'Jumanji' To Outplay 'Jewell'; 'Power Rangers' Reboot; NBCU's Next CEO; Streamy Award Winners

What's news: Jumanji: The Next Level should handily win the weekend box office, with both Richard Jewell and Black Christmas underperforming in early results, there's a Power Rangers reboot in the works at Paramount, Jeff Shell poised to succeed Steve Burke at NBCUniversal, an astronaut comedy is in the works at NBC. Plus: The winners from The Streamy Awards, and remembering Danny Aiello. --Alex Weprin [The Hollywood Reporter]( [The Hollywood Reporter]( Today In Entertainment DECEMBER 14, 2019 What's news: Jumanji: The Next Level should handily win the weekend box office, with both Richard Jewell and Black Christmas underperforming in early results, there's a Power Rangers reboot in the works at Paramount, Jeff Shell poised to succeed Steve Burke at NBCUniversal, an astronaut comedy is in the works at NBC. Plus: The winners from The Streamy Awards, and remembering Danny Aiello. --Alex Weprin What's news: Jumanji: The Next Level should handily win the weekend box office, with both Richard Jewell and Black Christmas underperforming in early results, there's a Power Rangers reboot in the works at Paramount, Jeff Shell poised to succeed Steve Burke at NBCUniversal, an astronaut comedy is in the works at NBC. Plus: The winners from The Streamy Awards, and remembering Danny Aiello. --Alex Weprin ['Jumanji' To Outplay 'Richard Jewell'] 'Jumanji' To Outplay 'Richard Jewell' Box office: Sony's year-end event pic Jumanji: The Next Level is off to a solid start at the weekend box office. The Dwayne Johnson-Kevin Hart sequel will have no trouble topping the chart despite a crowded marquee that also includes new offerings Richard Jewell, from director Clint Eastwood, and slasher remake Black Christmas, both of which are coming in well behind expectations at this early stage and could open to less than $6 million. [The early numbers](. +How the Jumanji sequel leveled up its marketing. Sony's campaign featured multiple game tie-ins, holiday themed promos, a sing-along and one wedding crashing viral moment. [The story](. ►A Power Rangers reboot is in the works. Jonathan Entwistle perhaps best known for creating Netflix series The End of the F---ing World, is taking on Power Rangers, a new version of the colorful family adventure franchise, this time set up at Paramount Pictures. --Lionsgate produced and released a feature in 2017 that rebooted the title, making it less kid-friendly and giving it a more brooding YA edge. The movie bombed, grossing only $142 million worldwide on a budget of around $100 million, and plans for a series of films scrapped. Now in Paramount’s court, Rangers is getting rebooted once more, in a way that hopes to bring the franchise to its roots. [The story](. Elsewhere in film... --The music documentary [market booms](: "It's a land grab right now." --Paramount chief Jim Gianopulos [was at the Vatican]( on Nov. 14, rubbing elbows with no less an A-lister than Pope Francis. --Luc Besson's EuropaCorp, which is still in bailout talks with Vine Alternative Investments, [posted another $25 million loss]( for the financial period that ended Sept. 30. --How Missing Link filmmakers [blew up an ice bridge]( in stop-motion animation. --How Bombshell's costume designer [transformed]( Charlize Theron into Megyn Kelly. 'Jumanji' To Outplay 'Richard Jewell' Box office: Sony's year-end event pic Jumanji: The Next Level is off to a solid start at the weekend box office. The Dwayne Johnson-Kevin Hart sequel will have no trouble topping the chart despite a crowded marquee that also includes new offerings Richard Jewell, from director Clint Eastwood, and slasher remake Black Christmas, both of which are coming in well behind expectations at this early stage and could open to less than $6 million. [The early numbers](. +How the Jumanji sequel leveled up its marketing. Sony's campaign featured multiple game tie-ins, holiday themed promos, a sing-along and one wedding crashing viral moment. [The story](. ►A Power Rangers reboot is in the works. Jonathan Entwistle perhaps best known for creating Netflix series The End of the F---ing World, is taking on Power Rangers, a new version of the colorful family adventure franchise, this time set up at Paramount Pictures. --Lionsgate produced and released a feature in 2017 that rebooted the title, making it less kid-friendly and giving it a more brooding YA edge. The movie bombed, grossing only $142 million worldwide on a budget of around $100 million, and plans for a series of films scrapped. Now in Paramount’s court, Rangers is getting rebooted once more, in a way that hopes to bring the franchise to its roots. [The story](. Elsewhere in film... --The music documentary [market booms](: "It's a land grab right now." --Paramount chief Jim Gianopulos [was at the Vatican]( on Nov. 14, rubbing elbows with no less an A-lister than Pope Francis. --Luc Besson's EuropaCorp, which is still in bailout talks with Vine Alternative Investments, [posted another $25 million loss]( for the financial period that ended Sept. 30. --How Missing Link filmmakers [blew up an ice bridge]( in stop-motion animation. --How Bombshell's costume designer [transformed]( Charlize Theron into Megyn Kelly. [NBCU's Next CEO?] NBCU's Next CEO? ►Jeff Shell, chairman of NBCUniversal film and entertainment, is expected to succeed NBCU CEO Steve Burke, with an announcement to be unveiled as early as next week. Burke is planning to step down after his contract expires in August 2020, just after NBCUniversal's coverage of the Tokyo Olympics. Shell currently oversees NBC Entertainment, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, Telemundo and NBCUniversal International. [The story](. +Revolving door: Mulan's Yoson An [has signed]( with CAA as well as Platform PR... Keke Palmer and Joel Kim Booster [will host]( the update of the 1990s MTV dating series Singled Out for Quibi... ►Bill Prady reunites with Big Bang NASA veteran for NBC astronaut comedy. After collaborating with NASA veteran Mike Massimino on the CBS hit, Prady is looking to the former astronaut for a scripted comedy inspired by his life for a comedy that has been set up at NBC. NBC has handed out a script order to the half-hour project. [The story](. +Also: ABC is teaming up with an executive producer of One Day at a Time for a comedy centered on a Latinx family. Bridges, from Disney's 20th Century Fox TV and Campanario Entertainment (Netflix's Selena), has a script commitment with penalty at the network. [More](. +And a cancelation: ABC is breaking ties with summer series Reef Break. The network has canceled the drama starring Poppy Montgomery after a single season. The show was one of two scripted series to air on ABC during the summer; the other, Grand Hotel, was also canceled after a single season. [More](. ►Asian American advocacy group calls on NBC to sever ties with Jay Leno. In a statement about the former Tonight Show host, Media Action Network for Asian Americans references Leno's August appearance on America's Got Talent and a racially insensitive joke he made regarding Koreans eating dog meat. [More](. TV Long View: This week Rick Porter looks at the first-year shows that are seeing the biggest gains in delayed viewing. ABC's Stumptown and Emergence and Fox's Prodigal Son are some of the biggest beneficiaries. [The column](. Elsewhere in TV... --As expected, a majority of employees who work for nbcnews.com, today.com, StayTuned, Left Field, msnbc.com and the NBC News Now streaming service have formally voted to certify a union. The final vote was 90-40 in favor of joining the union. --The Streamy Awards [change it up]( with hostless show and no boomer music act. --The Fox Nation streaming service [has acquired]( classic Christmas specials hosted by Frank Sinatra and Johnny Cash. --U.K. Election: Brexit clarity [offers silver linings](for entertainment industry, fears for BBC. --Netflix[is seeking]( a "charter specialist" to book private jets. --Ratings: CBS' Young Sheldon [was down a little bit]( in Thursday's same-day ratings, but it was still the most-watched non-sports show of the night by a sizable margin. Ellen's Greatest Night of Giveaways, meanwhile, closed out a solid three-day run on NBC, and Fox's Thursday Night Football ended its season on the low side. NBCU's Next CEO? ►Jeff Shell, chairman of NBCUniversal film and entertainment, is expected to succeed NBCU CEO Steve Burke, with an announcement to be unveiled as early as next week. Burke is planning to step down after his contract expires in August 2020, just after NBCUniversal's coverage of the Tokyo Olympics. Shell currently oversees NBC Entertainment, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, Telemundo and NBCUniversal International. [The story](. +Revolving door: Mulan's Yoson An [has signed]( with CAA as well as Platform PR... Keke Palmer and Joel Kim Booster [will host]( the update of the 1990s MTV dating series Singled Out for Quibi... ►Bill Prady reunites with Big Bang NASA veteran for NBC astronaut comedy. After collaborating with NASA veteran Mike Massimino on the CBS hit, Prady is looking to the former astronaut for a scripted comedy inspired by his life for a comedy that has been set up at NBC. NBC has handed out a script order to the half-hour project. [The story](. +Also: ABC is teaming up with an executive producer of One Day at a Time for a comedy centered on a Latinx family. Bridges, from Disney's 20th Century Fox TV and Campanario Entertainment (Netflix's Selena), has a script commitment with penalty at the network. [More](. +And a cancelation: ABC is breaking ties with summer series Reef Break. The network has canceled the drama starring Poppy Montgomery after a single season. The show was one of two scripted series to air on ABC during the summer; the other, Grand Hotel, was also canceled after a single season. [More](. ►Asian American advocacy group calls on NBC to sever ties with Jay Leno. In a statement about the former Tonight Show host, Media Action Network for Asian Americans references Leno's August appearance on America's Got Talent and a racially insensitive joke he made regarding Koreans eating dog meat. [More](. TV Long View: This week Rick Porter looks at the first-year shows that are seeing the biggest gains in delayed viewing. ABC's Stumptown and Emergence and Fox's Prodigal Son are some of the biggest beneficiaries. [The column](. Elsewhere in TV... --As expected, a majority of employees who work for nbcnews.com, today.com, StayTuned, Left Field, msnbc.com and the NBC News Now streaming service have formally voted to certify a union. The final vote was 90-40 in favor of joining the union. --The Streamy Awards [change it up]( with hostless show and no boomer music act. --The Fox Nation streaming service [has acquired]( classic Christmas specials hosted by Frank Sinatra and Johnny Cash. --U.K. Election: Brexit clarity [offers silver linings](for entertainment industry, fears for BBC. --Netflix[is seeking]( a "charter specialist" to book private jets. --Ratings: CBS' Young Sheldon [was down a little bit]( in Thursday's same-day ratings, but it was still the most-watched non-sports show of the night by a sizable margin. Ellen's Greatest Night of Giveaways, meanwhile, closed out a solid three-day run on NBC, and Fox's Thursday Night Football ended its season on the low side. [The Streamy Awards] The Streamy Awards The Streamy Awards were held last night at the Beverly Hilton (streamed live on YouTube, natch). Good Mythical Morning took home show of the year, while Tana Mongeau was crowned creator of the year. [The full list of winners](. +Also: Netflix's Marriage Story, starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, [leads this year's](Vancouver Film Critics Circle nominations with a total of five, including acting category nods for the movie's two leads and Laura Dern... International film festival Capri, Hollywood is [set to honor]( the Eddie Murphy starrer Dolemite Is My Name with its best comedy of the year award at its 24th edition... Two Popes to Joker: How [cinematographers captured]( the Sistine Chapel, Joker's dance and more... An ex-APA employee's suit alleging a "sexually abusive environment" moved to arbitration. L.A. Superior Court judge Malcolm Mackey granted APA's motion and denied another from Jane Doe that requested she proceed under a pseudonym and pages that reveal her identity be sealed. Mackey found that the evidence attached to the motion to seal was "a cursory and argumentative declaration of counsel" that is not based on personal knowledge of facts and doesn't meet the state's threshold for sealing. [The story](. +Also: Judge finds The Wrap's contract with reporter to be unlawful. Sharon Waxman falls flat in a poaching suit against The Information just as the entertainment industry witnesses the opposite result in a battle between Fox and Netflix. [More](. +And: Sally Field [was among]( the protesters arrested Friday while she was demonstrating with Jane Fonda's climate change activist group in Washington, D.C... Mad Men actress Christina Hendricks [filed for divorce]( Friday from her husband of 10 years, actor Geoffrey Arend... ^Julie K. Brown and the female collaborator who helped bring down Jeffrey Epstein. Exposing serial sexual abuser Epstein required an intense, concerted effort by Miami Herald's reporter, who led in print, and Emily Michot, who documented victims on video. Tatiana Siegel [has the story](. In gaming news... --Ex-Nintendo chief Reggie Fils-Aimé [on the future of games](: "You're going to be able to play any game on any device at any time." --First-person shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare [repeats its position]( as best-selling game of November and the bestselling game of the year-to-date, according to a new report from industry analysts at Nielsen's NPD Group. Obituary: Danny Aiello, the New York actor and former Greyhound bus employee best known for his Oscar-nominated turn as Sal the pizza-joint owner in Do the Right Thing and for portraying Cher's lovelorn suitor in Moonstruck, has died. He was 86. [The obituary](. +Hollywood stars and public figures took to social media on Friday to pay tribute to Danny Aiello. Spike Lee, Mia Farrow, Michael Rapaport, Matthew Modine and others remember the actor. [More](. ►How Hollywood bosses can be allies in their assistants' pay fight. Beyond a livable wage, employers need to be transparent with workers, deal directly with their creative ambitions and move past a "pay your dues" mindset, screenwriter and community organizer Allison Begalman writes in a guest column. [The column](. What else we're reading... --"Bombshell raises a question: What's Megyn Kelly up to anyway? [[NY Times](] --"'First, you have to do these things I say': Inside Roger Ailes's twisted games of mind control" [[Vanity Fair](] --"How fake accounts pushing inflammatory content went viral -- with the help of YouTube's algorithms" [[CNN Business](] --"Justice Department preparing legal action against Live Nation for ticketing practices" [[WSJ](] Today's birthdays: Michaela Watkins, 48, Vanessa Hudgens, 31, Tori Kelly, 26. The Streamy Awards The Streamy Awards were held last night at the Beverly Hilton (streamed live on YouTube, natch). Good Mythical Morning took home show of the year, while Tana Mongeau was crowned creator of the year. [The full list of winners](. +Also: Netflix's Marriage Story, starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, [leads this year's](Vancouver Film Critics Circle nominations with a total of five, including acting category nods for the movie's two leads and Laura Dern... International film festival Capri, Hollywood is [set to honor]( the Eddie Murphy starrer Dolemite Is My Name with its best comedy of the year award at its 24th edition... Two Popes to Joker: How [cinematographers captured]( the Sistine Chapel, Joker's dance and more... An ex-APA employee's suit alleging a "sexually abusive environment" moved to arbitration. L.A. Superior Court judge Malcolm Mackey granted APA's motion and denied another from Jane Doe that requested she proceed under a pseudonym and pages that reveal her identity be sealed. Mackey found that the evidence attached to the motion to seal was "a cursory and argumentative declaration of counsel" that is not based on personal knowledge of facts and doesn't meet the state's threshold for sealing. [The story](. +Also: Judge finds The Wrap's contract with reporter to be unlawful. Sharon Waxman falls flat in a poaching suit against The Information just as the entertainment industry witnesses the opposite result in a battle between Fox and Netflix. [More](. +And: Sally Field [was among]( the protesters arrested Friday while she was demonstrating with Jane Fonda's climate change activist group in Washington, D.C... Mad Men actress Christina Hendricks [filed for divorce]( Friday from her husband of 10 years, actor Geoffrey Arend... ^Julie K. Brown and the female collaborator who helped bring down Jeffrey Epstein. Exposing serial sexual abuser Epstein required an intense, concerted effort by Miami Herald's reporter, who led in print, and Emily Michot, who documented victims on video. Tatiana Siegel [has the story](. In gaming news... --Ex-Nintendo chief Reggie Fils-Aimé [on the future of games](: "You're going to be able to play any game on any device at any time." --First-person shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare [repeats its position]( as best-selling game of November and the bestselling game of the year-to-date, according to a new report from industry analysts at Nielsen's NPD Group. Obituary: Danny Aiello, the New York actor and former Greyhound bus employee best known for his Oscar-nominated turn as Sal the pizza-joint owner in Do the Right Thing and for portraying Cher's lovelorn suitor in Moonstruck, has died. He was 86. [The obituary](. +Hollywood stars and public figures took to social media on Friday to pay tribute to Danny Aiello. Spike Lee, Mia Farrow, Michael Rapaport, Matthew Modine and others remember the actor. [More](. ►How Hollywood bosses can be allies in their assistants' pay fight. Beyond a livable wage, employers need to be transparent with workers, deal directly with their creative ambitions and move past a "pay your dues" mindset, screenwriter and community organizer Allison Begalman writes in a guest column. [The column](. What else we're reading... --"Bombshell raises a question: What's Megyn Kelly up to anyway? [[NY Times](] --"'First, you have to do these things I say': Inside Roger Ailes's twisted games of mind control" [[Vanity Fair](] --"How fake accounts pushing inflammatory content went viral -- with the help of YouTube's algorithms" [[CNN Business](] --"Justice Department preparing legal action against Live Nation for ticketing practices" [[WSJ](] Today's birthdays: Michaela Watkins, 48, Vanessa Hudgens, 31, Tori Kelly, 26. [Image] [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2019 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. 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