Steve McQueen Returns; CBS Nevins Rises; Disney-Fox Film Future; 'Making a Murderer' Review; Murphy Brown vs. Steve Bannon

What's news: Oscar-winner Steve McQueen makes his return with his sights set on blockbuster glory. Plus: Disney's film strategy with Fox begins to take shape, CBS promotes Showtime boss David Nevins and NBC orders a full season for its hit freshman drama Manifest. — Will Robinson [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment]( October 19, 2018 What's news: Oscar-winner Steve McQueen makes his return with his sights set on blockbuster glory. Plus: Disney's film strategy with Fox begins to take shape, CBS promotes Showtime boss David Nevins and NBC orders a full season for its hit freshman drama Manifest. — Will Robinson ^Steve McQueen returns: The Oscar-winning filmmaker behind 12  Years a Slave takes moviemaking (and everything else) deadly serious, but his new slick, popcorny heist thriller Widows is made for multiplexes, not art houses, Stephen Galloway reports: + Wider aspirations: Widows may introduce McQueen to a new audience, as well, after a career of largely limited releases. "I want to engage with a wider, broader public," he says. "If you want real change, you have to engage with the people you're making films about. But I'm not lowering my political, intellectual engagement. I'm rising toward something, not lowering." + His directorial eye: "He sees the parts of you that nobody else sees," says Viola Davis. "If you're here to play a lead character in a movie, there's got to be a look and you've got to be pretty, You've got to sort of assimilate and have a more crossover appeal — straight hair, a more European look. But Steve said: 'I want you to wear your [real] hair because that woman exists. She never gets introduced in the American cinema. It's time we introduced her.'" + Early struggles: Raised in a multicultural environment, the son of two immigrants, he was held back by his reading troubles. At first he says he felt "stupid," then strikes that. "What did I honestly think? I — I — was embarrassed. ... You get an idea of where you stand in the world." He reconsiders: "My whole life has been people underestimating me and me transcending those expectations," he says. "So I'm cool. I'm used to it." [Full story.]( Disney Sets Fox Plans Six studios to five: Disney has taken a crucial step in laying out how it will absorb the film assets of 20th Century Fox, Pamela McClintock reports: + New roles: The small cadre of top Fox film execs anointed by Disney to be part of its historic acquisition of much of 21st Century Fox include 20th Century Fox vice chairman Emma Watts, Fox 2000's Elizabeth Gabler, and Fox Searchlight chiefs Steve Gilula and Nancy Utley. Watts' move was previously reported earlier this month. As expected, Fox film chairman-CEO Stacey Snider won't be going. * Further assimilation: Fox's Andrea Miloro and Robert Baird will remain co-presidents of Fox Animation, while longtime Fox exec Vanessa Morrison will serve as president of family. Baird, Miloro and Morrison will report to both Horn and Watts. + How it'll work: While Disney didn't reveal specifics of how 20th Century Fox will co-exist within the Disney empire, all indications are that it will be a brand alongside Disney's Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, Pixar, Disney's live-action studio and Disney Animation — ditto for Searchlight and Fox 2000. [Full story.]( Box office strategy... + Disney-Fox combined strategy begins: Disney currently commands an unprecedented 30 percent of marketshare at the domestic box office, which will only grow upon the Fox merger. Fox's marketshare is roughly 9 percent; if Disney and Fox were already under one roof, that would equal 40 percent of the marketplace, McClintock reports. [Analysis.]( Elsewhere in film... ► Netflix picks up Paris Hilton-produced doc The American Meme. The doc, written and directed by Bert Marcus, [explores]( the journeys of four distinct social media influencers — Hilton, Josh Ostrovsky (aka The Fat Jewish), Brittany Furlan and Kirill Bichutsky — as they build empires out of their online footprints and rebrand the American dream. ► Stephen Curry to ep faith-based drama Breakthrough. The move, which was finalized several months ago, is one of the first for Curry's burgeoning media career and one of the first to be [revealed]( since the Golden State Warrior point guard officially launched his banner, Unanimous Media, earlier this year. ► Hannah Marks to direct Black List script The Swimsuit Issue. American High is behind the feature, having [worked]( with Marks on recent project Banana Spilt. Marks, who wrote and starred in the American High feature, recently co-wrote and co-directed drama After Everything. ► Mary Jane Skalski joins Echo Lake Entertainment. In the newly formed position, Skalski, who will be based in New York, will [work across]( both the management and production divisions. ► APA promotes physical production co-heads to partner. The department was [established]( in August 2013 by Jay Gilbert and Gil Harari, who hailed from Paradigm, and four months later were joined by Matt Birch and Ralph Berge from Montana Artists as fellow co-heads. ► British Independent Film Awards 2018 breakthrough longlists unveiled. Rupert Everett, Karen Gillan and Bart Layton are among those in consideration in BIFA's breakthrough producer, debut screenwriter, most promising newcomer and debut director lists. [Potential nominees.]( [Quoted:]( “Early in the script stage, he said, ‘Keep it simple and keep it relentless. I thought that was really good navigational advice on this journey." — David Gordon Green, on Halloween's guiding mission. ^Lifespan of a Fact's "ingenious" adaptation. A revelatory Daniel Radcliffe, Cherry Jones and Bobby Cannavale star in Broadway's world-premiere adaptation of John D'Agata and Jim Fingal's book about journalistic integrity and poetic license in nonfiction, David Rooney [reviews](. From the stage... ► Tony Awards sets 2019 broadcast date and venue. The Tonys will take place at New York's Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 9. The awards eligibility [cutoff date]( for all Broadway productions opening in the 2018-2019 season has been set for April 25. Casting call... ► Judi Dench joins cast of Cats. The Oscar-winner [will play]( Deuteronomy, the ancient cat presiding over the felines' Jellicle Ball. Universal has set a release date of Dec. 20, 2019. ► Liam Hemsworth, Vince Vaughn to star in Arkansas. Clark Duke will make his directorial debut and will also star. Arkansas is set to [start filming]( in Alabama this week. Patrick Hibler, Jeff Rice, Martin Sprock and Storyboard Media are producing. ► Rapper Vince Staples lands first lead role in Punk. Aussie director Richard Hughes will make his [feature debut]( with the road trip movie under Brian Kavanaugh-Jones' Automatik. On the festival circuit... ► The Florida Project director Sean Baker to head Mumbai's international jury. The international competition section [features]( debutant filmmakers vying for the Golden Gateway award, and this year's lineup includes such titles as Paul Dano's Wildlife. As reported earlier, Darren Aronofsky will conduct a masterclass at the festival. Honorees... ► Glenn Close, Hugh Jackman tapped for acting honors at Hollywood Film Awards. Damien Chazelle is set to [receive]( the Hollywood Director Award for First Man at the Nov. 4 event. Coming attractions... ► Trailer: The Curse of La Llorona wards of a demonic spirit. Based on Mexican folklore, the pic centers on the ghostly La Llorona (or the "weeping woman"), the spirit of a woman who lost her children and searches for them near the river in which they disappeared. [Watch.]( ► Trailer: Stephen {NAME} stars in true story of Christian missionary burned alive. The Least of These stars {NAME} as Graham Staines, whose grisly murder by religious extremists made worldwide news in 1999. [Watch.]( What the Gotham Awards nominations mean. Scott Feinberg navigates the nominees for the Gothams, which are nebulously billed as a celebration of "American" (at least in part) indie films (made with "an economy of means") which have a distributor. [Analysis.]( CBS Promotes Nevins Star rises: Showtime CEO David Nevins has been elevated to CBS Corp.'s chief creative officer as the company continues its reorganization following Leslie Moonves' September ouster, Lacey Rose and Rick Porter report: + His purview: The new position will make Nevins the highest-ranking creative exec at the media giant. In addition to Showtime, where he will continue to oversee the business as CEO, Nevins will have oversight of programming, marketing and research across CBS TV Studios, CBS' entertainment division, The CW, and, in conjunction with CBS Interactive, programming for CBS All Access. + What it means for the new CEO: His promotion to CCO across all of the divisions suggests that the board will install a business-minded executive in the top role. Moonves had been the rare executive who spoke both languages — that of Wall Street and Hollywood. [Full story.]( Elsewhere in TV... ► Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin withdraws from Saudi conference. The Treasury Secretary has said all week that he was [weighing]( whether to attend, following an avalanche of prominent media and finance companies that have withdrawn as media partners. The decision comes after the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. * Fox Business Network drops out, too. "Fox Business Network has [canceled]( its sponsorship and participation in the Future Investment Initiative conference in Saudi Arabia. We continue to seek an interview with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman,” the network said in a statement. ► Manifest lands full-season order at NBC. The show is the [top-rated]( new drama of the fall so far and the second NBC newcomer to have its order extended. ► Jenn Suozzo named ep of NBC Nightly News. Suozzo joined NBC News back in 1999 and [came aboard]( the nightly news show in 2012. She is the founding producer of Andrea Mitchell Reports on MSNBC. Her predecessor, Sam Singal, left the role this summer. ► Blindspot duo prepping Korean-American drama for NBC. Writer Christina Kim will [reunite]( with showrunner Martin Gero on the untitled script, centered on three half-Korean women who grew up straddling two cultures and identities forced to pick sides between their Korean mother and Caucasian father after the latter, the head of a global Asian food empire, is thrown in jail. ► Mark Ruffalo to play twins in HBO limited series. I Know This Much Is True is [based on]( author Wally Lamb's best-selling book of the same name. ► Great American Baking Show returning at ABC with Emma Bunton. The former Spice Girl will be [joining]( Anthony Adams as co-host, and pastry chef Sherry Yard is taking over the judging table with Paul Hollywood. Hollywood is the only original member of the British series on the U.S. version, a gig he first took in 2017 when Mary Berry left the franchise during a network change in the U.K. ► ABC cooks up Baker and the Beauty adaptation of Israeli hit. The romantic comedy [centers]( on the unlikely relationship between a wealthy, successful model and a guy who works at his family's bakery. ► Rev. Run's All About the Washingtons canceled at Netflix. The multicamera comedy is [one-and-done]( at the streamer, which picked up the series after producers Amblin and ABC Studios moved forward following ABC's pass. ► Designated Survivor revival adds Anthony Edwards, Julie White. Both will have [recurring]( guest star roles in the third season of the newly minted Netflix drama. Season three, which will premiere in 2019, will consist of 10 episodes — less than half the order for its first two seasons on ABC. ► Supergirl to introduce Lex Luthor in season four. A casting search is [underway]( for what will be a recurring role on The CW drama. The character was last seen on the former WB Network turned CW's Smallville played by Michael Rosenbaum. ► Salon staff, NBC promo writers ratify contracts with WGA East. The union has now helped [organized and ratify]( three contracts in a week for digital media shops. [Quoted:]( "The show is about the battle for position of power, all the way around. So, who wins? And I will say that it’s so beautifully macabre. It’s really beautiful." — Robin Wright, on House of Cards' ending. ^In China, Western TV companies go co-production route. Faced with being [locked out]( of what is — by audience size if not by revenue — the world's largest TV market, Western companies are changing tactics, Scott Roxborough reports. Digital digest... ► Facebook's fact-checkers struggle to keep up. Georgia Wells and Lukas I. Alpert report on the platform's issues: “Facebook is never going to be able to hire enough people, and the artificial intelligence is never going to be able to do all of this on its own.” [[The Wall Street Journal](] ► Lena Dunham & Jenni Konner's Lenny Letter website to reportedly shut down. The announcement comes three months after news broke that the Girls and Camping showrunners and close friends were [ending]( their producing partnership. From last night... ► Murphy Brown spars with Steve Bannon stand-in. The sitcom revival's fourth episode guest-starred David Costabile as a conservative character named Ed Shannon. [Recap.]( Latest reviews... ► Netflix's Making a Murderer, season two. "It's a disappointment, but it's a disappointment with a thoroughly reasonable excuse," Daniel Fienberg writes. "The legal system, it turns out, is sometimes disappointing. If the theme of the first season was the perpetrating of an injustice, with all of the attendant indignation, the theme of the second season is justice, in all of its thwarted and incomplete imperfection." [Review.]( Coming attractions... ► Narcos: Mexico trailer introduces the birth of a new drug war. The Mexico reset of the drug cartel drama, which launches Nov. 16, goes back in time to chart the rise of a new empire. [Watch.]( ► Trailer: Leah Remini tackles Jehovah's Witnesses in season three of Scientology and the Aftermath. The actress is moving beyond Scientology for a special preceding the third season premiere of her Emmy-winning docuseries. The special will air Nov. 13. [Watch.]( Black Ops 4 generates over $500 million in first three days. Available for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on Oct. 12, the multiplayer first-person shooter [broke]( a franchise record for most combined players, average hours per player and total number of hours played on current generation consoles for a Call of Duty title. Paradigm's New Digs Open collaboration: The talent agency — whose clients include the Duffer brothers and Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding — blasts open an 82,000-square-foot building in Beverly Hills to create a soaring atrium and a welcoming vibe with glass-fronted offices, candy rooms and listening rooms, Abigail Stone reports: + New corporate foundation: "It was important to us to take ownership of this building from the get-go," says CEO Sam Gores. That meant reimagining the staid corporate structure as a collegial and collaborative space. Two holes were driven through the center of the building. "It was major demolition," says Riveire. The result makes room for a soaring, central staircase that floods the entire building with light. + Office's heart: Glass doors blur the line between indoors and out. in the sprawling Coffee Lounge "You come down and there could be 200 people having lunch, all different levels of hierarchy," says Gores, whose company has a policy of giving everyone 90 minutes for the break. Adds co-head of talent Stephanie Ramsey, "I love sitting in the coffee bar with an actor, and at the next table there is a music meeting." [Story]( | [Gallery]( What else we're reading... — "How Paul Allen Changed My Life." Bill Gates remembers the Microsoft co-founder: "Paul deserved more time in life. He would have made the most of it." [[The Wall Street Journal](] — "This Melissa McCarthy Story Just Might Cheer You Up." Taffy Brodesser-Akner profiles: "Critics say her comedies are just sanitized versions of a time she’s nostalgic for. But the thing that keeps her making the kind of movies she and [Ben] Falcone make isn’t nostalgia. It’s just that that’s just the last time comedy was allowed to be a random assortment of things to make you laugh." [[New York Times Magazine](] — "Is Netflix racially personalizing artwork for its titles?" Joe Berkowitz examines the streamer's personalization practices: "What the company did on Stacia L. Brown’s account with Like Father, though, seems like a more malevolent manipulation ... [manufacturing] the appearance of greater diversity than actually exists." [[Fast Company](] — "Not the Man They Think He Is at Home." Bill Wyman considers Elton John's career: "[John] has always made [Bernie] Taupin’s words mean what he wants them to mean, giving himself the room to identify with or distance himself from them at will. In other words, if you think you know Elton John through his songs — you don’t." [[Vulture](] — "Is Uber the Next Amazon or Yahoo?" Nick Bilton reports on the company's IPO: "The Uber insider explained to me that comparing the company to another auto behemoth, like Ford or G.M., is like comparing Amazon to Barnes & Noble." [[Vanity Fair](] What else we're watching... + "Julia Louis-Dreyfus opens up about breast cancer battle." [[Jimmy Kimmel](] + "Joe and Mika: We need nothing from Saudi Arabia." [[Late Show](] + "Maya Rudolph once did Halloween as a plate of spaghetti." [[Late Late Show](] + "Sir Michael Caine & Morgan Freeman discuss acting techniques." [[Graham Norton Show](] From the archives... + On Oct. 19, 1990, Kevin Costner unveiled his directorial debut, Dances With Wolves, at Washington, D.C.'s Uptown Theater. The film was an awards darling, winning seven Oscars, including best picture and best director: "Dances With Wolves is not genius but competence. In most circumstances, that sort of comparison need not be made. It becomes inevitable, though, when the actor is of Mr. Costner's stature and when the film itself is so ambitious." [[New York Times](] Today's birthdays: Rebecca Ferguson, 35, Gillian Jacobs, 36, Jason Reitman, 41, Trey Parker, 49, Jon Favreau, 52, John Lithgow, 73, Michael Gambon, 78, John le Carré, 89. 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. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Preferences]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Use]( October 19, 2018