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“Fifty Shades of Grey” Casts Dakota Johnson and Charlie Hunnam in Leads

Roger Friedman
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“Fifty Shades of Grey” Casts Dakota Johnson and Charlie Hunnam in Leads

The mega bestselling piece of junk novel has found its movie leads: Dakota Johnson will play Anastasia Steele. Charlie Hunnam will be Christian Grey, the man who ties her up a lot. Johnson is the daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith. Hunnam is  a star of “Sons of Anarchy” and has for a long time been a guy who just about to break out big time. Sam Taylor Johnson, who was Sam Taylor Wood until she got pregnant by (at age 43) and married 19 year old British actor Aaron Johnson, is the director. (Aaron Johnson is now 23, and Sam Taylor etcetera is 46.)

This should be good, right? If history tells us anything, movies made from really awful bestsellers do not turn out great. The material is so bad, and once it’s filmed, it looks worse. Harold Robbins, Jacqueline Susann, and Judith Krantz hubba hubba hot sexy books all turned out this way on screen.

With “Fifty Shades,” it could be a couple of results: it’s too hot for a R rating, gets an NC-17, and has to be edited severely. Or they just don’t bother to go for it, so the movie doesn’t meet any expectations. And then we have recent examples like “Friends with Benefits” or “Love and Other Drugs” each of which was extremely tedious. Watching naked actors loses its novelty after 20 minutes. And if the dialogue comes from that book, the word “Glitter” won’t be too far behind.

Well, good luck to everyone. A lot of publicity will accompany this project. People will be “shocked” and “stunned,” there will be muffled protests, anger from women’s groups, and a big kerfuffle. Two years from now “Fifty Shades” will be on Netflix. Pass the handcuffs.

PS The big story will be which designer get the tie tie-in. The ties must be great looking but sturdy. My vote would be Zegna. Not like I know anything about this.

 

MDA Labor Day Telethon is a Ratings Bust, Finishing 4th for the Night

Roger Friedman
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MDA Labor Day Telethon is a Ratings Bust, Finishing 4th for the Night

I can’t say I’m shocked. The MDA Show of Strength “telethon” on ABC was a ratings bust. It finished four last night at 9 and at 10pm, well behind the network competition. In the four half hours, it went from 1.72 million viewers to 1.26 to 1.10 to 1.25. The telethon had a significant fall off from ABC’s “Secret Millionaire” at 8pm, which had 3.98 million. Four or five times the number of people were watching CBS all night from “Big Brother” through “The Mentalist”– and the latter was a repeat. The MDA demo was less than “60 Minutes,” show that skews older anyway. Frankly the Backstreet Boys felt very much like an “Andy Williams Show” act. There was no connection with a young audience at all. MDA’s actual donations during the two hours remain a mystery. Here’s the deal: Jerry Lewis at least provided kitschy hipness from Vegas, with the potential for something cool to happen. The show at least had the Rat Pack vibe in its history. Last night’s show was like a visit to an 8 track counter. But Kenny Loggins is either using amazing cosmetics or has a fantastic plastic surgeon. God bless him, he’s 65.

Box Office: “The Butler” Takes One Direction, Wins Labor Day Weekend

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: “The Butler” Takes One Direction, Wins Labor Day Weekend

Lee Daniels’ “The Butler” won the four day weekend box office for Labor Day, beating teeny boppers One Direction. The Forest Whitaker-Oprah Winfrey drama took in $20 million total Friday- Monday, as opposed to $18 million for “This Is Us,” a 90 minute commercial for the hastily assembled boy band. That’s a relief, isn’t it? One Direction fans turned out less and less over the weekend. There was something they didn’t get from that film– was it sex, or anything personal? Maybe. “The Butler” meantime speeds along to the Oscars. It’s only one of three films released so far in 2013 that could make the top 10 and only one of 2 that will probably will. (I’d rank them “The Butler,” “Blue Jasmine,” and “Fruitvale Station.”) “The Butler” is headed for $100 million and then some.

photo c2013 showbiz411

MDA Fibs About Telethon Money Collected on Website Tote Board

Roger Friedman
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MDA Fibs About Telethon Money Collected on Website Tote Board

MDA– I don’t get it. They just continue to play word games. It’s all semantics. On their website tote board this morning they’re touting over $54 million raised. You mean last night? From the telethon? No. No No. It’s right there, hiding in plain sight under the numbers: “MDA families thank the generous American public, and the collective contributions of our partners recognized on the telethon, for raising funds to continue the progress in the fight against muscle disease.”

Got that? I bolded the important wording. “The collective contributions of our partners recognized on the telethon.” That’s all the money they’ve collected all year– I suppose it’s since January 1st, 2013. The money collected from big corporations like JiffyLube who became defacto advertisers on the two hour ABC special non-telethon.

In fact, the digital tote board on the website showed just $13 million raised after two hours, and $17 million at 11:23pm. And even that fell under the “collective contributions” rubric.

How much money was raised during that actual broadcast? I think ABC has a mandate to break that down as they allowed this fundraiser on a regular network. If MDA announces $54 million raised on the telethon, ABC is going to have a lot of explaining to do.

Meantime, questions persist about that MGive Foundation, which collected the text message donations. Read my story from last night.

MDA 2Hour Telethon: $17 Million “Raised,” And Questions About Company Collecting Texts

Roger Friedman
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MDA 2Hour Telethon: $17 Million “Raised,” And Questions About Company Collecting Texts

The two hour MDA “Show of Strength” on ABC has just ended. The organization’s website has a digital tote board (since the show was taped a month ago). It says they raised $17 million as of 11:20pm EST. Based on past reports it’s not clear if that was raised or pledged. But more importantly, there’s a problem and I can’t believe it.

MDA uses a group called MGive Foundation in Colorado to collect its donations given by text messaging. But according to Guide Star, MGive Foundation hasn’t filed its own Form 990 tax filing since 2010. That’s three years ago. Under GuideStar rules, MGive could be dropped altogether now because three years is their limit for groups not filing. (They actually filed their 2010 report two years ago and haven’t filed again.)

In 2010, MGive says it collected $21.4 million and had expenses– I am assuming this was the forwarding of donations to charities who used them–$19.4 million. Where did the other $2 million go? I have no idea.

I can’t I’m comfortable with a text donation middle man company that doesn’t file its own reports spotlessly on time. It’s certainly alarming that MDA is using them.

And the show: humorless. Canned. Devoid of personality. Very sad, of course, because the kids need help and need research and money for it. No question about it. Jerry Lewis’s name was invoked once, in passing. Slickly produced. The actual donations will be a result of the audiences’ genuine feelings for the kids. The rest of it looked like it was produced in Branson, Missouri for a generic charity.

 

Labor Day Telethon: MDA New President Invokes Jerry Lewis Name in Letter to Followers

Roger Friedman
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Labor Day Telethon: MDA New President Invokes Jerry Lewis Name in Letter to Followers

Here’s a new twist: the new president of Muscular Dystrophy Association has invoked Jerry Lewis’s name in a letter to followers. Stephen M. Derks has posted a letter to website www.mdausa.org summarizing MDA accomplishments and asking for support. But Derks, newly installed from his position as head of the American Cancer Society in Chicago. invokes the name of MDA’s former spokesperson and standard bearer even though the organization famously fired Lewis three years ago.

First Derks writes: “Where would MDA and the fight against 43 muscle diseases be without the amazing Jerry Lewis? Certainly, we would not be at this hopeful spot. Forever he will be our greatest “muscle maker,” a true hero in the hearts of millions. He and all of our sponsors, and thousands of celebrities as well as millions of generous Americans who said “yes” to him, brought our fight into America’s living rooms.”

Then he adds: “Thanks to Americans saying yes to Jerry Lewis’ requests and the requests of all our sponsors and volunteers, new, lifesaving breakthroughs are not only on the horizon they are being injected into people today.”

This is what’s known as a “sop.” It’s a way of exploiting Lewis’s name without apologizing to him or making any kind of peace with him. Lewis must be bitterly amused. But Derks knows that regular contributors to MDA have declined tremendously since Lewis’s ouster. He almost must be fearing a bigger drop tonight after the 2 hour “Show of Strength” special, no longer a telethon, on ABC.

Look up the word “sop,” kids.

PS Lewis’s name appears nowhere else anymore on the MDA website. He’s been erased from their history.

One Direction Soft So Far; “The Butler” Might Have Best Box Office Ever for 4 Day Weekend

Roger Friedman
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One Direction Soft So Far; “The Butler” Might Have Best Box Office Ever for 4 Day Weekend

Box office: One Direction fans are simply not flocking to the box office to the boy band of 2013. So far “This Is Us” started with a strong Thursday-Friday $8 million take, then fell more than 50% and did $4 million on Saturday and pretty much the same today. The total now is $17 million. Meanwhile Lee Daniels’ “The Butler” looks like it could take the four day weekend. “The Butler” has improved each day over the weekend, the inverse of One Direction. Are One Direction fans simply not spending the money for tickets with back to school supplies needed? The box office response is simply not the tsunami that one might have predicted.

Elsewhere: Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine” has crossed the $20 million mark. Its next magic line will be $23.2 million, which was the total for “Vicki Cristina Barcelona.” Then $40 mil for “Hannah and Her Sisters” and $56 million for “Midnight in Paris.” All signs point to the first and maybe second landmarks. Plus awards season will churn it up again.

And Jennifer Aniston has a bona fide hit “We’re the Millers.”All that pole dancing paid off. The reviews weren’t very good, and early box office was so- so. But “We’re the Millers” has turned into the summer comedy hit, a choice away from all the heavy stuff. It may not be a classic comedy, but it’s a relief for searing temperatures.

Telluride: Movie Press Becomes Hyperbolic, Giving Everyone Oscar Nominations

Roger Friedman
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Between Venice and Telluride, the 2014 Academy Awards are over. Just like that. Staying in New York this Labor Day weekend, I’m getting a kick out of reading completely over the top reports from the festivals. Is everyone drinking too much coffee? As far as I can tell, Variety, THR, Deadline and The Wrap are falling over themselves to proclaim one movie “stunning” and another “a definite Oscar winner” — or some such nonsense.

Some of this comes from the writers not having been in Cannes, so they’re seeing some films like Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska” and Joel and Ethan Coen’s “Inside Llewyn Davis” for the first time. Yesterday’s mania came with “12 Years a Slave,” which is supposed to be pretty good. But to read Chris Willman in The Wrap, he needs a Valium. i could be just the altitude.

THR, of course, is already setting up Oscar predictions. And GoldDerby.com has put out its spread sheets. Kids, it’s September 1st. The Oscars aren’t until March 2, 2014. This is all a little premature. There are plenty more movies to see and performances to evaluate. It’s impossible to start drawing up lists now. Maybe around October 15th. But today? Keep Calm and Refrain from turning this into a circus.

I am a little amused that one article already predicted four of five Best Actor nominees. You know, a lot has to happen before we get to that point. Of movies released to the public so far, only three this season merit awards talk- “The Butler,” “Blue Jasmine,” and “Fruitvale Station.” Otherwise, really, get a grip. Both the Coens’ movie and the Payne movie looked like contenders in Cannes. Robert Redford was outstanding in “All I Lost.” Now word is that “Gravity” and “12 Years a Slave” are quite good. But few have seen these, they’re not released, and there’s a lot more to come.

The downside is that the general public doesn’t want to think about this for six solid months. And it’s going to spoil appreciating the good films. And there are plenty of those this season.

One Direction: Teeny Bop Doc Falls Short on Opening Night with $8.9 Mil

Roger Friedman
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One Direction: Teeny Bop Doc Falls Short on Opening Night with $8.9 Mil

Well, all you One Direction fans. You did not get out there last night to help the Faux Fab Five beat Justin Bieber’s opening night for his documentary. “One Direction: This is Us” did $8.9 million last night, a far cry from Bieber’s $13.1 mil Friday night opening a couple of years ago for “I Don’t Wear Shirts,” er, “Never Say Never.”

So “The Best Song Ever” wasn’t enough to draw out the tweeny girls. I’m surprised. Anyway, four day weekend could give Sony a $30-$33 million take, which isn’t bad. In real movie news, Lee Daniels’ “The Butler” made $3.6 million on Friday night, will have a nice $15 million weekend as it speeds toward its inevitable $100 million domestic.

“Getaway,” the worst reviewed movie of the year so far, made $1.4 million last night. That’s pretty good all things considered.

More numbers to come…

Here’s the video for Best Song Ever. It’s pretty funny.

 

Exclusive: Whitney Houston Estate Preparing Documentary About Late Singer

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: Whitney Houston Estate Preparing Documentary About Late Singer

Exclusive: details are still sketchy, but I am told that the Whitney Houston estate is putting together a documentary about the late singer. Executor Pat Houston, Whitney’s sister-in-law, is said to be the executive producer. The film could offer rare home footage and that sort of thing, but it certainly won’t be an objective film about Whitney’s rise and fall. It will most likely be a tribute film, much like the current One Direction infomercial in theaters now.

One thing about so-called documentaries about star singers: you can’t make ’em unless the principle performer or their estate agrees not to block rights usage of music and/or likeness. If a journalist were to make a film about Whitney Houston, the estate would block the rights to use her music. It’s too bad, because an actual doc about Whitney would try to examine what happened to her. This will likely be a rah-rah celebration.

We’ll see what happens, It will  be interesting to see how they handle Bobbi Kristina shacking up with the boy Whitney took in, and everything about Bobby Brown. That movie might be made in 20 years, but not now…

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