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Could COVID-19 Cancel Cannes? Will Movie Companies Impose Travel Restrictions? Is this the Real China Syndrome?

Roger Friedman
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Could COVID-19 Cancel Cannes? Will Movie Companies Impose Travel Restrictions? Is this the Real China Syndrome?

All of a sudden things are getting way too real.

Dozens of companies are imposing travel restrictions on their employees. For example, as South by Southwest is seeing exits from Apple, Netflix, Amazon and so on for its movie week, the music week is facing trouble, too. Most record and music companies are clamping down, telling employees they can’t go anyway for the time being. Warner, Universal, Sony, BMG, and Concord are among those who’ve cancelled all travel.

The result is that SXSW is facing some real plot twists right now. Will there be a diminished festival? Will they decide to cancel? And can they cancel?

Same for the Cannes Film Festival. Even though I’m hearing that all systems are go, the Festival begins on Tuesday May 12th. That’s 8 weeks away. France has over 200 reported cases of COVID 19. It’s not the same as Italy, but they’re the next door neighbor. What might that mean for the Croissette?

One observer remarked today, that it’s not just the executives and filmmakers, but what about talent? Will actors want to or be able to fly and travel as virus panic lurks everywhere?

There’s not just Cannes and SXSW, but the Tribeca Film Festival right here in New York. That comes up two weeks sooner than Cannes. New York has its own corona virus patients, not to mention folks getting sick watching the Wall Street ticker tape go up and down.

On top of fears about large public gatherings, Wednesday brought the postponement of the James Bond movie, ironically titled  “No Time to Die,” from April to November. The reasoning is that many foreign markets are currently infected, especially China. If the Chinese can’t get out to movie theaters, will other studios follow suit and wait til this all passes? One instance could be “Fast and Furious 9.” The “FF” franchise makes hundreds of millions of dollars in China. The new movie appears on May 22nd. Now that MGM has paved the way, will Universal follow suit? And Disney, with “Mulan”?

For Paramount’s sake, the virus had better end soon. They have everything riding on “Top Gun: Maverick” this summer. June 24th is still far enough away. Let’s hope for a quick vaccine before then.

Stay tuned…

Streamers are Squeamish: Netflix, Apple, and Amazon All Cancel South by Southwest on Virus Fears and Panic

Roger Friedman
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Streamers are Squeamish: Netflix, Apple, and Amazon All Cancel South by Southwest on Virus Fears and Panic

Streaming services are more scared than studios of the coronavirus.

Netflix, Amazon, and Apple are all out of South by Southwest. They’ve cancelled their screenings and panels at the upcoming festivals.

So far the regular movie studios have not thrown in the towel.  But it’s funny that the streamers, who are supposed to be so creative and bold, were the first to abandon ship. Paramount and Universal have several entries at SXSW. All eyes are on them now.

Facebook and Twitter have also pulled programs. Again, they’re from the fearless internet.

Depending on how the virus situation, all film festivals could be in trouble. But my sources at Cannes say they’re proceeding as if nothing has changed. We’ll see. If New York continues to have new patients revealed, what about the Tribeca Festival?

Spring is Cancelled: James Bond Film No Time to Die Moved from April to November

Roger Friedman
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Spring is Cancelled: James Bond Film No Time to Die Moved from April to November

The James Bind film No Time to Die has been moved from April 10th to November 25th.

Why? Corona virus. No one’s going to the movies in China and other affected countries.  The box office here is affected by virus panic. So it makes sense to wait til it’s all over.

Anyway fall is the right time for James Bond. But this means spring is really cancelled at the box office.

Like it Or Not, Britney Spears Broadway Musical Set for Chicago Tryout Featuring “American Idol” Star Justin Guarini (Not as Britney)

Roger Friedman
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Like it Or Not, Britney Spears Broadway Musical Set for Chicago Tryout Featuring “American Idol” Star Justin Guarini (Not as Britney)

Like it or not, a Britney Spears jukebox musical is coming toward us like a meteorite set to destroy the world.

“Once Upon a Time One More Time” is the threat, and the title. The show will debut in Chicago from April 14 to May 17th. Then it could come to New York for the summer, or the fall.

It’s got a book kind of based on Cinderella. She will be played by Briga Heelan. “American Idol” star Justin Guarini, who’s been on Broadway a lot, will play Prince Charming. Simon Callow and Emily Skinner are also featured.

The show is by “internationally-acclaimed artists” Keone & Mari Madrid, whoever they are. David Leveaux, who is actually acclaimed, is on the creative team.

The entire show is based around the cliff hanger of Britney coming to the opening nights. There’s more drama in that part of it than in the rest of this. The music, well, the music will comprise Britney’s hits, a special torture to be sure.

Stay tuned, because you know that none of this will go as planned. This, friends, is real theater!

Anthony Mackie Gets Serious for “The Banker,” But the New Captain America Says of His Shield: “It doesn’t fit in the overhead bin!”

Roger Friedman
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Anthony Mackie Gets Serious for “The Banker,” But the New Captain America Says of His Shield: “It doesn’t fit in the overhead bin!”

Last night we caught up with Anthony Mackie at the New York screening of “The Banker.”

Remember this George Nolfi movie was supposed to be released last fall by the new AppleTV+ or whatever it’s called. It’s a feature film– a really terrific one– co-starring Samuel L. Jackson and Nia Long. But there was a tempest in a teapot about one of the producers, so Apple pulled the movie back. Anyway, who cares? The movie is here.

No one from Apple showed up at last night at the swanky iPic Theater in South Street Seaport, but Mackie did after showing the film with Jackson on Monday night at the National Civil Rights museum in Memphis.

“The Banker” tells the real story of Bernard Garrett (Mackie) and Joe Morris (Jackson) circa 1960 outfoxed the real estate and banking worlds by making a fortune first in Los Angeles in the former realm, then went to Texas and bought two banks. They were black men, and had no rights, of course, in that embarrassing time in our history. So they used a white guy named Matt Steiner, played by Nicholas Hoult, to be their front man. Nia Long plays Mackie’s wife.

For a while, Garrett and Morris pull off the deception, with Steiner’s help. But then things unravel. Linda Garrett, Bernard’s second wife, is raising a ruckus in the press because timelines and characters have been tweaked to make the movie work dramatically. But it doesn’t matter, and don’t let her or the other static about this movie affect its purpose: “The Banker” tells an important story about how blacks were and are treated when they try to find financial parity in this country.

ANYWAY: Anthony Mackie is one of our premier actors, black or white. He is the new Captain America for Marvel, filming the six episode “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” with Sebastian Stan for Disney Plus. They’re doing six episodes to start, shooting in Prague right now. I asked Anthony about Captain America’s famous red, white, and, blue shield. How many of them are there? And does he have one to carry around? He laughed. “There are nine,” he said. “And no, I don’t get keep one! Can you imagine traveling with that thing all the time? I’d be, I can’t get in this in the overhead bin!”

“The Banker” plays for two weeks beginning Friday, in theaters. Then it goes to Apple TV. Go see it in a theater. And we’ll keep it in mind next fall, for movie awards.

 

Sunday Cable: “Walking Dead” Sheds 350,000 Viewers Week After Negan’s Unpleasant Sex Scene, Demo Drops by 200,000

Roger Friedman
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Sunday Cable: “Walking Dead” Sheds 350,000 Viewers Week After Negan’s Unpleasant Sex Scene, Demo Drops by 200,000

No one liked Negan having sex with a zombie-masked Alpha last week on “The Walking Dead.”

The ratings for this past Sunday really dropped. Gone were over 350,000 fans. They just didn’t want to watch Negan and Alpha sharing a post-coital cigarette.

Week before total viewers were 3,518,000. This week, it was down 3,159,000.

In the key demo, things look bad, too. It was 1.2 million week before. Just 1 mil this week.

So no chance of those crazy kids becoming a super couple and raising the ratings for the poor “Walking Dead.” This show used to have 17 million fans. I don’t know where they’ve gone, but they’re outta here.

“Walking Dead” still rules cable on Sunday night, but does it matter? Not really. Counting in broadcast TV, they were the 12th highest rated show of the night.

 

Career Wreckage: Chris Matthews Pushed Out of MSNBC After 20 Years, Timothy Hutton Denies 1983 Rape of 14 Year Old

Roger Friedman
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Career Wreckage: Chris Matthews Pushed Out of MSNBC After 20 Years, Timothy Hutton Denies 1983 Rape of 14 Year Old

Let’s see what new careers were wrecked this evening.

Chris Matthews is out at MSNBC. Tonight was his last “Hardball” after 20 years. He says he’s retiring, at age 74. But clearly MSNBC showed him the door once reporter Laura Bassett named him as the guy who she claims sexually harassed her years ago. Bassett wrote an op-ed in “GQ” stating that Matthews “has a pattern of making comments about women’s appearances in demeaning ways” and that Matthews asked “Why haven’t I fallen in love with you yet?” just before a televised discussion about sexual-assault allegations against President Donald Trump.

But that’s not all:

Matthews was forced to apologize recently after comparing Bernie Sanders’ win in the Nevada caucuses to the Nazis taking over France in World War II. On Friday, Matthews mistook Jaime Harrison, a Democrat running for Senate in South Carolina, with Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. Both men are black.

So that’s it. Chris Matthews whole career will be remembered by these last incidents, not anything good he did or accomplished. Another person who worked but past his expiration date is destroyed. Maybe this is why people over the age of 70 shouldn’t be president.

Then there’s actor Timothy Hutton, famous for winning an Oscar in 1981 for Supporting Actor in “Ordinary People.” Hutton, once married to Debra Winger, has worked steadily. But in 1983 a young woman now says that he raped her. Sera Johnston was 14. Hutton would have been 23 and hot as a pistol after the Oscar win.

Buzz Feed broke the story, and it’s terrible. Hutton denies it. But Fox TV, always judicious, immediately canceled his current TV series before too much could be figured out. You’re guilty and dead first these days, cancelled. That’s it. Hutton, who’s 60, will have to live with this cloud over his head forever. In 10 years, if he’s lucky, he’ll get summer stock theater work.

These guys can join Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, et al in purgatory. Or maybe it’s just hell.

(I wonder if the Academy will kick out Hutton, too, if it’s determined he’s guilty. It’s going to look very empty at the next membership meeting.)

One weird PS: Actor Real Andrews is mentioned in the Buzz Feed story. He once dated Johnston. When Buzz Feed persisted, his lawyer sent a statement. By coincidence, today Andrews was killed off on “General Hospital.” Talk about Mercury in retrograde!

Here’s Hutton’s denial:

“Today, BuzzFeed chose to publish Ms. Johnston’s false story. BuzzFeed knew the truth because they were provided with documented evidence,” Hutton says of the report by the online publication’s former reporters Kate Aurthur and Adam B. Vary, who now write for Variety.

“What’s really going on here is that Ms. Johnston’s extortion attempts failed,” Hutton added. “She then decided to follow through on her threat to go to the press with her false story. When I became aware of this, I went to the FBI, signed a sworn statement, and filed a criminal complaint against Ms. Johnston for extortion.”

“I will not stop fighting to expose this story for what it is – a failed extortion attempt based on something that never happened,” concluded Hutton.

Woody Allen Will Set the Record Straight in Surprise Autobiography Coming April 7th, Called “Apropos of Nothing”

Roger Friedman
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Woody Allen Will Set the Record Straight in Surprise Autobiography Coming April 7th, Called “Apropos of Nothing”

Surprise! The rumored Woody Allen autobiography is here.

The 400 page “Apropos of Nothing” will be released by Grand Central Books on April 7th.  There had been rumblings for a while that such a book existed.

Unusually, the book is pretty much being dropped instantly. In other words, it’s too late for one of Woody’s kooky enemies to stop it from hitting book stores and e-stores.

It’s likely that Woody will set the record straight on the never ending mishegos surrounding his separation from Mia Farrow, his marriage to Mia’s adopted daughter, Soon Yi Previn, and their own family. Woody will hopefully address the scandal around the accusation that he molested adopted daughter Dylan. Look for the Farrows to kick up a storm.

More to come…

PS I took the cover off of amazon. A little surprised it’s not in the same typeface as Woody’s movies. Similar, but not right.

 

Broadway: Virus Fear or Cold Weather Cause “Book of Mormon,” “Jagged Little Pill” to Fall Below $900,000, “Mockingbird” 50% Down

Roger Friedman
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Broadway: Virus Fear or Cold Weather Cause “Book of Mormon,” “Jagged Little Pill” to Fall Below $900,000, “Mockingbird” 50% Down

Is it virus panic or lack of interest?

Former Broadway blockbuster “The Book of Mormon” is in distress. Last week the receipts came in just under $900,000. The Eugene O’Neill Theater was only 75% full. This was “Mormon”‘s worst showing since last July 14th.

Lately, producer Scott Rudin has put “Mormon” on many discount sites as the winter has turned out to be harsh and cold. The once great box office champ, always sold out, commanded huge ticket prices. But over a decade in, and with touring companies all over, “Mormon” in New York seems like it’s finally in decline. And fast.

Rudin is also battling uphill with “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Even though he just pulled off a great PR Stunt at Madison Square Garden, Rudin can see that box office is off by almost 50% since November 3, 2019. Last week, “Mockingbird” was down to $1.1 million. That’s the lowest it’s been since at least June, if not ever. Ed Harris leaving soon, with Greg Kinnear coming in to play Atticus Finch. I wonder if anyone’s explained to Kinnear what’s happening.

Also having trouble: “Jagged Little Pill,” based on Alanis Morissette’s record album from 1996. “JLP” also came in around $896,000. The Broadhurst Theater is 68% attended, which is no way for a new musical to perform. “Pill” is hoping the Tonys and other awards will come its rescue, but that’s still in the distance. First, it has to get through March.

 


Numbers and chart courtesy of the Broadway League

Recording Academy Terminates Deborah Dugan After “Administrative Leave” Following Her “unwarranted and damaging media campaign” to Destroy the Grammys

Roger Friedman
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Recording Academy Terminates Deborah Dugan After “Administrative Leave” Following Her “unwarranted and damaging media campaign” to Destroy the Grammys

The Grammys have terminated ousted CEO Deborah Dugan following her being placed “administrative leave” this winter.

Here’s the memo from Harvey Mason, Jr:

Dear Members:

As you know, Deborah Dugan has been on a paid administrative leave of absence since January 16, 2020.  We are writing to let you know that, earlier today, the Board of Trustees voted to terminate Ms. Dugan’s employment as President/CEO of the Recording Academy.

This decision of the Board, with full support of the Executive Committee, was based on:

  • Two exhaustive, costly independent investigations relating to Ms. Dugan and the allegations made against her and by her. These investigations were carried out by experienced individuals with no prior relationship to the Academy, interviewed a combined total of 37 witnesses, and reviewed numerous relevant documents and emails. The investigators were not given any directives about what specifically to investigate or what conclusions, if any, they were expected to reach, and they were not limited by the Academy in terms of what witnesses they could interview or files or documents they could review.  Each investigator had free rein to fully investigate all of the allegations that were made against Ms. Dugan and by Ms. Dugan against the Recording Academy.
  • The unwarranted and damaging media campaign that she launched in an attempt, without justification, to derail the GRAMMY Awards show, including her false allegations that the system was—in her words—“rigged” and that the Academy was “corrupt.”
  • Ms. Dugan’s consistent management deficiencies and failures, and other factors.

All of this led the elected leaders of the Academy to conclude that it was in the best interests of the Academy to move on.

This is not what we wanted or what we expected when we hired Ms. Dugan last year.  At the time, we placed our trust in her and believed she would effectively lead the organization.  Unfortunately, that is not what happened.  Though she made some valuable contributions, Ms. Dugan failed to perform her job duties as promised and expected.

Although we did participate in some settlement discussions at Ms. Dugan’s request after she stated that it was her desire to leave the Academy and be bought out of her employment contract, we were ultimately compelled to dismiss Ms. Dugan as our President/CEO.  Not removing Ms. Dugan from the organization at this time would have caused us to compromise our values.  We could not reward her with a lucrative settlement and thereby set a precedent that behavior like hers has no consequence.  Our members and employees, and the entire music industry, deserve better than that.

The Board’s decision to dismiss Ms. Dugan closes one chapter in the Recording Academy’s history.  It also begins a new one.  In the coming days, we will initiate a search for a new President/CEO who will leverage the Academy’s diverse membership and rich history and help us transform it to better serve our members today and into the future.  As we structure this new search, we will look carefully to see where the last one led us astray and make any necessary changes going forward.

It is not uncommon for organizations and leaders to part ways after a short period. It usually happens without rancor. Unfortunately, in this case, Ms. Dugan sought to damage our reputation on her way out, and it is likely we will see more attempts to disparage the Academy in the coming weeks. We regret that, as members of the Academy, you have had to endure so much recent negativity.

From this point forward, our focus will be on moving forward with the transformation agenda we initiated prior to hiring Ms. Dugan, and on working to improve the Academy.  Much of this work has been happening but much of it is yet to come. We realize that we are not perfect, but we want you to know that our attention and energy will remain squarely on you and on the positive changes we are making together.  We will not be distracted from that.  We will use this moment to reflect on where we can be better, and pledge to realize a future in which our organization is known for its diversity, transparency, creativity, mutual respect, and overall excellence.

Thank you for your support and continued service and commitment to the Recording Academy.

-The Executive Committee of the Recording Academy

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