What's news: NBCUniversal details the pandemic toll on its theme parks, film studio and TV Networks, reveals new details on AMC deal and Peacock, ViacomCBS ramps up programming on CBS All Access, the Emmys plan for a remote broadcast, Toronto Film Festival lineup, Writers Guild members approve TV/theatrical deal, Kerry Washington renews deal with ABC, Eros-STX merger closes. Plus: Tyler Perry talks returning to production amid the pandemic, and Pixar sets its next film. --Alex Weprin

 NBCUniversal Details Pandemic Impact In Earnings

►NBCU earnings drop on theme parks loss amid pandemic, TV advertising takes hit. NBCUniversal reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), the profitability metric the company uses, of $1.64 billion for the three months ended June 30, down 29.5 percent from the year-ago period.

--Broadcast TV revenue ended up falling 1.6 percent to $2.4 billion in the second quarter, "reflecting lower advertising revenue, partially offset by higher content licensing revenue and distribution and other revenue." Cable Networks adjusted EBITDA in the latest quarter climbed 3.5 percent to $1.2 billion as lower revenue again was more than offset by lower operating costs.

--Universal film unit revenue fell 18.1 percent to $1.2 billion in the second quarter, led by a nearly 97 percent decline in theatrical revenue, partially offset by a 19.5 percent gain in content licensing revenue "driven by the performance of certain 2020 releases that were made available on premium video on demand, including Trolls World Tour and The King of Staten Island, as well as the timing of when content was made available under licensing agreements, including transactions with Peacock." The story.

+What comes next for theme parks and film? NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell told analysts this morning that there is "no timetable" for the reopening of its California theme park, and that development on the Epic Universe park in Florida is on pause. As for the company's deal with AMC announced this week, Shell says it will allow the company to launch movies on streaming in the same marketing window as theatrical releases. More.

--Shell also told analysts that the company expects to strike revenue sharing deals with "other exhibitors" than AMC, and the deal with AMC includes exploring rev sharing in international markets. "I fully anticipate that some movies will stay in theaters exclusively a lot longer than 17 days" Shell said. "17 days is just the minimum, and we can toggle that based on the movie."

+One more thing: NBCUniversal's recently launched TV and Streaming unit, which combined those businesses under Mark Lazarus, is working on a restructuring set to be unveiled soon. Lazarus is "finalizing a new structure that will demonstrate the unique way we intend to manage this business going forward." More.

►NBCUniversal's Peacock reaches 10 million sign-ups. "NBCUniversal successfully launched Peacock in (Comcast) Cable’s footprint in April, ahead of the streaming service’s U.S. nationwide launch earlier this month, with 10 million sign-ups to date," said Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts in the earnings report. On an earnings conference call later, he said that the streamer's early momentum "exceeded our high expectations."

--The news comes after AT&T's WarnerMedia recently said its streaming service HBO Max had attracted 4.1 million overall subscribers after its first month. Disney's Disney+ scored 10 million subscribers in its first day. Some context: Both Disney+ and HBO Max are pay services, while Peacock has a free tier. In addition, Peacock is available for free to millions of cable TV customers. The story.

In other streaming news...

►CBS All Access gets programming boost ahead of rebrand. The service will add more than 3,500 episodes from the Viacom family of networks, including BET, Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon. To accommodate the new programming, All Access will get a design refresh that places an emphasis on the different brands. The price is expected to stay the same, starting at $6 per month with ads. The story.

+Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos asked at big tech hearing about being unfair to streamers. As Congress considers amending antitrust law, Amazon comes under fire for the way it has acted as a "gatekeeper" to everyone from small textbook sellers to HBO Max. More.

 Emmys Plan For Remote Broadcast

►It sounds like this year's Emmys will be remote. The Sept. 20 show is a looming reality, now that nominations have been announced — so to calm any concerns before they came up, producers (including host Jimmy Kimmel) sent out a letter to some of those nominees assuring them that they aren't expected to show up at the Microsoft Theatre.

--"We are assembling a top notch team of technicians, producers and writers to work closely with Jimmy Kimmel and with you and your team, to make sure that we can film with you (and loved ones or whomever else you choose to be with) at your home, or another location of your choice." The story.

►Tyler Perry talks "camp quarantine" and challenges of filming amid a pandemic. In an interview with Bryn Elise Sandberg, the Atlanta-based mogul opens up about how he was able to complete the first quarantine TV production in the U.S., the challenges he faced on set and the advice he'd give to others trying to start up again.

--"Listen, I don't know how anybody in Hollywood is going to be able to shoot without daily testing or quarantine bubbles. I just don't know how you do that — having people and actors without masks in each other's spaces and faces without daily testing or a bubble. I just don't know." The interview.

►Writers Guild members approve new TV/theatrical deal. The ratification effort was passed with 4,068 votes in favor and 87 votes opposed, the guild said on Wednesday. Guild leadership has touted that the new deal, valued at $200 million over three years, boasts gains in streaming residuals, increased funding for its pension plan and a new paid parental leave fund. The new Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) will run through May 1, 2023. The story.

►Pixar sets Italy-set Luca as next animated movie. La Luna helmer Enrico Casarosa will direct the coming-of-age tale about a young boy and a sea monster friend from producer Andrea Warren. Luca is set to open in U.S. theaters on June 18, 2021. The story.

In other film news...

+Disney+ picks up Black Beauty from Constantin Film. Mackenzie Foy and Kate Winslet star in the already-completed feature that will premiere on Disney+ later this year. The movie is a contemporary retelling of Anna Sewell’s 19th century novel and tells of the titular horse who is born free in the American West. More.

+Jordan Peele, Issa Rae team for supernatural feature Sinkhole. The duo will partner to produce an adaptation of short story Sinkhole about a young family who moves into their dream home, except for the gaping sinkhole in the backyard. The sinkhole manages to take all things that are broken and destroyed and make them perfect again. But what if that thing is a person? More.

+Luca Guadagnino to direct Scotty Bowers movie penned by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg. The biopic will be about Bowers, the supposed "male madame" to stars like Rock Hudson, Katherine Hepburn and Bette Davis. Bowers' best-selling 2012 memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars. More.

 Kerry Washington Reups With ABC

Kerry Washington renews overall deal at ABC Studios. The new pact between the studio and Washington's Simpson Street production company runs for three years. Simpson Street will develop TV projects for broadcast, cable and streaming — including a drama at Hulu based on Lillian Li's novel Number One Chinese Restaurant. The story.

+Netflix has made a rare investment, taking a stake in Broke And Bones, the new production company recently set up by Emmy-winning Black Mirror creators Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones. The deal — a first-of-its-kind for the streamer and marking its first investment in the U.K. — will give Netflix the right to take full control of Broke And Bones by the end of an undisclosed multi-year-term, while also having exclusivity over its series and other projects. Financial details weren't disclosed. More.

►Toronto Film Festival unveils full 2020 lineup. TIFF, unveiling its full film lineup, added big-name titles like J Blakeson's legal thriller I Care A Lot, starring Rosamund Pike and produced by Black Bear Pictures; Roseanne Liang's action horror pic Shadow in the Cloud, starring Choe Grace Moritz; and Glendyn Ivin's Penguin Bloom, which stars Jacki Weaver and Naomi Watts. The full lineup.

 Ashley Judd's sexual harassment claim against Harvey Weinstein revived by appeals court. The Ninth Circuit rules that California's sexual harassment law covers "casting couch" situations where there's an "inherent power imbalance." More.

►STX-Eros merger closes, creating global content and streaming player. The combined company "creates a financially robust global studio leader across three continents with strategic content and distribution partnerships for an unprecedented global footprint," Eros said in a statement on Thursday, as it announced completion of the deal. More.

+In other biz news: SiriusXM, Pandora add self-pay subscribers, advertising falls amid pandemic. The company, controlled by John Malone's Liberty Media, said its satellite radio subscribers fell when including promotional subs, just like had been the case in the first quarter. In the year-ago period, it had added a total of 174,000 net users. More.

►Linda Lowy to head casting for WarnerMedia networks. Lowy, a three-time Emmy winner who has cast all of Shonda Rhimes' ABC series, will be executive vp casting for HBO Max, TNT, TBS and TruTV. She'll be joined by casting director Henry Russell Bergstein, who will be vp casting and report to Lowy. The story.

+Revolving door: Hulu's limited series Nine Perfect Strangers has found its director. Long Shot and Warm Bodies helmer Jonathan Levine will direct all eight episodes of the show... ViacomCBS Networks U.K. named former Channel 4 and ITV executive Sarah Rose COO... Humanoids, the publisher behind famed European comics anthology Metal Hurlant, has named Matthieu Coppet group COO... Telemundo announced its new leadership team under CEO Beau Ferrari...

►TV review: Daniel Fienberg reviews season 2 of Netflix's The Umbrella Academy, writing that the show "occasionally finds a way to harness the powers of a solid cast and tremendously talented crew to deliver moments of almost shockingly good TV, but much more frequently falls victim to dull characterizations and repetitive stylistic choices." The review.

+Beyond Jaws: THR's chief film critic picks 10 under-the-radar summer favorites. Space creatures, superheroes and explosions usually coax moviegoers from the heat into the multiplex, but this year's coronavirus-constrained dog days offer the opportunity to (re-) discover less obvious gems from summers past, David Rooney writes. The list.

►Broadcast TV ratings: America's Got Talent fell to season lows in the ratings for the second straight outing, although the NBC staple remained Tuesday's No. 1 show across the board. ABC, meanwhile, got decent numbers from a night of news programming, including a 20/20 tribute to Regis Philbin. The numbers.

►Obituaries: Sonia Darrin, the actress and dancer who as the gangster girlfriend Agnes sparred with Humphrey Bogart's Philip Marlowe in the convoluted Warner Bros. classic The Big Sleep, has died. She was 96... Malik B., rapper and founding member of The Roots, has died, according to the hip-hop group's social media statement Wednesday. He was 47...

In other news...

--Universal has announced the second installment of its Film Music Composers Initiative, which is meant to bring diversity into feature film composition, a space that has long been overwhelmingly white and male.

--Some of the biggest names from British stage and screen have joined together to support creatives in the U.K.'s beleaguered theater industry as it struggles to survive the COVID-19 crisis.

--Former 2 Live Crew rapper Luther Campbell, who fought censorship all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, has partnered with Swirl Films to develop and produce film and TV projects.

--Tiger King star Jeff Lowe is facing off with PETA over a Halloween costume being sold by the animal rights group.

--European exhibition giant Vue International has pushed back the phased reopening of its cinemas in the U.K., which is now set to begin on Aug. 7, a week later than the previously announced date of July 31.

--The San Sebastian International Film Festival on Thursday unveiled two Spanish-language titles that will compete for this year's Golden Shell for best film: Akelarre, by Pablo Aguero, and Courtroom 3H from director Antonio Mendez Esparza.

--Sarah Paulson will go into antihero mode in Netflix's Ratched, which has at last landed a place on Netflix's schedule.

--Tracy Morgan and his wife, Megan Wollover, are splitting after five years of marriage.

What else we're reading...

--"Turner Sports sells out regular season NBA ad inventory ahead of restart" [Ad Week]

--"For TV heads and viewers, conventions are largely a mystery" [AP]

--"Interpublic is latest ad giant to report drop in revenue" [WSJ]

Today's birthdays: Arnold Schwarzenegger, 73, Laurence Fishburne, 59, Lisa Kudrow, 57, Christopher Nolan, 50, Terry Crews, 52.