Today In Entertainment

DECEMBER 17, 2020

What's news: Roku and WarnerMedia finally strike an HBO Max deal, CAA and the WGA finally strike a writer representation deal, Chadwick Boseman's close confidants remember the late actor, Netflix execs talk filming amid the pandemic, Universal Studio Group's Pearlena Igbokwe on how Hollywood moves forward, a Night Court sequel in the works and the Lizzie McGuire reboot gets nixed. Plus: TV giants are raking in cash from the Georgia special elections, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the hubris of self-destructing stars. --Alex Weprin

 The Day Two Big Deals Were Struck

Two long-simmering entertainment deals were struck Wednesday, ending months of uncertainty for the parties involved...

►Roku and WarnerMedia have a deal. With the clock ticking down to the Christmas Day release of Wonder Woman 1984 on HBO Max, WarnerMedia and Roku have hammered out a deal that will ensure millions of Americans can watch the tentpole film from the comfort of their homes. The $15-per-month streaming service will be available on Roku devices beginning Dec. 17. The details.

+Roku was the last major streaming device to not have HBO Max, as the sides negotiated over advertising, subscription fees and other issues. As part of the deal, Roku no longer sells direct subscriptions to HBO.

►Hollywood's bitter standoff is drawing to a close. CAA and the Writers Guild of America have made a deal to end a 20-month impasse and allow the firm to once again represent scribes. Additionally, the guild says that both sides with withdraw legal claims.

--“CAA and the WGA have concluded and signed a franchise agreement confirming CAA can resume representing writers and continue the important work of helping them realize their ambitions. We end this year of unprecedented global challenges with the optimism and energy that today’s news brings, starting now, and for the years ahead," a CAA spokesperson said Wednesday.

--The Writers Guild, in a note to members from its agency negotiating committee, confirmed the deal and said: "CAA may once again represent Guild members for covered writing services. WGA and CAA have also agreed to withdraw the legal claims each has brought against the other in federal court." The story.

+Is WME next? A WME spokesperson told THR's Erik Hayden: “We have reached out to the Guild to learn more about the specific terms of their agreement with CAA, but we think today’s news is a positive development and suggests a path forward for WME to reach an agreement as well.”

+Speaking of WME: After cutting pay companywide in April, WME's parent firm Endeavor is planning on restoring salaries as of January 2021. The Beverly Hills-based talent agency is also unveiling a slew of new promotions, including 25 new partners. More.

 Remembering Chadwick Boseman

►Chadwick Boseman's close confidants share untold memories of the late actor. Four months after the death of the Black Panther star, who succumbed to colon cancer at age 43, those in his inner circle including agent Michael Greene, costumer Craig Anthony, hair designer Deidra Dixon, and makeup designer Siân Richards reminisce about their unique bond with the gifted actor: "He was one of the most potent people I've ever met."

--"It's still pretty tough to deal with because everybody looks at it as work, and it wasn't for us. We became family," Dixon explains. "We were the last people that he would see before he had to get in front of that camera. And we always wanted to make sure that he could do his best when it was time to say action." The story.

►"This is how we’re going to be making movies at least for another year or two": Netflix execs talk filming amid the pandemic. The streamer's production heads open up to Bryn Sandberg about how they're keeping cameras rolling and unveil their own in-house risk assessment model that helps them determine whether or not to create a "bubble" on set.

--"There is nothing about our industry and making shows that is about being six feet apart. We are a touchy-feely, close-contact industry. We have fantastic protocols but for an industry that is so used to coming close to each other and working out an issue — a director talking to an actor about what she or he needs from that scene — to have to do that with your mask, to be six feet apart, to have all these monitors saying, 'Hey, watch your distance,' it’s really, really hard." The story.

In other film news...

+Disney has optioned The Thief, the acclaimed YA fantasy novel by Megan Whalen Turner. Brian Duffield, who last wrote the Dylan O’Brien-starring creature feature Love and Monsters, is on board to write the adaptation with Jim Whitaker, a Disney-based producer whose credits include Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made and Pete’s Dragon, is producing. The story.

+The first two animated movies from Skydance, Luck and Spellbound, are heading to Apple. Apple is in talks to acquire the features, which are currently set up at Paramount. Skydance’s deal, however, allows the David Ellison-run company move the movies at his discretion. More.

 Pearlena Igbokwe's POV

►Universal Studio Group chief Pearlena Igbokwe on cops, COVID and the upside of Hollywood's executive musical chairs. The division's newly promoted chairman opens up about her Nigerian upbringing, what Dick Wolf does right and how recent personnel shuffles have led to more diversity in the industry's top ranks.

--"There’s a bit of people wanting something with some sense of hope and optimism to it. I’m not saying they want a bright, shiny musical, but I do think that despair and nihilism, things that speak to the worst in the human spirit or the human condition, are [less appealing now]. Look at the way people are reacting to Ted Lasso or Saved by the Bell. It just makes me feel good — and people want to feel good. It's also why people are running out early to buy their holiday decorations ­­— they want something that's uplifting." The interview.

►NBC is eyeing a return to Night Court. The network and Warner Bros. TV are developing a sequel to the 1980s comedy series, with John Larroquette set to reprise his role as attorney Dan Fielding. He'll also be a producer on the project, which has a script deal at NBC. The story.

+A Lizzie McGuire revival at Disney+ isn't going forward, star Hilary Duff said Wednesday. Duff announced the project's end in an Instagram post, writing that "the stars just didn't align" for the project. The story.

In other TV news...

+Greg Berlanti is continuing his relationship with Supergirl veteran scribe Derek Simon. The CW is developing The Disasters, a space drama written by Simon and exec produced by Berlanti Productions. Based on the book by M.K. England, the potential series is set in a near-future where humans have colonized space to save Earth from climate crisis. The story.

+Universal Studio Group's UCP is tackling another real-life — and larger than life — subject: singer Rick James. The studio is developing Super Freak, a limited series it describes as "a funkadelic mix of music biopic and true crime," that would trace James' career and focus on his plans for a comeback in the early 1990s amid a trial for assault and kidnapping that threatens to destroy those plans and his legacy. More.

+Meanwhile, two titans of the music business are coming together for a TV project. Paul McCartney and Rick Rubin will be featured in a six-episode docuseries about McCartney's long and massively influential career, from his pre-Beatles days to the present. The project doesn't have a home yet, with Endeavor Content financing and taking the project to potential buyers. More.

+TBS may not have Conan on its network for much longer but Samantha Bee is not going anywhere. The WarnerMedia-backed basic cable network has handed out a sixth-season renewal for Full Frontal With Samantha Bee. The Emmy-winning host has also renewed her first-look deal with the company and her Swimsuit Competition banner will continue to create and develop new projects for the portfolio. More.

+Fox is adding a game show to its midseason schedule — and selling some soda along with it. The network has ordered Cherries Wild, a trivia competition with a giant slot machine at its center. The series, hosted by Jason Biggs, is a collaboration between Fox Alternative Entertainment and Pepsi, whose Wild Cherry brand will be integrated into the show. It premieres Feb. 14. More.

+The Stand: Inside that massive change from Stephen King's novel. Executive producer Benjamin Cavell speaks with THR about a critical structural difference between the CBS All Access thriller and the original book on which it's based. More.

►TV giants are raking in cash from the two Georgia Senate runoff elections. Political ad tracker AdImpact estimates that $431 million had been spent on the runoff as of Dec. 11. “It’s pretty insane,” says Michael Beach, CEO of Cross Screen Media. “We are seeing off-the-charts spending, I don’t think anyone has ever seen the amount of frequency that is going to a target.”

--In fact, ads are so expensive in Georgia right now, that the campaigns and Super PACs are chosing to buy national ads on channels like Fox News or ESPN, seeking value-driven buys. The story.

►Cinemark CEO Mark Zoradi insists he has no interest in acquiring movie theaters directly from AMC Theatres as his rival looks to survive the pandemic. But that won't stop Cinemark from negotiating with landlords for new locations when they take back ownership of venues from struggling theater circuits. "We're not in those negotiations or discussions at this point with any landlord, regardless of the rumor that came out in the New York Post. It wasn't true," Zoradi told the MKM Virtual Investor Conference during a session that was webcast. The story.

+The racial insensitivity scandal that derailed the China release of action film Monster Hunter is starting to impact other high-profile movies in the country. Sources in Beijing tell THR that the China Film Administration has tightened its censorship process in the wake of the controversy, calling back several previously approved imported films for a second, more thorough review. The largest film impacted is the Japanese anime blockbuster Demon Slayer, which has earned just shy of $300 million worldwide and was hotly anticipated in China. More.

►Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the hubris of self-destructing stars. No matter their previous achievements, celebrities deserve legacy-killing backlash when they spread ignorance, the THR columnist writes: "Many Americans imbue stars with political and social intelligence they just don't have. Great success in one field can lead to the delusion that all your thoughts are great. It doesn't help to be surrounded by fawning people whose job it is to agree with everything you say." The column.

►THR's Power Lawyers breakfast goes virtual as Sherrilyn Ifill delivers keynote, Ted Sarandos honors Netflix's David Hyman. NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund president and director-counsel Ifill and journalist Jemele Hill headlined a virtual event, which also featured Netflix's Sarandos presenting THR's Raising the Bar Award to Hyman, in celebration of the entertainment industry’s top attorneys. The story.

+About that keynote: Ifill and Hill spoke about the importance of the Senate runoff races currently taking place in Georgia and how Hollywood can fight voter suppression. "When I say it's monumentally important, it's like every person in this country will be affected by the outcome of the Georgia run-off," said Ifill. "The same way people engaged in November is the way I hope they are engaging around January." More.

►The best TV episodes of 2020. THR TV critics Daniel Fienberg and Inkoo Knag share their picks, including a revelatory Ramy installment, a bravura chapter in an otherwise uneven Fargo season, and superb samples of Lovecraft Country and Pen15 were among the year’s highlights. The list.

Revolving door: Fox News Channel has signed a new multi-year contract with one of its primetime hosts, Laura Ingraham... Carolyn Newman has lined up her next act. Newman has been tapped to serve as head of scripted television and production at Will Packer Media... Netflix has found a replacement for Susan Rice on its board of directors, tapping African billionaire and telecom mogul Strive Masiyiwa for the role...

In other news...

--Spotlight producer Topic Studios has signed a first-look deal with The Population, the independent production company formed by producers Mynette Louie, Mollye Asher, and Derek Nguyen.

--It looks like the force is with Rian Johnson in a lawsuit from his ex-agent that sought a 10 percent share of his pay for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, as a California judge has sustained his demurrer to the complaint.

--Ahead of the virtual Sundance Film Festival, U.S. dramatic competition title Together Together has been picked up by Bleecker Street in North America.

--Focus Features has picked up the worldwide rights to Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast ahead of a 2021 release.

--The Berlin Film Festival is expected to announce this week that it will be pushing back the dates of its 71st edition, originally set for Feb. 11-21, 2021, and will run as an online-only event.

--Emile Hirsch, Kate Bosworth, Ashley Greene and M. Emmet Walsh are set to star in writer and director Mukunda Michael Dewil’s The Immaculate Room.

--Florence Pugh is set to star in Universal's big screen adaptation of Nita Prose's debut novel, The Maid.

--Lena Waithe is launching a mentorship program to give marginalized storytellers a boost.

--London will add another studio to its growing library of film and TV facilities. Garden Studios — announced by the Arts Alliance investment group — is a new 62,000 square-foot hub in Park Royal in the north west of British capital, more central than others and just seven miles from Soho.

What else we're reading...

--"Gal Gadot knows this year was rough. She hopes Wonder Woman 1984 will end it on a high" [LA Times]

--"New ad fraud scheme highlights a growing problem for streaming TV" [WSJ]

--"TikTok is banning content that promotes pyramid schemes and multi-level marketing companies" [Business Insider]

--"Are we ready to laugh about COVID-19? A British sitcom hopes so" [NY Times]

--"Is Stephen King better built for TV or the big screen?" [The Ringer]

Today's birthdays: Sarah Paulson, 46, Eugene Levy, 74, Bill Pullman, 67, Milla Jovovich, 45, Pope Francis, 84.

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DECEMBER 17, 2020

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