Downton Abbey Shocker: STOP READING RIGHT NOW IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW. Remember that when Dan Stevens and I crossed paths the night “The Heiress” opened on Broadway, he wouldn’t answer any questions about his future on Downton Abbey. His obnoxious publicist pulled him away from me so fast I had razor burns. More recently, when I ran into him at a movie premiere, Stevens was calmer. But he still said, “Wait. You’ll see.” And on the Christmas special shown in the UK on Tuesday, the sad news was confirmed: Matthew Crawley is dead. Dan Stevens has left the building. And the show. Will he be able to leverage Downton Abbey into movie fame here in America? Hard to say. He’s going to try. But I guess it’s the difference between being Jeremy Irons or Anthony Andrews– the two stars of “Brideshead Revisited.” Alas, Matthew dies in a car crash. Who will manage Downton Abbey now? Read more here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/downton-abbey/9765334/Dan-Stevens-Why-I-left-Downton-Abbey.html
Kate Winslet’s Third Marriage Makes Her Mrs. Rocknroll
People–my friends, family, etc– often ask me, What are these celebrities really like? Are they crazy? And I say, no no, there are really great ones. One of the ones I really like is Kate Winslet. She’s tremendously talented and so level headed. She raises her kids in nearby Chelsea, and all the schoolkids’ friends come to all of her premieres and opening nights.
So now I can report that Winslet, who is 37 and an Oscar winner, has married for the third time. This ’round it’s someone named Ned Rocknroll, and he’s 34. That’s his legal name, although he was born Abel Smith, and he’s the nephew of billionaire adventurer Richard Branson.
According to People and other outlets, it was a secret ceremony that neither Winslet’s parents nor the groom’s knew about. Leonardo DiCaprio, twice her co-star in films, gave her away. In real life, Winslet has two children, one by ex husband Sam Mendes, director of “American Beauty” and “Skyfall.” Those children will have such great material with which to write memoirs. I hope they are taking notes.
You can look at this a couple of ways. It sounds nuts, right? But she married into a really rich family. Also, if you’re famous and beautiful and have an Oscar, you might as well live it up, right? Elizabeth Taylor didn’t stick around Chelsea going to PTA meetings in her thirties. Life is for living.
For more info on Mr. Rocknroll, here’s a great interview with his previous wife, whom he married in 2009 when she was 21.
Why did Mr. Smith change his name? Said his ex: “It was hysterical. We had discussed him doing this many times before, but I wasn’t sure whether he’d do it. The whole thing was about having fun with your name. He thought we all took ourselves too seriously so it was about reacting against it. He looked into just being ‘Ned’, with no surname at all but, apparently, that’s illegal so we couldn’t do it.”
Ned also worked for his uncle briefly as head of head of ‘astronaut relations and marketing.’ Said the ex: “He made that title up himself and it’s on his business cards…The job didn’t impress me. But his passion was incredible, and it really drew me to him. ‘He would say to me, there is no destination. The destination is now, now, now. The journey is the destination. We’re not trying to get somewhere. And that’s a really valuable lesson.’”
Box Office Update: Bette Midler-Billy Crystal Comedy Beats Tom Cruise Shooter-Upper
Here’s an update on Christmas Day box office, thanks to numbers from boxofficemojo,com: Bette Midler and Billy Crystal’s family comedy, “Parental Guidance,” with Marisa Tomei, handily beat Tom Cruise in “Jack Reacher” for fourth place. The first three films were “Les Miserables” with $18.1 mil, “Dhango Unchained” with $15 mil, and “The Hobbit” with $11.3 million.
But who would have expected Midler and Crystal, names not seen above the credits or opening a film in more than a decade, to knock it out of the park? With $6.3 million they outpaced Cruise by $1 million. Of course, with kids, on Christmas, do you take them to see a Disney type comedy or a movie where a sniper picks off five people in the first few minutes? You tell me.
Kudos to Midler and Crystal, who are not exactly family fare from the old days. They were both pretty R rated comedians, delivering cutting edge stuff with a sweet smile. Now, in their 60s, they just deliver the sweet I guess. Imagine if Midler stopped in mid movie and told one of her old bawdy jokes! But you know, now they’ll get a little franchise out of this, maybe one or two more “Parental Guidance”episodes and find a new audience. That’s called reinvention.
As for Cruise, who has refused to reinvent himself, “Reacher” has been something of a reach. The thriller now has $23.5 million since Friday, which wouldn’t be bad if your star didn’t get the first $20 million before costs and the movie didn’t cost at least $80 million. I guess some of that will be mixed into his “Mission Impossible” pay out.
Elsewhere, “Zero Dark Thirty” is doing well, but presenting an interesting problem day to day. On Monday and Tuesday it did less well than on the weekend. Instead of building interest, the Kathryn Bigelow directed thriller (yes, it’s a thriller) didn’t maintain its highs in very limited release. It’s hard to say how this bodes for the future. All the controversy should have pushed more people to see it, as they did for “Django.” But maybe “ZD30” will fare better once the kids are back in school.
Celebrity Skyrocket: Tom Cruise’s Tabloid “Date” Was a Steakhouse Manager Last April
Meet Cynthia Jorge. Last April she was an assistant manager at some place called Benjamin Steakhouse on East 41st St. Today she’s on the cover of supermarket tabloid “Life & Style” for her “wild nights” with Tom Cruise. America is a dream come true! Cynthia was profiled on a website called JoonBug last April http://joonbug.com/national/firstcourse/Behind-the-Plate-with-Benjamin-Steakhouses-Cynthia-Jorge/H6hv6UxUFEL.
Not a trendy place. So now Cynthia’a at the very loud and buzzy Beauty and Essex on the Lower East Side. She’s not a waitress, kids. She’s a trained p.r. girl, with a degree in the subject. And that’s how she made it onto Page Six today after Tom Cruise “tracked her down” to dance with her at another nightclub.
The cynic here must raise an arched eyebrow. Our “Jack Reacher” star needs to dance with somebody; Cynthia sees an opportunity. He’s 50, she’s 26, and the numbers add up.
The next Mrs. Cruise? Why not? Read that Joonug piece: Cynthia was a vegetarian for 10 years before going to work for the steak house. She’s extremely adaptable.
Also, Cynthia wrote in 2007 on LinkedIn: “A former nightlife promoter, I am extremely outgoing, agile and comfortable in stressful situations.”
Box Office: “Les Miz” in at Number 1, “Django” Follows Closely, Tom Cruise Knocked to Number 5
The receipts are still being counted for Christmas Day box office. But it does look like a lot of people made it from their dinner tables to the movie theaters. “Les Miserables” came in at a boffo number 1 with somewhere between $16-$18 million. (UPDATE $18.2 Million– very nice!) Quentin Tarantino’s wild ride, “Django Unchained,” finished a close second. All of this means that Tom Cruise in “Jack Reacher” was knocked to number 5. The final numbers will be available later Wednesday. A couple of things are as I predicted: “Les Miz” has a pent up demand, and once it hit theaters, it took off. Internationally, the numbers will go even crazier. “Django” is a word of mouth hit. Forget the so called “controversies” about racism and the N word. (They– the controversies– are manufactured.) Every single person I know who’s seen “Django” loves it. Black, white, purple, doesn’t matter. It’s a great entertainment. So hold on for updates and keep refreshing…
Jack Klugman, of the “Odd Couple” and Oscar Madison Fame, 90
Jack Klugman died on Monday at age 90. It’s hard to believe he was 90 considering how he’s lived on an on as a 50 year old shlubby sportswriter in reruns of “The Odd Couple.” But I saw Jack and spoke to him this summer at Nora Ephron’s memorial service; he was in a wheelchair. Jack Klugman was a great actor but he was also a warrior. He kept defeating cancer over and over.
(Also, sadly RIP Charles Durning, http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2012/12/25/charles-durning-dies-actor/1790203/
Even after his voice was crippled by cancer he continued to act, and to show up for his pal and “Odd Couple” co-star Tony Randall. Tony had a vision of an American version of the UK’s National Theater. When he needed stars to come lend their fame or names, they came. Jack Klugman was no exception. “The Odd Couple” only ran from 1970 to 1975 but well into the 1990s the two remained close friends. Klugman pitched in wherever he could.
When Tony died in 2004, Klugman said of him at his memorial service: “You could go to an art museum with him and come out after two hours with more information than you could believe. Then you’d get in a cab with him and he’d tell you the best dirty joke you ever heard.” They really enjoyed each other.
Klugman was Oscar Madison and he was also “Quincy,” the medical examiner in a long running series (1976-83.) But Jack Klugman — who had a long list of TV credits–should be remembered for a few other things as well. He co-starred with Ethel Merman in the original production of “Gypsy” on Broadway. He played Ali McGraw’s long suffering father in the lost classic film version of Philip Roth’s “Goodbye Columbus.” And he was Juror #5 in Sidney Lumet’s 1957 classic, “12 Angry Men.”
Klugman was married to actress Brett Somers until she died, although they were separated for a long time. She predeceased him. But Brett Somers was a character to anyone watching TV in the 1970s. She was a regular on game shows and played Oscar’s ex wife on the “Odd Couple.” And now an era closes as they all are gone. These were fun, cool people, at least from outside looking in, and they will be sorely missed.
My Other Life in Hollywood: Jackie Bisset, Robert Forster, Et Al.
Every so often I have to zip out to the West Coast to my least favorite place in the world. I actually lived in Los Angeles for a year, many moons ago. It was a nightmare. The people there do not know how to drive, or how to get to the places they want to go in an efficient manner. The populace cannot sustain much theater, which is a shock to a New Yorker. On Saturday night I saw the excellent national touring company of “Anything Goes” at the Ahmanson Theater. There were empty seats all around us! On a Saturday night ! Good lord. And they’ve got an all star cast including Jeannie Berlin in “Other Desert Cities” around the corner. It’s about their own people! Jeesh.
Anyway I digress. Going to Los Angeles now is like being in a dream. I see people there who I only see on these visits. My family and friends in the real world, New York, don’t even know I know these people. But it’s always a pleasure to hang out with Robert Forster, one of the great veteran actors in Hollywood. After a pretty successful career in the 60s and 70s, Bob was rediscovered by Quentin Tarantino for 1997’s “Jackie Brown.” He is one of the great guys. Last year he was in Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants.” He just shot an indie film here in New York. It’s just great to see him on screen.
I am in love with Jacqueline Bisset. Who isn’t? She is beautiful and smart, a class act. She is one of Hollywood’s treasures. Jackie has never capitulated to Hollywood– no facelifts or scandals. She’s been played Sasha Alexander’s mother on “Rizzoli and Isles”– another favorite of mine, Lorraine Bracco, has been playing the other mom. (Were moms always this hot?) Jackie’s set for a biopic of “Vivaldi,” but I’m waiting for some clever young director to realize Bisset is a still vital player and cast her in something unique and befitting the great star of “Bullitt” and “Under the Volcano” as well as “Airport,” “Rich and Famous,” and of course “The Deep.” She’s quite brilliant.
Who else do I see this time of year, during Oscar season? The effervescent Colleen Camp (who just threw a cool party for “Silver Linings Playbook”), the great and always plotting something sensational Sally Kirkland, Robert Morse who can’t say a word about “Mad Men,” and so on. Plus over this past weekend I ran into Carrie Fisher, Rosanna Arquette, and even the great cinematographer Haskell Wexler. Too many talented people in Tinseltown, all with great stories!
photos c2012 showbiz411
Worthy Cause: Doris Day Auctions Rare Calendars to Raise Money for Animal Foundation
Our hero and pal Doris Day is having a special auction this week on ebay to raise money for her animal foundation. The ever youthful Doris, a magnificent legend who lives in paradise– Carmel, California– is relentless in helping the animal world. She’s auctioning off just a few rare signed 2013 calendars on ebay at http://tinyurl.com/cad4hxb
You can also see a video from all of Doris’s celebrity friends at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk76Bcw9CFI
Doris keeps raising money and doing good deeds at www.dorisday.com, where you can donate to her foundation and buy a copy of her new album, My Heart. You can also hear an audio message from Doris for the holidays.
Last winter I had the honor of interviewing Doris for Parade magazine. She hadn’t done a full interview in about 20 years. I hope we can do more soon. Here are the links:
http://www.showbiz411.com/2011/12/12/how-doris-day-almost-didnt-let-paul-mccartney-interview-her
http://www.parade.com/celebrity/celebrity-parade/2011/12/doris-day.html
Donate to the Doris Day Animal Foundation before the end of 2012– and let’s hope Doris gets an honorary Academy Award this coming year. It’s been a long time coming.
UPDATE: Tom Cruise Has Lowest Opening Weekend Box Office Just About Ever
UPDATE: With the exception of the oddity called “Lions for Lambs,” Tom Cruise has never had a lower opening weekend box office than with “Jack Reacher.” I’m counting here his movies that opened in more than 2,000 theatres. “Reacher”  took in just $15.6 million. That’s actually less than each of Cruise’s last two films, “Knight and Day” and “Valkyrie,” which were in similar size releases and– in the case of the lamentable “Valkyrie”– at Christmas as well. Those two releases opened in the $20 mil range.
You have to go back 20 years to “Far and Away” to find a Cruise opening weekend that made less money–$10 mil, only 1800 theaters. Is this a referendum for Cruise in non Mission Impossible vehicles? It’s definitely a wake up call. As I’ve said for years, his best shot at regaining a larger audience is to find a new “Jerry Maguire” role where he can woo the female audience with his infectious grin. He’s also going to have to get real with promotion– actual interviews, with real answers to questions. And maybe he’ll get the message that Scientology has helped destroy three marriages, and now, possibly, it imperils his career.
Earlier: The confluence of many things, starting with the Newtown, Connecticut killings and ending with Tom Cruise’s aversion to doing much personal publicity, has ended with a disappointing opening night for “Jack Reacher.” Playing in over 3,300 theaters, “Reacher” made only $5.1 million on Friday night.
That’s considerably less–a million dollars or so — than “Knight and Day” made in 2010 on its first Friday night. That movie went on to make just around $78 million.
Of course, the producers of “Jack Reacher” say it only cost $60 million. That’s ridiculous since Cruise gets $20 million off the top. And they spent a lot on international premieres, and canceled junkets. No matter– “Jack Reacher” didn’t cost just $40 million other than Cruise’s salary.
“Reacher” is a key referendum on Tom Cruise outside of “Mission Impossible” franchise. If it makes $15 million or less this weekend, that’s not a good sign. “Reacher” has been clobbered by the main critics. It’s also up against “The Hobbit”–which made twice as much money last night– as well as lingering and popular films like “Skyfall” and “Lincoln.” If a new Tom Cruise isn’t making much of a dent in the box office, that’s not good news.
Tomorrow we’ll see how the whole thing played out.
PS Good news: what no one’s talking about is that Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi” has quietly cruised to $73 million very quickly. How nice! I thought this Pi might have been undercooked, but it’s not so. Could very well be a Best Picture nominee, along with Lincoln, Argo, Silver Linings, Django, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Les Miz, The Master, Beasts of the Southern Wild, and –hmmm– Amour?
thanks to Boxofficemojo.com:
| Date | Title (click to view) | Studio | Lifetime Gross / Theaters | Opening / Theaters | Rank | ||
| 12/21/12 | Jack Reacher | Par. | $15,600,000 | 3,352 | $15,600,000 | 3,352 | 30 |
| 6/15/12 | Rock of Ages | WB (NL) | $38,518,613 | 3,470 | $14,437,269 | 3,470 | 25 |
| 12/16/11 | Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol | Par. | $209,397,903 | 3,555 | $12,785,204 | 425 | 3 |
| 6/23/10 | Knight & Day | Fox | $76,423,035 | 3,104 | $20,139,985 | 3,098 | 19 |
| 12/25/08 | Valkyrie | UA | $83,077,833 | 2,838 | $21,027,007 | 2,711 | 16 |
| 8/13/08 | Tropic Thunder | P/DW | $110,515,313 | 3,473 | $25,812,796 | 3,319 | – |
| 11/9/07 | Lions for Lambs | UA | $15,002,854 | 2,216 | $6,702,434 | 2,215 | 32 |
| 5/5/06 | Mission: Impossible III | Par. | $134,029,801 | 4,059 | $47,743,273 | 4,054 | 10 |
| 6/29/05 | War of the Worlds | Par. | $234,280,354 | 3,910 | $64,878,725 | 3,908 | 1 |
| 8/6/04 | Collateral | DW | $101,005,703 | 3,205 | $24,701,458 | 3,188 | 14 |
| 12/5/03 | The Last Samurai | WB | $111,127,263 | 2,938 | $24,271,354 | 2,908 | 12 |
| 7/26/02 | Austin Powers in Goldmember (Cameo) |
NL | $213,307,889 | 3,613 | $73,071,188 | 3,613 | – |
| 6/21/02 | Minority Report | Fox | $132,072,926 | 3,001 | $35,677,125 | 3,001 | 11 |
| 4/19/02 | Space Station 3-D (IMAX) (Narrator) |
Imax | $86,738,386 | 64 | $489,488 | 24 | – |
| 12/14/01 | Vanilla Sky | Par. | $100,618,344 | 2,842 | $25,015,518 | 2,742 | 15 |
| 5/24/00 | Mission: Impossible II | Par. | $215,409,889 | 3,669 | $57,845,297 | 3,653 | 2 |
| 12/17/99 | Magnolia | NL | $22,455,976 | 1,086 | $193,604 | 7 | 28 |
| 7/16/99 | Eyes Wide Shut | WB | $55,691,208 | 2,483 | $21,706,163 | 2,411 | 23 |
| 12/13/96 | Jerry Maguire | Sony | $153,952,592 | 2,531 | $17,084,296 | 2,531 | 8 |
| 5/22/96 | Mission: Impossible | Par. | $180,981,856 | 3,012 | $45,436,830 | 3,012 | 4 |
| 11/11/94 | Interview with the Vampire | WB | $105,264,608 | 2,604 | $36,389,705 | 2,604 | 13 |
| 7/2/93 | The Firm | Par. | $158,348,367 | 2,393 | $25,400,000 | 2,393 | 7 |
| 12/11/92 | A Few Good Men | Col. | $141,340,178 | 2,201 | $15,517,468 | 1,925 | 9 |
| 5/22/92 | Far and Away | Uni. | $58,883,840 | 1,885 | $10,194,520 | 1,583 | 22 |
| 6/29/90 | Days of Thunder | ||||||
Oscars: Older Members are Concerned About Online Voting
Older members of the motion picture academy are worried about online voting. I spoke to several today at lunch, mostly about which movies they liked etc in my continuing unofficial poll. More on that in a minute. I got a lot of responses about the new online voting, which isn’t difficult and should be a breeze for voters under 60.
But what about the great number of Academy members over 60? In my own life, I know plenty of people 80 and older who use the internet every day and don’t think twice about it. My pal Freddie Ross Hancock, who started BAFTA in the United States and can do just about anything, is a computer whiz. My mom (who is not yet 80 and refers to DVR as “taping”) loves her desktop, laptop and iPhone.
What I’ve learned recently is that a lot of people who you’d think could do it are very concerned about screwing it up. One actor said to me today: “I’m less worried about who or what I am voting for than the actually voting. The BAFTA ballot is really making me nervous.”
No one wants to make a mistake. A lot of people told me they will use requested paper ballots. I do think the Academy will be getting a lot of Help Requests from members in the next week. Change isn’t easy.
Meantime, my completely strawish poll moves on with a show of hands and basic anecdotes. Sometimes older Academy members like or dislike a movie or performance because it triggers a memory. It’s not often but it’s always interesting. A lot of them remember Frederic March in the original non musical movie of “Les Miserables.” Now they can’t get the songs out of their heads from Tom Hooper’s musical movie. No one has mentioned “too many closeups.” No one. They love the actors, and the songs. Almost all have made it to theatre screenings instead of watching DVDs at home.
“Lincoln” is proving very interesting. East coasters love it. The West coasters dig DDL and Sally Field, always mention Tommy Lee Jones. But they are not excited about the movie itself. Lincoln, of course, never had to raise money in Hollywood.
Today I heard a lot about “The Life of Pi.” When they’ve seen it, they’ve loved it. I heard “Masterpiece” a couple of times. A new name came up a lot today: Naomi Watts from “The Impossible.” She has a good shot at rounding out the Best Actress list. Joaquin Phoenix’s name is mentioned too. But he should know that Academy members are aware Phoenix bashed the Oscars in an interview– which appeared in print, of course.