Negromancer News Bits and Bites from September 22nd to 31st, 2024 - UPDATE #16

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

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ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 8/27 to 8/29/2024 weekend box office is Universal/DreamWorks Animation's "The Wild Robot" with an estimated haul of 35 million dollars.

STREAMING - From Deadline:  Season 2 of the Paramount+ series, "Tulsa King," has opened to series record views.

DISNEY - From Deadline:  Disney has initiated another round of layoffs... I mean, "cost-saving initiatives" of corporate staffers.

DISNEY - From Deadline:  20th Television has closed a first-look deal with Angela Bassett, Courtney B. Vance and their Bassett Vance Productions to develop and executive produce comedy, drama, limited series and TV movies for linear networks and streamers, with an emphasis on platforms across Disney Entertainment Television.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 9/20 to 9/22/2024 weekend box office is Warner Bros. Pictures' Beetlejuice Beetlejuice with an estimated take of 26 million dollars.

OSCARS:

From Deadline:  The site has a roundup of international films that have been submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to compete in the category, "Best International Feature Film" at the 97th Academy Awards.

From Deadline:  Brazil has selected Walter Salles' "I’m Still Here" to represent it in the "Best International Feature Film" at the 97th Academy Awards.

From Deadline:  India has selected "Laapataa Ladies (Lost Ladies)" as its candidate for the "Best International Feature Film" category at the 97th Academy Awards. 

NETFLIX/ANIMATION - From Deadline: Netflix is starting again with its animated adaptation of table-top game Magic: The Gathering, after departing with previous creative talent in 2019 and again in 2021.  The new showrunner will be Terry Matalas, who was recently named showrunner of Marvel’s a "Vision" series for Disney+.

OBITS:

From ESPN:  Congolese-American basketball player and humanitarian, Dikembe Mutombo, has died at the age of 58, Monday, September 30, 2024 after a battle with brain cancer.  After a career at Georgetown University, Mutombo was drafted by the Denver Nuggets of the NBA as the fourth pick in the first round of the 1991 NBA Draft.  He won the "Defensive Player of the Year Award" four times, a record he shares with two other players.  He played with Philadelphia 76ers in 2001 when they lost the 2000-01 NBA Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers. Mutombo was elected in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.  After his career ended, Mutombo worked extensively for charitable and humanitarian causes, including starting the "Dikembe Mutombo Foundation, to improve living conditions in his home country of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

From Variety:  American actor, songwriter, and country singer, Kris Kristofferson, has died at the age of 88, Saturday, September 28, 2024.  Among his songwriting credits are such hits as "Me and Bobby McGee" and originally recorded by Roger Miller (1971) and "Help Me Make it Through the Night," which he originally recorded.  He was a member of the American country music supergroup, "The Highwaymen" (1985-95) with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson.  As an actor, he is best known for "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid," "A Star is Born" (1976), "Lone Star" (1996), and the "Blade" film trilogy (1998-2004).  Kristofferson was nominated for 13 Grammy Awards and won three.  He was also nominated for a "Best Original Score" Oscar for the 1980 film, "Songwriter."

From Deadline:  Hollywood reacts to the passing of Kris Kristofferson.

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From Deadline:  American actor Drake Hogestyn has died at the age of 70, Saturday, September 28, 2024. He died one day before his 71st birthday (Sept. 29th) of complications from pancreatic cancer.  Hogestyn, was best known for playing the role of "John Blake" in the former NBC/ now Peacock soap opera series, "Days of Our Live," from 1986 to 2009 and from 2011 to the present in over four thousand episodes.

From Variety:  The English film, television, and theatrical actress, Maggie Smith, has died at the age of 89, Friday, September 27, 2024.  Modern audiences know her for the role of "Minerva McGonagall" in the "Harry Potter" film franchise" and for the role of Countess Violent Crawley in the "Downton Abbey" (2010-15) TV series and films.  Smith was nominated for six Academy Awards and won twice: "Best Actress" ("The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," 1969) and "Best Supporting Actress" ("California Suite," 1978).  She also won four Emmy Awards, four British Academy Film Awards, and a Tony Award.

From EW:  Whoopi Goldberg pays tribute to her friend and "Sister Act" co-star, Maggie Smith, who died Fri., Sept. 27th.

From Deadline:  Maggie Smith, a career in photos.

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From Deadline:  American film and television actor, John Ashton, has died at the age of 76, Thursday, September 26, 2024, after a battle with cancer.  Ashton is best known for the role of Sgt. John Taggart in "Beverly Hills Cop" (1984), "Beverly Hills Cop II" (1987), and as "Chief John Taggart" in "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" (2024).  He also had memorable roles in "Some Kind of Wonderful" (1987) and "Midnight Run" (1988), to name a few.  Ashton also appeared in numerous TV series, including "Dallas," "M*A*S*H," and "Starsky & Hutch" to name a few.