Today In Entertainment

AUGUST 21, 2020

What's News: Two Veeps starred in the final night of the DNC, MGM shaking up Orion Pictures, another Paramount flick goes straight to streaming, Ben Affleck will return as Batman, a Justice League investigation, Sarah Cooper inks a deal with CBS. Plus: Comedy Central cancels Tosh.0, and Tyra Banks inks a deal with Disney. --Alex Weprin

 DNC Night 4

➤The final night of the Democratic National Convention saw Joe Biden accept his party's nomination to be its presidential candidate. There was star power as well, with Veep Star Julia Louis-Dreyfus serving as the evening's host, and performances by The Chicks and John Legend.

+In a critics notebook, Inkoo Kang writes that the final night "lacked the substance of night 3 — and some of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ jokes jarred — but Biden closed with a speech that powerfully captured the crossroads this election represents."

--"I remember a lot of people snickering when MTV unrolled its 2004 electoral slogan, 'Vote or die.' But hyperbole hardly seems possible when describing the stakes of the upcoming election. Biden, along with the rest of the DNC, conveyed not just the momentousness but a necessary clarity of the crossroads at which we stand." The critics notebook.

+Night 3 ratings: Addresses by vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama on Wednesday helped the Democratic National Convention draw its largest audience so far in 2020 — though it still trails the 2016 event, Rick Porter writes. Across the six largest networks, Wednesday's coverage of the convention drew a combined 21.41 million viewers from 10-11:15 p.m. ET — up from 18.7 million and 18.6 million for the first two days.

--While thus far the ratings for the DNC have fallen short of the 2016 numbers, the final night tends to rate the highest. Will last night's affaior top the 2016 total of just over 28 million viewers? Stay tuned.

 Orion Pictures Shakeup

➤MGM’s Orion Pictures label is getting a shake up. Alana Mayo, who was previously the producing partner of Michael B. Jordan, has joined the division as president and will oversee its relaunch as a home concentrating exclusively on underrepresented voices.

--Current Orion president John Hegeman and his team, which in the last several year produced movies such as Child’s Play and Hansel & Gretel, will be leaving. The goal of the new Orion will be to focus on developing, producing and acquiring feature films that amplify underserved voices, both in front of and behind the camera, according to MGM, which made the announcement Thursday. The story.

In other film news...

+Paramount Pictures’ sci-fi adventure movie Love and Monsters is heading to premium video-on-demand. Formerly known as Monster Problems and toplined by Maze Runner star Dylan O’Brien, Love and Monsters will hit PVOD October 16, 2020. The movie was previously scheduled to open on Feb. 12, 2021. The story.

+Speaking of Paramount: After successfully partnering on Elton John biopic Rocketman, New Republic Pictures, led by producers Brian Oliver and Bradley Fischer, has closed on a multi-picture co-financing deal with Paramount. Under the pact, New Republic, which has a first-look deal with the studio, will partner on a slate of ten feature films, including tentpoles Mission: Impossible 7, Top Gun: Maverick, The Tomorrow War, Infinite and a new Transformers movie, as well as a slate of comedies, dramas and children’s features. The story.

+Ben Affleck is back as Batman. In a surprising turn of events, Affleck is going to wear the cape and cowl once again. After making a very public split with the character, Affleck will reprise his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman in the upcoming The Flash Movie, filmmaker Andy Muschietti has revealed. The film stars Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/Flash, who appeared opposite Affleck in 2017's Justice Leauge. More.

+And speaking of Justice League: One of the film's stars Ray Fisher wrote on Twitter that after five weeks of interviews with the cast and crew, WarnerMedia had "launched an independent third-party investigation to get to the heart of the toxic and abusive work environment created during Justice League reshoots." More.

+STXfilms has acquired the Michael Bay-produced pandemic thriller Songbird for North America and the U.K. Bay recently overcame novel coronavirus production hurdles to wrap production on Songbird, which is directed by Adam Mason. Set two years in the future during a pandemic lockdown, when a virus vaccine is elusive, Songbird tells of the budding love story between a motorbike courier named Nico, played by K.J. Apa, who has rare immunity, and Sara (Sofia Carson), a young artist. More.

+Canada's Cineplex will have all of its 1,687 of movie theater screens open for Hollywood tentpoles on Friday, making the exhibitor the first major theatre chain in North America to fully reopen. On Thursday, Cineplex said all 164 Cineplex theaters operating across Canada will have their doors open this weekend, including 22 VIP Cinemas locations. More.

+Amblin Partners will adapt comics American Reaper and Reaper Files for the big screen. The studio will partner with Doctor Sleep producers Intrepid Pictures to develop and produce the project, with Amblin financing. Ciarán Foy will direct, after recently partnering with Intrepid on Netflix horror movie Eli. More.

+Kraven the Hunter could have found its director. Triple Frontier helmer J.C. Chandor is in talks for the Sony Spider-Man spinoff that will focus on the villain, also known as Sergei Kravinoff, a big game hunter who sees Spider-Man as his ultimate prize. More.

 Sarah Cooper's New Deal

➤Sarah Cooper is making the jump from TikTok to the Tiffany Network. Following a highly competitive process, with multiple networks bidding, the TikTok breakout's second book, How to Be Successful Without Hurting Men's Feelings, is in development at CBS. The network has handed out a script plus penalty commitment for the single-camera comedy, which will be co-written by Cooper and Cindy Chupack. 

--Inspired by Cooper's 2018 book, the comedy revolves around three women at different stages in their careers at a male-dominated company who help each other navigate modern gender politics in their careers and in their personal lives. The story.

In other TV news...

+The Daniel Tosh era at Comedy Central is coming to an end. In a shocking move, the ViacomCBS-owned cable network has reversed course on its January decision to renew the series for four more seasons. Instead, Tosh.0 will wrap its run with its 12th and now final season. The last 10 episodes return Sept. 15. Sources say ViacomCBS is working with Team Tosh to shop the series to other outlets. The story.

+What's going on? The Comedy Central shakeup is one of the topics on this week's TV's Top 5 podcast. During this week's podcast, hosts Daniel Fienberg and Lesley Goldberg also discuss Netflix's talk show woes and the shake-up at The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Listen.

+Tyra Banks has signed a first look deal with ABC Signature. Under the pact, the host will make new scripted and unscripted content for the outfit, which is a division of Disney Television Studios, via her production company Bankable Productions. The news comes on the heels of Banks signing on as the host and executive producer of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars following Tom Bergeron’s exit. The story.

+VH1 triples dowen on RuPaul. The network has just renewed three of the drag icon's series: RuPaul’s Drag Race, All Stars and Untucked. The details.

+Showtime has landed Moonbase 8. The six-episode comedy, which started production earlier in 2020, will debut on the cable network this fall. The show stars Armisen, Tim Heidecker and John C. Reilly as three subpar astronauts living at Moon base simulator — in hopes of one day being chosen for an actual space mission. More.

+The newly rebranded ABC Signature is making a key executive change. Drama head Patrick Maguire, who had been with Disney for nearly two decades, is leaving to pursue other opportunities. The Jonnie Davis-led studio has tapped Susan Lewis, formerly senior vp originals at Starz, to replace Maguire. More.

➤Awards Chatter podcast: The revered stage and screen veteran Brian Cox reflects on childhood tragedies, promising but aborted attempts to make it in Hollywood and now, at 74, starring on a hit HBO drama series. Listen.

In other news...

--Charlotte Kirk, the actress at the center of NBCUniversal vice chairman Ron Meyer’s sudden exit earlier this week, has apparently pulled out of a virtual Q&A after the screening of The Reckoning at the Fantasia Film Festival on Thursday night.

--American Cinematheque will shine a spotlight on the late director Lynn Shelton Aug. 25 at 7 p.m. PT with a salute that will focus on her work for the small screen and streaming platforms. The tribute comes on the heels of her Emmy nomination for Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere.

--The latest addition to Academy Aperture 2025, an initiative of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to improve inclusion in the motion picture industry, is a virtual conversation series — open to Academy members and the public — focused on race and gender equity in film, the organization announced on Thursday.

--The Academy Software Foundation plans to step up its diversity and inclusion efforts in the software community by appointing a program ambassador and launching a mentorship initiative.

--Zavion Davenport, a recurring performer on RuPaul's Drag Race best known by the stage name Chi Chi DeVayne, has died. She was 34.

--Fox Corp. is rolling back the pandemic pay cuts it imnplemented in April.

--Kamikaze Dogfight has picked up the U.S. rights to Justin McConnell's Clapboard Jungle, a documentary about five years in the life of an indie filmmaker, ahead of respective premieres at the Fantasia Film Festival, Frightfest and Night Visions festivals.

--Fortnite gaming collective One Percent has signed with Up North Management partners and brothers Cody and Cole Hock.

What else we're reading...

--"ViacomCBS seeks about $5.5 million for 30-second commercial spots in 2021 Super Bowl" [WSJ]

--"‘Game of whack-a-mole’: Spotify has a counterfeit podcast problem" [Digiday]

--"Will Americans return to theaters for Russell Crowe?" [NY Times]

--"Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified on antitrust issues" [NBC News]

Today's birthdays: Kelis, 41, Hayden Panettiere, 31, Kim Cattrall, 64, Loretta Devine, 71, Carrie-Anne Moss, 53.

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AUGUST 21, 2020

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