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“Mission Impossible” Scores $24 Mil Thurs-Fri, Looking at Low-ish $75 Mil Opening Weekend

Roger Friedman
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“Mission Impossible” Scores $24 Mil Thurs-Fri, Looking at Low-ish $75 Mil Opening Weekend

Is the mission impossible?

“Final Reckoning” only made $16 mil on Friday night. Adding the $8 mil from previews, opening comes to $24.8 mil.

It’s good but not great.

Projections would put the holiday weekend at $72-$75 million, well below the hoped for $80-$85 million.

With $400 million at stake, international receipts will have to exceed expectations. Most of those numbers won’t come in until Monday/

For “Final Reckoning” to be booming, a $100 mil holiday would have been preferred. You’d think with a rainy weekend, audiences would be flocking in. Let’s give them a chance. The weekend is young.

“Final Reckoning” is being seriously outpaced by Disney’s kids movie, “Lilo & Stitch,” which has kicked up $55 mil in two days. They will crack $100 mil with no problem.

Stay tuned…

Jake Tapper Can’t Get Ratings Up for TV Show Despite 24/7 CNN All Day Shilling for Biden Attack Book

Roger Friedman
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Jake Tapper Can’t Get Ratings Up for TV Show Despite 24/7 CNN All Day Shilling for Biden Attack Book

Jake Tapper can’t seem to get it up — ratingswise — since his Biden attack book was released.

Tapper’s CNN show, “The Lead” actually got 1.1 million viewers back on March 18th. That’s his peak over the last three months.

On May 2nd, six days before Tapper started promoting his book, “Original Sin,” he was down to 462,000. To say he was flailing is an understatement.

The 24/7 shilling of the book by CNN began on Wednesday, May 8th. That was the day the wheelchair story went viral, followed by George Clooney’s claim that Biden didn’t recognize him last year at a fundraiser.

On Thursday, May 9th, Tapper spiked at 740,000 viewers. Throwing Biden under the bus and backing up over him did the trick. Initially viewers were fascinated. The book fuels the hate of right wingers toward Biden. It gives Democrats a reason for Trump winning.

It took a few days to let what Tapper had done to Biden sink in. By May 14th, Tapper was back to 515,000. On Tuesday this week Tapper’s numbers rose slightly to 570,000 as he and the network continued to scapegoat Biden mercilessly.

CNN viewers are not happy with the situation. A quick search of Twitter comes up with tens of dozens of complaints about Tapper’s character assassination of Biden. “Original Sin” is a hit, but not with Tapper’s viewers. He’s been appearing on conservative radio and podcasts constantly stoking the Fox News crowd. At this point, CNN would be better off to let him join the rival right wing network.

PS Jimmy Kimmel isn’t too pleased with Tapper, either. Kimmel canceled his show with Tapper as a guest on Monday using the excuse that his daughter was giving birth. The next night Kimmel apologized just to guest Seth Rogen but didn’t even mention Tapper.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/24/joe-biden-town-hall-original-sin-00368995

Kanye West Says He Wishes Kid Cudi — Who Claimed Diddy Blew Up His Car — Hadn’t Testified Against Him

Roger Friedman
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Kanye West Says He Wishes Kid Cudi — Who Claimed Diddy Blew Up His Car — Hadn’t Testified Against Him

This week rapper Kid Cudi testified in the trial against Sean Puffy Diddy Combs.

Cudi said that among other things, Diddy blew up his Porsche with a Molotov cocktail because Cudi was dating Diddy’s ex-girlfriend and alleged victim, Cassie Ventura. He also said Diddy broke into his house.

Now Cudi’s long time collaborator has something to say.

Kanye West, who this said he was “giving up antisemitism,” said this morning on Twitter he wished Cudi hadn’t testified against “Puff.”

He wrote: “I wish Cudi hadn’t testified against Puff.We need to not be locked in white systems. Praying for Puff and his family. Praying for Puff Daddy and the Family”

Kanye is always on the wrong side of any subject. He’s been sticking up for Combs since this whole odyssey began. I guess he’s not paying attention to the testimony so far that’s so gross you can’t discuss it in polite society. Mostly, it’s allegations of brutal rape and sex trafficking. Even if Combs were somehow acquitted, he’d never get over it in this lifetime.

Congrats to Kanye!

New Kennedy Center Chief Richard Grenell in Hot Water Over Blindsiding White House After Using Private Plane for “Rescue”

Roger Friedman
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New Kennedy Center Chief Richard Grenell in Hot Water Over Blindsiding White House After Using Private Plane for “Rescue”

Ric Grenell is known us currently as the man wrecking the Kennedy Center.

But apparently he’s now in hot water with The White House and Donald Trump.

Two days ago Grenell used a private plane to fly to Antigua and pick up a released US Army officer who was being held in Venezuela.

Joe St. Clair is the the name of the US Air Force veteran who’d been held in Venezuela. For some reason, the island resort of Antigua was where Grenell had to secretly negotiate his release. Why he used a private plane remains a mystery.

Grenell, according to the New York Post and Axios, is up to his ears in oil licenses with Venezuela with Chevron. Just the mention of Chevron should make everyone’s ears prick up. They’ve engulfed and devoured most of South America with dirty dealings over oil and accessible water.

Grenell seems to have his fingers in a lot of pies. Named the head of the Kennedy Center by Trump after he took over as CEO, Grenell has overseen the firing of most Kennedy Center employees. The result is that dozens of performers have cancelled their performances at the Center.

Grenell is now talking about bringing in non-union shows to the Center — if their casts will even perform. The union cast of “Les Miserables” is refusing to perform on June 11th at a Trump fundraiser. Grenell has hired a newly elected Republican State Committeeman from Palm Beach county — who he endorsed– to take RSVPS for the party. Tickets go up to $2 million.

Back in the Nixon era, an episode like this would turn to be part of a bigger scandal. No one would guess it when it happened, but later it would be a jigsaw puzzle piece.

The best part is that Grenell bragged about it on Twitter, and showed pictures of the plane, etc.

Movie Biz: A24 Closes Documentary Division A Year After $75 Mil Investment from Jared Kushner’s Brother

Roger Friedman
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Movie Biz: A24 Closes Documentary Division A Year After $75 Mil Investment from Jared Kushner’s Brother

A24 is facing some trouble.

Today the standalone indie film company announced its closing their documentary division. Five talented people are out on the street.

A24 announced a $75 million investment last year from Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared, the same Jared who’s Donald Trump’s son in law. The same Jared who’s made billions off the Trump presidency.

But A24 is also a company that has incredibly branding and unique publicity for films that make no money. Their top ever box office is $84 million for the disliked “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

Last year they released “Babygirl” and “Queer,” neither of which did very well. “Queer” doesn’t even appear on their list of top 25 films despite starring Daniel Craig. Another film absent from that list is Ari Aster’s “Beau is Afraid,” which was unwatchable. So they’re releasing Aster’s new film, “Eddington,” which was panned in Cannes.

I’m not sure anyone at A24 reads the scripts. Their number 25 film of all time is “Th Brutalist,” which made $16.2 million and cost at least twice that secure an Oscar for Adrien Brody.

Losing the documentary division is disappointing. They released some good films like the Michael J. Fox doc, “Still.” But they also gave us Steve McQueen’s four snooze fest about Amsterdam during WWII called “Occupied City.” Total box office was $152,934. Even people in the Netherlands skipped it.

Hollywood Has a New Power Player: Streamer MUBI Picks Up 9 Cannes Films, Owned by Actual Young Turk Efe Cakarel

Roger Friedman
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Hollywood Has a New Power Player: Streamer MUBI Picks Up 9 Cannes Films, Owned by Actual Young Turk Efe Cakarel

This week I mentioned MUBI to a couple of people. They’d never heard of it. I said, “They made The Substance with Demi Moore. It’s an app on your SmartTV.” Again, crickets.

But MUBI is the new power player in Hollywood. In the last week the company — owned by an actual 49 year old Young Turk named Efe Cakarel — has bought a stunning nine movies out of the Cannes Film Festival.

Cakarel is not fooling around. Suddenly everyone’s going to be looking for the MUBI logo on their Smart TVs.

Among the films he bought was Jennifer Lawrence in “Die My Love,” for a shocking $24 million. That’s twenty four million dollars. Cakarel is going to push JLaw for an Oscar the way he did Demi Moore, which means another $20 or $30 million.

Others on the list include all hot titles that were available: Sentimental Value, The Sound of Falling, The Mastermind, The Secret Agent, Alpha, It Was Just an Accident and Sirât.

Cakarel may not be done.

Who is he? According to Wikipedia, Cakarel — “Following his graduation from the American Collegiate Institute in İzmir, Turkey, he earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Prior to founding MUBI, he spent a number of years at Goldman Sachs[8] in investment banking. He was part of Turkey’s national math team and placed third in the European Math Olympiad.[9] He also has two patents related to monetization of web applications.

He’s really not playing around. Reports say MUBI — which started 18 years ago — is already worth a billion dollars. So they have money to spend, and they’re on a tear.

Billy Joel Health Scare Brings Avalanche of Love from Fans: “I’m sorry to disappoint our audience, thank you for understanding”

Roger Friedman
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Billy Joel Health Scare Brings Avalanche of Love from Fans: “I’m sorry to disappoint our audience, thank you for understanding”

Billy Joel has had to cancel all his shows until further notice.

He says he’s been diagnoses with NPH– Natural Pressure Hydrocephalus. There’s been a build of fluid around his brain, and it has to be drained.

I’ve been told all the appropriate measures have been taken including the placement of a shunt.

Can he recover? Yes. He says he’s doing physical therapy now but doctors have pulled him off the stage.

Billy is 76, and has been jumping, running, and pounding on the keys for nearly 60 years. His body needs a rest.

Already almost 35,000 people have posted well wishes to Billy on Instagram. They all agree that health is wealth, and Billy deserves some time off.

Considering he played 100 consecutive monthly shows at Madison Square Garden — not to mention the extra shows around the world — Billy is probably more upset than of us. And we’re concerned, of course. It’s hard to imagine our indefatigable rock stars are human!

Speedy recovery, Billy!

Box Office: Mission May Be Impossible as Tom Cruise Opus Beaten by Disney Kids Movie, “Lilo & Stitch” in Previews

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: Mission May Be Impossible as Tom Cruise Opus Beaten by Disney Kids Movie, “Lilo & Stitch” in Previews

The mission, should you choose to accept it, may be impossible.

Tom Cruise’s three hour opus, “Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning,” had a slow start in previews Thursday night.

The final Ethan Hunt saga was trounced by Disney’s live action remake of its kids’ movie, “Lilo & Stitch.”

The latter made around $14 million. The former came in at $8 million.

Numbers will be updated shortly.

“Final Reckoning” cost around $300 million and Paramount has spent around $100 million in promotion. Cruise has flown all over the world for high ticket premieres to push his product.

But the new “Reckoning” only did $1 million more than the previous outing, “Dead Reckoning,” two years ago, in previews. This is surprising because it looked like IMAX theaters were pretty sold out yesterday.

On Rotten Tomatoes right now, “FR” has an 80 rating from critics, but a 93 from audiences. The second number is most important in this case. If audiences love it, nothing can stop Cruise from a top notch weekend.

Holiday weekends are a marathon, not a sprint. Five days from Thursday to Monday may sort this all out. Or, “Lilo & Stitch” may be the next mission for Cruise and co. to take out!

Will We Ever See the Michael Jackson Biopic? Not This Year and Maybe Not Next Because No One Can Agree on What It Is

Roger Friedman
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Will We Ever See the Michael Jackson Biopic? Not This Year and Maybe Not Next Because No One Can Agree on What It Is

The Michael Jackson biopic is not coming out this year.

In 2026? Maybe

What’s wrong? Apparently news of this mess broke on a Lionsgate earnings call today. A number of outlets reported it.

There’s a four hour cut of scenes not edited together, these reports say. But there’s no movie because no one involved can agree on what it’s about.

I’m not surprised. All the reasons the movie isn’t working out are also the ones why “MJ The Musical” is a hit on Broadway. “MJ” stops after “Thriller” and “Bad” are released. It tells the Michael Jackson story right up to the point where weirdness set in.

After “Bad,” the Michael Jackson saga is about molestation accusations, pay offs and settlements, bizarre relationships, and a trial that foreshadowed Michael’s death.

Does anyone want to see of all that? How could it be explained in a positive way? Answer: it can’t.

Starting in 1993, Michael’s life lurched into the bizarre world of Neverland, children staying overnight, in his bed. Then comes the Jordan Chandler scandal, which results in a settlement of $15 to $20 million. Michael starts changing managers, lawyers, gets ripped off by a lot of greedy people. He also begins leveraging the Beatles catalog to stay afloat financially.

“MJ” is a celebration of Michael, telling the Jackson story and how it led to Michael working with Quincy Jones and their outsized success with three solo albums. That’s the same place the movie should end. Going beyond that barrier, there’s no upside. It’s dark, twisted, and there’s no way out. Michael becoming addicted to drugs. His bizarre relationships with Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando’s family. It just gets worse and worse.

Lionsgate says they’re considering two movies. That’s a mistake. The second one would be brutal, and not favorable to Michael. No one asked me, but they should make one great concert movie and leave it at that. End it in 1990 with Michael on top of the world. What happened next was deeply tragic, and to tell it truthfully means undermining the music.

When the biopic was announced, an insider insisted to me that they were going to tell the “whole story” warts and all. I was astonished. Would there really be discussion of how the children were acquired, Debbie Rowe, Lisa Marie, hanging the baby out the window, treatments for vitiligo, and so on?

I think by now the Estate sees there’s no way to do it without Michael coming off very badly. That would ruin the Estate’s successes so far with the catalog and the Broadway show. Michael’s legacy would be irreparably tarnished. And the phone call from the “killer” would be coming from inside the house.

Kevin Spacey, James Franco Welcomed by amFAR In Cannes Despite Being Pariahs in the US for Various Sex Scandals

Roger Friedman
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Kevin Spacey, James Franco Welcomed by amFAR In Cannes Despite Being Pariahs in the US for Various Sex Scandals

In the old days, amFAR’s annual gala was filled with A list celebrities. Sharon Stone ran the show, and big stars who’d been in Cannes stayed just for the event.

Not so much anymore. Tonight, the big stars welcomed by the sketchy AIDS fundraiser were none other than Kevin Spacey and James Franco. Those are two names not on the top of any casting director’s list these days. They’ve each been canceled.

Spacey was given a Lifetime Achievement Award this week from another sketchy organization, the Better World Foundation. He read a manifesto claiming his blacklisting in Hollywood was similar to that of famed screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (which is utterly ridiculous). Spacey’s been mostly ostracized after surviving or settling many lawsuits concerning his sexual behavior with young men over the years. He’s managed to avoid conviction or jail one way or the other. But he was sued again, in February.

Franco is basically unhire-after settling a $2 million lawsuit with former female acting students who accused him of sexual malfeasance. He also hasn’t made a movie years. He supposedly plays Fidel Castro, of all people, in a film that’s been sitting on the shelf for a couple of years already.

But for amFAR, Spacey and Franco are a dynamic duo. This shouldn’t surprise anyone. amFAR has been through any number of financial scandals. Their CEO, Kevin Frost, earns a whopping $600,000 and they have many other execs with healthy six figure salaries.

This year, it’s mostly the B list with the exception of Mariska Hargitay, who came to Cannes with a documentary about her mother, Jayne Mansfield. But big movie stars like Natalie Portman or Nicole Kidman, each of whom had been in town, were invisible. Tom Cruise was long gone. Scarlett Johansson and Kristen Stewart? Absent.

Again, in the old days, rock star Bono of U2 — who’d also been in town for his own documentary — would have been persuaded to sing for the well heeled Eurotrash in the audience. But he’s too smart for that. ’80s artifacts Duran Duran performed along with “American Idol” star Adam Lambert, recently a substitute on Broadway in “Cabaret.”

Will appearing at amFAR help Spacey and Franco resurrect their careers? Probably not. But it says a lot about the charity that they were wanted at all. Sad, at this point. As for amFAR itself, their annual tax return is quite a document, as I’ve written in the past.

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