Double 'Jeopardy!'  

Alan Taylor's Tortuous Journey to the 'Sopranos' Movie 

►"The hardest job I’ve ever done." Alan Taylor, the Emmy winning director who killed Ned Stark on Game of Thrones and introduced Don Draper on Mad Men speaks to THR's James Hibberd about his filmmaking journey that scaled the heights of prestige TV but then spluttered with features Thor 2 and Terminator: Genisys. 

Now, Taylor has returned to the Jersey mob world of The Sopranos with the prequel movie The Many Saints of Newark, a high-wire act of franchise expansion that seeks to add to the legacy of a series some consider to be the finest TV drama of all time. The profile.  

—Hollywood blackout over? Pixar’s Luca has been granted a China theatrical release date on Aug. 20, which will make it the first Hollywood studio release in the country in over two and a half months. The story.

—Making moves. CBS This Morning is getting another shakeup that will see co-anchor Anthony Mason depart to become a culture correspondent for CBS News, with his seat at the table taken by former NFL player and Good Morning Football and NFL Today analyst Nate Burleson. The story. 

—Green light. ABC has handed out a series order for the Latinx family drama Promised Land from writer Matt Lopez. The story.

—Red light. Epic, the Disney-themed fairy tale anthology from Once Upon a Time creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, is not moving forward at ABC. The story.  

Cosby to Invoke Fifth Amendment Due to Fear of New Prosecution 

►"Out of prison but not clear of trouble." THR's Eriq Gardner writes that after Bill Cosby was released from a Pennsylvania jail in June, he is free, at least in theory, to testify in civil cases including a suit brought by Judy Huth, who alleges being sexually assaulted by him at the Playboy Mansion in 1974. Now, Cosby through his attorney Michael Freedman tells a Los Angeles judge that he will continue to resist speaking about his alleged assaults. The story. 

—23andMe. A shirtless Chet Hanks doubled down on his anti-vaxx stance in a new video posted to Instagram. The Hollywood failson and sometime rapper suggested his immune system was robust enough that he didn't need to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The story.

—Judge and jury. Riz Ahmed will head the jury for Toronto Film Festival's platform competition, the TIFF section Sound of Metal premiered at in 2019. The 2021 line-up includes Laurent Cantet's Arthur Rambo, and Scott McGehee and David Siegel's Montana Story. The story. 

—Casting news. NBC's Annie Live has tapped six-time Emmy-nominated Kimmy Schmidt alum Tituss Burgess to play the role of Rooster, the underhanded brother of the ruthless Miss Hannigan. The story. 

—Solid as a rock, eh? Will Arnett has been tapped to narrate the Amazon docuseries All or Nothing: Toronto Maple Leafs, as the streaming giant ramps up production of local Canadian content series. The story. 

James Gunn and the Future of DC 

►"Made his mark and given his heart." With The Suicide Squad earning lavish praise from fans and critics alike, Richard Newby considers director James Gunn's future working in the DCEU. With a Peacemaker HBO Max series on the way, plus hints from Warners execs that there's more to come, Newby asks: what will Gunn tackle next? Warning spoilers. The story. 

—"Injured or hurt?" Tom Cruise is famed for his intense all-in commitment to his craft and actor Jake Johnson got to experience that first hand working with him on The Mummy. Johnson recounts the time he did a stunt with Cruise and the anecdote is equal parts frightening and hilarious. The story. 

—"I would do anything." Tom Hardy is hopeful that Sony and Marvel Studios may be able to make a live-action Spider-verse crossover between Venom and Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. The story. 

—Cage Watch! Nicolas Cage, a criminal clad in a black-leather jumpsuit with explosive charges, disappears into a dark netherworld to rescue an abducted woman before he blows up in the latest trailer for Japanese auteur Sion Sono's first English-language feature, Prisoners of the Ghostland. The trailer. 

In other news...  

—Film review: Netflix's The Kissing Booth 3. 

—TV review: Netflix's The Chair. 

—Reddit to raise up to $700m at $10b-plus valuation.

—The CW’s Powerpuff Girls star Chloe Bennet exits show.

—King Spawn No. 1 sells nearly 500,000 copies.

—Univision ad revenue jumps 72 percent.

—Poland votes to ban foreign media ownership, targeting Discovery.

—Is an MLB mascot about to change Hollywood’s future?

—Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler evaluate Cuomo greetings on Late Night.

—Nine Inch Nails guitarist, Spec Ops: The Line designer launch games studio.

—CAA talent agent Josh Lieberman buys Paul R. Williams-designed Brentwood mansion, lists 90210 estate.
 
—Venice Film Festival honors Italian director Francesco Maselli.

—Zurich Film Festival to paytribute to Paolo Sorrentino with career award.

—Lin-Manuel Miranda’s tick, tick…BOOM! starring Andrew Garfield set to open AFI Fest.

What else we're reading...

—"Scarlett Johansson Lawsuit Stirs Debate Over Streaming-Era Movie Compensation" [Wall Street Journal]

—"How Facebook Failed to Stem Racist Abuse of England’s Soccer Players" [New York Times]

—"I Am Legend: How the Vampire Horror Became An Anti-Vaxxer Movie" [The Guardian]

—"Why Millennial Leftists Have Made a BBC Filmmaker a Cult Hero" [The Atlantic]

—"How Did The Choice Of Jeopardy! Host Become So Controversial? Here’s What Went Wrong" [Los Angeles Times]

Today... 

Today's birthdays: LaKeith Stanfield (30), George Hamilton (82), Cara Delevingne (29), Isaach De Bankolé (64), Casey Affleck (46), Bruce Greenwood (65), Yvette Nicole Brown (50), Peter Krause (56), Natalie Mendoza (43), Ray Abruzzo (67), Michael Ian Black (50), Rhea Butcher (39)