What's news: Disney shifts Mulan to Disney+, which now has more than 60 million subscribers... pandemic takes its toll on Disney, Discovery, Fox earnings... Hollywood "increasingly normalizing" self-censorship for China... Ren & Stimpy and Who's The Boss revivals in the works... Instagram launches its TikTok competitor. Plus: Lovecraft Country's Jurnee Smollett is ready to own her power... And the lawsuit that has Judge Judy offering to eat her contract. --Alex Weprin

 The Big News From Disney

The Walt Disney Co. reported its third quarter earnings Tuesday, and while everyone knew that the financials wouldn't be grim, the company also made quite a bit of news, particularly as it relates to the streaming service Disney+.

►Mulan is the first theatrical tentpole to fall. In a surprise development, Disney announced Tuesday that Mulan will be offered to Disney+ customers in the U.S. and other select markets at a premium price of $29.99 beginning Sept. 4. Mulan is among a handful of Hollywood tentpoles that have seen their spring and summer release dates delayed several times due to the novel coronavirus pandemic and subsequent theater closures.

--The decision to now bypass cinemas and debut the family adventure on Disney+ is a major blow for theater owners who were counting on playing both that film and Warner Bros.' Tenet upon reopening later this month. The story.

+Disney+ passes 60 million paid subscribers. Nine-month-old Disney+ added 24 million subscribers during the spring quarter, bringing its total base to 57.5 million paid subs, Disney disclosed Tuesday. That number has already ballooned to 60.5 million in early August, CEO Bob Chapek announced Tuesday. More.

The big picture...

►Disney charts streaming future as coronavirus roils legacy businesses. The company now has more than 100 million paid subscribers across its direct-to-consumer portfolio, Natalie Jarvey notes in her deep dive of the company's quarter. Also in the works: A global Star-branded streaming service, which will launch in 2021 and feature Disney-owned programming that may not fit into the Disney+ brand. Disney will disclose additional details about the service at an upcoming investor day. The story.

+Disney Parks pandemic closures result in $3.5 billion loss. A lion's share of the loss came from the closure of the domestic parks and Disneyland Paris, which were closed for the entire third quarter, while the China parks were reopened for a portion of that time, according to officials on the afternoon earnings call. More.

+Disney+ has made a splash in U.K. amid pandemic: study. "The new service attracted 16 percent of online adults by early July ... to become the third-most-popular subscription streaming service," says regulator Ofcom, mentioning 4 million adults users in early July. More.

+What Wall Street thinks: Bernstein analyst Todd Juenger raised his Disney target stock price to $116 from $105, while maintaining his "market perform" rating, in a report he called "A New Direct-to-Consumer Dream." And Guggenheim Securities analyst Michael Morris, who has a "buy" rating on the stock, boosted his price target to $140 from $123. "Disney management delivered a focused message of boldly pursuing additional global streaming video opportunities by leveraging Star and Disney+ assets and a premium VOD window," he told investors. More.

In other earnings news...

►Fox Corp. quarterly earnings, revenue fall amid pandemic. Fox, led by CEO and executive chairman Lachlan Murdoch, posted quarterly revenue of $2.42 billion, against a year-earlier $2.51 billion, amid lower advertising demand and spending. The company posted $442 million in one-time impairment and restructuring charges, in part to exit a rights deal with the U.S. Golf Association. That impact was offset by lower operating expenses.

--"We fully expect both college football and the NFL to come back in the fall... We are full speed ahead working with the college conferences and with the NFL to ensure a safe and consistent and full season for the NFL and a reduction in the season for college football" as a safety precaution during the COVID-19 crisis, Murdoch reported. The story.

+Discovery U.S. ad revenue drops less than expected amid pandemic. "We generated significant free cash flows in the second quarter, demonstrating the durability of our business, especially against the backdrop of a historic disruption to the global advertising market due to the impacts of the pandemic," said CEO David Zaslav. "We are cautiously optimistic about the global outlook for the rest of the year and firmly believe that the long-term prospects for Discovery remain as vibrant as ever." The story.

+Call of Duty franchise leads to soaring growth for Activision Blizzard. Among its three key areas of growth — expanding audience reach, engagement and player investment — the company exceeded Wall Street expectations and its second-quarter outlook, with the Call of Duty franchise remaining a major driver. More.

 A Hero's Jurnee

On the cover: Jurnee Smollett is ready to own her power with HBO's buzzy Lovecraft Country: "I don't apologize." With her upcoming series about to boost her profile and platform, the actress and activist opens up to Lacey Rose about Hollywood harassment, the trauma of brother Jussie's public scandal, and how she's "no longer asking for a seat at the table. We're building our own motherf***ing table."

--"'This business can be maddening,' she says, settling in at a table and chairs on her sprawling back deck, her heavy eyes the only sliver of face not covered by a mask. 'For all its liberalism, I've been in these spaces where these very powerful people do the fundraisers and write the checks for the Black or brown kids' scholarships, and then I know for a fact they go back into their staff meetings and they're all white.' She pauses, letting her words hang there momentarily, and then she continues: 'And if you do that, you're a hypocrite, and you're not actually anti-racist.'"

--"These days, Smollett walks on set and makes her needs known, whether it be a trailer for her son or a hairstylist who fundamentally understands Black hair. 'And I don't apologize,' she says. 'I'll be like, 'Listen, this fake-ass sexual harassment meeting that we're having, I'm going to raise my hand now and let you guys know that the standards that they're setting are bare minimum.' ' She didn't have to make any such calls on the very female set of Birds of Prey, but on Lovecraft Country she 'for sure' reached out to the producers to make clear that so much as sexual banter would be off-limits. Smollett only wishes she had had that kind of power, never mind the awareness, earlier in her career." The cover story.



^Hollywood is "increasingly normalizing" self-censorship for China, report finds. For years, studios have tailored movies to gain access to the country, the world's second-largest box office market. But now the U.S. government and a human rights nonprofit's new report are criticizing the state of affairs, Tatiana Siegel reports.

--"Our biggest concern is that Hollywood is increasingly normalizing preemptive self-censorship in anticipation of what the Beijing censor is looking for," says James Tager, PEN deputy director of free expression policy and research and the report's author. USC professor Stan Rosen, an expert on China's film industry, calls the censorship criticism "a perfect storm" that will put a spotlight on the entertainment industry. "It's going to get harder and harder for Hollywood to not respond," Rosen notes. The story.

►Disability representation sees some onscreen gains as inclusion efforts grow. Representation has grown only slightly since landmark legislation in 1990, but advocacy groups and creatives are pushing to change that, Mia Galuppo reports: "There are so many great stories to be told through the lens of our community." The story.

 In TV News...

►Ren & Stimpy Show revived at Comedy Central. Comedy Central has greenlit a "reimagined" take on the former Nickelodeon and Spike adult animated series. Details are scares but the ViacomCBS-owned cable network plans to hire a new creative team for the update, which will be reimagined for a new generation. More.

+Who's the Boss sequel in the works at Sony. Tony Danza and Alyssa Milano will reprise their roles as father and daughter Tony and Samantha Micelli. The new take on the show, which is in the early stages of development, will follow Samantha's life as a single mother — who's now living in the same house where the original was set — and her relationship with her dad, who's now retired. The story.

+Late Show music producer fired following sexual harassment allegation. Sources told THR that Giovanni Cianci, who had been The Late Show's music booker since late 2017, is no longer employed by the show. Cianci's dismissal came about a week after musician Paige Stark alleged in an Instagram post that Cianci "harassed and attempted to assault me" at a music festival in 2010. More.

+Love Island quarantine season officially at go at CBS. The network has set an Aug. 24 premiere date for the second season of the dating show — but instead of a tropical location in the South Pacific, the series will film at a hotel in Las Vegas. Cast members will live and film in a bubble at the Cromwell, a boutique resort owned by Caesars Entertainment. The story.

+Amy Adams to star in Netflix drama from Succession’s Adam McKay. Adams, a six-time Oscar nominee, will play a lead role in Kings of America, which centers on the stories of three powerful women whose lives were inextricably intertwined with the world's largest company: Walmart. Adams will also executive produce via her Bond Group Entertainment. The story.

►Sony picks up Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody. Anthony McCarten, the writer behind the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, will pen the screenplay, while Stella Meghie, who was behind the Issa Rae romance The Photograph, will direct. More.

+MGM lands Peter Dinklage-led Cyrano musical adaptation. The project is a musical adaption that will see Peter Dinklage reprise his role that he played on stage in 2018. Joe Wright is set to direct a cast that also includes Haley Bennett, Brian Tyree Henry and Ben Mendelsohn. Erica Schmidt penned the screenplay. More.

 Neil Young sues Donald Trump campaign for copyright infringement. The legendary musician alleges that Trump lacked license to play "Rockin' in the Free World" and "Devil's Sidewalk" at a campaign rally in Tulsa. The story.

+Judge Judy profits fight gets another spinoff. Rebel Entertainment Partners, the successor in interest to the talent agency that packaged the series, on Tuesday filed another lawsuit against CBS and its Big Ticket Entertainment division. This time, the dispute is centered on the sale of the Judge Judy library, which [Judy] Sheindlin reportedly bought for cheap and then sold back to CBS for a hefty profit.

--And quite a quote from Sheindlin: "If Mr. Lawrence can produce a contract, signed by me and Mr. Lawrence on the same page, at any time in history from the beginning of time, I will toast that contract, smear it with cream cheese and eat it on national television." The story.

►Instagram launches TikTok competitor Reels. The feature, which Instagram tested for months in countries including Brazil and India, allows users to shoot, edit and post 15-second video clips set to snippets of music or audio. The videos can be viewed via a new portal on Instagram’s Explore page, which curates and personalizes posts based on a user’s preferences. The story

 Jake Gyllenhaal and Riva Marker’s Nine Stories production banner has signed a first-look deal with New Republic Pictures, the production and financing company run by Brian Oliver and Bradley Fischer. More.

Revolving door: The WWE has tapped Nick Khan to be its president and chief revenue officer. Khan is the former co-head of TV at CAA, and before that helped ICM launch its sports management department... Marvel and Fox alum Grant Gish has been tapped to head a newly launched adult animation division at Chris McCarthy's ViacomCBS' Entertainment & Youth Group... CAA is expanding its gaming roster with the signing of esports host James "Dash" Patterson for representation in all areas.

►Spike Lee pays tribute to Tom Pollock: "The unsung hero" of Do the Right Thing. George Lucas, Frank Marshall, Martin Scorsese and AFI chief Bob Gazzale also remember the former Universal chief, who died Saturday at age 77, as a "good man" who "always thought about the human side of the business." The tributes.

Casting roundup: Naomi Scott is trading in her magic carpet for a spaceship. The Aladdin star is in talks to join Amblin Partners' upcoming sci-fi adventure movie Distant... Pop culture phenom David Dobrik has been tapped to host a new dodgeball competition series for Discovery Channel...

►Broadcast TV ratings: The Titan Games remained in the No. 1 spot among adults 18-49 on Monday night, helping NBC tie for the primetime lead in the key ad demographic. Univision joined NBC atop the demo rankings, paced by the finale of Te Doy La Vida. The numbers.

Correction: The subject line in yesterday's newsletter incorrectly referred to Cinemark as the owner of the Regal Cinemas theater chain. In fact Cineworld is the owner of Regal. We regret the error.

In other news...

--NBCUniversal chairman Steve Burke, who had been set to retire from the company this month, will now stay on as chairman of NBCUniversal through the end of 2020. Beginning in Jan. 2021, Burke will shift to a new adviser role with the cable giant.

--Pandemic causes Hollywood players to flee L.A. for scattered locales. With working-from-home likely continuing for months, many industry folks are forsaking the city for other locations, from Sonoma to Mexico: "I can do what I want to do from anywhere."

--The Mumbai Film Festival is postponing its 22nd edition to 2021 as India continues to grapple with a worsening outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

--The British Film Institute, together with the U.K. government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, has started the recruitment process for a new BFI chair, with Josh Berger due to step down from the role in November.

--MTV on Tuesday announced the first three performers for the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards: BTS, Doja Cat and J Balvin.

--Freeform's Love in the Time of Corona is remotely produced, but the two-night miniseries won't look anything like a scripted Zoom call. The trailer for the four-episode romantic dramedy features production values that look like any typical series and characters in close contact with one another. That's because in several cases, the actors in the show already live together.

What else we're reading...

--"Former Disney executive aims to score with Disneyland of football" [WSJ]

--"The Matrix was a trans allegory, confirms Lilly Wachowski" [Vanity Fair]

--"When Black people appear on Seinfeld" [Vulture]

--"Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller steps down from role" [CNBC]

--"Harris Faulkner, working from home in shades of blue" [NY Times]

Today's birthdays: Loni Anderson, 75, Jesse Williams, 39, Lolo Jones, 38, Patrick Ewing, 58, Brian Sandoval, 57.