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Broadway: “Hamilton” Falls Below $2 Mil Take for Week First Time Since Mid June

Roger Friedman
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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

Roger Friedman
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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

Roger Friedman
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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)”

Roger Friedman
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(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

Roger Friedman
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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

Roger Friedman
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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)

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)

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)

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 

Jake Gyllenhaal’s Broadway Run in “Burn This” Postponed Until Next Season– Maybe

Roger Friedman
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Jake Gyllenhaal’s Broadway Run in “Burn This” Postponed Until Next Season– Maybe

Back on July 19th there was a big announcement: Jake Gyllenhaal was coming to Broadway in a revival of Lanford Wilson’s “Burn This.” The play was set for a run beginning next February. The other excitement was that the production would reopen the Hudson Theater on West 44th St. now owned by the Ambassador Theater Group. Michael Mayer was set to direct.

Well, it’s not happening. Announced this evening, the production has been postponed until the 2017-18 season– meaning a year from now. This is “due to scheduling conflicts with the show’s star” says the press release without mentioning Gyllenhaal’s name. Whoops! Maybe he’s not going to be in it at all. Too bad.

What’s Jake doing that he can’t be in the play all of a sudden? Who knows? He’s really great in Tom Ford’s film “Nocturnal Animals,” coming next month. And he’s got a bunch of movies in the can and some that haven’t started. Doesn’t quite make sense. But these things rarely do.

Maria Aragon, Discovered by Lady Gaga in 2011, Has Blossomed Into a Great Singer

Roger Friedman
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Maria Aragon, Discovered by Lady Gaga in 2011, Has Blossomed Into a Great Singer

Maria Aragon was 11 when she was discovered by Lady Gaga in 2011. Five years later, Maria is rocking Canada and preparing her soon to explode career. With Gaga on the charts today, it seemed like a good time to see what was happening with Maria. Check out these videos. Maria was signed by Steven Nowack in Toronto, and is featured on his website. Big things are coming. I am assured. Just check out this performance from last December–how long before she conquers America?

how it all started:

Madonna, Jay Z Bring New Lows to the Songwriters Hall of Fame Nominations

Roger Friedman
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Madonna, Jay Z Bring New Lows to the Songwriters Hall of Fame Nominations

Madonna and Jay Z have been nominated for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. And you thought Trump signaled the end of the world.

Madonna’s hits were all written by other people. Two of those people, Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly– who wrote “Like a Virgin”–were inducted a few years ago. Madonna wouldn’t come to the ceremony even to sing the song, and the guys made jokes about it.

Most of Madonna’s early hits were written by Stephen Bray and or Patrick Leonard. William Orbit took over after that. Maybe you could say Madonna “inspired” some of her hits. But this isn’t the Inspiration Hall of Fame. Every songwriter already inducted should sign a petition against this.

This is the 2nd time SHOF has tried to get Madonna in there. If it works, it’s sad.

As for Jay Z, his inspiration for “songwriting” is taking existing pieces of music– a like a song from “Annie”– and using it to support his rap lyrics. Jay Z doesn’t know how to write music and hasn’t written music. His raps are great, they belong in the Rap Hall of Fame. They could even be considered a form of poetry. But they are not songs.

The other nominees actually wrote songs: Cat Stevens, Gloria Estefan, the late PJ Sloan, Bryan Adams, George Michael, the amazing Sylvester “Sly Stone” Stewart, as well Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and Swedish hitmaker Max Martin. All of them deserve to be inducted.

Hal David must be spinning in his grave today. Really. The music publishers are really leaning on the SHOF now like never before. All things must pass away.

Amazon Deep Discounts Lady Gaga’s Excellent “Joanne” Album for $3.99 in Sales Panic

Roger Friedman
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Amazon Deep Discounts Lady Gaga’s Excellent “Joanne” Album for $3.99 in Sales Panic

Amazon.com_Lady_Gaga_Songs,_Albums,_Pictures,_Bios_-_2016-10-21_08.57.13Either Amazon or Interscope or both of them have dealt a blow to Lady Gaga‘s “Joanne.” They’ve deep discounted MP3 downloads of the album for $3.99, just about the lowest you’re allowed to price an album for and still make the charts.

The album was released last night and went right to number 1 on both iTunes and amazon. But the deep discount is going to cause a furor since most MP3 albums are priced between $8.99 and $11.99. Deep discounting in the past led to an industry wide decision that albums had to be priced at a minimum of $3.49 to be eligible for the charts.

But pricing “Joanne” so low is a signal that neither Amazon nor Interscope has much confidence in the record. And that basically sucks. “Joanne” turns out to a terrific collection, Gaga’s best yet, most mature offering. And by mature I don’t mean boring. Far from it. It’s really a rich group of songs and one that has to be heard in its context. For some reason, Interscope has already thrown three singles into release, none of which has caught on. They came with no context and no marketing as far as I can tell. Is this because Gaga is leaving the label? Is Interscope going to kill a great album? I think that’s a valid question.

Well, at least I’ve helped. Last night I downloaded the iTunes version for $11.99, thinking there was no Amazon download. Now I’ve added the $3.99 version. You know what? It was worth it. “Joanne” is just great. Lady Gaga’s fans had better buy tons of these albums. And I hope radio gets on some of these songs. They’re hits. (I really love “Just Another Day.”) This could be Gaga’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” It’s that good.

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