Disney’s Remake Mania; Meet the Transgender Oprah of China; Can Star Power Save the American Film Market?
The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment
 
November 01, 2016
  
 
 
What's news: Meet the Chinese TV host pulling in 100 million viewers per week (who also happens to be transgender). Plus: Disney plans a live-action Snow White, The Flash movie loses its director, Viacom's new acting CEO Bob Bakish addresses the troops and Lena Dunham takes on Donald Trump with her Halloween costume. — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman.
The Oprah of China Is Transgender
Jin Xing has been many things in her life: dance prodigy, prima ballerina, colonel, actress, wife and mother of three. She also has been a man. Now the most popular figure on Chinese TV has become a symbol of the new China, Abid Rahman writes: 
Jin rose through the military following two different paths: As a promising member of the dance troupe and as a decorated soldier. Her career as a TV personality skyrocketed thanks to regular appearances as a judge on a local version of So You Think You Can Dance, which eventually led to The Jin Xing Show, a wildly successful variety/chat program viewed estimated 100 million every week. 
The news that Jin was to be the first person to openly undergo gender reassignment surgery in the '90s became a national sensation in China. Now a bona fide superstar, Jin, 49, is a one-woman industry unto herself, a kind of Chinese hybrid of Oprah, Simon Cowell and Caitlyn Jenner. And yet, outside China she is virtually unknown.
Jin says she has no strong pull toward Hollywood, despite a growing number of acting offers (she recently had a small role in the Bruce Lee biopic Birth of the Dragon). Nevertheless, she says she would like to return to America, if only to meet one person: "I know one day I'll go back to America," she says emphatically. "I want to sit down with Oprah, and we can tallk."
Elsewhere in TV...
► Fox is going the distance with Lucifer. The network has handed out a back-nine order to the sophomore drama from Jerry Bruckheimer. The order brings its season two tally to a full 22 episodes.
► CBS' Odd Couple sets tribute to Garry Marshall. Ron Howard, Marion Ross, as well as Marshall's sister, Penny Marshall, are among those to appear in a special episode of the reboot dedicated to the acclaimed director. 
► The Good Wife spinoff to be named The Good Fight. The CBS All Access series starring Christine Baranski and Cush Jumbo has also added Justified alum Erica Tazel to the cast. Production started yesterday in New York City with plans to debut in February 2017. 
↱ People of Earth, reviewed. TBS' new show, which premiered last night, is a "surprisingly funny, smart, quirky and lovable comedy about an alien abduction support group," writes chief TV critic Tim Goodman. ↲
► NBC passes on Cruel Intentions series. Following prolonged negotiations, the network has opted not to pick up the reboot, which picks up 15 years after the 1999 film. The sequel to the film will now be shopped to other outlets. 
► CNN parts ways with Donna Brazile. "We are completely uncomfortable with what we have learned," a spokesperson said after hacked emails revealed Brazile provided questions in advance to Hillary Clinton's campaign during primary debates on CNN.
► Obama visits Samantha Bee. The president continued his late-night tour Monday with a Halloween visit to TBS' Full Frontal. The 5-minute clip.
In THR, Esq... Rolling Stone gets a victory in defamation trial ... Peter Thiel explains his backing of "single-digit millionaire" Hulk Hogan ... Producer sues Animal Logic over Peter Rabbit, Lego Movie sequels. 
 
Can Star Power Save the American Film Market?
Skittish international buyers, burned by high-profile flops, likely will place safe bets on A-list projects when the market kicks off tomorrow in Santa Monica, Scott Roxborough reports: 
It's been a rough year for the indie film business. Several major flops and misfires, including a number from industry trendsetter Lionsgate — Gods of Egypt, Allegiant, Deepwater Horizon — have left foreign film distributors with big-budget shortfalls as they head to AFM.
"Buyers have become more risk-averse," says IM Global CEO Stuart Ford. "They are buying fewer movies because there's less of a safety net now when a film doesn't work."
With fewer A-list stars working in the indie market — "the studios' superhero movies have sucked up so much talent," says Ford — top-notch attachments have become even more valuable for AFM projects.
As this year's THR hot list shows, films with bold-faced names will be atop most foreign buyers' must-have lists when the market kicks off.
Elsewhere in film... 
► Disney is developing a live-action Snow White. The latest fairytale to get a live-action twist will expand on the 1937 story. Girl on the Train's Erin Cressida Wilson is in talks to write the script and new music is coming from the lyricists of La La Land. 
► Deadpool director shifts to a Sonic the Hedgehog movie. Just over a week after stepping away from Deadpool 2, Tim Miller has set his sights on adapting Sonic for Sony as a hybrid CG-animated/live-action family film. 
► The Flash movie loses its director. Dope's Rick Famuyiwa has parted ways with Warner Bros. over "creative differences." Famuyiwa has been on board since June developing the project, which stars Ezra Miller. 
↱ Box office's bleak fall season. Pamela McClintock writes: North American box-office revenue was down 10 percent over last year between post-Labor Day and Oct. 31 after a number of titles got iced or didn't fully deliver domestically.
High-profile misses like Mark Wahlberg's Deepwater Horizon and Ron Howard's Inferno haven't helped. The saving grace — year-to-date revenue is still running ahead of 2015 by 3.4 percent. A few lessons learned. ↲
► Riley Keough joins Andrew Garfield in Under the Silver Lake. The American Honey actress is set to co-star in David Robert Mitchell's modern-day noir crime thriller, also starring Garfield, Dakota Johnson and Topher Grace. A24 acquired domestic rights. 
► The Giver's Brenton Thwaites to star in action-thriller. The actor is set to star in Entry Level, written by Benjamin Hurley and directed by Franck Khalfoun. The film is set to begin shooting in early 2017.
↱ What's the deal with the Relativity investor? A Singapore web giant is paying some $50M for a one-third stake in Ryan Kavanaugh's struggling studio with an option to buy more. Few in the U.S. have heard of YuuZoo, the company that created a patented tech platform in which content can customized for local markets. ↲
**Spotted: Sony’s Tom Rothman having a very public lunch Monday with his boss Michael Lynton at the studio commissary.**
Viacom names acting CEO. Bob Bakish, who served as head of Viacom's international networks business since 2011, is getting the job. Read his memo to employees: "I see a world of opportunity."
Halloween in Hollywood...
What were the most popular costumes last night? Here's a Halloween rundown: 
Amy Schumer went Stranger Things, Bette Midler reprised Hocus Pocus and Katy Perry was Hillary Clinton. (See celebrities' costumes here.)
Meanwhile, Lena Dunham had a Trump-inspired look, making reference to the candidate's "locker room talk" for a literal "grabbed pussy" costume for the occasion. 
Tom Hanks posted a photo of a costume for his SNL character David S. Pumpkins, saying "Oh, I HAVE my costume! Any questions??!"
Hilary Duff apologized after she and her boyfriend donned pilgrim and Native American costumes, resulting in cultural appropriation accusations.
And: President Obama hosted Halloween at the White House, handing out candy to a little boy who dressed up like POTUS himself. 
Today's Birthdays: Logan Marshall-Green, 40, Toni Collette, 44, Anthony Kiedis, 54, Larry Flynt, 74.
 
 
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November 1, 2016
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Written by José Vizcarra
on Tuesday, November 01, 2016 at 6:52 AM.

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