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Justin Long’s “A Case of You” Gets IFC to Release

Roger Friedman
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Justin Long’s “A Case of You” Gets IFC to Release

Exclusive: It does look like IFC is closing a deal to distribute the Justin Long-written and acted indie rom com “A Case of You.” Kat Coiro directed this very amusing and charming film which was debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in April. Justin wrote the film with his brother and co-star Keir O’Donnell. Long and Evan Rachel Wood star as the main duo who, of course, are thrown together by odd circumstances.

There are very humorous performances by Busy Phillips, Peter Dinklage, Vince Vaughn, and Sam Rockwell. Holly Wiersma, Logan Levy and Cassian Elwes lead a list of producers who heard from several suitors after Tribeca. Long and co. are still hopeful they can get Joni Mitchell to help them with rights to her song. But even without it, they’ve got a gem of a film.

Cannes Gears Up For “Gatsby” Opening as Soundtrack CD Scores

Roger Friedman
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Cannes Gears Up For “Gatsby” Opening as Soundtrack CD Scores

The Cannes Film Festival is gearing up for Wednesday night’s red carpet premiere of “The Great Gatsby.” The film, with $55 million banked since Friday in the U.S., will launch worldwide from here.

Posters and adverts adorn the front of the famous Carlton Hotel. Tonight– Tuesday– the cast and their guests are getting a private dinner party at the Cap D’Antibes villa of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovitch.

On Thursday they’ll be treated to a private dinner at the famed Michelangelo restaurant.

In between, “Gatsby” opens the film festival on Wednesday with a black tie screening at the Palais on the Croisette. The whole gang– DiCaprio, Maguire, Mulligan, Luhrmann– will attend the festival dinner immediately following the screening. But by midnight they’ll be at yet another private party that will rage on until they retreat to the Hotel du Cap in Antibes.

Meantime, the “Gatsby” soundtrack surprised just about everyone this past week It finished at number 2 on the charts, selling around 135,000 copies. The CD collection is propelled by Beyonce, Jay Z, Emeli Sande, and will.i.am, among others.

Elsewhere in Cannes: the jury had a private dinner at the Hotel Martinez. Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, Nicole Kidman, and Christoph Waltz were all in attendance. They’ll be introduced to the public on Wednesday at an afternoon press conference, and then at the evening’s formal presentation.

“Bling Ring” director Sofia Coppola was seen in the Martinez lobby around cocktail time. She and her cast were going out to dinner. “Bling Ring” screens on Thursday.

Super producer and director Irwin Winkler and his wife were strolling up the Croisette on Tuesday afternoon. On Saturday Winkler will present Martin Scorsese’s “Silence,” to be shot next year in Taiwan starring Andrew Garfield. Scorsese wil be here, and their whole unveiling is set for a big yacht.

But rain and cold weather are coming– three days of it. Already some parties have been rescheduled until next week. Everyone is hunkering down. And poor mobile tele-communicating can be a drag on top of it. (Thanks to TMobile for making life extra difficult while on the road.)

And at home, look for a tense couple of days wrapping up “American Idol” on Wednesday and Thursday. My sources say the judges have had it. These are two “live” shows. But if they get to the end of it without a murder mystery everyone will be relieved.

Broadway: $75 Mil “Spider Man” Box Office Fade As New Shows Arrive

Roger Friedman
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Broadway: $75 Mil “Spider Man” Box Office Fade As New Shows Arrive

Is it curtains for “Spider Man” on Broadway? Not yet, but things are looking a little scary for Peter Parker and Mary Jane. For the last several weeks, the Broadway box office for “Spider Man: Turn off the Dark” has been in slow decline. This past week the show’s gross was a little over $1 million– and that’s the way it’s been recently. Compare this week to four weeks ago, and the number is trending down by the tens of thousands.

But that’s not good news. “Spider Man,” as we all know, cost $75 million. Its official opening was June 14, 2011–not quite two years ago. And that was after previews started in November 2010. The show had several missed openings, and even shut down for three weeks in May 2011 while it was retooled.

Initially, the Julie Taymor show with songs by Bono and The Edge was taking in $1.5 to $1.7 million. All the heralded accidents in the theater drew curiosity seekers The flying and the costumes were also draws, especially for tourists who enjoyed the action and didn’t read the bad reviews.

Even that has petered out, apparently. “Spider Man” used to be the new kid on the block. But this past week it finished 9th of all Broadway shows, including the play “Lucky Guy” with Tom Hanks.

New musicals like “Kinky Boots,” “Matilda,” “Motown,” and the revived “Pippin” are now out drawing “Spider Man.” Then there are the standbys have built return audiences into their draws, like “The Book of Mormon,” “Wicked,” “The Lion King,” “Mamma Mia,” and “Jersey Boys.”

It’s not only the totals at the box office that look worrisome for “Spider Man.” The show is only playing at around 72% capacity. The average ticket price is $89 which means it can be found at TKTS on discount.  Even an enjoyable, middling show like “Newsies” filled 98% of its seats last week. “Chicago” somehow did 89.2%.

And then of course there are ancillary issues. There’s still no “Spider Man” national tour. There’s no spin off show in Las Vegas. No doubt the idea of starting anew somewhere else, and having new accidents etc, is keeping the show from expanding. But you can already imagine “Kinky Boots” in other cities. “Spider Man”? Not so easy to get all those hydraulics working elsewhere.

This summer will really tell the tale of “Spider Man.” If tourist audiences don’t fill up the Foxwoods Theater, the Green Goblin may be the least of this super hero’s problems.

 

 

Exclusive: Five Years Later, Hyatt Hotels Heir Will Re-Shoot Large Chunks of Unreleased Jazz Film with New Actors

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: Five Years Later, Hyatt Hotels Heir Will Re-Shoot Large Chunks of Unreleased Jazz Film with New Actors

A year ago I told you about Hyatt Hotels heir Dan Pritzker and his devotion to a feature film he started shooting in 2008 but never released. It’s called “Bolden!” about obscure jazz performer Buddy Bolden (1877-1931). Anthony Mackie played the lead in a cast that included Jackie Earle Haley and Wendell Pierce.

Pritzker shot the film in North Carolina, brought it home to Chicago, and let it sit. In May 2012– a year after “Bolden” wrapped– he told me he’d release it when it was ready. Another year passed and I wondered what had happened.

Now I can tell you that Pritzker, who has unlimited deep pockets– is planning to go back and re-shoot large chunks of the film this September. That’s over five years since he wrapped. The sets are in storage in North Carolina.

But he won’t have the same Buddy Bolden. Pritzker’s producer, Jon Cornick, tells me that Mackie–who went on to make “The Hurt Locker” and has turned into a sought after leading man–isn’t available. So, says  Cornick, they are now casting to replace him.

Yes, you read that right. Pritzker will reshoot all the scenes with the main character now played by a new actor.

A rep for Mackie says he loved making the movie five years ago and wishes everyone well. He has “two or three projects” and at least one of them will be shooting in the fall.

Mackie is currently on screen in “Pain and Gain.” Among his new films is “Captain America” and a movie about WikiLeaks.

http://www.showbiz411.com/2012/05/14/hyatt-hotel-heir-denies-hes-spent-100-mil-on-jazz-film

“He wants to make the film he wants to make,” Cornick told me about Pritzker. “He wants to finish the film.” It’s unclear yet whether more actors will have to be recast. Cornick says they have “plenty” of footage of other characters in scenes that didn’t feature Mackie.

“But he plays Buddy Bolden, and that’s what the movie is about.” Indeed.

Sources say a new script exists that changes about a third of the movie as it now exists.

When I interviewed Pritzker last year he denied that he’d invested $100 million in the project. Cornick also laughed at that number. But that was a number I’d heard from reliable sources. And Pritzker did manage to produce a short black and white silent film about Louis Armstrong, taken from the shot film. He staged it in a few cities in theaters using live musicians.

Now Cornick says they are casting for a new Buddy Bolden. Does it have to be a star or someone of Mackie’s stature? “No,” he told me. “Just a great Buddy Bolden.”

 

Angelina Jolie Writes That She Had Double Mastectomy

Roger Friedman
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Angelina Jolie Writes That She Had Double Mastectomy

Oscar winner and activist Angelina Jolie is always up for a fight. And so she writes in Tuesday’s New York Times that during the winter she had a double mastectomy. The reason was that doctors discovered she carried what she calls a “faulty” gene called BRCA1. She had an 87 percent chance of breast cancer and a 50% chance of ovarian cancer. The mother of six had lost her own mother several years earlier at the age of 56.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/opinion/my-medical-choice.html?ref=opinion

Jolie writes: “I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive. So to anyone who has a wife or girlfriend going through this, know that you are a very important part of the transition. Brad was at the Pink Lotus Breast Center, where I was treated, for every minute of the surgeries. We managed to find moments to laugh together. We knew this was the right thing to do for our family and that it would bring us closer. And it has.”

Jolie underwent reconstructive surgery. Now she’s told her story so that women everywhere will been encouraged to see their doctors and weigh their options. It’s a brave move, but no surprise from a woman who is considered a sex symbol but takes everything about life seriously. Bravo for her courage.

 

HBO Gets Toback-Baldwin Film About Cannes Festival

Roger Friedman
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HBO Gets Toback-Baldwin Film About Cannes Festival

I told you all about James Toback‘s “Seduced and Abandoned” last week. I actually saw the film in the HBO screening room and knew they were buying it, but now it’s official: HBO will be the U.S. home to what is really a very cool document about Cannes and filmmaking in general. It’s also historically important because “S&A” has interviews with people we don’t get to see often, like Bertolucci and Polanski. The film is also very funny, and very personal.

Now that I’ve just arrived in Cannes, and “S&A” will be shown here next week, I’m thinking how much the audience here is going to enjoy it. By the way, I did tell you that Alec Baldwin takes it on the chin in this film, as film financiers express reluctance to spend money a movie that he’s set to top line. One of them calls him “a TV actor.” Turns out Baldwin didn’t even know that was in the film until he saw the final cut. Kudos to him for not taking it personally.

Paris Coming To Cannes? Michael Jackson’s Daughter May Appear

Roger Friedman
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Paris Coming To Cannes? Michael Jackson’s Daughter May Appear

EXCLUSIVE And keep checking for updates: It’s a great headline– Paris coming to Cannes. But I’ve been told that Paris Jackson, who just turned 15, is indeed being brought to the Cannes Film Festival. I told you exclusively a couple of weeks ago that Paris recently signed with Hollywood super agent Rick Yorn, who also reps Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz and Martin Scorsese as a manager.

If Paris does indeed make the trip it’s unclear if it’s because Yorn has plans for her already, although he’s told friends he’s convinced Paris can be a huge star. “He just wants her to finish high school,” says a source. Ironically, I’d only recently heard that Paris’s grandfather, wily Joe Jackson, was considering a Cannes appearance as well. And Janet Jackson often makes an appearance at a charity event or two.

So we’ll see how many Jacksons make the trip to the south of France– and who’s talking to whom. That will be most interesting since it was less than a year ago that Paris clashed with Janet publicly when Janet and several siblings “kidnapped” Katherine Jackson.

UPDATE: In any case, Paris is coming to Cannes during the first week of the festival. So she will indeed not overlap with Janet’s visit.

It would also be a good distraction for her while the AEG wrongful death suit continues in Los Angeles.

Stay tuned…

 

Barbara Walters Retirement: This Time It’s for Real

Roger Friedman
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Barbara Walters Retirement: This Time It’s for Real

How do we know Barbara Walters will really announce her retirement this morning? This time, as opposed to in March, it’s a well organized pageant. Walters gave an exit interview to Bill Carter in the New York Times, which was published just after midnight. This  morning on “The View” she will make the announcement herself and hope that she gets a standing ovation from the audience (of course).

This is a little different than in March when Walters was “retired” by ABC on the Thursday night before Good Friday when “The View” was in reruns and everyone was away. Walters was surprised then. She’d told close pals that she wanted to leave ABC News but keep doing The View. ABC wanted her to take a victory lap and say goodbye. In this new scenario, she will indeed leave but she gets to keep her name on the The View as Executive Producer.

Walters will go out with a bang at the end of May sweeps in May 2014. There will be lots of specials and apparently one more Oscars special, which she hasn’t done in three years. She can ask all the nominees, one more time, what kind of tree they’d like to be.

In the Times interview, Walters says what she’d like to do after retiring is travel more. There is no mention in that interview or in a statement she issued of “spending more time with family.” At least she’s honest. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/13/business/media/barbara-walters-to-announce-2014-retirement-on-the-view.html?hp&_r=0

But the wrangling that went on since the March faux announcement must have been something. Walters has lived on TV since her debut on The Today Show in 1961. Until Ted Koppel was himself “retired” from ABC’s “Nightline,” Walters used to appear on that show as well as “20/20,” “The View” and occasionally even on “Good Morning America” in addition to her many specials.

Now it will get interesting on “The View.” Walters evidently wanted Joy Behar to leave, according to sources, and got her wish. She also wanted Elisabeth Hasselbeck out. My sources insisted that the latter would make her own announcement in May. So that may come before the month is out as well. But now it will an afterthought.

“Great Gatsby”: Too Early or Too Late for the Oscars? A May-December Romance

Roger Friedman
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“Great Gatsby”: Too Early or Too Late for the Oscars? A May-December Romance

Now that “The Great Gatsby” is here, and it’s a hit, the question remains: is it too late or too early for the Academy Awards? “Gatsby” was supposed to be released last Christmas and in the running for this past February’s Oscars. When it was pushed to May, that changed the Oscar landscape.

Quick– which film actually did win Best Picture? Why, it was “Argo.” Would the “Gatsby” we see now have made the short list? Probably. In the end, 9 movies were nominated. “Gatsby” could have been the 10th. But Leonardo DiCaprio, if nominated, would never have been Daniel Day Lewis in “Lincoln.” The film that “Gatsby” might have hurt: “Les Miserables.”

Now “Gatsby” comes out seven months before the next Oscar season. Is it too early? In a word: yes. But the time the fall rolls around, “Gatsby” may be long forgotten. This year’s field of potential Best Picture nominees is already pretty crowded. We can already look forward to “The Butler,” “August: Osage County,” “Monuments Men,” “Inside Llewyn Davis,” “Blue Jasmine,” one of two movies starring Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman in “Grace of Monaco,” and so on.

And those are some we know about. Believe me, something’s out there that no one is aware of yet. For “Gatsby” to come back with momentum in the fall it’s going to need a massive amount of goodwill from the press. I’m not convinced Warner Bros. really gets that yet. How “Gatsby” fares in Cannes will be one major indicator of what’s to happen next now that the film has a great first weekend in the U.S. A May- December romance needs a lot of courting, and a lot of care.

 

Seth Meyers Finally Named Host of “Late Night” After Jimmy Fallon

Roger Friedman
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0
Seth Meyers Finally Named Host of “Late Night” After Jimmy Fallon

NBC has officially announced what I told you some time ago and several times at that: as Jimmy Fallon takes over the Tonight show, Seth Meyers gets Late Night. This was in Lorne Michaels‘s plan for a long time. Last summer I reported that Meyers was first in line to succeed Regis Philbin on his show. This was absolutely true. They really wanted him. But Michaels convinced Meyers to hang on. Now Lorne has Tonight, Late Night, and SNL. It’s going to be a golden age of comedy in New York on NBC and coming from 30 Rock. Myers is perfect for Late Night. Fallon will be just great on Tonight.

Next up, as I also told you, more network changes. First, Elisabeth Hasselbeck will leave The View “of her own accord.” That announcement should come soon. Then we’ll see if ABC made a deal with Brooke Shields, who just bought a house in New York. I told you about that first, and quite a while ago.

And then: what will happen with David Letterman? Will he sign a new contract? Will CBS make the change to Jon Stewart, as I predicted? Something about the month of May, when network execs’ dreams turn to youthful demographics…

Do click on those blue links — they’ll take you to the original exclusives I wrote about all this stuff starting last July 4th…

PS If Bill Hader can be persuaded to tough out one more year on SNL, he will get “Weekend Update.” Otherwise, Taran Killam and Kate McKinnon would be perfect co-anchors.

 

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