Amazon "Warhammer" franchise / Netflix renews "Walter Boys" / NASA's deep space cat video / "Reacher" a hit on Prime Video

Plus today's calendar, "The Regime" teaser, Spencer & Waddingham join Prime series, the end of "In the Shadows," and more

Inside Streaming For December 20, 2023

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Hello again and thanks for reading Inside Streaming! Is this story about NASA streaming a cat video to Earth from deep space totally relevant to our newsletter here? I guess it depends... We focus here mostly on the streaming industry, particularly as it intersects with technology, media, and entertainment. So the cat story really only hits the "technology" part of that equation. Still, it's an interesting development! And who knows? One day, this same tech might power popular TV shows streaming to Mars from the Earth, or vice-versa! Then it would be SUPER relevant. So I decided to include it. Hey, it's the end of the year. Let's lighten up a bit. Enjoy today's issue! We'll see you back here tomorrow. Lon p/lon-harris

1 Games Workshop announced plans for an interconnected film and TV universe based on its iconic tabletop game, "Warhammer 40,000." Amazon Studios signed on as a collaborator on the project, which will feature "The Witcher" vet Henry Cavill as an actor and producer. More: Amazon and Games Workshop first signed an agreement last year to collaborate on a "Warhammer" project. Games Workshop's posted statement was vague and simply notes that "an elite band of screenwriters" are at work developing the stories. The first "Warhammer" game was released in 1987; gameplay involves simulating battles using hand-painted miniatures moving across maps. The franchise is set in a distant future in which humanity fights endless wars against hostile aliens and supernatural creatures. Cavill has discussed his appreciation for the games and the franchise many times on chat shows and in interviews.

2 Netflix renewed the YA romantic drama series "My Life with the Walter Boys" for a second season. The series debuted just 10 days ago, and has received more than 12 million views so far, making it the streamer's #1 English-language TV series for the week. More: The series is based on a book by Ali Novak, and stars Nikki Rodriguez as a teen from Manhattan who moves to rural Colorado after losing her family in a tragic accident. Season 1 wraps up the events of the novel, but tweaks the ending to leave the story open for additional seasons. Showrunner Melanie Halsall has been tight-lipped about what fans can expect from the upcoming episodes.

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3 DAILY CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20 MAESTRO: Biographical drama from co-writer, director, and star Bradley Cooper ("A Star is Born"), centering on the complex relationship between famed composer Leonard Bernstein (Cooper) and his wife, the actress Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan). Matt Bomer, Maya Hawke, and Sarah Silverman co-star; executive producers include Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. "Maestro" was nominated for the Golden Lion at this year's Venice Film Festival; it's up for four Golden Globes. [Netflix] LOVE IS BLIND BRAZIL: AFTER THE ALTAR (CASAMENTO ÀS CEGAS BRASIL: DEPOIS DO ALTAR): Reality reunion series bringing back contestants from the first three seasons of Brazil's "Love is Blind." The upcoming fourth season of "Love is Blind: Brazil" will also feature returning personalities getting a second chance at love. Cassia Dian hosts. [Netflix] CINDY LA REGIA: THE HIGH SCHOOL YEARS (LA SERIE): Spanish-language YA comedy-drama series from Mexico, starring Michelle Pellicer as a curious teen from a sheltered upbringing who attends a unisex school with both male and female students for the first time. [Netflix] TAMING OF THE SHREWD 2 (POSKROMIENIE ZŁOŚNICY 2): Polish romantic comedy feature, following up on 2022's first "Taming of the Shrewd." Kaska and Patryk's new romance is tested after they both begin to suspect that the other has been unfaithful. Magdalena Lamparska and Mikolaj Roznerski co-star. [Netflix] PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: Debut live-action fantasy series, based on the books by Rick Riordan, starring Walker Scobell as a 12-year-old modern-day demigod who's accused of stealing Zeus' thunderbolt. Leah Sava Jeffries, Aryan Simhadri, Glynn Turman, Jason Mantzoukas, Megan Mullally, Timm Sharp, and Edge co-star; Riordan co-created the series with Jonathan E. Steinberg ("Black Sails," "The Old Man"). [Hulu and Disney+] CHIP 'N' DALE: PARK LIFE: The dialogue-free animated series -- produced in the style of classic cartoon shorts -- follows the adventures of the two chipmunk troublemakers, now living in a park in the middle of a big city. A Christmas special, featuring cameos from more classic Disney characters, debuts on Disney+ today. [Disney+] BTS MONUMENTS: BEYOND THE STAR: 8-episode docuseries chronicling the history and development of the South Korean boy band BTS, featuring insights and recollections from group members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. [Disney+] PUPSTRUCTION: Disney Junior series for young kids about a hard-working dog construction crew serving the town of Petsburg. Four new Season 1 episodes come to Disney+ today. [Disney+] SOUTH PARK: NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN: The satirical animated comedy series returns with a new special, in which a South Park Elementary teacher opens an account on OnlyFans, sparking controversy in the quiet mountain community. This is Paramount+'s sixth exclusive "South Park" special. [Paramount+]. GOLDA: 2023 biographical drama starring Helen Mirren as former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, with a focus on her leadership during the 1973 Yom Kippur War against a coalition of Arab states. Camille Cottin, Liev Schreiber, and Lior Ashkenazi co-star; Israeli filmmaker Guy Nattiv ("Skin") directed. "Golda" debuted at this year's Berlin International Film Festival. [Paramount+] DRAGONS OF WONDERHATCH (WONDERHATCH: SORATOBU RYU NO SHIMA): Debut Japanese fantasy-adventure series,  combining live action and animation. Sena Nakajima stars as a high school student from our world who makes contact with a misfit from an alternate dimension in her dreams. In his animated world, people hear the voices of dragons in their heads and train to ride the creatures. [Hulu] ARCHIE: British TV drama series, produced by ITV Studios, starring Jason Isaacs as screen icon Cary Grant, who was born into poverty under the name Archibald Leach. The series centers on Grant in the 1960s, living in Los Angeles and enjoying international stardom while being haunted by personal demons and unhappiness. Harriet Walter, Jason Watkins, Calam Lynch, and Laura Aikman costar; Jeff Pope ("Stan & Ollie") created the series and wrote the scripts. [BritBox] DANIEL: Documentary from HBO, featuring footage shot by filmmaker Daniel Northcott during his extensive travels around the world. Northcott was forced to cut his adventures short due to mysterious health issues, which be believed were related to an ancient Mayan curse, triggered when he explored a cave and burial ground in Mexico. Northcott's sister Erin finished the film following his death; Adam McKay executive produced. [Max]

4 NASA streamed a high-definition cat video from 18.6 million miles away, around 80 times the distance from the Earth to the moon. The transmission -- part of NASA's Deep Space Optical Communications project -- aims to foster communication between the Earth and potential human colonies on Mars and beyond. More: The video itself features a cat named Taters chasing a laser pointer; it was intended as a nod to the first-ever TV transmission, which featured a statue of the cartoon character Felix the Cat. The demonstration was made possible by utilizing equipment that launched into space in October, currently on its way to explore the Psyche asteroid. The transmission was made using lasers, as opposed to radio frequencies, which allow for more information to be transmitted more quickly. The information transmitted at a rate of 267 megabits per second, comparable to an internet connection on Earth.

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5 According to Amazon's internal figures, Season 2 of "Reacher" had the most-watched debut of any Prime Video series this year. The first three episodes hit the streamer on December 15; so far, the show has expanded its Season 1 premiere week audience by around 50%. More: According to data from Nielsen, back in March of 2022, "Reacher" Season 1  was viewed for 1.84 billion minutes in its debut week; unlike Season 2, which will release new episodes weekly, "Reacher" Season 1 was released all at once for binging. Amazon reports that the new season of "Reacher" had the biggest Prime Video debut since "Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" in September of 2022. "Reacher" is based on a series of novels by author Lee Child; Season 2 was inspired by "Bad Luck and Trouble," the 11th book in Child's series. Alan Ritchson stars as former military police officer-turned-drifter Jack Reacher, who uses his considerable skills to aid people in need.

6 HBO dropped a teaser for the upcoming political comedy-drama series "The Regime." Kate Winslet stars as the powerful chancellor of a fictional European country whose government is starting to unravel. More: The series comes from creator Will Tracy, a veteran of "Succession" who also wrote the 2022 comedy-horror film "The Menu." Matthias Schoenaerts, Martha Plimpton, Guillaume Gallienne, Andrea Riseborough, and Hugh Grant co-star. The six-episode limited series comes to HBO and Max on March 3.

7 Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham both signed on for a new Prime Video comedy series as stars and producers. The still-untitled series comes from first-time creator Tessa Coates, based on her original pitch. More: Skydance Television developed the series, which received bids from multiple networks and streamers before landing at Amazon. Waddingham stars as a covert assassin whose best friend (Spencer) discovers her secret, causing them both to be targeted by a mysterious foe. Spencer's company, Orit Entertainment, has an overall first-look deal with Skydance Television; this is the first project to emerge from that agreement.

8 QUICK HITS Smart investors are generating passive income by selling their shareholder voting rights. Register on Shareholder Vote Exchange to start earning.* Angela Bassett, Dan Stevens, and Matthew Modine joined the cast of Netflix's limited series "Zero Day"; Robert De Niro stars in the series, which is currently in production in New York. FX announced that the upcoming sixth season of the mockumentary comedy-horror series "What We Do In the Shadows" will be its last; the series, based on a 2014 film of the same name, centers on a group of modern-day vampires living on Staten Island, and streams on the Hulu service. Roku released a list of the most searched films, TV shows, and actors across all its devices in 2023; "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" was the top film search, "Yellowstone" took the #1 spot for TV shows, while Melissa McCarthy and Adam Sandler were the top performers. Season 7 of Adult Swim's "Rick & Morty" -- the show's first without co-creator and star Justin Roiland -- hits the Max streaming service on January 22. Former YouTube "mommy vlogger" Ruby Franke pleaded guilty this week to three charges of child abuse, and will serve at least some time in prison. The comedy-thriller "Self Reliance" -- the directorial debut of actor Jake Johnson -- will screen in movie theaters for one night only on January 3, before hitting Hulu the following week. David Letterman, bandleader Paul Shaffer, and iconic singer Darlene Love reunited on YouTube for a new rendition of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"; Love's performance of the holiday favorite was an annual tradition on Letterman's late night chat shows for 28 years. CBS' ratings for the reality franchises "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race" were up around 19% year-over-year in 2023; "Survivor" averaged around 6.59 million viewers, and a 1.6 rating among adults ages 25-54, per episode this year. "Colin from Accounts" producers Ian Collie and Rob Gibson chatted with Deadline about the state of the Australian TV industry and their plans for the global hit romantic comedy series' second season. On the "Lipstick on the Rim" podcast, Cameron Diaz pushed back against rumors about her co-star Jamie Foxx's difficult behavior on the set of Netflix's film "Back in Action," calling the actor "the cheerleader for the entire crew" and "a professional on every level." 100k companies automate scheduling with Calendly. Teams are seeing 2x conversion rates, 30% increased customer retention, and 323% ROI. Sign up free.* *This is sponsored content

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Lon Harris Writer 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." This newsletter was edited by Lon Harris

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