Video Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Dade Hayes Finance EditorRoku shares closed at a new record high of $255.67, up more than 10% for the day, on whispers of a distribution deal with HBO Max and a firm endorsement from billionaire media oracle John Malone.The stock has nearly doubled in 2020 as COVID-19 has boosted overall streaming hours. The influx of new services like Disney+, Apple TV+ and Peacock to challenge Netflix has been a positive development for the Los Gatos, CA-based tech firm.

Ted Johnson Vice President Mike Pence declined to take questions after a one-hour plus coronavirus task force briefing, the first in months, as reporters screamed queries at him as he left the lectern.Jon Karl, ABC News’ chief White House correspondent, stood up in the front row as Pence left and said, “What is going on?” Another person was heard shouting, “You are all undermining the democratic election.”“Mr. @VP — it’s not a press briefing if you do not take questions.

Tom Tapp Deputy Managing EditorIn light of an unprecedented, rapid rise in COVID-19 cases across California, Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health on Thursday announced a limited Stay-at-Home Order.

Alexandra Del Rosario Associate Editor/Nights & WeekendsBroselianda Hernadez, a Cuban actress whose entertainment career spanned television, film and theater, has died. She was 56 years old.On Wednesday, a Miami beach resident found the actress dead along the shoreline and reported it to police, who identified the body as Hernadez’s, AP reported.

Jill Goldsmith Co-Business EditorNew York Rep. Carolyn Maloney said Thursday that the nation desperately needs pandemic insurance, a “public private partnership that has a mechanism in place that you can depend on,” and hopes some version of it will pass early in the Biden administration.“There are a number of proposals out there.

Denise Petski Senior Managing EditorEXCLUSIVE: Alondra Delgado (Mayans M.C.) is set for a recurring role on the third season of the CW’s All American. Season 2 found Spencer James (Daniel Ezra), now a football state champion, with a tough decision to make.

Justin Kroll Senior Film ReporterGlenn Close is the latest to join the growing ensemble of Swan Song, an upcoming Apple Original film starring Academy Award-winner Mahershala Ali and Academy Award, Golden Globe Winner Awkwafina and SAG nominee Naomie Harris.Benjamin Cleary, also an Oscar winner for his short film Stutterer, wrote the screenplay and is directing the pic.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVABC has given a big put pilot commitment to Family Affair, a single-camera family comedy with musical elements from husband-and-wife writer-producers Devon and Ranada Shepard, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Mary J.

Tom Tapp Deputy Managing EditorLos Angeles recorded its highest number of daily new COVID-19 infections ever on Thursday at 5031, according to L.A. County Health Officer Dr.

Dino-Ray Ramos Associate Editor/ReporterThe Sundance Institute is set to honor critically acclaimed multi-hyphenate Radha Blank with the 2020 Vanguard Award, which is given annually to an artist whose work highlights the art of storytelling and creative independence.The award honors the artistic achievement of her feature film directorial debut The Forty-Year-Old Version, which bowed earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival and was developed by Blank at the Institute’s Labs.To celebrate

Peter Bart Editor-At-LargeHe is still stalling, but the bottom line is that Donald Trump is ankling his job. For the uninitiated, “ankling” is Variety “slanguage” for getting fired, as Trump knows well.

Anthony D'Alessandro Editorial Director/Box Office EditorBad Robot has expanded its film and television production team and has appointed Chrysta Burton as EVP of Physical Production and Diane Coote as its VP, of Physical Production. They join current Bad Robot executive Josh Tate who serves as VP of Physical Production.The trio will now handle all film and television productions for the label, with Burton overseeing projects from development through post-production.

Nancy Tartaglione, Anthony D'Alessandro Update: Screen Gems’ Monster Hunter will look to put cash under the tree for whatever exhibitors are staying open on Christmas Day; the Paul W.S.

Ted Johnson President Donald Trump teased a press conference featuring Rudy Giuliani, his personal attorney now leading his challenge of the election results, and for sheer theatrics, it did not disappoint.“Well, that easily was the most outlandish press conference ever held by a team of lawyers representing the President of the United States,” wrote National Review editor Rich Lowry.Fox News carried the marathon presser live and in its entirety, along with Trump-supporting networks One America

Anthony D'Alessandro Editorial Director/Box Office EditorEXCLUSIVE: We can tell you first that French filmmaker Alexandre Aja is set to direct the horror feature Elijah for Searchlight Pictures as the newly owned Disney label continues a streak with genre fare following last year’s Ready or Not and Scott Cooper and Guillermo del Toro’s Antlers.

Dino-Ray Ramos Associate Editor/ReporterThe Los Angeles-based East West Players, the nation’s first professional Asian American theatre organization, is teaming with musician AJ Rafael again for the holiday edition of Crazy Talented Asians, the ninth edition of the live show celebrating represenation of Asians in the arts.

Peter White Television EditorAdam Conover, creator and host of truTV’s Adam Ruins Everything, has teamed with Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions to pull back the curtain on government in a new sketch comedy series for Netflix.The streamer has ordered The G Word with Adam Conover, which will go inside the machine of government and introduce viewers to the civil servants who make it work.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVEXCLUSIVE: A crew member working on CBS’ The Bold and the Beautiful tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, Deadline has learned.The positive result triggered procedures set by state/county and industry protocols, including contact tracing, and everyone who had interacted with the infected individual was asked to self-isolate.The daytime drama, produced by Bell-Phillip Television, has a scheduled two-week Thanksgiving production hiatus starting on Monday.

Alexandra Del Rosario Associate Editor/Nights & WeekendsSubscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.Launch dates for broadcast, cable and streaming programsUp-to-date lists for broadcast, cable and streaming seriesPandemic-proof vs.

Dino-Ray Ramos Associate Editor/ReporterEXCLUSIVE: The MTV Entertainment Group (formerly Entertainment and Youth) is looking to make progressive change in its creative community with the newly launched comprehensive DE&I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) orientation called “Culture Code”.

Dino-Ray Ramos Associate Editor/ReporterAMC dropped a bunch of news for the upcoming extended 10th season of The Walking Dead on Thursday. First off, the six new episodes are set to debut on February 28 while AMC+ will have them earlier starting on February 25 before their linear debut.In addition, Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Perry Mason, Scorpion) will join the series as “Mays” while Okea Eme-Akwari (Greenland, Cobra Kai) will step into the role of “Elijah”.

Dade Hayes Finance EditorBorat Subsequent Moviefilm grabbed the No. 8 spot in Nielsen’s ranking of top streaming titles, with Schitt’s Creek topping the list for the third week of the last four.Amazon Prime Video’s Borat sequel marked a rare appearance by a non-Netflix title on the U.S.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorFrance’s Oscar selection committee has chosen comedy/drama Two Of Us as its submission to the International Feature Film category at the 2021 Academy Awards. From director Filippo Meneghetti, the feature debut world premiered in the Discovery section of Toronto last year and was released in France in early 2020 via Sophie Dulac Distribution.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVABC has firmed up its midseason schedule, setting up early 2021 premiere dates for its scripted series.

Justin Kroll Senior Film ReporterAfter spending more then a decade calling 20th Century Fox home, Shawn Levy and his 21 Laps production banner have found a new home.

Anthony D'Alessandro Editorial Director/Box Office EditorEXCLUSIVE: A year ago at this time, a stink was raised by the studios and NATO over Netflix and its audacity to actually crunch the theatrical window with The Irishman. And a deal was on the table with AMC, but in the end the streamer wanted a more limited time in theaters ( far less than 45 days).Fast forward to now, and many wonder, well, what happens to Amazon and Netflix now with the WarnerMedia HBO Max theatrical day and date release

Peter White Television EditorEXCLUSIVE: Magnolia Network, the network joint venture between Fixer Upper stars Chip and Joanna Gaines and Discovery, is cooking up more originals ahead of its launch next year.The network has ordered Zoe Bakes featuring baker Zoë Francois from Andrew Zimmern’s Intuitive Content.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterKino Lorber has picked up North American rights to Never Gonna Snow Again, Malgorzata Szumowska’s Polish drama which is representing the country in this year’s International Oscar race. The distributor is lining up a theatrical release in Spring, 2021.The film debuted in competition at Venice this year.

Anthony D'Alessandro Editorial Director/Box Office EditorEXCLUSIVE:  The sports content studio, Game1 and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson’s production label West2East Empire are developing Braddock based on Greg Nichols book Striking Gridiron about the 1959 Braddock High School football team.At the time when Pennsylvania found itself in the throes of a crippling steel strike, the Braddock High School football team provided hope to a small downtrodden steel town with their remarkable

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVEXCLUSIVE: A+E Studios has put in development Blood Brothers (working title), an eight-episode limited series based on the praised 2016 non-fiction book Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X by historians Johnny Smith and Randy Roberts.

Amanda N'Duka pmc-editorial-managerEXCLUSIVE: Vertical Entertainment has snatched up the U.S. distribution rights to Akilla’s Escape, Charles Officer’s crime drama which had its world premiere at this year’s Toronto Film Festival and now has a planned release for Q2 of next year.Saul Williams (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) stars as Akilla Brown, an urban child-soldier who captures a fifteen-year-old Jamaican boy in the aftermath of an armed robbery.

Dino-Ray Ramos editorOnce again, Fox’s “Kensday” ruled Wednesday, with The Masked Singer delivering a 1.6 in the adults 18-49 demographic and 6.16 million viewers, which was up from last week, and I Can See Your Voice (1.0, 3.69M) following and also climbing in the numbers.

Andreas Wiseman International EditorEXCLUSIVE: In a competitive situation, Greg Silverman and Jon Berg of Stampede Ventures have optioned the rights to screenwriter Ward Parry’s spec script, Mr. Croup.Matthew George’s Savvy Media Holdings, whose credits include Wind River and A Private War, will produce the film alongside former Warner Bros execs Berg and Silverman.Mr.

Justin Kroll Senior Film ReporterMGM is looking to bring back the classic animated character Pink Panther in a big way as it has set Jeff Fowler direct a new live-action hybrid film of the iconic character. Chris Bremner will write MGM’s modern live-action CGI-hybrid feature film reimagining with Lawrence Mirisch, Julie Andrews Edwards of Geoffrey Productions, Rideback’s Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich producing.

Peter White Television EditorAva DuVernay and Roberto Patino’s DMZ has been handed a series order by HBO Max.The streamer has ordered four episodes of the limited series, a futuristic drama set amid a second American civil war and is based on the DC Comics series.Production on the series is scheduled to begin in 2021.DMZ stars Briarpatch’s Rosario Dawson and Law & Order’s Benjamin Bratt in the lead roles, alongside Hoon Lee (Warrior), Freddy Miyares (When They See Us) and Jordan Preston Carter

Peter White Television EditorEXCLUSIVE: Hulu is developing a half-hour dramedy in the world of technology and dating, based on a New Yorker short story from Kate Folk.