August is, famously, when the summer movie season starts to draw to a close. Thankfully, TV doesn’t have those same lull periods, meaning that there’s plenty to look forward to on the small screen in the month of August.
I’m particularly excited about Alien: Earth, which will be the first TV show in the Alien franchise and also the first thing in this universe to be set on Earth. Alien: Earth is far from the only thing to be excited about in August, though. Here are five shows I’m particularly looking forward to watching.
This Apple TV+ original is another partnership between Jason Momoa and the studio. This time, Momoa plays a Hawaiian war chief tasked with uniting the tribes of the disparate islands so that they can face off with the colonizers who are threatening their way of life.
The show’s cast is composed almost entirely of native Hawaiian actors, and it could be a fascinating look at a part of America that many Americans don’t spend much time thinking about. Hopefully, it’s a little bit better than See.
Chief of War will be available on Apple TV+.
Wednesday was a phenomenon following its first season, and this follow-up is will try to recapture that same enthusiasm. The show, a twist on The Addams Family, primarily follows their daughter, Wednesday, as she is shipped off to boarding school and must make her way through regular teenage life.
The show made a star out of Jenna Ortega, and season 2 promises to be even bigger and more star-studded than the first installment. Whether that means it will be better is anyone’s guess.
Wednesday will be available on Netflix.
One of the great mysteries this summer is Alien: Earth, which brings the xenomorph to Earth for the very first time. Plus, the Alien franchise makes its debut on television. While it seems impossible to live up to the best of what this franchise can offer, Alien: Earth will follow a young woman who joins up with a group of tactical soldiers to investigate the crash of a space vessel onto Earth.
What they find (which is probably an alien) is left a mystery, but Alien: Earth could expand on the world of the Alien movies in fascinating ways, even if it’s not quite as good as that first movie.
Alien: Earth will be available on Hulu.
Following the success of Supermanin theaters, interest in the new DCU has never been higher. Peacemaker season 2 may reveal more about where this universe is headed, but just as importantly, it will hopefully be an excellent continuation of the show’s remarkable first season.
The brilliance of John Cena’s central performance is worth plenty of praise, but James Gunn managed to find exactly the right supporting cast to put around him. Here’s hoping the lore of the DCU doesn’t overwhelm a character that’s at his best when he’s ignoring the rules altogether.
Peacemaker will be available on HBO Max.
While the DCU might emerge as a real threat to Marvel’s supremacy, Eyes of Wakanda could be proof that Marvel still has a few cards left to play. This animated series seems like it will be largely disconnected from the rest of the MCU, as it tells the story of Wakandan warriors who travel around the world to recover vibranium artifacts.
The animation looks beautiful, and Ryan Coogler’s involvement is a good sign that this show will be a reflection of the Wakanda we’ve fallen in love with on the big screen.
Eyes of Wakanda will be available on Disney+.
China just gave Hollywood a cautionary tale about AI filmmaking. Sanxingdui: Future Past, billed as the country's first fully AI-generated movie, hit theaters on October 23 and bombed at the box office.
According to Futurism, the film's reported $1.5 million production budget landed on more than 10,000 screens. Yet it pulled in only about $181,000, averaging roughly $20 per screen, making the budget difficult to recover.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?