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Monday, September 4, 2023
Marvel Comics Shipping from Diamond Distributors for September 6, 2023
Comic Books, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for September 6, 2023
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DC Comics Shipping from Lunar Distributors for September 5, 2023
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Comics Review: CONAN THE BARBARIAN #2 Made Me Say "Ugh! Na Nah Na Nah!"
Saturday, September 2, 2023
"Barbie" Heads to IMAX Screens for Special Event Sept 22nd
Think Pink! Tickets Go On Sale Today for “Barbie” as the Year’s #1 Film Heads to IMAX® for 7 Days Only
Audiences who get tickets for the limited engagement beginning September 22 will also see a special address from history-making director Greta Gerwig, along with all-new footage selected just for the IMAX experience
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tickets are on sale now for the limited one-week run of “Barbie” in IMAX®, beginning September 22, 2023 on IMAX screens across North America and in select international markets. The announcement was made today by Jeff Goldstein, President of Domestic Distribution, and Andrew Cripps, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.
As a special treat for IMAX audiences only, a special greeting from director Greta Gerwig will play before the film, and exclusive post-credit footage, selected by Gerwig, will follow. The announcement was made today by Jeff Goldstein, President of Domestic Distribution, and Andrew Cripps, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.
Goldstein and Cripps said, “We really wanted to super-serve all the fans out there who made this the Summer of ‘Barbie’ in every way imaginable, and we couldn’t think of a better way than to serve up the biggest film of 2023 and the biggest Warner Bros. film of all time on the biggest, most experiential screens around. Thanks to our terrific partners at IMAX and our incredible director, Greta Gerwig, we went a step further and are offering audiences an added incentive with this special post-credits footage. We encourage moviegoers everywhere, whether they’ve seen ‘Barbie’ or not, to see it in IMAX for a can’t-miss moment in film history.”
To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken.
From Oscar-nominated writer/director Greta Gerwig (“Little Women,” “Lady Bird”) comes “Barbie,” starring Oscar nominees Margot Robbie (“Bombshell,” “I, Tonya”) and Ryan Gosling (“La La Land,” “Half Nelson”) as Barbie and Ken, alongside America Ferrera (“End of Watch,” the “How to Train Your Dragon” films), Kate McKinnon (“Bombshell,” “Yesterday”), Issa Rae (“The Photograph,” HBO’s “Insecure”), Rhea Perlman (“I’ll See You in My Dreams,” “Matilda”), and Will Ferrell (the “Anchorman” films, “Talladega Nights”). The film also stars Michael Cera (“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” “Juno”), Ariana Greenblatt (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “65”), Ana Cruz Kayne (“Little Women”), Emma Mackey (“Emily,” “Sex Education”), Hari Nef (“Assassination Nation,” “Transparent”), Alexandra Shipp (the “X-Men” films), Kingsley Ben-Adir (“One Night in Miami,” “Peaky Blinders”), Simu Liu (“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”), Ncuti Gatwa (“Sex Education”), Scott Evans (“Grace and Frankie”), Jamie Demetriou (“Cruella”), Connor Swindells (“Sex Education,” “Emma.”), Sharon Rooney (“Dumbo,” “Jerk”), Nicola Coughlan (“Bridgerton,” “Derry Girls”), Ritu Arya (“The Umbrella Academy”), Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Dua Lipa and Oscar-winner Helen Mirren (“The Queen”).
Gerwig directed “Barbie” from a screenplay by Gerwig & Oscar nominee Noah Baumbach (“Marriage Story,” “The Squid and the Whale”), based on Barbie by Mattel. The film’s producers are Oscar nominees David Heyman (“Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood,” “Marriage Story,” “Gravity”), Margot Robbie (“Birds of Prey,” “Promising Young Woman,” “I, Tonya”), Tom Ackerley (“Promising Young Woman,” “I, Tonya”) and Robbie Brenner (“Dallas Buyers Club”), with Gerwig, Baumbach, Ynon Kreiz, Richard Dickson, Michael Sharp, Josey McNamara, Courtenay Valenti, Toby Emmerich and Cate Adams serving as executive producers.
Gerwig’s creative team behind the camera included Oscar-nominated director of photography Rodrigo Prieto (“The Irishman,” “Silence,” “Brokeback Mountain”), Oscar-nominated production designer Sarah Greenwood (“Beauty and the Beast,” “Anna Karenina”), Oscar-winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran (“Little Women,” “Anna Karenina”), editor Nick Houy (“Little Women,” “Lady Bird”), visual effects supervisor Glen Pratt (“Paddington 2,” “Beauty and the Beast”) and music supervisor George Drakoulias (“White Noise,” “Marriage Story”), with a score by Oscar winners Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt (“A Star Is Born”), who also contributed to numerous songs on the film’s soundtrack. The soundtrack includes an impressive roster of today’s hottest music artists, including Lizzo, Dua Lipa, Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice with Aqua, Charli XCX, KAROL G feat. Aldo Ranks, Tame Impala, Dominic Fike, HAIM, The Kid LAROI, Khalid, PinkPantheress, GAYLE, Ava Max, FIFTY FIFTY and more.
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents a Heyday Films Production, a LuckyChap Entertainment Production, an NB/GG Pictures Production, a Mattel Production, “Barbie.” The film is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
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Friday, September 1, 2023
A Negromancer September 2023
Thursday, August 31, 2023
Negromancer News Bits and Bites from August 27th to 31st, 2023 - Update #9
by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:
ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
MOVIES - From Variety: Meg Ryan returns to movie theaters as director, writer, and co-star of the romantic-comedy, "What Happens Later," co-starring David Duchovny. The film is due Oct. 13th.
STREAMING - From Deadline: Hulu has cancelled the Elle Fanning-Nicholas Hoult drama, "The Great," after three seasons.
DISNEY - From Deadline: Another Disney investor suit targets Disney, CEO Bob Iger, and former CEO Bob Chapek over "alleged sleight of hand accounting" used to hide streaming losses.
BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro: The winner of the 8/25 to 8/27/2023 weekend box office is Sony Pictures' "Gran Turismo" with an estimated take of 17.3 million dollars. That could change because today (Sunday, Aug. 27th) is the second annual "National Cinema Day," in which tickets at participating theaters is $4.
From THR: Director Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" is now Warner Bros. Pictures' most successful film at the global box office. It's has passed the 1.342 billion that "Harry Potter and the Death Hallows - Part 2" grossed globally.
DISNEY - From Deadline: Disney continues the Disney+ content purge. It is not going forward with "Nautilus," the live-action "Captain Nemo" series from the United Kingdom that it commissioned two years ago.
SCANDAL - From Deadline: The fall of former Disney Channel child star, Mitchel Musso, continues with an arrest in Texas for multiple charges, including "public intoxication."
ANIMATION - From Deadline: The hit Adult Swim (Cartoon Network) animated series "Rick and Morty," will return for its Season 7 on Sunday, Oct. 15 at 11 p.m. ET/PT with all new episodes.
OBITS:
From Deadline: American television game show host and animal rights activist, Bob Barker, has died at the age of 99, Saturday, August 26, 2023. He is best known for his 35-year stint hosting the CBS daytime game show, "The Price is Right." He also hosted the former CBS/NBC/syndicated game show, "Truth or Consequences," from 1956 to 1975. He received 43 Daytime Emmy Award nominations. He won the award for "Outstanding Game Show Host" 14 times as the host of "The Price is Right," and he won four "Outstanding Game Show" Emmy Awards as executive producer of "The Price is Right."
From Deadline: Film and television actress and writer and voice actress, Arleen Sorkin, has died at the age of 68, Thursday, August 24, 2023. Arleen is best known as the voice actress who originated the role of the character, Harley Quinn, first on "Batman: The Animated Series" (1992-95). She performed the voice for Harley Quinn in at least 50 times for TV, film, webseries, and videogames. Harley Quinn's co-creator, Paul Dini, also used Arleen as inspiration for the character. Sorkin is also known for playing the soap opera character, Calliope Jones, over 400 times over a 26-year period on the former NBC soap, "Days of Our Lives." Sorkin received two Daytime Emmy Award nominations and one News and Documentary Emmy Award nomination.
WRITERS/ACTORS STRIKE:
From THR: As talks with the Writers Guild of America stall, the studio trade association, AMPTP, has retained D.C.-based firm, The Levinson Group, to pursue a fresh messaging strategy.
From Deadline: Regarding the Hollywood writers strike, the AMPTP (representing the studios) released the details of a proposed labor agreement that it made to the WGA (the Writers Guild) on August 11th.
From Deadline: A pair of former production assistants-turned-assistant directors have created a nonprofit in hopes of providing financial aid to PAs (production assistants) who’ve been put out of work due to the 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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