Today In Entertainment

OCTOBER 05, 2020

What's news: Cineworld shutters all Regal cinemas as movie pipeline begins to run dry, analyst warns studios that that they "must be willing to take a hit" in order for theaters to survive, 1993's Hocus Pocus is competitive against Tenet at the box office, how Saturday Night Live tackled the debate and Trump's COVID diagnosis. Plus: COVID shakes up the broadcast schedule tonight, ABC News staff isolating after being in close contact to Chris Christie. --Alex Weprin

 Theaters in Crisis

➤Regal shutdown: Cinema giant Cineworld — the second largest global exhibitor behind AMC — early Monday morning London time confirmed that it is temporarily suspending its operation in the U.S. and U.K. The move — which sparked shockwaves across the industry when it first came to light over the weekend — impacts 536 Regal cinemas in the U.S. and 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse in the U.K., and comes into force from Oct. 8. 45,000 employees will be affected.

--"As major U.S. markets, mainly New York, remained closed and without guidance on reopening timing, studios have been reluctant to release their pipeline of new films," it said in a statement. "In turn, without these new releases, Cineworld cannot provide customers in both the US and the UK – the company’s primary markets – with the breadth of strong commercial films necessary for them to consider coming back to theatres against the backdrop of COVID-19." The story.

+Fellow British exhibition giant Odeon is making similar moves. The chain — which operates around 120 cinemas in the U.K., most of which reopened in July — sent out emails to customers Monday informing them that certain sites would now only be opening Friday-Sunday. More.

+Studios "must be willing to take a hit" to keep cinema chains from "falling apart." The delay of No Time To Die has left the slate a "virtual ghost town during the months of October and November," says B. Riley's Eric Wold, who adds in a note that "we are still surprised by the state-level restrictions that have continued to be placed upon theater operators while indoor dining and other entertainment options are facing much less severe restrictions." The story.

 'Tenet' Fends Off A Film From 1993

➤Halloween classic Hocus Pocus nearly beats Tenet as box office recovery collapses. With no new product in the marketplace, a rerelease of the 1993 Halloween cult classic was almost able to banish Christopher Nolan's latest and take the top spot at the weekend box office with a mere $2 million.

--"That's a stat no one wants to read, considering this was to have been the weekend that Wonder Woman 1984 unfurled," Pamela McClintock writes. "But, like numerous other fall tentpoles, the superhero sequel relocated out of concern that moviegoers aren't ready to return to the multiplex amid the ongoing pandemic."

--The numbers: Over the Oct. 2-4 frame, Tenet took in an estimated $14.2 million globally as it crossed the $300 million mark worldwide. That included a domestic weekend of $2.7 million. Because of its hefty $200 million production budget before marketing, Tenet will need to do $400 million or more to break even. The story.

+Meanwhile: As North America's box office crumples, China's theatrical film business is back in an enormous way. A collection of high-profile local films released in China over the past week to coincide with the country's National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday period, which lasts eight days. Jackie Chan's latest action flick, Vanguard opened on Wednesday and has earned a healthy $24.7 million, according to local box office tracker Artisan Gateway.

--But the real news is a pair of local tentpoles that unfurled on Thursday: Beijing Culture's anthology film My People, My Homeland, which has grossed a whopping $137.8 million; and Enlight Pictures' 3D animated feature Legend of Deification, with $136.2 million and counting. The story.

 How 'SNL' Covered... All This

➤On Saturday Night Live: The NBC late night show returned for its 46th season in front of a live — but limited, and masked — audience.  In the premiere’s cold open, the show spoofed the most recent presidential debate in a sketch starring Jim Carrey as Democratic nominee Joe Biden and Alec Baldwin in his reprisal as Trump... Chris Rock hosted... Weekend Update addressed the President's hospitalization... The rest of the sketches...

+Critic's notebook: Daniel Fienberg writes of the season premiere: "The stupid line — one I've written myself a couple of times, I'm sure — is to look at a season premiere episode and say, 'That's the best they could come up with after being off the air for four months?'"

--"But what's even the point of trying to pretend to go through a traditional comedy writing process when you know that whatever you write on Tuesday night will be usurped by five crazy things on Wednesday, a dozen earth-shattering developments on Thursday and a steady stream of idiocy and insanity all day Friday and even Saturday." The notebook.

+Also: As SNL returned for season 46, it was being celebrated far from Studio 8H. Across the country, NBC held its first-ever drive-in premiere for the show on Los Angeles' Universal Studios backlot, complete with a faux red carpet and marquee announcing Rock as host and Megan Thee Stallion as musical guest. The night marked a rare, and possibly only, time the legendary New York show has held a formal premiere on the West Coast, kicking off at 8:30 p.m. to account for the time change. Here's what happened.

➤COVID has hit the primetime broadcast TV schedule. Positive cases on the New England Patriots (including QB Cam Newton) mean that there will now be two Monday Night Football games played tonight, Patriots-Kansas City Chiefs will kick off at 7 PM ET on CBS, while the Atlanta Falcons-Green Bay Packers game will kick off at 8:50 PM ET on ESPN. Big Brother will air on CBS after the game, while the premieres of One Day at a Time and Manhunt have been pushed to Oct. 12.

+Trump's COVID diagnosis continues to reverberate among the media: Following news that presidential adviser and ABC News political analyst Chris Christie tested positive for COVID-19, he checked into a hospital on Saturday as a "precautionary measure." 

--ABC News released a statement on Saturday noting any staff that has been "in direct contact" with Christie will self-isolate for two weeks. Christie was an in-studio analyst for the network's presidential debate coverage, and was on-set alongside anchor Linsey Davis, former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, Democracy for America's Yvette Simpson and GOP strategist Sara Fagen. More.

➤About last night: How The Walking Dead just set up its endgame... Lauren Cohan breaks down her long awaited return... How that brutal death came to life... Lovecraft Country: Nightmares collide on the way to the finale... The Walking Dead: World Beyond boss on starting (and ending) a new apocalypse...

➤TV review: Daniel Fienberg reviews the Showrime docuseries The Comedy Store, writing that "it's a five-hour commercial for The Comedy Store, but darned if it isn't funny and entertaining." The review.

In other news...

--Spike Lee is paying tribute to late actor Thomas Jefferson Byrd, who starred in a myriad of the director's films including Clockers, He Got Game and Red Hook Summer.

--The sixth and final season of the award-winning sitcom Schitt's Creek has arrived early on Netflix.

--The City of Light is pretty dark on Netflix's new series Emily in Paris, with Parisians up in arms over the romantic comedy which stars Lily Collins as an American naif overcoming all manner of French stereotypes in her pursuit to become a social media guru.

--The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce reacted to Donald Trump's star being demolished — yet again — by asking those who feel so strongly about the president to vote rather than destroy property.

--The New York City Police Department is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest of a man suspected of randomly attacking Rick Moranis on Thursday morning.

--Reba McEntire and Darius Rucker have been tapped to host the 54th annual CMA Awards.

--Joe Biden’s presidential campaign has tapped Ludacris, Monica, Jermaine Dupri and Jeezy to record "Get Out The Vote" ads focusing on Black voters in battleground states.

What else we're reading...

--"AT&T CEO says big HBO bet will pay off in long run" [WSJ]

--"A new film imagines a disaster-based lockdown. It was made in 2019" [Washington Post]

--"How to cover a sick old man" [NY Times]

--"Ad tech could be the next internet bubble" [Wired]

Today's birthdays: Kate Winslet, 45, Jesse Eisenberg, 37, Brian Johnson, 73, Bob Geldof, 69, Imran Khan, 68.

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OCTOBER 05, 2020

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