Today In Entertainment

DECEMBER 03, 2020

What's news: A notorious Hollywood scam suspect has been arrested ... Los Angeles hunkers down amid a stay-at-home order ... Discovery unveils its own big streaming bet ... China selects its pick for the Oscars. — Erik Hayden

 A New Streaming Competitor

Developing ... 

+ Discovery unveils streaming service details. Discovery+ — which will bow Jan. 4 — will cost $5 per month with ads and $7 per month without ads and will combine programming from HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Animal Planet and OWN. The offering will give subscribers access to more than 55,000 episodes of over 2,500 shows.

- CEO David Zaslav predicts: "We are different ... We are convinced that Discovery+ will stand out."

+ "Con Queen of Hollywood" arrested: Police in Manchester, England, have arrested 41-year-old Hargobind Tahilramani, allegedly responsible for a long-running scam in which he impersonated Hollywood notables including Kathleen Kennedy and Wendi Murdoch and bilked would-be creatives out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, Scott Johnson reports I Flashback to July 2018: "Hunting the Con Queen of Hollywood." 

+ L.A. mayor issues emergency stay-at-home order. "It's time to hunker. It's time to cancel everything. And if it isn’t essential, don’t do it," Eric Garcetti said in a short video message on Wednesday night as the county topped 5,987 cases yesterday. Story. 

TV updates ... 

► Amazon adds 20 to Lord of the Rings series cast. Augustus Prew, Cynthia Addai-Robinson and Lenny Henry join the drama. The 20 new cast members bring the swelling cast to a whopping 35, with additional announcements expected to come as production continues in New Zealand. Details. 

► Apple adds Julianna Margulies to Morning Show. The Good Wife star will play a news anchor in the drama starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon and will recur in season two. 

► ABC's Big Sky premiere doubles audience in 7-day ratings. The 4.55 million total viewers the premiere added is the biggest such gain for any program so far this season.

► Fox News, CNN led November's cable news ratings race. CNN leads the month in adults 25-54 and Fox News is tops in total viewers as they and MSNBC all show substantial year-to-year growth.

► ViacomCBS preps drama about Cristobal Balenciaga. The famed Spanish fashion designer is getting the biopic treatment, with ViacomCBS International Studios now developing a scripted series.

► Fox cannot get enough of The Masked Singer. The network has renewed the reality show for a fifth season to air in 2021. The show averages 11.5 million multiplatform viewers.

► Netflix orders true-life Nordic crime drama. The five-part drama is based on Thomas Pettersson's bestseller about the assassination of Swedish prime minister Olof Palme. More.

► All3Media buys Silverback Films. Silverback, founded by Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey, produced Netflix's first natural history series, Our Planet, a collaboration with the Worldwide Fund for Nature. Details. 

Meanwhile: Spotify shares jump to all-time high ... Hulu expands "Watch Party" feature ... Barry Diller is bullish about Discovery+ ...  Former ESPN anchor Michael Smith is launching an entertainment company ... John Mulaney says Secret Service investigated him over SNL joke ... Mads Mikkelsen talks about replacing Johnny Depp in Fantastic Beasts 3 ... Esquire profiles Marlon Wayans ... Andy Garcia hopes fans embrace the new Godfather III cut. 

Film deals ... 

► Skydance enlists Gal Gadot for spy movie. The star will feature in Heart Of Stone, a potential franchise starter that has The Aeronauts filmmaker Tom Harper attached to direct.

► HBO Max lands Doug Liman pandemic heist movie. Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor star in the thriller romantic comedy, which shot in London during COVID-19 pandemic. The film is set to premiere in early 2021.

► Paramount's Damien Chazelle drama swaps stars. Emma Stone is exiting the Golden Age Hollywood epic Babylon, with Margot Robbie in talks to replace the Oscar winner. More. 

► Eastern Promises follow-up drama in the works. Jason Statham is circling to star in what is now titled Small Dark Look from Danish filmmaker Martin Zandvliet. Details. 

► IFC Films names new president. Arianna Bocco is being promoted by AMC Networks after IFC co-president Lisa Schwartz said she was stepping down at the end of the year.

► Sundance reveals online hub, cinema network. Newly installed director Tabitha Jackson has unveiled U.S. industry partnerships to carry off its showcase in early 2021: "The festival this year is an experiment."

► China selects Leap for Oscar category. Peter Chan's biographical sports drama will represent the country at next year's Oscar race in the international feature category. Story.

In Memoriam: Hugh Keays-Byrne, who portrayed Toecutter in Mad Max before returning 36 years later to play another villain in Mad Max: Fury Road, has died. He was 73. ... Warren Berlinger, who starred in the Broadway and film versions of Blue Denim, has died. He was 83.

What else we're reading...

— "Commercial producers agree to testing protocols as coronavirus spreads." Anousha Sakoui reports: "Crew members have raised concerns in recent months with entertainment industry unions about the disparity between COVID-19 on commercial and other productions." [Los Angeles Times]

— "Amazon in talks to buy podcast maker Wondery." Benjamin Mullin and Anne Steele report: "Venture-backed audio startup is discussing potential sale at valuation exceeding $300 million." [Wall Street Journal]

— "Sports rebates may return $1.1 billion to pay-TV customers." Scott Moritz and Gerry Smith report: "More than $1 billion will soon start to flow back to U.S. pay-TV subscribers in the form of refunds and credits, compensating them for the year’s many pandemic-related sports cancellations." [Bloomberg]

Today in 1948: 20th Century Fox unveiled the Olivia de Havilland drama The Snake Pit at its New York City premiere. The film went on to earn six Oscar nominations at the 21st Academy Awards — "Will go down in Hollywood annals as one of the must unusual subjects ever attempted." Original review. 

Today's birthdays: Amanda Seyfried, 35, Anna Chlumsky, 40, Jenna Dewan, 40, Montell Jordan, 52, Brendan Fraser, 52, Andrew Stanton, 55, Darryl Hannah, 60, Julianne Moore, 60, Ozzy Osbourne, 72.

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DECEMBER 03, 2020

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