Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power returns next month for its third season. Prime Video unveiled a teaser earlier this year at San Diego Comic-Con, but we haven't heard much about the new season otherwise. We now have the official full trailer, and it's jam-packed with a rising Sauron, who is intent on conquering Middle-Earth with his army of Orcs—with the fractured opposition of elves, dwarves, and men scrambling to figure out how best to stop him. We also meet the human men who will become the Ringwraiths; the showrunners have dubbed them the Nazgnagol ("Rings-servant").
(Some spoilers for the first two seasons below.)
Prime Video made a major investment in The Rings of Power when it acquired the rights to the source material from the Tolkien estate, even committing to multiple seasons upfront. S3 is set seven years after the events of S2 and opens when the war between the elves and Sauron is at its height. Per the official synopsis:
Carrie White, the telekinetic prom queen from hell, is one of the most beloved horror icons in popular culture. First introduced in Stephen King's 1974 novel, Carrie, the character was immortalized in director Brian De Palma's 1976 adaptation, widely regarded as one of the best horror films of all time. It's certainly one of the best King adaptations. So Mike Flanagan faced a massive challenge when he signed on to create an eight-episode miniseries for Prime Video based on the book, released just in time to mark the 50th anniversary of de Palma's film.
I was among the skeptics who questioned why a Carrie miniseries was even necessary, although as a diehard Flanagan fan ("Flana-fan"?), I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. If anyone has an affinity for smartly adapting horror in general, and King's work in particular, it's Flanagan. And you know what? With one (very big) exception, Flanagan pulls it off, giving us a richly textured version of the story that is as much about kindness and lost innocence as bloody, vengeful rage—although we get plenty of the latter, too.
(Many spoilers below for the novel and the 1976 film, but there are no major reveals for the new series until after the second gallery. We'll give you a heads-up when we get there.)
A Prime 360 replay shows a Lakers-Pacers play from a court-level angle. (Amazon Image)
Amazon is bringing a new AI-powered camera system to the court as the tech giant gets ready to tip off its second season of basketball coverage on Prime Video.
Called Prime 360, the technology uses an array of high-resolution cameras positioned around the arena to capture plays from multiple angles. Amazon’s proprietary AI models then process the footage to create highlight replays that the company says traditional cameras can’t replicate.
The feature will appear during live games and as an analysis tool on the pregame, halftime and postgame shows for select broadcasts. Amazon said it built the system with a team of producers, engineers and AI scientists, using its in-house AWS Trainium chips.
“Think of it like a video game camera,” Josh Green, an associate producer, said in an Amazon video describing the tech (below).
The cameras are calibrated and synchronized, and their footage is sent to the AWS cloud, where each play is reconstructed as a 3D scene — opening up possibilities beyond a normal replay.
“I want to see this play again, and you could actually fly the camera through the play,” said Wade Wakashige, a director of product. The view gives fans at home “something that the customer in the arena can’t see,” he added.
Introducing Prime 360 🎥
Prime Video's proprietary, AI-powered technology that utilizes an array of high-res cameras around the court and AWS Trainium chips to deliver cinematic highlights you've never seen before! pic.twitter.com/mOlikDb45u
Prime Video is also adding a fantasy basketball integration with Yahoo Sports. Viewers who link their accounts will see their fantasy rosters and real-time stats on screen during games. They’ll also get recommendations for live and upcoming games featuring players on their teams.
Amazon debuted “NBA on Prime” last October with a Celtics-Knicks game — reviewed by GeekWire — the first under an 11-year deal that gives the company exclusive rights to select regular-season and playoff games. Bloomberg reported that Amazon is paying about $1.8 billion annually for the rights.
This season, Amazon says it will stream more than 100 regular-season and postseason games. In the playoffs, that includes the Play-In Tournament exclusively, select first- and second-round games, and, for the first time, exclusive coverage of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Several tech-driven extras from the first season are back. Fans can again track their active FanDuel bets during broadcasts, though they still can’t place wagers through Prime Video. The Prime Vision alternate stream returns as well, serving as a testing ground for AI-powered stats and graphics, such as flagging offensive players in position to score, that can graduate to the main broadcast.
The “NBA on Prime” season opener is Oct. 23, with a doubleheader: the defending champion New York Knicks host the Boston Celtics at 4 p.m. PT, followed by the Houston Rockets against the San Antonio Spurs in Austin at 6:30 p.m. PT.
The programming is included with a Prime membership, which costs $139 a year or $14.99 a month. Games stream in English and Spanish on the Prime Video app and the web.
“Spider-Noir” streamed for one season before being canceled. (Amazon Prime Video Image)
Nicolas Cage is drawing a hard line in the digital sand against artificial intelligence, revealing that he likely won’t work with Amazon again after refusing to sign an AI waiver for his now-canceled Prime Video series “Spider-Noir.”
Speaking during a panel at New York Comic Con over the weekend, the actor didn’t mince words about his clash with the studio.
“Amazon is a very AI-friendly company, to the tune of $50 billion invested in OpenAI,” Cage told the crowd, according to The Wrap. “I am not an AI-friendly actor, so it’s like, connect those dots! I’m not a member of their club. I didn’t sign the waiver to let them use AI on ‘Spider Noir.’ I’m probably not going to be working with that studio again, but that’s OK.”
Inspired by the Marvel Comics character, “Spider-Noir” starred Cage as Ben Reilly, an aging, down-on-his-luck private investigator in 1930s New York City who is forced to grapple with his past life as the city’s lone super-powered vigilante.
Despite garnering 11 Emmy Award nominations, Prime Video abruptly canceled the series after just a single eight-episode season.
Cage is famous for boundary-pushing roles in classics like “Leaving Las Vegas,” “Face/Off,” and “National Treasure.” The Oscar winner teased his next pivot to the small screen, hinting that he is set to star in Season 5 of HBO’s anthology crime drama “True Detective.”
And Cage’s anti-AI stance appears to be shaping his future creative ambitions, with Kotaku reporting that the actor expressed a desire to team up with younger, DIY-reared directors — specifically shouting out 21-year-old YouTube sensation Kane Parsons, creator of the viral “Backrooms” series — who honed their skills online and share his deep skepticism toward generative tech.
“They’re doing it from scratch and by hand,” Cage said. “I want to get with that.”
We got our first look at Prime Video's new sci-fi series Blade Runner 2099in July at San Diego Comic-Con. With the show's premiere roughly six weeks away, the streamer unveiled the full trailer this weekend at New York Comic-Con. Co-stars Michelle Yeoh and Hunter Schafer (Euphoria) joined showrunner Silka Luisa (Shining Girls) onstage for the big reveal.
We are 50 years after [Blade Runner] 2049 and, bad news, the worst has happened. The replicant uprising that has been bubbling up in the films has taken place and the humans have lost. So the creations have surpassed their creators. And the series, the big question it asks is, ‘What happens when our time as a species ends?’ 2099 is taking place at a junction point when one species is ending and a new one is rising. The first film, something I loved about it, was that it was looking at mortality on a micro level. Roy Batty and the other replicants were fighting for more life. This show asks that same question but on a macro level. Mankind—what happens when we realize our time is running out? And are we going to accept that loss? Can we hold on to our humanity during it?
Yeoh stars as Olwen, the dying Replicant, while Schafer plays Cora. The cast also includes Hugo Hamlet as Buster Friendly, as well as Dmitri Abold, Lewis Gribben, Katelyn Rose Downey, Daniel Rigby, Johnny Harris, Amy Lennox, Sheila Atim, Matthew Needham, Tom Burke, and Maurizio Lombardi—all in as-yet-undisclosed roles.
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