Cordkillers 325 - Great Adaptations
The live-action Avatar series loses the original creators--how scared are we?! Indiana towns sues the internet for internet. Disney+ is getting a Lego Star Wars Holiday Special.
CordKillers: 325 - Great Adaptations
Recorded: August 17 2020
Guest: None
Intro Video
Chef's Table: BBQ
Primary Target
Co-creator, executive producer, and story editor of the animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra,leaves Netflix series
-Netflix has been working on a live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
- This caused worries because the animated version is so beloved and the only live-action adaptation to date, a movie from M. Night Shyamalan was to be charitable received as a disappointment.
- The hopeful sign was that the animated series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko were part of the Netflix team.
- Well they were. Until June. DiMartino posted on his blog last week that both creators left the Netflix team in June.
- "I realized I couldn’t control the creative direction of the series, but I could control how I responded. So, I chose to leave the project. ...
- "And who knows? Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar has the potential to be good. It might turn out to be a show many of you end up enjoying. But what I can be certain about is that whatever version ends up on-screen, it will not be what Bryan and I had envisioned or intended to make."
- There's a similar situation happening with The Watch at BBC, which is based on the works of Terry Paratchett, but the family that controls Pratchett's work and estate have been hostile about the direction of that series.
- Rick Riordan stepped away from Percy Jackson movies, Alan Moore disavowed pretty much all the movies based on his work from V for Vendetta to Watchmen.
- Then there are successful collaborations like Game of Thrones (early seasons) and The Expanse.
- So this brings about a few questions
- 1. Is a successful adaptation the exception not the rule?
- 2. Are most original creators too attached to their original version to allow for adaptations to work?
- 3. Is this all just recency bias? Are we as fans too attached to the first version of something we experience to let an adaptation have much for a chance?
How to Watch
Cities sue Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, claim they owe cable “franchise fees”
- Four cities in Indiana filed a lawsuit August 4 against Netflix, Disney, Hulu, DirecTV, and Dish Network. Indianapolis, Evansville, Valparaiso and Fishers, Indiana all believe the companies violated Indiana state law because they did not pay them the cable franchise fee of 5 percent gross revenue per city. The law applies to companies that transmit video programming "through facilities located at least in part in a public right of way." The cities argue that since the services run on the internet, and the internet is delivered using public rights of way, the law should apply to them. However, internet service is not subject tot he fee because it's not a cable operator. A similar case in Creve Coeur, Missouri is pending in circuit court.
Finding live TV shows and sports just got easier in Search
- Google search results for sports TV broadcast sports, will now show what channels carry a team's games as well as where to watch a live game on TV or streaming. The TV info will start showing up first for NBA and MLB games, with other leagues and streaming options to be added over time. Also when searching for "what to watch" Google will now show carousels of recommendations for what's on TV now and what's on later. that displays recommended TV shows and movies that are on live TV.
Tom is testing out Sling's Air TV Mini - First impressions
What to Watch
‘Bel-Air’: Drama Series Take On ‘The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air’ From Morgan Cooper & Westbrook Studios Heats Up Streaming Marketplace
Disney is planning to release a Lego Star Wars Holiday Special November 17. The story will be set immediately after the vents of The Rise of Skywalker. Rey and BB-8 go on a journey through the nine-film timeline.
Seth MacFarlane Developing ‘The Winds Of War’ Limited Series At UCP
- Seth MacFarlane is developing a project for NBCUniversal for a limited series based on the novels The Winds of War and War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk. This ebooks were adapted into TV miniseries in the 1980s starring Robert Mitchum.
Netflix will stream Broadway musical Diana before it opens on stage
- Netflix will offer a filmed version of the broadway musical Diana: A True Musical Story sometime in the first five months of 2021, before the show opens on stage. The musical about Princess Diana had begun staged previews March 2 but shut down because of the virus before its official opening. The cast will perform the musical on stage without an audience for the filming.
‘Jade City’ TV Series Based On Books In Works At Peacock From Dave Kalstein, Breck Eisner & Dean Georgaris
- Peacock is developing a series called Jade City based on the Green Bone Saga, a series of novels form author Fonda Lee. The novels are set in a. World where certain clans of Jade users can channel power through the wearing of Jade. Jade is now a controlled substance in most fo the world but the city of Janloon tolerates its use by two clans who once cooperated to drive out invaders ina great war and now fight each other for influence in the city. Think wuxia meets Hong Kong gangster films of the 1970s.
Eyes On
Brian: making Modern Rogue and reading Mistborn
Tom: It's Okay to Not Be Okay, Dark, Train
On the Lookout: Tales From the Loop
Front Lines
Apple signs first-look TV+ deal with Martin Scorsese
- Director Martin Scorsese has signed a multi-year deal with Apple TV+ to produce and direct film and TV projects. Reuters reports that Scorsese's next film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, called Killers fo the Flower Moon, will be distributed in theaters by Paramount and then come to Apple TV+.
DC Universe content is 'migrating' to HBO Max
- DC Comics Chief Creative Officer Jim Lee says DC Universe will migrate most of its shows to HBO Max. Lee told Hollywood Reporter, "Truthfully, that’s the best platform for that content." DC Universe is not going away though, Lee says it's simply transforming.
WarnerMedia Looking to Sell Crunchyroll Anime-Streaming Service for at Least $1 Billion
- So WarnerMedia doubles down on commitment to DC but not so much anime. Variety's sources say WarnerMedia is looking for someone to pay about $1 billion to take Crunchyroll off its hands. Crunchyroll has about 3 million paying subscribers worldwide and more than 70 million registered users.
‘The Crown’ Casts Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana in Seasons 5 and 6
- Netflix's The Crown has cast Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana for the final two seasons. She played the entirely gold Ayesha in Guardians of the Galaxy. Emma Corrin plays the younger Diana in the coming season of the Crown.
Apple TV Plus Launches CBS All Access-Showtime Bundle for 52% Discount
- Subscribers to Apple TV+ can now add both commercial-free CBS All Access and Showtime for one price of $9.99 a month. Showtime alone costs $10.99 a month usually and CBS All Access is $5.99 or $9.99 without ads. Oh and if you're wondering what CBS All Access will be called in the future, the Financial Times sources say the leading contender for the new name is Paramount Plus. That is already the name of an international streaming product from ViacomCBS.
CBS All Access might become Paramount+ because originality is overrated
Subscribers to Verizon's Play More and Get More Unlimited wireless plan will now get Hulu and ESPN+ for free in addition to Disney+ and Apple Music.
Dispatches from the Front
I am quite unsure of seeing Mulan if you have taken the dragon (and most of the humor) out of it, but if this was Black Widow then I think the demand would be much higher & I would pay $30 just for myself 😃.
- Gregory