by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
STREAMING - From THR: Eddie Murphy's sequel film, "Coming 2 America," was Amazon's first streaming film to finish #1 on Nielsen's streaming rankings (for the week of March 1 to 7). Now, it has become the first feature film from any of the four platforms that Nielsen monitors to repeat at #1 (March 8 to 14).
MOVIES - From WeGotThisCovered: Rumors say that Robert Downey, Jr. is still trying to get troubled movie star, Johnny Depp, a part in Downey's third entry in his "Sherlock Holmes" franchise.
TELEVISION - From THR: Tyler Perry is developing a new series, "Mabel" for Showtime. "Mabel" will act as a prequel to Perry's "Madea" films as the new series will chronicle Madea's life going back to 1972.
SCANDAL - From THR: The magazine and its website offer an article featuring tales of Hollywood and Broadway super-producer, Scott Rudin's abusive behavior towards his young assistants and other professionals.
From Deadline: Oscar-nominated producer Megan Ellison, who has worked with Scott Rudin says that his behavior is worst than what "The Hollywood Reporter" claims.
MOVIES - From Deadline: Rising stars Jorge Lendeborg Jr. and Tosin Cole are in negotiations to lead New Line’s reimagining of the 1990 cult comedy, "House Party," produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter's The SpringHill Company. Award-winning music video director Calmatic will be helming in his feature debut.
SCANDAL - From YahooLATimes: Zachary J. Horwitz, who is an actor under the name, Zachery Avery, was arrested on Tues., April 6th under the federal charge of operating a ponzi scheme. Horwitz reportedly owes investors 227(!) million dollars.
DC COMICS TO MOVIE - From THR: "Justice League" actor Ray Fisher gives a bombshell interview about his experiences with key figures in the making of the film, including acclaimed writer-director Joss Whedon.
From Vulture: A history of allegations of abuse on the part of Joss Whedon.
COVID-19 - From Deadline: California Gov. Gavin Newsom says that the state will be ending most COVID restrictions and will be "opening up" on June 15th, 2021.
From Deadline: Tyler Perry is reportedly going to end the COVID quarantine bubble at his studio in Atlanta because most of his crew has been vaccinated.
SPORTS - From YahooSports: The Baylor University Bears are the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament Champions. The Bears (28-2) beat the Gonzaga University Bulldogs (31-1) 86-70 in the men's championship game on Monday, April 5, 2021 at Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana.
TELEVISION - From Deadline: Byron Allen's Allen Media Group owns the free-to-air TV network, "This TV." Now, This TV has signed a distribution deal with eight major ABC-owned TV station subchannels in order to expand its reach.
CELEBRITY - From YahooEntertainment: 30 years ago, actress Melanie Thandiwe Newton's name was misspelled in the credits of her first film, the Australian pic, "Flirting." Since then, the world knows her as "Thandie Newton," but now she is reclaiming the "w" and she is Thandiwe Newton. "Thandiew" is pronounced "tan-DEE-way."
LGBTQ - From YahooEntertainment: Oscar-winning actress, Kate Winslet, says she knows many gay actors, especially young actors, who fear that coming out will derail their careeers.
SCANDAL - From Deadline: Former movie studio boss and Oscar-winning producer, Harvey Weinstein, is appealing his New York state sex crime convictions, which landed him in prison for 23 years. Meanwhile, on April 9th, there will be a hearing to extradite him to Los Angeles to face multiple sex crime charges.
MOVIES/STREAMING(?) - From WeGotThisCovered: Paramount is reportedly developing a "Star Trek" project that is set only on Earth.
SAG AWARDS - From Variety: If you care ... "Variety" is live-blogging / updating the 2021 / 27th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards with the announcement of the winners as they happen.
From THR: "The Trial of the Chicago 7" tops the 2021 SAG Awards.
From THR: Michael Keaton becomes the first actor to be part of three winning ensembles in the category of "Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture." In addition to being a cast member of tonight's winner, "The Trial of the Chicago 7," Keaton was also a member of "Birdman" (2014) and "Spotlight" (2015), which both won "Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture."
BOX OFFICE - From Variety: The winner of the 4/2 to 4/4/2021 weekend box office is "Godzilla vs. Kong" with an estimated take of 32.2 million dollars. This is the best pandemic-era opening weekend.
From Deadline: "Godzilla vs. Kong" earns an estimated 48.5 million dollars during its first five days at the domestic box office.
From Deadline: Warner Bros./Legendary's "Godzilla vs. Kong" opened on Wed., March 31st, 2021 and had the biggest opening day since the COVID pandemic, 9.6 million dollars in domestic box office.
ANIMATION - From Deadline: Emmy-winning actress Zendaya has been cast as "Lola Bunny" in "Space Jam: A New Legacy," the sequel to the 1996 film, "Space Jam," which starred Michael Jordan. The film is due July 16, 2021.
MOVIES - From YahooEntertainment: Actor Edward Norton said that he got his breakthrough role, as a 19-year-old altar boy who kills a Catholic bishop in the 1996 film, "Primal Fear," when Leonardo DiCaprio passed on the role. Norton would earn an Oscar nomination for the part.
MUSIC - From Variety: HYBE (formerly known as "Big Hit Entertainment"), the home of South Korean pop super-group, BTS, and Ithaca Holdings, which manages Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande (among others), have merged.
STREAMING - From Deadline: Popular cast member, Rege-Jean Page, will not be returning for Season 2 at "Bridgerton."
MOVIES - From THR: Actor Steven Yeun is in talks to join Oscar-winner Jordan Peele's upcoming thriller. The title of the film has not been announced, but it is due July 2022.
MOVIES - From THR: Anthony Ramos has apparently made a star turn in the upcoming film, "In the Heights." Now, he is in final negotiations to be the lead in next installment of the "Transformers" film franchise. Steve Caple, Jr., who directed "Creed II," is scheduled to direct the film.
TELEVISION - From Deadline: CBS has officially picked up "CSI: Vegas," a sequel to the original series, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," for the upcoming TV season. Original series stars, William Petersen and Jorja Fox, will return to join a new cast.
JAMES BOND - From Collider: How to Watch the James Bond Movies in Order (Chronologically and by Release Date)
OBITS:
From XXL: The rapper, Earl Simmons, better known as "DMX," has died at the age of 50, Friday, April 9, 2021. His debut LP, 1998's "It's Dark and Hell is Hot," debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 LP chart. His first five LP would reach #1 and would be certified platinum. DMX was also an actor and appeared in numerous films, including the 2001 hit, "Exit Wounds."
From Deadline: The voice-over artist, Mark Elliot, has died at the age of 81, Saturday, April 3, 2021. He was best known for his work with The Walt Disney Company doing voice-overs for Disney promos and trailers.
From Deadline: The film and television actress, Gloria Henry, has died at the age of 98, Saturday, April 3, 2021. Henry is best known for playing "Alice Mitchell," the mother of Dennis Mitchell in the former CBS sitcom, "Dennis the Menace" (1959-63). She also appeared in numerous TV series, such as "Perry Mason," "The Thin Man," and "Dallas," to name a few.
