Happy Thursday! Welcome to a new edition of The Monitor, WIRED’s pop culture news roundup. What’s happening this week? Disney+, mostly. But that’s not the only streaming service lighting up the headlines. Read on to find out more.
The Witcher doesn’t hit Netflix until December 20, but the streaming giant has already decided it wants more. According to Variety, Netflix ordered a second season of the show this week. Based on the books by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher stars Henry Cavill in the title role. The show’s first season will consist of eight episodes with eight more to begin production in early 2020. The book series has also been adapted into a wildly popular videogame series.
ICYMI, Disney+ launched on Tuesday. It was a big deal—such a big deal that Disney, the mothership of all motherships, almost couldn’t handle it. Within a few hours after the service’s launch, users on Twitter began reporting technical difficulties. Shortly after, Disney issued a statement saying, “Consumer demand for Disney+ has exceeded our high expectations. We are working to quickly resolve the current user issue.” Disney didn’t say what those expectations were exactly, but the demand was definitely quite high—the streaming service nabbed more than 10 million users in its first day.
In an attempt to reboot one of the last un-rebooted franchises, Netflix is going to make a new Beverly Hills Cop sequel. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the streaming giant has snagged the rights from Viacom. Eddie Murphy is set to star in the movie, and Jerry Bruckheimer will produce the fourth installment in the series. (The last Beverly Hills Cop movie came out in 1994.) No word yet on when the flick will hit the streaming service.
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