The comedian addressed the infamous Oscars slap by Will Smith during a recent stand-up set at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey as part of his tour with Kevin Hart. “Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face,” Rock said onstage (via US Weekly). “I’m not a victim. Yeah, that shit hurt, motherfucker. But I shook that shit off and went to work the next day....
Update: Cineworld issued the following statement on Twitter Sunday: Earlier: All 542 Regal Cinemas locations in the U.S. are set to temporarily close once again. The move is part of a plan by parent company Cineworld to shutter all of its U.S. and UK locations, according to multiple reports, and comes after the American and British distributors of “No Time to Die” pushed the release date of the James Bond installment from next month to April 2021....
In the memo, which was obtained by IndieWire and can be read below, the channel’s CEO Chris Licht said those affected by the layoffs will be contacted over the next two days, and the rest of the staff will receive communication on who has been let go on Thursday. “Our people are the heart and soul of this organization. It is incredibly hard to say goodbye to any one member of the CNN team, much less many....
As reported by Variety, CNN CEO Chris Licht reportedly told staffers at a Tuesday town hall that he wanted on-camera talent to refrain from drinking during the channel’s annual New Year’s Eve coverage. Licht, who took the position of CEO this May, reportedly wants his first New Year’s Eve at the network to be a teetotal affair due to fears that on-screen drinking damaged the “respectability” of CNN as a news source....
In a statement, the studio said, “We have temporarily halted production on ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ until June 14, due to positive coronavirus test results during routine testing. We are following all safety protocols and will continue to monitor the situation.” Reports began to emerge out of The Sun that filming was shut down at Longcross Studios in Chertsey, Surrey, where Tom Cruise and the crew have been filming the seventh installment of the long-running espionage franchise....
“People think I made a lot of money from ‘Chappelle’s Show,’” Chappelle said at the time. “When I left that show I never got paid. [ViacomCBS] didn’t have to pay me because I signed the contract. But is that right? I found out that these people were streaming my work and they never had to ask me or they never have to tell me. Perfectly legal because I signed the contract....
Earlier: Jean-Marc Vallée, the Canadian director and producer who helmed the films “Wild” and “Dallas Buyers Club” and HBO series “Sharp Objects” and “Big Little Lies,” has died December 25 at age 58. The cause of death is not yet known, though representatives revealed that Vallée died in his cabin outside Quebec City. His producing partner, Nathan Ross, released a statement regarding his death. “Jean-Marc stood for creativity, authenticity and trying things differently....
Film veterans Steven Spielberg, Jane Campion, and Paul Thomas Anderson were recognized, as well as first-time feature filmmakers Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Sarnoski, and Emma Seligman. “The power of film, in all its many facets, shines through in the work of these exceptional directors representing the highest standards of filmmaking, artistic achievement and innovative storytelling,” Directors Guild of America President Lesli Linka Glatter said. “Being nominated by one’s peers – who understand on the deepest level what it takes to bring one’s vision to life – makes this award so very special, and we congratulate all of our nominees for their truly outstanding work....
The #FireGinaCarano movement on Twitter went viral last year after Carano appeared to mock transgender pronouns by putting “Beep/bop/boop” in her profile bio. Carano said Lucasfilm pushed her to release a company-written apology statement over the matter, but she refused. “Earlier on last year before ‘The Mandalorian’ came out, they wanted me to use their exact wording for an apology over pronoun usage,” Carano said. “I declined and offered a statement in my own words....
Published January 24: Disney has found massive success in recent years by making live action adaptations of its classic animated movies. Films like “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King” were box office smashes, capturing nostalgia from older audiences while introducing their most lucrative characters to younger generations. While Disney doesn’t seem to be diverting from the strategy anytime soon, Peter Dinklage thinks that “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” should stay on the shelf....
“Florida’s HB 1557, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed into law,” the statement reads. “Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that. We are dedicated to standing up for the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ members of the Disney family, as well as the LGBTQ+ community in Florida and across the country....
Here’s what Disney didn’t say: It didn’t say theaters were the premiere outlet for Disney content. In fact, the presentations made almost no effort to differentiate theatrical releases from those movies and series that will premiere on Disney+. That’s where it’s all going to wind up, the better to achieve streaming-brand “penetration” — a word Disney executives used with the same enthusiasm once reserved for “content.” What Disney did, say, repeatedly, was “DTC” or, “Direct To Consumer....
“Dog” vindicates both crowds to varying degrees, as this zany and satisfying tear-jerker is possibly the most Channing Tatum thing that anyone has ever made (he even co-directed it alongside his producing partner Reid Carolin). Some aspects of the film reflect his limitations — the majority of them crystallize his charms. But even the movie’s wackiest and most juvenile digressions can’t disguise the fact that its bark is worse than its (very tender) bite, as the real power of this “Dog” is ultimately rooted in its star’s undying belief that a man is only as strong as the bond he shares with his best friend....
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Streep said she temporarily “forgot how to act” when it was time to show up for production, which took place throughout the Northeast. In the film, she plays flippant United States President Janie Orlean, who’s hardly convinced by scientists Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence that an asteroid is headed to destroy the planet Earth. “I found it really hard,” Streep said. “I was aware that my character was funny....
Now, the studio has shared with IndieWire an official joint statement from Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, the co-chairs and CEOs of Warner Bros. Pictures. In the remarks, they denied that any drama occurred behind the scenes of the movie about a couple (Pugh and Harry Styles) living in a picture-perfect suburbia that all comes crashing down once Pugh’s character keys into the sinister machinations governing it. “We are so proud of the work that Olivia Wilde has done making this incredibly beautiful and entertaining film and look forward to collaborating with her again....
“I was planning to go back and shoot some elements later because I wanted to readjust the movie. I needed time. At the time I didn’t know that it would be a pandemic…as we were about to go back to do those elements,” he said. “The impact was that it crushed my schedule right now. It will be a sprint to finish the movie on time right now, because we were allowed to go back to shoot those elements in a few weeks…it meant also that I have to finish some elements of the movie, like VFX and the editing, being in Montreal as my crew stayed in Los Angeles....
“We did a live audience for the first episode, and that was the first thing we shot,” Olsen said. “It was very confusing how to play to the camera. Like, I was like projecting, because I’m used to stage. When I watched the first episode, I’m like, ‘Oh, goddamn it.’ I was so frustrated, because I can see my 10-year-old theater-kid self playing out to the audience instead of the camera....
That was never an option. By virtue of its release date, subject matter, and star power alone, “Emancipation” was created to be seen through the same narrow lens of the system that produced it, and “The Slap” — an existential threat to any feature so dependent upon the Oscars for market enthusiasm — ironically did even more to yoke the movie into Hollywood’s annual horse race at its own expense....
It was a great weekend for theaters with “Carnage” taking in $90 million domestic, a success hinted by strong VOD showings the week prior with the 2018 “Venom” (Sony). However, last week also saw the nearly unprecedented offer (on all platforms) to pre-buy the sequel on PVOD at a date unspecified. iTunes placed it at #6, even though it cannot be rented. Presume more confusion for moviegoers. Meantime, the reduced-price franchise starter is #3 at both iTunes and Google Play....
Revenue — the kind that’s visible to the naked eye — is another matter. All Sundance 2019 films that received a theatrical release totaled $125 million in domestic gross. Although pandemic delays mean multiple titles have yet to be released, the total box office for Sundance 2020 is a little over $18 million. That drop mirrors the overall box-office decline. This is where we’d like to compare and contrast box-office figures, and make predictions about the current Sundance market, but the revenue or value generated by VOD, Premium VOD, or streaming — platforms where they (presumably) made the most money — are unknown....
