Microsoft to Buy Activision Blizzard in $69B Mega-Deal; Daniel Radcliffe to Play "Weird Al" Yankovic; Why the Streamers Are Investing in Africa

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( January 18, 2022 What's news: Microsoft has dropped a bomb on the video games world with its bid to buy Activision Blizzard. Joss Whedon has finally broken his silence on the raft of allegations against him. The future of the BBC is in question. UTA dropped Lara Logan for her extreme Fauci comments. Plus: In some incredible casting news, Daniel Radcliffe will play "Weird Al" in a biopic — [Abid Rahman]( Microsoft to Buy Activision Blizzard in $69B Mega-Deal ►Seismic. Tech giant Microsoft will buy the scandal-plagued video game publisher Activision Blizzard in a $68.7 billion deal that would reshape the gaming landscape. The deal, if completed, would bring together Microsoft's Xbox game platform and the Xbox Game Studios and Activision, owner of the Call of Duty, Warcraft and Tony Hawk franchises, among others. Microsoft will become the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony, when and if the deal closes. [The story.]( —Give them their flowers. Netflix’s The Harder They Fall and Warner Bros. King Richard each won a leading four awards from the African American Film Critics Association. Jeymes Samuel’s Black Western received the top prize of best picture as well as best ensemble, best director and music. King Richard won best actor for Will Smith, best supporting actress, breakout actor and emerging director. [The list of winners.]( —"I was not mannerly." Joss Whedon has publicly addressed allegations of misconduct on the set of Justice League for the first time. In a New York Magazine profile, Whedon responded to allegations from actors Ray Fisher and Gal Gadot about mistreatment during reshoots for Justice League, as well as allegations from Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Charisma Carpenter. [The story.]( —Dream casting. Daniel Radcliffe is set to play living legend “Weird Al” Yankovic in a biopic for The Roku Channel. The Brit actor will star as the five-time Grammy winner in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, which will explore "every facet of Yankovic’s life, from his meteoric rise to fame with early hits like "Eat It" and "Like a Surgeon" to his torrid celebrity love affairs and famously depraved lifestyle. Yankovic and Eric Appel penned the screenplay, with Appel directing the film and executive producing. [The story.]( —Dropped. A UTA rep has confirmed to THR the agency cut ties with Lara Logan several weeks ago after the former 60 Minutes correspondent compared Dr. Anthony Fauci to Nazi doctor Josef Mengele during an episode of Fox News Primetime that aired late last year. Talking to MSNBC in December, Fauci said he was “astounded” that Logan’s comments on Fox News hadn’t led to disciplinary action from the network. [The story.]( Why Hollywood Is Private Equity's New Money Machine ►"There’s folks looking for a lot of supply." Private equity is doubling down on Hollywood, snapping up stakes in production entities, or financing new vehicles like Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs’ Candle Media to do the buying for them. THR's [Alex Weprin]( writes that Wall Street logic with the studio buys is that the real estate will appreciate in value, while the non-stop demand in film and TV productions provide steady and stable cashflow. [The analysis.]( —One to watch. THR's [Mia Galuppo]( meets Cooper Raiff, perhaps Gen Z’s buzziest director, whose film Cha Cha Real Smooth is one of the hottest titles heading to the Sundance Film Festival. The 24-year-old Dallas native, who has yet to attend a festival in person, talks about his filmmaking journey. [The story.]( —Gritty tone. The first trailer for Moon Knight, the latest Marvel Disney+ series, dropped on Monday during the NFL playoff game. The series, which debuts on March 30, stars Oscar Isaac as the comic-book character Marc Spector/Moon Knight with Ethan Hawke as the villain. [The trailer](. —Cor blimey guv! I've got a pain in me gulliver. Oscar Isaac's singular British accent in the Moon Knight trailer has social media wags wondering whether he has entered the pantheon of the worst Brit accents, alongside the gold standards of Don Cheadle in the Ocean’s franchise and Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. [The story.]( —"A sci-fi Joan Jett." THR's [Brian Davids]( spoke to Yellowjackets star Sophie Thatcher about that tragic ending and also her work on another huge show, The Book of Boba Fett. The actor reflects on juggling two zeitgeisty shows and getting guidance from talents such as Juliette Lewis and Jon Favreau. Warning spoilers. [The interview.]( Why the Streamers Are (Finally) Investing in Africa ►"There’s a lot of room for growth." Following a string of recent deals among African film and TV producers and global studios and streamers, that has led to a frenzy of localized content as giants like Netflix and Disney+ battle to gain a foothold in a market that has long been ignored. THR's [Scott Roxborough]( writes that given the trends and the fundamentals, 2022 could be the year when the media industry finally starts taking Africa seriously. [The analysis.]( —Secret no more. A Colombian newspaper has published details of author Gabriel García Márquez's secret Mexican daughter. The Nobel Prize-winner, famous for novels like One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera and who died in 2014, had an extramarital affair in the early 1990s with a Mexican writer. [The story.]( —The ol' look away from Boris' lockdown parties. U.K. culture secretary Nadine Dorries has confirmed plans to freeze the BBC license fee — the flat fee most British households must pay to use the public service broadcaster — for two years. Dorries stopped short of saying the fee would be scrapped altogether, claiming a “review” into the BBC’s license fee funding model would begin soon. [The story.]( —Well deserved. Never Have I Ever star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan will receive a special Canadian Screen Awards honor to recognize her impact on global TV audiences. The CSA, which recognize the best in Canadian film, TV and digital content, will also honor veteran Hockey Night in Canada broadcaster Bob Cole with a lifetime achievement award. [The story.]( —Europe's top dogs. Comcast-owned Sky is Europe’s largest TV company by revenue, which reached $18.6 billion in 2020, compared to $7.0 billion for Netflix’s European operations, making the streamer the continent’s third-largest television group, according to a new report published Tuesday. German public broadcaster ARD, with $7.45 billion in revenue, the most of it coming in the form of the national TV tax, is Europe’s number 2. [The story.]( Review: 'The Afterparty' ►"A genre-hopping blast." THR TV critic [Angie Han]( reviews Apple TV+'s The Afterparty. With a cast including Tiffany Haddish, Ilana Glazer and Dave Franco, Christopher Miller's murder mystery comedy unfolds across eight episodes, each styled in a different genre. [The review.]( —"More maritime law than treasure-hunting thrills." THR's chief TV critic [Dan Fienberg]( reviews AMC+'s La Fortuna. Stanley Tucci plays a rogue treasure hunter fighting the Spanish government for control of a sunken vessel in this drama from The Others filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar. [The review.]( —"I’m so proud of you." Sofia Coppola and Kirsten Dunst, longtime collaborators and close friends, reunited Sunday for an American Cinematheque virtual tribute to talk acting, creative process and preparation. Coppola took the opportunity to praise Dunst in particular for her awards-worthy performance in Jane Campion's The Power of Dog. [The story.]( —"We are very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very happy." THR's man in London [Alex Ritman]( has the scoop on Dark Star Pictures landing the North American rights to a couple of outlandish films that hit the festival circuit in 2021. The company has picked up the absurdist comedy Mother Schmuckers and French thriller-comedy Bloody Oranges, and plans theatrical releases for both. [The story.]( In other news... —Super Bowl LVI: [“All plans in place” for game, red carpet events despite COVID-19 surge]( —How the King Richard production design team [showcased the Williamses’ journey from Compton to private country clubs]( —[Andrew Garfield wouldn’t even tell Emma Stone]( the truth about Spider-Man: No Way Home —Dune, West Side Story among set decorators [Society of America Awards nominees for film]( —Netflix earnings preview: [Subscriber momentum in focus amid somber investor mood]( —WarnerMedia names [Thomas Ciampa country manager, Italy, Spain and Portugal]( —Sky Deutschland secures Moonfall, The 355 in [licensing deal with Germany’s Leonine]( —Noticias Telemundo chief [Patsy Loris sets new executive team]( What else we're reading... —It’s Time to Redeem Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man [[Washington Post]( —The Undoing of Joss Whedon [[Vulture]( —How Belle Offers A Rare Focus On the Positive Side Of Living Life Online [[Los Angeles Times]( —"It Took Four Men And A Fire Extinguisher to Get The Tiger Off Him": The Tragedy Of Vegas Magicians Siegfried And Roy [[The Guardian]( —Awards Season in Black and White [[Vanity Fair]( —The Righteous Gemstones and Succession: Generational Resentment, Served Two Ways [[Daily Beast]( Today... ...in 1975, The Jeffersons premiered on CBS. The All in the Family spinoff saw George and Louise Jefferson move out of working-class Queens and into a Manhattan luxury high-rise. The Norman Lear-developed show ran for 11 seasons, becoming one of the longest-running sitcoms in history. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: [Mark Rylance]( (62), Takeshi Kitano (75), Kevin Costner (67), Joanna Newsom (40), Dave Bautista (53), Jason Segel (42), Antje Traue (41), M.C. Gainey (74), Jane Horrocks (58), David Ayer (54), Jesse L. Martin (53), John Boorman (89), Samantha Mumba (39), Sarah Gilman (26) 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 © 2022 The Hollywood Reporter, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC. 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