Kinder, gentler?

"Game of Thrones" will tone down future rape scenes in response to negative reaction to past seasons, Forbes reports. Johnny Podeswa, who directed two controversial episodes of the HBO behemoth and will helm more in Season 6, says showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have reconsidered how to approach the subject. "The show depicts a brutal world where horrible things happen," Podeswa says. "They did not want to be too overly influenced by that [criticism] but they did absorb and take it in and it did influence them in a way."

Mother of all roles

Tori Spelling will star as the mother in the 20th anniversary remake of her classic "Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?" that will be produced for Lifetime by James Franco. … Amazon has renewed "The Man in the High Castle" for a second season, and announced the series was its most-streamed show ever. … Sean Penn will play Andrew Jackson in the HBO miniseries "American Lion." … Charlize Theron and David Fincher will team up for the Netflix series "Mindhunter." … "Pretty Little Liars" will end after next season, its seventh, its creators say. … Reese Witherspoon is producing (and starring in) the divorce drama "Please Don't Go" for ABC.

They were forced

By special vote, the Critics Choice Awards amended its already-announced best-picture list to include "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." The last time it added an 11th movie at the 11th hour was "Cast Away" in 2000. … Kurt Russell, who never saw the original, says he's in talks for the "Guardians of the Galaxy" sequel, due May 2017. … Now it can be told: Jennifer Lawrence says she was on Team Gale (Liam Hemsworth) in real life.

We're looking at you, 'Mortdecai'

Forbes says Johnny Depp has displaced Adam Sandler as Hollywood's most overpaid actor as measured by return on investment. His movies earned a meager $1.20 for every dollar he was paid. Rounding out the top 10 were Denzel Washington, Will Ferrell, Liam Neeson, Will Smith, Christian Bale, Channing Tatum, Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck and Tom Cruise, whose films grossed a robust $13.60 per dollar.

<CHARENTITY>8</CHARENTITY>CYNTHIA DICKISON