Sumner Decision Today?; 'Cap' Tops 'Bat'; Plight of Asian Actors; 'Good Wife' Finale Reaction

Happy Monday! As a big chunk of THR's staff heads to France for the Cannes Film Fest (kicking off Wednesday), Sumner Redstone could be on the verge of winning his health care war, Marvel outperforms DC (again) and Lee Daniels gets fired by Harvey Weinstein — executive editor Matthew Belloni, assignment editor Erik Hayden [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment] May 09, 2016 Happy Monday! As a big chunk of THR's staff heads to France for the Cannes Film Fest (kicking off Wednesday), Sumner Redstone could be on the verge of winning his health care war, Marvel outperforms DC (again) and Lee Daniels gets fired by Harvey Weinstein — executive editor Matthew Belloni, assignment editor Erik Hayden Redstone Decision Today? After a stunning day in court on Friday that included 92-year-old Viacom mogul Sumner Redstone calling his ex a "f—ing bitch" in a taped deposition, the judge said he will rule today whether to dismiss the case brought by his former companion, Manuela Herzer: On Sunday, she asked the judge [not to dismiss] the case, suggesting Redstone has been "brainwashed" by daughter Shari and that his speech therapist had prompted him to "rehearse his responses." Redstone's attorneys responded that a full trial regarding his decision to end his relationship with Herzer is "not reasonably necessary to protect his interests." Pow! Cap Beats Batman In a domestic launch that dwarfed Warner Bros.' $166M Batman v. Superman haul in March, Marvel and Disney's Captain America: Civil War debuted to $181M stateside over the weekend, senior writer Pamela McClintock [reports:] Overseas, where it bowed last weekend, Civil War took in another $220 million — including $96 million in China — for a foreign total of $496.6 million and worldwide haul of $678 million after just 12 days in release. "And with little competition between now and Memorial Day, we are set up to do tons of business," said Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis. Also: Coinciding with the holiday, Mother's Day rose 7.6 percent in its second weekend, grossing $9 million for a domestic total of $20.7 million. Elsewhere in film... ► Lee Daniels departs from Richard Pryror biopic: The filmmaker [exited] The Weinstein Co. project, with the studio said to have declined to wait further for Daniels' schedule to clear up. ► Where are the Asian-American movie stars? It's a timely question given recent high-profile whitewashing (see: Tilda Swinton in Doctor Strange). Senior reporter Rebecca Sun and film writer Rebecca Ford [investigate the issue]. ► The new Han Solo, Alden Ehrenreich, won the role after Steven Spielberg discovered him. Something similar [happened] to Gwyneth Paltrow, J.J. Abrams, Christian Bale and others, book editor Andy Lewis writes. Film Ticker: Scott Eastwood, Ed Harris to star in Pentagon drama[Last Full Measure] ... Sophie Turner, Jack Huston join anthology film [Berlin I Love You] ... Eddie Redmayne joins Aardman's team for [Early Man] Goodbye, 'Good Wife' Now that it is truly over, critic Daniel Fienberg makes sense of CBS' [Good Wife finale:] It's been pretty clear for a month that as the show was approaching its finale, it was heading full circle, approaching another press conference, more held hands, another hallway confrontation, another chance for Alicia Florrick to stand by her husband, or perhaps to make different choices this time. ► Also: the show's creators Robert and Michelle King talk about [what it all means]. Elsewhere in TV... ► The 10 TV shows facing imminent cancellation,[a list] reading ominous tea leaves for ABC's Agent Carter and The Catch, Fox's Bordertown and NBC's Heartbeat. ► Veep showrunner David Mandel [shares] about the latest political lackey to breakout on the HBO comedy. ► Resident Game of Thrones expert Josh Wigler [dissects] Jon Snow's fatal choice in "Oathbreaker." TV Ticker: Jesse Eisenberg sets directorial debut with [Bream Gives Me Hiccups] ... Netflix teams with Misfits creator Howard Overman for exorcism comedy [Crazy Face] Disney Cord-Cutter Watch... As quarterly earning season continues for Hollywood conglomerates, business editor Georg Szalai looks ahead to Walt Disney on Tuesday: Focus will again be on subscriber momentum at ESPN. Most giants’ earnings have exceeded expectations amid strong ad trends. But Guggenheim analyst Michael Morris today highlighted that several companies reported lower U.S. affiliate fee revenue growth than forecast. “First-quarter results gave little reason to feel better about core subscription trends,” he concluded. ► Also in cable: all eyes will be on the California Public Utilities Commission, the final regulator to decide on Charter’s planned buy of Time Warner Cable on Thursday. Just before the weekend, the FCC said it has [approved] the deal, with conditions. Elsewhere... ► Tribune Publishing, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, unveiled a shareholder rights plan, also known as a "[poison pill]," in response to a recent $815 million hostile takeover bid from Gannett. ► Meet the legal folks who suggest that NBCUniversal should be [paying more] for DreamWorks Animation. ► As NewFronts continue this week, Vice Media hit New York and Shane Smith evangelized about the Viceland "[vibe]." Rep Sheet Roundup: Color Purple star Cynthia Erivo, fresh off her Tony nom, signs with UTA … Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Richardson heads to WME … Fashion designer Jeremy Scott inks deal with WME-IMG … Bring It On screenwriter Jessica Bendinger signs with Verve … Top Gear USA co-host Adam Ferrara signs with Innovative. Roads Not Taken for Louis C.K. Louis C.K., in conversation with Scott Feinberg for a new podcast, says he doesn't think he has any more stories for his FX show: "I think the guy that I played on the show, the just-divorced kinda under-water dad/struggling New York comic — I don't think I have stories for that guy anymore," the comedian reveals. He adds: "But the show is autobiographical, so what [FX chief] John Landgraf and I have always thought is that it may come back with a different set of stories from a different angle a little further down the road." Listen to the Awards Chatter [full podcast here]. Elsewhere... ► Off Script, a new behind-the-scenes Q&A series on Broadway stars, makes its debut from associate editor Ashley Lee. [First up], Hamilton's Thomas Jefferson, actor Daveed Diggs. ► Guest column: comedian Cristela Alonzo pens [a plea] to Latino voters about why Donald Trump needs to be stopped. The Other Side of Cannes Six hundred meters from the Croisette lies a community of French Muslims who remained largely invisible until their mosque briefly became the unwitting base for one of the most dangerous terrorist cells in French history, Dana Kennedy [reports]: Moustapha Dali (pictured) is the soft-spoken but righteous director of the Mosquee Al Madina, the main mosque in Cannes, which sits above the Croisette. Dali watches the annual influx of movie stars descending on the Croisette "as if they are a bunch of martians landing. We're so near, but I know they have no idea of what's really going on here." Elsewhere in Cannes... ► Anatomy of a Cannes disaster: critics took a particularly merciless position toward the American crop of films in 2006, and Southland Tales was caught [in the crossfire], senior writer Tatiana Siegel reports. ► Notebook: chief film critic Todd McCarthy [recalls] how Francis Ford Coppola and E.T. turned Cannes into a frenzied mammoth. ► The Superyacht of the moment: [a look] inside Prince Albert's new $80M vessel, Yersin. ► FYI, here's where [to][shop], what [to pack] and where [to travel] (if you can find a few extra days) once the fest ends. Today's Hollywood Birthdays: Albert Finney, 80, Rosario Dawson, 37, John Corbett, 55, James L. Brooks, 76 Follow The News Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.] ©2016 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. [Unsubscribe] | [Manage Preferences] | [Privacy Policy] | [Terms of Use] May 9, 2016