Kevin Spacey's Mounting Legal Troubles; Box Office Traffic Jam; 'How I Met Your' Spinoff; Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot

[The Hollywood Reporter]( Today In Entertainment APRIL 22, 2021 What's news: Kevin Spacey facing a "critical mass" of legal challenges, get ready for a box office traffic jam, Sony inks a major output deal with Disney, HBO Max subscriber update, How I Met Your Father gets the green light at Hulu, LeVar Burton will guest Jeopardy! after all. Plus: International nominees brave travel, tests and quarantine for their Oscar moment, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on this year's nominees, and an anonymous producer reveals their brutally honest Oscar ballot. --Alex Weprin [Kevin Spacey Facing A 'Critical Mass' Of Misconduct Challenges] Kevin Spacey Facing A 'Critical Mass' Of Misconduct Challenges ►Kevin Spacey's strange new world: From triple threat to legal challenges on three fronts. The two-time Oscar winner has reached a "critical mass" of legal challenges over allegations of sexual misconduct that make it unlikely he will ever work again, Tatiana Siegel reports. --"In September 2012, Kevin Spacey injured his hand while holding a burning flag during a promotional shoot for the first season of Netflix's House of Cards. A 20-something production assistant was tasked with driving the star to the hospital. Though Spacey was too wounded to work, he apparently wasn't too impaired to sexually harass. Multiple on-set sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that Spacey groped the PA, who later complained to a superior." "That incident is part of explosive confidential arbitration that pits the disgraced actor against his former employer, Media Rights Capital. In 2019, MRC brought the initial claim against Spacey, seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages suffered as a result of #MeToo revelations about the actor." --"In London, the Metropolitan Police has concluded its investigation of at least six sexual assault claims made against him that took place from 1996 to 2013. Several of the claims stemmed from his decade-plus work reviving and running the Old Vic theater, where he collaborated with such heavyweights as James Earl Jones, Vanessa Redgrave and Sam Mendes, who also directed him in the best actor-winning American Beauty role 21 years ago. The findings, made by Scotland Yard's Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command, have been presented to the Crown Prosecution Service, the British version of a district attorney, which is deciding whether to bring forth criminal charges against Spacey, according to a legal source." [The full story](. ►Sony has struck yet another major streaming and TV deal. Sony Pictures' upcoming theatrical slate, and much of its library, are headed to Disney's streaming and TV platforms. The new deal, which covers Sony's 2022-26 theatrical slate, will bring the films to Disney-owned streaming services Disney+ and Hulu, as well as to Disney's linear TV networks, including ABC, Disney Channels, Freeform, FX and National Geographic. --The deal comes weeks after Netflix and Sony [inked a massive pact]( for Sony's films to go to the streaming service for their first-pay-windows, which usually last 18 months. Once that window expires, the new Disney deal will see Sony's titles hit Disney platforms for their Pay 2 windows. Of note: The deal will bring Sony's Spider-Man films to Disney's platforms, reuniting the Marvel universe. [The story](. +As for that other major streaming service: WarnerMedia’s HBO Max streaming service, backed by streaming of tentpole movies like Godzilla vs. Kong, and HBO ended March with 44.2 million subscribers -- having gained 2.7 million customers sequentially -- and with a combined 63.9 million worldwide subscribers. That is up from 41.5 million total HBO Max and HBO domestic subscribers as of the end of 2020, with direct-to-consumer subscription revenues having risen 35.3 percent year-over-year. A year-ago, WarnerMedia had 33.1 million HBO and HBO Max subscribers and 53.8 million global subscribers. [The story](. [Get Ready For a Busy Box Office] Get Ready For a Busy Box Office ►Coming soon to theaters: "Traffic jam on a box office superhighway." Studios’ delayed, action-oriented features are set to debut within weeks of one another later this year, worrying executives, Pamela McClintock writes. --“We’re squeezing two years into one. The fall is really scary. There is no oxygen," says a studio executive, who predicts more changes due to the pileup. "You normally wouldn’t have so many action films all at once, even if some cross over to other audiences.” [The story](. ►International nominees brave travel, tests and quarantine for their Oscar moment. Many overseas contenders will link in remotely to the 93rd Academy Awards but a surprising number — from Korea, Romanian, Italy and elsewhere — are determined to be there in person. --"I was in Vancouver shooting [AppleTV+ series] Pachinko, and I just returned to Seoul to quarantine for 14 days. I was not even home for an hour when I found out I had been nominated for an Oscar," said South Korean star Yuh-Jung Youn, a best-supporting actress nominee for her performance in Lee Isaac Chung's Minari. "When I got out of quarantine, I had about 1 week to do everything before I had to come to L.A. Now I am back in quarantine in L.A, in advance of the Oscars. I have literally not left the house since arriving. So to me, this experience has been 1 big quarantine!" [The story](. +Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the Academy Awards and representation: "This year, the Oscars got it right." For marginalized groups — in the industry and at home — recognition by the Academy is more than an ego boost or a glamorous diversion but signals to the world that "the lives they live, the struggles they face, are worthy of depicting," writes the THR columnist. --"That's what movies and TV can do for marginalized people — erode the myths and misconceptions that keep them outside the mainstream by conveniently ignoring their contributions. The Oscar nominations announce to billions around the world which stories and storytellers matter. So every time a film is recognized by the Academy, the people represented by that film are also recognized. They become visible." [The column](. +Critics' conversation: Maher, Messiah, Mank and other Oscar odds and ends. THR's David Rooney and Lovia Gyarkye weigh in on what the Oscars mean after a year of despair, offer differing takes on the polarizing Promising Young Woman, and assess the progress and frustrations of an Academy in transition. [The conversation](. +The 2021 Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot: A male member of the Academy’s producers branch explains how one of his favorite directors (Fincher) and his favorite writer (Sorkin) disappointed him and why this year’s Oscars deserves an asterisk. --"This Oscars deserves an asterisk — because of the nature of the past year, with many movies moving off of their dates, it feels like a competition of the best Sundance movies. The fact that The Trial of the Chicago 7 has a chance of winning, given how mediocre and "television" it is, is all the evidence you need for this, and that's why I'm putting it in my last-place slot." [The ballot](. [How I Met Your Spinoff] How I Met Your Spinoff ►Break out the yellow umbrella. After at least three attempts, a sequel series to CBS and 20th Television's How I Met Your Mother has come to fruition. Hulu has handed out a 10-episode, straight-to-series order for How I Met Your Father, with Hilary Duff (Younger) set to star in the comedy. --This Is Us and Love, Victor showrunners Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger will oversee the new series. HIMYM creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas will return and exec produce HIMYF alongside Aptaker and Berger. Duff will be credited as a producer. The now Disney-owned 20th Television will serve as the studio. --Here's Hulu's official logline for HIMYF: "In the near future, Sophie (Duff) is telling her son the story of how she met his father: a story that catapults us back to the year 2021 where Sophie and her close-knit group of friends are in the midst of figuring out who they are, what they want out of life, and how to fall in love in the age of dating apps and limitless options." [The story](. +LeVar Burton is going to guest host Jeopardy! after all. The former Reading Rainbow host and Star Trek: The Next Generation actor was included in the final batch of Jeopardy! guest hosts for the season. --The decision comes after hundreds of thousands of fans lobbied online for Burton to get a shot to potentially replace the late Alex Trebek. The other final guest hosts for season 37 include Good Morning America anchors George Stephanopoulos and Robin Roberts, author and former Jeopardy! champ David Faber and sportscaster Joe Buck. [The story](. +Ratings: A big audience tuned in to see the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd. According to preliminary figures from Nielsen, 18.38 million viewers watched coverage of the verdict across six broadcast and cable networks Tuesday. That figure doesn't include NBC — whose fast national figures weren't available — and will grow some when out-of-home viewing is added in the final ratings. [More](. ►Wasserman Music has been unveiled after Paradigm Talent Agency sold its North American live music representation business to Casey Wasserman’s lifestyle marketing and management firm. Wasserman's new business unit will represent music artists and their development at the intersection of sports, entertainment, lifestyle marketing, culture and music. Wasserman Music’s artist roster includes Ed Sheeran, Kenny Chesney, Billie Eilish, Coldplay, Imagine Dragons, Skrillex, The Lumineers, Lorde, Sturgill Simpson, Black Pumas, Jack Harlow and ODESZA. [The story](. ►Sundance Film Festival favorite CODA has landed an Aug. 13 release on Apple+ and in select theaters, Apple Original Films announced Wednesday. Written and directed by Siân Heder, CODA made history when selling to Apple in a deal worth $25 million, the biggest sale in the festival's history (the previous biggest was the $22 million paid by Neon and Hulu for Palm Springs). [The story](. +In other theatrical news: Imax and Imagine Documentaries — a division of Brian Grazer and Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment — have struck a new, five-picture production and distribution agreement that will marry their longtime interest in the doc space. [More](. +And: Apple Original Films has picked up Number One on the Call Sheet, two documentary features about pioneering Black actors and actresses, with backing from Jamie Foxx, Kevin Hart, Angela Bassett and Halle Berry. [More](. Revolving door: Paramount Pictures [has tapped]( Mika Pryce to join the studio as senior vp of production for the Motion Picture Group... The WWE [has hired]( two former CAA agents: Scott Zanghellini and Alex Varga. Zanghellini will be head of revenue strategy and development for the company, with Varga serving as vp of revenue strategy and development... The British Film Institute [has appointed]( Mia Bays as director of the BFI Film Fund... Paulina Alexis, [set to star]( in the upcoming FX comedy Reservation Dogs, has signed with APA... ►Film review: Frank Scheck reviews Netflix's Stowaway, writing that the film "is more confined and claustrophobic than most films of its type, set entirely aboard the confines of a spaceship and featuring but four characters. That there are four rather than three proves the springboard for the tense scenario in which a crew, manning a rocket bound for Mars, discovers an interloper." [The review](. In other news... --A new Pixar animated short based on the characters in its Oscar-nominated Soul [will debut]( April 30 on Disney+. --Mark Gordon Pictures is [set to produce]( a feature biopic about Fallon Fox, the first openly transgender mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. --Spirit Awards host Melissa Villasenor on [why she won't make fun]( of this year's contenders. --There's another player in the digital content race. Targeting Gen Z creators and consumers, with a focus on longform content, former YouTube global head of creator partnerships Benjamin Grubbs and serial Bay Area entrepreneur Jonathan Shambroom recently announced studio and streaming platform Creator+. [Now it's setting the roster]( for its Hollywood-facing wing, tapping leadership for the content studio. --The U.K.'s biggest documentary event, Sheffield Doc/Fest, [has announced]( the opening and closing films for its 2021 edition, which — like 2020 — will mix both online and physical screenings due to COVID-19 restrictions. --The intermission is over at the Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group as the Canadian-based circus company [has announced]( the first reopenings for its iconic shows after more than a year of closures amid the pandemic. --Danny Trejo, who starred in a PSA for Los Angeles recovery center CRI-Help, [will again show up]( for the institution by appearing at its 50th-anniversary celebration where he will be honored with an inaugural Vanguard Award. What else we're reading... --"How TikTok chooses which songs go viral" [[Bloomberg](] --"The rise and rise of Tucker Carlson conservatism" [[Financial Times](] --"Shudder knows what you'll stream this summer" [[Vulture](] --"A groundbreaking sitcom finds the ideal target: white people’s love of a made-up past" [[LA Times](] Today's birthdays: Jack Nicholson, 84, John Waters, 75, Machine Gun Kelly, 31, Sherri Shepherd, 54, Issey Miyake, 83. [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. APRIL 22, 2021 [UNSUBSCRIBE]( [MANAGE PREFERENCES]( [PRIVACY POLICY]( [TERMS OF USE](