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Hugh Grant’s Possibly Last Movie Has No US Distributor, Flops in the UK

Roger Friedman
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Hugh Grant’s Possibly Last Movie Has No US Distributor, Flops in the UK

Everything about “The Rewrite” sounds like it would work– if it had been released in 1998. Hugh Grant plays  a failed screenwriter who takes a college teaching job as a writing instructor in Binghamton, NY. Crusty “Juno”  stars Allison Janney and J.K. Simmons are his kindly superiors. Marisa Tomei, a two time Oscar nominee, is his love interest. Marc Lawrence, capable sitcom movie maker (“Miss Congeniality,” “Words and Music”) is the writer-director. What could go wrong?

Well, we might be looking for “The Rewrite” on VOD very shortly. The rom com has no US distributor. It does have some foreign distributors, so it has started rolling out abroad. In the UK it  took in a paltry $500K its first week ending October 10. A few other lucky countries will follow. But in the US, there’s no sign of it.

On Rotten Tomatoes, “The Rewrite” has a decent 71%. From its trailer it looks funny, but also like a great movie of the week. Castle Rock, Rob Reiner’s once-powerhouse company, made it. They’re probably still dealing with the financial disaster of Reiner’s summer flop “And So it Goes” ($30 mil budget, $4 mil box office).

The 90s are really over. Grant has just one more movie in the can, playing Mr. Waverly in the big screen version of “The Man from UNCLE.”  We won’t see that until next year. It was moved from its January release date. Grant says he may be giving up acting. I don’t get it. If he really wanted to revive his career and make good  films, he could. He obviously doesn’t care. As for Marisa Tomei, like George Costanza I support her 100%! She can do no wrong!

Christopher Nolan’s Much Anticipated “Interstellar” Has Secret Sunday Screening

Roger Friedman
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Christopher Nolan’s Much Anticipated “Interstellar” Has Secret Sunday Screening

And so the Oscar season is in full swing. Sunday night, five days before any press sees it, Paramount is screening the space soap “Interstellar” for an A List crowd. They’re hoping to pull off a “Gravity” type success.

Secret invites tout the appearances of director Christopher Nolan as well as producer Emma Thomas (aka Mrs. Nolan), Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway, Emma Thomas, and others at the AMC Lincoln Square IMAX theater followed by a swanky dinner at the ’21’ Club. No press allowed. In fact, Paramount is hopeful that no one will write, Tweet, or other wise communicate their feelings about “Interstellar” until November 6th– three days after the New York premiere.

The guest list is supposed to be hush hush, too, although paparazzi should be picking off names at both locations.

So what’s the story on “Interstellar”? A source I spoke to last week says it has, of course, “amazing” special effects, even better than “Gravity.” and it’s not even in 3D. Nolan fans who started with the brilliant, backwards-told “Memento” and who were able to figure out “Inception” will be knee deep in long essays by the day it opens.

(Watch the trailer: “Interstellar” sounds a little like what happened to Krypton before it exploded. Everyone has to leave Earth before it explodes. Maybe they wrap a baby up in a Prada blanket and send him into space.)

The 169 minute movie– that’s 2 hours, 49 minutes– also features Casey Affleck, Matt Damon, Michael Caine, Ellen Burstyn, and the rarely seen  Wes Bentley. The powers that be are mounting a Best Actor campaign for Matthew McConaughey (who just won, so the likelihood is small), and Jessica Chastain for Best Supporting Actress (where she’ll tangle with the likes of Keira Knightley, Felicity Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts and so on). “It will get all the tech nominations and win them,” my source insists.

“Interstellar” is produced by Linda Obst, author of the Hollywood memoir with the best title ever: “Hello, He Lied.” That title just rings true for everyone if you’re a journalist trying to get a straight answer from anyone about anything in the film business. Obst really had it down, and that was in 1996.

Tom Cruise Wears His Special Gold Badge to the London Scientology Prom

Roger Friedman
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Tom Cruise Wears His Special Gold Badge to the London Scientology Prom

Whatever happened to Tom Cruise and Scientology? Certainly he’s given that up by now, right? Wrong. Cruise was snapped on Instagram yesterday wearing his special solid gold medallion to the annual Church prom in London. A tip of the hat to Tony Ortega of course, who posted on his site after another board found the pic on Instagram. Cruise is posing with a Venezuelan actress whose manager posted the photo. Ruddy Rodgriguez either believes Xenu is waiting for her, or thinks she might be snapped with the world’s most famous Hollywood star one day at a party in London. You guess. TomCruiseLondon

Anyway, Cruise is wearing the same Freedom Medal of Valor award he got 10 years ago right before he met Katie Holmes. This means that nothing that’s happened since then– ridicule over the couch jumping, Katie Holmes, losing his marriage and Suri, etc– has ever sunk in. Not even the Miscavige Clinic for the Criminally Insane on “General Hospital.”

 

Box Office Shocker: Adam Sandler’s Latest Release is DOA, Makes $475K in 21 Days

Roger Friedman
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Box Office Shocker: Adam Sandler’s Latest Release is DOA, Makes $475K in 21 Days

I don’t know if it’s a function of his deal with Netflix, or what is happening. But the latest release starring Adam Sandler is DOA at the box office. Total as of Sunday is $475K in 21 days.

“Juno” director Jason Reitman’s “Men, Women, and Children” made just $99,000 last night in 608 theaters. The social satire about families and their gadgets has been in stealth release since October 1st. Until Friday, in very limited number of theaters, “MWC” had made $154K.

The movie stars Sandler, Jennifer Garner, hot newcomer Ansel Elgort from “Fault in our Stars” and Dean Norris from “Breaking Bad.” Critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave it a very low ranking of 29%.

The poster for “MWC”  doesn’t help– it has no pictures of stars or their names. It’s just an illustrated crowd scene with the name of the movie buried in the mess.

The film played at the Toronto Film Festival. But even I didn’t realize it had opened on October 1st. Reitman also directed the much loved “Up in the Air” with George Clooney and is considered a hot director. His last release, though, was not (thanks to a sharp reader)  “Young Adult,” with Charlize Theron, fell short of the mark. Reitman’s more recent film was “Labor Day,” with Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin, making three  disappointments in a row.

Sandler just signed a huge deal with Netflix for four films that won’t be released to theaters, just online to Netflix subscribers. I said then that his box office was way off, and that this was the best thing to do for him. It does seem like “MWC” will be his lowest grossing movie ever.

Meantime, Brad Pitt in “Fury” did an ok $8.8 mil Friday night for a $22mil weekend. Not a blockbuster by any means…

 

Exclusive Premiere: Aretha Franklin’s Gorgeous Version of “Teach Me Tonight”

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive Premiere: Aretha Franklin’s Gorgeous Version of “Teach Me Tonight”

Dinah Washington made Sammy Cahn’s “Teach Me Tonight” (lyrics by Gene dePaul) a hit in 1954. Twenty years later, Phoebe Snow did likewise. Now Aretha Franklin does a gorgeous job of it on her new “Songs of the Great Divas” collection that hits iTunes, amazon, and stores on Tuesday. Here is Aretha’s version, and it swings:

Exclusive: Regina Hall, (Maybe) Taye Diggs Lining Up for Thriller “The Surrogate”

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: Regina Hall, (Maybe) Taye Diggs Lining Up for Thriller “The Surrogate”

Regina Hall is hot hot hot. Having starred in “Think Like a Man” and its sequel, “Think Like a Man Too,” Hall is getting an even bigger break. I’m told she’s signed to play one of the three leads in Jon Cassar’s “The Surrogate,” a thriller that should start production this fall or early winter. Unique Features’ Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, the pair who made New Line Cinema a household name, are the top producers.

I’m also told that Taye Diggs, who has co-starred with Hall before, may join her as her husband. The story is about a couple who hire a surrogate to carry their baby, and she wrecks havoc in their lives. It’s a little like  “The Hand that Rocks the Cradle.” Still not cast is the surrogate herself. (How about Sanaa Lathan?) Diggs is all but set, insiders say, although Michael Ealy may also be in the running. Stay tuned…

Cassar, a long time producer-director of “24,” just finished filming “Forsaken” with Kiefer Sutherland and his legendary dad Donald Sutherland, as well as the not- seen-enough Demi Moore…

Misty Upham, Lovely Actress from “Frozen River” and “August:Osage County,” Dead at 33

Roger Friedman
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Misty Upham, Lovely Actress from “Frozen River” and “August:Osage County,” Dead at 33

You’ve no doubt read that Misty Upham, a lovely actress who had big roles in “Frozen River” and “August: Osage County,” had been missing for days. Her family thought she might have considered  suicide. Misty apparently suffered from depression. She was found yesterday. I met Misty a few times, especially during the “AOC” publicity. She was soft spoken and funny. In a casual social environment you wouldn’t have known she was suffering.

Reports say the Upham family feels the police weren’t helpful when they sounded an alarm to find her. It doesn’t really matter. A family friend told Variety: “We just want to make it clear that the Auburn police had nothing to do with looking for her or finding her,” she said. “It was friends and family that led the search and rescue teams that found Misty.”

I once made some comment to Misty, not thinking, actually because I thought she was from Canada or upstate New York because her work in “Frozen River” seemed so real. She laughed and said, “Why should I know that? I’m from the West Coast!”

Rest in peace, Misty.

Frozen River sample scene from Chip Hourihan on Vimeo.

from the Facebook page of Auburn, Washington police:

It took nearly five hours for the Auburn Police Department and the Valley Regional Fire Authority crews to recover the body of a deceased person from a wooded area near the White River in Auburn. The body was discovered near Forest Ridge Dr. and has now been turned over the King County Medical Examiner for positive identification and a determination of cause of death.

Because a purse containing identification of Misty Upham was at the scene the body is presumed to be that of Upham. The Auburn Police Department states that there is no initial evidence or information to indicate foul play; however the Medical Examiner will make the final determination.

The body was discovered by a person related to a search party that had been assembled by the Upham family that was in the area searching for her at about 1 p.m. this afternoon.

The Auburn Police Department found the body approximately 150 feet down a steep embankment near the river heavily covered in brush. It took a 10-person crew to recover the body from the steep and wooded area.

The medical examiner is expected to release their findings in the next few days.

Upham was reported missing by her family on Oct. 6 and the Auburn Police Department had been investigating her disappearance.

Broadway: New Revival of “On the Town” Scores a Home Run with “Overnight” star Tony Yazbeck

Roger Friedman
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Broadway: New Revival of “On the Town” Scores a Home Run with “Overnight” star Tony Yazbeck

New York, New York, a helluva town, the Bronx is up and the Battery’s down. New York, New York, what a wonderful town.

Those words were written by Adolph Green and Betty Comden in 1944 for “On the Town” — music by Leonard Bernstein, choreography by Jerome Robbins. I was a kid when I was taken to the 1971 revival with Green’s famous actress wife Phyllis Newman, Bernadette Peters,  and Donna McKechnie as the three main ladies. Marilyn Cooper, the famous character actress, played kooky Lucy.

Last night, almost 70 years after the first opening, “On the Town” came back. I thought it would be a bit dull and kind of corny at this point– three sailors on leave in New York  for one day during World War II. They’re looking for girls, and they’re pretty naive. Not really for the iPhone- Tinder generation, right?

Wrong. Turns out the new “On the Town” may be the best production ever. Tony Yazbeck, a Broadway veteran under 40, becomes an “overnight” star. He’s a throwback to Gene Kelly, a guy’s guy who sings and dances and is spot on throughout with charm to spare.  All six main actors, plus comic genius Jackie Hoffman in several funny roles, are just wide-grin wonderful. It doesn’t hurt that the music by Bernstein, Comden and Green comes off sensationally. Last night, the conductor, James Moore, got a standing ovation at the start of Act 2. That never happens. Come see this orchestra, live in the pit.

This is the 8th musical John Rando has directed; only “Urinetown” ever really stuck. He makes his mark with “On the Town,”  with Joshua Bergasse adapting Jerome Robbins’ legendary choreography. Yazbeck and Megan Fairchild (in her Broadway debut) are simply dazzling in the ballet sequences, not to mention just about everything else.

In the audience last night was most of the late Adolph Green’s family including his composer daughter Amanda, writer son Adam, and widow Phyllis, now retired, the latter a popular presence still in the Broadway scene. She showed me a button she’d clipped to her handbag with a picture of Adolph. “I’ve brought him with me,” she told me. I asked her, “Weren’t you in this in the 70s?” Phyllis Newman answered, with a wave: “I was, but I wasn’t any good! These people are much better.” That’s not true.

Also on hand: Kristen Chenoweth, Steven and Maureen van Zandt, and the great Phil Smith, head of the Shubert Organization. The Lyric (formerly Foxwoods, where “Spider Man: Turn off the Dark” last lived) isn’t even a Shubert Theater. He just wanted to see the show. I also spotted Joanna Gleason and Chris Sarandon, and “Roky” Musical star Andy Karl and singer wife Orfeh. The big premiere party, down at Capitale on the Bowery, was pretty swanky in the tradition of old Broadway premieres at Roseland. They dressed the place up like a USO show. Not that I would know. I’ve seen them in the movies.

U2: iTunes Giveaway Results in Only Sales of 30,000 Physical CDs– Much Lower Than Previously Guessed

Roger Friedman
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U2: iTunes Giveaway Results in Only Sales of 30,000 Physical CDs– Much Lower Than Previously Guessed

U2′ s experiment with iTunes reaped lot of publicity — and maybe even some part of the “$100 million worth of marketing” that’s been bandied about.

But in real world terms, U2 is learning another lesson this week. Physical sales of their “Songs of Innocence” CD will fall between 27k and 30,000 copies by Sunday night.

Originally, the band thought it would do 125,000 copies. Then last week the number was revised down to 70,000 for “advance orders.” But that may have been a number total physical CDs and downloads available on November 18th of their “deluxe edition.” In the end, though, my friends at hitsdailydouble.com see a maximum of 30,000 copies sold, maybe fewer.

And that is the real state of the music business. As I said when U2’s album was launched during the Apple extravaganza on September 9th, U2 was trying to avoid a chart embarrassment. Now they will come in at around number 6 or 7 for the week. Only a small fraction of the people who accepted  their free iTunes download wanted the CD package (like me). The album cover couldn’t have helped.

Meanwhile, the number 1 album for the week will be country act  Florida Georgia Line with 190k to 200,000 copies of their latest. Last week, Jason Aldean sold 282,000 of his latest. Country music still sells to a loyal audience.

Bruce Springsteen Leads Standing Ovation for Sting Musical “Last Ship” Preview on Broadway

Roger Friedman
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Bruce Springsteen Leads Standing Ovation for Sting Musical “Last Ship” Preview on Broadway

Quite a night, last night, I’m told, at the preview for Sting’s musical The Last Ship” on Broadway. Bruce Springsteen led the standing ovation at the show’s end. He brought equestrian daughter Jessica Springsteen– sporting a new Julius Caesar type hair cut–mixed and mingled with the cast backstage afterwards including stars Michael Esper and Rachel Tucker.  Also backstage and congratulating everyone was Latin star actor and musician Ruben Blades. Ruben has just returned from five years of living in his hometown of Panama City, where he’s been helping the government with the tourist trade. Every night at “The Last Ship” the so called passengers– the audience– is filled with celebs apparently. The show opens on October 26th at the Neil Simon Theater.

photos courtesy of Getty Images and the great Walter McBride

sting, ruben blades, bruce springsteen

Actor Collin Kelley Sordelet gets a selfie with Bruce:

bruce with collin kelly sordelet of the last ship

bruce.and.sting.last.ship

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