| | | | | What's news: Jason Statham's latest tops the box office, as theatrical slowly returns to a new normal, Berlin plots in-person festival in June, reviewing Elon Musk on Saturday Night Live, as SNL tests global streaming, Gal Godot confirms THR reporting on Joss Whedon, Tribeca sets anniversary screenings. Plus: Biden's MSNBC town hall, and Alex Gibney talks Crime of the Century. --Alex Weprin |
Theatrical's Slow Return To Normal►Box office: Jason Statham starrer Wrath of Man easily won the weekend box office with a pleasing domestic debut of $8.1 million. Directed by Guy Ritchie, the film is from United Artists Releasing and Miramax. It marks Statham‘s first team up working with Ritchie, and features the action buff as a gruff man of mystery who works for an armored-car company while plotting a violent surprise. --UAR and Miramax wisely decided to relocate the film’s release domestically to Black Widow‘s old date of May 7 after the superhero pic relocated to mid-summer amid the ongoing pandemic. Overseas, where various distributors are handling the pic, Wrath of Man has grossed $17.6 million for a global total of $25.6 million. --Elsewhere domestically, Japanese anime blockbuster Demon Slayer the Movie placed No. 2 with $3.1 million for a domestic tally of $39.6 million and global gross north of $450 million. Warner Bros.’ Mortal Kombat followed with $2.4 million for a domestic total of $37.8 million and global haul of $72.5 million. The numbers.
►Berlin’s summer festival is going ahead after all. On Monday, the Berlin International Film Festival confirmed it would hold an in-person, open-air festival to screen the winners of this year’s 2021 Berlinale. The outdoor Berlinale Summer Special will be held June 9-June 20 at 16 venues across the German capital. Berlin had initially warned it might have to cancel the event, citing concerns over the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. But with COVID-19 infection rates falling in Germany, and vaccine numbers rising, Berlin has fixed its dates. The story.
+In other film news: The 2021 Tribeca Festival is set to host anniversary screening of Fargo and The Royal Tenenbaums, among other films, reuniting the director and star-studded casts of those acclaimed films for post-film conversations. More.
+And: How a phone predator preying on actresses inspired a film. Willing to Go There — starring True Blood alumnus Deborah Ann Woll — is based on writer/director Laura Beckner's own experience on the phone with the imposter, a con artist who has been cold-calling actresses with the fake offer of a film role for several years. More. |
| | | Ok, Let's Talk 'SNL' ►Elon Musk took on hosting duties for the latest episode of Saturday Night Live, declaring as he took the stage that he is the first person with Asperger’s Syndrome to host the variety sketch series. “Or at least the first to admit it,” he said. Multiple outlets subsequently noted that Dan Aykroyd, who is known to have Asperger’s, hosted before Musk. --During his monologue, the controversial Tesla CEO and SpaceX leader said, “It’s an honor to be hosting Saturday Night Live,” adding that he means it. “Sometimes after I say something, I have to say, “I mean that,” explained Musk, due to the fact that there is often not a lot of variation in tone in his speaking voice. The story.
+Critic's notebook: "Daniel Fienberg's take: I think it’s a pretty big and unchecked platform to give a guy who, when given an unchecked platform, is prone to vaccine skepticism, light-hearted union-busting, alleged jokes about people who list their preferred pronouns, idiotic observations about a growing pandemic or randomly calling strangers pedophiles. But for all that I don’t like Elon Musk or the bizarre cult around him, I’m not an eccentric billionaire critic and what’s done is done: Elon Musk hosted Saturday Night Live, and the resulting episode is what I’m here to talk about and that episode was…
Well, it was not good, but it wasn’t appreciably worse than four or five other episodes this season. And it wasn’t the worst example of my least favorite genre of Saturday Night Live episode — the 'Lorne Michaels’ Ego' or 'Grading on a Curve' category." The notebook.
+Saturday's SNL also made history: The show livestreamed internationally for the first time ever on YouTube. The stream was available in over 100 countries around the world including Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom. SNL airs on NBC at 11:30 PM ET/8:30 PM PT. More.
►The mental health docuseries from Oprah and Prince Harry is finally set to debut. The Me You Can’t See is set to premiere on Apple TV+ on May 21. The show will debut two months after Winfrey’s bombshell CBS interview with the Sussexes, during which the royals spoke frankly about their struggles with mental health after being subjected to racism and hostile press scrutiny as well as the pressures of their roles.
--The series will feature stars such as Lady Gaga, Glenn Close and NBA veterans DeMar DeRozan and Langston Galloway open up about their struggles with mental health. Mental health advocate and speaker Zak Williams, Olympic boxer Virginia “Ginny” Fuchs, celebrity chef Rashad Armstead are also among the people set to feature. The story. |
Gibney's 'Crime Of The Century' ►Alex Gibney talks new opioid crisis doc and dangers of a “system that’s enthralled with money.” In The Crime of the Century, the documentarian traces how the rise in prescriptions of opioids like Oxycontin for pain led to abuse of both prescription and non-prescription drugs. "This was a crime, it didn't just happen," he tells Katie Kilkenny.
--"Some of the videos are really illuminating, whether it be the Insys video — which has been broadcast before — or the Purdue video of their ’97 sales conference, which is really jaw dropping, where they’re singing rock-n-roll songs about selling OxyContin," Gibney says. "And it’s clear that in that jamboree that they’re conducting, there’s very few skits being done about good patient outcomes; it’s all about making gobs and gobs of money by selling OxyContin, that they were going to surpass Viagra as America’s most profitable drug." The interview.
►MSNBC has scored an interview with President Biden. Biden will appear as part of a town hall on Wednesday, "Vaccinating America," with Lawrence O'Donnell set to interview him from the White House. Dr. Anthony Fauci, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy will also appear on the town hall. In other news...
--While appearing on Israel’s N12 News to discuss her role as Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot claimed Justice League director Joss Whedon threatened her career, confirming previous reporting by The Hollywood Reporter.
--Venom: Let There Be Carnage has arrived with its first trailer that dropped Monday — and the preview is intense with some movements of levity. --Scarlett Johansson criticized the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on Saturday, saying she has faced “sexist questions and remarks” at press conferences and is urging the industry to “step back” from the beleaguered association. --An HBO Max animated series, The Prince, has been delayed following the death of Prince Phillip. The series reportedly does not portray Phillip in a very positive light.
--Clubhouse has been exclusively available on iOS since launch. Starting Sunday, Android users in the United States can join in on the audio-only socializing. The social media app announced the long-awaited availability for Android users during its weekly Town Hall this Sunday.
--Julie E. “Tawny” Kitaen, who famously appeared in several Whitesnake music videos and starred as Tom Hanks’ fiancée in Bachelor Party, has died. She was 59.
--Singer-songwriter Lloyd Price, an early rock ‘n roll star and enduring maverick whose hits included such up-tempo favorites as “Lawdy Miss Clawdy,” “Personality” and the semi-forbidden “Stagger Lee,” has died. He was 88. What else we're reading...
--"Playlists and podcasts? Netflix is exploring developing ‘N-Plus’" [Protocol]
--"Seth Rogen on fame, smoking weed and why his films have not aged well" [Sunday Times]
--"Digital media companies pump the brakes on their rush to go public as SPAC market cools" [CNBC]
--"Vaccinated and back at the movies, together" [L.A. Times]
Today's birthdays: Kenan Thompson, 43, Bono, 61, Linda Evangelista, 56, Missy Franklin, 26. |
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