“Star Wars” is shrinking at the box office. “The Rise of Skywalker” is nearing $1 billion worldwide, but it’s way behind the previous installments.

“The Force Awakens” finished its theatrical run with $2 billion worldwide. That was an enormous hit.

But the next chapter, “The Last Jedi,” ended up with $1.3 billion, a significant fall off.

“Skywalker” shows “Star Wars” fatigue. It’s not quite at $1 billion, and it’s getting ready to say goodbye. Disney will keep it in movie theaters for a while but the big push is over.

In the US, “Skywalker” has earned just half of what “The  Force Awakens” raked in. Of course, maybe a lot of fans are waiting for the streaming and the DVD, with inevitable extras.

Now the studio is threatening us with a new “Star Wars” movie in 2022. Yes, just two years from now. We can only hope they will reconsider and wait longer. You can’t miss something that’s never gone.  It’s time to give “Star Wars” a rest until they have a great– I mean a GREAT — idea, not just more young people wandering around the universe with the inevitable cameos from the other movies. Let some nostalgia sink in first.

In other box office news, “Just Mercy” launched with $10 million. Considering that it’s had almost no marketing or press, that’s pretty exciting. The Michael B. Jordan-Jamie Foxx drama deserves a solid run. It should have been a Best Picture contender. Alas, now we can just hope people see it and learn about Bryan Stevenson.

For Warner’s “Just Mercy” is a last shot in a year of failures for adult-themed movies. They’ve pulled Clint Eastwood’s excellent “Richard Jewell” after 28 days and just $21 million. It’s their biggest screw up after a string of disasters. Only “Joker” stands out in their year. “Richard Jewell” should have been a hit, a contender, and a conversation starter. Eastwood, 89, also deserved better.

Kristen Stewart has a bomb in “Underwater,” DOA, her second in a row after “Charlie’s Angels.” It’s not a big deal. She’s not an action star. I guarantee you she will win an Oscar soon for a great drama or quirky indie movie. These were just bad movies anyway, they’re not her fault.

UPDATED Tony Danza emceed the annual AARP Movies for Grown Ups dinner last night at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel with aplomb and genuine excitement. He announced from the stage: “I’m the anti- Ricky Gervais!” And indeed he was, thank goodness. The night — which will air on PBS January 19th — was so authentically pleasant even Hollywood superstar Warren Beatty remarked to me, “I really enjoyed this!”

And so he should have as his wife, Annette Bening, stunning with platinum blonde hair, was honored for Lifetime Achievement by her “20th Century Women” co-star Billy Crudup. She gave a moving, and funny speech, thanked everyone she knew, but at the last minute — during her presentation — she cut the part about Beatty other than to say “I love you.” She did say, “He’s a great filmmaker…” but then choked up and decided to keep the rest to herself.

Among the other honorees was Linda Ronstadt, who came down to Los Angeles from her home in San Francisco. Fighting Parkinson’s Disease, Linda used a wheelchair to get around but stood when her old friend singer Maria Muldaur presented her with her award. Linda told me: “This may be my last trip down here. It’s too hard for me. It’s very painful.” She was surrounded by friends including her bff and career adviser John Boylan. Among those who were lined up to say hello: the great songwriter Diane Warren.

Another hero dealing with Parkinson’s is Alan Alda, who was seated early with wife Arlene. They’ve been married over 60 years, a record for show business couples. Alda presented an award to his “Marriage Story” director Noah Baumbach, who was pretty hilarious in his description of turning 50. (PS Tony Danza is turning 70 this spring and looks younger than most of these people!)

I asked Alda how he wrote the screenplay for his now classic movie “The Seduction of Joe Tynan” on coast to coast flights back in the 70s. I can barely get any work done on a plane.

“I was obsessed,” he said, “and focused. I had to get it done. But of course, now, forget it!”

The Aldas and the Beattys stayed to the very end, with Annette declaring, “Why are we always the last to leave?” She’s right, they are a very sociable couple, and love to hang out no matter the event. Warren was particularly happy to see three time Oscar nominee Diane Ladd, who presented Best Supporting Actress to daughter Laura Dern with a swell reminisce of raising a precocious kid in Hollywood. When Beatty saw Ladd, he told me: “We’ve known each other since we’re 19!”

Some other notes:

Juliette Lewis gave the Best Director award to Martin Scorsese and said, “Marty gave me my creative wings when I was 18 in Cape Fear.”

Adam Sandler who received the Best Actor award noted, “I’m a comedian who can act, and that’s good.”

Renee Zellweger, who got the Best Actress Award made the crowd feel better by saying, “I don’t feel like we are getting older, I feel like we are winning.”

Alan Alda giving to the award to Noah Baumbach for his best screenwriter  quipped, “I’ve been married to the same person for 62 years.  Since I just played a divorce lawyer in “Marriage Story,” people have been  asking me if I ever considered divorce?  I answer no, but my wife has considered murder.”

Noah then replied, “You were that rare person I’d hope you’d be. “

Diane Ladd, who previously won the for Best Supporting Actress award for her work in “Joy,” which was presented to her by her daughter Laura Dern now had the honors and presented Laura Dern with hers for “Marriage Story.”  Laura then loving described her mother as “my muse.”

Don Johnson noted that when he first got the infamous birthday card from AARP, “I was pissed.  Then I went on to have 3 more kids,  I was never really good at math.”

• Career Achievement: Annette Bening
• Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups: The Irishman
• Best Actress: Renée Zellweger (Judy)
• Best Actor: Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems)
• Best Supporting Actress: Laura Dern (Marriage Story)
• Best Supporting Actor: Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood)
• Best Director: Martin Scorsese (The Irishman)
• Best Screenwriter: Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story)
• Best Ensemble: Knives Out
• Best Intergenerational Film: The Farewell
• Best Foreign Language Film: Pain & Glory (Spain)
• Readers’ Choice: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
• Best Time Capsule: Harriet

Additional reporting by Leah Sydney

Universal Pictures has the odd distinction of having the best and worst movie of the 2019 season.

“Cats” has been a spectacular failure, and a meme, and just an unmitigated disaster. There aren’t enough jokes in the world for the furry adaptation of the Broadway musical. Now and never.

But Sam Mendes’s extraordinary “1917” has gone into wide release and it’s a major, major hit. On Friday, “1917” went into wide release and scored $13,970,000. That should give the “one-shot” movie at least a $40 million weekend. And this is a war movie with no stars, just good actors and brilliant technology, as well as a terrific screenplay.

Last weekend, “1917” won the Golden Globe for Best Feature, and Mendes won Best Director. Its later release in the season has put the film and its director (as well as cinematographer Roger Deakins and editor Lee Smith) in position for multiple Oscar nominations on Monday morning, and potential wins.

This must come as a shock to Netflix, which came into the Oscar race with four very good films that seemed like they’d be overwhelming the competition: “The Irishman,” “Marriage Story,” “Two Popes,” and “Dolemite is My Name.”

The first two of those were all but assured Oscars dominance. They’ve already won many accolades. The question remains how Netflix will battle “1917” after Monday’s announcements. Can “The Irishman” be resurrected? Or has the whole theater vs platform debate crystallized with this situation?

I wrote after its initial screening that “1917” was a masterpiece and I meant it. Make no mistake, it’s sensational. But Martin Scorsese’s work on “The Irishman” is, too. Let’s call it a masterwork. It is neither too long nor a retread of his previous work. But not having it in theaters after its first month may have damaged the cause. On a smaller screen, with interruptions at home, “The Irishman” can be lost to divided attention. It requires your full focus. Maybe Netflix can put it back into theaters with an intermission and snacks starting next Friday, make it an event.

Meantime, Universal can claim this phrase: “well played.” Indeed.

Oprah Winfrey is certainly in the news right now. It seem she’s been busy advising Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, if reports are correct.

But Oprah is also involved in another surprising scenario. She was listed as executive producer of a documentary about rap music impresario and philanthropist Russell Simmons. The founder of Def Jam Records almost immediately became embroiled in the #MeToo movement after accusations of small time sexual malfeasance and rape. He was the subject of lawsuits as well. Simmons shut down his charity and businesses and moved to Tibet, where’s been posting photos and videos of meditation retreats and so on.

The documentary, by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, is premiering at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25th. But now Oprah has suddenly pulled out of the project, and decided not to include it in her presentations on AppleTV+.  The film will still premiere at the festival, but it now lacks Winfrey’s imprint.

Dick and Ziering are highly regarded doc makers. Their “The Hunting Ground” was nominated for lots of awards and was shown on CNN. The pair have issued a statement after Oprah announced she was off the project because it wasn’t ready, in her opinion. The filmmakers told Deadline.com: “Revealing hard truths is never easy, and the women in our documentary are all showing extraordinary strength and courage by raising their voices to address sexual abuse in the music industry. While we are disappointed that Oprah Winfrey is no longer an Executive Producer on the project, we are gratified that Winfrey has unequivocally said she believes and supports the survivors in the film.”

But this isn’t the first time Oprah has caused a major problem for Dick and Ziering on this same film. The doc was originally going to be centered on Harvey Weinstein and how the #MeToo era launched. In October 2017 just two weeks after Weinstein was exposed in the New York Times and the New Yorker, the pair announced they were making the film.

This past December, however, Dick and Ziering announced that their film had changed focus, to the record business and “major figure.” Oprah was suddenly on board. Weinstein was no longer being discussed, as Simmons took his place.

So now there’s no Weinstein film, and Oprah has dealt the filmmakers a significant blow by making a public exit. She’s also declared their film somehow unfit for release, at least under her auspices.

All of this comes a year after Oprah unwisely involved herself in the Michael Jackson documentary, “Leaving Neverland.” After the film– which accused Jackson of child molestation with no evidence other than two young men’s unfounded complaints– Oprah did a live interview with the subjects on HBO. Again, without supporting evidence, she simply decided they were telling the truth.

We’re getting into a strange area here where Oprah makes the call, based on her gut feeling, about which victims have validity and which don’t. Jackson was dead, so it was easy for her to go against him. In the cases of Weinstein and Simmons, she can’t be objective. Weinstein put her in the movie “The Butler,” in which she garnered great reviews. She also got an Oscar campaign and became very friendly with the movie mogul.

In Simmons’ case, he and Oprah are long time friends. Back in December, Simmons took to Instagram to urge Oprah to stop the film once he learned she was involved with it. She obviously took what he said seriously. (See his plea below.)

It’s hoped that Dick and Ziering will find a new distributor or platform at Sundance now that Oprah is gone. Like Winfrey, I’ve known and liked Simmons for years and years. But the accusations against him are serious and must be aired, and discussed. I also hope that these filmmakers, unlike the director of “Leaving Neverland,” have presented all sides of the stories.

Here’s what Simmons wrote to Oprah:

“Dearest OPRAH,you have been a shining light to my family and my community. Contributing so much to my life that I couldn’t list a fraction of it in this blog.Ihave given you the gift of meditation and the groundbreaking book”THE POWER OF NOW “we bonded to say the least. This is why it’s so troubling that you choose me to single out in your recent documentry. I have already admitted to being a playboy more (appropriately titled today “womanizer”) sleeping with and putting myself in more compromising situations than almost any man I know. Not 8 or 14 thousand like Warren Beatty or Wilt Chamberlain, but still an embarrassing number. So many that some could reinterpret or reimagine a different recollection of the same experiences. Please note that ur producers said that this upcoming doc was to focus ONLY on 3 hand chosen women. I have refused to get in the mud with any accusers, but let’s acknowledge what i have shared. I have taken and passed nine 3-hour lie detector tests (taken for my daughters), that these stories have been passed on by CNN, NBC, BUZZFEED, NY POST, NY MAG, AND OTHERS. Now that you have reviewed the facts and you SHOULD have learned what I know; that these stories are UNUSABLE and that “hurt people hurt people”. Today I received a call from an old girlfriend from the early 1980s which means that they are using my words/evidence against me and their COMMITMENT/ (all of the claims are 25 to 40 years old) It is impossible to prove what happened 40 years ago, but in my case proof exists of what didn’t happen, mostly signed letters from their own parents, siblings, roommates, band members, interns, and in the case of 2 of your 3 accusers,their own words in their books. Shocking how many people have misused this important powerful revolution for relevance and money. … In closing, I am guilty of exploiting, supporting, and making the soundtrack for a grossly unequal society, but i have never been violent or forced myself on anyone. Still I am here to help support a necessary shift in power and consciousness. Let us get to work on uplifting humanity and put this moment and old narrative behind us”

 

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Dearest OPRAH,you have been a shining light to my family and my community. Contributing so much to my life that I couldn’t list a fraction of it in this blog.Ihave given you the gift of meditation and the groundbreaking book”THE POWER OF NOW “we bonded to say the least. This is why it’s so troubling that you choose me to single out in your recent documentry. I have already admitted to being a playboy more (appropriately titled today “womanizer”) sleeping with and putting myself in more compromising situations than almost any man I know. Not 8 or 14 thousand like Warren Beatty or Wilt Chamberlain, but still an embarrassing number. So many that some could reinterpret or reimagine a different recollection of the same experiences. Please note that ur producers said that this upcoming doc was to focus ONLY on 3 hand chosen women. I have refused to get in the mud with any accusers, but let’s acknowledge what i have shared. I have taken and passed nine 3-hour lie detector tests (taken for my daughters), that these stories have been passed on by CNN, NBC, BUZZFEED, NY POST, NY MAG, AND OTHERS. Now that you have reviewed the facts and you SHOULD have learned what I know; that these stories are UNUSABLE and that “hurt people hurt people”. Today I received a call from an old girlfriend from the early 1980s which means that they are using my words/evidence against me and their COMMITMENT/ (all of the claims are 25 to 40 years old) It is impossible to prove what happened 40 years ago, but in my case proof exists of what didn’t happen, mostly signed letters from their own parents, siblings, roommates, band members, interns, and in the case of 2 of your 3 accusers,their own words in their books. Shocking how many people have misused this important powerful revolution for relevance and money. … In closing, I am guilty of exploiting, supporting, and making the soundtrack for a grossly unequal society, but i have never been violent or forced myself on anyone. Still I am here to help support a necessary shift in power and consciousness. Let us get to work on uplifting humanity and put this moment and old narrative behind us

A post shared by Russell Simmons (@unclerush) on Dec 13, 2019 at 6:35am PST