Disney forecast to steal Netflix’s crown as world’s biggest streaming firm – “The Walt Disney Company announced earlier this month that its flagship Disney+ platform, launched in late 2019, had passed 100 million global subscribers – a feat that took its arch-rival, Netflix, a decade to achieve. Taken together with subscriber numbers for the group’s ESPN+ sports platform and Hulu subscription service in the US, the surge puts Disney on track to dethrone Netflix by 2024.” [The Guardian UK]
The Best and Worst of the 2021 Grammy Awards – “Megan Thee Stallion owned the stage, struggling indie venues got a much needed spotlight and the event proved a pandemic awards show doesn’t have to look like a video conference.” [NYT]
Taylor Swift won Album of the Year with “folklore,” the folky, alternative album she released as a surprise last year. She previously won album of the year with “Fearless” and “1989.”
Baketopia Baking Competition Series Coming to HBO Max March 25 – The new show will be hosted by Rosanna Pansino. She is the host of the popular YouTube series “Nerdy Nummies.”
The series will run 12 episodes and feature “brilliant bakers on viral-worthy challenges in a larger-than-life baking wonderland complete with every ingredient and tool a baker could dream of.” Each episode will see the competitors fill their carts with unique ingredients. Their goal is to create trendsetting delicious desserts to impress Rosanna and her “cake council” to win $10,000.
Oscar Nominations Released – “In a year in which the pandemic shuttered movie theaters for months, Academy Awards nominations went to two female filmmakers for the first time and a historically diverse slate of actors Monday but, ultimately, David Fincher’s “Mank” — a very traditional contender about Hollywood itself — took the lead.
Fincher’s “Mank,” a black-and-white, period drama about “Citizen Kane” screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, easily topped nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards — delayed two months by the coronavirus pandemic — with 10 nominations, including best picture, best director, acting nods for Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried, and a host of others for its lavish craft.” [AP News]
Apple celebrated being honored with their first Academy Award nominations. Those came for Best Animated Feature (“Wolfwalkers”) and Best Sound (“Greyhound”) [Apple TV+]
Walmart has its own ‘Onn’ streaming stick incoming w/ Android TV 10, Google’s remote – “Android TV, by way of Google TV, is set to be a big deal in 2021, and it seems that Walmart is set to get in on the action. After bringing Android to its affordable tablets, the Walmart Onn brand is now set to use Android TV to power a streaming stick.” [9to5google]
Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon wins the weekend box office – “The top 5 remained unchanged from last weekend, with Raya again taking the crown with an estimated $5.5 million from 2,163 locations, a drop of 35%. The animated fantasy, which is also available to Disney+ subscribers on PVOD for $30, has a total of $15.84 million through its first ten days.”
Tom & Jerry (Warner Bros.) was number two with an estimated $4.1 million take. That’s a drop of 38% from last week. [Box Office Pro]
