In “Gold,” Matthew McConaughey is snaggle-toothed, has a beer belly and a receding hairline. At last night’s premiere of “Gold” in New York, Gaghan told me the actor came up with the look for modern prospector Kenny Wells himself — which was inspired by his father and his business partners who sold materials in the oil business.

“His brother Rooster did the same thing,” said director Stephen Gaghan. (Yes Rooster is the name of McConaughey’s brother.) The director added, “Matthew came with a lot of insight in how the man would be, how he would talk, how he would walk, how he would dress.”

On the red carpet, McConaughey, who speaks in a thick Texan drawl, told me he started preparing and getting into Kenny Wells’ life for a while, eating as his character would, some of which involved cheeseburgers.

“I looked up into the mirror one day and noticed that I’d put on about 18 pounds, so like, ‘Well this is okay, that’s right.’ This is who Kenny Wells is, a consumer. Life, food, drink, smoke, everything! And then I looked back at my own life and the Kenny Wellses I’d met through my dad,” said McConaughey. “They were all large, physically almost larger than life. Kenny’s not fat. Kenny’s full. He’s a full man. When I say consuming, like they were all kind of heavy, burly and strong and they weren’t people who looked in the proverbial mirror. Most of them didn’t live past 60 years old either. Some of them died of heart attacks early because of their lifestyle.”

There were a few celebs in the mix last night other than the cast, an eclectic group that included Salman Rushdie, famed songwriter-performer Valerie Simpson, R&B star Freddie Jackson, and Tony winner Lena Hall. Oscar winner Paul Haggis brought six people who’d won an auction for his Haiti charity Artists for Peace and Justice. Haggis, an exec producer on “Gold,” had developed the script early on.

“Gold” co-stars Bryce Dallas Howard and Edgar Ramirez were stuffed into a corner of the Plaza Hotel’s Palm Court later for the after party, where Weinstein Company co-president Bob Weinstein held court literally. (This is his movie, from the Dimension side of the company.) Howard, who is finally ramping up her career, has a big blonde teased hair do as Wells’s girlfriend, a waitress. We thought it was a wig.

“It’s MY hair!” she shouted back over the din over disco music. “You should play an an all out floozy sometime,” I responded, impressed.

Bryce shot back a wide grin. “With a heart of gold!”

Photo c2017 Showbiz411 by Paula Schwartz

The January box office dump is in full swing.

Both “Monster Calls” and “Monster Trucks” are monster flops. And Martin Scorsese’s “Silence” is a huge disappointment, and a marketing disaster.

“Silence” was so late that Paramount probably should have done what they did with “Wolf of Wall Street”– waited out the Oscar window, taken the film to Cannes or Venice, and then come in next fall for 2018 Oscars. There was no time to build a consensus, explain what was happening, or what the film was about. The result i that a real masterpiece has been dumped, with no awards and no audience. It’s always easy to say these things in hindsight, but boy– what a wasted opportunity!

Meanwhile, Paramount — which has good hits with “Arrival” and “Fences” — had to dump “Monster Trucks.” A $10.5 million weekend for a $150 million project is mind bending.

Just a note about “Arrival”– here’s a case where Paramount played it like a Stradivarius. Early fall build up from festivals, lots of screenings, everyone was available. The outside publicist, Julie Tustin, just kept at it. And the payoff is $100 million box office, plenty of nominations and accolades. If they’d tried to force it in right before Christmas, “Arrival” never would have made it.

Warner Bros. is also taking a big hit this weekend. Ben Affleck’s “Live by Night” is dead. We saw this film before Christmas and knew it was a big ol flop but we weren’t allowed to say anything. Sienna Miller is the only highlight here, and she’s not really in it. Also, remember, Ben talked to Lindsay Lohan about playing that part back when she was in rehab. Anyway, you’ll see this on an airplane and think, What is this?

Focus has a huge disaster with “A Monster Calls.” It’s funny, too, because they have excellent reviews. But as with most well reviewed Focus Films, there’s no marketing or publicity. Focus has a new marketing chief who might be able to reverse their trend. I hope so. “Nocturnal Animals” was so good, and it all went south. “Loving” made not a dent.

A hit: Peter Berg’s “Patriots Day.” I didn’t like that it became a documentary at the end– that should have been a separate film. But it works on a direct level. And nice work from everyone. Plus, they tell the story from the terrorist’s POV, which makes the film a lot more engaging than it might have been.

PS A24 should put some money into “20th Century Women.” What a shame to let this evaporate. And Amazon should give a little more elbow grease to “Manchester.” Worth it!