Disney closes its $71.3B Fox acquisition

As of 12:02am Eastern today, Disney has closed its acquisition of 21st Century Fox . The goal of the enormous acquisition is to help Disney position itself for a streaming-centric future. The company has already taken a step in that direction with the ESPN+ streaming service, and it has plans to launch another service called […]

View More Disney closes its $71.3B Fox acquisition

Disney says Fox acquisition will close on March 20

More than a year after the deal was first announced, it looks like Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox is about to close. Disney announced today that the deal is “expected to become effective at 12:02 a.m. Eastern Time on March 20, 2019,” suggesting that it has obtained the final approval needed, specifically from regulators […]

View More Disney says Fox acquisition will close on March 20

Profits at The New York Times show media dinosaurs are ruling the internet

Today’s news that the (failing?) New York Times reported net income of $55.2 million, after losses a year earlier — and that its digital business raked in $709 million — is just one indicator that some of the nation’s oldest media properties are finally crossing the bridge into the 21st century. The Times managed to turn […]

View More Profits at The New York Times show media dinosaurs are ruling the internet

Still a year away from launch, Meg Whitman and Jeffrey Katzenberg’s Quibi keeps adding talent

Video won’t start rolling on Meg Whitman and Jeffrey Katzenberg’s new bite-sized streaming service with the billion dollar backing until the end of 2019, but talent keeps signing up to come along for their ride into the future of serialization. The latest marquee director to sign on the dotted line with Quibi is Catherine Hardwicke, […]

View More Still a year away from launch, Meg Whitman and Jeffrey Katzenberg’s Quibi keeps adding talent

Jam City signs mobile game development deal with Disney

Mobile gaming company Jam City is announcing a multi-year deal to create mobile games based on Pixar and Walt Disney Animation characters and films. As part of the agreement, Jam City is taking over development of the match-three puzzle game Disney Emoji Blitz, which launched in 2016. Jam City says that everyone at Disney’s Glendale game […]

View More Jam City signs mobile game development deal with Disney

Hollywood gets its own open source foundation

Open source is everywhere now, so maybe it’s no surprise that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (yes, the organization behind the Oscars) today announced that it has partnered with the Linux Foundation to launch the Academy Software Foundation, a new open source foundation for developers in the motion picture and media space. […]

View More Hollywood gets its own open source foundation

Comcast drops its pursuit of Fox, making way for Disney acquisition

Comcast announced this morning that it’s halting its efforts to acquire the film and television assets of 21st Century Fox. Disney made a deal to acquire those assets last year, but after a district court judge approved the merger of AT&T and Time Warner (despite the antitrust-related objections of President Trump’s Department of Justice), Comcast […]

View More Comcast drops its pursuit of Fox, making way for Disney acquisition

‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ director Peyton Reed on following ‘Infinity War’

If you watch Ant-Man and the Wasp hoping for clues to the aftermath of Avengers: Infinity War, you’ll probably be disappointed: Although the just-released film coming out a few months after Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp actually takes place earlier, and it’s focused almost entirely on the personal struggles of its heroes. In fact, after […]

View More ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ director Peyton Reed on following ‘Infinity War’

Disney Imagineering has created autonomous robot stunt doubles

For over 50 years, Disneyland and its sister parks have been a showcase for increasingly technically proficient versions of its “animatronic” characters. First pneumatic and hydraulic and more recently fully electronic — these figures create a feeling of life and emotion inside rides and attractions, in shows and, increasingly, in interactive ways throughout the parks. […]

View More Disney Imagineering has created autonomous robot stunt doubles

‘Avengers: Infinity War’ is an overstuffed adventure with a terrific villain

When I saw the first trailer for Avengers: Infinity War, I was really excited and really worried. Excited because holy crap, there were so many characters. Iron Man! Captain America! Thor! Black Panther! Black Widow! The Vision! The Guardians of the Galaxy! And they were all going to be in a movie together! Worried because, […]

View More ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ is an overstuffed adventure with a terrific villain