What's news: The entertainment industry shut down. Disneyland, Disney World and Universal closing. Major film releases delayed by months or longer. Sports leagues cancel or postpone games. TV shows suspend production. Movie theaters battle to stay open, but for how long? --Alex Weprin

 SHUT DOWN

Thursday, March 12 was the day that the coronavirus pandemic effectively brought the entertainment industry, and much of America, to a grinding halt...

►Disneyland and Disney World shutting down. This marks only the fourth time Disneyland has closed since opening July 17, 1955 — after the 1994 Northridge earthquake the park was partially closed while it was inspected for damage, it was fully closed after the 9/11 attacks and fully closed again in 1963 for a national period of mourning after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

--Disneyland Paris and Universal Studios Hollywood will also shut down, Disney and NBCUniversal said. Disney said that employees will be paid through the shutdown, which is currently set through the end of March. The story.

Live events around the country came to a screeching halt...

+All Los Angeles Philharmonic concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall have been canceled until March 31. Effective immediately, the Center Theatre Group and Geffen Playhouse also have canceled their scheduled shows; and performances of Hamilton at the Hollywood Pantages will be suspended as of Thursday evening. More.

+Live Nation is instructing its touring shows to prepare to return home. The announcement affects all Live Nation tours, domestically and internationally. More.

+Broadway went dark and a slew of New York City venues shut down as new rules went into effect in New York City. More.

+ICYMI: Why some Hollywood events haven't been canceled: "We're not there yet."

The sports business also closed its doors on Thursday...

+The NCAA canceled its March Madness basketball tournament. The news came shortly after the ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 tournaments were canceled. More.

+Major League Baseball is canceling spring training and will delay the start of the regular season because of the coronavirus outbreak. Spring training was underway, with the regular season to kick off at the end of the month. The season will be delayed at least two weeks. More.

+The National Hockey League is suspending the remainder of the season because of the coronavirus outbreak, the organization said Thursday. More.

+The English Premier League, the world's most widely-watched and richest soccer division, has suspended all games until April 3 due to the coronavirus pandemic. More.

+As NBA and NCAA go dark, Turner and CBS brace for losses. Last year's March Madness tournament brought in $655.1 million in ad revenue alone, per a Standard Media Index estimate. More.

Major movie releases were delayed...

+Disney is pushing the release of its upcoming live-action tentpole Mulan amid growing concerns around the coronavirus, the studio said Thursday. The movie was set to hit theaters in North America on March 27. Also being pushed is the long-delayed New Mutants, which was due out April 3 via 20th Century Studios, and the Guillermo del Toro-produced Antlers, which was set for an April 17 release via Searchlight Pictures. 

+F9, The next installment in Universal's Fast & Furious franchise is being pushed back by a year amid the coronavirus pandemic. F9 had been set to hit theaters around the globe in May. Now it will be released April 2, 2021, in the U.S., timed to a day-and-date global launch.

+Paramount's A Quiet Place Part II was pushed to a date to be determined. Paramount also pulled The Lovebirds and Blue Story.

+Movie theaters battle to stay open despite shelved films, but for how long? The refrain among distribution executives across Hollywood is the same: the situation is unprecedented. The country's largest theater circuits — AMC, Regal and Cinemark — aren't commenting publicly so far because circumstances are too fluid. As of Thursday afternoon, no movie theaters appeared to be closed in the U.S., even in hard-hit areas such as Washington state, the Bay Area, Los Angeles and New York. The story.

+France bans groups of more than 100 people. France has tightened restrictions on public gatherings, banning all groups of more than 100 people, in an effort to stem the rapid spread of the coronavirus in the country. The move, announced by French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Friday, will have a direct impact on all public activities in France, including cinemas, which have largely remained open during the coronavirus crisis. The story.

►Presaging Hollywood dilemma, Actors Equity calls for government help as theatres shut down. With Broadway theatres shut down by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo amid the deepening coronavirus crisis, the stage performers union Actors Equity called on government Thursday to help affected arts and entertainment workers as they face lost income, health insurance and retirement savings.

--It’s the same issue confronting Hollywood industryites as well, with over 40 television shows announcing shutdowns or production acceleration in the last 12 hours. The story.

►Marvel's Shang-Chi temporarily suspends production as director self-isolates. Destin Daniel Cretton, the filmmaker directing the action-adventure feature that is shooting in Australia, has self-isolated under the recommendation of a doctor. Cretton has a newborn baby and decided to get tested for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. “In an abundance of caution,” according to a note that was send to crew, Marvel and parent company Disney have decided to suspend first unit production, “until he gets the result this coming week.” More.

 TV Biz On Hold

►The upfronts have been canceled. All five broadcast networks, along with WarnerMedia, will skip their live upfront shows in May in favor of video presentations. Basic cable network Discovery and streamer Hulu are also opting for digital upfronts. CBS was the first broadcaster to announce changes for its May upfront, with NBC following minutes later and WarnerMedia later in the day. The CW and Fox also said they would cancel their live presentations. Disney and the company's streamer, Hulu, also followed suit. The story.

►TV productions in flux amid coronavirus concerns. The fate of scripted television production is very much in flux as the world grapples with the coronavirus. As of late Thursday evening, NBCUniversal has either suspended production or accelerated the season wrap schedules on 35 shows (scripted, unscripted and syndicated) as a precaution. CBS meanwhile, is taking a similar strategy and has done the same with a fair amount of its series.

--Other networks and studios are taking things on a case-by-case scenario. While every network, streamer and studio scrambled to make decisions about staffers working from home and what to do with series production, everyone had one thing in common: a sense of uncertainty given the unprecedented nature of the global pandemic. The story.

+Late night pulls the plug. After planning to tape without audiences, the New York late night shows decided to cancel tapings for at least a few weeks. Expect others to follow. Pete Buttigieg Hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live! without a live audience...

+ABC News' top medical reporter on covering coronavirus: "I've never seen anything like this." "You've never seen a medical story evolve so rapidly and so dramatically, literally hour to hour, day to day," she said. "The pace of how this story is evolving is like nothing I've ever seen. … It has really been challenging on every level." More.

+CBS News moves to a skeleton staffing arrangement. CBS News management, which said Wednesday that two New York-based employees have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, said in a memo Thursday that a third employee has now tested positive. More.

+The Television Academy has suspended all For Your Consideration (FYC) events with a live audience. More.

+ICYMI: THR's TV critics pick 11 shows to watch while you're stuck at home...

+More companies told employees to work from home, if at all possible. NBCUniversal, Netflix, Amazon and others... Rogers & Cowan/PMK... CAA...

In politics...

►Trump's Europe travel ban sows confusion within film industry. As Americans abroad scramble to get home, international execs are uncertain who exactly will be affected by the new ban and what the business repercussions will be. More.

+The Democratic National Committee is moving Sunday's presidential debate from Arizona to Washington, D.C., because of concerns about coronavirus. In addition, Univision anchor Jorge Ramos no longer will moderate the debate because he was in proximity to a person who was in direct contact with another individual who tested positive for the virus. More.

+President Donald Trump on Thursday said he is temporarily halting his trademark rallies — as his campaign bows to the coronavirus outbreak that is rapidly reshaping the nation's political landscape. More.

+Congress is shutting the Capitol to the public until April in reaction to the spread of the coronavirus, officials announced Thursday, a rare step that underscores the growing gravity with which the government is reacting to the viral outbreak. More.

+Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife has tested positive for the new coronavirus. Trudeau's office said Thursday night that Sophie Grégoire Trudeau is felling well and will remain in isolation. More.

Many more cancellations and postponements...

►The 2020 Tribeca Film Festival, set to run April 15-26 in New York, has been postponed due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus outbreak. A new date has not been announced. More.

+Other film fests: The Miami Film Festival... The TCM Classic Film Festival... Sun Valley Film Festival... Montclair Film Festival...

+Also: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony... The Juno Awards... The Canadian Screen Awards... WonderCon Anaheim... BeautyCon... The Human Rights Campaign suspended events... The L.A. Gay Pride Festival...

 The rest of the day's news...

►Bachelor star Peter Weber and Madison Prewett have gone their "separate ways." The news comes only days after Tuesday's live finale. During the rocky conclusion to the 24th cycle of the ABC franchise, Weber proposed to his final woman standing, Hannah Ann Sluss, only to call off his engagement after filming wrapped and pursue Prewett in recent weeks. More.

►Steve Asbell to head 20th Century Studios, Vanessa Morrison to lead Disney feature streaming production. Asbell will take over for Emma Watts, who departed the post last month, while Morrison will head the production of Disney+ feature film content from The Walt Disney Studios. The story.

+Revolving door: The reboot of Scream has found its directors: Matthew Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett will helm the horror thriller... Alex Hamilton has been appointed CEO of StudioCanal U.K., with current CEO Nicola Shindler — who only joined the company in late 2018 — moving to COO... HBO Max's drama pilot about the life of Julia Child has set its cast... Streamer Dr. Disrespect has signed a multi-year deal to stay with Twitch...

►19 lessons from Harvey Weinstein. Even as Hollywood cheers his sentencing, we are disheartened by how much further the industry needs to go to protect victims from powerful predators, says writer-director Nell Scoville in a guest column. The column.

►TV Academy rescinds several of George Stevens Jr.'s Emmy noms, awards. Stevens and his editor Catherine Shields have been sanctioned after the TV Academy learned that a project for which they received Emmys in 1994 was not an original work, Scott Feinberg reports. More.

►TV's Top 5 podcast: During this week's podcast, hosts Daniel Fienberg and Lesley Goldberg are joined by THR's Chris Gardner for a look at the state of the town amid the global pandemic and Series Regular's Josh Wigler pops in to preview Westworld season three. Listen.

►Discovery inks global partnership with The Explorers Club. The two organizations announced a multiyear deal that will "showcase, support and advance the extraordinary scientific achievements" of the club across Discovery platforms around the world. The story.

+Farm animal-rescue series Saved by the Barn greenlit at Animal Planet. The show will a former tech employee who gave up his six-figure job to transform his family farm into a sanctuary for rescued farm animals. More.

►Epic Games acquires facial animation tech company Cubic Motion. The acquisition is the latest move in Epic's digital human initiatives. It acquired 3Lateral, another tech developer in the area of digital human and character creation, in January. More.