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Rihanna Most Photographed At Annual Met Ball, aka Halloween for Hollywood

Roger Friedman
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Rihanna Most Photographed At Annual Met Ball, aka Halloween for Hollywood
Here’s the list, according to WireImage photo agency tonight. Rihanna wins. Anna Wintour made sure to at least tie for second place.  Rupert Murdoch can take consolation that his ex wife, beautiful Wendy Deng, won’t go away. She tied with Wintour. Sexy Henry Kissinger, who’s replacing Zayn in One Direction, tied with Katie Holmes and Madonna for 3rd place. Diana Vreeland and Alexander Liberman are rolling in their lavish graves. The theme of the evening was China: Through the Looking Glass. Only Lady Gaga read the fine print.

Harvey Gets the Last Laugh: “Finding Neverland” Only New Broadway Show Making Money

Roger Friedman
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Harvey Gets the Last Laugh: “Finding Neverland” Only New Broadway Show Making Money

The Tony nominators snubbed “Finding Neverland” with no nominations, not even for the curtain. But Harvey Weinstein’s getting the last laugh. “FN” just posted another week with over $1 million at the box office. It does seem that his adaptation of his hit Miramax movie is critic proof. One good reason: “Glee” star Matthew Morrison is bringing in the fans. So is Kelsey Grammer.

Meantime, I’m surprised to see that “Wolf Hall” is struggling. If you love theater, this is must see. The Royal Shakespeare Company, the real thing, high drama. But the two plays are only drawing 61% of capacity. The same goes for “The Visit” with Chita Rivera. “Something Rotten,” my choice for Best New Musical, has plenty of discounted seats. So does “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.”Also available: “It’s Only a Play,” the comedy that was completely sold out during Nathan Lane’s first run in it is now easy to get into. I don’t know why. It’s still hilarious.

On the plus side, “Fun Home” and “An American in Paris” are each at 97%. Helen Mirren is pretty much the big hit in “The Audience,” which is sold out. But “Skylight” is not quite full (you don’t a great seat–there are just three actors), and “Fish in the Dark” is at capacity until Larry David leaves at the end of May.

“Mad Men” Lost Horizon: The Dream is Over, But Joan Makes a Stab into the Future

Roger Friedman
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“Mad Men” Lost Horizon: The Dream is Over, But Joan Makes a Stab into the Future

Joan is just 40 years too early. Maybe that’s the whole point of “Mad Men.” Think about it–she’d be almost 80 if she were a real person. And she sees the whole thing right there before her in 1970. Talented, smart, beautiful, she’s earned her way to a significant moment in business. And now reality sets in. She is a woman. Sunday night Joan Holloway left the world of TV and faced the harsh facts of life. Whoops!

“Lost Horizon” references Freud and Kerouac not to mention Betty Friedan and David Bowie. The Sterling Cooper gang is now lodged at McCann Erickson, but you know it’s not going to work out. It’s 1970, not 2015. For a minute Joan almost time travels. Her back and forth with the agency’s CEO, Hobart, is brilliant. You think she’s going to win. In 2015, she would have taken him down. In 1970, Joan is doomed. Luckily, she has rich boyfriend whom she’ll probably marry. But Joan is a hero. Maybe she goes to work for Gloria Steinem.

Betty Draper Francis is reading Freud, the Dora cases. Did you know Dora’s real name was Ida Bauer? So it’s a riff on Diana Bauer, whom Don is chasing across the country. This is Don, who before he just walks out of his future, presses against the glass window pane of his office. He could fall through, and plummet to the ground like the character in the show’s opening. Later he takes on a hitchhiker who looks like Charles Manson. Matt Weiner is having fun with us.

Peggy and Roger have a surreal moment in the office. He’s playing the piano, she’s skating around the room. When we see her the next day, something’s happened. There’s been a jolt in time. Peggy has a new bravado. She’s wearing sunglasses, and dragging on a cigarette. How long will she last in the corporate set up? Not long, I’d say. Roger gives her a valuable painting– The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife– or as he puts it, an octopus pleasuring a woman. It belonged to Bert Cooper, who shows up for the second time a hallucination– to Don.

In the car, Don and Bert discuss “On the Road.” Here’s a line that could apply to Don from that novel: “I wasn’t scared; I was just somebody else, some stranger, and my whole life was a haunted life, the life of a ghost.”

Was “Lost Horizon” the last meeting of Betty and Don? Maybe. Where is he going once he establishes that Diana is unattainable? Back to Megan? “Space Oddity,” not really a hit for two more years, suggests that he has detached from the world he knew, for good.

Two more episodes. Just two more. So unfair.

PS I did like Joan’s boyfriend’s suggestion that they just hire a hit man to take out Hobart. Matt Weiner’s “Sopranos” days linger on !

 

 

UPDATE “Avengers” Sequel 2nd Biggest Weekend Ever, Makes Roughly 7 Times the Rest of Top 10

Roger Friedman
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UPDATE “Avengers” Sequel 2nd Biggest Weekend Ever, Makes Roughly 7 Times the Rest of Top 10

UPDATE The total was actually $191.2 million. Just in case you were worried.

EARLIER “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is now the second biggest opening weekend ever with $187.6 million. That’s roughly 7 times what the rest of the top 10 movies. combined, brought in this week. Everyone went to this one movie. Will there be anyone to see it this week? Who knows? That’s a lot of dough. Still, it wasn’t as much as the first “Avengers” movie. The original made $207 million its first weekend. That was three years ago. Who would have thought– I often say this– that those 12 cents comics we were buying in 1968 would turn out to be such popular movies? I, for one, cannot imagine sitting through the re-telling of Peter Parker’s back story one more time.  I hope Stan Lee is living in the most amazing castle somewhere. God bless.

 

 

Record Breaking: “Avengers” Sequel Second Biggest Opening Night Ever–Loki Will Seek Revenge

Roger Friedman
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Record Breaking: “Avengers” Sequel Second Biggest Opening Night Ever–Loki Will Seek Revenge

Marvel’s “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” had the second biggest opening night ever last night with almost $85 million. It beat its predecessor by nearly $5 million. The biggest opening ever remains the final installment of “Harry Potter” with $91 million. Yee-ha! “Age of Ultron” could break weekend records, too. Stay tuned. No matter what happens, the new “Star Wars” movie will likely top this number in a few months. But it’s all Disney, so everyone at the Mouse House is happy. Too bad for Loki. He was cut out of “Ultron.” Now he will seek revenge.

B.B. King Website Says He’s in “Home Hospice Care”– Prayers for the Indefatigable Legend

Roger Friedman
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B.B. King Website Says He’s in “Home Hospice Care”– Prayers for the Indefatigable Legend

Sad sad news: after losing Ben E. King just two days ago. Now comes the news that B.B. King is in home hospice care in Nevada. His website has posted that statement after CNN’s Las Vegas station reported that King was rushed to the local hospital on Thursday for dehydration. The 89 year old legend has been ill health for some time after abruptly stopping a tour last October. A little more than year ago, B.B. was showing signs of fatigue and ill health on the road after a lifetime of brilliant performances.

Why keep going at age 89? He loves the music but the real reason all older stars are on the road night after night is money. Performers who didn’t write their own music are not paid for radio plays. Only the authors of music are paid. So all your favorite musicians who recorded traditional blues or covered other people’s songs are basically out of luck. They have been since the start of the popular music era in 1954.

You could say that BB King has worked himself to death. We are sending him and his family prayers. He has made an incalculable contribution to the culture of the world.

Riley B. King was born in rural Mississippi on September 16, 1925. Frank Sinatra was his hero.

 

“Spider Man” Actor Andrew Garfield Got Himself Fired from Series by Insulting Sony Chief

Roger Friedman
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“Spider Man” Actor Andrew Garfield Got Himself Fired from Series by Insulting Sony Chief

Thanks to the Sony hacks, via Wikileaks, we now know why Andrew Garfield won’t be making any more “Spider Man” movies– or maybe any Sony films for the foreseeable future.

It turns that Garfield insulted Sony chief Kaz Hirai by snubbing him last summer in Rio de Janeiro at a big Sony gala celebrating the end of the World Cup. Kaz had planned to introduce Garfield as the star of “Spider Man 3” set for 2016 in a speech before 750 guests. But Garfield, having just arrived in Rio, made a huge mistake. He snubbed Kaz and never came down for dinner. Yikes. In Rio this didn’t go well, and the bad feeling reverberated. An email alerting everyone read: “Here we are about one hour away from our Gala event and Andrew decides he doesn’t want to attend.  He has a rather scruffy beard and he just wants to be left alone.”

Kaz Hirai had planned on making this speech:

Andrew is an actor who has graced the screen in roles in several important Sony Pictures Entertainment films, including The Social Network, in which he played Mark Zuckerberg’s onetime friend and co-founder of Facebook, Eduardo Saverin.  The Social Network, to my mind, is the Citizen Kane of the 21st Century, a film that social historians hundreds of years from now will point to as one of the most emblematic of our era.

[slide showing poster of The Social Network and The Amazing Spider-Man 2] Another historic movie starring Andrew is The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which continues to weave movie magic in hearts and minds around the world.  Together those two films have taken in more than $XXX million at the global box office.

I’m proud to say that Andrew will be returning as Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man 3, which will be released in May, 2016.

Needless to say, when Garfield didn’t come down for dinner, the speech was changed. Garfield next stars in “99 Homes” this September, and Martin Scorsese’s “Silence” with Adam Driver.

Here is a series of emails explaining all this:

Fwd: Andrew Garfield in RioBegin forwarded message:
From: “Clark, Nigel”Date: July 14, 2014 6:53:47 PM PDTTo: “Pascal, Amy”

Cc: “Blake, Jeff”

Subject: Andrew Garfield in Rio

Amy,
As requested, here are the relevant emails.
In red, at the very bottom: the email I received on Saturday afternoon, from Steve Bernard informing me that Andrew was not making the red carpet or the Sony gala dinner, and Kay Aoki’s response.

In blue: my email correspondence with Rupert upon receiving the news.
In black (immediately below): an email from Steve Bernard in response to my asking earlier today how Andrew was feeling.

As I mentioned when you called, it may very well be that Andrew met Kaz on the day of the match etc. I’m not aware of that.

Best,
Nigel

Very happy. Mark Wachter took him and Rupert surfing this morning. They are touring the city now.
Sony Music took them out for a late dinner last night.
I asked AG if he minded if I sat Santana next to him at the match. He had a big smile.

All good now

Stevan (Steve) Bernard
Executive Vice President – SEHS
Sony Pictures Entertainment

Rupert,
I’m sure the event was successful, despite Andrew’s absence. The last minute change to Kaz’s speech and to the seating arrangement was manageable, but it’s a slight to Kaz and the Sony hosts on the ground.
Nigel
_____

From: Rupert Fowler
To: Clark, Nigel; Enriquez, Vianne; Knight, Prue
Cc: Aoki, Keiko; Bernard, Stevan; van der Werff, Susan; Blake, Jeff
Sent: Sat Jul 12 16:13:35 2014
Subject: RE: URGENT URGENT: World Cup

​Hi Nigel,

He had been feeling under the weather all day and exhausted from coming off the plane early this morning so I gave as much notice as I could. Not ideal though I understand, hope it didn’t have too great an impact on things.
Rupert
_____

From: Clark, Nigel
Sent: 12 July 2014 19:56
To: Rupert Fowler; Enriquez, Vianne; Knight, Prue
Cc: Aoki, Keiko; Bernard, Stevan; van der Werff, Susan; Blake, Jeff
Subject: Re: URGENT URGENT: World Cup

Rupert,
I hear that Andrew decided at the last minute to skip the Sony event and dinner. Is that true? It puts us in an embarrassing situation with Kaz Hirai.
Nigel

That is extremely embarrassing….
But I will tell Kaz and change the seating and his speech!!
Thanks for letting me know.

Kay

From: Bernard, Stevan
Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2014 4:49 AM
To: Clark, Nigel
Cc: Aoki, Keiko
Subject: AG Problem – PLEASE READ
Importance: High

Nigel/Kay,
Here we are about one hour away from our Gala event and Andrew decides he doesn’t want to attend.  He has a rather scruffy beard and he just wants to be left alone

Grey’s Anatomy Loses 800K Viewers, Down 7% After Killing off Main Character

Roger Friedman
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Grey’s Anatomy Loses 800K Viewers, Down 7% After Killing off Main Character

Well, I hope Shonda Rhimes and ABC are happy happy happy. Last night “Grey’s Anatomy” lost 810,000 total viewers after killing off Patrick Dempsey’s Derek Shepherd. The key demo was down 7% from 2.8 to 2.6. Fans didn’t tune in to see the ridiculous two hour special in which Meredith Grey told friends dispassionately that her husband was dead. No one really cared. And then Meredith had a baby girl and named it for her mother. Shonda Rhimes must have really hated Patrick Dempsey. But did she hate him so much that she killed her show? I think “Grey’s” is over. The viewers aren’t coming back. This was really an act of hubris on a grand scale. What more is left to say of this show? It probably should have stopped after 7 seasons. But now, enough is enough. What a shonda (in Yiddish, a “shame.”)

Muscular Dystrophy Finally Ends Labor Day Show After Firing Jerry Lewis and Killing Telethon

Roger Friedman
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Muscular Dystrophy Finally Ends Labor Day Show After Firing Jerry Lewis and Killing Telethon

They killed their golden goose. MDA has finally decided no more TV special on Labor Day weekend. They had already destroyed the 21 hour annual telethon after kicking Jerry Lewis to the curb. The show was a fraud anyway at this point, as MDA regular counted corporate donations in their “telethon” total since Lewis left. I’ve already reported that they weren’t raising much money and couldn’t collect the pledges they’d received.

The show had been whittled down to a two hour pretape, a shadow of what Lewis had done with it. And now it’s gone. I see in the press release that the latest CEO of MDA, who’d moved the headquarters to Chicago, said the show was outdated. He also cited the Ice Bucket viral challenge as the new way of getting attention. But that was for ALS, not MDA. Someone should throw an ice bucket on MDA.

The real sadness here is that so many people around the country were motivated by, and counted on, the MDA Jerry Lewis telethon. The “Jerry’s Kids” rubric meant so much to people who had little hope and a lot of problems. The new MDA is out of touch with that. Lewis must feel that a lifetime of work has been flushed.

Sony Leaks: Environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio, Pals and Model Girlfriend Used Sony Private Plane as NY-LA Taxi Service

Roger Friedman
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3
Sony Leaks: Environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio, Pals and Model Girlfriend Used Sony Private Plane as NY-LA Taxi Service

You do wonder where all the money goes in Hollywood? Well, thanks to the Sony leaks we know a little more.

Leonardo DiCaprio with his friends and family used the private Sony jet to fly back and forth Los Angeles to New York last year as if it were a yellow taxi.

Amy Pascal approved hundreds of thousands of dollars to ferry Leo, his mother, his manager, his manager’s brother, and Leo’s posse pals in and out of New York. They left a carbon footprint the size of Godzilla’s left foot.

Leo also got the Sony jet to fly from Las Vegas to Los Angeles for $12,000. The flight lasts 1 hour. (Actually $26,000 round trip.)

The irony is that Leo does not make movies for Sony Pictures. His films have almost all been with Warner Bros., Paramount, and Miramax/Weinstein. His current film, “The Revenant,” is with Fox.

Sony wanted him to play Steve Jobs in a film that never came to be. Michael Fassbender is playing Jobs at Universal.

The other irony is that DiCaprio waxes on and on about the environment. His whole gang could have gotten on a JetBlue flight for considerably less. And they would have had TV and extra legroom.

Sony emails regarding billing approvals for different trips in amounts including $59,000; $37,206; and $63,600. The trips include catering and ground transportation.

One memo:
Provide why travel is required or why in-person meeting is necessary NY Meeting face to face

The gang was picked up at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and chauffeured into New York. This was one of many trips that included manager Rick York, his singer brother Pete Yorn, DiCaprio’s lovely mother, and other pals including model Toni Garrn and the aforementioned Haas, actor Vincent Laresca, and celebrity hairdresser Richard Ward.

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