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Exclusive: Oliver Stone’s “Snowden” Screens for NY Media Elite Pre-Toronto

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: Oliver Stone’s “Snowden” Screens for NY Media Elite Pre-Toronto

Oliver Stone’s controversial new movie “Snowden” got a pre-Toronto Film Festival screening last night in East Hampton for New York media elite and others (like me). The occasion was that Stone was out east for a respite before his Toronto gala on September 9th, the official world premiere.

Among the people I ran into were Joy Behar, Katie Couric, Bob Balaban (and wife Lynn on crutches), Christie Brinkley– who brought her burgeoning actor son Jack, Sony Pictures Classics’ Michael Barker (it’s not his film, but he wanted to see it), Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen and Patricia Duff, and so on.

Stone is absolutely one of my favorite film directors, from “Salvador” to “Savages,” so I was certainly curious about “Snowden,”which stars Joseph Gordon Levitt and Shailene Woodley with nice supporting work from Rhys Ifans and Scott Eastwood among others. Melissa Leo plays doc maker Laura Poitras, Zachary Quinto is Glenn Greenwald. Tom Wilkinson, Joely Richardson, and Nicolas Cage are also prominently featured.

No reviews til September 9th but I do think “Snowden” will cause an uproar in good ways– there will be lots of discussion. Stone had 8 or 9 meetings with the spy, hero or traitor (pick any) in Russia, he says. The director also brought along NSA whistleblower Bill Binney, who is really interesting and had a lot to say about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. (He doesn’t like any of them.)

I really enjoyed “Snowden” because it’s a real movie. No one wore a cape, there was no gunplay or violence, everyone kept their clothes on, and the subject matter had to do with our lives and our future. Hard to believe. Also, there’s a chance I learned how to solve a Rubik’s cube. It’s all good!

Box Office: “Ben Hur” Remake Tanks with $11.4 Million, “War Dogs” Doesn’t Do Much Better

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: “Ben Hur” Remake Tanks with $11.4 Million, “War Dogs” Doesn’t Do Much Better

Weekend box office: as predicted “Ben Hur” tanked. The total was $11.4 million, less than the lowest prediction. That’s a washout for Paramount. “Ben Hur” cost about $150 million. Maybe there will be foreign ticket sales. One can only hope.

“War Dogs” came in with a very sour $14.3 million.

“Suicide Squad” was number 1 again. “Sausage Party” was a very un Kosher $15.3 million, up to total $65 mil.

Summer 2016 cannot end fast enough for the studios.

Keep refreshing…

Jack Nicholson Makes Rare Appearance at Music Fundraiser in the Hamptons for Legendary Apollo Theater

Roger Friedman
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Jack Nicholson Makes Rare Appearance at Music Fundraiser in the Hamptons for Legendary Apollo Theater

jack nicholsonOscar winner Jack Nicholson, a true Hollywood star, made a rare appearance last night in the Hamptons at at music fundraiser for the legendary Apollo Theater. Nicholson, who is seen pretty much only at LA Lakers games and annually in the Hamptons, stays with art dealer Larry Gagosian in his East Hampton compound.

Lionel Richie, Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton, Pharrell Williams, Usher, Ciara and Jon Bon Jovi performed for a small room of people at The Creeks, who paid $10,000 a ticket to help the Apollo, Harlem’s booming beacon of culture. Usher is in town anyway for Monday night’s premiere of “Hands of Stone.” Bon Jovi lives in the Hamptons. Revlon sponsored the event.

Guests included the people who come every year, including Christie Brinkley, Lorraine Bracco, Don Johnson, Colin Powell, and Jennifer Lopez, who did not sing despite the presence of a live band. The dinner raised $5 million even though not a single performer had anything to do with the Apollo’s legacy as the home of R&B and soul music.

lawrence scottThe Apollo event was one of many yesterday including the annual Artists and Writers Softball Game– which featured beloved NY Yankee manager Joe Torre; Michael Bolton’s annual charity dinner produced by Lawrence Scott; and AVENUE Magazine’s dinner on the Beach at Baker House.

Superstition – not at #ApolloInTheHamptons #CampPerelman #RonaldPerelman @bonjovi

A video posted by Jason Binn (@jasonbinn) on

Lou Pearlman– Disgusting, Greedy Creator of Backstreet Boys, NSync, Dead at 62

Roger Friedman
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Lou Pearlman– Disgusting, Greedy Creator of Backstreet Boys, NSync, Dead at 62

One of the most awful people in the world has died in jail. Lou Pearlman, 62, the disgusting, greedy creator of the the boy bands Backstreet Boys, O Town and ‘NSync, is dead.

Pearlman was serving time for a 2008 conviction for running a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of $300 million. He was also alleged to have participated in unsavory acts against underage performers. He denied it. He was sued by almost all his acts in federal court for a variety of malfeasance.

Sleazy and sweaty, Pearlman had a stroke in jail in 2010. US Weekly says he then lost 75 pounds. Apparently that wasn’t enough.

Pearlman’s whole sordid history can be read here. I’m not putting up his picture because I can’t look at him.

(Video) Frank Ocean Drops a Second Album in 2 Days, Featuring New Single “Nikes”

Roger Friedman
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(Video) Frank Ocean Drops a Second Album in 2 Days, Featuring New Single “Nikes”

Didn’t I just write a story about Frank Ocean releasing a visual album (or whatever) called “Endless”? Yes, I did.

Now, I guess around 7pm Eastern, Ocean dropped a second album– a real album– called “Blonde,” formerly known as “Boys Don’t Cry.” Why not? Just whatever, drop it the day after albums are released with no actual notice. If I were in marketing at this record companies I’d be living on Xanax.

Anyway, it’s on iTunes and AppleMusic exclusively, so what the—. When it’s on Amazon or Spotify, I’ll hear the whole thing.
Here’s the first single “Nikes” with a nod to Trayvon Martin. You’ll be playing it a few times over.

1. “Nikes”
2. “Ivy”
3. “Pink + White”
4. “Be Yourself”
5. “Solo”
6. “Skyline To”
7. “Self Control”
8. “Good Guy”
9. “Nights”
10. “Solo (Reprise)”
11. “Pretty Sweet”
12. “Facebook Story”
13. “Close To You”
14. “White Ferrari”
15. “Seigfried”
16. “Godspeed”
17. “Future Free”

Hillary Clinton Hollywood Fundraiser Replaces Scandal Plagued Leonardo DiCaprio with Justin Timberlake

Roger Friedman
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Hillary Clinton Hollywood Fundraiser Replaces Scandal Plagued Leonardo DiCaprio with Justin Timberlake

Leonardo DiCaprio‘s charity scandals and problems with lawsuits over “Wolf of Wall Street” have come back to bite him. Hillary Clinton’s campaign has replaced him as host of a Hollywood fundraiser on Tuesday with Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel.

Despite winning the Oscar this year, DiCaprio is mired in scandals regarding his own charity, the Leonardo Di Caprio Foundation, and lawsuits and arrests concerning the funding “The Wolf of Wall Street.” The latter stretches all the way to Malyasia, where suspicious murders have been tied to missing funds that were used to finance the hit movie.

Clinton’s campaign says DiCaprio had to bow out because he’s finishing a documentary called “The Turning Point” for a premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. But that’s a rather lame excuse since the movie is being made by Fisher Stevens and Martin Scorsese’s documentary team, is mostly done and isn’t even playing in Toronto for three weeks. It’s hoped that it’s not the snoozer that “The 11th Hour”– DiCaprio’s last spiel on climate change– was. DiCaprio could easily have hosted a Tuesday lunch in Los Angeles for dignitaries. It’s not like he flies commercial. He’s well known at this point for using private plans like they’re taxis.

Clinton doesn’t need the tsuris of DiCaprio’s bad publicity right now. Timberlake and Biel are squeaky clean, lovely, and he can always sing a little. Maybe he’ll sing “Bye Bye Bye” to Donald Trump!

 

Box Office: “Ben Hur” Remake in 4th Place on Friday, Aiming at Disastrous $12 Mil Weekend

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: “Ben Hur” Remake in 4th Place on Friday, Aiming at Disastrous $12 Mil Weekend

“Ben Hur”– urgh, I don’t want to keep beating these dead horses. Friday box office was dismal, with the remake coming in 4th and posting $4.3 million. Will it actually clear $12 million by Sunday night? Who knows? The damage is done.

“War Dogs” had a little more pep in its step Friday night, but not much. The total for Thursday-Friday was $5,530,000– but that included $1.2 million on Thursday. So, really, $4.3 mil on Friday night is very bad indeed. I just don’t understand this film and how it was created. It’s a Scorsese knock off. It’s like when you’re in the Louvre, and you think you’re seeing a Rembrandt, but then the tag sales “from the school of Rembrandt.”

All the fanboys and girls ‘hate’ “Suicide Squad,” but it’s rockin’ along at number 1, about to cross the $500 mil mark. Not bad.

 

 

Tom Cruise Wants More Money for “Mission Impossible 6” Because His Other Films Are Not Big Hits

Roger Friedman
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Tom Cruise Wants More Money for “Mission Impossible 6” Because His Other Films Are Not Big Hits

We all liked Tom Cruise in “Edge of Tomorrow,” or at least, we liked the movie. It made just $100 million, and that required leaving it in theaters well past its expiration date.

“Oblivion,” which preceded “Edge,” made just under $90 million.

“Jack Reacher”– $80 million.

“Rock of Ages”– $38.5 million

In fact, you have to go all the way back to 2005 and “War of the Worlds” to find a Tom Cruise movie other than “Mission: Impossible” that’s been an out and out hit– “War” did $250 million.

And that’s why Tom Cruise wants more money for “Mission: Impossible 6.” Reports are that ‘soft’ lead up production was halted on “MI 6” this week because Cruise is still in negotiations. His agents are looking for bigger cuts of all the action. The reason is, “Mission Impossible” has become Cruise’s main stem income, just as “Pirates of the Caribbean” has for Johnny Depp.

They are actors who will one day (when we are old) get Lifetime Achievement Oscars. But right now, they are aging, and their expenses are going up while receipts are going down. Cruise doesn’t have a lot of years left for hanging off planes or repelling along the world’s tallest buildings, no matter what trainer he hires.

And then there’s the matter of living a very high life. As Michael Jackson learned the hard way, carrying lots of people, staff, family, flying on private planes, etc– it costs a lot, even if the studio pays for it. On top of that, no one really has any idea how much Cruise has devoted to Scientology. We can assume it’s a lot.

Meanwhile, Paramount has to be tense over dealing with Cruise. Not only is he a financial liability in some ways, but the studio has a lot of issues this year. Setting aside the whole Sumner Redstone saga, Paramount has had only one $100 million hit so far in 2016– “Star Trek Beyond” at $135 million, and it’s a money loser. “Beyond” cost at least $185 million, and worldwide has brought in just $215 million. Not good.

Of course, they do have Tom Cruise in “Jack Reacher 2,” but sequels traditionally do less well than the original films. “Jack Reacher” was not a big hit, so who knows?  Paramount is counting on a late 2016 for its hits–Martin Scorsese’s “Silence” and Denzel Washington’s “Fences” should be substantial successes, and bring in Academy Awards. But they’ve got to be eyeing “MI:6” with a wary wallet.

Trayvon Martin’s Family Makes Cameo in New Kate Hudson-Chadwick Boseman Film “Marshall”

Roger Friedman
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Trayvon Martin’s Family Makes Cameo in New Kate Hudson-Chadwick Boseman Film “Marshall”

RadarOnline is reporting that Reginald Hudlin’s “Marshall” is getting some unique cameos.

The parents and family attorney of Travyon Martin are said to have filmed cameos in “Marshall,” an Open Road film that may be released before the end of the year.

Of course, the movie is set in 1940, so the Martin group couldn’t be playing themselves. They’re portraying a black family in Connecticut connected to the character played by Sterling K. Brown– a real life story of a black chauffeur named Joseph Spell who was accused of raping a socialite (played by Kate Hudson).

Josh Gad plays my great uncle Sam Friedman, who defended Spell. Chadwick Boseman plays a young Thurgood Marshall, sent by the NAACP to assist in the trial.

The Martins would be a good publicity hook for “Marshall” and a way to link racism of the past with today’s headlines.

 

Box Office Weekend Disaster Looms as “Ben Hur” Remake Earns Just $900,000 on Thursday Night

Roger Friedman
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Box Office Weekend Disaster Looms as “Ben Hur” Remake Earns Just $900,000 on Thursday Night

What if you rode around in a chariot and no one cared?

Last night the “Ben Hur” remake took in just $900,000. For a movie with what is probably a $150 million pricetag, that is very alarming.

All signs point to a disastrous weekend. The original estimate was $12 million but it may be much much worse.

Warner Bros.’ “War Dogs” didn’t do much better on Thursday with $1.6 million. The very Martin Scorsese-lite film by Todd Phillips is like the bastard child of “Wolf of Wall Street” and “The Big Short.” A narration device is used that makes “War Dogs” sound like both films. Miles Teller and Jonah Hill seem like they can’t stand each other even in scenes where they’re supposed to be friendly.

The film is also offensive in so many ways. And Jonah Hill’s weight (I emphasize as I struggle with it too) is very shocking. Teller, who was interesting in “Rabbit Hole” and “Whiplash” moves to a two word title and gets blander. The real star is Ana de Armas, who I could see in a lot more movies. Wasted totally: Shaun Toub, a fine actor whose screen time is cut to ribbons.

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