Back-to-Work Dilemma; Disney's 100M Milestone; Jennifer Garner THR Cover; HFPA Reform

[The Hollywood Reporter]( Today In Entertainment MARCH 10, 2021 What's news: Will Hollywood require vaccines to get back to work? Americans demand day-and-date streaming movies, Disney+ passes 100 million subscribers as Disneyland targets late April reopening, Time's Up releases HFPA recommendations, a notable new Steven Spielberg feature, Piers Morgan exits ITV after royal fallout. Plus: How retail traders delivered a $450 million windfall to entertainment giants, and Jennifer Garner's THR cover. --Alex Weprin [The Queen Of Nice] The Queen Of Nice ►On the cover: Jennifer Garner on rededicating herself to acting, co-parenting with Ben Affleck and prospects of an Alias reboot. The Yes Day star knows that the vulnerability she projects is a magnet for invasive fans and aggressive paparazzi, but cynical is just not her style, Lacey Rose writes: "I see people and I think, 'Oh. What am I going to learn from them?'” --On becoming a tabloid target: "We lived down a street that was chock-a-block full of actors, much more successful and famous and decorated than me, including Ben, and they'd all go by one by one, no problem, and then I'd go do a school run and it'd be 15 cars going with me. I never had a day without them, and if I did, if I made it to a park by hiding in the bottom of the pool man's truck or something, then a nanny would see me there and call a number and they'd swarm." --"Garner has every intention of producing more, too — partially because she's enjoyed the experience on films like Butter and Yes Day, and partially because she has pals like Reese Witherspoon in her ear, going: 'Don't think that people are out there writing for women in their mid- to late 40s.' Already she has TV dramas, musicals and thrillers in various stages of development, though half the time Garner says she can't believe she's even working at all. 'It's a very hungry, greedy career and a very unforgiving one,' she tells me, 'and for someone who has chosen family way more often than I probably should have, I can't believe I'm still here.'" [The cover story](. [Will Hollywood Embrace Vaccine Passports?] Will Hollywood Embrace Vaccine Passports? ►Will Hollywood require COVID-19 vaccinations for workers? With vaccines expected to arrive for all U.S. adults by the end of May, the entertainment industry may need to devise new guidelines for on-set and workplace safety as challenges loom, Eriq Gardner, Ashley Cullins and Bryn Sandberg write. --Vaccination will likely be strongly encouraged by studios, and even if it’s on a voluntary basis, professionals can imagine scenarios where there will be perks for those who, say, carry a QR code on their phone to indicate they’ve been vaccinated. On a set, perhaps proof of vaccination will eventually substitute for tests and masks. “It seems to me that the COVID passports are going to become part of our everyday life at some point,” says Tricia Legittino, co-chair of Frankfurt Kurnit’s litigation and employment groups. “If you want to get on an airplane, you’re probably going to have to have one. If you want to go to a movie, you’re probably going to have to have one.” [The story](. ►What Americans want from streaming: Day-and-date movies. That path, taken by WarnerMedia's HBO Max, has caused a backlash within Hollywood from filmmakers and theater chains. Yet it may be what the public is looking for. New films drive purchase consideration for potential subscribers, a pair of Hollywood Reporter/Morning Consult polls finds. [The details](. On the topic of of streaming... ►Disney+ has passed 100 million paid subscribers after just 16 months, CEO Bob Chapek announced during the company's annual shareholder meeting. "The enormous success of Disney+ — which has now surpassed 100 million subscribers — has inspired us to be even more ambitious, and to significantly increase our investment in the development of high-quality content," Chapek said. "In fact, we set a target of 100+ new titles per year, and this includes Disney Animation, Disney Live Action, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. Our direct-to-consumer business is the Company’s top priority, and our robust pipeline of content will continue to fuel its growth." [The story](. +Meanwhile: Disneyland is anticipated to reopen in late April, Chapek also said Tuesday. Chapek added that about 10,000 furloughed park employees would be recalled. [More](. +And: Asked by a caller during the Q&A portion if Disney had a "black list," insinuating that Gina Carano, by name, was targeted for her conservative politics, Chapek responded that he does not see Disney as "left-leaning or right-leaning" and that Disney stands “for values that are universal: Values of respect, values of decency, values of integrity and values of inclusion. And we seek to have the content that we make reflective of the rich diversity of the world we live in. And I think that’s a world we should all live in harmony and peace.” [More](. ►Time's Up releases recommendations for HFPA to address diversity, ethical issues. The Time's Up recommendations are sweeping and ambitious and begin with calling for the resignation of the entire existing HFPA membership, Rebecca Sun writes. Current members may reapply after one year under new application criteria, which would require at least five years of "credible" journalism experience and 30 published (broadcast, print, online and/or radio) pieces of coverage from the last five years (the current criteria is 24 from the past three years). Lifetime membership should be abolished, declared Time's Up, and members need to publish at least 10 pieces of coverage (up from six) per calendar year to retain voting rights and reapply for the organization every 10 years. [The story](. +The HFPA responded with some details for its own proposed reforms, including the hiring of outside counsel, and an audit of its culture. [More](. ►Movie theaters increasingly bet on family films amid reopening. With 45 percent of theaters now open stateside, exhibitors count on all-ages titles like Croods: A New Age and Raya and the Last Dragon to have long runs, Pamela McClintock reports. --“Obviously, the most important thing is that we have a quality film which plays really well with kids and families,” Universal Filmed Entertainment Group vice chairman and chief distribution chief Peter Levinsohn tells THR. “I also believe that we had a smart release strategy that allowed us to take advantage of two holidays — Thanksgiving and Christmas — with no other new releases targeting kids over the past few months.” [The story](. +Los Angeles movie theaters may be only days away from reopening, albeit with a host of safety protocols including 25 percent capacity or no more than 100 people in any auditorium. On Tuesday, based on Gov. Gavin Newsom's reopening plan, the county moved from the purple tier to the less-restrictive red tier after the number of COVID-19 cases eased. If that trend holds for one more week, cinemas will be allowed to reopen in time for the weekend of March 19-21. [More](. In other film news... +Steven Spielberg and Michelle Williams are teaming for coming-of-age drama. Spielberg wrote the script with frequent collaborator Tony Kushner and will direct the project, which is loosely based on the filmmaker's formative years growing up in Arizona, Borys Kit reports. [The story](. +Borderlands addition: Florian Munteanu, who played Viktor Drago in Creed II, is in final negotiations to join Eli Roth’s high-flying adaptation of popular video game Borderlands for Lionsgate. The boxer-turned-actor will join an A-list call sheet that includes Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jack Black and The One and Only Ivan’s Arianna Greenblatt in the project that brings to life Gearbox Software and 2K’s first-person shooter game. [More](. +In other movie news: Elizabeth Banks has found her next directorial project with a bear-centric horror-comedy that has Phil Lord and Chris Miller set to produce. Universal is behind Cocaine Bear that is based on an untitled spec written by Jimmy Warden that is inspired by true events that took place in Kentucky in 1985. [More](. [The Big Score] The Big Score ►A month before GameStop, retail traders delivered a $450 million windfall to entertainment giants. Discovery, AMC Networks, ViacomCBS and Comcast were among the companies that have cashed out equity stakes in the multichannel streaming provider FuboTV, to the tune of $450 million and counting. [The story](. ►Langdon is on the move. Based on the character in Dan Brown's best-seller The Lost Symbol, the drama that was picked up to pilot last year at NBC is moving to its streaming sibling, Peacock, with a series order. Ashley Zukerman (HBO's Succession) stars as Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon in the drama. He takes on a role played by Tom Hanks in three movies based on Brown's novels — The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons and Inferno. [The story](. In other TV news... +Angela Robinson is also on the move. The writer, producer and director has signed an exclusive multiple-year overall deal with Warner Bros. Television, moving her home base from Paramount TV Studios. Sources tell lesley Goldberg that J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot partner Katie McGrath — who are also based at the studio — personally recruited Robinson to Warner Bros. TV, with the studio paying her in the low eight-figure range all-in. [The story](. +CBS is sticking with The Equalizer. The network has renewed the Queen Latifah-led reboot of its 1980s series for a second season in 2021-22. The pickup comes just four episodes into its first season, which began with a post-Super Bowl premiere and has put up solid ratings since. [More](. +ABC has ordered a pilot for a political drama centered on an Indigenous woman. The project, Dark Horse, is based on an Australian series titled Total Control. Stumptown veteran William Jehu Garroutte, a citizen of the Cherokee nation, is writing the script and will be an executive producer. Jessica Goldberg will serve as showrunner. [More](. +NBC is looking at a return to business as usual in the summer. The network has set premiere dates for its flagship summer franchises American Ninja Warrior and America's Got Talent, along with the third season of crafting competition Making It. All three will premiere the week of May 31, giving NBC original programming on at least three nights in the weeks leading up to the Olympics in Tokyo. [More](. +Fox is launching a digital partner show to America's Most Wanted. The show will be hosted by Nancy Grace and stream on Fox Nation. Grace has also signed a multi-year deal with the streaming service operated by Fox News. ►Royal interview fallout: A day after Oprah Winfrey's explosive interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the British Royal Family has [issued a brief statement](... Piers Morgan [is leaving]( his Good Morning Britain breakfast news show on U.K. network ITV. The news was announced just an hour after it was revealed broadcasting regulator Ofcom [was investigating]( the host following comments he made about Meghan Markle on Monday's episode... Morgan later [stood by his comments](, and it was revealed that Markle hrself [complained to ITV](... ►Berlin Market wrap: Netflix spending spree, indie resurgence. Independent distributors worldwide, buoyed by vaccine rollouts and the promise of theaters reopening, looked ready to go all-in on major projects, Scott Roxborough reports. --"The bidding has been quite aggressive," said Olivier van den Broeck, managing partner at Benelux distributor The Searchers, which pre-bought several titles, including Better Man, In the Lost Lands and Black Flies out of Berlin. "If we've learned anything from the past few months it's that if your slate is strong enough if the movies are good enough, you'll be able to move forward." [The story](. Awards roundup: The Directors Guild of America on Tuesday [announced]( the feature-film and first-time director nominees for the 2021 DGA Awards... Judas and the Black Messiah [took top honors]( from the African American Film Critics Association, the world's largest group of Black film critics... The Weeknd's After Hours album, with hit singles “Blinding Lights” and “Save Your Tears" riding high on the Billboard charts, propelled the Canadian singer, songwriter and record producer to the top spot as the [most nominated artist]( at the 2021 Juno Awards... Lynzee Klingman, whose credits include One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and A River Runs Through It; and Sidney Wolinsky, whose work includes The Shape of Water and The Sopranos series finale, will [receive career achievement awards]( during American Cinema Editors' 71st annual ACE Eddie Awards... +Related: Here's Scott Feinberg's [analysis of the DGA races](. ►TV review: Daniel Fienberg reviews Last Chance U: Basketball, writing that "the Last Chance U formula transfers to hoops without an iota of degradation and that this new incarnation becomes something simultaneously the same and very different from its predecessors. It's one of 2021's early standouts for all of the reasons you expect and a few you don't see coming." [The review](. ►Film review: John DeFore reviews Netflix's Yes Day, writing that "It's not impossible that there are Netflix households, a year into the pandemic, in which this flat-footed adaptation of Amy Krouse Rosenthal's kids' book will pass for a good time. Those families probably need a shakeup even more than the one in the film." [The review](. Casting roundup: Dove Cameron, Chloe Bennet and Yana Perrault have been [tapped to star]( in the network's live-action take on the Powerpuff Girls...Gina Rodriguez, Jake Johnson and youngster Kesler Talbot [will star]( in the live-action portion of the limited family drama serie Ollie's Odyssey... Annie Murphy is moving out of Schitt's Creek. The Schitt's Creek Emmy winner has [joined the season two cast]( of Netflix's Russian Doll... Dominique Fishback [will star]( alongside Samuel L. Jackson in The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, Apple Studios’ adaptation of the best-selling novel by Walter Mosley... HBO Max is [staging a mini-Lost reunion]( on its forthcoming series Duster. Josh Holloway has signed on to star in the drama from LaToya Morgan and Lost co-creator J.J. Abrams... Obituary: Roger Mudd, the Peabody Award-winning journalist who spent a quarter-century at CBS News and NBC News and came close to becoming a No. 1 network anchorman — not that he wanted that, anyway — has died. He was 93. [The obituary](. In other news... --Wrapbook, a payroll services startup aiming to compete with business such as Cast & Crew, [raised $27 million]( Series A Round of financing led by Jeffrey Katzenberg’s WndrCo, Michael Ovitz, Andreessen Horowitz, Equal Ventures and Uncork Capital. --Fox Corp. chief financial officer Steve Tomsic predicts the ad revenue from his company's Tubi streaming service [will soon surpass]( the ad revenue generated from its linear Fox broadcast entertainment network. --Thursday March 11 will mark one year since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. To mark the grim anniversary, [NBC News has set a primetime special](, to be anchored from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. by NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt, and Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie. What else we're reading... --"Flooded with Hollywood and media workers, Pasadena cancels COVID-19 vaccine clinic" [[LA Times](] --"The man behind Britain's anti-'woke' GB News channel explains how he plans to revolutionize TV news in the UK" [[Insider](] --"For creators, everything is for sale" [[NY Times](] --"Jonah Peretti lays off 47 HuffPost staffers in latest 'bloodbath.'” [[Defector](] --"NFTs explained: What’s driving prices for LeBron James and Kings of Leon digital collectibles" [[WSJ](] Today's birthdays: Timbaland, 49, Carrie Underwood, 38, Olivia Wilde, 37, Jon Hamm, 50, Paget Brewster, 52. [Image] [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2021 The Hollywood Reporter, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC. 11175 Santa Monica Boulevard Los Angeles, CA, 90025 All rights reserved. MARCH 10, 2021 [UNSUBSCRIBE]( [MANAGE PREFERENCES]( [PRIVACY POLICY]( [TERMS OF USE](