Studios' Release Date Scramble

What's news: AMC says they won't open theaters until Hollywood hits are released, Spider Man, Doctor Strange and Ethan Hunt all have their release dates pushed back, John Stankey will be AT&T's new CEO, Paradigm president Greg Bestick retires, Disney World's next big problem, SAG-AFTRA and the studios to start negotiating Monday. Plus: NFL Draft ratings hit an all-time high, and Ryan Reynolds goes traveling through time. --Alex Weprin [The Hollywood Reporter]( [The Hollywood Reporter]( Today In Entertainment APRIL 25, 2020 What's news: AMC says they won't open theaters until Hollywood hits are released, Spider Man, Doctor Strange and Ethan Hunt all have their release dates pushed back, John Stankey will be AT&T's new CEO, Paradigm president Greg Bestick retires, Disney World's next big problem, SAG-AFTRA and the studios to start negotiating Monday. Plus: NFL Draft ratings hit an all-time high, and Ryan Reynolds goes traveling through time. --Alex Weprin What's news: AMC says they won't open theaters until Hollywood hits are released, Spider Man, Doctor Strange and Ethan Hunt all have their release dates pushed back, John Stankey will be AT&T's new CEO, Paradigm president Greg Bestick retires, Disney World's next big problem, SAG-AFTRA and the studios to start negotiating Monday. Plus: NFL Draft ratings hit an all-time high, and Ryan Reynolds goes traveling through time. --Alex Weprin [Movie Theaters Need The Hits] Movie Theaters Need The Hits ►AMC Theatres won't reopen until there is new studio product. The first summer studio film currently on the books is Christopher Nolan's Tenet on July 17, followed by Mulan a week later on July 24. Quote: "As we plan our reopening, the health and safety of our guests and associates is our absolute highest priority. To be able to open, we also need a line of sight into a regular schedule of new theatrical blockbusters that get people truly excited about returning to their favorite movie theaters... While we expect to open our theaters in the weeks ahead of these new blockbusters, utilizing creative programming of immensely popular previously released films, we would be wise to do so only directly in advance of the release of major new movie titles."[The story.]( Speaking of new studio product, some of the biggest releases for next year have been pushed back... +Release date changes hit the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will have to wait a little longer to conjure its spell. The Disney/Marvel Studios film has moved from Nov. 5, 2021, to March 25, 2022, amid the coronavirus crisis, which has delayed a number of studio tentpoles. Disney also moved Thor: Love and Thunder up one week to Feb. 11, 2022.[The story](. +Spider wasn't spared: Sony and Marvel Studios are delaying the release of the next Spider-Man installment from July 16, 2021, to Nov. 5, 2021. [More](. +Neither was Ethan Hunt: Mission: Impossible VII — set for release next year — is moving back four months as Paramount reshuffles its slate because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Tom Cruise film will now open in theaters on Nov. 19, 2021. The next installment in the franchise had originally been scheduled for July 23, 2021; that date will now be the launching pad for Skydance and Paramount's sci-fi tentpole The Tomorrow War. The latter, starring Chris Pratt, had originally been set to open in December of this year. [Other Paramount flicks moved too](. ►MGM layoffs: MGM has cut some 50 staffers from across the studio in the latest round of layoffs to hit Hollywood in the wake of the coronavirus-related shutdowns. The pink slips were handed out on Friday, affecting every division of the studio and its staff of 750. Likewise, nearly a third of United Artists Releasing — a joint venture between MGM and Annapurna — was furloughed. An insider said there were no senior ranking people of note affected by the cost-cutting measures. Senior management also took "voluntary pay reductions," according to a memo sent to staff. [Here's the story](. It was a busy day on the revolving door front... ►Paradigm president Greg Bestick to retire. In an internal memo Friday, Bestick referenced the tumult facing the agency business, and Paradigm, as it navigates a Hollywood shutdown due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. "Paradigm now has to regroup. But the foundation is there, the talent is there, the opportunity to rebuild the business in a new and stronger way is there," Bestick wrote. "All it takes is teamwork and a willingness to see and strive for a better, more hopeful future." The story. ►AT&T names John Stankey as CEO, Randall Stephenson to retire. Stephenson is set to retire after 38 years with the company and Stankey, the current leader of WarnerMedia and AT&T's COO since October, will take the top job. The transition will happen by July 1. Stephenson will serve as executive chairman of the board until Jan 2021, and AT&T will find a new, independent chairman to succeed him. [The story](. --Didn't some activist investors fight against Stankey's promotion? Elliott Management did, but [according to CNBC](, "was unsatisfied that any of the external candidates were better positioned to take over AT&T than Stankey, especially during a pandemic." Don't worry though: "Elliott remains skeptical of Stankey’s decision-making." --Don't tell President Trump: “Great News! Randall Stephenson, the CEO of heavily indebted AT&T, which owns and presides over Fake News CNN, is leaving, or was forced out," Trump tweeted after the news came out. "Anyone who lets a garbage ‘network’ do and say the things that CNN does, should leave ASAP. Hopefully replacement will be much better!” Of course Stankey was CEO of WarnerMedia, and had a direct role managing CNN. +Steve Burke's NBCUniversal pay rose to $42.6 million in 2019. That was up from $40 million in 2018. 2019 was Burke's final year as CEO of the company. He was succeeded by Jeff Shell in January. The company also disclosed the annual pay for its chairman and CEO Brian Roberts and other top executives. Roberts made $36.4 million, up 4 percent compared with $35 million in 2018. [More](. +Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick's pay falls to $30.1 million in 2019. The company also said Friday that Spotify chief content and advertising business officer (and former CW entertainment president) Dawn Ostroff is being nominated to join its board of directors. [More](. Movie Theaters Need The Hits ►AMC Theatres won't reopen until there is new studio product. The first summer studio film currently on the books is Christopher Nolan's Tenet on July 17, followed by Mulan a week later on July 24. Quote: "As we plan our reopening, the health and safety of our guests and associates is our absolute highest priority. To be able to open, we also need a line of sight into a regular schedule of new theatrical blockbusters that get people truly excited about returning to their favorite movie theaters... While we expect to open our theaters in the weeks ahead of these new blockbusters, utilizing creative programming of immensely popular previously released films, we would be wise to do so only directly in advance of the release of major new movie titles."[The story.]( Speaking of new studio product, some of the biggest releases for next year have been pushed back... +Release date changes hit the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will have to wait a little longer to conjure its spell. The Disney/Marvel Studios film has moved from Nov. 5, 2021, to March 25, 2022, amid the coronavirus crisis, which has delayed a number of studio tentpoles. Disney also moved Thor: Love and Thunder up one week to Feb. 11, 2022.[The story](. +Spider wasn't spared: Sony and Marvel Studios are delaying the release of the next Spider-Man installment from July 16, 2021, to Nov. 5, 2021. [More](. +Neither was Ethan Hunt: Mission: Impossible VII — set for release next year — is moving back four months as Paramount reshuffles its slate because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Tom Cruise film will now open in theaters on Nov. 19, 2021. The next installment in the franchise had originally been scheduled for July 23, 2021; that date will now be the launching pad for Skydance and Paramount's sci-fi tentpole The Tomorrow War. The latter, starring Chris Pratt, had originally been set to open in December of this year. [Other Paramount flicks moved too](. ►MGM layoffs: MGM has cut some 50 staffers from across the studio in the latest round of layoffs to hit Hollywood in the wake of the coronavirus-related shutdowns. The pink slips were handed out on Friday, affecting every division of the studio and its staff of 750. Likewise, nearly a third of United Artists Releasing — a joint venture between MGM and Annapurna — was furloughed. An insider said there were no senior ranking people of note affected by the cost-cutting measures. Senior management also took "voluntary pay reductions," according to a memo sent to staff. [Here's the story](. It was a busy day on the revolving door front... ►Paradigm president Greg Bestick to retire. In an internal memo Friday, Bestick referenced the tumult facing the agency business, and Paradigm, as it navigates a Hollywood shutdown due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. "Paradigm now has to regroup. But the foundation is there, the talent is there, the opportunity to rebuild the business in a new and stronger way is there," Bestick wrote. "All it takes is teamwork and a willingness to see and strive for a better, more hopeful future." The story. ►AT&T names John Stankey as CEO, Randall Stephenson to retire. Stephenson is set to retire after 38 years with the company and Stankey, the current leader of WarnerMedia and AT&T's COO since October, will take the top job. The transition will happen by July 1. Stephenson will serve as executive chairman of the board until Jan 2021, and AT&T will find a new, independent chairman to succeed him. [The story](. --Didn't some activist investors fight against Stankey's promotion? Elliott Management did, but [according to CNBC](, "was unsatisfied that any of the external candidates were better positioned to take over AT&T than Stankey, especially during a pandemic." Don't worry though: "Elliott remains skeptical of Stankey’s decision-making." --Don't tell President Trump: “Great News! Randall Stephenson, the CEO of heavily indebted AT&T, which owns and presides over Fake News CNN, is leaving, or was forced out," Trump tweeted after the news came out. "Anyone who lets a garbage ‘network’ do and say the things that CNN does, should leave ASAP. Hopefully replacement will be much better!” Of course Stankey was CEO of WarnerMedia, and had a direct role managing CNN. +Steve Burke's NBCUniversal pay rose to $42.6 million in 2019. That was up from $40 million in 2018. 2019 was Burke's final year as CEO of the company. He was succeeded by Jeff Shell in January. The company also disclosed the annual pay for its chairman and CEO Brian Roberts and other top executives. Roberts made $36.4 million, up 4 percent compared with $35 million in 2018. [More](. +Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick's pay falls to $30.1 million in 2019. The company also said Friday that Spotify chief content and advertising business officer (and former CW entertainment president) Dawn Ostroff is being nominated to join its board of directors. [More](. [Disney World's Tough Road Ahead] Disney World's Tough Road Ahead ►Why Disney World may face a tougher recovery than Disneyland. David Miller, analyst with Imperial Capital, told THR Friday a large piece of the equation is being overlooked — and it impacts Disney World more. --"By our estimation, 85 percent of the attendance base in Orlando — in a normalized environment, forget about the virus for a second — comes from out of state or out of country," Miller said. "Which means you pretty much have to fly there. So, it is a two-step process with getting consumers conformable with going back to the parks. You have to be comfortable No. 1 with getting on a plane ... and then you have to be comfortable actually going into the park and hope that it is a fairly sterile environment and that people will hopefully adhere to safe social distancing." [The story](. ►SAG-AFTRA, studios to start contract talks Monday, sidelining Writers Guild. The SAG-AFTRA talks will be conducted via videoconference, with union president Gabrielle Carteris chairing its negotiating committee and national executive director David White serving as SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator. Lombardini will be lead negotiator for the AMPTP. Negotiations, which cover television, streaming and theatrical product, are expected to center on wages, residuals and various aspects of working conditions such as holds and exclusivity. [The story](. Read [The Hollywood Reporter cover to cover and hundreds of other magazines in Apple News+](. ►TV Ratings: NFL Draft soars to all-time high. The NFL Draft dominated Thursday's ratings, setting an all-time high in viewers for the first round amid a sports-starved TV landscape. Coverage of the draft on ABC, ESPN and NFL Network, plus ESPN Deportes and digital outlets, averaged 15.6 million viewers — a 37 percent improvement over night one of the 2019 draft and an all-time high for the event. Night one of last year's draft averaged 11.1 million viewers across all three networks. [The numbers](. Obituaries: [Mort Fallick](, a film editor with credits including Love at First Bite and TV's Moonlighting, has died. He was 86... [Jerry Bishop](, the former L.A. morning drive disc jockey who served as the announcer on Judge Judy since the syndicated program's start in 1996, has died. He was 84... [Leah Bernstein](, who served as an executive secretary to Guess Who's Coming to Dinner producer-director Stanley Kramer on 28 films, has died. She was 99... Disney World's Tough Road Ahead ►Why Disney World may face a tougher recovery than Disneyland. David Miller, analyst with Imperial Capital, told THR Friday a large piece of the equation is being overlooked — and it impacts Disney World more. --"By our estimation, 85 percent of the attendance base in Orlando — in a normalized environment, forget about the virus for a second — comes from out of state or out of country," Miller said. "Which means you pretty much have to fly there. So, it is a two-step process with getting consumers conformable with going back to the parks. You have to be comfortable No. 1 with getting on a plane ... and then you have to be comfortable actually going into the park and hope that it is a fairly sterile environment and that people will hopefully adhere to safe social distancing." [The story](. ►SAG-AFTRA, studios to start contract talks Monday, sidelining Writers Guild. The SAG-AFTRA talks will be conducted via videoconference, with union president Gabrielle Carteris chairing its negotiating committee and national executive director David White serving as SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator. Lombardini will be lead negotiator for the AMPTP. Negotiations, which cover television, streaming and theatrical product, are expected to center on wages, residuals and various aspects of working conditions such as holds and exclusivity. [The story](. Read [The Hollywood Reporter cover to cover and hundreds of other magazines in Apple News+](. ►TV Ratings: NFL Draft soars to all-time high. The NFL Draft dominated Thursday's ratings, setting an all-time high in viewers for the first round amid a sports-starved TV landscape. Coverage of the draft on ABC, ESPN and NFL Network, plus ESPN Deportes and digital outlets, averaged 15.6 million viewers — a 37 percent improvement over night one of the 2019 draft and an all-time high for the event. Night one of last year's draft averaged 11.1 million viewers across all three networks. [The numbers](. Obituaries: [Mort Fallick](, a film editor with credits including Love at First Bite and TV's Moonlighting, has died. He was 86... [Jerry Bishop](, the former L.A. morning drive disc jockey who served as the announcer on Judge Judy since the syndicated program's start in 1996, has died. He was 84... [Leah Bernstein](, who served as an executive secretary to Guess Who's Coming to Dinner producer-director Stanley Kramer on 28 films, has died. She was 99... [Ryan Reynolds' New Role] Ryan Reynolds' New Role Ryan Reynolds and Shawn Levy are reteaming for an untitled time-travel adventure project for Skydance. Reynolds and Levy, who have video game adventure movie Free Guy hitting theaters later this year, will star and direct, respectively, and produce the project along with Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger. [The story](. +Chaos Walking Author Patrick Ness tackling Lord of the Flies adaptation. Call Me by Your Name director Luca Guadagnino is on board to direct the adaptation for Warner Bros. and produce with producing partner Marco Morabito. [More](. +Also: Genevieve O’Reilly and Denise Gough have joined the cast of Disney+’s untitled Rogue One: A Star Wars Story prequel spinoff series. [More](. +Florence Pugh, Shia LaBeouf, Chris Pine to star in Olivia Wilde's Don't Worry Darling. Wilde will direct and star in the psychological thriller and producing with Katie Silberman — who wrote the current script — Roy Lee and Miri Moon of Vertigo Entertainment. [More](. ►Netflix unpacks the coronavirus pandemic with new season of Explained. The first episode premieres Sunday, April 26, with an additional two episodes are planned for a summer release. “We thought it was a great opportunity to provide a public service,” says showrunner Claire Gordon. “This was a moment that was incredibly confusing for the whole world and it felt like a thing that our show could do well in trying to make it understandable.”[The story](. ►NBCUniversal sets streaming presentation to ad buyers in lieu of upfront. NBCUniversal has invited advertisers to a conversation about the "state of the marketplace" in lieu of its traditional upfront presentation. An invitation sent Friday to media buyers said the one-hour video presentation will take place May 11, the date NBCUniversal had initially set for its upfront presentation. [More](. A DC federal judge has signed off on the U.S. government's $5 billion deal with Facebook to resolve an investigation into the social media giant's privacy practices. The Federal Trade Commission announced the fine a year ago. It represented the largest monetary punishment in FTC history and came as Facebook continues to face fire over the way that third parties have been allowed to access and use data as exemplified by the Cambridge Analytica scandal. [The story](. +Meghan Markle lawsuit against tabloid over "private" letter to dad gets preliminary hearing. The civil lawsuit, against the Mail on Sunday and its parent company Associated Newspapers, accuses the media outlet of copyright infringement, misuse of private information and violating the U.K.'s data protection law. [More](. ►Kids' Choice Awards go remote on Nickelodeon. The annual awards have a slightly amended title this year: Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards 2020: Celebrate Together. They're set to air May 2, six weeks after their initially scheduled date of March 22. Victoria Justice will host,and during the show Nickelodeon will present a $1 million donation to No Kid Hungry in support of people affected by the pandemic. And yes, Nick is promising there will be slime. [More](. TV review: Inkoo Kang reviews season three of [Starz's Vida](. In other news... --Fortnite hosted its [largest in-game gathering yet]( on Thursday night as 12.3 million concurrent players logged into the battle royale video game for rapper Travis Scott's Astronomical event. --ViacomCBS and telecom giant Verizon's FiOS have [struck a new carriage agreement](, the second major pact for the entertainment giant since the recombination of Viacom and CBS closed in December. --"Jeff Goldblum faces [social media backlash]( over Islam comments on RuPaul's Drag Race. --TikTok breakout Tabitha Brown, who has gained over two million followers on the short-form video platform, [has signed]( with CAA. --System Crasher, the story of a young girl who rejects most social contact and finds her greatest happiness when forced into isolation, has [won big]( at the first, and hopefully last, quarantined version of the German Film Awards. --How Boston-based Defending Jacob [landed]( hometown hero Chris Evans. What else we're reading... --"Shareholder lawsuit blasts Shari Redstone’s ‘persistent influence’ in Viacom-CBS merger" [[LA Times](] --"Zoom's biggest rivals are coming for it" [[NY Times](] --"Prince William's reason for not watching Tiger King will make you laugh" [[CNN](] --"Thirty years ago, Hollywood won the battle against the X rating. But It lost the war." [[The Ringer](] Today's birthdays: Al Pacino, 80, Jason Lee, 50, Bjorn Ulvaeus, 75, Renee Zellweger, 51, Tony Christie, 77. Ryan Reynolds' New Role Ryan Reynolds and Shawn Levy are reteaming for an untitled time-travel adventure project for Skydance. Reynolds and Levy, who have video game adventure movie Free Guy hitting theaters later this year, will star and direct, respectively, and produce the project along with Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger. [The story](. +Chaos Walking Author Patrick Ness tackling Lord of the Flies adaptation. Call Me by Your Name director Luca Guadagnino is on board to direct the adaptation for Warner Bros. and produce with producing partner Marco Morabito. [More](. +Also: Genevieve O’Reilly and Denise Gough have joined the cast of Disney+’s untitled Rogue One: A Star Wars Story prequel spinoff series. [More](. +Florence Pugh, Shia LaBeouf, Chris Pine to star in Olivia Wilde's Don't Worry Darling. Wilde will direct and star in the psychological thriller and producing with Katie Silberman — who wrote the current script — Roy Lee and Miri Moon of Vertigo Entertainment. [More](. ►Netflix unpacks the coronavirus pandemic with new season of Explained. The first episode premieres Sunday, April 26, with an additional two episodes are planned for a summer release. “We thought it was a great opportunity to provide a public service,” says showrunner Claire Gordon. “This was a moment that was incredibly confusing for the whole world and it felt like a thing that our show could do well in trying to make it understandable.”[The story](. ►NBCUniversal sets streaming presentation to ad buyers in lieu of upfront. NBCUniversal has invited advertisers to a conversation about the "state of the marketplace" in lieu of its traditional upfront presentation. An invitation sent Friday to media buyers said the one-hour video presentation will take place May 11, the date NBCUniversal had initially set for its upfront presentation. [More](. A DC federal judge has signed off on the U.S. government's $5 billion deal with Facebook to resolve an investigation into the social media giant's privacy practices. The Federal Trade Commission announced the fine a year ago. It represented the largest monetary punishment in FTC history and came as Facebook continues to face fire over the way that third parties have been allowed to access and use data as exemplified by the Cambridge Analytica scandal. [The story](. +Meghan Markle lawsuit against tabloid over "private" letter to dad gets preliminary hearing. The civil lawsuit, against the Mail on Sunday and its parent company Associated Newspapers, accuses the media outlet of copyright infringement, misuse of private information and violating the U.K.'s data protection law. [More](. ►Kids' Choice Awards go remote on Nickelodeon. The annual awards have a slightly amended title this year: Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards 2020: Celebrate Together. They're set to air May 2, six weeks after their initially scheduled date of March 22. Victoria Justice will host,and during the show Nickelodeon will present a $1 million donation to No Kid Hungry in support of people affected by the pandemic. And yes, Nick is promising there will be slime. [More](. TV review: Inkoo Kang reviews season three of [Starz's Vida](. In other news... --Fortnite hosted its [largest in-game gathering yet]( on Thursday night as 12.3 million concurrent players logged into the battle royale video game for rapper Travis Scott's Astronomical event. --ViacomCBS and telecom giant Verizon's FiOS have [struck a new carriage agreement](, the second major pact for the entertainment giant since the recombination of Viacom and CBS closed in December. --"Jeff Goldblum faces [social media backlash]( over Islam comments on RuPaul's Drag Race. --TikTok breakout Tabitha Brown, who has gained over two million followers on the short-form video platform, [has signed]( with CAA. --System Crasher, the story of a young girl who rejects most social contact and finds her greatest happiness when forced into isolation, has [won big]( at the first, and hopefully last, quarantined version of the German Film Awards. --How Boston-based Defending Jacob [landed]( hometown hero Chris Evans. What else we're reading... --"Shareholder lawsuit blasts Shari Redstone’s ‘persistent influence’ in Viacom-CBS merger" [[LA Times](] --"Zoom's biggest rivals are coming for it" [[NY Times](] --"Prince William's reason for not watching Tiger King will make you laugh" [[CNN](] --"Thirty years ago, Hollywood won the battle against the X rating. But It lost the war." [[The Ringer](] Today's birthdays: Al Pacino, 80, Jason Lee, 50, Bjorn Ulvaeus, 75, Renee Zellweger, 51, Tony Christie, 77. [Image] [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2020 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. APRIL 25, 2020 [UNSUBSCRIBE]( [MANAGE PREFERENCES]( [PRIVACY POLICY]( [TERMS OF USE](