by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
MOVIES - From ScreenRant: Will Smith confirms that production is ongoing for "I Am Legend 2," and that he has had a "productive" meeting with Michael B. Jordan, his co-star.
MOVIES - From THR: Universal has made a number of changes to and announcements concerning its 2025 horror movie slate. That includes the following: "Five Nights at Freddy’s 2" has received an official release date in theaters. Dec. 5, 2025. "M3GAN 2.0" moves from May 16, 2025 to June 27, 2025. "The Black Phone 2" moves from June 27, 2025 to Oct. 17, 2025.
MOVIES - From Variety: "Mortal Kombat 2" is set for an October 24, 2025 release date.
TELEVISION - From Deadline: Junior broadcast network, "The CW," is looking to expand its reach into live sports. While that can't compete for the NFL or NBA rights, they are considering partnerships with entities like ESPN.
BUSINESS - From CBSNews: McDonald's is considering a $5 meal deal.
From CBSNews: Americans are choking on surging fast food prices.
MOVIES - From Variety: Director George Miller said that there was "no excuse" for the feud between Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, the stars of his 2015 hit film, "Mad Max: Fury Road."
SCANDAL - From Deadline: Steve Buscemi is the latest celebrity to be attacked on the streets of New York City. An unknown man walked up and struck the 66-year-old actor while he was walking in a neighborhood on Manhattan's East side. Buscemi's publicist said the actor is doing ok.
CANNES - From Deadline: Francis Ford Coppola's much-talked about film, "Megalopolis," has buyers that will distribute the film in key European markets. Constantin Film has bought the film for distribution in Germany and all German-speaking territories, including Switzerland and Austria. Eagle Pictures bought it for Ital. Tripictures has the film for Spain. Entertainment Film Distributors Limited purchased the film for the U.K. As announced last week, Le Pacte will distribute the film in France.
BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro: The winner of the 5/10 to 5/12/2024 Mother's Day weekend box office is 20th Century's "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" with an estimated take of 56.5 million dollars.
MOVIES - From Variety: Warner Bros. is set to release a new "Lord of the Rings" movie. Entitled "The Hunt for Gollum", the film will focus on the tragic character, "Gollum," to be played again, by Andy Serkis. "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and "The Hobbit" trilogy director, Peter Jackson, and his partners, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, will produce the film and will be involved every step of the way. Andy Serkis will direct the feature which is scheduled for 2026.
From Deadline: Peter Jackson, Andy Serkins, and Philippa Boyens talk about their return to "Middle-Earth" for more "Lord of the Rings" films. They also talk about how the Cannes 2001 saved the original films.
OBITS:
From Deadline: American film and television actor, Dabney Coleman, has died at the age of 92, Thursday, May 16, 2024. Best known as a character actor, Coleman's best known work was in such films as "9 to 5" (1980), "On Golden Pond" (1981), "Tootsie" (1982), and "WarGames" (1983), to name a few. He was also the lead in several short-lived TV series: "Buffalo Bill" (NBC, 1983-84), "The Slap Maxwell Stoy" (ABC, 1987-88), "Drexell's Class" (Fox, 1991-92), and "Madman of the People" (NBC, 1994-95). Coleman was nominated for six Primetime Emmy Awards and won once, "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special," for his performance in the ABC made-for-TV movie, "Sworn to Silence" (1987).
From Deadline: American alto saxophone player, jazz musician, and composer, David Sanborn, has died at the age of 78, Sunday, May 12, 2024. According to "Discogs," Sanborn had over 800 recorded music credits, including 33 albums releases. Sanborn also won six Grammy Awards. He also composed the score for several films, including "Lethal Weapon 2," "Lethal Weapon 3," and "Lethal Weapon 4."
From Variety: American film producer and director, Roger Corman, has died at the age of 98, Thursday, May 9, 2024. According to his IMDb stats, Corman directed 55 films and produced 385 between 1954 and 2008. With his brother, Gene Corman, Roger founded New World Pictures, a small film production and distribution company. Corman mentored and gave starts to a number of directors who would go on to fame, including Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, John Sayles, and James Cameron, to name a few. Future acting legend who got a start with Corman, including Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson, and Dennis Hopper, to name a few. In 2009, Corman received an honorary Academy Award. Among Corman's most famous films are "The Big Doll House" (1971), "The Little Shop of Horrors" (1960), and "The Masque of the Red Death" (1964), to name a few.
From Deadline: Hollywood remembers Roger Corman, including quotes from Gale Anne Hurd, William Shatner, Ron Howard, John Carpenter, and Joe Russo.
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GAZA:
5/7/2024 - From NewYorkTimes: The actions of police officers and counterprotesters at campus demonstrations came under further scrutiny on Tuesday, with the University of California system saying it would investigate the law enforcement response to a violent attack on pro-Palestinian protesters at its Los Angeles campus, while the White House condemned the taunting of a Black student captured in a video at the University of Mississippi.
5/4/2024 - From TheGuardian: On the police crackdown on campus Gaza ceasefire protests: "the police are sending a message" says Dartmouth labor historian.
5/3/24 - From NBCNews: In an interview with Kristin Welker on NBC's "Meet the Press," Cindy McCain, the executive director of the World Food Programme, said she believes there is a "full-blown famine" in northern Gaza.
