It’s the continuing saga of Jack Schlossberg, determined to be weirder than his cousin, Robert Kennedy Jr.
Schlossberg, son of Caroline Kennedy and grandson of JFK, is unraveling on Instagram. Is he crazy? No. Eccentric? Yes, truly, madly, deeply. Whatever’s going on, I’m surprised his family or friends still haven’t intervened.
And what about a job? Why is he still hanging out in Hawaii, surfing and posting videos?
We’re still waiting for word on the fifth and final season of “Stranger Things” on TV.
Meanwhile, a prequel play called “Stranger Things: First Shadow” in London’s West End has been a huge hit winning a lot of awards, is now offering tickets through the beginning of 2025.
Today, the live show dropped a trailer, which is pretty unusual. But “First Shadow” is a money machine, and they’re ramping up for a 2025 debut on Broadway.
Here’s the trailer, etc. Brace yourselves. BTW in London, it won the Olivier Award not for Best Play (come on) but Best Entertainment.
Fred Roos has died. The long time man behind the scenes for Francis Ford Coppola’s movies was 89 years old. He was beloved. Some people will snark that “Megalopolis” killed him, but Roos was tough enough to endure making movies like “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now.” “Megalopolis” didn’t faze him. He told me that when I last saw him in January 2023 at a screening in LA.
Here’s his official obit:
Frederick “Fred” Ried Roos, born May 22, 1934, passed away peacefully at the age of 89 the evening of Saturday, May 18, 2024 at his home in Beverly Hills, California. Fred was a visionary Oscar-winning producer and influential casting director whose talents contributed to some of the most seminal films of the past 50 years including American Graffiti, The Godfather trilogy, Star Wars, The Black Stallion, Lost in Translation, and The Conversation. He is survived by his beloved wife and longtime partner, Nancy Drew, and his son and producing partner Alexander “Sandy” Roos.
Fred was the son of Dr. Victor Otto Roos, a general practitioner, and Florence Mary (née Stout). Born in Santa Monica, CA and raised in Riverside, CA, his fascination with film began as a child when movie stars would occasionally pass through his local movie theater on promotional tours. His family moved to Los Angeles so he could attend Hollywood High School and play baseball, and in 1956 he earned a B.F.A. from UCLA. After graduation, Roos was drafted by the Army and served two tours in Korea, the first one with future director/producer Garry Marshall.
Roos entered the film industry via the mailroom at the then-powerful talent agency, MCA Inc. (now Universal Pictures), where one of his duties was driving for Marilyn Monroe. He thrived in his position and was promoted to assistant to one of the top agents. While there, Roos developed a love for actors and honed his intuition for discovering talent. Before producing films, Roos made his mark as a casting director, first in television on iconic shows such as The Andy Griffith Show (1960), I Spy (1965), That Girl (1966), and Mayberry R.F.D. (1968). He then worked alongside many of the industry’s most talented filmmakers and actors on films such as Richard Lester’s Petulia (1968), Michelangelo Antonioni’s Zabriskie Point (1970), Monte Hellman’s Two-Lane Blacktop (1971), George Cukor’s Travels with My Aunt (1972), John Huston’s Fat City (1972), Bob Rafelson’s Five Easy Pieces (1970) and The King of Marvin Gardens (1972), John Milius’ Dillinger (1973), and George Lucas’ American Graffiti (1973).
His judgment and intuition were considered flawless and he became a trusted eye in Hollywood for discovering, nurturing, and advocating for talent. With his love for actors, good writers, and brilliant directors, talented people gravitated to him and felt supported by him because he genuinely cared. Roos could identify attributes in someone well before they could see it in themselves. Instead of watching actors read, he cast by speaking with them and was able to tell if they had “it” after a brief, but meaningful conversation. With these instincts, Roos launched the careers of Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, John Cazale, Laurence Fishburne, Frederic Forest, Diane Lane, Nicolas Cage, Richard Dreyfuss, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Jennifer Connelly, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Billy Bob Thorton, Marshall Bell, and many others; revitalized the acting careers of Ron Howard, Martin Landau and Bill Murray; and was instrumental in casting Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning, and Cailee Spaeny in their first important leading roles.
Through casting, Roos became known for his extensive knowledge of up-and-coming actors, both in the US and Europe, catching the attention of Francis Ford Coppola. His work on The Godfather (1972) led to over 50 years of creatively fruitful collaborations with many members of the Coppola family which lasted until the end of his life.
While in development on Star Wars, George Lucas consulted with Roos on casting. Roos read the entire screenplay in one sitting, making meticulous notes on the back cover which included the names Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and James Earl Jones in his fastidious handwriting. Lucas took this inspired set of choices under advisement and the rest is film history.
In 1974, he and Francis Ford Coppola held the rare distinction of earning two Academy Award nominations for Best Picture in the same year for The Conversation and The Godfather II, ultimately winning for the latter. They were nominated again in 1980 for Apocalypse Now. For over five decades, Roos produced films for Francis including One from the Heart (1981), The Outsiders (1983), Rumble Fish (1983), The Cotton Club (1984), Gardens of Stone (1987), Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), New York Stories: Life without Zoe (1989); the Oscar nominated The Godfather III (1990), Youth Without Youth (2007), Tetro (2009), Twixt (2011), and Megalopolis (2024).
For Eleanor Coppola, Roos executive produced the acclaimed documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (1991), which earned four Primetime Emmy Awards and won two for Directing and Editing. Decades later, Roos prided himself on producing Eleanor’s feature film, Paris Can Wait (2016), helping her make her directorial debut at the age of 80.
With Sofia Coppola, Roos was instrumental in guiding all eight of her critically-acclaimed feature films, serving as co-producer on her film debut, The Virgin Suicides (1999), and as Executive Producer on Lost in Translation (2003), Marie Antoinette (2006), Somewhere (2010), The Bling Ring (2013), The Beguiled (2017), On The Rocks (2020), and most recently Priscilla (2023).
Among Roos’ other notable producing credits are Jack Nicholson’s directorial debut Drive, He Said (1971), Carroll Ballard’s Oscar-nominated The Black Stallion (1979), Wim Wenders’ Hammett (1982), Barbet Schroeder’s Barfly (1987), Agnieszka Holland’s The Secret Garden (1993), and the Golden Globe-nominated St. Vincent (2014) starring Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy. He also produced Wonderwell (2023) starring Carrie Fisher in her last on-screen performance alongside global music star Rita Ora. For Broadway, he successfully convinced author S.E. Hinton and American Zoetrope to turn The Outsiders into a Broadway play, which garnered 12 Tony nominations last month, including Best Musical.
In 1988, Roos was honored by his peers with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Casting Society of America. In 2004, he was awarded Telluride Film Festival’s Silver Medallion for his achievements in the film industry.
Tireless until his death, Roos was actively producing Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, which made its highly anticipated world premiere in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival last week. His legacy lives on through his son and producing partner, Alexander Roos, who continues to produce their robust slate of projects which are in various stages of active development and production under their banner, FR Productions.
Fred Roos was determined to never retire from the film business and to go with his boots on. He got his wish.
On Thursday, am FAR will have its annual self promotion gala in Cannes. The glittery party at the Hotel du Cap costs a fortune, but attracts models, Eurotrash, and a few actors waiting for their movies to open at the festival.
amFAR has been mired in controversy for years, but the aforementioned gaudy gown gang loves it, and attends their shindigs all over the world.
This year, Cher is performing (she doesn’t come cheap) and Demi Moore will be on hand for the first time. Sharon Stone, former long time auctioneer and cheerleader who raised millions, is gone. She knows these people and she’s done.
amFAR is a financial free-for-all. According to their Form 990 for 2022, salaries edged up again as spending on donations and grants fell a whopping 46%. Their CEO, Kevin Frost, makes about $600,000 a year. (Thirteen execs divide up $3 million, including TWO PR people!)
It’s not like they didn’t have the money to spend on actual AIDS patients, services, treatments, or research. Total revenue was around $44 million, up from $28 million the previous year. But all their other expenses — except for the giving part — rose substantially. They closed the 2022 season with $3.5 million less than 2021 in net assets or funds. Total assets were off by $700,000.
Back to Cher, will be preceded on stage by Nick Jonas and Jess Glynne (?), etc: In 2022, amFAR says it spent over $2 million on entertainment. (For comparison, the Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar party spent $94,000 on entertainment in 2022.) The performers that year were Christina Aguilera, Ricky Martin, and Charli XCX. amFAR spent another almost $5 million on the 2022 Cannes party listed under “direct expenses.”
With eight different parties — including Cannes — amFAR’s events budget was $14 million in the red when they filed in 2022.
Does anyone care? Apparently not. amFAR is like the Met Ball or Global Citizen. As long as celebrities come, donors don’t care what’s going on. It’s unimportant to the super rich who dress up in Versace, or Dior, or Prada. They’ll get to hear Cher sing “Believe.” That’s all that matters.
I’m not in Cannes this year, so I will miss all the amFAR-marked chauffeur driven cars parading around the Croisette. I guess they come under “entertainment” or “Direct expenses,” too!
The Hamptons Summer Doc Fest has scored a bit of coup.
“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” — directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui — sold in Sundance for a record $15 million to Warner Bros. Discovery. It will be released this fall across all the company’s platforms including theatrical, CNN, and MAX.
First shown at Sundance back in January, the Christopher Reeve documentary — about the famed actor who died in 2004 at age 52 — drew raves. Now it will get an early look screening on August 14th in East Hampton at the beautifully restored Guild Hall. .
Are there enough tickets? (See below for how to get them.) Reeve was wildly popular as the star of the original — and best– Superman movies. A tragic horseback riding accident made him a paraplegic, but Reeve — and his amazing wife, Dana– rose to the occasion and became internationally acclaimed activists raising money for research into paralysis. They each died young and within a short time of each other. (The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation is still going strong.)
Alec Baldwin will have a conversation following the showing with Will Reeve, the beloved Chris and Dana Reeve’s son
Another Sundance film, “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” will also make its first appearance on July 5th at SummerDocs. Filmmakers Jeff Zimbalist and Maria Bukhonina follow a married couple of Russian daredevils who travel to Malaysia t climb a 118 story skyscraper — the second highest in the world. (Hamptons viewers will ask, Couldn’t they just take the elevator?) If you don’t have vertigo, and don’t expect Superman to fly in and save these people, “Skywalkers” is a must see.
The third SummerDocs entry is Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber’s “War Game,” on Saturday, July 20th. Also shown at Sundance only, “War Game” is an unusual documentary take on a possible Civil War after the January 6th insurrection. “War Game” had enthusiastic reviews in Sundance for its originality: there are actors involved, so it’s kind of a quasi-documentary. (I’m surprised no one mentioned it when “Civil War” was released last month.)
SummerDocs also has a free outdoor screening program this year with showings of two Steven Spielberg classics — “Jaws” and “Jurassic Park” — plus “Moana,” “The Never Ending Story,” and the great “Singin’ in the Rain.” (Expect a lot of umbrellas a the latter even if the sun is shining!)
The Biden campaign has a tricky situation coming up next month.
An all star event hosted by Jimmy Kimmel in Los Angeles set for June 15th is supposed to feature George Clooney and Julia Roberts. Kimmel will moderate a conversation between Biden and Barack Obama. Tickets start at $250 per person ranging up to $500,000 for an “event chair” tier. Proceeds go to the Biden Victory Fund.
But now Clooney’s wife, Amal Alamuddin, a Lebanese born British barrister, has wound up in the cross hairs of Biden. As a member of the International Criminal Court today she called the leaders of Hamas as war criminals and asked for warrant of arrest, which was fine. But then she threw in Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu.
Biden responded this afternoon with remarks aimed at Amal’s work. “The ICC prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous,” Biden said in the statement. “And let me be clear: whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
Alamuddin wrote about her participation in the ICC today on her website. She wrote: “More than four months ago, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court asked me to assist him with evaluating evidence of suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel and Gaza. I agreed and joined a panel of international legal experts to undertake this task. Together we have engaged in an extensive process of evidence review and legal analysis including at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. “
You can further read the op ed item she signed in the Financial Times today.
Alamuddin has long been an international advocate for refugees. But her stand on Israel will now put her in direct opposition to Biden.
The report today from the ICC doesn’t just accuse Netanyahu of war crimes. It includes the three leaders of Hamas — Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh — for committing “war crimes and crimes against humanity for the killing of hundreds of civilians, the taking of at least 245 hostages and acts of sexual violence committed against Israeli hostages.”
But Alamuddin and her group seem not to care that Hamas committed these crimes unprovoked, on innocent people attending a music festival. It also ignores the UN report of murder and sex crimes against the Israeli’s and that Hamas has refused to return the hostages for a ceasefire. She’s made the two sides equal in their fault. Biden will never agree with this.
So the Biden campaign may have to look for another celebrity for June 15th. There are plenty of pro-Israel stars who I’m sure back Biden. George Clooney may not be the right fit here.
Donald Trump’s comms director has issued a promise of legal action against the filmmakers involved in “The Apprentice.”
The film about Trump, ex wife Ivana, and Roy Cohn premiered today in Cannes to a long standing ovation. Sebastian Stan plays Trump, Maria Bakalova is Ivana, and Jeremy Strong is Cohn.
The film shows Trump raping Ivana during their marriage. It also reveals Cohn grooming him to become a celebrity — with plastic surgery, hair transplants, and so on.
The movie, from director, Ali Abbasi, has turned into the talk of the festival. Producers are looking for a distributor. It will have to be a company that won’t mind a lawsuit from a former US president currently standing trial for fraud.
That may not be easy. One of the movie’s investors, billionaire Dan Snyder, is reportedly angry that “The Apprentice” isn’t the one he put money in. Snyder, a huge Republican and Trump donor, has a film investment company that will have a say in how the movie is sold.
Here’s the statement:
According to Variety the rape scene is described:
“Ivana playfully presents a book to her husband about the merits of a female orgasm. But the interaction between the two turns dark quickly, as an uninterested Trump tells his wife that he is no longer attracted to her. They argue, and then Trump throws her to the ground. As he angrily thrusts himself into her, an icy Trump sneers: “Is that your G spot? Did I find it?”
You know it’s a bad sign if the Vanity Fair home page isn’t featuring pictures from its party in Cannes on Saturday night.
Even worse, when you search Vanity Fair and Cannes on Getty Images, you get pictures of Graydon Carter. Ouch!
Carter used to throw the hottest party in Cannes, always on the first Saturday night, and at the lavish Hotel du Cap Eden Roc. Everyone came, there were lines of limos stretching down to the sea and the hottest A-listers inside.
This year, Richard Gere and Uma Thurman were the big gets, followed by Eva Longoria, Michelle Rodriguez, Naomi Campbell, and Naomi’s boy friend Mohammed El- Turki. He runs the Red Sea Film Festival, funded by the Saudi royal family, and a sponsor of the party (as well as the Cannes Film Festival).
It was a pretty sad showing, going by the pictures on WireImage.com. And no one seems to mind the Red Sea-Saudi royal family connection. The Saudis have no rights for women or gays, and chopped up Jamal Khasoggi. But it’s a free meal!
Same deal at Friday night’s Columbia Pictures 100th anniversary party, thrown annually by self promoting London movie publicist Charles Finch. In its heyday, the Finch party offered Mick Jagger, the late Paul Allen, Jane Fonda, famous producers and directors. This year, Greta Gerwig, Woody Harrelson, Lawrence Fishburne, and Noor Alfallah — Al Pacino’s baby mama — were the highlights. The published guest list included publicists and executives. Oh my!
There used to be such a buzz in the air at these gatherings. But the air has gone out of the tires on both buses. The movies throw their own after parties now, and fashion houses — like Kering, Chopard, L’Oreal — pick up the slack.
What’s left? amFAR of course, this Thursday, with Cher performing (who’s paying for that?), Demi Moore — who’s become the unlikely center of attention all week — on the invite and no Sharon Stone.(The original amFAR cheerleader has washed her hands of this gang.) More on that annual catastrophe later!
Well, this is a sad surprise.
Universal Pictures is throwing in the towel on “The Fall Guy.” The Ryan Reynolds – Emily Blunt action comedy will hit VOD and streaming tomorrow, May 21st. That’s just 19 days after it opened to a lot of fanfare.
“The Fall Guys” has made just $62.8 million in that time, and there doesn’t seem potential for much more. Total worldwide is $127 million. “The Fall Guy” got very good reviews and had two hot stars. But audiences didn’t connect with it. That’s too bad because the budget is pegged at $140 million.
Universal’s marketing department is one of the best, so this whole thing doesn’t make sense. What’s worse is that audiences are becoming accustomed to movies coming to their living rooms in just three weeks. Theater owners must be very disappointed and angry.
Will this be a trend? Unfortunately, I think so. “Civil War” is coming on Friday after six dragging weeks and $67 million. “Challengers” isn’t far behind.
But what if a film is a hit in theaters? Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” is going to theaters on Friday, but just for two weeks. Then it goes to Netflix. The difference is that “Hit Man” is so good it should be very big in theaters. I don’t think that will matter to Netflix. I wish it did.
“The Fall Guy” on video will come with extra material.
Last night’s three hour “American Idol” finale was a spectacle.
The winner was Abi Carter, a pop singer in the mode of Sara Bareilles. For her final song she didn’t sing “This Isn’t Over,” her own composition, but Billie Eilish’s “What Am I Made For?”
Runner up was country singer Will Moseley, who performed his “Good Look Bad.”
The result is that Moseley today has the number 3 song on iTunes, and Carter is at number 10.
The big winner is Cece Winans, whose “Goodness of God” is number 13. Winans was easily the best performance of the night. Her voice is a gift from God! Her whole number was incredibly moving.
The loser of the night was Jon Bon Jovi. I’m sure someone told him the publicity would help him, but his new song, “Legendary,” is lodged at number 100.
Embarrassing performance of the night: New Kids on the Block. They are the New Residents of the Nursing Home.
Worst moment: Katy Perry eating a slice of pizza while a few of the girls in this year’s competition sang a shrill medley of some of her hits. Katy threw the remained of the slice into the audience. Katy looked unimpressed with her farewell episode, and there wasn’t much emotion shown about it. She’s made her money there. Now it’s time to get back to her music career. Pronto.
“American Idol” long ago became like Velveeta or Spam. The contestants are unimpressive. No one would idolize them. The best of the winners are long ago, like Fantasia — who was there last night — and Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Jennifer Hudson (who didn’t win at all but got the best revenge).
Who will succeed Katy at the judge’s desk? Maybe Fantasia’s appearance last night was a test. She’d be great, and at least not part of the white bread gestalt that permeates this show. It’s kind of amazing that “Idol” has no white finalists, just three bland All Americans. Very disappointing.