Disney Makes First Move in Scarlett Johansson’s 'Black Widow' Suit; 'Birds of Prey' Spinoff In the Works; Hollywood Reacts to Mike Richards Stepping Down From 'Jeopardy!'

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( August 21, 2021 What's news: The problem with curating a newsletter that is sent out at 7 a.m. PT is that sometimes something major happens at 7:02 a.m. PT and you end up looking silly, as was the case yesterday. So, you can add me to the lengthy list of people annoyed with Mike Richards. Plus: There's going to be a Black Canary film and No Time To Die has been pushed back in Australia, which is probably bad news — [Abid Rahman]( Mike Drop: Richards No Longer in 'Jeopardy!' ►Omnishambles. Oh Mike! We hardly knew thee. After a week lurching from crisis to calamity, Mike Richards lasted all of one day of filming as the new host of Jeopardy! The embattled host stepped down after the pressure from the various scandals became overwhelming. [The story.]( —"So blundered it almost feels intentional." THR's chief TV critic [Dan Fienberg]( surveys the wreckage of Richards' short but not very sweet tenure as Jeopardy! host and wonders whether the truly Herculean levels of incompetence in the hiring process was in fact a mad, Bond supervillain type plan to remove all pressure on the real heir to Alex Trebek. Or maybe he's overthinking it, either way, this is a fun read. [The critic's notebook.]( —"Hi @levarburton." Ryan Reynolds, Yvette Nicole Brown, Keith Olbermann, Matthew Cherry and Franklin Leonard were among the Hollywood figures who reacted to the news of Richards' departure as Jeopardy! host and Sony's decision to pass over the people's favorite LeVar Burton. [The reaction.]( Disney Makes First Move in 'Black Widow' Suit ►Pushing for arbitration. Disney is demanding that Scarlett Johansson’s suit over her Black Widow pay be moved to arbitration. The filings came near midnight on Friday evening in Los Angeles Superior Court. The company has also revealed that on Aug. 10, it initiated arbitration against her. THR's [Eriq Gardner]( writes that Disney's lawyers have provided updates of the movie's box office and streaming take, saying it has outgrossed some other Marvel films with an "impressive pandemic-era showing." According to the latest filing, as of Aug. 15, Black Widow has grossed more than $367 million in worldwide box-office receipts and more than $125 million in streaming and download retail receipts. [The story.]( —Reunited for Marvel. Stand-up comedian-turned-actor and screenwriter Yassir Lester has been tapped as head writer for Armor Wars, the Marvel Studios series that will star Don Cheadle. The move reunites Lester with Cheadle after the two worked together on the Showtime comedy Black Monday. [The story.]( —Hybrid release. The Addams Family 2 will release in theaters and premium on-demand in the U.S. and Canada on the same day. The animated film, from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and BRON Creative, opens Oct. 1 and the hybrid release comes as the Delta variant causes a surge in virus cases. [The story.]( —The walk. There’s more turnover at The Talk with Carrie Ann Inaba, who replaced original co-host Julie Chen Moonves on the CBS daytime show in 2018, departing after 2 1/2 years. Inaba has been on a leave of absence since April, saying at the time she needed to "focus on my well-being." [The story.]( —"Cowardly." Sean Penn took a swing at Hollywood unions when he blasted leadership for pushback on production vaccination mandates: “I think at the end of the day the problem is with cowardly union leadership in many cases." [The story.]( 'Birds of Prey' Spinoff In the Works ►Birds of a feather. Misha Green is reuniting with her Lovecraft Country collaborator Jurnee Smollett for a DC movie project featuring heroine Black Canary. The project, which is in early development at HBO Max, is a spinoff from Warner Bros.’s 2020 DC movie Birds of Prey. [The story.]( —No, time to wait down under. No Time To Die has been delayed once more because of the pandemic, but this time only in Australia. The 25th James Bond has now been bumped from its Sept. 30 release slot in the country, with distributor Universal having shifted the date to Nov. 11. [The story.]( —"Hyper-partisanship and tribalism." FX’s Impeachment: American Crime Story centers on the women who were key figures in the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998. Executive producer Brad Simpson, who calls the series an "origin story for today" and says it also takes in the divided government of the era, the dawn of internet culture and a heavily competitive media landscape. [The story](. —"Happy to be vaxxed." Hilary Duff has revealed she tested positive for a breakthrough case of COVID-19. Duff, who is currently filming Hulu's How I Met Your Father, posted a picture of herself lying in bed on Instagram with a caption calling the Delta variant a "little bitch." [The story.]( —Casting coup. Hulu’s limited series The Girl From Plainville has added Oscar nominee Chloë Sevigny to its cast. She will star opposite Elle Fanning and Colton Ryan in the drama, which examines the controversial “texting-suicide” case of Michelle Carter. [The story.]( Kaling: Fellow Writer's Weight Jibe Impacted Stories ►"Really devastating." Mindy Kaling revealed that during her time working as a writer and actor on The Office, a co-worker from another writers' room pitched an interaction suggesting her character could lose 15 pounds. Speaking to Good Morning America, Kaling called the experience "really devastating" and that it impacted the kind of stories she writes and the characters she plays onscreen. [The story.]( —Tough, meaningful season. Saturday Night Live castmates Aidy Bryant, Cecily Strong and Kate McKinnon, all Emmy nominees, open up to THR's [Lacey Rose]( about the complexities of being funny during a global pandemic and how they think about what’s next, at SNL or elsewhere. [The conversation.]( —VidGone. ViacomCBS has canceled VidCon, the convention which brings together online creators and fans, for the second year in a row due to concerns about rising COVID cases. [The story.]( In other news... —Film review: Netflix's [The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf](. —Film review: Netflix's [Sweet Girl.]( —TV review: Epix's [Chapelwaite.]( —Schitt’s Creek [farewell tour canceled]( due to COVID-19 safety concerns. —[Tom T. Hall]( country singer-songwriter who composed "Harper Valley P.T.A.," dies at 85. —H.E.R. [settles copyright lawsuit]( over 2016 song "Focus." —The Weeknd pays $70 million for [extravagant Bel Air mansion](. —Paris Hilton, Carter Reum buy [oceanfront Malibu getaway](. —Netflix taps PepsiCo’s [Sergio Ezama as chief talent officer](. —No, Danny Devito [did not briefly lose his Twitter blue check due to his Nabisco post](. —Coco Jones [signs with M88](. —Local TV giant [Nexstar buys The Hill]( in $130m deal. —OnlyFans' pivot leaves [adult content creators with fewer options](. What else we're reading... —"Nicole Kidman "Being Used" By Beijing In Hong Kong Shoot" [[Sydney Morning Herald]( —"Impeachment Focuses on the Women Behind Clinton’s Scandals" [[New York Times]( —"Sandra Oh’s The Chair Tells the Rotten Truth About Academia’s Rigged Games" [[Daily Beast]( —"“We Helped Make Them A Household Name”: OnlyFans Creators Feel Betrayed And Scared" [[BuzzFeed News]( —"AT&T Giving Away $10 Version of HBO Max to Its Cricket Customers" [[Bloomberg]( Today... Today's birthdays: Melvin Van Peebles (89), Kim Cattrall (65), Carrie-Anne Moss (54), Alicia Witt (46), [Peter Weir]( (77), Bo Burnham (31), Laura Haddock (36), Hayden Panettiere (32), RJ Mitte (29), Loretta Devine (72), Elarica Johnson (32) 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](