Today In Entertainment

JANUARY 09, 2021

What's news: Twitter "permanently suspends" Donald Trump's account, Warner Bros. and Legendary near a deal on Godzilla vs. Kong, another TV pilot season is about to get impacted by the pandemic, end of an era at The CW, Weinstein victims sign off on settlement. Plus: THR's Animation Roundtable, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on why Hollywood won't heal American divisiveness. --Alex Weprin

 Twitter Bans Trump

►Donald Trump has been "permanently suspended" from Twitter. Twitter has permanently suspended the president's account "due to the risk of further incitement of violence" two days after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building during a deadly riot. The Jack Dorsey-led company has faced criticism over its handling of Trump's personal account, from which he regularly shared misinformation and threats of violence with his more than 88 million followers.

--During the four years of Trump's presidency, the company often cited his position as an elected official, and thus the "public interest value" of his tweets, as the reason it did not suspend his account for violating its rules. But the company said that two of Trump's Friday tweets, when considered in the context of Wednesday's attack on Capitol Hill, were "highly likely to encourage and inspire people to replicate" similar violent acts. 

--What next? Trump subsequently tweeted from the @POTUS government account that he wanted Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act repealed, and added that his team was "look[ing] at the possibility of building out our own platform." The story.

+Flashback: Justin McConney, who was the social media manager for the Trump Organization from 2011-2017, recalled to Politico the first time he realized Trump had figured out how to tweet on his own: "The moment I found out Trump could tweet himself was comparable to the moment in Jurassic Park when Dr. Grant realized that velociraptors could open doors," recalled McConney. "I was like, 'Oh no.'"

--Trump's first real tweet (not sent by a member of his team) was, per McConney, one thanking Sherri Shepard for saying nice things about him on The View.

+Meanwhile: Google has suspended the right-wing Twitter knockoff Parler from its app store, and Apple appears poised to do the same, unless the app releases and enforces a moderation policy. More.

►Warner Bros., Legendary nearing deal to resolve clash over Godzilla vs. Kong. An agreement means the parties are close to averting a potential legal confrontation over WarnerMedia’s surprise decision to put its entire 2021 slate on its HBO Max streamer on the same date that the films open in theaters. Warners' unprecedented Dec. 3 announcement caught all talent and filmmakers off guard and Warners is now engaged in negotiations with dozens of parties seeking compensation for potential loss of profit participation.

--The $200 million-plus Godzilla is one of two Legendary films caught up in Warners' surprise move. The situation is more complicated for Dune, though the parties are said to be moving close to an agreement on that project as well. Filmmaker Denis Villeneuve has written passionately about his desire for an exclusive theatrical release and Legendary is backing him in that demand, according to a knowledgeable source. The story.

 The Pandemic Gets Ready To Hit Another TV Season

►Pandemic fog casts a shadow on another TV pilot season. Among the biggest burning questions facing ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and The CW are when any of the comedies and dramas that are now heating up for series orders or those that have already been picked up will actually air. Some could wind up airing as intended during the current 2020-21 season. Many others could be pushed to the 2021-22 season as the networks hope a vaccine and new administration can bring a return to normalcy.

--"The world has changed considerably in the past nine months and networks are also contending with the new realities of production. One question that sources say is front and center heading into pilot season 2021 is if audiences still want dystopian fare as a return to The Before Times is not likely to come until the fall or even 2022. 'People don't want things that are too bleak — especially if it's bleak and expensive,' one veteran lit agent says. Writers have already adapted to the new realities of production — scripting fewer crowd scenes and such — and now networks are contending with questions involving what projects are possible to film. Can The CW move ahead with a show set on a college campus? Will expensive sci-fi fare move forward as conglomerates across the board have been slashing jobs? The story.

+In other TV news: It's the true end of an era at The CW. The network has passed on ordering Arrow spinoff Green Arrow and The Canaries to series. The drama, which aired as a back-door pilot during the flagship's final season last year, followed the women of Arrow: Katherine McNamara's Mia Smoak/Green Arrow and the Canaries, Katie Cassidy's Laurel Lance and Juliana Harkavy's Dinah Drake.

--The news comes nearly a year after Arrow wrapped its eight-season run on The CW. The Stephen Amell starrer helped launch the DC Comics era at Mark Pedowitz's younger-skewing broadcast network. With Arrow, from exec producers Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim, the series launched the so-called Arrow-verse that consists of The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, Supergirl, Batwoman and the forthcoming Superman & Lois. The story. 

►Nearly 40 women with sexual misconduct claims against Harvey Weinstein voted to accept the settlement deal that's been presented as part of The Weinstein Company's bankruptcy proceedings. The proposed settlement includes a $17 million sexual misconduct claims fund that will be divided by a claims examiner using a point system. It also includes another $8.4 million for bankruptcy claims not related to sexual misconduct. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary F. Walrath in November approved the protocols to send the deal to the accusers for a vote. The story.

 THR Animation Roundtable

►Animation Roundtable: Pros from Soul, The Croods 2 and more talk creating beloved characters "from the inside out" and working amid a pandemic. During a virtual discussion, the industry's most revered and relevant animation professionals — Pete Docter (Soul), Glen Keane (Over the Moon), Tomm Moore (Wolfwalkers), Kori Rae (Onward), Gitanjali Rao (Bombay Rose) and Mark Swift (The Croods: A New Age) — also weigh in on the lack of diversity in their world: "There's further to go." The roundtable.

►Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Hollywood won't heal American divisiveness. When figures like Matthew McConaughey accuse liberals of sowing discord, they minimize the issues "that cause the divisiveness" in the first place, writes the THR columnist.

--McConaughey claims the solution to political divisiveness is being “aggressively centric,” to meet in the middle. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was one such “meeting in the middle” in which Congress decided to admit Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state... Meeting in the middle is fine when you’re the one giving up a little, but when you’re the one sacrificing your health, your life, your freedom and your vote, that middle is simply like slightly loosening one’s handcuffs, but leaving them on." The column.

►Artios Awards: The Casting Society of America has announced the TV, theatre, short film and short-form nominees for the 36th Artios Awards. TV casting directors receiving multiple nominations include Alexa L. Fogel (The Politician, The Outsider, Ozark, Pose); David Rubin (Big Little Lies, Little Fires Everywhere); Victoria Thomas (The Morning Show, Insecure, Watchmen, A Black Lady Sketch Show) and Robert J. Ulrich (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, The Boys). The nominees.

►12 Monkeys at 25: How the eccentric sci-fi film went from disastrous test screenings to cult phenomenon. In an oralhistory by Aaron Couch, director Terry Gilliam, star Madeleine Stowe, producer Charles Roven and more look back at the creative battles that made the film great: "I wasn't sure it was going to work." The story.

Obituaries: Michael Apted, the acclaimed British director behind the revolutionary series of decades-spanning Seven Up documentaries and features including Coal Miner's Daughter, Nell and The World Is Not Enough, has died. He was 79...Tommy Lasorda, the boisterous master motivator who “bled Dodger Blue” during his seven decades with the club as a player, scout, coach, manager and ambassador in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, has died. He was 93...Dave Creek, the lead character designer on Bob’s Burgers, died over the weekend in a skydiving accident, a spokesman for the Fox show confirmed. He was 42... Dearon "Deezer D" Thompson, best known for his role as nurse Malik McGrath in the iconic NBC medical drama ER, has died. He was 55...

In other news...

--Marvel’s Moon Knight series has snagged additional directors. Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, indie genre filmmakers behind sci-fi horror movies The Endless and Synchronic, are joining Mohamed Diab, the Egyptian filmmaker behind Middle Eastern drama Clash, as directors of the series that will star Oscar Isaac.

--Romance feature The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight has rounded out its cast with Ben Hardy set to play the romantic lead opposite Haley Lu Richardson.

--An emotional tribute to Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek dropped on Friday ahead of the airing of his final episode of the game show, where the tribute will play.

--LightShed Partners analyst Richard Greenfield on Friday upgraded his rating on the stock of the Walt Disney Co. from "sell"  to "neutral," acknowledging that "our call has been dead wrong" and new CEO Bob Chapek "surprised us, leaning far harder into streaming."

--David Gale is the new president of ACTRA Toronto, head of the Canadian actors union's biggest chapter.

What else we're reading...

--"NFL gives TV networks more ad time to sell during playoffs" [WSJ]

--"WarnerMedia extended AWD deal to win key HBO Max concession" [The Information]

--"Pro-Trump mob livestreamed its rampage, nd made money doing it" [NY Times]

--"This pro-Trump YouTube networks sprang up just after he lost" [BuzzFeed News]

--"The case for Ted Danson as the TV GOAT" [The Ringer]

Today's birthdays: Joan Baez, 80, Jimmy Page, 77, Kate Middleton, 39, Dave Matthews, 54, Nina Dobrev, 32.

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JANUARY 09, 2021

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