Disney+ and Hulu have ordered a reboot of Glee from 20th Television, the studio behind the original Fox series (2009–2015, six seasons, 121 episodes), announced Oct. 21, 2026. Co-creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan have written a script. Murphy has said he has been in touch with around 10 original cast members. Deadline reports Lea Michele is in talks to reprise Rachel Berry; Matthew Morrison is not in talks as of now. No casting, premiere date or episode count has been announced. All 121 original episodes stream on Hulu, and the show's music draws about 4 million monthly Spotify listeners.

Cover photo: "YA Show 2007" by Detasseler, Wikimedia Commons, public domain — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:YA_Show_2007.JPG

Shutterfly has been named the Official Photo Gift Partner of Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort, Disney Cruise Line and Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, in a long-term alliance announced Oct. 20, 2026.

Starting Oct. 20, Walt Disney World and Disneyland guests can link their MyDisney and Shutterfly accounts so eligible, purchased Disney PhotoPass photos appear automatically in their Shutterfly library. Shutterfly says this typically takes under 10 minutes and can take up to 24 hours. The photos themselves are not free: guests still need a purchase such as Memory Maker. Disney Cruise Line and Aulani guests get a similar experience in early 2027.

Shutterfly is also opening a Disney shopping hub on Shutterfly.com, with photo books, cards, home décor, games and ornaments, plus designs inspired by individual Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort parks.

Launch offer: guests who buy an undiscounted 30-day Memory Maker between Oct. 20 and Dec. 31, 2026, and link MyDisney to Shutterfly, can get a free Shutterfly gift. The offer is for U.S. and Canada residents, limited to one per account, and must be redeemed within a month.

Cover photo: "Sleeping Beauty Castle 2019" by CrispyCream27, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sleeping_Beauty_Castle_2019.jpg

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ESPN, Lucasfilm, Disney and the NFL have announced Star Wars Funday Football, a real-time animated alternate telecast of Super Bowl LXI set in the Star Wars galaxy. The game is on Sunday, February 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium. It's ESPN's first Super Bowl, and this is the first animated Super Bowl presentation. The telecast streams live on Disney+ and the ESPN App and airs on Disney Channel and Disney XD.

Every play is recreated as it happens, with players as animated avatars and Star Wars characters subbing in. Original 1977 cast member Anthony Daniels returns to voice C-3PO. The animation runs on Sony's Beyond Sports technology, using NFL Next Gen Stats and Hawk-Eye tracking. This is the fourth Funday Football, and it reaches 155+ markets.

SC+ on Disney+ adds Star Wars "Hyperspace Highlights" of Monday Night Football starting October 20. From October 26, an animated Darth Vader interviews an NFL player each Monday. The restored 1977 Star Wars returns to theaters on February 19, 2027.

Lens: Disney is turning ESPN's first Super Bowl into a launchpad for Star Wars' 50th anniversary, putting C-3PO in the game five days before the original film returns to theaters.

Photo: SoFi Stadium, by "Thank You (21 Millions+) views" on Flickr, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).

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ESPN on Disney+ is now available in the Philippines inside existing Disney+ subscriptions, with a dedicated ESPN hub for live sports, replays, studio shows and documentaries. UFC, Disney+ and ESPN also announced a multi-year exclusive media-rights agreement that makes ESPN on Disney+ the home of UFC in the Philippines. It covers live numbered events, Fight Nights, and originals such as UFC Countdown, UFC Connected and The Ultimate Fighter.

Coverage starts with UFC 333, Volkanovski vs. Evloev, from Abu Dhabi on Saturday, October 24. Prelims begin at 10pm PHT, and the main card starts at 2am PHT on Sunday, October 25. NBA Tip-Off Week games stream from October 22 under the "Ito ang Homecourt Mo!" campaign.

Lens: Disney is leaning on live sports to grow Disney+ across Asia Pacific, putting every live UFC event on subscriptions Filipinos already have.

Photo: Haribhagirath / Wikimedia Commons (CC0).

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Consumer groups Euroconsumers, Altroconsumo (Italy), Testachats/Test-Aankoop (Belgium) and DECO PROteste (Portugal) have sent Disney a formal notice over its downgraded Disney+ Premium plan. A patent dispute with InterDigital led Disney to remove Dolby Vision and temporarily pull 4K UHD and HDR in 11 EU countries, while Premium kept its full price. Since early August Disney has brought 4K back on some devices using an alternative technology. HDR has not returned.

The groups want Disney to cut Premium prices automatically and credit subscribers at least €5 a month for the whole period. They put the cost at about €12 million a month for Italy, Belgium and Portugal, and up to about €63 million a month across all 11 countries. Disney has 14 days from receiving the notice to respond. After that, the groups say they will take the case to the EU's Consumer Protection Cooperation Network and national authorities.

Lens: Disney+ Premium subscribers, including in Portugal, kept paying full price for months after the patent fight stripped out premium picture features, and consumer groups now want automatic price cuts and refunds, or EU regulators get involved.

Photo: Shixart1985 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).

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About 1,700 Disneyland character and parade performers, organized as Magic United under Actors' Equity, rally today, Saturday, October 17, from 10 a.m. to noon PT near the resort at Harbor Boulevard and Katella Avenue, pushing for a first contract. This is a rally, not a strike. The performers voted to unionize in May 2024, and the two sides have now bargained for more than 50 days. The union says Disney's proposal leaves out paid parental leave and offers no raise in the first year. Disney says these cast members already received a 4% raise in early 2026 and that it has proposed raises over the life of the agreement. Talks resume October 27–28.

Lens: the costumed faces guests line up to meet still have no first contract after two years, with paid parental leave and first-year pay at the center of the gap.

Photo: Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times.

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Disney and Dude Perfect announced a company-wide creative partnership on October 15, 2026. The deal includes a non-exclusive license of Dude Perfect's short-form videos for Disney+, ESPN and Disney's social channels, plus new original content tied to Disney's biggest upcoming moments, including Super Bowl LXI, Star Wars' 50th anniversary and Avengers: Doomsday. No project dates were announced.

Editorial lens: Disney is treating a YouTube trick-shot crew like a franchise partner, licensing Dude Perfect's short videos for Disney+ and ESPN and pointing its 130 million followers at Disney's biggest upcoming moments, from Super Bowl LXI to Star Wars' 50th and Avengers: Doomsday, as the latest step in a run of creator deals aimed at younger audiences.

Photo: The Walt Disney Company (Dude Perfect at Magic Kingdom).

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Disney is the lead bidder in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Character.AI. Character Technologies filed in Delaware on October 12, 2026, and agreed to sell some assets to Disney for $20 million in cash: a nonexclusive, perpetual license to the code behind its training, safety and serving systems, plus nine patents. The app, the brand, user data, chats and finished models are not part of Disney's bid and remain open to other bidders. Rival bids are due November 20, with an auction November 23 and a sale hearing November 24.

Disney separately expects to spend about $180 million over three years on compensation and retention for roughly 65 Character.AI employees it has hired. The move follows Disney naming former Character.AI CEO Karandeep Anand as its first chief technology officer. On October 14, a bipartisan group of 40 attorneys general filed notice in the case, asking that any sale of the app or its user data include protections for children and sensitive chats.

Editorial lens: Disney is buying Character.AI's know-how rather than its users, paying $20 million for a nonexclusive license to its code and nine patents and budgeting about $180 million over three years for roughly 65 engineers under new CTO Karandeep Anand, while the app and its chat data, the part 40 attorneys general are now watching, stay behind for other bidders.

Photo: The Walt Disney Company (Karandeep Anand).

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