Netflix’s Next Level: How the Streamer Is Looking to Boost Growth With Ads, Password-Sharing Crackdown, Live Events and More

All right, let’s do this one more time: (cue propulsive, impossibly cool hip-hop beat): in 2018, despite an oversaturation of ‘Spider-Man’ movies, and just two years after Marvel introduced yet another actor as the character in live-action (just two years after ditching the previous guy), Sony did the unimaginable with “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” Not only did they craft a thrilling, ingenious, inventive, highly original, and entertaining ‘Spider-Man’ like never before, they created the best-animated superhero film ever, and arguably one of the all-time superhero films ever.

Netflix’s 2023 edition of Tudum, hailed as a “global fan event,” will roll out the virtual red carpet for Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Zack Snyder, Jenna Ortega, Penn Badgley, John Boyega, Nicola Coughlan and more when it kicks off on June 17.The streamer announced on Thursday that the event will feature first looks, trailers, news and announcements for upcoming original films and shows like Snyder’s sci-fi epic “Rebel Moon,” “Bridgerton,” “Queen Charlotte,” “The Witcher,” “Squid Game,” “Wednesday,” “You,” “Emily in Paris,” “Stranger Things” and “3 Body Problem.”The two-hour livestream will take place on YouTube, but will also be happening live in front of “thousands of fans” in São Paulo, Brazil. It begins at 1:30 p.m.

Jenna Ortega’s mother posted about the risks of lung cancer in response to widely shared images of the star smoking on Wednesday.

Netflix fans, it's Tudum time once again!The streaming service's worldwide fan event returns on June 17, live-streaming from Brazil after two years of virtual events, to give fans first looks, never-before-seen footage, and exclusive news from their favorite movies, series and games.Kicking off at 1:30 p.m. PT / 4:30 p.m.

This story about “Picard” originally appeared in the Race Begins issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.In 1994, after its seventh and final season, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” was nominated for its lone Best Drama Series Emmy. Patrick Stewart, who anchored the show as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, remembers the nomination well. It was the same year he got a SAG Award nomination.“Those two were the only two (above-the-line) nominations that we got,” Stewart said. “Next Generation” was nominated for several Creative Arts Emmys—for crafts like makeup, cinematography, sound mixing and more—but was otherwise consistently overlooked.

has finally shared the first official look at season 3, with new footage of stars Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Billy Crudup as well as newcomer Jon Hamm appearing in the extended Apple TV+ teaser for its upcoming slate of series and films. «It looks fabulous,» Bradley Jackson (Witherspoon) tells fellow UBA anchor Alex Levy (Aniston), who responds by saying, «I can't wait to see it.» Later, Crudup's character, Cory Ellison, is seen on a set saying, «This is a show.

Summertime is finally here! Heather Rae El Moussa (née Young) and Tarek El Moussa were among the many celebs who kicked off the season with Memorial Day celebrations.

SPOILER ALERT! This post contains spoilers for the series finale of HBO’s Succession.

William Earl Variety’s Actors on Actors series returns featuring the biggest stars in this year’s TV Emmys race for Season 18. The four episodes will debut on PBS SoCal on Thursday January 15th starting at 8:00 pm, followed by encores on KCET and public television stations across the country and the WORLD Channel (check local listings). All episodes will stream on pbssocal.org and the free PBS App following their premieres. Variety’s Actors on Actors issue will hit newsstands on June 7th and the conversations will start airing on Tuesday, June 6th on Variety.com and its social media channels. This year’s “Actors on Actors” lineup includes:

Prime Video is not about to let rival Netflix forget about its previously benevolent attitude toward password sharing.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Let’s travel back to the summer of 1989. I’m 15 years old and have just put two large movie posters on my wall: One for Tim Burton’s game-changing take on “Batman,” starring Michael Keaton, and the other for “UHF,” the theatrical comedy debut for the one and only “Weird Al” Yankovic. It’s now 2023. Keaton is back as Batman in next month’s “The Flash.” And Weird Al (always Weird Al, not just Al Yankovic!) is the front-runner for this year’s TV movie Emmy, thanks to the Roku Channel parody biopic “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.” “1989 is back again! It’s all cyclical,” Yankovic says in his signature cheery, upbeat tone. Tell my 15-year-old self that one day he’ll be recording a podcast with Weird Al, and first he’d say, “what’s a podcast?” But after explaining that it’s essentially a radio show, my 15-year-old self would lose his mind. And ask about 2023’s flying cars. Sorry kid.

Billie Eilish is showing some skin — and revealing a piece of body art she once claimed would forever remain private!

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic It began in the son’s room, when father was away on business. L’enfant thought it was l’amour, but for her, 30-odd years his senior, the sex, lies and audiotape were a mistake. Wild at heart, she’d yielded to the taste of … oh, never mind. Competing for the Palme d’Or at Cannes, Catherine Breillat’s “Last Summer” echoes films that have come before — most notably, 2019 Danish drama “Queen of Hearts,” on which it’s based — but it proves most daring in the ways the film departs for its more conventionally moralistic source, and especially in Breillat’s refusal to call either party a parasite. Yes, the affair between a lawyer and her 17-year-old stepson is a betrayal — of her marriage, of her parental responsibilities, of everything she stands for as an attorney — but that’s nothing compared to how the 50-ish woman deals with it when word gets out in this thought-provoking domestic drama. In reviewing the original, Variety’s Guy Lodge wrote, “you can practically envisage a Robin Wright-starring U.S. remake” — which isn’t far from the truth. Backed by fearless producer Saïd Ben Saïd (“Elle”), Breillat gives us the great Léa Drucker (who played far more responsible moms in “Close” and “Custody”) in the role of Anne, who’s introduced representing an underage girl in a sex-crimes case.

crackdown on password sharing in the United States, alerting users that their accounts cannot be shared for free with people outside of their households.The streaming video pioneer has been looking for new ways to make money as it faces signs of market saturation, with efforts including the password crackdown and a new ad-supported service.The company said it was emailing customers who have been sharing passwords to tell them they can add an extra member outside their homes for $8 per month.They can also transfer a person’s profile so the user can keep their viewing history and recommendations.People within the same household can continue sharing the same Netflix account and can use it on various devices when traveling, the company said in a blog post.Netflix announced last year that it was going to limit password sharing and had already tested various approaches in some markets.

Carmel Dagan Jim Brown, the NFL titan who appeared in “The Dirty Dozen,” a number of Blaxploitation films and Oliver Stone’s “Any Given Sunday,” The Running Man,” Tim Burton’s “Mars Attacks” and Spike Lee’s “He Got Game,” to name a few films, died Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 87.His wife Monique posted the news of his death on Instagram, saying, “He passed peacefully last night at our L.A. home.”In nine extraordinary seasons as a fullback with the Cleveland Browns, Brown set an array of NFL records. In 2002 the Sporting News named him the greatest professional football player ever. That phenomenal athleticism and a charismatic personality made him bankable as the first African American action star.

Fans have breathed a sigh of relief after Netflix 'finally' announced a popular series has been renewed for another two seasons.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Sterling K. Brown could be on his way to Broadway. The three-time Emmy winner will star in a reading of a new stage production of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” on May 18 in New York City, sources exclusively tell me. Brown will play Randle P. McMurphy, a character famously portrayed by Jack Nicholson in the 1975 movie adaptation of Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel. Sources also tell me that Tony winner Laura Benanti will play Nurse Ratched. The team behind the reading have their hopes set on a Broadway run. The reading is directed by Young Vic artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah. Scott Delman produces. Delman is also on board as a producer of the “Thelma & Louise” musical, which has been workshopped with Amanda Seyfried and Evan Rachel Wood starring.

not feel at ease overlooking the French Riviera? Though the films are the main event, luxurious fashion is the .Year after year, celebrities serve iconic looks that live in my head rent-free all year round. In 2022, Viola Davis shone like the sun in a bright yellow Alexander McQueen gown and eye-catching Boucheron jewels.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic There has never been a compilation album in the history of rock as influential as “Nuggets,” a 1972 double-LP that revived a period and style that was seen as having ended about five years before. It was nostalgia of a sort for the very recent past — as opposed to the very distant past that’s now being celebrated with fondness as “Nuggets” itself surpasses the half-century, arguably no less central to a certain rock ‘n’ roll ethos than ever. Lenny Kaye, now best known as the guitarist for Patti Smith’s band, but then highly regarded as a rock critic, compiled the original “Nuggets” for Elektra and may have saved an early wave of garage-rock for the ages … although some would give the collection even more credit, for helping invent, or at least bring into focus, the burgeoning punk-rock movement in the 1970s.

EXCLUSIVE: We told you about Ron Howard’s survival thriller Origin of The Species last fall and the project now has a killer cast with Oscar nominee Ana De Armas (No Time To Die), Oscar nominee Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes), Oscar winner Alicia Vikander (Tomb Raider) and Golden Globe nominee Daniel Brühl (All Quiet On The Western Front) all attached.