| Hello again and thanks for opening today's Inside Streaming. I get that people are sad to see "Shōgun" end. It was an amazing series and one I've really enjoyed. But I don't really understand all the calls for a Season 2 or whatever. The story came to a satisfying conclusion and all the major plot threads feel sufficiently resolved. It's okay to just let stories end, allowing the creators to move on and tell new stories. Not everything needs to be a franchise. I was also glad to see the THR writer ask the creators about David Mitchell's "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet," another great novel about a Westerner who gets stuck in Feudal Japan and caught up in the formality and bureaucracy of life there. I loved that book and have always felt like it would make a great movie or TV series. Enjoy today's issue! Lon
p/lon-harris | |
| 1 | | A special half-hour episode of the Austrailian animated family series "Bluey" set a new viewership record on Disney+. Globally, "The Sign" received 10.4 million views on Disney+ in its first seven days of release, making it the most-watched "Bluey" episode in the platform's history. More: - "The Sign" is also the most-viewed Disney Junior premiere ever on Disney+.
- In the episode, the Heeler family debates moving to a new city before ultimately deciding to remain in their home; it was widely viewed as the Season 3 "Bluey" finale until this weekend's release of a surprise follow-up, titled "Surprise."
- While it's been postulated that the original "Bluey" series may wrap up after Season 3, the creators suggest more projects and spinoffs featuring the characters are in development.
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| 2 | | According to The New York Times, global soccer governing body FIFA is nearing a deal with Apple for the streaming rights to a new tournament. The inaugural month-long World Cup-style competition is planned for next summer, and will be held in the United States. More: - The Times report suggests that FIFA and Apple will make an official announcement about the tournament soon, potentially later on this month.
- FIFA has been planning a new tournament for some time; initially, it had hoped to launch the event in China in 2021, but this goal was delayed due to the pandemic.
- Though no financial terms have been confirmed, the Times indicates that FIFA hoped to bring in $4 billion from the deal, but might be settling for around $1 billion instead.
- It's unclear whether or not the tournament will be exclusive to Apple TV+ or if the league also plans to shop around broadcast rights.
- Apple already has a 10-year, $2.5 billion global streaming deal with Major League Soccer.
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| 3 | | DAILY CALENDAR TUESDAY, APRIL 23 FARMHOUSE FIXER: The HGTV series finds Jonathan Knight and designer Kristina Crestin transforming old homes while keeping their rich histories and heritages alive. It's back this week for a third season. [Max] ROADKILL GARAGE: Automotive reality series from MotorTrend, spun off from their "Roadkill" series, in which Mike Finnegan and David Freiburger take an unconventional approach to modifying and repairing vehicles featured on the original show. Season 9 comes to Max in the US today. [Max] BRIGANDS: THE QUEST FOR GOLD (BRIGANTI): Period adventure series from Italy, starring Michela De Rossi as a young woman who joins a crew of bandits after fleeing her native village in the mid-19th Century, then leads the team on a risky treasure hunt. Ivana Lotito, Matilda Lutz, Orlando Cinque, and Marlon Joubert co-star. [Netflix] FIGHT FOR PARADISE: WHO CAN YOU TRUST? (WEM KANNST DU TRAUEN?) Debut reality competition series from Germany, in which contestants form strategic alliances while traveling together from a hellish jungle camp to a luxurious shared villa. The winners walk away with a 100,000 euro grand prize. Bonnie Strange hosts. [Netflix] | | | |
| 4 | | Writer/director Brian Helgeland detailed his plans for a never-produced "Game of Thrones" prequel series, centered around the mythical Queen Nymeria. The "LA Confidential" and "Knight's Tale" veteran detailed his initial HBO pitch, which was titled "10,000 Ships," during an interview with Inverse. More: - The series would have followed Nymeria after her country is destroyed, forcing her and her subjects to embark on a lengthy sea voyage, in search of a new homeland; it was inspired by the Biblical story of Moses.
- Helgeland was brought in to develop a "Thrones" spinoff in 2017; screenwriter Amanda Segel was hired in 2021 to flesh out the concept, but the show never received an official greenlight.
- In the same interview, Helgeland reveals that he's pitched a "Knight's Tale" sequel to Netflix, but the streamer passed on the concept after the algorithm predicted that it would underperform with subscribers.
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| 5 | | New findings published by the North Korea focused think tank 38 North Project suggests that some animators in the country are secretly collaborating on major streaming productions. It seems likely that Chinese animation houses have outsourced some of their work to North Koreans on shows including Amazon's "Invincible" and Cartoon Network/Max's "Iyanu: Child of Wonder." More: - The discovery was first made by researcher Nick Roy, who found a misconfigured North Korean cloud server hosting thousands of animation files.
- The server was updating regularly, and contained some text files and comments featuring instructions and directions for animators in Chinese, which had been translated into Korean.
- Internet access in North Korea is severely restricted by the government; the entire country only has around 1,024 IP addresses, allowing strictly supervised access for only a few thousand residents.
- Amazon and Max did not respond to the report.
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| 6 | | Netflix posted a trailer for the sci-fi action film "Atlas." Jennifer Lopez stars as a data analyst who reluctantly teams up with an AI-powered battle armor suit on a mission to save humanity. More: - Simu Liu co-stars as the villainous Harlan, a rogue AI attempting to kill all humans, while Sterling K. Brown plays one of Atlas' human allies, Colonel Banks.
- Lopez says the core of the film is the growing friendship between her character, Agent Atlas Shepherd, and her "arc suit," which she nicknames "Smith."
- "Rampage" and "San Andreas" vet Brad Peyton directed the film, which hits Netflix on May 24.
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| 7 | | The "film club platform" Galerie is bring its curated movie collection to Roku and Apple TV. Subscribers will be able to watch Galerie film selections via the streaming platforms while engaging in live discussions and "watch parties" on the service's mobile app. More: - Galerie subscriptions run $10 per month.
- The company was founded in November 2023 by the production company Indian Paintbrush and its chief innovation officer, Andy Shaprio.
- Each month, Galerie taps a different artist and filmmaker to serve as curator for the films and also host panel discussions about the selections.
- In the past, Galerie curators have included Wes Anderson, Mike Mills, Taylor Russell, Karyn Kusama, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Reinaldo Marcus Green.
- Actor and filmmaker Ethan Hawke will serve as curator for the month of May; his selections include "Boyhood," "Dazed and Confused," "Two-Lane Blacktop," "All That Jazz," "Paris, Texas," and "An Angel at My Table."
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| 8 | | QUICK HITS - Dulé Hill and Sarayu Blue joined the cast of Hulu's limited series "Orphan"; the series is based on the story of Natalia Grace, a Ukrainian girl born with dwarfism whose adoptive parents in the US claimed she was actually a legal adult.
- In an interview with "Entertainment Tonight," Mila Kunis said that she and husband Ashton Kutcher won't return for Season 2 of Netflix's "That '90s Show"; her "Family Guy" co-star Seth Green does plan to reprise his "That '70s Show" role for future episodes.
- Married "Shogun" co-creators Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about their decade-long journey bringing the literary adaptation to FX and Hulu, and their thoughts on a potential second season.
- Paramount's Pluto TV will add a dedicated "South Park" streaming channel in international markets outside the US.
- British comedy series "Trying" returns to Apple TV+ for a fourth season on May 22; the new episodes jump ahead six years, and find Nikki (Esther Smith) and Jason (Rafe Spall) now raising a pair of adopted children.
- Filmmaker and "Succession" vet Lorene Scafaria signed on to produce a half-hour comedy pilot for HBO and star, writer, and producer Rachel Sennot ("Bottoms").
- In a new interview with GQ, Jerry Seinfeld argues that the movie business "is over" because movies no longer "occupy the pinnacle in the social, cultural hierarchy"; his new film about the origin of Pop-Tarts, "Unfrosted," his Netflix next month.
- Paramount+ announced the line-up for Season 9 of "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars"; 8 returning queens will battle for a $200,000 grand prize, which will be donated to a charity of their choosing.
- In its latest episode, "The Simpsons" killed off the character of Larry the Barfly, a largely silent presence over the years at primary location Moe's Tavern.
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 | 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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