Month: May 2018

It looks like Disney’s big plan to buy a significant part of Fox’s assets is not a sure thing. Three sources told Reuters that Comcast Corp.–a telecom behemoth and one of the biggest entertainment companies on Earth–is looking to pay $60 billion to make an “all-cash offer” for the parts of Fox that Disney previously agreed to buy for $52 billion.

Back in December, Disney said it reached an agreement with Fox to buy the company’s film and TV studios, as well as its cable networks and international TV businesses in a stock-based deal.

This meant that Disney would have added X-Men, Avatar, The Simpsons to its roster. While Disney and Fox’s respective boards of directors approved the deal, it hasn’t gone through yet. The deal was subject to approval from Disney and Fox shareholders, while it also needed to be approved by merger and regulatory reviews, and meet other “closing conditions.”

As Reuters explains, Comcast tired to buy Fox last year but the deal never went through reportedly due in part to antitrust concerns. It sounds like Comcast’s new pursuit of Fox isn’t a sure thing either.

According to Reuters, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts will only push the deal forward if AT&T’s massive $85 billion takeover of Time Warner is allowed to proceed. In the United States, the Depart of Justice said it opposes the deal due to antitrust concerns, with a final decision on the matter coming in June.

Disney said in its initial announcement that buying Fox assets would allow the company–which already owns Marvel and most of its properties–to “reunite the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Deadpool” with the rest of its Marvel brands. Doing so would allow Disney to create “richer, more complex worlds of inter-related characters and stories that audiences have shown they love.”

Earlier this month, Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds revealed that Fox forced the Deadpool 2 filmmakers to cut a joke about Disney. The movie opens on May 18.

Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV show is one of the biggest productions currently in the works across the entire landscape of television. Per the supposed terms of an agreement between Amazon and Lord of the Rings rights-holders, the show must enter production within two years, so Amazon is understandably eager to get things going.

Now, Lord of the Rings fansite The One Ring is reporting that Amazon is “actively” connecting with “established” writers, directors, and showrunners to hear pitches for the show. Intriguingly, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit director Peter Jackson is apparently on the list.

The One Ring didn’t name any names outside of Jackson’s, but it’s exciting to think about being a fly on the wall at Amazon’s offices as they hear pitches for the show. We know it’s going to be a prequel set before the events of The Fellowship of the Ring. But nothing else is known at this stage. The universe that J.R.R. Tolkien created is rich and vast, with seemingly endless storytelling opportunities, so we’re excited to learn more.

J. Michael Straczynski–who created or co-created the shows Babylon 5, Crusade, Jeremiah, and Sense8–says he would “give a lung” to work on Amazon’s Lord of the Rings show. Straczynski, who wrote the Clint Eastwood-directed Changeling, is a huge Lord of the Rings fan–he wrote a term paper in college completely in Elvish.

Amazon is reportedly spending $1 billion to produce the Lord of the Rings TV show, so it is no small undertaking.

No new Lord of the Rings films have been announced, but movie about Tolkien’s relationship with with his wife Edith Bratt and his time in World War I is in the pipeline. Another film will explore the author’s relationship with Narnia writer C.S. Lewis and how he helped convert Lewis to Christianity. In other news, Universal might be working on a Lord of the Rings amusement park in Florida.

As promised, Nintendo has shared more details on the Nintendo Switch online subscription service, which is due to roll out in September. A post on Nintendo’s website explains that the service will offer “Save Data Cloud” backup, which sounds a lot like cloud saves.

This is great news, as it means you don’t have to worry about losing progress. Cloud saves are available with Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus as well, along with Steam and others.

Additionally, you’ll get access to a library of 20 NES games at launch, and more will be added “regularly,” Nintendo says. The launch titles include the 10 listed below–including Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda–and 10 more to be announced later.

• Soccer
• Tennis
• Donkey Kong
• Mario Bros.
• Super Mario Bros.
• Balloon Fight
• Ice Climber
• Dr. Mario
• The Legend of Zelda
• Super Mario Bros. 3

According to Nintendo, “every classic game” in the NES catalog will have some form of online functionality. “You can compete (or cooperate) online with friends, share your screen, or pass the controller, depending on the game,” Nintendo said. Additionally, using a dedicated app for the Switch online service, you can use voice chat.

The Switch’s paid membership program was originally supposed to launch in late 2017 before Nintendo delayed it to 2018. Subscriptions will be available for 1 month ($4), 3 months ($8), and 12 months ($20). Additionally, a Family Membership will be available for $35. The family plan allows a Nintendo Account holder to “invite up to seven others to join a family group,” and every member of the group will have access to the online membership benefits.

By comparison, Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus cost $60/year.

Since launch, online play for all Switch games has been free. That will change in September when the paid service rolls out. At that time, you will need a membership to play Splatoon 2, Arms, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Mario Tennis Aces, and Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido online. Other games may or may not require a membership, Nintendo said. Nintendo will share more details at a later date about how you will know if a game requires a paid membership or not.

Here are some other important details about the Nintendo Switch online membership, as pulled from a FAQ on Nintendo’s website:

• If you own multiple Switch consoles, you do not need a separate paid online subscription. “Nintendo Switch Online can be used on any device by signing in with the Nintendo Account that purchased the membership,” Nintendo said.
• Individual memberships are only available on the basis of one per Nintendo Account. But as mentioned, you can buy the $35 family plan to get a subscription for up to seven other Nintendo Accounts.
• You can create a Nintendo Account Family Group starting on May 15. As mentioned, a family group can support up to eight Nintendo Accounts.
• The Switch online membership only pertains to Switch; not Wii U or 3DS.
• You don’t necessarily need a Switch online membership, as things like access to the eShop, friend registration and management, and screenshot-sharing on Twitter and Facebook will remain available without a membership.

In other Nintendo news, the company has announced the date and time of its E3 2018 briefing, while it’s also confirmed that the new Smash Bros. for Switch is playable on the show floor.

Earlier this month, young Han Solo actor Alden Ehrenreich let slip that his deal with Disney covers three movies, leading to speculation that two more films may be coming. They might be, but no plans are in place yet, according to director Ron Howard. Speaking to Fandango, Howard suggested that Ehrenreich signing a three-movie contract doesn’t necessarily mean more movies are coming.

“I think the fans are going to define all of that,” he said. “I mean I think that Lucasfilm and Disney in casting actors, and particularly younger actors, want to see what happens and build upon that. Certainly, they want the commitment from the young actors, but there are no concrete plans. I think there’s been a lot of creative energy and now marketing energy going behind this movie.”

Like 2016’s Rogue One, the first of the new Star Wars standalone spinoffs, it sounds like Solo is expected to tell a self-contained story that doesn’t necessarily need one or multiple sequels. That being said, if the movie is successful enough and if writers can find stories worth telling, you never know what could happen in the future.

“I think these are exactly what they’re meant to be, or what they’re designed to be,” Howard said. “They’re single movies exploring the galaxy; but of course, as a company, I think they’re going to be very interested to see how people respond to it and take it from there. This whole thing is kind of a cool, ambitious exploration of what the galaxy and the Star Wars sensibility can continue to mean to fans.”

Solo opens on May 25, and also stars Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian. It’s expected to have a record-breaking opening weekend. Advance tickets are on sale now, and early signs show they are pacing ahead of Black Panther‘s.