CNN's Scary New Normal; Moonves Update; Viacom's TV Shift; HBO's 'Intimacy Monitor'; Kareem on Megyn

What's news: All eyes are on 30 Rock as Megyn Kelly's exit negotiations have begun. Plus: Viacom reorganizes its networks reporting structure, Village Roadshow names a new CEO and a thorough look at Netflix's unique, hard-working culture. — Will Robinson [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment]( October 26, 2018 What's news: All eyes are on 30 Rock as Megyn Kelly's exit negotiations have begun. Plus: Viacom reorganizes its networks reporting structure, Village Roadshow names a new CEO and a thorough look at Netflix's unique, hard-working culture. — Will Robinson ^New normal?: Pipe bombs sent to a widening array of individuals singled out for denigration by President Donald Trump, including CNN, likely won't change an era of ugliness and violence, Marisa Guthrie reports: + False turning point: "When I first heard the president’s scripted teleprompter speech, I had a moment where I thought, well, maybe this will be the tipping point," New Day anchor Alisyn Camerota says, "Maybe he’ll be able to keep his focus on lowering the temperature of the rhetoric. But I wasn’t terribly hopeful.” By Wednesday evening at a rally in Wisconsin, the president was accusing the media of fomenting the partisan ugliness plaguing the country. + A long time coming: Many CNN staffers say they were not surprised by Wednesday’s events. “We’ve been upset about the message that the president is sending,” says one. “We have been worried about violence for a long time.” + History repeats itself: “Some form of this conversation was had after Gabby Giffords was shot [in 2011]. It was had after Steve Scalise was shot [in 2017],” notes afternoon anchor Kate Bolduan. “And those conversations lasted all of 10 minutes. Maybe I am cynical, I don’t see it getting better before it gets worse.” [Full story.]( + Bomb threats continue: More suspicious packages have been found, addressed to Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and former National Intelligence Director and current CNN contributor James Clapper. The discoveries brought to 12 the total number of devices [addressed]( in recent days to Democratic figures. Village Roadshow's New CEO TV shift?: Former Sony Pictures Television chairman Steve Mosko has landed at Village Roadshow Entertainment Group, where he will serve as chairman, Pamela McClintock reports: + Co-sounder's departure: He succeeds Greg Basser, who co-founded VREG and Village Roadshow Pictures two decades ago. Bruce Berman, chairman-CEO of Village Roadshow Pictures, will report to Mosko. Basser will remain a consultant to VREG as the company continues its growth strategy in China through Perfect Village Entertainment, its partnership with China’s Perfect World. + New focus?: Mosko's arrival at Village Roadshow signals that the company could be upping its presence in television. For years, Village Roadshow has focused on film production and financing, with strong ties to Warner Bros. [Full story.]( Elsewhere in film... ► STX calls off Hong Kong IPO. The studio had hoped [to raise]( up to $500 million of new capital. Asian markets have been particularly volatile this year due to political and economic headwinds, not least the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has fallen 20 percent in value since April. ► Lionsgate names Matt Leonetti head of physical movie production. The former Sony Pictures exec [will oversee]( work on the studio's feature film pipeline. Leonetti arrives at Lionsgate after a shake-up at the Motion Picture Group that included Kahane becoming president of the studio division, a move that brought the former Mandate Pictures president back together with Joe Drake. ► Clueless remake in the works from GLOW, Girls Trip writers. Paramount Studios is [hiring]( Marquita Robinson, a writer and story editor on Netflix’s series, to pen the script for an update to be produced by Tracy Oliver, Borys Kit reports. Oliver is best known for writing the smash comedy Girls Trip. ► Short Term 12 director to adapt Scott McCloud's The Sculptor graphic novel. Destin Daniel Cretton, playwright Michael Mitnick and 21 Laps have [teaming]([up]( to adapt the graphic novel, which has been picked up by Warner Bros. ► UTA promotes nine to agent. The agency on Thursday announced that nine coordinators and one assistant have been promoted to agent and executive posts across nine divisions in Los Angeles and New York. [Details.]( ► Russian legislator disrupts opening ceremony of LGBTQ film festival. Vitaly Milonov, known for his homophobic stance, made [false claims]( about hostage-taking at the venue. [Quoted:]( "Two weeks, that’s all [Martin Scorsese] could get as his theatrical window [for The Irishmen]. And the Netflix doesn’t care about theatrical windows. The studios are collapsing. Netflix is the new model." — Paul Schrader, on Netflix's theatrical disruption. ^Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald tracking for healthy U.S. launch. With three weeks left to go before the sequel opens on Nov. 16, tracking services show the pre-Thanksgiving event film [debuting]( in the $63 million-$75 million range in North America, Pamela McClintock reports. Casting call... ► Idris Elba, Tilda Swinton to star in George Miller's epic love story Three Thousand Years of Longing. Details are scarce, but the love story is said to involve a genie. It is also [unclear]( what characters Elba and Swinton are playing. ► Jamie Lee Curtis joining Rian Johnson's Knives Out. The Halloween star joins the murder mystery's cast that [includes]( Daniel Craig and Chris Evans. ► Alexander Skarsgard joins Godzilla vs. Kong cast. Adam Wingard will direct a cast that also [includes]( Julian Dennison, Brian Tyree Henry and Demian Bichir. The film is slated for release on May 22, 2020, and will follow Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which is set to bow May 31, 2019. ► Anya Taylor-Joy to star in Jane Austen adaptation Emma. Music video director Autumn de Wilde is making her feature directorial [debut]( on the feature, which has a script by Man Booker Prize winner Eleanor Catton. ► Roberto Benigni to play Geppetto in Matteo Garrone’s Pinocchio. The Oscar-winning Italian actor [made]( his own version of Pinocchio in 2002. Garrone's new version of the Italian classic will start shooting in the beginning of 2019 in locations across Italy, including Lazio, Tuscany and Puglia. On the festival circuit... ► Hamptons Doc Fest sets opening films, Sheila Nevins tribute. The festival will open on Nov. 29 with Jeff Kaufman's Every Act of Life, a film about Terrence McNally. [Details.]( Musical notes... ► Ariana Grande reveals Sweetener world tour dates. The singer will kick off her global tour next March in Albany, New York. [Schedule.]( ► Judge won't rule out reputational damage from Kendrick Lamar's "All the Stars" video. Lina Iris Viktor, a British-Liberian artist, [moves forward]( in her copyright lawsuit over 19 seconds in the video that display her distinctive paintings, which included Egyptian and African symbolism and gold leaf and black paint. From the stage... ► Martin McDonagh's A Very Very Very Dark Matter. "The play bubbles, boils and troubles up a gothic pastiche with horror components — ghastly and often amusing in the author's inimical curse-strewn, black-comedy style," Leslie Felperin writes. "But it's also a frightful mess, a mad scientist's half-vivified monster mash-up that's hard to love, although not impossible to admire." [Full review.]( Coming attractions... ► Trailer: Natalie Portman stars as provocative pop star in Vox Lux. Jude Law, Raffey Cassidy, Jennifer Ehle, Willem Dafoe, Maria Dizzia and Christopher Abbott also star in the Brady Corbet film. [Watch.]( ► Trailer: Liam Neeson avenges son's death in actioner Cold Pursuit. Summit Entertainment's frosty thriller will hit theaters Feb 8, 2019. [Watch.]( ► Trailer: Chris Pine leads men into battle to reclaim Scotland in Outlaw King. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Florence Pugh, Billy Howle, Tony Curran and Stephen Dillane round out the cast of the David Mackenzie-directed film. [Watch.]( 22 July editor explains film's political resonance in Behind the Screen podcast. The script "has so many important things to say about the rise of the alt-right, about gun control, about violence against children and teenagers," says Oscar-winning editor William Goldenberg. [Listen]( | [Subscribe]( Paramount Network Shake-Up New era: Kent Alterman is adding Paramount Network to his purview as Kevin Kay, who was hand-picked to oversee Paramount Network during its rebranding from Spike, is out after more than two decades with the media conglomerate, Lesley Goldberg reports: + Shuffling organization: In a memo to staff Thursday, Viacom CEO Bob Bakish said the company is restructuring its Viacom Media Networks, consolidating the brand groups from five to four: Comedy Central, Paramount Network and TV Land in one; MTV, VH1, CMT and Logo in the second; BET Networks as the third; and Nickelodeon as the fourth. + Who's in charge?: Alterman will oversee Paramount Network, Bellator and TV Land alongside Comedy Central. MTV, VH1 and Logo president Chris McCarthy will add oversight of CMT. BET and Nickelodeon will remain as is. Bakish noted Thursday in his memo that a "number of senior level colleagues will be leaving," including Kay, who will remain on to help ensure a smooth transition to Alterman. [Full story.]( All eyes on 30 Rock... ► Megyn Kelly's exit plan. Sources told NBC News' Claire Atkinson and Dylan Byers on Thursday night that "conversations have already started about Megyn's exit from the network." The news was [discussed]( on Friday morning's Today show. [[NBC News](] * Fox News return unlikely. "A source close to Lachlan Murdoch, C.E.O. of Fox News’s parent company 'New Fox,' said he is 'extremely pleased with the current lineup.'" [[Vanity Fair](] Inside Reed Hastings' machine... -> Netflix's culture of unrelenting transparency. Shalini Ramachandran and Joe Flint detail the inner workings of the streaming giant, from its big apology meetings, firing postmortems and the effects of its "keeper test." * Swift firings. "An HR representative came in, discussed [Ernie] Tam’s severance package and took his laptop. 'I just left the office and never came back,' Mr. Tam said. 'For a period of six years, I was a star performer, then all of a sudden I was not.'” [[The Wall Street Journal](] Earnings are in... ► Snapchat loses 2 million daily active users. The company grew revenue by 43 percent to around $298 million during the third quarter. In his prepared remarks, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel [attributed]( the decline to Android phone users and said that the company is working on a new version of the app for that platform. ► Amazon & Alphabet stock down in after-hours trading. Amazon stock was off 6 percent after it reported revenue of $56.6 billion in the third quarter and earnings of $5.75 a share. Sales [were short]( of the expectations of analysts. Alphabet stock was off 4 percent after reporting $13.06 in earnings per share, better than what Wall Street was expecting, on revenue of $33.7 billion, which was slightly less than expected. ► Charter loses 66,000 pay TV subs in Q3. Charter [posted]( third quarter per-share earnings of 2.14 cents on overall revenue up 4.2 percent to $10.89 billion. That beat an analyst forecast from Thomson Reuters of earnings at $ 1.04 per share, but missed on a $10.94 billion estimate in revenue. Charter last year posted per-share earnings of 19 cents, on $10.46 billion in revenue. Elsewhere in TV... ► CBS' Moonves investigation update: "Some former CBS employees bound by the more or less routine nondisclosure agreements expressed the worry that, by speaking with the lawyers, they could open themselves up to being sued by CBS." [[New York Times](] ► ABC comedy chief Jamila Hunter exits for Kenya Barris' Khalabo Ink. Hunter will be president of television for the Black-ish creator's Khalabo Ink Society. Hunter has been senior vp comedy at ABC since 2016, [having joined]( the network as vp comedy in 2011. ► Courtney Kemp prepping Power spinoffs as part of new Lionsgate deal. The multi-year deal [includes]( "several" commitments from Starz to develop series through her End of Episode company, including potential spinoffs of Power — or as Lionsgate puts it, "projects inspired by the world of" the series. ► Elizabeth Trotman named managing director at Studiocanal UK. Trotman [moves]( to Studiocanal's London office from Australia, where she has been CEO of Studiocanal Australia & New Zealand since 2016. ► HBO to staff all sex scenes with intimacy coordinator. After piloting the practice on The Deuce, the cable network will be [enlisting]( a professional to ensure standards and prevent abuse during all sexual scenes on-set. ► Grand theft investigated at studio hosting Star Wars TV show The Mandalorian. Authorities were unable to confirm what was taken in the grand theft. A source with knowledge of the situation said the items taken were not [substantive](. ► Star Trek animated comedy a go with two-season order at CBS All Access. CBS TV Studios [will launch]( an animated production arm with the series, which hails from Rick and Morty's Mike McMahan and franchise captain Alex Kurtzman. ► Fox News unveils launch date, price for new streaming service. Fox Nation, [debuting]( Nov. 27, will cost $5.99 per month. "We are incredibly excited to bring our viewers exclusive access, content and experiences from our Fox News stars at an attainable price," said senior vp development and production John Finley. ► Final season of Broad City gets premiere date. The 10-episode fifth season of Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson's comedy [returns]( Jan. 24 on Comedy Central. [Quoted:]( "[Megyn Kelly] made some mistakes and now she's suffering the consequences. But I also think that it is partially the fault of the people who hired her. Because Megyn’s record, how she feels about things, she says she’s not PC, it’s there. All you have to do is do a Google search." — Don Lemon, on the Kelly's blackface controversy. ^Broadcast TV hits record percentage of LGBTQ regulars, study finds. For the first time in the history of GLAAD's Where We Are on TV report, LGBTQ characters of color also outnumber those that are white, Katie Kilkenny reports: + The numbers: LGBTQ characters make up 8.8 percent of all regular characters this season, up 2.4 percent from the 2017-18 season, which was the record. Among those characters, 22 percent are black, 8 percent Latinx and 8 percent Asian Pacific Islander, which represents a historical high for black characters and a tie with last year's findings on Latinx characters. [Full results.]( * 2020 challenge: GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis joined Arrow exec producer Greg Berlanti and Pose showrunner Steven Canals, among others, to discuss the findings of GLAAD's latest representation report at UTA on Thursday, where she [pushed]( for a 10 percent mark in two years. * Murphy Brown premiere is TV's top show among LGBTQ viewers. Ratings provider Nielsen is expanding the [reporting]( of its national survey to include same-gender couples. Digital digest... ► How Google protected its "Father of Android." Andy Rubin was accused of sexual assault by a woman with whom he was having an affair. Google found the claim credible and encouraged Rubin's resignation, as well as giving him a $90 million exit package, Daisuke Wakabayashi and Katie Benner report. [[New York Times](] Casting call... ► Emma Thompson to star in HBO-BBC limited series Years & Years. The six-part series from Russell T. Davies (Doctor Who) [will follow]( a family surviving the near future in the U.K. ► Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Billy Crudup join Apple morning-show drama. Picked up with a two-season, 20-episode order, the project [will offer]( an inside look at the lives of the people who help America wake up in the morning. Ratings notes... ► Modern Family gets death bump. The sitcom [earned]( a 1.5 rating among adults 18-49, best among scripted shows for the night and up from 1.3 a week ago. All four ABC comedies had their best showing since premiere week, with The Goldbergs (1.3) and Single Parents (1.1) each improving by two-tenths of a point and American Housewife (1.1) rising a tenth. Drama A Million Little Things held at 0.8. Legal briefs... ► FCC rejects call for hearing on CBS "news distortion." The opportunity to assess CBS' "character" came as a result of the merger between CBS Radio and Entercom. The transaction meant a transfer of licenses, which [necessitated]( the FCC's review. ► Fox News tells Supreme Court to reject TVEyes petition. Looking to get the high court interested, TVEyes says it is [presenting]( an "exceptionally important question" on how to balance copyright with the First Amendment right to criticize and comment about what is said in the media. Saudi backlash... ► WWE to stage wrestling event in Saudi Arabia despite Kashoggi scandal. The TV wrestling giant said it faced a ["difficult decision"]( to return to Riyadh, "considering the heinous crime" involving the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi. Talking points... ► Michael Avenatti's controversial 2020 Democratic nominee remarks. The lawyer and potential presidential nominee spoke to Time magazine: "When you have a white male [making the arguments](, they carry more weight. Should they carry more weight? Absolutely not. But do they? Yes." ► Caitlyn Jenner was "wrong" to think Trump could help with LGBTQ issues. In a new op-ed for The Washington Post, Jenner says her "outlook has changed" since she first came out as a trans woman and has "learned and continue[s] to learn." [Read.]( L.A. city attorney declines Tom Arnold's assault case against Mark Burnett. The actor and host filed charges against the Apprentice producer in September after a scuffle [broke out]( between the two men at a pre-Emmys party. "Hate Crime-Adjacent" Inexcusable ignorance: The network’s news division is complicit in the racism of its highly paid anchor, and yes, Megyn Kelly should be fired, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar writes: + Faulty logic: For a popular public figure with a law degree, she really is way too comfortable ignoring simple logic. Her statement is the common logical fallacy of “appeal to tradition” that suggests that because something happened in the past, it’s good, true, or beneficial. Like bleeding people when they’re sick, or women not voting, or slavery. Nostalgia is not an excuse for promoting bad behavior. + No excuses: Should she be fired? In the best of all possible worlds, yes. Either she deliberately was racist in order to juice her flagging ratings, or she was too dumb to know it was racist, which is inexcusable for a newsperson. Either reason is grounds for dismissal. However, this is not the best of all possible worlds and NBC might have sent her a mixed message when hiring her. [Full column.]( What else we're reading... — "The untold story of lost star River Phoenix – 25 years after his death." Hadley Freeman reports: "Phoenix still saw it as his role to save people ... 'But when he needed help, they didn’t help him. In fact, in some cases, it was the opposite,' says [former girlfriend Samantha Mathis]." [[The Guardian](] — "Ed Catmull's Pixar Retirement Is An Opportunity." Angela Watercutter contends: "If the company brings on the next generation of storytellers and innovators, they'll be able to find out what the company needs to invent next." [[WIRED](] — "Jerry Seinfeld on Louis C.K., Roseanne and Tense Times in Comedy." Dave Itzkoff interviews the comic: "The thing I think that’s new for people — let’s take Roseanne and [Bill] Cosby — is the suddenness and the precipitous fall. So much work, gone so fast. We’re upset at the speed of it, because it’s new." [[New York Times](] — "When Trump Makes Your Largely Forgotten Movie Urgent Again." David Sims considers Doug Liman's film about Scooter Libby: "The themes that [drew] me to Fair Game in the first place are way more relevant today than when we released the film: talking truth to power, an all-powerful White House, and what happens to people that challenge that.” [[The Atlantic](] — "The Best Teen Witches of Pop Culture." Jessica MacLeish details, from Buffy to Sabrina: "There’s no more appropriate way to catalogue teen witches in all their high-school glory than a yearbook, complete with superlatives and senior quotes, so get to know the class of 1989, class of 2018, and every teen witch in between." [[Vulture](] What else we're watching... + "Tiffany Haddish bonded with Tyler Perry about living in their cars." [[Tonight Show](] + "Gayle King think Megyn Kelly 'stepped in it.'" [[Late Show](] + "Daniel Kaluuya's mom doesn't understand his success." [[Jimmy Kimmel](] + "Emma Stone lost both contacts during a theater performance." [[Graham Norton](] From the archives... + On Oct. 26, 1984, Arnold Schwarzenegger was unleashed as The Terminator, James Cameron's gripping sci-fi thriller. In the actor's first villainous turn, Schwarzenegger brought a previously unseen horror to his action movies: "The havoc makes for a genuine steel metal trap of a movie that may very well be the best picture of its kind since The Road Warrior." [Flashback review.]( Today's birthdays: Jon Heder, 41, Seth MacFarlane, 45, Rosemarie DeWitt, 47, Anthony Rapp, 47, Tom Cavanagh, 55, Cary Elwes, 56, Dylan McDermott, 57, Rita Wilson, 62, James Pickens Jr., 64, Pat Sajak, 72. Follow The News Is this email not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2018 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Preferences]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Use]( October 26, 2018