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password-crackdown-leads-to-more-income-for-netflix

Password crackdown leads to more income for Netflix

Sharing is caring —

Netflix to stop reporting subscriber numbers, prioritizing viewer engagement instead.

screen with netflix login

Bloomberg

Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing helped the streaming service blow past Wall Street’s earnings forecasts, but its shares fell after it said it planned to stop regularly disclosing its subscriber numbers.

The company’s operating income surged 54 percent in the first quarter as it added 9.3 million subscribers worldwide, proving that the efforts to reduce password sharing it launched last year have had more lasting benefits than some investors expected.

However, Netflix said on Thursday that from next year it would stop revealing its total number of subscribers, a metric that has been a crucial benchmark for investors in the streaming era.

In its letter to shareholders, Netflix said it was shifting its focus to engagement—the amount of time its subscribers spend on the service—while also developing new price points and sources of revenue, including advertising.

“Each incremental member has a different business impact” with the new subscription plans, Greg Peters, co-chief executive, said in a call with investors. “And that means the historical simple math that we all did—the number of members times the monthly price—is increasingly less accurate in capturing the state of the business.”

He added that Netflix would “periodically update” on subscriber figures when it hits “major milestones.”

Paolo Pescatore, an analyst at PP Foresight, said Netflix’s decision to no longer disclose quarterly subscriptions starting in 2025 “will not go down well.”

“No matter the company’s attempt to switch focus from subscribers to financials, net [subscriber] adds is the key metric everyone wants to see,” he said.

The latest results showed there was still room for growth as a result of its password crackdown and push into advertising, Pescatore added. Netflix said memberships to its advertising-supported tier rose 65 percent from the previous quarter.

Before Thursday’s report the streaming pioneer’s shares had risen 30 percent this year, significantly outperforming the broader market. The shares fell 4.7 percent in after-hours trading following the earnings report.

Netflix executives said among their primary goals was improving the variety and quality of their entertainment, including television shows, movies, and games. It recently appointed Dan Lin as the new head of its film division.

“Even though we have made and we are making great films, we want to make them better,” said Ted Sarandos, co-chief executive. He added that he saw no need to spend more money on content.

Netflix has been pushing further into sports-related content, including a $5 billion deal to livestream World Wrestling Entertainment’s flagship Raw program in the US over the next decade.

It is also offering a livestream of a fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul in July, leading analysts to question whether the company plans to move further into live sport. “We’re not anti-sports, but pro-profitable growth,” Sarandos said.

Netflix reported earnings of $5.28 a share, well ahead of Wall Street forecasts of $4.51, while its number of subscribers rose 16 percent to 269 million from a year earlier.

Its revenue forecast for the current quarter of $9.49 billion was slightly below Wall Street forecasts of about $9.5 billion. But Netflix said it expected revenue to grow between 13 and 15 percent for the full year.

The company said it generated strong engagement in the first quarter from subscribers in the UK with Fool Me Once, which had 98 million views. Other standouts included the drama series Griselda with 66.4 million views and 3 Body Problem with about 40 million.

© 2024 The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved. Not to be redistributed, copied, or modified in any way.

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Long-lost model of the USS Enterprise returned to Roddenberry family

To Boldly Return —

It showed up in an eBay listing; now Roddenberry’s son wants to show it to fans.

This mysterious model appeared on eBay with little fanfare.

Enlarge / This mysterious model appeared on eBay with little fanfare.

eBay

The first-ever model of Star Trek’s USS Enterprise NCC-1701 has been returned to the Roddenberry family, according to an ABC News report.

The three-foot model was used to shoot the pilot and credits scene for Star Trek’s original series in the 1960s and was used occasionally for shots throughout the series. (Typically, a larger, 11-foot model was used for shots after the pilot.) The model also sat on series creator Gene Roddenberry’s desk for several years.

It went missing in the late 1970s; historians and collectors believe it belonged to Roddenberry himself, that he lent it to a production house working on Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and that it was never returned. Its whereabouts were unknown until last fall, when a listing for a mysterious model of the Enterprise appeared on eBay.

Enthusiasts analyzed the pictures in the listing and came to believe it was the long-lost three-foot production model. They contacted the seller, who quickly took down the listing.

The eBay account that posted the item specialized in selling artifacts found in storage lockers that end up without an owner, either because of failure to pay or death.

The model appeared in this promotional image with Roddenberry.

The model appeared in this promotional image with Roddenberry.

CBS

The model was turned over by the eBay seller to Texas-based Heritage Auctions. News spread that it had been discovered, and Gene Roddenberry’s son, Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, made public statements that he would like to see it returned to his family.

After that, there were months of silence, and its fate was unknown—until now. Heritage Auctions announced that it had given the model to Rod Roddenberry. Details of the exchange have not been shared, but Roddenberry said he did compensate Heritage in some way.

Heritage reached out directly to Roddenberry upon acquiring the object and reportedly decided to return it because it was “the right thing to do.” Roddenberry said that he “felt it important to reward that and show appreciation for that” but didn’t disclose a sum.

Promotional images of the model with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.

Promotional images of the model with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.

Roddenberry also revealed what he has planned for the model:

This is not going home to adorn my shelves. This is going to get restored and we’re working on ways to get it out so the public can see it, and my hope is that it will land in a museum somewhere.

He runs a group called the Roddenberry Foundation that has scanned and digitized many relics from Star Trek’s ideation and production over the years, so it’s likely the Foundation will get a crack at the model, too.

Listing image by eBay

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review:-pitch-perfect-renegade-nell-is-a-gem-of-a-series-you-won’t-want-to-miss

Review: Pitch-perfect Renegade Nell is a gem of a series you won’t want to miss

Don’t call her “Nelly” —

It’s a good old-fashioned swashbuckling adventure that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

A young prodigal tomboy returns home from war and finds herself framed for murder in <em>Renegade Nell</em>.” src=”https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/nellTOP-800×536.jpg”></img><figcaption>
<p><a data-height=Enlarge / A young prodigal tomboy returns home from war and finds herself framed for murder in Renegade Nell.

Disney+

Award-winning British TV writer Sally Wainwright is best known for the dramatic series Happy Valley (2014–2023) and Gentleman Jack (2019–2022), the latter produced jointly by BBC and HBO. Wainwright partnered with Disney+ for her latest series, the resolutely PG-13 Renegade Nell, which is a different beast altogether: a good old-fashioned, swashbuckling comic adventure with a supernatural twist, featuring a sassy cross-dressing heroine forced to turn to highway robbery to survive.

(Some spoilers below, but no major reveals.)

Set in 1705 during the reign of Queen Anne (Jodi May, Gentleman Jack), the series stars Louisa Harland (Derry Girls) as Nell Jackson. Nell is a headstrong young woman with tomboy flair and a taste for adventure who returns home to her village of Tottenham after running off five years before to marry one Captain Jackson against her father’s wishes. She’s now widowed and possessed of occasional supernatural skills whenever someone threatens her, courtesy of a fairy sprite named Billy Blind (Nick Mohammed, aka Nathan from Ted Lasso), who has been tasked to protect Nell. Nell’s family thought she’d been killed on the battlefield alongside her husband, so her homecoming is a bit of a shock.

Alas, Nell soon runs afoul of one Thomas Blancheford (Jake Dunn), the louche, drunken offspring of the town’s landlord, Lord Blancheford (Pip Torrens, Preacher). Let’s just say things escalate, and Nell soon finds herself on the run and framed for murder, along with her two sisters, Roxy (Bo Bragason) and George (Florence Keen), and the Blanchefords’ former groomsman, Rasselas (Enyi Okoronkwo, The Lazarus Project). The group gets further assistance from a charming aristocratic dandy/secret highwayman named Charles Devereaux (Frank Dillane, The Essex Serpent).

Nell just wants to evade capture long enough to find an honest magistrate to clear her name. In the process, she finds herself battling the formidable black magic of the Earl of Poynton (Adrian Lester, Euphoria) and his acolyte, Thomas’ sister, Lady Sofia (Alice Kremelberg, The Sinner), and stumbles upon a sinister plot to dethrone the queen.

  • Louisa Harland stars as Nelly Jackson, who finds herself framed for murder.

    Disney+

  • Nick Mohammed plays a sprite named Billy Blind, charged with protecting Nell.

    Disney+

  • Charles Devereaux (Frank Dillane) is an impoverished aristocrat who does highway robberies on the side.

    Disney+

  • Nell returns home to her family: father Sam Trotter and sisters George and Roxy.

    Disney+

  • Thomas Blancheford (Jake Dunn) is a drunken louche who torments the villagers.

    Disney+

  • The Earl of Poynton (Adrian Lester) dabbles in black magic and has sinister plans afoot.

    Disney+

  • Lady Sofia Wilmot (Alice Kremelberg) chafes at the limitations imposed upon her by society.

    Disney+

  • Nell and her sisters end up on the run.

    Disney+

  • The Blanchefords’ former groom, Rasselas (Enyi Okoronkwo), helps the sisters.

    Disney+

  • Rebellious young socialite Polly Honeycombe (Ashna Rabheru) is rather thrilled to be robbed by a dashing highwayman.

    Disney+

The writing, pacing, and production values are top-notch, and the cast is terrific across the board. Lester brings a ruthless authority to Poynton’s spooky supernatural machinations, while Kremelberg is all seething bitter resentment and steely resolve as Lady Sofia, a brilliant, ambitious noblewoman (also widowed) who is far more qualified to run the family estate than her worthless brother, yet prohibited from inheriting by the laws of the time. Dillane’s Devereaux provides much of the witty repartee and comic relief, as does Joely Richardson’s (The Sandman) newspaper magnate, Lady Eularia Moggerhanger. And Ashna Rabheru (Red Rose) is delightful as a spoiled young aristocrat, Polly Honeycombe, with a lively romantic imagination who longs for something more in life than an arranged marriage.

But it’s Harland’s sensational portrayal of Nell that anchors it all. This is a role that requires her to be a tough rebellious tomboy in one scene and sport a posh accent and fancy dress in another; to balance action comedy with moments of genuine fear and heartbreaking tragedy. It’s also a highly physical role: Harland underwent several months of stunt training prior to filming. She does it all with refreshingly unpretentious aplomb.

Renegade Nell keeps the action flowing and wisely never takes itself too seriously. Sure, there is injustice, class warfare, and strong intelligent women chafing within the strict confines of traditional binary gender roles—and Polly Honeycombe definitely qualifies as bicurious. But Wainwright never lets the story get bogged down in heavy-handed symbolism or didacticism. Even Nell’s cross-dressing is handled with the lightest touch. Asked to comment on her character’s gender politics, Harland told the Guardian that there was no ulterior motive or agenda: “Why does she dress as a man? To pass as a man.” Simple as that.

Will we see more of feisty Nell and her delightfully eccentric compatriots? That’s up to Disney. There are plenty of questions left unanswered and definitely more stories to tell, both past and present. Series director Ben Taylor told Radio Times just after the premiere that a second season was currently being written and that it would likely involve some kind of time jump (given that some of the younger actors will visibly age), picking up with the various surviving characters from where they left off in the first season. But Disney has yet to confirm this. Here’s hoping this series finds the broader audience it so richly deserves. We’re rooting for you, Nelly… err, Nell.

Renegade Nell is now streaming on Disney+.

Trailer for Renegade Nell.

Review: Pitch-perfect Renegade Nell is a gem of a series you won’t want to miss Read More »

three-episodes-in,-the-fallout-tv-series-absolutely-nails-it

Three episodes in, the Fallout TV series absolutely nails it

I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire —

Hyperviolence, strong characters, cool visuals, and some humor make a good show.

  • Like the games, the show depicts a Vault Dweller making her way out into the Wasteland.

    Amazon

  • This Brotherhood of Steel Initiate is another central character.

    Amazon

  • And there’s The Ghoul, one of the show’s standout characters.

    Amazon

  • Lost‘s Michael Emerson plays a compelling supporting character.

    Amazon

  • Some scenes take place inside the games’ famous Vaults.

    Amazon

  • And, of course, there’s power armor.

    Amazon

Amazon has had a rocky history with big, geeky properties making their way onto Prime Video. The Wheel of Time wasn’t for everyone, and I have almost nothing good to say about The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Fallout, the first season of which premiered this week, seems to break that bad streak. All the episodes are online now, but I’ve watched three episodes so far. I love it.

I’ve spent hundreds of hours playing the games that inspired it, so I can only speak to that experience; I don’t know how well it will work for people who never played the games. But as a video game adaptation, it’s up there with The Last of Us.

In my view, Fallout is about three things: action, comedy, and satire. In this spoiler-free review of the first three episodes, I’ll go over each of these touchstones and discuss how the show hit them or didn’t.

I hope to find the time to revisit the show with another, much more spoiler-y article sometime next week after I’ve seen the rest of the episodes, and we’ll save discussions about the story for then.

Fallout as an action spectacle

To say Fallout is about high-octane action might be a controversial statement, given the divide between fans of the first two games (turn-based tactical RPGs) and most of the newer games (open-world action RPGs).

Hyperviolence was being depicted and simulated in those original titles even if they weren’t part of the action genre, so I hope you’ll agree that one would expect some action and gore in a TV adaptation regardless of which Fallout games you liked.

Boy, does this show deliver. While there is some dispute over which genre the Fallout games are supposed to be, there’s no such confusion about Fallout the TV series. If it were at Blockbuster in the ’80s or ’90s, its box would be in the “Action” section.

All three episodes have at least one big-screen-worthy action set piece. They’re not expertly choreographed like a John Wick movie, but they’re thrilling regardless—mostly because of how extreme and darkly funny the violence can be.

The first big action sequence in the first episode reminded me that this show is coming to us by way of Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, producers of HBO’s Westworld series. As in that show, Fallout‘s violence can be sudden, brutal, and casual. Heads explode from shotgun blasts like popped bubbles in Cronenbergian splatters. Someone’s face gets ripped right off, and another person gets a fork plunged into their eyeball.

Fallout‘s gore goes beyond Westworld’s shock factor into the territory of humor, and that’s clearly intentional. Homages to the Bethesda games’ slow-motion VATS kills are aplenty, with gratuitous shots of bullets tearing through bodies and painting the walls red.

It’s so over the top it that doesn’t bother me; it’s cartoon violence, ultimately. Most of the time, I enjoy it, though a couple of instances of dog-related violence didn’t feel too great. But if you’re squeamish, you’re going to want to steer clear. Of course, the games were like this, too. It just hits a little differently when it’s live action.

Fallout as a comedy

There are numerous executive producers attached to this show, including Nolan, Joy, and Bethesda Game Studios’ Todd Howard, among others. But the two people most creatively responsible for what we’re seeing here are the writers Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Tomb Raider, Captain Marvel) and Graham Wagner (Portlandia, Silicon Valley, The Office).

That makes sense—you have one showrunner with action and video game adaptation chops and another known for comedy.

The Fallout games are hilarious—goofy, even, and that tracks right into the show. It’s not always as laugh-out-loud funny as I expected (though it sometimes is), but it’s definitely fun, and there are some strong jokes.

It’s hard to discuss them without spoiling some punchlines, but a lot of the humor comes from the fact that one of the show’s three central characters grew up deeply sheltered, both literally and figuratively. “Okey-dokey,” she says in the face of the most horrific situations imaginable. The contrast really works.

There’s humor in other places in the show, too, especially if you like dark humor. As I said a moment ago, the violence is hilarious if you have the stomach for it. Like the games, the show has many winks and nods.

I’d like to see a little more of this in the future than there is now, but it’s enough for it to feel like, well, Fallout.

Three episodes in, the Fallout TV series absolutely nails it Read More »

will-there-be-a-dune:-part-three?-yes…-with-caveats-on-timing

Will there be a Dune: Part Three? Yes… with caveats on timing

Prepare for the Messiah —

Timing of a big-screen return to Arrakis mostly depends on director Denis Villeneuve.

Legendary Pictures has confirmed that it plans to make <em>Dune: Part Three</em> with director Denis Villeneuve.” src=”https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/dune2-800×537.jpg”></img><figcaption>
<p><a data-height=Enlarge / Legendary Pictures has confirmed that it plans to make Dune: Part Three with director Denis Villeneuve.

YouTube/Warner Bros.

Dune: Part Two is still raking in the moolah at the box office, and deservedly so. But judging by my various feeds, fans are already swooning over the prospect of director Denis Villeneuve extending his vision into a trilogy by adapting Frank Herbert’s 1969 sequel, Dune Messiah, for the next installment. Will there be a Dune: Part Three? Most signs currently point to yes, with a couple of caveats. Exactly how soon we’ll be seeing a return to Arrakis depends a lot on Villeneuve.

Variety confirmed that Legendary Pictures is working with the director on developing Dune: Part Three, although it remains unclear from the wording of the plethora of news items whether the project has officially been greenlit. (“Development” can mean a lot of things.) Naturally, the studio is eager, as are we: the film is the biggest hit of 2024 thus far, with global earnings of $630 million (although the hotly anticipated Deadpool and Wolverine this summer might give it a run for its money).

That confirmation sent fresh frissons of excitement across the Internet, although Villeneuve had been talking about the prospect as far back as September 2021. Those plans always depended on the success of Part Two, and that hurdle has obviously been cleared. By August 2023, the director was on record saying there were “words on paper” for a third film. And we learned just last month that composer Hans Zimmer was already working on the score for Dune: Part Three.

That said, Villeneuve has yet to commit to an actual release date publicly, emphasizing his desire to take a little break from the Dune franchise to work on something else. (Per Variety, Legendary has already tapped him to adapt Anne Jacobsen’s nonfiction book, Nuclear War: A Scenario, but that project will likely come after Dune: Part Three.) He even hinted at one point that it might be a good idea to let star Timothée Chalamet age a bit, given the 12-year gap in the novels.

And in February, Villeneuve told The Times UK that while he had nearly finished a draft script (“barely an embryo”), he was not inclined to rush things: “I want to make sure that if we go back there a third time that it’ll be worth it, and that it would be make something even better than Part Two.” That’s a tall order, given the critical raves that have accompanied the film’s box office success. But we’re betting Villeneuve can pull it off… in his own good time.

Will there be a Dune: Part Three? Yes… with caveats on timing Read More »

billie-eilish,-pearl-jam,-200-artists-say-ai-poses-existential-threat-to-their-livelihoods

Billie Eilish, Pearl Jam, 200 artists say AI poses existential threat to their livelihoods

artificial music —

Artists say AI will “set in motion a race to the bottom that will degrade the value of our work.”

Billie Eilish attends the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 10, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.

Enlarge / Billie Eilish attends the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 10, 2024, in Beverly Hills, California.

On Tuesday, the Artist Rights Alliance (ARA) announced an open letter critical of AI signed by over 200 musical artists, including Pearl Jam, Nicki Minaj, Billie Eilish, Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, and the estate of Frank Sinatra. In the letter, the artists call on AI developers, technology companies, platforms, and digital music services to stop using AI to “infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists.” A tweet from the ARA added that AI poses an “existential threat” to their art.

Visual artists began protesting the advent of generative AI after the rise of the first mainstream AI image generators in 2022, and considering that generative AI research has since been undertaken for other forms of creative media, we have seen that protest extend to professionals in other creative domains, such as writers, actors, filmmakers—and now musicians.

“When used irresponsibly, AI poses enormous threats to our ability to protect our privacy, our identities, our music and our livelihoods,” the open letter states. It alleges that some of the “biggest and most powerful” companies (unnamed in the letter) are using the work of artists without permission to train AI models, with the aim of replacing human artists with AI-created content.

  • A list of musical artists that signed the ARA open letter against generative AI.

  • A list of musical artists that signed the ARA open letter against generative AI.

  • A list of musical artists that signed the ARA open letter against generative AI.

  • A list of musical artists that signed the ARA open letter against generative AI.

In January, Billboard reported that AI research taking place at Google DeepMind had trained an unnamed music-generating AI on a large dataset of copyrighted music without seeking artist permission. That report may have been referring to Google’s Lyria, an AI-generation model announced in November that the company positioned as a tool for enhancing human creativity. The tech has since powered musical experiments from YouTube.

We’ve previously covered AI music generators that seemed fairly primitive throughout 2022 and 2023, such as Riffusion, Google’s MusicLM, and Stability AI’s Stable Audio. We’ve also covered open source musical voice-cloning technology that is frequently used to make musical parodies online. While we have yet to see an AI model that can generate perfect, fully composed high-quality music on demand, the quality of outputs from music synthesis models has been steadily improving over time.

In considering AI’s potential impact on music, it’s instructive to remember historical instances where tech innovations initially sparked concern among artists. For instance, the introduction of synthesizers in the 1960s and 1970s and the advent of digital sampling in the 1980s both faced scrutiny and fear from parts of the music community, but the music industry eventually adjusted.

While we’ve seen fear of the unknown related to AI going around quite a bit for the past year, it’s possible that AI tools will be integrated into the music production process like any other music production tool or technique that came before. It’s also possible that even if that kind of integration comes to pass, some artists will still get hurt along the way—and the ARA wants to speak out about it before the technology progresses further.

“Race to the bottom”

The Artists Rights Alliance is a nonprofit advocacy group that describes itself as an “alliance of working musicians, performers, and songwriters fighting for a healthy creative economy and fair treatment for all creators in the digital world.”

The signers of the ARA’s open letter say they acknowledge the potential of AI to advance human creativity when used responsibly, but they also claim that replacing artists with generative AI would “substantially dilute the royalty pool” paid out to artists, which could be “catastrophic” for many working musicians, artists, and songwriters who are trying to make ends meet.

In the letter, the artists say that unchecked AI will set in motion a race to the bottom that will degrade the value of their work and prevent them from being fairly compensated. “This assault on human creativity must be stopped,” they write. “We must protect against the predatory use of AI to steal professional artist’ voices and likenesses, violate creators’ rights, and destroy the music ecosystem.”

The emphasis on the word “human” in the letter is notable (“human artist” was used twice and “human creativity” and “human artistry” are used once, each) because it suggests the clear distinction they are drawing between the work of human artists and the output of AI systems. It implies recognition that we’ve entered a new era where not all creative output is made by people.

The letter concludes with a call to action, urging all AI developers, technology companies, platforms, and digital music services to pledge not to develop or deploy AI music-generation technology, content, or tools that undermine or replace the human artistry of songwriters and artists or deny them fair compensation for their work.

While it’s unclear whether companies will meet those demands, so far, protests from visual artists have not stopped development of ever-more advanced image-synthesis models. On Threads, frequent AI industry commentator Dare Obasanjo wrote, “Unfortunately this will be as effective as writing an open letter to stop the sun from rising tomorrow.”

Billie Eilish, Pearl Jam, 200 artists say AI poses existential threat to their livelihoods Read More »

apple-wouldn’t-let-jon-stewart-interview-ftc-chair-lina-khan,-tv-host-claims

Apple wouldn’t let Jon Stewart interview FTC Chair Lina Khan, TV host claims

The Problem with Jon Stewart —

Tech company also didn’t want a segment on Stewart’s show criticizing AI.

The Daily Show host Jon Stewart’s interview with FTC Chair Lina Khan. The conversation about Apple begins around 16: 30 in the video.

Before the cancellation of The Problem with Jon Stewart on Apple TV+, Apple forbade the inclusion of Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan as a guest and steered the show away from confronting issues related to artificial intelligence, according to Jon Stewart.

This isn’t the first we’ve heard of this rift between Apple and Stewart. When the Apple TV+ show was canceled last October, reports circulated that he told his staff that creative differences over guests and topics were a factor in the decision.

The New York Times reported that both China and AI were sticking points between Apple and Stewart. Stewart confirmed the broad strokes of that narrative in a CBS Morning Show interview after it was announced that he would return to The Daily Show.

“They decided that they felt that they didn’t want me to say things that might get me into trouble,” he explained.

Stewart’s comments during his interview with Khan yesterday were the first time he’s gotten more specific publicly.

“I’ve got to tell you, I wanted to have you on a podcast, and Apple asked us not to do it—to have you. They literally said, ‘Please don’t talk to her,'” Stewart said while interviewing Khan on the April 1, 2024, episode of The Daily Show.

Khan appeared on the show to explain and evangelize the FTC’s efforts to battle corporate monopolies both in and outside the tech industry in the US and to explain the challenges the organization faces.

She became the FTC chair in 2021 and has since garnered a reputation for an aggressive and critical stance against monopolistic tendencies or practices among Big Tech companies like Amazon and Meta.

Stewart also confirmed previous reports that AI was a sensitive topic for Apple. “They wouldn’t let us do that dumb thing we did in the first act on AI,” he said, referring to the desk monologue segment that preceded the Khan interview in the episode.

The segment on AI in the first act of the episode mocked various tech executives for their utopian framing of AI and interspersed those claims with acknowledgments from many of the same leaders that AI would replace many people’s jobs. (It did not mention Apple or its leadership, though.)

Stewart and The Daily Show‘s staff also included clips of current tech leaders suggesting that workers be retrained to work with or on AI when their current roles are disrupted by it. That was followed by a montage of US political leaders promising to retrain workers after various technological and economic disruptions over the years, with the implication that those retraining efforts were rarely as successful as promised.

The segment effectively lampooned some of the doublespeak about AI, though Stewart stopped short of venturing any solutions or alternatives to the current path, so it mostly just prompted outrage and laughs.

The Daily Show host Jon Stewart’s segment criticizing tech and political leaders on the topic of AI.

Apple currently uses AI-related technologies in its software, services, and devices, but so far it has not launched anything tapping into generative AI, which is the new frontier in AI that has attracted worry, optimism, and criticism from various parties.

However, the company is expected to roll out its first generative AI features as part of iOS 18, a new operating system update for iPhones. iOS 18 will likely be detailed during Apple’s annual developer conference in June and will reach users’ devices sometime in the fall.

Listing image by Paramount

Apple wouldn’t let Jon Stewart interview FTC Chair Lina Khan, TV host claims Read More »

ncuti-gatwa’s-fifteenth-doctor-rocks-the-fashion-in-new-doctor-who-trailer

Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor rocks the fashion in new Doctor Who trailer

The Fifteenth Doctor is in —

The return of Russell T. Davies as show runner has been a welcome one.

Ncuti Gatwa officially begins his tenure as the Fifteenth Doctor in May, when the new Doctor Who season premieres.

Heads up, Whovians! We’ve got a newly regenerated Fifteenth Doctor in Ncuti Gatwa and a new season of the long-running British sci-fi series Doctor Who on the way. Judging by the latest trailer, we’re in for another wild ride of time-traveling hijinks, punctuated by an irresistibly charismatic Gatwa sporting some very colorful outfits with confident aplomb.

(Spoilers for most recent seasons and specials below.)

Look, I loved Jodie Whittaker’s incarnation of the Doctor, but her tenure was hampered by the unavoidable fact that showrunner Chris Chibnall just didn’t give her a lot of great material to work with. Among other issues, there was an unfortunate tendency toward didacticism and preachiness in the writing at the expense of genuine emotional resonance. While there were a number of notable episodes, and Chibnall gamely trotted out all the fan-favorite monsters and tropes, nothing ever fully captured the imagination in quite the same way as the show has always done at its best. Whittaker deserved better.

But then the BBC announced the return of Russell T. Davies—who revived the series in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor—as showrunner, setting up another reset of this beloved series. When Gatwa’s casting was announced, everyone assumed Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor would regenerate accordingly at the end of “The Power of the Doctor.” Instead, the newly regenerated Fourteenth Doctor was played by none other than David Tennant, everyone’s favorite Tenth Doctor—a little older with a few tweaks to his trademark look.

It was great casting for the 60th anniversary specials, in which Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor reunited with Donna Noble (Catherine Tate)—one of my favorite companions. Donna had her memories of the Doctor wiped by the Tenth Doctor to save her life since she had taken on some Time Lord knowledge that human beings just aren’t designed to carry. Donna now had a teenage daughter named Rose, and of course, a major crisis forced the Doctor to restore the erased knowledge to save London yet again. Donna should have died, but her Time Lord knowledge ended up being safely split between her and Rose instead.

The Doctor and Donna next encountered an abandoned spaceship filled with doppelgängers (Not-Things) in “Wild Blue Yonder.” In “The Giggle,” they faced off against the Toymaker (Neil Patrick Harris), and during the climactic battle, the Fourteenth Doctor was shot. Fans expecting the usual regeneration were in for a surprise. The Fourteenth Doctor “bigenerated” instead, resulting in both a Fourteenth Doctor and Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor, a separate physical entity.

  • Ncuti Gatwa is ready for his first full season as the Fifteenth Doctor.

    YouTube/BBC

  • His new companion is Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson).

    YouTube/BBC

  • “Space babies!”

    YouTube/BC

  • The Doctor and the dinosaurs.

    YouTube/BBC

  • Going full-on Bridgerton.

    YouTube/BBC

  • “We are going to rock through time…”

    YouTube/BBC

  • Sporting a snazzy tangerine-colored knit.

    YouTube/BBC

  • Looking very Mod Squad, Doctor!

    YouTube/BBC

  • Recreating a famous album cover because why not?

    YouTube/BBC

The two Doctors teamed up to defeat the Toymaker and then figured out how to duplicate the TARDIS by drawing on the power of the remnants of the villain’s reality-warping domain. And Gatwa’s Doctor embarked on a fresh adventure with the 2023 Christmas special “The Church on Ruby Road,” which also introduced us to his new companion, Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson).

All of that brings us to season 14. All we really know about this new season is that it will have eight episodes, beginning with the Davies-penned “Space Babies” and “The Devil’s Chord.” Davies wrote six out of the eight episodes, in fact, closing out with “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” and the finale, “Empire of Death.”  The latest trailer doesn’t give us much more than some exciting visual teases of what’s in store, including the aforementioned space babies, dinosaurs, a mysterious spacecraft—and all those outfits.

The Fifteenth Doctor is apparently something of a clothes horse. Each incarnation of the Doctor has always had a trademark “look,” but costume designer Pam Downe decided to broaden the scope for Gatwa, incorporating design elements from previous Doctors all the way back to Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor, whose style Gatwa particularly admired. That Regency-era burgundy velvet jacket is definitely a nod to the Third Doctor. There’s even a 1960s suit and Afro reminiscent of the Mod Squad or Austin Powers (with a sly allusion to The Beatles’ Abbey Road). Gatwa is clearly having a blast, which bodes well for the upcoming new season.

Season 14 of Doctor Who premieres on BBC and Disney+ on May 10, 2024, in the US and May 11 in the UK.

Listing image by YouTube/BBC

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The restored Star Trek Enterprise-D bridge goes on display in May

engage! —

The bridge is going on display at Sci-Fi World Musem in Santa Monica, California.

A recreation of the Star Trek The Next Generation Enterprise-D bridge

Enlarge / The Enterprise-D bridge recreation, seen in London in 2002.

Peter Bischoff/Getty Images

More than a decade has gone by since three Star Trek: The Next Generation fans first decided to restore the bridge from the Enterprise-D. Plans for the restored bridge morphed from opening it up to non-commercial uses like weddings or educational events into a fully fledged museum, and now that museum is almost ready to open. Backers of the project on Kickstarter have been notified that Sci-Fi World Museum will open to them in Santa Monica, California, on May 27, with general admission beginning in June.

It’s not actually the original set from TNG, as that was destroyed while filming Star Trek: Generations, when the saucer section crash-lands on Veridian III. But three replicas were made, overseen by Michael Okuda and Herman Zimmerman, the show’s set designers. Two of those welcomed Trekkies at Star Trek: The Experience, an attraction in Las Vegas until it closed in 2008.

The third spent time in Hollywood, then traveled to Europe and Asia for Star Trek: World Tour before it ended up languishing in a warehouse in Long Beach. It’s this third globe-trotting Enterprise-D bridge that—like the grit that gets an oyster to create a pearl—now finds a science-fiction museum accreted around it. Well, mostly—the chairs used by Riker, Troi, Data, and some other bits were salvaged from the Las Vegas exhibit.

Unlike the actual set, which was made from wood, the replica is made of metal and fiberglass. The restoration was originally supposed to take up to two years, but the project ended up being a far bigger challenge.

When Ars checked in with the Enterprise-D bridge restoration in 2014, the science-fiction museum plan had taken shape. But that change of plans did not sit well with some of the project’s original supporters, particularly after an imperfect re-creation of the captain’s chair—which remained lost until recently—was sold on eBay.

Things got even uglier in 2018 when Huston Huddleston, who led the project, was arrested and then convicted for possessing child pornography. Although Huddleston still appears listed as the project’s CEO on its Kickstarter page, that appears to be an artifact of its creation, and John Purdy is listed as the CEO of the Sci-Fi World Museum on its About Us page.

The Enterprise-D isn’t the only bridge you’ll be able to find at the museum—there’s also a replica of the bridge from Star Trek: The Original Series, which previously lived in a wax museum in Buena Park, California. Other exhibits include a hall of robots, as well as the “Bubbleship” and a drone from the movie Oblivion.

It’s also not the only recent re-creation of the Enterprise-D’s bridge. Okuda and his wife Denise both helped Paramount re-create the iconic set for the third season of Picard. The new Enterprise-D set can even be explored on Google Maps.

And earlier this month, it looked like Jean-Luc Picard’s long-lost chair might be sold at auction. However, the day saw an agreement between CBS Studios and the auctioneer Propstore, which will return the chair to CBS’s Star Trek Archive, which plans to restore and display it in the coming year.

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Choose your side in a civil war with House of the Dragon’s dueling S2 trailers

Green vs. Black —

Is it a war for the good of the realm, or the “satisfaction of vengeance”?

This short teaser for S2 of HBO’s House of the Dragon lets you choose between two full trailers.

It’s been a long wait for the second season of HBO’s House of the Dragon, in which House Targaryen descends into civil war over the heir to the Iron Throne. It’s set to premiere in June, and HBO is ramping up its marketing with a rather clever twist: not one official trailer, but two, each presenting the perspective of one side in the bloody conflict. And we get to choose which trailer we’d like to view—although if you’re like us, you’ll elect to watch both.

(Spoilers for the first season below.)

As I’ve written previously, HBO’s House of the Dragon debuted in 2022 with a solid, promising pilot episode, and the remainder of the season lived up to that initial promise. The series is set nearly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and chronicles the beginning of the end of House Targaryen’s reign. The primary source material is Fire and Blood, a fictional history of the Targaryen kings written by George R.R. Martin. As book readers know, those events culminated in a civil war and the extinction of the dragons—at least until Daenerys Targaryen came along.

The first season spanned many years and made some pretty significant time jumps, which in turn required replacing the younger actors as their characters aged. The S1 finale brought Westeros to the brink of civil war. King Viserys (Paddy Considine) died, and his second wife, Alicent (Olivia Cooke), conspired with her father, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans), to crown her eldest son, Aegon (Tom Glynn-Carney), as king instead of Viserys’ declared heir apparent, Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy).

This kicked off a lot of political maneuvering as both sides tried to shore up support for their chosen heir in preparation for the inevitable fight. Even though she was technically the rightful heir, Rhaenyra actually seemed to be considering House Hightower’s conditions for concession—until the arrogant Prince Aemon (Ewan Mitchell), Alicent’s younger son, went after Rhaenyra’s young son, Lucerys (Elliot Grihault). Both dragonriders failed to control their dragons, and Aemon’s much bigger dragon, Vhagar, gobbled up poor Lucerys and his little dragon, Arrax, in mid-air. The season closed with Rhaenyra and her husband/uncle Daemon (Matt Smith) receiving the devastating news, effectively dashing any hope of a peaceful resolution.

Most of the S1 main cast members are returning for S2 (those whose characters survived). And we have some new faces in the mix: Abubakar Salim as Alyn of Hull; Gayle Rankin as Alys Rivers; Freddie Fox as Ser Gwayne Hightower; Simon Russell Beale as Ser Simon Strong; Clinton Liberty as Addam of Hull; Jamie Kenna as Ser Alfred Broome; Kieran Bew as Hugh; Tom Bennett as Ulf; Tom Taylor as Lord Cregan Stark; and Vincent Regan as Ser Rickard Thorne.

The first teaser for S2 dropped in December during CCXP23 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. We got the expected footage of dragons and dragonriders, a beheading, troops gathering and getting wiped out by dragon fire, and Rhaenyra and Aemon facing off with their dragons. And we also had a brief glimpse of a particularly brutal plot point in the source material that we already know closes out S2 (i.e., the “Blood and Cheese” incident, well-known to book readers).

As for the two new trailers, if your loyalties are with the claimed “rightful heir” Rhaenyra and the Blacks, this is the trailer for you:

Official Black trailer.

But perhaps you’d prefer to side with Greens, i.e., Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower and her odious offspring, Aegon Targaryen, who has laid claim to the Iron Throne as King Aegon II:

Official Green trailer.

The second season of House of the Dragon premiers on HBO on June 16, 2024.

Listing image by HBO

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Alien: Romulus teaser has all the right elements to pique our interest

Be afraid —

Originally meant for Hulu, the franchise’s ninth installment heads to theaters instead.

The long-standing science fiction franchise looks to be returning to its horror roots with Alien: Romulus.

We learned way back in 2019 that horror director Fede Alvarez (Don’t Breathe, Evil Dead) would be tackling a new standalone film in the Alien franchise. Personally, I had mixed feelings on the heels of the disappointing Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017). But the involvement of Alvarez was a hint that perhaps the franchise was returning to its stripped-down space horror roots. Now we have the first teaser for Alien: Romulus, and yep—that seems to be the case. And that’s very good news for those of us who adored the original Alien (1979) and its terrifying sequel, Aliens (1986).

(Spoilers for Alien and Aliens below.)

Alien: Romulus is set between the events of Alien and Aliens. That is, after Ellen Ripley, the sole survivor of the Nostromo, destroyed the killer Xenomorph and launched herself into space in the ship’s lifeboat—along with the ginger cat, Jonesy—and before she woke up after 57 years in hypersleep and battled more Xenomorphs while protecting the young orphan, Newt. Per the official premise: “While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.”

Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla, Pacific Rim: Uprising) stars as Rain Carradine, Isabela Merced (The Last of Us) plays Kay, and David Jonsson (Murder Is Easy) plays Andy. Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Spike Fearn (Aftersun), and Aileen Wu also appear in as-yet-undisclosed roles.

That’s about all we know five months out from the film’s release, but the teaser has all the right elements to pique our interest, right down to the minimalist aesthetics of its original forebear. In this case, less is more: We hear panicked calls for help (“get it away from me!”), piercing screams, and a shot of a gore-spattered wall. Then we get a few frenetic shots of panicked crew members fleeing a monster—and it’s a suitably terrifying threat based on the brief glimpses we’re offered.

Alien: Romulus hits theaters on August 16, 2024. It was originally meant to be released on Hulu. Clearly, the studio thought it had a potential hit on its hands and opted for a theatrical release instead.

20th Century Studios

Listing image by 20th Century Studios

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We’ve got a new trailer for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Verdict: Not mediocre

“Where were you going, so full of hope?” —

“Whatever you have to do, however long it takes, promise you will find your way home.”

Check out the latest trailer for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, starring Anya Taylor-Joy.

We got the first trailer for the spinoff prequel film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga in December, starring Anya Taylor-Joy as the younger incarnation of the character immortalized by Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road. We’re now just a couple months away from the film’s much-anticipated release—i.e., the perfect time to drop a second trailer to keep that anticipation high.

(Spoilers for Fury Road below.)

As previously reported, we met Furiosa early on in Fury Road, working logistics for Immortan Joe (the late Hugh Keays-Byrne), who charged her with ferrying oil from Gas Town to his Citadel with the help of a small crew of War Boys and one of the war rigs—basically tractor trailer trucks souped up with armor and novel weaponry. Furiosa stole the war rig instead, taking Joe’s five wives with her.

She teamed up with Max to fight off Joe’s army as they made their way to the Green Place, where Furiosa grew up. When they finally encountered the Vuvalini of Many Mothers, Furiosa learned that the Green Place was now an uninhabitable swamp. They ultimately returned to the Citadel and overthrew Immortan Joe, and our last image of her was a triumphant Furiosa on a lift rising into the Citadel.

Fury Road received almost universal critical acclaim, in no small part due to Theron’s fiery performance and director George Miller’s stunning apocalyptic vision. The film snagged 10 Oscar nominations and grossed $380 million globally. By 2019, Miller had expressed interest in making both a sequel and a prequel, with the latter focusing on Furiosa.

  • The Garden of Eden symbolism is strong in this black-and-white shot.

    YouTube/Warner Bros.

  • A young Furiosa (Alyla Browne).

    YouTube/Warner Bros.

  • Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) in his souped-up biker chariot.

    YouTube/Warner Bros.

  • Furiosa’s mother fights to get her daughter back.

    YouTube/Warner Bros.

  • The fight does not seem to be going well.

    YouTube/Warner Bros.

  • Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) is out for vengeance.

    YouTube/Warner Bros.

  • “Remember me?”

    YouTube/Warner Bros.

The film is set 45 years after the Collapse. Per the official premise:

As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.

In addition to Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth co-stars as Warlord Dementus, who leads the biker gang that kidnaps a young Furiosa. Nathan Jones and Angus Sampson reprise their roles as Rictus Erectus (son of Immortan Joe) and the Organic Mechanic, respectively. Lachy Hulme plays the younger Immortan Joe, and the cast also includes Daniel Webber as War Boy, David Collins as Smeg, and Alyla Browne as a young Furiosa. Tom Burke, Quaden Bayles, and Charlee Fraser have been cast in as-yet-undisclosed roles.

This latest trailer gives us a glimpse into Furiosa’s Garden of Eden-like early childhood, rendered (initially) in black and white with a young Furiosa reaching for a bright red apple. Symbolism! Dementus and his boys are nearby and snatch the young girl. Once they realize there’s a land of plenty ripe for pillage, conflict with Green Place is inevitable, with Furiosa’s mother leading the charge to get her daughter back and fend off the invaders. It doesn’t end well for Furiosa, who, as an adult, is determined to take her revenge on those who stole her mother and childhood from her.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga hits theaters on May 24, 2024. We can’t wait.

Listing image by YouTube/Warner Bros.

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