Thanks to last week getting away from us as a result of surprise review commitments and day-job demands, today we have a double-stacked set of news highlights from the worlds of pop culture.

Before we leap in, though, we need to mention two notable passings. Legendary composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist Burt Bacharach died last week, 8 February. The six time Grammy winner and three time Academy Award winner died at age 94. Younger pop culture fans may best remember Bacharach for his appearance in the first Austin Powers movies, where he performed his hit What the World Needs Now is Love.

The second big name passing is actress Raquel Welch, who died on 15 February aged 82, after a short illness. Welch had a long on-screen career, and was also a successful businesswoman. However, she’ll probably be best remembered for her sex symbol status, which was earned for her role in 1966’s fantasy adventure One Million Years B.C. The film’s poster, featuring Welch in a fur bikini, went on to become a cultural phenomenon, as iconic as Farrah Fawcett in her red one-piece costume, and similar imagery of Marilyn Monroe and Ursula Andress.

Lifestyle

Save the date! ICON, South Africa’s longest running comics and games convention is back for the first time since 2019. And back to its grassroots origins as well. Going “Old School” this year, ICON is returning to its regular July school holidays time, taking place at WITS University (sorry, no Jabula Rec Centre) in Johannesburg from 14 – 16 July 2023. Expect a mix of tabletop gaming (including tournaments), cosplay, various geek lifestyle retailers and artists’ alley.

If you missed it in our Super Bowl article, this year, the Walt Disney Company turns 100 this year, on 16 October specifically. Celebrations are taking place around the world throughout 2023, and that includes a special multimedia concert experience in Johannesburg over the Easter weekend. Disney100: The Concert is taking place at Gallagher Convention Centre from Friday, 7 April to Sunday, 9 April, and will feature Disney musical moments performed live by The Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra and live soloists. “Disney musical moments,” for the record, include all your animated movie favourites, along with Star Wars and Marvel. Available through Ticketmaster, tickets start at R320 and go up to R1,370 – and they’re selling out fast.

Film

There may be loads of festivities planned to celebrate Disney’s 100th anniversary, but it’s not all fun and games at the company.

During the Q1 2023 earnings call last week, Walt Disney Corporation CEO Bob Iger announced that the studio plans to lay off 7,000 employees and pull back its content spending (especially in terms of Disney+) in the near future by around $3 billion. A further $2.5 billion in operating cost sutting is also being targeted. Iger claims the move is “necessary to address the challenges we’re facing today.”

The knock-on effect of these profit-minded changes means a more staggered release schedule for Marvel movies and series than during Phase 4, plus the announcement that Disney will be milking its hit animated franchises as much as possible, with Frozen 3, Toy Story 5, and Zootopia 2 all in the works.

An official trailer for the R-rated comedy Strays has been released, and if you’re wondering why it’s R-rated, well we would advise you don’t watch the trailer without headphones. Starring Will Ferrell as Reggie, a naïve, relentlessly optimistic Border Terrier who is dumped in the city by his deadbeat owner Doug (Will Forte) and teams up with fellow strays Bug (Jaime Foxx), Maggie (Isla Fischer) and Hunter (Randall Park) to seek revenge. Stray is directed by Josh Greenbaum, who oversaw the massively entertaining cult hit Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, and releases in cinemas on 8 June 2023.

Fans of dark comedy The Menu, and daring Asian cinema, should pencil two words into their diary. Hunger. April. That’s when this intriguing Thai movie comes to Netflix. Hunger is created and written by Kongdej Jaturanrasmee, directed by Sitisiri Mongkolsiri, and stars Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying (Aokbab), Nopachai Jayanama (Peter) and Gunn Svasti. The film focuses on Aoy, a woman running her family’s noodle restaurant until she receives an invitation to join the fine-dining industry under the tutelage of an brilliant but notorious chef. Aoy’s pursuit of her dreams exposes her to the disturbing reality that underpins the glamorous culinary world.

Here’s a video game movie with a difference. Tetris tells the wild true story of how, during the 1980s, two men risked everything to bring the iconic video game out of the Soviet Union, into the wider world, and onto Nintendo systems. Part biopic, part espionage thriller (yes, you read that right), Tetris stars Taron Egerton as entrepreneur Henk Rogers and Nikita Yefremov as Tetris inventor Alexey Pajitnov. Tetris comes to Apple TV+ on 31 March.

Dropped on Valentine’s Day was the first image of Lady Gaga from Joker: Folie à Deux, filmmaker Todd Phillips and star Joaquin Phoenix’s sequel to 2019’s Oscar-winning Joker. Though her role is still not confirmed, we can safely assume Lady Gaga is playing Harley Quinn, the Arkham Asylum psychiatrist who is sucked into Joker’s delusional headspace (Folie à Deux is the phenomenon of shared mental illness). For the record, Joker: Folie à Deux is an Elseworlds tale set outside the main DC movie universe, and will be part musical. It releases on 4 October 2024.

Here are a few more images for you. The release of the full Flash trailer, which you can find here, was paired with a new film poster, as well as three character posters below. The latter is what interests us most, as they include (a returning) Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne/Batman and Sasha Calle’s brand-new Kara/Supergirl, multiverse versions of the iconic DC Comics characters, who are encountered when Barry Allen/The Flash (Ezra Miller) attempts to change the past and creates a very different reality. Ben Affleck also appears in Andrés (It) Muschietti’s film as the Batman of Barry’s Universe. The Flash speeds into cinemas on 16 June this year.

Finally, some movie news tidbits:

  • It’s more a rumour at this stage than confirmed news, but apparently Guillermo Del Toro wants to make a Frankenstein film as part of his Netflix deal – with Oscar Isaac as the title scientist and Andrew Garfield as his monstrous creation. Given the talent potentially involved here, it’s definitely one to keep an eye on… if it happens. More here.
  • A fourth Riddick movie is in the works. Star Vin Diesel and writer-director David Twohy will reunite yet again to continue the story of the space outlaw who can see in the dark thanks to special implants. This installment will be called Riddick: Furya and takes our antihero back to his home world where he finds his people facing a deadly, unexpected threat.
  • Rising star Emma Corrin, who played Princess Diana in Season 4 of The Crown, will be the villain in Deadpool 3, facing off against Ryan Reynolds’s Merc with a Mouth and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. Theories abound that the actress will be playing multiversal figure Lady Deadpool. Deadpool 3 is set for release in November 2024.
  • It’s a case of a sequel nobody expected, but 23 years later, Gladiator 2 is in the works, with Ridley Scott back in the director’s chair. Russell Crowe won’t return for obvious reasons, but the plot connection to the first film is that Gladiator 2 will focus on the grown-up Lucius (played by recent Oscar-nominee Paul Mescal), the son of Lucilla and nephew of Commodus, who was greatly impressed by Maximus. In similar sword-and-sandal news, but on the TV front, Starz has plans to make a Spartacus sequel, continuing the story after the events of the Season 3 finale.
  • Not content with three hit animated movies, five animated shorts and three animated series, How to Train Your Dragon is now getting a live-action movie treatment as well. Steering the project is Dean DeBlois, the filmmaker behind the original animated trilogy. A March 2025 release date is targeted.

Series

Ted Lasso Season 3 returns to Apple TV+ on 15 March, and there’s a suitably feel-good teaser for this feel-good series. Without giving too much away for viewers who still need to catch up, or jump in, this time around, the newly-promoted AFC Richmond faces ridicule from the media, while everyone has their personal issues to wrestle with. Things seem to be falling apart both on and off the pitch, but best believe Team Lasso will give it their best shot anyway.

Also coming to Apple TV+ is Liaison. Premiering much sooner, though, on 24 February, is this six-episode European thriller centred on cyber attacks. Vincent Cassel and Eva Green star as agents – and former lovers – who must work together to combat a digital terrorism threat to the UK, all while confronting the buried secrets of their destructive relationship.

Meanwhile, over on Netflix, Academy Award-winner Matthew McConaughey will star as Elvis Presley in the new action comedy Agent Elvis. The ten-episode adult animation series from Sony Pictures Animation follows Elvis as he lives a double-life as a secret agent. Created by Priscilla Presley and John Eddie, Agent Elvis premieres on Netflix in March 2023. Who thought being the King of Rock and Roll was only a day job?

Speaking of Netflix, after the announcement that yes, they’re cracking down on password sharing for real, there’s been some more clarity on how exactly that’s going to work. Initially trialed in Latin America last year, subscribers to Netflix’s Standard or Premium plans will be able to pay for up to two people outside of their household to use their account. Starting now in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain, Netflix will ask you to set your “primary location”, and devices not connecting on that network will be considered additional. No word yet as to when these changes will reach the rest of the world.

In a similar vein, closer to home, MultiChoice is looking at how it can fine tune its controversial approach to limiting access to its online streaming service, and combating password sharing. Coming “mid 2023” is a digital rights management system called Proximity Control, which will manage simultaneous connections, and possibly require another piece of hardware in subscribers’ homes.

Meanwhile, come 1 April, all DStv premium pay TV packages are undergoing a price increase of around 4.3%. The top-level DStv Premium package will now be R40 extra, sitting at R879 a month. This excludes an access fee of R115, which lets subscribers use features like DStv Catch Up and PVR.

In renewals news:

Both AMC’s The Mayfair Witches and Netflix’s That 90’s Show have nabbed second seasons, despite middling reviews for both. Meanwhile, adult animated Scooby-Doo reimagining Velma (with Mindy Kaling voicing the title character) may be hated by a very vocal audience segment, but the high viewership figures stemming from that hate-watching means Season 2 is happening.

In happier news, Amazon’s prestige sci-fi series The Peripheral, based on the novel by William Gibson and executive produced by Westworld’s Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, has also just been renewed for a sophomore season. The same goes for Rian Johnson’s acclaimed Poker Face, an all-star reimagining of case-of-the-week murder mysteries like Columbo, starring Natasha Lyonne. Poker Face is on Peacock.

Coming to Amazon Prime this month is The Consultant, a twisted comedy-thriller based on Benley Little’s 2015 novel. Christopher Waltz stars as Mr. Patoff, the titular consultant brought in to run a successful mobile games company. Only problem is, he’s likely a sociopath. The series also stars Nat Wolff as Craig, Brittany O’Grady as Elaine, and Aimee Carrero as Patti. All 8 episodes arrive on Prime Video on 24 February.

Comic fans, here’s a project to keep your eye on – Amazon Studios is currently finalising the deal for Criminal, a TV adaptation of artist Sean Phillips and writer Ed Brubaker’s bestselling crime-noir comic book series. According to Deadline, Brubaker (who co-wrote Amazon’s Too Old To Die Young as well as served as a writer on HBO’s Westworld) will be involved with the project as executive producer and showrunner.

Talking noir, comics, and yet another project making the leap from animation to live-action, Spider-Man Noir is in development for Prime Video. Although the character appeared first on the page as part of the Marvel Noir universe, this grizzled older superhero, who lives in a black & white 1930s New York City, is probably best known for his appearance in Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, where he was voiced by Nicolas Cage. The producers of Into the Spider-Verse, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are involved in the series, working in conjunction with writer and executive producer Oren Uziel.