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“Game of Thrones” Coming to Broadway a la “Harry Potter” with Flying Dragons, White Walkers and HBO

Roger Friedman
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“Game of Thrones” Coming to Broadway a la “Harry Potter” with Flying Dragons, White Walkers and HBO

Now we know why HBO made a big deal of announcing a huge new pact with George R. R. Martin last week. I mean, he hasn’t even finished the book for the season of “Game of Thrones” that’s come and gone. What could there be for them in a new deal?

Well, it’s a stage version of “Game of Thrones,” which will go to Broadway and London’s West End very much a la “Harry Potter.” HBO isn’t involved yet, but they will be, count on it. It’s going to take a lot of dough to put this production together. Flying dragons will be expected, among other things.

And the casting? Imagine the Broadway stars lining up to play Jon Snow, Daenerys, Oleanna Tyrell, Cersei, and all those Lannisters. The mind boggles. And what about an orchestra to play the theme music? Come on! The merchandising is a gold mine.

All of this will unravel in 2023. And Martin doesn’t even have to write it. He just stands at the door with a collection box. A lovely pay off for a gifted writer an amazing imagination.

Martin says in a statement:

“The seeds of war are often planted in times of peace.   Few in Westeros knew the carnage to come when highborn and smallfolk alike gathered at Harrenhal to watch the finest knights of the realm compete in a great tourney, during the Year of the False Spring.   It is a tourney oft referred during HBO’s GAME OF THRONES, and in my novels, A SONG OF ICE & FIRE… and now, at last, we can tell the whole story… on the stage.

An amazing team has been assembled to tell the tale, starting with producers Simon Painter, Tim Lawson and Jonathan Sanford. Their knowledge and love of my world and characters has impressed me from the very first, and their plans for this production blew me away since the first time we met.   Dominic Cooke, our director, is a former Artistic Director of London’s Royal Court Theatre, who brought Shakespeare’s dramas of the War of the Roses to television, and our playwright, Duncan Macmillan, has previously adapted George Orwell and Henrik Ibsen, among others.   Working with them (back before the pandemic, when we could actually get together) has been a treat, and I am eager for our collaboration to resume.    Our dream is to bring Westeros to Broadway, to the West End, to Australia… and eventually, to a stage near you.   It ought to be spectacular.”

A tip of the hat to the New York Times’ Dave Itzkoff, who offered some lyrics on Twitter:

JON SNOW:

Daenerys

I’ve just met a girl named Daenerys,

I’m totally elated

I hope she’s not related

To me

Broadway: “Diana,” the Musical That Won’t Go Away, Going First to Netflix then Opens Dec. 16th

Roger Friedman
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Broadway: “Diana,” the Musical That Won’t Go Away, Going First to Netflix then Opens Dec. 16th

Princess Diana always went her own way. Her musical is following suit.

“Diana The Musical” almost opened a year ago. The pandemic caused it to go dark before opening night. The buzz wasn’t great anyway.

Now Diana will return on December 1st for previews before an opening on the 16th.

But first there will be a TV special to edition on Netflix October 1st. This will either stoke interest or kill the show for good. Producers are betting on the former.

Diana will no doubt benefit from all the Meghan Markle controversies. You can bet on loads of articles on whether Prince Harry and his wife will come see it.

Sunday Ratings: “Walking Dead” Dies Another Day, Falls Below 2 Million Viewers to Lowest Ever (PS Glenn is Nominated for an Oscar)

Roger Friedman
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Sunday Ratings: “Walking Dead” Dies Another Day, Falls Below 2 Million Viewers to Lowest Ever (PS Glenn is Nominated for an Oscar)

That’s all, folks.

On Sunday night “The Walking Dead” fell below 2 million viewers to an all time low.

The number was 1,938.000. That’s a substantial drop from last week’s 2.11 million. I don’t know what those Zombies are up to, but the fans don’t like it. They’re leaving in droves.

In February, the number was 2.89. The steady decline is a sad saga for a show that once commanded north of 10 million viewers in a night. “Walking Dead” was a ratings monster. Now it’s on life support.

There’s only one episode left for this season, and then a summer season during which AMC should just let the whole die quietly. By then there will be so few people watching it won’t matter anyway.

Spin offs? Extra movies? I do think Andrew Lincoln was smart to cut bait and exit when he did, rather than wait for the eulogies.

The shark jump? When Negan took out his bat and bashed heads in a few years ago. I left, and I’m sure a lot of others did, too. Negan as a main character was nothing anyone wanted. That has been proven.

By the way, Negan  killed Glenn, whose portrayer got the last laugh: Steven Yeun is the star of the beautiful movie, “Minari,” and nominated for an Oscar. LOL. A very happy ending.

 

Oscars Exclusive: Academy Grapples with Pandemic for Show, Requiring 5 Day Quarantine, 10 Days for Out of Towners

Roger Friedman
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Oscars Exclusive: Academy Grapples with Pandemic for Show, Requiring 5 Day Quarantine, 10 Days for Out of Towners

I feel for the Motion Picture Academy. Putting on this Oscar telecast will not be easy. Last week, the Academy sent out the below letter to nominees and publicists with provisions for this year’s show in accordance with COVID regulations. Among the restrictions: a 5 day quarantine leading up to the April 25th show if the attendees are already in Los Angeles. A 10 day quarantine is required  for those traveling from another city.

Hello?

A new conference Zoom call is set for tomorrow. At that time, the whole ‘no Zooming for the show’ may be revisited since all of that quarantining seems impractical if not impossible.

But everyone wants to stay safe and still put on a good show.

Just a note to ABC and the Academy: after all the awards shows of the last year, no one is going to care about the ratings of the Oscars. An asterisk will be placed next to 2021. You get a free pass. Just put on the show.

Here’s the email that went out:

“COVID PROTOCOL PLANNING:
If nominees are traveling internationally into Los Angeles, they will be required to quarantine for 10 days upon arrival. There will be 3 COVID tests required leading up to the show. The Academy’s contracted lab will handle all testing.

“If nominees are traveling domestically or are already in Los Angeles, they will be asked to quarantine for 5 days. There will be 2 COVID tests required leading up to the show. Again, the Academy’s contracted lab will handle all testing.

“TICKETS:
The Academy will not accommodate additional ticket requests. Tickets for nominees are non-transferrable.

“ZOOM:
If Nominees are not in person, there will not be an option to Zoom into the telecast and the show will use an approved photo for the nominees when their category is announced. However, winners not in attendance will be able to Zoom into the Virtual Press Interview Room.

“STUDIO/PERSONAL REPS:
We will not be able to credential studio nor personal reps to be onsite. The Academy PR department and a small Talent Relations team will assist.”

“Chaos Walking” Running to VOD This Friday After Crashing at Box Office, This Year’s Huge Money Loser

Roger Friedman
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“Chaos Walking” Running to VOD This Friday After Crashing at Box Office, This Year’s Huge Money Loser

The wait is over.

If you stayed away from “Chaos Walking” because of the pandemic, the good news is it’s coming to video on demand and all streaming services this Friday.

The release is just in the nick of time. “Chaos Walking” cost over $100 million. But it’s made just $11 million in four weeks. It’s the biggest money loser of 2021.

Directed by Doug Liman, “Chaos Walking” stars Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley, two big names of this generation. The co-stars are even more impressive: David Oyelowo, Demian Bechir, Cynthia Erivo, and Mads Mikkelsen. Nick Jonas is even in it.

And yet, the film has a 22 rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics didn’t like it. Neither did bloggers. And on Friday, we’ll all get the chance to see it!

 

Give Her Shelter: Merry Clayton’s Triumphant Return to Music Shows Off Her “Beautiful Scars” and Sensational Voice

Roger Friedman
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Give Her Shelter: Merry Clayton’s Triumphant Return to Music Shows Off Her “Beautiful Scars” and Sensational Voice

Merry Clayton is back, with a sweet vengeance. After a terrible car accident in 2015, the legendary singer from the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” and from Carole King’s hit albums of the 70s, has made a new album.

“Beautiful Scars” is named for a title track written by Diane Warren. The album is produced by Lou Adler, who first signed Merry to Ode Records in 1970. She had solo albums and she sang on Ode Records’ Carole King albums memorably. Her voice on the Stones song remains a key part of their legacy and hers.

Merry was featured in the Oscar winning drama “20 Feet to Stardom” a few years ago. I was at a Grammy event with her and Darlene Love and a few others from that film in a small club in Los Angeles, and will never forget her peeling the paint off the ceiling when she sang. Utterly amazing.

“Beautiful Scars” drops on April 9th.

What Year Is It? Oldies Take Up 8 of the Top 20 on iTunes Including 1994 “Zombie” and 1970 “Spirit in the Sky”

Roger Friedman
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What Year Is It? Oldies Take Up 8 of the Top 20 on iTunes Including 1994 “Zombie” and 1970 “Spirit in the Sky”

What year is it again? While Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” is number 1, and Justin Bieber is in the top 10, the iTunes chart continues to be rife with Oldies. Oldies!

It’s comfort food for the pandemic, I guess.

On the iTunes Top 20, 8 of the entries are oldies but goodies. They include Norman Greenbaum’s unintentionally spiritual “Spirit in the Sky” from 1970 and the Cranberries’ “Zombie” from 1994. Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” a song with with 9 lives, is number 4. The late 70s hit already had a massive run on the charts last year after going viral from a fan video. “Dreams” won’t go away.

There are FOUR other Fleetwood Mac singles in the top 100. Not to mention Stevie Nicks, who wrote “Dreams” sang lead on it for the Mac. Her solo hit, “Edge of Seventeen,” is also in the top 20.

Bryan Adams’s “Summer of ’69,” a hit in 1984, is also there. Just FYI, Adams was only 9 years old in the Summer of 1969. The song is fiction. The rest of the top 100 is littered with oldies, including past hit records by Bon Jovi, U2, Chicago, Nickelback, Simple Minds, Heart, and Tina Turner.

Is this a surge of nostalgia? Or an indictment of current music? Or just a lack of current music with artists and labels holding back new music until the pandemic is over?

 

Nick Jonas’s “Spaceman” Album, Deprived of Oxygen Like Major Tom, Dead After Selling Only 15K Albums in 2 Weeks

Roger Friedman
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Nick Jonas’s “Spaceman” Album, Deprived of Oxygen Like Major Tom, Dead After Selling Only 15K Albums in 2 Weeks

Does anyone know what happened? Can you hear me, Major Tom?

Nick Jonas’s “Spaceman” album is now completely dead. This failure to launch is very unusual for a big pop star. But “Spaceman” is not even falling back to Earth. It’s floating in the outer reaches of our galaxy, adrift, deprived of oxygen.

Sales for two weeks come to just 14,800 in CDs and downloads. With streaming, the album has sold 33,700 copies according to Buzz Angle. It’s gone from any chart.

You can’t live a big celebrity life style on sales of 14,800. So the question is, what did happen? “Spaceman” was no better or worse than any previous Jonas album. Granted, there was no breakout single like Joe Jonas’s “Cake by the Ocean.” But there were plenty of tracks for Adult Contemporary radio, and pop. Nick is a good pitchman. He gave it a go on “SNL.”

But that’s it. The party is over. I guess Nick goes back to work on a Jonas Brothers album and writes this off. Very unusual for Universal Music Group, which otherwise commands the charts. But this release didn’t even get a chance.

Report: Rupert Murdoch Book Publishing Empire Expanding to Add Harcourt, Houghton Mifflin to Harper Collins

Roger Friedman
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Report: Rupert Murdoch Book Publishing Empire Expanding to Add Harcourt, Houghton Mifflin to Harper Collins

Hey guess who got this scoop? The Wall Street Journal, owned by Rupert Murdoch, just reported that News Corp, also owned by Murdoch, is expanding its book publishing empire.

Murdoch already owns Harper Collins, which was called Harper & Row back in the day. Now they’re going to add Houghton Mifflin and Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, now known as Houghton Harcourt.

Isn’t that great? Book publishing will essentially be two conglomerates. The other one is Bertelsmann, which owns Random House, all its subsidiaries like Knopf, plus Doubleday, Viking Penguin, and is trying to complete the purchase of Simon & Schuster.

If you had told me this in 1986, I would have laughed, LOL. Not possible, I’d say! But sure enough we’re going to be down to these two massive conglomerates controlling all of book publishing.

The next thing you know, Murdoch will put Judith Regan or one of his old cronies in charge of the whole shooting match. It’s certainly a turn of events. Houghton Harcourt already owns Scholastic Press’s education and technology business, so now those go to Murdoch too!

They used to have the ABA book convention, now called the BEA or something, in convention halls with hundreds of stalls for booksellers. Now they can have it in the backroom of a funeral parlor with two stands.

“Saturday Night Live” Ratings Collapse to LOWEST in Over a Decade As Show Pairs “Family Favorite” Maya Rudolph With Unknown Musical Guest Jack Harlow

Roger Friedman
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“Saturday Night Live” Ratings Collapse to LOWEST in Over a Decade As Show Pairs “Family Favorite” Maya Rudolph With Unknown Musical Guest Jack Harlow

Maya Rudolph is brilliant, but the general “SNL” audience considers her part of the family and not a guest host.

Jack Harlow is unknown to just about everyone as a white rapper, and isn’t a draw.

These are the lessons learned from last night’s show as “SNL” had the lowest recorded ratings in over a decade. Going back to 2009 you can’t find a 3.6 million rating. But that’s what happened as Rudolph — albeit wonderful– hosted, and Harlow performed.

The show lost 500,000 viewers from its last airing on February 27th. Post-election, “SNL” has been averaging around 4.1 million.

The season high was 9.1 million on the Saturday after the election, and the numbers stayed around 6 million for three more weeks. But then reality set in: Alec Baldwin as Trump was gone. Trump himself was gone, and with him all acerbic political bashing. The resistance was done. “SNL” suddenly lacked a purpose. It went from being appointment viewing to a pedestrian experience. The fans tuned out.

The pandemic hasn’t helped. It became increasingly difficult to book hosts and musical guests. Celebrities didn’t want to travel to New York. No one had anything to promote. And so the choices whittled down to Rudolph, who we love but isn’t a movie star, and Harlow, who is unknown and frankly, after last night– even with an unadvertised appearance by Adam Levine, looking strange — may remain so.

Things should improve over the next two weeks with two Oscar nominees coming– Daniel Kaluuya and Carey Mulligan– and musical guests at least with a following– Kid Cudi and St. Vincent. But it was wrong of “SNL” to hang Rudolph out to dry ratings wise with a bad musical guest. They did her in, really. She deserves better.

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