Game of Thrones Gets Animated, WB and Paramount Talk Merger, 2023 Box Office Surprises

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Fans of George R.R. Martin’s epic world of Westeros and beyond got a New Year’s treat when the author announced on his personal blog that the spin-off series Nine Voyages will now be animated rather than live action. Citing budgetary constraints that would have kept the live action show from reaching its full potential, Martin voiced his support for the media move while including that three animated projects are currently on the table though not all are greenlit. Martin also hinted at the possibility of graphic novels.

In a move that absolutely looks to compete with streaming giants Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+, Warner Brothers Discovery and Paramount Gylobal CEOs officially entered talks to merge the two media companies. Both left 2023 with long-term debt loads, but with Warner Bros. market capitalization valued at $28.4 billion, perhaps there’s room for both to turn around and become a real competitor in the wild world of streaming. Burnished into action by the controlling interest in Paramount having already been in talks to sell to Skydance, Warner Brothers Discovery has the opportunity to acquire such film franchises as Terminator, Transformers, Mission: Impossible, Star Trek, and more, as well as Paramount’s television rights including CBS, BET, and MTV to name a few. This feels like an interesting move by Warner Brothers who made a similar acquisition with Discovery back in 2022.

It seemed like it would be the year the box office failed due to the combined writer’s and actor’s strikes, a huge change in streaming trends, as well as audience taste changing. However, this was simply not the case. Among stand-out films like Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Five Nights at Freddy’s as well as franchise films and both Taylor Swift and Beyonce’s concert films, 2023 rang in an impressive $9 billion box office total. The studios that held up best in order of money brought in were Universal ($1.93 billion), Disney ($1.89 billion), and Warner Bros. ($1.4 billion).

Netflix has released the first trailer for Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon Part Two: The Scargiver following the debut of Part One: A Child of Fire. The film will debut on Netflix on April 19, 2024. Part One, A Child of Fire saw a solid debut for Netflix, racking up nearly 24 million views in its first three days of release.

Following the conclusion of What If? Season 2, Marvel released a first look of What If? Season 3 featuring Bucky Barnes and the Red Guardian. As for when Season 3 will drop, the first look simply says, soooon.

Christopher Landon is no longer directing Scream VII. The director dropped out of the feature, capping a tumultuous few months for the embattled project that has included the exits of its two lead actors.

The first episode of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” brought in 13.3 million viewers in its first six days on Disney+ and Hulu.

“Slow Horses,” the hit Apple TV+ series based on Mick Herron’s spy series of the same name, has been renewed for a fifth season.

As of January 1, 2024, the first iteration of the character of Mickey Mouse dubbed Steamboat Willie officially entered the public domain and is no longer a protected character under copyright laws.