Microsoft has suddenly shut its movies and TV store on Xbox consoles and Windows PCs. As of today you can no longer purchase new movies or TV shows from the Microsoft Store on Xbox or Windows, but you will still be able to access previously purchased content on devices.

“Downloads will continue to be available on Windows and in HD max resolution,” says Microsoft, but you’ll have to continue using the Movies & TV app on Windows or Xbox to play the content you own rather than access it from another service — unless your purchased movies are part of Movies Anywhere in the US. Microsoft is not offering a refund for purchases, either.

The closure of Microsoft’s movies and TV store has been nervously anticipated by Xbox and Windows users ever since Microsoft shut down its Groove Music service in 2017. Microsoft originally launched a movies and TV storefront with the Zune Video Marketplace in 2006, before it was replaced by Xbox Video in 2012. That then morphed into the Movies & TV app and store in 2015, and now a decade later it’s going away.

Microsoft is now leaving it up to Amazon, Netflix, Apple TV, and the many other streaming video services to cater for movies and TV content on Windows and Xbox. Microsoft will continue to provide support for any issues playing back previously purchased content, and owners will be hoping the company keeps its servers online for many years to come.

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A subscription to Peacock is about to cost more. NBCUniversal announced on Thursday that it’s raising the price of its ad-supported Peacock Premium from $7.99 to $10.99 per month, while its ad-free Premium Plus plan will go from $13.99 per month to $16.99 per month. News of the price hike was first reported by Vulture.

For new customers, the price increase will go into effect on July 23rd. Existing subscribers will see the hike on or after August 22nd, depending on when their next bill is. Peacock’s yearly plans will see similar increases, with Peacock Premium now priced at $109.99 per year (up from $79.99) and Premium Plus costing $169.99 (up from $139.99).

Peacock raised its prices by $2 in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympics, an event it will continue to stream for at least another decade. NBCUniversal has filled out Peacock with a growing slate of original content, which includes shows like Poker Face, Love Island, and Dr. Death. It will also air NBA games later this year.

Along with the price increase, NBCUniversal also announced that it’s going to test a new ad-supported Peacock “Select” tier for $7.99 per month ($79.99 / year). The plan will offer access to content from NBC and Bravo, as well as some other titles.

San Diego Comic-Con is coming up next week, and Disney is getting ready for its big presentation by releasing a new trailer for TRON: Ares, directed by Joachim Rønning.

(Spoilers for TRON: Legacy below.)

As previously reported, TRON: Legacy ended with Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), son of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) from the original film, preventing the digital world from bleeding into the real world, as planned by the Grid's malevolent ruling program, Clu. He brought with him Quorra (Olivia Wilde), a naturally occurring isomorphic algorithm targeted for extinction by Clu.

Disney greenlit a third film in the franchise in October 2010, intended to pick up where Legacy left off and follow the adventures of Sam and Quorra as Sam took full control of his father's company, ENCOM. However, by 2015, the studio had canceled the project, reportedly due to the dismal box office performance of Tomorrowland. By 2020, the project had been revived and reimagined as a standalone reboot rather than a Legacy sequel, although the main AI, Ares, appeared in earlier (pre-reboot) versions of the script. One pandemic and a couple of Hollywood strikes later, the finished film is finally set to hit theaters this fall.

The official premise is succinct: "TRON: Ares follows a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankind’s first encounter with A.I. beings." Jared Leto stars as Ares, with Evan Peters and Greta Lee playing Julian Dillinger and Eve Kim, respectively. The cast also includes Jodie Turner-Smith, Cameron Monaghan, Sarah Desjardins, Hasan Minhaj, Arturo Castro, and Gillian Anderson. Bridges is returning as Kevin Flynn. Nine Inch Nails composed the soundtrack.

Disney released the first trailer back in April, which was short on plot but had the show-stopping visuals we've come to expect from all things TRON.  Those visuals remain stunning in this new trailer, which opens with what is clearly a conference presentation by Dillinger. "So much talk of AI and big tech today," he says. "Virtual worlds, what are they going to look like, when will we get there. Well, folks. We're not going there. They are coming here."

Then he introduces his "ultimate soldier," Leto's Ares.  "He's biblically strong, lightning fast, and supremely intelligent. And if he is struck down on the battlefield"—Dillinger demonstrates by striking down his creation on stage, cementing his image as a corporate jerk—"I will simply make you another."

Dillinger thinks he's in control of all this, but it looks like he might be in for a shock. Among other things, Ares is on a personal mission, looking for something he doesn't really understand. Cue Bridges' Kevin Flynn, still in the virtual realm, who finds Ares' existential dilemma fascinating: "A  malfunctioning program who wants to live, why is that?"

Tron: Ares arrives to theaters on October 10, 2025.

Credit: Disney

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