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New York Film Festival Pulls Out the Big Guns: “Dune,” Joaquin Phoenix, Maggie Gyllenhaal, “French Dispatch”

Roger Friedman
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New York Film Festival Pulls Out the Big Guns: “Dune,” Joaquin Phoenix, Maggie Gyllenhaal, “French Dispatch”

The New York Film Festival has pulled out the big guns for its Spotlight films. I’m most excited about Mike Mills’s “C’mon, C’mon,” starring Joaquin Phoenix and Gaby Hoffman. Mills’s “20th Century Women” is one of my favorite films, as are “Thumbsucker” and “Beginners.” I can’t wait!

The festival has also added the new “Dune,” directed by Denis Villeneuve, plus Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” both of which I feel like I’ve already seen at this point!

Also: Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directing debut, “The Lost Daughter,” starring Jessie Buckley, Ed Harris, Dakota Johnson, Paul Mescal, Alba Rohrwacher, and (of course) Peter Sarsgaard.

Plus: Sean Baker’s “Red Rocket,” Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir,” Marco Bellocchio’s “Marx Can Wait,” and several more.

Solid list. Let’s hope most of it can happen in person!

 

Country Shocker: Amazon Prime Picks Up ACM Awards Exclusively for Streaming After CBS Balks at Price

Roger Friedman
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Country Shocker: Amazon Prime Picks Up ACM Awards Exclusively for Streaming After CBS Balks at Price

Well, this is different.

The ACM Academy of Country Music Awards are moving to amazon Prime for exclusive streaming.

CBS balked at the price for another showing, and Dick Clark Productions walked away thinking they’d snag another network. They didn’t.

Will country fans go for streaming in big numbers? We’ll see.

“We’re excited to continue to expand our content offerings for Prime Video customers by being the exclusive home for the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2022 and honoring the best in country music,” said Vernon Sanders, co-head of television, Amazon Studios. “Reaching this milestone with our partners at the Academy of Country Music and MRC as the first major awards show to be livestreamed speaks to our dedication and commitment to continue to both entertain and innovate for our audience.”

The 57th edition of the ACMs will air on Amazon sometime next year.

Pandemic Panic: NYC’s 3 Day Music Fest Governor’s Ball Straining to Sell Tickets for Shows Starring Billie Eilish, Post Malone

Roger Friedman
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Pandemic Panic: NYC’s 3 Day Music Fest Governor’s Ball Straining to Sell Tickets for Shows Starring Billie Eilish, Post Malone

As the actual governor of New York is in trouble, so too is the Governor’s Ball.

The three day music fest set for September 24th weekend at CitiField is straining to sell tickets. Capacity is set at 40,000 tickets per day.

The Ball says it sold out its three day passes, but keeps pushing sales of individual tickets for Friday and Sunday of the weekend. Friday’s show is toplined by Billie Eilish, Sunday’s show is headlined by Post Malone. (DaBaby was dropped from the Eilish night because of his homophobic remarks this summer. He was never replaced.)

I was able to reserve 6 tickets for each show with no trouble this morning. (I released them before purchase.) This means that there are plenty of tickets available for both Friday and Sunday.

Only the Saturday show is sold out, with a hot line up of ASAP Rocky, J Balvin, Megan Thee Stallion, and Phoebe Bridgers the A list performers with a dozen or so support acts.

But it’s not the acts that are keeping buyers away. It’s definitely fear of COVID even though the show is outside in the Mets’ ballfield.

The Governor’s Ball is only feeling the pinch of all large gatherings, inside or outside for this fall. Big stars like Garth Brooks and Stevie Nicks have cancelled stadium shows. They know the fans are wary, and that without 100% vaccinations, the whole enterprise is shaky.

 

(Listen) The Rolling Stones Launch 40th Anniversary of “Tattoo You” With 1st of 9 Unreleased Songs

Roger Friedman
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(Listen) The Rolling Stones Launch 40th Anniversary of “Tattoo You” With 1st of 9 Unreleased Songs

“Living in the Heart of Love” is the first of 9 unreleased tracks from “Tattoo You,:” the Rolling Stones’ signature 1981 album.

“Tattoo You” gets a 40th anniversary release in October with the a 3CD set — the original album, all remastered, a 2nd CD with 9 unreleased tracks including covers never heard before of “Drift Away” and Jimmy Reed’s “Shame Shame Shame” on a disc called Lost & Found.

There’s another disc, Still Life: Wembley Stadium 1982 comprising the band’s London show in June of that year on the Tattoo You tour. The 26-track set is packed with Stones mega-hits, including an opening “Under My Thumb” and all-time greats such as “Let’s Spend The Night Together,” “Honky Tonk Women” and “Brown Sugar.”

The Wembley show has covers of the Temptations’ “Just My Imagination,” Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock,” the Miracles’ “Going To A Go Go” and early rock ‘n’ roller the Big Bopper’s “Chantilly Lace.” It also features early live workouts for tracks from the then-new Tattoo You such as “Start Me Up,” “Neighbours,” “Little T&A” and “Hang Fire.”

“Manifest” Will Finish Telling Its Story on Netflix, Not NBC: Here’s the Original Story

Roger Friedman
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“Manifest” Will Finish Telling Its Story on Netflix, Not NBC: Here’s the Original Story

I told you on July 19th that NBC’s “Manifest” wasn’t over despite its cancellation. Other outlets picked up my scoop without attribution, like Deadline. Don’t worry, we’re used to it.

I was told even back then that despite the cancellation, stage managers were told not to strike the sets. The show’s producers knew they were going to get picked up even if it wasn’t NBC.

“Manifest,” which is like “LOST” but without a smoke monster, has been a huge hit on streaming platforms. Netflix has had great success with it as people who’d never heard of it took a chance on the drama. This is largely because of fans who got organized with a campaign to see the end of the story played out somewhere. The actors, who were largely unknown, certainly wanted to see “Manifest” continue from its cliffhanger.

The result, as I predicted, is that the producers will get to finish their story after all.

Only the show will move to Netflix after NBC’s mistake of cancelling it. All signs look good that a Netflix deal is finishing up. “Manifest” should be back on TVs and computers by next year.

That’s not good news for NBC. They have egg on their faces. They also have a lot of time to fill because they counted on Dick Wolf’s “Law & Order: For the Defense” to fill that hour. But it turned out that Wolf never actually developed the show. Suddenly NBC had an open hour on Thursday nights. They’re still scrambling to plug that hole.

Oh, TV. The machinations! What a world!

Actress-Activist Alyssa Milano Takes the Wheel of Uncle’s Car After Heart Attack in Harrowing Story

Roger Friedman
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Actress-Activist Alyssa Milano Takes the Wheel of Uncle’s Car After Heart Attack in Harrowing Story

It’s hard to imagine a worse scenario– driving with someone who has a heart attack or stroke and loses control of the car.

That’s what happened yesterday to actress-activist Alyssa Milano in Los Angeles. Her Uncle Mitch became ill and Milano managed to steer the car to safety. It must have been incredibly frightening.

Now she says in a series of Tweets that Uncle Mitch’s recovery is uncertain.

In a press release the police saidMilano’s uncle was driving a Ford SUV when he drifted into another lane, hit another vehicle and “started to have an unknown medical issue (possible heart attack),” the report said. “With the assistance of a Good Samaritan, they were able to bring the Ford to a stop in between the #1 and #2 lane,” the press release added.

Milano wrote:

“Yesterday, my family suffered a terrifying and traumatic event. I was a passenger in a car my Uncle Mitch was driving when he suffered a serious heart attack, resulting in a car crash. I am grateful to the people who stopped to help us.

I’ll never be able to thank them enough for the care and attention they, along with the first responders, doctors, nurses, and staff at UCLA Medical Center paid to him and to me.

Uncle Mitch is such an important part of our family. He’s with us every day, spending time with my children and present in every meaningful part of our lives. He’s still in the hospital, and we are unsure if he will recover

I hope that you—and especially you in the media—will afford him and my family the kindness of privacy as we move through this incredibly painful time.

Please, take this as your inspiration to get CPR certified. You don’t know when you’ll be called upon to save a life. The American Red Cross and many hospitals and other organizations offer regular classes. It’s such a small effort and can have a huge impact.”

So send prayers and good thoughts to Uncle Mitch and the whole family!

Anthony Mackie, Finally, Gets to Play Captain America, the Second Marvel Black Super Hero

Roger Friedman
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Anthony Mackie, Finally, Gets to Play Captain America, the Second Marvel Black Super Hero

If Anthony Mackie had been white, my friends, he’d have already had an Oscar. That’s me saying it.

Mackie has waited and waited, but now he’s finally going to top line a movie, and a Marvel one at that. He’ll play Captain America in “Captain America 4.” He’ll be the second Black super hero carrying a film, after Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther.

Chris Evans was previously Captain America. He seemed to turn the role over to Mackie’s Falcon at the end of “Avengers: Endgame.”

Then Mackie and Sebastian Stan went on to do the Disney Plus mini series “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” as Bucky Barnes (Stan) and Sam Wilson (Falcon). But who is Captain America? Evans handed the famed shield to Mackie in “Endgame.” Mackie became Captain America at the end of the series.

It’s taken a long time to get this far. Anthony Mackie isn’t just an action hero. He should be our next Denzel Washington. He’s that good. He was great on Broadway in “Behanding in Spokane.” He’s shined in tons of movies including “Half Nelson” and “The Hurt Locker.”

So many congrats to Anthony! And cheers to Deadline, which broke the news.

Garth Brooks Cancels the Rest of His 2021 Stadium Dates as Concert Business Has New Pandemic Panic

Roger Friedman
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Garth Brooks Cancels the Rest of His 2021 Stadium Dates as Concert Business Has New Pandemic Panic

Garth Brooks is outta here.

Garth is joining a number of performers who are throwing in the towel on 2021 fall concert dates, particularly in stadiums. He’s cancelled 5 dates and says he hopes to be back in 2022.

Stevie Nicks recently cancelled her dates. The rising COVID numbers are scaring off performers, and I don’t blame them. Everyone is nervous about being inside with 20,000 potentially unvaxxed, unmasked strangers.

Brooks said in a statement: “In July, I sincerely thought the pandemic was falling behind us. Now, watching this new wave, I realize we are still in the fight and I must do my part. I have asked the wonderful cities of Cincinnati and Charlotte to wait too long and I don’t want to now do that same thing to the great folks in Boston and Baltimore. As far as Nashville, we are looking for a make up date from the July rain out and though this is not COVID related, to make them wait makes me sad, as well. So, it is with a heavy heart we announce the decision to cancel all 5 shows but with a hopeful heart, we will reschedule and start over when this wave seems to be behind us.”

The 5 concert locations being cancelled are Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, scheduled for September 18th, Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, scheduled for September 25th, M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, scheduled forOctober 2nd, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, scheduled for October 9th and Nissan Stadium in Nashville which has not been rescheduled yet.

Who will be next? Stand by. I’ll be surprised if the Rolling Stones go through with their dates.

UPDATE: Hollywood in Peril with Location Filming in Georgia as Film Commission Ignores Spike, Doesn’t Track COVID Cases

Roger Friedman
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UPDATE: Hollywood in Peril with Location Filming in Georgia as Film Commission Ignores Spike, Doesn’t Track COVID Cases

UPDATE Nancy Nydam writes: DPH does not have any outbreak reports from a film set, and specifically nothing from “The Staircase.”

EXCLUSIVE If you’re in showbiz working on a TV show or film in the state of Georgia, you are sunk. The Georgia Film Commission tells me they do not track COVID cases or report them to the Georgia Department of Health.

“We don’t track that information, unt-uh,” said Mary Ann Lamonica, of the Georgia Film Commission when I asked her this morning. Nancy Nydam, Communications Director for the George Dept. of Health, is so far not responding to emails or phone calls. (If there’s a response, we’ll update immediately.)

Nearly 30 productions are working in Georgia right now including “The Staircase,” an HBO miniseries starring Colin Firth. I reported last week that Firth contracted COVID on the set. Now I’m told that he got it from a crew member who lied about being vaccinated, and even showed a fake vaccination card.

Lamonica also refused to share the name of the COVID supervisor for “The Staircase.” The supervisor listed on the imdb told me he left the show some time ago and didn’t know who replaced him or what was going on there. “The Staircase” also stars Toni Colette and Dane DeHaan.

According to my sources, Firth spent at least a week in the hospital and was quite ill. The series shut down, then shot around him. It’s unclear if he’s recovered or is back to work. (If anyone knows more and wants to contact me confidentially– the email is showbiz411@gmail.com.)

Despite Georgia making it difficult for people to vote, Hollywood has not stopped spending money there. Now the question is, will productions risk their cast and crew’s lives as the COVID rate soars? Yesterday, according to the state’s website, there were 440 new cases in the peach state. On June 13th, just two months ago, there were only 23.

The fact that the Georgia Film Commission doesn’t track COVID at all is alarming. Other shows and movies shooting there include Tyler Perry’s new “Madea” movie, Michael B. Jordan in “Creed III,” “Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever,” and the final season of “The Walking Dead.”

I’m getting emails and calls from sets around the country regarding COVID. If anyone has any information, again the email is showbiz411@gmail.com. Please, everyone, get the vaccinations right away.

 

 

Carlos Santana and Rob Thomas Make Their “Move” (Listen Here) from New Album Including Hit “She’s Fire” with G-Eazy, Diane Warren

Roger Friedman
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Carlos Santana and Rob Thomas Make Their “Move” (Listen Here) from New Album Including Hit “She’s Fire” with G-Eazy, Diane Warren

Carlos Santana and Rob Thomas have made their “Move,” a follow up to their 1999 smash hit, “Smooth.” Thomas wrote it with American Authors, who also sing on the record.

“Move” comes from Santana’s new album, “Blessings and Miracles,” coming October 15th from BMG. The album includes “She’s Fire,” Santana’s hit with G-Eazy from Diane Warren’s new album, also on BMG, called “The Cave Sessions.”

(Lucky for Santana, he has his own PR firm, run by the great Michael Jensen, or no one would know what’s going on. BMG sends out no information. Last year they killed albums by The Pretenders and by Patty Smyth. This year the Jimmy Jam-Terry Lewis album had a week of press and then sank like a stone. All great albums. All gone. Total sales on Jam & Lewis’s album 8,300.)

Santana and Thomas will likely debut “Move” on Saturday at Clive Davis’s Welcome Back New York concert in Central Park. How about 60,000 people dancing to a new hit song? Not bad!

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