. One of the first was 1990s TV show The Flash, starring John Wesley Shipp. As a 10 year-old when this first aired, obviously it left a big imprint on me (looking back, the show was okay - it’s still kind of watchable).
But it thrills me that John Wesley Shipp, who played The Flash, is not only still around, but as a semi-regular in the current TV version of The Flash he, this week, will be appearing back on-screen in his costume from that 1990 show. That’s wild!
