Netflix Eyes 'Roma' Theatrical Run; Depp's Legal Win; 'Star Wars' Casting; HBO Drops 'Skinemax'; Club Owner on Louis' Return

What's news: Netflix explores a theatrical run for awards contender Roma, from Alfonso Cuaron. Plus: Anaheim cuts millions in Disney parks subsidies, Guillermo del Toro calls for festival parity and the Comedy Cellar's owner opens up about Louis C.K.'s return. — Will Robinson [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment]( August 29, 2018 What's news: Netflix explores a theatrical run for awards contender Roma, from Alfonso Cuaron. Plus: Anaheim cuts millions in Disney parks subsidies, Guillermo del Toro calls for festival parity and the Comedy Cellar's owner opens up about Louis C.K.'s return. — Will Robinson ^Roma eyes cinemas: In what would be a significant concession to a major filmmaker, Netflix is considering putting Alfonso Cuaron's upcoming Roma in theaters before it debuts on the streaming service, Pamela McClintock reports. + Theater run talks: Discussions are underway for Roma to be released in November or December in more than 20 U.S. theaters, including Landmark locations and possibly Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas. In foreign markets, it will likely be seen on the big screen in more than a dozen theaters. + Appease filmmakers: As Netflix film chief Scott Stuber readies a fall slate that includes films from Cuaron, Paul Greengrass and the Coen brothers, he is said to be pushing chief content officer Ted Sarandos to make concessions for top-priority movies. Like Cuaron, Greengrass is said to want an expanded theatrical presence for his new film, 22 July, beyond just a token awards run. * Platform boosters: Netflix is aggressively attempting to lure A-list directors to make movies for its streaming service, and it wants to boost its profile in the awards race after being largely shut out of the Oscars. But Sarandos has steadfastly maintained that Netflix films debut day-and-date on the streamer and, on occasion, in a handful of theaters to qualify for awards. + Day-and-date debate: Sources stress that Netflix has made no decision regarding whether to deviate from its day-and-date policy and debut Roma first in theaters for as little as one or two weeks. While that would fall far short of the three-month exclusive theatrical window mandated by major cinema chains, it could signal that Netflix is willing to move the needle to some extent. * Theatrical hurdles: Because of the day-and-date mandate, most major theaters won't play a Netflix title, and because Netflix films don’t get significant theatrical releases, some filmmakers are reluctant to bring projects there. So any tweak to its policy would likely have a ripple effect throughout both the theater and creative communities. [Full report.]( Depp's Big Ruling Giant decision: Johnny Depp scored a big win in a lawsuit against his former talent lawyer Jake Bloom on Tuesday, in what could aid him in recouping tens of millions of dollars. Ashley Cullins emails: In a decision that could have sweeping impacts across Hollywood, an L.A. judge has found Depp's oral contract with Bloom is invalid under a California statute that demands contingency fee agreements be made in writing. Depp sued Bloom in October, claiming that his former attorney collected more than $30 million in contingent fees without a proper contract — and he wants a refund. * Appeal chances: Whether or not talent dealmakers' fees qualify as contingent is an issue ripe for appeal, and Bloom's lawyers will also try to prove that the amount he was paid was reasonable for the services he provided. Handshake deals aren't uncommon in the entertainment business, but now reps may want to revisit any agreements that weren't later memorialized in writing. + Industry changes: Agreeing to a percentage fee deal on a handshake isn’t uncommon in the entertainment business, but it’s been an open question as to whether a percentage fees for transactional legal services such as contract negotiation are considered contingent fees, Cullins and Jonathan Handel report. Now talent lawyers may need to revisit any agreements that weren’t memorialized in writing. * Judge Terry Green's statement: “I don’t think there are special rules for show business. I grew up in a show business family. I’m aware that show business people think they live in a separate universe, but they don’t. Not a separate legal universe.” + Next steps: Trial is currently set for May, and Depp is seeking a refund of all the fees he paid to his former lawyer. Bloom and his firm may appeal the ruling, however, and they can still move forward with a quasi-contractual claim called quantum meruit, which asks the court to rule that they can retain a reasonable fee for their work. [Full report.]( Elsewhere in film... ► Matt Smith joins Star Wars: Episode IX. Smith starred on Doctor Who from 2010-13, and has earned an Emmy nomination for his work on Netflix's The Crown for his role as Prince Philip. Smith [joins]( franchise newcomers Naomi Ackie, Logan actor Richard E. Grant, Keri Russell and Dominic Monaghan. ► Amazon eyes Sony, Paramount movies. "Amazon.com Inc., looking for ways to offer more films on its streaming service, has held discussions with at least two major Hollywood studios about options that could include co-financing movies in exchange for certain online rights, according to people familiar with the matter. ... The options included development funds, as well as money for film production, said one of the people." [[Bloomberg](] ► Venice jury head Guillermo del Toro calls on festivals to hit 50/50 gender split. Despite Venice's lackluster response to promoting women in the competition, Del Toro says everyone in the industry has a [responsibility]( these days to make an effort: "It's a real problem we have in the culture in general. Many of the voices that should be heard, need to be heard." ► Rotten Tomatoes adding more critics to foster diversity. The online review aggregator isn't changing the way films are scored. Rather, it is [relaxing]( its criteria so that critics can now become Tomatometer-approved regardless of where they are published. ► Anne Hathaway-Rebel Wilson Dirty Rotten Scoundrels remake overturns R-rating. The Classification and Rating Appeals Board has [overturned]( the rating for The Hustle, which is now rated PG-13 for crude sexual content and language. Wilson, who also produced the film, and MGM film group president Jon Glickman represented the project in the appeal. ► Netflix's Another Life adds four to cast. Tyler Hoechlin, Justin Chatwin, Samuel Anderson and Elizabeth Faith Ludlow have [joined]( the Katee Sackhoff-led sci-fi drama. Omar Madha (The 100, 24: Live Another Day) will direct the first two episodes. [Quoted:]( "He’s not the Boy Scout superhero. He’s the guy that’s like, 'OK, you cross him? Well, I rip your head off and then I move on to the next guy.'" — Producer Dany Garcia, detailing Dwayne Johnson's take on supervillain Black Adam. ^Anaheim ends $267 million in Disney theme park subsidies. Disney and Anaheim have been at odds recently because some city leaders complain that the company receives too many benefits at the [expense]( of taxpayers, Paul Bond reports. Disneyland Resort President Josh D'Amaro acknowledged in an Aug. 21 letter that economic incentives had created an "adversarial climate." ► Aretha Franklin's funeral to be live-streamed and broadcast on TV. Fox News and CNN plan to [air]( portions of the ceremony, while the funeral will also be live-streamed by the Associated Press. ► Franklin mourned at gospel-infused public viewing. Museum board member Kelly Major Green said the goal was to [create]( a dignified and respectful environment akin to a church, the place where Franklin got her start. "What we wanted to do is be reflective of the Queen," Green said. ► Harvey Weinstein wants appeals court to define a "commercial sex act." U.S. District Court Judge Robert Sweet ruled that Weinstein must [face]( a federal claim of sex trafficking in a lawsuit brought by Kadian Noble, who accuses Weinstein of unwanted sexual conduct after promising the aspiring actress work, Eriq Gardner reports. ► Marjorie Prime producer, former Netflix exec launch book database. TaleFlick is [pitched]( as a searchable library of published books, short stories and other written works. ► Lithuania selects Wonderful Losers. A Different World for foreign-language Oscar. The documentary [focuses]( on the less public side of Giro d'Italia, one of the harshest and best known cycling races in the world. Arunas Matelis was the first film director in 40 years to obtain permission to film the race from inside. ► Ukraine picks Donbass for foreign-language entry. The film depicts a [conflict]( that has been raging since 2014 between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists in a way that evokes an anarchic and absurdist horror show. On the festival circuit... ► London unveils competition lineup with 50 percent female directors. While most of the titles have either had their first bow at other international festivals or will be having them in the coming weeks, the latest feature from Ben Wheatley, Happy New Year, Colin Burstead, is set to get its world premiere in London. [Full lineup.]( ► Judi Dench to receive Donostia Award at San Sebastian. The Oscar-winning Dench will [receive]( the honor ahead of the Red Joan screening on Sept. 25. ► Trailer: Sex, revolution (and more sex) in Mario Martone’s Capri Revolution. The period drama, which premieres in competition at the Venice Film Festival, follows a commune of young artists living in southern Italy on the eve of World War I. [Watch.]( ► Larry Wilmore to be honored at Austin. The Emmy-winning writer, producer and comedian will [receive]( the 2018 Outstanding Television Writer Award. He's written for the likes of In Living Color and The Office and created the Peabody-winning Bernie Mac Show. ► Nicolas Cage named talent ambassador for Macau. The prolific actor will walk the red carpet and [participate]( in a master class at the growing Asian film event, which celebrates its third edition this year. ► Oldenburg fetes Keith Carradine with career retrospective. The star of TV's Dexter and Fargo will be [honored]( for film work in such classics as Ridley Scott's The Duelists and Louis Malle's Pretty Baby. Judge allows Spinal Tap creators to move forward on fraud claim. A judge rules Vivendi's alleged conduct goes above and beyond [failure]( to comply with contractual obligations. The plaintiffs seek $400 million in damages after allegedly collecting very little from the motion picture and ancillary merchandising and music over the years. Live Streaming Rising Live watching shifts from TV: Live streaming is on the rise as more viewers in the U.S. cancel their cable subscriptions, according to a new report from Nielsen. Natalie Jarvey emails: More people are live streaming video than every before. A new report from Nielsen, which surveyed 2,000 people reflective, reveals that 42 percent of the general population have live-streamed content, up from 25 percent last year. The biggest drivers of the growth are live television shows, influencer-led streams and regular-season sporting events. + Subscriptions breakdown: This year, 66 percent of the general population reported paying for a subscription video service, up from 63 percent in 2017, Jarvey reports. On average, people subscribe to 3.1 subscription streaming services, according to Nielsen. Family movie franchise fans subscribe to an average of 4.4 services, and superhero franchise fans subscribe to an average of 3.4 services. * More than the big three: This indicates that these affinity groups are more likely to add more niche offerings in addition to broader services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu. + Bundling up: The rise of live streaming has surely been helped along by the number of internet-enabled skinny TV bundles that have flooded the market in recent years, luring cable subscribers with low fees and flexible cancellation policies. Dish, DirecTV, PlayStation, Hulu and YouTube all offer versions of a live TV bundle. + Ease of use helping: Also fueling the rise of live streaming is the overall growth of the streaming video ecosystem. As of this year, 80 percent of the general population now reports using an app or streaming service to watch video online during a typical week. [Full report.]( Going online... ► Facebook Watch going global. Facebook's international rollout will allow users worldwide to [discover]( original programming and other videos via their personalized Watch feed, including the Watchlist that consists of recent videos from Pages they follow and videos saved from their News Feed. ► Rick and Morty duo lands two-season order for Solar Opposites at Hulu. The 16-episode order [follows]( a family of aliens "from a better world" who take refuge in middle America. Justin Roiland will also voice two of the characters; Sean Giambrone (The Goldbergs) and comedian Mary Mack are also in the cast. ► Ashley Greene joins cast of YouTube's Step Up: High Water. Rapper Rick Ross and YouTube star Todrick Hall also will [appear]( as themselves on the YouTube drama's forthcoming second season. ► Instagram opens up verification process. The Facebook-owned social network said Tuesday that users will now be able to [request]( that little blue check mark next to their names directly through the app. Elsewhere in TV... ► HBO exits erotic programming space. As first reported Tuesday by the Los Angeles Times, both HBO and Cinemax have [phased out]( content including Taxicab Confessions, Real Sex and Cathouse as well as other adult movies containing explicit content from its linear and on-demand platforms. ► Ben Kingsley to star in Epix modern noir series from Patriot duo. Our Lady, a 10-episode straight-to-series, [revolves]( around a young grifter named James as he attempts to prey upon Pastor Byron Brown (Kingsley), who turns out to be far more dangerous than James suspects. The modern noir series marks Kingsley's largest TV role in his decades-long career. ► The View adds former Fox Newser Abby Huntsman as co-host. Huntsman, who bid adieu to her Fox News colleagues on air Aug. 12, will [take]( the chair vacated by Sara Haines, who is set to co-host a new edition of the Good Morning America franchise with Michael Strahan. ► Common to star in Saturday Night Knife & Gun Club TV series. The drama, which does not yet have a network, [revolves]( around a tough, street-smart ER doctor with a troubled past (Common) who leads his staff against brutal conditions, dwindling resources, bureaucracy and corporate greed in order to save lives at an inner-city hospital. ► Gold Rush renewed at Discovery Channel for season nine. This year, Rick Ness has decided to [step it up]( and become a mine boss with a claim of his own after working six years under fellow miner Parker Schnabel. Rick cashes in his life savings and literally puts everything on the line. [Quoted:]( “I don’t think Netflix likes the term ‘binge.' When we did the promotion for [The Innocents] in the [United States], we were strictly sort of instructed beforehand not to talk about ‘binge-watching.'” — Guy Pearce, on the streamer's purported edict. ^Comedy Cellar owner discusses Louis C.K.'s surprise performance. Noam Dworman, the owner of the New York comedy club that hosted the controversial comedian Sunday night, says that C.K.'s performance came as a surprise, but also [shows]( "this is a dark period for discourse in this country," Katie Kilkenny reports. More talking points... ► Stormy Daniels opens about death threats. Daniels says in the Vogue profile that she has now [hired]( a team of three full-time bodyguards, after receiving ominous notes and suspicious substances hidden in gifts at the clubs she has visited during her publicized nationwide strip-club tour. ► Life of Craig Zadan to be celebrated at November event. The late musical producer and Neil Meron will be [honored]( by the Educational Theatre Foundation at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences headquarters. ► Michael Jackson estate wins appeal over supposedly fake vocals on posthumous release. A California appeals court [holds]( that statements on the Michael album cover don't constitute commercial speech and must be protected under the First Amendment, Eriq Gardner reports. ► Katy Perry's testimony, Kesha's PR plan made public in Dr. Luke legal battle. Kesha's strategy before filing her lawsuit against Dr. Luke [included]( "inciting a deluge of negative media attention and public pressure," according to unsealed court documents, Ashley Cullins reports. ► National Enquirer mogul David Pecker exits Postmedia board amid Cohen probe. The tabloid boss is no longer a director of the Canadian newspaper chain, "effective immediately," after reportedly [receiving]( immunity from federal prosecutors. In memoriam... ► RIP Fredd Wayne. The veteran character actor [made]( a career out of portraying Benjamin Franklin on stage and on television shows including Bewitched and Simon & Simon. Wayne died Monday at 93. ► RIP Ruth Finley. Finley, godmother of New York Fashion Week, was responsible for [creating]( the Fashion Calendar, the schedule for shows and events printed for almost 70 years on the pink paper that became the document’s signature. She died Sunday evening at 98. Coming attractions... ► Trailer: Sean Penn attempts Marts trip Hulu's The First. Beau Willimon's space drama, which marks the actor's TV series-regular debut, releases on the streamer Sept. 14. [Watch.]( Early Emmys go to The Simpsons, Broad City, Hey Arnold!. Juried winners were named for both outstanding individual achievement in animation and outstanding motion design, with The Simpsons scoring its 33rd Emmy win over its long history with the awards. [Details.]( Broderick Remembers Simon First impressions matter: Brighton Beach Memoirs star Matthew Broderick remembers the great playwright Neil Simon, who died Sunday at age 91, and the day in 1982 when he first encountered him on a New York theater stage: + Down to business: He said hello and he smiled, but that’s all he did. He didn’t ask how I was or if I had any brothers or sisters or any of that sort of thing. He wasn’t trying to be intimidating — he was just very shy. He was kind of mysterious to me. I started reading and I remember at one point I made him laugh, thank God. And that’s how I got my very first lead in a play. + Focused on the art: Our relationship was mostly professional. I only had a handful of dinners with him, and I never had lunch with him alone. But he wrote me letters, really lovely letters, so we had a bit of a friendship that way — although the letters weren’t always very friendly. If he thought something was not right in a performance, he could be pretty scathing. * Pristine correspondence: They were mostly opening-night letters, when we moved to a new city. You’d get to the stage and they’d be waiting for you on your table. They were beautifully written in his beautiful handwriting. And sometimes he would also give you a page from one of his scripts in a Tiffany frame. [Full essay.]( + Ex-wife Marsha Mason remembers: The actress and Simon wed three weeks after meeting in an audition: "It was a wonderful marriage, but after 10 years our personal and professional needs became different and it just became too complicated and difficult. And Neil just changed his mind [about the marriage]. It took me a long time to get over [the divorce], but we remained friends afterward. There was always this deep affection. That never went away." [Remembrance.]( What else we're reading... — "Cary Fukunaga Doesn't Mind Taking Notes from Netflix's Algorithm." Zach Baron profiles: "I realized that I have a tendency to make things harder than they need to be. Having fun with genre and not worrying too much about production value went out the door the moment I started conceiving of ideas." [[GQ](] — "How Warren Beatty Became a Pallbearer at John McCain’s Funeral." Erika Harwood details: "Beatty may seem like an unlikely addition, but the self-proclaimed 'liberal Democrat' and Republican Senator were longtime friends." [[Vanity Fair](] — "Louis C.K. Chose the Worst Possible, Least Surprising Way to Return to Comedy." Dana Schwartz critiques: "Louis C.K. is attempting to re-enter the comedy world by means of the same power structure that allowed him to abuse women for so long." [[Entertainment Weekly](] — "Robin Leach Defined the Wealth-Obsessed 80s, and We Never Got Over It." Donald Liebenson remembers: "In a 2016 interview, Leach told me with pride that Joan Collins, who portrayed Alexis Carrington on Dynasty, told him that the cast would gather to watch Lifestyles and pilfer lines of dialogue from the people Leach profiled for their show." [[Vanity Fair](] — "How GTA Is Changing the Way the World Experiences Music." Brian Crecente analyzes: "In the five years since launch, GTA V and GTA Online gamers have listened to more than an estimated 75 billion minutes of music from the game’s 18 radio stations, according to Rockstar’s own analysis." [[Rolling Stone](] — "The 25-Year Journey of Magic: The Gathering." Neima Jahromi reports: "Since its beginning, Magic has spread to more than 30 million human operating systems. Today, those humans play with some combination of the game’s 18,000 unique cards, in 11 different languages." [[New Yorker](] What else we're watching... + "Ruby Rose is going to dress her dogs like Batwoman and Batman." [[Tonight Show](] + "Restored 1956 Disneyland footage captures Walt Disney." [[YouTube](] From the archives... + On Aug. 29, 1933, MGM's star-studded big screen adaptation of Dinner at Eight, directed by George Cukor, made its world premiere in New York. The ensemble, led by Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery and John and Lionel Barrymore, wowed: "The attractiveness of this picture rests solely on the shoulders of a cast the like of which, in draw names and acting ability, has never been assembled before to be photographed by a camera." [Flashback review.]( Today's birthdays: Lea Michele, 32, Nicole Byer, 32, Emily Hampshire, 37, Beth Dover, 40, Carla Gugino, 47, Rebecca De Mornay, 59, Joel Schumacher, 79, Elliott Gould, 80, William Friedkin, 83. Follow The News Is this email not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2018 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. 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