Today In Entertainment

SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

What's news: TikTok stars aren't afraid of a U.S. ban, the latest twist in the saga of Charlotte Kirk and the entertainment moguls, ViacomCBS says CEO Bob Bakish was investigated for misconduct but the claims weren't supported, Spotify inks a deal to expand its TV and film footprint. Plus: Rashomon and Pretty Little Liars coming to HBO Max, and The Vow star Mark Vicente on the "horror" of NXIVM. --Alex Weprin

 TikTokers Won't Stop

➤"They’re here to stay": TikTok influencers reassured so far about platform's efforts to avert ban. Many users tell Natalie Jarvey that regular check-ins from creator managers at the ByteDance-owned app have helped allay their fears about the future of the app.

--“At first it kind of made me nervous. I was like, ‘oh my god, I have 3 million followers on this platform and I don’t want to lose them,” acknowledges James Henry, a comedian trying to break into Hollywood. “But at the same time, I also realized that they were going to be okay.” The story.

 The Charlotte Kirk Saga Continues

➤Charlotte Kirk, Kevin Tsujihara and a non-consensual sex allegation that sparked a secret legal saga. The actress has filed an explosive petition to vacate a gag order that has kept her mostly silent amid a years-long battle with the former Warner Bros. chief as well as film moguls James Packer, Brett Ratner and Avi Lerner, Tatiana Siegel reports.

--According to the petition, “Ms. [Kirk] was victimized by a cabal of entertainment industry elites each who believed they could use and abuse her with impunity and then hand her off. Second, Claimants demanded that their shameful conduct remain secret.” The incredible story.

➤ViacomCBS says CEO Bob Bakish was investigated for an allegation of misconduct but the probe concluded without action taken. “The board takes any allegation of this type seriously. An independent review of the alleged incident has concluded, and the investigation did not support the allegation," ViacomCBS said in a statement sent to THR on Thursday. The story.

➤Spotify is looking to adapt its broad library of podcast programming for film and television with the help of Chernin Entertainment.The two companies have struck a multiyear first-look film and TV deal that will allow them to mine more than 250 global original audio shows for Hollywood development. It’s a move that underscores the entertainment industry’s hunger for new IP and Spotify’s growing ambition to become a major supplier of that programming. The details.

 'Liars' and 'Rashomon' at HBO Max

➤It's official: a new take on Pretty Little Liars is coming to HBO Max. As THR exclusively reported earlier this month, a new take on the former Freeform hit has been picked up straight to series at HBO Max. Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is spearheading the series, which is titled Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin. Aguirre-Sacasa will co-write the series alongside his Chilling Adventures of Sabrina collaborator Lindsay Calhoon Bring. Original series creator I. Marlene King is not involved. The story.

+Rashomon is a go: Nearly two years after announcing plans to adapt Akira Kurosawa's acclaimed film Rashomon as a TV series, the drama has found its home — and writers. HBO Max is teaming with Amblin Television to develop the series inspired by the 1950 psychological thriller from the famed director and screenwriter. The Comey Rule's Billy Ray and Mudbound's Virgil Williams are teaming to pen the script for the series, which is currently in development. The story.

In other TV news...

+Amazon is developing a spinoff to its superhero show The Boys. The project has been in the works for a while but has been put on a fast track following strong performance for the show's second season on the tech giant's Prime Video streaming service. The story.

+Ratings: The 2020-21 TV season has started in a hole for broadcasters. TV usage in the key ad demographic of adults 18-49 is down by about 20 percent over the first three nights.

--For the TV year that just concluded, however, things weren't quite as bleak. Traditional networks lost viewers, to be sure, and the spring and summer months were rough for most networks as their content pipelines dried up during the coronavirus pandemic. But the early days of the pandemic, when TV viewing surged across all platforms, provided some cushion against those losses and mitigated the overall declines. Rick Porter breaks it down.

+Actress and producer Marsai Martin is prepping a new TV project, currently developing an unscripted series focused on the stories of trailblazing Black women with ITV America's Sirens Media. The project, tentatively titled Baddies, is currently being shopped to buyers — with  Martin's Genius Entertainment banner developing and producing. More.

+Viewers of Superstore will need to wait a little bit longer for America Ferrera's final episodes of the show. NBC is moving the season premiere of the show, along with that of first-year comedy Connecting…, back a week. Superstore will debut on Oct. 29 rather than Oct. 22, and Connecting…, a COVID-era show from Blindspot creator Martin Gero and Brendan Gall, is set for Oct. 8 instead of Oct. 1. More.

+ABC is developing a comedy with an LGBTQ couple at its center. The multi-camera project comes from Disney's 20th Television comedian and writer Sabrina Jalees. It centers on first-time parents Sam and Bertie, whose lives take a turn when Alex, their spontaneous biological donor-daddy, pays them a visit and becomes part of their lives. More.

+The Simpsons is following through on its pledge to have non-white actors voice characters of color on the show. The Fox series will feature Alex Désert voicing Carl Carlson, Homer's (Dan Castellaneta) nuclear plant co-worker, in Sunday's season premiere. Hank Azaria had played the part for nearly the show's entire run prior to that. More.

+Saturday Night Live begins its 46th season on NBC on Oct. 3, with former cast member Chris Rock returning as host for the third time and Megan Thee Stallion making her first appearance as musical guest. More.

➤The Vow star Mark Vicente on the "horror" of NXIVM. "I want him to be unable to hurt people," the actor tells Seth Abramovitch of cult leader Keith Raniere's upcoming sentencing. "He literally codified gaslighting. You know, where every time you had a thought, you would then question your thought and think, 'How am I responsible, how am I perhaps wrong in this situation?' I think there’s maybe 50 to 60 people that are still very loyal to Raniere and 'the teachings,' and I think they still believe it’s very unique probably because they haven’t studied a lot of other things." The interview.

➤Don't always mistake what Tucker Carlson says for fact. That's the conclusion more or less from a federal judge, who on Thursday dismissed a libel lawsuit from Karen McDougal, the former Playboy model who infamously received money from the National Enquirer in connection with her alleged affair with Donald Trump. The story.

+The Doobie Brothers are suing Bill Murray for using their song "Listen To The Music" without a license to promote his golf shirts. More.

+Also: The Trump administration is asking a D.C. federal judge to dismiss a suit brought by a group of advocacy organizations over an executive order they believe will discourage social media companies from flagging or removing misinformation on their platforms. More.

+And: Evel Knievel's son is on a collision course with the Walt Disney Co. and Pixar over a movie daredevil character named Duke Caboom. A federal trademark infringement lawsuit filed in Las Vegas accuses the movie company of improperly basing the new character in last year's Toy Story 4 on Knievel. More.

➤"Being othered in a hair and makeup trailer": An oral history of styling and beautifying Black stars in Hollywood.  White hairstylists backing away from doing Black hair. Makeup artists resorting to mixing special FX product. Black style and fashion veterans recount struggles, yet signs of change are peeping through, Degen Pener and David Kaufman report: "Even the way folks email me now feels more aware." The story.

➤Film review: David Rooney reviews Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7, writing that the film "shows Sorkin in his sweet spot, burrowing with needling curiosity, impassioned indignation and juicy oratory into the infamous six-month courtroom circus stemming from charges of inciting a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention." The review.

+Rooney also reviews Netflix's The Boys in the Band, writing that "having played their roles for three and a half months on stage before shooting the film, these actors inhabit their characters like second skins." The review.

+TV review: Daniel Fienberg reviews the Netflix comedy Sneakerheads, writing that the show "is a mixed bag, fitting into the often-neglected subgenre of fashion-based shows aimed at straight guys, like a West Coast version of HBO's denim-centric How To Make It in America." The review.

➤Unpregnant producer Erik Feig talks HBO Max hit and adapting to the streaming age. The exec behind box office behemoths like Twilight opens up about his new production company Picturestart and knowing when his time at Lionsgate was coming to a close. The interview.

Revolving door: NBCUniversal has named Pete Bevacqua chairman of NBC Sports Group...Recently departed  TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer is in advanced talks to join investment firm RedBird Capital... Samantha Kirby Yoh is leaving WME to join David Zedeck as the co-head of UTA Music... Terry Curtin has joined Solstice Studios as executive vp of communications... John Malone's Liberty Media said Friday that Chase Carey will drop his CEO and chairman titles at racing circuit Formula One to focus on the role of non-executive chairman. Lamborghini's Stefano Domenicali will take over as the new president and CEO of Formula One in January.

--Paul Zilk is stepping down as CEO of Reed Midem, the events organizer behind global television markets Mipcom and Mip-TV, and will be succeeded by Michel Filzi... Lifestyle brand and gaming organization 100 Thieves has expanded its executive team with three new hires, the company revealed on Thursday...

➤Guest column: Reconstruction comes to Hollywood. It’s great to tweet about Black Lives Matter and give Emmys. It’s more important to award BIPOC executives with greenlighting power and to support men and women of color in this industry who call out harmful institutions or individuals, writes producer Keli Goff. The column.

➤TV's Top 5 podcast: During this week's podcast, hosts Lesley Goldberg and Daniel Fienberg welcome Fargo's Noah Hawley for a discussion about what to expect from season four of the Chris Rock-led anthology and how the pandemic changed it. Listen.

In other news...

--Vertigo Entertainment, the banner behind recent It and Lego Movie franchises, has inked a first-look deal with Lionsgate. The pact will cover all areas outside of television, where Vertigo has a pact with Sony Pictures TV.

--Newly-launched Spire Animation Studios, co-founded by veteran animation producer Brad Lewis (Ratatouille; How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World) and industry entrepreneur P.J. Gunsagar, revealed development of its first computer-animated feature, a original contemporary musical titled Century Goddess.

--Netflix's high-profile plan to have Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss adapt Chinese writer Liu Cixin's bestselling sci-fi trilogy The Three-Body Problem is getting a challenge from a group of Republican Senators.

--Road trip rom-com Lost & Found is getting ready to start its engine at Sony. The studio is partnering with Will Gluck's Olive Bridge Entertainment for the feature from writer Meredith Dawson.

--RLJE Films has aquired the North American rights to the Joe Manganiello-starring action thriller Archenemy ahead of its debut at Beyond Fest.

--Amazon is joining the heated game streaming space with a new service, Luna, which will allow people to play video games via their televisions, PCs and phones.

--Daniel Dae Kim asks Congressional committee to show "empathy" for Asian Americans facing bias.

--Netflix has launched its latest production hub by taking a long-term lease on seven soundstages at the Canadian Motion Picture Park studio complex just outside Vancouver.

--Dora and the Lost City of Gold won a leading three awards at the 2020 Imagen Awards, designed to recognize Latino talent.

What else we're reading...

--"The mystery gossip queen exposing celebs during the pandemic" [The Daily Beast]

--"Ellen DeGeneres is sorry. Ellen the talk show is still forcing a smile" [Washington Post]

--"Chuck E. Cheese is plotting an animated TV show and a live-action movie starring its mouse mascot" [Business Insider]

--"‘Walk before you run’: Sports publishers look to blow out their betting content" [Digiday]

Today's birthdays: Will Smith, 52, Barbara Walters, 91, Clifford Harris aka T.I., 40, Michael Douglas, 76, Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino, 37.

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SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

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