Netflix

The streamer is planning to debut a new docuseries in 2025 that features “unprecedented access to Red Sox players, coaches, and executives” during the 2024 season. Later this year, Netflix will also release a documentary about the Red Sox’s 2004 season, which led to the team’s historic World Series win.

The streamer has been slowly revealing its slate of streaming TV and films, and now the focus is on Korea — a market where Netflix is investing quite a bit. Among this year’s Korean originals are new seasons of Squid Game, Sweet Home, and Hellbound; the historical drama Uprising, co-written by Oldboy’s Park Chan-wook; and a reality show where influencers compete “to find the one true content creator who generates the biggest buzz — by any means necessary.”

From a distance, Netflix’s last-minute decision to cancel the release of executive producer Halle Berry’s nearly-completed sci-fi flick The Mothership has looked a lot like the streamer following in Warner Bros. Discovery’s footsteps.

But according to Netflix’s chief content officer Bela Bejaria, between production delays, and creative issues “everybody just felt like it was the right thing to not do it.”

Netflix just revealed its upcoming slate for both TV shows and movies, and arguably the biggest reveal was that season two of Squid Game would premiere later in 2024. As part of the announcement, we got a handful of images from the new season — though there are still no real details on what the story will entail.

The co-founder donated two million shares (about 40 percent of his direct holdings) to Silicon Valley Community Foundation. The Wall Street Journal notes that the charity is popular with tech founders with over $10 billion in assets at the close of 2022. Donors see an immediate tax benefit (like avoiding payment of capital-gains tax) but funds can ultimately “sit for years” before being distributed.

In what Variety called an otherwise business-as-usual annual 10-K report to the SEC, Netflix wrote that it “could be adversely impacted” if its competitors use generative AI to gain an edge.

The company also claimed that using AI-generated material could leave it more exposed to litigation over intellectual property, given the open questions around copyright law and AI.

On the eve of one of WWE’s biggest events, the Royal Rumble, Vince McMahon has resigned from all of his duties at TKO Group Holdings. After Endeavor acquired WWE (and merged it with UFC) earlier this year, he had been appointed executive chairman of the combined company and held a seat on the board.

But earlier this week, a former employee sued McMahon and accused him of sex trafficking and abuse. The filing contains many heinous text messages and details — and it’s not the first time McMahon has been accused of deeply troubling behavior. The allegations started to affect WWE’s business, with longtime advertiser Slim Jim pausing its sponsorship of tomorrow’s event.

Now, with WWE’s streaming future a done deal, McMahon has made a swift exit from Ari Emanuel’s company, finally allowing WWE to begin a new chapter.

In this episode, we get our first glimpse of Nilay’s fabulously lucrative “alternate app marketplace” idea, we have a lot of thoughts about whether Netflix is better than cable or is just cable again, and all expose ourselves as thoroughly un-knowledgeable about wrestling. But we do know all about Pokemon with guns.

WWE’s week was off to a great start. There was a blockbuster 10-year, $5 billion deal to stream Monday Night Raw on Netflix beginning next January, and its Endeavor-owned parent company, TKO, added Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to its board of directors.

So much for that.

The Wall Street Journal today published an in-depth report on WWE co-founder (and current TKO executive chairman) Vince McMahon, who is being accused of sex trafficking by a former employee. The Journal has led the way in covering previous allegations against McMahon, which prompted WWE to conduct an investigation. This latest report goes into many deeply disturbing details.

With WWE’s major content deals now secured, how much tolerance will Endeavor have for McMahon’s alleged behavior?

In an interview with Stratechery, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters says the company wants to “see where things go with the Vision Pro:”

We have to be careful about making sure that we’re not investing in places that are not really yielding a return... Certainly we’re always in discussions with Apple to try and figure that out but right now, the device is so subscale that it’s not really particularly relevant to most of our members.

Netflix’s iPad app won’t work with the Vision Pro, either, which means users will have to access it in a web browser.

Director Matthew Charman’s sci-fi action thriller The Mother starring (executive producer) Halle Berry wrapped shooting months ago.

But despite the movie sounding the sort of Netflix release that people would definitely want to check out, the streamer’s made the all-too-familiar decision to simply not release it — reportedly because of its lengthy post-production process.

Obviously, Netflix’s new live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender is going to be one of the streamer’s bigger releases folks are talking about next month. But along with all the elemental bending, with movies like Ready Player One and Everything Everywhere All at Once are also headed to the platform.

It’s not clear how many people have downloaded the mobile GTA trilogy via Netflix, but in today’s earnings report it says the release is “...our most successful launch to date in terms of installs and engagement, with some consumers clearly signing up simply to play these games.”

That said, gaming remains a relatively minor part of Netflix’s business. Despite claiming that “engagement tripled last year,” the company said that games are still “small, and certainly not yet material relative to our film and series business.”

Scott Stuber, the chairman of Netflix film, is leaving the company to start his own media venture. If you’re not spending your days in the trades you likely won’t recognize his name, but Stuber is a big reason why Netflix has so many Academy Awards now.

His extensive relationships in Hollywood helped woo big filmmakers like Greta Gerwig and Martin Scorsese to Netflix, and his tenure as chairman led to Netflix being the most nominated studio at the Oscars for three years in a row.

First up in the “Milestone Movies” collection are some films from 1974, including Blazing Saddles, The Great Gatsby, and Chinatown.

Movies from 1984, 1994, 2004 will come to Netflix in April, July, and October, respectively, Netflix says in a press release.

Vince Staples is something of a renaissance man. He’s a rapper, an actor, and a lowkey, funny-ass comedian, but in the first trailer for Netflix’s The Vince Staples Show from executive producer Kenya Barris, Vince is really …just a dude trying to live, and get a little more culture in people’s diets.

The new project seems a bit like Staples’ old YouTube series, which you should probably check out before the new shop drops on February 15th.

We’re still very much living through an age of there being almost too much good TV to watch.

But considering the way The Bear, Succession, and Beef dominated at this year’s Primetime Emmy Awards, it kinda seemed like the Television Academy might need to start watching outside its comfort zone a bit more.

The first teaser for Netflix’s Spaceman — a dramatic sci-fi film from director Johan Renck, starring Adam Sandler — didn’t give a lot away. But the latest trailer gives a much stronger feel for the movie, including a first glimpse at Paul Dano’s little alien character, described as “a mysterious creature from the beginning of time.” It looks intriguing to say the least — and starts streaming on March 1st.

It was a fine day when Netflix announced that PokémonHorizons’ English dub was finally set to hit Netflix this upcoming February, but it looks like we’re actually going to be waiting until March 7th to hang out with Liko and Sprigatito in Paldea.

When season four of Netflix’s The Witcher drops, folks are going to be tuning in to see what’s what about Geralt of Rivia’s new face.

But as curious as everyone is about the pseudo-new witcher, it feels safe to assume that Laurence Fishburne’s turn as the (presumably vampiric) barber surgeon Regis might be what keeps people watching.

Netflix’s last He-Man animated series from Powerhouse and producer Kevin Smith was more of a sword and sorcery sort of situation.

But everything about Masters of the Universe: Revolution’s new trailer from the arrival of Hordak (Keith David) to Skeletor’s (Mark Hamill) cybernetic body makes it look like the new show’s going center a war between magic and technology when it drops on January 25th.

It has more than 23 million global active monthly users, Netflix advertising head Amy Reinhard said at a Variety conference; that’s up from the 15 million figure the company revealed in November.

Given the Netflix standard tier costs $15.49 per month (and that the Basic tier, for those who still have it, recently got a price bump), I can see why people are opting for the more affordable $6.99 ads plan.

Netflix’s adaptation of 3 Body Problem from David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo is going to feature more than a few major differences from Cixin Liu’s original sci-fi novel.

But in a new piece from The Hollywood Reporter, Woo says he and his collaborators received Liu’s blessing to adapt the show for an international audience “in the way that we saw fit,” which could be a sign of interesting things to come.

Not every Netflix original gets the privilege of a release on DVD and Blu-ray, but Wednesday is one of them. A physical copy of the show’s first season will be available on March 26th, 2024. It’s currently up for preorder on Amazon for $19.99.

The Athletic is reporting that Netflix is working on another sports docuseries like Quarterback, this one focused on a quintet of NBA stars. That includes LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards, Domantas Sabonis, and Jimmy Butler — and I can only hope that we’ll learn more about Butler’s unforgettable media day. No word on when it might stream, but the show is reportedly being filmed now.