SVOD’s worst user-interface is Hulu. Or, should that now be was. As of today, Hulu is starting to roll-out a brand new look and feel that is more consistent with the experience of sister streaming service Disney+.
Meanwhile, the redesigned Hulu UI will use the tile size of a TV show or movie as a visual indicator to drive viewers to the most recent additions. For example, new shows or movies “we know you won’t want to miss” will be larger in size, according to Denney and Wong, while “Keep Watching” tiles may be smaller to provide a view of more titles at a glance.
Read more: Variety
Bold & The Beautiful has been renewed through 2022. Daytime soaps live on! Source: thefutoncritic
HBO Max has unveiled a list of 600 launch films that subscribers will be able to watch on the service when it launches next week. Check out the full list at Dark Horizons.
Just know that all seven Police Academy films will be there at launch. The rest of the list is meaningless.
Curious why Ruby Rose really left the Batwoman series? Variety reports:
According to multiple sources, Rose was unhappy with the long hours required of her as the series lead, which led to friction on the set. It was thus decided by her and the network and studio, Warner Bros. Television, that they would part ways.
Source: Variety
In a win for the worst people on the Internet, WarnerMedia is going to #releasethesnydercut.
This is the original(ish) edit of Zack Snyder’s Justice League movie, a film that he had to abandon during filming after experiencing a family tragedy. Snyder was replaced on the film by Joss Whedon and the film was, politely, a mixed bag.
The revised cut of Justice League will debut on HBO Max. But don’t expect to see it as a movie, per se. While it may be made available on the new streaming service as a four-hour movie, there is the very strong likelihood that the film will be split into six chapters - making it an incredibly expensive mini-series.
"It will be an entirely new thing, and, especially talking to those who have seen the released movie, a new experience apart from that movie," Zack Snyder tells The Hollywood Reporter, noting that, to this day, he has not watched the version released in theaters.
Releasing the Snyder cut of the film is a cultural moment. The Zack Snyder DC superhero movies have created considerable cultural friction over the years. They’re significantly darker and more textually interesting than the Marvel films, but are humourless and don’t have the same vitality. With superhero films at the centre of the culture these days, it has resulted in people online having STRONG opinions.
The way to think about it is this way: Twitter hates the Zack Snyder DC movies. Reddit loves them.
I feel conflicted about this news. Supporters of releasing the Zack Snyder film have bombarded the internet with so much #releasethesnydercut messaging that it has made the Internet a terrible place for the last few years. And the more people butted up against it, the more intense these fans became. It was all rather toxic.
Essentially, this is now a win for overly aggressive campaigning on the Internet. The next ‘thing’ will be even worse.
But… I’ll admit that I’ve generally liked the Snyder DC films. Man of Steel was fine. I think he got the heroics of Superman wrong for much of it, but as a film I think it was reasonable. The cinema release of Batman Vs Superman was kind-of interesting, but was mostly a dog. A directors cut of that film actually improves it tremendously. I’m sure this will be fine.
HBO Max’s Zack Snyder cut will be released in 2021.
Read more: The Hollywood Reporter
Speaking of expensive mini-series, one of the most ill-timed productions ever is the upcoming CBS All Access remake of Stephen King’s The Stand.
Today Vanity Fair has an incredible in-depth look at the mini-series with some stunning photos from it.
How will all this play months from now? Will people crave pandemic stories the way they have already, or will fatigue supplant the curiosity. These are things King wonders too. “Whether or not anybody will want to watch it in the aftermath of coronavirus, I don’t know,” he said. “The book is selling—The Stand, the novel, is selling—so…” King is no stranger to the question: Why are people drawn to the things that scare them the most? But he doesn’t have an easy answer for it. “That’s a discussion for a whole college course,” he said.
BBC Four in the UK is set to undergo a major change. The plan is to remove originals from the channel and focus it entirely on archived factual content. The channel would then be shopped overseas in packages alongside BBC Earth and BBC Brit.
Source: Deadline
Scott Tobias has filed a fun feature article for the New York Times listing 12 great film directors who have created 12 great TV series. It’s a strong list and maybe a reminder to check out a few of the series on there that you might not yet have seen.
Read: NYT
Fans of the NBA doco series The Last Dance will want to check out this broadcast on ESPN - it’s Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals: Bulls v Jazz. Timed with the final episodes of the series, this reproduction of the game isn’t just a replay of the original broadcast. This will also incorporate footage from 5 additional cameras and present it all in HD for the first time ever.
The original commentary will play over the top of this new reproduction. It goes to air later today on ESPN.
Read more: Mediaweek
I don’t entirely understand why this exists. But sometimes things get done simply because they’re a great idea.
UK comedian Matthew Highton has recreated the Buffy The Vampire Slayer opening titles using nothing but stock footage. It’s marvelous.
What’s next?
