Today In Entertainment

MARCH 19, 2021

What's news: The NFL inks a $100 billion deal with Amazon and the TV giants, film distribution chiefs talk pandemic takeaways, three more Game of Thrones spinoffs in the works, the U.S. box office fell 80 percent as streaming boomed, Oscars producers detail "safe" ceremony, Showtime prepping a Capital riot miniseries. Plus: Trillith's CEO on how the pandemic changed production, and Sony's Tom Rothman writes about the year gone by. --Alex Weprin

 A $100 Billion Bet On The NFL

►The NFL has signed rich new TV and streaming deals with its media partners. Disney will continue to have Monday Night Football (and will add Super Bowl rights), while Amazon will get eclusive rights to Thursday Night Football. ViacomCBS, NBCUniversal and Fox will continue to have their existing Sunday games, though with added streaming rights.

--The deals are monsters, with the league set to haul in more than $100 billion (yes, with a b) from the networks by the time the contracts are up after 2033. This will also be the first time that a streaming service (Amazon) will have exclusive national rights to an NFL package. Amazon had been sharing the rights with Fox and NFL Network in recent years. The story.

+But wait, there's more: NFL Sunday Ticket, an out-of-market games offering that DirecT has offered since 1994, is expected to come to market soon, and the AT&T-controlled satellite TV firm does not seem interested in retaining it. Could it have a place on ESPN+? "We’ve had exploratory conversations with the league. Sunday Ticket is an incredibly valuable product," ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro told reporters Thursday. "When the league is ready, we’re interested in having that conversation with them."

+Wall Street's reaction: "Mark it down. March 18, 2021 is the day the multichannel TV bundle died." writes LightShed Partners analyst Richard Greenfield. Bernstein's Peter Supino called the new rights deals "an excruciatingly expensive victory for the media establishment in its fight to preserve the sports business model while bolstering their streaming platforms." The reactions.

 Film Distribution's New Reality

►Film distribution chiefs talk pandemic takeaways: In a conversation with Pamela McClintock, four top studio executives discuss the past year and the near future, including the slow march to a box office recovery, the shattering of the theatrical window and the streaming tsunami.

--Universal's Jim Orr: "There are folks that absolutely, like myself, want to be in theaters. Then there are folks who didn't want to be in theaters even before the pandemic. We feel particularly good about the model that we've developed and it seems to be doing extraordinarily well. So, away we go."

--United Artists Releasing's Erik Lomis: "Windows are changed forever. It took a long time and a pandemic to make it happen."

--Neon's Elissa Federoff: "What exhibitors and studios have started doing is looking at what windowing works for each film. I completely agree with Jim. There are some people who just go to the movies once a month or not at all. The audience is not one size fits all."

--Paramount's Chris Aronson: "Over the past five years, wide-release films that grossed $10 million or more and opened in over 2,000 locations earned 98 percent of their box office in 45 days. That's all you need to know. The old system was creaky." The story.

+Sony Pictures' Tom Rothman on the year gone by: We discovered "the best of hard times." In a guest column for THR, the chairman of the motion picture group writes about the challenges his team overcame during the past year, including production shutdowns, while the studio avoided wide-scale layoffs. The column.

►Trilith's Frank Patterson on Pinewood Studios' transformation and pandemic filming. In an interview with Bryn Sandberg, the firm's president and CEO opens up about the most challenging aspect of COVID-era production, the studio’s biggest concerns and whether he’ll mandate vaccines.The president and CEO opens up about the most challenging aspect of COVID-era production, the studio’s biggest concerns and whether he’ll mandate vaccines.

--"It's costing about 20 percent more money and 20 percent more time. Things are slower and clunkier and it's taking more space. But the good news is cast and crew are taking safety very seriously." The interview.

►U.S. box office fell 80 percent in 2020 as streaming boomed. Digital subscribers hit the one billion mark globally for the first time as moviegoing collapsed last year amid the pandemic, the annual report of the Motion Picture Association shows. The story.

In other film news...

+Andy Garcia is getting ready for a walk down the aisle. Garcia has closed a deal to star in Warner Bros.'s remake of Father of the Bride, which will center on a Cuban-American family. He will also executive produce. The story.

+The producers behind the A Quiet Place franchise are reteaming for another spooky Paramount thriller. John Krasinski, the star, filmmaker and producer of the two Quiet Place films, and Allyson Seeger, his producing partner at the duo’s Sunday Night Productions banner, have partnered once again with Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Brad Fuller of Platinum Dunes to produce Apartment 7A. More.

►Oscars producers detail "safe," "intimate" ceremony in letter to nominees. "There will not be an option to Zoom in for the show," reads the missive from Steven Soderbergh, Stacey Sher and Jesse Collins. "We are going to great lengths to provide a safe and enjoyable evening for all of you in person." Here's the letter.

 Even More 'Thrones'

►HBO is developing three more Game of Thrones prequel projects. The network has a trio of additional ideas in the works based on author George R.R. Martin's fantasy world. One of the projects, working title 9 Voyages, is from Rome creator Bruno Heller and follows Lord Corlys Velaryon, a.k.a. The Sea Snake, the Lord of the Tides and head of House Velaryon. A second project, working title 10,000 Ships, revolves around the warrior queen Princess Nymeria. The third project is set in the notorious King's Landing slum of Flea Bottom – the maze of tight streets in the capitol city where characters like Davos Seaworth and Gendry Baratheon were born. The story.

+Showtime is back wading in political waters. The network is developing a limited series about the events leading up to the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. The still united project hails from Billy Ray and Shane Salerno, the duo behind the ultra-political (and once ultra-controversial) Showtime series, The Comey Rule.

--Their latest, for which Showtime has ordered three scripts, is expected to explore multiple points of view, including those from both sides of the political aisle. It will examine the final days of the Trump administration, and culminate with the attack, the aftermath and the FBI and Congressional investigations. The story.

+HBO is developing a limited series that would see Matthew McConaughey reprise his role from the 1996 movie A Time to Kill. The premium cable outlet is working on an adaptation of John Grisham's A Time for Mercy, a sequel to A Time to Kill that follows an older Jake Brigance, the lawyer at the center of A Time to Kill. McConaughey is in negotiations to star in the project from Warner Bros. TV. The story.

+Maya Rudolph will star in a comedy series for Apple TV+. The streaming platform has given a straight-to-series order to the untitled project, which reunites Rudolph with Forever creators Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard. The show comes from Universal Television. More.

+Nickelodeon is gearing up for one of the busiest years in its four-decade history. The kid-focused cable outlet will debut 20 new series and feature films in 2021 and '22, both on its own platform and on parent company ViacomCBS' recently launched streaming service Paramount+. The slate includes a dozen animated projects, several live-action series and four newly greenlit shows. More.

+Netflix has some more tidying up to do. The streamer has renewed a pair of home renovation series — Get Organized With The Home Edit and Dream Home Makeover — and set a summer date for a new series from decluttering expert Marie Kondo. The pickups follow those of Selling Sunset and Bling Empire a week ago as Netflix continues to reach across all facets of the unscripted business. More.

+Also: HBO Max is revisiting the untimely death of Brittany Murphy, the actress whose surprise 2009 death has been the subject of many conspiracy theories,in a two-part documentary series, from Blumhouse Television and Pyramid Productions. More.

►Class action claims "sweetheart" deal between Writers Guild, Viacom over streaming. Former Key & Peele showrunner Jay Martel is leading a suit that alleges the WGA has breached its duty of fair representation with respect to royalties owed comedy writers like those who work on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. The story.

►Hollywood's debt dilemma: "You are sitting on all this cash, what do you do with it?" Wall Street observers say most entertainment giants are in solid financial positions despite higher debt and express hope that the worst pain of the pandemic is in the rearview mirror for the sector, with vaccine availability expected to greatly increase by May. Investors have now zeroed in on where Hollywood firms will choose to put their money, beyond investments in their streaming services. The story.

Casting roundup: Dulé Hill and Laura Kariuki have joined the cast of ABC's Wonder Years reboot... The CW's Naomi has cast 16-year-old Kaci Walfall in the show's titular role, about "a teen girl’s journey from her small northwestern town to the heights of the multiverse. Also joining the cast are Alexander Wraith as Dee, Cranston Johnson as Zumbado and newcomer Camila Moreno as Lourdes... Vera Farmiga will star in Apple's Five Days at Memorial, based on a nonfiction book by Pulitzer Prize winner Sheri Fink... Nicole Richie is headed back to broadcast TV. The actress and entrepreneur has joined the cast of ABC's comedy pilot Bucktown...

►TV review: Daniel Fienberg reviews Apple TV+'s Calls, writing "Congratulations, Apple TV+, you've created a narrative podcast and attached a squiggly screensaver to it. You probably don't want to tell actual professional narrative podcasters how much money you spent on this." The review.

►TV's Top 5 podcast: During this week's podcast, hosts Daniel Fienberg and Lesley Goldberg are joined by Genius: Aretha showrunner Suzan-Lori Parks to discuss the Nat Geo anthology. Listen.

In other news...

--During a Thursday press conference with attorney Gloria Allred, a woman named Effie accused embattled actor Armie Hammer of rape. Los Angeles police are investigating.

--Charter Communications chairman and CEO Thomas Rutledge received compensation worth $38.8 million in 2020, a big jump from $8.74 million in 2019 and $8.15 million in 2018.

--Every episode of NBC's The Office is now streaming for free. Just not for long. NBC's streaming service Peacock is offering all nine seasons of the Emmy-winning comedy for one week starting Thursday.

--Jeffrey Wells, the veteran film industry commentator who has long operated the widely read blog Hollywood Elsewhere, has been indefinitely suspended by the Critics Choice Association, the group of journalists that presents the annual Critics Choice Awards.

--The Beijing International Film Festival, which typically takes place in mid-April but has yet to announce its plans for 2021, is considering a postponement to August.

--A woman who claimed she was married to Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson was arrested Thursday afternoon and charged with multiple crimes, including stalking.

--CNN chief product officer Rohit Agarwal is leaving the company, a spokeswoman confirmed to THR. Agarwal informed staff of his departure via email on Thursday afternoon. 

--Six Flags Magic Mountain is wasting no time, allowing guests back into the theme park April 1, the first day the business is allowed to reopen.

--Former Axios reporter Alexi McCammond will not join Teen Vogue as editor in chief next week after submitting her resignation on Thursday.

What else we're reading...

--"Fortnite's experimental story is an attempt to create 'the entertainment experience of the future'" [The Verge]

--"As HFPA struggles to respond to mounting PR crisis, Hollywood keeps the pressure on" [LA Times]

--"Tabloid hired gun tells of shady hunt for Meghan Markle scoops" [NY Times]

--Fox News' Sean Hannity was caught vaping on-air during what he thought was a commercial break [Mediaite]

Today's birthdays: Bruce Willis, 66, Glenn Close, 74, Ursula Andress, 85, Julien Macdonald, 50, AJ Lee, 34.

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MARCH 19, 2021

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