Today In Entertainment

FEBRUARY 02, 2021

What's news: Ryan Coogler's Disney TV deal, A Dr. Fauci doc in the works at at Nat Geo, why Clubhouse is Hollywood's favorite new social app, AMC Networks invests up north, Frasier revival appears bound for Paramount+, Kevin Costner sets National Parks pilot at ABC, Warner Music gains thanks to Spotify and Tiktok, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on why Bruce Lee would have loved Cobra Kai. Plus: Remembering Jamie Tarses, Hal Holbrook, and Dustin Diamond. --Alex Weprin

 Big Day For Deals...

►Black Panther filmmaker Ryan Coogler is building out the world of Wakanda. As part of a new, five-year overall exclusive deal between Disney TV and Coolger's Proximity Media, the writer-director is developing a Wakanda-based Disney+ series, and will also have a hand in other shows set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The deal allows Proximity to develop series for Disney's other outlets, as well. The story.

+A key member of the Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon is furthering her relationship with HBO. Sara Hess has inked a rich new two-year overall deal renewal with the premium cable network. Sources say the pact is among the richest for a writer at the cabler. Hess is currently co-writing HBO's straight-to-series prequel House of the Dragon alongside co-showrunner Ryan Condal. This is her second overall deal with HBO that will also see her develop new projects for the cabler. Additionally, Hess has signed with Verve for representation in all areas. She continues to be repped by attorney Lev Ginsburg. More.

+Nancy Kanter, the long-time Disney executive who helped launch Disney Junior, is moving to Netflix. Kanter and her Available Light Productions have entered a partnership whereby the company will develop and produce both animated and live action series and films for Netflix. The deal comes on the heels of her departure from Disney after 20 years. More.

►Dr. Anthony Fauci is getting the documentary treatment. National Geographic Documentary Films is working on a doc feature about "America's Doctor", with Oscar-winner Dan Cogan (Icarus) and nominee Liz Garbus (What Happened, Miss Simone?) set to executive produce. Interviews will include former President George W. Bush, Bill Gates and Bono, as well as key AIDS activists and organizers, and his family, friends and former patients. More.

+In other film news: The Taylor Sheridan-directed Those Who Wish Me Dead will ride into theaters on May 14, Warner Bros. announced Monday. The movie will debut simultaneously on HBO Max, similar to the studio's other 2021 titles. More.

+Sundance reviews: Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided To Go For It... Judas and the Black Messiah...

 'Frasier' Revival Appears Paramount+-Bound

►A revival of Frasier that has been kicking around for several years is taking another small step to becoming reality. Sources confirm to THR's Rick Porter that a revival of the beloved, Emmy-winning comedy is under consideration at Paramount+, the successor to CBS All Access that's set to launch in March. The story.

+ABC is committed to exploring national parks with Kevin Costner. The Disney-backed broadcast network has handed out a pilot order to National Parks, the drama written by the Yellowstone star. The pickup marks the second pilot order in two years for the project from A+E Studios and Disney's 20th Television. ABC last year was unable to film the pilot amid the pandemic and extended options on the drama from showrunner Aaron Helbing (The Flash). The story.

+Iconic arcade game Whac-A-Mole is getting the TV treatment. Toymaker Mattel is teaming with Fremantle (American Idol, America's Got Talent) to adapt the beloved property into a reality competition TV series. A network is not yet attached. More.

+The CW is looking to expand the world of All American. The network is developing a spinoff of the series — whose third season premiere recorded its biggest audience ever — called All American: Homecoming. It's set to air as a planted episode later in the season and will focus on Geffri Maya's recurring character, Simone Hicks, and another athlete as they make their way to a prestigious historically Black college. More.

►AMC Networks is making a strategic investment in Canadian indie producer Shaftesbury, maker of the long-running family drama Murdoch Mysteries. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Shaftesbury CEO and chairman Christina Jennings, who will continue in the top post, told THR's Etan Vlessing that AMC Networks was making a "significant and strategic" investment in her company, which would remain Canadian owned and controlled. The story.

+In other TV deals: The local TV M&A market appears to be heating up again, with Gray Television set to acquire the midwest station owner Quincy Television for $925 million.

 Hollywood's New 'Clubhouse'

►Welcome to Clubhouse: Why Hollywood insiders are joining this exclusive social platform. The audio-only, invite-only hangout has been embraced by Hollywood, especially Black creatives, Natalie Jarvey writes: 

--"The exclusiveness and the notoriety of Clubhouse has certainly given them that buzzy start, but it'll be interesting to see if the issues in moderation get worked out and people find value in the product and not just in the status of being associated with the platform," says Kendall Ostrow, head of client strategy at UTA IQ, the agency's data and analytics group. The story.

+In other tech news: Batman’s latest heroic exploit will be heard, not seen. HBO Max is launching a Batman podcast titled Batman: The Audio Adventures, a comedic take on the Dark Knight that sees Jeffrey Wright lending his voice as the Caped Crusader. More.

+And: Spanish language media giant Univision Communications has acquired VIX, the indie ad-supported streaming service offering video-on-demand content to Hispanic audiences in the U.S. and across Latin America. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, but the deal follows Univision unveiling plans to launch PrendeTV as a free, ad-supported streaming platform aimed at U.S. Hispanic TV audiences. More.

►Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Why Bruce Lee would have loved Cobra Kai. The THR columnist, a friend and student of the late martial arts great, watches the Netflix 'Karate Kid' update with him in mind: "He would have loved that the show doesn’t take itself too seriously."

--"Bruce would have loved this reimagining because he saw martial arts not just as a way to defend against enemies, but as a way to defend against one’s own self-destructive impulses. Martial arts heals because it helps one identify their problems and adapt to solving them... Where Bruce might have quibbled is in the portrayal of the actual martial arts moves. Because it’s a family show, the punches, kicks and combinations often seem designed to be less aggressive." The column.

►Warner Music earnings: Against the backdrop of the global pandemic, Warner Music Group, which has top artists like Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa in its stable, posted record digital music revenues from emerging streaming platforms as part of its first-quarter financial performance posted on Monday. The world's biggest record company saw digital music revenues from social media and streaming platforms like Spotify and TikTok and its short dancing clips rise 17 percent to $825 million, which represented nearly 62 percent of total revenue. More.

+Also: Audio entertainment giant SiriusXM, the home of Howard Stern, said on Tuesday that it added 279,000 subscribers in its satellite radio unit during the fourth quarter and lost 63,000 in its Pandora business, an improvement over a year-ago loss of 88,000.

Obituaries...

 +Jamie Tarses, the producer and groundbreaking TV executive who as president of ABC Entertainment from 1996-99 became the first woman to serve as head a network entertainment division, died Monday. She was 56. Tarses died after suffering complications from a cardiac event last fall, according to her family. The obituary.

+Hal Holbrook, the craftsman who reincarnated Mark Twain on stage and screen for more than six decades and also stood out as Abraham Lincoln and Deep Throat, two other American legends, has died. He was 95. Holbrook died Jan. 23 in Beverly Hills. The obituary.

+Dustin Diamond, who spent 13 seasons as the goofy nerd Screech on the Saturday morning sitcom Saved by the Bell and its various iterations before his life and career took a turn for the worse, has died. He was 44. Diamond died Monday. The actor was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and was receiving treatments at an undisclosed Florida hospital in mid-January, his manager said. The obituary.

Revolving door: ABC News has named Linsey Davis and Whit Johnson the new weekend anchors for the network's flagship evening newscast, World News Tonight. Johnson will anchor on Saturdays, with Davis anchoring on Sundays... Multi-hyphenate Nicole Scherzinger has signed with Range Media Partners... NBCUniversal is consolidating its casting department. Grace Wu has been promoted to the newly created role of exec vp casting for the company's Entertainment Content division...

Casting roundup: Netflix is filling out the cast around lead Sandra Oh in its dramedy The Chair. Nana Mensah, Bob Balaban, David Morse and Everly Carganilla will be regulars in the six-episode series set at a small university... Uzo Aduba, Nicole Beharie, Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathaway, Anthony Mackie, Helen Mirren, Dan Stevens and Constance Wu will star in Amazon's Solos, a drama from Hunters creator David Weil...

Correction: Yesterday's newsletter featured a broken link to Rebecca Sun's story about a new ESPN+ series being produced by Chris Paul in partnership with The Undefeated. You can read the story here.

In other news...

--Nearly 80 percent of Hollywood assistants and other support staffers made less than $50,000 in 2020 and over one-third made less than $30,000, making them "cost-burdened" in Los Angeles by U.S. Department of Housing and Development standards, a new survey reveals.

--Researching Mike Nichols: How the new biography of the director came together.

--Marilyn Manson has been officially dropped from his record label after facing abuse claims from Evan Rachel Wood and four other women.

--Michael B. Jordan on being directed by Denzel Washington, and adjusting to life in the pandemic: "I grew up a lot last year."

--To mark the first day of Black History Month, 170 leading Black and Jewish members of the entertainment industry have signed a unity statement to form the Black-Jewish Entertainment Alliance.

What else we're reading...

--"Peter Jackson and the airplane thief" [Vanity Fair]

--"How this jingle king helps musicians find their voice through podcast musicals" [LA Times]

--"Rise of the Barstool conservatives" [The Week]

--"How the Biden administration can help solve our reality crisis" [NY Times]

Today's birthdays: Shakira, 44, Christie Brinkley, 67, David Jason, 81, Zosia Mamet, 33, Duane Chapman aka Dog the Bounty Hunter, 68.

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FEBRUARY 02, 2021

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