Will Smith releasing his first new album in 20 years and "Mufasa: The Lion King," Barry Jenkins' photorealistic prequel to the 1994 animated classic, are some of this week's new streaming entertainment releases are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press' entertainment journalists: and Seth Rogen stars in a new Hollywood satire called "The Studio" for Apple TV+, Timothée Chalamet plays Bob Dylan in "A Complete Unknown," and, for video game fans, British studio Rebellion imagines the aftermath of a 1957 accident at a nuclear reactor in the northwest United Kingdom with the title Atomfall.
-- "Mufasa: The Lion King" started out a little like a cub in theaters but ultimately roared to $717 million in worldwide ticket sales. On March 28, Barry Jenkins' photorealistic prequel arrives on Disney+. In it, Mufasa ( Aaron Pierre ) tells the story of how he was washed away from the pride lands by a flood but returns years later to to fulfill his destiny. In her review, AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr wrote that "Mufasa" "isn't simply checking off fan services boxes and overexplaining origins that never needed them: It's actually good."
- James Mangold's Bob Dylan drama "A Complete Unknown" (March 27 on Hulu) might not have won any of the eight awards it was nominated for at the Academy Awards, including best picture and best actor for Timothée Chalamet. But was a hit in theaters and managed a possibly even more elusive prize: the blessing of Dylan, himself. The film charts Dylan's arrival in New York in 1961 and leads up to his infamous Newport Folk Festival appearance four years later. In his review, AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy praised "A Complete Unknown" as more about the Dylan effect than a revealing portrait of enigmatic musician: "It's not who Dylan is but what he does to us."
-- The second 2024 Luca Guadagnino film penned by Justin Kuritzkes and scored by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, "Queer," arrives Mach 28 on Max. While drastically different from Guadagnino's "Challengers," his William S. Burroughs' adaptation, starring Daniel Craig as the Burroughs alter ego Lee, is likewise concerned with the mysteries of romantic connection. "'Queer' is best when it's a character study of Lee, who in Craig's hands is charming, selfish, arrogant, abrasive, foppish and sometimes unable to read a room," Kennedy wrote in his review.
-- On Friday, March 28, Will Smith will release the 14-track "Based on a True Story." Previously released songs may offer some hints about what fans can expect. The record will include "You Can Make It," which Smith debuted at the 2024 BET Awards alongside Kirk Franklin, Fridayy and the gospel choir Sunday Service. Then there are the rap tracks "Tantrum," with Joyner Lucas, "Beautiful Scars" with Big Sean and "Work Of Art" with Russ and his son Jaden Smith.
-- Perfume Genius, the musical moniker of Mike Hadreas, creates at a tension point. On "Glory," out Friday, March 28, his latest collection is at the conceptual intersection of external ambition and a predilection for isolation. On the single "It's A Mirror," he makes the stress known in a familiar twang: "What do I get out of being established?" he sings, "I still run and hide when a man's at the door." This is sinewy, expansive indie-folk, where domesticity is both scary and sexy and everything in between.
-- AP Music Writer Maria Sherman
-- Shows about high-speed racing like Formula One and NASCAR have helped boost the popularity of motorsports but female racers have typically been overlooked by the genre. Just this month, Katherine Legge became the first woman to compete in a NASCAR Cup Series race since Danica Patrick in 2018. A new docuseries from Prime Video called "First to Finish" is dedicated to women in motorsports. It follows Heather Hadley and Sally Mott -- both female drivers -- and Shea Holbrook, a female team owner as they compete in the Mazda MX-5 Cup Championship. "First to Finish" debuts Tuesday on Prime Video.
-- Seth Rogen stars in a new satire called "The Studio" for Apple TV+. Rogen plays Matt Remick, the new head of The Continental, a storied Hollywood studio. Remick loves moviemaking and his romanticized version of the business is often at odds with its need to make money. Rogen is a co-creator on the series and also its writer, director and executive producer alongside his partner Evan Goldberg. Ike Barinholtz, Kathryn Hahn, Catherine O'Hara, Chase Sui Wonder also co-star as industry executives. The show also has guest appearances including Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Anthony Mackie, Ted Sarandos and Olivia Wilde -- all playing exaggerated versions of themselves. It debuts Wednesday.
-- The sequel series to Prime Video's "Bosch" called "Bosch: Legacy" launches its third and final season on Thursday. It stars Titus Welliver as Harry Bosch, a former LAPD detective now working in the private sector. The character was first introduced in novels by Michael Connelly. And here's a fun fact, in Connelly's books Bosch is the half-brother of Mickey Haller, who is the subject of Netflix's "The Lincoln Lawyer."
-- After one of their closest friends dies, three gay men move in together in Palm Springs in Hulu's new comedy, "Mid-Century Modern." It stars Nathan Lane, Nathan Lee Graham and Matt Bomer (as the Rose Nylund of the group if this were "The Golden Girls," of which there are similarities.) The show debuts Friday, March 28 and also features Linda Lavin in her final role.
-- Guy Ritchie's new mafia series "MobLand" comes to Paramount+ on Sunday, March 30. It features an all-star cast including Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, Joanne Froggatt as series regulars. The show follows two rival crime families whose middle-man is played by Hardy.
-- In 1957, a nuclear reactor in the northwest United Kingdom caught fire, releasing radioactive material across Europe. Atomfall, from British studio Rebellion, imagines that the aftermath of that accident was much weirder than reported. Sure, you can expect to run into mutated beasts in the quarantine zone. You might be surprised, though, when you have to deal with rogue government agencies, a creepy cult and killer robots. The British countryside makes for a much prettier setting than what we're used to in postnuclear games like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Fallout -- but watch out for the evil druids. The Geiger counter starts ticking Thursday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.
-- Lou Kesten
