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Today In Entertainment SEPTEMBER 15, 2020
Whats news: ViacomCBS rebranding CBS All Access as Paramount+ as it reboots originals slate, CAA and the WGA don't have a deal just yet, HBO reups John Oliver, night one of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Cuties director Maïmouna Doucoure defends her film at TIFF. Plus: 50 Cent lines up two more shows at Starz, and the TCA Award winners. --Alex Weprin  So Long CBS All Access, Hello Paramount+ ➤ViacomCBS is turning to a 100-year-old brand to bolster its streaming business. The company plans to rebrand CBS All Access as Paramount+ in early 2021, stocking the expanded service with originals that have close ties to well-known franchises, from The Godfather to Criminal Minds to The Game. --Among the projects in the works is The Offer, a 10-episode scripted limited series from writer-executive producer Michael Tolkin about Al Ruddy’s experience producing The Godfather... a revival of Mara Brock Akil sitcom The Game, which ran for nine seasons on The CW and BET and now streams on Netflix, as part of BET’s programming on the streamer... Meanwhile, Taylor Sheridan has created spy drama Lioness, about a young Marine recruited to befriend the daughter of a terrorist in order to bring the organization down... --Paramount+ will also be the home of The Real Criminal Minds, a true crime docuseries based on the long-running CBS procedural from CBS TV Studios that ended in February and a reimagined Behind the Music from MTV that looks at the 40 biggest artists of the past 40 years... The story. +Meanwhile: Comcast CEO Brian Roberts told a Goldman Sachs conference Tuesday that Peacock now has more than 15 million sign-ups, up from 10 million 6 weeks ago. ➤Deal, or no deal? Major talent agency CAA and the Writers Guild of America sent out dueling updates on the status of their talks on Monday, with the union saying the major agency has yet to agree to a deal. --"CAA has proposed changes to the agreement that the WGA has not – and cannot – agree to. Agreement will also depend upon reaching resolution of the lawsuits," the guild's negotiating committee told its members on Monday. The guild added: "The WGA will assess CAA’s offer, but not through the press. CAA remains unfranchised." --Earlier CAA said it made a deal on Monday to represent scribes for the first time since April 2019. "We delivered the signed agreement to the WGA, and we assume that it will be circulated to the appropriate members of the negotiating committee, as well as the membership, shortly," CAA said. The story.  Creative Arts Emmys ➤Night one of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards: On Night One, Netflix took home the most awards, with a total of five wins, followed by National Geographic and CNN with three apiece. CNN's three wins all came for Apollo 11, which took home awards for picture editing, sound editing and sound mixing. However, it lost the award for cinematography for a nonfiction program to The Cave, denying nominee (and former astronaut) Buzz Aldrin an Emmy. --Netflix's haul included two for Cheer in the directing and picture editing categories, along with Queer Eye being named best unstructured reality program. Elsewhere, A&E's Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath was named best hosted nonfiction series. The winners list. +What you may have missed: Nicole Byer jokingly awarded "COVID-19 Compliance Awards" during the first night of 2020's virtual Creative Arts Emmys on Monday. More. ➤Cuties director Maïmouna Doucoure has defended her French indie film on Netflix from accusations that it hyper-sexualizes pre-pubescent girls, as she argued her directorial debut aimed at social commentary and change. "It's because I saw so many things and so many issues around me lived by young girls, that I decided to make this film and sound an alarm and say we need to protect our children," Doucoure told a TIFF panel on French filmmakers on Monday. The story. +More from TIFF... --Aaron Sorkin says his upcoming Netflix courtroom drama, The Trial of the Chicago 7 -- a movie about seven antiwar activists accused by the federal government of conspiracy and incitement to riot because of the protests surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention -- could have been a Hollywood musical. --With the struggling U.S. indie film sector deeply impacted by the COVID 19-era industry shutdown, being without Coronavirus insurance cover needed to return to production, filmmakers at the Toronto Film Festival were told to look overseas for solutions.... --Ava DuVernay says the time is long overdue for Hollywood to wake up to being too white and too male and allowing more representation from women and people of color into its top ranks. "I've been in a lot of spaces where I'm the only woman, the only Black person, the only person of color," the Selma director told a masterclass at the Toronto Film Festival on Monday. She argued the current racial reckoning around the Black Lives Matter protests compels the entertainment industry to welcome greater diversity and inclusion. ➤The Oldenburg Fest keeps it quirky amid COVID-19. The eclectic indie film showcase is defying the pandemic with a hybrid event that offers virtual screenings with strict guidelines: “No stopping, no rewinding, no watching some other time.” The story.  Late Night News +HBO and John Oliver are extending their long-term relationship. The premium cable outlet has renewed Last Week Tonight With John Oliver for three more seasons. The pickup comes as the show was nearing the end of its previous long-term renewal, which lasts through the end of the current season. The new agreement will keep Last Week Tonight running through a 10th season in 2023. The weekly series aired its 200th episode in August. The story. +In other late night news: Peacock has set premiere dates for shows hosted by Larry Wilmore and Amber Ruffin. Wilmore is scheduled to premiere Sept. 18, with The Amber Ruffin Show following a week later on Sept. 25. More. +Starz and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson are reteaming on two drama projects, expanding the producer and rapper's portfolio at the premium cable outlet. Jackson's G-Unit Film and Television are developing a show about a woman sports agent — based on the life of agent and lawyer Nicole Lynn — and a potential anthology about hip hop, with the first season devoted to a feud between 50 Cent and The Game. Both are produced by Starz parent Lionsgate Television, where Jackson has an overall deal. The story. +Publishing its annual report for fiscal year 2019-2020 on Tuesday, the BBC said that during the April 2019-March 2020 period, "over 90 percent of the U.K. population used the BBC each week," concluding: "It was a strong year for programs and services." However, the broadcaster also issued a warning: "This is good progress, but the BBC can take nothing for granted and must keep reforming at an urgent pace." The story. +The 1970s sitcom Good Times is being revived at Netflix — in animated form. The streamer has given a 10-episode order to the show, which counts Norman Lear — who produced the original series — Seth MacFarlane and NBA star Steph Curry among its executive producers. Carl Jones created the show and will serve as showrunner. More. +Also: AMC has handed out a series order to a stop-motion animated show from the creator of Amazon's Patriot and the team behind Robot Chicken. More. ➤HBO's Watchmen swept the Television Critics Association's 2020 Awards. Presented for the first time without a ceremony after the summer in-person tour was effectively canceled amid the pandemic, the 36th annual TCA Awards handed out honors to the limited series from Damon Lindelof for program of the year, new program, miniseries and achievement in drama for star Regina King. The winners list. ➤Revolving door: Disney veteran Kevin Brockman has opted to leave WarnerMedia. He joined WarnerMedia in May 2019 as executive vp global communications at WarnerMedia Entertainment, reporting to the since-dismissed Bob Greeneblatt... Spotify has tapped Hollywood dealmaker Jean Chi to lead its podcast business affairs as it continues to expand its global audio offerings... Satellite radio giant SiriusXM said Tuesday that CEO James Meyer will step down as CEO on Dec. 31 and become vice chairman. Jennifer Witz, currently president, sales, marketing and operations, will succeed him as CEO... ➤Casting roundup: Sandra Oh, coming off an Emmy nomination for her work in Killing Eve, and international star Michelle Yeoh have joined the voice cast of The Tiger's Apprentice, the adaptation of the best-selling children's book from Paramount Animation... The cast of Ant-Man 3 is getting bigger. Lovecraft Country star Jonathan Majors is joining the next installment of the Marvel Studios franchise... ➤TV review: Inkoo Kang reviews Amazon's Utopia, writing that "there’s not enough specificity to the characters or fascination in the season-long mysteries to provide the bloody escapism that [Gillian] Flynn intended." The review. In other news... --Greenland is delaying its Sept. 25 release amid the ongoing challenges facing the domestic box office due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including continued cinema closures in Los Angeles and New York City. --Jason Momoa is backing Justice League co-star Ray Fisher in calling for an investigation into alleged abuse on the set of reshoots of the Justice League movie. --Alexis Bloom is set to direct animated documentary The Klarsfelds, with Bleecker Street acquiring the U.S. rights. --Gaumont Television has convinced an L.A. judge it may have been damaged when its former CEO didn't wipe her laptop after she was terminated — but it can't get a declaration that said violation means she has to return her severance payment and it can avoid paying her a share of profits from now on. --The American Film Institute has found its leading lady. The organization announced Monday that the 34th edition of AFI Fest presented by Audi will open with the world premiere of Amazon’s Rachel Brosnahan-starrer I’m Your Woman from director Julia Hart. --Does a long-lost photo of Abraham Lincoln exist? Discovery Channel is aiming to answer that question in a new documentary that's being produced by Mark Walberg's production company Unrealistic Ideas and directed by Jason Cohen, who was nominated for the best short documentary Oscar for Facing Fear in 2014. --John Boyega is stepping down as a brand ambassador for the British perfume and candle company Jo Malone after the brand reshot a video he created for the Chinese market. --Lightworks—the editing system best known as the tool of choice by Martin Scorsese’s legendary editor Thelma Schoonmaker—will become the flagship product of a new, privately-owned company, LWKS Software. --Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton and the women who play them on Saturday Night Live have raised more than $6 million for the Biden campaign in a Monday fundraiser. What else we're reading... --"Alex Trebek's health is 'prirotiy No. 1' on new Jeopardy! set" [LA Times] --"How ByteDance's CEO balked at selling TikTok's U.S. business" [Reuters] --"The Fresh Prince's Bel Air mansion is now available on AirBnB" [AdWeek] --DraftKings struck a deal with Disney's ESPN [CNN Business] Today's birthdays: Prince Harry, 36, Oliver Stone, 74, Tommy Lee Jones, 74, Tom Hardy, 43, Jenna Marbles, 34. 
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