by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
MOVIES - From Variety: Michael Cera talks about how he was cast in director Greta Gerwig's "Barbie."
STREAMING - From Deadline: For the fourth week in a row, the former USA Network legal drama, "Suits" (2011-19), leads the streaming charts, according to tracking service, Nielsen. The series, which also featured Meghan Markle a.k.a. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex on its first seven seasons, also continues to set Nielsen records and currently streams on both Netflix and Peacock.
TELEVISION - From Deadline: "American Horror Story: Delicate" will launch Wednesday, Sept. 30th on FX. It's spinoff, "American Horror Stories," will launch a four-episode event on Hulu, starting Oct. 26th.
MOVIES - From Variety: Director Greta Gerwig's comedy, "Barbie," starring Margot Robbie, has now grossed 537.5 million dollars at the domestic box office. That makes it the highest-grossing domestic release in Warner Bros.'s history, surpassing the 536 million dollars "The Dark Knight" grossed in 2008.
From Variety: Some people wonder why its so hard to hear some dialogue in "Oppenheimer." Well, director Christopher Nolan refuses to "record ADR."
SCANDAL - From Variety: Actor-producer Alec Baldwin may once again face manslaughter charges related to the 2021 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western film, "Rust."
DISNEY - From Deadline: Film financier, TSG, is suing Disney for what it claims are unpaid profits from films in which it co-financed with Disney.
MOVIES - From Variety: Tom Hanks was so concerned for Austin Butler’s mental health after his starring role in "Elvis" that he offered Butler a next role (starring in Apple TV+'s "Masters of the Air") immediately to prevent "emotional whiplash." Hanks co-starred in the 2022 Elvis Presley biopic with Butler as Elvis' manager, Col. Tom Parker.
NETFLIX - From Variety: Netflix has released the first official trailer for "Maestro." Bradley Cooper directs and stars in the film about late conductor Leonard Bernstein's 25-year marriage to Felicia Montealegre.
MOVIES - From Variety: Margot Robbie is the star and producer of Summer 2023's biggest hit, "Barbie." Now, Robbie could make as much as 50 million dollars in salary and bonuses.
CELEBRITY/ECO - From THR: A new species of snake discovered in Peru, South America has been named in honor of Hollywood icon, Harrison Ford. The snake is called "Tachymenoides harrisonfordi."
SPORTS/MOVIES - From ESPN: Former NFL player, Michael Oher, was the subject of the 2009 Oscar-winning film, "The Blind Side." Now, he's suing the real-life couple, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, because they lied to him and stole from him.
BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro: The winner of the 8/11 to 8/13/2023 weekend box office is Warner Bros.'s "Barbie" with an estimated take of 33.7 million dollars.
NETFLIX - From Variety: Adam Sandler's daughters, Sunny and Sadie, have joined their father in the Netflix film, "You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah." Netflix has released a trailer for the film, which is due August 25th.
OBITS:
From THR: American music executive, business, and film producer, Clarence Avant, has died at the age of 92, Sunday, August 13, 2023. Nicknamed "the Godfather of Black Music," he was a manager, advisor, mentor, and behind-the-scenes force in so many music deals. He was the manager of jazz legend, Sarah Vaugh. Avant brokered the sale of Stax Records and co-promoted the late Michael Jackson's first solo world tour, "Bad." Avant advised countless music producers, executives, and recording artists, including Quincy Jones, David Geffen, Irving Azoff, Jay Z, Pharrell Williams, and Queen Latifah, to name a few.
From Deadline: The American rapper and recording artist, Melvin "Magoo" Barcliff, has died at the age of 50, Sunday, August 13, 2023. He was best known for his collaboration with rapper/producer, Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley. The two formed the rap duo, "Timbaland & Magoo," which released three albums, including the platinum certified, "Welcome to Our World" (1997). Magoo also made guest appearances and collaborated with several other recording artists, including Bubba Sparxxx, Ginuwine, and Missy Elliot. He also recorded on Timbaland's solo projects.
WRITERS/ACTORS STRIKE:
From Deadline: Writers Guild (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) will resume strike talks today, Fri., Aug. 11th.
From Deadline: Meeting for the first time in more than three months, the Writers Guild and the AMPTP on Friday failed to reach an agreement to resume contract negotiations. The Writers Strike will go on indefinitely.
From Deadline: Hollywood’s superstars are answering the call from the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, donating $1 million or more each to help their fellow performers during the ongoing actors and writers strikes. Among the big donors are Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Oprah Winfrey, and Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively.
From Deadline: If you are interested, here is a list of the film and TV productions SAG-AFTRA has granted waivers to continue filming.
From Variety: International superstar, Dwayne Johnson, makes a seven-figure contribution to the "SAG-AFTRA Foundation Relief Fund." Foundation president, actor Courtney B. Vance, says the amount will remain confidential.
From Variety: Why haven't A-list stars joined the SAG-AFTRA picket line?, asks "Variety."
From Deadline: Author George R.R. Martin, whose works were the basis for HBO's "Game of Thrones," says the strikes will be long and bitter.
From THR: Production works at Warner Bros. Animation (66) and at Cartoon Network (22) have gone public with their attempt to unionize via The Animation Guild.
From Variety: Halted film productions due to the writers and actors strikes are costing each Hollywood studio at least 600,000 dollars per week.
From Variety: Said at a strike meeting: “Without a transformative change in SAG-AFTRA’s current contract with the AMPTP, the acting profession will no longer be an option for future generations of performers, and actors already working in the industry will need to pursue other careers in order to survive.”
From Deadline: If you are a "social media influencer" who is NOT a member of SAG-AFTRA, you can be barred from future membership for promoting a film or television series during the actors' strike.
From Variety: The SAG/AFTRA strike begins in New York and Los Angeles. Hollywood actors began striking today, Fri., July 14th.
From Deadline: The site has the video of the powerful strike speech given by SAG-AFTRA president, Fran Drescher, the actress best known for CBS' former sitcom, "The Nanny."
From Deadline: Concerning the Hollywood writers strike (via the WGA), the Hollywood Studios (as represented by the AMPTP) is to let the writers go broke before resuming talks deep into the Fall.
From Deadline: SAG-AFTRA is already preparing strike picket signs in case the actors' strike begins next week.
From Deadline: WGA is picketing the New York City filming location of the 12th series of FX's "American Horror Story" (entitled "Delicate") after series co-creator Ryan Murphy threaten litigation against an east coast strike captain.
From THR: TV super-producer, Ryan Murphy, in a letter from his attorney to the leadership of the Writers Guild of America, threatened litigation against Warren Leight, an East Coast strike captain and Strike Rules Compliance Committee member who has subsequently forfeited those positions.
From Deadline: The Hollywood studios via the AMPTP has given Canadian actors a new contract, including a 5 percent raise.
From Deadline: Writers Strike puts the spotlight back on the challenge from writers for animation productions to be covered by the WGA.
From THR: Studios won't give writers better pay, and now, are laying off janitors.
From Deadline: The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has reached a tentative new three-year deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). So what does the Writers Guild (WGA), currently on strike and negotiating with the AMPTP, think of that deal.
From Deadline: Netflix shareholders declined to support the 2023 pay packages of top executives during a non-binding vote at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday. The vote won't prevent these execs from getting their loot (an total of $166 million), but this is a rare public rebuke. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has urged shareholders to vote "No" because the pay was "inappropriate" at this time.
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.
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