Setup took just 10 minutes, I’ve had experiences with other seed boxes where it took over 24 hours to set up. In 30 days I uploaded over 1500GB (1.5TB) of torrents. The bandwidth and torrent limit is truly unlimited, which is good because you don’t have to seed based on which torrents have higher leech numbers. You can seed regardless. Max download speeds 22MB/s Max download speeds 22MB/s Max upload speed 12.2MB/s Max upload speed 12.2MB/s Summary of Dedi Seedbox Max download speed: 22MB/s (although not typical) Max upload speed: 12.2MB/s (not typical) Total data uploaded in a month: 1503GB (1.5TB) I managed to hit these speeds after clearing all my torrents and adding brand new torrents from a tracker homepage. You’re not going to get these consistent speeds (more down to availability of leechers more than anthing), after seeders outnumber leechers the speed decreases. More typical upload speeds were 500kb/s upload, though downloads are always fast as long as there are plenty of seeders. Here’s a screenshot of the traffic stats from rutorrent (needs large display, image is 1229px wide) (needs large display, image is 1229px wide) Note: After 3-4 days of adding brand new torrents, upload speeds drop, probably because of low number of leechers. WebGUI WebGUI is great, they use rtorrent and was the first time I tried rtorrent, great features, possibly more than the utorrent on my computer. It has unpacking features as well as http download. Although there was one problem where I tried to unpack several zip files over 1.5GB and they would not unpack (gave error messages). I think it may be a server ram/cpu restriction which prevented it from being extracted. WebGUI crashed twice in a month. CPU/RAM This is an often overlooked part of seedboxes, and nothing is ever mentioned in the ad nor asked by subscribers, but it plays an important part in your torrent experience. Poor CPU and RAM can slow down the GUI, slow down hash check and unpacking of compressed files. Dedi Seedbox worked very fast with my torrents, I left the webGUI running for hours and it kept displaying without hiccups, hash check was pretty quick too.

Amazon Prime's adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s novel Good Omens is set to be one of the biggest summer offerings from the streamer, and a sign of things to come as far as content is concerned. The service is pushing forward with a mandate to deliver more and more blockbuster programs (i.e., Game of Thrones-level series) that slant more toward genre. As one of the first to potentially fit that bill, the lighthearted comedy about an angel and a demon, the war between Heaven and Hell, and the Antichrist and his attendant apocalypse, is something of a mixed bag. Those who’ve read Gaiman and Pratchett’s novel will know that the series is as lighthearted a telling of the end of days as such a story can get. The book leans heavily on the absurd side of its comedic stylings, and given than Gaiman wrote the adaptation and served as showrunner on the six-episode series, it should come as no surprise that Good Omens the limited series also skews toward absurdity. On one hand, that plays to the series' strengths in terms of the story it’s trying to tell, one narrated by Frances McDormand as God, and portrays Heaven and Hell as hawkish bureaucratic nightmares. But it also includes bumbling witch hunters, a hellhound, random alien visitations, the appearance of the sea monster known as the Kraken, and the M25 motorway bursting into flames. The advantage this approach affords the series is one of free-wheeling silliness, a tale where anything can and (almost) does happen, and where, provided the viewer is along for the ride, nothing much matters because it was all just a fun little goof anyway. The idea of sitting through a six-hour lark about the Antichrist, his faithful dog, and end of the world is made more appealing by the cast the series has lined up, mainly David Tennant and Michael Sheen, as the demon Crowley and the angel Aziraphale, respectively. The two are ostensibly the keepers of the Earth; they’ve been around from the very beginning, with the specific job of tempting humanity into doing evil, or coaxing them toward good. Crowley’s enjoyed early success on his end by playing the serpent in the Garden of Eden (and we all know how that turned out), an act that set in motion a chain of events that, thousands of years later, would result in the Antichrist being born and, you know, bringing about the final war between Heaven and Hell. Jon-Hamm-in-Good-Omens-Amazon.jpg But after Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden, something unexpected happened: Crowley and Aziraphale became friends. The unlikely friendship between a sunglasses-wearing bad boy and an effete bookworm is the heart and soul of the story and the most compelling thing about the series itself. The problem is, there just isn’t enough of it. Looking at Good Omens, one might think that six hours is more than enough time to tell this particular story, and it is. In fact, given how little story there actually is, it’s probably too much time. This creates an issue for Gaiman’s adaptation, in that it’s frequently compelled to switch between the many characters in its sizable ensemble cast and offer a different perspective on the looming end times. And while that means making use of terrific actors like Jon Hamm as the Archangel Gabriel, Michael McKean as Witchfinder Shadwell (a role that finds him doing a truly ridiculous Scottish accent), and Miranda Richardson as Madame Tracey, a “jezebel” with eyes for the inept Witchfinder, their subplots are questionably necessary, and not nearly as compelling as watching Crowley and Aziraphale try to prevent the apocalypse. Good Omens' biggest stumbling block is perhaps a subplot about Anathema Device (Adria Arjona) a witch descended from a powerful prognosticator who foresaw centuries worth of future events and jotted them down in a handy tome that essentially serves as a roadmap for saving the world. Joining her is Jack Whitehall as Newton Pulsifer, a fledgling Witchfinder whose family history is also tied up in his current occupation. Along with Adam Young (Sam Taylor Buck), aka the Antichrist, Anathema and Newton seem only to derail the narrative whenever they’re on screen. The characters are wafer thin and, aside from Adam, their impact on the story is nominal. Worse yet, Anathema’s ancestor’s book ostensibly removes any sense of agency in her character, and while that later factors in to the conclusion of her story arc, the critical drawbacks of her and Newton’s characters persist throughout. Michael-Sheen-and-David-Tennant-in-Good-Omens-Amazon.jpg Though it is often scatterbrained and too much of its very basic plot is spread too thin across an unnecessarily large cast of characters, Good Omens at least manages to stay consistent with regard to its tone. Keeping things light to the point of absurdity works in the series’ favor, as what might otherwise come across as deficiencies in attention come across more like gleeful asides. The degree to which the series is dedicated to its sense of whimsy is admirable, even when it means characters or entire plot lines get short shrift, largely for the sake of including one more strange occurrence or encounter that falsely gives the impression there’s more going on that there actually is. In the end, Gaiman and director Douglas Mackinnon do their best to tie up the various distractions and asides littered throughout the previous five and some odd hours of plot. That the series ultimately doesn’t come together in a fulfilling fashion isn’t much of a surprise considering how much of the story feels as though it’s comprised of little more than loosely connected tangents. Still, Tennant and Sheen are incredibly engaging, whether on screen together or not, and Hamm seems to be enjoying himself immensely. That level of energy is palpable, and helps mitigate the feeling that Good Omens, while being occasionally a good time, is mostly a mixed bag. Good Omens will stream exclusively on Amazon Prime Video beginning Friday, May 31.

Game-of-Thrones-White-Walker.jpg HBO's Game of Thrones prequel series is set to begin filming in June, and we now know it will be shooting under the working title Bloodmoon. The show doesn't have an official title yet, though it's often unofficially referred to as The Long Night since it's set during that period of Game of Thrones history - about 8,000 years before the War of the Five Kings. The Long Night's cast is a mix of established actors and newer faces, with the more well-known names including Naomi Watts (King Kong), Miranda Richardson (Churchill), John Simm (Doctor Who), and Jamie Campbell Bower (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald). The principal cast also includes Josh Whitehouse (Poldark), Georgia Henley (The Chronicles of Narnia), Alex Sharp (The Hustle), and Naomi Ackie (Lady Macbeth). A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin came up with the story for the show, and Jane Goldman (Kingsman) will serve as showrunner. In the March issue of Production Weekly (via ComicBook), the spinoff is listed as Untitled Game of Thrones Prequel (w/t Bloodmoon). The working title is thematically appropriate for the world of Game of Thrones, in which blood has played a pivotal role (in more ways than one), but fans shouldn't try to extrapolate too many clues from the phrase 'Bloodmoon'. Working titles are designed to be innocuous, in particular to avoid drawing attention to the production, and so usually have nothing to do with the plot of the movie or TV show in question. For example, Spider-Man: Homecoming was filmed under the working title Summer of George - a reference to an episode of Seinfeld. Bloodmoon-The-Long-Night.jpg Since the prequel show is set so far in the past, we shouldn't expect to see any Game of Thrones characters reprising their roles (with the possible exception of the Night King). The show will predate the Iron Throne and the reign of the Targaryens by thousands of years, and we can expect to see a very different landscape of Westeros and Essos. According to the official synopsis, the show will "chronicle the world's descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour" - specifically the Long Night, when the White Walkers moved south and spread terror and darkness. It also promises to reveal "the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East [and] the Starks of legend." Anticipation is naturally high for the new series, now that Game of Thrones has come to an end, but although filming begins soon, fans will likely have to wait until 2021 to see the show. Hopefully we'll get an official title some time before then, so we don't have to spend the next two years talking about 'Bloodmoon'.

The-Witcher-Geralt-of-Rivia.jpg Netflix's The Witcher TV show, starring Henry Cavill as genetically enhanced warrior Geralt of Rivia, has wrapped filming for season 1. Based on the books by Andrzej Sapkowski, which have famously been adapted into a video game franchise, The Witcher was developed for TV by Lauren Schmidt Hissrich. The Witcher is set in a fantasy world filled with monsters, witches, elves, dwarves, and other creatures. Cavill's character, Geralt, is a Witcher: trained from a young age to slay monsters, and physically altered to make his body more durable and skilled in the art of battle. Geralt famously carries two swords - a steel sword for fighting humans, and a silver sword for fighting monsters. In the show, Geralt will find himself navigating the dangerous landscape of the Continent with Princess Ciri (Freya Allan) and powerful sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg (Anya Chalotra). The show will also feature plenty of other characters from the novels and games, like Triss Merigold (Anna Shaffer) and Fringilla Vigo (Mimi Ndiweni). Hissrich confirmed on Twitter that The Witcher season 1 has now wrapped filming, adding, "So grateful to the writers, the cast, and the exceptional crew who worked their asses off to make the Continent come to life." Meanwhile, Cavill took to Instagram to celebrate the last day of having to wear that glorious silver wig. FireShot Capture 664 - The Witcher TV Show With Henry Cavill_ - https___screenrant.com_netflix-w.jpg The Witcher season 1 will consist of eight episodes and is set to release on Netflix in late 2019. The show was filmed on location in Hungary, Spain, and Poland, and was directed by Charlotte Brändström (Outlander), Alik Sakharov (Game of Thrones), Alex Garcia Lopez and Marc Jobst (Daredevil). Netflix tends to hold off on releasing trailers until just a few weeks before shows release, but now that filming is complete we'll hopefully get a better look at The Witcher soon via official stills. As with any franchise that has a built-in fandom, Netflix's adaptation of The Witcher has been the subject of great scrutiny and skepticism. The internet came down particularly hard on an early look at Cavill in his Geralt wig. If the show is successful, however, Netflix has a chance to mark its territory in the genre of historical fantasy - a genre that currently has a vacancy waiting to be filled after the recent conclusion of Game of Thrones. Hopefully The Witcher TV show will prove to be as addictive as the games are.

The box office continues to improve as we get deeper into the summer movie season. At the beginning of the month the 2019 box office was -11.7% behind last year, but with the end of May on our doorstep we are currently -9.4% behind last year with the month of May just a shade behind May 2018 and the summer movie season currently pacing just ahead of Summer 2018, which ranked as the fourth largest summer of all-time. Looking to maintain the positive trend, this weekend will see Disney's Aladdin follow-up a strong, Memorial Day weekend debut while three new releases vie for a spot in the top five. Among them, WB's release of Godzilla: King of the Monsters is expected to deliver a #1 finish while Paramount's Rocketman debuts after a strong opening in the UK last weekend and Blumhouse's latest thriller Ma is also looking to spark some attention from the horror audience. Opening in 4,108 locations, Warner Bros. will debut Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the sequel to the 2014 revival of Godzilla, which opened with a massive $93 million. The studio followed that film up with Kong: Skull Island in March of 2017 and it opened with $61 million domestically and now King of the Monsters serves as the third film in the studio's Monsterverse franchise and WB is anticipating an opening anywhere from $50-55 million. A look at IMDb page view performance leading up to release shows the Godzilla sequel pacing well behind the original as well as behind Skull Island. In fact, it's pacing closer to Rampage, which opened last April with $35.7 million from 4,101 locations. Alternatively, online ticket retailer Fandango.com reports the film is outpacing Skull Island at the same point in the sales cycle. All told, we are currently trending right in the middle of the studio's anticipated range, looking for an opening right around $53 million. Screenings get underway today with previews beginning in ~3,600 locations beginning at 4PM. Internationally, Godzilla opens day-and-date with the US in virtually all international markets including in China and Japan where the film is distributed by Legendary East and Toho, respectively. Among the handful of markets opening later in June are Spain and Poland. Disney's Aladdin opened with the fifth largest Memorial Day opening of all-time last weekend and the question is whether it can hold on a bit better than recent films that finished with similar openings. The likes of Fast & Furious 6 and X-Men: Days of Future Past dipped -64% in their second weekends while Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End slipped -61.5% back in 2007. In fact, you look at most any of the recent Memorial Day openers and their second weekends feature 60%+ drops in their sophomore session. The question is whether the more family-friendly Aladdin manages to appeal to a wider demographic and can hold on a bit better. For our forecast we're going to assume so, anticipating a dip around -58%, though we wouldn't be surprised if it performs closer to the average or, perhaps, even goes the other way with something closer to a -50% drop and challenges for a $45+ million second weekend. Paramount's Rocketman is looking at a third place start at this time as the R-rated musical fantasy inspired by the life of Elton John looks to find a similar place among 2019's releases to that of last year's Bohemian Rhapsody and A Star is Born. To that point, while Rocketman is pacing behind A Star is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody when looking at IMDb page view data, it is right in line with Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, which opened with nearly $35 million in July 2018, all of which has us looking at a debut performance well ahead of the $18-20 million Paramount is anticipating. In fact, with the film launching in 3,610 locations and receiving a majority of positive reviews — 73 on Metacritic and 90% on RottenTomatoes — we see no reason to expect much less than $30-35 million if not more. Internationally, Rocketman opened in the UK last week and has grossed over $8.6 million as of this past Tuesday. This weekend the film expands to a further 39 markets including France, Italy, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Mexico and Spain. Universal's latest collaboration with Blumhouse Productions is this weekend's release of Ma, which is expecting a strong start for the $5 million production as it debuts in over 2,700 locations. Starring Octavia Spencer, the thriller is pacing similarly to this year's January release of Escape Room ($18.2m opening) when looking at IMDb page view data while also outpacing the likes of The Intruder ($10.8m opening) and 2018's Breaking In ($17.6m opening) and pacing slightly behind April 2018's Truth or Dare ($18.6m opening). The studio is anticipating an opening in the mid-teens and everything we're seeing suggests the same, which has us looking for an opening around $15-17 million. Internationally, Ma opens day-and-date with North America in 36 international markets, including Brazil, Germany, Mexico and the U.K. & Ireland, with additional markets rolling out through the summer. Rounding out the top five is Lionsgate's John Wick: Chapter 3, which we're expecting to dip -45% or so for a three-day around $13.5 million, pushing the film's domestic cume closer to $130 million as it enters its third week in release. Overall, we're looking for the top twelve to dramatically outperform the same weekend last year, delivering around $185+ million for the weekend, continuing to close the yearly gap compared to 2018. This weekend's forecast is directly below. Godzilla: King of the Monsters (4,108 theaters) - $53.0 M Aladdin (4,476 theaters) - $38.3 M Rocketman (3,610 theaters) - $32.0 M Ma (2,808 theaters) - $17.0 M John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (3,604 theaters) - $13.5 M Avengers: Endgame (3,105 theaters) - $11.2 M Pokemon Detective Pikachu (3,147 theaters) - $8.3 M Brightburn (2,607 theaters) - $4.0 M Booksmart (2,518 theaters) - $3.7 M A Dog's Journey (1,674 theaters) - $1.9 M

Lilly Wachowski is making a second foray into TV with a new comedy show “Work In Progress,” which has been ordered to series at Showtime. The project, which Wachowski will co-write and executive produce, was created by comedian Abby McEnany and Tim Mason, and premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. “Work In Progress” is described as a funny and “uniquely human” comedy, which features McEnany as a 45-year-old self-identified “fat, queer” woman from Chicago whose misfortune and despair unexpectedly lead her to a vibrantly transformative relationship. Chicago-based performers Theo Germaine and Karin Anglin co-star alongside Celeste Pechous, with “SNL” alumna Julia Sweeney also appearing as herself. The series would appear to be a departure from Wachowski’s traditional sci-fi territory, as her main previous TV credit is as the creator-showrunner of “Sense8,” the Netflix series which ended in 2018 after two seasons. She is of course known for often writing and directing with sibling Lana Wachowski, and their large screen work together includes “The Matrix” franchise, “V for Vendetta,” and “Jupiter Ascending.” “We adored the pilot of ‘Work In Progress’ at Sundance and were so thrilled that Abby and Tim and Lilly wanted to work with us to expand it into a Showtime comedy series,” said Gary Levine, president of entertainment at Showtime. “Abby is as distinctive as she is appealing. She will make you laugh, she might make you cry, but she will definitely make you fall in love with her.” McEnany, a mainstay of the Chicago improv scene, based the series on her one-woman shows. She serves as an EP on the show alongside Mason, Lawrence Mattis, Ashley Berns and Josh Adler of Circle of Confusion, as well as Tony Hernandez of JAX Media.

NBC has cut a trio of freshman series. “Abby’s,” “The Enemy Within” and “The Village” have all been canceled after only a single season on the network. The former is multicamera comedy which starred Natalie Morales in the title role, as a woman who ran a bar in her backyard. The series, which has only aired seven episodes to date, actually utilized the gimmick of being shot outdoors instead of on a soundstage, the first to do so. Morales was the first-ever female Cuban lead in the format. The regulars at Abby’s bar, and therefore on the show, included Neil Flynn, Jessica Chaffin, Kimia Behpoornia and Leonard Ouzts. The show came from Josh Malmuth, who was showrunner, and executive producers Michael Schur and David Miner. “Abby’s” was produced by Universal Television, Fremulon, Waila Inc. and 3 Arts Entertainment. It is averaging 1.7 million total live viewers and a 0.42 in the key 18-49 demographic across its run so far. “The Village” revolved around the characters who lived in an apartment building in New York. Bonded deeper than average neighbors, they created a “found family” that helped each other through relationship struggles, cancer diagnoses and returns from war. Sarah (Michaela McManus) was a nurse and single mom raising a creative teen about to be a mother herself (Grace Van Dien); Gabe (Daren Kagasoff) was a young law student who brought his grandfather (Dominic Chianese) in to love with him; Ava (Moran Atias) struggled to secure the future of her young, U.S.-born son when ICE comes knocking but received some help from her cop neighbor (Jerod Haynes); Nick (Warren Christine) was a veteran who returned from war and into the building where his ex lived; and the heart and soul of the building, Ron (Frankie Faison) and Patricia (Lorraine Toussaint) were challenged by her cancer returning. Mike Daniels served as showrunner, and Jessica Rhoades also executive produced. “The Village” was produced by Universal Television and 6107 Productions. “The Village” averaged a 0.66 rating and 4.1 million total viewers across its 10-episode run. Meanwhile “The Enemy Within” was a “character-based psychological thriller,” the series which centered on Erica Shepherd (Jennifer Carpenter), a brilliant former CIA operative, now known as one of the most notorious traitors in recent American history serving life in a Supermax prison. Against every fiber of his being but with nowhere else to turn, FBI Agent Will Keaton (Morris Chestnut) enlisted Shepherd to help track down a fiercely dangerous and elusive criminal she knew all too well. While Shepherd and Keaton had different motivations for bringing the enemy to justice, they both knew that to catch a spy they must think like one. The cast also included Raza Jaffrey, Kelli Garner, Cassandra Freeman and Noah Mills. The series finale aired on May 20. “The Enemy Within” was created by Ken Woodruff, who executive produced alongside Matt Corman, Chris Ord and Charles Beeson. The show was produced by Universal Television. Ratings-wise, it averaged a 0.74 rating and 4.4 million total live viewers.

Gina Rodriguez will star in Netflix’s science-fiction thriller “Awake,” portraying an ex-soldier with a troubled past. “Kodachrome” helmer Mark Raso is attached to direct from a script he co-wrote with his brother Joseph Raso and Greg Poirier. Paul Schiff is producing and Entertainment One is the production company. Rodriguez and the Raso brothers are executive producing with Mark Gordon, Josh Phillips, Matt Jackson, Poirier and Whitney Brown. Joanne Lee is a co-exec producer. The story is set after a sudden global event wipes out all electronics and takes away humankind’s ability to sleep, and chaos quickly begins to consume the world. Rodriguez’s character may hold the key to a cure in the form of her own daughter while she faces the prospect of saving the world before she herself loses her mind. Rodriguez won a Golden Globe for her lead role as Jane Gloriana Villanueva in the CW sitcom “Jane the Virgin,” which is now in its fifth and final season. She previously worked with Netflix on the romantic comedy “Someone Great” and starred earlier this year in Sony’s action-thriller “Miss Bala.” Rodriguez is also on board to voice Velma Dinkley in Warner Bros.’ animated comedy “Scoob.”

Hulu is headed to Ireland for its latest series pickup. The streamer has given a straight-to-series pickup for a half-hour drama called Normal People, based on the novel of the same name by Sally Rooney. Produced by Element Pictures and commissioned by Hulu and BBC Three in the U.K., the series tracks the "tender but complicated" relationship between two young people, Marianne and Connell, through the end of their school days in a small town in the west of Ireland to their undergrad years at Dublin's Trinity College. Daisy Edgar-Jones (Gentleman Jack) and newcomer Paul Mescal will play the two lead roles; Sarah Greene and Aislin McGuckin also star. Rooney is adapting her novel along with Alice Birch and Mark O'Rowe and will executive produce with Lenny Abrahamson (Room), who's also directing six of the 12 episodes. Hettie Macdonald (Doctor Who) will helm the other six. "As a longtime admirer of Lenny Abrahamson's work, it's a special privilege for me to be working alongside him on the adaptation of Normal People," said Rooney. "I couldn't be happier with the cast and team we've put together, and I'm very excited to watch them bringing new life to the story onscreen." Said Beatrice Springborn, Hulu's vp content development, "From the moment we read Normal People we were smitten. This anatomy of a will-they-or-won't-they romance perfectly and uniquely captures the highs and lows of young true love. With our incredible partners Lenny, Sally, Alice, Mark, Element and the BBC Three, we can't wait to bring the beloved novel to life and share the series with the world." Hulu describes Normal People as "track[ing] the tender but complicated relationship of Marianne and Connell from the end of their school days in small-town west of Ireland to their undergraduate years at Trinity College. At school, he's well-liked and popular, while she's lonely, proud and intimidating. But when Connell comes to pick up his mother from her cleaning job at Marianne's house, a strange and indelible connection grows between the two teenagers — one they are determined to conceal. A year later, they're both studying in Dublin, and Marianne has found her feet in a new social world, but Connell hangs at the side lines, shy and uncertain." Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Emma Norton and Anna Ferguson also executive produce; Catherine Magee is the series producer. "All of us at Element Pictures feel so privileged to be part of bringing Sally’s extraordinary, era-defining novel to television audiences worldwide under the guidance of the brilliant Lenny Abrahamson," said Guiney. Normal People joins a drama lineup at Hulu that also includes The Handmaid's Tale, The Act, Runaways, Castle Rock and the upcoming Little Fires Everywhere. The streaming service is set to come under Disney's full operational control in the next few years and is seen as a place for content aimed at adults, as opposed to the more family-friendly Disney+ platform that launches in November.

MTV on Thursday announced the first sexually fluid cast for the upcoming eighth season of their hit reality series Are You the One? hosted by Terrence J. Following Are You the One?'s signature format, 16 singles will travel to Hawaii in hopes of finding their "perfect match" and splitting the $1 million cash prize. But, for the first time ever on a dating competition show in the U.S., there will be no gender limitations, as each castmember identifies as sexually fluid. This season also introduces Dr. Frankie, a relationship expert, who works with the singles to help them cope with current disaster-dating trends such as ghosting, benching and stashing — and tests them on their willingness to fall into these painful trends as they date multiple people on national television. From coming-out moments to exploring the intricacies of sexual and gender identity, this season of Are You the One? aims to highlight powerful stories about what it means to find love as a sexually fluid individual. Lighthearted Entertainment's Jeff Spangler and Rob LaPlante serve as executive producers along with Matt Odgers. Are You the One? season eight is set to premiere June 26 at 9 p.m. ET on MTV.

Bravo is teaming with Viola Davis and Julius Tennon for a new social experiment series. The NBCUniversal-owned cable network has greenlit In a Man's World, a docuseries in which four women will morph into men for several days. Each woman, following months of training and with the assistance of Oscar-winning makeup artists and voice and movement coaches, will explore what it's like to experience the world as a man. The series, exec produced by Davis and Tennon's JuVee Productions and Lucky 8 will debut in the fall. "We at JuVee continue our commitment to illuminate the challenges and obstacles of the voiceless. Our goal is to be disrupters. We are so proud of the originality and boldness of In a Man's World and it is our hope that it shifts you a little,” Davis said. Each episode will follow a different woman — from a professional pool player to a pastor — testing their training by facing their friends and family in the lead-up to the reveal. The series hopes to shed light on if their experiences match their expectations or if they'll be shocked to discover what it's really like to live in a man's world. Kim Woodard, Greg Henry, Isaac Holub, George Kralovansky, Kate Bernstein and Danielle Media exec produce alongside JuVee's Davis, Tennon and Andrew Wang. In a Man's World joins a Bravo slate that includes Top Chef, Project Runway, Vanderpump Rules, Below Deck, Southern Charm and franchises Million Dollar Listing and The Real Housewives.

Lee Daniels' attempts to revive Fox's canceled drama Star was not successful. The executive producer announced Thursday in a video on his verified Instagram account that his efforts to find a new home for a potential fourth season of the music-focused drama were to no avail: "It ain't happening," he said. "I did my best. Just know that like with Precious or Empire … The Butler, Monster's Ball, the next thing I do is going to be Star. It will exist in all my work." (Watch the full video, below.) Fox canceled the Empire spinoff earlier this month after three seasons. The series, starring Queen Latifah, dropped 11 percent among the all-important adults 18-49 demo (compared to Empire's 21 percent drop). The series was produced by Disney-owned 20th Century Fox Television and the newly independent broadcast network had little room on its schedule and instead opted to pickup a new slate of scripted series — nearly all of which it co-owns. Instead, the Charlie Collier-run broadcaster will focus on the expanded 20-episode final season of Empire and a roster of new dramas that include Prodigal Son and Not Just Me. Star becomes the latest canceled series to get a second look to no avail. ABC canceled Whiskey Cavalier after one season but came close to reversing the decision before ultimately passing. Other passed over pilots and canceled series are also being shopped by their respective studios in what has become an annual post-upfronts process. https://www.instagram.com/p/ByGv4RIl8eq/

The teaser trailer for Rambo V: Last Blood dropped Thursday, showing that Sylvester Stallone is once again a one-man army. In the preview, which is just under two minutes, John Rambo says he must face his past for one last all-out fight. The trailer is backed with the usual action and, of course, an intense Rambo wielding a bow. Stallone first played the Vietnam War veteran and former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier in 1982's First Blood. That movie was based on David Morrell's 1972 novel of the same name. Stallone last played the character in 2008's Rambo. The Lionsgate film is due in theaters Sept. 20.

In another attempt to dominate the audio market, Marvel Entertainment is partnering with Dreamscape Media to adapt a number of existing prose books based on its library of characters into audiobooks, starting this fall. Although no specific titles were mentioned in the announcement of the new Marvel/Dreamscape deal, the two companies promise “nearly 25 original, new audiobook recordings of Marvel's classic and iconic prose stories including Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Spider-Man, X-Men and other characters from the works of industry legends like David Michelinie, Tony Isabella, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman and Peter David.” Based on the authors listed, offerings will include adaptations of Pocket Books’ 1978-1979 Marvel prose line, as well as 1996’s The Incredible Hulk: What Savage Beast. Titles will be available starting September via Hoopla Digital, the public library digital service owned by Dreamscape Media’s parent company, Midwest Tape, as well as released as physical and digital audiobooks through Amazon, Audible, Google, Overdrive and other retailers. In a statement, Dreamscape Media Publisher Tammy Faxel said, “Marvel Entertainment has changed pop culture with its emphasis on character‐driven stories that bring out the super hero in all of us. We are proud to collaborate with Marvel Entertainment to give fans a new way to connect with their favorite super heroes." The new partnership with Dreamscape Media follows Marvel teaming with podcast platform Stitcher to create an original scripted audio series based around Wolverine. The series, written by novelist and comic book writer Benjamin Percy, is currently in its second season.

The franchise installment is likely to outpace the $110.3 million debut for 'Toy Story 3.' It's not quite to infinity and beyond, but Toy Story 4 is heading for a massive opening weekend in June. According to those with access to early tracking, the Pixar animation is looking at a stateside debut around $150 million. That number could go even higher after Disney's final marketing push for the film and reviews are released, with some industry experts saying that the movie could even reach as high as $180 million in North America. Pixar movies have always been a big box office draw, and Toy Story 4 is looking to be one of the animation studio's biggest bows. The franchise installment is likely to outpace Toy Story 3's $110.3 million (unadjusted for inflation), and is coming in on par with big earners Finding Dory ($135 million) and Incredibles 2 ($182.6 million). Fandango announced this morning that Toy Story 4 is the new record-holder for best first day presales for an animated title, outselling last year’s Incredibles 2. the previous record-holder. Tickets went on sale Tuesday at noon, and within the first 24 hours, Toy Story 4 outpaced other major presellers like Finding Dory and the live-action Beauty and the Beast. The movie picks up where Toy Story 3, released in 2010, left off, with Andy's toys settling into life with their new owner, who introduces a new toy, Forky (Tony Hale), to the crew. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen return to voice Woody and Buzz Lightyear, joined by newcomers Hale, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele and Keanu Reeves. Toy Story 4 hits theaters June 21.

Domhnall Gleeson, Bill Camp, Margo Martindale, Common, Brian d'Arcy James and James Badge Dale also star in the upcoming crime drama. The first trailer for Warner Bros.' The Kitchen debuted Thursday. The crime drama follows three New York City housewives in the 1970s who become Irish mobsters after their husbands are arrested by the FBI. Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss star as the three housewives turned mob members, while Domhnall Gleeson, Bill Camp, Margo Martindale, Common, Brian d'Arcy James and James Badge Dale round out the cast. The trailer opens by setting the scene of Hell's Kitchen in 1978. Following a quick shot of a murder scene, the trailer introduces the audience to Kathy Brennan (McCarthy). The mother of two struggles to make ends meet after she is told that most employers will not hire her because she is a mother. Kathy soon teams up with Ruby O'Carroll (Haddish) and Claire Walsh (Moss), who all face financial burdens following their husbands' arrests due to their involvement with the mob. While their husbands still have 24 months left on their sentences, the Irish mob leaders ensure the women that they will be taken care of while their husbands are behind bars. As the women continue to struggle, they decide to take matters into their own hands. "They have been telling us forever that we're never gonna do anything but have babies," says Kathy. After Kathy adds that she feels her husband forgot what it means to be a family, Ruby responds, "So we remind them." A montage follows as the women begin to participate in mob-like activities, including trading money with mob members. "I don't want you to do it. I want you to teach me how to do it," Claire later tells the neighborhood's hitman Gabriel (Gleeson) about becoming a mobster. The women soon assert their power in the neighborhood and prove that they are just as capable of being in the mob as their husbands. "Just to be clear, now we run this neighborhood," declares Kathy. The trailer concludes with the women counting money in an apartment. "My God, I lost count again," says Kathy, which makes Claire laugh. The Kitchen will be in theaters Aug. 9.

Audiences will get another round of Elsa and Anna's adventures when the Disney sequel hits theaters in November. The award-winning animated feature is back for round two, this time with a shroud of mystery hovering over the kingdom of Arendelle. WHO In 2015, Disney introduced audiences all over the world to the hearty gang of Frozen: the magical Queen Elsa, her pure-hearted sister Anna, a local ice harvester named Kristoff, his trusty reindeer, Sven, and of course, Olaf, Disney's whimsical spin on Frosty the Snowman. But as the sequel's trailer shows, there will be some unfamiliar facing coming to the kingdom of Arendelle, and with them a cast of voices new to the Frozen roster. Idina Menzel: Reprising her role as Queen Elsa, is one of the original Frozen cast members coming back to Arendelle for the sequel. Menzel sang the powerful hit "Let it Go" in the first film as her character creates a beautiful show — and ice castle — with her snowy powers. Kristen Bell: Anna may not possess superhuman powers like her sister, but her actions in Frozen fall nothing short of heroic. Bell returns to voice the optimistic and caring Arendelle princess. Jonathan Groff: The Glee star will bust out his singing chops again when he lends his voice to Kristoff for Frozen 2. In the first movie, Kristoff helped Anna and Elsa reclaim their kingdom. Josh Gad: One of the more recognizable characters from the film, Olaf will return to the big-screen in his adorable and easily excitable glory in November. Though he may be a living snowman, his sweet personality is one that can melt even the coldest of hearts. Evan Rachel Wood: Though known for her work on Westworld, Wood's role in the sequel remains unknown. Sterling K. Brown: The This is Us and Black Panther actor is also set to join the Frozen 2 roster, but as who or what still remains undisclosed. WHAT In the sequel's record-breaking trailer, Queen Elsa and her friends seem to be preparing for a battle against an unknown, yet ominous force. Though it's unclear whether the unknown force or villain poses a threat to the kingdom of Arendelle, the trailer nods at the importance of leaves and the fall. The follow-up will also get the Disney+ treatment. When Disney's streaming service hits homes, so will Into the Unknown, a docuseries that follows the making of Frozen 2. WHEN In March 2015, Walt Disney Animation Studios confirmed that a Frozen sequel would be in the works after a meeting in San Francisco. Last November, Disney announced that the follow up to the 2013 film will be released on Nov. 22, 2019, a week earlier than its initial Nov. 29 launch. In February, Disney unveiled its first teaser for the November film.The short trailer shows Queen Elsa using her snow powers to cross daunting ocean waves, Kristoff leading a pack of reindeer and Anna jumping across towering cliffs. The teaser also hints at two new characters as it also displays reoccurring fall-related motifs. WHERE Frozen introduces audience members to the fictional kingdom of Arendelle, where Queen Elsa, Anna and the film's other characters reside. But the in-progress sequel seems to focus more on the lands beyond the fantastic kingdom. In the trailer, Elsa and the rest of the gang traverse misty and spooky forests as they also look over a seemingly endless grove of red and orange-leafed trees beyond the kingdom. WHY The first film in the Frozen franchise touted a cast of musically and theatrically talented names, which helped the title gain more than a billion dollars in total revenue. The 2013 film also brought home the 2014 Academy Award for best animated feature in addition to awards from shows including the Golden Globes and Kids' Choice Awards. But the animated flick from Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee excelled beyond just the film realm. The soundtrack, with numbers like "Let It Go" and "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" climbed Billboard charts and remained in the No. 1 spot for more than a week. At the 2015 Grammy Awards, the film took home awards for best song and best compilation soundtrack for visual media.

Neil Sharpe, Product Marketing Director at content and revenue protection specialist Friend MTS, has described streaming piracy as a “sophisticated, industrial scale problem”, but suggested that with the right techniques, tackling it is not an insurmountable task. Speaking at SportsPro Live in London, Sharpe told delegates that research from market analyst firm Ovum estimated that 13 per cent of TV revenues would be lost to piracy in 2018, with the most impacted segments being premium sports and entertainment. “It’s a worldwide problem that affects the whole chain from rights owners to pay-TV platforms. Piracy is now a sophisticated, industrial scale problem, with more than 3,000 black market pirate services. Recent estimates show the top 600 pirate sites generating $260 million of advertising revenue.” Sharpe highlighted the ongoing move to non-compliant hosting. “Successful enforcement is pushing pirates away from Tier 1 hosts, which has limited the scalability of pirate sites. However, by moving towards uncooperative hosts, traditional takedown notices have become less effective,” he noted. According to Sharpe, the increase in peer-to-peer streaming has also made it tougher to tackle piracy as there is no single IP address to take-down. “This makes it essential to address illegal redistribution at the source, using subscriber identification watermarking,” he advised. “However, subscriber identification has come under more intense attacks from pirates, using more sophisticated visual manipulation techniques. Collusion attacks, combining multiple video signals for redistributed content, aims to undermine subscriber identification, and this makes ultra-robust watermarking absolutely critical,” he stressed. “Although there are big challenges, the good news is that tackling piracy is not an insurmountable task. In fact, Ovum estimated that piracy losses were to be reduced by 3 per cent in 2018, driven by greater deployment of anti-piracy technologies,” he reported. Among a number of key anti-piracy tools content monitoring is often the starting point for content owners and broadcasters who are looking to better understand the scale of their streaming piracy problem. “Often there’s a lack of accurate information about the level of piracy of premium content, and monitoring allows the piracy problem to be better understood,” he said. “To more precisely quantify the impact of streaming piracy, content owners, programmers and pay-TV platforms can now measure piracy consumption via ISP networks. This can provide accurate data about key metrics like traffic volumes, the number of people watching, and the most used pirate services. Importantly, this data can also be used to track the performance of content protection measures, and better understand the impact of deploying anti-piracy services,” he added. Another important intelligence tool highlighted by Sharpe was distributor-level watermarking for content owners. “This enables them to identify which pay–TV platforms are most impacted by piracy, with a view to knowing where to strengthen content protection.” For Sharpe, perhaps the most important tool in the anti-piracy toolbox is subscriber-level watermarking, which allows identification of individuals redistributing content and ultimately access revocation. “It’s extremely effective against piracy, even with peer-to-peer and non-compliant hosts,” he claimed. “Importantly, by deploying these types of anti-piracy services, a real difference can be made to the piracy landscape. For instance, one major broadcaster was the original source for 60 per cent of sports piracy in its market. This level was reduced to less than one per cent within weeks with the deployment of watermarking,” he stated.

BULILIMA West legislator Dingumuzi Phuti has called on government to stamp its authority and deal with the scourge of piracy to ensure that artists from different disciplines reap the rewards of their labour. Phuti, who is a former ZBC DJ and a Zimbabwe Music Rights Association (Zimura) board member, told NewsDay Life and Style that there was need for government to ensure the implementation of the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Acts to the letter. “It should be thorough on making sure that there is marriage between the copyright infringers and the knowledge by the judiciary on how to apply punitive measures to those who infringe upon other people’s creativity, which is the intellectual property component of creation,” he said. Phuti said artists had lost money due to piracy and some died paupers because they were robbed of their potential earnings through piracy. “Musicians are losing money from people who pirate their products. They go without getting any cent from it because the person with the gadget that burns a CD and the person who sells the CD on the street both don’t know the value of getting into the studio to record, to pay session musicians, to market your album, to make sleeve designs and to have a polished component or product as a result having it vigorously promoted through live shows, adverts and many more,” he said. Phuti added that art goes beyond just entertainment and called on the Justice ministry to review patent fees to ensure that artists could register their trademarks. “All these people who are inventors, those people that create, those people that put an idea and life into something in order for it to be usable by public, they have to be given the commercial value of their hard thinking, the creativity should also assist them to be more creative because that is an incentive for creativity,” he said.

Australians looking to illegally download the latest episode of Game of Thrones might run into some trouble, with Google de-indexing 832 pirate sites from its local search results. The new collaborative effort between Google, Australian internet service providers and content owners has seen the tech giant voluntary remove the infringing sites. Previously, copyright holders would have to rely on court orders forcing Australian ISPs to block customers from accessing sites that facilitate online piracy. Game of Thrones Daenerys doesn't look like she's in a good mood, maybe she heard about Google's de-indexing. (HBO) However, the costly anti-piracy measure required rights holders to pay a $50 fee to each affected ISP every time it applied to have a URL blocked and was largely ineffective as these sites would deploy alternative domains, mirrors and proxies to undermine the blockades. As a result, the Australia’s Copyright Act was amended to allow rights holders to expand blocks without having to go to court. It also put the pressure on search engines, like Google, to remove these sites from results. At the forefront of the fight was Village Roadshow chief executive Graham Burke who previously accused Google of "facilitating crime" after claiming his studio lost millions of dollars because of piracy of blockbuster films like Mad Max: Fury Road. RELATED ARTICLES Game of Thrones sparks piracy frenzy amid illegal download warning Illegal download warning ahead of Game of Thrones season 8 premiere Journalist captured in Somalia weighed up desperate last act The latest effort is part of a voluntary agreement in which Google has promised to 'de-index' websites blocked by internet providers, even if the court order does not specifically apply to the search giant. Mr Burke applauded Google for stepping up in the fight against pirates. "This means we, as content owners, will be able to avoid the expense, effort, time and uncertainty of going to court," he told Nine Publishing. "We've gone from being enemies to being allies ... because I believe Google is doing the right thing by Australians.” Tom Hardy in Mad Max: Fury Road (Warner Bros) Graham Burke said millions have been lost to pirates. (Warner Bros) Communications Minister Mitch Fifield said he was pleased Google joined the fight against pirates, removing “the need to resort to the mechanisms the law provides”. "This is the sort of voluntary and positive partnership we want to see between platforms and content creators," he said. "The norms and laws that apply in the physical world should also apply in the online world. Copyright law is no exception.” Google said the company would continue to support rights holders where possible. “Google supports effective industry led measures to fight piracy, and we invest significantly in the technology, tools and resources that prevent copyright infringement on our platforms,” a spokesperson said.

Friend MTS is to continue providing anti-piracy protection for United Media’s premium sports content. United Media is part of United Group, the leading telecommunications and media platform in Southeast Europe which operates in all six countries of the former Yugoslavia. Commenting on the development, Dusko Martic, head of content security & DPO at United Media, said: “Our sports channels, including Sport Klub 1, Sport Klub 2, Sport Klub 3,Sport Klub 4 and Sport KlubHD, are all protected with Friend MTS’ automated content monitoring and enforcements services, along with our key sporting events on Nova S, Nova M, Nova BH and Nova TV. “United Media is very proactive with respect to stopping content theft, and our internal security team operates closely with Friend MTS to protect our assets, which include many high-profile sporting events like the UEFA games.” The channels and events are protected by Friend MTS’ Global Monitoring Platform, which uses fingerprint-based content recognition to identify streaming piracy in just a few seconds. Take down services are triggered automatically to speed action against illegal redistribution. Simon Hanna, regional VP EMEA at Friend MTS, added: “With the prolific growth in streaming piracy clearly impacting revenues and subscribers in the entertainment industry, it’s essential for content theft to be prioritised with concerted action taken by content owners, broadcasters and operators. “Streaming piracy can be addressed effectively when it is tackled rigorously by operations and technical teams working closely together.”

CATONSVILLE, MD, May 14, 2019 - Researchers from the University of Houston and Western University in London, Ontario, published new research in the INFORMS journal Management Science that has found that the power of word of mouth (WOM) is effective at boosting demand for counterfeited copies of motion pictures, but it depends on when the copies are made available. The study to be published in an upcoming edition of the INFORMS journal Management Science is titled "Does Piracy Create Online Word of Mouth? An Empirical Analysis in the Movie Industry," and is authored by Shijie Lu of the University of Houston, and Xin (Shane) Wang and Neil Bendle of Western University in London, Ontario. According to the study's authors, counterfeiting or online piracy can help create online WOM and boost demand, but if the counterfeits are made available during the pre-release time period in advance of the motion picture's official screening, that can lead to lower box office revenues. But, when counterfeited copies of movies are made available to the public after the official release of a motion picture, the pirated copies show a positive correlation to the WOM effect and higher revenues. The researchers were able to use real-world developments, in part, to analyze the impact of limited online access to counterfeits when a major web site that traffics in online motion picture piracy was taken down. "One of the key online piracy sites, The Pirate Bay, was blocked in Russia since 2015," said Lu. "Because of that, we were able to estimate the impact of piracy on WOM and revenue by applying research methods to all movies widely released in the United States from 2015 to 2017. We were then able to effectively use Russian piracy data to construct instrument variables for piracy in the United States." In addition, the study's authors noticed that there was a period when the site was temporarily taken down after a raid from the Swedish Police in December 2014. During the period when the site was down there was a decline in word-of-mouth volume and revenues that were consistent with the effect of lower post-release piracy predicted by the researchers' models. "The net effect of post-release piracy varies across genres of motion picture. Action movies benefit the most, and thrillers benefit the least," said Lu. "In the process, we conclude that studio managers seeking to counter the negative effects of piracy on their revenues may be best served to target their resources on combating pre-release piracy, because post-release piracy can actually be a net positive."

Viaccess-Orca has announced a collaboration with research institute, technology provider and innovation accelerator b<>com to fight piracy. The first step in the long-term partnership what is claimed to be a unique innovation in watermarking that tracks pirates who redistribute illegal streaming services. The companies say that illegal streaming services are proliferating, and the threat is mutating, making it necessary to offer new technologies in order to fight this new type of piracy. The new innovative, flexible tracking algorithm solution is designed to enables the real-time digital marking of video streams, including 4K formats, regardless of what device is used, such as a TV decoder, tablet, smartphone, or web player. The solution will see b<>com’s proficiency in cybersecurity complemented by Viaccess-Orca’s expertise in content protection and pirate stream analysis. “b<>com is particularly proud and happy to count Viaccess-Orca among its members. Protecting content and people for a balanced, ethical use of digital technologies is of critical importance in our view,” said Bertrand Guilbaud, CEO of b<>com. “The arrival of Viaccess-Orca strengthens our strategy and will enable us to define a broader ambition and provide cutting-edge technologies more quickly on a market that is changing at lightning speed Added Viaccess-Orca CEO Paul Molinier: “The emergence of new forms of piracy such as live restreaming of content on the internet means that we need to provide suitable solutions to our clients. This collaboration with b<>com is even more important for Viaccess-Orca in order to offer more innovative anti-piracy services that fit into our broader content security product offering and meet the expectations of content providers and rights-owners.”

Like many other video game companies, Nintendo does not tolerate piracy. Over the past year, we have heard about the Japanese publisher and developer taking action against individuals selling modified systems and sharing ROMS online. This has resulted in a number of legal battles and some hefty fines. As part of its measures to prevent piracy, a long time ago, Nintendo set up an "anti-piracy" website –allowing viewers to report, detect and learn about internet piracy. Now, Twitter user @AkfamilyhomeAK has discovered it has been shut down, redirecting browsers to the modern Nintendo site. According to The Internet Archive, the anti-piracy site was last active on 18th February 2019. The earliest archived image dates back to 2002 and the page got redesigned in 2008, with copyright covering 1997-2008. The Internet Archive Following this discovery, some replies on Twitter suggested Nintendo had officially won the battle against piracy, while others joked the company had "finally given up" on the fight. Realistically, though, it was an old website and one that probably should have been closed a long time ago. We're sure the legal section on Nintendo's modern site is more than enough. Are you sad to see such an old Nintendo webpage go? Will you miss angry Mario? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The Ukrainian-Russian group Star Media has entered the market for the protection of online content from piracy. According to Kommersant, it has developed a system for removing links with illegal content and signed the first contract with a third party partner, the Prior group of companies. It adds that Star Media is one of the largest producers of TV series in Russia, with over 6,000 hours of content in its library. Meanwhile, Prior is a film and TV production company and also distributes content and TV and DVDs. Star Media expects to secure a third of the market of pre-trial protection of film content from piracy. The largest companies in the anti-piracy sector are Group-IB and WebKontrtol.