'Spongebob' Goes Streaming; Globes Delayed; Pandemic Production Questions; 'Batman' Returns?

What's news: It's Paramount's turn to break the theatrical window as Spongebob goes streaming, the Golden Globes get pushed, behind WME's ouster of George Freeman, is the global production sector ready to get back to work? First major Cannes deal, NBC narrows its pilot slate, NewFronts news, Michael Keaton in talks to reprise Bruce Wayne role. Plus: Jaws vs. Jurassic Park at the box office, and remembering Joel Schumacher. --Alex Weprin [The Hollywood Reporter]( [The Hollywood Reporter]( Today In Entertainment JUNE 23, 2020 What's news: It's Paramount's turn to break the theatrical window as Spongebob goes streaming, the Golden Globes get pushed, behind WME's ouster of George Freeman, is the global production sector ready to get back to work? First major Cannes deal, NBC narrows its pilot slate, NewFronts news, Michael Keaton in talks to reprise Bruce Wayne role. Plus: Jaws vs. Jurassic Park at the box office, and remembering Joel Schumacher. --Alex Weprin What's news: It's Paramount's turn to break the theatrical window as Spongebob goes streaming, the Golden Globes get pushed, behind WME's ouster of George Freeman, is the global production sector ready to get back to work? First major Cannes deal, NBC narrows its pilot slate, NewFronts news, Michael Keaton in talks to reprise Bruce Wayne role. Plus: Jaws vs. Jurassic Park at the box office, and remembering Joel Schumacher. --Alex Weprin [Paramount Sends Spongebob to Streaming] Paramount Sends Spongebob to Streaming ►Another major studio film is skipping theaters for VOD and streaming. Paramount and Nickelodeon's The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run is bypassing a theatrical release and will instead debut on premium VOD in early 2021 before soaking up an exclusive spot on CBS All Access. The film had been set to the big screen on Aug. 7, and was among the first batch of Hollywood event pics scheduled to play in reopened theaters. ViacomCBS announced the shift on Monday. All prior seasons of Spongebob Squarepants will also launch on CBS All Access as part of the service's ongoing expansion leading up to the streamer's rebranding in early 2021. [The story](. +Flashback: The coronavirus pandemic has caused a number of studios to push theatrical films to on-demand and streaming early, breaking theatrical windows in the process. Universal was first with Trolls World Tour (sparking anger from theater owners), but Disney followed suit by sending Artemis Fowl straight to Disney+, while Warner Bros. pushed Scoob! to on-demand, to be followed by HBO Max. So far, it is mostly family films making the shift, but as the pandemic wears on, the list of window-breaking projects is growing. ►Behind WME's ouster of George Freeman. The agent sent a reply-all email on a chain about the Black Lives Matter movement that disparaged colleagues. Km Masters explains what was in the email, and how it led to his swift departure. [The story](. ►Golden Globes sets late February date after Oscars delay. The awards show, which usually takes place in early January, is the latest one to be scheduled later than usual after the 2021 Oscars delayed their show until April amid the coronavirus pandemic. Though the official date for the 78th Golden Globes had not yet been announced, the show typically airs in early January, and it was previously announced that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will return as hosts. [The story](. Paramount Sends Spongebob to Streaming ►Another major studio film is skipping theaters for VOD and streaming. Paramount and Nickelodeon's The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run is bypassing a theatrical release and will instead debut on premium VOD in early 2021 before soaking up an exclusive spot on CBS All Access. The film had been set to the big screen on Aug. 7, and was among the first batch of Hollywood event pics scheduled to play in reopened theaters. ViacomCBS announced the shift on Monday. All prior seasons of Spongebob Squarepants will also launch on CBS All Access as part of the service's ongoing expansion leading up to the streamer's rebranding in early 2021. [The story](. +Flashback: The coronavirus pandemic has caused a number of studios to push theatrical films to on-demand and streaming early, breaking theatrical windows in the process. Universal was first with Trolls World Tour (sparking anger from theater owners), but Disney followed suit by sending Artemis Fowl straight to Disney+, while Warner Bros. pushed Scoob! to on-demand, to be followed by HBO Max. So far, it is mostly family films making the shift, but as the pandemic wears on, the list of window-breaking projects is growing. ►Behind WME's ouster of George Freeman. The agent sent a reply-all email on a chain about the Black Lives Matter movement that disparaged colleagues. Km Masters explains what was in the email, and how it led to his swift departure. [The story](. ►Golden Globes sets late February date after Oscars delay. The awards show, which usually takes place in early January, is the latest one to be scheduled later than usual after the 2021 Oscars delayed their show until April amid the coronavirus pandemic. Though the official date for the 78th Golden Globes had not yet been announced, the show typically airs in early January, and it was previously announced that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will return as hosts. [The story](. [Cannes Roundup...] Cannes Roundup... ►Is the global production sector ready to get back to work? Business is slowly beginning to return in territories where COVID-19 infection rates have dropped, but the international production map remains murky, with independent producers looking especially vulnerable if the pandemic returns to full force in the fall. Quote: “It's a f*cking mess right now with the insurance companies and the bond companies. They are reeling from how much liability they're going to have,” says a lawyer who works in the film financing space. “For indies, a bank's not going to loan you money if there's a COVID exception, especially if you know there's going to be a second wave of this. We're all going to go back to normal, and in September, it's going to be, ‘Oh sh*t, now it's back again.’” [The story](. +STX catches Run Rabbit Run worldwide in first major deal of virtual Cannes. STX will distribute the movie directly in the U.S., U.K. and Ireland via STXfilms and take over worldwide sales via its STXinternational banner. Elisabeth Moss is set to star in the feature, re-teaming with her The Handmaid’s Tale director Daina Reid. [The story](. +Open Road relaunches with Liam Neeson's Honest Thief thriller. After private equity group Raven Capital Management acquired Open Road's assets for $87.5 million in late 2018, the company said it is relaunching in the theatrical space in time for the Cannes virtual market. Capitalized by Raven, Open Road Films is back to acquiring and releasing films in partnership with Tom Ortenberg’s Briarcliff Entertainment, the company said. [The story](. +Neon CEO talks virtual cinema amid theater closures. "We will re-enter post-quarantine, post-pandemic as a much stronger company," Tom Quinn told a virtual festival panel. [More](. +The Crown star Claire Foy has nabbed the lead in psychological horror film Dust. Will Joines and Westworld writer Karrie Crouse will direct from a script that Crouse wrote. The script was developed at the Sundance Writer's Lab. [More](. +The beloved horror anthology franchise V/H/S is getting a reboot with the backing of the makers of recent chillers Ready or Not and The Night House. [More](. +Also: Bruce Willis is [getting back in the saddle]( for Reactor, being introduced at the Virtual Cannes Market by The Exchange... The co-founders of the Aussie startup The Reset Collective on [why launching]( amid pandemic "made sense"... A Cannes hidden gem: [battling two-foot terrors]( in Jon Wright's creature feature The Little People... ►NBC narrows pilot slate, will shoot five in the fall. They are considered the most promising of all of NBC's drama and comedy scripts, sources tell Lesley Goldberg. They are Langdon, the drama based on the Dan Brown novels that features Ashley Zuckerman stepping into the role previously played by Tom Hanks in the feature films; Ordinary Joe, the Matt Reeves drama exploring three parallel lives of its star; multicamera comedy Night School, based on the 2018 feature of the same name; workplace comedy American Auto; and the Phil Augusta Jackson/Dan Goor comedy about a group of Black friends, which is now titled Grand Crew. [More](. +More TV programming news: HBO Max is [developing an anthology series]( based on Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers — with Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as its first subject... Fox [has renewed]( its animated series The Great North, well ahead of the show's planned premiere... Netflix [will wind down]( its football-focused Last Chance U docuseries with its fifth season — but it's also readying a spinoff focused on junior college basketball... ►Y: The Last Man, American Horror Stories moving to FX on Hulu. The long-gestating take on Brian K. Vaughan's beloved comic series and the anthology spinoff will no longer air on the linear cable network, Lesley Goldberg writes. The streamer announced the shift at its virtual newfront presentation Monday. --Hulu also on Monday revealed scripted series including the new season of The Handmaid's Tale, Amy Schumer's Love, Beth and Kate McKinnon's Elizabeth Holmes limited series The Dropout will all move from their planned 2020 launches to 2021. [The story](. +YouTube, meanwhile, is exiting the scripted originals business. Netflix has acquired the first three seasons of the Karate Kid sequel Cobra Kai, starring Ralph Macchio and William Zabka. The first two seasons, which aired on YouTube in 2018 and 2019, will make their debut on Netflix later this year. [The story](. +Also: WarnerMedia, iHeartMedia to produce companion podcasts for HBO Max shows. The first two projects will be podcasts about comedy thriller Search Party, which is set to debut its third season on June 25, and upcoming sci-fi drama Raised by Wolves. [More](. Cannes Roundup... ►Is the global production sector ready to get back to work? Business is slowly beginning to return in territories where COVID-19 infection rates have dropped, but the international production map remains murky, with independent producers looking especially vulnerable if the pandemic returns to full force in the fall. Quote: “It's a f*cking mess right now with the insurance companies and the bond companies. They are reeling from how much liability they're going to have,” says a lawyer who works in the film financing space. “For indies, a bank's not going to loan you money if there's a COVID exception, especially if you know there's going to be a second wave of this. We're all going to go back to normal, and in September, it's going to be, ‘Oh sh*t, now it's back again.’” [The story](. +STX catches Run Rabbit Run worldwide in first major deal of virtual Cannes. STX will distribute the movie directly in the U.S., U.K. and Ireland via STXfilms and take over worldwide sales via its STXinternational banner. Elisabeth Moss is set to star in the feature, re-teaming with her The Handmaid’s Tale director Daina Reid. [The story](. +Open Road relaunches with Liam Neeson's Honest Thief thriller. After private equity group Raven Capital Management acquired Open Road's assets for $87.5 million in late 2018, the company said it is relaunching in the theatrical space in time for the Cannes virtual market. Capitalized by Raven, Open Road Films is back to acquiring and releasing films in partnership with Tom Ortenberg’s Briarcliff Entertainment, the company said. [The story](. +Neon CEO talks virtual cinema amid theater closures. "We will re-enter post-quarantine, post-pandemic as a much stronger company," Tom Quinn told a virtual festival panel. [More](. +The Crown star Claire Foy has nabbed the lead in psychological horror film Dust. Will Joines and Westworld writer Karrie Crouse will direct from a script that Crouse wrote. The script was developed at the Sundance Writer's Lab. [More](. +The beloved horror anthology franchise V/H/S is getting a reboot with the backing of the makers of recent chillers Ready or Not and The Night House. [More](. +Also: Bruce Willis is [getting back in the saddle]( for Reactor, being introduced at the Virtual Cannes Market by The Exchange... The co-founders of the Aussie startup The Reset Collective on [why launching]( amid pandemic "made sense"... A Cannes hidden gem: [battling two-foot terrors]( in Jon Wright's creature feature The Little People... ►NBC narrows pilot slate, will shoot five in the fall. They are considered the most promising of all of NBC's drama and comedy scripts, sources tell Lesley Goldberg. They are Langdon, the drama based on the Dan Brown novels that features Ashley Zuckerman stepping into the role previously played by Tom Hanks in the feature films; Ordinary Joe, the Matt Reeves drama exploring three parallel lives of its star; multicamera comedy Night School, based on the 2018 feature of the same name; workplace comedy American Auto; and the Phil Augusta Jackson/Dan Goor comedy about a group of Black friends, which is now titled Grand Crew. [More](. +More TV programming news: HBO Max is [developing an anthology series]( based on Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers — with Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as its first subject... Fox [has renewed]( its animated series The Great North, well ahead of the show's planned premiere... Netflix [will wind down]( its football-focused Last Chance U docuseries with its fifth season — but it's also readying a spinoff focused on junior college basketball... ►Y: The Last Man, American Horror Stories moving to FX on Hulu. The long-gestating take on Brian K. Vaughan's beloved comic series and the anthology spinoff will no longer air on the linear cable network, Lesley Goldberg writes. The streamer announced the shift at its virtual newfront presentation Monday. --Hulu also on Monday revealed scripted series including the new season of The Handmaid's Tale, Amy Schumer's Love, Beth and Kate McKinnon's Elizabeth Holmes limited series The Dropout will all move from their planned 2020 launches to 2021. [The story](. +YouTube, meanwhile, is exiting the scripted originals business. Netflix has acquired the first three seasons of the Karate Kid sequel Cobra Kai, starring Ralph Macchio and William Zabka. The first two seasons, which aired on YouTube in 2018 and 2019, will make their debut on Netflix later this year. [The story](. +Also: WarnerMedia, iHeartMedia to produce companion podcasts for HBO Max shows. The first two projects will be podcasts about comedy thriller Search Party, which is set to debut its third season on June 25, and upcoming sci-fi drama Raised by Wolves. [More](. ['Batman' Returns?] 'Batman' Returns? There may be new Batman in town. And he’s the same as the old Batman. Michael Keaton, who famously starred as the Caped Crusader in the Tim Burton-directed early 1990s Batman movies, is in talks to reprise the character for Warner Bros.’s DC movie, The Flash. If a deal makes, Keaton wouldn’t just return for Flash but possibly for several other DC-oriented film projects. [More](. +Box office: Jurassic Park, Jaws top box office chart in Steven Spielberg bite-off. Over the June 19-21 weekend — as Hollywood studios offered classic catalogue titles to cinemas struggling to emerge from the coronavirus crisis — Spielberg's 1993 film Jurassic Park topped the chart with an estimated $517,642 from 230 locations in its 1,411th weekend, according to those with access to flash Comscore flash grosses. The vast majority of the theaters reporting grosses were drive-ins, many of which have been able to remain open, and in other instances, reopen relatively quickly. Jaws placed a close second. [The story](. +Speaking of Jurassic Park: Colin Trevorrow is re-teaming with Jurassic World studio Universal for a new fantasy adventure. Trevorrow will direct Atlantis and produce under his Metronome Film Co. based on the mythical utopic city that was lost under the sea. Trevorrow's take will see the famous city as a technologically advanced lost continent in the Indian Ocean. [The story](. +J.K. Simmons says Spider-Man fans can expect more J. Jonah Jameson. During an interview Monday, the Oscar-winning actor said he has already filmed the character for one upcoming project and plans to play him at least one more time beyond that. [More](. On Monday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals breathed new life into a copyright lawsuit alleging that Guillermo del Toro's Oscar winning The Shape of Water infringed the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Paul Zindel.[The story](. +Charter Communications wants permission to begin charging Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+ and other streamers for the pleasure of efficiently carrying its traffic. In a petition this past week to the Federal Communications Commission, the nation's second largest provider of cable TV and internet services cited the flourishing online video marketplace and asked for a sunset of two notable conditions imposed on Charter's 2016 merger with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. [The story](. Obituaries: [Joel Schumacher](, the writer-director who came from a world of window dressing and costume design to bring a singular style to films including St. Elmo's Fire, Flatliners and a pair of Batman movies, died Monday. He was 80. Schumacher died in New York City after a yearlong battle with cancer, a representative announced... [Steve Bing](, the producer behind Get Carter, Rules Don't Apply and Rock the Kasbah and the writer of Kangaroo Jack, has died. Bing, also a real estate heir, political power player and philanthropist, was 55... [James Henerson](, an Emmy-nominated writer and producer who worked on such shows as I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched and The Flying Nun, has died. He was 84... ►Writers Guild of Canada confronts criticism over inclusion: "There's no hidden agenda." The union's executive and council ranks have been called out for its lack of diversity despite the organization's measures to see Canadian screenwriters from diverse communities hired and elevated. [More](. ►Disneyland unions balk at park reopening amid pandemic. The Coalition of Resort Labor Unions sent an open letter on June 18 to Gov. Gavin Newsom expressing their concern for both workers and would-be park guests as Disney attempts to get state clearance for operation. The CRLU is made up of a dozen Disneyland unions, representing approximately 17,000 service members. The group says it has been working with the company to recall furloughed workers, but is not pleased with the result. [The story](. +In other reopening news: Oriental Land Co., the local operator of the Tokyo Disney Resort, said Tuesday that it plans to [begin welcoming guests]( back to Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea on July 1...In the U.K., movie theaters [will be permitted]( to reopen July4, with a one meter social distancing rule... ►Film review: David Rooney reviews Jon Stewart's political satire Irresistible, writing "this buoyantly funny comedy offers lip-smacking entertainment that will surprise many with its skewering of both sides." [The review](. ►Broadcast TV ratings: An ABC News special with former national security adviser John Bolton topped Sunday's broadcast ratings in adults 18-49 and finished with the second-largest total audience in primetime behind CBS' 60 Minutes. Music-driven specials on ABC and CBS, meanwhile, put up modest numbers on a fairly soft night across the broadcast networks. [The numbers](. +Cable ratings: The season three premiere of Yellowstone drew the Paramount Network show's biggest audience ever — by a wide margin — on Sunday. HBO, meanwhile, got a solid start from its reimagined Perry Mason. On Saturday, Fox News got big returns for President Trump's rally in Oklahoma. [More](. ►Critic's notebook: The pleasures of peak Jewish TV. Shows like The Plot Against America, Unorthodox and Hunters have brought an exhilarating and enriching specificity to traditionally generic small-screen Jewish storytelling, Daniel Fienberg writes. [The notebook](. In other news... --Lin-Manuel Miranda and Disney are cooking up a new animated project set in Colombia, the Hamilton creator [revealed on Monday](. --The American Film Institute[is partnering]( with Universal Pictures to offer free rentals of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing and will feature the filmmaker in conversation on Thursday. --Elliot Fletcher on [Y: The Last Man trans character](: "Society's perception of gender will hopefully be shattered." --David Guillod on Monday [was charged]( with more than ten felony counts of sexual assault by the County of Santa Barbara District Attorney's Office. --The Walt Disney Co. [has revealed]( the launch date and pricing for its streaming service Disney+ for eight more European countries. --Microsoft is [shuttering Mixer](, the live streaming platform it acquired in 2016 to compete with Twitch. --Richard Armitage — best known for playing Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit trilogy and most recently seen in Netflix's The Stranger — is [set to take the lead](in Now & Then. --Nickelodeon will [revive its acclaimed]( Nick News franchise with an hour-long special about race that aims to amplify the voices and experiences of Black kids across the country, to be hosted by Alicia Keys. What else we're reading... --"What's next for Endeavor?" [[The Information](] --"One America News has support of Trump, but not cable companies" [[Bloomberg](] --"30 Rock is pulling blackface episodes from streaming platforms and TV reruns" [[Vulture](] --"How to make stories that matter when ‘white Hollywood does not write our culture’" [[LA Times](] --"Sports media giant Bill Simmons finds himself playing defense" [[NY Times](] --"CBSN launches global expansion" [[Axios](] Today's birthdays: Selma Blair, 48, Frances McDormand, 63, Joss Whedon, 56, Chico DeBarge, 54, Melissa Rauch, 40. 'Batman' Returns? There may be new Batman in town. And he’s the same as the old Batman. Michael Keaton, who famously starred as the Caped Crusader in the Tim Burton-directed early 1990s Batman movies, is in talks to reprise the character for Warner Bros.’s DC movie, The Flash. If a deal makes, Keaton wouldn’t just return for Flash but possibly for several other DC-oriented film projects. [More](. +Box office: Jurassic Park, Jaws top box office chart in Steven Spielberg bite-off. Over the June 19-21 weekend — as Hollywood studios offered classic catalogue titles to cinemas struggling to emerge from the coronavirus crisis — Spielberg's 1993 film Jurassic Park topped the chart with an estimated $517,642 from 230 locations in its 1,411th weekend, according to those with access to flash Comscore flash grosses. The vast majority of the theaters reporting grosses were drive-ins, many of which have been able to remain open, and in other instances, reopen relatively quickly. Jaws placed a close second. [The story](. +Speaking of Jurassic Park: Colin Trevorrow is re-teaming with Jurassic World studio Universal for a new fantasy adventure. Trevorrow will direct Atlantis and produce under his Metronome Film Co. based on the mythical utopic city that was lost under the sea. Trevorrow's take will see the famous city as a technologically advanced lost continent in the Indian Ocean. [The story](. +J.K. Simmons says Spider-Man fans can expect more J. Jonah Jameson. During an interview Monday, the Oscar-winning actor said he has already filmed the character for one upcoming project and plans to play him at least one more time beyond that. [More](. On Monday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals breathed new life into a copyright lawsuit alleging that Guillermo del Toro's Oscar winning The Shape of Water infringed the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Paul Zindel.[The story](. +Charter Communications wants permission to begin charging Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+ and other streamers for the pleasure of efficiently carrying its traffic. In a petition this past week to the Federal Communications Commission, the nation's second largest provider of cable TV and internet services cited the flourishing online video marketplace and asked for a sunset of two notable conditions imposed on Charter's 2016 merger with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. [The story](. Obituaries: [Joel Schumacher](, the writer-director who came from a world of window dressing and costume design to bring a singular style to films including St. Elmo's Fire, Flatliners and a pair of Batman movies, died Monday. He was 80. Schumacher died in New York City after a yearlong battle with cancer, a representative announced... [Steve Bing](, the producer behind Get Carter, Rules Don't Apply and Rock the Kasbah and the writer of Kangaroo Jack, has died. Bing, also a real estate heir, political power player and philanthropist, was 55... [James Henerson](, an Emmy-nominated writer and producer who worked on such shows as I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched and The Flying Nun, has died. He was 84... ►Writers Guild of Canada confronts criticism over inclusion: "There's no hidden agenda." The union's executive and council ranks have been called out for its lack of diversity despite the organization's measures to see Canadian screenwriters from diverse communities hired and elevated. [More](. ►Disneyland unions balk at park reopening amid pandemic. The Coalition of Resort Labor Unions sent an open letter on June 18 to Gov. Gavin Newsom expressing their concern for both workers and would-be park guests as Disney attempts to get state clearance for operation. The CRLU is made up of a dozen Disneyland unions, representing approximately 17,000 service members. The group says it has been working with the company to recall furloughed workers, but is not pleased with the result. [The story](. +In other reopening news: Oriental Land Co., the local operator of the Tokyo Disney Resort, said Tuesday that it plans to [begin welcoming guests]( back to Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea on July 1...In the U.K., movie theaters [will be permitted]( to reopen July4, with a one meter social distancing rule... ►Film review: David Rooney reviews Jon Stewart's political satire Irresistible, writing "this buoyantly funny comedy offers lip-smacking entertainment that will surprise many with its skewering of both sides." [The review](. ►Broadcast TV ratings: An ABC News special with former national security adviser John Bolton topped Sunday's broadcast ratings in adults 18-49 and finished with the second-largest total audience in primetime behind CBS' 60 Minutes. Music-driven specials on ABC and CBS, meanwhile, put up modest numbers on a fairly soft night across the broadcast networks. [The numbers](. +Cable ratings: The season three premiere of Yellowstone drew the Paramount Network show's biggest audience ever — by a wide margin — on Sunday. HBO, meanwhile, got a solid start from its reimagined Perry Mason. On Saturday, Fox News got big returns for President Trump's rally in Oklahoma. [More](. ►Critic's notebook: The pleasures of peak Jewish TV. Shows like The Plot Against America, Unorthodox and Hunters have brought an exhilarating and enriching specificity to traditionally generic small-screen Jewish storytelling, Daniel Fienberg writes. [The notebook](. In other news... --Lin-Manuel Miranda and Disney are cooking up a new animated project set in Colombia, the Hamilton creator [revealed on Monday](. --The American Film Institute[is partnering]( with Universal Pictures to offer free rentals of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing and will feature the filmmaker in conversation on Thursday. --Elliot Fletcher on [Y: The Last Man trans character](: "Society's perception of gender will hopefully be shattered." --David Guillod on Monday [was charged]( with more than ten felony counts of sexual assault by the County of Santa Barbara District Attorney's Office. --The Walt Disney Co. [has revealed]( the launch date and pricing for its streaming service Disney+ for eight more European countries. --Microsoft is [shuttering Mixer](, the live streaming platform it acquired in 2016 to compete with Twitch. --Richard Armitage — best known for playing Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit trilogy and most recently seen in Netflix's The Stranger — is [set to take the lead](in Now & Then. --Nickelodeon will [revive its acclaimed]( Nick News franchise with an hour-long special about race that aims to amplify the voices and experiences of Black kids across the country, to be hosted by Alicia Keys. What else we're reading... --"What's next for Endeavor?" [[The Information](] --"One America News has support of Trump, but not cable companies" [[Bloomberg](] --"30 Rock is pulling blackface episodes from streaming platforms and TV reruns" [[Vulture](] --"How to make stories that matter when ‘white Hollywood does not write our culture’" [[LA Times](] --"Sports media giant Bill Simmons finds himself playing defense" [[NY Times](] --"CBSN launches global expansion" [[Axios](] Today's birthdays: Selma Blair, 48, Frances McDormand, 63, Joss Whedon, 56, Chico DeBarge, 54, Melissa Rauch, 40. [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. JUNE 23, 2020 [UNSUBSCRIBE]( [MANAGE PREFERENCES]( [PRIVACY POLICY]( [TERMS OF USE](