Death on Facebook; NBC's Olympics Fears; Takei Upset By Gay Sulu; An L.A. Power Dining Guide

What's news today: As police shootings and the Dallas attack dominate the headlines, attention is focused on Facebook's role in sharing the disturbing videos. Plus: China lifts a summer block on Hollywood films, NBC preps for the Rio Olympics and THR introduces a new power dining guide. — executive editor Matthew Belloni, assignment editor Erik Hayden [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment] July 08, 2016 What's news today: As police shootings and the Dallas attack dominate the headlines, attention is focused on Facebook's role in sharing the disturbing videos. Plus: China lifts a summer block on Hollywood films, NBC preps for the Rio Olympics and THR introduces a new power dining guide. — executive editor Matthew Belloni, assignment editor Erik Hayden NBC's Olympic Fears.. Negative headlines, including Zika fears, have plagued the lead-up to the Rio Summer Games, the first-ever in South America. But will the problems in the city affect NBC's coverage? East coast TV editor Marisa Guthrie [takes a closer look:] The sports division currently has 150 people on the ground in Rio; that number will swell to about 2,600 once the network is fully staffed. All employees have been given detailed tutorials on local customs, regulations and information on how to remain safe. "Only a major disaster that disrupts the Games, forces changes in scheduling or even worse, cancelation of events would hurt NBC," said Neal Pilson, former president of CBS Sports. Mike Tirico, the longtime ESPN announcer who recently joined NBC Sports and will anchor NBC's daytime Olympics coverage, [tells THR] that there were similar concerns, though not ZIka, in the run-up to ESPN's coverage of the World Cup in Brazil. Elsewhere on your social feeds... ► Should Facebook be a place where there's a chance you'll see someone die? Mark Zuckerberg expressed his condolences Thursday after the Philando Castile shooting in Minnesota, the immediate aftermath of which was captured on video using Facebook Live. The Castile death came less than 24 hours after video of another police shooting in Louisiana went viral, thanks in part to Facebook. And the day ended with yet more Facebook video of shooting deaths, this time 4 police officers at a peaceful protest in Dallas. [Details here]. **[Quoted, Beyonce], in an open letter addressing police brutality: "We're going to stand up as a community and fight against anyone who believes that murder or any violent action by those who are sworn to protect us should consistently go unpunished."** ► About that new New Yorker cover. L.A.-based painter Kadir Nelson says his striking "A Day at the Beach" painting of an African-American dad and his three kids "provides counterpoint to a lot of what’s going on in the country right now." [Read the interview.] Meanwhile, in TV land... ► USA Network is keeping Chrisley Knows Best. The cabler has [renewed] the docuseries for a fifth season, and has also added an additional six episodes to the current fourth season. Season five is slated to debut in 2017. ► NBC's Hairspray Live! enlists Ariana Grande. The singer-actress will play the role of Penny Pingleton. The special is set to air in December and marks the first time an NBC live musical [will be filmed] in Los Angeles. ► NBC's Chicago Justice parts ways with Nazneen Contractor. The actress, who appeared in the backdoor pilot for the Dick Wolf spinoff, has exited the forthcoming NBC legal drama. She [has joined]the forthcoming CBS drama Ransom. **[Fall pilot watch], by critic Daniel Fienberg -> Show: No Tomorrow (The CW) Quick Response: The vein of aggressive whimsy that flows so effortlessly through The CW's Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend shows signs of being tapped out. Desire to Watch Again: Limited and less than when I started.** Ailes, Carlson and Retaliation Some context on this week's explosive Fox News lawsuit: Before broadcaster Gretchen Carlson's sex harassment claims against chief Roger Ailes, there was Catherine Herridge. Senior editor Eriq Gardner explains what that prior discrimination suit [could mean for Carlson:] Six years before Carlson sued Ailes Wednesday for allegedly retaliating against her for complaining about discriminatory treatment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission brought a federal lawsuit against the cable news network over its treatment of Catherine Herridge, who had worked as an on-air reporter there since 1996. Although Ailes wasn't personally sued in that prior case, his actions did gather some attention. A judge's ruling in 2011 also showcases some of the advantages and challenges that Carlson may confront as she seeks to hold Ailes accountable for the decision to let her go as a Fox News host. [What happened in the case]. **Were Carlson's ratings really as bad as Fox News claims they were? THR Nielsen expert Michael O'Connell [analyzes.] And New York magazine Ailes expert Gabriel Sherman [says] the broadcaster's lawyers are referring additional women who claim they were harassed to journalists.** Elsewhere in THR, Esq... ► Gawker is up for auction. A bankruptcy judge momentarily gave attorneys for Gawker Media a bit of a scare by refusing to allow Gawker to move forward with a plan to sell the media company. However, the judge has [now signed off] on the planned auction next month. ► Studios settling with animators. Sony Pictures Animations and Blue Sky Studios are one step closer to being free of the anti-poaching pact lawsuit brought by visual effects workers, as a California federal judge on Thursday [granted their motions] for preliminary settlement approval. ► A personal feud behind a VFX legal battle. New details about the dispute between two Silicon Valley figures, Steve Perlman and Greg LaSalle, helps illuminate how a legal conflict over the use of a vaunted VFX tech [threatens to delay] multiple Hollywood blockbusters. ► Snapchat sued over "sexually offensive content." The 14-year-old plaintiff came across a BuzzFeed article that "perverted" Disney characters into "obscene" images. The [putative class action] was filed on Thursday by Mark Geragos, an attorney who is a popular talking head on the media circuit. Meet Mike and Dave... That Zac Efron and Adam Devine comedy opening this weekend? There's a real-life duo behind the film, reporter Rebecca Ford [writes:] The premise of Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is just ridiculous enough for a raunchy comedy, but it turns out the tale wasn't invented by spit-balling comedy writers — Mike and Dave Stangle actually did post a (now viral) ad on Craigslist looking for wedding dates. The brothers landed a film and book deal thanks to a friend (who happened to be a trainee at CAA) who spotted their ad. [Here's the backstory.] Elsewhere in film... ► China lifts summer blackout on Hollywood films. Authorities in the country appear to be taking a step back from one of the industry's least favorite policies. After years of blocking Hollywood movies during the peak summer blockbuster season, China is letting a few [foreign tentpoles back in.] ► Tomb Raider reboot gets release date. Warners Bros. and MGM will open the upcoming relaunch of the videogame-to-movie starring Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft on [March 16, 2018.] (WB had previously reserved that date for an untitled DC film.) ► Justin Timberlake joins Woody Allen's new movie. The film will mark the first collaboration between the singer-actor and the director. Though the official cast listing made no mention of a distributor, [sources say] Amazon already is committed. ► Bella Thorne to star in thriller Break My Heart 1,000 Times. The Gold Circle film, an adaptation of Daniel Waters' YA novel, will be directed by Step Up Revolution helmer Scott Speer from a script by Jason Fuchs. The plot involves ghost-like essences called "[Remnants]." **Weekend movies, in brief: [The Secret Life of Pets] is a "clever canine caper" that could cross $70M in its debut. [Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates]is a "box-office cash-in" that may only nab $12M. And, in limited release, [Captain Fantastic] is "crowdpleasing for the right kind of crowd, but about as radical as a kale crisp."** ► Riley Keough joins Justin Kelly's next film. The Girlfriend Experience star, along with Caleb Landry Jones and Abbey Lee, has been cast in an untitled drama, currently [in production] in New York, that's written and will be directed by I Am Michael helmer Kelly. ► Steve Buscemi cast in novel adaptation of Lean on Me. The Boardwalk Empire actor [is joining] a film from 45 Years director Andrew Haigh. The story centers on a 15-year-old boy who befriends a failing racehorse. Buscemi will play the horse's owner. ► Fox thriller The Empty Man enlists James Badge Dale. The 13 Hours actor joins David Britten Prior, who is directing the supernatural film which adapts a Boom! Studios comic. It's the first one to go under the company’s [first-look deal] at the studio. Where to Eat in L.A. Now THR is introducing a useful guide to Power Dining today: An updating list of where to eat in L.A. now, compiled by senior writer Gary Baum. [As he explains:] Few things are more fickle than the entertainment business, the foodie-focused dining scene that serves it surely fits the bill. Ingénue restaurants debut every week, yet their moment in the spotlight often is brutish and short. Beginning in July, The Hollywood Reporter will rank the hottest Los Angeles spots on a monthly basis as these dining stars shine and dim. This month, The Cannibal (8850 Washington Blvd) tops the list. [It's an edible heat index.] While this list considers core dining metrics (food, service, value and atmosphere) of the best restaurants, great weight is placed on an ephemeral quality: buzz. George Takei Isn't Pleased at Gay Sulu This month, Star Trek Beyond will show a scene featuring Hikaru Sulu with a male spouse raising their infant child. The idea to show a gay character was intended to pay homage to George Takei's legacy as an original sci-fi icon and LGBT activist. Except Takei wasn't pleased, senior writer Seth Abramovitch [reports:] "I’m delighted that there’s a gay character," Takei tells THR. "Unfortunately, it’s a twisting of Gene’s creation, to which he put in so much thought. I think it’s really unfortunate." Takei explains that show creator Gene Roddenberry was exhaustive in conceiving his Star Trek characters. And he had always envisioned Sulu as heterosexual. Takei first learned of the character Sulu's recent same-sex leanings last year, when the actor that portrayed him, John Cho, called him to reveal the big news. Takei tried to convince him to make a new character gay instead. "I told him, 'Be imaginative and create a character who has a history of being gay, rather than Sulu, who had been straight all this time, suddenly being revealed as being closeted.'" Takei was certain the creative team had rethought their decision to make Sulu gay. [That didn't happen.] Today's Birthdays: Jeffrey Tambor, 72, Kevin Bacon, 58, Sophia Bush, 34, Anjelica Huston, 65, Beck, 46. 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] July 8, 2016