Today In Entertainment

AUGUST 25, 2020

What's news: HBO Max snags another high-profile TV reunion, TikTok's Trump lawsuit reveals explosive growth, night one of the Republican National Convention, another high-profile WME departure, The CW's live-action Powerpuff Girls reboot, Hulu's Soleil Moon-Frye doc. Plus: Keira Knightley's Apple deal, and Javicia Leslie talks being the first Black Batwoman. --Alex Weprin

 Another Big TV Reunion

➤It isn't just Friends: HBO Max has landed another high-profile reunion. The cast of The West Wing will reunite for a theatrical stage presentation of an episode that will stream in the fall on HBO Max (a date hasn't been set). The special is a benefit for When We All Vote, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization  that aims to increase voter participation. The reunion's full title, A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote, makes the mission plain.

--Original cast members Rob Lowe, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff, Bradley Whitford and Martin Sheen will join series creator Aaron Sorkin and director and executive producer Thomas Schlamme for the special. There will also be special guests. The story.

 TikTok's Suit

➤TikTok to Trump: Ban violates due process and "we simply have no choice" but to sue. TikTok is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance and, on August 6, Trump issued an order that would bar "any transaction by any person" with that company or any of its subsidiaries. He's invoking the National Emergencies Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act because TikTok allegedly "captures vast swaths of information from its users," which could allow the Chinese government "to track the locations of Federal employees and contractors, build dossiers of personal information for blackmail, and conduct corporate espionage."

--TikTok is asking a California federal judge for a declaration that the executive order is unlawful and unconstitutional and an injunction barring Trump from enforcing it. The company argues the president is abusing emergency powers that past presidents have used to protect the country from things like terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. The story.

+TikTok's explosive growth: The lawsuit also pulled back the curtain on the video platform's unfathomably fast growth in the U.S., with the company revealing its user numbers for the first time in the filing. As of August 20209, TikTok has more than 100 million users in the U.S., the company wrote in the lawsuit. That is up from just under 40 million in October 2019, and 27 million in February 2019. Globally, TikTok had more that 689 million users as of July 2020.

+In other legal news: Nicki Minaj fights Tracy Chapman's allegation of leaking an unauthorized song by explaining away damning evidence and suggesting a different culprit — Nas? The story.

➤In representation news: In the latest major agency exit, Phillip Sun, a partner at WME, is joining forces with MACRO Founder & CEO Charles D. King to form M88, a full-service representation firm amplifying the voices of artists and creators from the global new majority, which Sun will lead as president and managing partner.

--The new management venture will be majority-owned by the multi-platform media company MACRO, with the M being a nod to MACRO and the 88 to Sun’s Chinese heritage. King's recently launched MACRO Management, which represents filmmakers, actors, writers and multi-hyphenates, will merge operations with the company. The story.

 The RNC Kicks Off

➤Republicans predicted a national “horror movie” should President Donald Trump lose in November, flinging out dark warnings on Monday's opening night of their scaled down national convention.

--Trump's campaign had promised to offer an inclusive and uplifting prime-time message, hoping to broaden his appeal beyond his hard-core base by featuring the next generation of party stars including two Republicans of color, Rep. Tim Scott and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. Yet efforts to strike an optimistic tone were frequently overshadowed by dire talk that Democrat Joe Biden would destroy America, allowing communities to be overrun by violence. Here are the highlights.

+Critic's notebook: Daniel Fienberg writes that "I'm sure the night played like gangbusters. The Democratic Convention was not, no matter what the Fox News crowd might say, about gloom and doom. It was about trying to make some unenthusiastic Democrats feel OK — if not necessarily 'great' or 'awesome' or 'energized' — about voting for Joe Biden. It probably worked. This was about getting Trump's base foaming at the mouth. I'm betting it also worked." The notebook.

In TV news...

+The CW is headed to the city of Townsville. The network is developing a live-action update of Cartoon Network's Powerpuff Girls, with the three titular superheroes now young adults. The adaptation of Craig McCracken's original show. comes from writers Heather Regnier (Veronica Mars, Sleepy Hollow) and Diablo Cody and mega-producer Greg Berlanti. More.

+Keira Knightley has signed on to star in and executive produce a drama series for Apple — her second commitment to a streaming TV project in the past few months. The tech giant has given a series order to The Essex Serpent, a period drama based on Sarah Perry's British Book Award-winning novel. Anna Symon will be the lead writer, and Clio Barnard is set to direct. More.

+Soleil Moon Frye to give never-before-seen look at '90s Hollywood with KID 90 documentary for Hulu. The streamer acquired U.S. distribution rights to the Punky Brewster star's film, which springs from her personal vault and contains footage of famous friends like David Arquette, Brian Austin Green and Mark-Paul Gosselaar. The story.

+Javicia Leslie is ready to be the first Black Batwoman: "This is a great beginning." The Family Business and God Friended Me actress replaces Ruby Rose for the second season of The CW's series: "This is going to be like playing on the playground everyday." The story.

+More Disney TV shuffling: In a bid to better influence its content and hiring, Disney is moving Tim McNeal's creative talent development and inclusion team into its studio arm. The team will now be housed under Disney Television Studios and report directly to unit president Craig Hunegs. Previously, vp McNeal and his unit reported directly to Disney HR senior vp HR Sonia Coleman. More.

➤Critic's notebook:  In the final episode of her boundary-pushing HBO series I May Destroy You, creator-star Michaela Coel grappled with the difficulty of finding closure after trauma — and of ending a story about sexual assault, Inkoo kang writes. The notebook.

➤Sorry, boomer. Fox Corp.'s efforts to trademark the phrase "OK Boomer" have fallen short. Trademark attorney Josh Gerben noted on Twitter that "in denying Fox's appeal to the refusal of its OK BOOMER trademark, the USPTO found: '[Fox's] contention that other 'common phrases' have registered for similar entertainment services is not supported by any evidence...'"

➤Broadcast TV ratings: CBS' Big Brother and an ABC News interview with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris led Sunday's broadcast ratings among adults 18-49. 60 Minutes also delivered its best viewer tally in two months. The numbers.

+Also: Paramount Network's Yellowstone capped a third season marked by big ratings growth with its largest audience ever. The Kevin Costner-led drama brought in 5.2 million viewers on Sunday — which is a record high for the show and also the most watched cable entertainment program of 2020. The finale easily beat the previous same-day record for the show, topping the 4.23 million for the season premiere in June by a million viewers. More.

Obituary: Allan Rich, the character actor who survived the Hollywood blacklist to work in such films as Serpico, Disclosure and Amistad and on TV's Curb Your Enthusiasm, has died. He was 94. Rich died Saturday of progressive dementia at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey, his family announced.

In other news...

--Audible is introducing a new way to listen to its library of audio programming. The Amazon-owned company has added a new all-you-can-listen offering, Audible Plus. It is also revamping its existing subscription plans, renaming it Audible Premium Plus and giving members access to the all-you-can-listen library in addition their one credit per month.

--Netflix has greenlit Troll, a Norwegian monster movie from Tomb Raider and The Wave director Roar Uthaug. 

--The Zurich Film Festival on Tuesday announced, in a sign of national solidarity, it would open up its program this year to films from other Swiss festivals forced to cancel due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

--The American Film Institute and Universal Pictures are partnering on a week-long AFI Movie Club event, “Black Stories Matter.”

--Candyman director Nia DaCosta has teamed with Locke & Key writer Aron Eli Coleite on a new horror podcast for QCode.

--Halle Berry is set to take part in a candid conversation as part of the Toronto Film Festival's In Conversation With... series, organizers said Monday.

--The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, announced that the 48th Annie Awards ceremony will be held — either virtually or live — on April 16. The final decision on the show format will be made in the fall, in consideration of the pandemic.

--Image Comics has announced a significant reorganization of its sales department, with the promotion of existing figures and the addition of a couple of comic book veterans being revealed Monday morning.

What else we're reading...

--"UK broadcasters outbid and forced to innovate amid shortage of shows" [The Guardian]

--"Patriot Act wasn't perfect, but it was ours" [Vulture]

--"Unemployment is rampant, so this theater is giving freelancers money" [NY Times]

--"‘The worst is behind us,’ says CEO of WPP, the world’s largest advertising company" [CNBC]

Today's birthdays: Sean Connery, 90, Claudia Schiffer, 50, Billy Ray Cyrus, 59, Alexander Skarsgard, 44, Kel Mitchell, 42.

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AUGUST 25, 2020

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