Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: TV News

  • Donald and Stephen Glover Writing ‘Lando’ Disney+ Series

    Donald and Stephen Glover Writing ‘Lando’ Disney+ Series

    Lando was among the first series showcased as Lucasfilm’s future for their Star Wars ventures on Disney+. Yet, the series has pretty much been missing in action ever since, and was long believed that it may have just been dropped at some point completely. Across the three years development cycle, Dear White People creator Justin Simien joined production only to leave it later to direct Haunted Mansion.

    Now, it seems that the project is alive after all. Atlanta and Swarm writers, Donald Glover and his brother Stephen Glover have joined the production to revive the long-dormant project. This deal did happen before the writer’s strike and who knows if it’ll still remain given it’s now facing a delay before it even got started. As such, it also seems like we finally got the confirmation it’ll see Glover reprise his role from Solo: A Star Wars Story.

    This series might be the only chance for them to continue the set-up from that film’s post-credit sequence that has long been dormant. Though, the strike keeps many of the current developments as a big question mark until the studios finally return to the table and give their talent the money they deserve for the work they invested. So, we’ll see what the future holds once a fair deal has been found.

    Source: Entertainment Weekly

  • First Look at Luffy’s Devil Fruit in Netflix’s Live-Action ‘One Piece’

    First Look at Luffy’s Devil Fruit in Netflix’s Live-Action ‘One Piece’

    One Piece Day gave us the live-action One Piece’s first full trailer. While we still have some time to wait for the actual release, it was an overall big day for Eiichiro Oda’s baby. He’s been working on it for 26 years and has been very open about his involvement in the project. So, the One Piece Day event wasn’t just about Gear 5 and the anime but also gave us quite a few first looks for the series.

    Not only did an image surface give us a first look at the franchise’s Den Den Mushi, but @newworldartur has also surprised us with another piece of their prop showcase. Now just anything, but the iconic Gum-Gum Fruit, or Gomu-Gomu no Mi for those that prefer the Japanese dub. It looks like a one-to-one adaptation of the original with a rather curious detail.

    The detail of it being part of a Marine case stands out, as that is a revelation that wouldn’t become relevant until 20+ years later. Yes, they considered a detail that wouldn’t really pay off for many years to come, which highlights that those involved with the project are big fans of the original series. We’ll have to wait and see how it comes together, especially if they even hint at how the Red-Haired Pirates get their hands on it before Luffy ends up eating it.

    Source: Twitter

  • First Look at Live-Action ‘One Piece’s Den Den Mushi

    First Look at Live-Action ‘One Piece’s Den Den Mushi

    The first full trailer for One Piece has dropped, which offers us quite a better look at what we can expect from this live-action series. Surprisingly, it seems to still retain some of the goofier aspects of the franchise, which highlights just how much influence the series creator, Eiichiro Oda, has on this project. We also got a look at a News Coo, which is only one big part of this world’s unique flora and fauna.

    Surprisingly, we did not see a Den Den Mushi, also known as a Transponder Snail (the inspiration behind our very own One Piece podcast). In this world, they do not communicate through phones but rather these snails that have the ability to connect and also end up looking like the person using it. We kind of expected they would keep it at a minimum, but a new image surfaced online from @OnePieceNxBr, which unveils that we are definitely getting the iconic Den Den Mushi. This one even being similar to Axe-Hand Morgan.

    It’s this detail that highlights this project isn’t trying to go for realism, but is introducing us to a unique world. One Piece‘s world-building has been its biggest strength and the Netflix original is smartly diving into that as a way to make it work. Sticking to some of the iconic aspects also makes this series stand out, even if it likely is quite a bit more expensive for the necessary work relevant to keep this world going. Here’s hoping that once it releases in late August, it’ll draw in the viewership to keep it going for many more years.

    Source: Twitter

  • Disney+ Original ‘Secret Invasion’ Heading to Hulu for Limited Time

    Disney+ Original ‘Secret Invasion’ Heading to Hulu for Limited Time

    Disney has been experimenting quite a bit on how they can grow the audience for their various shows. Just recently, it was announced that Ms. Marvel is heading to ABC and quite a few of their animated shows get limited releases on Disney’s various TV channels. Now, they are also trying it out with another Marvel series.

    Hulu has unveiled that the first three episodes of Secret Invasion, which is going to release its season finale next week, will be available for a limited time on Disney’s sister streaming service. It’s an interesting way to promote the series and gain additional viewers ahead of the finale but it’ll continue to be available until August 17th.

    The strategy isn’t bad, as it’s more about also expanding the bundle they are offering for those interested in multiple streaming services. While viewership for this series wasn’t among Marvel’s best, it doesn’t have any superheroes that tend to carry these kinds of projects. Though we generally don’t know what makes a Disney+ series successful in the eyes of Disney, as they release no data and we have to rely on third-party analysis. One of the important reasons writers and actors are fighting for better pay.

    Source: Twitter

  • CONFIRMED: ‘The Witcher’ Composers Working on Netflix’s ‘One Piece’s Score

    CONFIRMED: ‘The Witcher’ Composers Working on Netflix’s ‘One Piece’s Score

    One Piece has some iconic music and it was not going to be a small task. Yet, there were more and more hints that perhaps composer Sonya Belousova would be working on the live-action’s music after she shared an Instagram video of some pirate-esque music.

    It was back in April that the detectives @OP_Netflix_Fan and @OPLAFandom first shared that Sonya Belousova alongside Giona Ostinelli are working on the live-action One Piece series. Now, ScreenRant has confirmed that they are both working on the project with an official statement by the talented composers:

    We’re thrilled to have been invited by Netflix, Matt Owens, Steve Maeda, and Tomorrow Studios to become part of the Straw Hats crew and craft the ONE PIECE live action music universe by serving as composers, songwriters, and music producers for the live action adaptation of the beloved manga. We have plenty of surprises in store for fans of the franchise and new fans. It will be an incredible adventure with songs and virtuosic flamenco guitar, hip-hop and big band jazz funk fusion, folk and circus, rap and big epic swashbuckling orchestra, featuring extraordinary artists. We’re so excited to set sail for ONE PIECE when it premieres on Netflix August 31!

    Sonya Belousova & Giona Ostinelli

    Belousova has also taken to Twitter to share her excitement about being involved with the project. Though, it’s interesting she calls it “BIG BIG NEWS ALERT #1” which gives some hope that perhaps more is on the way. She does hint at more updates to follow.

    They both are famous for their work on another Netflix series, The Witcher. They went on to create the viral hit “Toss a Coin to Your Witcher” and have quite some iconic songs that have the same potential. The only question is if we’ll get a new rendition of “To the Grand Line” or “Bink’s Sake” when the series releases in August.

    Source: ScreenRant, Twitter

  • Hot Toys Teases Some Netflix’s Live-Action ‘One Piece’ Collectibles

    Hot Toys Teases Some Netflix’s Live-Action ‘One Piece’ Collectibles

    Here’s a fun surprise, but it looks like One Piece is getting some brand-new merchandise. We already got a tease during Anime Expo; a big sign that Netflix is all-in with this new project. While most of us may have thought they were planning to slowly roll out a few products as they test the waters, it looks like they aren’t holding back after all.

    Hot Toys shared a tweet confirming that they are working on collectibles of the iconic series but based on Netflix’s live-action adaptation. Sadly, they have yet to share anything on what characters will get the Hot Toys treatment and if these are similar to their iconic Marvel Cinematic Universe line-up, but it’s definitely a great surprise.

    The timing of the tweet is also quite interesting, as One Piece Day is this weekend. They are having an in-person event in Japan, and it wouldn’t be too surprising if they actually reveal it over the weekend. They will have some props at the location, but there was no word if they will also include merchandise. Seems like we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out.

    Source: Twitter

  • Live-action ‘One Piece’ Director Teases Upcoming Trailer Release is “Not Long Now”

    Live-action ‘One Piece’ Director Teases Upcoming Trailer Release is “Not Long Now”

    It’s finally here: One Piece Day. A celebration of one of the longest-running Shonen Jump series is almost here as Eiichiro Oda celebrates 26 years of Monkey D. Luffy’s journey. This year, however, is a bit special as we also have a live-action series on the horizon. On August 31st, the world will see how showrunners Matt Owens and Steven Maeda worked hard to bring this classic to life.

    While the first teaser still had some skeptical about the series’ potential; mostly a result of past iterations not quite living up tot he standard of the material they adapt, there’s a lot of excitement given how much Oda has been involved with this project. Now, we’ve only been waiting for a full-fledged trailer to finally release and it seems the wait isn’t long anymore.

    Director Marc Jobst has teased that we can expect the full trailer quite soon; many speculating it’ll be release tomorrow once One piece Day is in full swing. After today was just a pre-show with a screening of One Piece Film Red, it does seem likely they might release something tomorrow. Not only that, but the Straw Hat Grand Fleet fan website also added a new function perfectly timed ahead of the weekend.

    https://twitter.com/marcjobst1/status/1682379698884554752

    That’s not all, as Netflix Japan’s official Twitter page also promoted the event just the other day, which continues to add more relevance to something Netflix-related happening during the event. Given the studios are still not paying writers and actors what they are owed, it’s unclear if any of the non-SAG cast will be attending or if they have another pre-recorded video message like with Anime Expo.

    It’s still not a full confirmation, but it would be surprising if we didn’t get any kind of trailer this weekend. If not, there’s still the chance we might get some character posters to tie us over. It’s not uncommon or the full trailer to drop around a month before release for a Netflix series, which makes the timing match even better. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait long for the reveal.

    Source: Twitter

  • Bob Iger Speaks Out on “Diluted Focus” Due to Marvel’s Recent Output

    Bob Iger Speaks Out on “Diluted Focus” Due to Marvel’s Recent Output

    Marvel is the big fish in the pond and for the first time in a long time, they had a project not quite reach the heights they usually do. While Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania didn’t crack the $500M, it was more a warning of what was to come throughout the summer box office with one bomb after another that barely crack the $300M ceiling. Outside of a few exceptions, including Guardians fo the Galaxy Vol. 3, it has been rough all around.

    That still didn’t stop people from calling it the end of Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe; a common complaint throughout the Internet’s long history with the franchise. Still, Disney CEO Bob Iger is seemingly aware that their own ambitions became a focus point of general audience drag. He ends up discussing the performance of some recent releases, but generalizes the topic of how their streaming ventures hurt their theatrical output.

    There have been some disappointments. We would have liked some of our more recent releases to perform better. It’s reflective not as a problem from a personnel perspective, but I think in our zeal to basically grow our content significantly to serve mostly our streaming offerings, we ended up taxing our people way beyond — in terms of their time and their focus — way beyond where they had been.

    Bob Iger

    He ends up highlighting Marvel as an example by downplaying previous TV ventures and stating that audiences’ “focus and attention” was diluted. While the internet would make that seem true, there’s a big batch of people out there that generally don’t keep up even when there were just two or three films a year. Plus, there was the whole pandemic that changed many viewers’ behaviors and strongly showed its fangs this summer at the box office. The sudden increase in output to appears the Chapek era of “all-in streaming” strategy still played a role in this multi-faceted world.

    Marvel’s a great example of that. They had not been in the TV business at any significant level. Not only did they increase their movie output, but they ended up making a number of television series, and frankly, it diluted focus and attention. That is, I think, more of the cause than anything.

    Bob Iger

    One thing concerning this comment is claiming that Marvel has “not been in the TV business at any significant level,” which means Iger is mainly referencing Marvel Studios as an entity or generally forgetting the past few years. Their Disney+ output is far removed from the weekly releases of a 22-episode season that was Agents of SHIELD. The various Netflix series set the standard for many’s expectations of the current shows.

    That is also ignoring Hulu’s Runaways which ran for two seasons, the non-Disney productions like Legion and The Gifted. We also can’t forget Cloak & Dagger which ran on Freeform and we haven’t even touched upon any of the animated series or whatever Inhumans wanted to be. There was more output from Marvel at one point, and seems like an oversimplification of a post-COVID media world.

    At the end of the day, if a film is good but not worth a rewatch in theaters: why watch it in theaters? Their strategy to release films within 45 days created a new habit for viewers and ended up dragging their box office successes more than diluting viewers’ attention. Similar to how they milked their other golden goose on the streaming service and ended up hurting Pixar’s box office success long-term. It’s never that simple.

    Source: Variety

  • Live-Action ‘One Piece’ Teaser Trailer Passes 10M Views on YouTube

    Live-Action ‘One Piece’ Teaser Trailer Passes 10M Views on YouTube

    TUDUM was the big unveil for the first trailer for Netflix’s live-action One Piece series. A short teaser gave us a first look at what is to come and was our first real look at the cast in their costume, especially since they were teased with posters in January. Half a year later, we not only got to see the main cast in action but even a release date of August 31st.

    After around two weeks, the show hit its first milestone as the teaser trailer passed 10 million views on YouTube, which was also shared by the official @Eiichiro_Staff Twitter account. Even on Twitter, the trailer has reached around 32.2M impressions and was retweeted up to 74.2K times.

    Even the recent Anime Expo video of confirming that the live-action series will be dubbed by the original Japanese voice cast has already hit 3.2M views on Twitter. Though, it currently has managed to pull in 595K viewers within the last five days as of writing this article. Though, that is higher than other trailers or videos from the same event such as Zom 100, PLUTO, Pokémon Concierge, and Delicious in Dungeon.

    It’s difficult to say what Netflix considers a healthy sign and viewership on YouTube doesn’t always equate to viewership on Netflix. So, we’ll still have to see if Netflix can keep up this strong promotional run for the series as we close in on its August release. While a mixed reception is expected for any live-action adaptation of a popular anime, this series has a big chance of potentially reaching a new audience that wouldn’t give the manga or anime a chance. So, here’s hoping the passion of everyone involved translates to the finished product.

    Source: Twitter, YouTube

  • First Reactions of New ‘One Piece’ Footage from Anime Expo

    First Reactions of New ‘One Piece’ Footage from Anime Expo

    Anime Expo dropped quite a bit for One Piece, as not only did we get a little trailer for the latest volume of the manga, but even a new video for the live-action adaptation. Netflix’s Japanese dub will feature the original voices, as Inaki Godoy got to meet Mayumi Tanaka. As it turns out, some influencers also got a sneak peek of a few clips from the series, which gives us a better indication of what the series is going to look like.

    @newworldartur, who also revealed they also contributed to the lore of the adaptation, shared a few insights into what the series was like. We got a glimpse of what’s to come in the teaser trailer but they go on to praise that what the show does well is it’s “goofy and fun-loving” just like the original series.

    Some negative remarks were that there was some cheesy or “cringe” dialogue but still praises the script. So, perhaps only a few lines here or there are a bit more awkward than others especially not uncommon with shows finding their footing early on. There were some comments about the CG but does highlight it works for what the show is going for, but also has some time to finish work on.

    They do highlight that they are faithful to the original, but they still tweaked some of the characteristics to make them a tad more “realistic.” One of the bigger changes seems to be that Nami seemingly joins Luffy and Zoro in Shells City, as hinted at in the teaser. They do highlight that the changes give it a better flow which matches the later storylines.

    One highlight seems to be that they believe there are small instances that come from Eiichiro Oda, like Luffy being able to “hear something from the Merry“. Overall, seems they quite enjoyed what they saw and it gives us a little sense of what we can expect from the series next month.

    They weren’t the only ones, as YouTubers Volume One also shared their reaction to a scene, which seems ripped straight from the manga, where Nami tricks members of Buggy’s crew. They highlight that her costume seemingly ripped from the early Nami concept art, but also highlighted that the show feels “piraty” and highlights the scale. Seems that seeing more of the character also greatly helps how the characters come to life, with even praises of the cinematography which was criticized in the trailer.

    Source: Twitter, YouTube