Hulu updates ad policy / "Stranger Things" edits / "Gray Man" sequel greenlit / Winslet in HBO's "The Palace"

Plus today's calendar, YouTube Q2 earnings, Netflix "Pinocchio" trailer, Pascal and Harbour join HBO's "My Dentist," and more

Inside.com Part of   Network July 27, 2022

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After facing criticism from Democratic candidates and groups, Hulu abandoned its "unwritten" policy against potentially controversial political ads. The Disney-owned streamer will now apply the same standard the company uses to vet ads for its cable networks. More: In the past month, Hulu had rejected ads from New York Democratic candidate Suraj Patel as well as a number of coalitions representing Democratic candidates and politicians, due to mentions of divisive issues such as abortion rights, gun control, and the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. In a new statement, Hulu vowed to "accept candidate and issue advertisements covering a wide spectrum of policy positions," while reserving the right to request edits or changes on a case-by-case basis. According to the data analytics firm Kantar Media, as much as $7.8 billion will be spent on political advertising over the 2022 midterm election season. WASHINGTON POST

Following online reports that old episodes of "Stranger Things" have been re-edited on Netflix, the official Twitter account for the show's writers formally denied the allegations. The official Stranger Things Writers account tweeted "PSA: no scenes from previous seasons have ever been cut or re-edited. And they never will be." More: Some fans theorized that a Season 1 sequence in which the character of Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) spied on Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer) and covertly took photographs of her had been re-edited to make it less "pervy." During a June interview with Variety, "Stranger Things" creators The Duffer Brothers discussed potentially editing a moment in the show's second season in order to change the canonical birthday of character Will Byers (Noah Schnapp). The Duffers added that they have "George Lucas'd things also that people don't know about," using the term to mean surreptitiously making small calculated edits. As well, certain Season 4 VFX shots have been updated after the episodes were initially posted to Netflix. VARIETY

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DAILY CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, JULY 27 LIGHT & MAGIC: Six-part behind-the-scenes docuseries taking viewers inside Industrial Light & Magic, the visual effects company within Lucasfilm that brought "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" to life, along with many of the most popular blockbusters of the modern era. The series comes from filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan and Imagine producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer. [Disney+] HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL: THE MUSICAL: THE SERIES: The musical comedy-drama series -- inspired by the "High School Musical" films -- returns on Wednesday for its third season. Season 3 follows the Wildcats of East High as they spend the summer at Camp Shallow Lake and mount a stage production of Disney's "Frozen." Joshua Bassett, Sofia Wylie, Matt Cornett, Julia Lester, Dara Reneé, and Frankie A. Rodriguez are all back while breakout star Olivia Rodrigo returns this season for some episodes. [Disney+] BIG CITY GREENS: The animated comedy series follows single dad Bill Green and his kids Cricket and Tilly as they move to his mother's small farm, set in the middle of Big City. 4 new episodes -- part of the show's third season -- come to Disney+ today. [Disney+] WE MET IN VIRTUAL REALITY: Original feature documentary from first-time filmmaker Joe Hunting about building relationships and communities online, which was produced and shot entirely in virtual reality. [HBO Max] THE MOST HATED MAN ON THE INTERNET: Three-part docuseries from the producers of "The Tinder Swindler" and "Don't F**k With Cats" profiling Hunter Moore, the internet troll and self-described "professional life ruiner" best known for founding the revenge porn blog IsAnyoneUp. The film centers on a mother who's determined to remove photos of her daughter from the notorious site while publicly exposing the truth about its founder. [Netflix] CAR MASTERS: RUST TO RICHES: The reality series follows owner Mark Towle and the team at Gotham Garage as they overhaul and restore a series of broken-down rusty wrecks, with the goal of flipping them for big money. Season 4 hits Netflix today. [Netflix] DREAM HOME MAKEOVER: The home renovation reality series -- following Shea and Syd McGee as they help families reimagine their homes to suit their unique lifestyles -- returns to Netflix today for its third season. [Netflix] REBELDE: Mexican teen drama series, following up on the 2004 telenovela of the same name, and centering on a group of private school students from very different backgrounds who all share a love of music. Season 2 debuts today on Netflix. [Netflix] PIPA: Spanish-language crime drama feature from Argentina, starring Luisana Lopilato as a burned-out cop who escapes her old life and moves to the remote village of La Quebrada, only to have a corpse turn up on her new property. Alejandro Montiel ("Perdida") co-wrote and directed. [Netflix] THE LOUD HOUSE: The Nickelodeon animated series revolves around Lincoln Loud, the only son in a large family of 11 kids. Season 5 arrives on Paramount+ today; Season 6 is currently airing on TV. [Paramount+] ENFERMO AMOR: Romantic comedy feature from Mexico following the stories of 9 different couples as they sort out the challenges of love and relationships. [ViX+]

Netflix announced both a film sequel and a spin-off based on the action-thriller "The Gray Man." Star Ryan Gosling and directors Joe and Anthony Russo will all return for the follow-up film. More: "Deadpool" veterans Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese are currently developing the spinoff project, which will expand the "Gray Man" universe; no further plot details have been revealed. The film stars Gosling as a covert US government assassin who recovers a flash drive full of incriminating evidence, then becomes a target himself; Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Regé-Jean Page, and Billy Bob Thornton co-star. According to Netflix, the film held the #1 spot over the weekend in 92 countries following its Friday debut. IndieWire reported that the film has had the fifth-best launch week of any Netflix original film, behind only "The Adam Project," "Red Notice," "Don't Look Up," and "The Kissing Booth 3." ENGADGET

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Kate Winslet signed on for the lead role in the HBO limited series "The Palace." The show -- from creator and showrunner Will Tracy ("Succession") -- examines a crumbling authoritarian regime during its final year. More: Filmmaker Stephen Frears ("Philomena," "Dangerous Liaisons") will direct and executive produce. Winslet is also attached to star in the HBO limited series "Trust," based on the novel by Hernan Diaz. Last year, she won the Emmy for Best Actress in a Limited Series for HBO's "Mare of Easttown"; she previously won in the same category for the 2011 HBO limited series "Mildred Pierce." Frears has been Oscar-nominated twice, for the 1991 film "The Grifters" and the 2007 film "The Queen." VARIETY

Alphabet executives reported weaker-than-anticipated Q2 earnings on Tuesday, with YouTube's returns proving specifically disappointing. YouTube revenue was up by just 4.8% over the same period last year, the streamer's slowest rate of expansion since Alphabet started considering its sales separately in 2019. More: Alphabet executives cited YouTube's uniquely strong performance in Q2 2021, and a general downturn in the US advertising market, as reasons for the lower numbers. In general, according to CNBC, economic uncertainty, along with supply chain and inventory issues, are causing brands to cut back on their advertising and marketing budgets. YouTube's aggressive focus on Shorts -- its up-and-coming TikTok rival -- is another cause for concern, as the company loses conventional ad formats while attempting to grow sales on an untested format. CNBC

Netflix released a trailer for its stop-motion animated "Pinocchio" adaptation from filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. The film debuts theatrically in November and will come to Netflix in December. More: David Bradley stars as the voice of woodcarver Gepetto, while Ewan McGregor narrates as Cricket and newcomer Gregory Mann voices Pinocchio himself.  The cast also includes Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Christoph Waltz, and Tilda Swinton. Claymation and "The PJs" vet Mark Gustafson co-directed the film with Del Toro. Disney has a live-action remake of "Pinocchio" arriving later this year, starring Tom Hanks in the Gepetto role; that film will beat Netflix to the punch, launching on Disney+ on September 8. CNET

Pedro Pascal and David Harbour took the lead roles in the upcoming HBO limited crime drama series "My Dentist's Murder Trial." The series was inspired by a New Yorker article by James Lasdun, about the murder trial of Dr. Gilberto Nunez. More: Nunez was accused of murdering his friend Thomas Kolman Jr. in 2011; he was ultimately found not guilty of murder but was convicted on felony forgery charges. Pascal and Harbour will both executive produce in addition to co-starring; Steve Conrad ("Ultra City Smiths") will write the series and direct the pilot. Pascal stars in the Disney+ series "The Mandalorian" and has the lead role in the upcoming HBO video game adaptation "The Last of Us"; Harbour is one of the leads on Netflix's "Stranger Things." VARIETY

Amazon dropped a trailer for the upcoming superhero drama feature "Samaritan." Sylvester Stallone stars as a retired crimefighter, currently working as a garbage man, who forms a bond with a young fan (Javon "Wanna" Walton). More: The film releases on Prime Video on August 26. Martin Starr, Moises Arias, Sophia Tatum, and Dacha Polanco co-star. "Overlord" vet Julias Avery directed. POLYGON

QUICK HITS When you align headless CMS with a modern DAM and analytics, you can serve personalized content that keeps people coming back.* Peacock ordered a first season for "Those About to Die," a historical drama series inspired by Daniel Mannix's nonfiction book of the same title, centered in the world of gladiatorial sports in Ancient Rome; filmmaker Roland Emmerich ("Moonfall") will direct and executive produce. Netflix's film "The Swimmers," from co-writer/director Sally El Hosaini ("My Brother the Devil"), will screen as the opening-night feature at this year's Toronto Film Festival; Netflix's "White Noise" has also been selected as this year's Venice Film Festival opening night screening. TelevisaUnivision released its first post-merger quarterly earnings report; revenue was up by 7% but operating expenses jumped by 24%, due largely to investments in the Vix and Vix+ streaming services. Netflix released a trailer for "Running With the Devil," its feature documentary profile of late software pioneer John McAfee; the film debuts on August 24. According to Spotify, streams of the 1985 Kate Bush single "Running Up That Hill" increased by 9000% after the song was featured on "Stranger Things" Season 4; the song has also been featured in 2.7 million TikTok videos to date. New research published by Roku indicates that theatrical films boost viewership for films from the same series or franchise on streaming services, even when the new movie is not a box office success. The YA fantasy drama series "Fate: The Winx Saga" returns to Netflix for a second season on September 16. "Y Tu Mamá También" co-stars Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna will reteam for the Spanish-language Hulu boxing drama series "La Máquina"; Marco Ramirez ("Daredevil") will serve as showrunner. During an appearance on "Live with Kelly and Ryan" on Monday, "Good Girls" star Retta said that the show was "very close" to securing a Season 5 renewal, but "one person ruined" the deal, adding "I'm salty!" Netflix's 6-part limited series about the 2018 rescue of a Thailand boys soccer team from a flooded network of caves will debut on September 22; the series was produced entirely in Thailand and comes from Thai filmmaker Baz Poonpiriya and Thai-American director Kevin Tancharoen. Amazon released another trailer for the upcoming sports comedy-drama series "A League of Their Own"; the show debuts on August 12. Following some uncertainty about the film's release schedule, Apple confirmed it will release the Martin Scorsese crime drama "Killers of the Flower Moon" in 2023. Super Coffee the #3 ranked bottled coffee brand in the US behind Starbucks and Dunkin’, is replacing the negatives with only positive ingredients.* *This is sponsored content

Lon Harris is the writer and editor of Inside Streaming and was the very first person to ever write an Inside newsletter. He lives in Los Angeles, California, and also writes about TV and film for Fandom, Screen Junkies, Rotten Tomatoes, Gamma Ray and others. Plus he has a Game of Thrones podcast called "Casterly Talk" and competes on The Movie Trivia Schmoedown as "The Professor." Editor Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade.

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