We’ve already been treated to Euphoria season 2, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel season 4 and the beginnings of Peaky Blinders season 6 in 2022, but the small screen revolution continues as we move into the first weekend of March.
This week’s arrivals are the most eclectic bunch we’ve seen for some time, too. Alongside a new season of Star Trek: Picard, audiences have the option of sailing the high seas with Taika Waititi’s Our Flag Means Death or reeling from the shocking violence of The Boys Presents: Diabolical. If you’re in the mood for some musical magic, West Side Story leads the feature-length lineup on Disney Plus and HBO Max.
Below, we’ve rounded up the seven biggest movies and TV shows available to stream on the likes of Netflix, Prime Video and HBO Max over the next few days.
West Side Story (Disney Plus, HBO Max)
Landing on Disney Plus and HBO Max (in the US and elsewhere) a mere two months after releasing exclusively in theaters is Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.
A big-budget re-telling of the 1957 stage musical of the same name (and the second movie adaptation after the 1961 classic), this fresh-faced version of the iconic story stars Ansel Elgot as Tony and Rachel Zegler as Maria, whose forbidden romance is stifled by warring (and singing) gangs in New York City.
Spielberg’s West Side Story performed poorly at the global box office upon release last year, but favourable reviews and a handful of Oscar nominations make it an easy recommendation among this week’s new arrivals.
Now available to stream on IDisney Plus in the UK and HBO Max in the US.
Star Trek: Picard season 2 (Paramount Plus, Prime Video)
Patrick Stewart is back as Admiral Jean-Luc Picard in the second season of Star Trek: Picard, which lands on Paramount Plus and Prime Video (depending on your region) this week.
This new season of the hit sci-fi show sees the former captain of the USS Enterprise forced to travel back to 2024 (yes, basically our present) to fix a future that’s turned into a “totalitarian nightmare.” Some familiar faces from The Next Generation era of Star Trek join in the fun, too – specifically Q (John de Lancie), Borg Queen (now played by Annie Wersching) and Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg).
New episodes of Star Trek: Picard (there’s 10 in total) will arrive every Thursday on Paramount Plus in the US, and every Friday (i.e. a day later) on Prime Video in the UK.
Now available to stream via Paramount Plus in the US and Prime Video in the UK.
Our Flag Means Death (HBO Max)
Having shot to fame for his vampire comedy series What We Do in the Shadows on FX, Taika Waititi returns to the small screen (after a few Marvel-sized movie projects) with Our Flag Means Death on HBO Max.
Co-created by People of Earth writer David Jenkins and (very) loosely based on the true story of aristocrat-turned-pirate Stede Bonnet, the series follows Bonnet (Flight of the Conchords’ Rhys Darby) as he accustoms to a seafaring life away from privilege – with a little help from Waititi’s mischievous Blackbeard.
The trailer for Our Flag Means Death makes it look like harmless fun, but the show appears to have surprised critics by offering surprising depth to its swashbuckling protagonists. We don’t have any news on when it’ll arrive in the UK, mind, but Sky seems the most likely broadcaster to pick it up in a few weeks.
Now available to stream on HBO Max in the US.
The Boys Presents: Diabolical (Prime Video)
Can’t wait for The Boys season 3? Amazon’s animated spin-off series, The Boys Presents: Diabolical, aims to tide you over until its parent show’s June 3 return.
An eight-episode animated anthology delving deeper into the “unseen crevices of The Boys universe,” Diabolical follows the (extremely) explicit exploits of the series’ familiar anti-heroes. The likes of Seth Rogen, Kumail Nanjiani and Aisha Tyler are on hand as episode writers, while the show’s cast – which includes Michael Cera, Don Cheadle, Kieran Culkin, Awkwafina and Giancarlo Esposito – surpasses the star power of its source material.
As for whether that puts Diabolical on a level with the mainline The Boys show, we said, in our review, that the series’ customary violence, dark humor and biting social commentary “will delight those of an R-rated persuasion” – so it’ll certainly be enough to entertain existing franchise fans, at least.
Now available to stream on Prime Video.
The Tourist (HBO Max)
Having already streamed on BBC iPlayer in the UK earlier in the year, The Tourist comes to HBO Max in the US (and other regions) this weekend.
Hailing from the mind of writing duo Harry and Jack Williams (The Missing, Fleabag), this six-episode series stars Jamie Dornan as a British man who, after waking up from a car crash with amnesia, finds himself being inexplicably hunted across Australia's outback.
Reviews were largely excellent when The Tourist first aired on the BBC, with particular praise bestowed upon Dornan’s performance, so fans of Memento, The Rover or, more recently, Netflix’s Beckett will likely find lots to love from this one.
Now available to stream on HBO Max in the US and BBC iPlayer in the UK.
The Dropout (Hulu)
After last week’s streaming list featured The Battle for Uber, which dramatizes the fall of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, the arrival of The Dropout this weekend highlights an unexpected TV trend of 2022.
Adapted from the ABC News-produced podcast hosted by Rebecca Jarvis, this eight-episode Hulu exclusive – from New Girl creator Elizabeth Meriwether – stars Amanda Seyfried as disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, who was recently convicted of defrauding investors through her company’s phoney medical machines.
The likes Naveen Andrews, William H. Macy, Stephen Fry, Laurie Metcalf and Alan Ruck all star alongside Seyfried in this one as other major players in the Theranos scandal, which has provided a suitability dramatic true-to-life narrative for this promising Hulu series.
Now available to stream on Hulu.
Pieces of Her (Netflix)
Not to be confused with fellow Netflix movie Pieces of a Woman, Pieces of Her stars Toni Collette as a speech pathologist whose past comes back to haunt her after she witnesses a shocking act of violence.
An eight-episode adaptation of Karin Slaughter’s 2018 novel, the show is entirely directed by The Plot Against America’s Minkie Spiro and also features acting turns from Jessica Barden, Omari Hardwick, Calum Worthy and Terry O'Quinn.
Pieces of Her doesn’t look like it’ll rock the boat for the crime thriller genre, but its inevitably abundant twists and turns will no doubt ensure it ranks among the 10 biggest movies on Netflix in the coming weeks.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
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