by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
SCANDAL - From Variety: Actor Danny Masterson, best known for Fox's former sitcom, "That '70s Show" (1998-2006), has been convicted on two counts of "forcible rape," seeming from incidents back in 2003. He faces 30 years in prison, with a sentencing hearing set for August 4th.
BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro: The winner of the 5/26 to 5/28/2023 three-day Memorial Day weekend box office is Disney's "The Little Mermaid" with an estimated total of 95.5 million dollars.
From Here: This is a review of "The Little Mermaid" by Leroy Douresseaux.
From THR: Actress-singer Stephanie Mills says that she can relate to the racist backlash fellow actress-singer Halle Bailey has face over playing the lead in "The Little Mermaid." When she was 17, Mills originated the role of "Dorothy" in Broadway's "The Wiz," a soulful re-imagining of "The Wizard of Oz."
STREAMING - From Variety: Actress Kim Cattrall will return as "Samantha Jones" for the Season 2 finale of "And Just Like That," Max's revival of the beloved HBO series, "Sex in the City." The new season of "And Just Like That" debuts June 22nd, but Cattrall's episode won't stream until August.
AMAZON - From Deadline: Prime Video Australia is remaking the British sitcom, "The Office" (2001-03) as a female-led series with comedian Felicity Ward in the role Ricky Gervais made famous in the original. Of course, there was the NBC's American remake, also entitled "The Office" (2005-13).
ANIMATION/MOVIES - From THR: Mason Thames will star as "Hiccup" and Nico Parker will star as "Astrid" in Universal's live-action version of DreamWorks Animation's 2010 3D-animated hit, "How to Train Your Dragon." Thames starred in Universal’s horror hit The Black Phone, and Parker was last seen in HBO’s "The Last of Us." Universal has set the films for a March 14, 2025 theatrical release.
MOVIES - From THR: Director Penelope Spheeris talks about how falling out with star Mike Myers on "Wayne's World" cost her the gig directing "Wayne's World 2."
MOVIES - From Variety: During his post-Cannes 2023 tour of Italy, famed film director Martin Scorsese meet with Pope Francis, and the result is that Scorsese is going to make a film about Jesus Christ.
CANNES - From Deadline: As Cannes 2023 ends, the festival's top honor, the "Palme d'Or," goes to the film, "Anatomy of a Fall." The film's director, Justine Triet, becomes only the third woman to win that honor.
From Deadline: Jane Fonda gives a no-holds-barred interview at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.
From Deadline: In the first of a two-part Cannes interview with famed director Quentin Tarantino, Deadline gets a few more details about Tarantino's next film (and perhaps last), "The Movie Critic."
From Deadline: In the second of a two-part Cannes interview with famed director Quentin Tarantino, the Oscar winner talks about retirement, trying to make a James Bond movie, and working in television.
MOVIES - From ComicBook: Lionsgate Motion Pictures Group chairman Joe Drake confirms that "John Wick 5" is in early development.
COMICS - From ImageComics: Image Comics is pleased to announce a worldwide exclusive distribution deal with Lunar Distribution, effective with September on-sale titles (which will open for order on the Lunar site for retailers on Wednesday, June 14), for Direct Market/comic shop distribution.
CANNES - From Variety: A white male can direct a 200-million dollar flop and get the chance to direct another film, but she as a Latina would not get that second chance says actress and now director Eva Longoria.
STREAMING - From Variety: Today, "HBO Max" becomes just "Max." Of course, the transition is not without some glitches.
MOVIES/TRAILERS - From Variety: On Christmas Day 2023, "The Color Purple" returns to theaters as a musical from director Blitz Bazawule and executive producers Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg. Warner Bros. has debuted the film's first trailer.
BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro: The winner of the 5/19 to 2/21/2023 weekend box office is Universal's "Fast X" with an estimated take of 67.5 million dollars.
From Here: Leroy Douresseaux's review of "Fast X."
MOVIES - From Deadline: According to Quentin Tarantino, "Rick Dalton," the character that Leonardo DiCaprio played in Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood," has died - 1933 to 2023.
MOVIES - From Variety: Where is the next generation of movie stars?
AMAZON - From Deadline: Eddie Murphy is circling the lead role of "Inspector Clouseau" in MGM's currently in development new "Pink Panther" movie.
OBITS:
From Deadline: Film and television actor, John Beasley, has died at the age of 79, Tuesday, May 30, 2023. Beasley appeared in such films as "Rudy" (1993), "The General's Daughter" (1999), and "The Purge: Anarchy" (2014). He was both a regular and a recurring character in TV Land's "The Soul Man" (2012-16) and also appeared in such TV series as "Millennium," "Treme," and "The Mandalorian," to name a few.
From RollingStone: Singer, dancer, recording artist, actress, and author, Tina Turner, has died at the age of 83, Wednesday, May 24, 2023. Born in America (Tennessee, USA), Turner was a naturalized citizen of Switzerland, where she died. Born Anna Mae Bullock, she rose to prominence as "Tina Turner," half of the musical duo, the "Ike and Tina Turner Revue." As part of this duo, she was nominated for four Grammy Awards and won one. In 1976, Tina broke away from Ike, and began her solo career. As a solo act, she was nominated for a Grammy 21 times and won seven of them. Turner was a hugely successful touring act as a solo artist, and she also co-authored books and appeared in several films, most famously in 1985's "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome."
From Deadline: Remembering Tina Turner, a career in photos.
From THR: Angela Bassett, who portrayed Tina Turner in the film, "What's Love Got to Do With It," released a statement about Turner to "The Hollywood Reporter."
From Deadline: On her website, Beyonce posted a tribute message to Tina Turner, with whom she once performed at the Grammy Awards ceremony.
From Variety: Irish film and television actor, Ray Stevenson, has died at the age of 58, Monday, May 22, 2023. He portrayed "Frank Castle/The Punisher" in the film, "Punisher: War Zone" (2008). He played "Volstagg" in Marvel Studios' first three "Thor" films. He is scheduled to appear in the upcoming Lucasfilm Disney+ series, "Ahsoka."
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WRITERS STRIKE:
From Deadline: Warner Bros Discovery chief David Zaslav gave the commencement address at Boston University. There he was met with jeers and also chants of "pay your writers" from picketers and from some in the audience.
From Deadline: President Joe Biden speaks on the Writers Guild of America strike.
From Deadline: Retaliation! The studios have starting informing writer-producers who have "overall" and "first-look" deals that such deals are being suspended.
From Deadline: Retaliation! Prolific HBO creator, David Simon, who is best known for "The Wire," is one of the many writers who have had their overall deals suspended the studios due to the WGA strike. Simon has been with HBO for 25 years.
From Deadline: The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is on strike.
From Deadline: Disney, HBO/HBO Max, and CBS have sent letters to showrunners (the TV equivalent of film directors) instructing them to return to work, inspite of the writer's strike.
From Deadline: The WGA's chief negotiator, Ellen Stutzman, talks about the state of the writers' strike, including the lack of engagement on the part of the strike's other party, AMPTP.
From Deadline: What went wrong between the WGA and AMPTP? What could they not agree on that led to a strike?
From Deadline: The site explains the WGA strike: the issues, the stakes, movies and TV shows affected, and how long it might last.
