Today In Entertainment

SEPTEMBER 02, 2020

Whats news: Friends and colleagues remember Chadwick Boseman, Disney grapples with what the next steps may be for the Black Panther franchise, analysts expect slow recovery for the U.S. box office, Writers Guild at an impasse with WME and CAA, Mulan scores a Sept. 11 release date in China, revised Harvey Weinstein settlement draws fresh scorn. Plus: Jamie Foxx to Netflix, and an unusual Black-ish special. --Alex Weprin

 Chadwick Boseman, Remembered

On the cover: Friends, colleagues and admirers remember Chadwick Boseman, as Disney begins to grapple with what comes next for the Black Panther franchise.

➤Chadwick Boseman's inner circle on his secret cancer battle: "He was a very private person." Despite struggling with late-stage colon cancer, "he wasn't going to let this disease stop him from telling these amazing stories and showing his art in the prime of his life." The story.

➤Chadwick Boseman's agent Michael Greene: He chose roles "always bringing about light." "The amount of time that we strategized over whether he should do a role for the better of humanity — it was always about utilizing his platform," Greene recalls. "'How can I give back? How will this be valuable to the Black community, and the community at large?' He was always, 'What will I be able to tell through this role?' That’s how we chose almost all his roles." The remembrance.

➤Jackie Robinson's daughter Sharon Robinson on Chadwick Boseman: "I see parallels between Chad and Jackie. It's eerie. To have him die on Jackie Robinson Day — after baseball had to find a new date because of COVID … I couldn't talk. They both had short lives; my father died at 53. The intensity of their lives, the impact they had on so many people, the importance of finding uplifting ways to celebrate African American history and to stay in the game right to the very end. They were two very courageous and committed men, and their lives were meant to intercede. And I'm very thankfully that they did." The column.

+Draft Day director Ivan Reitman reflects on working with Chadwick Boseman: "His intensity was everywhere."  The filmmaker recalls directing Boseman on the 2014 sports film, which formed a friendship, plus a reunion project that the two were working on up until the star's death from colon cancer on Aug. 28. The column.

+Howard University president reflects on Chadwick Boseman’s commencement speech: “It shows his grace.” The story.

+How Chadwick Boseman's legacy can ease fans' pain. Cultural commentator Richard Newby discusses the "mythic quality" of what the actor accomplished and how his roles offer a path to channel the grief. The column.

➤Disney grapples with how to proceed on Black Panther without Chadwick Boseman. Outside of family, only a small group of insiders was aware of the Marvel star’s battle with cancer, and now studio executives are grieving and figuring out a way forward, Tatiana Siegel and Borys Kit report.

--"Most observers agree that Disney has several options. One is to replace Boseman, which could generate a fan outcry and prompt inevitable comparisons between actors. Even with a scheduled release date of 2022, already iffy due to the coronavirus pandemic, few actors may be willing to take on that challenge. The second option, which may be more tenable, is to make T’Challa’s sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright) the new Black Panther. That scenario also aligns with events portrayed in one of the comic book series on which the film is based." The story.

 A Slow Recovery For The Box Office?

➤As Tenet arrives, U.S. box office "recovery won't be instantaneous." Christopher Nolan's Tenet, which opens over Labor Day weekend, is a critical test as theaters reopen after a five-month shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pamela McClintock reports.

--“I don’t think anybody knows how much Tenet will do in the U.S.,” says MKM Partners analyst Eric Handler. “Consumers are looking for a reason to get out of the house, but the recovery won’t be instantaneous. And it won’t go in a straight line.” Pre-pandemic, Tenet might have debuted domestically anywhere from $50 million to $70 million. Now, $20 million to $25 million would be considered decent. The story.

➤Writers Guild at impasse with WME, CAA over deal. WME had reached out to the guild last month, in the wake of WGA's Aug. 5 agreement with ICM, offering to negotiate with all issues on the table, a source with firsthand knowledge tells THR. According to this person, Endeavor, the parent company of WME, was willing to give up more than 50 percent of its ownership in Endeavor Content, taking its stake to 49 percent, and would sunset packaging — with some exceptions for talent that didn't want to pay commissions and was willing to be packaged — in two years.

--"WME and CAA chose to sit out the negotiation for well over a year, hoping members would give up, and relying on a lawsuit that won’t even go to trial, if at all, until summer 2021," the guild told its members in a letter. "To be blunt, we’re not going to give them a different and better deal because they waited; we’ve now gone about as far as we can go... We’re not going to keep pushing back the sunset period on packaging. We’re not going to allow more than 20% ownership of a production studio." The story.

➤Revised Weinstein settlement is "even worse for survivors," attorneys say. Lawyers pursuing a global settlement of sexual misconduct claims against Harvey Weinstein, The Weinstein Company and other high-ranking officers and directors have presented a U.S. bankruptcy judge with a new proposal after the first iteration was decried by a New York federal judge and attorneys for the accusers.

--Though, so far, this one doesn’t appear to be any more popular than the version U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein rejected in July., Ashley Cullins reports. The details.

+Singer Eddy Grant filed a copyright lawsuit against Pres. Donald Trump's campaign on Tuesday over a campaign video that his lawyers say illegally uses the singer's iconic 1983 song "Electric Avenue." The suit is tied to a bizarre animated ad posted on Twitter by Trump's campaign on Aug. 12 which depicts a cartoon version of Trump's White House rival, former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden, driving an old-fashioned train car while a speeding train that says "Trump Pence" and "KAG 2020" zips through a desolate town. More.

+FCC refuses to freeze AMC's AT&T deal. The media regulator sees no irreparable harm from the expiration of a carriage agreement. More.

➤Disney’s Mulan has finally locked down its high-stakes theatrical release date in China. The film will open in the Middle Kingdom on Sept. 11, an exhibitor with knowledge of the situation tells THR.  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 story.

➤How can concerts restart safely? A 1,500-person study aims to find out.  To track the potential spread of coronavirus in an arena, researchers at a German medical university held a daylong test case, Scott Roxborough reports. The story.

➤Venice: Can Hollywood make deals despite the travel ban? "The American presence in Venice will be minimal," admits Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera. But there are loopholes. U.S. citizens can fly to Venice from another European country, provided they have spent at least 14 days in the EU. For those flying direct from L.A. or New York, the Italian government has made an exception for "urgent business travel." Thanks to the efforts of the Venice fest, visiting talent and accredited execs qualify. The story.

+In other festival news: The Toronto Film Festival has unveiled around 30 indie movie titles that will screen as part of its inaugural TIFF Industry Selects sidebar during this year's online-only film market. More.

 In TV News...

➤Jamie Foxx is headed to Netflix. Following a lengthy dealmaking process, the Oscar winner will star in and executive produce a comedy series called Dad Stop Embarrassing Me at the streamer. The show is inspired by Foxx's relationship with his daughter, Corinne, who will produce. The story.

+Black-ish will air a pair of special episodes — one of them animated — in early October prior to its official premiere later in the fall. The hourlong special will focus on the upcoming election, with Junior embarking on his journey as a first-time voter and Dre exploring local politics. Both the live-action and animated portions of the special will be directed by Oscar winner Matthew A. Cherry (Hair Love). The special is scheduled to air Oct. 4, although that's subject to change depending on the NBA Finals schedule on ABC. The story.

+NCIS: Los Angeles stars LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnell are taking on a new case at CBS: producing a competition series. The pair will executive produce a show called Come Dance With Me for the network. The show comes from CBS Television Studios and 3 Ball Productions. More.

+Apple will revisit Hurricane Katrina in a limited series from John Ridley and Carlton Cuse. Ridley and Cuse will serve as showrunners, writers and executive producers of Five Days at Memorial. Based on Pulitzer Prize winner Sheri Fink's book, the series will chronicle the first five days at a New Orleans hospital after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005. More.

+ABC will urge viewers to vote with a nonpartisan comedy special set to air in mid-September. Kevin Hart will host VOMO: Vote or Miss Out, and appear alongside an all-star list of comics, musicians and politicians. The special is set to air Sept. 14, following the premiere of Dancing With the Stars. More.

+Emma Roberts is setting up shop at Hulu. The actress has signed a first-look TV producing deal with the Disney-run streamer via her Belletrist TV. The deal will focus on adaptations of books, with Belletrist co-founder Karah Preiss serving as executive producer on all projects for the company and director development Matt Matruski producing. More.

+Also: The Television Academy announced 2020 juried award winners on Tuesday morning, handing out early kudos for animation, choreography, interactive programming and motion design. The winners list.

➤Sarah Lawrence alums allege rape against comedian James Veitch.  A rising star with a book deal and a viral TED talk, Veitch is accused of sexual assault by multiple former graduates who reconnected after learning about his HBO Max special, Kim Masters reports. The story.

➤The Way I See It doc getting hybrid release in theaters and on MSNBC. The documentary about acclaimed White House photographer Pete Souza will bypass a traditional theatrical release and debut in select cinemas on Sept. 18 before airing three weeks later on MSNBC. More.

➤Revolving door: Veteran animation producer Ramsey Naito has been promoted to president of Nickelodeon Animation... Daniel Cherry, who hails from the world of Esports, has been named senior vp and general manager of DC Comics... Narrative has hired PR veterans Maria Herrera and Rachael Reiss... WME Sports has signed ESPN anchor Ashley Brewer for representation in all areas.. SpringHill Company has hired Krystyn Price-Harrell as senior director of artist management... Veteran Mexican TV executive and showrunner Rosy Ocampo has signed with APA in all areas... Sejin Croninger has joined Paramount Pictures as executive vp of worldwide acquisitions...

➤TV review: Daniel Fienberg reviews the Showtime series The Comey Rule, writing that "those seeking confirmation that Comey is a villain, either for torpedoing Hillary Clinton in the lead-up to the 2016 election or complicating Trump's early tenure with the Steele dossier or other Russian inquiries, will find it. Ditto anybody who chooses to view Comey as a paragon of the ideals of service, however self-destructive." The review.

+And: Inkoo Kang reviews HBO's We Are Who We Are, writing that "an aura of pleasant aimlessness suffuses the production, its evocation of eternal summer mirroring the teens’ approach to their here-but-not-really-ness." The review.

+Also: Fienberg reviews the NBA medical drama Transplant, writing that "the series, created by Joseph Kay, understands is that if you have a good character or two, audiences will embrace an otherwise by-the-numbers medical procedural. Transplant has that and is that." The review.

Casting roundup: Star Wars star Adam Driver is returning to the world of sci-fi. He will star in the Sony film 65... Julianne Moore is joining Amy Adams to be the maternal figureheads in Dear Evan Hansen, Universal’s adaptation of the Broadway musical... ABC announced the contestants for this year's Dancing With the Stars, among the contestants are Tiger King's Carole Baskin, Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir, and actress Anne Heche...

In other news...

--Peter Jackson's Wellington, NZ-based visual effects and animation studio — whose Oscar-winning work has included the VFX in Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy and James Cameron's Avatar — has inked a multi-year deal with Amazon Web Services to use the Amazon cloud to forward its VFX and animation production.

--Movie theaters in Maryland have been cleared to reopen on Sept. 4 as Warner Bros. prepares to unfurl Christopher Nolan's Tenet over Labor Day weekend. The $200 million espionage epic is the first Hollywood tentpole to hit the big screen since the novel coronavirus pandemic struck.

--42, the Jackie Robinson biopic starring Chadwick Boseman, will be re-released into AMC locations to celebrate the late actor's life.

--Actor and filmmaker Stephen Moyer has set his sophomore feature directing effort with TriStar Pictures' Möbius.

--RLJE Films has picked up the North American rights to The Opening Act, starring Silicon Valley star Jimmy O. Yang in a stand-up comedy from writer-director Steve Byrne.

What else we're reading...

--"John Boyega: 'I’m the only cast member whose experience of Star Wars was based on their race'" [GQ UK]

--"Crew death renews film set concerns amid COVID-19" [LA Times]

--"China is censoring Hollywood's imagination" [Axios]

--"AT&T to scrap sale of Warner video-game unit" [Bloomberg]

--"TikTok deal talks are snarled over fate of app’s algorithms" [WSJ]

Today's birthdays: Keanu Reeves, 56, Salma Hayek, 54, Katt Williams, 49, K-Ci Hailey, 51, Harvey Levin, 70.

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SEPTEMBER 02, 2020

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