| | | | | | | | | | | | “It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
- J.K. Rowling
To sign up for this newsletter click here. "It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
- J.K. Rowling
To sign up for this newsletter click here. | | | | | | | | | The Emoji Movie’s Studio Backers | | The Emoji Movie’s Viewers | Dunkirk’s $28 million repeat atop the weekend box office charts was both a victory for the film and our collective cultural conscience. If only because it managed to keep The Emoji Movie at second place. Despite horrible reviews, less-than-positive feedback from audience, and voice star TJ Miller’s blunder-filled press tour, the film still managed to overperform with a take of $25.6 million. Breakout hit Girls Trip held major staying power with a third place finish, while Atomic Blonde’s $18.5 million take and fourth place finish neither set the world on fire nor was it considered a disaster (it is speciality studio Focus Features' fourth best opening weekend ever after all). In case you were wondering, yes, at least the French love Valerian. It opened in director Luc Besson’s home country this weekend to the second biggest debut of the year there, and it finally secured a potentially lucrative opening date in China later this summer. The film was always going to do better overseas, but it remains to be seen whether it can financially overcome flopping in the États-Unis.
| | |  | | | Well, Apparently No One Now at Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 | | |  | | Despite untraditional staging and its esoteric source material in War & Peace, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 turned out to be one of the great critical and commercial successes of the last Broadway season. Turns out, however, that much of that commercial success might have been tied to original star Josh Groban, who completed his run earlier this month. Producers picked Okieriete “Oak” Onaodowan to fill Groban's shoes, hoping that a member of the original cast of Hamilton could lead to some buzz. The young actor got fine notices, but producers fretted over ticket sales, so they asked him to step aside for three weeks so Tony winner and Homeland star Mandy Patinkin could step in. Producers, however, remained blind to the racial optics of taking away an opportunity from a young black actor. Amid a backlash, Patinkin decided to step down, Onaodowan will still have his final performance on August 13th, and the future of the entire production is now in total doubt with the possibility of closure looming. Producers have apologized, but were blunt about their need for a star name to sell tickets. It’s a shame if any show closes, but there’s some irony here in that The Great Comet had been praised for its otherwise diverse cast, which still includes original leading lady Denée Benton. | | | | | | Ryan Murphy Uncertainty, For Once | | American Crime Story: Katrina? | Ryan Murphy pumps out addictive television shows like few others, but one of his longest gestating productions seems to have hit a snag. Remember how Hurricane Katrina was supposed to supply the plot of the second season installment of American Crime Story? Well, maybe you forget because the Versace-themed season soon overtook it in buzz. Originally, both seasons were supposed to film at the same time, with Katrina airing first. Yet (as the string of thirst traps on Darren Criss’s Instagram prove) Versace has already filmed and there’s been no updates on Katrina. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show’s director Anthony Hemingway says the series “just kind of got stalled” and there’s been no prep for filming whatsoever. Now it’s not even clear if it will come to fruition, which is a shame, mostly as Annette Bening was attached and that woman deserves a crack at an Emmy. Despite multiple nominations, she’s one of our greatest actresses to have never won a major acting trophy. If it’s any consolation, the way-too-early buzz is that her performance in the upcoming Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool might make her a major Oscar player this year. American Crime Story might focus on how there’s no real justice in this world, but, please, at least some for Annette Bening eventually. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Photographer Cheryl Dunn is one of our great artistic documentarians of modern American urban life, and she regularly shares little dispatches on her Instagram. | | | | | | | | | | Lil Uzi Vert, 23 (Soundcloud Cipher)
Ash Stymest, 26 (Lily-Rose’s Boy)
BJ Novack, 38 (Office Temp)
J.K. Rowling, 52 (Twitter Addict and Trump Antagonist)
Fatboy Slim, 54 (Dance Music’s Reigning Clown Prince)
Mark Cuban, 59 (Probably, Somehow, Our Next President) | | | | | | | |
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