Today In Entertainment APRIL 14, 2020
What's news: Trolls: World Tour set an on-demand record, but what does that mean? Florida deems the WWE an "essential business" so live TV shows can continue, Quibi's first official numbers, the XFL declares bankruptcy, Disney lines up $5 billion in credit, Endeavor and AMC downgraded, Pixar's Soul delayed. Plus: Boom Studios inks Netflix deal, Survivor plots virtual season finale, and notable revolving door moves. --Alex Weprin A 'Trolls' Record? ►Universal claims Trolls World Tour shattered on-demand record. Trolls World Tour secured the the biggest opening day and opening weekend ever for any digital title, according to Universal insiders. The studio decided to break theatrical windows and make the DreamWorks Animation title available to rent on premium VOD for 48 hours for $19.99 after virtually all theaters closed across the U.S. — save for a smattering of drive-ins — and much of the world due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. --Was it a success? While the movie topped the charts on all of the major on-demand platforms, without specific numbers, it is hard to declare it a success story compared to a traditional windowed release. The story. ►The WWE will resume production on its live TV shows for NBCUniversal and Fox this week. The shows will originate from the company's training complex in Orlando, Florida. But with a shelter-in-place order still active in the state, how is WWE making it work? It helps to have some help in the governor's office. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wrote in a new memo that the WWE, and any other "professional sports and media production with a national audience," is an "essential business." You can read the memo here, which sounds like it could apply to UFC (or, for that matter, baseball or football) as well. It isn't all good news for the WWE... ►Vince McMahon's XFL has filed for bankruptcy, and is putting itself up for sale. In the filing, the XFL lists between $10 million and $50 million in liabilities and the same in assets. The league owes more than $14 million to its 25 largest unsecured creditors — including seven of the league's eight head coaches. The story. +In other bankruptcy news: With Wall Street judging a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for AMC Theatres increasingly likely, B. Riley FBR analyst Eric Wold on Monday recommended investors sell off stock in the exhibition giant. More. ►Let's talk streaming service subscribers: Mobile video service Quibi had 1.7 million downloads during its first week, according to CEO Meg Whitman. Although the service launched April 6 amid the coronavirus pandemic, Whitman told CNBC host David Faber on Monday that sheltering in place "didn't hurt us at all." The 1.7 million figure that Whitman cited does not indicate how many people signed up for the app, which is offering an extended 90-day free trial. The story. +Also: Guggenheim Securities analyst Michael Morris on Monday raised his subscriber forecast for Disney's streaming service Disney+ "to reflect the company's announcement of 50 million global Disney+ subscribers as of April 8." Morris now projects that Disney+ will reach 226 million global subscribers by the end of fiscal year 2024, up from his previous estimate of 135 million subscribers. More. +In other streaming news: NBCUniversal says that Verizon, Subaru, Capital One, Molson Coors and L'Oreal have signed on as launch sponsors for its streaming service Peacock, which is set to soft launch for some Comcast subscribers Wednesday. More. ►Disney secures $5 billion in new credit. The company last month entered into a separate 364-day, $5.25 billion credit agreement, and a $3 billion, five-year credit agreement, giving the company access to more than $13 billion in fresh credit, should it be needed. The company also has a $4 billion credit facility which matures in 2023. The pandemic has led Disney, like most large companies, to increase its access to cash so that it can weather the storm and reopen quickly once the threat recedes. The story. +Endeavor's credit rating gets downgraded on live events exposure. Endeavor — with a $4 billion-plus debt burden owed to Silver Lake Partners and other private equity investors and massive investment in live-events businesses — remains highly vulnerable to the COVID-19 crisis restrictions, given live event franchises like UFC, which it does not wholly own, the Miss Universe Organization and Professional Bull Riders, S&P Global Ratings argued in a note. The story. Cannes In Trouble ►Cannes cancellation looms as France extends festival ban to mid-July. It is looking very likely that the 2020 Cannes Film Festival will be canceled after French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday announced new measures extending France's national coronavirus lockdown and banning all public events, including festivals, until mid-July. The story. ►Pixar's Soul delayed amid COVID-19 pandemic. Soul is being delayed from June 19, 2020, to Nov. 20, 2020, due to the ongoing novel coronavirus crisis, Disney said Monday. In turn, Walt Disney Animation's Thanksgiving offering Raya and the Last Dragon is relocating from Nov. 25, 2020, to March, 12, 2021. Soul — boasting a voice cast led by Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey — had been the last studio tentpole to remain on the May and June calendar. The story. ►Lionsgate to livestream John Wick, Dirty Dancing and other classic pics for free. Jamie Lee Curtis will host "Lionsgate Live! A Night at the Movies," which will be livestreamed on Liongate's YouTube page and Fandango's Movieclips YouTube page. The screenings will encourage donations that will benefit the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation. The details. ►How Hollywood's small businesses can cash in on virus relief loans. Experts say murky rules on affiliations, complicated documentation requirements and changing guidelines from the feds are slowing what would otherwise be "a gold rush," Ashley Cullins reports. The question of who in Hollywood will benefit will depend on who is nimble enough and persevering enough to get to the right banks and make arrangements in time to get in," says Manatt Entertainment partner Lindsay Conner. The story. ►How I'm Living Now: Patti LuPone, Company star. Patti LuPone was mere days from the premiere of her latest Broadway production, Company, when the pandemic caused a shut down. The Tony winner, who will also appear in Ryan Murphy's upcoming Hollywood for Netflix, has since retreated to her home in Connecticut, where she's sheltering in place with her husband and their actor son. LuPone opened up to THR about her new normal, which includes cast Zooms, nature walks and increasingly popular virtual tours of her basement. The interview. ►ESPN asks top commentators to take a temporary pay cut. "We are asking about 100 of our commentators to join with our executives and take a temporary salary reduction," the company said in a statement. "These are challenging times and we are all in this together." The commentators are expected to take cuts of approximately 15 percent of their salaries, likely for about three months. More. +ESPN will also host this year's NFL Draft. The April 23-25 draft was originally scheduled to be in Las Vegas, but has been moved due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. It will now originate from ESPN's headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut. Draft hosts and a limited number of commentators will be in-studio, but will adhere to social distancing guidelines. Other reporters and analysts will report remotely from home. Commissioner Roger Goodell will introduce picks from his home in Bronxville, New York. More. ►Believe it or not, not every TV show has shut down production last month. Netflix's hit reality series Terrace House is halting production of its current season in Japan in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Hollywood productions in Japan shut down last month, but some local productions continued. More. ►NAB takes annual show online in May after Las Vegas event cancellation. According to the NAB, the online program will feature at least 100 educational sessions, including NAB president-CEO Gordon Smith’s state of the industry address. More. In other coronavirus-related news... --Radio and audio giant iHeartMedia has begun to cut senior management pay and furlough "non-essential" staff as it eyes around $250 million in cost savings this year amid the coronavirus pandemic. --Rita Wilson shares how she and Tom Hanks contracted coronavirus, "extreme" Chloroquine side effects. --Chinese online ticketing service Maoyan Entertainment released a report Tuesday suggesting that moviegoers in the Middle Kingdom are growing more and more eager to return to cinemas after nearly three months of coronavirus-forced closures. --This year's White House Correspondents' Dinner has officially moved to Aug. 29 after being postponed due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus outbreak. --Media and publishing giant Condé Nast is cutting salaries, instituting furloughs and putting a freeze on new hires amid the novel coronavirus pandemic that has decimated the economy. --Entertainment industry stage technicians have designed and built a temporary hospital and employed Hollywood technology in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Obituaries: Ann Sullivan, the longtime animator who worked on iconic Disney films including The Little Mermaid and The Lion King, has died. She was 91... Matt Holzman, the popular producer and host behind such KCRW radio programs as The Business, Matt's Movies and Press Play, has died, the NPR member station announced. He was 56... Diane Rodriguez, an actress, director, playwright and producer who spent 24 years with Los Angeles' Center Theatre Group, died Friday of cancer in Los Angeles. She was 68... Boom Studios Netflix Deal ►Comic book publisher Boom Studios inks Netflix first-look TV deal. Under the terms of the pact, Boom — the company behind Eisner Award-winning franchises including Lumberjanes, Something Is Killing the Children, Once & Future and Mouse Guard — will produce live-action and animated series based on its library of titles. This gives Netflix access to what sources describe as one of the largest libraries of controlled comic book IP outside of Marvel and DC. The story. +Fox has made its first two drama renewals for the 2020-21 season, picking up 911 and spinoff 911: Lone Star for new seasons. The two procedurals are Fox's top-rated scripted shows of the season, with 911 ranking in the top 10 on all of broadcast TV in the key ad-sales demographic of adults 18-49. Lone Star, meanwhile, had a big post-NFL premiere in January and posted steady numbers in its regular home on Monday nights. More. The Walking Dead profits fight between AMC on one side and Frank Darabont and CAA on the other is one step closer to trial, as a New York judge on Monday denied the network's motion for summary judgment. Darabont in 2013 sued claiming he's owed hundreds of millions in profits because of AMC's allegedly shady accounting practices, while the network claims everything is above board and the producer is trying to renegotiate his contract through litigation. The story. +Zoom may be SNL-ready. But how about for the justice system? As COVID-19 prompts continued social distancing, some are trying to adapt to the new reality while others insist on waiting for normality to return. Take, for example, a hot privacy dispute involving the Weather Channel app. Eriq Gardner has the story. ►Survivor plans virtual reunion for season finale. Rather than gathering all the payers in a room, as is usually the case for a Survivor reunion, host Jeff Probst will speak to them via video chat about highlights of the season. Producers are still working out how those conversations will be incorporated into the finale. After Survivor finishes its run, CBS will debut the 32nd season of The Amazing Race with a two-hour premiere May 20. While production on season 33 stopped in early March as a precaution over the coronavirus, the 32nd cycle wrapped production months ago. More. Revolving door: Marcy Ross has been tapped to serve as president of SK Global Television... Johanna Fuentes, who most recently served as exec vp communications at Showtime, has been tapped to serve as exec vp worldwide corporate communications and public affairs for Warner Bros.... New Line has tapped Plus One filmmaking duo Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer for its romantic comedy Singles Day... David Levy, a longtime Turner executive who briefly ran the Brooklyn Nets last year, has joined the Raine Group as a senior advisor, the merchant bank said on Monday... ►TV ratings: The third-season premiere of Killing Eve accomplished something no other cable drama in 2019-20 has been able to do. The BBC America-AMC thriller returned to strong ratings numbers Sunday, becoming the only veteran cable drama this season to post gains among both adults 18-49 and adults 25-54 compared to its prior season average. The premiere also came close to equaling the series highs for the season two debut. More. +On broadcast: American Idol and 60 Minutes retained their spots atop Sunday's broadcast ratings, but both shows were off a little compared to the previous week. Their respective networks, ABC and CBS, were the only two English-language broadcasters airing originals in primetime. The numbers. In other news... --Dwayne Johnson on Monday gave an update for his upcoming DC film, Black Adam. The New Line movie based on the DC villain, which will be a spinoff of Shazam!, will likely begin production late summer, Johnson said via social media. --Guest column: "My SXSW film debut was canceled. Now what?" --John Malone's Liberty Media, which owns audio entertainment giant SiriusXM, the Atlanta Braves baseball team and the Formula One racing circuit, disclosed that president and CEO Gregory Maffei's 2019 compensation amounted to $44 million, compared with $20.2 million in 2018. --HBO Europe has unveiled a Spanish anthology series At Home from directors in isolation. --Better Call Saul delivers its very own "one who knocks" moment. --Daniel Fienberg reviews Netflix's teen drama Outer Banks. What else we're reading... --"Bob Iger's long Disney goodbye just got longer" [Bloomberg] --"Why now could be Apple's moment in TV" [The Information] --"Behold Dune: An exclusive look at Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, and more. [Vanity Fair] --"What went wrong with the media’s coronavirus coverage?" [Recode] --"Ad giant Publicis warns of unprecedented spending pullback" [WSJ] Today's birthdays: Abigail Breslin, 25, Adrien Brody, 48, Anthony Michael Hall, 53, Brad Garrett, 61, Sarah Michelle Gellar, 44.
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