New this week: A Cheetos origin story, Avatar, Never Have I Ever
Here’s a collection of movies and series coming to streaming services this week.
Movies
• Avatar: The Way of Water finally washes onto streaming shores today. James Cameron’s sci-fi sequel will begin streaming on Disney+ after becoming the third highest-grossing movie of all time in theatres. In her review, AP film writer Lindsey Bahr called the film, “a truly dazzling cinematic experience that will have you floating on a blockbuster high.”
• Nike, Tetris and Blackberry have all gotten the big-screen treatment this year. Now, it’s Cheetos’ turn. Flamin’ Hot, debuting Friday on Disney+, is about Richard Montañez, a FritoLay janitor who claims to have invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
— Jake Coyle
Series
• Twelve celebrities, including former cyclist Lance Armstrong, Ariel Winter of Modern Family and Tom Schwartz of Vanderpump Rules, are put in a Mars simulation and presented with a series of challenges to colonize their version of the Red Planet. William Shatner, Captain Kirk from Star Trek and the oldest person to fly to space, serves as host from mission control. “If you need anything, anything at all, you’re on your own,” says Shatner in the trailer. Stars on Mars debuts Monday on Fox.
• When Cruel Summer debuted its first season in 2021 on Freeform, it was an hit for the network. Season two features a new cast and new mystery but, like its predecessor, takes place over alternate timelines. Lexi Underwood of Little Fires Everywhere stars alongside Sadie Stanley, and Griffin Gluck with Jessica Biel as a co-executive producer. The story is set in the Pacific Northwest against the backdrop of the Y2K time period, when the tech world feared computers and government systems would malfunction over programming when the calendar flipped to the year 2000.
• Netflix’s Never Have I Ever drops its fourth and final season on Thursday. The series stars Maitreyi Ramakrishnan in a coming-of-age story about an Indian American high school teen coping with the sudden death of her father, first loves and lusts, friendship and selfidentity. Even better, it’s narrated by John McEnroe. In season four, Ramakrishnan’s Devi is in her senior year of high school and getting ready to go to college. The show, co-created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher is whip smart, up to date on pop culture, funny and touching. — Alicia Rancilio