Development: Captain Marvel skips Netflix for Disney+; Fox orders AI thriller; more

Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed earlier that Captain Marvel would not be available on Netflix at any point. According to Deadline, the studio will want to keep the streaming rights for itself  This marks the beginning of the era where the House of Mouse will be trying to keep all its properties under one roof, including its upcoming streaming platform Disney+. 

"What we’re basically trying to do here is invest in our future," Iger explained, saying that this is "all designed so that long-term this business will become an important part of Disney’s bottom line." 

The decision, however, will be a costly one. CFO Christine McCarthy said the loss of Netflix throughout 2019 could eat into their overall profit margin by about $150 million. 

Still, Iger referenced the old 'spend money to make money' argument, calling it "the equivalent of deploying capital to build out our theme parks." Considering Disney made a whopping $15 billion (!) last year, it seems like a drop in the bucket, honestly. 

Next up, two movie studios have rebranded as one. Per Variety, both MGM and Annapurna Pictures will now, collectively, be known as United Artists Releasing. The United Artist label will turn 100 this year, and MGM has long owned the rights to the studio. 

The upcoming release slates for both studios will be unaffected, as they're still planning on putting out the still-untitled Bond 25 and the Child's Play reboot, among others. 

"I could not be more excited to have the opportunity to expand this releasing venture under the iconic banner that is United Artists," said Annapurna CEO Megan Ellison. MGM Motion Picture Group president Jonathan Glickman echoed the sentiment, saying that "our joint venture was founded around the same principle as its namesake: to help filmmakers maintain financial and artistic control."

(via Variety)

Finally, Fox has ordered a new pilot rooted in modern-day AI research. Deadline reports that the network has ordered the pilot neXT, which was written by American Horror Story producer Manny Coto. 

Of course, the series will go Skynet, as the brilliant, paranoid main character joins a Homeland Cybersecurity Agent to stop a rogue AI with the ability to continuously improve itself. This rogue AI also proves to be a threat to all humanity, which is to be expected. 

As of now, there's no official premiere date for neXT, but we'll keep you posted. 

(via Deadline)