What's news: Disney facing delays as openings of Mulan and Disneyland in question, Elisabeth Murdoch partners with LeBron James, inside Hollywood's nastiest producer feud, Cannes deal update, Color of Change's fight against police procedurals, Woody Allen to open San Sebastian Fest, Gone With the Wind returns to HBO Max, there's a Twister reboot in the works. Plus: John Krasinski takes on late night's titans, and an interview with Hulu chief Kelly Campbell. --Alex Weprin

 Disney Delays

►Mulan's scheduled July theatrical debut is at risk. Disney's release of the live-action remake on July 24 is in serious jeopardy as COVID-19 cases surge in a number of states across the U.S., sources tell THR's Pamela McClintock. Hollywood is increasingly concerned that the late summer tentpole will have to give up its date and relocate to safer shores. It remains to be seen whether Warner Bros.' fellow event pic Tenet will stick to its July 31 date. The story.

--Even though cases are on the decline in New York City, Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered a delay to reopening movie theaters, gyms and malls until the state has better data around indoor transmission. If theaters in L.A. and New York aren't open, Disney and Warner Bros. may well delay their releases further.

+Things aren't looking better at the amusement parks: Disneyland will likely not be reopening next month. Disney on Wednesday said it would not get state clearance in time for its proposed July 17 reopening of Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim. It remains unclear when the park might now reopen. Cases are also surging in the Orlando area, the home of Walt Disney World. More.

►Just in: LeBron James’ SpringHill gets investments; Elisabeth Murdoch joins board. Murdoch and Stacey Snider's production company Sister (Chernobyl), Guggenheim Investments, The University of California's UC Investments and private equity firm SC.Holdings are investing $100 million in the company. Maverick Carter serves as CEO of SpringHill, which combines James' SpringHill Entertainment and two other firms, Uninterrupted, an athlete empowerment media and consumer products firm, and The Robot Company, a brand and culture agency. James serves as chairman of the board. The story.

►New Hulu chief Kelly Campbell on her "roller-coaster" start. The streamer's president discusses stepping into her role during a particularly tumultuous time, her commitment to diversity, and taking good care of "Hulugans" during the COVID-19 lockdown. The interview.

 Hollywood's Nastiest Producer Feud

►Allegations of prostitution, substance abuse and spying: Inside Hollywood's nastiest producer feud. Gary Baum writes about how the promising partnership between The Departed and It producer Roy Lee and tobacco heir John Middleton imploded amid "very public mudslinging."

Quote: "The fact of the matter is, I'm being sued because I didn't want to continue working with Middleton," says Lee. "Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not some pushover who would cave in to the demands of a son of a billionaire who is sad that he isn't getting what he wants." The story.



►Inside Color of Change's renewed fight against police procedurals: "These shows have an agenda." Civil rights leader Rashad Robinson, who successfully pushed to get Cops and Live PD canceled, wants scripted series revolutionized: "It is the height of privilege and arrogance to think that any of us could be apolitical in writing and producing that content." The story.

►Gone With the Wind returns to HBO Max, with context. Now, before the film plays on the service, it is preceded by a video from TCM host and University of Chicago cinema and media studies professor Jacqueline Stewart, who tells viewers, "You're about to see one of the most enduringly popular films" of all time, but warns "the film has been repeatedly protested, dating back to the announcement of its production" due to its romantic depiction of the antebellum South and stereotypical Black characters. It had been pulled earlier this month.The story.

+Five Episodes of South Park have been kept off HBO Max. "Super Best Friends" from the fifth season, "Cartoon Wars" parts I and II from the 10th season, and "200" and "201" from the 14th season are all absent from the newly launched streaming service because they depicted a character based on the Prophet Muhammad. More.

Cannes roundup...

►Boom time: Why down-and-dirty genre titles are getting a lockdown sales bump. Distributors are clambering for completed action, horror, thriller and sci-fi movies to satisfy the thirst from streamers and broadcasters during the COVID-19 crisis: "A number of VOD players have recently become more engaged in the marketplace." The story.

+Screen Media's David Fannon on why the indie film sector will survive: "People want quality content." The distribution veteran discusses how the industry has changed, the challenges of reaching audience in a crowded market and why he's not worried about Virtual Cannes dealmaking: "I do believe it will be a robust market." The interview.

+Also: On the penultimate day of the Cannes Virtual Market, one of the hottest U.K. projects has dropped on the laps of buyers. The star-laden period drama Mothering Sunday sees Oscar winners Olivia Colman and Colin Firth team with fast-rising stars Josh O'Connor and Odessa Young... Head Gear Films' Phil Hunt on finding financing amid post-pandemic uncertainly (and why he now has a mohawk)... English novelist Lawrence Osborne is set to write a big-screen adaptation of Jon Swain's cult Khmer Rouge memoir River of Time...

+And: Yellow Veil Pictures has picked up the worldwide sales rights to The Amusement Park, a newly-restored "lost" film by zombie movie pioneer George A. Romero... Bad Boys For Life directors to helm Muslim family drama and "true passion project" Rebel. The film — being introduced at the Cannes Virtual Market — centres on a Moroccan family torn apart over the future of a 13-year-old Muslim boy... Rainn Wilson says ninja comedy Bonzai Shadowhands is "Bad Santa meets Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon"...

►Woody Allen's Rifkin's Festival to open San Sebastian Fest. The film, produced by The Mediapro Studio, Gravier Productions and Wildside, was shot last summer in San Sebastian and other nearby towns. The movie tells the story of a married American couple who go to the San Sebastian festival and "get caught up in the magic of the event, the beauty and charm of the city and the fantasy of movies." More.

 'Twister,' Rebooted

►There's a Twister reboot in the works. Universal is developing a reboot of the 1996 thriller that starred Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt. Joseph Kosinski, the filmmaker behind the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick, is in talks to direct. Frank Marshall, who is married to Kathleen Kennedy, one of the original producers, will produce the new Twister, and a search for writers is underway. The story.

+There are still original thrillers being made too: Demi Moore, Craig Robinson, Paul Walter Hauser, and Peter Stormare have nabbed leading roles in Songbird, a timely pandemic-centric thriller produced by Michael Bay. Adam Goodman and Andrew Sugerman’s Invisible Narratives is behind the project, which is also being produced by Catchlight Studios and Bay. More.

►Big Mouth, Central Park to recast Jenny Slate, Kristen Bell with black actors for biracial characters.Netflix's animated series Big Mouth will recast the role of Missy — at the request of the actor who has voiced her thus far, Jenny Slate. Apple will also recast a biracial character, currently voiced by Kristen Bell, in its animated show Central Park. Slate and the show's creators say they "took our privilege for granted" in the original casting. The story.

►Phil Lord, Chris Miller land murder-mystery comedy at Apple. The duo have scored a straight-to-series order for a comedy called The Afterparty, with Miller serving as creator and showrunner and both executive producing via their Lord Miller shingle. The show comes from TriStar TV and Sony Pictures Television, where Lord and Miller have an overall deal. The story.



John Krasinski's Some Good News is taking on late night's titans. The show, which streamed on YouTube between late March and late May, attracting over 72 million views, has been entered in the category of best variety talk series. What that means is that Some Good News will be competing for a nom not against other fare from YouTube or, say, Quibi, but against late night TV's big-guns like John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, James Corden, Trevor Noah, Samantha Bee, Bill Maher and the Jimmys (Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel). It also means that Krasinski could face off against Conan O'Brien, who he interned for at NBC's Late Night. The story.

►CAA launches early-stage venture fund with NEA. The talent agency has teamed with the VC fund to launch investment arm Connect Ventures, which will fund early-stage companies across commerce, content and media. Connect Ventures plans to invest up to $400 million, though it could ultimately invest more, and launched with $100 million in committed capital.

--Connect Ventures first investment is in Spire Animation Studio, a new company from Ratatouille producer Brad Lewis and entrepreneur P.J. Gunsagar that plans to release its first full-length animated feature in 2023. The story.

►Showtime, under pressure, shifts James Comey miniseries to pre-election launch. Showtime had previously announced a late November premiere for The Comey Rule, putting its airdate several weeks after the Nov. 3 election. Writer and director Billy Ray blasted the post-election airdate decision in an email to the cast, leading to the change in course. More.

►A.I. robot cast in lead role of $70 million sci-fi film. The feature, b, financed by the backers of To the Bone and Loving Vincent, is said to be the first to rely on an artificially intelligent actor. More.

►Alamo Drafthouse Cinema to check temperatures in many locations. The safety measure is among numerous precautions the maverick Texas-based theater chain will take when reopening next month amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Alamo had previously announced that patrons will be required to wear face masks except when eating or drinking concessions. The story.

+Meanwhile in the U.K.: The government released reopening guidelines for movie theaters, and masks will not be required. More.

 Serena and Venus Williams have spent countless hours on the court as repeat Wimbledon champs and tennis icons — but now their father (and coach) could be spending some time in court because of a dispute over the movie rights to his life story. TW3 Entertainment and Power Move Multimedia on Tuesday sued Richard Williams, Warner Bros. and Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment, along with several others, over the upcoming film King Richard. The story.

+Court reconsiders Mashable's win in embedding suit. Does Instagram give embedders a sublicense to use copyrighted images? A court now says the answer is ambiguous. More.

►Disneyland unions plan protest at theme park over "rapid timetable" to reopen. On Saturday, from 10 a.m. to noon, the unions plan to protest via a caravan circling the resort "as an action to show our concerns regarding safety," reads a message from the unions to members. More.

►Vice News to launch investigative podcast with iHeartMedia. The company will debut weekly series Vice News Reports this fall, it is set to reveal Wednesday during its virtual NewFronts presentation. More.

Revolving door: Miramax’s COO Bob Osher will step back from the company after the completion of ViacomCBS/Paramount’s acquisition of almost half of the film company.... Common and Johnny Lee Miller will join Keke Palmer in the thriller Alice... Rising star Florence Pugh has left WME, signing with CAA... David Leitch, the mayhem maestro behind Deadpool 2 and Hobbs & Shaw, has signed on to direct Bullet Train for Sony Pictures...

►TV review: Inkoo Kang reviews season 3 of the former TBS comedy and now HBO Max original Search Party, writing that it "finds a middle ground between the satirical buoyancy of the series' first year and the mournful surreality of its second." The review.

►Broadcast TV ratings: NBC continued its Tuesday winning streak, as America's Got Talent and World of Dance finished first and second in both adults 18-49 and total viewers Tuesday. The network has topped every Tuesday of the summer season so far across the board, and its demographic streak extends back to late April (including one tie). The story.

In other news...

--Canadian networks are buying few rookie U.S. series amid the pandemic.

--Nickelodeon has given a series order to Baby Shark's Big Show, a preschool animated series based on the hit song/pop-culture phenomenon.

--Producers Scott Rudin, Barry Diller and David Geffen on Wednesday confirmed that their large-scale revival of Meredith Willson's The Music Man, which will star Hugh Jackman alongside Sutton Foster, is now scheduled to begin previews April 7, 2021, at the Winter Garden Theatre.

--Julianne Moore and Alec Baldwin are hitting the stage for a good cause in the Hamptons — virtually, anyway. The two are confirmed to headline a virtual staged reading July 12 of the romantic comedy Same Time, Next Year.

--Iranian actress, and star of Asghar Farhadi's Oscar-winning The Salesman, Taranah Alidoosti has been sentenced to five months in prison.

--In the absence of in-person celebrations amid the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers across the country are bringing Pride inside. That's the title of Amazon Prime Video's just announced global, virtual Pride festival, "Pride Inside," designed to honor the LGBTQIA+ community and allies.

--The fuboTV streaming service has finally nabbed ESPN for its sports-focused package offerings, while also retrieving a slew of Disney entertainment channels, including FX and NatGeo.

What else we're reading...

--Businessweek has interviews and details on LeBron James' newly capitalized SpringHill venture [Bloomberg Businessweek]

--"What Jimmy Kimmel’s lame apology for blackface reveals about the comedy world" [LA Times]

--"MSNBC expected to tap Joy Reid to anchor daily news and opinion program" [WSJ]

--"NFL to tarp off lower rows of seats, allow teams to sell signage to local sponsors" [Sports Business Daily]

Today's birthdays: Carly Simon, 75, Jimmie Walker, 73, Dikembe Mutombo, 54, Lele Pons, 24, Ricky Gervais, 59.