Today In Entertainment

NOVEMBER 30, 2020

What's news: Universal and DreamWorks Animation brave the big screen with Croods 2 on an unusual holiday weekend ... FX's Fargo and HBO's Undoing air finales, while The Crown faces new criticism ... Hollywood mourns David Prowse, Disney honors Chadwick Boseman. — Erik Hayden

► Croods 2 nabs $14.2 million over five-day Thanksgiving frame in U.S. And overseas, the family film launched in seven markets to $20.8 million — led by $19.2 million in China — for a global bow of $35 million.

+ "This shows that even with a difficult theatrical landscape, people want to come out and get together. The film is incredibly charming," says Jim Orr, Universal's distribution chief.  Box office update. 

► "Independent films feel squeeze with Covid insurance out of reach." "[P]roducers not working with big studios like Walt Disney Co. or Netflix Inc. are struggling to get projects off the ground. Before the pandemic hit, policies could cost $400,000 or more. Now they cover less and are difficult to obtain," Richard Chess and Katherine Chiglinsky write. [Bloomberg]

► "Facebook, Google to face new antitrust suits in U.S." "Big Tech’s legal woes are expected to worsen in the coming weeks as federal and state antitrust authorities prepare to file new lawsuits against Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, people familiar with the matter said," John D. McKinnon reports. [Wall Street Journal]

► Laverne Cox speaks out after transphobic attack. "It doesn’t matter who you are ... If you’re trans, you’re going to experience stuff like this," said the star after detailing the incident in Griffith Park in a 10-minute video.

+ Column: "The king of Trump TV thinks you’re dumb enough to buy it." Ben Smith profiles Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy. "His TV business, a speculative bet that could be worth billions if it can cut deeply into Fox’s audience, currently loses money." [New York Times]

+ Q&A: Our Black Party founders talk 2020 election, Hollywood participation. Mayor Candace Hollingsworth and Dr. Wes Bellamy discuss how they have introduced an education campaign, enlisted nearly 20,000 email opt-ins and worked toward creating a "new political reality for Black people." Full story.

- Meanwhile: Barbra Streisand covers the new T Magazine ... Jake Tapper speaks at-length with Joe Hagan at Vanity Fair ... Game Change author John Heilemann is working on a book about the 2020 race ... Ryan Seacrest reportedly lists his Beverly Hills estate for $85 million ... Chef David Chang wins the $1 million prize on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Holiday weekend recap ...

+ Fargo boss Noah Hawley explains season four finale. The show featured more than twenty main characters over the course of its fourth season, but it saved its most surprising player for last. Spoilers. 

+ In U.K., The Undoing tops Game of Thrones' TV launch. The opener of HBO's series reached a 28-day audience of 2.78 million viewers, making it bigger than the launch of Thrones in 2011. Details I Review.

+ The Crown's new controversy. U.K. culture secretary Oliver Dowden is calling on the Netflix show's producers to add a "health warning" making it clear that the show is based on fiction.

+ Disney's Chadwick Boseman tribute. The studio added a 30 second long credit scene, a montage of Boseman's beloved work as King T'Challa, to the opening credits of Black Panther. The clip. 

R.I.P., David Prowse. The champion English weightlifter and bodybuilder who supplied his 6-foot-7 frame — but not the voice or the deep breathing — to portray Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, died early Saturday morning following a short illness. He was 85. Full obit I Tributes from George Lucas and Mark Hamill. 

- New movie reviews: Steve McQueen continues his Small Axe anthology with Alex Wheatle ... Diane Keaton, Jeremy Irons and Maggie Grace star in Love, Weddings & Other Disasters ... Alex Winter's latest doc digs into private vaults for a portrait of Zappa. 

- The week ahead in TV: Netflix's Selena: The Series and animated Big Mouth arrive Dec. 4 as will CBS' MacGyver and Blue Bloods ... Showtime's Shameless will land for its 11th and final season on Dec. 6. Full planner.

What else we're reading...

— "HBO Max has a plan." Alison Herman notes: "Dual premieres of I Hate Suzie and The Flight Attendant are a promising sign that the streaming service knows how to reach its audience." [The Ringer]

— "How 76 Days director Hao Wu got an inside look at the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan." Josh Rottenberg talks to the helmer about his "alternately harrowing and inspiring look inside four hospitals in Wuhan during the country’s 2½-month lockdown." [Los Angeles Times]

— "What if you could outsource your to-do list?" Nathan Heller writes: "Virtual assistants are one click - but often one continent - away. A new industry for bringing order to our work lives could shift the order of our workforce." [New Yorker]

— "Hillbilly Elegy doesn’t reflect the Appalachia I know." Cassie Chambers Armstrong writes: "The movie and book don’t show the positive side of the area, because that wouldn’t serve the story’s purposes." [The Atlantic]

— Behind the BuzzFeed deal for Huffpost. Tim Peterson notes: "the addition of a second news property to BuzzFeed’s portfolio will create an opportunity for BuzzFeed’s sales team to explain to advertisers how the two publications differ." [Digiday]

Today in 1978: Arnold Schwarzenegger covers Hollywood Reporter's anniversary issue ahead of the actor's turn in Conan. See the cover. 

Today's birthdays: Kaley Cuoco, 35, Chrissy Teigen, 35, Gael García Bernal, 42, Ben Stiller, 55, Mandy Patinkin, 68, David Mamet, 73, Terrence Malick, 77, Ridley Scott, 83.

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NOVEMBER 30, 2020

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