Negromancer News Bits and Bites from December 12th to 18th, 2021 - Update #19

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

BOX OFFICE - From Negromancer:  My review of "Spider-Man: No Way Home."

From Deadline:   Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home rang up a massive 50 million dollars, the third-best preview night ever and the most money Sony has ever seen for a Thursday preview night.  The previous pandemic high for a preview night was 13.2 million for Marvel's "Black Widow."

From Deadline:  International box office for "Spider-Man: No Way Home" is at 114 million dollars after two days.

ANIMATION/SCANDAL - From TheDailyBeast:  Actor and comedian Jay Johnston has voiced the popular recurring character, Jimmy Pesto, Sr., on FOX's animated series, "Bob's Burgers." He has been banned from voice the character again after it was discovered that he participated in the Jan. 6th Capitol riots, earlier this year.

SCANDAL - From EW:   Jeff Garlin has left "The Goldbergs." Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that the 59-year-old comedian and actor will not complete filming on the current ninth season of the ABC's sitcom after staffers approached human resources with reports of alleged verbal and physical conduct that made show staff uncomfortable.

From THR:  Actor Chris Noth ("Sex in the City") has been accused of sexual assault by two women, a decade apart.

DISNEY - From Deadline:  Disney Channel has renewed its series, "Bunk'd" for a sixth season ... with changes.  The new installment: "Bunk'd: Learning the Ropes" will be set at a dude ranch in Dusty Tush, Wyoming.

MOVIES - From Variety:  Denis Villeneuve ("Dune") is planning to direct a film adaptation of the 1973 science fiction novel, "Rendevous with Rama," which was written by the late Arthur C. Clarke.

DISNEY - From Deadline:   Wilmer Valderrama is developing a TV series based on the Disney western Zorro for Disney Branded Television. Valderrama is set to executive produce and star as Don Diego de la Vega and his alter ego, the titular masked horseman, Zorro.

BOX OFFICE - BoxOfficePro:   The winner of the 12/10 to 12/12/2021 weekend box office is director Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story" with an estimated take of 10.5 million dollars.

SCANDAL - From Deadline:   Oscar-nominated actress, Naomie Harris, known for playing "Eve Moneypenny" in several James Bond films says that she was once groped by a very, very huge male star during an audition. Harris says no one who was also present in the room at the time said a word.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Chris Wallace is leaving the Faux News network and his long-time gig, "Fox News Sunday," and will be joining the new streaming service, CNN+.

BLM - From HuffPost:  "I'm Black But Look White. Here Are The Horrible Things White People Feel Safe Telling Me." by Miriam Zinter. “There is a strategic force dedicated to segregation and racism,” Zinter says.

OBITS:

From Truthout:  American author, feminist, and social activist, bell hooks, has died at the age 69, Wed., Dec. 15, 2021.  An author of more than 30 books, hooks focused on "intersectionality of race, capitalism, and gender."  She appeared in a number of film and television documentary.  A TV documentary short, "Happy to Be Nappy and Other Stories of Me," was based on her 1999 children's book, "Happy to Be Nappy" (illustrated by Chris Raschka) and won a Primetime Emmy.

From Deadline:  American author and novelist, Anne Rice, has died at the age of 80, Saturday, December 11, 2021.  Rice was best known for her 1976 novel, "Interview with a Vampire," which was the first in her series, "The Vampire Chronicles."  Several of her works were adapted into film and television.  Neil Jordan directed a 1994 film adaptation of "Interview with a Vampire," which starred Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.  A second film, 2002's "Queen of the Damned," blended elements of the second and third novels in The Vampire Chronicles, "The Vampire Lestat" (1985) and "The Queen of the Damned" (1988).

From Deadline:  American film and television actress, Cara Williams, has died at the age of 96, Thursday, December 9, 2021.  She received a best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role in "The Defiant Ones" (1958) and she received a best actress Emmy Award nomination for her role in the former CBS comedy "Pete and Gladys" (1960-62), in which she co-starred with the late Harry Morgan ("M.A.S.H.").  In 1964-65, CBS also aired her sitcom, "The Cara Williams Show."

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AWARDS:

From Deadline:  The Los Angeles Film Critics Association has named the Japanese film, "Drive My Car," the "Best Picture" of 2021.

From Deadline:  The 2022 / 37th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards have announced their nominations. "Zola" leads with six nominations. The winners will be announced Sun., March 6, 2022.

From THR:  The 2022 / 79th Golden Globes Awards nominations have been announced.  "Belfast" and "The Power of the Dog" lead with seven nominations each.  Winners will be announced Jan. 9th, 2022.

From GoldDerby:   The 2022 Critics Choice Awards nominations have been announced. "Belfast" and "West Side Story" leads with 11 nominations each. Winners will be announced Jan. 9th, 2022.

From Deadline:   The American Film Institute announced the "2021 AFI Awards" Top 10 list, and the list includes "Dune," "The Tragedy of Macbeth," and "West Side Story."

From THR:  Director Aleem Khan's "After Love" tops the 2021 British Independent Film Awards, winning six awards, including "Best Film of 2021."

From Variety:   The New York Film Critics Circle has named the Japanese drama, "Drive My Car," as the "Best Film of 2021."

From Deadline:  The National Board of Review hands director Paul Thomas Anderson's "Licorice Pizza" it "Best Film" and "Best Director" awards.  Will Smith picks up the "Best Actor" award for "King Richard."

From THR:  Netflix’s "The Lost Daughter," directed by actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, dominated the 2021 Gotham Awards in New York on Monday night (Nov. 29th).  The film won in four of the five categories in which it was nominated, including "Best Feature."

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"RUST" ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING DEATH:

From Deadline:  This link will take you to Deadline's Halyna Hutchins page, which articles related to everything about her shooting death on the set of the Western film, "Rust."

From THR:  "I let go of the hammer and 'Bang,' the gun goes off" says Alec Baldwin says in his first interview of the moment when a gun he was holding accidentally killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western film, "Rust."

From Deadline:  Alec Baldwin will sit down with ABC's news-reading clown George Stephanopoulos for a one hour special tomorrow night to talk about what happened on the set of the movie "Rust."  It will be Baldwin’s first extensive interview about the shooting.

From Deadline:  Industry veteran, Thall Reed, the father of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer on the Western, "Rust," may have handed the police a tip on why the film's cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, was shot to death on the set.

From THR:  A search warrant affidavit filed Tuesday for a prop shop sheds light on how alleged live ammunition ended up on the set of the Western film, "Rust," where cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed in October.

From Deadline:  A month after cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, was shot and killed on the New Mexico set the movie Western, "Rust," by a prop gun “discharged” by Alec Baldwin, those closest to the cinematographer held a private ceremony and interred her ashes at an unknown location.

From Deadline:  Actor Daniel Baldwin defends his brother, Alec Baldwin, in the accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film, "Rust."  "Someone loaded that gun improperly," Daniel says.

From Deadline:  The newest lawsuit involving the tragic shooting on the set of the Western film, "Rust," has been filed by the film's script supervisor, Mamie Mitchell, against Alec Baldwin, the producers, the production company, armorer Hanna Gutierrez Reed, and others.

From Deadline:  Serge Svetnoy, the gaffer on "Rust," has filed a lawsuit against several parties related to the film, including the production, the financiers, star Alec Baldwin, armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, and first Assistant Director David Halls.

From THR:   In the wake of the tragic accidental shooting on the set of his film, "Rust," Alec Baldwin on Monday took to social media to urge Hollywood to employ a police officer on every film and TV set that uses guns.

From THR:   The budget for "Rust" - Alec Baldwin was set to earn $150,000 as lead actor and $100,000 as producer, while $7,913 was earmarked for armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and $17,500 was set aside for the rental of weapons and $5,000 for rounds.

From Deadline:  Attorneys for Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer on the set of the film, "Rust," said that they’re looking into whether a live bullet was placed in a box of dummy rounds with the intent of  “sabotaging the set.”

From THR:   Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer on the film, "Rust," released a statement through her lawyers.  She says she had “no idea where the live rounds came from” that were recovered by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's during the investigation of the accidental on-set shooting death of Halyna Hutchins.

From Jacobin:  An opinion piece says that cinematographer Halyna Hutchins' death on the set of the film, "Rust," was not a freak accident, but was about Alec Baldwin and his fellow producers' cost-cutting decisions.  Baldwin accidentally fired the gun that killed Hutchins.

From Deadline:   Two of executive producers on "Rust," Allen Cheney and Emily Salveson, disavow responsibility for the film's troubled production.

From THR:   Iconic "Ghostbusters" actor Ernie Hudson is reeling from the news of the death of Halyna Hutchins, like the rest of Hollywood. Hudson also appeared in the film, "The Crow," the film in which its star, Brandon Lee, was killed because of an on-set accidental shooting.  He also agrees with the call to ban real guns from movie sets.

From THR:  The Sheriff of Sante Fe County says that his office has recovered three guns and 500 rounds of ammunition from the set of the movie "Rust" where cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed.

From Deadline:  Regarding criminal charges in the death of Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust," District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altweis, "all options are on the table - no one has been ruled out."

From THR:  Does Hollywood Need Guns? Will new regulations lead to an overreactions to a tragedy.

From Deadline:   "Rust" producers have opened an internal investigation into the fatal shooting on the set of the Western film.  They have hired outside lawyers to conduct interviews with the film's production crew.

From Deadline:  "Rust's" AD (assistant director), Dave Halls, has come under scrutiny in the wake of the on-set shooting death of the film's cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins.

From Deadline:  The affidavit of Sante Fe Sheriff's Department Detective Joel Cano has been made public. It can be read at "Deadline."  The affidavit was for a search warrant from the property were the Western, "Rust," was being filmed.

From THR:  The production company behind "Rust" has shut the film down until the police investigation into the fatal, on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins is through.  The Sante Fe County Sheriff's Office has also revealed a timeline of the shooting.

From Deadline:  The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department confirmed Thursday night that Alec Baldwin “discharged” a prop gun on the New Mexico set of the movie, "Rust."  As a result, one crew member, director of photography Halyna Hutchins, was killed and director Joel Souza was injured and remains in a local hospital - his condition unknown.

From THR:  "Rust" director, Joel Souza, who was wounded in the accidental on-set shooting, says that he is "gutted" by the death of his cinematographer on the film, Halyna Hutchins.

From Deadline:  The fatal shooting on the set of "Rust" may have been "recorded" according to detective for Santa Fe Sheriff's Department.

From Deadline:  The production company behind the film, "Rust," will launch an internal safety review after the fatal accident that killed Halyna Hutchins; possible prior gun incidents; and a camera crew walkout.

From CNN:   Crew member yelled "cold gun" as he handed Alec Baldwin prop weapon, court document shows.

From Variety:  Actor Alec Baldwin releases statement on the death of Halyna Hutchins: "There are no words to convey my shock and sadness."

From Variety:  The prop gun that killed “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza on during an on-set accident on Thursday contained a “live single round,” according to an email sent by IATSE Local 44 to its membership.