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Andrew Lincoln Exits “The Walking Dead” Alive, Whisked Off to Do 3 Rick Grimes Movies

Roger Friedman
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Andrew Lincoln Exits “The Walking Dead” Alive, Whisked Off to Do 3 Rick Grimes Movies

Rick Grimes isn’t dead and he’s still walking.

Andrew Lincoln exited “The Walking Dead” tonight. I won’t tell you how, but he’s still alive. And that’s not a spoiler since AMC announced Lincoln will star in three standalone Rick Grimes movies about his life after tonight.

It’s a little surprising considering “The Walking Dead” is down to 5 million viewers a week, and is in decline. But they’re going to milk this thing as much as possible until only zombies are watching new episodes.

Also, I’m sure Lincoln said he was done, didn’t he? Oh well. Give the public what it wants! Maybe “Better Call Rick.”

We’ll see on Tuesday how this exit episode did ratings-wise.

Mike Myers Would Like to “A Night with Dr. Evil” on Broadway, Is Open to Doing A Show

Roger Friedman
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Mike Myers Would Like to “A Night with Dr. Evil” on Broadway, Is Open to Doing A Show

Mike Myers gave such a brilliant interview to Alec Baldwin tonight on ABC, I think we can forgive Alec his latest public scandal.

I interview Mike about 25 years ago and he was a great interview then– thoughtful, literate, introspective, smart. He hasn’t given enough interviews over the years.

Anyway, he told Alec that he’d be open to doing a Broadway show. “I’d love to do An Evening with Dr. Evil, or Mambo Mouth”– the John Leguizamo Broadway show–“where I can do a lot of characters.”

So all you Broadway producers– Roy Furman, Nederlanders, Shuberts, Scott Ellis– get on the phone tomorrow. Mike Myers on Broadway would be most welcome!

Mike also talked about growing up in government housing in Toronto, his father’s battles with illnesses parallel to Mike’s rising success, and so on, as well as Barbra Streisand summoning him to her shows when he was playing his former mother in law, Linda Richman, on “SNL.”

“This is the best time of my life,” Mike told Alec about the last seven years as he became a father to three kids. His eldest, Spike, recently whispered to him, “I’m your biggest fan.” OMG. I’m verklempt.

I’ll see if I can link to the interview tomorrow. Good work, Alec.

Alec’s other guest was Cecile Richards, daughter of late Texas governor Ann Richards, also former head of Planned Parenthood. I don’t know her but I did know her mother. She’s a chip off the block and her interview was just great, too.

 

Broadway Review: Kerry Washington Gives An Intense, Fearsome Performance in New Play “American Son”

Roger Friedman
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Broadway Review: Kerry Washington Gives An Intense, Fearsome Performance in New Play “American Son”

Kerry Washington is back on Broadway several years after her debut in David Mamet’s “Race.”

She returns as a major TV star from “Scandal,” but let’s not forget she’s already paid her dues and knows live theater. Her performance in “American Son” is non stop, ninety minutes of intense, fearsome rage for a teenage son who’s gone missing.

Kenny Leon directs Kerry, Steven Pasquale, Jeremy Jordan and Eugene Lee in this taut drama where you can guess the ending but don’t want to believe it. Kendra (Kerry)’s son with Scott (Steven Pasquale)– Jamal — is never seen but he’s at the center of the action. Educated in the best private school, Jamal’s parents (black and white) have counted on him not mixing with the wrong crowd in their native Miami and staying out of trouble. Alas, Jamal has been picked up the police with two friends whom the parents don’t know, and now they fear the worst.

Christopher Demos-Brown’s debut play addresses a lot of issues– empowerment, feminism, but most of all racism and what it’s like to be a black teen in America even if you have a white parent. Sort of a companion to the current movie “The Hate U Give,” this play addresses head on by name other black kids who’ve been shot at or killed by the police (Eric Garner, Philandro Castile and Tamir Rice are cited). Knowing that the police will play as the villain, Demos-Brown gives a veteran Black Police Lieutenant played by Eugene Lee who has some opinions worth hearing out.

At 90 minutes without intermission, “American Son” is slight and a little underdeveloped. Without a big star it would have been sent to off Broadway for development. But it’s timely and important, and the actors invest their all. Plus, you get a great set from Derek McLane, Tony level lighting from Peter Kaczorowski, and impressive rain and lightning. “American Son” just runs until mid January, so see it ASAP. It’s certainly a rich season for new plays. (You can get tickets for all of them at the TKTS booth in Times Square without waiting on line– at the special plays window.)

RIGHT NOW: Brad Pitt Surprises Hollywood Film Awards, Presents Breakthrough Director to “Beautiful Boy” Helmer Felix van Groeningen

Leah Sydney
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RIGHT NOW: Brad Pitt Surprises Hollywood Film Awards, Presents Breakthrough Director to “Beautiful Boy” Helmer Felix van Groeningen

The Hollywood Film Awards are underway on the west coast and they’ve already had a surprise presenter. Brad Pitt arrived and presented Breakthrough Director to “Beautiful Boy” helmer Felix van Groeningen.

These early awards are a low key, laid back celebration of the films released so far this year.

Pitt told the audience: “In this time when meanness is so loud what better sound is there then hope.”

Brad’s company Plan B produced the film starring Timothee Chalamet. Those two actors, plus lots more including Glenn Close, Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban, Mahershala Ali, Taraji P. Henson, and so on are all snug as a bug in the Beverly Hilton ballroom in this practice run for the big awards in January and February.

Keep refreshing….

Photo c2018 Showbiz411 by Leah Sydney

“Bohemian Rhapsody” Sends 13 Queen Singles and 4 Albums Onto the iTunes Top 100

Roger Friedman
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“Bohemian Rhapsody” Sends 13 Queen Singles and 4 Albums Onto the iTunes Top 100

The Queen-Freddie Mercury movie is such a hit it’s sent 13 of the group’s singles and 4 of its albums onto the iTunes charts. All of them are hits from the 70s and 80s. But the movie is booming with $50 million on its opening weekend, and people want the music. In heaven, Freddie is smiling. Down here, Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon, not to mention Freddie’s heir, Mary, will rake it in.

Tonight, the song “Bohemian Rhapsody” is number 13. “We Will Rock You” is 18. They are followed by:

23 – “Somebody to Love”

26 – “We Are the Champions”

28 – “Another One Bites the Dust”

40 – “Under Pressure” with David Bowie

41- “Radio Gaga”

58 – “Fat Bottomed Girls”

59 – “Killer Queen”

70 – “Don’t Stop Me Now”

75 – “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”

84- “Love of My Life”

86 – “You’re My Best Friend”

Hollywood Film Awards Wrap Up: Awkwafina Makes it a Bubbly Night, Nicole Kidman Gracious as Ever

Leah Sydney
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Hollywood Film Awards Wrap Up: Awkwafina Makes it a Bubbly Night, Nicole Kidman Gracious as Ever

The Hollywood Film Awards, with Carlos de Abreau at the helm once again drew in an mega A list buzzy crowd for its 22nd year. Awkwafina hosted and she was terrific, clever, snappy and really funny. “It’s amazing, I’ve always wanted to host these awards since I found out about them two weeks ago.”

There were poignant moments: ‘Black Panther’ director Ryan Coogler recounted how he was recently at Target right before Halloween on a rare date night with his wife and “I saw this Hispanic family in the costume section. A young boy about 8 years old reached up and snatched T’Challa’s costume. That was so rewarding that the kid felt powerful dressing like an African superhero.” Dan Reynolds beautifully sang his ‘Skipping Stones’ from the documentary ‘Believer,’ with composer Hans Zimmer playing as well. Damien Chazelle told of his admiration for the astronauts and said that, “In this climate, their story gives me a certain amount of hope, because it reminds me that all of us ordinary, flawed, fallible human beings, when pushed, can be capable of anything and everything.” Anne Hathaway gave her ‘Les Miz’ co-star Hugh Jackman the Hollywood Actor Award and affectionately mocked his nice guy image. Chalamet, accepting the Hollywood Supporting Actor Award, got the giggles after he thanked on of the film’s producers Brad Pitt (who by then had left). Amanda Stenberg, who received the Hollywood Breakout Performance Actress Award,’ for her work in ’The Hate You Give,’ encouraged the crowd, “to stand up and be heard.” Glenn Close, accepting her trophy for The Hollywood Actress Award, thanked her British co-star Jonathan Pryce and noted that, “ there was no American actor who wanted to be in a movie called ‘The Wife,’ we had to go over the Pond.

Nicole Kidman was the epitome of grace saying, “I’m in the position of being able to, right now, give voice to complicated women and have them be seen, have them be heard, have them be understood. I’m also in the position of supporting female directors and crews. I’m incredibly grateful for the career that I’ve been given by you, the Hollywood community, by this industry. You’ve allowed me to take risks and to fall down. You’ve picked me back up again. You’ve given me a second, third and fourth chance. I will always continue to give back to this community and give back to this industry and give back to my craft.”

Holiday Movie Reshuffle: “If Beale Street Could Talk” Moves to December 14th as Film Company Struggles to Survive

Roger Friedman
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Holiday Movie Reshuffle: “If Beale Street Could Talk” Moves to December 14th as Film Company Struggles to Survive

EXCLUSIVE: Annapurna Pictures has moved “If Beale Street Could Talk” from November 30th to December 14th. I reported this last night exclusively on Twitter, but you know what the vultures are like these days.

Anyway, Barry Jenkins’s follow up to “Moonlight”  comes from a movie company that’s struggling to get its footing after a very difficult year. They’ve got to release “Destroyer” with Nicole Kidman and “Vice” with Christian Bale also in December. Right now those two are scheduled for Christmas Day. We’ve seen “Destroyer” and it’s excellent– Kidman is a lock for an Oscar nod. Almost no one’s seen “Vice.”

Now Annapurna– backed, yes, by billionaires, but unsteady on its own–has to deliver three high profile movies in a period of two weeks. And well before December 14th, all three of those movies have to be screened for awards consideration. That costs a bundle, not only moving casts around, but just in general logistics. That’s a tall order for a company that’s underfunded and short staffed.

When Megan Ellison started Annapurna, it was a great idea. She chose terrific movies, and distributed them through capable partners. But since she took distribution on herself, the project has been impaired. Everyone hopes this can be fixed.

Of the three coming films, “Beale Street” is the most problematic. It’s slow and quiet and has no stars except for Regina King and Brian Tyree Henry (one of the breakout stars of the year on stage and film). Unlike “Moonlight,” there’s no hook- no gay theme, or the unusual three parts. It would be better off on HBO, Netflix, or Amazon, someplace where it could be protected from financial pressures.

“Destroyer,” on the other hand, is a cop procedural with a broad stroke. Kidman gives an amazing performance as a dirty detective who’s drunk or fighting it, always messed up, and in a lot of trouble. It’s Kidman’s “Klute,” and needs a lot of marketing attention. I just hope Annapurna has enough resources to release it properly, as well as “Vice.”

Disney Can’t Crack this Nut: $130 Mil “Nutcracker and the Four Realms” Bombs with (Maybe) $20 Mil Weekend

Roger Friedman
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Disney Can’t Crack this Nut: $130 Mil “Nutcracker and the Four Realms” Bombs with (Maybe) $20 Mil Weekend

Disney still can’t crack that nut.

“Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” they say, made $20 million over the weekend. It cost $130 million to make.

The $20 mil number is questionable. It means that the movie that made $5.6 million on Friday must have made twice that on Saturday, then levels off again today. Really? Ok.

This was a long predicted disaster, so no surprise. Maybe the fifth Realm will do the trick. The good news is Disney is reporting $38 million from foreign countries where people are easily entertained. Other planets haven’t reported in yet.

 

Queen for A Weekend: “Bohemian Rhapsody” Scores a Whopping $50 Million Despite Critics’ Bashing

Roger Friedman
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Queen for A Weekend: “Bohemian Rhapsody” Scores a Whopping $50 Million Despite Critics’ Bashing

They said it couldn’t be done.

Many critics wrote bitter reviews for a movie that didn’t meet their expectations. Or they were angry at the director for his personal infractions.

But the public didn’t care. And Galileo! Galileo! They came in droves. “Bohemian Rhapsody” made a whopping $50 million (at least by estimates, see tomorrow for real numbers). Again, that hard $50 seems like it might be a little bit of guess, and over-estimate.

Rami Malek deserves an Oscar nomination for playing Freddie Mercury. There should be nominations for set, costumes, and make up as well.

Amazon Studios had a shaky weekend, meanwhile. “Suspira” met with mixed results, as did “Beautiful Boy.” The latter should have some awards action, so that might help in the long run.

(listen) Ariana Grande Drops New Song Tonight Called “Thank You Next” for Ex-Fiance Pete Davidson

Roger Friedman
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(listen) Ariana Grande Drops New Song Tonight Called “Thank You Next” for Ex-Fiance Pete Davidson

Ariana Grande is just a little upset over her broken engagement to “SNL” star  Pete Davidson.

Tonight she’s dropping a new single called “Thank You Next” to upset Pete a half hour before “SNL” airs.

Here’s the link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/thank-u-next-single/1441178207

Are they in high school? Well, almost. Apparently she’s angry that he keeps making jokes about their break up. He made one in this week’s promo with Jonah Hill. So she’s retaliating in song.

Anyway, it’s coming at 11pm and I’ll post it right here. Come on kids, you knew you’d never get married. Just move on. You are kids. Ariana shouldn’t waste her voice on this. Although, I did just read on the interweb that Ariana’s brother is dating a gay couple.

We are far away from the world of Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, and Tom Hanks here, friends. Far away.

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