| Thanks for reading today's Inside Streaming daily report. I'm SO perplexed by Netflix's bizarre "3 Body Problem" renewal drama. Rather than just announcing that the sci-fi drama is coming back for Season 2, the streamer said that it was renewed for "additional episodes" that will "complete the story." But does this mean a rushed "Game of Thrones"-style dash to the finish line, or will the show take its time and fully adapt the remaining Liu Cixin novels over the next several years? UNCLEAR. The announcement was so weirdly perplexing, the co-creators have been forced to do an interview with Hollywood Reporter to provide clarification. But it still only goes so far. We're assured that the show will have sufficient time to conclude, over multiple seasons, that things are proceeding roughly as planned, and the creative team plans to spend the next three years working on the remaining episodes. But it still doesn't specify how many seasons are still to come, or why the original announcement was so vague. Feels like there's something else going on behind the scenes right now that could impact the future of "3 Body Problem" long-term, and we're just not privy to all the information yet? Why not just say "it's gonna take two more seasons!" and be done with it? Lon
p/lon-harris | |
| 1 | | Marvel Studios is developing a spinoff series about the android character Vision. Paul Bettany will reprise his role from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films and "WandaVision" for the Disney+ series. More: - "Star Trek: Picard" vet Terry Matalas will executive produce and showrun.
- "WandaVision" features two versions of the character: one was a fantasy created by his lover, Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), while another was a rebuilt, all-white android created with no memories of his previous incarnation.
- The all-white Vision -- who had his memories restored by Wanda prior to the conclusion of the series -- will be at the center of the spinoff, though no further plot details were revealed.
- A previous Vision series was in development with "WandaVision" vet Jac Schaeffer, but that version isn't moving forward.
- Schaeffer is currently producing a separate spinoff project, "Agatha All Along," which hits Disney+ in September.
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| 2 | | According to Netflix, the Season 3 premiere of "Bridgerton" set a new viewership record for the period romantic drama series. Netflix reported that the first half of Season 3 received 45.05 million views in the week since its May 16 premiere, with around 165.2 million hours of total viewing time. More: - Season 2's debut in March 2022 was viewed for 193 million hours globally in its debut week, but those views were spread across a full eight-episode season, not just the first half.
- Because of the extended length of the content, and Netflix's method of calculating viewership, that means the Season 2 premiere received just 22.7 million total views in its first week.
- Netflix has around 50 million more subscribers today than it did in 2022, which partly accounts for the boost in "Bridgerton" viewership.
- "Bridgerton" Season 3 set a new record for the highest single weekly view count for any Netflix original series, since the streamer started calculating and ranking views in this fashion last year.
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| 3 | | DAILY CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, MAY 22 TRYING: The British comedy series returns this week for a fourth season. After a six-year time jump, Nikki (Esther Smith) and Jason (Rafe Spall) are now experienced adoptive parents confronting a fresh set of challenges. Andy Wolton created the series and writes the scripts. [Apple TV+] TOUGHEST FORCES ON EARTH: Debut docuseries from the UK in which a trio of former special operations soldiers -- a US Army Ranger, a British Special Forces operator, and a US Navy SEAL -- check in with some of the world's most elite and secretive military units, to get a sense for their culture, tactics, and weaponry. [Netflix] BUYING LONDON: Debut real estate reality series centering around luxury property mogul (and self-titled "Mr. Super Prime") Daniel Daggers and his team at London's DDRE Global. [Netflix] ACT YOUR AGE: Comedy series, produced for the Bounce TV cable network, co-starring Kym Whitley, Tisha Campbell, and Yvette Nicole Brown as a trio of single long-time friends and roommates. Season 1 debuted last year on cable and hits Netflix in the US today. [Netflix] 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 batch of new Season 2 episodes arrive today. [Disney+] MARVEL STUDIOS' ASSEMBLED: THE MAKING OF X-MEN '97: The anthology behind-the-scenes docuseries returns with a look at the making of Disney+'s animated "X-Men" show, a continuation of the '90s classic "X-Men: The Animated Series." [Disney+] MOONSHINERS: MASTER DISTILLER: The Discovery reality competition series -- in which lawful and and black market distillers go head-to-head in various booze-making challenges -- is back for a sixth season. Mark Ramsey, Eric "Digger" Manes, and Tim Smith serves as judges. [Max] CHIEF DETECTIVE 1958: Debut crime drama series from Korea, serving as a prequel to the series "Chief Inspector." Young police detective Park Yeong-han (Lee Je-hoon) -- frustrated with chasing after petty thieves -- joins with like-minded colleagues to investigate corruption and work on behalf of everyday people. [Hulu] AERIAL ADVENTURES: Unscripted educational series from Smithsonian Channel featuring dramatic and picturesque aerial photography shot across the US. Season 1 debuted last year on cable and premieres today on Paramount+. [Paramount+] | | | |
| 4 | | At the Cannes film market, Amazon grabbed the bulk of the international rights for "Mongoose," an upcoming Liam Neeson action thriller film. Neeson stars as a war hero who's wrongfully accused of a serious crime, prompting him to lead police on an epic, televised cross-country chase. More: - Amazon paid around $20 million for the international rights to distribute the film, which will stream on Prime Video.
- The project comes from Code Entertainment, which also produced Neeson's direct-to-streaming "Ice Road" films.
- Veteran stuntman and stunt coordinator Mark Vanselow directs; he's previously worked on films including "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."
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| 5 | | Co-creators David Benioff, Dan Weiss, and Alexander Woo clarified Netflix's vague "3 Body Problem" renewal announcement. While the streamer announced that the sci-fi drama -- based on novels by author Liu Cixin -- would return with "additional episodes" to "finish the story," no further specifics were provided. More: - In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the co-creators and showrunners assured fans that they'd have enough time to completely adapt the remaining Liu novels.
- According to Weiss, the adaptation is proceeding as planned, based on the showrunners' initial roadmap, and will return for multiple additional seasons.
- The trio is currently at work on scripts for the show's second season, and said they plan to devote the next three years to completing the saga.
- The series concerns a group of scientists investigating a strange conspiracy, ultimately revealing major changes coming to the Earth over the next few centuries.
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| 6 | | YouTube creators The Try Guys are launching their own streaming service, dubbed 2nd Try. The ad-free website and app launches on Wednesday, and costs $4.99 per month. More: - The Try Guys will continue producing content for YouTube, and plan to now use their channel primarily to promote the third-party service.
- Original Try Guys member Eugene Lee Yang also plans to depart the group later this year, leaving just two original crew members, Zach Kornfeld and Keith Habersberger; they plan to add fresh faces to the line-up along with new series.
- On YouTube, the Try Guys started off making videos in which they try out new experiences and activities but have since expanded their roster with additional formats.
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| 7 | | Netflix released an early look at "The Witcher" Season 4, introducing Liam Hemsworth as the new Geralt of Rivia. The fantasy action series' new episodes are currently in production in the UK. More: - Henry Cavill portrayed monster hunter Geralt in the first three seasons of "The Witcher," but announced his exit from the show in 2022.
- The remainder of the show's central cast -- including Freya Allan, Anya Chalotra, and Joey Batey -- are all back for the new episodes; Season 3 apparently shifts primary focus from Geralt to Allan's character, Ciri.
- A number of actors portraying new characters also joined the cast for Season 3, including Laurence Fishburne, Sharlto Copley, James Purefoy, and Danny Woodburn.
- "The Witcher" will conclude after five seasons.
- The series is based on novels and stories by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski which also inspired a popular series of video games.
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| 8 | | QUICK HITS - Holly Hunter took the lead role in "Starfleet Academy," the next "Star Trek" series headed to Paramount+; the series begins shooting in Toronto later this summer.
- Netflix renewed "Tires" for a second season just ahead of its series premiere later this week; Shane Gillis co-created and co-stars in the workplace comedy, set at a Pennsylvania auto shop.
- Freevee canceled the ensemble comedy series "Primo" after a single season; on X, creator Shea Serrano said the show had a "short but beautiful run."
- The latest trailer for Netflix's "Sweet Tooth" introduces new characters played by Kelly Marie Tran and Cara Gee; the third and final season premieres on June 6.
- According to Paramount+'s internal numbers, the debut episode of "The Chi" Season 6, Part 2 was viewed around 2 million times in its first seven days online; that's the show's best streaming performance to date.
- Apple dropped a full trailer for the series adaptation of Scott Turow's novel "Presumed Innocent," starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a Chicago proseuctor who's suspected of murdering his colleague; the series arrives on June 12.
- The HBO docuseries "Ren Faire" chronicles the world's largest Renaissance Faire and its 86-year-old organizer George Coulam's search for a successor; the series, produced by the Safdie Brothers, hits cable and Max on June 2.
- Original "That '70s Show" actor Don Stark -- who portrays neighbor Bob Pinciotti -- will have his role expanded on Season 2 of Netflix's spinoff "That '90s Show."
- Production is now underway on the Netflix Western drama "The Abandons," the new series from "Sons of Anarchy" vet Kurt Sutter; the series follows a diverse group of individuals and families living on the fringes of society in 1850s Oregon.
- The HBO financial drama "Industry" returns for a third season on August 11; Kit Harington joins the cast as the CEO of a hot green tech energy company who's prepping an IPO.
- CW canceled the "Walker, Texas Ranger" reboot "Walker" after four seasons.
- "Night Court" regular India de Beaufort won't return for the NBC sitcom's third season.
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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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