Today In Entertainment

DECEMBER 19, 2020

What's news: How L.A.'s independent bookstores are surviving the pandemic, a judge urges WME and the WGA to strike a deal, the Academy Museum is delayed once more, a surprise Mandalorian spinoff (and a shocking cameo), the D'Amelio family is joining Hulu, a flurry of year-end TV renewals. Plus: MGM and Brad Pitt's Plan B get into business together, and Abigail Disney says the company her grandfather founded "needs to be saved from itself." --Alex Weprin

 L.A.'s Indie Bookstores Survive

►L.A. indie bookstores persist during pandemic-hit holiday season. From drowning in debt to lines out the door, local outlets have readjusted the way they do business nine months after the COVID-19 outbreak hit the U.S., Lexy Peres and Sharareh Drury report.

--Chevalier's store manager Theresa Le Phung says the store "used to run 'the old fashioned way,' without an 'online retail arm,' and has now been forced to transition into more updated retail operations, which has proven to be challenging. 'In the last eight, nine months it’s been a matter of catching up on all those other ways to sell books that isn't just in the store. So I definitely think that’s going to just be an ingrained part of our business moving forward, even after the pandemic.'" The story.

►Court urges WME and Writers Guild to end feud: "Real people are paying a price during this dispute." While hearing arguments on the mega agency's motion for an injunction, U.S. District Court Judge André Birotte Jr. encouraged the parties to keep their focus on writers' well-being.

--"I hope you all keep that in mind as you move forward," said Birotte. "I worry, and I could be wrong, that in the heat of litigation with exceptional lawyers and executives and the egos that may come with that … when you combine that with the money and power dynamics … folks can lose focus." The story.

 Another Academy Museum Delay

►The Academy Museum opening has been pushed back once more. The long-gestating museum, located at the corner of Wilshire and Fairfax on Miracle Mile, has missed several previously targeted opening dates, initially due to budget and construction considerations, and subsequently as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Citing "rising virus infection rates, museums remaining closed, and continued restrictions on public gatherings in Los Angeles," museum officials say they will wait until Sept. 30, 2021 to open their doors to the public. The story.

+Academy Museum director and president Bill Kramer, speaking with THR's Scott Feinberg via Zoom shortly after returning from a visit to the museum's campus at the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire along the Miracle Mile, emphasized that "everything is moving forward beautifully" and that the museum's offerings will still become accessible to the public in the spring, even if its doors won't open to the public until the fall. The interview.

 From TikTok to Hulu

►TikTok's D'Amelio family is making the jump to a bigger screen. Hulu has picked up the reality series The D'Amelio Show about the social media sensations, which will follow how sisters Charli and Dixie and parents Marc and Heidi are navigating their sudden rise to fame. The eight-episode docuseries is expected to debut on the streamer in 2021. The story.

+Disney+ revealed a surprise Mandalorian spinoff after the season two finale. The Book of Boba Fett will launch in December 2021, and star Temuera Morrison as the fan-favorite character, with the final moments of the episode suggesting Ming-Na wen's Fennec Shand has a role to play as well. The news comes one day after the death of Jeremy Bulloch, the British actor who played the character in the original trilogy. The story.

+Also: How The Mandalorian brought that iconic character back to life. The season two finale leaned on technical expertise Lucasfilm honed during Rogue One and Rise of Skywalker. Spoilers ahead.

A flurry of end-of-year renewals too...

+HBO Max is fastening its seat belts (and, presumably, returning tray tables to their full upright and locked positions) for more of The Flight Attendant. The streamer's darkly comic mystery, starring Kaley Cuoco, has been picked up for a second season. More.

+Netflix is extending the life of Locke & Key — and also strengthening it relationship with one of the show's executive producers. The streamer has renewed Locke & Key for a third season well before season two is set to debut. More.

+Netflix is returning to Virgin River. The streaming giant has handed out a third-season renewal for the romantic drama based on the best-selling book series by Robyn Carr. More.

►Dr. Seuss Enterprises wins appeal in dispute over Star Trek mash up. "The creators thought their Star Trek primer would be 'pretty well protected by parody,' but acknowledged that 'people in black robes' may disagree. Indeed, we do." The story.

+Britt McHenry's sexual harassment and retaliation suit against her former co-host Tyrus and Fox News will move forward, though a New York federal company has dismissed her claims against its parent company and other colleagues. More.

►New York Film Critics Circle Awards: The New York Film Critics Circle has selected First Cow as its best picture of 2020. The group gave two awards to Eliza Hittman's Never Rarely Sometimes Always (best actress for star Sidney Flanigan and screenplay for Hittman) and Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods (best actor for Delroy Lindo and supporting actor for the late Chadwick Boseman). Nomadland's Chloé Zhao won best director, with Borat breakout Maria Bakalova being named best supporting actress. The winners list.

►Disney "needs to be saved from itself," says Abigail Disney. At the very core of the heir's concerns is the chasm between what the C-suite is paid and what the thousands of hourly and low-level Disney “castmembers” are paid: “The high, high compensation at the top tends to come as a reward for pushing down compensation at the bottom.” The story.

►TV Long View: This week Rick Porter explores 3 numbers that explain broadcast TV's lost fall. Shows like Big Sky, I Can See Your Voice and B Positive have performed reasonably well, but the late starts for many shows have impacted more than just ratings. The column.

Obituaries: Peter Lamont, the top-notch British art director, set decorator and production designer who worked on 18 James Bond films and received an Academy Award for Titanic, has died. He was 91... Skye Aubrey, a third-generation actress whose credits included the Blake Edwards-directed The Carey Treatment, The Phantom of Hollywood and a stint as a flower child opposite Milton Berle on Batman, has died. She was 74... Robert P. Cohen, who served as an assistant director on The Breakfast Club, National Lampoon's Vacation, Back to School and Pee-wee's Big Adventure, and as a producer on 24, has died. He was 76...

Revolving door: The Smithsonian Channel is getting a new leader. PBS NewsHour producer James F. Blue III has been tapped to serve as senior vp and head of the ViacomCBS- and Smithsonian Institution-backed niche cable network... Kylie Brakeman — an actor, writer and improviser with a wide social media following — has signed with WME... Lionsgate's motion picture group has finished a restructure under chairman Joe Drake, with the studio now consolidated into four verticals: marketing, distribution, strategy and innovation, and content...

In other news...

--MGM and Plan B are going into business together. The studio has inked a novel second look pact with Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner's Plan B, setting new features from Minari director Lee Isaac Chung and Bad Education helmer Cory Finley.

--Quiver Distribution has nabbed the the U.S. rights to writer and director Nicholas Jarecki’s dramatic thriller Crisis, which stars Gary Oldman, Armie Hammer and Evangeline Lilly.

--Universal Pictures has landed the rights to adapt the graphic novel The Electric State as a feature film to be directed and produced by the Russo Brothers.

--Sony is developing a biopic of musician and producer DJ Screw. Veteran commercial director Isaac Yowman developed the project and is set to executive produce.

--The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has disqualified Deepa Mehta's Funny Boy, Canada's entry for best international feature Oscar consideration, for having too much dialogue in English.

--Top Canadian film director Michelle Latimer has apologized after coming under scrutiny for claiming Indigenous family roots in a Quebec Algonquin community when promoting her documentary Inconvenient Indian ahead of its recent world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.

--The Blackhouse Foundation will return to the Sundance Film Festival, with its 2021 programming taking place on a digital Main St.

What else we're reading...

--"Univision plans Spanish-language sreaming service under new CEO" [Bloomberg]

--"From BuzzFeed to Axios, digital media players prepare for deal frenzy" [WSJ]

--"Paul McCartney has nothing left to prove but is still making music" [The Ringer]

--"Lou Dobbs airs stunning fact-check of his own election claims" [Mediaite]

--"Elvis Presley received a Polio vaccination on live TV — here's why public vaccinations matter" [People]

Today's birthdays: Jake Gyllenhaal, 40, Jennifer Beals, 57, Alyssa Milano, 48, Tim Reid, 76, Warren Sapp, 48.

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DECEMBER 19, 2020

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