News for 2/14/2006
Ridley Scott to Direct American Gangster
Source: Variety
Ridley Scott is in talks to direct Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington in the Brian Grazer-produced American Gangster, the drama that had its plug pulled in late 2004 by Universal Pictures. The hope is to shoot this summer, says Variety.
The studio will decide this week whether to finance or co-finance the revamped '70s crime drama, or possibly let it go. Two other studios are circling the project if Universal backs down.
The story revolves around a Harlem heroin kingpin who figured out a way to smuggle heroin in the coffins of American soldiers returning from the Vietnam War.
Crowe, who would play a cop, appears to have the most challenging schedule. He's booked to star with Nicole Kidman in Baz Luhrmann's untitled period epic.
Crowe and Scott just completed A Good Year and previously made Gladiator together. Grazer made A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Story with Crowe. Crowe and Washington previously played adversaries in Virtuosity.
Eddie Murphy is Starship Dave
Source: Variety
Eddie Murphy will star in Starship Dave for director Peter Segal (The Longest Yard) and 20th Century Fox. The project was previously at Paramount Pictures.
Deep River Productions (Big Momma's House 2) is producing along with Guy Walks Into a Bar. The story is about a crew of miniature human-looking aliens who are seeking a way to save their doomed world.
Producing are David Friendly and Marc Turtletaub for Deep River, Jon Berg and Tom Komarnicki for Guy Walks Into a Bar. Segal's producing partner Michael Ewing will also produce.
Murphy is also lined up to film Norbit for DreamWorks.
Bernie Mac Joining Howard in PDR
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Comedian Bernie Mac (The Bernie Mac Show) is in final talks to join Terrence Howard in PDR for Lionsgate, says The Hollywood Reporter.
PDR, or Philadelphia Department of Recreation, chronicles the real-life story of Jim Ellis (Howard), who in the 1970s transformed a group of troubled inner-city kids into one of the best swim teams in the country.
In the drama, Mac will play the janitor who, with Howard, fights the closing of a rec center and helps turn it into a vital community center.
South African commercial helmer Sunu Gonera is making his feature directorial debut on the film, which was written by Michael Gozzard and Kevin M. Smith.
PDR is scheduled to start shooting in late April on the East Coast.
Weekend Boxoffice
'Pink Panther' Claws to Top of Box Office
By DAVID GERMAIN
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- Inspector Clouseau bumbled his way to the top of the box office as Steve Martin's "The Pink Panther" debuted with $21.7 million to lead a rush of new releases.
New Line's horror sequel "Final Destination 3" ran a close second with $20.1 million, followed by Universal's animated "Curious George" at No. 3 with $15.3 million and the Warner Bros. thriller "Firewall" starring Harrison Ford in fourth with $13.8 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The overall box office rose slightly despite the Winter Olympics and a Northeast snowstorm, both of which kept many movie-goers at home. The top 12 movies took in $106.8 million, up 3 percent over the same weekend last year, when "Hitch" opened as the No. 1 movie with $43.2 million.
After a slump in which attendance dropped 7 percent in 2005, Hollywood is off to a better start this year. Revenues are at just over $1 billion, up 8 percent from last year's. Factoring in higher ticket prices, attendance has risen 5 percent, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
Sony's "The Pink Panther" stars Martin in the role defined by Peter Sellers, whose French detective Clouseau was the idiot-savant hero of a string of 1960s and '70s comedy hits by Blake Edwards, who continued the franchise into the '80s and '90s after Sellers' death.
The remake drew a broad audience, with parents and their children accounting for 51 percent of the crowds and viewers evenly divided between those older and younger than 25.
"It was just all over the place, kids, parents, teenagers. We had everybody," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony, which inherited "The Pink Panther" from MGM in a Sony-led takeover last year.
The top 10 was dominated by five family-friendly films _ "The Pink Panther," "Curious George," 20th Century Fox's "Big Momma's House 2," Universal's "Nanny McPhee" and the Weinstein Co. animated tale "Hoodwinked" _ and three horror flicks _ "Final Destination 3" and Sony's "When a Stranger Calls" and "Underworld Evolution."
"It's a battle of the genres," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "Family films and horror films are the most consistently performing genres at the box office, and there really is a lot of choice out there for both right now."
Focus Features' "Brokeback Mountain," the favorite for best picture at the Academy Awards, remained the top-grosser among Oscar contenders, finishing at No. 8 with $4.2 million and lifting its domestic total to $66.6 million.
In limited release, the acclaimed concert film "Neil Young: Heart of Gold" opened strongly at four theaters, taking in $57,303 for a $14,326 average, compared to a $6,241 average in 3,477 cinemas for "The Pink Panther."
Directed by Jonathan Demme ("The Silence of the Lambs"), "Heart of Gold" presents Young as he premiered the songs of his latest album, the country-tinged "Prairie Wind," at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium last August. "Heart of Gold" expands to more theaters this weekend.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "The Pink Panther," $21.7 million.
2. "Final Destination 3," $20.1 million.
3. "Curious George," $15.3 million.
4. "Firewall," $13.8 million.
5. "When a Stranger Calls," $10 million.
6. "Big Momma's House 2," $6.8 million.
7. "Nanny McPhee," $5.2 million.
8. "Brokeback Mountain," $4.2 million.
9. "Hoodwinked," $2.502 million.
10. "Underworld Evolution," $2.5 million.
'Half & Half' Gets Serious with Destiny's Child's Williams
By Rick Porter
Zap2It.com
For her first appearance on a sitcom, Destiny's Child singer Michelle Williams didn't exactly choose the easiest role.
Williams, who begins a three-episode arc on UPN's "Half & Half" Monday (Feb. 13), will be balancing silly and serious in playing Naomi Dawson, a record executive who, viewers will eventually discover, is HIV-positive. Despite the tricky balance she had to strike, Williams came away from the experience hungry for more.
"It was so much fun. I love it when work is fun," says Williams, whose acting experience also includes "Aida" on Broadway. "I fell in love doing TV. So I want to do some more sitcoms -- hopefully some more 'Half & Half.'"
Viewers may not immediately fall in love with Williams' character on "Half & Half" -- she's a professional rival of Mona (Rachel True), and their interaction is prickly at best. Yet Mona's co-worker and friend Spencer (Chico Benymon) sees something in her, and they end up spending a low-key Valentine's Day together.
The following two episodes find Naomi first struggling to keep her HIV-positive status a secret from Andre and the two of them dealing with it together.
Williams says she hopes that her "Half & Half" episodes show viewers that "just because you have these heavy issues, it doesn't mean you cannot laugh. In fact, you should laugh, you should smile." The show's writers worked with KNOW HIV/AIDS, an awareness group sponsored in part by UPN owner CBS Corp., in crafting the storyline.
"Just know that if you do have a life-threatening disease, it doesn't have to be the end-all, be-all," she adds. "[Naomi] feels a little upset because she's used to getting [negative] reactions from people. Then she finds someone who wanted to love her for her. I think God always sends you an angel during rough times."
Now that she's caught the sitcom bug, Williams is planning to spend some time in Los Angeles during pilot season, reading scripts and trying to land a few auditions (she already has one lined up for a feature film). She's also set to record a solo album now that Destiny's Child has decided to split up.
She says she'll definitely miss working with Beyonce and Kelly Rowland, but the three remain close -- and Williams doesn't rule out the possibility of a reunion.
"We'll still do some performances together, if it's meaningful," she says. "If it's worth something for us to get back together to do, we'll do it."
Oscar Nominee Howard Lines Up Two More
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com)- Say this for Terrence Howard: After years of working in character actor relative obscurity, the "Hustle & Flow" star isn't about to let his new-found prominence go to waste.
The freshly minted Oscar nominee has signed on for two new projects, adding to an already stuffed upcoming slate.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Howard is in final negotiations for the lead in "PDR" (that's Philadelphia Department of Recreation, if you're curious), a based-on-fact drama about Jim Ellis (Howard), who coached a wildly successful underdog youth swimming team in the 1970s. Production on that project, set up at Lionsgate, would begin in April with Sonu Gonera lensing.
Howard has also reportedly committed to a smaller part in Kirsten Sheridan's ensemble "August Rush." The Warner Bros. drama focuses on a young musician (Freddie Highmore) looking for his parents (Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Keri Russell) with the help of a mysterious man named Wizard (Robin Williams). Howard will play a social worker.
Never concerned with being over-booked, Howard's breakout 2005 included the release of "Hustle & Flow," "Crash," "Four Brothers" and "Get Rich or Die Tryin'." Expect to see more of him, though, with roles lined up in "Idlewild," "Awake," "The Crusaders" and "The Brave One."
'Deja Vu' Brings Filming Back to New Orleans
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com)- Jerry Bruckheimer: Saving New Orleans One Movie at a Time.
"The filmmakers, cast, and crew are proud to be part of the rebirth of this unique landmark city," declares a studio statement.
Directed by Tony Scott and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, "Deja Vu" was scheduled to begin production in the Crescent City in October, but Katrina forced the plug to be temporarily pulled. After researching other possible locations, Scott determined that only New Orleans would do the job and the proper logistical arrangements were made to hold shooting until the Big Easy was ready to accommodate production.
With things finally ready to go, Disney was pleased enough to put out a press release and hold a press conference announcing that New Orleans is back in business.
"Deja Vu" reunites the "Crimson Tide" team of Bruckheimer, Scott and Washington, with the Oscar-winning actor playing a cop who has the chance to somehow go back in time to prevent the murder of a beautiful woman. The film also features Jesus (Jim Caviezel), Jim Morrison (Val Kilmer) and Adam Goldberg (Adam Goldberg).
'Blandings' Overhaul Becomes Ice Cube Sequel
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com)- When people complain that Hollywood is low on ideas, they usually reference the number of remakes and sequels as their evidence.
Those critics are unlikely to be initially enthusiastic about Ice Cube's "Are We Done Yet?" The comedy has become a sequel to Cube's hit comedy "Are We There Yet?" after beginning its life as a remake of the classic "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House."
The "killing two birds with one stone" project has come together in its new form fairly quickly, according to Variety. Production on the "Blandings" remake was already set to begin in Vancouver in June with Steve Carr at the helm. Switch a character name or two here, swap a title there and magically you've got a sequel to "There," which has taken in nearly $100 million worldwide.
The trade paper says that Revolution Studios is scrambling to secure deals with "There" co-stars Nia Long, Aleisha Allen and Philip Bolden for the sequel, which begins some time after the original as our quartet has moved to the suburbs and is planning to renovate a particularly rickety house. Hank Nelken's "Blandings" script is getting a retrofit from "There" screenwriters David Stem and David Weiss.
Alas, the switcheroo seems to have cost the production the services of Thomas Haden Church. The Oscar nominee was set to play a contractor in the "Blandings" redo, but is now occupied with a little movie called "Spider-Man 3."
Now reviews have several months to sharpen their witty pans around that "Are We Done Yet?" title.
Groundbreaking 'Jeffersons' Actor Dies at 77
Franklin Cover, best known for playing the white neighbor on "The Jeffersons," has died at the age of 77. The actor died of pneumonia on Sunday, Feb. 5 at the Lillian Booth Actor's Fund of America home in Englewood, N.J.
As Tom Willis on "The Jeffersons," Cover and black actress Roxie Roker broke barriers by becoming the first interracial married couple on prime-time television. As the "deluxe apartment" neighbors, the Willises were often the comic foils to George and Louise Jefferson.
Cover began acting on stage, and his credits include "Born Yesterday," "Any Wednesday," "Hamlet" and "Henry IV."
He moved on to TV, where he made numerous appearances on shows such as "The Jackie Gleason Show," "All in the Family," "The Love Boat," "227," "Who's the Boss?," "In the Heat of the Night," "ER," "Mad About You" and "Will & Grace."
He also made a few appearances on the big screen in "The Stepford Wives (1975)," "Wall Street" and "Brain Donors."
He is survived by his widow, Mary, his son, Bradford and daughter, Susan.
News for 2/6/2006
"Law & Order" star tunes in to Marvin Gaye movie
By Nellie Andreeva
Hot on the heels of hit films about Ray Charles and Johnny Cash, a project about the final years of Marvin Gaye is set to begin production in May.
"Sexual Healing," an independently financed drama starring "Law & Order" cop Jesse L. Martin as the late Motown icon, will shoot in Hungary and Germany. Lauren Goodman will direct from her own script.
The movie chronicles Gaye's self-imposed exile in Europe after years of battling drugs, domestic issues and label headaches. There, he was rescued by a promoter who helped Gaye record his biggest-selling album, "Midnight Love," which yielded the monster comeback hit, "Sexual Healing."
Gaye's life was cut short the day before his 45th birthday in 1984, when his father killed him.
"More than just being the voice of a generation, Marvin Gaye proved to be its very heartbeat," Goodman said. "As a filmmaker, I was drawn to tell the story of a human being who was never fully realized, one with faults and foibles and an uncommon grace expressed every time he picked up the microphone."
Various producers have spent years trying to make a movie about Gaye. Originally, the project was intended to cover a larger portion of his life but was refocused on his final years because of rights issues with his Motown-produced records.
Music biopics are a hot genre these days with the success of 2004's Oscar-winning "Ray" and 2005's Oscar-nominated Cash movie "Walk the Line."
Martin most recently starred in the feature adaptation of the hit musical "Rent."
Raven-Symone Gets Serious 'For One Night'
By Jay Bobbin
Zap2It.com
No matter what name she goes by, Raven-Symone makes her professional decisions from the same place: her heart.
Determined to do projects that matter, the young actress has gone back to her full first name from her "Cosby Show" tenure in moving into drama, as she wraps up her Disney Channel sitcom "That's So Raven."
Debuting Monday, Feb. 6, the fact-based Lifetime movie "For One Night" casts her as a contemporary Louisiana teen who ignites simmering racial tensions by suggesting her high school's long-standing tradition of segregated proms be dropped.
As the prejudices of many parents quickly surface and the school principal tries to quash the idea, a New Orleans newspaper reporter (Aisha Tyler, "Ghost Whisperer") who grew up in the town brings wider attention to the controversy by making it the subject of an expose.
Jason Lewis ("Sex and the City," "Charmed") also stars as the assistant principal who was once involved with the journalist. Ernest Dickerson ("Juice") directed the film that covers events that actually occurred in Georgia.
"I was so excited to be a part of this," Raven-Symone says. "I'd always held out on doing a dramatic piece, because I didn't want my first step into drama being a superficial, thin story. I thought this was just thick enough to show people [what I can do]. I don't want to do pieces that don't make a difference, and this being a true story made it even more perfect for me."
"For One Night" may startle viewers by showing such prejudice still exists some places, but Raven-Symone maintains she isn't surprised. "I come from the South (Atlanta), and there's still racism there. A lot of people don't want to open their minds to the new world, and I never said that's everybody, and it's not saying I think their beliefs are wrong. They haven't opened their eyes completely. It's not stupidity, it's just ignorance ... not knowing the facts, not wanting to change.
"You get that sometimes, and you just have to walk away from the situation sometimes. Otherwise, you can get yourself in trouble and get your emotions tied in, then bad stuff can happen. If you can handle it responsibly, and you're smart and educated on the subject, you'll be OK."
Raven-Symone got firsthand confirmation by meeting the woman who inspired her "For One Night" character. "When I first heard the story," she recalls, "and what people did to try to bring her down and she just kept going, [I knew] she has more guts than I do. I would have backed down a little bit, but her reasoning was just. What I call her 'war wounds' only made her stronger. She doesn't show any sign of pain; she's just moving on, and it's amazing."
"For One Night" may have been a bit edgy for Disney Channel, where Raven-Symone reigns as a superstar, but the actress maintains she isn't turning her back on the network that "put me here in the first place" by also working for Lifetime.
"Then again, I think a lot of adults look down on kids, but there's so much stuff on television that [young people] can't help but know about it. If you treat them with respect and teach them young, they will understand, and I think this story does that tastefully, while giving them a little jolt about what's happening in their world. And they're the only ones who can change it."
Raven-Symone is the only one who could change her name, and she explains that will vary with the project and where it's done.
"I think it'll stay Raven for Disney Channel purposes," she says. "Kids in that age range don't know how to separate the person from the character. They'll come up to me sometimes and ask, 'Did you have a vision?' (The title character in 'That's So Raven' is psychic.) For projects like the Lifetime movie and my music and other things as I get older, I will continue with Raven-Symone. That's my birth name, and I think people need to know it."
Some Raven ties to Disney Channel remain: She's now completing the final episodes of "That's So Raven," and she'll reunite with the musical Cheetah Girls for a TV movie to air this summer. However, she attests, "I do have to break away from Mother Bear and help myself. When that happens, people need to know who I am. Otherwise, my years in this business will have been null and void.
"We're reading a lot of scripts, and things will be going into production as soon as 'That's So Raven' ends. I think 2006 is going to be a very cool, prosperous year for me, but also a little scary. I'll no longer have the 'That's So Raven' cushion."
Still, Raven-Symone has gone into uncharted territory before, although she was quite young then. She was all of 6 years old when "The Cosby Show" ended in 1992, and she reflects, "I know this is going to sound bad, but I don't remember it that much."
She adds that she and Bill Cosby "are so busy, we don't really talk. I hear through the grapevine that he enjoys my show, and that's good enough for me. It's really cool how it's mellowed out, even though I wouldn't be here without him."
Weekend Boxoffice
'When a Stranger Calls' Scares Up $22M
By DAVID GERMAIN
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- Horror fans remained on the line for "When a Stranger Calls," a remake of the scary movie about a terrorized baby sitter that debuted at No. 1 with $22 million over the typically sluggish Super Bowl weekend.
Distributor Sony, whose Screen Gems banner released "When a Stranger Calls," said it was the best Super Bowl debut ever, beating the $19 million haul the studio's horror flick "Boogeyman" took in over the same weekend last year.
20th Century Fox's "Big Momma's House 2" fell to second place with $13.35 million, lifting its 10-day total to $45.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The weekend's other new wide release, Focus Features' romantic comedy "Something New," opened at No. 7 with $5 million.
With fans staying home Sunday for the big game, theaters were quiet, though key Academy Awards contenders including Focus Features' best-picture front-runner "Brokeback Mountain" benefited from last week's nominations.
"The Super Bowl is one of those television events like the Academy Awards that really dominates and monopolizes the audience," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
The top 12 movies took in $81.7 million, down 7 percent from Super Bowl weekend last year.
On the heels of its leading eight nominations, the cowboy romance "Brokeback Mountain" expanded to its widest release yet in 2,089 theaters and came in fourth with $5.7 million. The film has taken in $59.8 million domestically since debuting in December.
Among other best-picture nominees:
_ Sony Pictures Classics' Truman Capote tale "Capote" nearly quadrupled its theater count to 1,239 and grossed $2.5 million, increasing its take to $18.2 million.
_ Universal's assassination thriller "Munich," from director Steven Spielberg, expanded slightly to 1,151 theaters, grossing $1.9 million and raising its total to $43.1 million.
_ Warner Independent Pictures' Edward R. Murrow drama "Good Night, and Good Luck" went into its widest release yet at 929 theaters and took in $1.5 million, pushing its total to $26.7 million.
"There's always a segment of the audience that wants to see all five films nominated for best picture," said Steven Friedlander, head of distribution for Warner Independent. "It's our American version of the running of the bulls at Pamplona."
The fifth best-picture contender, Lionsgate's ensemble drama "Crash," already is out on DVD.
Though shut out of the best-picture race, 20th Century Fox's Johnny Cash biography "Walk the Line" climbed back into the top 10 on the strength of acting nominations for Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. "Walk the Line" was No. 9 with $3.4 million, raising its domestic total to $110.7 million.
The Weinstein Co. cashed in on best-actress nominations for Judi Dench in "Mrs. Henderson Presents" and Felicity Huffman in "Transamerica."
"Mrs. Henderson Presents," about a society dame who starts a nude stage revue in 1930s London, quintupled its theater count to 260 and grossed just under $1 million, raising its total to $3.2 million. "Transamerica," a road-trip tale about a man preparing for sex-change surgery, expanded to 101 theaters, up 19, and took in $509,000, pushing its take to $2.2 million.
"When a Stranger Calls" did not screen in advance for critics, the custom when the studio expects bad reviews. But fright flicks have a built-in audience of horror fans who pay little attention to reviews.
Here are estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "When a Stranger Calls," $22 million.
2. "Big Momma's House 2," $13.35 million.
3. "Nanny McPhee," $9.9 million.
4. "Brokeback Mountain," $5.7 million.
5. "Hoodwinked," $5.3 million.
6. "Underworld Evolution," $5.1 million.
7. "Something New," $5 million.
8. "Annapolis," $3.5 million.
9. "Walk the Line," $3.4 million.
10. "Glory Road," $3 million.
Fuqua and Freeman Spy Jazz Ambassadors
Source: Variety
New Line Cinema has acquired The Jazz Ambassadors, a pitch for Antoine Fuqua to direct and Morgan Freeman to star in as jazz impresario Duke Ellington, says Variety. Fuqua is expected to next direct the Paramount drama By Any Means Necessary this spring.
"Jazz" covers the Ellington orchestra's tour of Iraq during a 1963 CIA-led coup that would eventually pave the way for Saddam Hussein's rise to power.
Part of the intrigue is the discovery, years later, that the CIA exploited the global zeal for Ellington's jazz by planting spies in the entourage as the orchestra toured hostile parts of the world. When and if Ellington knew of the program will be part of the drama.
Jeremy Donner will write the script. Freeman and his Revelations partner Lori McCreary will produce with Fuqua.
News for 2/1/2006
Howard, Jordan Feel 'Brave'
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com)- Freshly minted Oscar nominee Terrence Howard is in place to co-star in "The Brave One," a revenge thriller set to star Jodie Foster.
In addition, The Hollywood Reporter says that Neil Jordan is in talks to direct the project, set to be produced by Joel Silver for Warner Bros. Pictures.
The film focuses on a woman (Foster) who suffers a brutal attack and seeks revenge. The trade paper will only say that Howard plays a "cop who has a tough choice to make." Fill in the blanks from there.
The "Brave" script was originally written by Bruce and Roderick Taylor and received a polish from Michael Seitzman.
On Tuesday (Jan. 31), Howard received his first career Academy Award nod for his work in "Hustle & Flow," a performance that capped a breakout year that also saw the actor turn in strong character work in "Four Brothers," "Crash" and even "Get Rich or Die Tryin.'"
The most recent directing credit for Jordan ("The Crying Game") was "Breakfast on Pluto."
"Brokeback" leads pack of message films for Oscars
By Bob Tourtellotte
A pack of art house movies with serious social themes dominated Academy Award nominations on Tuesday, led by the lovelorn cowboys of "Brokeback Mountain," which scored eight nominations including best film.
"Brokeback Mountain" won many early movie awards, and is now the clear front-runner for the best film Oscar. It also earned nominations for Ang Lee as best director, Heath Ledger as best actor, Jake Gyllenhaal as best supporting actor and Michelle Williams in the best supporting actress category.
"I thought it was a small work of love," director Lee told Reuters. "I never thought it would play like this."
But despite wowing critics, the media and now Oscar voters, "Brokeback" faces a pitched battle for best movie because the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has never before given its top honor to a film with an overtly gay love story.
Its biggest challenge may come from moody race relations drama "Crash," which has made a comeback in the Oscar hunt in recent weeks, and George Clooney's "Good Night, and Good Luck," a tale of newsman Edward R. Murrow's attack on McCarthyism. The story resonates today as people question whether civil liberties are being lost in the war on terrorism.
Both had six nominations apiece, and "Good Night" earned David Strathairn, who plays Murrow, a best actor nomination.
Not far behind are "Capote," about writer Truman Capote's questionable ethics, and "Munich," Steven Spielberg's story of the moral price Israel paid for hunting down the killers of its athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. "Capote" and "Munich" scored five nominations each, including best film.
"This is a courageous year for filmmakers. ... They are saying, 'If I never make another film, this one says what I think and feel,"' best director nominee Spielberg told Reuters.
Of the top nominees, only "Munich" was a major studio release.
FRESH FACES AT OSCAR
In acting categories, 14 of the nominees are first-timers, giving the Academy a chance to show off some fresh faces to mainstream audiences watching the March 5 awards show.
"It's wonderful, of course, because the Academy nomination is the greatest honor you can receive," said Britain's Rachel Weisz, nominated as best supporting actress for her portrayal of an activist in "The Constant Gardner."
Among best actor nominees, Ledger and Strathairn were joined by Philip Seymour Hoffman in the title role in "Capote," Terrence Howard as a pimp in "Hustle & Flow" and Joaquin Phoenix playing singer Johnny Cash in romance "Walk the Line."
Ledger said he was honored, and noted the acclaim that went to co-stars Gyllenhaal and Williams -- with whom he recently had a baby girl.
"It's a real honor, and it helps when your partner is nominated and you can roll over and give her a hug," he said.
Best actress nominees were Reese Witherspoon playing singer June Carter in "Walk the Line," Felicity Huffman as a transgendered character in "Transamerica," Keira Knightley for romance "Pride & Prejudice," and previous winners Judi Dench in World War II-era "Mrs. Henderson Presents" and Charlize Theron in sexual harassment drama "North Country."
Joining Gyllenhaal in the supporting actor category were Clooney in "Syriana," Matt Dillon in "Crash," Paul Giamatti in "Cinderella Man" and William Hurt for "A History of Violence."
In the supporting actress group, Williams and Weisz were joined by newcomer Amy Adams for "Junebug," Catherine Keener in "Capote" and Frances McDormand in "North Country."
Joining Lee and Spielberg in the race for best director will be Bennett Miller for "Capote," Paul Haggis with "Crash" and Clooney with "Good Night, and Good Luck."
Foreign-language film nominations went to Italy's "Don't Tell," France's "Joyeux Noel," Germany's "Sophie Scholl - The Final Days," South Africa's "Tsotsi," and Palestinian film, "Paradise Now." It is the first time that a Palestinian movie has received an Academy Award nomination.
Click here to see the entire list of nominees.
News for 1/30/2006
Weekend Boxoffice
'Momma' Enjoys Second-Best January Debut
Moviegoers embraced a supersize momma in a wig and a governess who tames an unruly brood as family-friendly films dominated the weekend box office.
Twentieth Century Fox's "Big Momma's House 2," with $28 million in estimated ticket sales, turned in the second-best January opening ever, trailing only the $35.9 million scored by the 1997 release of a special edition of "Star Wars," according to Exhibitor Relations, which tracks box-office results.
As in the original "Big Momma's House," Martin Lawrence layers on the bulges and dons billowy, floral-print dresses, along with a wig. It was followed by another new release, Universal Pictures' "Nanny McPhee" starring Emma Thompson, with $14.1 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates.
"Audiences are obviously in the mood for some lighthearted films," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations. A week after the vampire thriller "Underworld: Evolution" led the pack, the marketplace is proving "adaptable to all these films."
Bruce Snyder, president of domestic distribution for Twentieth Century Fox, said the popularity of its "Big Momma" films rests with Lawrence's comic appeal.
"People like the "Big Momma" character, pure and simple. She's funny, she's sassy, but it's a guy underneath there," Snyder said.
Sony's "Underworld: Evolution" tumbled to the third spot, with $11.1 million in sales, a 59 percent decline from its strong first week.
The fourth spot was claimed by the new release "Annapolis," one of three Disney films in the top 10. The story of a quick-fisted undergraduate, shot on location at the U.S. Naval Academy, pulled in $7.7 million.
"Hoodwinked," an animated update of the Little Red Riding Hood story from the Weinstein Co., fell to the fifth spot, off 29 percent from the previous week, with $7.4 million in sales.
Oscar contenders proved resilient, turning in modest drops in attendance weeks after their release. The cowboy romance "Brokeback Mountain" from Focus Features, in its eighth week in theaters, ranked sixth with $6.3 million in sales. Twentieth Century Fox's Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line" failed to climb into the top 10, but dropped only 5 percent from the previous week to land at No. 12, with $2.9 million in estimated sales.
"These films are still very robust, but it's natural filmgoers like to see new films," Dergarabedian said.
Rounding out the top 10 were Disney's "Glory Road," followed by Paramount's "Last Holiday," Disney's "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," and the Weinstein Co.'s "The Matador."
Overall, the top 12 films grossed an estimated $99 million, down slightly from the same weekend last year, which had $104 million in sales.
Here are estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Big Momma's House 2," Twentieth Century Fox, $28 million.
2. "Nanny McPhee," Universal, $14.1 million.
3. "Underworld: Evolution," Sony, $11.1 million.
4. "Annapolis," Disney, $7.7 million.
5. "Hoodwinked," Weinstein Co., $7.4 million.
6. "Brokeback Mountain," Focus Features, $6.3 million.
7. "Glory Road," Disney, $5.2 million.
8. "Last Holiday," Paramount, $4.8 million.
9. "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," Disney, $4.4 million.
10. "The Matador," Weinstein Co., $3.8 million.
'African American Lives' Fills in Missing Histories
By John Crook
Zap2It.com
Eight noted black Americans receive startling and profoundly moving revelations about their personal histories in "African American Lives," an engrossing two-part, four-hour documentary premiering Wednesday, Feb. 1, on PBS (check local listings).
Hosted by renowned scholar and Harvard University professor Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., this special, which concludes the following week in the same time period, opens at Ellis Island, where Americans of European extraction can find ready access to the dates their families arrived in this country, simply by tapping a few computer keys.
Sadly, however, there is no equivalent to Ellis Island for Americans descended from survivors of the slave trade, the Africans who had their personal histories, even their names, erased as soon as they arrived as living cargo in Colonial America.
Even those descendants of slaves who are lucky enough to be able to track their families back beyond Civil War times have invariably run into a frustrating end to their paper trail when it comes time to make the leap back to their African origins.
In "African American Lives," Gates leads his eight prominent participants -- media mogul Oprah Winfrey, Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg, composer and entrepreneur Quincy Jones, neurosurgeon Ben Carson, author and professor Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, astronaut Mae Jemison, religious leader T.D. Jakes and comic actor Chris Tucker -- backward through their personal histories, using newly centralized information on computer to fill in missing pieces of their earlier American generations, then turning to cutting-edge work in DNA research to trace their ancestral roots to Africa.
"I wanted recognizable names because I wanted America to look at this series and to understand how black American history is and how American black history is," Gates explains. "I also wanted schoolchildren, particularly those in inner cities, to be introduced in a novel way to the myriad ways of scientific analysis in general and DNA analysis in particular."
"African American Lives" unfolds like a great mystery story, with a cast of characters that turns out to be amazingly diverse in the personal stories it reflects, although Gates insists that the participants were not screened to stack the deck in that regard.
"We got insanely lucky," Gates says of the touching revelations the research unearths. "We have two people who descend from free Negroes before the Revolution. I'm one, and Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot is the other one. My fifth-great-grandfather on my mother's side fought in the Revolutionary War, and I found that out on camera, just as everybody did."
Among other highlights, Winfrey is moved to tears when Gates hands her a previously unknown deed between a white Mississippi landowner and one of her ancestors, a freed slave named Constantine Winfrey.
"Oprah's second- or third-great-grandfather made a deal that if he picked ... what amounted to 5,000 pounds of cotton in a given period of time, this man would give him so many acres of land in return -- and we handed Oprah [that deed]," Gates says.
"This series shows that American history in general and black history in particular starts in your parlor, in your backyard. We tell these stories in a very personal way. These are stories that are not in any textbook."
"Crash" scores upset victory at SAG awards
By Arthur Spiegelman
"Crash," a racial drama that hinges on unexpected turns of events, scored a major upset on Sunday over Oscar favorite "Brokeback Mountain" when it won the ensemble cast award from the Screen Actors Guild.
For weeks, "Brokeback" had been collecting one film award after another, draining any suspense out of the race for the March 5 Academy Awards.
Its latest award came on Saturday night when its director Ang Lee won best director's award from the Directors Guild of America, often an Oscar barometer.
But "Brokeback" may have hit a bump in the road with the unexpected victory for the cast of "Crash," an ensemble drama of 36 hours in Los Angeles when a minor traffic accident triggers a series of racial confrontations that ends in murder.
The film has more than 70 actors, including many A-listers who worked for scale, including Sandra Bullock and Don Cheadle.
One reason for its success at SAG may be that its distributor, Lionsgate, sent members of the Screen Actors Guild DVDs of the film, which had been released in May and pretty well forgotten as the awards season started.
Its director and co-writer, Paul Haggis, said on Saturday that he thought he was just a lucky man to be nominated for anything and said making the film was a touch-and-go effort in which the producers frequently ran out of money and had to use Haggis' own home for rehearsals.
Philip Seymour Hoffman was named best actor for his role as writer Truman Capote in "Capote" and Reese Witherspoon best actress for her role as June Carter Cash in the Johnny Cash biography "Walk the Line."
"Sometimes I just really can't shake the feeling that I am really just a little girl from Tennessee," Witherspoon said.
The prizes bolster both Hoffman's and Witherspoon's chances of winning an Oscar when the Academy Awards are presented in March.
Paul Giamatti, an often ignored character actor, won the best supporting actor award for his role as the manager in "Cinderella Man," about the life of Depression-era boxer James J. Braddock.
British actress Rachel Weisz won best supporting actress for her role as the doomed activist wife of a British diplomat in "The Constant Gardener," a film based on a thriller by spy novelist John Le Carre.
'LOST' AND 'DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES' HONORED
ABC's hit series "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" won top acting honors for television.
The "Lost" cast won the best ensemble performance award for a dramatic television series while "Desperate Housewives" received the ensemble award for best comedy series.
It was the first nomination and win for "Lost," a castaway thriller that has helped reinvigorate ABC's prime-time schedule.
S. Epatha Merkerson won the award for best actress in a television movie for her performance in "Lackawanna Blues," and had the audience erupting in laughter and applause when she thanked her divorce lawyer.
Felicity Huffman was named best actress in a comedy series for her work as one of the "Desperate Housewives."
Sandra Oh was named best actress in a television drama for her work as a fledgling doctor in "Grey's Anatomy" on ABC while Kiefer Sutherland was named best actor in a dramatic series for his work as a U.S. agent out to foil terrorist plots in "24" on Fox.
Breathless and in tears, Oh, who also won a Golden Globe for her role, thanked her fellow Asian American actors. She said: "I share this with you ... be encouraged and keep shining."
Sean Hayes, named best actor for his role in the gay-themed NBC comedy "Will & Grace," joked about the publicity around Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" as he accepted his award.
"First of all, I would like to thank Ang Lee for taking a chance on me," he said. "I know everyone in Hollywood knows it's such a risk to play a gay character."
"Brokeback" has won major craft guild awards from Hollywood producers and directors and a victory at SAG for best ensemble cast -- the top award given by actors -- would have made it virtually unbeatable at the Academy Awards.
Not everyone is comfortable with the film, whose theme is a forbidden romance between two cowboys.
President George W. Bush ducked a question last week on whether he planned to see the film, and no movie whose theme is a gay romance has won a best-picture Oscar, the symbol of mainstream success.
Oscar nominations will be announced on Tuesday.
'Bernie Mac' Reaches a Quiet Milestone
By Kate O'Hare
Zap2It.com
The 100th episode of FOX's "The Bernie Mac Show," airing Friday, Feb. 3, could answer the question, "What if a milestone fell in the forest and nobody heard it?"
It's a moot point, though, because the single-camera comedy's loyal fans will hear it, and that's been enough to keep "The Bernie Mac Show" on the air into its fifth season, despite airing on five different nights since premiering in November 2001 and in recent years, getting only a small slice of network attention and publicity.
"It's almost like affirmative action, so to speak," says Mac, a comedian who's found success on the big and small screens. "But the luxury is for me, I'm under the radar. I'm not paid attention, but if you look up, there it is. I think it bothers you if you're an individual whose ego is beckoning for that type of reaction.
"For me, I like it. I like being a quiet assassin. I really like it like that."
In the show, Mac plays a fictionalized version of himself, a busy stand-up comedian married to Wanda (Kellita Smith), a corporate vice president. In the show's pilot, Bernie and Wanda became reluctant parents when they had to take in the three children -- Vanessa (Camille Winbush), Jordan (Jeremy Suarez) and Bryana (Dee Dee Davis) -- of Bernie's troubled sister.
But Bernie's tough-love way of child rearing often doesn't fit in with today's politically correct ideas, and that's just fine with his real-life alter ego.
"When I was a kid, and before me, there was more respect, more discipline," Mac says. "Schoolteachers, society, policemen and stuff, adults, period, had the upper hand. You were respected."
As to when everything started to change, Mac says, "There's always a beginning, and the '60s may have been, but it might even be beyond the '60s. But in the '60s, you had the fad of one or two parents here and there that were trying to be hip and cool, but for the most part, religion was still religion, pledge allegiance to the flag, those things were still intact. Using the Lord's name in vain was a no-no. Smoking a cigarette in front of a church was, 'Hell, no!' You still had those morals that were intact.
"It happened a little bit beyond that, in the '70s, with marijuana, coming back from Vietnam. Everybody was starting to want the self-pity. In the late '70s, it started to get all sentimental, and everybody wanted a hug, all that kind of stuff, making excuses for wrong. It was always somebody's fault except our own. The worse you were, they made allowance for you."
That's not the sort of parenting seen on "The Bernie Mac Show."
Says executive producer Warren Hutcherson, "The DNA of the show is Bernie's that old-school parent. He's that parent that most people who were born in the '60s or '50s had. The late '70s or '80s parent is foreign to him.
"Kids don't have the survival skills to deal with a world that's indifferent to them, so Bernie says, 'Let me be indifferent to you from the beginning, so that you will grow to understand.'"
Since few sitcoms survive their first season, getting to 100 episodes is a crowning achievement. But Mac's taking it in stride.
"I've always been last," he says, "for some reason, even from a child on up. Always been the one going out for the team, 'He's not going to make it'; or in the boxing ring, 'He's going to kill you'; or with the pretty girl, 'She don't like you; you're too black.'
"It's in the plan for me. It helps me to keep working, to keep digging, to keep scratching. It helps me not to get complacent, helps me to keep that passion, keeps me humble, enjoying what I do. It keeps me focused, not hearing the voices.
"I always pride myself on my mother, my grandma, telling me, 'Don't hear the voices. Just keep doing what you're doing, son. Don't worry about the next guy.' And that has really always been my profile.
"For me, I lay [100 episodes] on the strength that the show made it on its own legs."
"When you get into 100 episodes," says Craig Erwich, FOX's executive vice president of programming, "the show has established a relationship with the audience. The show almost talks directly to the audience. You don't need the network to go on about it."
"The Bernie Mac Show" has also attracted top-name guest stars, many of whom appear in Bernie's "confessionals" when he talks directly to the audience. But of all the names on the list -- which includes Halle Berry, Matt Damon, Billy Crystal, Ashton Kutcher, Chris Rock, Shaquille O'Neal and Isaac Hayes -- Mac has yet to face off with fellow comedian Bill Cosby, who played TV dad Cliff Huxtable on "The Cosby Show" in the 1980s.
"That would be classic," Hutcherson says.
"We can only wish," Erwich says.
"To have him on the show would be a surplus," Mac says. "It's a great idea. I'll get the dogs working on it. It would be beautiful."
Right now, "Bernie" performs well for FOX on Friday, which has seen the demise of many shows, most recently the freshman crime procedural "Killer Instinct," which aired after "Bernie" and "Malcolm in the Middle," currently in its seventh season. "Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy" now airs in the slot.
"It's been a tough night for FOX," Erwich says, "but it's also been a night that we've had huge success. 'The X-Files' originated on Friday. We need to find what the Fox version of Friday-night shows are again."
He adds, "The burden is on us to use 'Bernie' to build up Friday night. I don't think the issue on Friday night for us is 'Bernie Mac.'"
As for next season, no one knows at this point, but Mac says, "If the opportunity comes, I will definitely do another season, for the people here. I would give them another season. I would."
News for 1/26/2006
Black films gain a foothold
By Thomas K. Arnold
Special for USA TODAY
Before Halle Berry became the first black woman to win a best-actress Oscar in 2002, actresses such as Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne and Ethel Waters helped pave the way.
Six groundbreaking films featuring those actresses and other early black stars are new to DVD this month in celebration of Black History Month in February.
"African-Americans were not given the chance in mainstream Hollywood movies to really show their talents to the fullest ability with the exception of a handful of films," says George Feltenstein of Warner Bros.
Warner is releasing three classic films from the era when the Hollywood establishment all but ignored black audiences.
The studios also limited screen appearances by black celebrities such as Bill "Mr. Bojangles" Robinson to musical cameos that could easily be cut from prints sent to theaters in the segregated South.
Among Warner's releases are 1929's Hallelujah, the first all-black movie from a major studio, and the 1943 musical Cabin in the Sky, starring Horne, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington.
Fox Home Entertainment is releasing three groundbreaking movies, including 1943's all-black musical Stormy Weather.
"Stormy Weather was an important showcase for African-American talent at a time when there were not a lot of opportunities around," Fox's Richard Ashton says.
Donald Bogle, film historian and author of the book Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams: The Story of Black Hollywood, says it's surprising that these films were even made.
"There was resistance to the idea of doing black films," Bogle says. "Studios were always sensitive to the Southern markets and didn't feel they would show these movies there or that a mass audience would see an all-black film."
As a result, a parallel movie industry developed with "race films" distributed by black studios to black theaters.
"Hallelujah was especially significant because it was a major studio, MGM, and a major director, King Vidor," Bogle says. "He was from Galveston, Texas, and had grown up around African-American culture. He wanted to do a black film, but MGM was not interested, so he put up his own salary."
Bogle says Hallelujah "does have some stereotyping, but there also are some authentic moments. The baptism, the cotton fields. It's almost a documentary quality."
It wasn't until the success of 1971's Shaft that Hollywood began producing black movies en masse, spawning a series of "blaxploitation" films, Bogle says.
But even that didn't last, says producer Reuben Cannon, whose credits include Spike Lee's Get on the Bus and Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman.
"(Hollywood) opens eyes and then closes them," he says. "The eyes open whenever there's a huge film that opens to huge numbers."
'Color Purple' cast to hit the runway
NEW YORK, Jan 24, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- The cast of the Broadway musical "The Color Purple" plans to model Michael Wesetly clothing at an upcoming Fashion Week show in New York City.
The African-American designer is scheduled to unveil his Fall 2006 collection, which carries the Made in USA label, at Olympus Fashion Week in Manhattan's Bryant Park on Feb. 3.
Thirteen actors from "The Color Purple" -- based on Alice Walker's novel and produced by Oprah Winfrey, Scott Sanders, Roy Furman and Quincy Jones -- are expected to model the clothes, which Wesetly promises will feature "dramatic combinations of color and texture with creative detail not to be found in any other line."
Including suiting, ties, blazers, trousers, formal wear and tailored clothing, the collection uses a lot of dark cream and luxury fabrics such as cashmere, silk, corduroy and velvet, a statement from his fashion house said.
Exclusive to this season, 13 looks will also feature accents of purple to pay tribute to the award-winning American story.
The collection also introduces Wesetly's "hand-sewn" Denim line, which "directly draws inspiration from the lifestyle of the American people and is the pinnacle of American fashion," the statement said.
Black Jesus film aims to start talk
'Son of Man' premieres Sunday at Sundance
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) -- Billed as the world's first black Jesus movie, "Son of Man" portrays Christ as a modern African revolutionary and aims to shatter the Western image of a placid savior with fair hair and blue eyes.
The South African film, which premieres on Sunday at the Sundance festival in Utah, transports the life and death of Christ from first century Palestine to a contemporary African state racked by war and poverty.
Jesus is born in a shanty-town shed, a far cry from a manger in a Bethlehem stable. His mother Mary is a virgin, though feisty enough to argue with the angels. Gun-wielding authorities fear his message of equality and he ends up hanging on a cross.
"We wanted to look at the gospels as if they were written by spin doctors and to strip that away and look at the truth," director Mark Dornford-May told Reuters in an interview.
"The truth is that Christ was born in an occupied state and preached equality at a time when that wasn't very acceptable."
By portraying Jesus as a black African, Dornford-May hopes to sharpen the political context of the gospels, when Israel was under Roman occupation, and challenge Western perceptions of Christ as meek, mild and European.
"We have to accept that Christ has been hijacked a bit -- he's gone very blond-haired and blue-eyed," he said. "The important thing about the message of Christ was that it is universal. It doesn't matter what he looked like."
In fact, there was a film called "Black Jesus" made in 1968 and starring Woody Strode, but it is described as a political commentary rather than an interpretation of the life of Christ.
Made by the same theatre company behind last year's award-winning "U-Carmen eKhayelitsha," "Son of Man" is in the tongue-clicking Xhosa African language and English and was filmed in the sprawling black townships near Cape Town.
Jesus begins his public ministry after an encounter with Satan -- who appears cloaked in black leather -- during his traditional Xhosa circumcision rite.
He gathers followers from the factions of armed rebels across the country and demands they lay down their guns and confront their corrupt rulers with a vision of non-violent protest and solidarity.
Dornford-May, who says he subscribes to Christ's teachings without necessarily believing he is the son of God, says the Jesus in the film is a divine being who rises from the dead.
His resurrection is meant to signal hope for Africa, the world's poorest continent which is sometimes dismissed by foreigners as a hopeless mess of conflict and corruption.
"The ending is optimistic but realistic. There is an incredible struggle to get to the optimism," he said.
Dornford-May says focus groups of church leaders and ordinary Christians in South Africa, where Christianity often comes in a conservative form, broadly praised the film, which he hopes will prove a hit on the continent and worldwide.
Mary, played by the star of "U-Carmen," Pauline Malefane, gets a beefed-up role as the inspiration for Christ's politics and humanity, compared to her fairly brief biblical appearances.
And Malefane, who is married to Dorford-May, makes a smooth transition from playing the seductive heroine Carmen to the world's most famous virgin, he said.
"They are both women who are prepared to stand outside of society. They may be different sides of the coin but they are still the same coin -- but I'm not going to be very popular for saying that."
