'Toy Story’ $200M Debut?; Comic’s Tragic Suicide; Writers Reject Agents Offer; YouTube Mess; Pixar's 'Soul'

What's news: The WGA rejects the ATA's latest offer, YouTube is facing FTC scrutiny and may make big changes to kids content, Toy Story 4 set to end box office sequel-itis, on the ground at Cannes Lion and CineEurope. Plus: A surprise Pixar movie is coming in 2020, and more from THR's Comedy Issue. --Alex Weprin June 20, 2019 What's news: The WGA rejects the ATA's latest offer, YouTube is facing FTC scrutiny and may make big changes to kids content, Toy Story 4 set to end box office sequel-itis, on the ground at Cannes Lion and CineEurope. Plus: A surprise Pixar movie is coming in 2020, and more from THR's Comedy Issue. --Alex Weprin 'Toy Story 4' Set To Fly ►Maybe moviegoers aren't tired of sequels after all? Toy Story 4, which opens in previews tonight and in wide release tomorrow, is looking to snap a summer cold streak for sequels and spinoffs. Dark Phoenix, Men In Black: International, Shaft, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and The Secret Life of Pets 2 all disappointed at the box office over the past couple of months. --Not only is Toy Story 4 likely to smooth over concerns around box office sequel-itis, but it is poised to continue Disney's theatrical domination this year, following Avengers: Endgame, and with The Lion King, Frozen II, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker still to come. --Pamela McClintock reports that Toy Story 4 is targeting an opening weekend in the $150-$200 million range, putting it in contention for one of the biggest openings of all time for an animated feature. [The full box office preview](. +Marketing Toy Story 4. The blockbuster sequel may be about as close to a sure thing as Disney could hope for, but that isn't stopping the studio from pulling out all the marketing stops. Chris Thilk writes that Disney is leveraging nostalgia and the beloved characters, while remaining relatively light on story details. The full [marketing rollout.]( Also: There is a scene set in an antique shop in the film, and it is laden with easter eggs. Here's [what to look for](. +Tom Hanks took to the stage at CineEurope to promote the film. Disney's presentation, which spanned two hours, also included new clips from Frozen II, Mulan, and Jungle Cruise. [The story](. Also from CineEurope: Paramount previewed Top Gun, Gemini Man, and the sequel to A Quiet Place. [The story](. Soul and the future of Pixar. Just ahead of Toy Story 4's premiere, Disney's Pixar surprised Hollywood with the [announcement]( of a new film, Soul, to be directed by Pete Doctor for release in summer 2020. The announcement of Soul means that Pixar will have two original films debuting next year, and Josh Spiegel writes that the film "is an encouraging sign of things to come." "The studio’s bread and butter, for a long time, has been distinctive and fresh stories, and Soul is proof that they’re going back to what worked for so long in the new decade," he writes. [The full column](. +Disney is going to give Avengers: Endgame one more push to try and pass Avatar as the all-time box office champion. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige says that the company is planning to release an extended version of the film, with extra scenes and content, as soon as next weekend. To date Endgame has brought in $2.74 billion, to Avatar's $2.8 billion. [More](. Just in: The WGA has rejected the latest offer from the ATA. In a video published to the guild's website close to midnight PDT, WGA West president David Goodman outlines its new plan, which includes direct talks with individual agencies. The video can be viewed [here.]( The day in deals: Netflix has [signed]( Janet Mock to an overall deal... One Day At a Time star Marcel Ruiz has [signed]( with CAA... Back to Life, a comedy from the producers of Fleabag, [has landed]( at Showtime... Netflix has [picked up]( worldwide rights to Lin Manuel-Miranda's directorial debut, Tick, Tick... Boom!... The EP of This Is Us, Ken Olin, has [signed]( an overall deal with Disney's 20th TV... ►YouTube may soon face a turning point in its history. The Google-owned video platform, and free streaming video leader, is facing federal investigations on multiple fronts, pressure from advertisers upset about their ads appearing next to inappropriate content, and anger from creators who are worried the platform will abandon them for professionally-produced fare. --The news this week was about YouTube's children's content, of which there is millions upon millions of hours available. The Washington Post [reported]( that YouTube is in the "late stages of an investigation" by the FTC for violating children's privacy. The result will likely be a hefty fine, and changes to how kids content is distributed. The Wall Street Journal [reported]( that one idea being considered is moving all kids videos to the YouTube Kids app, while CNN [reported]( that another would end autoplay for those videos. --If and when these changes do happen, they will open up a whole new can of worms for the streaming giant. As Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw [notes](, how would YouTube decide what is kids programming and what isn't? And how would it compensate channels or creators for potentially millions of dollars in lost revenue? --At the same time, Democratic presidential candidates [largely support](the idea of[breaking up]( Google, potentially seeing YouTube spun off into its own company, while Republicans like Sen. Josh Hawley are pushing for stronger FTC enforcement or removing protections for tech companies from Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Elsewhere in film... --A man [was stabbed]( on the set of Anne Hathaway film The Witches. --The Kingsman prequel [will be called]( The King's Man. --New [layoffs hit]( the Disney-Fox film studios Wednesday. --The leader of the Nxivm cult was [convicted]( on Wednesday. Will EA Go Streaming? ►EA is weighing whether to jump on the game streaming bandwagon. Last week the gaming industry's big trade show, E3, brought a wave of announcements on game streaming platforms, from Google Stadia to Microsoft's xCloud and Ubisoft's Uplay+. But EA, one of the biggest publishers in the business, is still deciding on its strategy. Still, Mike Blank (pictured above), senior vp of player network at EA, tells Patrick Shanley that "We can, and we may still, offer our own [streaming game platform]," adding that "I think there is space in the market for multiple complimentary and competing services that offer different kinds of experiences to different players." [The full report](. Casting roundup: Anthony Carrigan is[joining]( Bill & Ted Face the Music as the villain... Josh Brolin and Miles Teller are [among]( the new cast members on Sean Penn's Flag Day... Rosamund Pike [will star]( in the Amazon fantasy series Wheel of Time... Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman will[star](in Ma Rainey's Back Bottom for Netflix... Nikolaj Coster-Waldau [will star]( in Gone Hollywood for FX... Cannes Lion notebook: Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg defended the company's handling of a doctored video of Nancy Pelosi, and welcomes regulation, [telling attendees]( of her panel that "companies like ours shouldn't make as many decisions as we do." Also: Ex-Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix [canceled his appearance]( at the festival. ►Jeremy Barr emails: "In advance of next week's NBC News/MSNBC/Telemundo primary debates, the Nightly News team has been interviewing candidates for a series called 'My Big Idea' that will run through Sunday. Beto O'Rourke went Tuesday, Amy Klobuchar went last night, and Elizabeth Warren goes tonight. It started with an elevator pitch from Harry Smith and producer Eric Salzman. 'Our goal was to give viewers a glimpse into what the candidates are passionate about and the top priority for them just days before they take the stage,' Nightly ep Jennifer Suozzo tells THR." Last night in late night... --James Corden and friends perform Les Miserables in a London crosswalk [[Late Late Show](] --Jimmy Fallon plays charades with Michael Strahan and the Bella sisters. [[Tonight Show](] --"Words you can't call Trump" [[Jimmy Kimmel Live](] Revolving door: Talia Parkinson-Jones has been named co-executive producer of Tamron Hall's upcoming NYC-based syndicated talk show, and Andrew Scher has been named a supervising producer on the program... Edward Menicheschi has [been named]( global chief commercial officer of The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Group... Black Panther DP Rachel Morrison is [in talks](to direct Universal's Flint Strong... Elsewhere in TV... --The TV Critics Association released the nominations for this year's TCA Awards. Pose and Russian Doll lead the pack. [The full list](. --Here are the ESPN [ESPY nominees](. --What's that, you want more award nominees? [Here are](the Teen Choice Award noms. What Happened To Brody Stevens? ►The Sad Final Days of a Funny Man: Inside Comedian Brody Stevens' Tragic Death: "For A-listers like Zach Galifianakis and Sarah Silverman, Stevens wasn’t just a friend, he was a comic savant, one of the few acts they would drop everything to watch — leaving them to wonder: Why did he take his own life just as his career was heating up?" [The full story](. A former APA agent is suing the agency claiming that it was "sexually abusive environment" and she was threatened with firing if she reported a sexual assault by a client to law enforcement. In a statement responding to the suit, the APA said that while it had not seen the complaint, it received similar claims months ago, and hired an independent investigator to look into the matter. The APA says the investigation found that the ex-employee "had fabricated email and text messages in order to shake the agency down." [More, here](. ►Jane Curtain on sexism at SNL: The actress and comedian talks to Marisa Guthrie about the late night program, including the misogynistic recurring line, "Jane, you ignorant slut." Q: A lot of the humor was sexist. JANE CURTAIN: "Oh, it was. And it was stunning because in the improv group I came from in Cambridge, [Massachusetts], there was no sexism. We were all equals; we all respected each other. We talked about the importance of the Equal Rights Amendment. But by the time I got to Saturday Night Live the Equal Rights Amendment didn't pass, which was stunning to me. And I go into this world where they hadn't even discussed an Equal Rights Amendment. It wasn't a part of their life; it didn't affect them. So they were still continuing in that late '50s, early '60s kind of culture. They hadn't evolved yet, and that's the sad thing." [The interview](. ^Meet comedy's LGBTQ breakouts: Daily Show correspondent Jaboukie Young-White, comedian Joel Kim Booster, and SNL writers Bowen Yang and Sam Jay talk to Trilby Beresford for THR's Comedy Issue about the changing comedy landscape. [The full story.]( +Also from the Comedy Issue: late night hosts answer THR's comedy questionnaire. [Their answers](. Awards Chatter podcast: Scott Feinberg has four great episodes this week, with [Marie Kondo](, [Desus & Mero](, [Billy Porter](, and [Richard Madden](. What else we're reading... --"Inclusion rider? What inclusion rider?" [[NY Times](] --"The perfect storm that made Chernobyl must-see TV." [[LA Times](] --"Judge Judy is still judging you." [[NY Times Magazine](] --A never-before-seen performance by Freddie Mercury was released Thursday. [[Freddiemercury.com](] --"That glitchy music video on YouTube? It's getting an upgrade." [[NY Times](] --"Ode to the Dark Universe" [[The Outline](] From the archives... --On June 20, 1975, one of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters reached our shores: Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. The PG-rated, 124-minute feature adaptation of the best-selling novel Jaws quickly captured the attention of summer moviegoing audiences, becoming an enduring classic. [The Hollywood Reporter's original review](. Today's birthdays: Christopher Mintz-Plasse, 30, John Goodman, 67, Lionel Richie, 70, Nicole Kidman, 52, Robert Rodriguez, 51 Thanks for reading! Please send me feedback, tips, and suggestions so that I can help make Today In Entertainment more useful to you. You can email me at Alex.Weprin@THR.com. Follow The News Is this email not displaying correctly? 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