Trump vs. Smollett; Jolie's Marvel Movie; Siegfried & Roy's Tragic Trick; Agents Budging?; 'Dumbo' Tracking; Power Lawyers List

What's news: What really happened when illusionist Roy Horn was attacked by his tiger? Plus: Angelina Jolie joins the MCU, an agency makes some packaging fees concessions and this year's Power Lawyers list. — Will Robinson March 28, 2019 What's news: What really happened when illusionist Roy Horn was attacked by his tiger? Plus: Angelina Jolie joins the MCU, an agency makes some packaging fees concessions and this year's Power Lawyers list. — Will Robinson ^Attack cover-up?: Animal handler Chris Lawrence was onstage when a tiger mauled Roy Horn in 2003 during Siegfried & Roy's Las Vegas show. Now, after a 15-year battle with PTSD as a result of that gory night, he is finally ready to reveal the human error that triggered the incident and the story he believes was concocted to protect the legendary illusionists, Gary Baum reports: + Why now: Lawrence — a figure central to the story, now speaking for the first time — says the official narrative of the night put out by the show isn't what really happened. He contends it was a version shaped by the illusionists to protect the brand, save face and cover up for a series of onstage handling errors made by Roy Horn. + Roy's alleged error: "What Roy did was, instead of walking [the tiger] Mantacore in a circle, as is usually done, he just used his arm to steer him right back into his body, in a pirouette motion," he says. "Mantacore's face was right in [Horn's] midsection. By Roy not following the correct procedure, it fed into confusion and rebellion." Mantacore's ears went noticeably erect. His whiskers became outstretched from his cheeks, and the pupils of his eyes grew large, with a green haze. + PTSD effects: "Our three kids almost lost their father," Lawrence explains, his voice quavering, in his suburban Orlando home on a recent afternoon. "Really, in a lot of respects, we did lose him," says his wife, Alicia. "This changed him. It was like a little piece of him died that day." [Full story.]( Agents Budging? Shared profits: Abrams Artists Agency says it will share packaging fees with clients, but won’t sign the WGA's "Code of Conduct" to ban package fees and affiliate production, Jonathan Handel reports: + "We deserve compensation for the work that we do; but that is of less consequence than our clients being compensated for what they do," a memo from Abrams owners to staff reads in part. “Who knows if writers will fire their agents, but whatever happens, if some writers become available — we don't care how big or small they are — if they are the kind of people who are congruent with what we stand for, then let's find a home for them.” + Feeling the disconnect: “We are members of the ATA, and they do a good job of representing us on most topics and issues, but quite honestly, they haven’t consulted with us regarding the writers,” says the memo. “They have been informing us about their efforts, but they are really only concerned with the big four — especially since so much of the argument is over packaging, and those firms do the vast majority of it.”. [Full memo.]( Union fight... ► J.J. Abrams joins writers' call to "end agencies' conflicted practices." The top showrunner [supports]( the Writers Guild war against the talent agencies. "Let’s give our Guild the power to make a difference for writers at every level and for generations to come," Abrams said in a statement. ► CAA sued by writer amid WGA fight. John Musero is suing the agency, along with agents Andrew Miller and Leah Yerushalaim, claiming CAA [optioned]( his work to another company for as little pay as possible and later redeveloped it with another writer client without his knowledge and permission and sold it to a major network. -> Can WGA turn managers into agents?: The union's move to delegate powers may run afoul of state law related to agencies, with one lawyer-expert calling it "a subterfuge to evade the TAA," Handel reports. * Agents say writers' plan would throw industry into "chaos.": The WGA is in a self-described "[threatening phase](," say agents after a guild-agency meeting ended on the eve of balloting. Elsewhere in TV... ► Jussie Smollett attorney wants to shift focus on brothers' role in attack. Despite all criminal charges being dropped, authorities still believe the Empire actor [concocted]( the assault, in which he said two masked men beat him Jan. 29. * His community service. Among his deeds, "Mr. Smollett spent several hours with students who wanted to join the organization’s annual tour of historically black colleges. He spoke with them about the importance of discipline and a good attitude, and answered questions about the music and film industries." [[The New York Times](] * Trump says "FBI & DOJ to review the outrageous [case]." The president [added](: "It is an embarrassment to our Nation!" ► WarnerMedia offers buyouts to Turner employees. The move [suggests]( that voluntary leaves will come before large numbers of people are let go as AT&T strives to rid itself of duplicative job functions and rein in spending at its new asset. ► HBO announces Game of Thrones final season doc. Filmmaker Jeanie Finlay's feature-length look into all things Westeros [will air]( on HBO one week following the series finale. -> Why Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman face different legal stakes. The two TV stars are [charged]( with the same crime — conspiracy to commit mail fraud in connection with college admissions — but their defense strategies could vary, Peter Kiefer reports. Deals and developments... ► Paramount TV developing Sex and the City follow-up. The new project is [based on]( SATC author Candace Bushnell's upcoming book Is There Still Sex in the City?. ► Freeform taps Felicia Day, Emma Roberts to produce pair of animated comedies. The Disney-owned, younger-skewing cable network also [unveiled]( an edgy new brand campaign during its second annual Summit in L.A. ► Sylvester Stallone developing dirty-cop drama for History. The announcement comes during A+E Networks' upfront event, which also [features]( a host of projects for sister channels A&E and Lifetime. ^How showbiz TV is adapting to changing news climate: The newsmagazines Entertainment Tonight, Access and Extra! now face off against tabloid competitors like TMZ, new entrants like Page Six and limitless online video content, Rick Porter reports: + Ratings outlook: The explosion of media options this decade has caused viewership for those shows like to decline some. All three are down substantially in viewers this decade, a decline similar to every series shown on broadcast television. The entertainment newsmagazines have had fairly stable audiences the past couple of seasons, and ET ranks in the top 10 among all syndicated shows for 2018-19. + Access is key: We're the ones who get the celebs," says Lisa Gregorisch-Dempsey, senior exec producer of Extra, of the longer-running shows. "The [newer] shows gossip about celebs, they report on them, but when it comes to actually having access and being able to get new information on the story everybody's talking about, we have them." [Full story.]( Casting call... ► Game of Thrones prequel adds five more to cast. Marquis Rodriguez, John Simm, Richard McCabe, John Heffernan and Dixie Egerickx [have joined]( HBO's pilot from Jane Goldman and George R.R. Martin. ► Crazy Rich Asians author's CBS comedy finds lead. Max Willems will star in The Emperor of Malibu as the son of a Chinese tech billionaire who gets [engaged]( to an American woman. R. Kelly update... ► Former hairstylist accuses singer of sexual abuse. Lanita Carter, who, until now, was an anonymous accuser in Kelly’s criminal sexual-abuse case, says she was the disgraced R&B singer’s hair braider for two years, during which Kelly allegedly sexually abused her. Though hesitant to come forward with her history with the singer, Carter says that she [no longer feels]( "ashamed" of her past. From the Live Feed... ► Veep final season delivers "satisfying" ending no one will see coming. Ultimately, ["it's a love letter,"]( Anna Chlumsky adds. "I just looked at [showrunner] Dave [Mandel] and I said, 'Thank you.'" Digital digest... ► Facebook banning white nationalist, separatist content on its site. “It’s clear that these concepts are deeply linked to organized hate groups and have no place on our services," a company blog post reads. [[The Wall Street Journal](] ► Vice Media agrees to $1.87 million settlement for paying female staffers less than men. The deal comes after Vice tapped new leadership, [denied]( there was any centralized pay practice and turned over salary data to a statistician to determine if there was a gender gap. ► Bustle buys The Outline. "[Bryan] Goldberg says his plan is to use the custom publishing platform [Josh] Topolsky’s team built across his portfolio of sites, and he thinks it will be particularly attractive to advertisers looking for unique takes on web display ads." [[Recode](] ► BuzzFeed gets judge to rule that "fake news" was truly fake news. The online news site [beats]( a libel case over its story titled "The King of Bullsh*t News," which examined a company purportedly writing up stories with false sources. ► Google Stadia GM joins The Game Awards Advisory Board. Phil Harrison [joins]( a board that includes representation from major gaming companies such as Activision, Electronic Arts, Kojima Productions, Microsoft, Nintendo of America and Rockstar Games. Latest reviews... ► NBC's Abby's. "[The show] is the latest NBC comedy to premiere with a decent premise, a terrific cast and, at least through the opening episodes sent to critics, almost no actual laughs," Daniel Fienberg writes. [Full review.]( Book report... ► Michelle Obama's memoir eyes 10 million copy milestone. From Thomas Rabe, CEO of Penguin Random House's controlling owner Bertelsmann SE: "We believe this could be the most successful memoir in history." [[The Wall Street Journal](] Killing Eve leads BAFTA TV Awards noms with 14. A Very English Scandal wasn't far behind, landing 12 nominations across both the BAFTA TV and BAFTA Craft awards, which were unveiled in London on Thursday. [Nominees.]( 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](. Taking Flight Back to the circus: Tim Burton's live-action Dumbo heads to theaters this weekend, nearly eight decades after the original animated feature first opened, Pamela McClintock reports: + Leader of the show: The family film should have no trouble wresting the crown from holdover Us with a domestic debut of $50 million or more for Disney and Burton, according to prelease tracking. Dumbo is opening simultaneously in virtually every major foreign market, including China. * Possible hang-up: The movie is far from a critical darling (its current Rotten Tomatoes score is 54 percent). Then again, Burton and Disney's live-action Alice in Wonderland — which had a 51 percent score — grossed $1.02 billion at the global box office in 2010. + Us's second act: It's not uncommon for even the most successful horror pics to fall 60 percent; if so, that would put Us at around $28 million-$29 million for the weekend, down from its massive $71.1 million. Exceptions include Peele's first feature, Get Out, which only slipped 15 percent in its second frame after debuting to $33 million. [Box office preview.]( Elsewhere in film... ► Avengers: Endgame hovers around three hours, longest Marvel movie yet. Disney and Marvel will likely [forfeit]( one showing a day on any given screen because of the run time. Box office analysts say they can make up for this by playing Endgame in as many auditoriums as possible within one complex. ► David Oyelowo sets feature directorial debut with The Water Man. The film, which the Selma star will also [produce and star in](, will be executive produced by Oprah Winfrey. ► Saudi Arabia launches new Ministry of Culture to oversee film initiatives. The government body will [oversee]( organizations such as the Saudi Film Council and puts in place a new power structure to help expand the Kingdom's nascent entertainment sector, which is set to include a newly-announced film festival. ► New premium large format brand THX Ultimate will launch at historic Fox Village Theater. The new cinema brand is a strategic alliance between THX and Cinionic (Barco), set [to take]( on Imax and Dolby Cinema. -> Inside the Academy's first meeting after the Oscars. Nicole Sperling reports: "The focus of the three-hour dinner meeting was kept strictly on the 2019 telecast: the implications of keeping it short, how the producers balanced all 24 awards with bursts of entertainment, and what happens when you eliminate the host." [[Vanity Fair](] Casting call... ► Angelina Jolie in talks to make Marvel debut with The Eternals. The Oscar-winning actress is [in talks to star]( in the superhero team adventure feature being directed by Chloe Zhao. ► Star Trek: Discovery star in talks to join LeBron James in Space Jam 2. Sonequa Martin-Green [would play]( LeBron James' wife, if a deal makes. Ryan Coogler is one of the producers of the long-awaited sequel to the 1996 live-action/animation hybrid. ► Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch join Sam Mendes' WWI movie 1917. Mark Strong and Richard Madden are [also joining]( the war drama's cast. ► Fox's Fear Street trilogy adds quartet. Ashley Zukerman, Fred Hechinger, Julie Rehwald, Jeremy Ford [were added]( to director Leigh Janiak's trio of films based on the novels by R.L. Stein. ^Black women's role in #MeToo and Time's Up: Speaking at a Los Angeles panel, Rashida Jones reflected on how things have changed for black women in the last two years, Kirsten Chuba reports: + "For these movements, there's always an inflection point, and so many inflection points that are started by black women are missed," Jones said. "I do believe there is some version of this country and our lives that would be different if people listened to black women." + "The good news is that everybody in Hollywood is so scared, they're so scared, and we have employed the very, very powerful device of shame," she explained. "We walk into rooms and show them their numbers and say, 'Is this really what your studio looks like, this is what your network looks like? You know that doesn't represent the demography of this country, right?'" [Full story.]( Honorees... ► John Carpenter to receive Cannes' Directors' Fortnight Golden Coach. The director [will be honored]( as part of the sidebar's opening ceremony May 15. On the festival circuit... ► New Berlin bosses unveil selection committee, Panorama section head. Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian will replace long-time Berlin festival director Dieter Kosslick in June. [Details.]( Musical notes... ► South Korea grapples with K-pop sex scandals. A string of popular singers [have quit]( show business after they were caught secretly recording and sharing videos of their sexual partners — without consent — but the celebrity cases are just the tip of the iceberg, Lee Hyo-won reports. ► Grammy eligibility year to close one month early. The change of the cutoff date, to Aug. 31, is the result of next year's Grammy telecast being [moved up]( two weeks to Jan. 26, 2020. Around town... ► Village Roadshow teams with Loyola Marymount for student filmmaking grants. The partnership [will give]( five $10,000 grants to current LMU students and recent alumni. In memoriam... ► RIP Bronco McLoughlin. The colorful Irish stuntman, who through the magic of movies hurtled down a waterfall while tied to a crucifix at the start of The Mission and burned to death in The Wicker Man, died in his sleep Tuesday at 80. [Obit.]( Coming attractions... ► Trailer: Angry Birds 2 sees alliances forged. In the sequel, the birds and pigs embark on a new adventure and battle against the isolated Zeta (Leslie Jones) after she fires an ice ball at their island. [Watch.]( Brett Ratner planning 50th birthday party in Paris. Roman Abramovich, Eugene Shvidler, Len Blavatnik and Mick Jagger are said to have [received]( invitations, with the scandal-plagued director offering to fly guests in for today's festivities. Power Lawyers 2019 Power Layers: Meet the pit bulls, fixers and wheelers and dealers on THR's 13th annual power list of the top attorneys negotiating record-shattering Netflix pacts, merging Disney and Fox, suppressing sex tapes and suing studios for billions: + Gordon Bobb: It's no coincidence that so many of Bobb's clients — Tiffany Haddish, Amandla Stenberg, Pose's Janet Mock and Indya Moore — are women of color. "I did enter this business with the stated purpose to represent those who are underrepresented," he says, crediting partner Nina Shaw, with whom he shares clients Ava DuVernay and Lena Waithe, with recruiting him from corporate law 20 years ago. + Gregg Gelman (newcomer): Gellman handled Kenya Barris' complicated negotiation to leave a four-year deal with ABC early and his ensuing eight-figure overall deal with Netflix, as well as the sale of Bob's Burgers creator Loren Bouchard's latest show to Apple. Gellman also represents rising star Lulu Wang, the director behind hot Sundance title The Farewell, which sold worldwide rights to A24 for up to $7 million. [Power 100]( | [Legal Legends]( -> Best music attorneys: Meet the men and women who help the music industry's stars, including Lady Gaga, Blake Shelton and Britney Spears, navigate recording, touring and TV deals. [Top 10]( | [Power Looks]( What else we're reading... — "Streaming Explosion Creates New Dilemma: Too Many Choices." Benjamin Mullin reports: "If you look at the market currently, the average consumer may have room to add a service or two but the ceiling of what a consumer will pay is soon reached." [[The Wall Street Journal](] — "People Bribe College Officials to Help Themselves." Amanda Hess writes: "You sense, in some of the stories to emerge from these fraud charges, an odd form of intergenerational class conflict, in which wealthy people who did not grow up pampered ... are now trying to impose middle-class values (a good education is important) on superrich kids who see little use for them. " [[The New York Times Magazine](] — "Mark Ronson Is Ready to Make More Hits." Lisa Robinson profiles: "At some point, you get better about it and think, O.K., this is what’s got me up to here, so maybe I’m not so embarrassed or annoyed by my neuroses. I just have to accept that it’s part of me, embrace it, it got me to where I am, so fuck it." [[Vanity Fair](] — "How Veep Star Anna Chlumsky Became An Unlikely Comedy Hero." Samantha Rollins talks to the HBO player: "She no longer feels she has the luxury of staying out of the discussion, and now believes it's her duty to use her platform to speak up when people are wronged. 'I just want to be documented as being on the proper side of things by the end of it all.'" [[Bustle](] — "In Praise of Chef’s Table's Wild Overuse of Slow Motion." Helen Rosner applauds: "Like a bloody battlefield, food filmed in slow motion is both aestheticized and unnervingly visceral." [[The New Yorker](] Last night, on late night... + "Matthew McConaughey & Snoop Dogg got high on set together." [[Jimmy Kimmel](] + "Sigourney Weaver helps recreate iconic Alien moment." [[Graham Norton](] + "Tig Notaro & Stephen were accidental seatmates." [[Late Show](] + "Matt LeBlanc was propositioned by Sharon Osbourne at Golden Globes." [[Conan](] From the archives... + Today in 1963: Alfred Hitchcock premiered his Psycho feature follow-up, The Birds, in New York. The horror pic, starring Rod Taylor and Tippi Hendren, earned one Academy Award nod for best special effects: "The horror, when it comes, is a hair-raiser, and audiences should take to the Universal release with satisfying response." [Flashback review.]( Today's birthdays: Lady Gaga, 33, Julia Stiles, 38, Nick Frost, 47, Vince Vaughn, 49, Brett Ratner, 50, Reba McEntire, 64, Dianne Wiest, 71, Mike Newell, 77. Follow The News Is this email not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2019 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Preferences]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Use]( March 28, 2019