The Witcher has everything it needs to be Netflix’s next success: popular source material, a massive marketing campaign, a well-received performance by Henry Cavill, and an iconic meme in the form of the hit song “Toss A Coin To Your Witcher.” Yet, while certainly popular, it doesn’t seem like The Witcher is going to become “must see” television like other recent hits, such as The Mandalorian on Disney+ or Watchmen on HBO. At least part of the reason why is how Netflix released it: in a single, all-you-can-eat drop — like almost all of its other shows — instead of a more traditional weekly rollout.
Weekly releases have numerous benefits for fans: continued and focused conversation every week around the latest episode, a chance to digest and process events, and fewer demands on viewers’ time upfront.
By dropping every episode at once, Netflix is sacrificing weekly discussions around The Witcher for a short burst of popularity, after which it trickles off into the void as people’s attentions are quickly grabbed by the next big thing. That extra time between episodes would let viewership build over time, as more people hear about the show or proselytize it to their friends.
Compare that to a weekly release, like The Mandalorian, which captured a burst of attention with each new Baby Yoda GIF, or the weeklong discussions and theorizing that would fill the time between episodes of Watchmen. Not everyone may have been on board with The Mandalorian at first, but when everyone else on the internet started talking about it and sharing GIFs, they may have been willing to give it a shot.
Weekly releases (at reasonable hours) also transform streaming shows into the kind of appointment television that viewers flock to and watch together, reacting in real time. The weekly release schedule means everyone is roughly at the same place in the series; for the most part, no one is confused about why the song from the bard is a big deal because they haven’t gotten up to that episode yet.
A weekly release also makes it less of a slog to actually watch a show. Give someone one episode, with the promise of more, and you’ve given them something to look forward to without demanding too much time upfront. Netflix dumps hours of content on viewers at once, demanding that they watch it all in a binge session that the site used to be famous for.
It’s not that The Witcher isn’t popular, either: at least one data firm says it’s more popular than The Mandalorian, at least for its first weekend debut, per Business Insider. But even if that number is correct, it’s just a single week, compared to the months that The Mandalorian dominated the conversation. How long can The Witcher keep that success going with no new episodes to drive viewers back and plenty of other new content waiting in their queues?
None of this is to say that Netflix’s traditional “dump it all in a single day” strategy isn’t always effective. Some of its original series — the three seasons of Stranger Things, for example, The Umbrella Academy, or any of the various Marvel shows it used to make — are filmed and designed as what amounts to a single 10-or-so-hour-long movie that just happens to have convenient episode breaks. While weekly releases still might make more sense, at least from a mindshare perspective, the release strategy there is at least understandable given the nature of the content.
There was a time when Netflix’s approach was seen as a breath of fresh air, especially compared to the bloated, 24-episode and months-long seasons that dominated traditional broadcast. Netflix’s strategy killed the cruft, and promised an almost cinematic-like experience where the entire show hit at once. But hours-long TV show seasons aren’t movies, and trying to force episodic stories into a cinematic box just doesn’t work.
Even among Netflix’s shows, though, The Witcher in particular feels designed for a weekly release, given the literal “monster-of-the-week” style plotting that (at least for part of the season) sees Geralt go somewhere and fight something in fairly self-contained chunks. Add in the twisting timelines and developing storylines, and you’ve got a show that’s almost tailor-made for today’s Game of Thrones / Westworld / Watchmen-style cottage industry that loves to theorize and debate over shows. It’s hard to have a Witcher podcast series, for example, when all the discussion happens over the course of a weekend.
Game of Thrones style juggernauts are few and far between, even as more and more companies try to hit whatever magic combination of popularity and quality makes a show so hyped. Not every show will be the next Game of Thrones or Mandalorian — take Apple TV Plus’ See, which had a weekly release, huge budget, and star-studded cast but still flopped by virtue of not being very good.
The Witcher probably won’t be the next Game of Thrones. It’s probable that no show ever will be: the success of Thrones looks increasingly like a once-in-a-generation type of occasion. But Netflix’s release strategy isn’t giving its best shows the chance to even try, with the service choosing to burn off all its content in a single shot instead of a slower burn that could see it rise to greater heights.
Peter Morgan's third season will be up for best television drama series at next week's coveted Hollywood awards ceremony, while Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies - who have taken over as the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh - are up for best actress and actor respectively.
Helena Bonham Carter rounds off the show's nominations with a nod in the best supporting actress category for playing Princess Margaret.
Netflix's top 10 most popular releases of 2019 in the UK
The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann
6 Underground
Murder Mystery
The Witcher
The Irishman
After Life
Stranger Things 3
Our Planet
Sex Education
Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes: Limited Series
The list is thought to be based on the number of UK accounts that have watched at least two minutes of a title during its first 28 days on release this year. Netflix does not usually release exact numbers.
But in July, the streamer did release the figures for the third instalment of Stranger Things after it broke the service's record, with more than 40 million households around the world watching the show in its first four days.
Ricky Gervais's latest effort After Life appeared to have had more enduring appeal in the UK, listed as the second most popular series release this year behind US fantasy show The Witcher.
Responding to the news, Gervais wrote on Twitter that he "still can't quite believe" his show, about the emotional journey of a grieving husband and journalist, beat the latest edition of Millie Bobby Brown and co's slick sci-fi horror series and US psychological thriller show You.
Netflix's top 10 most popular series releases of 2019 in the UK
Williams, who recently split with musician Phil Elverum, was spotted with director Thomas Kail, 42, in London where she is filming “Venom 2,” according to People magazine.
A source told the publication that Matilda, Williams’ 14-year-old daughter with the late Heath Ledger, set up the two lovebirds and that they eventually decided to marry.
The actress was also spotted buying baby clothes, the magazine said.
Williams and Elverum — who performs folk music under the moniker Mount Eerie — divorced eight months ago.
Kail directed the 39-year-old actress in the F/X drama Fosse/Verdon, where Williams plays dancer Gwen Verdon.
In addition to “Hamilton,” Kail also directed the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical “In the Heights” on Broadway.
"This felt more like an an art house musical," says one box office analyst in commenting on the clawless performance of the $100 million movie.
Over the Christmas holiday in 2017, The Greatest Showman was initially labeled a box office slob when posting a first-weekend gross of $8.8 million. The following weekend, as kids and their parents began discovering the Hugh Jackman musical, the Fox pic saw a 76 percent uptick on its way to grossing $174.3 million domestically and $435 million globally.
Two years later, Tom Hooper's Cats has been banished to the litter box at the year-end box office despite a PG rating, the same as Greatest Showman, after being rejected by families.
When Cats — which presently stands to lose at least $50 million to $75 million against a budget of roughly $100 million before marketing — debuted to a dismal $6.6 million over the Dec. 20-23 weekend, partners Universal, Steven Spielberg's Amblin and Working Title remained hopeful that the pic would find its stride over the lucrative Christmas corridor.
Such wasn't the case.
Cats fell to No. 8 over the long holiday frame (Wednesday through Sunday) with an estimated $8.8 million for a 10-day domestic total of $17.9 million. That includes $4.8 million for the weekend proper, a decline of 27 percent (almost every other title in the top 10 saw an uptick).
Domestically, the film may top out at less than $45 million. And Cats can't pin its hopes on the foreign box office, where it has grossed just $38.4 million to date.
"It doesn't feel like a family title despite the PG rating. This feels more like an art house musical," says box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore.
Over the Dec. 27-29 weekend, younger kids represented 21 percent of the combined demos turning out to see Cats, according to Comscore's and Screen Engine's exit polling service PostTrak. That compared to a whopping 41 percent for Spies in Disguise, an under-the-radar animated pic from Fox/Disney that debuted Christmas Day and posted a five-day debut of $22.1 million.
Frozen 2, which opened at Thanksgiving, also remained a big draw with the younger crowd. The animated Disney sequel grossed $16.5 million for the five-day holiday — more than triple Hooper's star-studded, fur-laden extravaganza in its sophomore outing.
Cats is also not clicking with older Broadway fans.
According to PostTrak, 22 percent of the general audience buying tickets to see Cats this past weekend were 44 and older, including 11 percent over the age of 55.
In stark contrast, 36 percent of ticket buyers to Sony's Christmas Day offering Little Women were 44 and over, including 21 percent over the age of 55.
"Certainly, the critics' response was rough," says Dergarabedian, noting Cats' current Rotten Tomatoes score of 18 percent.
Cats became the ridicule of social media upon the debut of the first trailer earlier this year. And in mid-December, Hooper revealed that he barely finished the VFX-heavy film in time for the world premiere in New York City.
The maelstrom continued when Universal sent an updated version to thousands of theaters with "improved visual effects" several days after Cats had officially opened.
Stone, 61, best known for starring in 1992 drama "Basic Instinct", said she was locked out of her account after other users claimed it was fake.
"I went on the @bumble dating sight [sic] and they closed my account," she wrote in a Twitter post.
Stone said other users thought the profile "couldn't possibly be me!!"
She added, "Hey @bumble, is being me exclusionary? Don't shut me out of the hive."
Bumble, which describes itself on Twitter as "bringing good people together," later restored her account.
"There can only be one 👑 Stone. Looks like our users thought you were too good to be true," the company wrote on Twitter. "We've made sure that you won't be blocked again. We hope that everyone in our community takes a sec to verify their profiles. (Catherine Tramell from Basic Instinct gets a pass today!)"
Bumble's editorial director, Clare O'Connor, added that she hoped it would now be easier to " find your honey."
In 1984 Stone married producer Michael Greenburg but the pair split three years later.
Her second marriage was to journalist Phil Bronstein in 1998, which lasted until 2004 when their divorce was finalized.
In 2018 she told Grazia magazine she has high expectations for the men in her life. "I was just not that girl who was told that a man would define me," she explained. "I was told that if I wanted to have a man in my life, it wouldn't be an arrangement, it would be an actual partnership. And those are hard to find."
Madonna and her 25-year-old BF aren't exactly rushing to the altar ... but all signs point to them taking things to the next level cause his dad tells us SHE dropped the L word!!!
So, here's the deal ... the rumors have been swirling for months about Madonna dating Ahlamalik Williams ... one of her backup dancers. Williams' father, Drue, tells TMZ ... his son and Madge are 100% definitely an item ... and it's gotten serious.
For starters ... Drue says us his son's been dating Madonna for a little over a year now. Drue says they first met back in 2015 when his son auditioned for Madonna's Rebel Heart Tour ... and Madonna personally picked Ahlamalik out of the group.
SplashNews.com
Fast-forward to September ... Madonna met her boy toy's parents in NYC after one of her shows. And, just last month ... Madonna hosted Ahlamalik's parents at one of her Ceasar's Palace shows. And, get this ... Drue says Madonna invited them to her suite ... where Madonna's personal chef cooked them all dinner.
Drue says the 61-year-old singer told them she loves their son unconditionally and wants to take care of him. Drue says, "Love has no age." He added, "My son is livin' la Vida Loca, and I'm just happy for him."
The Material Girl and her man's parents clearly got along ... 'cause Drue says Madonna's invited them to her shows in London and France in early 2020. Drue says they've already booked their flights. Bitch ... she's Madonna!!!
Another year, another Star Wars film that has divided fans and critics so intensely that it’s created an internet flame war that threatens to burn us all alive.
Ironically, it’s the opposite of the last battle we had two years ago. Back then, critics loved Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi while many fans absolutely loathed it. Critics were calling it one of the best Star Wars entries ever while other fans were declaring it the worst.
Now, it’s flipped. Rise of Skywalker now has some critics calling JJ Abrams’ finale effort one of the worst in the series, oftentimes even more so than the dreaded prequels. In contrast, a good chunk of fans seem to enjoy the finale and think it’s a fitting end to the series, and “fixes” much of what went wrong from with The Last Jedi.
You can actually see this play out in the numbers. I went through and measured the critic score versus the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes for every Star Wars film. And here’s what I found:
Rise of Skywalker – 55% critics V. 86% audience (+31% gap)
Return of the Jedi – 82% critics V. 94% audience (+12% gap)
The Phantom Menace – 53% critics V. 59% audience (+6% gap)
Rogue One – 83% critics V. 86% audience (+3% gap)
The Empire Strikes Back – 93% critics V. 96% audience (+3% gap)
A New Hope – 93% critics V. 96% audience (+3% gap)
The Force Awakens – 93% critics V. 86% audience (-7% gap)
Solo – 70% critics V. 63% audience (-7% gap)
Attack of the Clones – 65% critics V. 56% audience (-9% gap)
Revenge of the Sith – 80% critics V. 66% audience (-14% gap)
The Last Jedi – 91% critics V. 43% audience (-48% gap)
As you can see, the biggest gap in favor of fan approval, by a huge margin, is Rise of Skywalker, with fans rating it a full 31% better than the critical average. And then it’s no surprise to see The Last Jedi on the other end of the spectrum, with critics rating it 48% higher than fans. In general, if we add up all the changes, fans are actually a little harsher than critics in most cases, especially when it comes to the prequels (including Solo), and they were a more skeptical of JJ Abrams’ initial effort with The Force Awakens as well.
Want to know what the least controversial Star Wars property is on the list? Well, it’s not even on the list. That would be The Mandalorian, with only a 1% difference between critic reviews (94%) and audience reviews (93%).
But what’s going on here, really?
To me, the impression I’m getting is that critics have overreacted to Rise of Skywalker’s flaws just like fans overreacted to the problems with The Last Jedi. Neither of these films are even close to the worst Star Wars film in the grand list. Critics are insane to say that Rise of Skywalker is worse than movies like Attack of the Clones or Phantom Menace, so much so that it almost seems spiteful to try and make that case. And the same goes for The Last Jedi haters who would rate it as the worst Star Wars move in history by a 13% margin under the worst prequel, Attack of the Clones. Just…absolutely no way.
To sum up what happened, fans were mad that The Last Jedi took traditional Star Wars arcs and shattered them, ignoring questions like the mystery of Snoke and Rey’s origins, and that the film turned Luke from shining hero to grumpy sacrificial lamb. And that’s exactly what critics liked about the film, that it broke away from tropes and tried something new.
That’s why those same critics are so mad now, because JJ Abrams did everything possible to undo so much of what Johnson did in The Last Jedi, providing specific answers to those questions that Johnson said weren’t important. Abrams sidelines lambasted characters like Rose, he mocks Last Jedi moments like the Holdo maneuver or Luke throwing away his lightsaber. It’s such a complete rewrite of The Last Jedi it actually feels vengeful.
But fans like it A) because they got those Last Jedi “fixes” they were looking for and B) it was specifically…made for fans. The film is rife with fan service, which is often viewed as a negative by critics, but you know who likes fan service? Fans. And that’s what’s happened here. Rise of Skywalker doesn’t care about erasing tropes, it embraces them, and gives us an ending that is pretty much an exact replica of Return of the Jedi. And it’s an admittedly satisfying end to the saga, albeit not a terribly original one. But it’s enough to satisfy most fans who felt burned by The Last Jedi, so here we are, with these wildly different takes on two movies that I would say, are both pretty great in their own ways, despite each of them having flaws.
We do not know what comes next for Star Wars. It seems that Disney has learned a few lessons here, namely that one person should be in charge of an entire film series, and it shouldn’t be split by director. And that maybe we don’t always need a trilogy, and stories should be as long as they need to be (technically JJ Abrams’ Force Awakens and Rise of Skywalker could have just been a two-film set, given how much of The Last Jedi was flat-out erased).
My guess is that we will see more Mandalorian-type content that pleases everyone and less hyper controversies like this, now that we’re moving on from the Skywalkers, Solos, Vaders and Palpatines. It’s time to write new stories, or at the very least, adapt different old ones.
Twin brothers who starred in TLC's "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" are dead after an apparent joint suicide.
The 32-year-old siblings, Bill and Joe Smith, were found hanging in a tree in Sevenoaks, England ... this according to law enforcement.
"Celebrity Big Brother" winner Paddy Doherty confirmed the news on Facebook, calling it a "terrible, terrible tragedy," adding, "I'm very sorry for their troubles from the bottom of my heart. May God look after them, may God have mercy on them, they are two angels, harmless, they were unbelievable."
Channel 4
Bill and Joe starred in the 3rd season of the hit show. When they started they were 24 years old and working as gardeners.
"My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" followed the lives of and traditions of Irish traveler families for 3 seasons from 2011 to 2015.
Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths, but cops seem confident they were suicides.
TWO brothers found dead in a suspected double suicide have been named as stars of the hit reality show My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.
The 32-year-old twins - named locally as Billy and Joe Smith - were discovered in a tree in woodland, close to a farm, shortly before midday yesterday in rural Kent.
Billy's partner Kristina Delaney, from Cheltenham, wrote on Facebook: "Hardest day of my life. RIP my perfect Bill you were so pure so lovely.
"You made me the happiest girl. Did everything for me showed me love i never had you always see stuff like this but you just never think it’ll happen to you.
"I can’t believe I have to type this together struggling to speak never mind put a sentence together, I’m gonna make you so so proud my bill, my life, my angel."
Big Brother and Gyspy Wedding star Paddy Doherty also paid tribute and posted a video calling the brothers "angels".
He wrote : "RIP PLEASE PRAY FOR THESE TWO DEAR SOULS God rest rest them in peace.
"Two good looking boys, God bless their souls... That's a terrible, terrible tragedy...
MOVING TRIBUTES
"There's always worse than yourself... Pray for the boys' family, the boys' mother and father, help them be strong and get through this...
"I'm very very sorry for your troubles. Anyone watching this please say a prayer for those left behind...
"May God look after them... They are two angels... They're in the kingdom of heaven walking on gold."
One pal added: "Please everyone keep the family of these twin brothers in prayer.
"Bill and Joe Smith from Kent in the UK, they both took their own lives last night."
Another wrote: "They both took their own lives. Depression is rife among our folki."
A third added: "Born together and left the earth together."
Their family are reported to have previously expressed concern for the pair - who first featured on TV throughout 2013.
One episode followed them during a gardening shift in Kent, where they discussed the traveller lifestyle before getting married.
The hit C4 reality show even followed the landscape gardeners on a trip to the holiday island of Tenerife
At a wedding two weeks ago the brothers recorded a video as they sang and danced to Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You.
A Facebook user wrote: "Nobody has TOMORROW this was videod less than 2 weeks ago there they were full of life and now there gone.
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans (free) on 116123 or 020 7734 2800.
"TOMORROW isn't promised for none of us rest in peace lads." [sic]
Police closed the lane in an isolated area of Sevenoaks, Kent, following the incident — which sources said appeared to be a joint suicide.
Billy lived in a ground floor flat of a converted 1950s former council house nearby.
A shocked neighbour told the Sun Online he had moved in to the home about 18 months ago.
The local, who did not want to be named, said: “I am just totally stunned. He was such a lovely guy. We got on well.
“He worked with Joe on their (landscaping) business. Joe was the leading force in the business.
"There were no signs that anything like this would happen. Although he did seem more reserved the last month or so. I just put it down to the winter weather."
He added the brothers had recently celebrated their birthday on December 16.
“I saw Joe a few times when he would come round the house but I didn’t know him that well," he said.
“But they had that special bond that twins have. They were ever so close. They lived for each other."
One local who lives near the scene of the tragedy said: “It’s horrific — and just after Christmas. I feel desperately sorry for their loved ones.
“I heard the police cars head down there earlier and then the cordons were in place.
“It’s very remote and quiet down there. It’s well out of the view of passing cars or dog walkers.”
The area surrounding the grim discovery is well-heeled, scattered with houses costing £640,000 on average.
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A Kent Police spokesman said last night: “Inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the deaths are ongoing but they are not currently being treated as suspicious.
He added: “The next of kin of both men are aware and are being kept updated.”
An inquest into the deaths is likely to be held in the New Year.
Ron Perlman was the driver of the out-of-control truck plowing through an indie movie set, injuring crew members and nearly setting the entire area ablaze ... and TMZ has the video.
Multiple sources tell TMZ ... the "Hellboy" star is behind the wheel in the footage, which shows a truck barreling into the camera department and video village tent on the set of "The Last Victim" last month at the Okanagan Indian Band in British Columbia.
Our sources say Ron, who stars as the local sheriff in the neo-western, ran over several propane heaters in the tent, where the script supervisor, director and producer were hanging out, wedging the heaters under the truck. We're told the heaters were lit, and it sounds like a miracle the propane didn't ignite!!!
We first reported on the scary car crash earlier this month, which left one person with a minor foot injury, but at the time it wasn't clear who was driving ... and now we know it was Ron.
In the video, you hear people screaming after the truck crashes, with some folks shouting, "Ron, stop!!!" Our sources say the only thing stopping the vehicle from continuing its wild ride was all the camera and gear grip Ron ran over.
It's pretty crazy ... we're told the accident happened on the first take of the day, and Ron complained about being uncomfortable driving in his size 14 cowboy boots before the scene. Our sources say he was also wearing an ankle brace, but we're told the first assistant director ignored Ron's issues, scrapped a rehearsal and instructed cameras to roll.
Sounds like Ron's concerns over his cowboy boots were warranted ... we're told his foot got stuck on the accelerator because of the humongous footwear.
TMZ.com
And, get this ... we're told the crash happened on what was supposed to be the last day of filming, and producers tried to continue shooting after the accident but the crew was pissed.
In additional video and audio, obtained by TMZ, a crew member is heard quitting. We're told producers finally relented and canceled filming for the day, telling the crew they'd pick up the following day.
We reached out to Ron and movie producers ... no word back, so far
The government of the United Kingdom apologized Saturday after it published a list of 1,000 celebrities and notables that included some personal information, such as addresses.
The New Year Honours 2020 list, which recognizes societal achievements and contributions by bestowing more than 1,000 honorees with terms of achievement, including knighthood for some.
The 2020 list of recipients, unveiled Thursday, included Sir Elton John (Companion of Honour), Olivia Newton-John (damehood) and director Sam Mendes (knighthood).
"The information was removed as soon as possible," the Cabinet Office said in a statement. "We apologise to all those affected and are looking into how this happened."
The office said that those whose addresses were revealed were being contacted.
The U.K. privacy group Big Brother published on Twitter remarks of its director, Silkie Carlo. She said the exposure was "inexcusable" and that government "doesn't have a basic grip on data protection."
Dennis Romero
Dennis Romero writes for NBC News and is based in Los Angeles.
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After the series finale of “The Mandalorian” yesterday, fans are pining for even more Baby Yoda to cope. (Don’t worry, Season 2 will be airing next Fall!) Now they can cozy up with Baby Yoda in this amazing new Spirit Jersey, which has finally hit the shelves at Walt Disney World.
The seafoam green Spirit Jersey features Baby Yoda perched and peeking out from the top, almost as if he was in some sort of baby carrier.
Do note that it’s a graphic of Baby Yoda (“The Child”) and not a still from the series.
On the back, big puffy letters show off the show’s logo in dark blue. Mando is seen in the “A”.
The Spirit Jersey retails for $69.99. We found it inside MouseGear at EPCOT, so if you’re looking in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you may want to have your tracker fob checked, or you’ll never collect this bounty!