Category Archives: Netflix

Alex Murdaugh’s son sues Netflix over docuseries linking him to 2015 death

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Son of convicted murderer says Netflix defamed him when suggesting he was involved in death of Stephen Smith

Richard Alexander “Buster” Murdaugh, the son of imprisoned South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, has filed a defamation lawsuit against Netflix, accusing the streaming giant of “reckless indifference to the truth” when it linked him to the 2015 death of his schoolfriend Stephen Smith in a documentary.

The 28-year-old son of Alex Murdaugh, who was convicted in 2022 of murdering his wife, Maggie, and youngest son, Paul, seeks actual and punitive damages from Netflix and other companies connected to documentaries examining the murders for damaging his reputation “irreparably” and causing “mental anguish”.

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David Nicholls warns readers against trying to visit novel’s locations

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Bestselling writer says Lake District sites in new book You Are Here are ‘genuinely all made up’

David Nicholls has warned his fans not to attempt to visit the locations in his new novel. While those who loved the hit Netflix adaptation of Nicholls’ novel One Day have been able to visit locations from the series, such as the Lewisham pizza joint Bella Roma or Charlton Lido, the locations in You Are Here “are genuinely all made up”, the author said.

The novel, which was published last month and follows a midlife couple as they hike through the Lake District, contain a disclaimer from the author explaining that while he has “tried to describe the landscape as accurately as possible, the pubs, hotels and restaurants along the way are all entirely fictional”, and he has also “taken a few small liberties with the route”.

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How Bridgerton’s real life Lady Whistledown scandalised 18th-century society

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The subversive work of Eliza Haywood, the feminist forerunner of the TV show’s gossip columnist, is about to be republished

She is the real-life Lady Whistledown, an eyebrow-raising female writer who penned a salacious anonymous gossip sheet that skewered 18th-century London society.

Like the fictional pamphlet from Netflix hit Bridgerton, which returned for a third series last week, Eliza Haywood’s The Parrot, published in 1746, has a distinctive, mocking voice that punches up and “speaks truth to power”. Now, a new book will republish Haywood’s funny, subversive periodical, which she wrote from the perspective of an angry green parrot, and seek to raise awareness of her groundbreaking work.

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Netflix’s One Hundred Years of Solitude brings fame to Gabriel García Márquez’s Colombian hometown

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Locals hope TV adaptation of One Hundred Years of Solitude will bring new life to Aracataca, birthplace of author’s magical realism

In sweltering mid-afternoon heat, children splash in the clear water of the canal that threads through town as elderly neighbours look on from rocking chairs on the porches of their sun-washed houses. Butterflies spring from every bush, sometimes fluttering together in kaleidoscopes.

At the foot of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada mountains, about 20 miles from the Caribbean coast, Gabriel García Márquez’s fictional world of Macondo lives on.

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Baby Reindeer: MP asks Netflix to prove ‘convicted stalker’ allegation

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Firm asked to back up claims about Fiona Harvey after executive’s appearance before select committee

An MP has asked Netflix to provide evidence that the woman who inspired the character Martha Scott in Baby Reindeer is a “convicted stalker”, claiming that a record of her conviction has not yet been found.

Netflix’s director of public policy, Benjamin King, told the culture media and sport committee on 8 May that the show was “the true story of the horrific abuse that the writer and protagonist, Richard Gadd, suffered at the hands of a convicted stalker”.

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‘This coast is saturated’: Italian village braces for post-Ripley crowds

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Netflix hit series based on Patricia Highsmith novel brings prospect of surge in visitors to Atrani area of Amalfi coast

When Andrew Scott’s eponymous character in the hit new Netflix series Ripley travels from Naples to the village of Atrani, the rickety bus has the road almost to itself; a solitary Vespa passes going the other way. When he tracks down Dickie Greenleaf at the beach, the rich American and his girlfriend are the only people sunbathing on the pristine sands.

Visitors to the Amalfi coast today will note the contrast. Unlike in 1961, the road between Positano and Salerno is now known as much for its traffic jams as for the views. Atrani may be less busy than its neighbour Amalfi, but in summer its beach is taken over by rows of umbrellas and sunbeds. A small area, perhaps a fifth of the space, is public spiaggia libera.

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Harry and Meghan to produce two Netflix series about lifestyle and polo

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Nonfiction shows by Sussexes will feature ‘joys of friendship’ and ‘unprecedented access to the world of professional polo’

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are to be the executive producers of two new nonfiction Netflix series focusing on lifestyle and polo.

One show will explore “the joys of cooking, gardening, entertaining and friendship”, while the other will give “unprecedented access to the world of professional polo” and the US Open Polo Championship in Florida, Netflix said.

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‘Flat and shallow’: Netflix’s 3 Body Problem divides viewers in China

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Eight-episode series based on Liu Cixin novels triggers accusations of ‘Americanisation’ of a Chinese story

Netflix’s big-budget adaptation of Three-Body Problem, a series of novels by the Chinese author Liu Cixin, has divided opinion on Chinese social media.

The eight-episode series, 3 Body Problem, was released in full on Netflix on Thursday. It is based on the first book in Liu’s trilogy, an ambitious sci-fi series spanning civilisation from the 1960s to the end of humanity.

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Squid Game actor O Yeong-su convicted of sexual harassment

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The 79-year-old actor who won a Golden Glove for his role as Oh II-nam on the hit Netflix show has been handed a suspended prison sentence

South Korean actor O Yeong-su, who starred in the first season of the hit Netflix series Squid Game, was convicted on Friday on charges of sexual harassment and handed a suspended prison sentence, a court official said.

The Seongnam branch of the Suwon district court sentenced O to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, as well as 40 hours of attendance at a sexual violence treatment programme, the court official said by telephone.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html.

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Holly Willoughby to make Netflix show in first major move since This Morning

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Jungle-based competition in which celebrities try to evade Bear Grylls part of a wide-ranging new Netflix slate

Holly Willoughby has made her first major move since leaving This Morning, signing up to host a new Netflix show, Bear Hunt with Bear Grylls.

In October she announced she was quitting the ITV show after 14 years “for me and my family” after it emerged she was the target of an alleged kidnap and murder plot.

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‘Doesn’t my TV already do this?’: Is Hubbl a Foxtel thought-bubble or worth the trouble?

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Surprisingly, Foxtel’s Hubbl makes a pretty good case for itself even if it doesn’t completely pass the sniff test

Foxtel is set to kickstart a massive marketing blitz to promote its new streaming TV hardware Hubbl. As viewers watch the TV ads featuring Hamish Blake dancing across their screens dressed up as a Hubbl set-top box, many will be asking a not-unreasonable question: “Doesn’t my TV already do this?”

Most Australians now have a smart TV. Australia got serious about streaming TV back in 2015 with the launch of Stan and Netflix. With the general lifespan of a TV being somewhere between 7 and 15 years, it means most of Australia by now have smart TVs or have equipped their TV with a plug-in device to make their TV “smart”.

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Netflix places $5bn bet on live streaming with WWE Raw deal

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Entertainment giant has dabbled with live events in bid to shore up its dominant position as world’s largest streaming platform

Netflix has unveiled a $5bn push into live television after striking a decade-long deal with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to broadcast the hit wrestling show Raw.

The entertainment giant, which led the on-demand streaming revolution, has dabbled with live events in recent years in a bid to shore up its dominant position as the world’s largest streaming platform.

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Flanders government looks to force TikTok and YouTube to share revenue

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Belgium already takes a cut from Netflix and Disney and new income will support local TV production

Cute cat videos, fried chicken clips and viral dances could soon help to finance Belgian TV, with the Flanders government on the verge of passing laws to force TikTok and YouTube to share revenues with local television producers.

“Politically speaking, it is important in audiovisual and media services that there are obligations on companies to invest in local TV content,” the media minister for the Flemish government, Benjamin Dalle, told the Guardian.

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Australia joins international call for local content quotas on streaming TV platforms

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Statement from peak bodies argues independence and viability of global screen industry under threat unless mandatory quotas for non-US content introduced

Australia has joined an international campaign calling on governments to provide better protection for local screen industries in a market dominated by global streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime.

Screen Producers Australia (SPA) issued a joint statement with counterparts in Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand and Canada, demanding regulation to force streaming services to make content that is relevant to local markets where they operate.

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Netflix pulls Indian film after backlash from rightwing Hindu groups

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Annapoorani: the Goddess of Food criticised for depiction of deity and member of vegetarian caste cooking and eating meat

Netflix is embroiled in a backlash in India from rightwing Hindu groups over a film accused of offending religious sentiments for its depiction of a deity and a member of a traditionally vegetarian caste cooking and eating meat.

Annapoorani: the Goddess of Food, a film made in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, tells the story of a young woman of the privileged Brahmin caste, whose father cooks food in a Hindu temple, and her aspirations to become one of India’s best chefs.

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Ex-Malaysian PM’s lawyer pressures Netflix to take down documentary

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Defence counsel for Najib Razak, jailed over fraud scandal, says Man on the Run is ‘sub judice and contemptuous’

A lawyer acting for the disgraced former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has called for the takedown of a Netflix documentary about a multibillion-dollar fraud scandal that occurred under his administration.

Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, the lead defence counsel for Najib, who is serving a 12-year sentence on corruption charges, said Man on the Run was “sub judice and contemptuous”, according to local media reports.

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Denzel Washington’s casting as Hannibal in Netflix film sparks race controversy in Tunisia

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Newspapers and politicians discuss general’s skin tone, saying actor’s casting in the role created ‘a historical error’

A decision to cast black actor Denzel Washington as the ancient Carthaginian general Hannibal in an upcoming Netflix film has sparked a small but heated debate in Tunisia, the military general’s birthplace.

After a similar controversy on race and representation in nearby Egypt over a Netflix docudrama about Cleopatra, Tunisian newspapers, social media and even the halls of parliament have seen discussion on the skin tone of the long-dead leader.

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The Crown actor says events leading to Diana’s death must have been ‘unbearable’

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Elizabeth Debicki has spoken about filming car chase through Paris that led to Diana’s death for final season of royal drama

The actor who played Diana in The Crown said the moments leading up to her death must have been “completely unbearable” after the cast reenacted the car chase through Paris that led to her death for the final season of the divisive royal drama.

The sixth season of The Crown deals with the weeks preceding Diana’s death, as well as the fallout, after a car crash in Paris in August 1997. The first instalment of the season is released on 16 November.

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Netflix’s movie Hurricane Season stirs debate over violent depiction of Mexico

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Based on the prize-winning book by Fernanda Melchor, film depicts brutality stemming from ‘war on drugs’ that began in 2006

A group of children find a body in the river: the village witch, her throat slit, writhing with snakes.

The opening scene of Hurricane Season, a new Netflix movie based on Mexican novelist Fernanda Melchor’s book, plunges the viewer straight into a tropical, lawless, superstitious version of rural Veracruz, Melchor’s home state.

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Contract for Hollywood actors includes $40m yearly in streaming bonuses

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Union leaders on Friday shared details of three-year contract, on AI, wage increases and end to racist hair and makeup practices

Streaming services like Netflix will pay actors bonuses amounting to roughly $40m per year as part of the tentative labor agreement reached between the SAG-AFTRA actors union and major Hollywood studios, union leaders said on Friday after their board backed the deal.

The proposed three-year contract, which the union said was valued at more than $1bn over three years, was endorsed by 86% of SAG-AFTRA’s national board.

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