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New 'Mulan' Criticism; Latest From Venice and Toronto; Oprah-Apple Podcast Deal

Today In Entertainment

SEPTEMBER 08, 2020

Whats news: Disney's Mulan is facing renewed criticism after release, Tenet opens to more than $20 million at the U.S. box office, NBCUniversal has found its new programming chief, Regina King talks One Night In Miami, concerns over TIFF's mask-optional rules, Oprah and Apple strike a podcast deal. Plus: Derek Hough to judge on Dancing With the Stars, and Buzz Aldrin on Awards Chatter. --Alex Weprin

Disney's 'Mulan' Facing Fresh Criticism

➤More Mulan trouble: Disney's big-budget remake of Mulan, already the subject of a pro-democracy boycott, has come under additional fire for filming scenes in China's Xinjiang Province, where Beijing is accused of perpetrating human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims on a massive scale. Not only did Disney shoot in the region, but the studio appears to have offered its gratitude to Chinese government agencies involved in alleged abuses.

--Following Mulan's release on Disney+ on Friday, some viewers began noticing a "special thanks" in the film's end credits to eight government entities in Xinjiang, including the public security bureau in the city of Turpan, where China is believed to operate over a dozen "re-education camps" that hold Uighurs in extra-judicial detention. The story.

+Also: #BoycottMulan movement gains momentum in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand. A wave of coordinated social media activity in several Asian countries over the weekend urged for filmgoers to skip the movie because of past controversial comments made by its star Liu Yifei. The story.

↑Box office: Tenet debuts to $20 million as U.S. theaters reopen, nears $150 million globally. In pre-pandemic times, a domestic start of $20.2 million would be cause for major anxiety (it's Nolan's lowest since The Prestige in 2006). But considering current circumstances — including limited capacity and the fact that only 65 percent of the U.S. market are open — Tenet was always expected to come in well below Nolan's more recent films. And it certainly scored the top gross domestically of any film that's rolled out since theaters reopened.

--"Domestically, while our results show positive like-for-like theater indicators compared to previous films such as Dunkirk, there is literally no context in which to compare the results of a film opening during a pandemic with any other circumstance," Warner Bros. said in announcing the grosses. "We are in unprecedented territory, so any comparisons to the pre-COVID world would be inequitable and baseless." The story.

➤NBCUniversal has found its top entertainment programming executive. Following a lengthy public search, Warner Bros. TV president Susan Rovner has been tapped to oversee a programming portfolio that includes streamer Peacock, basic cable networks USA, Syfy, Bravo Oxygen and E! as well as broadcast network NBC. Rovner, who was considered the heir apparent to replace Peter Roth as chairman at Warner Bros. TV Group, negotiated an early exit from her contract to take the NBCU job. Her departure now leaves Warners without a next in line for Roth, whose deal expires next year.

--Sources tell Lesley Goldberg and Kim Masters that Rovner is expected to begin her role at NBCUniversal in the next week or two. It's unclear what her formal title will be as NBCU has yet to solidify those following the company's reorganization last month. Reps for NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. TV both declined comment Monday. The story.

From The Festivals...

➤Regina King hopes One Night in Miami can inspire "real transformative change." In a virtual press conference tied to the film's Venice premiere, King said the uprisings inspired by the Black Lives Movement in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, convinced both her and the producers of One Night In Miami to bring up the release of the film. "We didn't know we'd be bringing the film out in this powder keg moment...But everyone involved thought this has to happen now. This has to come out now." The story.

+The review: David Rooney reviews One Night In Miami, writing that "while the film doesn't entirely mask the stage origins of its single-setting core, this is a skillful adaptation of playwright Kemp Powers' 2013 drama about a hotel room gathering of four famous friends on the night in 1964 when 22-year-old Cassius Clay took the world heavyweight title. Both entertaining and illuminating, the Amazon production draws a tacit line between a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights movement and America's current racial reckoning." The review.

+Speaking of One Night in Miami: The New Yorker will host a drive-in screening of the film at the New York Hall of Science in Queens next month, as part of its New Yorker Festival. Regina King and Kemp Powers will be interviewed afterward.

➤As Toronto Film Fest screenings go mask-optional, attendees fear event will be a coronavirus "superspreader." In a statement to THR, Toronto organizers insist they’re strictly following the advice of public health experts, which limits the Bell Lightbox venue to 50 socially distanced patrons per screen, among other safety precautions (the five Lightbox theaters can collectively seat more than 1,200 moviegoers). More.

↑Toronto: Pandemic could give foreign buyers a leg up as U.S. box office struggles. With many theaters shuttered in the United States, dealmakers see a window of opportunity overseas for the kind of titles the festival specializes in, Scott Roxborough writes: "We can definitely open a movie internationally right now." The story.

More from the fall festivals...

➤Top 10 titles to watch in Toronto. TIFF, which will allow only Canadian citizens to attend this year, is typically packed with big commercial films and awards-season hopefuls. But this year’s pickings look slim. Still titles featuring Halle Berry and Mark Wahlberg make THR's hot list. The list.

+Awards analysis: Well-acted Pieces of a Woman a tough sell. Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf star in Kornél Mundruczó semi-autobiographical film about loss and grief, which premiered at the Venice Film Fest on Saturday. The analysis.

+And: The 64th edition of the BFI London Film Festival — rejigged due to the COVID-19 crisis and largely shifted online for 2020 — has unveiled its full program.... David Byrne on his new documentary with Spike Lee and a Very un-2020 plea to cheer up... I Am Greta director Nathan Grossman on Greta Thunberg's extraordinary year... Gia Coppola on her "satirical fable" Mainstream and the perils of social media... MLK/FBI doc draws disturbing parallels with the current moment...

+Venice reviews: The World To Come... Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams... Dear Comrades! (Dorogie Tovarischi!)... Miss Marx... Mosquito State... Topside...

Oprah's New Apple Podcast

➤Apple and Oprah Winfrey have expanded their partnership into podcasting. In its latest move to develop original podcasts tied closely to its content ecosystem, the tech giant on Tuesday released the first episode of Oprah’s Book Club. The podcast is part of a larger collaboration between Apple and Oprah's Book Club that includes an Apple TV+ series of the same name in which Winfrey hosts an in-depth discussion about a recently published title. The story.

➤Derek Hough is returning to Dancing With the Stars — this time as a judge. Hough, the winningest professional dancer in DWTS history, will join Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli at the judges' table in the coming season, which premieres Sept. 14. He'll take the spot normally occupied by Len Goodman, who isn't traveling to the United States in light of the coronavirus pandemic. He will, however, remain part of the show, sharing his expertise from the U.K. More.

➤Awards Chatter podcast: Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon, now an Emmy nominee for footage he shot more than 50 years ago, reflects on his path to NASA, his struggles after he left it, conspiracy theorists and why he is a believer in SpaceX. Listen.

➤Epic Games filed a preliminary injunction brief on Friday evening in the ongoing case involving Apple's removal of Fortnite in its App Store, asking the tech giant to restore its developer account and make the free-to-play battle royale game available once again. The injunction, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, urged the Court "to stop Apple from retaliating against Epic for daring to challenge Apple's misconduct." More.

➤Film review: John DeFore reviews Netflix's Enola Holmes, writing that "while no one will ever accuse the picture of overestimating its viewers' intelligence — Jack Thorne's script rarely misses the chance to drive a moral point home with one more pound to the head of the nail — it successfully imagines a place for its heroine in Holmes' world, then convinces young viewers that Enola needn't be constrained by that world's borders." The review.

Obituaries: Kevin Dobson, who starred as Telly Savalas' eager young partner Bobby Crocker on Kojak and as Michele Lee's husband, Mack MacKenzie, on Knots Landing, has died. He was 77... Mike Sexton, longtime TV commentator for the World Poker Tour and member of the Poker Hall of Fame, died on Sunday from prostate cancer. He was 72... Jiri Menzel, the Czech director who won the foreign-language film Oscar for 1966's Closely Watched Trains, has died. He was 82...

In other news...

--Sandringham Estate, the country retreat of Queen Elizabeth II, will be hosting drive-in movies beginning Sept. 25, featuring a slate of popular and award-winning films shown on a state-of-the-art LED screen. Sam Mendes' 1917 will begin the lineup, followed by Rocketman. Screenings on Sept. 26 will include Toy Story, The Greatest Showman and Bohemian Rhapsody.

--Epic Games' free-to-play battle royale hit Fortnite is debuting a live concert series on the Party Royale main stage.

--What it's like to photograph Dwayne Johnson for 20 years.

--Discovery has struck a deal to acquire the free-to-air TV business of MediaWorks, New Zealand's largest independent commercial broadcaster.

--Dennis Ruh will take over as the new boss of Berlin's European Film Market, replacing Matthijs Wouter Knol, who is leaving to join the European Film Academy.

--ViacomCBS Networks International has struck a three-year deal with the National Football League (NFL) that will bring live Monday night football to the company's Channel 5 in the U.K.

What else we're reading...

--"Do fall's big film festivals still matter?" [LA Times]

--"Comic books flourish on crowdfunding sites, drawing big names" [NY Times]

--Beauty advertisers are beginning to return to TV after pandemic pauses [WSJ]

--"EA disables UFC 4's in-game ads following player outrage" [PushSquare]

Today's birthdays: Bernie Sanders, 79, Gaten Matarazzo, 18, David Arquette, 49, Pink, 41, Wiz Khalifa, 33.