“Black Panther” earned $25 million Thursday night, second only in the Marvel Universe to “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”
Expectations are that the ground breaking comic book movie directed by Ryan Coogler could make north of $150 million for the three day weekend including last night.
But nothing is a certainty. And don’t forget, “Get Out” is playing for free on Monday, which might cut into the “Panther” numbers.
Stay tuned…
Paul Simon wrote “The Sound of Silence” a really long time ago– like more than 50 years ago. It was a hit for him and Art Garfunkel in 1966 and it’s never gone away.
This morning, “The Sound of Silence” is bigger than ever thanks to a heavy rock version by the group Disturbed. They had a hit with it in 2016, but thanks to the Olympics it’s bigger than ever.
“SOS” is number 2 this morning on iTunes and number 4 on Amazon because Olympic ice skaters have been using it for their performances. On BuzzAngle, “SOS” has sold around 15,000 copies in downloads and streams in the last couple of days.
It’s funny. When Simon & Garfunkel first released it in 1964, “SOS” was a folk song– and a failure. Then producers Tom Wilson and Roy Halee remixed it with a rock track a la the Byrds’ “Turn Turn Turn” and it became a sensation. Simon & Garfunkel went on to have six years’ of hits. Now Simon, 76, is retiring from touring. He and — very likely– Garfunkel will have a huge finale sometime this summer at Madison Square Garden.
Disturbed? Have no idea who they are, but the royalties are pouring in. It’s all good.
"Figure skating transcends pop culture." A beautiful performance by Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres paired with Disturbed's chilling cover of "Sound of Silence." #WinterOlympics https://t.co/KX4CHncv2t pic.twitter.com/8PSZ78XzRD
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 15, 2018
Vanity Fair or unfair? You decide. The popular Conde Nast monthly just laid off 15 top staffers all with tenure after decades of loyal service.
Gone are publicity director Beth Kseniak, top celebrity cover booker and editor Jane Sarkin, and top editor Chris Garrett, among others.
This signals a major change by new editor Radhika Jones, who took over from Graydon Carter after 25 years, last December. In addition to downsizing and moving more toward digital, Jones also obviously wants her own people.
That’s always a shame, because the existing staff made a huge hit of Vanity Fair. They knew what they were doing. All the laid off employees will do just fine but it with great sadness that we say adieu to friends.
Some problems that will be discussed in post-layoff Monday morning quarterbacking: the calamity of the Hollywood Issue cover, on newsstands now. James Franco was digitally brushed from the cover after accusations of sexual misconduct. In the brushing, Oprah Winfrey scored a third hand, and Reese Witherspoon got an extra leg. But I doubt any of that led to these layoffs. It’s just the changing of the guard.
Andy Williams sang it. Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer wrote it. “Moon River” is a classic, and we thought it was safe. But Frank Ocean decided to cover it. Oh, my! This might be best listened to while studying the new official Obama portraits.
Listen carefully because Frank omits the best line–“my huckleberry friend.” Not sure what the point of that was since Mercer considered that the standout expression of youth. He should have asked Sly Stone how to cover a classic. SLy did perfectly on “Que Sera Sera.”
Here’s Audrey Hepburn singing it in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”– the original
Andy Williams’ hit version
And my personal favorite by Jerry Butler
Amazon says Jeffrey Tambor has been officially fired from their hit series, “Transparent,” over sexual harassment claims.
The show will go on, too, despite Tambor playing the central character.
What a strange turn of events. In the past, everyone loved Jeffrey Tambor. He won two Emmy Awards and one Golden Globe for playing Maura Pfefferman. But there were complaints that he was a little too handsy or hands on with some of the cast. Wow.
Since the show’s creator, Jill Soloway, has known that Tambor was being invesigated, maybe she has an idea for the next season. Meantime, Tambor is also connected with Amazon through “Arrested Development.” No word on whether he can go back to that show, but fans of the Bluths would miss seeing him certainly.
The #MeToo movement continues to sweep through show biz. I’m hearing that at one record company a serious investigation is ongoing. If it pans out, shockwaves will be the result…
Off Broadway at the MCC Theater, playwright Neil LaBute has been severed from the company. His play, “Reasons to Be Pretty Happy,” which was to open in August, has been cancelled. This is HUGE. La Bute writes the most misogynistic plays and movies in the history of the world. Many have been hits including “Reasons to Be Happy”– the play– and “In the Company of Men.” His “Fat Pig” was one of the more incendiary titles to play at the Lucille Lortel Theater. There’s no explanation from MCC and it can’t just be that they’ve suddenly discovered his drama-antipathy toward women. Stay tuned…
Universal Pictures has canned Seth Byers, EVP of creative strategy and research, and put marketing head Josh Goldstine on leave for “inappropriate conduct.” Michael Moses is now in charge of marketing. This is also BIG, as Goldstine– in particular– was responsible for a lot of Universal’s successes including “Get Out.”
What has gone on at all these places is kind of mind blowing. With LaBute, who knows, except his plays were really insanely against women. And people in general.
No one is accusing the huge gold Oscar statues that dot the Academy Awards red carpet of anything. I want to make it clear.
There were whispers that the Times– L.A., NY, one of those papers– was working on something. No one knows.
But for the first time in recent memory the Oscar red carpet will not have gold statues placed on the red carpet or anywhere in sight.
It’s not like they were offensive– the statues are anatomically indifferent. They’re not CIS, or trans or anything else. ‘It’ is their pronoun. And ‘them.’
But the word has gone out that news crews will not have to report on the painting of the statues this year. They are in repose. Guests will be disappointed. The gold statues were the subject of many selfies. But again, there are said to be anecdotes of the statues getting too frisky. Some of them are said to have “warmed up” during photo ops that got too close. But that might have been a heater in the lighting above!
A source said, “They might possibly have some inside the theater but right now there aren’t any plans to have them anywhere else. The only thing I can think is either they are staging a silent protest or have all made plans to hang out on Hollywood Blvd with the tourists.”
Either way, the boys are gone. And the red carpet will be a much safer place!
OK, good news. When the word went out that “Murphy Brown” was coming back, you may recall I said the show should be about Murphy’s son, Avery, all grown up and following in mom’s footsteps.
The father of Avery was Jake Lowenstein, a former Underground leftist radical, played by Robin Thomas (real name: Grossman). So that means that he’s really Avery Lowenstein. But Murphy and Jake never married. It’s unclear if Thomas– who was ubiquitous for a while on TV but is also a sculptor and artist– will return as well.
Avery is now 28, described as handsome and effortlessly cool, with his mother’s competitive spirit and father’s passion for adventure. My guess is they’ll go for a name actor in that age range with comedic background. (The producers should look for a guy named Robert Watkins, just dropped from “General Hospital. He’d look the part.)
Other new “Murphy Brown” characters will include the widow of Phil (the Pat Corley) who owned the bar where the FYI gang hung out, and a young guy who’ll be in charge of social media.
Now all they have to do is bring back Wally Shawn as Stuart Best, my all time favorite “Murphy Brown” character and they’re all set.
PS You may not remember this, but at one point Jim left FYI and went to work for the Wolf Network. It was a hilarious send up of Fox News. Diane English must revive this part of the show. Maybe Chris Rich could play a Wolf Network buffoon a la Hannity or O’Reilly.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus has posted her first picture post- breast cancer surgery. She looks great and you’ll see she’s ready to rock. JLD first went through chemotherapy, during which she had lots of social media support from her family, friends, and “Veep” co-stars. She should have said, “Hey cancer, get outta here!” and pushed it a la Elaine Benes. Keep Rocking, Julia!
Hoorah! Great doctors, great results, feeling happy and ready to rock after surgery. Hey cancer, “Fuck you!” Here’s my first post op photo. pic.twitter.com/5LPlbzpiI3
— Julia Louis-Dreyfus (@OfficialJLD) February 14, 2018
Ryan Murphy isn’t stupid. After a long term deal that’s been very good for Fox and for him, he could see the writing on the wall.
Disney producing “American Horror Story”? “American Crime Story”? “Feud”? Uh, no.
With Disney taking over Fox any second, Murphy has left the building. He’s signed a $300 million deal to produce cutting edge TV shows for Netflix.
The news has to come as a blow to Disney, which knew he’d be part of the package when they bought Fox TV and the movie studio from Rupert Murdoch late last year. Disney isn’t known for cutting edge, or any of the other chances Murphy has taken to grow into a TV mogul. The Versace murder on the Disney channel? Ain’t happening.
“The history of this moment is not lost on me,” Murphy said in a statement. “I am a gay kid from Indiana who moved to Hollywood in 1989 with $55 dollars in savings in my pocket, so the fact that my dreams have crystallized and come true in such a major way is emotional and overwhelming to me. I am awash in genuine appreciation for Ted Sarandos, Reed Hastings and Cindy Holland at Netflix for believing in me and the future of my company which will continue to champion women, minorities and LGBTQ heroes and heroines, and I am honored and grateful to continue my partnership with my friends and peers at Fox on our existing shows.”
Murphy joins Shonda Rhimes, who just escaped from the Mouse House for Netflix with her own big deal.