Hollywood's New McCarthyism?; First Gay Big-Screen Superhero; 'Beauty' Box-Office Records

What's news: Who had $170M in their Beauty and the Beast box-office pool? The Disney remake broke a bunch of records this weekend. Plus: Stephen Galloway looks at the politics of fear in Hollywood and Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll director Taylor Hackford offers a tribute to the late Chuck Berry. — Matthew Belloni and Erik Hayden. [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment]( March 20, 2017 What's news: Who had $170M in their Beauty and the Beast box-office pool? The Disney remake broke a bunch of records this weekend. Plus: Stephen Galloway looks at the politics of fear in Hollywood and Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll director Taylor Hackford offers a tribute to the late Chuck Berry. — Matthew Belloni and Erik Hayden. Disney's Box Office 'Beast' Disney's Beauty and the Beast enchanted the box office, opening to an astonishing $170M in North America and $350M globally. Pamela McClintock[tallies the records:]( It's the top domestic opening of all time for a film rated PG ... Beauty also scored the top opening of all time for a PG film internationally, where it waltzed to $180M, led by China ($44.8M). ... And the biggest domestic bow in almost a year. No one could have imagined that Beauty would claim that title when Marvel/Disney's Captain America: Civil War raked in $179.1M on its first weekend in early May 2016. ... And biggest debut of all time for a female-fueled film. On Friday, more than 70 percent of ticket buyers were females, although that percentage evened out over the weekend to 60 percent. ... And No. 7 launch of all time for any movie. Beauty narrowly beat out the final Harry Potter movie ($169.2M) on the top 10 list of biggest bows in North America (Star Wars: The Force Awakens still reigns.) [U.S. box office wrap]( I [China box office.]( Elsewhere in film... ► Theatrical Boss Baby trailer references Beauty and the Beast. For a studio to name-check another studio's movie so directly is unconventional, to say the least. But that's what DreamWorks Animation had planned. [The clip.]( ► Robert Redford pens letter opposing arts defunding. "This is entirely the wrong approach at entirely the wrong time. We need to invite new voices to the table, we need to offer future generations a chance to create," reads [the note](. ► Fox CEO mulls new on-demand options. Initially reluctant to offend cinema-chain partners, Fox exec Stacey Snider answered questions that lawyer Ken Ziffren posed to her on Saturday: “Studios will need to build our own [direct-to-consumer]( capabilities.” ► Paramount's Ghost in the Shell gets more financing. Chinese online ticketing platform Weying has taken a stake in the film directed by Rupert Sanders and starring Scarlett Johansson. It will get a [10 percent share]( in the film's worldwide box-office revenue. [^Power Rangers, reviewed.]( Lionsgate's big-budget reboot of the franchise opens Friday. The takeaway: "may lack the distinction necessary to sustain a full-fledged relaunch, although its worldwide appeal should assure satisfactory initial results." ► Power Rangers features first gay big-screen superhero. The Yellow Ranger character, portrayed by Becky G, is "questioning a lot about who she is," says director Dean Israelite. [Details.]( ► Life, reviewed. Daniel Espinosa's sci-fi thriller, starring Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal, hits theaters on Friday. [The takeaway:]("Insatiable genre fans who do buy a ticket will likely send lukewarm responses back." ► Luc Besson's Valerian won't screen in Cannes. The director [says]( that a trip to the Croisette was never on the cards for his big-budget sci-fi epic despite chatter that it could debut there. ► Disney cited for minimum wage violation. The company "has agreed to pay $3.8 million in back wages to Florida workers for violating minimum wage and overtime rules as part of an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor," the Associated Press [reported](. ► Billionaire battle over Herbalife gets doc treatment. The Ted Braun-directed film focuses on how hedge-fund managers Bill Ackman and Carl Icahn [squared off]( in an epic battle. ► R.I.P., Bernie Wrightson. The acclaimed comic book artist and co-creator of DC's Swamp Thing has died after a battle with brain cancer. He was 68. [Full obit.]( Tim Allen: Hollywood is like 1930s Germany. The comedian, on Jimmy Kimmel, also discussed his trip to the Presidential Inauguration: “You get beat up if you don't believe [what everybody believes.](" A New McCarthyism? It’s been 70 years since President Truman ordered his loyalty tests. Now Hollywood has a loyalty test of its own, Stephen Galloway writes in [his new column:]( Back then it was fear of Communism; now it’s fear of an amorphous enemy that’s all the more potent to some for being unseen. Call it the fear of fear itself. And here’s the surprising thing: that fear isn’t just felt by the usual groups liberals want to protect; it’s also felt by conservatives. In an astonishing reversal of Hollywood history, just as liberals here once considered themselves an endangered species, so do conservatives today. They no longer are free to talk in the open, because they feel — rightly — we’re no longer prepared to listen, any more than they're prepared to listen to liberals. There's deafness on both sides. Meanwhile, in TV... ► NBC's This Is Us stars defend divisive finale. The cast of the buzzy family drama defended the final episode Saturday when speaking to reporters before the show's PaleyFest panel in Hollywood: ["I think it was absolutely necessary.](" ► Sesame Street introduces character with autism. The show's [newest muppet]( is also the first to have autism. Introduced as a digital-only animated character in 2015, Julia will fully join the long-running show in April. ► What to expect from Paleyfest this week. The fan-driven festival continues with panels featuring James Corden, Westworld and Scandal before wrapping Sunday with American Horror Story. [Details.]( ► CW's The Flash changes up villain. During the weekend DC Comics TV panel at PaleyFest, executive producer Andrew Kreisberg revealed that "next season, we're not going to have a speedster [as the main bad guy.](" ► NBC renews Shades of Blue. The network has reupped the Jennifer Lopez cop drama for 10-episode season three. Season two has averaged [a 1.6 rating]( with three days of delayed viewing factored in. ► Four TV series relocating production to California. The move of Legion, The Affair, The OA and Lucifer to the Golden State brings the total number of TV series that have relocated to California under the new tax credit program [to 11](. ► R.I.P., Lawrence Montaigne. The actor, who played a Romulan and then a Vulcan on episodes of the original Star Trek and at one point was lined up to replace Leonard Nimoy on the series, has died. He was 86. [Full obit.]( Rep Sheet Roundup: Sarah Paulson signs with CAA ... Wildlife expert Coyote Peterson signs with CAA … Lior Raz, star of Netflix’s Fauda, signs with Principato-Young … Maika Monroe signs with Management 360 … Good Charlotte signs with UTA. [More here.]( R.I.P., Chuck Berry The music legend, who died Saturday at 90, is recalled by Taylor Hackford, director of 1987's Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll, as a difficult talent who demanded cash in a paper bag but earned the title of "the greatest" of his era. [Hackford's personal remembrance.]( What else we're reading... — "Can this millennial billion-heir save Rolling Stone?" Kristiano Ang's profile: "Meet Meng Ru Kuok, the Singaporean palm oil scion who controls 49% of the music magazine." [[Moneyish](] — "As stolen Van Goghs return to view, a thief tells all." Nina Siegal on the doc behind the story of Octave Durham, who "has finally come clean about his involvement in one of the most infamous postwar art heists." [[The New York Times](] — "Monopoly booted the thimble; fans are sew mad." Paul Ziobero's A-Hed column: "Three tokens of the board game have been ousted by popular vote, disappointing loyalists; ‘It broke my heart.'" [[The Wall Street Journal](] — "Energized by Power Rangers." Meg James' profile: "Haim Saban saw potential in the the superhero TV show when nobody else did, and it turned him into a billionaire." [[The Los Angeles Times](] — "Kellyanne Conway is a star." Olivia Nuzzi's cover story: "It has been a nine-month run breathtaking in its audacity, with Conway demonstrating an almost freakish facility with falsehoods." [[New York](] — "Development hell." Teddy Wayne's piece from the Shouts & Murmurs department: "In the Underworld, a writer meets with Satan the film executive and his minion." [[The New Yorker](] The week ahead... Monday: DreamWorks Animation's Boss Baby premieres in N.Y. ... Warner Bros.' CHiPs premieres in L.A. ... NBC holds Summer press day in L.A. ... ABC's Dancing With the Stars enlists a professional dancer to compete ... A&E's Bates Motel books Rihanna. Tuesday: The CBS' NCIS: Los Angeles crew hits the PaleyFest 2017 circuit ... OWN's If Loving You Is Wrong returns for season premiere. Wednesday: Lionsgate premieres Power Rangers in L.A. ... Fox's lineup undergoes a major makeover with the midseason return of Empire and the series premiere of the cop drama Shots Fired. Thursday: BBC America's Orphan Black holds PaleyFest 2017 panel. Friday: Hitting theaters are Sony's sci-fi thriller Life, Warner Bros.' CHiPs, Lionsgate's Power Rangers and River Rain's Slamma Jamma. On Netflix, Grace and Frankie returns for season three. Today's Birthdays: Xavier Dolan, 28, Ruby Rose, 31, Holly Hunter, 59, Spike Lee, 60, William Hurt, 67, Carl Reiner, 95. Follow The News Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2017 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Preferences]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Use]( March 20, 2017