Celeb News Aggregate
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Will Smith is desperate to make a second Bad Boys sequel, and begged director Michael Bay at the MTV Movie Awards to reunite him with Martin Lawrence for a third movie.
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The woolly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers have it! Despite scathing reviews, Roland Emmerich’s epic 10,000 B.C. opened at the top of the North American box office this weekend with $35.7 million.
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This weekend sees Roland Emmerich’s 10,000 BC enter theaters in the same frame that last year saw 300 pull in a $70.9 million weekend. Estimates for BC are that it will hit somewhere between $30 and $40 million.
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John Travolta donated $15,000 to victims of a tornado in Florida at the premiere of his new biker film Wild Hogs on Friday night.
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Many listeners who regularly listen to shock jock Howard Stern's nationally syndicated show were in for a surprise this morning. Also: Martin Bashir Living With Michael Jackson Martin Lawrence Kevin Smith Riley Keough Wesley Scantlin Doonesbury Robert Rodriguez Sin City
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Travel Agent Sues Jackson, Sex To Hit Theaters? Tonight Show Gets "Stern" New Announcer
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News, Aug. 11: Mike Newell Directing Fourth Harry Potter Pic, "Terminator 4" Without Arnold Schwarzenegger Voted Against Illegal Immigrant Measure Martin Lawrence Jerry Seinfeld Harry Potter
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What do Oprah Winfrey, Superman and Elvis Presley have in common? Also: VH1 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons Russell Crowe Glenn Close Steve Buscemi Gotham Awards Coldplay Chris Martin Angelina Jolie Oliver Stone Alexander Martin Lawrence Rage Control Joey McIntyre Mila Kunis Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding
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The seventh annual American Black Film Festival returned to South Beach, Fla., for the second time Wednesday after being held in Acapulco for its first five. Celebs including Cedric the Entertainer, Chris Tucker, Robert Towshend and many more expected to attend the festival, which runs through June 22.
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Filmmakers Peter and Bobby Farrelly, the sibling team behind the hit comedies There's Something About Mary and Shallow Hal, are developing a TV project for Fox. Also: Gregory Peck missing Oscar statuette Nick Nolte William Marshall Ryan Pinkston David Bowie Sean P. Diddy Combs
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Box office analysis for Jan. 26, 2003. Top 10: Darkness Falls Kangaroo Jack Chicago Just Married National Security The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Catch Me If You Can Confessions of a Dangerous Mind About Schmidt The Hours
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Box office analysis for Jan. 19, 2003. Top 10 Kangaroo Jack, National Security, Just Married, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Catch Me If You Can, Chicago, A Guy Thing, About Schmidt, The Hours, Two Weeks Notice.
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The Australian Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday that more than 70,000 Star Wars fans had written "Jedi" or something related in response to an optional question about their faith during last year's national census.
Roseanne Rob Zombie House of 1000 Corpses Red Light Runners Michael Madsen Ludacris The Fast and the Furious 2 Kelly Preston Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat Star Search Pepsi-Cola
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Martin Grove's box office analysis for August 11, 2002.
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Box Office Analysis: Aug. 4 Signs comes out like gangbusters, taking the number one spot. Others as follows Austin Powers in Goldmember Master of Disguise Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat Road to Perdition Stuart Little 2 Men In Black II My Big Fat Greek Wedding K-19: The Widowmaker The Country Bears
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News Roundup for Aug. 6 - Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are on board with HBO and Miramax for Project Greenlight 2. Other celebrities included Susan Sarandon Tim Robbins Jewel Bad Boys 2 The Fast and the Furious 2 Eva Mendes Paul Walker Tyrese John Singleton
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News Roundup for July 18: Sean Combs will be starring in a reality series for MTV. Other celebrities include Arnold Scharzenegger J.K. Rowling Penelope Cruz Melanie Griffith Tommy Lee Jones Leonard Nimoy Gabrielle Union Will Smith Martin Lawrence Owen Wilson
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Film and television director Ted Demme was pronounced dead Sunday at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center He was 38
Jonathan Demme Denis Leary Joel Stillerman Blow Monument Ave Action Life Rounders Denis Leary: Lock 'n' Load HBO's Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground Beautiful Girls The Ref Who's the Man Yo! MTV Raps
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Martin Grove's in-depth box office analysis for Sunday, Dec. 16.
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Box Office Analysis: Dec. 9 Ocean's Eleven Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Behind Enemy Lines Spy Game Monster's Inc Black Knight Shallow Hal Amelie Domestic Disturbance
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Role Call Dec. 5 Russell Crowe Red Dragon Ralph Fiennes Anthony Hopkins Emily Watson Ed Norton Harvey Keitel Philip Seymour Hoffman Seann William Scott Chow Yun-Fat Adam Sandler Zhang Ziyi Martin Lawrence
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Box Office Analysis: Dec. 2
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Box Office Analysis: Nov. 18 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Monsters, Inc. Spy Game Black Knight Shallow Hal Domestic Disturbance Heist Sidewalks of New York The One K-PAX
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Martin Lawrence continues to attract extreme reactions from critics with
his Black Knight.
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News roundup for November 20. Academy Awards Oscar Amelie Best Foreign Language Film Florio Fiorini MGM Jeff Probst Survivor Finders Fee Out of Sight Steven Soderbergh George Clooney Oceans Eleven Solaris NBC Leap of Faith SNL Saturday Night Live Adam Sandler NBC Norm MacDonald Jon Lovitz BMG Music ArtistDirect
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HOLLYWOOD, June 26, 2000 – Is America's love affair with Jim Carrey over and done with? Do the two parties just need a little space? Is everything comfy and cozy on the laugh track? Or, does Carrey need to stay out of R-rated movies, and avoid playing deranged characters, if he wants to continue his slapstick reign?
Me, Myself & Irene" opened last weekend at No. 1, pulling in $24.2 million. Nobody's saying that's a poor showing, but it's not in the same box-office league as some of Carrey's biggest hits.
Case in point: "Batman Forever" raked in $52.7 million during its opening weekend in 1995, "Ace Ventura 2: When Nature Calls" posted $37.8 mil (also in 1995), and even Carrey's first real dramatic movie, "The Truman Show," posted $31.5 mil in its first weekend two years ago.
Carrey's biggest success as a solo star came in "Liar, Liar," which opened with a $31.4 m
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Rush Hour 2, The Princess Diaries and Original Sin open against Planet of the Apes, Jurassic Park III, America's Sweethearts and Legally Blonde
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A Buffalo, N.Y., grand jury indicted rapper and aspiring actor DMX on a charge of failing to appear at Cheektowaga Town Court to begin serving jail time for a traffic conviction last year, The Associated Press reports. DMX belatedly served 13 days at the Erie County Correctional Facility after he pleaded guilty to a charge of driving without a license. He will be arraigned within the two weeks.
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Call it the calm before the spinosauraus attack.
With Jurassic Park III opening Wednesday, this weekend's box office victor should not make itself too comfortable in the top spot. Next week, it's T-Rex chow.
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Box Office Analysis June 17
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Box Office Analysis June 10
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HOLLYWOOD, Sept. 15, 2000 -- This weekend, the nation will get hooked on "Bait."
And for no better reason than a lack of more appealing choices.
As the weekend’s only major opener, the Jamie Foxx comedy will likely take the box office crown, but it won't set new records.
In the limited release area are Cameron Crowe’s rock ballad "Almost Famous" and Gwyneth Paltrow’s "Duets." The two films will probably make the Top 10, thanks to a super slow weekend at the movies plus the opening of the Olympics games.
So the choice is yours. And here’s the lowdown on the three films.
The Skinny: A groovy film about rock ‘n’ roll -- with the requisite rock star (Billy Crudup), long-legged groupie (Kate Hudson) and a teenage rock critic (Patrick Fugit) working for Rolling Stone magazine. The Upside: Directed by "Jerry Maguire" guy Cameron Crowe. It's gotten great
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SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 1, 2000 -- It won't just be difficult, it will be virtually impossible to evict "Mission: Impossible 2" from first place this weekend.
After opening to nearly $92 million for the six-day Memorial Day holiday period, Paramount's "M:I-2" is certain to hold on to the top spot on the chart in its second week.
The PG-13 action adventure sequel did $96.3 million its first seven days in theaters vs. the original "Mission's" $79 million. The sequel cracked $100 million on Wednesday, its eighth day in release, and is heading for $200-250 million in the U.S. and Canada. It should do $300-350 million in international theaters, giving it a likely worldwide cume of $500-600 million, compared to the first film's $465 million.
"'Mission' will be number one," promises one insider. "The first one dropped 52 percent in its second weekend. This one did $57
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James Franco is climbing up in the world.
The "Whatever It Takes" actor is in final talks to join Tobey Maguire in the much-hyped "Spider-Man" feature, Columbia Pictures says today.
In the Sam Raimi big-screen adaptation, Franco would play Harry Osborn, the high school pal and college roommate of Peter Parker, aka Spidey.
Franco is currently shooting the thriller "City By the Sea" with Robert De Niro and has just wrapped the TNT tube-pic "James Dean," wherein he plays the titular rebel.
GOING MOO: The Hollywood Reporter says that Cuba Gooding Jr. and Judi Dench will lend their voices to the Disney animated feature "Sweating Bullets" about a group of cows fighting to save their farm. Sarah Jessica Parker and Ja'Net DuBois have already signed on to do their cow duties, with actor Randy Quaid possibly joining them.
GUILTY A
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HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 20, 2000 -- The $20 million club might soon welcome another member. Daily Variety says today that funnyman Martin Lawrence, whose last laugh fest was the summer hit "Big Momma's House," is in talks to star in two pictures. If signed, the comedian will make an upward of $20 million for each project.
The hike will put Lawrence in the same salary ranking as Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy and Chris Tucker. Lawrence previously got $16.5 million for starring in the Fox film "The Black Knight."
The two films -- "National Security" and "Blue Streak 2," a sequel to the 1999 hit -- are both action comedies being developed at Columbia Pictures. "National Security" is about a white cop wrongly accused of beating a black man (Lawrence). And in "Blue Streak 2," the actor would reprise his role as a thief turned cop when the Luke Wilson character enlists him onc
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Jim Carrey should be the personality splitting most of this weekend's box office.
Carrey and 20th Century Fox's R-rated comedy "Me, Myself & Irene," about a schizoid Rhode Island motorcycle cop, should speed into first place at 3,016 theaters with about $25 million.
"Among opening and released films, it has a 27% first choice," explains an insider. "It's 36% for males under 25 and 20% for males over 25. It's 31% for females under 25 and 23% for females over 25. So it's definitely young males."
A $25 million launch, this source says, "isn't the 'Liar Liar' opening, but I don't think it has the heat that 'Liar Liar' had." That Jim Carrey comedy opened via Universal to $31.4 million the weekend of March 21-23, 1997.
Should Fox be unhappy with a $25 million opening? "No," replies this insider. "$25 million is a huge opening. Who would be unhappy w
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HOLLYWOOD, June 11, 2000 -- Ho, hum. Another weekend, another big-budget summer blockbuster. As expected, "Gone in 60 Seconds" ran over the competition, posting a healthy $25.5 million during its first box office weekend, per studio estimates released today.
Otherwise, it was cool Tom Cruise and fat Martin Lawrence. "M:I-2" posted another $17.1 mil in its third weekend, while "Big Momma's House" made $16.8 mil in its second. Disney's "Dinosaur" slipped one notch to No. 4, with $8.8 million.
Here's a rundown of the weekend Top 10, according to box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co.:
1. "Gone in 60 Seconds" ($25.1 mil; opening weekend)
2. "M:I-2" ($17.1 mil; $157.9 mil overall)
3. "Big Momma's House" ($16.8 mil; $52 mil overall)
4. "Dinosaur" ($8.8 mil; $110.5 mil overall)
5. "Gladiator" ($7.1 mil; $150.2 mil overall)
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"Gone In 60 Seconds" should have no trouble finding first place parking this weekend.
With a first-choice tracking of 27%, the PG-13-rated action thriller from Buena Vista/Touchstone is on track to steal $30-35 million at 3,006 theaters. Insiders point out that if it opens as well as "The Rock" - $25.1 million at 2,392 theaters June 7-9, 1996 ($10,481 per theater) - it would gross $31.5 million.
Who most wants to go to "Gone?" "It's very much young male," an insider says of the film's appeal. "The overall definite interest is 55%, but for young males (under 25) it's 69% and it's 46% for older men (over 25). It's 57% for young women and 48% for older women."
Look for "Gone" to drive Paramount's "Mission: Impossible-2" down one ramp to second place in its third week. The PG-13 blockbuster action adventure sequel's 19% first-choice tracking suggests "M:I-2"
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HOLLYWOOD, June 4, 2000 -- Really now, does anyone seriously think that the public would prefer watching Martin Lawrence in drag to Tom Cruise in leather?
To the surprise of no one, the obscenely lucrative "M:I-2" -- which opened to $70 million-plus dollars over the Memorial Day holiday -– continued to wow the viewing public, pulling in another $27 million in its second weekend of release, according to estimates from box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations.
So far, the John Woo-Tom Cruise collaboration has grossed $130.7 million since opening May 24.
In what was an unusually quiet week for new theatrical releases, the weekend’s only major opener, the Martin Lawrence comedy "Big Momma’s House," came in at a close second with an estimated $25.6 million.
As to the rest of the Top Five: Disney’s computer-animated tale "Dinosaur" dropped one slot to No. 3
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HOLLYWOOD, June 1, 2000 -- How do you follow up the biggest movie weekend of the year, a weekend where Tom Cruise conquered the action crowd and dinosaurs wowed the kids?
How about a Martin Lawrence movie? Better yet, Martin Lawrence playing a big, fat lady?
"Big Momma's House" is this weekend's lone major new entry into the box-office fray, which can only mean one thing: "M:I-2" and "Dinosaur" will continue to make a lot of money.
"Traditionally, the post-Memorial Day weekend is the calm before the summer storm really commences," Brandon Gray, editor of boxofficemojo.com, tells Hollywood.com. "But the holdovers [from "M:I-2," "Dinosaur," etc.] are gonna be very strong."
"Big Momma's House" Gray says it's unusual that a high-profile pic like "Big Momma's House" should be released this weekend. "It's something with very high commercial appeal. Usually
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HOLLYWOOD, May 25, 2000 -- Is Matt Damon ready to go undercover? (Or to take Brad Pitt's leftovers?) Today's Daily Variety says "The Talented Mr. Ripley" star has been offered the lead in the spy thriller, "The Bourne Identity," based on the Robert Ludlum novel of the same name. Pitt passed on the project on Wednesday.
WHAT A GREAT IDEA! Martin Lawrence, late of "Big Momma's House," is eyeing "Black Knight," a comedy about a lowly food-service worker who time travels back to the Middle Ages. We do not think Variety is making this up.
MONKEY SHINES: "High Fidelity" standout Jack Black is the latest actor to join Mike Myers' epic "Sprockets" comedy, about a man (Myers) and his quest for his missing monkey.
ON THE NOSE? "Cutthroat Island" great Renny Harlin is in talks to helm the Jackie Chan actioner, "Nosebleed," the Hollywood Reporter says. Shooting is planned f
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SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 20, 2000 - This pro-wrestling thing never ends. "The Mummy" As if it weren't bad (good?) enough that the walking, talking thyroid cases we call pro wrestlers dominate cable ratings, if not the thoughts of our young ones, now one of their leaders is coming to the movies.
The Rock, last seen hosting Saturday's edition of "Saturday Night Live" on NBC, is in talks to play the baddie in the planned sequel to 1999 box-office hit "The Mummy."
Trade-paper reports today say Mr. Rock (er, Dwayne Johnson) will play a half-man, half-scorpion, as opposed to the half-man, half-beast thing he does most of the time.
For the uninitiated, The Rock is a fine fellow known to entertain men, women and children with his battle cry: "Do you smell what The Rock's cooking?"
PIANO MAN: Writer/director Philip Kaufman ("The Right Stuff") is set to cal
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SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 25, 2000 -- Martin Lawrence is just glad to be alive.
In an interview on Thursday's "Entertainment Tonight," the comic actor ("Martin," "Blue Streak") spoke out for the first time about his brush with death in August, when he collapsed while jogging and lapsed into a coma.
Martin Lawrence "It kind of woke me up and made me appreciate life ... and just be happy to be here," Lawrence, 34, told "ET." "You make due with the time you have here. Hopefully when you pass on, somebody can look back and say, 'Wow, they made a difference in some kind of way.'"
Lawrence's mistake was running while wearing several layers of clothing in hopes of sweating away some excess poundage for his role in "Big Momma's House," which is now in production (after a delayed start due to the star's hospitalization).
Lawrence spent three days in a coma and unde
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SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 9, 2000 -- So he got to shoot on an island off Thailand for months, flying friends in for visits and soaking up an island paradise. But Leonardo DiCaprio, star of "The Beach," has one little quibble.
Says Leo to the British magazine The Face, "It truly bothered me ... that [Richard, DiCaprio's character] never had any kind of sexual contact with Francoise," a stunning Frenchwoman played by Virginie Ledoyen, with whom he does a little smooching and frolicking in the surf.
"The constant foreplay between the two characters never amounted to anything," the 25-year-old DiCaprio says. "And I really wanted something, whether it be complete and utter rejection or some sort of wild sexual encounter. ... It just had to happen." Well, it just goes to show that even the King of the World can't have it all.
SCANDAL SHEET: Vanity Fair
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SANTA MONICA, Calif., July 2, 2000 -- "Storm" clouds unexpectedly dominated the July Fourth weekend box office skies, raining on what was expected to be Mel Gibson's parade.
Nonetheless, there was plenty of room in the holiday marketplace for both Warner Bros.' "The Perfect Storm" and Columbia and Centropolis Entertainment's "The Patriot" to do blockbuster business. "Storm" made big waves with ticket sales of nearly $42 million, while "Patriot" marched ahead, grossing nearly $22 million with very encouraging exit polls.
Despite expectations based on tracking scores that "Patriot" would capture the top spot, it was "Storm" that won the battle with an estimated $41.68 million at 3,407 theaters ($12,234 per theater). Its cume for the five days ending with July Fourth should be about $63 million.
"Storm's" per-theater average was the highest for any film playing in wi
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HOLLYWOOD, June 25, 2000 –- Jim Carrey, Jim Carrey and Jim Carrey. Who else did you expect?
That’s right, the titular comic’s just-released "Me, Myself & Irene" bowed at No. 1, topping the weekend box office with a nice (but unspectacular) $24.2 million, per estimates released today.
Claiming the second-place spot was DreamWorks’ poultry-centered "Chicken Run" with an estimated $17.5 million.
And what happened to that self-proclaimed "man," Shaft? Well, the Samuel L. Jackson-toplined remake took somewhat of an emasculating nosedive from No. 1 to third with a paltry second weekend take of $13.3 million.
Fourth place went to the car-chaser flick "Gone in 60 Seconds." And Martin Lawrence’s "Big Momma’s House" rounded out the Top Five for the weekend.
Here's a rundown of the weekend Top 10, according to the box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations
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"Shaft" was the man this weekend, easily stealing first place at the box office from "Gone in 60 Seconds."
Paramount's R-rated urban appeal remake kicked off to a muscular ESTIMATED $21.1 million at 2,337 theaters ($9,029 per theater).
"Shaft's" per-theater average was the highest for any film playing in wide release this weekend.
"It's great. It's a good opening," Paramount distribution president Wayne Lewellen said Sunday morning.
"We're very pleased with it, obviously. Early on, we thought it would be $18-22 million, so it fell right in the range that we were looking at, and it's a little bit on the high side of it."
Asked who the film's audience was, Lewellen noted, "I haven't seen the exit polls yet. I think it must have played young, at least that's what our research told us up front. Young males are the primary audience. The p
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"Shaft" should have moviegoers shouting "Right On" at this weekend's box office.
Look for Paramount's R-rated urban appeal remake starring Samuel L. Jackson to open to a cool $20 million-plus at 2,337 theaters.
"Shaft" is a powerful 19% overall first choice in studio tracking studies, with its strongest appeal to men, especially those under 25.
"They're up from 15% first choice earlier in the week to 19%, so they're looking stronger than they did," an insider explains. "They'll do $20 million, maybe more."
"$22-25 million would be the number to me," predicts another studio source. "$10,000 a theater gives you $23 million."
Directed by John Singleton, "Shaft" stars Samuel L. Jackson and Vanessa Williams.
"Shaft" should give Buena Vista/Touchstone's "Gone In 60 Seconds" the first place heave-ho. The PG-13-rated action thrill