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Box Office: “Minecraft Movie” Won’t Cave In with $490 Mil Worldwide in 11 Days, “Warfare” Loses Battle

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: “Minecraft Movie” Won’t Cave In with $490 Mil Worldwide in 11 Days, “Warfare” Loses Battle

“A Minecraft Movie” will not cave in at the box office.

The weekend total was $25.7 million, bring the grand sum of $280 million domestically and $490 million worldwide.

In China, “Minecraft” has scored $14.7 million with or without tariffs. That’s more than most of the Oscar nominated movies this year.

China also provided the third highest take of any country for “Minecraft.” The US and UK are first and second.

“Warfare” and the three or four other new releases this week were duds. Bleecker Street’s “The Friend” and A24’s “Death of a Unicorn” are in that group, too. “Black Bag,” as well. The latter has made just $21 million despite Cate Blanchett and the all star cast.

LOL Watch Donald Trump Brutally Snub Cheryl Hines, aka Mrs. RFK Jr, With Hand Extended for A Shake, at UFC Match

Roger Friedman
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LOL Watch Donald Trump Brutally Snub Cheryl Hines, aka Mrs. RFK Jr, With Hand Extended for A Shake, at UFC Match

This is too good. Pretty, pretty, pretty good!

Donald Trump either didn’t remember who Cheryl Hines was tonight at UFC 314, that she’s Robert Kennedy Jr’s wife, or he actually snubbed her.

The latter seems to be the case.

In all the videos of the meeting between Trump and the Kennedys you’ll see:

Hines extends her hand to shake his at at UFC match (where all classy presidents have always gone). Trump refuses to look at her. Hines makes a face and takes back her hand.

Nice respect for RFK Jr from Trump. And Cheryl’s white!

Hines must be so embarrassed. She gave up her career, friends, and life to support her wacko husband. No one takes her seriously anymore, especially after it was revealed that Kennedy had been having some kind of affair with journalist Olivia Nuzzi. Now Trump won’t even look at her.

As many have said tonight, cue the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” music.

What fun for the Kennedy family, who wouldn’t be caught dead at a UFC fight.

Start watching at :45 seconds, it’s a hoot.

Nicole Scherzinger Uses Night Off from “Sunset Blvd” to Present the TDF Costume Awards at Splashy Downtown Gala

Roger Friedman
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Nicole Scherzinger Uses Night Off from “Sunset Blvd” to Present the TDF Costume Awards at Splashy Downtown Gala

You may not know it, but TDF is not all about TKTS.

The Theater Development Fund runs the half price ticket booth in Times Square, true. But the Fund is also the mothership of everything theater in New York. Not much of what goes on on Broadway and off and off would exist with out TDF.

So their annual Costumes & Cocktails event is a big deal, giving the TDF/Irene Sharaff Awards, celebrating the accomplishments of the theatrical design community.

This year’s honorees are three-time Tony Award-winning costume designer Gregg Barnes, costume and textile designer Wilberth Gonzalez, milliner and artisan Arnold Levine, and legendary scenic designer Robert Israel.

The gala, at TAO, opened with “Sunset Blvd.” star Nicole Scherzinger showing up a bit late to kick off the night. (She’s allowed. As she said, it was her only night off from her exhausting schedule.) Scherzinger delivered just the right pizzazz before other presenters like actress Kathy Najimy, legendary director Martha Clarke, and RuPaul’s “Drag Race” star Valentina took the stage.

Najimy presented three-time Tonu® Award-winning costume designer Gregg Barnes with the TDF/Irene Sharaff Award for Sustained Excellence in Costume Design. Barnes joked in his acceptance speech that he was famous for dressing stars in red dresses and sending them big staircases. He won his Tony for “Follies.” But I didn’t get the joke until I saw “Boop” a couple of nights later. Just as he said, Barnes sent the sensational Jasmine Amy Rogers right down a big staircase in one of his stunning gowns. He’s the go-to guy.

Valentina gave the TDF/Kitty Leech Ascending Artist Award to costumes and textile designer Wilberth Gonzalez; Tony winner Ann Hould-Ward toasted milliner and artisan Arnold S. Levine, Inc. with the TDF/Irene Sharaff Artisan Award; and legendary scenic designer Robert Israel was be honored by Clarke with the Robert L. B. Tobin Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatrical Design.

Israel, an international artist and costume scenic designer, just saw his historic work on the opera, “Fidelio,” revived at the Metropolitan Opera to great acclaim last month.

I’d never been to the TDF gala before, but it was packed — far more even than we go to Tao for the New York Film Critics Circle dinner every year. And no one told me that the Costumers’ gang was so lively. They hit the dance floor with a vengeance may still be there for all I know!

Swoldemort: Oscar Nominee Ralph Fiennes, 62, Still Hoping to Play James Bond Villain After Being “M” for Years

Roger Friedman
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Swoldemort: Oscar Nominee Ralph Fiennes, 62, Still Hoping to Play James Bond Villain After Being “M” for Years

Apparently, Ralph Fiennes is trying out to play a villain in the next James Bond movie.

He was “M” in the last couple of releases, but that wasn’t enough to satisfying him.

Fiennes has posted picture of what he looked like under the robes in “Conclave.”

He is now shredded, painfully so.

He just posted these pictures but it looks like they were for an Uberto Pasolini movie called “The Return” with Juliette Binoche which was released in December and made just $2.5 million worldwide.

Was it worth it? They filmed in Greece, and it looks like he ate nothing but protein powder and steroids. Maybe he was bored.

This look should help when Fiennes directs three classic plays this summer in England at Theater Bath. None of them is “Conan the Barbarian.”

Please, give this man a donut!

Box Office: “Minecraft Movie” Has Stunning $20 Mil Friday, Beats Easter Film, and “The Amateur”

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: “Minecraft Movie” Has Stunning $20 Mil Friday, Beats Easter Film, and “The Amateur”

Well, there’s a big “Minecraft” audience out there somewhere.

Last night, the Warner Bros. video game took in a stunning $20.5 million on its second Friday. The grand total is now $220,500,000 after nine days.

Really?

“Minecraft Movie” beat a Christian Easter film called “King of Kings” that boasts an all star cast including Kenneth Branagh, Forest Whitaker, Oscar Isaac, and Ben Kingsley.

It also shushed “The Amateur,” with Rami Malek and Laurence Fishburne. (Some movie theater has to play “The Amateur” with “The Professional.” Come on! Better than Barbenheimer!)

Numbers 4 and 5 were newcomers “Drop” and “Warfare” with $3.5 million each.

Tonight’s box office may not be so great with the first night of Passover, and bad weather. So this was all a good preemptive strike. Will “Minecraft” be invoked at Seders? That would make tonight different from all other nights!

Kanye Attacks Spike Lee, Kim, Jews, Drake, Beyonce, Taylor in Offensive 30 Tweet Hour, Looking for Attention

Roger Friedman
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Kanye Attacks Spike Lee, Kim, Jews, Drake, Beyonce, Taylor in Offensive 30 Tweet Hour, Looking for Attention

Kanye West is back on Twitter looking for attention.

Is he mentally ill? Or just offensive?

In 30 Tweets in one hour, Kanye attacks Spike Lee, ex-wife Kim Kardashian, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Caitlyn Jenner, and Jews — the latter because antisemitism is his regular and not utterly boring way of making people look his way.

“Phantom of the Opera” Musical Coming Back to NYC But Not Really to Broadway in a Clever Workaround Outside Theater District

Roger Friedman
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“Phantom of the Opera” Musical Coming Back to NYC But Not Really to Broadway in a Clever Workaround Outside Theater District

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hoary Broadway musical closed in 2023 after filling the Majestic Theater since 1988.

There was much rending of garments, a big send off, and a promise (or threat, depending on how you took it) they’d be back with a national tour.

Well, it’s exactly two years later and “Phantom” is coming back. But not to Broadway and not under its own name.

ALW has announced a show called “Masquerade,” an immersive experience, that will be just like “Phantom.”

It’s unclear what the “immersive” part will be, but ALW’s Really Useful Company is renovating the unoccupied old Lee’s Art Supply at Broadway and 57th St. They’re evidently turning it into a “faux” opera house, where audiences will feel like they’re part of the “Opera.”

“Masquerade” sounds like “Sleep No More,” or one of those gimmicky experiences that were so popular in the 1990s, like “Jekyll and Hyde” on Sixth Avenue.

What’s interesting is that “Masquerade” won’t be in a traditional Broadway Theater League theater. Maybe that accounts for changing the name. Will it be a union show? Will Actors Equity be involved? Or is this a clever workaround to be Broadway-adjacent and not pay the price for it? “Masquerade” will be physically on Broadway, but that could be where the connection ends.

Lee’s Art Supply building, built in 1896, was sold to Thor Equities in 2016 from the original family that owned it. Since then, it’s been empty. So this is pretty smart of Thor and ALW to repurpose a structure that looks a faux opera house already. Looking at it, you could imagine the Phantom of the Opera himself haunting the place for the last 129 years!

Will reconstituted “Masquerade” be a hit? Oh, yes. You know the show as international cult followers, and they’ll be putting on cloaks and masks and maybe even bringing their own chandeliers. How will “real” Broadway feel about all this? Not so good, I’ll bet. But this is why Andrew Lloyd Webber is really rich. Don’t cry for him!

Elton John Says He’s “Blown Away” and Feels “Wonderful” as New Album with Brandi Carlile is Number 1 Debut in UK and US, Biggest Hit in Decades

Roger Friedman
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Elton John Says He’s “Blown Away” and Feels “Wonderful” as New Album with Brandi Carlile is Number 1 Debut in UK and US, Biggest Hit in Decades

Sir Elton John is having an amazing week.

His album with Brandi Carlile, “Who Believes in Angels,” is biggest hit in decades. A week after its release the album remains number on Amazon.com and iTunes.

Elton says in a post that he’s “blown away” and feels “wonderful.”

“Angels” is number 1 in the UK. In this country, it’s the top selling physical album.

At such a dire time it’s pretty cool to have a great story about the most deserving artist.

Bravo!

PS I want those blue glasses!

“Squid Game,” Huge Emmy, Golden Globe Winner in 2022, Disappears from Discussion as Season 2 Bombs

Roger Friedman
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“Squid Game,” Huge Emmy, Golden Globe Winner in 2022, Disappears from Discussion as Season 2 Bombs

Remember when  “Squid Game” was so hot you couldn’t touch it. You couldn’t even make calamari jokes!

That was in 2022.

For season 1, the show won 4 Emmy Awards, including Best Actor, was voted best TV drama by the Golden Globes, and earned dozens more nominations and trophies. You couldn’t get away from “Squid Games.”

Three years later, Netflix released the second season and not it’s all cold and rubbery.

As the 2025 Emmy nominations are coming in July, predictions are overflowing for each category.

Not one of them has included Season 2. Released in January, “Squid Game” season 2 is gone. Netflix trumpeted it on the day it was dumped onto the platform and it was never heard from again. The streaming platform doesn’t give numbers that can be independently measured. The new “Squid Game” doesn’t even register in the Netflix top 10.

Fame is certainly fleeting. Maybe the producers waited too long. The fans lost interest. The show, which was about 456 people competing in a secret contest. They’re all in deep financial hardship, and must risk their lives to play a series of deadly children’s games. The winners got hundreds of millions of dollars.

I guess that all seems passe now in the era of Musk and Bezos. Next season they should gamble over who gets deported, and who makes their way back to the US in one piece!

Box Office: “Minecraft” Hits $200 Mil After 8 Days, “Penguin Lessons” Getting No Help from Tariffs on Their Island

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: “Minecraft” Hits $200 Mil After 8 Days, “Penguin Lessons” Getting No Help from Tariffs on Their Island

The box office rolls on despite the world falling apart.

Last night, “A Minecraft Movie” rolled over the $200 million mark on its 8th day. Thurs numbers: $7 million! Quite an achievement since no adult has any idea that this has happened. Still, good news for Warner Bros. Worldwide take is $343 million.

There will be a lot of “Minecraft” sequels!

There’s been a lot of talk about Penguins lately. That’s because Trump put a tariff on Heard and McDonald island in Antarctica which is populated just by our noble friends.

Apparently seals are involved, too. But they have to waitu until next Sunday for Easter Seals.

Anyway.

You’d think this would help the Sony Classics movie, “The Penguin Lessons.” But no one from the studio has said how the penguin in that movie, which is real, has responded to his relatives being levied against by Donald Trump. This would be a funny and successful campaign. We may have to wait a bit for the fallout.

New release last night — “Warfare” — I’m sure it’s technically advanced, but sold only $1 million of tickets last night. It looks pretty grim, and just male oriented. Stay tuned…

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