Disney – Gloomberg News

Bob Iger returning as Disney CEO, shocking entertainment industry

21Nov

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Entertainment

Bob Iger returning as Disney CEO, shocking entertainment industry

BURBANK, Calif. — The Walt Disney Company announced late Sunday that former CEO Bob Iger will return to head the company for two years in a move that stunned the entertainment industry. Disney said in a statement that Bob Chapek, who succeeded Iger in 2020, had stepped down from the position. Disney board chair Susan Arnold thanked Chapek for his leadership during "the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic." She said directors believed Iger was "uniquely situated" to guide the entertainment behemoth during "an increasingly complex period of industry transformation." Iger, 71, led Disney for 15 years as it absorbed Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel and Fox's entertainment businesses, then launched its Disney+ streaming service. He stepped down in 2020. ...

13Nov

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Gaming

Andor Expertly Balances Storytelling With Star Wars Fan Service

Image: Lucasfilm / DisneyAs you may know, I’m a big ol’ Star Wars nerd. And one of my favorite things in Star Wars media is all the tiny references and Easter eggs embedded everywhere. But sometimes this fan service goes overboard and derails a story in a way that alienates or bores non-fans. Andor, the newest TV show set in the Star Wars universe, not only avoids this problem, but also finds perfect ways to utilize nerdy Star Wars lore without making it tedious or annoying for folks just wanting to watch a good show. Andor, which premiered in late September on Disney+, is the latest entry in the Star Wars franchise and is set before the events of the original Star Wars film and the movie Rogue One. It follows the life of Cassian Andor, played by Diego Luna, as he navigates a galaxy contro...

1Oct

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Gaming

Controversial Executive Steps Down From Call Of Duty Publisher

Screenshot: CBS Viacom / KotakuIn a past life, Frances Townsend defended the legal basis for the torture method called waterboarding during George W. Bush’s war on terror. In a more recent one, she helped lead Activision Blizzard’s initially tone-deaf response to a major sexual harassment lawsuit by the state of California. Now she’s stepping down as the Call of Duty publisher’s chief compliance officer after less than two years in the position.CEO Bobby Kotick announced the move to staff in an email on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reports. Despite stepping down from the position, Townsend will still remain an official advisor to Kotick and to Activision Blizzard’s Board of Directors, over which Kotick presides. This shift in the company’s governing structure comes as Microsoft tries ...

10Sep

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Gaming

Every Game At The Event

Screenshot: Disney / Marvel / KotakuAlthough it might’ve felt like Kinda Funny’s Blessing Adeoye Jr. was talking at 1.75x speed about upcoming games and world premieres, Disney and Marvel’s D23 stream event did manage to show a few games that weren’t just cinematic trailers. Here’s everything we saw at Disney and Marvel’s D23 Expo Showcase, organized in order of whether they had actual gameplay or not.Screenshot: Marvel / Disney / KotakuMarvel’s Midnight SunsHey, it looks like Marvel’s Midnight Suns got a new new release date. Seeing as how it was originally slated to release in March before getting delayed (twice) it’s nice to see that it’s coming December 2 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. We also got our eyes on a nice animated short with the likes of Blade and Wolverine tearing fools ...

26Aug

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Gaming

AI Generated Art Is A Copyright, Ethical And Working Dystopia

It’s August 2022, and by now you’ve no doubt read (or more likely seen) something about AI art. Whether it’s random jokes made for Twitter or paintings that look like they were made by actual human beings, artificial intelligence’s ability to create art has exploded onto the scene over the last few months, and while this has been great news for shitposts and fans of tech, it has also raised a number of important questions and concerns. If you haven’t read or seen anything about the subject, AI art—at least as it exists in the state we know it today—is, as Ahmed Elgammal writing in American Scientist so neatly puts it, made when “artists write algorithms not to follow a set of rules, but to ‘learn’ a specific aesthetic by analyzing thousands of images. The algorithm then tries to generate n...

6Aug

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Gaming

Crunchyroll Buys Popular Anime Video Store, Removes Its Hentai

Image: Crunchyroll / Fakku / BoBoBo / KotakuYesterday, Crunchyroll announced its acquisition of Right Stuf, a popular online video publisher and distributor of anime products. The anime streaming service touted its merger leading to an expanded eCommerce platform that would allow it to serve a wider array of customers with anime goodies. However, the CEO of FAKKU, the world’s largest distributor of adult manga, said Crunchyroll left out one important detail of its acquisition: the removal of hentai. Crunchyroll, the internet’s leading anime streaming service, includes explicit content—up to a point. Over the years, as anime has become more popular, the streamer has become more conservative in its offerings, specifically with its figurines and shows. The surge in anime popularity, however,...

Marvel actor Simu Liu on his rise to fame as an immigrant and his new memoir: “I’m going to be unapologetic”

23Jun

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Entertainment

Marvel actor Simu Liu on his rise to fame as an immigrant and his new memoir: “I’m going to be unapologetic”

Simu Liu, who became the first Asian superhero in a Marvel film, says he's still struggling to process his success. In his new memoir, "We Were Dreamers," the actor details his rise to fame as an immigrant child, explaining how his family life was far from ordinary and often tumultuous."I'm going to be unapologetic about who I am and where I come from," Liu told CBS News correspondent Nancy Chen. "I'm going to be a representative."Liu spent his early years in China and was left in the care of his grandparents after his parents emigrated to Canada for graduate school. At the age of around four and a half, Liu says his father returned to China to move him to Canada as well. "I was being sold on this utopia that was like, 'This is everything you ev...

Star Wars pushes back against racist backlash to new Black character

31May

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Entertainment

Star Wars pushes back against racist backlash to new Black character

The official "Star Wars" accounts fought back Tuesday morning, condemning backlash against its most recent addition to the franchise, Moses Ingram. Ingram stars in the long awaited Disney+ original series "Obi-Wan Kenobi," in the role of villainous Inquisitor Reva. But her "Star Wars" debut has been less than glamorous. The actress said since the show has premiered, she's received a tidal wave of racist and threatening direct messages. Ingram posted screenshots of a few of these on her Instagram story Monday, saying that the backlash made her think she should "shut up and take it" at first. Ingram went on thank her friends and supporters who have stood up for her in the comments and in public, before leaving one final message for her detractors— "Y'all weird." LONDO...

22May

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Gaming

EA Was Deep In Merger Talks With NBCUniversal

Photo: Christian Petersen (Getty Images)The video game market is consolidating like never before, and Electronic Arts is scrambling like everyone else. The Battlefield and FIFA maker recently pursued a merger with NBCUniversal, and also held potential acquisition talks with Disney, Apple, and other companies, according to a new report by Puck. While a deal isn’t currently in the works, it doesn’t sound like EA plans to give up anytime soon.“In recent years, as media companies have taken greater interest in the rapidly growing gaming industry, Wilson and Electronic Arts have held talks with a number of different potential suitors, including Disney, Apple and Amazon, sources with knowledge of those talks told me,” wrote Puck’s veteran media reporter, Dylan Beyers. “Several sources familiar w...

Rare items from Disney World and Disneyland go up for auction

21May

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Entertainment

Rare items from Disney World and Disneyland go up for auction

A vehicle from Walt Disney World's Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and a Skyway gondola and an Autopia car from Disneyland are just a few items available in a unique Disney auction set for Saturday. The collection of about 45,000 items belongs to Scott Rummel, a voice actor from Orange County. Disneyland memorabilia belonging to an Orange County man that is going up for auction. May 2022. Courtesy video From its opening day at Disney World in 1971, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was one of the most popular attractions in the park. The buggy from the ride, which dates back to 1993, has since been "professionally restored and repainted with added features like spinning wheels and working headlight...