disney

First the good news: Disney agreed to give Netflix exclusive U.S. access to some of its top movies.

Now, the bad news: The deal doesn't kick in until 2016.

The companies announced today that Netflix will become the exclusive U.S. subscription television service for first-run, live-action and animated feature films from the Walt Disney Studios. Netflix will receive access to the movies after they're made available for sale and rental.

Sure, the delay is a drag. But this is still a groundbreaking deal for Netflix and the entertainment industry. In the past, Netflix has typically obtained … Read more

Disney Fish Hooks takes after the popular Disney cartoon of the same name. The game follows Milo and his friends through different mazes. We found it surprisingly challenging and lots of fun.

Disney Fish Hooks opens with a simple menu. Through the Settings feature, you can turn the music and sounds off and on. The first step is to select a tank, but since we were new, we were only able to choose Freshwater High; the other tanks were locked until we scored enough points. The same went for the characters; we were only allowed to play with Milo since … Read more

This week, Xbox rumors are back, making Karyne hyperventilate; Google might release its own Chromebook by the end of the year; and we have a very bad feeling about these "Star Wars" rumors.

As you know, Disney purchased Lucasfilm recently, giving it the rights to the "Star Wars" franchise. (On a side note, George Lucas took all the profit from the sale and donated it to charity to improve American public education. Seriously, he is the greatest American alive.) But fans everywhere are letting their imaginations run wild, worrying about what Disney will do to the … Read more

When "Star Wars" first came out in 1977, block-long lines were common outside theaters everywhere.

People were entranced by George Lucas' space opera, his tale of the struggle between a rebel alliance and an evil empire bent on domination of the galaxy at all costs. But how much did fans of the film -- and its sequels -- know about Lucas' inspirations?

Did they know, for example, that the film was full of allusions to the Vietnam War? Or that nuclear weapons were a model for the power of the Death Star? Or that the resistance of Princess … Read more

Disney will close a little-known Internet movie streaming service at the end of the year, apparently unable to generate enough interest or revenue.

Disney Movies Online, which allowed people to rent and buy streamed movies from the Disney library, including those made by subsidiary Pixar, will shut down on December 31, the media giant announced today in an e-mail to customers and notice posted to the service's Web site. It also allowed titles that had been purchased as DVDs and Blu-rays to be streamed online.

Purchases can no longer be made on the site, but customers can continue to … Read more

Ever since Disney bought Lucasfilm, the rumors surrounding a new "Star Wars" film have been flying around like a whole herd of speeder bikes through the forest of Endor. One of the latest is that Disney is looking to bring Darth Vader back from the very final-looking death he had in "Return of the Jedi."

As far as rumors go, it's harder to get more unsubstantiated than this one. The source is from British tabloid site Express.co.uk. The article quotes "industry insiders" as saying Disney plans to have Darth Vader return to play a significant role in a new trilogy.… Read more

It looks like the next "Star Wars" movie might get completed faster than it took to construct the second Death Star.

Disney and Lucasfilm have chosen Michael Arndt to write the screenplay for "Star Wars: Episode VII," the long-awaited follow-up to the 1983 epic "Return of the Jedi." … Read more

Some would consider Disney's announcement of acquiring Lucasfilm (and the "Star Wars" franchise) for a little over $4 billion epic enough as is. Disney stunned sci-fi fans further with the additional announcement that Star Wars: Episode VII would arrive in 2015, causing many to wonder who would direct the movie, and more importantly, who would star in it.

It might take awhile to find out who the actors in "Episode VII" will be, but at least we know that the most cantankerous of the bunch, Harrison Ford, is onboard with participating in the highly anticipated follow-up to "Return of the Jedi," according to Entertainment Weekly. … Read more

In a video released today, "Star Wars" creator George Lucas explained that he decided to sell his media empire to The Walt Disney Company for $4.05 billion because he believed it would "protect" Lucasfilm and its cash cow, the "Star Wars" franchise.

Sitting at a table alongside Lucasfilm co-chairman Kathleen Kennedy -- who will be Lucasfilm's president under Disney -- Lucas explained that in recent months, as he had mulled retirement and what he wanted to do with his life, he realized that the "perfect person to take over the company … Read more