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There are going to be plenty of fireworks for the third season of  Stranger Things . The popular nostalgia-drenched Netflix series is set to premiere on Independence Day, July 4, 2019 — and they made the announcement through an appropriate — and creepy — New Year’s Eve countdown video from 1985. True to the  Stranger Things  brand, the video above is filled with VHS tape tracking lines and warped audio. From Hawkins, Indiana’s local station 5 WIYZ and brought to you by… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2Qg1VOW

Tribune Media and Charter ’s Spectrum cable systems have agreed to extend the deadline for their carriage contract to 5 PM ET Wednesday, averting a blackout of 33 local TV stations that would have taken effect at 12:01 AM ET tonight. The ongoing dispute has affected some 6 million Charter subscribers, with programming in the balance including college and NFL football and holiday fare. In Los Angeles, Tribune’s KTLA broadcasts the Tournament of Roses Parade, a New Year’s… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2QeQw1P

Tyler “Ninja” Blevins wracked up 226.85 million streams via Twitch this year, more than doubling his nearest competitor and aggregating more views than the second and third-place finishers combined. TEO Analytics and esportsobserver calculated the total viewing hours across the top ten Twitch channels for the entire year. Ninja set new viewership and subscription records, and also recorded more views than the top three channels from last year combined. Blevins is part of… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2R2iRxX

President Donald Trump celebrated New Year's Eve with a Fox News Channel phone interview, where talk naturally turned to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren official announcement earlier in the day that she had officially formed a 2020 White House race exploratory committee. "She did very badly in proving that she was of Indian heritage," Trump reminisced happy with FNC's All American New Year Special co-host Pete Hegseth . "I think you have more than she does, and maybe I… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2Vpx8TZ

Andy Cohen stood up to authority about 80-minutes into CNN ’s New Year’s Eve coverage from Times Square , when the New York Times Alliance forced him to close up his clear umbrella in the pouring rain. “Andy has taken a turn,” co-host Anderson Cooper warned viewers of his commercial-break transformation. “It’s more than drizzling in Times Square,” Cohen complained. “I’m not putting a damper on anything, but I will say this: I had this umbrella. The lady from the Times… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2F2w5DH

On the December xx, 2018 episode of /Film Daily, senior writer Ben Pearson interviews director Rob Marshall about the new Disney movie Mary Poppins Returns , the challenges of that live-action/animation hybrid scene, and more. You can subscribe to /Film Daily on iTunes , Google Play , Overcast , Spotify and all the popular podcast apps (here is the RSS URL if you need it). In Our Feature Presentation: Rob Marshall Interview Other articles mentioned: ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ Review: A Sequel That Can Never Escape the Shadow of the Original All the other stuff you need to know: You can find more about all the stories we mentioned on today’s show at slashfilm.com, and linked inside the show notes. /Film Daily is published every weekday, bringing you the most exciting news from the world of movies and television as well as deeper dives into the great features from slashfilm.com. You can subscribe to /Film Daily on iTunes , Google Play , Overcast , Spotify and all

Marc Hauser , the Chicago celebrity photographer whose work became the cover photo of John Mellencamp’s acclaimed  Scarecrow album, has died. He was 66 and passed away from multiple health complications, according to a Facebook post from his studio. Hauser was a well-known Chicago photographer who specialized in celebrity portraits. His shots of former Chicago Bulls star Dennis Rodman was a particular favorite, capturing the transformation of the forward from workman to… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2RuayKs

It’s been an OK fall for the broadcast networks with a few solid new entries, NBC ’s Manifest and New Amsterdam , ABC ’s The Conners , CBS ’ FBI , Fox ’s Last Man Standing and the CW ’s Charmed . Besides the two NBC dramas, no other new series probably qualifies as a breakout hit but there were no outright flops either that were quickly pulled or downgraded except for ABC’s Alec Baldwin talk show. However, the performances of the new and returning series has been largely… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2EYD3u4

The US Strategic Command is catching fire for a Dr. Strangelove-ian joke it made via Twitter about using nuclear weapons. The official Twitter account of the military branch posted a video juxtaposing New Year’s Eve’s annual Times Square ball drop with their own stealth bombers and their nuclear capability. The tweet noted,  'If ever needed, we are #ready to drop something much, much bigger.'  An accompanying video in the tweet cuts to a shot of a stealth fighter jet… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2GQzdVz

Carol Danvers is looking to unlock the answers to her past, but it may be a long journey until she finds the key. In the latest  Captain Marvel TV spot, the titular cosmic superhero searches for meaning behind her strange memories of Earth while promising to “end” the war between the Kree and the Skrulls. It’s a narrative we’ve seen before in the last few  Captain Marvel trailers, but the latest TV spot gives us a glimpse of some new footage of the first female-led Marvel superhero movie. Captain Marvel TV Spot We get some glimpses of new  Captain Marvel footage in the latest TV spot, including the scene of Carol’s fateful first encounter with the Kree and Skrull aliens that leave her injured and with newfound powers. The new footage gives us a fuller picture of Carol’s past, while still leaving us — and Carol — with more questions. Brie Larson stars as Carol Danvers, the Starforce member who fights as a noble warrior hero alongside her Kree brethren and Jude Law ‘s enigmatic

It’s the last day of 2018, and the Commander-in-Tweet is busy manning the White House and reminding his opponents that he hasn’t forgotten their sins against him from the past 365 days. In a final flurry of tweets, President Donald Trump lined up the bowling pins and knocked them down, skewing the so-called fake media in particular for refusing to see the righteousness of his causes. The withdrawal from Syria, the need for a wall on the US southern border and who will be… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2BUnijE

The Times Square ball drop is one of the most enduring rituals of New Year’s Eve. Since 1907, the year the lighted ball first descended, it’s been the harbinger of a new year for millions of people. This year, journalists will be honored as the special guests by the Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment, the organizers of Times Square New Year’s Eve. A select group of journalists will appear on stage with the Committee to Protect Journalists just before… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2LFpm3N

The superhero gene went up, up and away in 2018 finishing with the year’s three top domestic box office releases ( Black Panther , The Incredibles 2  and Avengers: Infinity War, with combined box office of $2 billion) and three more tentpoles ranked in the Top 10 ( Deadpool 2  at No. 5, Ant-Man and The Wasp at No. 8 and  Venom  at No. 10). More surprisingly, the genre closes out 2018 with as a surprisingly viable contender in the Oscar race for best picture. That contender, of… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2BSmDzk

Sandra Oh , Andy Samberg , Golden Globes — what’s not to like? The pair were announced as hosts of the annual award ceremony earlier this month, many thought it was an unlikely duo, but after the recent promos show they show that they are more than capable of handling the gig — and on top of that, they are best friends! In the video above, the two celebrate their friendship with a very awkward — but fun — best friend handshake. In the second promo, the pair teases that, as… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2EYcKmR

Amid the chaos that was 2018, the show business industry lost some major players. There were icons of the big screen ( Burt Reynolds ) and TV ( Penny Marshall , Billy Graham, Anthony Bourdain ), along with such legends as Marvel hero Stan Lee , sportscaster Keith Jackson and singer Aretha Franklin, to name just a few of the year’s high-profile passings. Hollywood also lost groundbreaking producers (Craig Zadan, Raymond Chow, Arnold Kopelson, Steven Bochco), unforgettable… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2F1fJMl

A Wall Street performance coach who specializes in trading psychology is suing the creators of Billions , saying she was the uncredited, and uncompensated, inspiration for the character Dr. Wendy Rhoades. Denise Shull filed a copyright infringement suit today in federal district court in New York, claiming that  New York Times financial columnist and CNBC Squawk Box co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin “ripped off” her character without paying her or obtaining her permission. The… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2BUf8Ip

Yet another IATSE official has been arrested for embezzling funds from his local – the 15th local leader from across the country to be so charged or convicted since 2008. The latest to be charged is Ivar Carlson , the former business agent and treasurer of the now-defunct IATSE Local B-935 in Worchester, Ma. According to the U.S. Attorney's office in Massachusetts, Carlson embezzled more than $37,000 from the local from March 2007 through September 2016 by writing checks… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2VjpIkU

Verizon Fios has decided to drop Fuse , the multicultural network partially owned by Jennifer Lopez . Fuse will disappear from Verizon’s Fios service at the end of the day, representing the second such loss of carriage in a week. Cable giant Comcast reached a similar decision yesterday. The media company put the blame solidly on Verizon, claiming it said offered terms that the telecommunications giant knew were unacceptable to Fuse. “This is another instance of one of our… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2QdoUKD

Unlike traditional movies,  Black Mirror:   Bandersnatch makes the viewer an active participant in the story, forced to decide the fate of the main character. As a result, there are a slew of alternate conclusions, depending on which decision you make. In a new interview,  Black Mirror producers Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones break down some of the  Bandersnatch alternate endings, and confirm that the movie was so complicated that it delayed the release of  Black Mirrror  season 5. Spoilers follow . Everyone is talking about  Bandersnatch , the new Choose Your Own Adventure-style movie set in the world of  Black Mirror . The minute the movie arrived, buzz began to build around how innovative and, well,  weird it all was. The story involves young video game designer Stefan ( Fionn Whitehead ), who quickly discovers he’s not in control of his own actions. Someone is making him do the things he does, and here’s the kicker: that someone is  you , the viewer. What a twist! By ch

2018 was a wild ride in the TV news business. Shocking reports in the wake of #MeToo forced the industry to vomit out more sexual harassers. Some high-profile programs suffered ratings consequences. Meanwhile, TV news executives licked self-inflicted wounds, and, once again, viewers said so long, for now at least, to a super-successful TV news host who tried to change the daypart and network simultaneously. CBS News veteran Jeff Fager , only the second person to executive… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2QbnJeR

After Kathy Griffin was fired last year from hosting CNN ’s annual New Year’s Eve event after holding up a fake severed, bloody head of Donald Trump, we thought everyone has moved on from the incident. However, Griffin took to Twitter to spill some tea about her gig at CNN. In a long and interesting Twitter thread, Griffin talked about hosting the event on CNN for eight years and then began to talk about her fee. “I worked my way up by the 10th year at CNN to get a fee of… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2F2c2oV

Right now, Disney is sitting on the rights to some of the most famous puppets in history: Jim Henson’s The Muppets . However, they haven’t been able to figure out what to do with them for years now ( even Frank Oz agrees with that ), and it feels like they’re just collecting dust. But that might be changing in 2019 according to a tease from Kermit the Frog himself. Could there be a Muppets 2019 project in the works? Kermit the Frog appeared on KCAL’s morning news in Los Angeles back on December 21 and offered up a little tease: You can watch the video by clicking the image above (the embed isn’t working properly), but here’s the relevant part of the interview. KCAL’s host Sandra Mitchell asked Kermit the Frog what was next for the amphibian entertainer and the rest of the Muppets gang, and Kermit only offered up this: “Well, we’ve got a big surprise planned for the new year. I’d tell you what it was, but I don’t know what it is either.” Obviously that’s not a lot to go on, bu

Each year brings a raft of deaths and exits of our favorite TV characters, but 2018 saw them come at a dizzying pace. While this year's list is numbingly long, Deadline looks at some of the most high-profile and memorable characters who left us in 2018. Some we knew would be exiting, but the question was how, such as Kevin Spacey 's Frank Underwood in House of Cards and Danny Masterson's in The Ranch , both of whom had been fired amid sexual misconduct allegations. Of… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2ApI5fn

Don McKay , who portrayed Tony in the 1958 London premiere of West Side Story , died Wednesday in Manhattan. He was 93. His nephew, Sean McKenna, confirmed McKay’s death to Playbill. The Clarksburg, Virginia, native began his acting career on stage in the late 1940s in regional theatre productions in the Chicago area. His Broadway debut came in 1951 in the musical Make A Wish, followed by the Johnny Mercer musical Top Banana. McKay is remembered best for his portrayal of… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2BUaGZQ

What to watch for in the overseas film industry in 2019: 1. Staying alive One of the most common refrains I hear from independent sales and distribution companies is how tough it is just to survive these days. As Netflix soars and studios, theaters and audiences continue to gravitate toward  sequels, prequels and spinoffs , independent cinema becomes more treacherous territory. The year 2018 saw significant independent film companies go out of business (Global Road) , falter… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2EYu8b8

Pose   co-creator Ryan Murphy took to Instagram to pay tribute to the late Hector Xtravaganza , a trailblazer for the LGBTQ community, New York ball culture icon, founding member of the House of Extravaganza, and a consultant on the aforementioned critically acclaimed FX drama. Xtravangnaza died on Sunday at the age of 60 and many Murphy wrote a thoughtful and touching dedication to the legend on Instagram. “Almost two years ago, I sent Hector Xtravaganza the pilot script… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2AnYFfz

Three days after Kevin Spacey ’s lawyers moved to have him excused from appearin g in court to face allegations of groping a teenage busboy, the judge in the case has made a ruling: Show up. That’s the decision made today by Nantucket District Court Judge Thomas Barrett, meaning that the disgraced actor will be present for his January 7 arraignment on the felony sexual assault charge. Prosecutors had opposed the motion, citing Massachusetts state rules of procedure for… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2F2W2D9

American Gods is returning for its second season in March, but if you can’t wait that long, here’s some (partial) good news. The first three minutes of  American Gods season 2 are now online, giving you a tease of all the divine mayhem to come. These opening moments don’t catch us up with Shadow and Mr. Wednesday, but instead checks in with “new gods” Mr. World ( Crispin Glover ) and the Technical Boy ( Bruce Langley ). Watch the first three minutes of  American Gods season 2 below. First Three Minutes of American Gods Season 2 Your worship of #AmericanGods has been rewarded. Check out the first three minutes of Season 2, and don't miss the premiere March 10 on @STARZ . pic.twitter.com/Vnu3x1GI1s — American Gods (@AmericanGodsSTZ) December 30, 2018 These first few moments of  American Gods season 2 are certainly action-packed, and they immediately set-up a storyline: Mr. World, the new god of globalization who wants to start a war, sends the Technical Boy, the new god

Telemundo parent Comcast has agreed to pay $495,000 as a result of an investigation by the FCC , which found that some of the Hispanic broadcaster’s local stations had pre-empted children’s programming in favor of sports . That action was deemed out of bounds under the federal Children’s Television Act of 1990. The FCC said it would approve applications from Telemundo for local station license renewals, provided that the company pays the fine and abides by the terms of a… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2F22p9L

The final weekend of 2018 came and went, and  Aquaman continued to sit at the top of the box office. January tends to be a dumping ground for studios, so it’s unlikely that James Wan’s submerged superhero will be washed away anytime soon – unless audiences  really get a craving for  Escape Room . The rest of the weekend box office remained predictable:  Mary Poppins Returns held on at second, and Bumblebee is stuck at third.  Christmas is usually a big time for movies, but the holiday is gone, and all we have left now is New Year’s, which doesn’t exactly set the box office on fire. The final weekend of 2018 once again belonged to  Aquaman , which is unsurprising. Still, while I think we all knew  Aquaman would make money, who knew it would outperform  Justice League ? As Box Office Mojo reports ,  Aquaman “delivered the smallest second weekend drop in the DC Extended Universe, dipping just -23.5% for a $51.55 million second weekend, pushing the film’s domestic cume over $188 mi

With over 40 film credits and two Oscar nominations to her name, costume designer Ruth E. Carter took on superhero scope for the first time with Ryan Coogler 's Marvel phenomenon Black Panther . Following T'Challa ( Chadwick Boseman )—a superhero and King-to-be in the technologically advanced, African nation of Wakanda—the Marvel pic hinged largely on one central question. That question, for Coogler, was: What does Africa mean to me? "For Ryan, it was an exploration of his… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2QfkiDY

Don Lusk , an animator and director who worked on Disney classics including Fantasia , Bambi and Pinocchio before moving to Hanna-Barbera in the 1960s, died Sunday. He was 105. His longtime friend Navah-Paskowitz Asner, announced the news on social media. Born on October 28, 1913, in Los Angeles, Lusk was just 20 when he joined the Walt Disney Company just after the Great Depression, as its animation studio was riding high on Mickey Mouse shorts. He would work on those… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2LI2D7h

The Orville 's Season 2 debut (1.5, 5.6M) was no match for its first season opener (2.7, 8.558M) which also had followed a Sunday NFL overrun. But, the second season starter of Seth MacFarlane’s sci-fi series on Fox ticked up a bit compared to its Season 1 average (1.2, 4.33M), and jumped 67% compared to last season's finale in the demo, and 56% in total viewers. The S2 kickoff marked Orville’s best stats in both metrics since the franchise’s second episode last… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2SwdljQ

"Be cool, demon! Demon, be cool!" This is why you don't mess with black magic! One more creative, well-made, funny short film to end this year. We Summoned a Demon , from writer/director Chris McInroy, has played at over 120 film festivals since 2017 (including at Fantasia, FrightFest, HollyShorts) and is now available online. The short is about a couple of dudes who accidentally summon a demon, and don't want to admit their mistake. Starring Kirk Johnson , Carlos Larotta , and John Orr . This short is also the third and final in a sort-of linked trilogy of gory horror comedy shorts from McInroy, and it might just be the best. Thanks to io9 for the tip on this one. Original description from Vimeo : "They just wanted to be cool. Instead, they got a demon." We Summoned a Demon is both written and directed by filmmaker Chris McInroy - follow him @chrismcinroy and find more of his work on Vimeo . Produced by Kris Phipps, co-produced by Denny Phillips. F

Aquaman rides a bizarre line between serious and silly. On one hand, it’s a tale of environmentalism centered on a mixed-race character trying to find his place. On the other, it features Jason Momoa falling off a cliff, scored like a Wile E. Coyote cartoon. Only one of these really works. The film’s two disparate halves never quite coalesce; recent superhero movies like Black Panther and Into the Spider-Verse strike a much neater balance between tone and subject, but despite being sluggish whenever it stops to address its own relevance, Aquaman bursts to life when embracing its inherent cartoonishness. Like the film’s lead character, I feel torn about the goings-on in Atlantis. However, things like meaningless trident battles and comic-derived bongo Octopi help me forget why, at least for a moment. The New King Arthur Zack Snyder doesn’t get enough credit for casting Jason Momoa. Even prior to the character’s delightful quips and chirpy battle cries — “Yeayuh!”, “Awright!”,

Anyone working at high levels in Hollywood or the media business understands there is always a trapdoor under their feet. In 2018, however, that door swung open with remarkable swiftness and frequency — a byproduct of how high the stakes are in terms of personal conduct and delivering value to shareholders. Larger industry currents also help explain the level of turnover. The technology sector’s volatility this year was illustrated by departures in the executive suite. Fac… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2LzgQ6m

Jimmy Osmond , former star of musical group The Osmonds, was taken to a hospital after suffering a stroke during a performance of Peter Pan at the Birmingham Hippodrome. The 55-year-old Osmond was performing a pantomime of Peter Pan villain Captain Hook when he was stricken. According to a statement released by his spokesperson to media outlets, “On the evening of Thursday 27 December, after pushing through the evening’s performance of Peter Pan at Birmingham Hippodrome… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2StOmO5

Ben Foster is pacing Manhattan trying to ignore the clamor.   "Sorry about all the sirens!" he groans apologetically. He's just gotten home from starring as 14th Century general Jan Žižka in the biopic Medieval , hyped as Czechoslovakia's biggest blockbuster to date, and Foster just wanted to stroll around to appreciate the holiday lights and squirrels "and ambulances," he jokes. Foster's a long way from the Oregon forest where he shot Debra Granik 's Leave No Trace , a… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2BRYrwV

A lifelong fan of Sherlock Holmes, director John Stevenson had a set of specific conditions for taking on the Paramount animated sequel,  Sherlock Gnomes . Coming off Kelly Asbury’s 2011 feature  Gnomeo & Juliet , the follow-up would retain key elements—namely, a band of charming garden sculptures, who get into a series of comedic misadventures. At the same time, Stevenson’s take wouldn’t be overly goofy or broad. Set in contemporary London, it would show reverence for an… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2s2LUT2

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has become the first big-name Democrat to officially stake her claim toward a 2020 presidential run. Warren announced today in a video that she has formed an exploratory committee to consider a run for president in 2020. "No matter what our differences, most of us want the same thing," the 69-year-old Massachusetts senator said in a video that highlights her family's history in Oklahoma. "To be able to work hard, play by the same set of rules and… from Deadline http://bit.ly/2LJmzGw

2018 will be remembered as the year the movies didn’t die. After years of stagnation, the U.S. domestic box office actually showed a solid performance, raking in an estimated $11.8 billion, a significant increase over the $10.6 billion it made in 2017. Movies decisively demonstrated that they are still relevant by continuing to become memes, topics of water cooler conversation, and cultural touchstones. People are occasionally putting away their smartphones and leaving their home theater setups to actually go to the movies again. The year was full of notable moments and trends. Continuing Hollywood’s gravitation towards reliable IP, pretty much all of the top 10 films of 2018 are sequels or titles that are based on existing properties. The strong performance of Aquaman showed that the DCEU film franchise is far from over (despite what the mediocre performance of Justice League might have you believe), while The Grinch ‘s huge box office take reveals that there are some stories tha