What's news: Disney pushes back Mulan release, Daytime Emmy Award winners, Margot Robbie will front a new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, LeBron James' SpringHill inks a deal with ABC, a major change is coming to The Simpsons and Family Guy, NBC orders a remotely-shot comedy, ICM layoffs. Plus: What will the Primetime Emmys look like? And The Bachelorette will film its new season with the cast and crew in quarantine. --Alex Weprin

 'Mulan' Follows 'Tenet' In Delaying Theatrical Release

►Disney has pushed back Mulan's release date. Disney is once again delaying the release of Mulan due to the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. The tentpole will now open on Aug. 21. Director Niki Caro's live-action adaptation of the classic animated pic had been set to hit theaters on July 24, but with cases of COVID-19 surging again in California and a handful of other states, Disney's plans have changed. The Mulan shift followed Thursday's announcement that Warner Bros. is likewise delaying tentpole Tenet again, this time from July 31 to Aug. 12.

--"Director Niki Caro and our cast and crew have created a beautiful, epic, and moving film that is everything the cinematic experience should be, and that’s where we believe it belongs – on the world stage and the big screen for audiences around the globe to enjoy together,” said Alan Horn and Alan Bergman, co-chairman of Walt Disney studios. The story.

+In response: Bill & Ted Face The Music, Without Remorse, and Unhinged all pushed back their release dates as well. More.

+Movie theater reopening plans face new uncertainty amid COVID-19 case rise. The new wave of delays of film releases due to a surge in COVID-19 cases has put pressure on exhibition stocks again and brought new uncertainty, Georg Szalai writes. "Our prior stance that the second-half film slate should be considered very much in flux and a risk for the group has been playing out in recent weeks – causing the exhibitor group to meaningfully underperform the broader indices," B. Riley FBR analyst Eric Wold wrote in a Friday report. More.



^The Daytime Emmy Awards

Emmy winners by the numbers...

--By network: CBS, 15... syndication, 11... ABC, 5... NBC, 4... HBO, 3... Amazon Prime Video, 2...

--By program: The Young and the Restless, 8... The Bold and the Beautiful, 4... General Hospital, 4... Jeopardy!, 3... The Kelly Clarkson Show, 3... Sesame Street, 3... Days of our Lives, 2... The Price is Right, 2... The Real, 2...

►The 2020 Daytime Emmy Awards in major categories were presented in a two-hour special that aired on CBS Friday night. The 47th annual Daytime Emmys were emceed by the hosts of CBS' The Talk: Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood, Eve, Carrie Ann Inaba and Marie Osmond.

--Though the program marked the awards' return to broadcast television for the first time since 2011, the virtual ceremony was unlike traditional awards shows, with hosts, presenters and winners all filming their segments from their respective homes as individuals continue to socially distance to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.

--CBS' The Young and the Restless took home the top prize of best drama series, Jeopardy! and host Alex Trebek won best game show and best game show host, respectively; Clarkson won best entertainment talk show host for her first year with her eponymous talker; NBC's Today won best morning show; and ABC's The View won best informative talk show. The full list of winners.

+Daytime Emmys winners, hosts acknowledge their "responsibility to effect change." Ellen DeGeneres promised to "amplify" voices of Black people and people of color more on her entertainment talk show, while Tamara Braun dedicated her outstanding supporting actress win for General Hospital to "those who have suffered [due to] racial inequality" as well as those who "continue to fight for justice." The story.

 What About the Primetime Emmys?

►The Emmys will go on, but what will the show look like? As Jimmy Kimmel boards the show as host, Hollywood wrestles with the future of awards fetes — and new examples both remote (the BET Awards) and in-person (South Korea's bizarre Baeksang Awards) present a few options, Michael O'Connell writes.

Quote: "There are multiple plans for an in-person ceremony and a virtual "ceremony," ABC's entertainment president Karey Burke tells THR. "The producers and Jimmy have been hard at work on what those might look like. I have total confidence in whatever shape it takes, it's going to be wildly entertaining." The story.

 Margot Robbie is setting sail with help from her Birds of Prey writer Christina Hodson. Hodson has been tapped to write a new, female-fronted Pirates of the Caribbean for Disney, with Robbie attached to star. While plot details are being kept in Davey Jones’ locker, the project, in early development, is not intended to be a spinoff of the long-running franchise that had pirate Jack Sparrow at its center but rather a wholly original story with new characters under the Pirates moniker, itself inspired by the long-running attraction at Disneyland. The story.

+Neon, Topic land U.S. rights to Kristen Stewart Princess Diana movie Spencer. Pablo Larraín will direct the movie, which is set to shoot in 2021. More.

►How NPR's Code Switch podcast became a hit telling stories "The way they needed to be told." The show, led by Shereen Marisol Meraji and Gene Demby, has spent years interrogating the effects of race and identity on society and is now gaining many new listeners, Natalie Jarvey writes. The story.

►LeBron James' SpringHill Entertainment signs ABC Studios overall deal for scripted TV. Under the two-year deal, SpringHill will develop scripted TV projects for all platforms. "Disney is an incredible home for SpringHill’s future growth in scripted television," SpringHill chief Maverick Carter says. "Disney's variety of platforms, extensive reach, depth of talent, and diversity of audience opens up so much opportunity for us to keep creating great stories." The story.

►ICM Partners to lay off 40 staffers. The agency plans to reorganize its agent training program, raise assistant pay to $20 an hour and make "every effort to hire diverse candidates for at least half of all open positions going forward." More.

 Justin Bieber on Thursday filed a $20 million defamation lawsuit over anonymous tweets that accuse him of sexual assault. He argues the stories are fabricated attention grabs and he has proof the claims are impossible. The story.

+Ron Jeremy pleads not guilty to raping three women, sexually assaulting a fourth. The 67-year-old former adult film star remains in custody, with his bail set at $6.6 million. More.

 A Seismic Shift In Animation Representation

►A racial reckoning in animation. In a big shift, the producers of The Simpsons say they'll no longer use white actors to play characters of color on the long-running animated series. Additionally, one of the principal voice actors on Family Guy says he'll stop playing the show's main Black character. "Moving forward, The Simpsons will no longer have White actors voice non-White characters," the show said in a statement Friday. Mike Henry, who has been with Family Guy since its beginnings, wrote on Twitter Friday that he'll stop voicing Cleveland Brown on the show. The story.

►NBC's pandemic planning. The network has handed out an eight-episode, straight-to-series order for Connecting, an ensemble comedy about a group of friends trying to stay close — and sane — through video chats as they share the highs and lows of these extraordinary times. Blindspot creator Martin Gero and his longtime collaborator Brendan Gall are writing the script and exec producing the single-camera series from Universal Television. Connecting is the first TV series to stem from Gero's multiple-year overall deal that he signed with UTV last month after departing his longtime home at Warner Bros. TV. The story.

In other TV news...

+The Bachelorette set to resume production with quarantined cast, crew. Four-time Bachelor alum Clare Crawley and her 30 suitors will film her season of the show at a private resort in southern California. The story.

+D.A.R.Y.L. sequel starring Tony Hale among TNT, TBS development slate. GM Brett Weitz also opens up to THR's Lesley Goldberg about his strategy for the WarnerMedia-owned basic cable networks. The story.

+Lena Waithe's Twenties renewed for season 2 on BET. The comedy series enjoyed strong reviews and solid ratings numbers in its first run in the spring. More.

+Vagrant Queen canceled at Syfy. The series, from creator and showrunner Jem Garrard, struggled to find an audience after launching in March. More.

+Apple picks up Israeli neo-noir series Losing Alice. Created, written and directed by Sigal Avin, the eight-part thriller stars Ayelet Zurer as an aging director who becomes obsessed with a younger screenwriter. More.

+Video game Disco Elysium to get TV adaptation. Game developer ZA/UM has partnered with production company DJ2 Entertainment on the adaptation. DJ2 Entertainment specialize in adaptations of video games into TV and film, having previously produced the Sonic the Hedgehog movie. More.

►The Office edits out blackface scene. The re-edited episode will replace the previous version on Netflix, its current streaming home (the show will move to NBCUniversal's Peacock platform in 2021), in syndication and on streaming platforms where it's available for purchase. More.

+Bill Simmons addresses backlash over lack of diversity at The Ringer. The sports personality made clear he felt the digital media company he founded in 2016 which sold to Spotify this year had not done “well enough” with staffing diversity. More.

+YouTube star Jenna Marbles quits channel following blackface backlash. Marbles, 33, is under fire for wearing blackface while impersonating Nicki Minaj in 2011, as well as for past racist remarks. More.

►The segregated past of drive-in movie theaters. It took the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and activists staging "drive-ins," to integrate many outdoor movie venues that had separated audiences by race, writes Brandeis University professor Thomas P. Doherty in a guest column for THR. The column.

Revolving door: Thom Hinkle, who most recently oversaw originals at TNT, TBS and TruTV, has departed WarnerMedia following a nearly seven-year run. In his place, the company has promoted senior vp originals Sam Linsky and Adrienne O'Riain to serve as head of originals for the three basic cable networks... Nickelodeon has tapped comedian and former Saturday Night Live regular Jay Pharoah to host its remotely shot game show Unfiltered... Ellen Kuras has signed on to direct Kate Winslet as Lee Miller, the Vogue cover model turned Second World War correspondent, in the Lee biopic...

Obituaries: Stuart Cornfeld, the longtime producing partner of Ben Stiller who guided such comedies as Zoolander, Dodgeball and Tropic Thunder, has died. He was 67... Kelly Asbury, the respected animator who directed such films as Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Shrek 2 and Gnomeo & Juliet, has died. He was 60... Jacqueline Cavanagh, an entertainment publicist and digital media strategist who founded her own firm, CC-PR, in 2018, has died. She was 43...

►Broadcast TV ratings: ABC led Thursday's broadcast ratings across the board, leading primetime in adults 18-49, total viewers and some other key demographics. NBC's Council of Dads drew its biggest audience of the summer hours after being canceled. The numbers.

►Awards Chatter podcast: Ken Burns, one of the most prolific and revered doc filmmakers of all time, who specializes in unearthing America's past, reflects on the childhood loss that inspired his desire to "wake the dead," the origins of "the Ken Burns effect" and why race is a thread running through all of his work. Listen.

In other news...

--UTA has committed $1 million to be donated to social justice causes and organizations. Guided by the UTA Foundation, the donations will be distributed over a four-year period. Decisions as to what organizations will be receiving the support will be made in the coming weeks. 

--The Masked Singer season 4 eyes production changes for fall launch.

--Princess and the Frog star Anika Noni Rose calls Splash Mountain rebrand a "great moment to do better."

--Insecure EP in conversation with star Jay Ellis: We use HBO show to "give young filmmakers opportunities."

--Herschel "Guy" Beahm IV, an internet personality known for live streaming his video game play as Dr Disrespect, has been suspended from Twitch.

--Action-adventure game The Last of Us Part II sold more than 4 million copies during its opening weekend, according to a blog post from developer Naughty Dog.

What else we're reading...

--"Watch the celebrity-filled fan-film version of The Princess Bride" [Vanity Fair]

--"Jon Stewart's legacy still looms large in latenight, five years later" [CNN]

--"It may be time to dust off your roller skates" [NY Times]

--"Out of Sight made George Clooney a movie star" [The Ringer]

--"What is the song of summer? Music insiders spin the soundtrack for a once-in-a-lifetime season" [LA Times]

Today's birthdays: Tobey Maguire, 45, J.J. Abrams, 54, Jo Frost, 49, Drake Bell, 34, H.E.R., 3.