Tarantino Nixes 'Hollywood' China Cut; 'South Park' Mega Deal'; 'Cowboy Bebop' Suspends Production; Trump's New CNN Threat

What's news: Quentin Tarantino says he won't recut his latest film to appease Chinese censors, South Park nears a mega streaming deal, an injury forces Netflix's Cowboy Bebop to suspend production, it's Maleficent vs. The Joker vs. zombies vs. Hitler at the box office. Plus: President Trump issues a new legal threat to CNN. --Alex Weprin [The Hollywood Reporter]( [The Hollywood Reporter]( Today In Entertainment OCTOBER 19, 2019 What's news: Quentin Tarantino says he won't recut his latest film to appease Chinese censors, South Park nears a mega streaming deal, an injury forces Netflix's Cowboy Bebop to suspend production, it's Maleficent vs. The Joker vs. zombies vs. Hitler at the box office. Plus: President Trump issues a new legal threat to CNN. --Alex Weprin What's news: Quentin Tarantino says he won't recut his latest film to appease Chinese censors, South Park nears a mega streaming deal, an injury forces Netflix's Cowboy Bebop to suspend production, it's Maleficent vs. The Joker vs. zombies vs. Hitler at the box office. Plus: President Trump issues a new legal threat to CNN. --Alex Weprin [Tarantino Nixes China Cut Of 'Hollywood'] Tarantino Nixes China Cut Of 'Hollywood' ►Quentin Tarantino won't recut Once Upon a Time in Hollywood for China. The director has no intention of recutting his latest film to appease China's censors. A source close to the situation tells Tatiana Siegel and Patrick Brzeski that the auteur is taking a take-it-or-leave-it stance in the wake of Chinese regulators pulling the film from the schedule a week before its scheduled release in the country on Oct. 25. --THR reported earlier on Oct. 18 that the release of the acclaimed film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, has been put on hold indefinitely. No explanation was given to Sony Pictures Entertainment, the studio behind the film, as to why. The decision to halt the release may have stemmed from Tarantino's portrayal of the late martial arts hero Bruce Lee, who was of Chinese descent. [The story.]( ►A South Park mega-deal is in the works. Trey Parker and Matt Stone, along with Viacom Inc., are nearing what's likely to be a rich deal for the streaming rights to South Park. Numerous companies are bidding for exclusive U.S. streaming rights to the full library, with sources confirming to THR's Ryan Parker and Bryn Elise Sandberg that it could fetch up to $500 million. Currently, the Comedy Central cartoon is available to watch on Hulu, which a source says is among the current bidders. Before that, it was on Netflix. [The story](. Box office: Angelina Jolie's Maleficent, Joaquin Phoenix's Joker, and Taika Waititi's Hitler will face against a horde of zombies at the box office this weekend. Disney's Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is likely to win the weekend, though in its third week the Joker could be a wild card, with Zombieland: Double Tap to follow. Fox Searchlight's Jojo Rabbit is opening in limited release. +In Thursday previews, Zombieland 2 led the pack with $2.85 million to Maleficent's $2.3 million. [More](. There is one question on every Academy member's mind these days: where are my Oscar screeners? Scott Feinberg writes that in past years, the first DVDs of Oscar hopefuls that were specifically sent to Academy members — as opposed to other guilds and organizations that include some Academy members — arrived by late August or early September. This year, however, despite a shorter Oscar season than any recent year's, screeners have been largely MIA. [More](. Elsewhere in film... --Sam Raimi is reteaming with his Spider-Man studio, Columbia Pictures, [for an untitled]( island horror project. --A sequel to the 2004 comedy Johnson Family Vacation[is in the works]( at Fox Searchlight. --The original Zombieland 2 script [included a]( Ghostbusters reunion. --The historic Paris Theatre in New York City is getting a reprieve after Netflix on Friday said [it has booked]( the cultural landmark for a limited run for Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story starting Nov. 6. --Benedict Wong on Gemini Man [and his Doctor Strange future](. Tarantino Nixes China Cut Of 'Hollywood' ►Quentin Tarantino won't recut Once Upon a Time in Hollywood for China. The director has no intention of recutting his latest film to appease China's censors. A source close to the situation tells Tatiana Siegel and Patrick Brzeski that the auteur is taking a take-it-or-leave-it stance in the wake of Chinese regulators pulling the film from the schedule a week before its scheduled release in the country on Oct. 25. --THR reported earlier on Oct. 18 that the release of the acclaimed film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, has been put on hold indefinitely. No explanation was given to Sony Pictures Entertainment, the studio behind the film, as to why. The decision to halt the release may have stemmed from Tarantino's portrayal of the late martial arts hero Bruce Lee, who was of Chinese descent. [The story.]( ►A South Park mega-deal is in the works. Trey Parker and Matt Stone, along with Viacom Inc., are nearing what's likely to be a rich deal for the streaming rights to South Park. Numerous companies are bidding for exclusive U.S. streaming rights to the full library, with sources confirming to THR's Ryan Parker and Bryn Elise Sandberg that it could fetch up to $500 million. Currently, the Comedy Central cartoon is available to watch on Hulu, which a source says is among the current bidders. Before that, it was on Netflix. [The story](. Box office: Angelina Jolie's Maleficent, Joaquin Phoenix's Joker, and Taika Waititi's Hitler will face against a horde of zombies at the box office this weekend. Disney's Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is likely to win the weekend, though in its third week the Joker could be a wild card, with Zombieland: Double Tap to follow. Fox Searchlight's Jojo Rabbit is opening in limited release. +In Thursday previews, Zombieland 2 led the pack with $2.85 million to Maleficent's $2.3 million. [More](. There is one question on every Academy member's mind these days: where are my Oscar screeners? Scott Feinberg writes that in past years, the first DVDs of Oscar hopefuls that were specifically sent to Academy members — as opposed to other guilds and organizations that include some Academy members — arrived by late August or early September. This year, however, despite a shorter Oscar season than any recent year's, screeners have been largely MIA. [More](. Elsewhere in film... --Sam Raimi is reteaming with his Spider-Man studio, Columbia Pictures, [for an untitled]( island horror project. --A sequel to the 2004 comedy Johnson Family Vacation[is in the works]( at Fox Searchlight. --The original Zombieland 2 script [included a]( Ghostbusters reunion. --The historic Paris Theatre in New York City is getting a reprieve after Netflix on Friday said [it has booked]( the cultural landmark for a limited run for Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story starting Nov. 6. --Benedict Wong on Gemini Man [and his Doctor Strange future](. [Injury Forces 'Cowboy Bebop' Suspension] Injury Forces 'Cowboy Bebop' Suspension ►Netflix's Cowboy Bebop suspends production. Actor John Cho injured his knee on the Auckland, New Zealand, set of Netflix's Cowboy Bebop earlier in October, prompting a lengthy production hiatus for the upcoming miniseries. There weren't a lot of specifics immediately available about the incident, only that it occurred on Oct. 5 and Cho has since returned to Los Angeles for surgery and rehabilitation. [The story](. ►Tibet and Hong Kong activists demonstrate at Brooklyn Nets NBA game. A group of Tibet and Hong Kong activists demonstrated side-by-side at Friday night's NBA game between the Toronto Raptors and the Brooklyn Nets in clear defiance of the sports league's recent handling of pro-Hong Kong activism. Similar protests are planned for future NBA games. [The story](. +Lawmakers condemn Blizzard and Apple in an open letter. U.S. lawmakers Marco Rubio, Ron Wyden, Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mike Gallagher, and Tom Malinowski have penned letters to Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and Apple CEO Tim Cook condemning the companies for their recent stances on China and pro-democracy protests currently taking place in Hong Kong. [More](. ►Quibi has found a wireless partner for its spring 2020 launch. The mobile video startup has inked a deal with T-Mobile that will make the Washington-based company the exclusive telecom partner. As part of the agreement, Quibi will be offered to T-Mobile's more than 83 million customers. [More](. ►TV Long View: This week Rick Porter explores four early-season trends in delayed viewing. Quote: "Same-day viewing continues to fall as it's easier than it's ever been to catch shows after their scheduled debuts. No new series has really broken ahead of the pack. And people are DVR-ing the heck out of the last hour of primetime on Wednesdays." [The column](. Pickups and cancelations: NBC is closing the case on Bluff City Law. The network [will wrap production]( on the legal drama starring Jimmy Smits and Caitlin McGee after its initial 10-episode order... Fox [has picked up]( a second season of the 20th Century Fox TV comedy Bless the Harts... Disney+ [has ordered a second season]( for High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, which will debut when Disney+ launches on Nov. 12... Elsewhere in TV... --Star Trek: Discovery co-executive producer Vaun Wilmott is headed to the CBS broadcast network [with a crime drama project](, Bent. --Disney+ is [expanding its nonfiction slate](, announcing several new titles in the works at the soon-to-launch streamer. --Ratings: Grey's Anatomy [continued its run](as Thursday's top scripted show, leading the adults 18-49 demographic (excluding Thursday Night Football) for the fourth straight week to open the season. Injury Forces 'Cowboy Bebop' Suspension ►Netflix's Cowboy Bebop suspends production. Actor John Cho injured his knee on the Auckland, New Zealand, set of Netflix's Cowboy Bebop earlier in October, prompting a lengthy production hiatus for the upcoming miniseries. There weren't a lot of specifics immediately available about the incident, only that it occurred on Oct. 5 and Cho has since returned to Los Angeles for surgery and rehabilitation. [The story](. ►Tibet and Hong Kong activists demonstrate at Brooklyn Nets NBA game. A group of Tibet and Hong Kong activists demonstrated side-by-side at Friday night's NBA game between the Toronto Raptors and the Brooklyn Nets in clear defiance of the sports league's recent handling of pro-Hong Kong activism. Similar protests are planned for future NBA games. [The story](. +Lawmakers condemn Blizzard and Apple in an open letter. U.S. lawmakers Marco Rubio, Ron Wyden, Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mike Gallagher, and Tom Malinowski have penned letters to Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and Apple CEO Tim Cook condemning the companies for their recent stances on China and pro-democracy protests currently taking place in Hong Kong. [More](. ►Quibi has found a wireless partner for its spring 2020 launch. The mobile video startup has inked a deal with T-Mobile that will make the Washington-based company the exclusive telecom partner. As part of the agreement, Quibi will be offered to T-Mobile's more than 83 million customers. [More](. ►TV Long View: This week Rick Porter explores four early-season trends in delayed viewing. Quote: "Same-day viewing continues to fall as it's easier than it's ever been to catch shows after their scheduled debuts. No new series has really broken ahead of the pack. And people are DVR-ing the heck out of the last hour of primetime on Wednesdays." [The column](. Pickups and cancelations: NBC is closing the case on Bluff City Law. The network [will wrap production]( on the legal drama starring Jimmy Smits and Caitlin McGee after its initial 10-episode order... Fox [has picked up]( a second season of the 20th Century Fox TV comedy Bless the Harts... Disney+ [has ordered a second season]( for High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, which will debut when Disney+ launches on Nov. 12... Elsewhere in TV... --Star Trek: Discovery co-executive producer Vaun Wilmott is headed to the CBS broadcast network [with a crime drama project](, Bent. --Disney+ is [expanding its nonfiction slate](, announcing several new titles in the works at the soon-to-launch streamer. --Ratings: Grey's Anatomy [continued its run](as Thursday's top scripted show, leading the adults 18-49 demographic (excluding Thursday Night Football) for the fourth straight week to open the season. [Trump's New CNN Threat] Trump's New CNN Threat Donald Trump has sent CNN an extraordinary four-page letter that pledges legal action, Eriq Gardner writes. The missive from Trump attorney Charles Harder references recent videos from Project Veritas purporting to have a CNN "whistle-blower" discussing direction from the cable news network's president Jeff Zucker. [The story](. +The law firm of Mossack Fonseca was no more successful in attempting to halt Netflix's release of The Laundromat as they were three years ago in attempting to lock down more than 11 million of the firm's documents. Just before the Steven Soderbergh film began streaming on Friday, a federal judge decided that Mossack Fonseca had no business bringing a defamation and trademark suit over the movie in Connecticut court. [More](. +In other legal news: Judge rejects ex-Fugees star's [challenge]( to U.S. government $37 million bank seizure... Jane Fonda and Sam Waterston [were both arrested]( Oct. 18 in Washington, D.C., during a protest over climate change outside the U.S. Capitol building... The Game must pay $7.1 million in damages to a reality dating show contestant after a jury [found him liable]( for sexual battery in connection with an off-camera date... ►King Kong or Gone With the Wind? Investigating Hitler's bizarre Hollywood obsessions. In his latest column, Stephen Galloway looks at the movies alleged to be favored by the dictator. Quote: "'The speculation about King Kong is remarkable,' says Niven, a professor at England's Nottingham Trent University. 'Perhaps people like that choice because King Kong was a trapped animal, similar to Germany as Hitler saw it after it was shackled by the Treaty of Versailles,' the 1919 peace pact signed at the end of World War I." [The column](. Obituaries: [Bill Macy](, who played the frustrated husband Walter Findlay opposite Bea Arthur on the hit 1970s sitcom Maude, has died. He was 97... [David Weisman](, best known for producing the Academy Awards nominated Kiss of the Spider Woman, which earned William Hurt the best actor Oscar, has died. He was 77... THR In Studio: The View co-host and former federal prosecutor Sunny Hostin talks to The Hollywood Reporter In Studio about highlighting the stories of victims and their loved ones, rather than trying to get inside the minds of cold-blooded killers. [Watch](. Casting roundup: John Boyega [has landed]( himself the lead role in another sci-fi, this time in Netflix's upcoming They Cloned Tyrone... Jenna Ortega [has joined]( the Netflix sequel to horror comedy The Babysitter... Forest Whitaker and Marlon Wayans [have joined]( Jennifer Hudson in MGM’s Aretha Franklin biopic, Respect... Naomie Harris is [in talks to play]( the villain Shriek in Venom 2... Brett Gelman [will play a villain]( in Without Remorse, Paramount’s spy thriller starring Michael B. Jordan... Revolving door: Food and lifestyle personality Ayesha Curry [has signed]( with CAA... Composer Michael Giacchino [has signed on]( to orchestrate the score for The Batman... What else we're reading... --"Galactic ruler Kathleen Kennedy Receives Royal Honor" [[Vanity Fair](] --"“Everybody’s had to fight to be free”: Tom Petty’s ‘Damn the Torpedoes’ turns 40" [[The Ringer](] --"Not every Leonardo is in the huge Leonardo da Vinci exhibition. What’s at the Louvre, though, is brilliant." [[Washington Post](] --"Nils Lofgren on Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen: ‘They both like ragged rock ‘n’ roll’" [[LA Times](] From the archives... On Oct. 19, 1966, Billy Wilder returned to the big screen with The Fortune Cookie, starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. The film was nominated for four Oscars at the 39th Academy Awards, winning one for Matthau. [The Hollywood Reporter's original review](. Today's birthdays: Chris Kattan, 49, Gillian Jacobs, 37, Jason Reitman, 42, John le Carré, 88, John Lithgow, 74, Jon Favreau, 53, Steve Doocy, 63, Trey Parker, 50. Have a nice weekend... Trump's New CNN Threat Donald Trump has sent CNN an extraordinary four-page letter that pledges legal action, Eriq Gardner writes. The missive from Trump attorney Charles Harder references recent videos from Project Veritas purporting to have a CNN "whistle-blower" discussing direction from the cable news network's president Jeff Zucker. [The story](. +The law firm of Mossack Fonseca was no more successful in attempting to halt Netflix's release of The Laundromat as they were three years ago in attempting to lock down more than 11 million of the firm's documents. Just before the Steven Soderbergh film began streaming on Friday, a federal judge decided that Mossack Fonseca had no business bringing a defamation and trademark suit over the movie in Connecticut court. [More](. +In other legal news: Judge rejects ex-Fugees star's [challenge]( to U.S. government $37 million bank seizure... Jane Fonda and Sam Waterston [were both arrested]( Oct. 18 in Washington, D.C., during a protest over climate change outside the U.S. Capitol building... The Game must pay $7.1 million in damages to a reality dating show contestant after a jury [found him liable]( for sexual battery in connection with an off-camera date... ►King Kong or Gone With the Wind? Investigating Hitler's bizarre Hollywood obsessions. In his latest column, Stephen Galloway looks at the movies alleged to be favored by the dictator. Quote: "'The speculation about King Kong is remarkable,' says Niven, a professor at England's Nottingham Trent University. 'Perhaps people like that choice because King Kong was a trapped animal, similar to Germany as Hitler saw it after it was shackled by the Treaty of Versailles,' the 1919 peace pact signed at the end of World War I." [The column](. Obituaries: [Bill Macy](, who played the frustrated husband Walter Findlay opposite Bea Arthur on the hit 1970s sitcom Maude, has died. He was 97... [David Weisman](, best known for producing the Academy Awards nominated Kiss of the Spider Woman, which earned William Hurt the best actor Oscar, has died. He was 77... THR In Studio: The View co-host and former federal prosecutor Sunny Hostin talks to The Hollywood Reporter In Studio about highlighting the stories of victims and their loved ones, rather than trying to get inside the minds of cold-blooded killers. [Watch](. Casting roundup: John Boyega [has landed]( himself the lead role in another sci-fi, this time in Netflix's upcoming They Cloned Tyrone... Jenna Ortega [has joined]( the Netflix sequel to horror comedy The Babysitter... Forest Whitaker and Marlon Wayans [have joined]( Jennifer Hudson in MGM’s Aretha Franklin biopic, Respect... Naomie Harris is [in talks to play]( the villain Shriek in Venom 2... Brett Gelman [will play a villain]( in Without Remorse, Paramount’s spy thriller starring Michael B. Jordan... Revolving door: Food and lifestyle personality Ayesha Curry [has signed]( with CAA... Composer Michael Giacchino [has signed on]( to orchestrate the score for The Batman... What else we're reading... --"Galactic ruler Kathleen Kennedy Receives Royal Honor" [[Vanity Fair](] --"“Everybody’s had to fight to be free”: Tom Petty’s ‘Damn the Torpedoes’ turns 40" [[The Ringer](] --"Not every Leonardo is in the huge Leonardo da Vinci exhibition. What’s at the Louvre, though, is brilliant." [[Washington Post](] --"Nils Lofgren on Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen: ‘They both like ragged rock ‘n’ roll’" [[LA Times](] From the archives... On Oct. 19, 1966, Billy Wilder returned to the big screen with The Fortune Cookie, starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. The film was nominated for four Oscars at the 39th Academy Awards, winning one for Matthau. [The Hollywood Reporter's original review](. Today's birthdays: Chris Kattan, 49, Gillian Jacobs, 37, Jason Reitman, 42, John le Carré, 88, John Lithgow, 74, Jon Favreau, 53, Steve Doocy, 63, Trey Parker, 50. Have a nice weekend... [Image] [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2019 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. OCTOBER 19, 2019 [UNSUBSCRIBE]( [MANAGE PREFERENCES]( [PRIVACY POLICY]( [TERMS OF USE](