Today In Entertainment

APRIL 16, 2021

What's news: CBS merges news and local TV amid leadership shakeup, a Predator lawsuit, why South Korea and Japan are the new streaming battlegrounds, NCIS set to return with Mark Harmon, Paul Greengrass' next project. Plus: Networks demand Nielsen audit, and Tribeca Film Festival to open with In The Heights... in the Heights. --Alex Weprin

 The TV News Revolving Door Continues

►The shakeup atop the TV news business continues. ViacomCBS has named Neeraj Khemlani and Wendy McMahon co-heads of CBS News and the CBS Television Stations. Khemlani, currently an executive VP at Hearst Newspapers, and a former producer for the CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes, will join the company in May. McMahon was most recently head of the ABC stations group. Both executives will report to CBS chief George Cheeks, and will "partner on managing all aspects of the division," per CBS.

--The appointments come with a new structure at the company that combines the CBS local stations group and CBS News into one business unit. The new unit will include CBS News, the 28 CBS owned TV stations, CBSN, the local CBSN services, and CBS News Digital. CBS News president Susan Zirinsky is in talks to move to a role at a new CBS News production studio. The story.

+A wary response: The new structure is being greeted with some concern by CBS News staff. "They must be thinking about making cuts," one current staffer texted me. Indeed, CBS CEO George Cheeks wrote to staff that "this is an opportunity to create a news and information structure that positions CBS for the future." 

+Meanwhile: Eyebrows were also raised Thursday at ABC News, where Good Morning America senior executive producer Michael Corn abruptly left the company. Corn helped lead GMA to the top of the morning news ratings, leaving incoming ABC News president Kim Godwin a significant hole to fill. An ABC spokesperson told THR only that "Michael Corn no longer works for ABC News." More.

►Jim and John Thomas, the brothers who wrote the 1987 action film Predator, have filed a lawsuit against Disney seeking confirmation of successfully recapturing rights to the franchise. Meanwhile, Disney's 20th Century unit has filed its own suit against the Thomas brothers with the goal of retaining rights.

--The Thomas brothers are seeking to exploit copyright law's termination provision, which allows authors to cancel transfers after waiting a period of time, typically 35 years for newer works. Given the time frame, studios are facing the prospect of losing franchise rights to many iconic works from the 1980s. The story.

In other legal news...

+Robert De Niro went to Manhattan D.A. over ex-employee's spending, she says. Graham Chase Robinson, an executive who accuses the actor of unwanted physical contact, says De Niro continues to retaliate against her. More.

+Peter Rabbit legal fight heats up as sequel set for U.S. summer release. After a failed settlement and a change in legal counsel, Jason Lust's dispute with Animal Logic now seeks to answer if the mention of "all other projects" in a short-form agreement includes the Peter Rabbit sequel. More.

 A New Battleground In The Streaming Wars

►South Korea and Japan emerge as key battlegrounds in the streaming wars. Netflix has invested hundreds of millions to capitalize on the massive global popularity of K-drama and Japanese anime, and now HBO Max and Disney+ are entering the fray, Patrick Brzeski reports.

--"Sources close to Disney in Asia, meanwhile, say the studio is looking to build out a robust team and slate of Japanese scripted originals, believing the category offers under-leveraged value. The studio also is said to be pursuing a more targeted, rather than high-volume, approach to anime, picking marquee hits that match the Disney+ brand." The story.

►The Tribeca Festival is set to open its 2021 edition by turning the lights up on Washington Heights. The in-person New York event will kick off on June 9 with the world premiere of Warner Bros.' In the Heights at the United Palace theater in Washington Heights, the neighborhood where the story is based. Additionally, Tribeca, which is set to be the first in-person North American film festival since the COVID-19 pandemic, will host simultaneous screenings of the opening-night film across all five boroughs in open-air venues. The story.

In other film news...

+Paul Greengrass, whose latest movie, News of the World, is a contender in this year’s Oscar race, has found his next project. The filmmaker is reuniting with Universal, the studio behind his kinetic Bourne movies, to develop and direct Night of Camp David, a political thriller that adapts the best-selling 1965 book by Fletcher Knebel. The story.

+Daniel Kaluuya’s adaptation of sci-fi novel The Upper World has landed a pair of writers. Rising British writing team Daniel Fajemisin-Duncan and Marlon Smith have been tapped to adapt the debut novel from Togo-born, British-Nigerian writer Femi Fadugba for Netflix. More.

 'NCIS' Returning With Mark Harmon

►Leroy Jethro Gibbs will return. After months of will-they-or-won't-they uncertainty, CBS has decided to renew NCIS for a 19th season. Most crucially, the network also locked down star Mark Harmon to stay aboard the procedural, which continues to rank as TV's most watched drama series. CBS also renewed Magnum P.I., SWAT, Blue Bloods and Bull for additional seasons on Thursday. The story.

+A consortium of TV networks is demanding an independent audit of Nielsen ratings — the latest volley in a dispute between broadcasters and the company that measures their audiences. The Video Advertising Bureau, an industry group that acts as a bridge between networks and advertisers, claims Nielsen has let the size and quality of its national TV panel degrade since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last year. That's resulted in undercounting viewers and a potential loss of ad revenue for networks going into the upfront season. The story.

►Column: Hollywood, there are better ways to protest Georgia's voting law than a boycott. If film and TV projects moved, powerful moguls would be pulling their business from people who largely helped get the statewide and national results liberals claim to want, Ozark and Reprisal actress Bethany Anne Lind writes in a guest column. The column.

Casting roundup: Mads Mikkelsen is headed to Indiana Jones 5... Pete Davidson is set to play Joey Ramone in a Netflix biopic about the famed punk rocker... Brad Pitt is reuniting with Sandra Bullock for Lost City of D, Paramount’s romantic action adventure comedy that also stars Channing Tatum... Here's another actor joining HBO's Game of Thrones prequel series. Fabien Frankel has been cast in the upcoming House of the Dragon... The Netflix vampire thriller Day Shift has added to its ensemble cast as Snoop Dogg, Scott Adkins join Jamie Foxx and Dave Franco in J.J. Perry's directorial debut... Gabriel Luna is joining The Last of Us at HBO...

►Artios Awards: The Casting Society of America revealed its winners for the 2021 Artios Awards on Thursday night. The big budget comedy and drama film awards recognized two teams that cast Sacha Baron Cohen and others, with Borat Subsequent Moviefilm winning the comedy award and The Trial of the Chicago 7 winning the drama award.

--Other film awards went to Soul (animation), The 40-Year-Old Version (studio or independent comedy), One Night in Miami (studio or independent drama), Minari (low-budget comedy or drama) and The Surrogate (micro-budget comedy or drama). The winners.

Revolving door: Lionsgate Television is consolidating its unscripted business under Pilgrim Media Group's Craig Piligian... Lindsey Kasabian has been named senior vp casting for Disney's Freeform... UTA has tapped Heather Brooks Karatz to the newly created position of executive vp growth and operations... 

►TV's Top 5 podcast: During this week's podcast, hosts Daniel Fienberg and Lesley Goldberg break down the latest in the battle for subscribers in the streaming wars and welcome Sierra Teller Ornelas to discuss her breakthrough comedy Rutherford Falls. Listen.

In other news...

--Proximity Media— the banner that is run by Black Panther director Ryan Coogler, among others— has expanded its footprint behind features and television, into non-fiction content, podcasting, and music.

--Participant is reteaming with Wonder producers Lionsgate and Mandeville Films for the upcoming movie adaptation White Bird: A Wonder Story, based on R.J. Palacio's novel and now in production.

--A panel at MIPTV featuring top executives from major entertainment companies said there needed to be systemic change to imprive diversity.

--Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw want to tell more Jewish stories on the screen, but not for entertainment or escapism. The Hollywood filmmaker and humanitarians offered seed financing for Jewish Story Partners, a new film foundation unveiled on Thursday, to be led by filmmaker Roberta Grossman and former Sundance senior programmer Caroline Libresco.

--When the International Animated Film Society (ASIFA-Hollywood) presents its 48th Annie Awards virtually on April 16, a trio of influential artists will be bestowed Winsor McCay Awards for career contributions: Willie Ito, Bruce Smith, and a posthumous honor to Sue Nichols, whom ASIFA describes as one of the few women who had a voice in the development of films such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Mulan and Brave.

--A table read of Ed Wood's comically bad classic Plan 9 From Outer Space featuring Bob Odenkirk, Laraine Newman, Bobcat Goldthwait, David Koechner, Oscar Nuñez and others is set for next month's virtual edition of the TCM Classic Film Festival.

--A possible shooting took place on Thursday near a film set in Los Angeles.

--Embattled hotelier Andre Balazs’ partners in Manhattan’s Mercer — a key crossroads for the fashion and entertainment crowd — are attempting to kick him out of their business.

What else we're reading...

--"The redemption of Justin Bieber" [GQ]

--"Scott Rudin is one of entertainment’s biggest guns. Will abusive behavior allegations change that?" [Vulture]

--"Who can sell a Wonder Woman NFT? The guy who drew her or DC Comics?" [LA Times]

--"Cable companies emerge as force in cellphone business" [WSJ]

Today's birthdays: Chance the Rapper, 28, Anya Taylor-Joy, 25, Martin Lawrence, 56, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 74, Claire Foy, 37.

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APRIL 16, 2021

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