Today In Entertainment APRIL 29, 2021
What's news: An inside look at Scientology's actor recruitment strategy, Endeavor goes public, NBCUniversal's Peacock hits 42 million sign-ups, Fox takes a Big Leap, Hulu lands some $ugar, Gal Gadot's sci-fi romance. Plus: A review of Tom Clancy's Without Remorse, a CNN libel suit. --Alex Weprin Inside Scientology ►"The means of getting someone in the door": An inside look at Scientology's lavish production facilities and actor recruitment strategy. Ex-members offer a rare look at the organization's multiple studios and allege that Scientology used the audition process to recruit outside actors, Kirsten Chuba reports: "It's an in-house film and no one's going to see it." --"I remember doing my first tech [Hubbard's term for his teachings] film and kind of being nervous, like what's the expectation on set and what's it going to be like?" recalls one former Scientology actor who asked not to be named. "And then walking on set and everyone was joking and smoking and swearing, and the director was hilarious and it was super professional. And I was like, 'Oh, this is not at all what I expected. This is actually a lot of fun.' " He would go on to act in upward of a dozen church films, describing high-quality productions, high-tech facilities and rentals of professional camera equipment. "They paid real money. The people were really cool. I just had no access to what was going on behind the scenes," he says (referencing [Marc] Headley's book Blown for Good, where he documents alleged abuse in the church). --Once in the door, the church would try to recruit the aspiring actors: "Vocal former Scientologist Mike Rinder describes the recruiters' thought process: " 'This person is in our building. Do you know how hard it is to get someone in our building? We've got to make the most of this and get this person signed up for something.' And there was a pattern of how you go about doing that — it's take them for a tour, show them a film or a video, give them an introductory lecture, have them do a test. There's all these different methods that these people have in their toolkit." The story. Endeavor's IPO ►Endeavor has gone public, capping a two year journey that sees the parent company of WME, IMG and UFC trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "EDR." Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, flanked by other top executives including executive chairman Patrick Whitesell, president Mark Shapiro, and UFC chief Dana White, rang the opening bell of the NYSE Thursday morning. The company raised $511 million in its IPO, on top of more than $1.7 billion in a private placement. As is typical in an IPO, the underwriters of the deal have an option to purchase additional shares. --What now? The company's biggest move is to buy out the other shareholders in UFC, giving it full control of the MMA giant. Ownership of UFC and Professional Bull Riders is a central piece of its new pitch to investors, which is focused on ownership of IP and an expansion of live events. Direct-to-consumer streaming and sports betting are seens as potential growth areas. ►NBCUniversal streaming service Peacock has reached 42 million sign-ups, parent company Comcast said in its latest quarterly earnings report. The conglomerate had in its previous financial update in late January mentioned 33 million sign-ups. The streamer has been "benefiting from the recent addition of exclusive domestic streaming rights to WWE Network and The Office," the company said on Thursday. --Peacock revenue reached more than $100 million last year, but the streamer brought in a loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $700 million given investments. NBCUniversal continues to expect losses of $2 billion for Peacock for 2020 and 2021. The story. +Imax earnings: The giant-screen exhibitor posted higher first-quarter revenues as it was lifted by a recovery in the Asian box office. The company, led by CEO Richard Gelfond, reduced its loss attributable to shareholders to $14.8 million, compared with a loss of $49.4 million last year when Imax was hit hard by movie theater closures during the novel coronavirus pandemic. More. +Dish earnings: Dish Network reported that it lost about 230,000 net pay TV subscribers in the first quarter, compared with a decline of 413,000 in the year-ago period and a drop of 133,000 in the fourth quarter of 2020. The latest quarter's figures include subscribers to the traditional Dish pay TV service, as well as the Sling TV streaming service. More. +Tech earnings: Apple's services revenue topped $16.9 billion in the first quarter of the year, up from $13.3 billion a year ago. Services encompasses a wide range of Apple's businesses, including Apple TV+, Apple Music, the App Store, iCloud and other software sales. Apple CFO Luca Maestri told analysts on the company's earnings call that the company had "more than 660 million paid subscriptions" across its services division... Facebook, which is led by Mark Zuckerberg, on Wednesday reported that revenue grew 48 percent during the fourth quarter to $26.1 billion, with advertising revenue rising 46 percent to $25.4 billion... Fox's 'Big Leap' ►Fox is taking a big leap. The network has handed out a series order to The Big Leap, the Scott Foley-led drama from The Passage grad Liz Heldens. Inspired by a U.K. format, the show-within-a-show is a dramedy about a group of diverse, down-on-their-luck characters attempting to change their lives by participating in a potentially life-ruining reality dance show that builds to a live production of Swan Lake. The story. +In a four-way bidding war, Hulu has landed the neo-feminist drama series $ugar, about a Sugar Baby ring formed at Stanford. The darkly comedic show, which is in the very early stages of development, hails from rising writer and producer Kimi Howl Lee. $ugar centers on the accidental formation of a Sugar Baby ring formed at the elite college intent on bringing down the titans of the tech industry and empowering its members. The story. +Peacock has handed out a straight to series order for a romantic comedy series starring Josh Gad and Isla Fisher. The duo will topline and executive produce Wolf Like Me, which the NBCUniversal streaming service describes as a "genre-bending" rom-com about two people who bring unique sets of baggage to their relationship. More. +Noah Centineo is graduating to a more adult role at Netflix. The To All the Boys franchise star will play the lead role and executive produce a drama series set at the CIA. The eight-episode show comes from Entertainment One, Doug Liman's Hypnotic and creator and showrunner Alexi Hawley. More. ►Gal Gadot is re-teaming with Wonder Woman producers Charles Roven and Richard Suckle for a romance with a sci-fi twist. Based on the debut novel of the same name from Catriona Silvey, Meet Me in Another Life follows Thora and Santi, kindred spirits that keep meeting in different versions of reality, where they could be friends, colleagues, lovers, or enemies. The story. +Release date update: Samuel L. Jackson-starrer The Protege will shoot it way into theaters on Aug. 20, 2021, Lionsgate announced Wednesday. The studio also announced release dates for Jennifer Lopez-Josh Duhamel romantic comedy Shotgun Wedding (June 29, 2022) and White Bird: A Wonder Story (Sept. 16, 2022). More. ►A months-long war of words between CNN and Project Veritas has escalated into an actual libel suit. On Tuesday, James O'Keefe's outfit filed a complaint in Georgia after a CNN anchor discussed Twitter's suspension of Project Veritas and attempted to explain that "this is part of a much broader crackdown... by social media giants on accounts that are promoting misinformation." The story. Casting roundup: Florence Pugh is set to star in Sebastian Lelio's psychological thriller and adaptation of Emma Donoghue's novel The Wonder... Jurnee Smollett will star in the Netflix thriller Lou, appearing opposite Allison Janney... Revolving door: Sony Pictures Entertainment veteran exec Keith Le Goy has been named chairman of distribution and networks... New event cinema company Iconic Events — led by an impressive roster of exhibiton industry veterans — has named Steve Bunnell to serve as its CEO... Film, TV and Broadway star Norbert Leo Butz has signed with APA... ►President Biden's primetime address: Biden marked his first 100 days in office as the nation pushes out of a menacing mix of crises, making his case before a pared-down gathering of mask-wearing legislators because of pandemic restrictions. Speaking in highly personal terms while demanding massive structural changes, the president urged a $1.8 trillion investment in children, families and education to help rebuild an economy devastated by the virus and compete with rising global competitors. +Stephen Colbert went live after President Biden's address to Congress on Wednesday. The late-night host acknowledged that Biden was the first President to deliver the speech in front of a mask-wearing audience, though because of social distancing, the audience was "way smaller" than usual. He noted that the U.S. Capitol holds 1600, but the event was pared down to 200. "Still, more than watched the Oscars," joked Colbert. More. +On Jimmy Kimmel Live!: Despite an online backlash, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell appeared as a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday. The controversial executive, who has been banned from Twitter and is currently being sued for pushing wild conspiracy theories and disinformation that the 2020 election was rigged, began his interview with host Jimmy Kimmel talking about the coronavirus and whether or not Lindell had been vaccinated, to which he confirmed that he hasn't. More. ►Film review: David Rooney reviews Tom Clancy's Without Remose, writing that Michael B. Jordan "brings charged physicality and emotional intensity to John Clark in this origin story of a shadow figure from the Jack Ryan novels who graduated to protagonist with the author's 1993 best-seller." The review. In other news... --Falcon and Winter Soldier boss Malcolm Spellman on making the MCU's heaviest story: "Marvel never blinked." --Isabela Merced, who starred in Dora and the Lost City of Gold, has joined Andy Garcia and Gloria Estefan in Warner Bros.' remake of Father of the Bride. --The Handmaid's Tale: How the pandemic impacted the drama's endgame. "I thought I had a beginning, a middle and an end — and I still feel like I very much have an end — it’s just that I’m finding more interesting paths along the way," showrunner Bruce Miller tells THR... Miller also speaks to THR about the first three episodes and teases a "cathartic experience" ahead for viewers of the Elisabeth Moss-starrer. --The producer of acclaimed documentaries John Lewis: Good Trouble and The Way I See It is going into business with Industrial Media. Trilogy Films, led by Dawn Porter, has signed an overall deal with the independent production group specializing in unscripted content, becoming the sixth company to partner with Industrial. --Bob Iger has defended The Walt Disney Company's risk pivot before and during the pandemic from its legacy theatrical movie and TV business to a growing focus on the streaming space with Disney+ and other digital platforms. "It all worked out and it worked out great," Iger said of the Disney+ launch in November 2019 during an informal conversation while receiving an honorary Clio Award on Wednesday. --Oscars post mortem: Sound pros evaluate pros/cons of new best sound category. --Bob Odenkirk is set to release a memoir. Random House announced Wednesday that it will publish Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama: A Memoir, which is slated for a 2022 release. --Samuel Goldwyn Films has picked up the worldwide rights, excluding Canada, to the family sci-fi film Let Us In, by director Craig Moss. What else we're reading... --"He's shaping the future of Spotify, one moonshot idea at a time" [CNN Business] --"Probe said to find rebates lurking behind U.S. ad deals" [WSJ] --"Elliott Page finaly feels 'able to just exist'" [Vanity Fair] Today's birthdays: Uma Thurman, 51, Michelle Pfeiffer, 63, Daniel Day-Lewis, 64, Andre Agassi, 51, Jerry Seinfeld, 67.
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