News

The Christmas Chronicles – Picture: Netflix

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and if you’re wondering what Netflix’s most popular original Christmas movies and series have been, we’ve got the top 50 from the past few years.

All data below was provided to What’s on Netflix exclusively from the excellent team at FlixPatrol, with whom we’ve collaborated on a number of articles, and they also power our top 10 hub page.

We’re going to split this list into two parts. First, we’ll cover the Christmas movies, shows, and specials that have picked up the most points in the United States, and then we’ll move onto the global list. The global list collects the points for 80+ Netflix countries.

As a quick refresher, points are picked up every time a show or movie gets featured in the daily top 10. If you’re a movie that ranks #10 for one day,...

Netflix is giving Hallmark a run for their money with a ton of cute original Christmas movies, but did you know they're all connected? That's right - Netflix is getting in on the connected-universes craze with their very own Netflix Christmas movie shared universe! Here's exactly how all of your favorites fit together.

There are two different overarching ways that these movies are connected: on-screen cameos and full-fledged name-dropping. The former category is how it all began. In the 2018 movie The Holiday Calendar, the creative team needed to show a movie playing on a screen within the movie itself. "It felt like a natural fit to show one of our other films available on Netflix," said Amanda Phillips Atkins, EVP at production company Mpca. As a result, a scene from 2017's The Christmas Inheritance pops up on a TV. The Christmas Inheritance also shows up on a TV in The Princess Switch,...

In today’s Global Bulletin, Acorn TV greenlights “Queens of Mystery” season two; NATPE Budapest confirms in-person event in August; Lionsgate Play unveils “U-Special” — its second original series in India; ITV commissions relationship drama “You & Me”; Dave Johns joins the cast of “I’m Still Ethan”; Mexico’s Dopamine creates a new in-house entertainment team; Spanish courts proceed with a reckless homicide case against adult film star Nacho Vidal; Front Row nabs “The Present” and deals it to Netflix; and the New Voice Awards reveals its 2021 winners.

Renewal

AMC Networks-owned streaming platform Acorn TV has renewed its Primetime Emmy-nominated British crime series “Queens of Mystery” for a second season.

Created by Julian Unthank, who co-writes with Matthew Thomas (“Marcella”), season two sees the return of Julie Graham (“The Bletchley Circle”), Sarah Woodward (“The Pale Horse”) and Siobhan Redmond (“Unforgotten”), joined by newcomer Florence Hall (“The Princess Switch: Switched Again...

Exclusive: AMC Networks streamer Acorn TV has renewed its darkly comic British crime series Queens Of Mystery for a second season, with production already underway in Kent, south-east England.

Season 1 of Queens of Mystery followed a perennially single female detective and her three well-known crime writing aunts, who help her solve whodunit-style murders as well as set her up on blind dates. Acorn TV describes it as one of its most popular originals, though it did not disclose streaming figures.

Olivia Vinall played detective Matilda Stone in the first season, but will be replaced by Florence Hall in the second due to a scheduling conflict. Julie Graham (The Bletchley Circle), Sarah Woodward (The Pale Horse), and Siobhan Redmond (Unforgotten) return as Stone’s aunts.

The show will return for three feature-length stories, which will be broken up into six, 45-minute episodes. In episodes titled Sparring with Death,...

Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber took home multiple awards, as did actress Millie Bobby Brown, at Saturday night’s Kids’ Choice Awards hosted by Kenan Thompson.

The 34th annual show aired at 7:30 p.m. Et on Nickelodeon, where “Alexa & Katie” was crowned the favorite kids’ show, but “Stranger Things” won for favorite family show. Brown, who stars in the Netflix drama, was named favorite television actress and favorite film actress. Winners are determined by fan votes.

Grande and Bieber won for favorite female and male recording artists, respectively, while their joint hit “Stuck With U” won for favorite collaboration. Bieber also performed at the show.

Like just about everything else over the past year, the Kids’ Choice Awards were held virtually, but there were still plenty of fun moments, I including the cast of “iCarly” reuniting to present the award for favorite movie. And, of course, there were...

Before we move ahead into the final week of November, let’s take a look back at what’s arrived on Netflix over the past seven days. In total, 39 titles have dropped on the streaming service from last Sunday the 15th to this Sunday the 22nd. Broken down, that’s 27 fresh movies and 12 new TV series, making for quite an impressive haul.

When it comes to original films, this past week saw the debut of stop-motion short Alien XMas, comedy special Kevin Hart: Zero F**ks Given and festive sequel The Princess Switch: Switched Again. Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square special also arrived, which couldn’t have been better timed given the singer’s rise to hero status this week.

As for newly licensed pics, some of the highlights include animated sequel Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, acclaimed civil rights drama Loving, comic book movie V for Vendetta...

(Warning: Spoilers ahead for “The Princess Switch: Switched Again.”)

Netflix is continuing what has now become an annual tradition of connecting its original Christmas movies with a special cameo featuring two key “A Christmas Prince” characters at the end of its Vanessa Hudgens-led “The Princess Switch” sequel.

In “The Princess Switch: Switched Again,” which launched Thursday, Duchess Margaret (Hudgens) is crowned queen of Montenaro, with many adoring friends and subjects in attendance, including her new husband, Kevin (Nick Sagar), her look-alike Stacy, a Chicago baker-turned-Belgravian princess who is also played by Hudgens, Stacy’s husband, Prince Edward (Sam Palladio), and her other look-alike, her scheming cousin Fiona.

But if you are paying attention to the other people in the crowd, you’ll notice three foreign royals cheering on Margaret in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment: Aldovia’s Queen Amber (Rose McIver), King Richard (Ben Lamb) and their new baby, Princess Elleri.

With upcoming holiday celebrations set to look slightly different than in years past, TV and streaming have stepped in to fill the gaps with an abundance of new winter-themed programming, including original movies, series and specials.

From perennial classics like NBC’s “Radio City Christmas Spectacular” and ABC’s “Wonderful World of Disney” to sure-to-be new favorites like “The Princess Switch: Switched Again” and “Happiest Season,” here is everything to watch to get into the holiday spirit this year.

Specials

Disney/Richard Harbaugh

“A Saturday Night Live Thanksgiving Special” (NBC)

Wednesday, Nov. 25, 9-11 p.m.

Many of the Thanksgiving-themed sketches over the course of “SNL’s” illustrious 46-season history will delight audiences.

“The 94th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade” (NBC)

Thursday, Nov. 26, 9 a.m.-noon (repeat at 2 p.m.)

The tradition continues with a reimagined celebration that will safely bring the magic of the parade to Herald Square with...

If last week was a big one for Netflix (what with “Mank” and “Hillbilly Elegy” out in theaters), then this one belongs to Amazon, who have a pair of big projects launching via their Prime Video subscription service. The first is “12 Years a Slave” director Steve McQueen’s anthology “Small Axe,” an epic and altogether unconventional series that doesn’t fit neatly into the “film” or “TV” categories: McQueen has made five features, all set in London’s immigrant West Indian community, dealing with aspects of cultural identify, racism and community. Of the three entries I’ve seen, this week’s entry, “Mangrove,” is the strongest — and a great way to kick off the cycle, with a courtroom drama for those who felt Netflix’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7” didn’t give adequate time to Bobby Seale.

Amazon also launches “The Sound of Metal,” a drama about...

Vanessa Hudgens knows that it's been a turbulent year, so she's bestowing some Christmas cheer upon us. On Nov. 19, the 31-year-old actress made her royal onscreen return in Netflix's The Princess Switch: Switched Again. A sequel to 2018's A Princess Switch, the new film features Hudgens reprising her roles as Stacy De Novo and her doppelgänger, Duchess Margaret Delacourt. But the lookalike fun doesn't stop there: the actress pulls triple duty this time around, also starring as Margaret's spitting image cousin, Fiona. And if you think playing three characters sounds a little arduous, you're right.

"I remember standing in the center of this church and looking around and looking down at what I'm wearing and taking in this situation and had that real-life fairy-tale moment.

"It's very confusing, but I'm always down for a challenge," Hudgens told Popsugar. "This film definitely pushed me because never have I ever played three characters.

With Covid resurgence meaning that only the naughty are likely to risk large gatherings this holiday season, there will be even more reliance on home-viewing comfort food in the vein of “The Princess Switch: Switched Again.” Bringing back the same director, writers and lead actors from Netflix’s original 2018 success, this pleasant sequel provides the updated “Prince and the Pauper” conceit a new wrinkle in giving star Vanessa Hudgens yet a third lookalike character to play.

Though inevitably the formula wears a little thinner in spots this time, it’s a frothy fantasy that should satisfy viewers’ itch for confectionary-looking Christmas fluff. Netflix premieres the feature worldwide Nov. 19, and it should provide them with a year-end programming staple for some time to come.

As erstwhile Chicago baker Stacy (Hudgens) reminds us in opening-credits voiceover, when last seen she’d wound up a princess by catching the eye of Prince Edward...

(Warning: Mild spoilers ahead for “The Princess Switch: Switched Again.”)

“The Princess Switch: Switched Again” brought a third character played by Vanessa Hudgens into the Netflix holiday film franchise’s universe, and with her arrival, a third accent for the actress to master. And the way Hudgens developed the voice for her latest role — Duchess Margaret’s party girl cousin, Fiona — was by taking a cue from a cult-classic 2000 film.

“I’m dead. I’m dead. It’s so funny,” Hudgens told TheWrap while explaining how Fiona’s rather unique accent, which you can hear in the trailer above, came about for “The Princess Switch 2.” “I love the movie ‘Bedazzled.’ Elizabeth Hurley in that is just such an icon. I would do her voice all the time, and I was like, ‘Oh, there’s another voice that I have in my tool belt! Might as well whip her out and use her.

“The Princess Switch” fans will be seeing triple when the Netflix original holiday film’s sequel launches Thursday. But that’s as far as the franchise will be going with its gimmick of having star Vanessa Hudgens play multiple characters, even though a third film has already been greenlit by the streaming service.

“No, no, that’s just too outrageous. We’re already at max outrageous here with three characters, we’re just going to keep it at that,” Hudgens told TheWrap, speaking about plans for “The Princess Switch 3,” which will begin production in Scotland later this year for a holiday 2021 release. “And I would 100% lose my mind if I tried to add another me, even though it would probably be Scottish [and] I love that accent and it would be a great excuse to master the Scottish accent. But no, that’s not happening.”

In “The Princess Switch: Switched Again,...

Exclusive: The producers of popular Netflix franchises such as The Princess Switch and Christmas Prince have struck a book-to-film deal with novelist Adele Parks, one the biggest-selling women’s fiction authors in the UK.

Veteran U.S. producer Brad Krevoy’s (Dumb And Dumber) Mpca and BAFTA Breakthrough Brit Aj Riach’s (Set Fire to the Stars) UK-based Engage Productions have entered into the exclusive deal to produce the books, most likely for streamers.

The first book to be adapted will be Parks’ recent Sunday Times bestseller Just My Luck, followed by 2019 novel Lies Lies Lies. Krevoy, Riach and Parks are currently interviewing writers and plan to launch sales for Just My Luck in the UK immediately, followed by the U.S.

More than 3.8 million English-edition copies of Parks’ 20 novels have been sold around the world. The stories, often psychological domestic thrillers, have been translated into 27 languages. The 2020 book Just My Luck,...

It’s going to be another busy week for Netflix, who released the fourth season of The Crown today. As well as several new exclusive productions, though, the streamer also has some decent licensed content coming up and more Christmas titles as we head closer to the festive period. What, then, are some of the notable additions as Netflix move into the last few weeks of November?

Well, tomorrow brings Jeff Nichols’ critically praised drama Loving, which is about an interracial relationship in 1960s Virginia. Later in the week, subscribers can then catch up on or revisit the Danny Trejo-starring cult favorite Machete Kills, which puts the action star front and center. Viewers will also get the chance to see documentary Whose Streets?, and its exploration of the Ferguson uprising, as well as If Anything Happens I Love You, a short animated film dealing with parents and the loss...

This weekly feature is in addition to TVLine’s daily What to Watch listings and monthly guide to What’s on Streaming.

With more than 530 scripted shows now airing across broadcast, cable and streaming, it’s easy to forget that a favorite comedy is returning, or that the new “prestige drama” you anticipated is about to debut. So consider this our reminder to set your DVR, order a Season Pass, pop a fresh Memorex into the Vcr… however it is you roll.

More from TVLineWhat's New on Netflix in November — Plus: Disney+, HBO Max and Others2021 Renewal Scorecard: What's Coming Back?...

The MTV Movie and TV Awards will air a special awards ceremony recognizing the “Greatest of All Time” in film and television moments — or at least the best dating back to the ’80s.

Vanessa Hudgens will host the 90-minute awards broadcast that will air on MTV December 6, and it will honor the biggest and best moments in movies and TV from the ’80s until now, because apparently nothing good came out until 1980 anyway. (MTV launched in 1981.)

Performers, honorees and more details for the ceremony will be announced at a later date.

Hudgens however will recognize some irreverent award categories and highlight other memorable presentations and performances in recent pop culture history, and the broadcast will also tease footage from 2021 releases.

MTV also teased that beginning next year, the network will host a weekend event takeover, but added that more details will be coming soon.

MTV’s Bruce Gillmer, Wendy Plaut...

Lionsgate UK has debuted a new trailer for the Irish set rom-com ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’ featuring Emily Blunt and Jamie Dornan.

Anthony and Rosemary are star-crossed lovers, whose families are caught up in a feud over a hotly contested patch of land that separates their two farms.

Anthony (Dornan) always seems to be out in the fields working, worn down by his father’s constant belittling. But what really stings is his father’s threat to bequeath the family farm to his American cousin Adam. Rosemary (Blunt) at first seems to hold a grudge for having been shamed by Anthony in childhood, but the sparks between them would keep a bonfire blazing through the night. Her mother Aoife strives to unite the families before it is too late.

Just when we think Anthony will pluck up the courage to face up to his repressed feelings, cousin Adam (Hamm) steps in...

Netflix is ringing in the festive spirit with a new trailer for ‘The Princess Switch: Switched Again’ where we are in for triple the dose of Vanessa Hudgens.

Hudgens reprises her lead roles of Duchess Margaret and Princess Stacy, but also portray a third doppelganger – Margaret’s cousin Fiona.

When Margaret unexpectedly inherits the throne to Montenaro, she also finds trouble in her long-distance relationship with her boyfriend, Kevin.

Princess Stacy of Belgravia comes to the rescue, stepping in to help save the Duchess’ relationship.

Sam Palladio and Nick Sagar will return as the film’s love interests Edward and Kevin, respectively.

Also in trailers – Scandals are the top of the menu in trailer for ‘Bridgerton’

The film premieres on Netflix November 19th.

The post Vanessa Hudgens proves a triple threat in trailer for ‘The Princess Switch: Switched Again’ appeared first on HeyUGuys.

'The Princess Switch: Switched Again' is out now.

Netflix has released the official trailer for the highly-anticipated sequel to 2018’s 'The Princess Switch' starring Vanessa Hudgens in a triple role.

The follow-up movie sees Hudgens divide her screen time into a trio of personas: Chicago-based pastry chef Stacy DeNovo, a Belgravian princess, and a new blonde troublemaker named Fiona., reports TVLine.

'The Princess Switch 2' follows Vanessa Hudgens reprise her dual roles from the first instalment as Duchess Margaret and Princess Stacy, two lookalikes who crossed paths when former commoner Stacy took part in a baking competition located in Montenaro.

After marrying Prince Edward (Sam Palladino), Stacy became a princess herself; meanwhile, Duchess Margaret's relationship with Stacy's best friend Kevin (Nick Sagar) hasn't fared well in the years since fans last saw them.

In this latest entry, Stacy (Hudgens) returns to Belgravia to help Margaret (also Hudgens!

"The Princess Switch: Switched Again" is the new 'holiday' romantic comedy feature, directed by Mike Rohl as a sequel to "The Princess Switch" (2018), starring Vanessa Hudgens, Sam Palladio, Suanne Braun, and Nick Sagar, streaming on Netflix November 19, 2020:

"...'Duchess Margaret Delacourt' suddenly inherits the throne to 'Montenaro'. As her coronation complicates her love life, her double 'Stacy' comes to her aid but a third look-a-like named 'Fiona complicates their plans..." 

Click the images to enlarge...

‘Tis already the season to be jolly, as Netflix has begun to launch its 2020 slate of holiday movies, TV series and specials.

The list includes sequels like “The Princess Switch: Switched Again” and “The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two,” as well as the debuts of movies “Holidate” and “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey,” and shows “Dash & Lily” and “Holiday Home Makeover with Mr. Christmas,” and the Christmas specials/series finales for “The Big Show Show” and “Ashley Garcia: Genius in Love,” along with many more titles.

If you’re already looking ahead to next year, Netflix has revealed that its ordered a third “Princess Switch” movie starring Vanessa Hudgens, which will begin production in Scotland later this year for a holiday 2021 release.

See Netflix’s full release schedule for its new holiday content below.

Movies

“Holidate” – Oct. 28

Sloane (Emma Roberts) and Jackson (Luke Bracey) hate the holidays. They constantly find themselves single,...

Vanessa Hudgens is a triple threat in the new trailer for Netflix’s “The Princess Switch 2: Switched Again,” set to premiere on Nov. 19.

In “The Princess Switch” sequel, Hudgens will not only reprise her lead roles of Duchess Margaret and Princess Stacy, but also portray a third doppelganger, Margaret’s cousin Fiona. When Margaret unexpectedly inherits the throne to Montenaro, she also finds trouble in her long-distance relationship with her boyfriend, Kevin. Princess Stacy of Belgravia comes to the rescue, stepping in to help save the Duchess’ relationship.

“After I read it I thought, ‘Ooh man, this is going to be a lot of work,'” Hudgens told Entertainment Weekly. “Three of me? Me, myself, and I! I was very excited to create yet another character and had such a blast doing so. I was told they wrote in a new character but I had no idea how much fun it would actually be.

Netflix dropped the trailer for “The Princess Switch 2” on Monday, revealing not one, not two, but three royally fantastic roles for Vanessa Hudgens in the follow-up to the streaming service’s 2018 holiday movie. And with triple the fun what could go wrong? Well, a lot, apparently.

In the trailer for “The Princess Switch: Switched Again,” which you can view via the video above, Stacy (Hudgens) is determined to get Margaret (also Hudgens) back together with her former lover Kevin by pulling yet another switch. It looks like the plan might actually be working until Margaret’s cousin Fiona (the third Hudgens) shows up and begins plotting to steal her crown.

Here’s the official description for “The Princess Switch: Switched Again,” which launches Nov. 19:

“When Duchess Margaret unexpectedly inherits the throne to Montenaro and hits a rough patch with boyfriend Kevin, it’s up to her double Princess Stacy...

Hallmark and Lifetime may be the longtime players in the TV holiday movie game, but relative newbie Netflix has a festive boast to make about its own Christmas content: “Around half” of Netflix subscribers “watched at least one” of the streaming service’s original holiday films during the 2019 holiday season and Netflix’s holiday titles are streamed in all 190 countries where the platform is available, a spokesperson for the streaming service tells TheWrap.

For context, Netflix said it had reached 167 million subscribers globally at the end of 2019, so this stat would apply to almost 50% of those accounts. Reminder: Netflix counts a “view” as when someone watches a selected title for at least two minutes.

Netflix doesn’t have nearly as many original holiday movies under its belt as Hallmark or Lifetime but its library is growing each year, and it’s already known for a few “franchises,” like its beloved “A Christmas Prince” trilogy.

November is the last month of the year for sensible viewing, before our TV screens become full-time broadcasters of golden retrievers saving Christmas and Will Ferrell wearing tights. Take the opportunity then, to get some good stuff in before the festivities.

In terms of good stuff, Netflix is offering the second series of the brilliantly wry and surprisingly touching The End of the F***ing World for any UK viewers who didn’t catch it on Channel 4. There’s also the excellent animated feature Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (we loved it. 5 stars.) as well as Boots Riley’s inventive, funny, political satire Sorry to Bother You (we also loved it. 4.5 stars.) On top of that, you can take a nostalgic trip to Capeside with all six seasons of Dawson’s Creek or watch emotionally repressed royals deal with the advent of the 1980s in season four of The Crown.

Here, in alphabetical and date order,...

Netflix dropped the trailer for “The Christmas Chronicles” sequel Monday, featuring the returns of Kurt Russell as Santa and Goldie Hawn as Mrs. Claus in a new adventure to save Christmas, which is apparently “doomed” forever.

Watch the trailer for the Chris Columbus-directed film via the video above.

Here’s the synopsis for the movie, which is the followup to the streaming service’s 2018 holiday movie “The Christmas Chronicles”:

“It’s been two years since siblings Kate (Darby Camp) and Teddy Pierce (Judah Lewis) saved Christmas, and a lot has changed. Kate, now a cynical teenager, is reluctantly spending Christmas in Cancun with her mom’s new boyfriend (Tyrese Gibson) and his son Jack (Jahzir Bruno). Unwilling to accept this new version of her family, Kate decides to run away. But when a mysterious, magical troublemaker named Belsnickel threatens to destroy the North Pole and end Christmas for good,...

Get ready to feel royally cheerful, because The Princess Switch: Switched Again is coming to Netflix on Nov. 19! The streaming platform revealed the news on Oct. 7, also unveiling more information about a handful of slated holiday flicks, including Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square, and The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two.

Vanessa Hudgens, who's producing the sequel to 2018's The Princess Switch, will reprise her double role as Stacy De Novo and her royal doppelgänger, Duchess Margaret Delacourt. The film will follow the drama that ensues when Duchess Margaret unexpectedly inherits the crown, which causes a rift with her boyfriend, Kevin. All the while, another regal chap is set on kicking Kevin out of the picture and becoming Margaret's beloved. And if that's not enough to deal with, Margaret's other look-alike, party-girl cousin Fiona, shows up and shakes things up - and not for the better.

For the rest of this month, the focus for both the multitude of streaming services on offer and their subscribers will be on content designed to scare you out of your seat as the buildup to Halloween continues. However, almost as soon as the clock strikes midnight on the spookiest day of the year, the focus will immediately shift to Christmas.

Each year a countless barrage of festive movies and TV shows are released, but very few of them manage to penetrate the public consciousness and elevate themselves into the pantheon of all-time greats like It’s a Wonderful Life, Home Alone, Scrooged, The Muppets Christmas Carol, White Christmas, A Christmas Story and depending on your personal opinion, Die Hard.

As the world’s leading platform, Netflix are obviously going to go heavy on the festive angle once again, but November also brings the release of several major titles from a variety of different genres,...

Yes, I know it’s early October and we haven’t even had Halloween yet, but there’s already Christmas stock in the stores, so why don’t we follow suit and start looking ahead to what Netflix has got to offer up this festive season? The streaming service always serves up a lot of great yuletide content for the whole family, and 2020 will be no different. There are over 30 original films, TV series and specials due across the next three months, so let’s see what’s coming down the virtual chimney this year.

The festivities start as early as October 28th with Emma Roberts romcom Holidate. On November 5th, another romcom then arrives in the form of Operation Christmas Drop, starring Kat Graham, which is set and filmed at an Air Force Base in Guam. The 13th, meanwhile, delivers what promises to be enchanting entertainment – Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey,...

Netflix are currently in the middle of one of their best years ever when it comes to original movies, and we’ve not even reached the end of July yet. Such is the company’s dominance in the streaming wars that even the critically-panned likes of The Last Days of American Crime, 365 Dni and Fatal Affair have still racked up tens of millions of viewers.

Despite all of them being released in the last four months, Spenser Confidential, Extraction and The Old Guard have already raced their way onto the list of Netflix’s ten most-watched original movies ever, while Spike Lee’s acclaimed Da 5 Bloods positioned itself as an early awards season contender. However, that’s barely the tip of the iceberg, and there are still plenty more high-profile originals set to arrive before 2020 is over, with some of them hailing from the biggest names in the business.

Vanessa Hudgens stepped out to support Kyle Kuzma at his basketball game just one day after the two were seen having dinner in New York City.

The actress, 31, was spotted cheering from the crowd during the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. The Lakers beat the Knicks 100-92.

For the outing, Hudgens kept things simple in a black cap and matching top. She accessorized the casual look with a pair of hoop earrings and gold chains.

Hudgens posted moments from the game on her Instagram Story, sharing a video of Lakers...

Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler have broken up after more than eight years together, but in recent years, much of their time was spent apart.

Since first getting together in 2011, the pair have been busy working on various projects around the globe.

Hudgens, 31, has starred in a number of Netflix Christmas movies recently, shooting The Princess Switch: Switched Again in the U.K. in November 2019.

Meanwhile, 28-year-old Butler — who will star as Elvis Presley in an untitled biopic that is currently in pre-production — has also filmed in other countries, including New Zealand to shoot MTV’s The Shannara Chronicles in 2017.

At the time,...

(Warning: This post contains spoilers for Netflix’s “The Knight Before Christmas.”)

Netflix launched its latest original Christmas movie, “The Knight Before Christmas” on Thursday, one of six it has set to roll out this holiday season. This film, starring Vanessa Hudgens and Josh Whitehouse, is connected to those others — and the streaming services season flicks from previous years — with little shout-outs.

Eagle-eyed viewers probably noticed that Sir Cole (Whitehouse) is seen watching “Holiday in the Wild” — one of Netflix’s 2019 offerings, starring Kristin Davis and Rob Lowe — and Brooke’s (Vanessa Hudgens) parents brought her a Christmas ornament from Aldovia — the fictional country where the “A Christmas Prince” franchise takes place — when she was a child.

Hudgens says these Easter eggs are what brings “The Knight Before Christmas” into the Netflix Holiday Movie Universe (we’re dubbing it the Nhwu right now).

Also Read: A Christmas Competition: Inside Netflix-Hallmark...

At the inaugural Afm Television Conference, Motion Picture Corporation of America chairman and CEO Brad Krevoy had good news for the audience attending the November 11 panel Made-for-tv Movies: Expanding Opportunities for Independent Filmmakers. “The next five years are going to be boom times,” said the producer of more than 150 films ranging from “Dumb and Dumber” to Netflix’s “The Knight Before Christmas.”

It’s a hopeful message, if an unfamiliar one: The American Film Market has long faced decline in the face of a disintegrating DVD market. However, Krevoy is now an integral part of Netflix’s romcom frenzy with titles like like “A Christmas Prince.” The third installment of the franchise drops on the platform next month.

Tony Vassiliadis, COO of MarVista Entertainment, said he is eyeing the moment when Netflix’s Disney and Fox licenses expire. By his estimate, that accounts for 10 percent of the Netflix library, and...