BY SACNILK

Los Angeles, August 27 - HBO Max has officially renewed Game of Thrones' prequel House of the Dragon for season 2 after getting an overwhelming response to the premiere episode of the blockbuster show.## "Game of Thrones" is a bonafide blockbuster show and proved again when its prequel broke HBO Max's viewership record for a premiere episode of any series. The premiere episode of Dragon debuted on August 21, Sunday, and brought in 10 million viewers overnight. ## According to The Hollywood Reporter, HBO reports that in the days since the show's premiere, the first episode's viewership has climbed to 20 million viewers in the U.S. across linear, on-demand, and HBO Max platforms. This led HBO to greenlit the second season of the series. ## "We are beyond proud of what the entire House of the Dragon team has accomplished with season one", says Francesca Orsi, executive VP, HBO programming. "Our phenomenal cast and crew undertook a massive challenge and exceeded all expectations, delivering a show that has already established itself as must-see-TV". ## "A huge thank you [to co-creator and executive producer George R.R. Martin and co-creator and showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik] for leading us on this journey. We couldn’t be more excited to continue bringing to life the epic saga of House Targaryen with season two", she added. ## HBO is already working on at least seven Game of Thrones spinoff projects (four scripted, at least three animated), according to THR. There is no clarity on when will season two of "House of the Dragon". Knowing the fact that season one took 10 months in filming and a massive amount of postproduction visual effects work, the new season is likely to return in 2024. ## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Los Angeles, August 24 - Disney Plus reportedly has set a live-action series about the origin of "King Kong". ## According to Variety, the series would be based on the original "King Kong" written by Merian C. Cooper as well as new novelizations by artist Joe DeVito produced in conjunction with Cooper's estate. It would be a serialized drama that would explore Kong's origins as well as the mysteries of his home, Skull Island. ## Variety further reports that Stephany Folsom, who developed the Amazon series "Paper Girls" for television, will write and executive produce the King Kong show with James Wan, Michael Clear, and Rob Hackett will also executive produce on behalf of Atomic Monster along with Dannie Festa for World Builder Entertainment.## The original "King Kong" film was released in 1933 and became an instant hit. The character has been used in numerous films to date, most recently in the Legendary-Warner Bros. "Godzilla vs. Kong". Netflix also has the "Skull Island" anime series on the way.## This marks the second live-action show about iconic movie monsters. Apple is currently prepping a series about Godzilla and the Titans, with Kurt Russell and his son Wyatt Russell recently announced as stars. That series is connected to the Monsterverse films, while the King Kong Disney+ show is a separate entity.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Los Angeles, August 24 - Amazon Prime Video's costliest show ever, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is getting ready for its blockbuster premiere on September 2 all over the world. The fantasy series, based on the novel The Lord of the Rings and its appendices by J. R. R. Tolkien, is the talk of the town for its massive scale and larger-than-life visuals. ## Developed by showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay for the streaming service Prime Video, the series is set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The series will be premiered its episodes weekly with the first two episodes premiering on September 2. ## "LOTR: The Rings of Power" will be released on Amazon Prime Video India in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam languages. Meanwhile, the first two episodes of the series to were shown to Hollywood media and critics and they have shared their reactions on Twitter. ## Mellon! I have seen the first two episodes of The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power: The Series and it's overwhelming and shiny and all I wanna do is pour over maps and climb trees and read poems and talk about my theories (I have theories!) while eating berries 🙏🌿— Leah Marilla Thomas (@leahmarilla) August 24, 2022 ## this is just to say that i have seen the first two episodes of THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER and am battening down the hatches to prepare for my old-and-yet-also-new hyperfixation— karen han (@karenyhan) August 24, 2022 ## The Lord Of The Rings: #TheRingsOfPower is an ACHIEVEMENT in cinematic storytelling that REDEFINES what’s possible for television. Immersive & EPIC, the interconnected worlds of Tolkien feel GRAND and fully realized. Absolutely MESMERIZING. @LOTRonPrime @PrimeVideoCA @PrimeVideo pic.twitter.com/A5fWUMX17b— Daniel Baptista - The Movie Podcast (@dbapz) August 24, 2022 ## Have seen the first 2 episodes of the @primevideo's #LordOfTheRings series. Prepare to be blown away by the scale and scope of #TheRingsofPower. I don’t know how they managed to pull this off, but they made a ‘Lord of the Rings’ show that feels like ‘Lord of the Rings.’ ½ pic.twitter.com/OTZjH41WTS— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) August 24, 2022 ## I have seen the first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and they are a total joy. Watching it feels like stepping back into Middle-earth. I cannot wait to see where this story goes.— Devan Coggan (@devancoggan) August 24, 2022 ## The Lord of the Rings: #TheRingsOfPower instantly captured my imagination w/ captivating stories & characters in a Middle Earth that's both familiar & new. The story/setup is so dense, however, the pacing in EPs 1 & 2 is rather slow, but it definitely leaves you wanting more. pic.twitter.com/nJJSHFMaLo— Germain Lussier (@GermainLussier) August 24, 2022 ## I've seen some episodes of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ and I loved them! It was visually stunning with epic action sequences and I was all in. Furthermore, the horror elements that come with the imminent threat of Sauron and other beings was perfectly done. 🖤 pic.twitter.com/sOwXEPXO9u— B.M. (@britany_murphs) August 24, 2022 ## Particularly, once you meet the dwarves in #LOTRonPrime, that's when the show locks in on that thrilling feeling you get watching new Lord of the Rings - it's funny, emotional, fantastical, and a good promise of what is (hopefully) to come.— Alex Zalben (@azalben) August 24, 2022 ## Yup, I’ve seen the first two episodes of THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER. So far, it’s incredibly fun and promising, but moreover, gorgeous. Watch on the biggest screen you can. My only caveat is I can easily see how the plot could fall apart beyond Ep 2 or totally rule pic.twitter.com/c6pwFej8nC— Meghan O’Keefe (@megsokay) August 24, 2022 ## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Los Angeles, August 23 - The prequel series of HBO's global hit "Game of Thrones" - House of the Dragon takes domestic viewership by storm. The first episode of the series premiered on August 21 and becomes the most-watched HBO and HBO Max premiere episode for any series. ## The fantasy drama series based on the A Song of Ice and Fire novels by George R. R. Martin began with a record 10 million viewers watching it on Sunday in the US, according to Warner Bros. Discovery. The company hasn't released the global stats yet. ## The "House of the Dragon's" 10-million viewership is more than double of the previous HBO record holder "Game of Thrones", which premiered with 4.2 million viewers exclusively on HBO in 2011. It has been reported that the HBO site got crashed upon the premiere of "House of the Dragon". ## Meanwhile, according to Samba TV, which independently measures terrestrial smart TVs, 2.6 million US households watched the prequel series during the first six hours after the episode's 9 p.m. ET premiere Sunday. That gave the Game of Thrones prequel the highest premiere-day viewership across cable and streaming so far this year, outperforming Netflix's global hit Stranger Things Season 4 same-day numbers of 1.2 million US households. ## Samba TV co-founder and CEO Ashwin Navin said (via comicbook), "HBO has once again tapped into the magic of Game of Thrones with its spinoff series, House of the Dragon. Diehard GoT fans have been eagerly anticipating more from the franchise and they turned out in force for House of the Dragon, with the HBO program generating the biggest single-day premium cable or streaming viewership premiere in 2022". ## Based on parts of the novel Fire & Blood, the series is set about 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. It portrays the beginning of the end of House Targaryen, the events leading up to and covering the Targaryen war of succession, known as the "Dance of the Dragons".## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Chennai, August 19 - Russo Brothers spy action thriller, The Gray Man, which marks Dhanush's Hollywood debut, has become the 4th most-watched film of all time on Netflix. The overall response, however, has been underwhelming to the movie considering the star power it is carrying. ## "The Gray Man" scored 21.16 million viewing hours in its 4th week (Aug. 8 - Aug. 14). The total viewing hours of the movie now reached 245.09 million in 24 days, ahead of "The Adam Project" (233.16M). Currently, "Red Notice" is the most-watched film on Netflix with 364.02 million viewing hours in the first 28 days, followed by "Don't Look Up" (359.79M), and "Bird Box" (282.02M) at number 2 and 3, respectively. ## "The Gray Man" needs another 37 million viewing hours to become 3rd most-watched film on the streamer in 4 days, which is looking unlikely with the response it is getting. Nonetheless, the movie still managed to finish in the top 5 despite the mixed reviews and the high budget of the film ($200M) will surely make Netflix be careful with its future films. ## Produced by the Russo brothers' company, AGBO, it is the first film in a franchise based upon Greaney's Gray Man novels. The film focuses on the CIA agent Court Gentry, who is on the run from sadistic mercenary Lloyd Hanson upon discovering corrupt secrets about his superior.## The movie stars Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jessica Henwick, Regé-Jean Page, Wagner Moura, Julia Butters, Dhanush, Alfre Woodard, and Billy Bob Thornton in key roles. A sequel and spinoff to the movie have been announced by Netflix, and one of them will focus more on Dhanush's character. ## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, August 19 - Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar is back with another release, this time on the digital platform. The actor will headline director Ranjit M Tiwari's Cuttputlli, which is the official remake of the Tamil hit "Ratsasan". ## "Cuttputlli" will be released directly on Disney Plus Hotstar on September 2. The makers, on Friday, released the first look teaser of the film along with a release and trailer date announcement. The teaser is a collection of Akshay's still from the movie, a crime thriller about the hunt for a serial killer.## Akshay plays a cop who is on a mission with his men to nab the culprit and adopts a different strategy to accomplish it. "Yeh khel power ka nahi, mind ka hai. Aur is mind game mein aap aur main... sab #Cuttputlli hain. Dropping on @DisneyPlusHS, 2nd September. Trailer out tomorrow", he tweeted.## Yeh khel power ka nahi, mind ka hai. Aur is mind game mein aap aur main…sab #Cuttputlli hain. Dropping on @DisneyPlusHS, 2nd September. Trailer out tomorrow@vashubhagnani @Rakulpreet @ranjit_tiwari @jackkybhagnani @honeybhagnani @poojafilms #CuttputlliOnHotstar pic.twitter.com/l9uyi2Pp7Z— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) August 19, 2022 ## Produced by Jackky Bhagnani and Deepshikha Deshmukh under their family banner Pooja Entertainment. The movie also stars Rakul Preet Singh and Sargun Mehta in key roles. ## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, August 17 - The Darling of Netflix, Alia Bhatt is proving her star power on the digital platform once again after the massive success of Gangubai Kathiawadi. The actress's latest dark-comedy, Darlings has been making all the right noise on the streamer since its launch on August 5. ## The Jasmeet K Reen-directed film scored one of the biggest opening weekend (Aug 5-7) for an Indian movie on Netflix though it fell short to beat, Gangubai Kathiawadi's opening weekend numbers. With the back up of mixed to positive reviews, Darlings lended at number 2 as the most-watched non-English film worldiwde in the week of August 8 - August 14. ## The movie, in its first full week, attracted 13.96 million viewing hours, pushing total viewing hours to 24.17 million views in 10 days. It is trending in the top 10 in 26 countries in the second week against 16 countries in the opening weekned. ## Darlings remained the number 1 movie on Netflix in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and UAE in addition to India, Bahrain, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, and Sri Lanka. In the Americas, the film is trending in the top 10 in Brazil, and Trinidad and Tobago while in Europe, it is trending in the United Kingdom.## Meanwhile, the biopic of Indian cricket legend Mithali Raj, Shabaash Mithu debuted at number 7 on Netflix with 3.36 million viewing hours. SS Rajamouli's RRR, which is buzzing the Oscar buzz, continued to remain in the top 10 in the 13th condecutive weeks and scored 2.32 million viewing hours in the 13th week. ## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, August 10 - Actress Alia Bhatt's Gangubai Kathiawadi was a massive hit on Netflix despite being a non-direct OTT release. It scored approx. 55 million viewing hours, becoming one of the most-watched Indian films on the streamer. ## With the solid backing of Gangubai Kathiawadi, the actress and producer's dark comedy Darlings opted for a direct digital release via Netflix, however, it failed to create the same magic as GB this time around. The Jasmeet K Reen-directed film scored 10.21 million viewing hours in the first three days and landed at number 4 among the most-watched non-English films worldwide during the week of August 1 - August 7.## Interestingly, Gangubai Kathiawadi, which was a non-direct Netflix release, had scored 13.8 million viewing hours in the first three days on the streamer and landed at number 1 in the first weekend worldwide. Darlings is unlikely to match Gangubai's viewing numbers as the reviews are mixed as compared to the super positive response to Gangubai. ## Produced by Red Chillies Entertainment and Eternal Sunshine Productions, Darlings has been trending in the top 10 in 16 countries, including at number 1 in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and UAE. The movie also stars Shefali Shah, Vijay Varma, and Roshan Mathew in the lead roles. ## Meanwhile, SS Rajamouli's RRR (Hindi) is still trending in the top 10 non-English films worldwide despite completing 12 weeks on Netflix. On its 12th weekend, the movie was watched for 2.55 million hours, which is extraordinary. It has so far scored approx. 70 million viewing hours on Netflix. ## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, August 8 - Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, who is gearing up for the release of his most-awaited comedy-drama film Laal Singh Chaddha, said that the digital platforms are not a challenge to big screen cinema but the filmmakers are making it a challenge to the cinema. ## Aamir was recently in Chennai for the promotions of Laal Singh Chaddha. During an interview with Galatta, the superstar spoke about what the Indian film industry needs to do to save cinema. It is a well-known fact that Aamir is a huge ambassador of big screens cinema and his upcoming movie is also designed for the big screen only. ## During the covid-19 pandemic, many films opted for a short theatrical window which has largely backfired. Aamir said that the industry must understand that to save cinema, there must be a bigger gap between theatrical release and OTT premiere. ## The actor went on to say that the industry is not putting effort to bring the audiences to the theaters by keeping a short theatrical window. He said that when a movie will come to OTT within 4 weeks, how can filmmakers expect the audience to come to theaters to watch movies. ## Adding further, the PK actor said that the industry should give a clear choice to the audience that if they want to watch the film on OTT then they have to wait for 6 months. Making a valid point, Aamir said that if the movie is good and being appreciated, then the audience will feel that they should not miss it if the theater window is 6 months. ## For economical and time reasons, films can't come on OTT so fast. If they do, cinema will stand no chance. It's in our hands, we have to decide. My film won't come to OTT for 6 months. Either watch my film in the theater or wait for 6 months, he added.## Directed by Advait Chandan, Laal Singh Chaddha also stars Kareena Kapoor, Naga Chaitanya (in his Hindi film debut), and Mona Singh. It is scheduled to release on August 11 in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Chennai, August 6 - Actor Dhanush made his Hollywood debut with Russo Brothers' spy action thriller The Gray Man. The movie premiered on Netflix on July 22 and scored fifth biggest opening weekend ever for Netflix. Earlier, the movie had a limited theatrical release on July 15 in the USA.## Satisfied with the result, Netflix confirmed the sequel of the movie with Ryan Gosling returning to reprise his role and Russo Brothers to direct once again. It was not confirmed whether the rest of the cast will return or not, but now, Dhanush has given a major hint regarding his role in the sequel. ## Dhanush played the role of Avik San/Lone Wolf in the movie. The actor took to Twitter on Saturday (August 6) and confirmed that Lone Wolf is ready for the sequel. He shared short audio, in which he says, "Six, this is Lone Wolf. I hear we are both looking for the same man. I want to offer you some advice. Stop looking. You are wasting your time. Because if I find him first, there will be nothing for you to look for. And if you find him first, then I will find you. Nothing personal".## The Gray Man universe is expanding and the sequel is coming… Lone Wolf is ready, are you? #TheGrayMan @agbofilms @netflix @Russo_Brothers pic.twitter.com/b8FuJk9koJ— Dhanush (@dhanushkraja) August 6, 2022 ## Earlier, Russo Brothers explained in an interview why Dhanush's character was not killed off in the movie. "We're fortunate enough to use Dhanush. We were not interested in him playing a one-off character who shows up just to be overcome by the lead in the film. He is as equally skilled and determined as Gosling is in the movie. He has a story that will allow him to come back into the narrative at some point — as his own hero".## A spin-off film, written by screenwriters Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese (Deadpool, Zombieland) is also in development and is set to explore a different element of The Gray Man universe.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, August 2 - Bollywood star Shahid Kapoor teams up with director Ali Abbas Zafar for an action thriller. The shoot of this yet-untitled film has already been wrapped up and it is gearing up for release later this year. ## There have been a lot of speculations regarding the film's release platform. The latest reports say that the film will have direct-to-digital via Voot Select. Ali Abbas Zafar has produced it under his banner AAZ Films. The official release date is expected to be announced soon. ## Shahid was last seen in the sports drama film "Jersey", which was a theatrical release. The movie, however, bombed at the box office, resulting in a huge loss for the producers. With the Bollywood box office still recovering from covid-19, Shahid and Ali Abbas have opted for a safe option for their upcoming film. ## Meanwhile, Shahid will reportedly headline producer Dinesh Vijan's next which is said to be a unique love story. Kriti Sanon is likely to play the female lead as the shoot of the film is expected to commence in October this year. ## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, July 28 - The social comedy-drama film Janhit Mein Jaari, starring Nushrat Bharucha is making noise on the digital platform ZEE5. Directed by Jai Basantu Singh, the movie originally had a theatrical release on June 10 and later premiered on video on demand on Zee5 on 15 July 2022. ## While the movie had a dismal show at the box office despite getting positive reviews from critics and audiences alike, it is winning hearts on ZEE5. The streamer has now claimed a huge achievement with the movie as it announced the film to be the most-watched since its release. However, the total viewing numbers aren't disclosed, ZEE5 previously claimed that the movie has scored over 100 million viewing minutes. ## Jab kahani ho itni zabardast toh trending hona toh banta hai! 😍Have you watched it yet? #JanhitMeinJaariOnZEE5 #ZarooratNahiZaroori Watch now:https://t.co/2BGrun7eBZ pic.twitter.com/AKkpj9gCeB— ZEE5 (@ZEE5India) July 27, 2022 ## Backed by Raaj Shaandilyaa and Vinod Bhanushali, the story of the film is about a young girl who is a crusader and takes on a difficult job selling condoms. The film shows the struggles she faces amid the social taboo, and how she overcomes resistance from her family as well as the whole town. ## The film is told with Raaj Shandilya's trademark humor. The film follows a young girl selling condoms to make a living. She juggles her work towards improving women's lives, explaining the importance of protection and dealing with the resistance from her family members and in-laws regarding her job. ## Stay tuned...