Politics of 'Roma'; NBC Succession Showdown; New 'Ghostbusters'; Spielberg's Secret Puerto Rico Trip; Netflix 'You' Success; 'Brexit' Review

What's news: Alfonso Cuaron shows off his hometown while detailing the pressing politics of Roma. Plus: How Steve Burke forged his succession plan, a new Ghostbusters movie and Steven Spielberg addresses modern concerns of West Side Story. — Will Robinson [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment]( January 16, 2019 What's news: Alfonso Cuaron shows off his hometown while detailing the pressing politics of Roma. Plus: How Steve Burke forged his succession plan, a new Ghostbusters movie and Steven Spielberg addresses modern concerns of West Side Story. — Will Robinson [On the cover:]( Roma director Alfonso Cuaron and star Yalitza Aparicio guide THR through Mexico City's Roma neighborhood as they break down how the political forces of the director’s childhood (and what’s happening now) shape the ideas on display in the potentially history-making Oscar contender, Scott Johnson reports: + Formative environment: While Roma centers mainly on the life and experiences of Cleo — the character based on Cuaron's real-life childhood nanny, Libo — the political tumult that swirled around Cuaron as a boy forms a near-constant, if largely unexplained, backdrop. "It was overwhelming," he says. "The political atmosphere in Mexico was very claustrophobic. It was this atmosphere ruled by an ideological Mexicanismo." + Rediscovering his self: "Memory can only be approached from my standpoint as an adult," Cuaron explains. "It's sometimes misguided. All of that is going to taint the whole thing." Cuaron doesn't shy away from the pain this process has sometimes occasioned. "I wanted to visit old wounds and come to terms with who I am," he says. "I wanted to explore the wounds that shape me, both personal and wounds that I share collectively with a country and with the world." + Effect in Mexico: "The whole movie is a denunciation of certain political realities, yes, but it's also very complicated," Mauricio Tenorio, director of the Katz Center for Mexican Studies at the University of Chicago says. "In Mexico, the movie has become an excuse for everybody to finally talk about how much we loved our nannies, which is a thing we just didn't do." [Full cover story.]( Cuaron on Mexico's problems today: "People like to talk about these issues of inequality and discrimination by using the term 'classism' — as if that would make it better," says Cuaron, shaking his head with disgust. "But let's call it for what it is. [It's racism](." | [Cuaron's tour of Mexico City]( Burke's Succession Plan The long game: Jeff Shell may have the inside track, say insiders, but the company’s Monday reorganization gives "sports guy" Mark Lazarus a shot at managing TV networks (and fixing NBC News) as everyone bets on the streaming rebirth of a cable giant, Lacey Rose reports: + Setting up path: Until now, little has been said publicly about Steve Burke's intended timeline as CEO of the media behemoth that houses everything from the Minions to MSNBC. And while multiple insiders say they wouldn't be surprised to see him re-up when his contract expires in 2020, almost all suggest the latest realignment gives Burke, 60, options when he does decide to move on. As one former NBCU exec puts it, the shake-up is "very much about saying Mark and Jeff are the guys." + Who has the edge?: Both Shell, 53, and Lazarus, 55, are fiercely loyal to Comcast-owned NBCU and highly regarded by Burke and their respective staffs. If a succession decision had to be made today, however, many say Shell is better positioned for the job given his body of experience, from TV and film to international and parks; though Lazarus, long the "sports guy," will now get a crash course with cable networks and news added to his purview. [Full story.]( -> How bold will NBCU's streamer be? The Comcast division’s OTT approach avoids cannibalizing its lucrative cable business and allows the conglomerate to sell ads on multiple platforms while delaying an all-out effort to challenge Netflix, Natalie Jarvey reports. [Full story.]( Elsewhere in TV... ► Julia Roberts won't star in Homecoming season two. Roberts, who's acting deal was only for one season, will still [remain involved]( as an executive producer alongside showrunner Sam Esmail on the Universal Cable Productions series that landed at Amazon with a two-season commitment. ► Netflix renews Grace and Frankie. The series has been an awards season player for Netflix, [receiving]( multiple Emmy nominations for stars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda. Season five premieres Friday. ► Disney wants to sell Fox RSNs by end of February. Disney took first round bids in November, Christopher Palmeri, Nabila Ahmed and Scott Soshnick report. Meanwhile, "the New York Yankees are moving forward to acquire the 80 percent they don’t already own of the YES Network, the most-valuable channel in the group because it carries the Yankees and the Brooklyn Nets." [[Bloomberg](] -> Old-fashioned TV is excelling. "60% or so of over-the-air viewing households also subscribe to online video services like Netflix and Hulu. They have a median age of just 36 and own more connected devices. And 52% have children and 86% have online video accessibility at home." [[Fortune](] Casting call... ► HBO's Sopranos prequel casts Corey Stoll, Billy Magnussen. Alan Taylor [will direct]( from a script by Sopranos creator David Chase and Lawrence Konner. Chase and Konner will produce, with Nicole Lambert and Marcus Viscidi exec producing. ► ABC comedy pilot Happy Accident casts Matt Walsh. The casting [comes]( as production on the upcoming eighth and final season of Veep, the HBO awards darling, has already wrapped production. ► This Is Us adds Goran Visnjic in recurring role. The former Timeless star will have a recurring part on the show as someone [connected to]( Susan Kelechi Watson's Beth. Digital digest... ► Snap CFO to exit after eight months. Tim Stone [joined]( the photo-sharing app in May 2018 from Amazon. The company said that Stone would stay on as CFO to help with the transition and in a search for his replacement. His last day at Snap has not yet been determined. ► Roku removes Alex Jones' InfoWars after users protest. Following Roku's announcement that it [would feature]( InfoWars on its platform, the hashtag #boycottroku began trending on Twitter. ^Why did Netflix bump its prices?: Neither WarnerMedia nor Disney+ have announced fees, but Netflix raising its price makes it easier for the two newcomers to undercut their largest competitor, Paul Bond reports: + Bird Box boom: Netflix disclosed (an unusual occurrence) that 45 million subscribers worldwide watched the film, which Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter says amounts to 5 percent of viewer attention and equates to 50 cents per user due the film’s ability to attract new subs and retain current ones. That equals roughly $23 million, which is about what Netflix shelled out to make and market the movie. + Future raises: Matthew Harrigan of the Buckingham Research Group figures Netflix can raise its price 4.4 percent annually through 2025 and still attract 273 million users by then and 389 million by 2033. Michael Simon of Moody’s calls the price increase “credit positive” and predicts it will lead to the company becoming cash-flow positive by 2023. [Full story.]( On the festival circuit... ► SXSW adds Olivia Wilde, Endeavor CMO Bozoma Saint John to 2019 speaker lineup. Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger is joining Kevin Systrom for a chat following their decision to leave the Facebook-owned app. [Details.]( Ratings notes... ► True Detective opens lower; Dirty John finishes strong. The two-hour premiere of HBO's drama [averaged]( 1.32 million viewers for its initial airing. Replays and first-night streaming pushed the total to 2.3 million. Meanwhile, the finale of Bravo's most successful scripted series delivered 1.84 million same-day viewers, a 23 percent improvement over the previous episode's 1.49 million. From last night... -> Column: Why the Black-ish colorism episode is so terrifying. Executive producer Peter Saji, who penned the episode as well as the "Juneteenth" installment, opens up about the importance of Tuesday's topic: "We procrastinated in telling this story because we knew we had to get it right or, quite frankly, we would get dragged on Twitter." [Read.]( ► Sterling K. Brown details shocking This Is Us election. The star also tells Jean Bentley what he's most excited about in the second half of the series' third season. [Spoilers.]( Latest reviews... ► HBO's Brexit. "In assembling this quick-paced story-on-the-go, playwright James Graham (the Laurence Olivier Award winner for Labour of Love) and director Toby Haynes (Black Mirror) have a complete grasp of the bigger story and an even tighter grasp on how to tell that through [Benedict] Cumberbatch's character," Tim Goodman praises. [Full review.]( ► The CW's Roswell, New Mexico. "As an immigration parable, Roswell, New Mexico at least has a take worth following and a conversation worth engaging in, even if that conversation alternates between completely invisible and clunky-and-clumsy in the three episodes sent to critics," Daniel Fienberg writes. [Full review.]( ► Netflix's Fyre and Hulu's Fyre Fraud. "Chris Smith's film is the more viscerally satisfying for how it treats [Billy] McFarland as a whipping boy. But [Julia Willoughby Nason and Jenner Furst's] Fyre Fraud is a valuable companion piece for how it widens the scope, examining the ways in which Fyre Fest was born from the muck of lives lived virtually," Keith Uhlich discerns. [Full review.]( Talking points... ► Kirsten Gillibrand takes first steps toward presidential run on Late Show. "As a young mom, I’m [going to fight]( for other people’s kids as hard as I’d fight for my own," the two-term New York senator told Stephen Colbert. How did the National Enquirer get Jeff Bezos' sexts? The Amazon chief [sent]( private messages to Lauren Sanchez (TV host and wife of Endeavor's Patrick Whitesell), such as, "I want to tuck you in slowly." Watching Lasseter Anger swells: Female animators are "shocked and distressed" by the hiring of former Disney and Pixar creative force John Lasseter, but Skydance chief David Ellison is taking a measured approach after having a law firm vet harassment claims, Tatiana Siegel reports: + David Ellison's plan: Sources say the billionaire son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison is taking a wait-and-see approach and is committed to giving Lasseter a second chance after having Venable law firm attorneys vet past sexual harassment claims. As an added measure of security, Lasseter, and not Skydance, would be on the hook for any lawsuits stemming from future sexual harassment claims. + Consulted Time's Up: “Skydance reached out to us after they had made a decision,” Time’s Up CEO Lisa Borders says. “There’s nothing we can say after you have made your business decision. You’re not asking for advice; you’re asking for a blessing. A blessing obviously was not forthcoming. We’re not going to rubber stamp or endorse or sign on to a situation like that. We are not going to be used that way.” [Full story.]( Elsewhere in film... ► Jason Reitman to direct new Ghostbusters movie. Reitman, the son of original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman, [will helm]( a new movie that he has been working on in secret with Gil Kenan. Sony is calling the new feature “the next chapter in the original story,” saying it continues the narrative of the 1980s classic. ► Regal owner Cineworld revenue rises 7.2 percent in 2018. The largest cinema operator in the U.K. said admissions for the year [increased]( by 2.6 percent to reach 308 million, a company record, as U.S. box office increased 6.9 percent. ► Lantern wins lawsuit testing what downfall of Weinstein Co. means for Hollywood stars. After paying $289 million for Weinstein's assets, Lantern [brought]( a suit against Silver Linings Playbook producer Bruce Cohen to demonstrate that Weinstein's old debts weren't Lantern's responsibility. ► Migrant border crossing movie American Dirt in the works from Blood Diamond writer. Imperative Entertainment [will produce]( the ripped-from-the-homepage drama from Charles Leavitt about a mother and son trying to cross the border into the United States. ► Screen Gems developing Just Dance movie. The Sony Pictures label [has nabbed]( the film rights to Ubisoft's video game staple with around 120 million followers worldwide. ► Aisha Tyler set to host DGA Awards. The awards will be [handed out]( Feb. 2 at Hollywood & Highland Center's Ray Dolby Ballroom. Casting call... ► Sofia Coppola, Bill Murray reteam for first A24-Apple feature. Rashida Jones also [will star]( in the father-daughter film On the Rocks. ► Jumanji 2 adds Danny Glover to cast. The Lethal Weapon star will join Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Awkwafina and Danny DeVito in the sequel to the 2017 hit directed by Jake Kasdan, who is [returning]( for the follow-up. ► Charlotte Rampling joins Timothee Chalamet in Dune. Rampling [will play]( the Reverend Mother Mohiam in Denis Villeneuve's film, the emperor’s truthsayer. ► Gary Oldman joins action-thriller The Courier. Last year's Oscar-winning best actor [will star]( alongside Olga Kurylenko in the Brit film, from distributor Signature Entertainment. [Quoted:]( "I mean, I love a good late-night television comedian, but the Oscars celebrate film. So I think the more you have movie stars involved with the Oscars, the better.” — former Oscars producer Bruce Cohen, on if the show needs one host. ^Steven Spielberg met with Puerto Ricans about West Side Story concerns: At a town hall with University of Puerto Rico students and faculty, the director, flanked by screenwriter Tony Kushner, said his remake of the musical will strive for authenticity, Seth Abramovitch reports: + Addressing problematic representation: Isel Rodriguez, a theater history and acting professor at UPR, timidly stood up and asked Spielberg and Kushner point-blank how they planned to "represent Puerto Ricans" in the remake. "Musicals have this thing that make you tingle inside and want to sing along," Rodriguez pointed out. "But that's a complicated thing when you're singing along to [a lyric like] 'let it sink back in the ocean.'" * Spielberg's response: "One of the reasons we are here, the reason we've hired so many Puerto Rican singers and dancers and actors, is so they can help guide us to represent Puerto Rico in a way that will make all of you and all of us proud." + The challenge ahead: "Spielberg did what he could with his answer," film critic Mario Alegre says. "He tried to amend the situation. But the general feeling over here was neither of them got to the point of the question." Adds Rodriguez, "I don't know if they'll be able to fix the problem with just Latino actors and good accents." [Full story.]( For your consideration... ► Foreign-language Oscar contender Shoplifters nominated for 13 Japan Academy Awards. The Koji Yakusho-starrer The Blood of Wolves scored 12 mentions, while the indie zombie hit One Cut of the Dead collected eight. [Nods.]( ► Black Panther, If Beale Street Could Talk, Can You Ever Forgive Me? among USC Scripter Award finalists. The awards honor the year’s best film and television adaptations, as well as the works on which they are based. [Finalists.]( ► Infinity War leads feature noms; Black Panther, Mary Poppins Returns snubbed for Visual Effects Society Awards. Netflix's Lost in Space earns six nominations in the broadcast categories. [Nominees.]( Honorees... ► Glenn Close to be feted at Oscar Wilde Awards. Melissa McCarthy [will present]( the trophy to The Wife star at the Feb. 21 event in Santa Monica. ► Final Draft Awards to honor Boots Riley, Tanya Saracho, Callie Khouri. The leader in screenwriting software will celebrate the writers at a Jan. 29 ceremony. [Details.]( On the festival circuit... ► Ryan Coogler set for Sundance's inaugural talent forum. Alma Har'el, Morgan Neville and Alexandria Bombach are among those [leading]( workshops and participating in keynote conversations. ► Jean-Claude Van Damme's We Die Young to open Mammoth. The California festival [also booked]( world bows for movies by Joe Penna, Brad T. Gottfred and Bethany Brooke Anderson. Musical notes... ► Rihanna sues dad for "Fenty" trademark misuse, lying about being in business with her. The bulk of Rihanna's lawsuit centers on allegations that her father and his business partner, Moses Joktan Perkins, took the implied association with her a step further and have been [outright lying]( to investors about her involvement in Fenty Entertainment. ► Rolling Stones to headline 50th New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. The event also will feature Katy Perry, Dave Matthews Band and Pitbull, among others. [Details.]( In memoriam... ► RIP Robert M. Smith. The former president of DuArt Film Labs in New York City, who spent 62 years with the company, died Friday. He was 88. [Obit.]( ► RIP Paul Koslo. The character actor who played the heavy in such films as The Omega Man, Rooster Cogburn and The Stone Killer. He died Wednesday at 74. [Obit.]( Console wars... Niantic Inc., maker of Pokemon Go, raises $245 million in new funding. Co-founder and CEO John Hanke [discusses]( the new financing — led by venture capital and growth equity firm IVP, aXiomatic Gaming and Samsung Ventures — and future plans for the company's Pokemon app, possible competitive events and the upcoming Harry Potter game. Second Life of 'You' Streaming resurgence: Lifetime renewed the Penn Badgley starrer for a second season but reversed course following low ratings. Netflix will air the Warner Bros. TV series as an original for season two, Rosie Knight writes: + Charting its course: You had a challenging time cutting through the clutter on Lifetime, drawing only a live viewership of 611,000. The A+E-owned cable network reversed course on a second season — for which it would have had to pay a steep licensing fee to Warners — and Netflix swooped in to take first-run rights to season two mere weeks before it exploded. + Bingeable DNA: Since Netflix unspooled season one on Dec. 26, You has taken the internet by storm. Its bleakly dark humor and subversion of rom-com tropes make You a prime candidate for viral success. It helps that You is an inherently bingeable prospect. From the very first episode it presents a series of ever-escalating events and unhinged characters that make it a natural candidate for the continuous viewing that Netflix enables. [Full story.]( What else we're reading... — "Louis CK, R. Kelly, and the Blurring of Work." Hazel Cilis writes: "When many in the entertainment industry think of the writers’ room, or the comedy festival, or the backstage, as a non-stop party where harassment is just a casual joke, where does the expectation of professionalism actually begin?" [[Jezebel](] — "Welcome to Puberty TV." Anna Silman considers the recent trend: "As our culture grapples with all the ways sex and gender relations become skewed under patriarchy, show creators have a chance to explore the period of our lives where our ideas about sex were taking shape, and to rewrite them through a more feminist and sex-positive lens." [[The Cut](] — "Creating While Clean." Chris Heath interviews sober musicians, including Ben Harper, Steven Tyler and Joe Walsh: "f I never wrote anything again, that was going to have to be okay. Once I decided that, I had this big sigh of relief. And about four months later, I wrote a song." [[GQ](] — "You Are Not Above The Masked Singer." Drew Millard comically makes the case: "Rather than simply trying to match a celebrity’s singing voice to their actual voice, the viewer must ask themself if the celebrity they think they’re watching is desperate enough to dress up as a furry teal monster and sing a Queen song." [[The Outline](] — "Doug Jones' Long Journey to Oscar Centerpiece." Jordan Zakarian profiles the Guillermo del Toro favorite: “I did not set out thinking I want to play rubber monsters, so it kind of blindsided me when that's what I became known for. Tall, skinny, goofy guy wears rubber bits on his face and makes something happen with it and doesn't complain about it.” [[Syfy Wire](] What else we're watching... + "Jimmy interviews Lin-Manuel Miranda on Puerto Rican Hamilton stage." [[Tonight Show](] + "Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is officially a presidential candidate." [[Late Show](] + "Ted Danson recounts meaningful trip to Southeast Asia." [[Jimmy Kimmel](] + "Nina Dobrev's mom sends her passive-aggressive gifts." [[Late Late Show](] From the archives... + Today in 1964: The Jerry Herman musical Hello, Dolly! first premiered on Broadway, starring the late Carol Channing. The production is a theater classic, was adapted into a film and recently finished a revival starring Bette Midler: "Making the necessary reservations for the unnecessary vulgar and frenzied touches, one is glad to welcome Hello, Dolly! for its warmth, color and high spirits." [[The New York Times](] Today's birthdays: Lin-Manuel Miranda, 39, Kate Moss, 45, Atticus Ross, 51, James May, 56, Debbie Allen, 69, Caroline Munro, 70, John Carpenter, 71. Enjoy reading this? Six days a week, look for Today in Entertainment in your inbox to stay up-to-date on the industry. Sign up for this newsletter (and others) at [THR.com/Newsletters](. Follow The News Is this email not displaying correctly? 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