Today In Entertainment

NOVEMBER 03, 2020

What's news: How the TV news channels plan to cover election night, Donald Trump and the future of the celebrity candidate, Michael Moore on what he thinks will happen. Plus: Does box office reporting have a future? Fox Corp. rises and AMC Theatres fall as the pandemic continues to slam the media and entertainment business, Quibi show crew members "blindsided" by sudden shutdown, Jimmy Fallon reups at NBC. --Alex Weprin

 Election Day In America

After a bruising campaign, it all comes down to this, as the polling places close and states begin to report results in the 2020 presidential election. No one knows for certain what could happen, but news outlets, socia media giants, and even local businesses are preparing accordingly.

Election night TV viewers guide...

+On Fox News Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will lead coverage, joined by a 3D White House... ABC News has George Stephanopoulos, David Muir and Linsey Davis leading coverage... CBS News has Norah O'Donnell, Gayle King, John Dickerson and Margaret Brennan anchoring from ViacomCBS HQ in Times Square, with augmented reality elements... CNN coverage will be led by Dana Bash, Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Abby Phillip and Jake Tapper...

...Rachel Maddow, Brian Williams, Joy Reid and Nicolle Wallace lead MSNBC's primetime coverage... NBC News has Lester Holt, Savannah Guthrie, Chuck Todd and Andrea Mitchell leading its coverage... Judy Woodruff anchors on PBS... Ilia Calderón and Jorge Ramos anchor for Univision... José Díaz-Balart, Felicidad Aveleyra, Vanessa Hauc, Julio Vaqueiro and Paulina Sodi anchor for Telemundo...

➤How TV news outlets are preparing to cover election night. I spoke with CBS News president Susan Zirinsky, ABC News president James Goldston, NBC News president Noah Oppenheim, ABC News anchors George Stephanopoulos, David Muir and Linsey Davis, NBC News anchor Lester Holt, CBS News political analyst John Dickerson, and Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum about how they are planning for tonight, including the potential for a drawn-out process, and what they would do if someone (most likely one specific someone) declared a premature victory on election night.

--“The networks do not elect presidents of the United States, our job is to report what the voters have done, and when the polls close — and only when the polls close — will we characterize the states,” says Zirinsky. “Our job is to reveal America to itself.”

--“A term that you are not going to hear a lot of this time around is ‘precincts,’ because we are going to be looking at the percentage of expected vote, and that is an acknowledgement of the way people are voting, with a heavy amount of early votes,” says Holt.

--“I think that everyone is prepared for a long haul, though there is at least a hope that there is a faster resolution or understanding of what is going on on election night. It would be a relief for the country at this point,” says Martha MacCallum. The story.

+Meanwhile on late night: Late Show with Stephen Colbert ep Chris Licht speaks with Lesley Goldberg and Dan Fienberg about how they are planning for their Showtime live election special... TBS Full Frontal host Samantha Bee and ep Alison Camillo talk about what their Nov. 4 episode will look like, how the program could shift under a Joe Biden administration and the issues they're keeping an eye on beyond the presidential race...

+The tech angle: Crolyn Giardina spoke with David Bohrman, who will ep CBS' election night coverage. Bohrman was responsible for a bevy of election night tech when he was at CNN, including the "Magic Wall" that has since become a staple on every channel, and the infamous "holograms" in 2008. More.

+Michael Moore's election eve thoughts: People "less complacent," but don't underestimate "evil genius" Trump. The Oscar-winning filmmaker foresaw a Trump victory in 2016; this time, he makes no predictions but has plenty on his mind as America goes to the polls.

--"You know, so this is what I tell Michiganders. Every good idea has come from California. Just think about it, whether it’s fashion, whether it’s politics, whether it’s, you know, sex — Summer of Love — it doesn’t matter. I say this to New Yorkers and they’re like, 'Well, California ...'  I’m just telling you folks, there’s good things happening out there; nobody here understands it. When we have a Democratic Senate, House and White House we’re going to be in better shape, I think." The column.

➤Trump and the future of the celebrity candidate. After 2016, many Democrats believed the only way to take back the White House was to run their own high-wattage entertainer like Oprah or the Rock. Has the conventional wisdom changed? Gary Baum investigates.

--“Donald Trump rang a bell that a lot of people heard: ‘If he could be elected president, then I can be elected president.’ A lot of celebrities with a big platform now believe that,” says longtime political advisor Mark McKinnon, who’s held senior roles in the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush and John McCain.

--Dr. Peter J. Bergerson, a political science professor at Florida Gulf Coast University who’s spent five decades studying national elections, observes that “what entertainers are able to wield particularly well is their personalities, and personalities play an important role in voting preferences. There are a significant number of people who are attracted to a candidate by charisma, which is another way of saying star power. Think of Reagan.” The story.

 Does Box Office Reporting Have a Future?

➤Box office reporting may be "forever changed" due to pandemic. Warner Bros. broke decades of tradition by changing its protocol for releasing grosses for Tenet — and, amid a pandemic and a shift to PVOD for blockbuster releases, less transparency could become the new norm, Pamela McClintock reports.

--"Somebody realized that nothing sells like success," says Sony Pictures chief Tom Rothman of the origins of box office gross reporting. "And, in that moment, the first stone was cast. It turns out people were as interested in that as in the No. 1 TV show. Sure enough it worked." The story.

➤"We were blindsided": Quibi show crewmembers reckon with abrupt shutdown. Although many of those crewmembers long doubted the viability of the business model, Quibi’s Oct. 21 announcement that it was closing shop came as a blow in a tight job market. Several show sources tell THR's Natalie Jarvey and Katie Kilkenny that they, just like most Quibi employees, did not know about the news in advance of the general public.

--“We were blindsided. We had just signed contracts and turned down other jobs to keep working on this show,” says one employee on the ATTN:-produced title Your Daily Horoscope, which Quibi renewed for a second season in September. Antonio Monge, an animator on the show, adds: “Our own execs had to constantly hound Quibi for further information.” The story.

 Fox Thrives, While AMC Dives

The novel cornavirus pandemic jolted the media and entertainment business last quarter, but two companies that reported earnings in the last 24 hours define the haves and have-nots, as AMC Theatres saw its revenue fall more than 90 percent with many theatres still closed and no new films, and Fox Corp. saw its ad and affiliate revenue rise significantly, thanks to Fox News Channel...

➤Cinema giant AMC reported overall third quarter revenue of $119.5 million, down 91 percent from revenue of $1.31 billion in the same period of 2019. The company recorded a loss of $8.41 per share, compared to a year-earlier 53 cents per-share loss. AMC also posted a third quarter loss of $905.8 million, compared to a year-earlier loss of $54.8 million, before the pandemic forced the closure of its global circuit in March 2020.

--"On an analyst call, CEO Adam Aron on three separate occasions quoted from Winston Churchill's famous "Fight Them On The Beaches" war-time speech to underline his resolve to solve AMC's liquidity woes. At one point he told investors: "We are fighting this virus with all of our smarts and all of our might." The story.

➤Fox's big quarter: While total advertising revenue in the fiscal first quarter fell 7 percent, the company posted an 18 percent advertising revenue increase at its cable networks unit on the strength of Fox News, which has done well in the ratings during this election and pandemic year. However, the TV broadcast unit posted a 15 percent ad revenue drop for the fiscal first quarter (that still beat Wall Street expectations). The story.

+One more thing: Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch was asked on the earnings call how Fox News would fare if Biden wins (the name Biden wasn't actually said, but was strongly implied). Murdoch said there are two things they look at, the "appetite for news" and the share of news viewing. "Appetite for news is out of our control, I would expect that as we enter a more normal news cycle, which will happen eventually, that appetite for news will shift."

--"What we aim to control, is share. We have through 18 years of administrations, we have maintained our number one position through all of that... The news cycle will moderate, we fully expect to be number one and maintain share around that."

➤Jimmy Fallon is staying put at NBC's Tonight Show. Fallon signed a new contract keeping him at the late-night show past 2021. At the same time, Jamie Granet-Bederman, a longtime producer on the NBC late night staple, has been elevated to showrunner. She takes over for Gavin Purcell, who is returning to an overall deal at Universal Television. The story.

+ABC is adding another series to its sizable roster of game shows. The network has given a series order to The Chase, a show in which teams of contestants try to beat a trivia expert, or "chaser," head to head. All-time Jeopardy champions Ken Jennings, James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter will rotate as the chasers in the game. The View's Sara Haines will host the show. A premiere date hasn't been set. More.

+ABC has landed a romantic comedy set against a backdrop that's usually far more serious: immigration. The network is developing Borderline, from writer Chris Encell (The Good Place). The single-camera show from ABC Signature follows a couple, Steve and Maria, whose whirlwind new romance is cut short when Maria is notified she's being deported. More.

+Apple's workplace drama Severance has added Oscar winner Christopher Walken to its ensemble. Walken's casting completes the regular cast for the thriller, which is set at a company, Lumen Industries, that aims to take work-life balance to the next level. Adam Scott, Patricia Arquette and John Turturro topline the cast. More.

+CBS' daytime show The Talk will soon be down a co-host. On Monday's show Eve, who's been with the show for three years, said she'll depart in December. The recording artist and actress has been co-hosting the show from her home in London for the past several months. More.

➤The 32nd edition of the Palm Springs International Film Festival will not take place in 2021 due to the ongoing pandemic, festival organizers announced on Monday. The festival was scheduled to run from Feb. 25 through March 8.

--PSIFF still intends to celebrate this year's standout performances and films at a Film Awards Presentation on Feb. 25 and to hhold its Palm Springs ShortFest from June 22-28. More.

➤Dawn Olmstead is on the move. The Universal Cable Productions president has departed the NBCUniversal-owned studio and will return to the producing trenches as CEO of Anonymous Content. In her new role as partner and CEO, Olmstead will lead all of the management and film/TV production company's operations as well as chart a course for its future. She fills a role previously held by Anonymous Content founder Steve Golin, who passed away in April 2019. The story.

+Revolving door: There's a change at the top of The Tonight Show: Jamie Granet-Bederman, a long-time producer on the NBC late-night staple, has been elevated to showrunner. She takes over for Gavin Purcell, who is returning to an overall deal at Universal Television... WME has promoted Dan Limerick to chief operating officer for the Hollywood talent agency... Neil Marshall is to write, direct and produce the action thriller The Lair... CAA has named Dr. Sharoni Little the head of global inclusion strategy, overseeing the agency's initiatives that support diversity and inclusion... Logan Riley, who will next be seen in Ryan Murphy’s Netflix musical The Prom, has signed with APA...

➤Awards chatter: The four actors at the center of Regina King's acclaimed feature directorial debut One Night in Miami — Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge and Leslie Odom Jr. — are hoping to divide and conquer this awards season.

--Amazon has confirmed that Ben-Adir, who plays activist Malcolm X, and Goree, who plays boxer Muhammad Ali, will be promoted as leading actors, while Odom, who plays singer Sam Cooke, and Hodge, who plays football star Jim Brown, will be campaigned as supporting actors. More.

➤Harrison Ford remembers Sean Connery: "He was my father...not in life...but in Indy 3," Ford said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "You don’t know pleasure until someone pays you to take Sean Connery for a ride in the sidecar of a Russian motorcycle bouncing along a bumpy, twisty mountain trail and getting to watch him squirm. God we had fun - if he’s in heaven, I hope they have golf courses. Rest in peace dear friend." More.

+Darrell Hammond too: "[The impression] was like a last-ditch effort on a Tuesday night around four o'clock in the morning because I had nothing to turn in or sell to any of the writers. I was always taught that an audience needs to understand your premise and kind of agree with it in order to laugh. In other words, you can't educate or show them something new and get them to laugh at the same moment. So I thought, nobody's going to believe Sean Connery doesn't know things, or nobody's going to believe that he hates Alex Trebek. The premise doesn't make any sense. And yet it's one of these instances where the stars were in alignment." More.

In other news...

--Neon is plotting a narrative remake of the documentary The Painter and the Thief, with StudioCanal and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri banner Blueprint Pictures winning the rights for the remake.

--Eight California mayors sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom over the weekend urging him to reconsider the stringent guidelines issued in order for major theme parks to reopen.

--Watchman star Jeremy Irons, 1917 actor George McKay and German up-and-comer Jannis Niehwöhner (Netflix's Mute) have signed on to star in Netflix's Munich, a feature adaptation of the Robert Harris bestseller.

--Jeannie Mai, a contestant on the current season of ABC's Dancing With the Stars, has left the reality dance competition after being hospitalized for a potentially life-threatening health issue.

--Machete star Danny Trejo has signed on to join action cartel thriller American Sicario, which VMI Worldwide has picked up and will be presenting at the upcoming virtual American Film Market.

--The insanely catchy children's video "Baby Shark" has moved past Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" to become the most-viewed YouTube video of all-time.

--Inside Endeavor's virtual retreat with Dwayne Johnson, John Krasinski and "RW Quarantunes."

What else we're reading...

--"Quibi was supposed to revolutionize Hollywood. Here's why it failed" [WSJ]

--"‘Two very, very different companies’: Why CNN’s Great Big Story failed to survive" [Digiday]

--"‘I Believe He Will Lose It Big’: David Letterman talks Trump, being wrong in 2016, and his late-night legacy" [Vulture]

--"Is Taylor Swift rerecording her first five albums?" [Vanity Fair]

Today's birthdays: Colin Kaepernick, 33, Dolph Lundgren, 63, Larry Holmes, 71, Kendall Jenner, 25, Anna Wintour, 71.

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NOVEMBER 03, 2020

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