A small win against Ticketmaster
A small win against Ticketmaster
And Disney accidentally hired a porn star
What to know
Ticketmaster and SeatGeek will offer more transparent “all-in” pricing… While the struggle against monopolistic tactics, soaring pricing, and scalper bots continues, at least for now concert goers can celebrate one small victory. Ticketmaster and a few other smaller ticket providers will now display “all-in” pricing on seats — meaning the price you see is the price you pay, no hidden extra fees later in the check out process. This comes as ticketing execs met with President Biden on Thursday, months after the White House called out the ticketers for price gouging. There’s still a long way to go to make concert going more equitable—just ask Taylor Swift fans—but for now, this is a win. 🎫
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Rumor has it The Idol isn’t getting renewed amid The Weeknd’s “egomaniacal” behavior… This story is really tabloid-y, so take it with a grain of salt. Page Six’s source says the show was never meant to be ongoing but instead a limited series — which is a fitting excuse for a show that’s been leveled by critics and fell week over week in the ratings. If it was beloved and a ratings hit, of course it would be renewed. The Post’s sources also indicate that HBO was not surprised by the negative reactions to the show and knew it had “a turkey” on its hands, but that a renewal decisions has not yet been made, which makes sense to me. 💋
Bradley Cooper’s to direct Will Arnett script next… Cooper’s Maestro is either going to be terrible or win Best Picture, depending on what you read — but regardless of how that shakes out, the actor-filmmaker has already lined up his next project. It’s called Is This Thing On? and it was written by Mark Chappell and Will Arnett. Yes, that Will Arnett. There’s no plot details yet but with a title like that and Arnett’s involvement, I’m wondering if it’s a comedy? Whatever it is, if Cooper is interested, it’s probably worthwhile. 🎤
Wes Anderson’s next movie is a father-daughter two hander, The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar is just 37 minutes… Regarding the first story, Anderson is known for his sprawling, starry ensemble casts — so it will be really fascinating to see him work on a more intimate level just focused on two characters. I have no doubt it will be excellent. On the latter, Sugar is Anderson’s 2nd “feature” film coming out in 2023. It's an anthology of Roald Dahl stories told in live action and animation. That short run time explains why it’s coming to Netflix — and also how he was able to put out another movie this year. 👨👧
Above the Line: If WB is serious about getting Nolan back, it should delay Barbie… That’s what I was kind of saying yesterday. How can WB say it wants Nolan back when it’s about to crush him at the box office? WB is not going to move Barbie, nor should it. 💣
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse banned in UAE and other Middle East countries due to inclusion of trans pride flag… While this is unfortunate to see, I’m glad Sony did not remove it from the movie to appease these foreign markets. 🏳️⚧️
Disney accidentally hired a male adult film star for The Little Mermaid… He got wet in a whole new way. 🧜🏾♀️
The trailer for What We Do in the Shadows season 5 has emerged… From the shadows. 🧛♀️
Billions is officially ending with season 7… But it should have ended at season 5. 💰
What’s new
The Full Monty — June 12 | FX & Hulu comedy series | 🍅 58%
The Flash — June 16 | DC superhero movie in theaters | 🍅 67%
Elemental — June 16 | Pixar movie in theaters | 🍅 77%
The Blackening — June 16 | Horror comedy movie in theaters | 🍅 82%
Extraction 2 — June 16 | Netflix action movie | 🍅 83%
Stan Lee — June 16 | Disney+ documentary | 🍅 83%
The Walking Dead: Dead City — June 18 | AMC drama series | 🍅 78%
Returning: Our Planet s2, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds s2, Black Mirror s6, Outlander s7, The Righteous Gemstones s3
What to watch
Trailer: Nimona — June 30 on Netflix
Directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, written by Robert L. Baird and Lloyd Taylor, starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Riz Ahmed, Eugene Lee Yang, Frances Conroy, Lorraine Toussaint, and RuPaul.
I love how these animated projects come out of nowhere sometimes — especially ones on Netflix, which notoriously doesn’t promote its new content until about a month out. Yet the reality with this project is that it’s been in the works for about 8 years and almost didn’t happen. The movie first went into production at Fox’s Blue Sky Studios, but when Disney bought fox it shuttered Blue Sky and canceled Nimona, despite it being 75% complete. From then, it was unclear the movie would ever get released. Enter Annapurna and Netflix in 2022, who picked up the project and clearly made something great. Fans of the web comic are surely losing their shit right now, but even for those of us with no previous awareness of Nimona, this looks pretty good. The animation palette is distinct and stylistic, while not overly busy or flashy. The blend of humor and action looks right on. And the voice performances, especially Moretz, are doing a ton of heavy lifting. The fact that there’s a central gay love story at the heart of this is not small thing either. Another big win for animation fans in 2023.
For all past ‘what to watch’ recommendations, see the full list here!