Universal and Peacock Bet Big on 'Exorcist'; WGA Calls for Fully Vaccinated Writers’ Rooms; Britney Taps CPA to Take Over as Conservator

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( July 27, 2021 What's news: Shock news from Tokyo as Simone Biles is out of the Olympics team finals. ICM is building out its NFL business. A new trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife dropped this morning. Plus: A live-action Pokemon series is in the works at Netflix and Kanye is living inside an Atlanta stadium finishing off his latest album — [Abid Rahman]( Universal's Big 'Exorcist' Bet ►Huge play. Universal and Peacock have acquired the worldwide rights to create new IP based on The Exorcist franchise in partnership with Blumhouse and Morgan Creek. Leslie Odom Jr. is set to star in the coming reboot of The Exorcist with Ellen Burstyn reprising her iconic role as Chris MacNeil, with David Gordon Green earlier tapped to direct the first of three planned movies. [The story.]( —Biles out. Reigning Olympic gymnastics champion Simone Biles is out of the team finals with what USA Gymnastics described as a medical issue. [The story.]( —Olympics ratings. The total TV audience for the opening weekend of the Tokyo Olympics was down significantly from the previous Summer Games in 2016. NBCUniversal’s margin of victory over the rest of linear TV, however, remained huge. [The ratings.]( —Fully vaxxed writers' rooms. A week after top Hollywood guilds agreed on a policy that allows producers to require vaccinations for certain members of the cast and crew, the Writers Guild of America is weighing in on vaccinations in writers' rooms. [The new rules](. —Jennifer's body of work. Mark Gordon Pictures has picked up the screen rights to Walter Isaacson’s Jennifer Doudna book The Code Breaker. The company plans a limited TV series about Doudna, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist and co-inventor of CRISPR technology, a tool to rewrite and edit human genes, or the code of life. [The story.]( 'Bachelorette' Stars and Hosts Talk Franchise Changes Ahead of Finale ►"Those changes are happening." The Bachelorette co-hosts Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe, star Katie Thurston, and her contestants dive into the shift they've seen this season following the racial controversies. [The story.]( —In the works. A live-action Pokemon series is being developed at Netflix. Sources tell THR that a writers room led by showrunner Joe Henderson started staffing up about a month ago. If greenlit to series, the show would follow 2019's Detective Pikachu as the second live-action take in the sprawling franchise. [The story.]( —ABC wants Mexican American comedy. ABC is teaming with writer Grace Parra Janney to develop a family comedy inspired by her own Mexican American family in Texas. Eva Longoria’s Unbelievable is on board to exec produce the potential series and will direct the prospective pilot. [The story.]( —Oh my days. Amazon's Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Jonathan Butterell's film about an English high school student who dreams of making it as a drag queen, will open the 39th annual Outfest on Aug. 13. [The lineup.]( —Commitment. Kanye West has been living inside an Atlanta stadium while working on his new album. A rep for Kanye said he planned to remain inside the Mercedes-Benz Stadium while working to complete Donda, his 10th studio album. [The story.]( Britney Taps CPA to Take Over as Conservator ►The latest. Just over a month after Britney Spears gave a bombshell statement expressing publicly for the first time that she wants her longstanding conservatorship to come to an end, she’s formally asking the court to replace her father as conservator of her estate. [The story.]( —They’re ready to believe you. A new trailer for the highly-anticipated Ghostbusters: Afterlife dropped Tuesday and viewers proceeded to lose their minds via social media. [The trailer.]( —"First festival of a new era." It appears Alberto Barbera has done it again. Venice's artistic director has managed to upstage Cannes with a lineup heavy both on big blockbuster titles and buzzy independent and arthouse films. [The story.]( —ICM making moves. ICM is expanding its business representing NFL athletes and coaches by acquiring Select Sports Group, the NFL-focused representation business led by Erik Burkhardt and Jeff Nalley. [The story.]( —"I’m proud to be here." LeVar Burton has made his hosting debut on Jeopardy! After tens of thousands of fans lobbied online for the actor to replace the late Alex Trebek, Burton took on hosting duties on Monday. [The story.]( David Lowery's 'The Green Knight' ►"Medieval fantasy that defies genre expectations." THR's chief film critic [David Rooney]( reviews David Lowery’s The Green Knight, the dreamy fantasy film based on Arthurian legend starring Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton, Sarita Choudhury, Sean Harris and Barry Keoghan: "The A24 release will possibly be too weirdly enigmatic for mainstream tastes, but audiences willing to surrender to its unique spell will savor their time in Gawain’s World." [The review](. —Soap streaming. Peacock has ordered a limited series featuring characters from the long-running NBC soap Days of Our Lives. The five-part Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem will feature past and present fan favorites who are caught up in a mystery involving stolen jewels. [The story.]( —Juggling three films. Fear Street director Leigh Janiak talks the challenges of casting actors to appear in multiple centuries in her horror trilogy, and the connections between her work and Stranger Things. [The interview.]( In other news... —[Fox reveals fall TV premiere dates]( Masked Singer, 911, Bob’s Burgers. —[Mubi buys Zhang Yimou's Toronto Festival closer]( One Second for multiple territories. —Disney+ Hotstar unveils India [slate of original series, movies](. —[Nickelodeon International orders more Spyders]( as Israel’s Ananey eyes more global hits. —Batman Unburied podcast: [Winston Duke to voice star as Bruce Wayne](. —[Issa Rae ties the knot]( in the South of France. —Writer Scott Snyder inks [sweeping deal]( with Amazon's ComiXology. —[Showtime donates $500K]( to Chicago nonprofits to help beautify lots, neighborhoods. —Philadelphia Phillies owner must testify in [legal fight between film producers](. —Will Ferrell, Jon Hamm, Awkwafina among [Just For Laughs Awards presenters](. —[Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka host Mitchells vs. Machines team]( at Hamptons home for screening. —[Vicki Dummer]( to oversee current programming at Warner Bros. TV. —ABC’s [Amanda Barclay]( joins Netflix as director of comedy originals. What else we're reading... —"Looking Back on Anthony Bourdain and Asia Argento’s Roller-Coaster Romance" [[Vanity Fair]( —"How TV Went From David Brent to Ted Lasso" [[New York Times]( —"Val Kilmer Finds His Voice Again in Val, a Moving Reflection on a Life Almost Lost" [[Daily Beast]( —"Eric Clapton's Not God, Just Another Vile Anti-Vaxxer" [[Los Angeles Times]( —"'Look At Me Like A Human Boy!' An Oral History Of Clifford" [[Vulture]( Today... ... in 1984, Warner Bros. unveiled Prince's R-rated Purple Rain in theaters. The musical drama was a huge hit grossing over $70 million and won an Academy Award for best original score. [The original review](. Today's birthdays: Norman Lear (99), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (51), Maya Rudolph (49), Taylor Schilling (37), Cliff Curtis (53), [Donnie Yen]( (58), Julian McMahon (53), Rade Serbedzija (75), Takehiro Hira (47), Winnie Harlow (27), Augustine Frizzell (42), Bryan Fuller (52) This email was sent to {EMAIL} by Penske Media Corporation. Please add email@email.hollywoodreporter.com to your address book to ensure delivery to your inbox. Visit the [Preferences Center]( to update your profile and customize what email alerts and newsletters you receive. Copyright © 2021 The Hollywood Reporter, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC. All rights reserved. 11175 Santa Monica Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90025 [View in Browser]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Your Privacy Rights]( | [Ad Choices]( | [Terms of Use]( | [Unsubscribe](