His Dark Materials Trailer
Fortnite Down and Gone for Good?
Fortnite’s “The End” event had the most accurate event title ever, apparently. The popular battle royale is down at the moment, with players saying they cannot even log in to Fortnite. Others are saying that once they get in the game, they immediately get kicked out. PC users are also reporting the Epic Games Store is experiencing some issues. Shortly after the latest event, which saw the world explode, most of Fortnite’s social media accounts went dark, and Twitch’s Fortnite category ceased to exist as the site crashed. All the technical difficulties, possibly excluding the Epic Games Store problems, are likely just some pretty good marketing by Epic. Before Twitch went down, Fortnite had more than 4 million viewers. And there are a lot of people talking about the game in some way or another after the event.
Disney Plus Ban Netflix Ads
Walt Disney Co. is banning advertising from Netflix Inc. across its entertainment TV networks, according to people familiar with the situation, a sign that the marketing wars over streaming-video are escalating as media giants battle each other for subscribers. Disney, Comcast Corp. and AT&T Inc. are set to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising over the next year to attract consumers to their new streaming-video services as they look to compete with industry juggernaut Netflix. Netflix spent $1.8 billion on advertising last year and will be playing defense against Hollywood’s new entrants. Disney, whose properties include ABC and Freeform, earlier this year put out an edict to staffers that it wouldn’t accept ads from any rival streaming services, but later reversed course and found a compromise with nearly every company, the people familiar with the situation said. The exception was Netflix. In making its decision, Disney evaluated whether it had a mutual business or advertising relationship with the companies, one of the people said. Netflix doesn’t show ads in its programs. In a statement, Disney said the subscription streaming-video business has evolved, “with many more entrants looking to advertise in traditional television, and across our portfolio of networks.” The company said it re-evaluated its initial blanket ban on streaming ads “to reflect the comprehensive business relationships we have with many of these companies.” Netflix declined to comment.
Michael Rosebaum not Playing Lex Luthor in Crossover
After news broke that the upcoming Arrowverse crossover “Crisis on Infinite Earths” will play host to a Smallville reunion, featuring both Tom Welling and Erica Durance reprising their roles as Clark Kent and Lois Lane, fans immediately got their hopes up that Michael Rosenbaum would be the next major announcement. But the Smallville alum revealed Tuesday morning on Twitter that he won’t be playing Lex Luthor in the five-part TV event. However, it wasn’t for lack of trying on The CW and Warner Bros. TV side of things! “Friends, many of you have tweeted and asked me about joining the Infinite Crossover,” Rosenbaum writes. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me. I’ll just be straight up about this. WB called my agents Friday afternoon when I was in Florida visiting my grandfather in a nursing home. Their offer: No Script. No idea what I’m doing. No idea when I’m shooting. Basically no money. And the real kick in the ass ‘We have to know now.’ My simple answer was ‘Pass.’ I think you can understand why.” Representatives for WB Television had no comment.
Maggie to Return to The Walking Dead
Following a string of high-profile cast departures – via voluntarily exits off-screen or killed off in-show – The Walking Dead revealed Saturday at New York Comic-Con that one fan-favorite character would return to the franchise for the just-announced Season 11 of the AMC zombie series. Lauren Cohan, who portrayed Maggie Greene up through Season Nine of The Walking Dead, will come back as a series regular next season. Cohan was a surprise guest during The Walking Dead‘s New York Comic-Con panel, where her return was also announced. Walking Dead’s ninth season witnessed the exits of both Cohan and Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes; it was later revealed that Lincoln would leave the TV series for a spinoff film series focused on the Grimes character, while Cohan took the lead role in the since-canceled ABC series Whiskey Cavalier. Black Panther star Danai Gurira, who plays Michonne on Walking Dead, will depart the series following Season 10. “We’re delighted to welcome back Lauren Cohan, she has meant so much to this show and its passionate, global fanbase, who are in for a fantastic ride over the coming months,” AMC President Sarah Barnett said in a statement (via Variety).
