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Today In Entertainment

AUGUST 29, 2020

What's news: Remembering Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, DirecTV may be going back on the market, Disney developing a Haunted Mansion film, Paramount shuffles its film release schedule, an X-Files animated series, Biden tops Trump in convention ratings race. Plus: Amy Adams joins the cast of Dear Evan Hansen, and New Mutants scores $750,000 in Thursday previews. --Alex Weprin

Chadwick Boseman, 1977-2020

➤Chadwick Boseman dead at 43. Chadwick Boseman, the electric young star who projected so much vitality as the star of such films as Black Panther, Get on Up and 42, died Friday. He was 43. Boseman died at his home in the Los Angeles area with his wife Taylor Simone Ledward, and family by his side. Boseman was diagnosed with colon cancer four years ago, his family said in a statement. He had never spoken publicly about his diagnosis.

--“A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much,” his family said in the statement. “From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and several more — all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy. It was the honor of his career to bring King T’Challa to life in Black Panther.” The obituary.

+Boseman's Marvel co-stars paid tribute to the late actor. Sterling K. Brown, Angela Basset, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Holland and Don Cheadle were among the actors from the Marvel Cinematic Universe who remembered Boseman. The story.

+More tributes: Kamala Harris, Sharon Stone, Disney's Bob Iger, Marvel's Kevin Feige, Viola Davis, Jordan Peele and many others also honored Boseman. The tributes.

Another Disney Ride Is Getting The Movie Treatment

➤Disney is building a new Haunted Mansion. Katie Dippold, perhaps best known for writing the recent Ghostbusters reboot and hit comedy The Heat, is writing a feature based on the popular ride for the Burbank-based studio. Rideback, the banner run by Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich that was behind Disney’s billion-dollar-grossing Aladdin remake, is producing what is intended to be a live-action movie. The story.

➤Disney wins bidding war for adventure film from Lego Batman writer. In rare venture into the world of competitive spec projects, Disney has come out on top of a bidding war to pick an untitled high concept pitch from John Whittington. Veteran producer John Davis, whose recent credits include Dolemite is My Name and Game Night, is producing with his Davis Entertainment partner, John Fox.

--Details are being kept in the vault but it is known that the high concept story is set in the world of movies. Disney elbowed out Warner Bros to capture the project, which will be live action and intended for theatrical release. The story.

➤Paramount's Friday night schedule dump: Paramount Pictures has delayed the release of Untitled Lee Daniels Billie Holiday Film until Feb. 12, 2021. Among the other changes to upcoming releases, the G.I Joe spinoff movie Snake Eyes has been pushed from Oct. 22, 2020, to Oct. 23, 2021, and the Screem reboot has been slated for Jan. 2022. The story.

In other movie news...

+Phil Lord and Chris Miller have teamed up with actors-turned-writers Natalie Morales and Cyrina Fiallo for a Miami-set comedy. Universal has picked up an untitled project pitch from Morales and Fiallo, who will now write the screenplay and executive produce. Lord and Miller will produce. The story centers on a Cuban-American woman forced to return to her overbearing family in Miami for a baptism, a quinceañera, a wedding and a funeral. More.

+Amy Adams has joined the cast of Dear Evan Hansen, Universal’s adaptation of the Broadway musical. Stephen Chbosky is directing the feature which has a script by Steven Levenson, who wrote the book for the stage musical. Music and lyrics are by Academy Award-winning duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who also worked on La La Land and The Greatest Showman. More.

+New Mutants scores $750,000 in previews. Because of significant challenges facing the marketplace due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic — Hurricane Laura is also a concern — Disney isn't giving an official opening weekend forecast. Analysts believe New Mutants could take in anywhere from $7 million to $10 million. More.

➤AT&T may be putting DirecTV on the market. The Wall Street Journal reports that the telecom giant and its banking adviser Goldman Sachs have been in discussions with private equity firms about taking the satellite TV firm off its hands. Apollo Global Management and Platinum Equity are among the firms that have discussed a deal.

--AT&T acquired DirecTV in 2015 for $49 billion billion. Now it could be valued at less than $20 billion. Of course, the pay-TV business is now in a linear decline, and even streaming bundles like DirecTV Now are seemingly unable to add new subscribers.

The Truth Will Be Animated

➤Fox is looking to reopen The X-Files — in animated form. The network is developing a comedic, animated take on the beloved series that will focus on a new set of characters — a B-team of agents working in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The potential series is called The X-Files: Albuquerque and centers on an office of misfit agents who investigate cases too wacky, ridiculous or dopey for Scully and Mulder. The story.

➤ABC has ordered Women of the Movement, a limited series about the civil rights movement. The six-episode season, set to air in 2021, will focus on Mamie Till Mobley, who devoted her life to seeking justice for Emmett Till, a 14-year-old whose murder in the Jim Crow South was a catalyst for the movement. The announcement of the series comes on the 65th anniversary of his death, and the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The story.

➤Tom Ascheim is shuffling the decks at Cartoon Network and its studio counterpart. The former Freeform president, who joined WarnerMedia in July as president of its Global Kids, Young Adults and Classics division, has given oversight of Cartoon Network Studios to the head of Warner Bros. Animation, Sam Register. As part of the changes, Cartoon Network/Studios content chief Rob Sorcher is out and will segue to a producing deal with Peter Roth's Warner Bros. Television Group. The details.

In other TV news...

+Netflix has found a new actor to voice the character Missy in its animated comedy Big Mouth. Ayo Edebiri, who is also joining the writers, will take over the role previously played by Jenny Slate, who chose to step away from the role in June amid an industry reckoning with diversity on and off screen. More.

+Nicolas Cage will play a dragon in his next TV project. The actor will star in and executive produce a drama in development at Amazon based on Artemis Fowl author Eoin Colfer's novel Highfire. The lead character, which Cage will voice, is a vodka-swilling, TV-loving dragon who lives in seclusion in the Louisiana bayou. More.

➤Trump falls short of Biden in convention ratings race: Donald Trump's acceptance of his party's nomination for president drew the biggest ratings of the 2020 Republican National Convention, but it came in well behind the 2016 gathering. His acceptance speech also trailed that of Joe Biden at the Democratic convention last week. The six major networks covering the convention at 10 p.m. ET Thursday averaged 19.85 million viewers, topping the 18.02 million for Tuesday's coverage for the biggest audience of the RNC. The numbers.

In legal news...

+Sarah Palin will proceed to trial against The New York Times next February, pandemic permitting. On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff rejected the paper's summary judgment motion in a big libel case over an editorial about gun violence. The New York federal judge concludes that she had provided enough evidence to establish actual malice on the part of the paper's former op/ed chief. The story.

+Rock the Vote, Voto Latino, Common Cause, Free Press and MapLight on Thursday sued President Trump, along with a handful of his cabinet members including Secretary of State Wilbur Ross Jr. and Attorney General William Barr. They're suing in response to the May 28 executive order on preventing online censorship, which they say interferes with constitutionally protected speech. More.

+Fresh RNC legal trouble: Leonard Cohen's estate have issued a statement, along with music publisher Sony, regarding the unauthorized use of the late singer's song "Hallelujah" at the Republican National Convention. The song was used without permission during two performances, says the estate, and as a result Cohen's estate is exploring legal action. More.

➤The NBA playoffs will resume today. The league and the National Basketball Players Association detailed the commitments that made players comfortable continuing. In a joint statement released Friday, the sides said they would immediately establish a social justice coalition, made up of players, coaches and owners, that would focus on issues such as voting access and advocating for meaningful police and criminal justice reform. More.

In other news...

--Toni Basil's claims arising from the use of her 80s hit "Mickey" in a South Park episode and in connection with a line of Disney clothing at Forever 21 have been rejected by a California appeals court.

--TikTok celebrities Bryce Hall and Blake Gray are facing criminal charges after they hosted recent parties in the Hollywood Hills despite the city's ban on large gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic, authorities said Friday.

--Hong Kong actress/producer Josie Ho is set to collaborate with French director Luc Besson and American History X helmer Tony Kaye through the Hong Kong-based 852 Films, the production company she had founded with husband Conroy Chan in 2009.

--MGM Resorts International is set to lay off 18,000 furloughed workers in the U.S. as its casino and hotel reopening faces continuing impact from the global Coronavirus spread.

--J.K. Rowling is set to return an award presented to her last year by the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (RFKHR) organization after its president denounced her views on transgender issues.

What else we're reading...

--"Rivals plan Fox News-style opinionated TV station in UK" [The Guardian]

--"Movies are returning to theaters. Will audiences follow?" [NY Times]

--"A new $20 billion bid for TikTok could see it purchased by rival Triller (and a giant investment firm)" [The Verge]

--"The new generation of teen movies is nicer (and on Netflix)" [The Ringer]

Today's birthdays: Liam Payne, 27, Elliott Gould, 82, William Friedkin, 85, Rebecca DeMornay, 61, Courtney Stodden, 26.