Megyn Kelley has had it. She shredded Donald Trump via Newt Gingrich on Fox News tonight. Watch this video. Either Megyn has been given the OK by the Murdoch boys or she’s on her way to another network. But this is a turning point for her, and a total repudiation of her old boss, Roger Ailes. Everyone is talking about this interview. Wild, wild stuff.
Box Office Tom Hanks-Ron Howard’s “Inferno” Racks Up $94.3 Million International Before US Open
Tom Hanks and Ron Howard have cracked the Da Vinci Code again!
Their new Dan Brown movie, “Inferno,” racked up $94.3 million this past week around the world, one week before its US opening.
“Inferno” was most popular in Italy, Brazil and Russia. The thriller featuring Ben Foster, Irrfan Khan. Omar Sy and Felicity Jones hasn’t opened in China yet.
This was a smart move on Sony’s part since “Inferno” has a very weak 27% here on Rotten Tomatoes, and may not be so much of a blockbuster. But if they can clean up abroad before the October 28th American premiere ushers in a lot of negative reviews, American box office numbers will be irrelevant.
Jim Rash, of “Community” Fame, and Richard Kind to Co-Star with David Koechner in Jules Feiffer Comedy
Jules Feiffer, you know, is 85 years old. But he’s young at heart and one of the most gifted writers ever. Now I can tell you there’s a whole cast for his new movie “Bernard and Huey,” to be directed by Dan Mirvish.
Jim Rash, who played Dean on “Community,” will be Bernard to David Koechner’s Huey. The rest of the cast includes Richard Kind, Nancy Travis, Mae Whitman, Bellamy Young and Sasha Alexander.
Producers are Dan Mirvish, Mike S. Ryan, Dana Altman, and Matthew Keene Smith.
Feiffer wrote “Bernard and Huey” for Showtime 30 years ago, but it was never produced. The story is based on characters from his wonderful comics in the Village Voice back when that newspaper mattered. Mirvish, by the way. is the co founder of the Slamdance Film Festival and director of many short films.
American Music Awards Add Sting, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars as Performers: Show is Now Excellent Marketing Tool for Record Biz
Sting is getting a Lifetime Achievement Award and putting on a show. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars are performing. Timing is everything. and the American Music Awards have suddenly found a purpose. They aren’t the Grammys. But they are an excellent marketing tool for the music and record businesses.
The AMAs air live on ABC on November 20, and that’s the sweet spot for the end of the year holiday sales push. Lady Gaga’s album “Joanne” just came out on Friday and it’s already number 1. A month from now, “Joanne” should still be doing well but a little sales blast from the AMAs won’t hurt.
Sting’s first album of pop songs in over a decade, “57th and 9th,” hits stores and so on on November 11th. He’s already had a radio hit with “I Can’t Stop Thinking About You.” Showcasing some new songs on the 20th should give the album a second-week boost.
Bruno Mars has a singles hit right now with “24K.” His new album, of the same name, hits on November 18th– just two days before the AMAs. That exposure will only add to his numbers, so Bruno will be assured the number 1 album on the following Friday.
The genius in this is that the Grammys don’t want performers in February who were featured on AMAs in November. These three aren’t eligible anyway– their albums are all for the 2018 Grammys. So this is perfect. Who you won’t see singing on the AMAs– Adele, Beyonce, Drake– the three big stars vying for potential Grammys. They may put in appearances on the AMAs but they’ll wait for February to show their stuff.
Anyway, Sting, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars should bring big ratings for the AMAs.
Broadway: “Hamilton” Falls Below $2 Mil Take for Week First Time Since Mid June
Don’t worry. It’s not “Hamilton” isn’t still the phenomenon of all time.
But this past week for the first time since June 12th, the Pulitzer and Tony winning musical fell below the $2 million mark. Also, the average ticket price dropped to $185.70, the lowest it’s been since June 5th.
The “Hamilton” gross was down by $170,000 from last week. Surprisingly, there have been weeks when that number was higher.
Should anyone be worried? Not a bit. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s masterwork still took in over $1.9 million, and finished second only to “The Lion King.” Is there any human left who hasn’t seen “The Lion King”? And in different languages?
Meanwhile, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons grossed $580,000 last week, selling 92% of the seats at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater. Not bad considering “Jersey Boys,” the fictionalized version of their story, made $830,560 around the corner at the August Wilson. That’s a lot of people in one week humming “Walk Like A Man.”
Oscar Games: Viola Davis Opts for Supporting Actress Category for “Fences” Despite Winning Tony as Lead
I am really sorry to hear this news: Viola Davis is going to campaign for Best Supporting Actress in “Fences.” She won the Tony Award for playing the same role as a lead actress. Hmmmm…
Davis was among the top 5 contenders for Best Actress as the Oscar race has shaped up. The other leaders are Annette Bening in “20th Century Women,” Natalie Portman in “Jackie,” Meryl Streep in “Florence Foster Jenkins” and Emma Stone in “La La Land.” I don’t know why Davis made the decision to opt for supporting. She’s one of our absolutely finest actresses, on a par with Streep and Cate Blanchett. I wish she would reconsider.
Taking Davis out of the Lead group moves Amy Adams up from “Arrival” or “Nocturnal Animals.” Some other names are lurking out there, too, including Marion Cotillard in “Allied,” Isabelle Huppert in “Elle,” and Kristen Stewart in “Personal Shopper.” There’s another rumor that Bening is also thinking of going into Supporting, which would be a heartbreaking decision. She’s the star of the movie.
Davis goes into Supporting with a solid group already forming including Michelle Williams from “Manchester by the Sea,” Margo Martindale in “The Hollars,” Greta Gerwig from either “20th Century Women” or “Jackie,” Elle Fanning from “20th Century Women,” Octavia Spencer from “Hidden Figures,” and Nicole Kidman from “Lion.”
Me? I say vote Viola into Lead anyway. Academy voters have the option of moving actors around in categories. I advocated that a few years ago when I wrote that Kate Winslet could be moved from supporting to lead in “The Reader.” And she won. Viola Davis is a superstar. Let her play on the main stage.
Viola, rethink this choice. Annette, please, stay where you are.
Box Office: Tom Cruise Poor “Jack Reacher” Sequel Opening Sets Star Back Four Years
MONDAY: The actual number for Tom Cruise was a little less than thought at $22,872,490. Tyler Perry exceeded his estimate, finishing at $28.5 million.
SUNDAY: Tom Cruise and “Jack Reacher” had a bad weekend, that’s for sure. First there’s the humiliation of being soundly trounced by Tyler Perry and Madea’s “Halloween.” (That movie did $27 million.)
Then there’s Tom. He’s never been a box office go getter. His biggest films are the “Mission: Impossible” franchise and “War of the Worlds.”
Otherwise, Tom is barely part of the $100 million club. “Edge of Tomorrow,” a really good film, was left in theaters like a squozed [sic] orange. They just waited and waited until it crossed the $100 mil mark.
The first “Jack Reacher” in 2012 made a total of $80 million. That’s on par for Tom Cruise movies domestically. “Oblivion,” “Knight and Day,” etc are in that average. This idea that he’s the World’s Biggest Movie Star is simply a PR thing. You have to go back to 2004 for “Collateral,” a non franchise movie that made over $100 million– and not a lot over. In 2002, “Minority Report” made $132 million. That’s 12 and 14 years ago.
So now “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.” It looks like a $23 million number 2 opening. That’s his worst overall opening in in four years. The reviews are pretty bad, too. So the people who wondered what happened to Jack Reacher the character now know, and next weekend many fewer will care one way or another. Internationally there will be great numbers now because Warner Bros. smartly opened in 25 or more countries on Wednesday and Thursday. And where English isn’t spoken, and Hollywood is far away, these movies are most welcome.
Tom gets a time out now until June, for “The Mummy.” As long as people line up for autographs, Cruise is insulated from reality. But between Scientology and the constant reminder that he doesn’t see his 10 year old daughter, his PR status is not a positive one. Now he’s got time to repair that.
(Watch) Lady Gaga’s Knockout “SNL” Performances of “Million Reasons” and “A YO (Mirror on the Ceiling)”
Lady Gaga was just great on “SNL” last night. “Million Reasons” was gorgeous and “A YO (Mirror on the Ceiling)” rocked the house. “Joanne” is her best album as it turns out, and it’s solid at number 1 on iTunes. On Amazon the price has gone up to $9.49, the big discount is over. I wish she’d sung my favorite song on “Joanne” — “Just Another Day.” I think that will be a great single. Both of the songs she performed on “SNL” moved up on the iTunes singles chart this morning, so the show had an effect.
Box Office Scare: Tyler Perry’s Halloween Movie Tops Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher
Boo! As in “Boo! A Madea Halloween” topped Tom Cruise’s return as Jack Reacher last night and kept the world’s biggest box office star from number 1.
“Madea” took in $9.4 million. Cruise came in at $8.9 million. “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” is Cruise’s only movie for 2016. And now Tyler Perry in drag may do him in.
On the specialty front, Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight” about a young gay black man’s coming of age– beloved by critics– took in a whopping $131,464 in four theaters last night. Indie distributor A24 has its first of a couple of big hits for the fall-winter season.
More to come…
Gotham Awards Get it Right with 5 Cool Best Features Including Manchester, Moonlight and Paterson
The Gotham Awards are the first awards of the movie season, given in New York right after Thanksgiving. They’re really for indie films, so you’re not going to have bigger movies like “Lion” or “Sully,” each potential Oscar nominees. “Manchester by the Sea” is going to sweep, and rightly so. But the rest of these choices are very, very good. I’m really happy that Richard Linklater’s “Everybody Wants Some” made it in, only sorry that Glen Powell wasn’t nominated. Let’s hope that whole gang comes in for the big dinner. PS If I had to quibble, I’d say the Gotham judges chose the wrong “Women”– I’d have put “20th Century Women” in Best Feature instead of “Certain Women.” The former is just sensational and Mike Mills really deserves a lot of nominations.
Best Feature
Certain Women
Kelly Reichardt, director; Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani, producers (IFC Films)
Certain Women
Kelly Reichardt, director; Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani, producers (IFC Films)
Everybody Wants Some!!
Richard Linklater, director; Megan Ellison, Ginger Sledge, Richard Linklater, producers (Paramount Pictures)
Manchester by the Sea
Kenneth Lonergan, director; Kimberly Steward, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Lauren Beck, Kevin J. Walsh, producers (Amazon Studios)
Moonlight
Barry Jenkins, director; Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, producers (A24)
Paterson
Jim Jarmusch, director; Joshua Astrachan, Carter Logan, producers (Amazon Studios)
Best Documentary
Cameraperson
Kirsten Johnson, director; Marilyn Ness, producer (Janus Films)
I Am Not Your Negro
Raoul Peck, director; Rémi Grellety, Raoul Peck, Hébert Peck, producers (Magnolia Pictures)
O.J.: Made in America
Ezra Edelman, director; Caroline Waterlow, Ezra Edelman, Tamara Rosenberg, Nina Krstic, Deirdre Fenton, Erin Leyden, producers (ESPN Films)
Tower
Keith Maitland, director; Keith Maitland, Megan Gilbride, Susan Thomson, producers (Kino Lorber, Independent Lens)
Weiner
Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg, directors and producers (Sundance Selects and Showtime Documentary Films)
Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
Robert Eggers for The Witch (A24)
Anna Rose Holmer for The Fits (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert for Swiss Army Man (A24)
Trey Edward Shults for Krisha (A24)
Richard Tanne for Southside with You (Roadside Attractions and Miramax)
Robert Eggers for The Witch (A24)
Anna Rose Holmer for The Fits (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert for Swiss Army Man (A24)
Trey Edward Shults for Krisha (A24)
Richard Tanne for Southside with You (Roadside Attractions and Miramax)
Best Screenplay
Hell or High Water, Taylor Sheridan (CBS Films)
Love & Friendship, Whit Stillman (Amazon Studios)
Manchester by the Sea, Kenneth Lonergan (Amazon Studios)
Moonlight, Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney; Screenplay by Barry Jenkins (A24)
Paterson, Jim Jarmusch (Amazon Studios)
Hell or High Water, Taylor Sheridan (CBS Films)
Love & Friendship, Whit Stillman (Amazon Studios)
Manchester by the Sea, Kenneth Lonergan (Amazon Studios)
Moonlight, Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney; Screenplay by Barry Jenkins (A24)
Paterson, Jim Jarmusch (Amazon Studios)
Best Actor*
Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea (Amazon Studios)
Jeff Bridges in Hell or High Water (CBS Films)
Adam Driver in Paterson (Amazon Studios)
Joel Edgerton in Loving (Focus Features)
Craig Robinson in Morris from America (A24)
Best Actress*
Kate Beckinsale in Love & Friendship (Amazon Studios)
Annette Bening in 20th Century Women (A24)
Isabelle Huppert in Elle (Sony Pictures Classics)
Ruth Negga in Loving (Focus Features)
Natalie Portman in Jackie (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Breakthrough Actor*
Lily Gladstone in Certain Women (IFC Films)
Lucas Hedges in Manchester by the Sea (Amazon Studios)
Royalty Hightower in The Fits (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Sasha Lane in American Honey (A24)
Anya Taylor-Joy in The Witch (A24)
* The 2016 Best Actor/Best Actress and Breakthrough Actor nominating panels also voted to award a special Gotham Jury Award for ensemble performance to Moonlight, “in which actors at all levels of experience give outstanding performances that speak eloquently to one another both within and across each chapter of the story.” The awards will go to actors Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Alex Hibbert, André Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monáe, Jaden Piner, Trevante Rhodes, and Ashton Sanders.
Breakthrough Series – Long Form
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Rachel Bloom & Aline Brosh McKenna, creators; Marc Webb, Rachel Bloom, Aline Brosh McKenna, Erin Ehrlich, executive producers (The CW)
The Girlfriend Experience, Lodge Kerrigan, Amy Seimetz, creators; Steven Soderbergh, Philip Fleischman, Amy Seimetz, Lodge Kerrigan, Jeff Cuban, Gary Marcus, executive producers (Starz)
Horace and Pete, Louis C.K., creator; M. Blair Breard, Dave Becky, Vernon Chatman, Dino Stamatopoulos, executive producers (louisck.net)
Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Melissa Rosenberg, creator; Melissa Rosenberg, Liz Friedman, Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Joe Quesada, Dan Buckley, Jim Chory, Jeph Loeb, Howard Klein, executive producers (Netflix)
Master of None, Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, creators; Michael Schur, David Miner, Dave Becky, executive producers (Netflix)
Breakthrough Series – Short Form
The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo, Brian Jordan Alvarez, creator (YouTube)
Her Story, Jen Richards and Laura Zak, creators (herstoryshow.com)
The Movement, Darnell Moore, Host (Mic.com)
Sitting in Bathrooms with Trans People, Dylan Marron, creator (Seriously.TV)
Surviving, Reagan Gomez, creator (YouTube)
Twenty-nine writers, critics and programmers participated in the nomination process. The
Nominating Committees for the 2016 IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards were:
Nominating Committee for Best Feature, Best Screenplay, and Breakthrough Director:
Justin Chang, Film Critic, Los Angeles Times
Ann Hornaday, Chief Film Critic, The Washington Post
Eric Kohn, Deputy Editor & Chief Film Critic, Indiewire
Dana Stevens, Movie Critic, Slate
Stephanie Zacharek, Film Critic, TIME
Nominating Committee for Best Documentary:
Joanne Feinberg, Producer, Consultant, and Curator, FeinFilm
Ben Fowlie, Executive Director of the Points North Institute; Founder of the Camden International Film Festival
Cynthia Fuchs, Film-TV Editor, PopMatters; Director of Film & Media Studies, George Mason University
Tom Hall, Executive Director, The Montclair Film Festival
Sky Sitney, Professor, Film and Media Studies, Georgetown University; Co-Director, Double Exposure Festival
Nominating Committee for Best Actor and Best Actress:
A.A. Dowd, Film Editor, The A.V. Club
Mark Harris, Columnist, Vulture
Jessica Kiang, Features Editor & Festival Critic, The Playlist; Film Critic, Variety
David Rooney, Chief Theater Critic, The Hollywood Reporter
Alison Willmore, Critic, BuzzFeed
Nominating Committee for Breakthrough Actor:
Bilge Ebiri, Film Critic, Village Voice
David Ehrlich, Senior Film Critic, Indiewire
Tim Grierson, Senior U.S. Critic, Screen International; Chief Film Critic, Paste
Sheila O’Malley, Writer/Film Critic, RogerEbert.com, The Sheila Variations
Katie Walsh, Film Critic, Tribune Content Agency, Los Angeles Times
Nominating Committee for Breakthrough Series – Long Form:
Matthew Gilbert, TV Critic, The Boston Globe
Liz Shannon Miller, TV Editor, Indiewire
Sonia Saraiya, TV Critic, Variety
David Sims, Senior Associate Editor, The Atlantic
Tim Goodman, Chief Television Critic, The Hollywood Reporter
Nominating Committee for Breakthrough Series – Short Form:
Rich Goldstein, Producer, The Daily Beast
Randi Kleiner, Founder & CEO, SeriesFest
Paula Mejia, Reporter & Culture Writer, Newsweek
Aymar Jean Christian, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, Northwestern University
deep euphoria Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Filmmakers ‘Live the Dream’ Grant
For the sixth consecutive year, euphoria Calvin Klein is proud to present the Spotlight on Women Filmmakers ‘Live the Dream’ grant, a $25,000 cash award for an alumna of IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs or IFP’s Screen Forward Lab. This grant aims to further the careers of emerging women directors by supporting the completion, distribution and audience engagement strategies of their first feature film or episodic series. The nominees are:
Shaz Bennett, director, Alaska is a Drag
Katie Orr, director, Poor Jane
Roxy Toporowych, director, Julia Blue