Today In Entertainment

MARCH 27, 2021

What's news: George R.R. Martin inks an eight-figure deal with HBO, Sharon Osbourne is out at The Talk, another Transformers flick in the works, the NAACP Image Award winners so far, a Breakfast at Tiffany's reboot sparks a $20 million copyright claim. Plus: Remembering Larry McMurtry, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on how The Bachelor went off the rails dealing with racism. --Alex Weprin

 Game of Throne$

►George R.R. Martin mega-deal: The Game of Thrones author just signed a massive overall deal to develop more programming for HBO and its streaming service, HBO Max. Sources tell James Hibberd Martin's contract spans five years and is worth mid-eight figures.

--The news comes on the heels of a surge of Game of Thrones prequels being put into development. All told, the network has five projects based on Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy world in the development stage and one (House of the Dragon) that's been greenlit to series. The story.

+First there was A Song of Ice and Fire. Then Shadow and Bone. Now get ready for A Court of Thorns and Roses. Outlander and Battlestar Galactica showrunner Ronald D. Moore has signed on to bring Sarah J. Mass' bestselling fantasy novels to life at Hulu. Moore is writing the pilot along with Mass for a live-action series for the streaming service. The story.

In other TV news...

+Sharon Osbourne is parting ways with CBS' The Talk in the wake of her heated on-air defense of pal Piers Morgan — one that saw her demand co-star Sheryl Underwood "educate" her about racism on live air. The news came two weeks after the March 10 dustup, one that was followed by multiple allegations of racist comments from Osbourne being levied by former co-stars Leah Remini and Holly Robinson Peete. CBS confirmed the expected departure late Friday afternoon. The story.

+ABC's Wonder Years reboot has found its narrator. Don Cheadle will play the adult version of the show's lead character, Dean, in the pilot, which centers on a Black family in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1968. More.

 NAACP Image Awards

►The 2021 NAACP Image Awards has crowned winners in more than 60 categories via streaming presentations across five nights ahead of the awards' live show on BET and CBS on Saturday night. On Friday, the late Chadwick Boseman also won the first of two NAACP Image Awards for which he's nominated, best supporting actor in a film for his role in Da 5 Bloods. The cast of Boseman's more recent, final film, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, also won the award for best ensemble in a motion picture. The winners so far.

+Ma Rainey's Black Bottom cast on award season's treatment of Black films. Colman Domingo, Michael Potts and Glynn Turman won outstanding ensemble cast, as Domingo told THR's Kirsten Chuba what he was hearing from Oscar voters: "Up until last week, people are like, 'Oh, I'm sorry, I still haven't seen your film.' Why is that? I saw your films." The story.

+Marsai Martin reveals "no Black pain" project rule. The actress and producer, who picked up two wins at this year's ceremony, discusses what she's looking for in future projects and recognition for Black art in 2021. More.

►Get ready for more Transformers. Paramount Pictures has made a blind script commitment to develop a new feature based on the popular Hasbro brand. Marco Ramirez, the showrunner of Netflix’s Marvel show The Defenders, is set to write the script while Angel Manuel Soto, who directed last year’s teen drama, Charm City Kings, is attached to direct. The story.

 Remembering Larry McMurtry

►Obituary: Larry McMurtry, the Texas-born novelist who authored Lonesome Dove, The Last Picture Show and Terms of Endearment and won an Oscar for co-writing the adapted screenplay for Brokeback Mountain, has died. He was 84. McMurtry died Thursday night of heart failure. He died surrounded by loved ones he lived with, including his longtime writing partner, Diana Ossana; his wife, Norma Faye; and their three dogs. The obituary.

--Beloved children’s author Beverly Cleary, whose characters Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins enthralled generations of youngsters, has died. She was 104. Cleary's publisher, HarperCollins, announced her death Friday. In a statement, the company said Cleary died in Carmel, California, her home since the 1960s, on Thursday. No cause of death was given. The obituary.

►Breakfast at Tiffany's remake fuels $20 million copyright claim. An amended complaint from a Truman Capote entity seeks damages after Paramount circulated a screenplay for a new movie, Eriq Gardner writes. The story.

+In other legal news: The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has delivered a huge victory for a photographer claiming that Andy Warhol infringed her 1981 photo of Prince. More.

+And: An electrician who has worked on many television shows is alleging in a new lawsuit that Universal Television violated the law when it replaced him after he tested positive for COVID-19. More.

►Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: How The Bachelor went off the rails dealing with racism. A season meant to be historic with the first-ever Black Bachelor instead highlighted the need to "remain vigilant to the clueless enablers who allow racism to thrive," writes THR's columnist.

--"There seems to be a lot of white people who don’t understand what the big deal is, how misguided behavior from the past could spark such heated controversy. These confused people who can’t see the underlying racism or the harm it causes are like people who walk into a fancy hotel room and marvel at its beauty. Until someone shuts off the gold candelabra and flips on the CSI blue light, illuminating the heretofore invisible splattered blood of the crime scene. Racism is invisible if you only stare at the gold candelabra and refuse to look around the room." The column.

Revolving door: Director, writer and actor Matt Ross has signed with CAA... Lionsgate has promoted Amanda Kozlowski to the new position of executive vp, head of data strategy & innovation for the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group... Hidden Empire Film Group has brought industry veteran Quincy Newell on board as chief operating officer...

►Critic's notebook: In series finale, Superstore trades its head for its heart. The NBC sitcom ended its six-season run with an episode that emphasized the sweetness of its key relationships rather than its cynicism about modern capitalism, writes Daniel Fienberg. The notebook.

In other news...

--Randy McKinnon, who wrote Disney+’s football drama Safety, has been tapped to pen Warner Bros. and DC’s Static Shock.

--Cannes’ film market, the Marché du Film, has confirmed the dates for its four-day online-only event this May.

--Richard Newby's latest: Falcon and the Winter Soldier uncovers Marvel's original sin."

--James Gunn's The Suicide Squad released a gory R-rated trailer.

--Shares in ViacomCBS and Discovery Inc. fell sharply on Friday.

--Golden Apple Productions, the publishing and production arm of famed Los Angeles comic shop Golden Apple Comics, is launching Golden Apple VR, a virtual reality space for fans and creators.

What else we're reading...

--"Down and out in the Magic Kingdom: When Pooh got fired" [Bloomberg]

--"Remembering Larry McMurtry and his friendships with fascinating women" [Vanity Fair]

--"What The Snyder Cut means for the futur of fandom" [The Ringer]

--"Broadcasting 'the shock, the horror, the outrage' live, again and again" [NY Times]

Today's birthdays: Mariah Carey, 52, Quentin Tarantino, 58, Brenda Song, 33, Jessie J, 33, Halle Bailey, 21.

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MARCH 27, 2021

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