Sunday, December 21, 2025
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Box Office: Sony Should Have Put Spider Man in Jennifer Lawrence Movie, All-Star “Asteroid” Up to $1.2 Million, “The Flash” Crash

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Thursday box office:

Sony should just put Spider Man in every movie and be done with it. They’ve got the number 1 film with
“Spider Man: Across the SpiderVerse,” making money like crazy.

But everything else they try is a disappointment. That brings us to Jennifer Lawrence, an Oscar winner, getting naked and running around a beach in “No Hard Feelings.” Apparently there are a lot of soft feelings. The raunchy comedy took in $2.1 million on Thursday night (which includes last week’s sneak peeks). Per theater was just $783.

Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City” made $60,000 last night. It’s up to $1.2 million. Going wider this weekend.

“The Flash” is fading. It only made $2.8 million last night, not so different than “No Hard Feelings” but in more theaters. If only we could go back in time and fix so many things here.

Watch the Trailer for New Documentary about Director Roman Polanski’s Early Life in Krakow, Poland During World War II and the Holocaust

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“This documentary follows Roman Polanski in the city where he lived as a child, in the company of his lifelong friend, photographer Ryszard Horowitz, a Holocaust survivor, whom he met in the Jewish ghetto of Krakow during the Second World War. Together, they walk the streets and confront their memories…

Controversial director Roman Polanski had a life before his legal troubles.

He grew up in Krakow, Poland during World War II. His navigation through the war and the Holocaust have been written about but now Polanski talks about his memories of the time with Ryszard Horowitz. “Promenade a Cracovie” is being released abroad on July 5th. Mateusz Kudla et Anna Kokoszka-Romer are the directors. I hope someone in the US has the good sense to bring it here.

Kelly Clarkson Releases Tuneless, Unforgiving Dark Divorce Album Comparing Ex Husband to Tragic Movie Star Rock Hudson

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Not since Marvin Gaye released his “Here My Dear” album in the late 70s has anyone been able to top him.

But now Kelly Clarkson has dropped “Chemistry,” a divorce album that should have been called “Vendetta.” The cover features her as Jesus on the cross, so you know up front what’s coming, and it won’t be good.

Clarkson had a nasty breakup with husband Brandon Blackstock, father of her two children. She wound up paying a lot of money to get rid of him after he broke her heart on a number of fronts. Now we get to hear all about it on “Chemistry,” a dark, unpleasant album that twists Clarkson’s tremendous voice until it’s shrieking.

Did we need this? (Apparently not. The first track is called “Skip this Part,” and believe me, you’ll want to.)

The song everyone is talking about this morning is called “Rock Hudson.” Clarkson compares Blackstock to the closeted gay movie star who died of AIDS. She says in interviews today that she didn’t mean the song to have that connotation, just that Blackstock was her “hero” in the movie of her life. But the damage is done. There were plenty of movie star names to choose from. This was one is specific.

Years ago, Clarkson ran afoul of music mogul Clive Davis when she turned in an album full of tuneless warbling. It was her third release, called “My December,” and featured a terrible single called “Never Again,” which was a flop. Initial sales — and this was before streaming and Clarkson’s TV show — were slow. It took 10 years for the album to sell 800,000 copies. And she wound up leaving RCA Records for Atlantic Records.

“Chemistry” debuts at number 1 this morning on iTunes. But there are no singles for radio play, and so far only one — “Lighthouse” — a shrieker– has made it to 31. Other songs with titles like “Me, “Mine,” “High Road” — which she didn’t take, “My Mistake,” and so on, all cover the same territory. It’s what we call “on the nose.” There’s no allusion or imagery. It’s just “I hate you.” In fact, there’s a track at the end — the only good one– called “I Hate Love” with Steve Martin on banjo.

It’s too bad Clarkson wasted her high profile from her talk show, and her insanely good voice– on this nonsense. She could have had a summer of hits just releasing album of her “Kelly-oke” covers from the show. Or she could have worked with Atlantic’s Pete Ganbarg — who steered her to hits on RCA — to come up with some great pop songs like “Since U Been Gone.” But the only audience for “Chemistry” is the Glenn Close character from “Fatal Attraction.” And we know what happened to her.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=5YRNvne3B0E

Geraldo Rivera OUT at Fox’s The Five: He Walked a Tightwire for Years and Finally Fell Off — Roger Ailes Would Never Have Allowed This

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Roger Ailes loved Geraldo Rivera. He respected his honesty, his showmanship, and contacts. He didn’t care if Geraldo was not a hard core conservative. He helped make Fox News fair and balanced.

I knew Roger, and he’d be horrified to hear that Geraldo has been shoved off his show, “The Five.” Rivera has a year and a half left at Fox News, and my guess is he’ll be paid out and eased off the network now. It’s not the old Fox News. Whatever that was.

It was Ailes who produced Geraldo at America’s Talking, the original CNBC, and then brought him to Fox. Geraldo walked a tightwire at Fox, trying to seem conservative, often taking odd positions. He was once friendly with Donald Trump and supported him. But Rivera is no dummy. Trump can’t be defended anymore.

Back in early May, Geraldo announced that his appearances on The Five had been cancelled. He wrote: “My appearances today and tomorrow on The Five have been canceled. I’m sure there’s a good reason. Never fear, I’ll be back week after next. Stay safe and happy. Thanks.”

He’s been locked in a tug of war with Fox News class clown Greg Gutfeld. who runs The Five and has a hit late night show. Gutfeld is a joke, but like Jesse Watters he’s the new power at Fox. Geraldo, 80, is the old guard. Rivera has fought in recent times with Sean Hannity and disagreed on the air with many crazy things that have been said on the network. He told the AP today that he’d been suspended many times.

On Wednesday, Geraldo announced to his Twitter feed that his time at The Five was over and he would continue at Fox in some capacity. He wrote:

“Morning, it’s official, I’m off @TheFive. My last scheduled show appearances are Thursday and Friday June 29th and 30th. It’s been a great run and I appreciate having had the opportunity. Being odd man out isn’t always easy. For the time being, I’m still Correspondent at Large.”

“It has been a rocky ride but it has also been an exhilarating adventure that spanned quite a few years,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday. “I hope it’s not my last adventure.”

It probably won’t. Geraldo’s in great shape for 80 and can still do a lot. But it seems like his time at Fox, trying to be the level headed one, is over.

Paul McCartney Explains New Beatles Single to Worried Fans: “Nothing has been artificially or synthetically created”

Beatles fans have been a little worried about the ‘new’ single Paul McCartney kind of announced on British TV last week. He made it seem like artificial intelligence was used to resurrect John Lennon and George Harrison.

Sean Ono Lennon tried to explain it all in a Tweet, which I reported the other day. But now Sir Paul is reassuring everyone with this Tweet.

Been great to see such an exciting response to our forthcoming Beatles project. No one is more excited than us to be sharing something with you later in the year.

We’ve seen some confusion and speculation about it. Seems to be a lot of guess work out there. Can’t say too much at this stage but to be clear, nothing has been artificially or synthetically created. It’s all real and we all play on it. We cleaned up some existing recordings – a process which has gone on for years.

We hope you love it as much as we do. More news in due course – Paul

Demi Lovato Doesn’t Want a Hit Single: Drops a Foul Language Punk Single About Female Empowerment Called “Swine”

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Demi Lovato does not want hit records.

And she definitely doesn’t want to be America’s Sweetheart.

Instead, Demi;s dropped a really foul mouthed, offensive single called “Swine.” It’s a punk rock ode for female empowerment. The single came out this morning and it’s number 31 on iTunes. No one wants it. It also sounds like her last punk rock single, “Heart Attack.”

I doubt Demi takes advice from anyone. But female empowerment got more from Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman” than anything remotely in this vein. Sorry. And this song is radio repellent.

Lovato’s last album was called “Holy F**k,” but it was spelled out.

And sold just 132,000 copies.

Musical Chairs: Tim McGraw Coming to New York for Charity Concert & Gala, Record Industry’s TJ Martell Foundation Raises $1.3 Mil for Cancer Research

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We don’t see country superstar Tim McGraw in New York that often.

But he’ll be here September 28th for concert and gala benefiting the City Parks Foundation. The evening is also honoring I Heart Media’s Tom Poleman and Devon Eisenberg, of the Young Women’s Leadership School of the Bronx.

Even if you don’t pay — and you should — you’ll be able to hear Tim all over the park if you stand in the right spot (but it won’t be as good as hearing him up close). He’s playing at SummerStage in Central Park. McGraw will perform an exclusive set following the dinner and awards ceremony, which will be held at the flagship Central Park venue.

Tables and tickets for the evening, including the dinner and concert, are now available for purchase. For more information, visit https://cityparksfoundation.org/city-parks-foundation-gala/.

Music is in the air in New York, especially for charity.

Recently, my old friend Tom Corson, head of Warner Bros, Records, was honored by the TJ Martell Foundation here in New York. The late great Tony Martell started this cancer research foundation after his son died many years ago. Tony is gone now, too, but I can heap praise on his memory. He turned a terrible loss into something very positive and productive.

The evening featured special performances by three very hot Warner Music acts: Omar Apollo, Coco Jones and Brandy Clark, which got the audience’s juices going. Presenters included “Sweeney Todd” star Josh Groban, iconic Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth, Oscar and Golden Globe nominee and NAACP Image Award-winning filmmaker Ryan Coogler.

Total take for the night was a stunning $1.3 million!

Tom received the Lifetime Music Industry Award, Chief Creative Officer and EVP at Def Jam Recordings Archie Davis, whoreceived the Rising Music Superstar Award, and Grammy Award-winning and Tony-nominated songwriter/producer Shane McAnally, whoreceived the Spirit of Music Award.  The event was hosted by Gala Co-Chairs and Board Chairman John Esposito, Tunji Balogun, Aaron Bay-Schuck, Robert Carlton, Steve Gawley, Laura Swanson and Julie Swidler.

Report: Warner Bros. Selling Off Parts, Zaslav Hopes to Get $500 Mil for 50% of Film Music Assets and Publishing

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David Zaslav is selling off parts of Warner Bros. while fighting battles on every other front.

Hitsdailydouble.com says Zaslav has hired top music lawyer Allen Grubman to find a buyer for the music publishing assets of the Warner films.

This isn’t Warner Chappell publishing. It has nothing to do with Warner Music, a separate company.

No, these are the soundtracks to popular Warner movies including Purple Rain,” “Evita,” “Sweeney Todd,” “Rent” several “Batman” films and many more titles, as well as songs included in films such as “As Time Goes By” from “Casablanca.”

It’s actually unclear what the assets are — these are just a guess. Do they include the Clint Eastwood films, with all of the music written for them? And how will the Prince estate figure into a sale of “Purple Rain” or “Batman”?

Zaslav is said to figure the whole catalog is worth over $1 billion. So this would just be a half ownership. Currently Universal Music Publishing administers the rights to all this music. And that’s weird. Not Warner Chappell? I guess he hopes UMG, the most successful music company, will help bail out his overall debt.

What’s next? I guess we’ll see if Bugs Bunny has a price.

Box Office: “The Flash” Falls to Number 3 Behind “SpiderVerse” and the Not So Popular “Elemental”

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Mid week was not good for “The Flash.” Already suffering the slings and arrows of mad fanboys and Twitter stompers, Barry Allen and pals finished at number 3 on Wednesday.

Not good: “The Flash” fell behind “Spider Man: Across the Spider Verse,” which had already racked up $300 million in 3 weeks, and PIxar’s dud cartoon, “Elemental.”

Losing to these two releases is so insulting for “The Flash.” He doesn’t deserve it. But if this repeats tonight– Thursday — “The Flash” won’t have a second week at number 1. It’s a real mess for Warner’s and DC comics. But what could it lose to this weekend? “No Hard Feelings”? “Asteroid City”? Or more “Spider Man”?

Kennedy Center Honors Become Grammy Awards, Induct 4 Music Stars…and Billy Crystal — Snubs Denzel, Liza Again

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The Kennedy Center Honors has turned into the Grammy Awards.

They’re inducting Queen Latifah, Dionne Warwick, Barry Gibb, Renee Fleming. And Billy Crystal, a former host of The Grammys.

The Center didn’t include any serious actors, skipping Hollywood and Broadway. Crystal, who everyone loves, is meant to cover both arenas.

But four singers? They’re all deserving but this shows a lack of thought and a craven yearning for ratings.

Fleming and Warwick make sense. The other two could have waited. I love Queen Latifah but she’s too young. But she’s a CBS star, so you get the idea.

No Denzel Washington?

No Francis Ford Coppola?

No Liza Minnelli?