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Adele’s First Week Singles Sales for “Easy On Me” About 60% Off from “Hello” in 2015

Roger Friedman
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Adele’s First Week Singles Sales for “Easy On Me” About 60% Off from “Hello” in 2015

The good news: in a declining business, Adele’s first week sales for “Easy On Me” were huge, the biggest of any single since her “Hello” in 2015.

The bad news: her sales were down almost 60% from “Hello” and that includes streaming, which wasn’t such a big factor in 2015.

Naively, I thought “Easy on Me” would get to half a million. But it fell short, to 450,000. “Hello” had 1.1 million. Numbers are from Buzz Angle/Alpha Data.

Still, Adele broke streaming records. I love those announcements when they saw 900 billion streams or whatever. It means nothing. When you boil the streams down to actual sales, the numbers are much more realistic and not so exciting.

All singles sales are down by 50% from six years ago, so none of this is surprising. “Streaming equivalent” has all but replaced actual paid downloads. But the overall number has shrunk anyway.

Maybe “Easy On Me” is a loss leader and the next single, which will have to come next Friday or the following, will be a real killer. One hopes.

The big charts news is that Elton John’s cleverly made “Lockdown Sessions” is the number 1 album on iTunes. “Cold Heart’ is a huge singles hit, and “Always Love You” has hit the top 40. The album is full of hits that could keep radio buzzing for months. Bravo!

Much Postponed “Dune” Gets Off to a $5 Mil Start in Previews, Hopes for $40 Mil Weekend

Roger Friedman
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Much Postponed “Dune” Gets Off to a $5 Mil Start in Previews, Hopes for $40 Mil Weekend

Thursday night, Warner Bros’ much anticipated “Dune” got started with $5 million in previews.

Based on that number, Denis Villeneuve’s take on Frank Herbert’s sci fi classic could reap $40 million at the box office.

“Dune” is also available on HBO Max, but it’s so stunning that I highly recommend getting off your keisters and seeing it in a theater. Wear a mask.

“Dune” will be up for a lot of below the line Oscars, and you want to be well versed in the details.

Will there be a part 2? Undoubtedly. Box office will only matter so much if the HBO Max numbers are good. Like “Many Saints of Newark,” “Dune” is designed to build interest in the streaming service. There are rumors that “Saints” will turn into an HBO Max series. You could see that happening to “Dune,” as well.

Meanwhile, “The Last Duel” is dead, and “No Time to Die” is struggling to stay alive. The Bond film crossed the $100 mil mark this week, but it’s losing steam quickly.

PS If “The French Dispatch” had previews, there was no report of attendance. It opens officially today at just 50 theaters.

 

Exclusive Eyewitness Recounts Shooting on Alec Baldwin Movie Set: One bullet ripped through both victims

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive Eyewitness Recounts Shooting on Alec Baldwin Movie Set: One bullet ripped through both victims

EXCLUSIVE It was one bullet that discharged from the prop gun on the Santa Fe movie “Rust” and killed the director of photography and wounded the movie’s director.

An eyewitness on set tells this column that the bullet went straight through the body of DP Halyna Hutchins and into the clavicle of the film’s director Joel Souza.

Very quickly the set was locked down. Ambulance and helicopters arrived. Hutchins and Souza were sent straight to the hospital. Hutchins died en route in a helicopter.

On the ground, Baldwin was in shock but composed. He kept asking why he was handed a “hot gun.” Our eyewitness said Baldwin kept saying “In all my years, I’ve never been handed a hot gun.”

“A hot gun” means a gun with real ammunition.

Baldwin, not knowing the fate of the victims, was taken immediately to the hospital. “He had no idea how badly they were hurt or Halyna was dead.”

“Rust” is a Tier 1 one movie, meaning it was being produced for under $6 million. Our source says: “They had safety meetings every day but it was a Tier I movie, so they probably didn’t have more than 1 prop person.” According to the imdb, there was one key medic on the staff and two stunt people.

Whatever happened on the set, Alec Baldwin certainly didn’t intend for this outcome. And “Rust” is done. Sources say the production has been halted but as with the movie about Gregg Allman’s life, in which a crew member was killed because of negligence, lawsuits will now override any chance to that movie being finished.

click here for more Showbiz411 headlines, and other scoops about Alec Baldwin and “Rust”

Urgent: Tragedy on Set of Alec Baldwin Movie as Prop Gun Kills 1, Injures Another

Roger Friedman
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Urgent: Tragedy on Set of Alec Baldwin Movie as Prop Gun Kills 1, Injures Another

Tragedy on the New Mexico set of a movie called Rust starring Alec Baldwin. I’m told the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins has been killed and another crew member is in critical condition after a prop gun misfired. At least two people have confirmed that Baldwin himself, unhurt, may have been involved in the accident. I’m hearing that Baldwin may have been in possession of the gun when the accident occurred.

Updating…sources say director Joel Souza is in stable condition and talking to police.

Trailer for Will Smith’s “King Richard” Debuts Long Sample of Beyonce’s Next Hit, “Be Alive”

Roger Friedman
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Trailer for Will Smith’s “King Richard” Debuts Long Sample of Beyonce’s Next Hit, “Be Alive”

Beyonce is back!

Alert the Bee Hive: their Queen has the original song in Will Smith’s movie, King Richard,” about Serena and Venus Williams’s coach dad. You can hear a long sample of it in this new trailer.

Smith is on track for an Oscar nomination and this song sounds like it, too. “Be Alive” may be the signal of new Beyonce music coming soon.

Is “Be Alive” dropping like, tonight, as a surprise? May be. If so, we’ll have an Adele-Beyonce battle on the charts. Fun!

Adele Huge 500K Copy Debut for “Easy on Me” Will Still Be Half of “Hello” Sales from 2015

Roger Friedman
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Adele Huge 500K Copy Debut for “Easy on Me” Will Still Be Half of “Hello” Sales from 2015

Adele is on track for the biggest debut for single sales this year with “Easy on Me.”

Released a week ago tonight, “Easy on Me” has sold 400,000 copies through yesterday. It will hit 500,000 copies plus by the time the sales week ends tonight.

It’s a big number but not as big as Adele’s last huge hit. First week sales in 2015 for “Adele” were 1.1. million. In a month she sold 2.5 million copies of “Hello.”

Most of Adele’s sales are from streaming. The download sales are around 80,000.

This year, the only single to come close was BTS’s “Butter,” which opened with 242,800 copies. “Butter” is now melting in the face of Adele’s onslaught.

Even with “Hello” hovering around in the background, “Easy On Me” will be the biggest debut single going back several years. In 2017, Taylor Swift sold 353,000 copies of “Look What You Made Me Do” which sampled “I’m Too Sexy for My Shirt.”

Singles sales, even with streaming, are in a huge decline, about 60% off from five years ago overall.

 

Gotham Awards Nominations: Deep “Indie” Plus Non Gender Lead and Supporting Nods

Roger Friedman
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Gotham Awards Nominations: Deep “Indie” Plus Non Gender Lead and Supporting Nods

 

I always like the Gotham Awards because they pick up on films, directors, and performances no one has ever heard of. They’re in the indie film awards of the East Coast and propel a lot of names forward into the awards season.

This year, the Gothams dropped gender-based nominations in acting, so we just have Best Performance and Best Supporting Performance. We all wondered if there would be more men than women or vice versa. Turns it, it’s even! Notably, all five Breakthrough Performances are women! C’mon guys, let’s get that act together!

One thing the Gothams missed was nominating “CODA” for Best Feature. The Apple film could wind up in the Oscars mix. The Gothams threw it a couple of acting nods, but it really deserved more.

Anyway, the season begins! (Love seeing “Flee” in there for Best Documentary.)

The 2021 Gotham Award nominations are:

Best Feature

 

The Green Knight

David Lowery, director; Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston, David Lowery, Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page, producers (A24)

 

The Lost Daughter

Maggie Gyllenhaal, director; Osnat Handelsman Keren, Talia Kleinhendler, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Charles Dorfman, producers (Netflix)

 

Passing

Rebecca Hall, director; Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forest Whitaker, Margot Hand, Rebecca Hall, producers (Netflix)

 

Pig

Michael Sarnoski, director; Nicolas Cage, Steve Tisch, David Carrico, Adam Paulsen, Dori Roth, Joseph Restiano, Dimitra Tsingou, Thomas Benski, Ben Giladi, Vanessa Block, producers (NEON)

 

Test Pattern

Shatara Michelle Ford, director; Shatara Michelle Ford, Pin-Chun Liu, Yu-Hao Su, producers (Kino Lorber)

 

Best Documentary Feature

 

Ascension

Jessica Kingdon, director; Kira Simon-Kennedy, Nathan Truesdell, Jessica Kingdon, producers (MTV Documentary Films)

 

Faya Dayi

Jessica Beshir, director and producer (Janus Films)

 

Flee

Jonas Poher Rasmussen, director; Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Charlotte De La Gournerie, producers (NEON)

 

President

Camilla Nielsson, director; Signe Byrge Sørensen, Joslyn Barnes, producers (Greenwich Entertainment)

 

Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, director; Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent, David Dinerstein, producers (Searchlight Pictures, Onyx Collective, Hulu)

 

Best International Feature

 

Azor

Andreas Fontana, director; Eugenia Mumenthaler, David Epiney, producers (MUBI)

 

Drive My Car

Ryusuke Hamaguchi, director; Teruhisa Yamamoto, producer (Sideshow and Janus Films)

 

The Souvenir Part II

Joanna Hogg, director; Ed Guiney, Emma Norton, Andrew Low, Joanna Hogg, Luke Schiller, producers (A24)

 

Titane

Julia Ducournau, director; Jean-Christophe Reymond, producer (NEON)

 

What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?

Alexandre Koberidze, director; Mariam Shatberashvili, producers (MUBI)

 

The Worst Person In The World

Joachim Trier, director; Thomas Robsham, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Dyveke Bjørkly Graver, producers (NEON)

 

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award

Maggie Gyllenhaal for The Lost Daughter (Netflix)

Edson Oda for Nine Days (Sony Pictures Classics)

Rebecca Hall for Passing (Netflix)

Emma Seligman for Shiva Baby (Utopia Distribution)

Shatara Michelle Ford for Test Pattern (Kino Lorber)

 

Best Screenplay

The Card Counter, Paul Schrader (Focus Features)

El Planeta, Amalia Ulman (Utopia Distribution)

The Green Knight, David Lowery (A24)

The Lost Daughter, Maggie Gyllenhaal (Netflix)

Passing, Rebecca Hall (Netflix)

Red Rocket, Sean Baker & Chris Bergoch (A24)

 

Outstanding Lead Performance

Olivia Colman in The Lost Daughter (Netflix)

Frankie Faison in The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain (Gravitas Ventures)

Michael Greyeyes in Wild Indian (Vertical Entertainment)

Brittany S. Hall in Test Pattern (Kino Lorber)

Oscar Isaac in The Card Counter (Focus Features)

Taylour Paige in Zola (A24)

Joaquin Phoenix in C’mon C’mon (A24)

Simon Rex in Red Rocket (A24)

Lili Taylor in Paper Spiders (Entertainment Squad)

Tessa Thompson in Passing (Netflix)

 

Outstanding Supporting Performance

Reed Birney in Mass (Bleecker Street)

Jessie Buckley in The Lost Daughter (Netflix)

Colman Domingo in Zola (A24)

Gaby Hoffmann in C’mon C’mon (A24)

Troy Kotsur in CODA (Apple)

Marlee Matlin in CODA (Apple)

Ruth Negga in Passing (Netflix)

 

Breakthrough Performer

Emilia Jones in CODA (Apple)

Natalie Morales in Language Lessons (Shout! Studios)

Rachel Sennott in Shiva Baby (Utopia Distribution)

Suzanna Son in Red Rocket (A24)

Amalia Ulman in El Planeta (Utopia Distribution)

 

Breakthrough Series – Long Format (over 40 minutes)

 

The Good Lord Bird, Ethan Hawke, Mark Richard, creators; James McBride, Brian Taylor, Ryan Hawke, Ethan Hawke, Jason Blum, Albert Hughes, Mark Richard, Marshall Persinger, David Schiff, executive producers (Showtime)

 

It’s A Sin, Russell T Davies, creator; Russell T Davies, Peter Hoar, Nicola Shindler, executive producers (HBO Max)

 

Small Axe, Steve McQueen, creator; Tracey Scoffield, David Tanner, Steve McQueen, executive producers (Amazon Studios)

 

Squid Game, Kim Ji-yeon, Hwang Dong-hyu, executive producers (Netflix)

 

The Underground Railroad, Barry Jenkins, Colson Whitehead, creators; Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Colson Whitehead, Jacqueline Hoyt, executive producers (Amazon Studios)

 

The White Lotus, Mike White, creator; Mike White, David Bernad, Nick Hall, executive producers (HBO Max/HBO)

 

Breakthrough Series – Short Format (under 40 minutes)

 

Blindspotting, Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs, creators; Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs, Jess Wu Calder, Keith Calder, Ken Lee, Tim Palen, Emily Gerson Saines, Seith Mann, executive producers (STARZ)

 

Hacks, Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Jen Statsky, creators; Jen Statsky, Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, Michael Schur, David Miner, Morgan Sackett, executive producers (HBO Max/HBO)

 

Reservation Dogs, Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi, creators; Taika Waititi, Sterlin Harjo, Garrett Basch, executive producers (FX)

 

Run the World, Leigh Davenport, creator; Yvette Lee Bowser, Leigh Davenport, Nastaran Dibai, executive producers (STARZ)

 

We Are Lady Parts, Nida Manzoor, creator, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Surian Fletcher-Jones, Mark Freeland, executive producers (Peacock)

 

Breakthrough Nonfiction Series

 

City So Real, Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann, Alex Kotlowitz, Gordon Quinn, Betsy Steinberg, Jolene Pinder, executive producers (National Geographic)

 

Exterminate All the Brutes, Raoul Peck, Rémi Grellety, executive producers (HBO/HBO Max)

 

How To with John Wilson, John Wilson, creator; Nathan Fielder, John Wilson, Michael Koman, Clark Reinking, executive producers (HBO/HBO Max)

 

Philly D.A., Ted Passon, Yoni Brook, Nicole Salazar, creators; Dawn Porter, Sally Jo Fifer, Lois Vossen, Ryan Chanatry, Gena Konstantinakos, Jeff Seelbach, Patty Quillin, executive producers (Topic, Independent Lens, PBS)

 

Pride, Christine Vachon, Sydney Foos, Danny Gabai, Kama Kaina, Stacy Scripter, Alex Stapleton (FX)

 

Outstanding Performance in a New Series

Jennifer Coolidge in The White Lotus (HBO Max/HBO)

Michael Greyeyes in Rutherford Falls (Peacock)

Ethan Hawke in The Good Lord Bird (Showtime)

Devery Jacobs in Reservation Dogs (FX)

Lee Jung-jae in Squid Game (Netflix)

Thuso Mbedu in The Underground Railroad (Amazon Studios)

Jean Smart in Hacks (HBO Max/HBO)

Omar Sy in Lupin (Netflix)

Anya Taylor-Joy in The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)

Anjana Vasan in We Are Lady Parts (Peacock

Grammys Hire PR Heavy Hitter Sean Smith With Homeland Security and Obama Admin Credentials

Roger Friedman
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0
Grammys Hire PR Heavy Hitter Sean Smith With Homeland Security and Obama Admin Credentials

The Recording Academy keeps upping its game as we head into Grammy Awards season.

They’ve hired Sean Smith, formerly with Homeland Security and the Obama administration. to run corporate communications. If Kanye has a problem with anything, this is the guy he’ll have to deal with.

Smith comes directly from corporate PR firm Porter Novelli, which has been handling Musicares the last couple of years (after eons with Rogers and Cowan). The Recording Academy also upped Andie Cox, who’s got to deal with all of us ink stained wretches and does it graciously. Bravo to her. Both Smith and Cox will report to Co-President Valeisha Butterfield Jones.

Got a problem with the Grammys? Listen to this: Earlier in his career Smith “worked at the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) where he managed all aspects of the Department’s brand and reputation and was the principal advisor to the Secretary and several other Cabinet Members. During his tenure at DHS, Smith led the Obama administration’s public response to breaking news. He also held past roles in various political campaigns, including three presidential campaigns, and served in a variety of public affairs capacities and has been a lecturer at Yale University, Johns Hopkins and the University of California San Diego. ”

Okay? So there.

Now let’s get back to listening to music. Also, first task for Smith: making sure “McCartney III” and Springsteen’s “Letter to You” are nominated for Traditional Pop Album. If that doesn’t happen, we’re calling in Homeland Security!

Mayberry Memories: Ron Howard Recalls Crew Calling Jim Nabors Names, Andy Griffith Struggling with Divorce

Roger Friedman
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Mayberry Memories: Ron Howard Recalls Crew Calling Jim Nabors Names, Andy Griffith Struggling with Divorce

Mayberry was a small town, Ron Howard writes in his bestselling memoir, “The Boys,” with brother Clint. “But for those of us who actually spent our days there, it contained the whole of human experience.”

I am absolutely riveted by this book which I downloaded from Kindle (how else do we get copies of these things?).

(There are so many stories in this book, it’s impossible to put down. There’s also a lack of stories in some cases. Ron Howard made “Splash” and “Apollo 13” with Tom Hanks, for instance, and there’s not a mention of him in the 400 plus pages.)

A couple of things jumped out at me. Each is from “The Andy Griffith Show,” on which a young Ronny Howard played Opie for all of his childhood. Howard recalls being close with actor Howard Lindsay, who played Goober. They played ball a lot, both baseball and basketball. They shot hoops so much that Ron became proficient. (I seem to remember Richie Cunningham on the high school team on “Happy Days.’)

Howard’s memories of Jim Nabors, who played Gomer Pyle, are disarmingly sad. He writes: “I wasn’t as close with Jim Nabors, though he was an extremely nice man. It took me until the ’80s, when we did the Return to Mayberry reunion film, for me to discover that Jim was not just this friendly “Gollee!” goofball but a worldly, intelligent guy with whom I would enjoy having conversations.” Later he discovered the crew called Nabors names behind his back.

“I didn’t yet understand that there were gay people all around me, and all across the world. But this was my introduction to the very concept of queerness.”

Star Andy Griffith, meantime, had a failing marriage on his hands. He finally divorced his wife, Barbara, in 1972 and married two more times (plus had a hot affair with his co-star Aneta Corsault).

One day, “Griffith declared, within earshot of the whole cast, ‘My psychiatrist told me that probably the reason I work so damned hard on this show is that I don’t want to go home to my wife. And you know what, Don? I think he’s right.’ Andy wasn’t saying these things to get laughs. As his marriage to Barbara was unraveling, I saw him endure genuine pain. He came back from Christmas break one season with his hand all taped up. He was blunt about what happened: “I got drunk, I got mad, and I put my fist through a door.”

Brilliant book, so glad I downloaded it. Maybe the publisher will send over a hardcover. Don’t miss it!

 

 

 

 

 

“Dune” Coming Soon to HBOMax, Like Tomorrow, As It Launches Previews in Theaters Same Time

Roger Friedman
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“Dune” Coming Soon to HBOMax, Like Tomorrow, As It Launches Previews in Theaters Same Time

“Dune” is coming soon. Like tomorrow.

Not only will Denis Villeneuve’s long awaited epic play previews tomorrow night in theaters, it will also hit HBO Max early.

You can watch Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, and that wild sand worm on HBO Max starting tomorrow night at 6pm (Thursday).

The movie is like “Star Wars” in the sand, with hints of “Superman,” and some other mythologies. It’s all about the fight for “spice,” but not Spice Girls, unfortunately.

Read my review here.

 

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