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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…

Madonna Says She Actually Took a Two Hour Train Ride to Yale University in New Haven to See Her Friend’s Art Show

Roger Friedman
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Madonna Says She Actually Took a Two Hour Train Ride to Yale University in New Haven to See Her Friend’s Art Show

Madonna says she went to visit Yale University this week.

Not for admission, or get her kids into the school. She visited her artist friend, Tracey Emin’s exhibit up there.

New Haven is a two hour ride from Manhattan, but with Madge’s money she could been chauffeured in style. She could also have flown private from Teterboro, NJ to New Haven’s Tweed airport.

Instead, she says she took the train! She probably went to Grand Central and did mostly local stops. Price for a senior citizen is around $12 dollars each way.

She couldn’t have been by herself. And during the day, going in that direction, the train would not have been crowded. Coming home might have been harder to snag a few seats for her team.

Did the conductor recognize her? Did she bring snacks? Did she bring magazines? Did she hit the bar car? If anyone knows more, please email me at showbiz411@gmail.com.

Legendary Oscar Winning Director Woody Allen Releasing His First Novel, “What’s with Baum?” in September

Roger Friedman
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Legendary Oscar Winning Director Woody Allen Releasing His First Novel, “What’s with Baum?” in September

Woody Allen’s made what, 50 films? He’s also written many plays, some on Broadway, one that premiered last year in Budapest.

His classics include the recent, amazing “Coup de Chance,” Oscar winner “Annie Hall,” “Vicki Cristina Barcelona,” “Midnight in Paris,” “Manhattan,” “Blue Jasmine,” “Broadway Danny Rose,” “Zelig,” “Bullets over Broadway,” “Husbands and Wives,” “A Rainy Day in New York” — featuring Timothee Chalamet, Elle Fanning, and Selena Gomez, plus “Mighty Aphrodite,” “Radio Days,” “Crimes and Misdemeanors,” “Love and Death,” “Sleeper,” “Bananas,” and so on.

Now, at age 89, he’s written a novel which will be published in September. The book is called “What’s with Baum?” If it’s anything like his many collections of humor essays, and his memoir, “Apropos of Nothing,” it’s going to be a great read.

Maybe Woody can sell the movie rights!

While we’re waiting, re-read “Without Feathers,” “Zero Gravity,” or “Side Effects.” They’re all balms for the current unpleasantness in the world.

You can order it here.

Mazel tov, Woody!

Congrats! “SNL” Star Alum Cecily Strong Announces “Easy Birth” of Baby

Roger Friedman
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Congrats! “SNL” Star Alum Cecily Strong Announces “Easy Birth” of Baby

The great Cecily Strong has announced the birth of her baby.

She writes that it was an “easy birth with a glorious epidural that I forgot I’d still have to recover afterward from what feels like was the Muay Thai fighter from White Lotus kicking the crap out of my cooch.”

Mazel tov!

When she feels better, Cecily can go back to the box of wine she always presented as Jeannine Pirro. Still hilarious!

Denzel Washington Will Fly to Cannes in Between $900 Ticket Broadway “Othello” Shows for Spike Lee Premiere

Roger Friedman
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Denzel Washington Will Fly to Cannes in Between $900 Ticket Broadway “Othello” Shows for Spike Lee Premiere

Denzel Washington is going to have an exhausting weekend come May 18th.

After performing in “Othello” on Broadway at the Sunday matinee, he will leave the theater at 6pm and fly to the south of France for one day.

On Monday, May 19th, Denzel will walk the red carpet in Cannes for Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest.”

That should be at about 1pm New York time on Monday. If he stays for applause and kudos, he can back to Nice airport and fly back to New York in time to make Tuesday’s 7pm performance of “Othello.”

Can it be done? Yes, if he flies privately or in ultra first class where he can stretch out and take an Ambien.

“High and Low” was not announced this morning in the Cannes line up. The festival had to get a final ok from Washington. But “Highest 2 Lowest,” which will be shown out of competition, is a big deal. It’s based on Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller, “High and Low.”

The new mvoie has an eclectic cast including beautiful American TV actress Ilfenesh Hadera, Jeffrey Wright, Ice Spice, and Rihanna’s rapper husband, ASAP Rocky.

Cannes probably wouldn’t make the deal with A24 unless they were guaranteed Denzel would do this crazy round trip. But it’s Spike’s first film since the great Oscar nominated “Blackkkklansman.” Can’t wait to see it!

Movies Made by Scarlett Johansson, Bono, Harris Dickinson Go to Cannes Along with Mission Impossible

Roger Friedman
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Movies Made by Scarlett Johansson, Bono, Harris Dickinson Go to Cannes Along with Mission Impossible

Movies made by Scarlett Johansson, Bono, newcomer actor Harris Dickinson are going to the Cannes Film Festival.

“Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning” will be the big splash, along the films by Richard Linklater, Wes Anderson, and Cannes regulars like Joachim Trier, Julia Ducournau, the infamously boring Dardennes brothers, Kelly Reichardt, and Ari Aster, whose last film — “Beau is Afraid” — was the worst movie of the last 10 years.

If Ken Loach had made a film, it would be there.

There are a lot of first films including opening night.

Those, and many we know little about, could be the “Emilia Perez” or “Parasite” of this year, and really break out. That’s the way it is. Cannes is full of surprises.

The show starts May 12th on the Croisette. Look for a couple of additions to the list. I’m always excited about Linklater.

Scarlett’s movie stars June Squibb, age 94, who continues her marvelous career after “Thelma.” Dickinson recently starred with Nicole Kidman in “Babygirl.” Bono’s film is a chronicle of his stage show. Anderson’s “The Phoenician” may be a satire of Elon Musk.

Stay tuned…

OPENING FILM

PARTIR UN JOUR
Amélie Bonnin
1st film – Out of Competition

COMPETITION

THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME
Wes Anderson

EDDINGTON
Ari Aster

JEUNES MÈRES
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

ALPHA
Julia Ducournau

RENOIR
Hayakawa Chie

THE HISTORY OF SOUND
Oliver Hermanus

LA PETITE DERNIÈRE
Hafsia Herzi

SIRAT
Oliver Laxe

NEW WAVE
Richard Linklater

TWO PROSECUTORS
Sergei Loznitsa

FUORI
Mario Martone

O SECRETO AGENTE (THE SECRET AGENT)
Kleber Mendonça Filho

DOSSIER 137
Dominik Moll

UN SIMPLE ACCIDENT
Jafar Panahi

THE MASTERMIND
Kelly Reichardt

AIGLES OF THE REPUBLIC
Tarik Saleh

SOUND OF FALLING
Mascha Schilinski

ROMERÍA
Carla Simón

SENTIMENTAL VALUE
Joachim Trier

UN CERTAIN REGARD

LA MISTERIOSA MIRADA DEL FLAMENCO (THE MYSTERIOUS GAZE OF THE FLAMINGO)
Diego Céspedes
1st film

MÉTÉORS
Hubert Charuel

MY FATHER’S SHADOW
Akinola Davies Jr
1st film

L’INCONNU DE LA GRANDE ARCHE
Stéphane Demoustier

URCHIN
Harris Dickinson
1st film

HOMEBOUND
Neeraj Ghaywan

TÔI YAMANAMINO HIKARI (A PALE VIEW OF HILLS)
Ishikawa Kei

ELEANOR THE GREAT
Scarlett Johansson
1st film

KARAVAN
Zuzana Kirchnerová
1st film

PILLION
Harry Lighton
1st film

AISHA CAN’T FLY AWAY
Morad Mostafa
1st film

ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Arab and Tarzan Nasser

THE PLAGUE
Charlie Polinger
1st film

PROMISED SKY
Erige Sehiri

LE CITTÀ DI PIANURA (THE LAST ONE FOR THE ROAD)
Francesco Sossai

TESTA O CROCE? (HEADS OR TAILS?)
Matteo Zoppis, Alessio Rigo de Righi

OUT OF COMPETITION

COLOURS OF TIME
Cédric Klapisch

LA FEMME LA PLUS RICHE DU MONDE
Thierry Klifa

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING
Christopher McQuarrie

VIE PRIVÉE
Rebecca Zlotowski

MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS

DALLOWAY
Yann Gozlan

EXIT 8
Kawamura Genki

FENG LIN HUO SHAN (SONS OF THE NEON NIGHT)
Mak Juno

CANNES PREMIERE

AMRUM
Fatih Akin

SPLITSVILLE
Michael Angelo Covino

LA OLA (THE WAVE)
Sebastián Lelio

CONNEMARA
Alex Lutz

ORWELL : 2+2=5
Raoul Peck

DAS VERSCHWINDEN DES JOSEF MENGELE (THE DISAPPEARANCE OF JOSEF MENGELE)
Kirill Serebrennikov

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

STORIES OF SURRENDER
Bono

TELL HER THAT I LOVE HER
Romane Bohringer

A MAGNIFICENT LIFE
Sylvain Chomet

Jennifer Lopez Will Host and “Perform” Live on CBS at the Revived American Music Awards in May

Roger Friedman
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Jennifer Lopez Will Host and “Perform” Live on CBS at the Revived American Music Awards in May

Jennifer Lopez is returning to the revived American Music Awards.

She’s hosting and “performing live” on May 26th on CBS, which had better take a hard look at what’s going on here.

JLo is an athletic dancer, but her singing has constantly been called into question over the years. CBS’s way out may be saying “performing” instead of singing.

The American Music Awards themselves are questionable. They weren’t even broadcast in 2024 as they were usurped by the Billboard Music Awards. Both shows are owned by Dick Clark productions, itself owned by the owner of The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Deadline, Billboard, and Rolling Stone.

The AMAs are not the Grammy Awards. They’re devoted to the best selling artists of the moment, and negotiated by record company execs, managers, and publicists.

Lopez, who had an acting success earlier this fall with “Unstoppable” on Amazon Prime, has been getting a lot of press for showing up at Broadway premieres dressed like she was going to the Oscars.

Tariff-ying: Trump “Pauses” Tariffs for 90 Days Except Against China, Waves White Flag in Trade War

Roger Friedman
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Tariff-ying: Trump “Pauses” Tariffs for 90 Days Except Against China, Waves White Flag in Trade War

Delusional Donald Trump has “paused” the extreme tariffs against all countries except China.

For China, he’s imposed a 125% tariff. Apple’s Tim Cook must be so thrilled the supported Trump. Apple and its customers will suffer.

For the rest of the world, he’s still imposing a 10% tariff.

Trump has waved the white flag, surrendered as the country’s economy was tanking in every market. The NYSE had dropped almost 4,000 points since he started his wrecking ball. Now it’s up 2,400 points.

Meantime, there are reports that Kash Patel has been removed from running the ATF branch of the FBI because he never showed up for work.

Trump is a mad man, he’s out of control. He brought us to the brink of real destruction. Some people in Washington think he’s done it on purpose.

All this talk of “The Art of the Deal” is nuts. Trump did not write that book. Tony Schwartz wrote the book. Trump notoriously takes — and took — credit for things he didn’t do. We are living in insanity.

Trump, meantime, has spent most of his time golfing, and laughing at all of us.

BOOM! “Minecraft Movie” Raking in the Dough: Heads to $200 Mil After 6 Days in Release

Roger Friedman
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BOOM! “Minecraft Movie” Raking in the Dough: Heads to $200 Mil After 6 Days in Release

I’ve never typed the word “Minecraft” so many times in a week. It’s like a drinking game!

“A Minecraft Movie” moved up to $185 million last night. The Warner Bros release will hit $200 million tonight or tomorrow. This is after just days in theaters — tomorrow will be a week.

David Zaslav must be brushing his teeth with Champagne. The movie cost $157 million. Worldwide sales are now over $300 million. This is the way Hollywood works, though. Everything is cyclical. “Superman” should be so lucky!

What even is “Minecraft”? Does it matter? Not at all!

“Minecraft” Soundtrack, “Hamilton,” Chicago’s 1st Album Library of Congress Adds Ridiculous to the Sublime

Roger Friedman
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“Minecraft” Soundtrack, “Hamilton,” Chicago’s 1st Album Library of Congress Adds Ridiculous to the Sublime

The Library of Congress picks 25 recordings ever year to add to the National Registry.

This year, the choices range from the ridiculous to the sublime.

The soundtrack to a video game, “Minecraft,” would be among the former.

Among the latter, Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” Miles Davis’s “Bitches Brew,” my beloved “Koln Concerts” from Keith Jarrett, and the first — and best — album from the group Chicago.

See below.


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