Showbiz Sandbox 387: Has Star Wars Turned Disney Into The Evil Empire?

Last week it was released that Disney would be charging movie theaters a record high percentage of box office and a minimum guaranteed run in order to book “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” At the same time, the studio has blacklisted the Los Angeles Times from reviewing and covering its films. We’ll explain why.

In television news, the Nielsen ratings company is giving us a peek into viewership for the Netflix series “Stranger Things.” And the BBC is opening up its digital platform to different sports leagues so more games can be seen for free by more people.

We also continue to provide updates on the sexual harassment allegations that have plagued the entertainment and media industries over the past month. The rap sheet of people fired or quitting over revelations they’ve been sexually harassing and assaulting people for years grows longer and longer…starting with Kevin Spacey, who has seen his life collapse in just one week.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including discussion of a “Lord of the Rings” television series, how YouTube has become a leading music curation platform and the Country Music Awards try and squelch the debate over gun control.

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21st Century Fox has been holding talks to sell most of the company to Disney: Sources
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/06/21st-century-fox-has-been-holding-talks-to-sell-most-of-company-to-disney-sources.html

comScore Announces Official Worldwide Box Office Results for Weekend of November 5, 2017
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/comscore-announces-official-worldwide-box-office-results-for-weekend-of-november-5-2017-300549781.html

China Box Office: ‘Thor’ Opens With $54 Million Weekend
http://variety.com/2017/film/asia/china-box-office-thor-opening-weekend-1202607395/

Disney Lays Down the Law for Theaters on ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’
https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-lays-down-the-law-for-theaters-on-star-wars-the-last-jedi-1509528603

Why Disney Can Demand 65% of Box Office for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”
https://celluloidjunkie.com/2017/11/04/disney-can-demand-65-box-office-star-wars-last-jedi/

Is Disney Paying Its Share In Anaheim?
http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-fi-disney-anaheim-deals/

LA Times Holiday Movie Preview: A Note To Our Readers
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-holiday-movie-preview-2017-times-note-on-disney-1509668978-htmlstory.html

Disney Bars LA Times Film Coverage After Critical Piece
https://apnews.com/d96aedc23b854405858a14986a435733/Disney-bars-LA-Times-film-coverage-after-critical-piece

‘Bond’ Studio MGM Forms Key Distribution Venture With Megan Ellison’s Annapurna
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mgm-forms-key-distribution-venture-megan-ellisons-annapurna-1053244

CBS Wants To Reboot Its Greatest TV Series of All Time (Yet Again)
https://qz.com/1121600/cbs-wants-to-reboot-its-greatest-tv-series-of-all-time-yet-again/

‘Lord of the Rings’: Amazon, Warner Bros. in Talks for Series Adaptation
http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/lord-of-the-rings-amazon-1202606519/

‘Stranger Things’ Season 2 Premiere Draws More Than 15 Million Viewers in Three Days
http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/stranger-things-season-2-ratings-nielsen-1202605585/

BBC Announces Biggest Increase of Live Sport in a Generation
https://www.rapidtvnews.com/2017110349530/bbc-announces-biggest-increase-of-live-sport-in-a-generation.html

CMA Awards to Press: Don’t Talk About Las Vegas, Guns, Politics
http://www.nashvillescene.com/music/nashville-cream/article/20981473/cma-awards-to-press-please-refrain-from-mentioning-las-vegas-guns-politics

Brad Paisley Slams CMA Ban on Media Questions About Las Vegas, Guns, Politics
http://variety.com/2017/music/news/brad-paisley-slams-cma-ban-on-media-questions-about-las-vegas-guns-politics-country-music-1202606363/

CMAs Lift Media Restrictions After Angry Brad Paisley Tweet
http://variety.com/2017/music/news/cmas-lift-media-ban-on-questions-about-las-vegas-shootings-politics-after-angry-brad-paisley-tweet-1202606490/

TV Ratings: ABC’s ‘Good Doctor’ Tops ‘The Voice’ And All of Monday
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-abcs-good-doctor-tops-voice-all-monday-1053343

Apple Limits Lengthy iPhone X Testing for Most Reviewers
https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-limits-lengthy-testing-for-most-iphone-x-reviewers-1509466644

How YouTube Entrepreneurs In Their 20s Are Disrupting Traditional Record Labels
https://www.forbes.com/sites/cheriehu/2017/10/25/how-youtube-entrepreneurs-in-their-20s-are-disrupting-traditional-record-labels/#7a1e0017182a

Condé Nast to Cease Teen Vogue in Print, Cut 80 Jobs and Lower Mag Frequencies
http://wwd.com/business-news/media/conde-nast-to-close-teen-vogue-cut-80-jobs-and-lower-mag-frequencies-11040148/

After 25 Years, Michael Tilson Thomas Will Leave San Francisco Symphony
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/31/arts/music/michael-tilson-thomas-san-francisco-symphony.html

Pandora made $80M in U.S. app store revenue in Q3, booting Netflix from the top grossing spot
https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/02/pandora-made-80m-in-u-s-app-store-revenue-in-q3-booting-netflix-from-the-top-grossing-spot/

British Media Regulator Censures Fox News for Breaking Impartiality Rules
http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/british-media-regulator-ofcom-censures-fox-news-1202607652/

Southwest Airlines launches new innovation in in-flight misery: Inescapable live music
https://www.avclub.com/southwest-airlines-launches-new-innovation-in-in-flight-1819919329

Facebook Rakes in Record Profit, but Zuckerberg Cautions Fighting Abuse Will Be Costly
http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/facebook-q3-earnings-1202604646/

DNAinfo and Gothamist Are Shut Down After Vote to Unionize
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/nyregion/dnainfo-gothamist-shutting-down.html?_r=0

Hollywood Actors Speak of ‘Rampant’ Problem of Male Abusers Targeting Men
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/31/hollywood-male-abusers-boys-gay-men-kevin-spacey

Netflix Axes Spacey From ‘House Of Cards’; MRC Says He’s “Suspended” – Update
http://deadline.com/2017/11/house-of-cards-kevin-spacey-production-return-after-thanksgiving-netflix-1202201567/

CAA, Publicist Staci Wolfe Part Ways With Kevin Spacey
http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/caa-publicist-drops-kevin-spacey-sexual-harassment-allegations-1202606123/

Six Women Accuse Filmmaker Brett Ratner of Sexual Harassment or Misconduct
http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-brett-ratner-allegations-20171101-htmlstory.html

Warner Bros. Cuts Ties with Brett Ratner After Sexual Misconduct Allegations
http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-brett-ratner-warner-bros-20171101-story.html

Brett Ratner Sues Woman for Libel Over Rape Allegation
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/brett-ratner-sues-woman-libel-rape-allegation-1054105

‘House of Cards’ to Likely Write Out Kevin Spacey From Final Season
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/house-cards-write-kevin-spacey-final-season-1054925

Sexual Harassment Allegations Rock Talent Agencies, Force Recent Departures at CAA, ICM (EXCLUSIVE)
http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/talent-agencies-sexual-harassment-icm-caa-erik-horine-ryan-ly-1202605906/

WME’s Adam Venit on Leave Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations Involving Actor Terry Crews (EXCLUSIVE)
http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/adam-venit-terry-crews-sexual-harassment-1202605857/

Dustin Hoffman Sexually Harassed Me When I Was 17 (Guest Column)
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/dustin-hoffman-sexually-harassed-me-i-was-17-guest-column-1053466

The Truth About Sexual Misconduct in the Art World
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/oct/31/sexual-harrasment-art-knight-landesman