Movie star Hugh Jackman’s solo musical show took in $1.2 million in its first week on Broadway. It finished 5th for the week, behind big deal musicals “Wicked,” “The Lion King,” “Book of Mormon,” and “Spider Man: Turn off the Dark.” This is a pretty cool accomplishment considering that Jackman is one guy versus these huge casts. And his show doesn’t actually open until next Thursday, November 10th. Jackman is a rare contradiction in show business–a combination song and dance man, and action star. A Singing Wolverine! Well, good for him, he’s a lovely guy. Now, if only his producers will let in critics from the Outer Critics, Drama Desk, and then maybe Hugh will get some nice special awards next spring!
America’s Sweethearts to Divorce After 72 Days, $18 Mil
And they said it wouldn’t last. And it didn’t. Kim Kardashian, a ridiculous person whose name I don’t think I’ve ever typed out before, is divorcing husband Kris Humphries after 72 days of wedded commerce. They made $18 million on a celebrity wedding that took place August 20th in Montecito, California. The E! Channel and People magazine paid for it, the kids raked it in, got tons of press. And all of it was fake. Kris is bummed because he’s an basketball player locked out of his job. Kim is upset because she had to whisper her mother’s name to her new husband. (She’s the daughter of Kris Jenner–see previous story.) This was Kim’s second marriage. She’s also had a lovely sex tape. TMZ and all the various tabloids have their opinions. But this is a lot like the ludicrous stuff served up by KISS front man Gene Simmons and his now wife, Shannon Tweed. They “fought” in public, broke up, had spats and then married, all for a “reality” show. Too depressing. The world is a stage, said Shakespeare, or “anonymous,” and the people on it are paid to dupe the public.
Hilary Swank: Oscar Winner Shouldn’t Blame Manager for Chechen Appearance
Hilary Swank, according to British reports, has sacked most of her management and agenting team. The reason has to do with her unfortunate paid appearance in Chechnya for the birthday party of the current dictator. Swank fired Jason Weinberg, who manager her to an Oscar for “Million Dollar Baby” and has been her closest advisor. Swank fired her agents, too, but not her agency, CAA. That’s because her live in boyfriend, John Campisi, works for them. It’s a tough call on all fronts because Swank obviously feels she has to blame someone. But Weinberg, I’m told, knew very little about what was going on and certainly did not advise her to fly to the outskirts of the former Soviet Union and accept blood money. Jean Claude van Damme, no one cares about. Seal hasn’t had a hit since “Kiss from a Rose” in 1910. Those two, you could understand them going to pick up a paycbeck. But Swank works regularly, and while she’s not in blockbusters, she certainly can’t be hurting for money. More will come out shortly, I’m told, exonerating Weinberg. Swank, meanwhile, will have to turn over the money she received to charitable causes. It’s hoped that a list is forthcoming. And she’ll have to just accept responsibility for what happened. Recently I wrote about Sting choosing not to play a concert in Kazakhstan because of the rights abuses in that country. Every celebrity has to make their own decision about this sort of thing–and be ready to defend it.
Kris (Kardashian) Jenner: OJ Didn’t Like Her Very Much, Either
It’s no surprise: Kris Kardashian Jenner is publishing a book she “wrote” tomorrow. Need a hook? How about her finally addressing the 1994 murder of her pal Nicole Brown Simpson? Jenner says she thinks OJ did it. Seventeen years later, this is like saying the sky is blue. D’uh, Kris. But the avaricious stage mom, famous for being famous and making children famous for the same reason, was not an OJ Simpson favorite. Jenner had only recently divorced OJ Simpson pal and lawyer Robert Kardashian and married Bruce Jenner in 1991 when the murders (including Ron Goldman’s) happened.
In Faye Resnick’s tawdry book, released at the time, Kris’s name turned up quite a bit. She was one of Nicole’s hard partying friends. But OJ didn’t care for Kris. In his 2006 civil suit testimony, Simpson concedes that he and Nicole had been friends with the Jenners, but said of Kris Kardashian Jenner:Â “We knew Kris Kardashian — I know Kris — they were friends because of Bob and I were friends. They never did anything outside of Bob and I Nicole wasn’t a big fan of all the fingernails and hair and clothes thing, and that — Kris was — that was Kris’ thing.”
[Note: I’ve corrected the spelling of the first name from Ch, in transcripts, to the alliterative K that Jenner sports as a family kalling kard.]
Interestingly, now Jenner says “I could have saved Nicole” and carries on about OJ. But when Simpson finally went to jail for good in 2008, Jenner told a freelance videographer that she had “mixed emotions” about the ex football player. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFokzhQcSh4
Will Sony Go After EMI Now That Warner Music Is Out?
The Financial Times reported on Sunday that the new-new Warner Music Group, owned by Len Blavatnik‘s Access Industries, is out of the bidding for EMI Music. I’m not surprised. Last spring, when Blavatnik bought WMG and took it private, a source there told me didn’t think it was necessary for Warner to merge with EMI. And now, I guess, that’s come to pass.
Last week, another source spoke to me about Sony Music. Sony/ATV Music Publishing already has expressed an interest in EMI Music Publishing. Sony/ATV contains the Beatles catalog, of course. And EMI recorded music includes the Beatles recordings–all their CDs and packages. That’s the gold ring inside of EMI more than anything else. Who ever gets EMI gets the Beatles. And to marry the Beatles records with their publishing would be hitting a jackpot.
But I’m told as much as Sony in New York may want this, “everything must be run by [meaning talked over] Japan. And they are slow to make decisions.” But it does seem that the moment is now for Sony if they want to sweep EMI and the Beatles into their universe. Everything is up in the air.
EMI is a good fit for Sony on other fronts–Pink Floyd, second to just the Beatles at EMI, actually left Capitol for Sony in the 1970s after “Dark Side of the Moon.” Paul McCartney, now on Concord, did the same thing. They eventually returned. And an EMI artist like Katy Perry would flourish with the Sony A&R teams. Also, labels like Blue Note and Manhattan could be a neat fit, especially in the RCA group.
Madoff Fiancee: “No Such Thing as Bad Publicity’
We all got to meet Catherine Hooper on “60 Minutes.” She’s the fiancee of Andrew Madoff, son of Bernie and Ruth. According to Morley Safer, Hooper is “the only one” of the Madoffs to get income from the new book, “Truth or Consequences,” by Laurie Sandell. Hooper has no shame about taking the money, and if she married Andy, he’ll have some, too. (Although really he seems very well fixed and not the least bit contrite. He didn’t even shed a tear on camera for his dead brother.) Hooper has a business and a website–blackumbrella.com. She writes on her blog, in an essay called “Are Zombies and Preparedness a Perfect Match?” and dated just four days ago:
“There is no such thing as bad publicity,” the saying goes, and the popularity of zombies these days — in books, films, video games and more — presents a publicity option that builds on the “badness” of zombies and the fears they inspire in us humans. Disaster-prepared
ness organizations can, and do, build upon these natural fears in a good and hopeful way even while capturing the essence of zombies and translating it into the language of natural and man-made emergencies and terrors. A disaster that threatens life demands creativity, resourcefulness and ultimately courage, from those in its path, and Elaine Pittman, in her October 2011 article “Are Zombies and Preparedness a Perfect Match?” describes how emergency preparedness outfits are “jumping on the undead bandwagon” to help create survival plans.”
Apparently Black Umbrella has something to do with being prepared for an emergency, like Hurricane Katrina. I’m not sure if it prepares you for losing your life savings if your investment broker turns out to be a crook.
Hooper, by the way, has already a feature in People magazine. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20481526,00.html. She’s a good publicist. And she managed to not be asked on “60 Minutes” why she and Andrew were seen Christmas shopping in Soho in December 2008 shortly after turning Bernie Madoff in to the FBI.
PS Credit to dealbreaker.com. I just found a funny piece from October 11th on Hooper. Great minds this alike!
Add John Goodman to Coen Brothers’ Folk Music Movie
Exclusive: It looks like the Coen Brothers have another of their repertory company returning to the fold. John Goodman–who’s been featured in Joel and Ethan Coen’s “Raising Arizona,” “Barton Fink,” “The Hudsucker Proxy,” “The Big Lebowski,” “O Brother Where Art Thou?”– is coming back. I’m told Goodman will join Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, and Justin Timberlake in “Inside Llewyn Davis,” the story loosely based on Dave van Ronk and the Greenwich Village folk music scene circa 1960. This will be like “The Mighty Wind” with ominous twists. Goodman is currently seen everywhere, but most especially in two big end of the year Oscar buzzed films– “The Artist”–he’s one of the three American actors– and “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.” The Coens had better get over to Bleecker Street and start shooting before the whole place becomes a CVS-Ralph Lauren-Marc Jacobs-NYU ghetto.
“Titanic” Is Coming Back, Hoping for “Lion King” Results
James Cameron‘s “Titanic” is coming back. This time, the 1997 film will be in 3D thanks to James Cameron, the PT Barnum of his generation. While it cost zillions to convert “Titanic” into 3D, it will likely pay off handsomely. “The Lion King 3D,” for example, has picked up $100 million in new shiny money since its (re)release. The new “Titanic” will be a spectacle of a release, no doubt, with lots of hype and hoopla. It also comes at a typically dead point in the release schedule–April 6th. It should be an interesting weekend. The other new films will be “American Pie Reunion,” with Jason Biggs and co. basically do “American Pie 2D”; the Farrelly Brothers’ modern big screen version of “The Three Stooges”–either the worst idea since “Valkyrie” or pure genius; and an actual original film–“The Cold Light of the Day” with future Superman Henry Cavill. Of those three. “Stooges” is my bet, because it’s filled with cameos from guest stars to ensure its curiosity factor.
And so “Titanic.” A box office phenom, the Cameron film is a visual circus. But it’s also still the same film it was when it opened in December 1997.
But it wasn’t nominated for any screenplay awards. That’s because it’s a shot by shot remake, in many instances, of previous movies “Titanic” (1953) and “A Night to Remember” (1958). It also shared an actor–Bernard Fox, who appeared in “Night” as well but is best remembered as Dr. Bombay on “Bewitched.” He’ll turn 85 next May.
“Titanic” won a lot of awards including Best Picture and Director for Cameron. Gloria Stuart was nominated for best supporting actress.. Leonard DiCaprio wasn’t nominated for Best Actor even though Kate Winslet was up for Best Actress.
The 1998 Oscars, for 1997 films, were actually pretty interesting. Helen Hunt won Best Actress for “As Good As It Gets” principally because she was the only American nominated. She’s never been heard from again. The other actresses were much better– Winslet, Judi Dench for “Mrs. Brown,” Helena Bonham Carter for “Wings of the Dove,” and Julie Christie for “Afterglow.” But they all had accents.
Best Actor went to Jack Nicholson for “As Good As It Gets.” Robin Williams got Best Supporting Actor for “Good Will Hunting.” The big screenplay award for that year went also to “Good Will Hunting.”
The other nominated pictures were better films, but didn’t have the spectacle aspect–“As Good As It Gets,” “Good Will Hunting,” “L.A. Confidential,” and “The Full Monty.”
It was also the year of “Wag the Dog,” “Ulee’s Gold,” “Jackie Brown,” “The Apostle,” and “Men in Black.” A bumper crop, all the way around.
SCOOP UPDATE: New YouTube Channels, Scooped Here First
UPDATE: Ha! Well, we called YouTube to confirm their new channels announcement set for Monday. What did they do? Since we published at 2pm Eastern, they decided rather than call back they’d just issue a press release. So great, YouTube. Anyway, YouTube is taking a bunch of ventures and allowing them to have new channels. Some make sense, like the Wall Street Journal. And Ben Silverman’s Electus, part of Barry Diller’s IAC, has been getting ready for this for some time. Penske Entertainment, which owns HollywoodLife and MovieLine, is getting a channel. So is “The Onion.” Is this a brave new world, or just a lot of junk smooshed onto the internet? We’ll have to wait and see. It could be the beginning of people watching TV for real on their computers. Or it could be the renaissance of books and reading.
Exclusive: Is Jay Z about to become a YouTube star? That’s the word as YouTube may getting ready to implement its new channel design as soon as Monday, I’m told. You may recall a Wall Street Journal story from last April that summarized YouTube’s plan to get competitive with Netflix (now having its own problems) and regular broadcast TV. WSJ said that YouTube owner Google would spend $100 million to develop cheap content. This would be especially synergistic if Google TV and integrated televisions with the internet ever takes off in a meaningful way. Where does Jay Z fit in? The highly successful rap and hip and hop entrepreneur is said to be getting one of these new channels. I’ve also heard that several supermarket tabloids and websites have vied for a spot on the YouTube dial, with possibly Bonnie Fuller‘s “HollywoodLife” leading the way. So, literally, stay tuned on Monday or early next week to see what develops…Maybe Beyonce will host a talk show on Jay Z’s channel…
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704013604576247060940913104.html
Glam Movie Premiere: Star, Director Stuck in Elevator at Posh Hotel
Today you’ll read some glowing reviews for actors Alessandro Nivola and Abigail Breslin in a terrific indie film called “Janie Jones.” But Hollywood isn’t always glamorous. Late last night, firetrucks were suddenly called to the posh GramercyHotel, where the “Janie Jones” cast was partying after its premiere. Nivola, director David Rosenthal, the film’s producers, actor Josh Charles, and producer Celine Rattray got stuck in the elevator. This was not the usual glitch. The gang was stuck for almost 3o minutes until the NYFD gallantly saved them.
Earlier at the party, both Nivola and Breslin performed for the partygoers, including actors Parker Posey, Celia Weston, Mitchell Lichtenstein, Nev Schulman, and journalist Annette Tapert, each showing off their musicianship.
Nivola, who is non pro but plays an errant rock star in the film, turns out to play a mean slide guitar. Breslin, who’s 15 and an Oscar nominee from “Little Miss Sunshine,” has a NY based band called Cabb. She performed two numbers on guitar with one of the members of the band. (Take that, Johnny Depp!) “Janie Jones” was picked up by Jane Rosenthal and Robert DeNiro‘s Tribeca Films last spring. Now the fun begins–the movie opens in five cities with outstanding reviews. A grassroots campaign could get the two leads nominated for Oscars, and definitely Golden Globes (if they feed the HFPA the right meal).
Nivola, who’s married to actress Emily Mortimer (“Hugo,” “Our Idiot Brother”) for years and has had success in “Junebug,” “Mansfield Park,” and “Goal!” is about to be an overnight sensation. In case you don’t know him, he’s an American, born in Boston, and lives in Brooklyn. His lineage is Italian and that’s his real name. I joked with him that it was never “Jeff Schwartz.” “”When I started acting, everyone said you’ll have to do something about that name. But I was proud of my father being Italian,” he told me.
Next year, he and Mortimer will star in a film together– their first since they met years ago. But for now, he’ll have to put up with great reviews for “Janie Jones.” In today’s New York Times, Stephen Holden called Nivola “brilliant but perennially overlooked.” Not anymore. But he should try to stay out of elevators for the time being!