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We came for The Mandalorian, stuck around for WandaVision, and, as we wait for The Falcon and Winter Soldier and Loki to arrive, there’s now a huge pile of new catalogue additions to work through, courtesy of Disney Plus’ Star brand.

Star launched on the Disney Plus streaming service in territories outside of the US (where Disney already has a home for adult drama in Hulu) on the 23rd of February. It’s added over 75 TV shows and 280 feature films here in the UK, including the entirety of Lost, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, Glee, Prison Break, Sons of Anarchy and Scrubs as well as cult favourites Firefly, Flashforward, Terriers and more. There are also some UK debuts in the form of the Star Originals listed below.

Film-wise, there’s ample reason to go back to the 90s in the form of Arachnophobia, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,...

Mediawan, the listed company launched in late 2015 by three media industry veterans, saw its annual revenues increase by 13% to 276.1 million euros ($331.10) at constant perimeter and doubled its profits to $32.5 million in 2018. The company also saw its Ebitda margin reach 19% to $55.3 million, a near 100% year-on increase.

An integrated media group specializing in production and distribution for both film and TV, Mediawan was launched by Xavier Niel, the founder of Lliad, the company that operates France’s third-biggest telco group, Free; Mathieu Pigasse, the CEO of Lazard Banque and the founder of Les Nouvelles Editions Independantes, which owns Le Monde, Les Inrocks and Nova Radio; and Pierre-Antoine Capton, the owner of Troisieme Oeil Productions, France’s No. 1 independent TV producer.

Within the last year, Mediawan scored a flurry of major acquisitions to feed its pipeline of premium fiction, animation and documentaries. After acquiring the documentary production company Clarke Costelle & Co. (“Apocalypse: The Second World War...

French company Mediawan has acquired a majority stake in Palomar, the leading independent Italian production outfit behind the cop show “Inspector Montalbano” and the highly anticipated series “The Name of the Rose,” with John Turturro and Rupert Everett.

The deal marks the first international acquisition by Mediawan, the listed company launched in 2016 by three media industry veterans: Xavier Niel, Matthieu Pigasse and Pierre-Antoine Capton. Mediawan was formed as a special investment vehicle but has now become an integrated media group specializing in production and distribution for both film and TV.

Palomar is involved in film, TV series and documentaries. It will be attending the Berlin Film Festival with Claudio Giovannesi’s “La paranza dei bambini” (“Piranhas”), which is set to world premiere in competition.

Under the new deal, Mediawan becomes the majority shareholder of Palomar with a 72% stake, with the remaining 28% to be retained by Carlo Degli Esposti, Palomar’s founder and CEO.