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Actors on Strike; Why 'Jack Reacher 2' Exists; Trump-Clinton's Awkward Dinner; Debate Ratings

October 21, 2016

Happy Friday: As the Jack Reacher sequel hits theaters, a look at why Paramount and Tom Cruise bet on the risky title. Plus: Actors go on strike against video game makers, Carol Burnett plans a return to TV, NBCUniversal is doubling down on its BuzzFeed bet and a strange-but-true story involving a Rogue One actor. — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman.

A very awkward post-debate dinner. It made for surreal TV on CNN last night, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump turning in their jokes at the glitzy Alfred E. Smith event in New York. Trump, who was booed over some bitter comments, may not have helped himself. The decent one-liners:

— Clinton on Trump's "rigged" sentiment: "It's amazing I'm up here after Donald. I didn't think he'd be OK with a peaceful transition of power." Full speech.

— Trump on his wife's speech plagiarism: "Michelle Obama gives a speech and everyone loves it, it’s fantastic ... My wife Melania gives the exact same speech. And people get on her case!" Full speech.

Notable debate hangover items...

► Final ratings verdict: The last face-off officially drew 71.5M viewers across 12 networks, Fox News leading with 11.3M viewers. The third debate topped the second, which boasted 69M, but it was the first debate of election season that set records with 84.4M. The 2016 election's events are far above 2012, which topped out at 59.2M.

► Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's debate diary: Writing for THR, the NBA great says: "Watching Trump stand onstage and deny the many things he’s said and done, that fact-checkers have verified over and over again, reminded me of a small child being caught shoplifting a toy."

► Gavin Polone: Media bias is real. The columnist writes: "I’ve been watching CNN’s reporting move in a more biased direction for some time. Probably in proportion to the exposing of more and more negative things about Trump."

NBCUniversal Doubles BuzzFeed Bet

An old-media conglomerate keeps fueling the rise of a viral content powerhouse: NBCUniversal has invested another $200M in BuzzFeed, Natalie Jarvey reports:

NBCU has now invested a total of $400M in BuzzFeed since August 2015, when it made its first bet on the company at a $1.5B valuation. Recode, which first reported about the deal.

In August, BuzzFeed reorganized to highlight video across its divisions. The company is now split into BuzzFeed News, with all news video operations reporting to editor-in-chief Ben Smith, and BuzzFeed Entertainment, which includes the lists and quizzes that BuzzFeed is known for as well as Ze Frank's L.A.-based BuzzFeed Motion Pictures.

Since NBCU invested in BuzzFeed, the two companies have collaborated on a number of initiatives, including BuzzFeed-produced Snapchat content tied to the Summer Olympics in Rio. Meanwhile, NBCU Cable Entertainment content chief Jeff Wachtel is working on developing online series Mom vs. Chef for broadcast.

Flashback: How BuzzFeed retains talent I Why the company turned to Hollywood.

Elsewhere in TV...

► Carol Burnett returns to TV with ABC comedy. The comedic legend is set to star in an untitled multicamera comedy from exec producer Amy Poehler, centered on a family who moves into their dream house — on the condition that they live with the current owner (Burnett).

► CBS is restocking its shelves for summer. Days after canceling two of its three scripted summer series, the network has given a straight-to-series 13-episode order to Salvation, a suspense thriller event series from Alex Kurtzman.

► Time Warner in talks to merge with AT&T. Execs met recently to discuss a possible merger, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. If the informal talks do not lead to a merger, they could result in various other partnerships, said sources people familiar with the matter.

↱ CBS' Man With a Plan, reviewed. The new comedy, premiering Monday, stars Matt LeBlanc and Liza Snyder. The takeaway from Daniel Fienberg: With time it "could be an average, broad sitcom. It isn't even there yet." ↲

► Narcos adds series regulars amid season 3 shift. The Netflix drug cartel drama has added Michael Stahl-David and New Zealand actor Matt Whelan, who will join Pedro Pascal, reprising his role as DEA agent Javier Pena.

► ABC greenlights Enemy of the State TV sequel. Prolific producer Jerry Bruckheimer has set up a sequel to the 1998 film at ABC. The potential series, which landed at the network with a hefty put-pilot commitment, takes place two decades after the movie.

Morgan Spurlock's Rats theory. The Super Size Me director, whose new film is a doc on rodents, shares grim truths about L.A. rats: "It’s partly because of the sprawl, but they are everywhere — in holes in the ground, in houses, in Beverly Hills, in the swankiest parts of town."

A 'Rogue One' Actor and the Fake Film

A strange-but-true story: Rogue One star Donnie Yen, an action thriller in limbo and a state-owned Chinese film giant were used by fraudsters to lure unsuspecting artists to Asia, Alex Ritman reveals:

Earlier this summer, makeup artists in the U.K. began receiving calls and emails from producers of The Master, a big-budget Chinese action film, backed by a state-owned giant Huaxia and starring Donnie Yen, already a household name in his native Hong Kong but soon set to go global thanks to his major role in Rogue One.

Many were enticed out to Asia – at their own expense – for supposed interviews and location scouting with a mysterious woman calling herself “Leslie,” who spoke like she knew the industry inside out. Some even flew out twice, losing thousands of dollars in the process.

There was only one problem: the film was a complete scam. “They knew what they were doing," said one experienced makeup artist agent who thought something didn't sound right from the first email. "They avoided the artists who were a bit long in the tooth. Young artists, that’s their prey."

Elsewhere in film...

► First Hollywood strike in almost a decade begins. SAG-AFTRA went on strike against the video game industry at 12:01 a.m. Friday morning in what is the industry's first strike since the traumatic Writers Guild action of 2007-08 and the ensuing SAG stalemate that lasted another year. Those strikes were about residuals and new technologies – and so is this one.

► Why Paramount and Tom Cruise bet on a risky sequel. For those wondering why the actor is starring in a sequel to a film that wasn't terribly successful at the box office, here's an inside view on the calculation for the Jack Reacher follow-up.

↱ In theaters this weekend: Jack Reacher has "a low-rent feel," Tyler Perry's Boo! A Madea Halloween "isn't getting any funnier with age," prequel Ouija: Origin of Evil "provides some satisfying scares" and Keeping Up With the Joneses is "stale as week-old bread."↲

► Gugu Mbatha-Raw joins A Wrinkle in Time. The Concussion actress is the latest to sign up for Ava DuVernay's directorial effort, which has a script by Frozen writer and co-director Jennifer Lee. A late fall shoot beginning in Atlanta is being prepped.

► Warner Bros. plans Crazy Rich Asians adaptation. The studio has nabbed distribution rights to Kevin Kwan's book. The project will be directed by Jon M. Chu and based on a screenplay written by Peter Chiarelli (The Proposal) and Adele Lim (TV's Lethal Weapon).

► Daniel Radcliffe to star in actioner Beast of Burden. Swedish filmmaker Jesper Ganslandt will make his English-language debut with the thriller starring the Harry Potter actor as a drug-smuggling pilot. Adam Hoelzel wrote the script.

↱ Quoted, Meryl Streep. The Oscar-winner said at the Rome Film Fest that she has no further thoughts "on the sexism of the Trump campaign" because "he's doing a good job on his own" and, predicting that Clinton will win the election, "this will all be moot." ↲

► Jesse Plemons to star in Kirsten Dunst's directorial debut. The Breaking Bad actor has joined Dakota Fanning in The Bell Jar, based on Sylvia Plath's 1963 literary classic. The film, also written by Dunst, will be introduced to buyers at the American Film Market next month.

► Mr. Robot actor to star in thriller Parallel. Martin Wallstrom, who plays Tyrell Wellick on the USA drama, is joining the sci-fi film helmed by Isaac Ezban. Scott Blaszak wrote the script.

► Peter Dinklage to lead postapocalyptic film. The Game of Thrones actor has joined Elle Fanning in I Think We're Alone Now. Reed Morano (Meadowland) is directing the Automatik Entertainment project from a script by Mike Makowsky.

► Murder on the Orient Express adds Josh Gad. Gad joins an all-star cast including Kenneth Branagh, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley, Michael Pena and Judi Dench. Gad will play Hector McQueen, a skittish man who works as an assistant to Depp's character.

Awards Chatter: Naomie Harris. In a chat with Scott Feinberg, the actress reflects on unexpected roles in blockbusters and why she almost turned down the Moonlight role for which she's now an Oscar favorite. Full podcast.

Today in '64: 'My Fair Lady' Premieres

On Oct. 21, 1964, My Fair Lady held its premiere at the Criterion Theatre in New York. The Audrey Hepburn film, said at the time to have the largest advance ticket sales of any movie in history, went on to win 8 Oscars. An excerpt from THR's original review:

"NEW YORK — The most fabulous musical in the history of the stage has been made into a fabulous musical film, one that will be one of the greatest hits in movie history. It is, of course, My Fair Lady, a Warner Bros. presentation, a personal production of Jack L. Warner, and it is a better movie than it was a play...

...The picture is exquisite, extraordinary, a unique gem of filmmaking. One of those rare, rare occasions when everything goes right, when it keeps going right and it moves and takes the spectator along, enchanted and enthralled...

...It is tremulous with sentiment, and rich with an unusual love story. It has perhaps the most nearly universal of themes. It incarnates the dream of almost everyone; to be bewitched or transmuted and awake to be handsome or beautiful, and the beloved of one's idol."