News

By Todd Spangler Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery — ordinarily rivals for consumers’ time and money — are teaming up for a triple-play bundle of Disney+, Hulu and Max. The companies announced a new streaming bundle comprising Disney+, Hulu and Max will be available this summer in the U.S. There’s no pricing info or specific launch date at this point. Disney and WBD said the bundle will be available for purchase on any of the three streaming platforms’ websites and offered as both an ad-supported and ad-free plan.  The apps and content from each company will remain separate. Disney recently integrated Hulu content into Disney+ for customers who have both services. Note that Hulu already has agreements to sell add-on subscriptions for Max and Paramount Global’s Paramount+ With...

By Jack Dunn The South by Southwest festival, held annually in Austin, Texas, will launch a European edition in London in June 2025. SXSW London will feature the mix of keynotes conversations, film and TV events, music showcases and showcases for innovations in digital and gaming that have defined SXSW since the festival began in 1987. The London festival will emphasize visual arts, design and fashion with exhibitions and immersive experiences that will be held in the Shoreditch area of east London. SXSW is owned by Variety parent company PMC. “As a life-long fan of SXSW, I truly believe that it’s more than an event — it’s a movement, a platform where the world’s greatest minds, musicians and motivators come to share their passion and their vision of the future,” sa...

By Rebecca Rubin Primates will rule (the box office) again! Disney’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is aiming for $50 million to $55 million from 3,700 theaters in its domestic debut, which will easily be enough to tower over the box office chart. Those ticket sales are roughly even with two of the three prior installments in 20th Century’s rebooted “Planet of the Apes” franchise: 2017’s “War for the Planet of the Apes” opened to $56.2 million and 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” opened to $54.8 million, while 2014’s “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” notched a series-best $72 million. At the international box office, where “Apes” movies tend to make the bulk of their revenues, this installment is tracking to collect $80 million to $90 million. Based on those projections...

By Patrick Frater The video-on-demand streaming sector in Southeast Asia delivered record subscription numbers and subscription revenues in the first quarter of the year, according to a new study. Those trends represent recovery after a tough 2023. Data from consultancy firm Media Partners Asia and its AMPD research affiliate showed VOD usage at a barely changed 96.3 minutes in the five Southeast Asian countries studied (Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia). Total paying subscriptions reached 48.5 million, representing net additions of 652,000 quarter-on-quarter and 1.6 million year-on-year. Such growth was matched by a 9% year-on-year and 5% quarter-on-quarter increase in total subscription revenues to $381 million, marking a milestone...

Meredith Jacobs The NCIS: Hawai’i series finale picks up right where the first part left off, with Sam (LL COOL J) trying to get to his ELITE team as they die after being exposed to Compound X. (The person they thought would help them contain the bioweapon, Cruz, is the one who wants to release it and dosed them.) But one of his team pushes the door to the airlock close when Sam opens it; the only problem is Sam still becomes infected, due to a crack in his respirator face plate. The nearest infectious disease center is too far away, so the team in Belgrade sets up their own for Sam. The good news? They have some of the antidote—Cruz did smash the vials, but there’s enough—for one dose. The bad news? With four canisters of Compound X still out there, Chase (Seana Kofoed) ...

By Dennis Perkins As admirably as Judge Juan Merchan has scoffed at Donald Trump’s legal team and its increasingly ridiculous and sweaty excuses for their client’s flagrant flouting of the gag order against him, the fact that Trump was issued his tenth contempt of court judgement (and measly $1,000 fine) on Monday for attacking the jurors and officers of the court in his criminal trial had late-night hosts looking for new ways to express their incredulity. With the judge putting it in writing that the next violation will quite probably mean jail time for Trump, at least that mental picture seemed to jazz up the hosts, with Jimmy Kimmel looking eagerly forward to the inevitable, noting, “It’s like trying to get a dog to stop licking itself. It’s his nature.” The Up-Sucky Veepstakes ...