Scott Rudin 'Steps Back' Following THR Investigation; An 'Optimistic' Oscars; 'Downton Abbey 2' Confirmed For Christmas

[The Hollywood Reporter]( Today In Entertainment APRIL 19, 2021 What's news: Scott Rudin "steps back" following THR investigation and pressure from Music Man stars, Godzilla vs. Kong continues box office domination, Downton Abbey 2 confirmed for Christmas, Oscars producers promise "sincere" and "optimistic" show, why a new Euro soccer league has started a political and media earthquake, THR owner invests in SXSW. Plus: A bizarre weekend at the China box office, and the winners from the ACE Eddie Awards, ASC Awards, and CAS Awards. --Alex Weprin [Rudin 'Steps Back' Following THR Story] Rudin 'Steps Back' Following THR Story ►Scott Rudin "steps back" from Broadway. Scott Rudin, under fire after THR detailed allegations of workplace abuse against him earlier this month, announced he was stepping back from his Broadway productions and apologized for his behavior in a statement to The Washington Post on Saturday. "Much has been written about my history of troubling interactions with colleagues, and I am profoundly sorry for the pain my behavior caused to individuals, directly and indirectly," he wrote. --Actors Equity, the labor union which represents actors in live theater, responded to Rudin's statement shortly after it was issued, calling on Rudin to release employees from non-disclosure agreements so they may come forward. [The story](. +Behind the decision: Over the past week, a half dozen people involved with Broadway's The Music Man converged on multiple conference calls to discuss Scott Rudin's involvement in the upcoming play in light of the allegations, Tatiana Siegel reports. Ultimately, Sutton Foster threatened to quit the show if Rudin didn't step down. [The story](. +Foster responds: "I feel like the only positive outcome is the one that happened," she said in an Instagram video. "I am so honored to be a part of The Music Man and I can't wait to create an incredible, safe, inclusive, loving environment for everyone involved, and that I all I care about moving forward," she added. [The story](. ['Godzilla' Continues To Stomp On The Box office] 'Godzilla' Continues To Stomp On The Box office ►Box office: Godzilla vs. Kong has stomped past $390 million at the global box office to become top-grossing Hollywood movie of the pandemic after besting the $365 million earned last fall by fellow Warner Bros.' release Tenet. And it had no trouble staying atop the weekend charts with $7.7 million domestically in its third outing to hit $80.5 million through Sunday. Overseas, it took in $12.2 million for a foreign total of $309.7 million and $390.2 million worldwide. [The story](. +Meanwhile: It was another bizarro weekend at the Chinese box office. The long-anticipated return of Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring finally arrived Friday in vividly remastered 4K. But official permission for the rerelease from China's regulators came so late — just one full day in advance — that marketing for the movie was mostly nonexistent and scores of digital prints failed to reach cinemas on time, forcing a wave of cancelations and refunds to angry customers throughout Friday and into Saturday. [More](. +Downton Abbey 2 is confirmed. Focus Features confirmed that creator Julian Fellowes and all the original cast — including Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter, Laura Carmichael and Michelle Dockery — would be back. It added that additional stars joining the sequel included Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye and Dominic West, and that it would be in cinemas Christmas 2021. [The story](. +In other film news: Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver are heading to Cannes. Annette, the new drama from French director Leos Carax, starring Cotillard and Driver, will open the 74th Cannes Film Festival, premiering in competition in Cannes on Tuesday, July 6. [More](. [An 'Optimistic' Oscars] An 'Optimistic' Oscars ►Producers of COVID-era Oscars: "It's not going to be like anything that's been done before." Steven Soderbergh, Jesse Collins and Stacey Sher held a press conference via Zoom from Union Station, the main venue for the April 25 telecast. "It's going to be a very sincere show, and it's also going to be optimistic," added Collins, who was also a producer of this year's COVID-impacted Super Bowl halftime show and Grammys. "It's going to show us where we can go in the future. And I think that's exactly what the Oscars needs to be at this time." [The story](. +ACE Eddie Awards: The Trial of the Chicago 7 editor Alan Baumgarten topped the dramatic feature editing category of American Cinema Editors's 71st ACE Eddie Awards, and Palm Springs's Matthew Friedman and Andrew Dickler won the category for best edited comedic feature, during Saturday's virtual ceremony. [The winners](. +Cinema Audio Society Awards: The sound mixing team behind Amazon's Sound of Metal won the Cinema Audio Society Award for outstanding sound mixing in a live action feature Saturday during a virtual presentation of the 57th annual CAS Awards. [The winners](. +ASC Awards: Erik Messerschmidt's black-and-white lensing of Mank — David Fincher's '30s set biopic about Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz — collected the feature film trophy during the 35th American Society of Cinematographers Awards, which were presented during a virtual ceremony from the historic (and expertly lit) ASC Clubhouse in Hollywood. [The winners](. ►Why a new European soccer league has started a political and media earthquake: A dozen European clubs, including Real Madrid, Manchester United, and A.C. Milan are forming what is being dubbed the "Super League," a breakaway soccer league that would, in the words of [The New York Times](, "upend the structures, economics and relationships that have bound global soccer for nearly a century." --Unlike the current system, which features country-by-country play, with the top teams going on to the UEFA Champions league, this new league would have permanent members, and a structure closer to that of leagues like the NBA or NFL (though some eams would still be able to gain entry each season). --Why does it matter for Hollywood? This league, should it move forward, would immediately become the single biggest prize in the world of sports television, especially with the NFL rights completed. it would also devalue the TV rights for the Champions League and the national leagues by stripping them of their best teams. Stay tuned... ►Hollywood Reporter owner strikes deal to invest in SXSW: South by Southwest has struck a deal with P-MRC, a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and MRC that includes publishing brands such as THR, that will make P-MRC a long-term partner and stakeholder in the festival, the companies announced in a joint release Sunday night. P-MRC — whose holdings also include Billboard, Rolling Stone, Variety and Vibe — will bring "media expertise and new avenues for discovery" to the Austin, Texas-based event. The deal will also involve looking at an expansion of SXSW with new events and business models. P-MRC will reportedly take a 50% stake in the business. [The story](. +In other housekeeping news: Yahoo on Monday said THR has been selected as the newest partner for its Yahoo News XR Partner Program. The partnership between Verizon Media's Yahoo and THR will enable hollywoodreporter.com to deploy augmented reality experiences on both desktop and mobile web browsers through Yahoo's Immersive Platform.[More](. ►Netflix earnings preview: After a record-setting 2020 that it [ended with more than]( 200 million global subscribers, helped by stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus pandemic, management has projected 6 million subscriber additions globally for the opening period of 2021. And Wall Street doesn’t expect a major upside surprise, certainly not like a year ago. That and the tough year-ago comparison are widely seen as explaining why the stock hasn't moved much this year. Earnings are tomorrow afternoon. [The preview](. ►My unexpected career detour as a Hollywood studio's COVID-19 compliance officer. From treating ear, nose and throat ailments to enforcing protocols on set (and learning what a honey wagon really means), a doctor describes her year of living precariously in the TV world. [The guest column](. In other news... --Alma Wahlberg, the matriarch of the Wahlberg family and a frequent character on the reality show Wahlburgers, [has died](. She was 78. --Charles "Chuck" Geschke — the co-founder of the major software company Adobe Inc. who helped develop Portable Document Format technology, or PDFs — [died at age 81](. --Prince Philip [was laid to rest]( at Windsor Castle Saturday following a funeral service and procession involving all members of the royal family. --Chloe Zhao was [recognized as best director]( for Nomadland at the Dorian Film Awards on Sunday, hosted by GALECA; the Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics. The drama also nabbed the coveted best film honor. What else we're reading... --"Ari Emanuel takes on the world" [[The New Yorker](] --"There’s more to Disney than movies and Mickey Mouse. Why streaming could power future profits" [[Barron's](] --"CBS News will try to reinvent itself, again" [[NY Times](] --"TikTok turns Average Joes into stars. Then what?" [[WSJ](] --"Facebook plans to go after Clubhouse — and podcasts — with a suite of new audio products" [[Recode](] Today's birthdays: Tim Curry, 75, Kate Hudson, 42, Ashley Judd, 53, Hayden Christensen, 40, Suge Knight, 56. [Image] [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2021 The Hollywood Reporter, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC. 11175 Santa Monica Boulevard Los Angeles, CA, 90025 All rights reserved. APRIL 19, 2021 [UNSUBSCRIBE]( [MANAGE PREFERENCES]( [PRIVACY POLICY]( [TERMS OF USE](