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Watch the first trailer for Disney's 'The Mandalorian'
Disney has revealed the first trailer for its long-awaited Star Wars original series, The Mandalorian. At the D23 Expo, creator Jon Favreau took the stage to reveal footage of the upcoming show, which will debut exclusively on Disney+ November 12th, the day the streaming service is set to launch. In the trailer you can see The Mandalorian himself, a lone gunfighter, wandering around the outer reaches of the galaxy. Favreau says there's absolutely no authority from the New Republic wherever The Mandalorian goes, and this trailer makes it clear just how far he'll go to handle anyone who does him wrong. Heck, you can see him cutting someone in half with blast doors.
A first look at Disney+
Disney isn't holding anything back at its D23 Expo. The company kicked off the event on Thursday with a couple of major reveals, including that of its new Avenger Campus theme park and a Disney+ docu-series that will focus on the people behind its movies and parks. And that was only the beginning. Today, Disney shared additional details about its highly anticipated streaming service, Disney+, which is set to launch on November 12th for $6.99 per month. For starters, Disney has confirmed the service will have more than 500 feature films and over 7,500 show episodes at launch, including new original series like The Mandalorian, blockbuster hits such as Captain Marvel, classics like The Simpsons and the entire Pixar library.
Disney+ confirms 'Ms. Marvel,' 'She-Hulk' TV shows in the works
At its D23 event this weekend, Disney is revealing a lot more about its plans for the Disney+ streaming service and has confirmed several new Marvel TV shows that are on the way. In addition to ones we'd heard about like The Falcon and Winter Soldier, Loki, Wandavision, Hawkeye and What If...?, MCU head Kevin Feige announced it's filling out "Phase Four" with other new shows including Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk and Moon Knight. According to Feige, Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel will appear in MCU films in addition to her show. Beyond Marvel, Disney+ also brought out Hilary Duff to announce she's returning as Lizzie McGuire in an all-new series for the service, and flashed a trailer for Jeff Goldblum's National Geographic show. Later, we saw a trailer for The Mandalorian, as well as news of a new Star Wars show where Ewan McGregor will return as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Other trailers shown at the event included Lady and the Tramp, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and Kristen Bell's Encore reality show. We got an early look at the service, check below to see some of the new trailers and show logos or read through our hands-on experience right here. Disney+ launches November 12th at a price of $6.99 per month.
Disney+ will have apps for iOS, Apple TV, Android and Xbox One
The debut of Disney's highly anticipated streaming service, Disney+, is almost here. But, leading up to the November 12th launch date, the company is starting to share more details about it. Today we're learning about how you'll be able to watch content on Disney+, which includes new original series like The Mandalorian, every season of The Simpsons and Disney's entire movie library. And while we knew Disney was planning to bring Disney+ to "your favorite" smart TVs, phones, laptops, tablets and gaming consoles, the only devices it had actually named were Roku and Sony's Playstation 4. Now, in addition to those, Disney's making it official that Disney+ will support iOS, Apple TV, Android, Android TV, Google Chromecast and Xbox One at launch.
Disney's streaming bundle: Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu for $12.99
On their quarterly earnings call, Disney execs confirmed a pricetag for the bundled streaming offer they'd teased while announcing Disney+. While that service will cost $7.99 per month on its own, this push to bring cord cutters back into their fold adds on ESPN+ and ad-supported Hulu for $12.99 per month. That's about $5 less than subscribing to them separately -- and the exact same price as Netflix's standard plan -- and it will be available as soon as Disney+ launches on November 12th.
Facebook might bring major streaming services to its Portal for TVs
Last year, reports emerged Facebook was working on a video chat camera you'd plug into your TV. It sounds a bit like its Portal smart display, albeit without the need for a dedicated screen. One reported aspect of the device is that it'd offer video streaming, including Facebook Watch. It seems Facebook has been trying to strike deals with other major streaming services too.
The biggest streaming announcements from Comic-Con
Another San Diego Comic-Con has come and gone, and as always, there were a colossal number of trailers and previews for upcoming shows and movies, including many in the streaming realm.
Disney expects a third live-action 'Star Wars' series by 2022
Disney may not release another Star Wars movie until 2022, but that isn't stopping it from loading its streaming service with Star Wars shows. As part of a presentation (skip to around 46:05) at a media conference, chief exec Bob Iger said he expected "at least one more" Star Wars series on Disney+ beyond The Mandalorian and a known pseudo-prequel to Rogue One. He didn't shed light on what it might entail, but it would arrive before movies resume in 2022.
Netflix reaches 148 million subscribers, will test 'top 10' lists
The first Netflix earnings report since its latest price hike and the unveiling of competitors from both Disney and Apple is here. Last year at this time Netflix crossed the 125 million subscriber mark with its second biggest quarterly addition of subscribers ever. Now it has over 148 million subscribers around the world, and added 9.6 million in the last three months, more than the 8.9 million it expected.
Netflix should certainly feel threatened by Disney+
From November, Disney's streaming service will offer the best of its extensive library at a knock-down price. Disney+ will not only be the home of the studio's blue-chip movies, but also host a number of exclusive TV series and pictures. For most households, the $7-per month will just about squeeze into the budget, but what does this mean for Netflix?
Disney+ adds 'The Simpsons' as a streaming exclusive
Among a flood of original and archived Disney programming coming to the Disney+ service when it launches November 12th, the company slipped in one last surprise from Fox: The Simpsons. Once the service launches, it will be the streaming home for all 30 seasons of the series. Right now, all episodes of The Simpsons are available via the FXX-linked Simpsons World site, and also stream on Hulu. Presumably that will change later this year, when they're locked into the $7-per-month Disney+ service, along with content from Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and other Disney properties. Now that Disney owns Fox, we're not surprised to see it put the studio's gems to use, but it's just another reminder of how many big names are under that umbrella now. Other than The Simpsons, Disney+ will also feature some other "family-friendly" titles from Fox: Additionally, Disney+ announced that all 30 seasons of The Simpsons will be available on the service on day one. In the service's first year, audiences will also have access to family-friendly Fox titles like The Sound of Music, The Princess Bride and Malcolm in the Middle as part of an impressive collection of more than 7,500 television episodes and 500 films including blockbuster hits from 2019 and beyond.
Disney+ will cost $6.99 per month, launches November 12th
After spending more than an hour laying out all of the content coming to Disney+ and showing off its apps, Disney revealed what we came to find out: the price. Disney+ will cost $6.99 per month, or on an annual basis for $69.99, and those interested can sign up for updates here. We also have a launch date, set for November 12th. Our other post runs down a lot of the content you can expect for that price, including many hours of high-profile selections across the Disney Signature, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, National Geographic and even Disney Channel libraries. That's before we get into the original content, all seasons of The Simpsons, and potentially discounted price for people bundling a subscription with ESPN+ and Hulu. At the investor conference where Disney revealed all of these details, it also mentioned the expectation that Disney+ would lose as much as a billion dollars in 2020, with losses peaking between 2020 and 2022, before expected profitability in 2024. From the sound of things, the company is willing to lose all of that money to fight Netflix (and all other competitors) for several years, so at the least it could be a while before there are any price hikes. Netflix, by comparison, has over 139 million customers right now, but it's spending billions every year to produce original content, and has already had to raise prices for the last few years in a row. Now, the real fight is on.
Disney+ app and worldwide rollout plans revealed
In the fall of 2017 Disney announced plans for a subscription streaming service of its own that could compete with the likes of Netflix. Last fall, it revealed a name -- Disney+ -- and that it would launch in late 2019. Today we're finally getting more official information about what it's like as Disney makes a presentation for its investors explaining the company's overall internet video strategy, including ESPN+ and Hulu, which will "likely" be offered as part of a bundle at a discounted price. Update: After several hours, Disney finally revealed the price: $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year, launching November 12th. We already know that the company's plans include plenty of expansions on content it owns from properties like Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars, as well as the Disney vault of well-loved family films. But what people are hoping to find out today is how much it will cost, how it will work and what, other than exclusives, it might use to draw customers who are already shelling out for one or more video subscriptions. Disney quickly revealed that all of the content on Disney+ will be ready for subscribers to download and view offline as long as they have a subscription. That's a feature Netflix only added in the last couple of years, and still doesn't apply to everything on its service. It's also going to support 4K and HDR video.
Disney will 'likely' offer a discounted Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu bundle
We haven't heard exactly how much Disney will charge for its streaming service, but at today's investor event its Direct to Consumer president Kevin Mayer announced an interesting note about its plans. Whatever it costs, you will "likely" be able to get a discount once it launches later this year by subscribing to a bundle of Disney+, the ESPN+ internet service and Hulu, which it now has a controlling stake in after the acquisition of Fox. That could be appealing to cord cutters, at the right price and with enough content, but without knowing more about Disney+ we're not sure. We should find out more information about the streaming service in just a few minutes. Update: After several hours, Disney finally revealed the price: $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year.
Hawkeye is the latest Avenger to reportedly get a Disney+ spinoff
Disney has a number of Marvel Cinematic Universe-adjacent shows in the works for its upcoming streaming platform, and it seems one of them is a limited Hawkeye series starring Jeremy Renner. The Disney+ show is reportedly an adventure series featuring Clint Barton (Renner) and Kate Bishop, a character from Marvel Comics who takes over the Hawkeye persona from him.