What's news: Tyler "Ninja" Blevins looks to go Hollywood, tales from Bryan Singer's X-Men set, 20 years later, how much should Disney worry about reopening its parks? Grey's Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff signs with UTA, Sarah Barnett stepping down at AMC Networks, Ellen Degeneres addresses workplace allegations, a big day for corporate earnings. Plus: Channing Tatum, Scooter Braun and Amazon team for a Lady Macbeth musical, and the MTV VMA nominees. --Alex Weprin

 'Ninja' Going Hollywood

On the cover: Superstar gamer Tyler "Ninja" Blevins sets a course for Hollywood. The world's No. 1 live streamer, who has a direct line to tens of millions of rabid fans and is negotiating a massive deal, reveals his plans to conquer the rest of entertainment to Natalie Jarvey: "Movies, voice acting, cartoons — I'm looking at everything."

--Ninja the free agent: He had been a staple on Twitch, the Amazon-owned streaming platform, before decamping to Microsoft's Mixer in what sources tell Jarvey was a $30 million deal. Despite a "nice offer" from Twitch to stay, he ultimately was swayed by Mixer's more advanced features... until Microsoft shuttered the platform this year.

"When news broke that Microsoft was shutting down Mixer — no, executives didn't bother calling its biggest star to give him a heads-up — it almost came as a relief. His camp says the relationship ultimately ended amicably. Now he has time to sit back and make sure that the next deal he signs is 'smart.' And, after his 11 months at Mixer, he's no longer worried that his audience will bail. 'I'm a lot more comfortable and relaxed knowing I don't have to be live every single day.'"

--Ninja the multi-hyphenate? "He's looking at all his options, says Josh Swartz, COO at Blevins' management firm, Loaded, with a focus on a flexible streaming schedule, ad revenue benefits and'"the ability to create content that expands beyond live streaming through TV, film and other entertainment opportunities.' But he's taking his time. 'I'm pretty comfortable and confident that everything's going to be OK,' he says. 'If I don't get the deal I'm looking for, I'm in no rush.'"

"Blevins, who doesn't have a talent agent, is reading scripts and shopping original ideas that he could produce or star in, like competition series Ninja Battles that previously streamed on Mixer. But he seems pretty pragmatic about his chance at Hollywood success. 'It just has to make sense,' he says. 'If it's tough because I'm not comfortable with it yet, I can work on that. But if it's tough because I'm not good, I'm not going to cry over it.'" The cover story.



^Bryan Singer's traumatic X-Men set: The movie "created a monster." The director's auteur style changed Hollywood's approach to superhero movies forever, but his on-set tantrums, a cast mutiny and, later, allegations of sexual abuse have left a tarnished legacy as the franchise turns 20, Tatiana Siegel reports.

--"X-Men was a truly pioneering film. You have to remember, this was before Spider-Man. It was the first major Marvel adaptation to reach mainstream audiences," says Sony film chairman Tom Rothman, who was then Fox Filmed Entertainment chairman. "The seriousness with which it treated its themes of otherness, discrimination and alienation gave commercial action filmmaking a jolt of emotion and purpose."

But for some, like GLAAD, which championed the film for its trailblazing exploration of the mutant experience as an allegory for the gay experience, it's also incomplete to view X-Men and the subsequent franchise without considering the public allegations Singer has faced — namely, multiple minors have accused him of various forms of sexual misdeeds including rape. (Singer has denied all allegations of abuse and misconduct.) The story.

 Disney's Reopening Risk

►How much should Disney worry about reopening its parks? The Hollywood giant faces criticism over "arrogance" as it balances union talks on theme park safety protocols with wariness from the public about visiting anytime soon, Ryan Parker writes.

--"Universal Orlando reopened a month before Disney World, and it received nothing like the public focus Disney did," says J.D. Connor, a USC School of Cinematic Arts associate professor and Disney expert. "The other parks make mere business decisions; Disney makes cultural decisions." The story.

A couple of notable revolving door moves...

+Grey's Anatomy showrunner signs with UTA. Krista Vernoff has signed with UTA in all areas. Vernoff ranks as one of ABC's most important showrunners and runs veteran medical drama Grey's Anatomy and its spinoff, Station 19, and has a pilot, Rebel, in the works this season at the network. Grey's, heading into its 17th season, is ABC's highest-rated drama series. The story.

+Sarah Barnett stepping down as AMC Networks boss. The departure is amicable, with Barnett saying in a statement that she wants to "follow my curiosity" to another field. AMC Networks COO Ed Carroll will assume oversight of AMC, BBC America, IFC, SundanceTV and the studio on an interim basis following Barnett's departure. The story.

+Related: Vernoff is the guest on this week's TV's Top 5 podcast, speaking to hosts Lesley Goldberg and Daniel Fienberg for a wide-ranging interview. Fienberg and Goldberg also break down the Emmy nominations and explore Barnett's departure at AMC. Listen.

In film news...

►Channing Tatum, Scooter Braun, Amazon team for Lady Macbeth YA musical. Rising scribe S.J. Inwards will write the project while John McPhail, who made the zombie horror comedy musical Anna and the Apocalypse, will direct. The story is said to center on a teenage girl who grapples with her own morality as she contends with the dreadful consequences of her ambition. More.

+Disney+ tackling adaptation of Broadway musical Once On This Island. Playwright Jocelyn Bioh and director Wanuri Kahiu are developing the film, a feature adaptation of the 1990 Broadway musical that is based on the Rosa Guy novel, My Love, My Love; or, The Peasant Girl. As opposed to Hamilton, which was a recording of a stage performance, Island will be a more traditional adaptation. Disney's live-action division is running point on the project. The story.

+Also: After a competitive auction, Annapurna Pictures has landed the rights to turn Rachel Yoder’s upcoming debut novel Nightbitch into a feature film, with Amy Adams to star. More.

+And: Amazon acquires Regina King directorial debut One Night in Miami. Ahead of its TIFF debut, Amazon Studios has picked up King’s feature directorial debut, with plans to release it as an awards contender.

--Based on the 2013 stage play by Kemp Powers, the movie is set on the night of February 25, 1964, and follows a young Cassius Clay (Eli Goree)— before he became Muhammad Ali— as he emerges from the Miami Beach Convention Center the new World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Against all odds, he defeated Sonny Liston and shocked the sports world. More.

On the topic of TIFF...

►Toronto heads talk organizing pandemic-era festival: "Obviously a different year." Festival co-heads Joana Vicente and Cameron Bailey plan a slimmed-down 2020 festival, with few Hollywood stars appearing in person and a first-time digital platform for the event to take place mostly online amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

--"I actually feel there's an opportunity for some of the films that will be highlighted at the festival to be part of the awards conversation," Vicente tells Etan Vlessing. "That's a role we always played, but sometimes with more obvious titles. It's exciting this year to challenge buyers, challenge voters, challenge audiences to have new films to contend." The interview.

 Ellen Addresses Workplace Allegations In Staff Letter

►Ellen DeGeneres addresses workplace allegations and changes forthcoming in staff letter. In a letter to her crew, obtained by THR, DeGeneres addresses the alleged workplace misconduct, which was detailed in a Buzzfeed story published earlier this month. While neither she nor Warner Brothers will comment on the fate of specific employees, two sources tell THR's Lacey Rose that executive producer Ed Glavin — one of the show's three EPs, and the one at the center of many of the nastier claims — is among those who will be let go. The story.

It has been a big 24 hours for media, entertainment and tech earnings...

+At YouTube: Advertising revenue fell to $3.8 billion in the second quarter of this year as the pandemic took its toll on the ad market, down from Q1, when it brought in just over $4 billion in ad revenue. YouTube's ad revenue was still up from Q2 of 2019, when it brought in $3.6 billion. Google CFO Ruth Porat said that the end of the quarter saw a "gradual improvement in our ads business," with "further improvement" in July. More.

+At Apple: Double-digit growth to Apple's services business helped the tech giant weather a difficult quarter amid the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic. The iPhone maker said Thursday that the division behind Apple Music, Apple TV+ and other software offerings grew its net sales to $13.2 billion during the three-month period from April to June. More.

+At Charter: The cable company on Friday reported that it grew its pay TV subscribers in the second quarter when including customers on special COVID-19 offers and that its broadband user growth accelerated amid the coronavirus pandemic. More.

+At Facebook: Facebook's business and user growth remained strong amid the coronavirus pandemic as the social media giant reported its second-quarter financial results, which lifted its stock price in after-market trading. More.

+At Electronic Arts: The video game publisher reported a year-over-year increase in revenue from its fiscal first quarter, hitting $1.46 billion for the period, compared to $1.21 billion a year ago, with CEO Andrew Wilson calling the growth "extraordinary." More.

►Pose, Schitt's Creek, Lil Nas X and Rachel Maddow among winners of virtual GLAAD Media Awards. Top honors in the film categories went to Olivia Wilde's Booksmart and Wanuri Kahiu's Rafiki during a virtual ceremony that replaced events in New York and Los Angeles due to the pandemic. The winners.

+MTV VMAs: Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande lead nominations. In light of the coronavirus pandemic that has kept musicians and their fans at home as people are encouraged to continue social distancing to slow the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, MTV has added the best music video from home and best quarantine performance categories to this year's awards. The nominees.

 TikTok's troubles now include a patent infringement claim from Ryan Kavanaugh-backed startup Triller. The LA-based social video app is suing TikTok and parent Bytedance for allegedly copying its "systems and methods for creating music videos synchronized with an audio track," according to a complaint filed Wednesday in the western district of Texas, a recent patent litigation hotspot. The story.

+Social media endorsements from Hollywood actresses at center of FabFitFun lawsuit. The seasonal beauty by mail company is suing over endorsements it paid for but didn't get from Cara Delevingne, Sarah Hyland and Ashley Benson — and two of the actresses had no knowledge of the deals. More.

+Quibi's dispute with Eko over Turnstyle feature trimmed by judge. Jeffrey Katzenberg's startup must fight allegations of patent infringement and stealing trade secrets, though claims over its logo and alleged contract breaches have been dismissed. More.

►Another video game franchise is coming to TV. Netflix has greenlit an anime-style series based on the long-running Splinter Cell video game franchise. John Wick screenwriter Derek Kolstad will executive produce the series. Game publisher Ubisoft will produce with Netflix. More.

+Showtime is extending the second life of documentary series Vice. The premium cable outlet has renewed the show for a second season, on the heels of Vice receiving an Emmy nomination Tuesday for outstanding hosted nonfiction series or special. More.

+Empire duo plot Arab American dramedy at Freeform. Sanaa Hamri and Danny Strong — who are also involved in an Empire spinoff in the works at Fox — will serve as EPs on Ya Bint, from writers Dina Shihabi and Rolla Selbak. The title is an Arabic expression that loosely translates to "Hey girl." More.

►Film review: Stephen Dalton reviews the Russell Crowe thriller Unhinged, writing that "the take-home message of Unhinged seems to be that women should carefully avoid triggering violent misogynists into venting their White Male Rage." The review.

►Broadcast TV ratings: ABC's United We Fall and CBS' Tough as Nails finished in a virtual tie as the most watched shows on the broadcast networks Wednesday night. They also tied for the lead among adults 18-49 with two Univision series, and the Spanish-language network led the key ad demographic in primetime. The numbers.

In other news...

--The late Glee star Naya Rivera is featured in the third season of Netflix's culinary competition Sugar Rush, in what will mark her final appearance on television.

--Moonbug Entertainment is growing its kids content empire. The London-based company has acquired top YouTube kids channel CoComelon and live-action program Blippi, a move that boosts its audience to more than 235 million subscribers.

--Racquel Gates and Rebecca Prime have been named 2020 Academy Film Scholars by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization announced Thursday.

--Bryan Cranston revealed that he has recovered after testing positive for the novel coronavirus.

--Grey's Anatomy and Station 19 are beefing up their cast rosters for their upcoming seasons on ABC. The veteran medical drama has promoted Richard Flood and Anthony Hill to series regular, while recurring star Stefania Spampinato will transition to a full-time role from the flagship series to its firefighter-focused spinoff, Station 19.

--The Human Rights Campaign and Showtime have partnered on "Queer to Stay: An LGBTQ+ Business Preservation Initiative" to provide support and help preserve businesses that serve the LGBTQ+ community with a focus on LGBTQ+ people of color, women and the transgender community.

--Skydance Animation named Shane Prigmore to the newly created position of senior vp, development for animation, responsible for both feature and series productions.

--Why Regis Philbin was the key to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire's success.

What else we're reading...

--"The Lynn Shelton that Marc Maron knew" [NY Times]

--"Canceled college sports games put millions on the line for ESPN" [Bloomberg]

--"As representation debate rages, Latinx creators tell Hollywood: ‘Just open the door’" [LA Times]

--"M. Night Shyamalan talks Signs, twists, and crop-circle tattoos" [The Ringer]

What else we're watching...

--On MSNBC's The Last Word last night, Morgan Freeman appeared to read the final essay written by Rep. John Lewis before his death, which was published in The New York Times yesterday. Watch.

Today's birthdays: Wesley Snipes, 58, J.K. Rowling, 55, Rico Rodriguez, 22, B.J. Novak, 41, Fatboy Slim, 57.