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SUNDAY UPDATE: Keanu Reeves, Age 58, Having Biggest Box Office Hit in 20 Years with “John Wick 4” — $73.5 Mil Weekend!

Roger Friedman
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SUNDAY UPDATE: Keanu Reeves, Age 58, Having Biggest Box Office Hit in 20 Years with “John Wick 4” — $73.5 Mil Weekend!

SUNDAY MORNING: $73.5 MILLION for “John Wick 4.” It’s Keanu’s biggest hit since the 2003 “Matrix” movies, bigger than the last three “John Wick” movies by far. It’s an enormous success for the soft spoken, off the radar, polite, self-effacing Reeves. Congrats to him!

SATURDAY: This is really Keanu Reeves’s Excellent Adventure.

His “John Wick 4” is headed to an opening weekend of $71 million plus. That’s his biggest hit since 2003’s “Matrix” movies.

Keanu is 58 years old, although we think of him as eternally youthful from all his early movies, and the fact that he looks a lot younger than his age.

Last night, “John Wick 4” — the biggest hit in this series — made $20 million on top of a nearly $9 million preview night on Thursday. Fans want to see this movie, and they are going to it in droves.

Meanwhile, “Shazam 2” fell 80% last night from last Friday, a stunning drop off. The movie is basically dead at $38 million on a budget of $125 million. Also totally dead is “65” with Adam Driver from Sony Pictures. No one knows what it was so let’s not ask them.

Kanye West Re-Ups Anti-Semitism With Deranged Post about Jonah Hill and 21 Jump Street: Clueless and Stupid

Roger Friedman
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Kanye West Re-Ups Anti-Semitism With Deranged Post about Jonah Hill and 21 Jump Street: Clueless and Stupid

So that’s it. Kanye West is sticking with anti-semitism.

West returned to Instagram over night to say that seeing the movie version of “21 Jump Street,” star Jonah Hill changed his mind about Jews.

He wrote “Watching Jonah Hill in 21 Jump street made me like Jewish people again. No one should take anger against one or two individuals and transform that into hatred towards millions of innocent people. No Christian can be labeled antisemite knowing Jesus is Jew. Thank you Jonah Hill I love you”

I’m sure Jonah Hill is thrilled that this idiot, demented and clueless, has come to this epiphany.

West, as always, should have kept his mouth shut. He’s deranged. No one can still be doing business with him, can they? All his business with various designers is kaput. Adidas is sitting on millions of dollars of Yeezy inventory that they’d be better off burning or just donating in the third world, where shoes are needed so desperately. No one will ever spend money on a Kanye West brand ever again.

PS See the post below. Comedian Jeff Ross, btw, is being facetious.

 

 

Like it Or Not: Grey’s Anatomy Returning for 20th Season Because ABC Has No New Ideas

Roger Friedman
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Like it Or Not: Grey’s Anatomy Returning for 20th Season Because ABC Has No New Ideas

Well, this was inevitable.

“Grey’s Anatomy” is coming back in the fall for a 20th season. Why? ABC has no new ideas, they might as well stick with this one even though the star is gone and the showrunner is leaving.

That’s right, you know Ellen Pompeo left already. Another actress who’s played a doctor for nine years is leaving, too. Showrunner Krista Vernoff lives in a mansion somewhere, so she’s done, too.

But “Grey’s” will return, nonetheless.

ABC treats the show like a daytime soap, and that works for them. People come and go, a few older characters remain for stability, but the bulk of the show rests on low paid newbie actors.

“Grey’s” finishes second to “Law & Order SVU” on Thursdays at 9, but they have to put something on the air!

When I think of it: I began watching “Grey’s Anatomy” when it launched in 2005 because I was trapped in a hotel room in Santa Maria, California covering the Michael Jackson trial. I never watched it again, in detail, and think how much has changed in the world.

PS Yesterday, a doctor I was talking to said I shouldn’t use “Grey’s Anatomy” as a reference for anything. I’m shattered!

The Ultimate Bruce Springsteen Show Takes Place Next Month, It’s Sold Out, and You’ve Never Heard of It (Neither Had I)

Roger Friedman
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The Ultimate Bruce Springsteen Show Takes Place Next Month, It’s Sold Out, and You’ve Never Heard of It (Neither Had I)

Bruce Springsteen is selling out his tour with E Street Band and everyone’s going crazy over it. Every show seems better than the last, and Bruce has never been in better form. New dates are being added all the time.

But there’s one Bruce show that may be the ultimate– L’Ultimo– that most fans don’t know about it and almost no one can attend. That’s a show on April 15th in West Long Branch, New Jersey at Monmouth University’s Pollak Theater.

The Pollak has a capacity of 714 seats. Tickets went on sale March 13th and presumably sold out instantly. The price of the tickets? Unknown, but likely more than a refrigerator and a little less than a Maserati. They’re meant to benefit the school via The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music.

The inaugural “American Music Honors” will honor E Street Band impresario Steven van Zandt, plus Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Sam Moore, of Sam and Dave fame, and Darlene Love, who rose to fame with the Phil Spector Wall of Sound, as well as country blues-rock-singer songwriter Steve Earle.

van Zandt’s Disciples of Soul will be the house band. Jon Stewart is the host. And making the tributes, and possibly performing, will be Bruce, musician wife E Streeter Patti Scialfa, E Street Band member Garry Tallent, and Southside Johnny Lyon of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.

Yes, this is really happening. You are not hallucinating.

“This event showcases the ‘American Music’ part of our name and mission,” said Monmouth University president and board chair of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, Dr. Patrick Leahy in a statement.  “By honoring American music greats, such as those named today, and by creating dynamic education and public programs, along with major museum exhibitions, we make valuable contributions to the understanding and importance of American music in our lives.”

The Bruce Springsteen Archives serves as the official repository for the music of Bruce Springsteen, plus photographs, periodicals, oral histories, rare recordings, films, and artifacts related to Springsteen and the E Street Band.  The Center for American Music produces museum exhibitions, symposiums, and seminars, teacher workshops, concerts, internships, and various public programs to promote and celebrate the many forms of American music and their impact on our culture and national identity.

PS Please God they film this thing!

Bruce Willis Made About 35 “D” Movies Over the Decade Leading Up To Dementia Announcement, One More is Coming

Roger Friedman
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Bruce Willis Made About 35 “D” Movies Over the Decade Leading Up To Dementia Announcement, One More is Coming

In the decade leading up to the announcement that he has dementia, Bruce Willis made around 35 “D” movies. The “D” does not stand for dementia, it’s for denigrating the earlier part of his career which included “Moonlighting,” “Die Hard,” and “The Sixth Sense,”

Every one of these “D” movies was a colossal embarrassment in which the previously agile, glib, athletic Willis spoke a few words, brandished a gun, and played second or third fiddle to D list actors.

There are few I didn’t count, like “Motherless Brooklyn” and “Glass,” in which name actors and directors covered for him. They were bad movies anyway, and Bruce’s name and likeness were just as exploited in them as they had been in other really dreadful releases.

Many toward the end were just released to video on demand, or in countries or on planets no one ever heard of. The last of these, called “Assassins,” is set for some kind of launch on March 30th, next week. And that, presumably, is the end of a long period in which Bruce Willis was exploited for some financial gain. Not one of them will be remembered.

Bruce’s illness– dementia– was evident at least since 2015, but was admitted to just a month ago. It sounded like a surprise but the statement was offered on the website for the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration. Willis’s wife, Emma, who has no doubt suffered for the last few years seeing her husband’s condition deteriorate, is now holding live Instagram broadcasts with specialists in the field to bring attention to this insidious condition. You could of course wonder why this took so long, and why 37 films were made while Willis appeared in more and more diminished capacity. But we may never have that answer.

At least the D movie era is over. And Bruce is getting substantial care and attention. Everything is a learning process.

Box Office: Keanu Reeves’ John Wick 4 Biggest of Series So Far with $9 Mil Preview Night

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: Keanu Reeves’ John Wick 4 Biggest of Series So Far with $9 Mil Preview Night

Keanu Reeves is top of the box office in a movie you may never see. But his “John Wick” series is burning the candle at both ends!

“John Wick” is an action series. The third one — yes, there were three– had a preview night four years ago that made $5.9 million.

Last night, number 4 took in $9 million. Nine. Million. Dollars. This movie could have a $60 million weekend. God bless.

You’ve never seen a John Wick movie? Keanu plays John Wick, a retired hit man, good guy who used to kill people for a living. In the original, his wife died, he was crying over a puppy. Then his enemies killed the puppy, which drew John Wick back into the mercenary world.

Chad Stahelski, who has no Oscars but presumably lives in a very mansion (or two) directed this series written by Dean Kolstad. Lions Gate distributes the films now that Summit Entertainment is no more. This chapter has a 95 on Rotten Tomatoes. Ninety five! Everyone who saw it loved it! The audience does, too!

This chapter features the final appearance of actor Lance Reddick, who died last very tragically at age 60 while he was promoting the film. Donnie Yen, Laurence Fishburne, and a Skarsgard — this one is Bill — are featured. There are car chases, explosions, and a lot of killings. And Keanu Reeves, the kid from “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” looks cool.

Not in this movie: hot dog fingers, Lydia Tar, Sammy Fabelman’s trains, or Tom Hanks with an accent.

Broadway: Andrew Lloyd Webber Faces Rare Financial and Criticial Bomb as “Bad Cinderella” Musical Decimated

Roger Friedman
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Broadway: Andrew Lloyd Webber Faces Rare Financial and Criticial Bomb as “Bad Cinderella” Musical Decimated

Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber has had hit after hit with “Phantom of the Opera,” “Cats,” “Evita,” and other musicals that have been incredibly popular despite dreadful reviews.

But with “Bad Cinderella,” his 13th musical, ALW may have met his Waterloo. The new musical opened last night in New York to howls of horrors, the worst reviews of Lloyd-Webber’s career. Ten out of thirteen reviewers panned it on the website DidTheyLikeIt.com including the New York Times. Only review was considered positive.

In the four weeks “Bad Cinderella” has been in previews, the box office has not been very good. The average take has been around $650,000. With scathing reviews, it wouldn’t seem possible to stay open much longer.

“Bad Cinderella” originally played in London as just “Cinderella.” It received scathing reviews there. Lloyd-Webber shut it down in 2021 without much notice, bringing on tons of criticism about how he handled it. He said he regretted the show completely. Then this reconfigured version of it with a new cast was announced for Broadway.

Meanwhile, “Phantom” is getting ready to end its 30 year Broadway run. The show is selling out as hardcore fans, many of whom may not understand English, bid it goodbye.

It’s a bitter moment for the incredibly successful writer of songs like “Memory” and “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.” He turned 75 this week but had to miss the New York opening “Bad Cinderella” as his eldest son, Nick, 43, is in hospice in London diagnosed with stomach cancer and pneumonia.

Hotel Rwanda Hero to Be Freed at Last: Civil Rights Activist Paul Rusesabagina Had Been Detained By Rwanda, Imprisoned and Tortured

Roger Friedman
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Hotel Rwanda Hero to Be Freed at Last: Civil Rights Activist Paul Rusesabagina Had Been Detained By Rwanda, Imprisoned and Tortured

Paul Rusesabagina was the real life star of Terry George’s movie, “Hotel Rwanda,” in 2004. Played by Don Cheadle in the Oscar nominated movie, Rusesabagina saved more than 1000 Hutus and Tutsis during during his country’s 1994 genocide.

Rusesabagina remained an outspoken critic of Rwanda’s president after he left the country and became a US citizen. The movie made him a world wide hero. But in 2020, a flight he thought was taking him to Dubai was diverted to Rwanda and he was taken prison and arrested by Rwanda officials on trumped up charges.

Now many outlets including Semafor.com, a new site, report that Rusesabagina and 20 other activists will be released on Saturday.

According to Wikipedia: “On 20 September 2021, he was convicted on terrorism charges and sentenced to 25 years in prison. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention rendered their opinion on 18 March 2022 that Rusesabagina had been illegally kidnapped, tortured, and sentenced after an unfair trial. The Working Group further found that Rusesabagina has been targeted by the Government on account of his work as a human rights defender, because of his criticism of the Government on a broad range of issues.”

The deal to release the civil rights activist was brokered by the United States and Dubai.

Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers” Start to Wilt with No Second Single “Endless Summer Vacation” May Be Over

Roger Friedman
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Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers” Start to Wilt with No Second Single “Endless Summer Vacation” May Be Over

Back in January, Miley Cyrus dropped her first record with Sony-Columbia. It was an out of the box hit, going to number 1 that night– January 12th– and staying in the top 5 ever since.

But “Flowers” has pretty much saturated radio and streaming, everyone knows it, and there are dozens of cover of it on YouTube.

So where’s the second single?

The album, “Endless Summer Vacation,” came two weeks ago and really needed a new push with a new single. Certainly there are plenty of choices. But so far, nothing’s happened. And now the Vacation is possibly ending. After selling 384,000 copies according to Luminate, “Vacation” is beginning to fade on the charts.

What’s even a little worrisome is that none of those other tracks from “Vacation” are on the Spotify streaming chart. Only “Flowers” hangs in there. The best possibility is “River,” an upbeat dance number that sounds like it was borrowed from “You Spin Me Round.” But why not work “Jaded” or “You” or one of the others? No one’s getting any younger here.

Post-Oscars: Most Watched Movie at Home Among Nominees Is Not “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Roger Friedman
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Post-Oscars: Most Watched Movie at Home Among Nominees Is Not “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

The Oscars are well behind us in the rearview mirror. All the movies nominated for Best Picture are available via streaming, cable, DVD, video on demand, etc.

So which of the nominees is the most viewed at home? According to Digital Entertainment Network, it’s not the winner, “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

No. The most watched at home movie of all the Oscar players is Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans.” It’s number 2 on the chart this week behind “Puss N Boots.”

The third most watched film is “The Whale.”

And “EEAAO”? It’s number 7, behind “A Man Called Otto,” “Top Gun Maverick,” and “Wakanda Forever.”

Further down the list in the top 20 are “Tar,” “Women Talking,” and “Elvis.”

Am I surprised? No. For one thing, “EEAAO” has made $70 million at the box office. Whoever wanted to see it has done so. It’s also on Showtime night and day, where no matter how many times I’ve waded into it, I’ve skipped to the end each time.

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