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The weekend was a gone one for movies nominated for Oscars.
All of them were up a lot. “The Fabelmans” rose by 73%, “Women Talking” — which re-entered theaters completely, was up 144%, “Banshees” cut off a lot of finger up 383%, “Everything Everywhere” — also a total comeback to theaters — made a million bucks, also “Tar” paved its own way,
Not so good was “The Whale,” which failed to get a Best Picture nom but has two acting nods for Brendan Fraser and Honh Chau. The spout fell by 20% over last weekend.
Biggest surprise of the weekend was a two hour, forty minute Bollywood film called “Pathaan,” bringing in $6 million. Neon’s “Infinity Pool” swam to $2.7 million.
And don’t bat an eyelash at Eilish: the mopey pop star’s live concert film. “Live at the 02 Arena,” raked in $1.3 million at 596 theaters, a robust $2,164 per site. That film has no time to die, as they say.
That seems to be the message from Universal/Focus and Disney’s Searchlight. With Oscar nominations finally at hand, the audience has shown an increased interest in the nominees, and that’s a good thing.
That’s the power of the Academy Awards.
So Universal is upping “The Fabelmans” by over 1,000 theaters tonight. Searchlight is doing the same for “The Banshees of Inisherin.” Universal’s; Focus Features is giving “TAR” 400 new locations.
It makes sense. Every day this week since the nominations were announced those films, each with many nods, has done better business. It’s a tribute to the Oscars influence that these three very fine films which have struggled at the box office since their release are finally drawing audiences.
See all three, by all means. They are well worth it. And one of them could be a big winner. Or all three could divide up the spoils on March 12th.
What a night last night for Benson and Stabler on “Law & Order SVU.” They got all gooey, almost kissed, kind of professed love for each other.
And the fans went batshit crazy. The episode scored a season high of 5.6 million viewers. Advanced warning of this “SVU” romantic non event made viewers tune in early for “Law & Order” at 8pm, pushing that show’s ratings up over 5 million. Yee-hah!
That’s the biggest total viewer number since April 1, 2020, which was 8 million, when Chris Meloni returned as Elliot Stabler, his wife was killed off, and Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson got misty eyed after 12 years of not thinking about him.
But the glow subsided when 10pm came and “Organized Crime” followed. Around three million people left do other things. “OC” pulled in just 2 million fans.
“SVU” is now so different from its origins. If you look at reruns, it was a hardcore procedural. Now it’s a Regency Romance novel. Very weird. But it works, brings in viewers, and just keeps going.
Will these two ever consummate their thang? Probably a May season ending cliffhanger. But that will take all the wind out of these sails. I call it ‘Benson Hedges’ after the long ago cigs, Benson & Hedges.
ADDED SCOOP: Sources say the Stones album is being produced by Grammy winner Andrew Watt. He’s very hot right now, 32 years old and in demand with every young pop star. He was born in 1990, just after the Stones released their “Steel Wheels” album.
It’s hard to believe, but the last album of original material from the Rolling Stones was the 2005 release “A Bigger Bang.” Their only release since then was “Blue and Lonesome” in 2016.
So it’s big news that the Stones, who are now a collective 4,000 years old, are recording a new album of original material.
My sources tell me Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are right now in Nassau, The Bahamas, at the famed Sanctuary Studios, getting new songs down.
This would make sense. A couple of weeks ago, Keith posted a New Year’s greeting and said, mysteriously, new music might be coming. He posed not inside a winter’s living room in Connecticut but in a sleeveless top, outside, with palm trees in the background. Hint, hint, wink, wink.
Sources in the Bahamas say Mick and Keith (not sure about Ronnie Wood, Darryl Jones, and Steve Jordan) arrive at the studio every day at 6pm and leave around midnight. And these guys are not slackers. I’ll bet they’re getting a lot done in those sessions.
A new album — which might include their number 1 single, “Living in a Ghost Town,” would make sense since the Stones will undoubtedly tour again, maybe this summer or fall. It’s not the money, you know, because they have plenty of it. Like all these legacy rockers, it’s the adrenaline rush. the love of music and the audience. They love to tour and play and travel. (I get it: who wants to stay home?) A new album would cause a ruckus for at least a couple of weeks. especially if it’s surprisingly great. We’ll cross our fingers.
PS I’m still using that picture. Charlie Watts will never be gone, really.
“Baywatch” star Pamela Anderson is releasing a memoir soon. It’s called “Love, Pamela.” This has prompted a cover story in Variety.
The most interesting take away? Anderson was married to long time friend Jon Peters, producer of the original “Batman” movie, for 12 days in 2020. You’d think their split was a mess, but they seem to be on amicable terms. She’s getting ten million bucks when he croaks.
Peters– famous for long term relationship with Barbra Streisand in the 70s — tells Variety: “I will always love Pamela, always in my heart. As a matter of fact, I left her $10 million in my will. And she doesn’t even know that. Nobody knows that. I’m just saying it for the first time with you. I probably shouldn’t be saying it. So that’s for her, whether she needs it or not.”
I don’t know in their world if that’s a little or a lot of money, or a settlement that was reached when they split. I do know that if this were “Columbo” or “Perry Mason,” an hour well spent would be coming up right now. If I were Peters, I’d beef up security.
EXCLUSIVE Prince Harry has made few friends lately. Now his book sales are reflecting public sentiment.
Harry’s memoir “Spare” fell 105% in sales for its second week. This is stunning. Second week sales were just 195,000, according to NPD Book Scan. First week sales were 629,000.
The huge drop reflect the public’s turn against him and his campaign against his family– especially such a short time after his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth died.
But Harry made appearances on every major TV show and his interviews got uglier and uglier. He completely misread pubic opinion about the royal family. Also, the negativity towards his own father, etc just made him seem like a crybaby. Why not just take the $60 million from the Crown, and $100 million from Netflix, and move on? No one was sympathetic.
As far as sales go, compared to President Obama’s book, “A Promised Land,” Harry’s really collapsed. Obama only lost 51% sales in his second week. Of course, that book was inspirational, not spiteful.
I’m curious to see what’s next for Harry. His family can’t want to see him, and the public has quickly lost interest.
PS: These are hard numbers for US sales. Don’t be swayed by press spin that includes ebooks or copies stuffed into cereal boxes. This book is a huge disappointment for PenguinRandomeveryone.
Pedro Pascal is on a roll. He’s starring in two hot hot hot series, “The Mandalorian” and “The Last of Us.” You can’t do better.
Now Pascal will host “Saturday Night Live” for the first time, on February 4th. Coldplay is the musical guest, which suggests they may be dropping a new single.
The show can get a lot out of Pascal with parodies of both his shows. Should be fun!
“SNL” is also on a roll these days. Last Saturday’s episode scored a high 4.8 million viewers. The season had a slow start but it picked up right before Christmas break. Lorne Michaels stuffed the show with guest stars last week like Amy Poehler and Sharon Stone. We’ll see what he’s got up his sleeve coming up.
Eddie Murphy gave Jimmy Kimmel a rare interview last night to promote his new Netflix movie. He was charming and surprisingly candid.
Among the things they discussed: Eddie’s ownership of a famous painting, “The Sugar Shack,” by Eddie Barnes.
Eddie told Kimmel that he owns the original of the painting, made in 1972, for which he paid $50,000 while he was on “Saturday Night Live.” A second version of the painting, made by Barnes, sold for $16 million at Christie’s auction house last year.
“The Sugar Shack” became famous when it commissioned for the cover of Marvin Gaye’s 1972 album, “I Want You.” It became known as the “Good Times” painting because Barnes made a different version of it in 1976 that hung on the set of the Norman Lear sitcom. It was supposed to be the work of the show’s character, J.J., played by Jimmie Walker.
The 1976 version that sold at Christie’s was called “Sugar Shack II” and that’s the one that sold at Christie’s. Murphy told Kimmel he bought the original from Gaye’s estate for just $50,000. Gaye had commissioned the painting for the album cover.
The painting, according to one report, is more famous in some Black circles than the Mona Lisa. It depicts a rapturous group of dancer in 1952 at the Durham Armory, an iconic dance hall in segregated North Carolina. According to the Christie’s catalog, Barnes sneaked into the Armory at age thirteen, “engendering a memory of music and movement that would inspire the creation of The Sugar Shack twenty-four years later.” Barnes said of the experience, “It was the first time my innocence met with the sins of dance.”
You can see below Murphy is proud to own the painting, and thrilled that the replica sold for $16 million. Kimmel jokes with him, “You’re rich!” Murphy just nods his head. (Wait til his 10 children fight for that piece of art!)
Steven Spielberg’s gorgeous film jumped a whopping 96% last night at the box office. The reason: 7 Oscar nominations.
For the Tuesday night box office, following the Oscar reveals in the morning, that was the biggest increase of any movie in the awards race. “The Fabelmans” came within 4% of doubling its audience from the previous night.
The fact is, “The Fabelmans” is more like a Best Picture than any movie in the running this year. Academy members may finally be catching up to it. Michelle Williams and Judd Hirsch give impeccable performances. I disagree with anyone who says Michelle should have been in the supporting category. She is the lead in this movie. The story is about her character’s frustrations and transformation. And Hirsch’s appearance in the film is pivotal. It’s also incendiary.
We always used to say that the Best Picture is the one with heart and soul, and the Big Picture. “The Fabelmans” is about family as a living organism, and now it repairs itself and keeps moving forward. The other films this year are all very good. I know there’s a push for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” It’s very innovative except that no one really can figure out what’s going on. The images are sensational. The actors are so much fun, but it’s an explosive cartoon. It’s not a drama for the ages.
So we’ll see what happens when ballots go out for final voting. In the meantime, go see “The Fabelmans” on a big screen. Pay attention to the tablecloth scenes. I think they’re key to the whole thing, more important than hot dog fingers. (Those fingers are not Hebrew National. You can tell by the color!)
The Grammy Awards have announced the first group of performers. They include Bad Bunny, Mary J. Blige, Brandi Carlile, Luke Combs,Steve Lacy, Lizzo, Kim Petras, and Sam Smith.
Also, undoubtedly due to take the stage are the main players in the drama for Sunday, February 5th– Beyonce, Adele, and Harry Styles. Is this Beyonce’s year to finally win the Grammy for Album of the Year? Or will it go to one of the others? Very intriguing.
Plus, let’s not forget there are plenty of nominees in the non televised portion of the Grammys, which are streamed on Facebook in the afternoon leading up to the big show. I’m rooting for Judy Collins in folk music, and Elvis Costello in rock.
The Grammys are back after a couple of rocky years.. It should be a great show, and a comeback in the ratings. More news to come…
