The Friday Report
Oscar News:
Sam Mendes’ Empire of Light still shot by Roger Deakins
Predictions Friday: As the Pendulum Swings
“Love can sometimes be blind. I never regret standing behind a movie I love, however, even if that movie doesn't go anywhere in the Oscar race. That's because the Oscar race is just a moment in time, a fleeting glimpse of an industry and a collective trapped in time. Movies last much longer.” [AwardsDaily]
Amanda Seyfried and Emmy Rossum filming The Crowded Room [Just Jared]
James Franco to play Fidel Castro [Variety]
Batgirl Out, Traditional DC Brand in:
“You look at Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman — these are brands that are known everywhere in the world,” Zaslav said during an earnings call Thursday. “We have done a reset. We’ve restructured the business where we are going to focus, where there is going to be a team with a 10-year plan focusing just on DC. We believe we can build a much more sustainable business.” [HR]
Tarantino praises Top Gun: Maverick:
“I fucking love Top Gun: Maverick. I thought it was fantastic. I saw it at the theaters. … That and [Steven] Spielberg’s West Side Story both provided a true cinematic spectacle, the kind that I’d almost thought that I wasn’t going to see anymore. It was fantastic.
“But also there was just this lovely, lovely aspect because I love both [original Top Gun director] Tony Scott’s cinema so much, and I love Tony so much that that’s as close as we’re ever going to get to seeing one more Tony Scott movie,” he continued. “[Director Joseph Kosinski] did a great job. The respect and the love of Tony was in every frame. It was almost in every decision. It was consciously right there, but in this really cool way that was really respectful. And I think it was in every decision Tom [Cruise] made on the film. It’s the closest we’re ever going get to seeing one more Tony Scott movie, and it was a fucking terrific one.” [HR]
Michelle Yeoh to Receive Honorary Degree from AFI [HR]
Movie news:
Bullet Train takes $4.6 million in Thursday previews [Variety]
Box Office Pro’s Weekend preview:
weekend Ranges
Bullet Train
Opening Weekend Range: $27 – 36 millionEaster Sunday
Opening Weekend Range: $4 – 8 million
Predicts Top Gun Maverick to bring its total to $662 million, which would put it higher than Titanic on the All Time box office
Random Stuff:
‘Golden Girls’ LA pop-up restaurant has the golden touch [APNews]
Today in Apology Culture:
Dave Chappelle and the New Puritans
How can the progressive movement remain viable as a mainstream political creed if it’s so brittle as to require the demonization of a true believer over a single ideological deviation? One cannot help but be reminded of the hysteria over “deviationism” that tore apart communist cadres a century ago. [Quillette]
Wiz Khalifa...Apologizes for Nightclub DJS Rant [TMZ]
Snickers maker apologizes to China for suggesting Taiwan is a country [NYP]
Renowned Physicist Apologizes for Saying Slice of Chorizo Was JWST Image
Prominent French physicist has apologized after making a light-hearted joke in which he claimed that a slice of chorizo sausage was in fact a James Webb Space Telescope photo of Earth's nearest star. [Newsweek]
Ethan Klein apologizes Tana Mongeau for comparing her to a Twinkie in body-shaming video [dexerto.com]