by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
CELEBRITY - From THR: For the first time since his medical emergency, Jamie Foxx speaks publicly, releasing a video on his "Instagram" page.
TELEVISION - From Deadline: FX's "Aliens" television series has begun filming in Thailand, but are filming scenes that don't include SAG-AFTRA actors.
MOVIES - From YahooEntertainment: Antonio Banderas recalls Steven Spielberg's prescient words about CGI on the set of his film, "The Mask of Zorro" (1998). This is the 25th anniversary of the film's release.
MUSIC - From Deadline: Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter and recording artist, Sheryl Crow, calls out country singer Jason Aldean over his violent and obviously racist song, "Try That in a Small Town."
OPPENHEIMER - From Deadline: Actor Cillian Murphy talks about his starring role in "Oppenheimer" and about working with Christopher Nolan again.
From Variety: Matt Damon had told his wife he was taking a break from acting unless director Christopher Nolan called. Then, Nolan called about "Oppenheimer"...
STREAMING - From Deadline: Paramount+ has unveiled a first look at "Pet Sematary: Bloodlines," a prequel to Stephen King's 1983 novel. "Pet Sematary."
MEDIA - From Deadline: Lionsgate seems to be in the lead to buy the film and television entertainment company eOne (Entertainment One) from Hasbro.
STREAMING - From Variety: NBCUniversal's streaming service, "Peacock," has raised its prices for the first time since its launch.
BOX OFFICE - BoxOfficePro: The winner of the 7/14 to 7/16/2023 weekend box office is Paramount Pictures' "Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" with an estimated take of 56.2 million dollars.
From Here: A review of "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" by Leroy Douresseaux
From Deadline: Director Christopher McQuarrie considered using the "de-aging" process for Tom Cruise in order to create a young Ethan Hunt, but ultimately chose not to go with it.
OBITS:
From Deadline: Legendary American singer, Tony Bennett, has died at the age of 96, Friday, July 21, 2023. He career spanned decades and generations. He made his first recordings in 1949. He had his first hit in 1951 ("Because of You"). He recorded his first album in 1952 ("Because of You"), which would be one of over 100 albums released. Younger audiences discovered Bennett in the early 1990s and continue to do so, listening to his catalog of jazz, traditional pop, show tunes, and big band, to name a few of the genres of music in which he has performed. He won 19 Grammy Awards and received the Grammy "Lifetime Achievement Award."
From Deadline: American actress Josephine Chaplin has died at the age of 74, Thursday, July 13, 2023. The daughter of legendary filmmaker and actor, Charlie Chaplin, and British actress, Oona O'Neill, Josephine made an appearance as a child actor in her father's Oscar-winning film, "Limelight." Her other roles include "Canterbury Tales" (1972), "Jack the Ripper," and "A Countess from Hong Kong" (1967), which was also her father's final film.
From Deadline: Film and television producer and director, Robert Lieberman, has died at the age of 77, Saturday, July 1, 2023. As a film director, his best known work is the science fiction cult classic, "Fire in the Sky" (1993). As a TV director, he helmed numerous series, including multiple episodes of USA Network's "The Dead Zone" and Syfy's "The Expanse." Lieberman directed over two thousand TV commercials and in 1980, he won the first Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards for "Best Commercial Director," one of two that he won in that category.
WRITERS/ACTORS STRIKE:
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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