Netflix Lands Schwarzenegger Series; Janet Evanovich's Hollywood Plans; Two Boundary-Breaking Biopics; Paramount+ Outline

[The Hollywood Reporter]( Today In Entertainment NOVEMBER 12, 2020 What's news: Arnold Schwarzenegger coming to TV via Netflix, another CBS series for Chuck Lorre, Bob Bakish outlines Paramount+ vision, Janet Evanovich talks Hollywood plans, two notable biopics in the works. Plus: Emily In Paris, The Hot Zone and Lego Masters all score renewals, why Discovery is bullish on streaming. --Alex Weprin [From 'Terminator' to TV] From 'Terminator' to TV ➤Netflix has won rights to Arnold Schwarzenegger's first scripted TV series. The streamer outbid several other outlets for a global spy adventure series from Skydance Television and creator Nick Santora. The untitled show will center on a father (Schwarzenegger) and daughter (Monica Barbaro). The Terminator star and former California governor is also an executive producer of the show, which would mark his first regular role in a series. [The story](. +Chuck Lorre is adding another series to his roster. CBS has handed out a series order to comedy United States of Al, which is exec produced by the Big Bang Theory co-creator. An episode count has not yet been determined for the multicamera comedy, which is slated to debut sometime during the 2020-21 broadcast season. [More](. In other TV news... +Netflix is going back to Paris. The streaming giant has renewed Emily in Paris for a second season. From creator Darren Star, the comedy starring Lily Collins is expected to return to production next spring on location in Paris. An episode count for the new season and premiere date have not yet been determined. [More](. +National Geographic's The Hot Zone is making the transition from limited series to anthology. The Disney-owned cable network has picked up a second season of the series, which will chronicle a different biological threat: The mailing of anthrax to a number of victims in the fall of 2001, just after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. [More](. +Fox is hitting the (Lego) bricks again. The network has formally renewed its competition series Lego Masters for a second season. Casting for the season has begun, with production planned for spring 2021 and a premiere later next year. Will Arnett, the voice of the character Lego Batman, is set to return as host and executive producer. [More](. +Jeff Dunham is coming home to Comedy Central. The comedian and ventriloquist has signed a three-special deal with the ViacomCBS cable network where he broke out on TV (as part of Comedy Central Presents in 2003) and for whom he taped six specials. [More](. +Dodger fans who longed to hear Vin Scully call the team's first World Series championship since 1988 are in luck. The legendary broadcaster, who retired in 2016, will narrate Major League Baseball's official World Series documentary. Scully, who spent 67 years calling games for the Dodgers, recorded the documentary last week. [More](. [Paramount+ Positioning] Paramount+ Positioning ➤"Live sports, breaking news and a mountain of entertainment": ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish outlines Paramount+ vision. Speaking at a virtual conference, Bakish explained why they are emphasizing sports and news: "Part of it is differentiation, The NFL, UEFA, the PGA, NCAA, that is a differentiating characteristic in the over-the-top space," Bakish said, adding that its streaming news operation is also unique, he does not think people would pay for a standalone streaming news service. "Some of our competitors have been less successful in articulating their positioning." [The story](. +John Malone talks "dying" cinemas, "overpriced" Netflix and Disney. Speaking during the Paley Center's virtual Paley International Council Summit he was asked in a lightning round whether he feels various companies' stocks are worth buying, selling or otherwise. --"Overpriced" was the word he used when interviewer Mike Fries, CEO and vice chairman of Liberty Global, asked him about Netflix and Disney. "Dying" was his response when asked about exhibitors. And questioned about studios and the studio business, he said it was "really tough." [The story](. +Discovery CEO David Zaslav forecasts high demand for his soon-to-launch direct to consumer streaming service. "COVID has got us consuming aggressively Netflix, Disney+, HBO, there's lot of offerings," Zaslav argued. At the same time, he discussed his giant library of unscripted content for HGTV, Food Network and DIY that more recently has been shot by network personalities from home during the COVID-19 crisis, and if its current appeal with audiences will last post-pandemic, especially as production costs have fallen. "Some of it may feel hokey later on. But a lot of it may continue to work and the question would be why fly someone to a studio, go ahead, do it in your kitchen, go ahead and do it in your living room," Zaslav argued. [More](. ➤Danai Gurira will play boundary-breaking politician Shirley Chisholm in a new movie about Chisholm's 1972 presidential run titled The Fighting Shirley Chisholm. The first Black woman elected to Congress in 1968, Chisholm became the first woman to run for the Democratic Party's nomination. --Her boundary-breaking campaign was marked by its youth engagement and her efforts to gain enough delegates to speak at the Democratic Convention. (Chisholm was recently portrayed by Uzo Aduba in Hulu miniseries Mrs. America.) Cherien Dabis is set to direct from a script by Adam Countee. [The story](. +Selena Gomez is ready to scale a big-screen biopic about Peruvian mountaineer and social entrepreneur Silvia Vásquez-Lavado. Titled In the Shadow of the Mountain, the film is based on upcoming memoir of the same name by Vásquez-Lavado, who became the first Peruvian woman to summit Mount Everest and the first openly gay woman to complete the Seven Summits, a challenge to climb the highest mountain on each continent. [The story](. +News of the World is heading around the world via Netflix. The streamer is closing on a deal for the international distribution rights to the Hanks-starrer, with Universal Pictures still holding domestic rights. Universal has a December 25 release date in North America, with the movie expected to be a player in this year's awards season. [More](. [Evanovich on Hollywood] Evanovich on Hollywood ➤Janet Evanovich talks latest best-seller, Hollywood plans. As part of her most recent eight-figure publishing deal with Simon & Schuster's Atria Books imprint, the 40-time New York Times best-selling author is eager to extend her beloved characters beyond the page and into potential television and film franchises. And unlike her first foray — the 2012 box office flop One for the Money, based on her 1994 best-seller of the same name — Evanovich has every intention of being involved in the process this time. [The interview](. ➤Donald Trump still thinks he can win this one. We're of course referring to the lawsuit that was filed against his presidential campaign for using the 1983 hit "Electric Avenue" in a campaign video. On Wednesday night, amid legal challenges around the nation focused on the results of voting, Trump also filed a dismissal motion in New York court with respect to the copyright case brought by Eddy Grant. The motion argues that Trump should escape the lawsuit on fair use grounds. [The story](. Casting roundup: Apple's murder-mystery comedy from Phil Lord and Chris Miller [has lined up]( its principal cast. Tiffany Haddish will lead the ensemble in The Afterparty... Millie Bobby Brown [will lead]( fantasy film Damsel for the streamer, with 28 Weeks Later filmmaker Juan Carlos Fresnadillo set to direct... HBO Max's Peacemaker is [assembling its squad](. The spinoff to James Gunn's Warner Brosl/DC movie The Suicide Squad has added Danielle Brooks, Robert Patrick, Jennifer Holland and Chris Conrad to the call sheet... ➤TV review: Robyn Bahr reviews HBO's Transhood, writing that filmmaker Sharon Liese "forgoes contextualizing the culture wars and instead lets her subjects speak for themselves. Their pathos, however, doesn't always localize where you'd expect." [The review](. In other news... --ESPN [has shuttered]( its esports editorial vertical. "We have made the difficult decision to cease operations for our dedicated daily esports editorial and content," a spokesperson said in a statement to THR. "We recognize esports as an opportunity to expand our audience, and we’ll continue to do so through coverage from the broader team for major events, breaking news and coverage." --IFC Films [has scooped up]( the North American rights to Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time, the documentary about the life and career of legendary novelist by directors Robert B. Weide and Don Argott. --Gravitas Ventures [has acquired]( the North American rights to Miracle Fishing: The Kidnapping of Tom Hargrove, a documentary by director Miles Hargrove about the kidnapping of an American journalist in Colombia. --The New Yorker [is parting ways]( with staff writer Jeffrey Toobin after an internal investigation over his now-infamous Zoom incident, in which he reportedly exposed himself to colleagues when he thought the camera was off. --George Clooney [has a date]( with the Museum of Modern Art on Dec. 7. The Oscar-winning multi-hyphenate and humanitarian has been selected to receive top honors during MoMA Film Benefit presented by Chanel. --Lady A, formerly known as Lady Antebellum, and Rascal Flatts [will no longer attend]( this year's CMA Awards. Lady A took to social media just hours before the ceremony to announce that they will not be attending after a family member tested positive for COVID-19. --Nicholas "Nick Eh 30" Amyoony [has signed]( with esports organization Luminosity Gaming. What else we're reading... --"Trump eyes digital media empire to take on Fox News" [[Axios](] --"John Waters bequeaths his art collection to Baltimore Museum of Art, whose bathrooms will be named in his honor" [[Baltimore Sun](] --"MSNBC's Steve Kornacki On Surviving Election Week, Polling Flubs, and the Internet's Crush on Him: 'It Made Me a Little Squeamish'" [[Time](] --"President Trump's show has been canceled" [[NY Times](] Today's birthdays: Ryan Gosling, 40, Tonya Harding, 50, Neil Young, 75, Nadia Comaneci, 59, Anne Hathaway, 38. [Image] [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? 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