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Bluey is coming to a movie theater near you. Donât tell your kids just yet â youâll have to wait a couple years to see it.
A CG-animated feature film based on the hit series is slated for a 2027 release from The Walt Disney Company and BBC Studios, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Itâll stream on Disney+, and it will air on ABC iview and ABC Kids in Australia, after the global theatrical run of the movie.
The feature is set to âcontinue the adventures of Bluey, a loveable, inexhaustible, blue heeler dog, who lives with her Mum, Dad and her little sister, Bingo,â reads a description from a statement announcing the film.
Vocal talent families already know â including Melanie Zanetti and David McCormack (as Blueyâs mum and dad, Chilli and Bandit Heeler) â are on board for the film, as well as the seriesâ music composer, Joff Bush.
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BBC Studios will finance and license the Bluey movie for distribution, while Disney will release it in theaters worldwide. Bluey creator Joe Brumm is writing and directing, and Ludo Studio is producing in collaboration with BBC Studios.
Series creator Brumm said, âI really enjoyed the experience of working with a longer format on âThe Signâ in Series 3, so going even further with a feature film feels like a natural extension of that. Iâve always thought Bluey deserved a theatrical movie. I want this to be an experiential event for the whole family to enjoy together.â
Last month the Bluey franchiseâs latest soundtrack, Bluey: Rug Island, debuted at No. 1 on Billboardâs Kid Albums chart. Available on vinyl (in a sunset orange edition, or as a picture disc), on CD and as a digital download, almost 60% of the Oct. 25 releasesâs 3,000 first-week sales came from vinyl purchases.
Bluey: Rug Island is the third soundtrack album from the series, following Bluey: The Album (2021) and Dance Mode! (2023). At press time, Bluey: Rug Island ranks at No. 7 on the Kid Albums chart â the chart is currently led by the Vince Guaraldi Trioâs classic A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack as the holiday nears.
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The Billboard Family Hits of the Week compiles whatâs new and worth your familyâs time in music, movies, TV, books, games and more. Forget the mind-numbing scrolling and searching âwhat to watch for family movie nightâ ⌠again. The best in family entertainment each week is all in one place, in this handy guide. Isnât it satisfying to cross something off your list?
Leading up to winter break, you might be looking for ideas on how to entertain your kids while theyâre out of school. If shiny new gifts and holiday cheer start losing their shine as the days go on, let Billboard Family step in with suggestions for what to check out together in mid-late December.
Need to get out of the house together? On Friday, Dec. 20, Disneyâs Mufasa: The Lion King opens in movie theaters, featuring a superstar mother-daughter duo on the cast list. Among the voices lending their talent to the film is 12-year-old Blue Ivy Carter as Kiara, Simba and Nalaâs daughther. Blue Ivy is the real-life daughter of parents Jay-Z and BeyoncĂŠ, who reprises her role as Nala in the franchiseâs latest theatrical release.
Would you rather stay in? Gather up some holiday treats (maybe youâd like to try baking Taylor Swiftâs chai sugar cookies with cinnamon eggnog icing) and cozy up at the couch for the Inside Out spin-off Dream Productions, a miniseries now streaming on Disney+. At just four 20-minute episodes, itâs about the length of a typical family movie.
Weâre always looking for contenders to add to our holiday season playlist, and Lady Gagaâs new rock cover of âSanta Claus Is Coming to Townâ puts a fun twist on a classic.
Always here with a rec for the Swiftie in your home, Iâll say that if you havenât watched them yet, this series of behind-the-scenes clips (just uploaded to YouTube on Swiftâs birthday) are worth tuning in to with fans of any age. They give a glimpse at the work the singer puts in off the stage and behind the camera, in the less glamorous but just as creative role of director.
Find out more about this weekâs top picks in the Billboard Family Hits of the Week:
Stream Pixarâs âDream Productionsâ on Disney+
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Technology has become an integral part of our day-to-day life, whether itâs to make plans with friends or to direct you […]
A Lionel Messi-inspired animated series will soon premiere on Disney Channel after Disney Branded Television acquired Messi and the Giants from Sony Music Vision and Sony Pictures Television â Kids, Billboard has learned.Â
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The sci-fi animated show follows a 12-year-old boy named Leo, who is transported from his home in Argentina into an alternate universe. The series will demonstrate how the character faces adversity, builds a team, and discovers how to become a hero.Â
âI always dreamed of being involved in a project that would share the values of sports, the very same values that have been so important to my career, with younger generations,â Messi expressed in a press release. âNothing truly is impossible with teamwork, perseverance, discipline, and hard work. I look forward to sharing this series with kids around the world, and I hope I will inspire them and motivate them to achieve their own dreams. Ever since I was a kid, I always loved animated series, and I look forward to watching this series with my own kids.âÂ
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Each episode of Messi and the Giants is 22-minutes long and will premiere on Disney Channel, followed by Disney Channel On Demand and globally on DIsney+, and will be available in English, Spanish and other languages. Â
Messi and the Giants
Disney
âFootball â or soccer as we call it in the United States â is the worldâs most beloved sport, uniting and captivating millions of fans of all ages,â noted Ayo Davis, president, Disney Branded Television. âWe are proud to work with Lionel Messi and Sony Pictures Television to bring âMessi and the Giantsâ to our passionate, global kidsâ audience. We know that its themes of family, friendship, and teamwork will resonate with not only football enthusiasts but everyone everywhere who loves a great story.âÂ
âItâs been a privilege to team with Leo and our colleagues at Sony Music on this first-time collaboration,â Joe DâAmbrosia, EVP and general manager, Sony Pictures Television â Kids added. âWeâre thrilled that Disney is giving a global platform to this fun take on a classic tale and look forward to launching a global consumer products and branded partnerships program alongside the showâs debut.âÂ
âThere is an incredible team all working together on this project, with Leoâs magic as the inspiration behind it all,â said Afo Verde, Chairman & CEO, Sony Music Latin Iberia. âWe are thrilled that Disney has now joined our roster to help bring this imaginative series to audiences and inspire fans all around the world.âÂ
To date, Messi is the only athlete in the world to win eight Ballon dâOr Awards and six Golden Boots. In July, he joined the MLS team Inter Miami.Â
Guy Toubes will serve as executive producer, and Atlantis Animation, and director Dan Creteur will serve as the showâs animation studio. The series was developed by Toubes and Creteur under the creative direction of Sony Music Vision and SPT â Kids, in partnership with Messi.
The Kelly Clarkson Show has been renewed by NBC Owned Television Stations group for a seventh season.
âKelly Clarkson is a national treasure,â Tracie Wilson, executive vice president, syndication studios and E! News at NBCUniversal, said in a statement. ââŚThereâs an appetite in talk for stories that entertain and inspire, and The Kelly Clarkson Show is a shining star that delivers for our stations and connects with viewers across multiple generations in meaningful ways.â
Valari Staab, chairman, NBCUniversal Local, added: âKelly and her team continue to raise the bar in daytime television. The showâs consistent viewership, engaging content and high production quality has made it a valuable part of our programming lineup across the NBC-owned stations.â
Since its launch in 2019, The Kelly Clarkson Show has collected 22 Daytime Emmys. Clarkson has won personally won eight of those awards (compared to three Grammys over a much longer period of time). Impressively, she has won at least one Emmy in each of the five seasons.
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The Kelly Clarkson Show won outstanding daytime talk series for the fourth consecutive year at the 2024Â Daytime Emmys, which were held in Los Angeles on June 7. In accepting the award, Clarkson gave special thanks to NBC for listening to her concerns when she proposed moving the show from Los Angeles to New York.
âThanks to NBC for believing in our show. âŚThe fact that NBC, a huge company, took time and listened when I said âHey, my life is not going super great. I donât know if I can live here [in L.A.] anymore. I donât know if I can do this.â And they really wrapped their arms around us and they helped us move. And the move has been so great for not just me and my family but our whole show. It takes a lot of time and money and effort to do that. It is not unnoticed. I just want to say thank you for thinking of mental health as well as, you know, a product.â
For the 2024-25 season, The Kelly Clarkson Show averages 1.2 million viewers per day, and consistently ranks as one of the top syndicated talk shows. The show airs in syndication on more than 200 stations across the country.
The Kelly Clarkson Show films in studio 6A at 30 Rockefeller in New York City. Alex Duda is executive producer and showrunner. Clarkson is also executive producer.
The second half of Jon M. Chuâs Wicked films might be nearly a year away, but fans got their first major detail about the sequel on Monday (Dec. 16) when Universal Pictures announced its official title. According to a social media teaser, the follow-up to the Nov. 22 live-action musical starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana […]
Over the years, as Grammy-nominated multi-instrumentalist and producer Alissia was growing her career, she started hosting kickbacks at her New York-based studio called The Spaceship. Sheâd invite artists, musicians and DJs in hopes that they would connect â and maybe even collaborate.
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âOrganically, I would invite people to come through, and theyâd be like, âOh, send me a playlist of this.â And then they would connect and exchange numbers,â she says. âNowadays, features happen by sending a track through text or email. We were losing a little bit of that humanness and that magic that happens when you really get to know the person and vibe.â
But last year, her gatherings outgrew The Spaceship; in June 2023, Alissia expanded the series into an exclusive party called Boogie Nights, with its first edition launching at New Yorkâs Virgin Hotel. âThereâs a photo booth, thereâs little popcorn holders. Thereâs logos and stickers, and itâs all disco balls. Thereâs a Le Freak Câest Chic Martini,â she says. âI wanted to make it a cute, elevated experience.â
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Alissia and Anderson .Paak
Kathy Rosario
Inspired by Studio 54, Boogie Nights became the grooviest alternative option for creatives in the music and fashion industries, who were craving something more meaningful than the club scene but still wanted to be outside. Boogie Nights has since become one of the hottest tickets in town, with just five gatherings happening so far, including this February during Los Angelesâ Grammy week (held at the West Hollywood EDITION hotel) and most recently this September for New York Fashion Week (held at the eventâs PUBLIC hotel homebase).
âAt the last Boogie Nights [during NYFW], Ravyn Lenae sat in and we did a song thatâs coming out that we did together,â says Alissia â adding that a goal is to feature new music that recently dropped or is just about to. And prior to that, Alissiaâs frequent collaborator Anderson .Paak (who spins vinyl as DJ Pee Wee) had A-list guests like Lucky Daye and Leon Thomas dancing under the 400 disco balls that cover the ceiling of Los Angelesâ Sunset at EDITION during her pre-Grammy party earlier this year.
As for the upcoming Grammys? Alissia confirms she plans to bring Boogie Nights back to LA, previously telling Billboard: âLA is the perfect place, Grammys is the perfect time.â
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One of country musicâs favorite holiday traditions airs on TV tonight with Little Big Townâs Christmas at the Opry. The annual musical event features some of the biggest stars in country music performing in front of a live audience at Nashvilleâs famed Grand Ole Opry House.
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Want to watch the Christmas special? Hereâs what you need to know.
How to Watch Christmas at the Opry 2024 on TV
Little Big Townâs Christmas at the Opry airs tonight, December 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. You can watch the 2024 Christmas at the Opry special on TV through your local NBC affiliate.
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How to Stream Little Big Townâs Christmas at the Opry Online
You can also watch Little Big Townâs Christmas at the Opry online without cable by streaming it through a live TV service, like DirecTV Stream, Fubo, or Hulu + Live TV. All three streamers carry a live feed of NBC so you can watch Christmas at the Opry live online.
Use this free trial to DirecTV Stream to livestream Christmas at the Opry online for free. Your free trial lasts for five days, so you can use it to test out all of DirecTV Streamâs offerings to find the plan that works best for you.
We also like Fubo, which offers a live NBC feed that you can use to watch the Little Big Town special online without cable. Grab this 7-day free trial to Fubo to stream the holiday show for free. Fuboâs free trial includes free DVR, so you can record the broadcast to watch back later.
Following its live broadcast on December 16, the special will be available for streaming on Peacock the next day. Peacock subscribers can log into their account to stream Little Big Townâs Christmas at the Opry on-demand. Not a subscriber? Sign up for Peacock here, with plans from $7.99/month.
Who Is Performing at Christmas at the Opry 2024?Â
In addition to Little Big Town, this yearâs Christmas at the Opry event features performances from Dan + Shay, Kelsea Ballerini, Sheryl Crow, Josh Groban, Kate Hudson, Kirk Franklin and Orville Peck. The holiday special features a mix of solo performances, duets and special collaborations on both festive hits and fan favorite songs.
Little Big Townâs hosting gig comes on the heels of their 25th anniversary as a group. The country four-some also released their first holiday album in October, appropriately titled, The Christmas Album.
By day, LISAâs character in White Lotus appears in a new teaser to be a buttoned-up hotel staff member. But by night?
Exactly two months ahead of the premiere of the hit showâs third season, HBO dropped a minute-and-a-half trailer Monday (Dec. 16) featuring the BLACKPINK band member as an employee of the fictional titular hotel chainâs Thailand location. In one clip, she smiles professionally while telling guests, âWelcome to The White Lotus in Thailand, ka.â
But in another clip, LISA looks like an entirely different person. Dressed in a traditional-looking headpiece at what appears to be an after-hours bonfire celebration, the star makes smoldering eye contact with someone offscreen while giving a sly smile.
With Leslie Bibb, Dom Hetrakul, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan, Parker Posey and more actors also starring in the next chapter of White Lotus, the rest of the teaser shows the new seasonâs characters exploring the city streets and nature of sunny Thailand before quickly succumbing to the temptations of nightlife. âEveryone runs from pain towards pleasure,â says a voice-over. âBut they get there only to find more pain.â
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HBO first announced the Thai rapperâs casting in the showâs third season in February. In August, LISA opened up about securing her first onscreen gig in an interview with Elle, telling the publication, âIâm super excited and nervous, because itâs my first acting project.â
Calling White Lotus director âa genius,â the performer added that she âcriedâ when she learned sheâd been tapped for the season. âI was happy for a second, and then I was like, âOh, wait, wait, how am I going to deliver this?ââ she said. âItâs pretty new to me, but I think itâs similar to shooting music videos. Iâm excited for my fans to see it. I feel like people are going to fall in love with Thailand even more.â
Fans got their very first look at LISAâs acting in February, when she briefly appeared in a teaser welcoming hotel guests to the resort.
The new teaser comes about a month after LISA announced that her debut solo album, Alter Ego, is slated to arrive Feb. 28. The project is preceded by âRockstarâ â which reached No. 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 â âNew Womanâ with RosalĂa and âMoonlit Floor (Kiss Me).â
The third season of White Lotus arrives on HBO and streams on Max Feb. 16. See LISA in the new teaser above.
Sure, the sun will come out tomorrow, but for right now, viral comedian Randy Rainbow isnât looking forward to a new day dawning on Donald Trumpâs presidency. In his latest parody video, Rainbow sits down for another faux interview with the president-elect, this time mocking Trump for his widely criticized cabinet picks, specifically calling out […]