What's news: A flurry of significant theatrical release date changes, the Academy launches a significant new Oscars diversity initiative, Cineworld calls off its $2.1 billion merger with Cineplex, Black writers call on Hollywood to change its ways, Fox disbands SideCar, ViacomCBS cuts ties to Live PD producer. Plus: HBO naming shenanigans, and the Billboard-THR Pride Summit schedule. --Alex Weprin

 'Tenet,' 'Wonder Woman,' 'Matrix 4' Shift Release Dates

►The first scheduled blockbuster to open in theaters next month has been pushed back. The release of Christopher Nolan's Tenet has been delayed two weeks to July 31. Warner Bros. had been set to open the $200 million tentpole on July 17. Nolan, a devotee of the cinematic experience, has been adamant about sticking to a July date in hopes of providing a boost for theaters ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. Even while Tenet is moving, Nolan and Warner Bros. aren't giving up the mid-July date entirely: in Tenet's place, Inception will be made available to cinemas (that film is celebrating its 10th anniversary). The story.

+Tenet's shift also saw Warners make another major scheduling change: Wonder Woman 1984 is on the move once again, with the studio. shifting the superhero sequel's release date out of summer. Patty Jenkins’ superhero film is moving from Aug. 14 to Oct. 2. It was originally scheduled for release in June. More.

+Also: With the Tenet date change, Disney's Mulan is now the first major studio release on the calendar once theaters (hopefully) reopen. Unhinged, from Solstice Studios, will move from July 1 to July 10 to try and capitalize on the shift.

+That being said: Disney also continues to shake up release dates for its films amid the pandemic. The studio said Friday that the fantasy adventure The One and Only Ivan will be the latest movie to bypass theaters and go directly to streaming. The film, previously dated for Aug. 14, 2020, will instead debut exclusively on Disney+ Aug. 21.

--The studio isn't giving up the mid-August date however. Searchlight's specialty film The Personal History of David Copperfield will instead open over that weekend in select theaters. Disney's announcement marks the latest changes made to Hollywood's release calendar for 2020 and 2021 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and cinema closures. Several studio titles, including Disney's Artemis Fowl, have decided to bypass theaters and debut exclusively on premium VOD or a streaming service. The story.

+Pamela McClintock's take: THR's box office expert writes: "Warner Bros. finally revealed its hand on Friday when announcing a slew of release date changes, led by the announcement that Christopher Nolan’s Tenet will open on July 31, two weeks later than expected. That’s mostly good news for theater owners in need of new product to play once cinemas reopen in the coming days and weeks. For Wonder Woman 1984, it’s a longer delay. The superhero sequel’s release is being moved from Aug 14 to Oct. 2 of this year."

+A little farther down the line: Legendary's sequel Godzilla vs. Kong is giving up its seat at the 2020 Thanksgiving box office feast, and will instead hit the big screen on May 21, 2021.Warner Bros. also said that Matrix 4 is pushing back its release by nearly a year from May 21, 2021 to April 1, 2022. The untitled Matrix tentpole was among many high-profile films that had to shut down production due to the coronavirus. More.

+And: Bios, starring Tom Hanks, is relocating its release from Oct. 2, 2020 to April 16, 2021.The shift was announced by Universal Pictures hours after Warner Bros. announced it is pushing Wonder Woman 1984 from Aug. 14 to Oct. 2 — Bios' old date. More.

Oscars to set inclusion requirements for eligibility, will guarantee 10 Best Picture nominees. The next phase of the Academy's equity and inclusion initiative, dubbed "Academy Aperture 2025," will tie Oscar eligibility to representation and inclusion standards, starting with the 94th Academy Awards, the one that will celebrate the films of 2021. The Academy is setting up a task force "to develop and implement new representation and inclusion standards for Oscars eligibility by July 31, 2020."

--The board meeting also yielded several other pieces of big news that could lead to greater diversity at the Oscars. Starting with the 94th Oscars ceremony, the Academy will return to a guaranteed 10 best picture nominees, as was the case for the 82nd and 83rd ceremonies, before it shifted to a system that could yield anywhere from five to 10 nominees. This aims to maximize the diversity of the films that are nominated for the Academy's highest honor. Here are all the changes.

+BAFTA is involved, too: In a statement following the AMPAS announcement, BAFTA said that it welcomed the news. "BAFTA very much hopes that we will be able to to continue our close discussions with AMPAS and the BFI and reach our ambition which would be for to align a set of standards which would apply worldwide," BAFTA's film committee chair, Marc Samuelson, told THR. The story.

►Black writers challenge studios to commit to change: "Hollywood, what you do next is paramount." The WGAW Committee of Black Writers penned an open letter to Hollywood on Friday, calling for the industry to abolish practices of only hiring from exclusive lists and demanding systematic change. "It is not just the future of our industry or our livelihood as writers, but our very lives as Black Americans that depend on you listening thoughtfully to what we have to say in response." Here's the full letter.

 Theater Mega-Deal Called Off

►Cineworld calls off Cineplex movie theater deal. In February, the mega-deal had received approval from both companies' shareholders, but a legal fight to unwind the transaction looms as Cineworld backs out. The $2.1 billion takeover would have created one of the world's largest cinema companies with more than 11,200 screens globally.

--"Cineworld has become aware of certain breaches by Cineplex Inc. of the arrangement agreement relating to the acquisition... In addition, a material adverse effect has occurred with respect to Cineplex. As a consequence of these matters and Cineplex’s unwillingness to cure the breaches, Cineworld has notified Cineplex that it has terminated the arrangement agreement with immediate effect. The acquisition will therefore not proceed," the UK-based suitor said Friday in a statement. The story.

►DGA, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, Teamsters release joint safety report. “The Safe Way Forward,” is a multi-union 36-page report detailing safety guidelines in a pre-COVID-19 vaccine world. Developed in consultation with leading epidemiologists and experts, the guidelines are a follow-up to the Industry White Paper that was presided to state Governors on June 1. Today's released report offers more details protocols in areas including mandatory testing, working in a "Zone" system, and the formation of a health and safety unit. The details.

 HBO Naming Shenanigans

►It's not TV, it's HB...uh... So WarnerMedia is trying to simplify the names of its HBO-branded streaming products to avoid brand confusion. There was HBO Now, HBO Go, and HBO Max, all of which were technically separate from HBO the TV channel (which you would stream through HBO Go, got it?). Now, HBO Go will... go away, while HBO Now will be rebranded as simply "HBO," and HBO Max will stay HBO Max. More.

--Bill Simmons' take: "Wait i think I figured this out HBO is still HBO, so that’s good. HBO Now and HBO Go will merge/die and become the official HBO app. HBO Max is a different, more expensive app that also has all of HBO’s stuff, too, but um, yeah. And HBO Quibi probably isn’t happening. Got it." 

►Speaking of HBO Max: Bob Greenblatt calls temporary removal of Gone with the Wind from the servce a "no-brainer." "We failed to put the disclaimer in there, which sets up the issue, basically, the issues that this movie really brings up," the WarnerMedia exec said in a radio interview Friday. "So, we took it off and we’re going to bring it back with a proper context, and it’s what we should have done," he said. "So, I don’t regret taking it down for a second. I only wish we had put it up in the first place with the disclaimer. And we just didn’t do that.” More.

►Fox disbands SideCar. Fox Entertainment is bringing its "content development accelerator" SideCar more fully in-house. The network is retiring the SideCar name and bringing its development and production capabilities into its scripted programming department. SideCar chairperson Gail Berman is also departing to return full-time as CEO of The Jackal Group, which operated independently of SideCar. She'll remain attached as an executive producer of any Fox projects that originated under SideCar. The story.

+ViacomCBS cuts ties with Live PD, Love & Hip Hop producer Big Fish Entertainment. “We have decided to end our relationship with Big Fish Entertainment and will be producing our shows in house at this time," reads a statement from ViacomCBS' Entertainment and Youth Group, which includes VH1. "We thank Big Fish for their past contributions and wish them the best." More.

 Patrick Wilson has joined Halle Berry and Josh Gad to star in Moonfall, the latest end-of-the-world science-fiction thriller from Roland Emmerich. Charlie Plummer, who appeared in Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World, has also joined the project, which is eyeing a fall production start in Montreal. Lionsgate, which released Emmerich's previous effort, the World War II pic Midway, will distribute in North America. The story.

+Kenneth Branagh on Artemis Fowl and the challenges of Tenet. The director weighs in on some of his long-standing collaborations, including with Christopher Nolan, as well as the status of Death on the Nile. The interview.

►Billboard, Hollywood Reporter unveil schedule for second annual Pride Summit. The event will be held on Saturday, June 13, at bbthrpridesummit.com and will feature panels, tutorials, performances, intimate conversations and more, leading up to the first-ever virtual Pride Prom. Centered around telling authentic stories of LGBTQ lives and experiences in Hollywood, the free, daylong virtual event will include discussions with some of the most influential LGBTQ artists in the industry. The schedule.

►Critic's notebook: Dave Chappelle's 8:46 offers a harrowing snapshot of 2020. Debuting on Netflix's YouTube channel just five days after it was shot, Dave Chappelle's new set is a 25-minute expression of outrage about the murder of George Floyd and the state of the world. Here's Daniel Fienberg's take.

Obituary: Dennis "Denny" O’Neil, the acclaimed comic book writer and editor known for his iconic work on Batman, The Question and Green Lantern/Green Arrow, has died. He was 81...

►TV Long View: The 2019-20 season's hidden numbers. At the end of a strange year, digging deeper into the ratings reveals more about the season that was, Rick Porter writes. The column.

►Broadcast TV ratings: ABC's game show Don't premiered to solid ratings, leading primetime among adults 18-49 and helping the network win its fourth consecutive Thursday in the key ad demographic. The finale of CBS' canceled sitcom Man With a Plan led the night's original shows in total viewers. The numbers.

In other news...

--Miles Teller is set to play the lone survivor of a real-life boating tragedy in Not Without Hope, which Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson and Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Ciara will executive produce through their production company Why Not You.

--X-Men: Apocalypse and The Newsroom star Olivia Munn is attached to take the lead in Replay, among the new projects being showcased on the agency platform of the virtual Cannes market.

--Taylor Swift on Friday used her gigantic social media presence to call for the permanent removal of all Confederate statues in the state of Tennessee.

--In the wake of nationwide protests over police brutality and systemic racism, former SNL cast member Jay Pharoah has shared details of a racially-charged, recent encounter with law enforcement.

--When the film and television industries truly restart post-coronavirus, how can they avoid recreating the institutional injustice that was part of the business before the pandemic? That's the question at the heart of Carla 2020, a global online conference that will run Aug. 21-Aug. 23.

What else we're reading...

--"AT&T seeks sale for Warner gaming unit, could fetch about $4 billion, sources say" [CNBC]

--"The economy is reeling. The tech giants spy opportunity" [NY Times]

--"Maybe the NBA’s return won’t be as easy as it seemed" [The Ringer]

--"Bob Dylan has a lot on his mind" [NY Times]

Today's birthdays: Chris Evans, 39, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 30, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, 34, Sir and Rumi Carter, 3, Steve-O, 46.