‘Moana 2’: Auli’i Cravalho Is Definitely Returning To Disney Sequel

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are making moves behind the scenes!

Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis has recommended that Disney shareholders withhold votes for all board candidates except the company’s own.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Confirming Germany’s importance as a growth market, Netfix on Wednesday announced 17 new and returning shows and movies produced by some of the country’s leading producers, including docuseries “Kaulitz & Kaulitz,” about the Tokio Hotel popstar siblings, and sci-fi drama “Cassandra,” about an overzealous electronic household helper. Netflix presented 17 feature films, series, documentaries and reality shows at a special event in Berlin.

Disney’s latest salvo in a proxy fight with activist investor Trian Fund Management highlights the firm’s “silent partner” Ike Perlmutter and his “difficult history with Bob Iger.”

Disney shares were up 2% at mid-day Monday, extending their recent rally, as the company renewed its attacks on activist investor Nelson Peltz.

Saturn Return” (“Second Prize”), always a frontrunner, topped this week’s Malaga Festival winning its best picture, director (with co-director Pol Rodríguez) and editing (Javi Frutos) awards. The triple plaudit delivers further recognition for a feature which pulls off the double achievement of being formally radical and great fun at one and the same time.

It looks like the partnership between Ben Affleck and Matt Damon‘s studio Artist Equity and Amazon MGM will continue to bear fruit. Deadline reports that the companies will team up again for “The Accountant 2,” a sequel to the 2016 action drama starring Affleck.

Following Disney chief Bob Iger’s very recent admission that the company had quietly canceled several projects that they didn’t wholeheartedly believe in the last few months amid belt-tightening and scaling back, a picture of what some of those projects might be is starting to emerge. In an in-depth piece from The Wrap about soon-to-be-former Disney executive Sean Bailey and his legacy— exiting after 15 years as the motion picture group’s president of production, a big shake-up in the company— some details of what may have already been put out to pasture are becoming more apparent.

Disney CEO Bob Iger remains committed to turning the ship around, but in doing so, admits the company has had to make some hard choices and cancel projects the studio didn’t have 100% belief in. “You have to kill things you no longer believe in, and that’s not easy in this business,” Iger said, speaking at a conference hosted by Morgan Stanley in San Francisco on Tuesday (via THR).

Disney CEO Bob Iger said the studio has “killed a few projects already that we just didn’t feel were strong enough,” as the company tries to reverse a box office slump.

Disney CEO Bob Iger called the proxy fight being waged by two activist investors a campaign that “is, in a way, designed to distract us, to take our eye off all [that’s] necessary to do what we need to do to generate returns for shareholders.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney CEO Bob Iger acknowledged that the company is behind Netflix in terms of technical capabilities — and that the Mouse House is in the process of catching up. “We need to be at their level” of technical capability, in order to reduce marketing expenses and cut churn rates, Iger said about Netflix, speaking Tuesday at the 2024 Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. Iger reiterated that Disney is on track to achieve profitability in the streaming business — which includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ — by the fiscal quarter that ends September 2024.

Say what you will about singer/songwriter Taylor Swift, from the music industry, to the NFL and even the movie box office, wherever she appears, she seems to lift the financial sails of that industry. Obviously already a juggernaut in the music industry, Swift made major headlines last fall when she released “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” concert doc and made a deal directly with AMC to release the film theatrically, bypassing distribution with all the movie studios—a canny move though one that upset many in the industry.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The descendants of Walt Disney and his brother Roy O. Disney have weighed in on the bid by two activist investment firms to win seats on the board of the Walt Disney Co. Nelson Peltz, the activist investor who runs hedge fund Trian Partners, is waging a proxy-fight battle to install himself and ex-Disney CFO Jay Rasulo as directors; Peltz’s stated aim is to drive up the price of Disney’s stock.

In two open letters to shareholders of the Walt Disney Co., grandchildren of Walt Disney and his brother Roy O. Disney came out in support of CEO Bob Iger and current management, which is being assailed by two investment firms trying to change the makeup of the company’s board.

It’s official – Auli’i Cravalho is reprising her titular role in the upcoming Moana 2!

Walt Disney Company and billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries have merged their massive Indian TV and streaming businesses, ending months of speculation. As per the agreement, Reliance’s Viacom18 is merging with Disney’s Star India. The deal is estimated to be worth $8.5 billion on a ‘post-money basis,’ the companies said.

Reliance Industries and Disney India are set to sign a binding agreement to merge their assets, according to local reports.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “Moana” voice actor Auli’i Cravalho attended her first SAG Awards this year and spoke to Variety On the Carpet presented by DIRECTV about the hit Disney animated movie becoming a full blown franchise. The studio surprised fans earlier this month by announcing the “Moana” television series it had been developing was now a movie sequel set for a theatrical release this November. “It feels like the ‘Moana’ universe is expanding and I love that,” Cravalho told Variety’s Angelique Jackson.

Affairs never usually stay secret for long in Weatherfield and it is Tracy Barlow having to admit to hers next week in Coronation Street, while there's also a surprise return for Daisy Midgeley.