Entertainment News Roundup: AMC will no longer play Universal Studious films; Dancer performs 'virus melody' in empty Budapest square and more

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

AMC will no longer play Universal Studios films

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc, the world's largest movie theater operator, said on Tuesday it would no longer play Universal Studios films in any of its theaters globally, arguing that the studio is "breaking the business model". The decision came in shortly after the Wall Street Journal quoted NBCUniversal Chief Executive Officer Jeff Shell as saying https://on.wsj.com/35cWMQQ he expects to release movies simultaneously in theaters and direct-to-home formats.

COVID strains: Dancer performs 'virus melody' in empty Budapest square

Dressed in black and wearing a facemask, the dancer leaps and pirouttes across Budapest's deserted central Heroes Square - to the strains of a melody that mirrors the molecular structure of the coronavirus. To mark World Dance Day, Zsolt Vencel Kovacs was performing his interpretation of part of the composition created this month by Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists.

Amazon renews streaming deal with NFL

Amazon.com Inc said on Wednesday it would renew its partnership with National Football League (NFL) to live stream Thursday night games exclusively on its video streaming platforms, Prime Video and Twitch. These platforms will stream 11 Thursday Night Football games broadcast by the FOX network and will be available to more than 150 million paid prime subscribers worldwide, the company said http://pdf.reuters.com/htmlnews/htmlnews.asp?i=43059c3bf0e37541&u=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20200429:nBw827Z98a on Wednesday.

China's virus-hit box office faces losses of over $4.2 billion: state media

China's movie box office faces losses of more than 30 billion yuan ($4.24 billion) this year after the coronavirus epidemic forced theatres to shut and the production and distribution of films to be suspended, state media reported on Wednesday. The estimate was provided at a meeting organised by the industry's regulator, the National Film Administration, according to a report by state broadcaster CCTV-6's China Film Report.

How housebound Brazil popstars and CEOs caught streaming mania and dominated YouTube

"Calling all the cattle! Our live broadcast is about to begin," Brazilian singer Marilia Mendonca whooped as she kicked off a recent three-and-a-half-hour quarantine performance of 'sertanejo' country music hits from her living room, streamed on YouTube. The concert, which drew 3.3 million peak concurrent viewers - a worldwide record for YouTube - was one of the most dramatic signs yet of how live streaming has gone viral in Brazil as the coronavirus lockdown has virtually paralyzed Latin America's most populous country. It was also just the culmination of a single webcast-filled day that saw everyone from CEOs to government ministers holding forth from their home offices and living rooms.

Poland plans revenue surcharge on Netflix and others

Poland plans to introduce a 1.5% surcharge on the revenue of video-on-demand platforms such as Netflix, Finance Minister Tadeusz Koscinski said on Wednesday. "This will not be a tax, this will be a surcharge the culture minister wants to impose on (such) companies that generate profits thanks to Poland," Koscinski told a teleconference with journalists.

Nightly show in Swiss block helps beat lockdown blues

Dressed in a black trench coat and hat, 36-year-old Audrey Lecomte performed "Singing in the Rain" on a drizzly Tuesday evening to the residents of Geneva's Round House apartment complex, who twirled umbrellas from balconies to the music. The nightly 6 pm "choir" at the 1920s block, a 6-storey architectural monument built in a semi-circle, has become a way to cheer each other up during Switzerland's national lockdown to stop the spread of COVID-19, now in its seventh week.

HBO Max streaming service to be available on Google platforms at launch

HBO Max, the upcoming streaming service from AT&T Inc owned WarnerMedia, will be available across Google platforms and devices when it launches on May 27, the company said on Wednesday. HBO Max is entering a crowded streaming landscape dominated by Netflix Inc, Walt Disney Co's Disney+, and Amazon.com Inc's Prime Video.

Oscars to admit streamed films next year as coronavirus upends movie going

The organizers of the Oscars said on Tuesday that films released only on streaming platforms or video on demand while movie theaters are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic would be eligible for Academy Awards next year. The temporary change, which will apply only for next year's Oscars and will lapse when movie theaters reopen across the nation, was announced in a statement by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Irrfan Khan, Indian actor in 'Life of Pi', dies of cancer aged 54

Irrfan Khan, an Indian actor who brought versatility and style to recent hit films and had roles in Hollywood movies such as "Life of Pi" and "The Namesake", died on Wednesday, aged 54. His death, after a prolonged battle with cancer, was confirmed by a spokesman who said Khan was surrounded by family at the time. He is survived by his wife and two children.