Disney+ enters its cancel period, plus Netflix spends $18 billion

In terms of the newest and best on streaming, we’re fairly passionate right here at Pocket-lint. From the best movies to TV shows we can’t stop obsessing over, there may be quite a lot of leisure to like within the streaming period. Nonetheless, it may be powerful to remain updated together with your favourite media, particularly with rising pricesand a constantly-shifting constellation of apps and providers to maintain observe of.

Enter “The Streaming Scene.”

This brand-new weekly column goals to provide you a single place to learn extra about not solely the newest and best content material on streaming, but additionally maintain you updated on the newest reductions and offers that will help you stream for much less. That is the primary version, however stay up for this column each Thursday, and as a part of our newly launched streaming newsletter on Fridays.

So with out additional ado, let’s speak streaming!

Disney+ axes all long-form animation

You’ll be able to blame the success of Moana 2 for this one

Disney+

Earlier this week The Hollywood Reporter reported that that Disney has scrapped all plans for a Tiana, a Disney+ animated sequence, which was set to observe the titular character after the occasions of 2009’s The Princess and the Frog. And sadly, this cancelation is a part of a broader technique shift by Walt Disney Animation away from animated long-form content material created completely for Disney+.

Although I am personally unhappy to see the Tiana venture scrapped as I am an enormous fan of Princess and the Frog (particularly as a hand-drawn animation fanatic), this transfer away from content material created particularly for Disney+ does make sense, particularly within the wake of Moana 2, which was initially conceived as a Disney+ sequence however was transformed right into a theatrically-released film that went on to gross over a billion {dollars} worldwide. Hopefully, one thing related occurs with Tiana, as I would like to see what this venture may have been, both as a theatrically-released movie, a sequence of shorts, or one thing else.

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Netflix is spending 18 billion on content material this 12 months

And so they mentioned they’re able to spend extra

freestocks / Pocket-lint

Throughout this week’s Morgan Stanley Tech, Media & Telecom Convention, Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann made the stunning revelation that the streamer was anticipating to finances an eye-watering $18 billion in 2025 for brand spanking new content material, including that Netflix was truly planning to spend extra sooner or later and this quantity was “not anyplace close to a ceiling.”

In case you had been questioning, this $18 billion content material finances for this 12 months is up round 11% from the $16.2 billion spent on content material in 2024 per Variety and comes because the streamer is going through elevated criticism for its dialogue-heavy movies and cheap-looking reveals. Maybe, with more cash to spend in 2025 Netflix would possibly cancel one or two fewer reveals this 12 months. Then once more, they may simply spend the additional cash on the NFL as an alternative.

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The Traitors wraps up its finest season but

A successful actuality TV sequence

Peacock

The Traitors (US)

Launch Date

January 12, 2023

Showrunner

Stephen Lambert

Writers

Lee Grant, Christine Rose

• 

I am not the largest fan of actuality TV. Nonetheless, even I can admit when producers discover a successful formulation, and I’ve been completely loving this newest season of The Traitors on Peacock. Broadly talking, this competitors sequence takes former actuality recreation present contestants from the likes of Survivor, Large Brother and The Problem and mixes them with numerous Bravo-lebirites (members of the casts of Actual Housewives, Under Deck, Vanderpump Guidelines, and so on.) and challenges them not solely to take part in bodily challenges so as to add to a prize pot, but additionally an overarching psychological recreation the place they have to work out who amongst them are “traitors,” gamers that secretly eradicate others throughout “homicide” rituals to allow them to declare the prize for themselves.

Although the present’s first season made for terribly watchable tv, the second season faltered a bit as some unlucky new components had been added to the sport that altered the tempo of play. Nonetheless, season three has gone again to fundamentals, and with a particularly sturdy solid that features Survivor mainstay Boston Rob, Large Brother alums Danielle Reyes and Britney Haynes, Vanderpump Guidelines villain Tom Sandoval, and even Britney Spears’ ex-husband Sam Asghari, this season has been must-watch TV for me. The ultimate episode of the season drops tonight, and if you have not checked in with this present but, do your self a favor, and boot up the Peacock app, keep off the Web (you undoubtedly don’t need this season’s twists spoiled for you) and prepare to expertise essentially the most compulsively watchable actuality TV in years.

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