DiCaprio Surrenders Oscar; Apple's Huge TV Move; Megyn Gets Punked; Bat-Signal Shines In L.A.

What's news: With the hiring of Sony TV execs, Apple is making a big move into original programming. Plus: Alex Jones vs. Megyn Kelly goes nuclear, the new Tupac biopic gets panned by critics and a real bat-signal gets projected on to L.A.'s City Hall in honor of Adam West. — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment]( June 16, 2017 What's news: With the hiring of Sony TV execs, Apple is making a big move into original programming. Plus: Alex Jones vs. Megyn Kelly goes nuclear, the new Tupac biopic gets panned by critics and a real bat-signal gets projected on to L.A.'s City Hall in honor of Adam West. — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman Apple's Big TV Move Apple is poaching Sony's TV chiefs as it makes an effort to develop entertainment content, Natalie Jarvey and Lesley Goldberg report: Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, who late Thursday announced their upcoming exit from Sony Pictures Television, have been tapped to run video programming at Apple. The move signals [a significant push into original programming]( at the tech company best known for making iPhones and MacBooks. Erlicht and Van Amburg, who will continue to be based in Los Angeles, are expected to jump start that buying process for the world's most valuable company. They will work closely with Apple Music executives Jimmy Iovine, Larry Jackson and Robert Kondrk and will oversee all content for the company, including the acquisition of original documentaries. Apple is beginning to test the waters in that space with Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, a documentary about Sean "Diddy" Combs, as well as Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives. Already, Hollywood got a taste of what the company has planned earlier this month when it released its first original series, Planet of the Apps. A spinoff of The Late Late Show With James Corden’s popular Carpool Karaoke segment also is scheduled for August. (Still to be determined is Apple's first scripted series, Vital Signs starring Dr. Dre.) [What else Apple has in store](. Elsewhere in TV... ► NBC News stands by plan to air Alex Jones and Megyn Kelly interview. Even after the Infowars host [posted audio]( of Kelly's planned Sunday Night conversation, the network is moving forward. + NBC[statement:]("Despite Alex Jones' efforts to distract from and ultimately prevent the airing of our report, we remain committed to giving viewers context and insight into a controversial and polarizing figure, how he relates to the president of the United States and influences others, and to getting this serious story right." + CNN chief Jeff Zucker [weighs in](: "I think the issue here is the way that they have thus far presented it has not led to the belief that he's held to account as much as somebody who spews such hatred and nonsense needs to be." ► Time Warner CEO defends support of Julius Caesar theater. Jeff Bewkes [stood behind]( the company's financial support of The Public Theatre, which is staging an adaptation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in which a stand-in for Trump is stabbed to death. "I'm not going to turn into a drama critic." ^L.A. mayor lights real bat-signal to honor TV's Batman Adam West. "We gather tonight to pay our respects to the original caped crusader, our beloved Adam West. #BrightKnight," tweeted Eric Garcetti's office, along with the above [photo](. ► CBS' The Talk loses Aisha Tyler. The co-host and actress [revealed]( the news on the show yesterday, explaining that she'd simply become too busy, with three other TV shows and launching another career as a director. ► ABC's Quantico loses another series regular. Pearl Thusi, who came onboard the drama full-time in season two, will [not return]( for the upcoming abbreviated third season. Yasmine Al Massri earlier said she would not be returning. ► USA Network orders comedic crime drama pilot. The cabler and AwesomenessTV are [teaming]( to produce Olive Forever, which follows a high school student who is a cat burglar. Insurgent writer Brian Duffield penned the pilot. ► Netflix renews Bill Nye's talk show. The streamer has [reupped](the famed scientist's show, titled Bill Nye Saves the World, for a second season, with no return date set. The half-hour show debuted in April. How to pick the perfect Emmy episode. In a column, Showtime chief David Nevins dives deep into selections for Homeland, Billions and Shameless in a landscape where finales aren't always favorites and comedies often stand out when [they're being dramatic.]( Sam Taylor-Johnson's Next Act Sam Taylor-Johnson, one of Hollywood's most successful female directors, lets loose on Fifty Shades and the plight of women filmmakers, writes Tatiana Siegel in [a new profile:]( Sam Taylor-Johnson is about to release her first project since Fifty Shades of Grey, a Netflix series called Gypsy that stars Naomi Watts as a therapist who gets over-involved in her patients' lives. It's Taylor-Johnson's first foray into TV. She says the Fifty Shades set was very different: Arguments with author EL James, who had negotiated creative control with Universal, became trench warfare. "Two different creative visions," Taylor-Johnson says of the dynamic with the novelist. "Her vision versus mine, and they were polar opposite. Every scene was fought over. It was tough. It was like wading uphill through sticky tar. Her thing was, 'This is what the fans expect.' I'd be like, 'Well, let's try and hit those marks but create a new universe at the same time.'" Elsewhere in film... ► Feds look to seize Dumb and Dumber To rights. The U.S. government is expanding its civil forfeiture case tied to assets allegedly diverted by high-level officials in Malaysia. On Thursday, the feds filed a [new complaint](aimed at seizing rights to the Red Granite Pictures produced films Dumber To and Daddy's Home. + Also: Leonardo DiCaprio has [voluntarily surrendered]( to the government an Oscar awarded to Marlon Brando. (Sept. 2016 flashback: "[Marlon Brando's missing Oscar.](") ► Bob Iger touts strong first year at Shanghai Disney. At a glitzy anniversary event held within the Chinese park Friday, the Disney CEO [revealed]( that year-one attendance figures far exceeded forecasts. ► Pixar previews new animated film Coco. At Annecy, Producer Darla K. Anderson [screened]( a trailer, the opening sequence and other scenes from Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich's new feature, inspired by Mexico's Day of the Dead holiday. ► Paramount names Elizabeth Raposo president of production. The exec, who oversaw production on the Mission: Impossible, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Jack Reacher series, will take on the [new role]( and report to film group president Marc Evans. ^All Eyes on Me, reviewed. Director Benny Boom’s biopic, out today, chronicles the rise and fall of troubled hip-hop superstar Tupac Shakur. Stephen Dalton's takeaway: "[More laborious than notorious.](" + Early takes: [NYT:]( "uniformly uninspired." [LAT:]( " a muddled vision of Tupac." [Indiewire:]( "never hits any high notes." [Newsday:]( "badly botched." ► 47 Meters Down, reviewed. Two sisters (Mandy Moore and Claire Holt) find themselves trapped in a cage at the bottom of the ocean in Johannes Roberts' shark-infested thriller. [The takeaway](: "An underwater nail-biter." ► Paramount unveils Daddy's Home 2 trailer. Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell are back in the sequel, except this time they're joined by their fathers, played by Mel Gibson and John Lithgow, respectively. [Watch.]( ► Lionsgate renews Grindstone film slate deal. Movies in the [new deal](include John Travolta starrer Gotti, Escape Plan 2 with Sylvester Stallone and the thriller First Kill, which teams Bruce Willis and Hayden Christensen. ► R.I.P., Aleksey Batalov. The actor, known for the 1957 Cannes-winning film The Cranes Are Flying and the 1980 Oscar-winning movie Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears, died in Moscow on Wednesday. He was 88. [Full obit.]( Elizabeth Banks says sorry. After calling out Steven Spielberg for his films' lack of female leads, the director/actress took a step back and apologized yesterday. "I framed my comments inaccurately," she tweeted. "It was not my intention to dismiss the import of the [iconic The Color Purple.](" 'Star Wars' Bar Extends Run Perhaps there was no such thing as luck in Obi-Wan Kenobi's experience, but Star Wars fans are in luck that a Hollywood bar inspired by film is extending its run, Ryan Parker writes. [A visit to the Scum & Villainy Cantina.]( What else we're reading... — Yoko Ono gets "Imagine" song credit. Steve Marinucci writes: "John Lennon's 'Imagine' was awarded the National Music Publishers Association Centennial Song Award Wednesday and Yoko Ono was given a long overdue credit." [[Billboard](] — "The secrets of silent-film footage found buried in the Earth." Richard Brody writes: "Bill Morrison’s new documentary, Dawson City: Frozen Time, links the gold rush with the rise of Hollywood." [[The New Yorker](] — "Is Pixar running out of gas?" Christopher Orr writes: "Another disappointing sequel suggests the studio's consistent excellence is now a thing of the past." [[The Atlantic](] — "The bell tolls for ‘whom.'" Spencer Jakab's A-Hed column: "As the word is increasingly neglected and scorned in popular culture, die-hard grammarians fight to save it; the ‘Whom Appreciation Society.’" [[The Wall Street Journal](] — "Steve Scalise once tried to woo Hollywood." Paul Bond recalls the time the Congressman "was introduced to a group of Hollywood liberals at a gathering." [The story.]( Home news... + THR has made two new additions to its reporting and editing roster. Peter Kiefer will serve as real estate and city editor based in Los Angeles, and Jeremy Barr has been hired as media and politics writer based in New York. [The announcement.]( Today in 1978... + John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John dance their way into theaters with Grease. The glowing THR [review]( noted at the time: "While I can’t claim any special expertise on such dances as the Jitterbug, and others, their beat will be immediately recognizable by today’s disco devotees. Grease is like American Graffiti in its bridging of the generation gap through a Top 40s score and a plot that plays up the naivete of a more innocent era." Today's Birthdays: Missy Peregrym, 35, Daniel Brühl, 39, John Cho, 45, Laurie Metcalf, 62, Joyce Carol Oates, 79. Follow The News Is this email not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2017 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. 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