What's news: Theater owners chief unloads on Trolls' broken window, The Lovebirds fly to Netflix, Paradigm hit by layoffs and paycuts, Netflix pledges $100 million to out-of-work production staff, unions and companies call on Congress for action, remembering Kenny Rogers, Disney raises $6 billion in debt. Plus: Late night's new normal, and commercials in the coronavirus era. --Alex Weprin

 Frustration Mounts Over Broken Theatrical Windows

►Theater owners chief on Universal's Trolls on-demand play: "Exhibitors will not forget this." John Fithian expects most U.S. exhibitors to be closed for two months and hopes Congress will act to help the industry's 150,000 furloughed workers and keep cinemas afloat, while expressing frustration at the decision to have Trolls skip theaters. The interview.

+Netflix picks up Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae's The Lovebirds. A week after being pulled from its April 3 theatrical release amid growing concerns about the coronavirus, The Lovebirds is flying to Netflix. The comedy, starring Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani, was set to be released via Paramount. The studio recently pulled the release of A Quiet Place II and Blue Story. The story.

+French cinema body gets right to collapse release windows. France’s regulations require a four-month window between theatrical release and a premium VOD or home entertainment bow for films that draw more than 100,000 cinema admissions (roughly equivalent to a box office of $700,000) and a three-month window for releases with fewer than 100,000 admissions. But as part of a bill passed Friday, the CNC will be able to shorten the VOD windows for films on release before the government put the country in lockdown on March 14, shutting France's cinemas, around 6,000 screens nationwide. More.

►Paradigm implements layoffs, paycuts amid coronavirus shutdown. In addition to anticipated layoffs of about a hundred or more of its 600-plus employees, The Hollywood Reporter also has learned that payroll will be reduced for those who remain at the company. CEO Sam Gores broke the news in an agency-wide Zoom call this morning, and a second call with department heads was to follow. The story.

+Some nonfiction production companies keep L.A. offices open amid "stay at home" order. Prometheus Media, the Hollywood-based production company behind The UnXplained, Ancient Aliens and The Curse of Oak Island on the History channel, and Levity Live, the production arm of the Culver City-based exhibition and management company, both have workers coming into their offices as of Friday. Several former and current individuals, freelancers and staff alike, working at these companies confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that they were told to report to work on Friday or that they would be out of a job. More.

►Netflix pledges $100 million in relief to out-of-work entertainment community. In a letter from chief content officer Ted Sarandos, one of the Hollywood’s most visible creative executives noted the unprecedented effects that the pandemic has had on the community.

--“Most of the fund will go towards support for the hardest hit workers on our own productions around the world,” wrote Sarandos. “We’re in the process of working out exactly what this means, production by production. This is in addition to the two weeks pay we’ve already committed to the crew and cast on productions we were forced to suspend last week.” The story.

Elsewhere, unions, businesses and employees are seeking relief from governments around the world...

--A coalition of more than a dozen entertainment and media unions are joining efforts to press Congress to ask for an emergency relief bill that includes direct cash payments of more than $1,000 a month for workers, as well as the extension of unemployment benefits and a provision for paid sick leave, among other priorities.

--Also on Friday, movie theater owners outlined their ask to Congress for relief for exhibitors. The National Association of Theatre Owners said that it is looking for loan guarantee programs, small business interruption loans, payroll tax deferrals and tax loss carryforwards to help its members.

--The U.K. government has put in place another series of unprecedented financial measures aimed at assisting the economy during the coronavirus crisis. As part of Friday's press briefing, chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a scheme to pay 80 percent of wages for employees not working, up to £2,500 ($2,900) a month.

--The German Federal Film Board, the FFA, has outlined a package of measures aimed at helping members of the industry suffering a financial hit due to the coronavirus crisis.

--Polish cinema operators, including national chains Helios, Multikino and Cinema City, have called for direct government help to prevent a wave of bankruptcies in the sector due to the coronavirus crisis.

►Film, TV industry navigates U.S.-Canada border shutdown. After Canada and the U.S. chose to close their common border to non-essential travel amid the coronavirus pandemic, film and TV crews and creatives are scrambling for answers on whether they are considered "essential" workers exempted from new travel bans.

--"This is a work in progress," former U.S. ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman told THR, as he expected film and TV workers on both sides of the border to live with uncertainty and mixed messaging from politicians and border agents until new rules and regulations are agreed upon and rolled out. The story.

+On Friday, the U.S. announced that it would shut down the southern border with Mexico to all but essential traffic as well.

 The New Normal For Late Night

►How bathtubs, woodsheds, couches and sidewalks became the new hubs of late night. With kids giggling during monologues and WiFi issues to work out, late-night hosts are wading through uncharted waters to deliver comedy, and a bit of levity, to audiences amid the coronavirus outbreak, Sharareh Drury reports.

Quote: "If anything, all I want to try and do is be out there not necessarily trying to do the exact same show that I normally do because I don't think this is the world as usual," Daily Show host Trevor Noah said. "I'm hoping to at least, in some way, positively contribute to what's happening. This is a great moment to remember that we're all human beings and everybody is in this. This is one of the strangest things where it does not matter who you are, you are involved. I think there are many positives that can come from that." The story.

►Film Academy extends deadline for new member suggestions. The Academy's member relations department emailed the organization's roughly 8,000 members on Wednesday to tell them that they are being given a one-week extension — from March 27 to April 3, and possibly longer than that — to suggest new members for inclusion on the invitation list that has historically been announced in the summer. More.

►The NAB Show goes online. Instead of rescheduling the 2020 National Association of Broadcasters Show—which was set to open April 18 in Las Vegas—NAB plans to effectively take parts of its show online with a digital offering dubbed NAB Show Express. It also wants to expand its NAB Show New York, if it is held Oct. 21-22 as originally scheduled. More.

The day in coronavirus-related postponements and cancelations...

--The producers of Martin McDonagh's Hangmen have confirmed that the play will not reopen on Broadway... a similar fate has met the eagerly anticipated revival of Edward Albee's masterwork of interdependent marital warfare, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

--The Producers Guild of America has postponed its annual Produced By Conference, originally scheduled for June 6 and 7 in Los Angeles.

--Just days before a high-profile libel trial was set to begin between Johnny Depp and the newspaper that cast him as a "wife-beater," a U.K. judge has decided that the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic necessitates adjournment. As a result, the actor will fight News Group Newspapers, the publisher of The Sun, at a later date.

--The Scripps National Spelling Bee won't be held as scheduled this year because of the coronavirus.

In other coronavirus-related news...

--Coronavirus fallout: Here are the TV shows whose premiere dates have been delayed.

--Two more celebrities have tested positive: Watch What Happens Live! host Andy Cohen, and The Bachelor's Colton Underwood.

--Paramount's Sonic The Hedgehog is the latest film to get an early digital release as theaters shut down across the country.

--"The moment we have been dreading:" Coronavirus lands Thanos-sized punch on comic shops.

--GameStop, the video game retail chain, has closed its storefronts in California amid the coronavirus pandemic.

--With plastic surgeons shut down due to Beverly Hills ban, some offer house visits or video chat.

--New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has issued a stay-at-home order to more aggressively combat the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The "New York state on pause" directive — outlined as "Policies Assure Uniform Safety for Everyone" — requires 100 percent of the state's non-essential workforce to stay home.

--Before production on Nelvana's Emmy-nominated preschool series Miss Persona last week shut down in Toronto as a precaution amid the coronavirus pandemic, the live-action show's creators and crew produced a public service announcement to help kids understand the COVID-19 virus and ease any fright or sadness they have.

And lastly on the coronavirus front...

►Coronavirus and the ultra wealthy: Yacht staffing, live-in doctor requests and the new rules of support staff. One-percenters in New York City and Los Angeles are imposing stringent hygiene measures with such employees as housekeepers — who themselves "are refusing jobs now because they don’t want to be exposed" — and while staffing private boats, Beth Landman reports: "The safest place to be is offshore." The story.

 Kenny Rogers, 1938-2020

►Obituary: Kenny Rogers, the superstar country singer and occasional actor who had hits with "Lucille," "Lady" and "Islands in the Stream" and knew when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em as The Gambler, died Friday night. He was 81. A three-time Grammy winner, Rogers died of natural causes at his home in Sandy Springs, Georgia. Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013, Rogers sold more than 120 million records worldwide, racking up 17 No. 1 Hot Country Songs on the Billboard charts and another 10 among the top 10. With his sweet, husky voice and easygoing demeanor, he was hugely popular. The obituary.

►The Walt Disney Company raises $6 billion in a new debt offering. The company disclosed the figure in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. In the filing, the company says it intends “to use the net proceeds from the sale of the notes for general corporate purposes, including the repayment of indebtedness (including commercial paper).” In other words, it may use the new offering to pay down other debt obligations. The company had long-term debt totaling more than $38 billion at the end of its last fiscal year. The story.

+In other business news: Charlie Ergen, the billionaire chairman and former CEO of Dish Network, took home $2.35 million in total pay for 2019, according to an SEC proxy filing issued on Friday. More.

►MovieFone sold at bankruptcy auction for $1.075 million. A business listed as Born In Cleveland, LLC was the winning bidder for the site, per a filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on March 19. MovieFone had most recently been owned by bankrupt MoviePass owner Helios & Matheson, which acquired the site in 2018 from AOL's parent company with the goal to use its then 6 million average monthly audience to grow its subscriber base. More.

 Hollywood's creatives suffer blow in appeal over Weinstein Co.'s bankruptcy sale. A federal judge rejects arguments from Bradley Cooper and other Silver Linings Playbook stars and comes to a conclusion that the DGA, SAG-AFTRA, and WGA warn could deprive their members of bargained film profits. The story.

►Star Wars actor Greg Grunberg pours cold water on the Rise of Skywalker director's cut. In a wide-ranging interview, the childhood friend of J.J. Abrams also disputes the idea that their film is a rebuke of Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi ("I never heard one disparaging thing from J.J. about Rian") and takes on complaints about the film ("I was so pissed off and angry about one specific criticism that I heard"). The interview.

--TV ratings: ABC's entire lineup hit season highs in total viewers Thursday, and NBC's Superstore and Will & Grace also recorded highs as coronavirus quarantines continue to drive linear TV viewing. The numbers.

What else we're reading...

--"Christopher Nolan: Movie theaters are a vital part of American social life. They will need our help." [Washington Post]

--"The happy-sad feeling of watching artists perform from their living rooms" [LA Times]

--"'Make the decision to stay off the island': With the virus bearing down, it’s Nantucketers versus the rich summer crowd" [Vanity Fair]

--"David Arquette is still fighting" [The Ringer]

Today's birthdays: Chaka Khan, 67, Rex Tillerson, 68, Perez Hilton, 42, Princess Eugenie of York, 30, Kyrie Irving, 28.

And finally: TV commercials in the time of coronavirus. I spotted two ads today that made light of the crisis. The first was an ad from Cadillac, addressing "these uncertain times," the ad reassured the viewer that "we are all in this together," and offered "contact-free" delivery for your new Escalade. The second was from the Las Vegas Tourism Board, which told the viewer "We know it's tough to travel now... but when you are ready, we will be ready."