Adult Swim and Crunchyroll has released the first trailer for Blade Runner: Black Lotus, the anime series they're co-producing, at San Diego Comic-Con this year. The show is set in Los Angeles in the year 2032, putting its events in between the original Harrison Ford movie set in 2019 and the sequel film starring Ryan Gosling set in 2049. It features a new replicant named Elle known as the "Black Lotus," who was created with special powers. She seems to have escaped from her creators, and is currently being hunted down by authorities.
In the action-packed trailer, you'll see Elle take down foe after foe — she goes from not knowing how she's able to knock a handful of men completely out cold to wielding a katana — in a backdrop of smoke, fog and neon lights. Elle is voiced by Jessica Henwick (Iron Fist) in the English version and Arisa Shida in the Japanese version. The show will run for 13 episodes, which will be directed by Shinji Aramaki (Ultraman, Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2045) and Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, SAC_2045). It's produced by Alcon Entertainment and animation studio Sola Digital Arts, with Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop) serving as a creative producer.
When Blade Runner: Black Lotus debuts this fall, you can watch it in English on Adult Swim and in Japanese on Crunchyroll.
Are you more comfortable singing behind a virtual persona than you are on a real stage? Your reality TV show has arrived. Pitchfork and AV Club report that Fox is launching a "world's first" avatar singing competition series, Alter Ego, that will have celebrity judges gather in real life to gauge the performances of amateur singers who use avatars to "reinvent themselves."
You'll likely recognize the judge panel. Canadian artists Grimes (pictured above) and Alanis Morrissette will join Will.i.am and Nick Lachey in critiquing the music, while Emmy winner Rocsi Diaz will host the affair. Alter Ego debuts sometime in the fall.
It's an unusual concept, but not necessarily a bad one. In theory, this could help budding talent overcome stage fright or self-esteem issues by using an avatar as a stand-in. It's certainly a fitting show for a tech-savvy artist like Grimes. It's just a question of whether or not audiences enjoy the concept. Anonymizing music shows like The Masked Singer have been hits, but they still involve a physical presence for the participants — there's a chance viewers might not be so thrilled about digital concerts.
There are, for the most part, two types of Disney Parks fans. There are those who see it as a nice thing to do with your family once in a while, and there are those who take it… a little more seriously. The upcoming Behind the Attraction, hitting Disney+ on July 21st, is a show that’s aimed at turning more of those casual tourists into dedicated fans, by explaining the backstory behind famous attractions like Star Tours, the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain.
Each episode features lots of old footage, talking heads, conceptual art and snark. If you’re thinking that sounds like The Toys That Made Us, but for Disney Parks, you’d be absolutely correct. Behind the Attraction is produced and directed by Brian Volk-Weiss, the creative mind behind Netflix docuseries like TTTMU and The Movies That Made Us. He was specifically sought out by Disney+ for his style which, by his own description, is “focused more on fun” and doesn’t treat its subject like “the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.” He loves documentaries, but hates when they take silly topics too seriously.
Disney Parks
To wit, the series is narrated by comedy veteran Paget Brewster, an actress who has been in The Venture Bros., Community and Another Period. Disney fans will probably recognize her best as the voice of Della Duck on the 2017 DuckTales reboot. She adopts a light playful tone, as far from Morgan Freeman you can get. Also on board is executive producer Dwayne Johnson, who stars in Disney’s upcoming live action Jungle Cruise film. Is there an episode about the Jungle Cruise attraction? Of course there is.
Besides that, the other four episodes available this week focus on the Haunted Mansion, Star Tours, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Space Mountain. (Episodes about things like the castles and transportation systems, as well as famous rides like “It’s a Small World” and Pirates of the Caribbean are being held for later in the year.) They trace the history and development of each individual attraction with clips from shows like 1955’s Disneyland and The Wonderful World of Disney, news segments, and a mix of new and old interviews. Anyone who watched the docuseries The Imagineering Story (also on Disney+) will recognize a lot of reused footage from there. Which of course begs the question, why did we need another behind-the-scenes show?
Disney Parks
The biggest difference between the two is that The Imagineering Story takes a strict chronological approach, starting with the origin story behind Walt Disney’s desire to build a theme park, progressing through the opening of Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Epcot and so on. The later episodes focus less on a historical outlook and more on “look at what cool technology we built for this new thing.” Which leads to a sort of unbalanced feel to the program, as well as a greater sense that it’s one big travel brochure for the Disney Parks.
Which isn’t to say that Behind the Attraction isn’t one big advertisement. I certainly want to visit Disney Shanghai after getting a look at the development of its Storybook Castle and TRON Lightcycle Power Run. But because the new show takes a more topical approach, it’s a lot more “snackable,” with episodes that can be watched in any order according to what interests you the most.
Each episode still follows its individual subject chronologically, like how the Hall of Presidents episode goes into the development of the original “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” show at the 1964 World’s Fair to the installation of the attraction at Disneyland, the creation of the full Hall of Presidents at Walt Disney World to today’s animatronics like the ones used on Avengers Campus at California Adventure. The Imagineering Story talks about the development of the “Stuntronics” as well, but it’s Behind the Attraction that draws a straight line for the viewer from Abraham Lincoln giving a speech to Spider-Man doing somersaults in the air. You actually understand how tech created in 1964 can still shape something built in 2020.
Disney Parks
While it's unlikely that Behind the Attraction will ever delve into the various faceplants the company has taken over the years the way YouTube shows like Yesterworld and Defunctland do, the new show is at least capable of admitting when certain things didn’t work. The Haunted Mansion had to be completely rethought for Shanghai, while Japan got a different backstory for its Tower of Terror. And the original Jungle Cruise had no dad jokes!
Of course, there are no Splash Mountain or Captain EO episodes, so we don’t know yet how the show will deal with some of the more unsavory or embarrassing bits of Disney Park history. Which is fine, since Behind the Attraction isn’t intended to be a complete history of Disney, just a quick half-hour show that will have you going “did you know?” to all your friends and family the next time you visit the Magic Kingdom.
Those who find Alexa's default voice too cold can have the digital assistant mimic celebs. Though, in the past, the only A-list impression the AI could do was everyone's fave badass Samuel L. Jackson. Turns out, people liked the idea of ordering a weather report from a superstar, because Amazon is adding two more famous voices to Alexa's toolkit. The new options include four-time NBA champ Shaquille O'Neal and Oscar-nominated actor Melissa McCarthy.
Amazon says the SLJ skill, introduced for a limited price of $0.99, became one of its top-selling digital purchases upon launch. The new voice options don't come with an early discount, so you'll have to fork out $5 for each. But, the prospect of hearing Shaq rap and McCarthy tell jokes may seal the deal for some. If you want to try before you buy, check out the voice samples below.
Alexa grew into an impersonator thanks to advancements in its neural text-to-speech technology. The AI is clearly getting smarter all the time as Amazon is introducing a new original voice option and new wake word ("Ziggy") too.
Don't get your hopes up for Amazon's take on Tiger King's Joe Exotic. Variety has learned from would-be show star Nicolas Cage that Amazon has scrapped the series. While the scripts were "excellent," according to Cage, Amazon reportedly felt the project had become "past tense" after taking too long to formulate. The company had lost its chance to capitalize on the Netflix show's success, to put it another way.
Amazon declined to comment. NBCUniversal's Peacock service is believed to still have its own Tiger King project in the works, with Kate McKinnon starring as Carole Baskin.
It's not a surprising decision. Tiger King surged in popularity thanks both to its how-can-this-be-real subject matter and its debut in late March 2020, right as many pandemic lockdowns began. It could have been difficult to recapture that zeitgeist. There's also the matter of riffing on a rival service's show. Amazon might not have been keen to advertise for Netflix, even if its own series garnered critical acclaim.
Apple TV+ and HBO Max have picked up their first nominations in the top two Primetime Emmy categories. HBO Max's Hacks and The Flight Attendant, and Apple's excellent Ted Lasso all received nods for Best Comedy Series. All but one of the nominees in that category are streaming shows, with the exception of ABC's Black-ish. Netflix picked up a trio of nods for Emily in Paris, Cobra Kai and The Kominsky Method, while Hulu earned one for Pen15.
Netflix led the way in the Best Drama Series category, with The Crown and Bridgerton among the nominees. Disney+ returned to the fold with a second successive nomination for The Mandalorian in that category. Amazon Prime Video's The Boys and Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale (which won the award in its first season) made the cut, along with HBO's Lovecraft Country, FX's Pose and NBC's This Is Us.
The Crown and The Mandalorian are the shows with the joint-most nominations this year with 24 each. Another Disney+ show, WandaVision, is right behind with 23 nods, including Best Limited Series and best actor (Paul Bettany) and actress (Elizabeth Olsen) in a limited series or movie. Other big streaming winners include The Handmaid’s Tale (21 nominations), Ted Lasso (20) and The Queen’s Gambit (18).
Friends: The Reunion(HBO Max) scored four nominations, the filmed Hamiltonperformance (Disney+) scooped up 12 and Bo Burnham's terrific Inside (Netflix) received six. All of those were nominated for Best Variety Special (Filmed) alongside Dave Chappelle's 8:46 (Netflix, but it streamed on YouTube), David Byrne's American Utopia (HBO) and HBO Max's West Wing reunion.
Between them, HBO and HBO Max have the most nominations overall with 130. Netflix is right behind them with 129. In only its second year of Emmy eligibility, Disney+ is in third place with 71 nominations.
Apple got 35 nominations in total, including one for Apple TV's Carpool Karaoke: The Series. Apple Watch Series 6 and Beats by Dre ads are among the nominees. Hulu received 25 nods this year and Prime Video scooped up 18.
Quibi (yes, you read that correctly) landed Emmy nominations for the second straight year with eight overall. The defunct streaming platform's shows are now branded as Roku Originals after Roku picked up the library of short-form series.
Paramount+ has six nominations, YouTube received five and Facebook landed three: two for Oculus and one for Facebook Watch. Peacock scooped up two nods, while AMC+, Pluto and Discovery+ each received a single nomination.
Like many in-person events, geek Mecca Comic-Con was upended by the pandemic. By most accounts, the decision to switch to a virtual conference backfired as social media activity plummeted by upwards of 90 percent. Cosplaying on the couch clearly isn't as gratifying as congregating with 6,500 passionate fans under one roof. With big guns Marvel Studios and DC Films already choosing to skip this year's Comic-Con@Home, the event needs all the support it can get. One company that hasn't given up on the conference is Amazon.
For the second year in a row, it's hosting an online panel with talent from some of its biggest shows and movies. You'll be able to watch the action on San Diego Comic-Con's official YouTube channel starting at 2PM ET on July 23rd.
This year's lineup features a mix of female-led fantasy, blockbuster anime, teen slasher and crime. First up is The Wheel of Time, a series adaptation of the bestselling novels by Robert Jordan about a clan of female magicians starring Rosamund Pike. Amazon will be hoping the show is more Shadow and Bone than The Nevers. Neon Genesis Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno will also be present to discuss the final chapter in the Rebuild movie saga, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time.
To tap into the '90s slasher revival kicked off by Netflix's Fear Street trilogy, Amazon is trotting out its modern spin on I Know What You Did Last Summer, featuring a fresh-faced cast of sacrificial lambs. This year's event will also see Amazon highlighting content from its streaming service that isn't called Prime Video. As such, cast members from IMDb TV's Leverage: Redemption will be on hand to discuss the return of the crime series.
It seems more and more law enforcement agents are trying to use online platforms' copyright-takedown measures to prevent videos that show them in a bad light from being shared online. A California police officer has tried to use the tactic on a BLM protestor at the Alameda Country courthouse by playing Taylor Swift's Blank Space, as reported by The Washington Post and Variety. His attempt failed, though, and it even backfired spectacularly: The video has almost 800,000 views on Twitter as of this writing, as well as 300,000 views on YouTube.
Cop Plays Taylor Swift to Prevent Video Sharing of Him Harassing Protesters ‼️
A cop demanded we move #Justice4StevenTaylor banners. We asked him why. He pulled out his phone & played a Taylor Swift song.
— Anti Police-Terror Project (@APTPaction) July 1, 2021
The protestor was at the courthouse for the pretrial hearing of Jason Fletcher, the police officer charged with voluntary manslaughter for killing Steven Taylor, a Black man, inside a Walmart. In the video posted by the Anti Police-Terror Project, you'll hear the officer admit that he played the popular Swift song so that it gets a copyright strike on Google's video platform. "You can record all you want, I just know it can't be posted on YouTube," he said.
When asked if there's an administrative regulation telling cops to play copyrighted music to prevent videos from being shared, the officer replied: "Not that I know of." Alameda County sheriff's office spokesperson Sgt. Ray Kelly told The Post that there's no policy barring what the officer did in the video, but that the office does not "condone" his behavior.
Back in February, several police officers in Beverly Hills had also been caught on video seemingly trying to get a prominent LA activist banned from Instagram by triggering is copyright filters. They kept playing songs while being filmed, including Sublime's Santeria and The Beatles' Yesterday.
Chessie Thacher, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union Northern California, told The Post that the tactic "does seem to be a trend right now." Thacher added: "People have the right to film the police, and efforts by the police to infringe on this right are unconstitutional. So if they're using copyright laws to prevent people from exercising their right — and amplifying what they’re seeing — then that's a real problem."
Amazon and Wondery will air the SmartLess podcast one week before episodes hit other audio platforms, starting on August 1st. Amazon is paying as much as $80 million for the three-year deal, Bloomberg reports.
Actors Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes created and host SmartLess, in which they chat with another famous person. The gimmick is that one of the hosts invites on a guest whose identity remains a mystery to the others until the conversation starts. Guests so far include Vice President Kamala Harris, George Clooney, Jennifer Aniston, Stacey Abrams, Stephen Colbert, Billie Eilish and Paul McCartney.
SmartLess will initially be available on Amazon Music and Wondery+, and it'll be ad-free on the latter. Wondery will handle ad sales and marketing for the show. The deal also gives Amazon and Wondery the right to partner with future podcasts from the SmartLess team.
This is yet another major deal for a single podcast. Earlier this month, Spotify scooped up the rights to Call Her Daddy, reportedly for around $20 million a year. Spotify has shelled out hundreds of millions of dollars on other podcast deals, including ones with Joe Rogan, the Obamas and the Duke and Dutchess of Sussex. Amazon also has exclusive podcasts, such as shows with Will Smith and DJ Khaled. It bought the Wondery podcast network last year.
Apple has revealed when you'll get to watch Foundation, its adaptation of Issac Asimov’s series of sci-fi novels. The show will debut on Apple TV+ on September 24th, with additional installments of the first ten-episode season dropping each week.
The company also revealed another teaser trailer for Foundation, which stars Jared Harris as the leader of a group of exiles who predicts the end of the Galactic Empire. The group embarks on a journey to restore civilization by establishing The Foundation. Lee Pace also stars in the show, whose showrunner is David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight, Man of Steel).
Apple is reducing the free TV+ trial it offers to customers who buy its devices from a year to three months. It's hoping the slate of shows andmovies will be enough to entice people to stick around as paid subscribers.
The company is lining up a number of major shows for the remainder of this year, as 9to5 Mac notes. Along with Foundation, The Morning Show and Ted Lasso will return for their second seasons in the coming months. Invasion, another large-scale sci-fi series is dropping in October.
