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Oscar Host Contenders Emerge; 'La La Land' Kicks Off Awards Season; MSNBC's Hot Streak; The New Anti-Vaxx War

August 31, 2016

What's news: Julia Louis-Dreyfus passed. Eddie Murphy is on the shortlist. Inside the search for the next Oscar host. Plus: ABC extends its deal with the Academy, a modern musical kicks off the Venice Film Fest (and awards season) and Taylor Kitsch is playing Waco cult leader David Koresh. — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman.

Oscar Host Contenders Emerge

Who is going to step into the spotlight this year? Awards analyst Scott Feinberg offers an inside look:

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who have co-hosted the Golden Globes, have both privately and publicly said that they would never host the Oscars. Jerry Seinfeld and Julia Louis-Dreyfus have separately been approached about hosting and said no. So who is available?

This year, serious consideration will almost certainly be given to Louis C.K., who impressed Academy and ABC officials with his hilarious presentation of the best doc short Oscar at this year's ceremony. And then there's Eddie Murphy. The actor recently expressed an openness to returning to standup comedy in the near future. Officials also are expected to take a close look at Kevin Hart.

As far as producers: Brett Ratner may be back in the mix and Dana Brunetti is said to be interested. Who else is on the list?

Elsewhere in film...

► Richard Linklater plans star-studded new film. Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston and Laurence Fishburne are in talks to star in the Boyhood director's next movie, Last Flag Flying. The project is Linklater’s long-in-the-works "sort of" sequel to Jack Nicholson's The Last Detail.

► Sony's Jumanji adds Guardians actress. Karen Gillan is joining Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart in the studio's continuation of the 1995 adventure film, directed by Jake Kasdan. The project is set to begin principal photography this summer in Honolulu.

↱ La La Land, reviewed. Damien Chazelle's buzzy Whiplash follow-up is an LA-set musical starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. The Venice fest takeaway, from chief film critic Todd McCarthy: "Not perfect, but dazzling and distinctive all the same." Watch the trailer. ↲

► James Franco, Jack Reynor, Zoe Kravitz to star in Kin. Jonathan and Josh Baker will direct the film based on their own short film, Bag Man. Daniel Casey penned the script. The film is slated to begin shooting in October.

► Forest Whitaker, Kate Bosworth head AMBI heist film. Finding Steve McQueen, based on the true story of the biggest bank heist in U.S. history, also stars Travis Fimmel and William Fichtner. Principal photography is slated to begin next month in Atlanta.

► Hayden Christensen, Bruce Willis team for thriller. The duo is set to star in First Kill, the Steven C. Miller-directed action thriller that Emmett/Furla/Oasis will produce, finance and release through its deal with Lionsgate Premiere.

↱ The Light Between Oceans, reviewed. Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander star in a period melodrama about a childless couple that finds a newborn washed ashore. Reviews editor Jon Frosch's verdict: "Pretty but lifeless." Watch the trailer. ↲

► Milo Yiannopoulos doc planned. The gay conservative banned from Twitter after engaging in a feud with Leslie Jones starts his speaking tour soon, accompanied by a list of outrageous demands. A crew will film the proceedings for an upcoming movie.

► Sci-fi Spartacus film in the works. Taken franchise director Olivier Megaton is helming The Champion, a sci-fi action project described as being in the vein of a futuristic Spartacus. Actor-turned-scribe Hal Ozsan is writing. Steve Richards is backing the project.

↱ "Keeping actor ages off IMDb 'suppresses free speech'": Last week, SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris argued for a new law to prevent actor ages from being posted on casting websites. Now Internet Association's Michael Beckerman responds, saying that the proposed bill would set "a terrible precedent." ↲

Warren Beatty nabs AFI opening. The director's Howard Hughes film, Rules Don't Apply, starring Alden Ehrenreich and Lily Collins, will open the 30th edition of AFI Fest with its world premiere this awards season. Details.

MSNBC's Hot Streak

MSNBC may still be in third place, but the run-up to November's election has the cabler enjoying some healthy ratings momentum — thanks in no small part to Rachel Maddow, senior writer Michael O'Connell reports:

The host saw her best month since November 2012, during the last presidential election, climbing 113 percent in the key news demographic for a nightly average of 367,000 adults 25-54. Only Fox News Channel's dominant primetime trio of Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Megyn Kelly fared better.

Maddow's performance gave MSNBC its narrowest margin of loss against CNN in years, its weekly primetime showing in the key demo trailing CNN 264,000 to 272,000. (FNC maintained its lead with an average 374,000 adults 25-54.) Among total viewers, MSNBC's increases managed to put it ahead of CNN in primetime. Just a year ago, the network was starting its plan to lure back centrist viewers.

Elsewhere in TV...

► ABC keeps Oscars for eight more years. The broadcaster will extend its run with the Academy Awards until 2028. The previous contract was set to expire in 2020. Financial details weren't disclosed.

► Netflix renews Stranger Things. Nine new episodes of the breakout will air in 2017, with writers-creators Matt and Ross Duffer returning and 21 Laps producing. Exec producers Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen will return for the second season.

► Weinstein Co. planning Waco limited series. The studio is prepping a star-studded take on the 1993 Waco, Texas siege and standoff with Taylor Kitsch to star as leader David Koresh and Michael Shannon as the lead FBI negotiator. It does not yet have a network.

↱ Personal Emmys Picks. Critic Daniel Fienberg writes: There are 10 nominees I'll be rooting for especially enthusiastically. Some of these are longshots, some are probably favorites, but if the 2016 Emmys want me looking back with fond memories, at least a few of them had better win. ↲

► Criminal Minds ups Paget Brewster. In the wake of Thomas Gibson's firing, the CBS procedural has promoted Brewster to series regular for the upcoming 12th season. The actress was a regular on the CBS drama from seasons two through seven.

► Adam Scott, Craig Robinson to star in Ghosted. Fox has handed out a hefty pilot production commitment to the comedic take on The X-Files, which centers on a skeptic (Robinson) and a believer in the paranormal (Scott).

► Insecure's Issa Rae signs deal with HBO. The co-creator, exec producer and star of the half-hour comedy has signed a first-look producing deal to develop programming focused on diverse voices that would be showcased on HBO platforms.

↱ First-look: Woody Allen's Amazon series: The first few images from Crisis in Six Scenes, which stars Allen, Miley Cyrus, Elaine May, Rachel Brosnahan and John Magaro, have been released. ↲

► Viceland adds late-night TV. The A&E-owned cable network is breaking into late-night with the daily talk show Desus & Mero, set to premiere in October, as well as a show inspired by Tyler, the Creator's Golf Media App.

► Lethal Weapon enlists two to recur. Kristoffer Polaha (Ringer) and Michelle Mitchenor (Chi-Raq) are set for roles on Fox's upcoming remake of the Mel Gibson-Danny Glover film.

ABC casts the next Bachelor. After being the runner-up on two seasons of The Bachelorette, ABC revealed that Nick Viall, who is currently appearing on Bachelor in Paradise, will be the Bachelor for season 21. Details.

The New Anti-Vaxx War

Fighting mandatory vaccinations: A-list actors including Robert De Niro and Jim Carrey have led a public battle against health experts. Senior writer Gary Baum explores how stars have become torch-bearers in the widely discredited campaign:

Celebrities have played a key role in stoking vaccine alarm and shaping the narrative around immunization suspicion — including De Niro’s high-profile embrace of a documentary made by a discredited anti-vaccination activist, Rob Schneider’s cries of "state-sponsored medical tyranny" and Aidan Quinn’s insistence to "tell the truth" that the shots cause autism.

"It’s a rhetorical strategy," says Allan Mayer, who heads top Hollywood PR firm 42West’s Strategic Communications Division. “To be beaten down by the facts and then claim there are questions that are being ignored or facts that aren’t being heard of voices that are being suppressed." Full story.

Elsewhere in THR, Esq...

► "Blurred Lines" appeal gets big support. More than 200 musicians (including Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, Hans Zimmer and Jennifer Hudson) filed an amicus brief in support of the bid to overturn the $5.3M final judgment, arguing that the verdict is "very dangerous."

► Blind Melon sues songwriters. The latest song theft lawsuit comes from members of the rock band Blind Melon, known for their 1993 mega-hit song "No Rain," who in court are now suing Mandy Jiroux and others involved in the creation and publishing of a tune titled "Insane."

► Francis Ford Coppola's vineyard sues winemaker. The filmmaker's Napa winery says Oregon winemaker Copa Di Vino's Winemaker's Cut is a clear rip-off of Coppola's Director's Cut.

► Rainforest charity accuses DiCaprio of "double standards." The Bruno Manser Funds, focused on Malaysian rainforest protection, urged the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation to repay all donations linked to the Wolf of Wall Street money laundering scandal.

► Chris Brown gets arrested. The singer was taken into custody Tuesday on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after an hours-long standoff with police who responded to a woman's call for help. Brown completed his probation last year in the case involving Rihanna.

Roger Ailes lawyers ramp up attack on biographer. As journalist Gabriel Sherman, who wrote the 2014 biography on Ailes, is prepping a new story on the former Fox News CEO's behavior at the network, attorneys for Ailes are going on the offensive.

Gene Wilder, Remembered

Gene Wilder's collaborators and co-stars Mel Brooks, Kelly Le Brock (The Woman in Red) and Peter Ostrum (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory) spoke about their "serious" but "approachable" friend:

Mel Brooks: On Tuesday's Tonight Show, Brooks told Jimmy Fallon about meeting and working with his friend and longtime collaborator. "He was such a dear friend," Brooks said, who added that he "expected that he would go but when it happens, it's still tremendous. It's a big shock. I'm still reeling." The duo worked together on Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles and The Producers (according to Brooks, Wilder "burst into tears" when he learned he would play accountant Leo Bloom).

Kelly Le Brock: "I hadn’t seen Gene in a thousand years," says Le Brock of her last encounter with Wilder. "But there he was in the last row of first class. He looked so fragile! We both started crying." In the 30-plus years since Wilder cast Le Brock in her first film role as the mysterious beauty in Woman in Red, the two had remained friends. "He was very different off-screen," Le Brock says. “He was the funny man on-screen but in reality, he wasn’t funny. He was very quiet and kind of shy. He’d get very demonstrative telling a story — that’s when you’d see him come alive."

Peter Ostrum: The actor who played Charlie Bucket in 1971's Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory spoke to THR about what it was like to film the classic: "Gene was very much in the role. It wasn’t that you couldn’t approach him — he was very approachable. But he was serious about what he did and wanted to get it right." During long breaks Wilder would break character to entertain the young cast, said Ostrum, who remembers being surprised by Wilder's somersault grand entrance into the Wonka Factory.