Disney+ UK Announces ‘Big Sky’, ‘Love, Victor’ & ‘Marvel’s Helstrom’ & More Premiering Feb Under New “Star” Brand
Disney+ UK has announced some of the new shows (along with a slew of bingeable boxsets) which will premiere this February when they launch the new “general entertainment brand” STAR on the streaming service, including US hit ‘Big Sky‘, ‘Love, Simon’ followup series ‘Love, Victor‘, and ‘Helstrom‘.
If you haven’t been following some of the recent developments with Disney+, this may seem a little confusing as these are most definitely not shows aimed at a younger audience. This is because, on 23rd February, Disney+ will be adding a new general entertainment channel, branded as STAR, to the streaming service, which will feature more mature content from across all Disney-owned properties. They will also add parental controls, so you can lock the new section away from impressionable young minds.
New to the UK premiering shows include:
‘Big Sky‘, a crime drama from ‘Big Little Lie’s creator David E. Kelley, which follows private detectives Cassie Dewell (Kylie Bunbury) and Cody Hoyt (Ryan Phillippe) who join forces with his estranged wife and ex-cop, Jenny Hoyt (Katheryn Winnick), to search for two sisters who have been kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote highway in Montana. But when they discover that these are not the only girls who have disappeared in the area, they must race against the clock to stop the killer before another woman is taken.
https://youtu.be/uh-IaEaEdE0
‘Love, Victor‘ is set in the world of the 2018 groundbreaking film ‘Love, Simon’, which was inspired by Becky Albertalli’s acclaimed novel, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, and follows Victor, a new student at Creekwood High School on his own journey of self-discovery, facing challenges at home, adjusting to a new city and exploring his sexual orientation. When it all seems too much, he reaches out to Simon to help him navigate the ups and downs of high school.
The series stars Michael Cimino (Anabelle Comes Home’), Ana Ortiz (‘Whiskey Cavalier’, ‘Ugly Betty’), James Martinez (‘One Day at a Time’), Isabella Ferreira (‘Orange Is the New Black’), Mateo Fernandez, Rachel Naomi Hilson (‘This Is Us’), Bebe Wood (‘The Real O’Neal’s’, ‘The New Normal’), George Sear (‘Will’, ‘Into the Badlands’), Anthony Turpel (‘The Bold and the Beautiful’) and Mason Gooding (‘Booksmart’).
As the son and daughter of a mysterious and powerful serial killer, ‘Helstrom‘ follows Daimon (Tom Austen) and Ana Helstrom (Sydney Lemmon), and their complicated dynamic, as they track down the worst of humanity — each with their own attitude and skills.
Alongside these premieres, STAR will also contain a stack of boxsets of beloved shows from ABC, FOX, FX and other Disney-owned brands, such as ’24’, ‘The X-Files’, ‘LOST’, ‘Atlanta’, ‘How I Met Your Mother’, ‘Black-ish’, ‘Desperate Housewives’, ‘Prison Break’ and more.
The new content coming to STAR moving forward will vary from territory to territory, depending on existing local licensing deals. For example, in some countries, it will carry the “first-run” rights to FX shows, but that is unlikely in the UK (initially), as FX is already under a “first-run” deal with the BBC… However, I believe that deal runs out in October 2021, and I don’t really see a reason for Disney would renew it, given they now have a direct-to-consumer platform (that’s not to say they won’t, but I can’t see why they would!) What we should get straight away are new Hulu original shows coming to Star in the UK, as we don’t have Hulu over here. Older Hulu shows which have already been sold to other platforms may or may not end up on there depending on deals moving forward.
The addition of STAR also comes with a price increase. Disney+ will move to either £7.99 monthly or £79.90 yearly from February, although if join now for a year you will get it for £59.99 before the price increase kicks in when STAR launches.
All this and more will arrive Tuesday, 23rd February 2021 when STAR launches on Disney+ UK.
