Today In Entertainment

DECEMBER 16, 2020

What's news: How Wonder Woman 1984 came to upend Hollywood's future, Warner Bros. under siege, Hollywood heavyweights in line for ambassadorships under Biden, Sundance 2021 details, analyzing Nielsen's streaming charts so far, Sony casts its Whitney Houston. Plus: A review of Wonder Woman 1984, and Kelly Clarkson and Servant renewals. --Alex Weprin

 Is 'Wonder Woman 1984' Hollywood's Future?

►On the cover: 2020's big plot twist: How Wonder Woman 1984 came to upend Hollywood's future. As the long-delayed DC Comics sequel finally debuts  —  on HBO Max and in theaters  —  it serves as the litmus test for an unprecedented release strategy. Top studio brass weigh in on whether the “movie" business will ever be the same, Natalie Jarvey, Rebecca Keegan and Pamela McClintock report.

--"When we saw the [COVID-19] spike happening in the fall, and the reality of the unpredictability of the virus, it was hard to plan at all," says Warner Bros. chief Ann Sarnoff. "We had already started marketing the movie, and pushing it out much further was not a great option for any of us."

--"Rapid change is really hard," says HBO Max chief Andy Forssell, who is well versed in his new boss Jason Kilar's leadership style, having worked alongside him at Hulu for more than five years. "This feels very dramatic right now, but I think five years from now, when you look back, it won’t feel nearly so dramatic."

--"Looking around the media landscape, you can see that a few studios are all trying to do a version of the same thing in terms of reorganizing the distribution ecosystem in order to be able to monetize our movies," says Universal Filmed Entertainment Group chairman Donna Langley. "That enables us to continue to be able to greenlight movies and do what we are doing and have a varied portfolio approach. This will evolve beyond COVID, I have no doubt. We are innovating, thinking of our future and protecting our filmmakers." The cover story.

+Warner Bros. under siege: "No one is angry at the streamers — it’s these guys." WarnerMedia’s production partners are eyeing court battles over its day-and-date HBO Max plan, and top talent like Denzel Washington isn't pleased by "woefully inadequate" overtures, Kim Masters reports.

--"Like everyone involved with the 2021 slate, Washington was blindsided by the decision to stream [his film The Little Things] day-and-date. Given the pandemic, sources say, he might have been amenable to the move if it had been done transparently the way Warners had handled Wonder Woman 1984. 'Many artists would say, ‘As long as we have a fair negotiation, I’m fine,’' says a source involved in the situation." The story.

Speaking of Wonder Woman 1984...

►Film review: David Rooney reviews Wonder Woman 1984, writing that "where the 2017 film invoked the gods, the over-complicated, two-and-a-half-hour sequel — written by Jenkins, former DC Comics president and CCO Geoff Johns and Dave Callaham — invokes… The Art of the Deal?" The review.

+Here's what the other critics are saying. The review roundup.

 Ambassador Iger?

►It appears that Bob Iger might have a future in public service after all. The Disney executive chairman, who once toyed with the idea of a 2020 presidential run, is at the top of President-elect Joe Biden’s wish list for a key ambassador post, namely China or the U.K., sources tell THR's Tatiana Siegel.

--Considering Hollywood’s broad support of Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign, it should come as no surprise that the president-elect would be looking to reciprocate. Sources say Jeffrey Katzenberg, a prolific Democratic donor, also is in the mix for an ambassadorship. Likewise, producer Matt Walden, husband of Walt Disney Television chairman Dana Walden, is being eyed for an ambassador post for a European country. (Matt Walden has a 30-year friendship with Douglas Emhoff, husband of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.) The story.

►Sundance adds first features by Robin Wright, Rebecca Hall to 2021 edition. The indie film showcase's pandemic-era program also has directorial debuts by Jerrod Carmichael, Pascual Sisto and Questlove with his Black Woodstock documentary, Etan Vlessing reports.

--The Sundance programming team settled on their final film picks and 2021 slate while meeting online, rather than being able to sift through and argue over movie choices while seated in the same room and looking at one another eye to eye as in past years before the pandemic.

"It's not about the individual films anymore so much, but what the festival is going to be, and not being able to be with each other, talk over each other, shout at each other, laugh with each other in the same way as happened previously, and that probably was more painful as the process of film selection is emotional and vibrant," Sundance director Tabitha Jackson recounts. The story.

 Analyzing Nielsen's Streaming Chart

►Nielsen’s top streaming chart: The major takeaways so far. A THR analysis of 15 weeks of data from the Nielsen ratings service’s new, closely watched Top 10 Streaming chart shows the staying power of Netflix’s deep library — and the boom-and-bust cycle of the binge-release model, Rick Porter writes. The analysis.

+Common Sense Networks to launch kid-centric streaming service. Sensical will be a free, ad-supported streaming platform, offering up shortform entertainment programming for children ages 2 to 12. Its library will includes titles from major media partners like ABC Commercial and Sesame Workshop and from digital-first creators including Bounce Patrol and Mother Goose Club. The story.

+In other streaming news: Fox News International is rolling out to 30 countries as of this week, surpassing the streaming service's initial goal of 20 countries by the end of 2020. The service essentially provides a version of the Fox News cable channel, but for global audiences only. It's available in the U.K., Mexico, Germany and elsewhere.

►Apple is getting an early jump on another season of its thriller Servant. The iPhone maker has renewed the M. Night Shyamalan-produced series for a third season. The pickup comes a month before season two of the series, created by Tony Basgallop, is set to premiere on Apple TV+. The story.

In other TV news...

+Kelly Clarkson's daytime talk show is sticking around for a while. NBCUniversal Syndication Studios has renewed The Kelly Clarkson Show for two more years, which will take it through its fourth season 2022-23. The show has been cleared in 75 percent of the country, including on NBC owned stations, for seasons three and four. More.

+Fox is taking a trip to Fantasy Island. The network has given a straight to series order to an updated version of the series, which first aired on ABC from 1978-84. It's slated to air in summer 2021. More.

+Former One Tree Hill stars James Lafferty and Stephen Colletti have found a home for a crowd-funded comedy they created. The pair also star in Everyone Is Doing Great, playing former stars of a hit vampire TV series who are now struggling through their post-fame lives. They also launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to finance a full season of the series. Hulu acquired domestic distribution rights to the eight-episode season, which premieres Jan. 13. More.

►Sony has found its Whitney Houston. After a worldwide search, rising actress Naomi Ackie has been chosen to play iconic performer Whitney Houston in the biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody. The British actress, who had a pivotal role in Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, is in negotiations for the feature from Sony and its TriStar division, which has set the movie for a Thanksgiving 2022 release. The story.

+TriStar Pictures has picked up an untitled female comedy spec script from rising writer Michelle Harper. Tony Hernandez, John Hodges, and Brooke Posch of Jax Media, are the producing the project which was featured on the 2020 Black List, unveiled Monday, under its working title, Tin Roof Rusted. More.

+Will Packer Productions has placed comedy feature pitch Hot Mess at Universal. British comedian London Hughes is set to star in the project, which is based on her and Noushin Jahanian's idea. Jahanian will write the screenplay. More.

►More work needed to tackle racism, sexual harassment, says Anita Hill-led Hollywood Commission report. The final report found only 48 percent of Hollywood workers see "people welcoming and valuing diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives often or very often."

--"Despite awareness of unacceptable workplace behaviors, workers reported disappointingly high rates of bias, bullying and sexual harassment. Few reported these behaviors to their employer. Many experienced retaliation," The Hollywood Survey concluded. The story.

►The best TV performanes of 2020. THR's TV critics Inkoo Kang and Daniel Fienberg share their thoughts, and including among the favorites are a dynamic comic duo flaunting dramatic chops, a new royal scene-stealer, a grand star turn, one of broadcast’s most seasoned ensembles and more. The list.

►Fox is implementing a new program, Fastrack, to improve representation on its unscripted programming. Launched by the network's in-house unscripted studio Fox Alternative Entertainment, the program will see two to three candidates of diverse backgrounds placed on production teams as associate producers across the division's various shows (including mega-hit The Masked Singer) starting in January. The story.

+Revolving door: Endeavor has promoted Courtney Braun to general counsel of its client representation group, while Michelle Walter is upped to chief financial officer of WME...Condé Nast has named Anna Wintour its worldwide chief content officer... Talipot Studio, the Mexican content producer, has signed with CAA...

Obituaries: Robert Werden, who handled publicity for the Academy Awards for nearly two decades, died Oct. 31 of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles, his daughter, Franchesca Werden, announced. He was 94...

+Scott Marshall Smith, who wrote the screenplays for the Robert De Niro-starring features Men of Honor and The Score, has died of complications from a stroke, his family announced. He was 62...

In other news...

--With many U.S. theaters shuttered or operating with reduced attendance, advertising on movie screens has been sharply curtailed. So Cinemedia, the largest domestic cinema advertising network is searching for revenue outside of theaters.

--The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, has unveiled two bills that aim to regulate, reshape, and rein in the power of big technology platforms, particularly the U.S. giants including Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon.

--Tom Cruise has lambasted certain crewmembers on the U.K. set of Mission: Impossible 7 for not following proper COVID-19 safety procedures.

--WME parent company Endeavor, led by president Mark Shapiro, has made a strategic investment in BDA Sports Management that will see basketball agent Bill Duffy become a strategic advisor to WME Sports.

--Fuse Media, which owns the cable TV and streaming video network Fuse and the music video service FM, has accused AT&T and its DirecTV service of discrimination in a program carriage complaint filed with the Federal Communications Commission.

--Japanese prosecutors on Wednesday charged a man with murder for last year’s deadly arson attack on Kyoto Animation, the family-run studio behind a string of internationally beloved anime films and television series.

What else we're reading...

--"Wary companies hesitate on Super Bowl commercials, citing pandemic" [NY Times]

--"How 2020 shattered shared reality" [The Atlantic]

--"Vox Media Studios targets $100 million in 2021 revenue" [Axios]

--"Twitter is shutting down Periscope" [CNN]

Today's birthdays: Benjamin Bratt, 57, Krysten Ritter, 39, Lesley Stahl, 79, JB Smoove, 55, Theo James, 36.

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DECEMBER 16, 2020

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