Before we jump into the news around various pop culture projects, two sad stories from the worlds of music and movies.

This past week, Taylor Hawkins, the long-time drummer of rock band Foo Fighters died unexpectedly at the age of 50 after experiencing chest pain during the band’s South American tour. Meanwhile, action icon Bruce Willis is bowing out of acting at age 67 for medical reasons – he’s suffering from communicative brain disorder aphasia.

Television

The biggest news of the week for South African TV viewers is that we finally have a launch date and pricing for Disney+ on our shores.

Disney+ will debut in South Africa on 18 May 2022, with local pricing set at R119.00 per month, or R1,190.00 for an annual subscription.

Disney+’s arrival opens the streaming door to all Star Wars and Marvel Studios series and films, Pixar and Disney animated movies, as well as content from National Geographic, ABC, Fox, Hulu and more. Phew. We’re pumped to check out Moon Knight and Hawkeye finally, the upcoming Endurance documentary, Encanto, and dark comedy miniseries Pam and Tommy.

You can keep an eye on the Disney+ site for further updates, although the streaming service’s freshly unveiled ZA social platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) look to be even more useful for announcements.

We also have a date for HBO’s Game of Thrones “200 years before” spin-off House of the Dragon. Premiering August 21, the historical fantasy series – which already has our attention despite how poorly its predecessor ended – is based on author George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, a history of the powrful dragon-riding House Targaryen, which arrived from across the sea to subdue Westeros. You can find a breakdown of the cast and characters here, but look out for familiar faces like Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Rhys Ifans, Olivia Cooke and Steve Toussaint.

For the record, South African audiences are likely to be able to watch the 10-episode first season on Showmax, given the local streamer’s close ties to HBO, and previous screening rights for Game of Thrones.

This past week, we got our first look at upcoming Apple TV anthology series, Roar. Based on the short story collection by author Cecelia Ahern, this dark comedic series is made up of eight feminist fables for today’s world, spanning genres from magical realism to psychological horror.

Appearing in these genre-bending explorations of women’s experience are Nicole Kidman, Cynthia Erivo, Issa Rae, Merritt Wever, Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, Meera Syal, Fivel Stewart, and Kara Hayward.

Roar premieres on Apple’s streaming service on April 15

If you have period murder-mystery withdrawal after Death on the Nile, another star-studded Agatha Christie adaptation is on the way. Coming to BritBox on 12 April is Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?. Based on Agatha Christie’s 1934 novel, this spirited mystery centres on a vicar’s son, Bobby Jones (Will Poulter), and his socialite friend, Lady Frankie Derwent (Lucy Boynton), who are sent on a crime-solving adventure by a dying man’s cryptic last words.

Also starring in the three-part limited series are Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, and Emma Thompson. Laurie also directs this adaptation.

One tiny piece of casting news is that Yellowjackets and Army of the Dead star Ella Purnell (who also voices Jinx in animated series Arcane), is joining Walton Goggins in Amazon’s Fallout series. Fallout is based on the Bethesda game series that puts a Retrofuturist spin on post Nuclear War America. Filming starts later this year, with the involvement of Westworld’s Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy.

Gaming

Unquestionably the biggest gaming announcement of the week – and also arguably the most underwhelming – is the reveal of PlayStation’s console subscription service to rival Xbox Game Pass. Codenamed Project Spartacus, the service’s official title is… PlayStation Plus.

PlayStation Plus brings together the old Plus and PlayStation Now (Now being available only in some markets), and depending on the tier of subscription, members will have access to up to 740 games from across all PS generations. No day one access to big new PS exclusives though.

The new integrated PlayStation Plus is being rolled out in a phased approach from June – starting in Asia, before moving on to North America, Europe and the rest of the world. The PS cloud streaming benefit is also being expanded, because right now countries like South Africa don’t have access to all the benefits of Plus Premium, the highest subscription tier on offer.

Learn more about the three plan tiers and pricing here on the official PS blog.

Also, bye, E3 2022. See you next year, maybe?

Books and Comics

Here’s something different. Spearheaded by Arizona Opera, a new comic Kickstarter is attempting to introduce new audiences to opera thanks to a 90-page graphic novel adaptation of Georges Bizet’s Carmen.

Set in Seville around the year 1830, Carmen deals with the love and jealousy of Don José, who is lured away from his duty as a soldier and his beloved Micaëla by the Roma factory-girl Carmen.

Carmen: The Graphic Novel is written by opera singer and director Alek Shrader, with layouts provided by artist P. Craig Russell (American Gods), which are finished, illustrated and coloured by Aneke (Bylines in Blood). The book is lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

The Kickstarter campaign has already achieved its funding goal, but you can still get in on the action and secure backer rewards.