Amazon Exodus; 'Last Jedi' Director on Backlash; Louis C.K. Redubbed; TV's 2018 Outlook; 'Hamilton' in London

What's news: Christmas is around the corner, and so are some big box-office receipts. Plus: Amazon execs head for the door, Hamilton arrives in London, Rian Johnson addresses disgruntled Star Wars fans and we look ahead to the big questions facing television in 2018. — Ray Rahman [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment]( December 22, 2017 What's news: Christmas is around the corner, and so are some big box-office receipts. Plus: Amazon execs head for the door, Hamilton arrives in London, Rian Johnson addresses disgruntled Star Wars fans and we look ahead to the big questions facing television in 2018. — Ray Rahman 2018 TV Outlook What's to become of Fox? Do people still care about American Idol? And how do we move forward after "#MeToo”? Michael O’Connell has 10 burning questions for the TV industry in 2018: 1. What's the next step for the harassment problem? Hollywood's immediate reckoning with its systemic sexual harassment and abuse is far from over. Before the dust settles, however, comes the matter of how to move forward. The conversations of the last three months will impact the entertainment industry at almost every level. What that impact is is still anybody's guess — including who will replace Roy Price as Amazon's top programmer and how House of Cards' final season will look with Robin Wright as its star. 2. How will talent ousters affect the morning show wars? Speaking of sexual harassment...the aftermath of the Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose ousters have put their respective daytime efforts, NBC's Today and CBS This Morning, in need of new talent. CBS isn't likely to spend as much as its top competition, morning's highest-rated news show, but NBC has new reason to rethink its follow-up. Ratings have risen since Lauer's exit. In fact, Today has beaten Good Morning America among total viewers every week since he abruptly went off air. [See the full list.]( Elsewhere in TV... ► Amazon Studios' executive exodus. Tara Sorensen, who has been with Amazon since 2012 and served as head of kids programming, is [jumping ship]( for Apple, where she’ll serve the same role. Carina Walker, an international development exec, and Tara Pietri, head of business affairs, are also exiting as Amazon Studios undergoes a major shift in its executive suites post-Roy Price. ► Eric Schmidt steps down as chairman of Google parent company. The longtime executive, who’s been with the company since 2001, will [transition]( to becoming a technical advisor when the company holds its regular board meeting in January. He will continue to serve on the board. ► CNN cancels Snapchat show after four months: The network's daily news show The Update is [coming to an end](, but CNN and Snap say they plan to keep working together in the future. ► Disney Channel cartoon redubs Louis C.K. character: A 2015 episode of the animated series Gravity Falls has been [scrubbed of C.K.'s voice](, which has been replaced by executive producer Alex Hirsch. The name of the character was The Horrifying Sweaty One-Armed Monstrosity. ► Mark Schwain fired from E!'s The Royals: The suspended showrunner has been [officially let go]( amid claims of sexual harassment by the cast of that show as well as the former drama One Tree Hill. + "We have concluded our investigation and Mark will not be returning to The Royals," producers Lionsgate TV said Thursday. "The fourth season of the show has already completed production and will air as scheduled on E! in the spring." ► Dick Enberg dies. The legendary sports broadcaster, who over a 60-year career became known as the voice of the San Diego Padres, [passed away]( at his home in La Jolla Thursday at the age of 82. ^Next year's breakouts: This year, it was SMILF's Frankie Shaw, Star Trek: Discovery's Sonequa Martin-Green and 13 Reason Why's Katherine Langford and Dylan Minnette. Who will break through the Peak TV clutter in 2018? See our full list of the [10 actors poised to make their mark on TV next year.]( ► Graves canceled at Epix. The Nick Nolte comedy's end marks [the network's first cancellation]( since jumping into the scripted originals space. ► The Last Post, reviewed: “Despite taking place on the other side of the globe and shot in spiffy sand and cool turquoise locales reminiscent of vintage postcards, The Last Post strongly recalls Mad Men early years,” Inkoo Kang writes of Amazon's South Arabian desert-set British import, which “finds vintage glamor and taut drama in colonial repression.” [Read the full review.]( ► How Mrs. Maisel won Barbra: Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino, the married brains behind Gilmore Girls, talk to THR about transitioning to their latest Amazon comedy The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – and reveal how they got the rights to use Streisand’s music in the pilot. “I basically wrote Barbra a soliloquy, a love letter,” Amy says. [Full Q&A.]( In THR, Esq: Rolling Stone settles last UVA lawsuit. A third settlement over "A Rape on Campus" means Jay Penske can acquire the publication free and clear of liability over that infamous article. [Details.]( Christmas Box Office Watch Holiday box office: Jumanji has bested The Greatest Showman, while Star Wars still beats them all. Gregg Kilday and Pamela McClintock write: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle jumped ahead of P.T. Barnum biopic The Greatest Showman at the Wednesday box office, posting an estimated opening-day gross of $7.2 million as the Christmas onslaught commenced. Showman, starring Hugh Jackman, took in $2.5 million on its first day. So far, both event films are performing in line with prerelease tracking. But, as expected, beating both on Wednesday was Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which earned about $16.9 million for a six-day domestic total of roughly $278.8 million. Internationally, the film took in another $20.3 million, bringing its international cume to $295 million and its worldwide haul to $573.8 million. The Last Jedi will no doubt stay atop the chart throughout the year-end holidays, raking in as much as $120 million between Wednesday and Monday alone, compared to a projected six-day debut of $48 million to $52 million for Jumanji and $20 million to $25 million for Greatest Showman. [Read more.]( + Nick Jonas reveals all: Well, all about Jumanji that is. The actor talked to THR about the film, that Jack Black love story and other spoilers from the film. [Read the Q&A.]( Elsewhere in film... ► Rian Johnson strikes back: The Last Jedi writer-director [took to Twitter]( to address his film's divided response among fans: "The goal is never to divide or make people upset, but I do think the conversations that are happening were going to have to happen at some point if sw is going to grow, move forward and stay vital," the director tweeted in reply to a Twitter user who asked if he thought it was good the film had polarized fans. + Snoke screen: Johnson opened up in [an interview]( with IGN about the thinking behind the movie's controversial (to some) handling of the villain Snoke. ► All the Money in the World writer reveals Patty Jenkins helped with the secret recasting. "'If it gets out, and we don't cast this and we can't make it happen, the movie Is dead,'" screenwriter David Scarpa recalls producers saying when they unveiled their recasting plan to him in early November. [Full story.]( ► Quentin Tarantino's Star Trek movie finds a writer. Mark L. Smith, best known for penning The Revenant, is [boarding]( the project spearheaded by Tarantino and producer J.J. Abrans. ► Gal Gadot to be honored at the Critics' Choice Awards. She'll be getting [the #SeeHer Award](, meant to recognize a woman that changes stereotypes in the entertainment industry. Yes, awards have hashtags in their names now. ^Guest column: What Ben Bradlee would love about The Post, by Anna Bradlee. The granddaughter of the legendary Washington Post editor, portrayed by Tom Hanks, writes that her "Grandpa," who counted Steven Spielberg and Nora Ephron among his Hamptons neighbors, would have reveled in the film. "Ben Bradlee was no saint and no church mouse. He was gruff — a teddy bear at heart, but intimidating — he didn’t kiss boo-boos or make sock puppets. I grew up in a Cambridge, Mass. cul-de-sac; he lived 400 miles away in a Georgetown mansion once owned by Abraham Lincoln’s son. I played with Barbies and Cabbage Patch dolls while he dined with presidents and princes, diplomats and demagogues. Watergate, as far I was concerned, was a theme park with rafts and a wave pool." [Read more.]( + Sean Spicer, Laura Ingraham are going after Tom Hanks for comments he made to THR about not wanting to show The Post at the White House. "Maybe it's time to cast away Tom Hanks," Ingraham said. [Full story.]( ► The Mamma Mia! sequel trailer: Bigger spectacle, less Meryl but more Cher. [Watch it here.]( ► Father Figures, reviewed: "Why do movies and sitcoms keep giving us stories about children who don't know who got their mothers pregnant?” John DeFore writes of the new release, starring Owen Wilson and Ed Helms. “Whatever the answer, the latest entry in this overworked genre is Lawrence Sher's Father Figures, a textbook example of hackwork both behind and in front of the camera." [Full review.]( ► Olivia Munn responds to Woody Allen's Hollywood "witch hunt" claim. The actress, who has accused Brett Ratner of sexual misconduct, wrote [a candid essay]( in Entertainment Weekly on the "abuse-of-power" problem in Hollywood. "The possibility of an overcorrection is much less worrisome than all of the injustices that led us to this moment," Munn wrote. "Woody's gut instinct to fear what this might become would be better suited to a gut instinct to hold back an urge that could be wrong." [Read more.]( Oscars: Why female-centered films have an uphill climb to winning best picture. 2017 has been a year of female empowerment in the real world and also on the big screen, but how many of these films will wind up with a best picture Oscar nomination? And can any of them actually win? History suggests that it won’t be easy. [Read more.]( 'Hamilton' Takes London Lin-Manuel Miranda's Pulitzer Prize- and multi-Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon finally lands in London's West End, two years after it stormed Broadway. Demetrius Matheou reviews: Given the unprecedented hype, its distinctive form and the fact that the subject is so quintessentially American, the arrival of Hamilton on the U.K.'s theatrical shores had to raise the question: Would the hip-hop history of the Founding Fathers survive its trans-Atlantic crossing? The London show sees director Thomas Kail and his New York production team intact, but with an all-new, multiracial British cast onstage, resulting in a show that feels comfortably bedded in from the get-go, a confident and well-oiled machine, yet with the unmistakable frisson that comes of fresh blood. [Full review.]( What else we're reading... — "2017's biggest movie flops make the case against 'cinematic universes.'" Chris Lee writes: "Emphasis on spectacle, formulaic filmmaking, and empire-building (at the expense of creating relatable characters or even coherent story lines) proved to be bad for business." [[Vulture](] — "The women who run the Star Wars universe." Nathalia Holt profiles the women behind the scenes at the Lucasfilm story group. [[New York Times](] — "How did Luke Skywalker pull off that incredible Force trick in The Last Jedi? A Star Wars physicist weighs in." That's right, "a Star Wars physicist." [[Slate](] — "The Greatest Showman fails audiences by masking P.T. Barnum's monstrous past." Kristen Lopez writes: "By ignoring circus impresario P.T. Barnum’s history of exploiting his performers, the Hugh Jackman-starring musical undermines its own message." [[Daily Beast](] — "Can Lena Dunham recover from her high-profile mistakes?" James Wolcott reviews her history in gaffes, and wonders if she can learn from her mistakes without losing her voice. [[Vanity Fair](] — "Reimagining The Twilight Zone for the 21st century." Sophie Gilbert writes: "With a theatrical adaptation opening in London, and a planned CBS revival helmed by Jordan Peele, what can the Rod Serling anthology series say about modern life?" [[The Atlantic](] What else we're seeing... + "Amy Sedaris attempts a 'close' impression of her fave singer Erykah Badu." [[Tonight Show](] + "James Corden's Best of 2017." [[Late Late Show](] + "Senator-elect Doug Jones shares his thoughts on the Republican tax plan. [[Late Night](] What else we're hearing... + "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace." Jason Mantzoukas, June Diane and Paul Scheer marvel at the 1987 film's badness. [[How Did This Get Made? / Earwolf](] + "The Post." NPR's culture staff discusses the new Steven Spielberg film. [[Pop Culture Happy Hour / NPR](] + "Star Wars: The Last Jedi and killing the past." Mallory Rubin and Jason Concepcion chat about the movie, its backlash and its place in history. [[Binge Mode / The Ringer](] Today's Birthdays: Neel Sethi, 14, Meghan Trainor, 24, Vanessa Paradis, 45, David S. Goyer, 52, Ralph Fiennes, 55, Diane Sawyer, 72. Follow The News Is this email not displaying correctly? 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