What's news: There's another Star Wars movie in the works... but is it for Disney+? NBUniversal and Fox circle major streaming service acquisitions, the Friends will return to HBO Max, Watchmen changes Emmy categories, two White House TV projects, the Weinstein trial will continue into next week, will Parasite ever been seen in China? Plus: The latest from Berlin (including a review of Minamata), and Call of the Wild is putting up a fight against Sonic. --Alex Weprin

 One More 'Star Wars' Movie

►There's another new Star Wars movie in the works.  J.D. Dillard, best known for writing and directing the sci-fi thriller Sleight, and Matt Owens, a writer on Marvel shows Luke Cage and Agents of SHIELD, have been tapped to develop it. But insiders say it is undecided whether the project will be for the big screen or for the Disney+ streaming service. The story.

►It's a sellers market for streaming services. NBCUniversal is in talks to acquire Walmart's Vudu video business, Natalie Jarvey reports. A deal would give NBCU ownership of Vudu's digital marketplace for movies and television shows. Vudu also offers a free, ad-supported video service. The talks come ahead of NBCUniversal's planned launch of new streaming service Peacock, which will offer both ad-supported and subscription video plans. Vudu could help to bolster Peacock's free, ad-supported tier. Meanwhile, its digital marketplace could serve as a companion offering, one that would tie in with the NBCU-owned movie ticketer and rental service Fandango. The story.

--Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that Fox is in talks to buy the free streaming service Tubi TV, in a deal that could value the streamer at $500 million. Viacom acquired Tubi competitor Pluto TV last year for $340 million.

+Context: In his company's last earnings call, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said that his company was exploring direct-to-consumer offerings, with an emphasis on products that would complement and not compete with its cable TV offerings. "I think we're always going to play to our strengths and our strengths are very clearly live news, live sport and big event entertainment programming," he said. Tubi, with its live linear design, could fit in to that mold. Meanwhile, another big streaming player, WWE Network, is out shopping its content to other streaming services...

+In other streaming news: The Friends reunion special is officially a go at HBO Max. The special, along with the entire library of Friends, will be available in May when HBO Max officially launches, Lesley Goldberg reports.

--The unscripted reunion special will feature stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer, as well as series creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman. Sources tell Goldberg that the cast, who all negotiated together, will earn more than double their former per-episode fee for the reunion and be paid between $2.5 million and $3 million for the special. The story.

►The Harvey Weinstein trial: The jury left for the weekend without a verdict, but a note sent to the judge gives a clue as to what the deliberations look like. The jury pondered the possibility of being hung — or undecided — on two major charges and unanimous on the other charges. But Judge James Burke told them to continue their deliberations until they reach a verdict on all the charges, after the prosecution said they would not accept a "partial verdict." 

--In a note Friday afternoon that suggests disagreement among the panel, the jurors asked if they can be hung on the first and third charges — of predatory sexual assault — and unanimous on the other three charges. After calling the jury into the court room, the judge reassured them that it's "not uncommon" for jurors to believe they will be unable to reach unanimous verdicts on all charges. "As I told you in my initial instructions, any verdict you return, on any count, whether guilty or not guilty, must be unanimous," the judge said. "I will ask you to continue your deliberations." The story.

 'Onward' Review

►Review: Pixar's Onward. David Rooney reviews the film, which premiered in Berlin (more from Berlin below). "This fantasy adventure quest, about two teenage elf brothers racing against the clock to spend a day with their late father before a reanimation spell wears off will be perfectly agreeable entertainment for many children," Rooney writes. "But it lacks infectious magic." The review.

►Box office: It's shaping up to be a close race between Sonic the Hedgehog and Harrison Ford's Call of the Wild. Right now Sonic has the edge, but that could change. Stay tuned.

--Read The Hollywood Reporter cover to cover and hundreds of other magazines in Apple News+.--

►Will Parasite ever be seen in China? Bong Joon Ho’s history-making Oscar winner has been a box office phenomenon around the globe — and would likely do strong business in the Middle Kingdom — but thanks to long-simmering geopolitical tensions with South Korea, the second-largest film market in the world may be off limits. The story.

Elsewhere in film...

--After debuting at the Sundance Film Festival in January, the fantasy feature Nine Days has been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics.

--Marketing analysis: Call of the Wild leans on Harrison Ford to sell the classic tale.

--PAW Patrol will be barking its way to the big screen. Spin Master Entertainment, the entertainment division of the company behind the PAW Patrol toy line that inspired the series, is partnering with Nickelodeon Movies for a feature animation of its furry franchise.

--The Batman set photos point to a surprising comic book inspiration.

--When Alan Rickman got tricked for that Die Hard fall.

Here's the latest from Berlin...

►Indies move to cooperate, not clash, with streamers. Indie distributors are finding new models to jointly buy and release films with SVOD platforms that both boost subscriptions and fill theater seats: "We want the entire industry to grow, online and off." The story.



^Review: Minamata. "Johnny Depp in the role of acclaimed photojournalist W. Eugene Smith is the most fortunate thing about Minamata, the impassioned account of a real-life environmental tragedy in Japan caused by industrial negligence," Deborah Young writes. The review.

+Inside the making of Depp's passion project: “This is Johnny's movie,” director Andrew Levitas says, of Depp's portrayal of photographer W. Eugene Smith, who brought personal demons to his work documenting an environmental tragedy in Japan. Rebecca Keegan has the story.

+More Berlin reviews: One in a Thousand (Las mil y una)... The American Sector... Wildland (Kød & Blod)... The Intruder (El Profugo)... Mogul Mowgli... Malmkrog... Hidden Away (Volevo nascondermi)... Uppercase Print (Tipografic majuscul)... Minyan...

+Deals: 30West has flexed its financial muscle across the Atlantic, taking a "significant minority stake" in the well-established U.K. distribution, sales and production banner Altitude Media Group... Saban Films has taken North American rights to the Bruce Willis-starring sci-fi action flick Cosmic Sin...

+Also: Kumail Nanjiani is adding political thriller to his growing list of on-screen credits, having signed up to star in The Independent... Sam Worthington is set to take the lead in Counterplay, the upcoming action thriller that also marks the first international film produced by the newly established MAM Media, in association with BlackOps Studio...

+And: Riz Ahmed on co-writing Berlin entry Mogul Mowgli and pushing for more representation onscreen... Lindsay Lohan has lined up her next feature, playing a police detective alongside Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke in supernatural thriller Cursed... The upcoming Cambodia-set thriller Hunters in the Dark, based on English writer Lawrence Osborne's acclaimed novel of the same name, has unveiled several key additions to its starring cast...

Download THR's Berlin day 3 daily here...

►Julia Roberts, Sean Penn, Armie Hammer, Joel Edgerton to star in Watergate TV series. The actors are attached to star in Gaslit, a modern take on Watergate that will focus on the untold stories and forgotten characters of the scandal. The series, which hails from Mr. Robot duo Sam Esmail and Robbie Pickering, will explore Nixon's bumbling, opportunistic subordinates to the deranged zealots aiding and abetting their crimes and the tragic whistle-blowers who would eventually bring the whole rotten enterprise crashing down. The story.

+Haunted White House TV series in the works. Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman's Skybound imprint will adapt its upcoming novel The Residence as a hybrid of scripted and unscripted series, with each season focusing on true stories from a different presidential administration. The story.

Elsewhere in TV...

--How Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist reminds Lauren Graham of Gilmore Girls.

--The rise and fall of startup HQ Trivia will be the subject of a new podcast from Bill Simmons' The Ringer.

--Ratings: Grey's Anatomy and Station 19 drew their largest same-day viewership since their Jan. 23 return. CBS' Young Sheldon also grew its total-viewer tally and is near a season high, and three of NBC's four comedies posted viewer gains as well.

--"This doesn't look terrible:" The Star Trek episode that saved Next Generation.

 'Watchmen' Changes Emmy Categories

►Watchmen to compete in Emmys' Limited series races. The move, a reversal from how Watchmen was pitched for The Golden Globes and recent guild awards, should help bolster the buzzy (if niche) genre property. More.

 Rian Johnson won't have to pay Star Wars commissions to fired agent. Since CAA helped the director land "The Last Jedi," the California Labor Commissioner rules that firm — and not Featured Artists Agency — gets 10 percent of his earnings for the job, Eriq Gardner reports.

+Activision demands Reddit identify Call of Duty leaker. The video game publisher has invoked the Digital Millennium Copyright Act against the tech giant to give up the identity of a user who posted information about an upcoming game release. More.

►Taylor Sheridan signs big ViacomCBS deal. The Yellowstone co-creator has signed a multiyear pact with the company's newly formed Entertainment & Youth Brands. The deal also includes a fourth-season renewal for Yellowstone, the flagship series at Paramount Network. More.

►DC's Dan DiDio out as co-publisher. DiDio had served as publisher of DC alongside Jim Lee since 2010, following a six-year stint as VP executive editor, and, prior to that, VP editorial. More.

►Critic's notebook: Fresh Off the Boat and the Asian American entertainment revolution. Inkoo Kang writes that without the ABC show "the current Asian American boom in Hollywood wouldn't — couldn't — look like it does today." The column.

TV Long view: This week Rick Porter looks at "the hidden disadvantage for midseason shows." "[A]lthough the 20-plus midseason series have posted initial numbers more or less in line with their fall counterparts, they fall off the pace somewhat in delayed viewing," Porter writes. The column.

Casting roundup: Sandra Oh will play the title role in a six-episode dramedy called The Chair at Netflix... Game of Thrones alum Kristofer Hivju has joined the cast of The Witcher at Netflix... Ed Helms and Randall Park are teaming up for a hybrid scripted and unscripted series at NBC that recounts — and re-enacts — unbelievable true stories called True Story... Schitt's Creek star Annie Murphy will play the lead role in AMC's dark comedy Kevin Can F*** Himself...

What else we're reading...

--"A Hollywood legend talks politics" [WSJ]

--"New York Times poised to name Meredith Kopit Levien as next CEO" [Bloomberg]

--"Bernie Sanders calls out MSNBC over campaign coverage" [Page Six]

--"Prince Harry and Meghan will abandon use of ‘Sussex Royal’ brand as they break from family" [LA Times]

--"The enduring, understated brilliance of Better Call Saul" [The Ringer]

Today's birthdays: Julie Walters, 70, Kyle MacLachlan, 61, Rachel Dratch, 54, Michael Chang, 46, Drew Barrymore, 45.

One last thing: Words of wisdom from Warren Buffett, who released his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders this morning. Buffett dedicated a few paragraphs to his views on corporate directors, and he had a message for executives at ABC...

"[I]f I were ever scheduled to appear on Dancing With the Stars, I would immediately seek refuge in the Witness Protection Program. We are all duds at one thing or another. For most of us, the list is long. The important point to recognize is that if you are Bobby Fischer, you must play only chess for money."

Have a great weekend...