AMC Theatres' Survival Plan; WWE's Peacock Deal; Pandemic Dealmakers

[The Hollywood Reporter]( Today In Entertainment JANUARY 25, 2021 What's news: WWE and Peacock strike a streaming deal, AMC Theatres secures cash to "make it through this dark coronavirus-impacted winter," Nexstar rebrands WGN America as an "unbiased" cable news channel, Spotify's new audiobooks push, ViacomCBS kicks off Paramount+ promo blitz. Plus: How Hulu could help Freaks & Geeks break out of cult status, Hollywood's pandemic dealmakers of 2020, and a Nate 'n Al's server recalls serving Larry King for 40 years. --Alex Weprin [Major Streaming Moves] Major Streaming Moves ►WWE struts like a Peacock: NBCUniversal's streaming service and the WWE said Monday that they will fold the WWE Network streaming service into Peacock's paid tiers starting March 18. The deal includes the WWE library, but more importantly includes live access to the company's pay-per-view events, including Wrestlemania. --"WWE and NBCU have been partners for nearly 30 years, and we consider this to be a natural extension of our long-standing relationship," WWE chief brand officer Stephanie McMahon wrote in an email Monday morning. Terms weren't disclosed, but the Wall Street Journal [reported]( that the deal was valued at more than $1 billion. [The story](. +Paramount+ starts its promotional push: The forthcoming ViacomCBS streamer debuted its first [brand commercial]( during Sunday's AFC Championship Game on CBS. The spot sees ViacomCBS talent, including James Corden, Gayle King, Dora the Explorer, Blue Bloods' Tom Selleck, Survivor's Jeff Probst, Beavis and Butthead, and many others, climbing to the top of "Paramount Mountain." The end flashes the slogan "Live sports. Breaking news. A mountain of entertainment." against the Paramount+ logo. --Now CBS will continue the promo push during the Super Bowl, which is shaping up to be a TV must-see given the matchup of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. (A Super Bowl sidenote: This year's big game [won't include commercials]( from three stalwarts: Coca-Cola, Pepsi, or Budweiser.) +Spotify explores audiobooks: Spotify on Monday released a small collection of exclusive audiobook recordings on its platform, a move that signals its interest in continuing to broaden its library of non-music programming. The company is characterizing the release as one of many tests that it regularly runs to help it improve its user experience, but in success, the initiative could give it a roadmap for how to take on giants in the space, including Amazon-owned Audible. --The first batch of books are all in the public domain, but the company is leaning on ceelbrities like Cynthia Erivo, Hilary Swank and David Dobrik to spice them up. [The story](. +NBCUniversal and Twitter strike a content and ad sales deal: On the content front, NBCUniversal will publish highlights and behind-the-scenes video from dozens of live events, including the upcoming Golden Globes next month, E! People's Choice Awards, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and major sporting events. On the ad sales front, Twitter will now provide broader sales support for marketers buying ads through NBCUniversal's One Platform, giving marketers local, national or global options to reach consumers, and utilizing Twitter's targeting capabilities and advanced ad formats in conjunction with NBCU's content. [The story](. [AMC Theatres Secures a Major Lifeline] AMC Theatres Secures a Major Lifeline ►Bankruptcy "off the table" for AMC Theatres as cinema giant secures new financing. The company said it "has successfully raised or signed commitment letters to receive $917 million of new equity and debt capital," adding: "This increased liquidity should allow the company to make it through this dark coronavirus-impacted winter." --"This means that any talk of an imminent bankruptcy for AMC is completely off the table," said president and CEO Adam Aron. "Today, the sun is shining on AMC." The company estimated "that its financial runway has been extended deep into 2021." [The story](. +Box office: Liam Neeson's action thriller The Marksman stayed atop the languishing domestic box office in its second weekend with an estimated $2 million. There were no new wide releases as most Hollywood studios continue to delay their high-profile titles amid COVID-19 and continued theater closures, including in the top 10 moviegoing markets. Though smaller markets have reopened this month, it hasn't made much of a dent. So far, January ticket sales are running more than 90 percent behind last year, according to Comscore. [The numbers](. ►A new cable news channel wants to be the "unbiased" alternative to the incumbents. Nexstar, the local TV station giant, is rebranding its national cable channel WGN America as NewsNation, positioning it as a "fact-based and unbiased" competitor to cable news channels like CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. As part of the rebrand, NewsNation will add two hours of live coverage from 6- 8 p.m.: NewsNation Early Edition from 7-7 p.m. and The Donlon Report from 7- 8 p.m. Nichole Berlie and Joe Donlon will host those hours, respectively. [The story](. +In other TV news, news: NBC News moved to a new Washington D.C. bureau near Capitol Hill after more than 60 years at its original Washinton D.C. location. [More](. +And: Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is running for governor of Arkansas. Fox News cut ties with her as a contributor accordingly. [More](. [2020's Pandemic Dealmakers] 2020's Pandemic Dealmakers ►Hollywood's top dealmakers of 2020: The pandemic players. From shattering theatrical windows to deal with shuttered cinemas to playing professional sports in a bubble, in 2020, there was no such thing as business as usual. THR’s fifth annual dealmakers list spotlights the people who kept on their toes to keep the entertainment industry on its feet. Amid doom and gloom, many of the past year's most interesting pacts were closed via Zoom. [The list](. ►Can Freaks and Geeks move beyond cult classic status? Streaming on Hulu could help. Expensive music rights have hindered the show's streaming availability, but as it debuts on Hulu, creator Paul Feig explains why he'll never let it air without its original classic rock soundtrack. [The interview](. ►New York Film Critics Awards: Spike Lee says Trump "will go down in history with the likes of Hitler." Chadwick Boseman, the late star of Lee's Da 5 Bloods, was a New York actor who "was unfazed by much when he got to Hollywood, because in New York he was at war," his widow said in accepting his best supporting actor prize. [Here's what happened](. More on Larry King... +Nate 'n Al's star server on what it was like to wait on Larry King for 41 years. One of the staffers who greeted him daily over four decades was Gloria Leon. She tells THR how the beloved broadcasting icon became family and why she never got to say goodbye. --"Everyone knew where to find Larry if they needed him, and they came to me first. A long, long time ago, Ryan Seacrest would be looking for Larry, so he used to call me to connect them. If Larry wasn’t there, I would say, 'Call me in five minutes.' The minute Larry walked in, I would say, 'Ryan Seacrest is looking for you.'" [The story](. +Dan Fienberg's appreciation: "The seriousness with which King would treat a Vladimir Putin or a Marlon Brando or a Tammy Faye Messner or a Johnny-come-lately sensation would be roughly the same, and that seriousness carried over to Larry King interviews featured in movies like The Long Kiss Goodnight or Dave or more scripted TV shows to count. Seeing Larry King pop up as himself in a piece of entertainment was proof for the viewer that whatever happened in that story was worthy of attention and consideration, because Larry King would interview all types of people, but he wouldn't interview just anybody." [The column](. +The tributes: CNN founder Ted Turner, Oprah, Katie Couric and many others share their rememberances of the late talk show legend. [More](. +Two standout moments: King's infamous [1994 interview]( with Marlon Brando... That time he [(hilariously) irked]( Jerry Seinfeld... ►Critic's notebook: How this year's awards contenders embrace complexity and demolish that sexist "likability." factor. This season’s crop of blunt, commanding and steely female protagonists — seen in Ammonite, The Forty-Year-Old Version, Nomadland, Pieces of a Woman and Promising Young Woman — provide strength in numbers, Sheri Linden writes. [The column](. Obituaries: [Walter Bernstein](, the resilient screenwriter who drew upon his ignominious experience on the blacklist in 1950s Hollywood to pen the Oscar-nominated script for The Front, has died. He was 101... [Perry Botkin Jr.](, the prolific film and TV composer, arranger and producer known for his themes to Happy Days, Mork and Mindy and The Young and the Restless — a tune forever associated with famed Olympic gymnast Nadia Comăneci — has died. He was 87... In other news... --How One Night in Miami, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and more [give audiences]( "an opportunity to witness Black excellence." --Kenneth Branagh is [set to play]( U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Michael Winterbottom's upcoming limited series charting the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. --Tim Webber, the Oscar-winning VFX supervisor of Gravity and chief creative officer at VFX company Framestore, is [making his directorial debut]( with a short produced by Framestore to demonstrate the potential of the studio's newly-developed VFX pipeline dubbed FUSE, an acronym for Framestore Unreal Shot Engine. --Italian actress Asia Argento [has accused]( The Fast and the Furious and xXx director Rob Cohen of sexual assault. --Borat sequel stars Sacha Baron Cohen and Maria Bakalova [reminisce about the film's]( wild mid-pandemic production. --Sleepless In Seattle screenwriter Jeff Arch, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on the romantic comedy screenplay, is now set to pen his debut novel out May 11. [Here's an exclusve excerpt](. --Two of the biggest monsters in movie history are at odds in the [first trailer]( for Godzilla vs. Kong. --LeVar Burton on Saturday [celebrated]( the 44th anniversary of Roots by pulling back the curtain on the production. --Sri Rao on how the new Geffen show [Bollywood Kitchen]( weaves cooking and personal storytelling. What else we're reading... --"SPAC boom could finally provide an exit ramp for digital publishers like Buzzfeed and Vice" [[CNBC](] --"The unusual CBS TV station deal that scored one executive a $1-million golf membership" [[LA Times](] --"This Netflix analyst has cost investors a 2,000% return" [[Bloomberg](] --"Where Giuliani still offes false claims of election fraud" [[NY Times](] --"Why made-for-TV moments matter during the pandemic" [[Axios](] Today's birthdays: Alicia Keys, 40, Jennifer Lewis, 64, Calum Hood, 25, David Ginola, 54, Dinah Manoff, 65. 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