WIRE Buzz: Netflix worth more than Disney; Mnemosyne to series; Community movie?

Almost six months after the launch of Disney+, the Disney streaming service, and the coronavirus pandemic has made stay-at-home binge watching into an international pastime. That said, Disney’s new streamer is still being shadowed by some of its more established competition — with juggernaut Netflix dominating the marketplace so aggressively that it has recently surpassed an impressive financial milestone. As of Wednesday, Netflix’s stock (and thereby its total dollar market value) passed that of Disney.

According to Variety, this occured when Netflix stock leapt to $430 a share, bringing its market cap to almost $188B — just beating out Disney. That all-time high price for Netflix is the peak after a multi-day surge spurred on in part by the homebound population and their viewing habits. Disney, on the other hand, has been seeing recent stock drops since its slate of impressive blockbuster films (both animated fare, live-action Disney blockbusters, and Marvel superhero movies) all got delayed past the lucrative summer season. 

This all comes as part of streaming’s pandemic boom: Amazon also saw an all-time stock price high earlier this week. Shareholders are confident these streamers will benefit from the current environment, which is seeing fans watch more and more streaming content from more and more streaming services.

However, don’t count Disney out. The entertainment giant still has a massive library of content and dominates the theatrical box office. The streaming world will soon see more from it as well, as The Mandalorian’s second season hits Disney+ in October.

Next, the creators of Game of Thrones’ Drogon (and other special effects) are branching out to make an adaptation of its own. VFX house Zoic Studios, which also helped craft the effects in CBS All Access’ The Twilight Zone, is moving into original content — and it’s already scoped out its first project.

Deadline reports that Zoic Studios is looking to turn Tapas Media’s digital comic Mnemosyne (created by Tapas user kelverse) into a series. The high-tech story involves a woman trying to restore her memory after an accident ... only they might not be her memories, and that story might not be a real one after all.

“We were extremely impressed with how in tune Tapas is with what audiences are consuming right now. Their groundbreaking digital platform for comics delivers a remarkable depth of creative and truly engages with its viewers,” said Zoic Studios' founder, Executive Creative Director Chris Jones. “We look forward to working with Tapas to elevate their rich story and help bring these already dynamic visuals to life.”

No timeline is yet set for the Greek mythology-referencing Mnemosyne.

Finally, those comedy diehards hoping against hope that the genre-fluent sitcom Community would indeed get its legendarily fought-for six seasons and a movie might have their flickering hopes flamed by one of the show’s leads.

Joel McHale has led the community-college-centered show since its inception, weathering the weirdness all the way through its brief one-season Yahoo! revival, and now has words of encouragement for those looking for a cinematic turn. Speaking to Variety, McHale said, “There’s way more rumblings than there used to be” about a potential film project involving the franchise.

“Alison [Brie] tweeted that she got a phone call from Sony. They still haven’t called me, maybe Matthew Lillard will take over,” the actor joked. “But I would say there’s a better chance than there’s ever been … For a long time I was like, ‘never gonna happen.’ And now I think with the renewed interest, and I know the cast is interested, that it could happen.”

Since the show hit Netflix, there’s been a revived awareness of the cult favorite that tackled zombies, Dungeons & Dragons, and Doctor Who over its long and funny run. Perhaps the fandom showing its love is also making its way up to the executives?