Sunday, April 30, 2017

Box Office: 'Fate of the Furious' Tops 'Latin Lover' and 'The Circle'

By Seth Kelley

LOS ANGELES, April 30 (Variety.com) - It has become a familiar story -- "The Fate of the Furious" is, once again, the box office champ.

The massively popular eighth episode in the Fast and Furious franchise earned $19.4 million this weekend from 4,077 locations, placing it securely in first place during a sputtering weekend, anticipating the summer season. After winning the domestic box office for three straight weeks, the Universal movie's U.S. total stands at $192.7 million. Not only that, "Fate's" global total officially crossed the $1 billion mark, making it the 21st highest grossing movie of all time behind 2006's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." Its total global sum stands at $1.06 billion.

But while "Fate's" victory seemed inevitable, the rest of the weekend's top five reaped intrigue. Pantelion's "How to be a Latin Lover" slid into second over Tom Hanks and Emma Watson's not-so-distant future tech-thriller "The Circle." Led by Mexican star Eugenio Derbez, "Latin Lover" attracted $12 million from only 1,118 targeted locations. The opening weekend's audience domestically was 89% Hispanic.

In "Latin Lover" Derbez plays a man named Maximo who made a career seducing older women. When his now 80-year-old wife kicks him out for a younger man, Maximo goes to live with his sister (Salma Hayek) and attempts to remaster his art of seduction. Rob Lowe and Kristen Bell also star in comedic actor Ken Marino's directorial debut. Derbez has won over the domestic box office in the past. In 2013 "Instructions Not Included," which he directed in addition to starring in, earned $7.8 million in its opening weekend from only 348 theaters.

Despite screening in only 420 locations, the South Indian epic "Baahubali 2: The Conclusion" landed in third for the weekend with a hefty sum of $10.5 million. The movie, from Great India Films, is the sequel to "Baahubali: The Beginning" which made $3.6 million when it opened in 236 theaters in 2015. S.S. Rajamouli returned to direct the movie starring Prabhas, Rana Daggubati and Anushka Shetty.

"Baahubali 2" earned $1.8 million of its domestic total from 45 IMAX screens alone. Five domestic IMAX locations set new three-day weekend records, and the film also set records in India, making it the biggest domestic IMAX opening for a foreign language film.

Not every story from the weekend box office was quite so rosy. Slapped with a rare D+ CinemaScore and a 17% on Rotten Tomatoes, "The Circle" landed $9.3 million from 3,163 theaters, falling short of its double-digit projections. The $18 million movie was acquired by EuropaCorp for an estimated $8 million.

The film hoped to draw audiences by tapping into modern-day anxieties surrounding technology and privacy. In the movie, Hanks plays the CEO of a Silicon Valley social media company. His young employee, played by Watson, finds herself wrapped up in an experiment that tests ethical limits. James Ponsoldt directed the movie and co-wrote the script with Dave Eggers, who wrote the novel on which the movie was based.

Blumhouse's BH Tilt label released "Sleight" in 565 theaters, and saw a weekend gross of $1.7 million. The film tells the story of a young street magician in Los Angeles (Jacob Latimore) who uses magic and his mind to save his kidnapped sister. Seychelle Gabriel, Dule Hill, Storm Reid and Sasheer Zamata also star. The label's marketing and release strategy targeted a young, urban audience -- 72% of audiences fell in the 18-34 demo and 45% were African-American.

In its fifth weekend, Fox's "Boss Baby" held onto the fifth position. The animated film earned an additional $9.1 million from 3,739 locations, raising its domestic total to just shy of $150 million.

Next weekend marks the first summer frame, and should see "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" post huge numbers. The sequel earned over $101 million at the foreign box office in its opened weekend -- one ahead of the U.S. When the now-beloved first "Guardians" movie launched as a relatively unknown property in August of 2014, it made $94 million in its opening weekend.



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Saturday, April 29, 2017

From Mythic to Red-Hot: How 'American Gods' Became the Show of the Moment

AMERICAN GODSThe new Starz's new series "American Gods," adapted from the bestselling novel by fantasy author Neil Gaiman, would be epic, mythic, and frequently mind-blowing. They expected it would resonate. But the creators and cast of the eagerly anticipated adaptation had no idea, throughout the years-long development process to bring it to the screen, that by the time it was broadcast that it would be so relevant.

Despite the fact that Gaiman's book was published in 2001, somehow its central themes are at the center of recent American political discourse in 2017: issues of immigration; inequality; polarization; flasher, more dangerous, and more powerful new systems supplanting the old, weakening establishment; and the essential fabric of the American psyche. The material, 16 years after its introduction, was taking on a red-hot immediacy, a realization that only gradually dawned on executive producer and showrunner Bryan Fuller ("Hannibal").

"I think our first indication of that was when we were watching dailies from a scene that featured Orlando Jones, and his introduction as the African trickster god, Mr. Nancy," says Fuller. "It's relative in a Black Lives Matter sort of way -- he was in a slave hold with 30-40 slaves played by black actors. And after his first take, they all gave him a standing ovation. That was the first time we thought, 'Oh, this is more than just the fun show that we wanted to see.' There are themes in the book that really speak to people deeply."

"It was mind-blowing," says actress Yetide Badaki, who plays a Bilquis, a contemporary incarnation of the Biblical Queen of Sheba who lives in the modern world as a carnivorously worship-seeking prostitute, of the increasing prescience of the subject matter.Yetide Badaki in AMERICAN GODS"I woke up thinking, Who had the crystal ball all this time?" laughs Bedaki. "I guess Neil sees into the future. I'm absolutely stunned at how something that was written in 2001 and was filmed last year has become so incredibly topical. Every episode now I'm seeing through a new lens. It's possible that as artists we were tapping into the psyche, and feeling something that was on the horizon, because I think viewers are going to be absolutely fascinated by how relevant all of this is at this time."

"I would be very happy if it wasn't this relevant," admits Gaiman. "I'd be perfectly happy if it were not quite as timely. The headlines that say things like, 'Is "American Gods" the most political show of 2017?' 'Is "American Gods" the most important show of 2017?' They are wonderful. I would trade them for a slightly stabler world right now, and feeling like I understood what was going on."

Gaiman admits that the very notion for the novel was unique in the way that it first struck him, lingering in a way that typically unformed creative sparks don't. "It's weird, because most books you don't [remember when the idea first came to you]," says Gaiman. "They slowly congeal, and then suddenly you look down and this is a book.

"In this case, I was really tired, I was in Reykjavik, in Iceland," the author recalls. "I had not slept for about two days, due to it being the eternal summer. I looked down at a tabletop diorama of the voyages of Leif Erikson going from Iceland, to Greenland, to Newfoundland, which they call Vinland. I looked at it and I thought, I wonder if they took their gods with them?

"Then there was a beat, and then I thought, I wonder if they took their gods away when they went home. And suddenly I had a book. It was just like, 'This is a book.' A couple of days later, as soon as I had some down time, I wrote an essay and sent it to my agent and to my editor, and said, 'This is the idea, this is the story. By the way, I'm calling it "American Gods" right now. That's the working title, but I'm sure I will come up with something better.' And I never did."Orlando Jones as Mr. Nancy in AMERICAN GODSFor many of the actors in the series, the mythic nature of the material and the iconic gods that populate it provided an initial allure. Jones says that his role, Mr. Nancy, derived from the African deity Anansi, "has been a character my great grandparents and grandparents have been reading to me since before I knew what Neil Gaiman was. In that sense, I guess it's always been a part of my life."

"As it relates to mythology in general," adds Jones, "the prototypes are the prototypes, the gods are the gods. They shift from region to region, but by and large, they kind of remain the same. I think what's interesting about this exploration is the themes and metaphors that you find are at play with a book written before there was an iPhone that finds itself so relevant technologically. And also just in terms of how humankind seems to be moving. Those things make this incredibly special."Ian McShane, Ricky Whittle, Corbin Bernsen in AMERICAN GODSOthers, like Corbin Bernsen, who plays Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and, adapting contemporaneously, guns -- a character created especially for the series -- were attracted by what "American Gods" had to say about instantly relatable topics like generational change.

"The idea of what's going on, the old gods coming out and dealing with the new gods, that I very much am invested in on a daily basis," says Bernsen. "Trying to, like all people, figure out where the hell we are in our lives. I think this is really timely, if it can be reduced to somewhat metaphoric of where we are right now ... Going down the rabbit hole of the mythology is one thing, but going down the rabbit hole of humanity? I'm somewhere around mid-Earth right now."

"We shot our scenes primarily in a working penitentiary in Oklahoma, in the middle of that state," says Jonathan Tucker, who plays Low-Key Lyesmith, an incarnation of Loki, the Norse god of mischief. "It added an extraordinary amount of authenticity to our work there. And also, it felt very right that a show about America, about the themes of Middle America, of what we brought to this country as immigrants, what we worshipped when we came here, what we've left behind, all the new things that have been brought to the shores of this country by the immigrants that make up this beautiful nation."

"It felt very right that we were in Oklahoma," Tucker adds, "that we were in this area that is not Hollywood, that's not a backlot, it's not a studio, we're not in Toronto -- this was real, man. That was just something you can't quantify."Bruce Langley as Technical Boy and Gillian Anderson as Media in AMERICAN GODSUltimately for Gaiman, with all the increasing urgency and zeitgeist appeal that the show has accumulated, it was the simple pleasure of seeing characters he conceived and lines of dialogue he wrote come to life on the soundstage that resonated the most. "In Episode 2, watching Gillian Anderson playing Media, the new god of all of you [journalists and bloggers], having taken on the form of 'The Lucy Show,' and talking on a big screen to Shadow Moon, was just absolutely unbelievable for me," he says.

"It's not just as good as I imagined," he adds. "It's better than I imagined. You treasure those moments as an author."

"American Gods" premieres Sunday, April 30th on Starz.



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Friday, April 28, 2017

'13 Reasons Why' Inspires Ban, Warnings From Canadian Schools

There's no denying that Netflix's "13 Reasons Why" has struck a chord, but with some viewers, it is the wrong one.

The drama series has been been both praised and criticized for its depiction of a teen suicide and the events leading up to it, and the latter reaction is becoming more common among schools in Canada. In fact, at least one Canadian elementary school has banned students from even discussing the show at school, according to CBC.

St. Vincent Elementary School Principal Azza Ghali notified parents and guardians of grade six students of the situation via an email this week. She wrote that conversations about the show have been "troubling" and explained why the school does not want such discussions taking place on its grounds. Ghali referenced the show's mature and controversial content, which includes sexual assault and suicide, among other difficult issues.

"The discussion that is unfolding at school is troubling," she wrote. "Please let your child know that discussion of 13 Reasons Why is not permitted at school due to the disturbing subject matter."

Meanwhile, the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board also expressed concerns to families, as Variety reports. The board warns in a letter on its website that the show "may harm students who struggle with mental health challenges." The message noted the graphic content, as well as the "glamorization of suicidal behaviors" and "negative portrayals of helping professions" that may deter students from seeking help.

Such complaints have been levied at "13 Reasons Why" in the past, but there is no clear consensus on whether the show's message is positive or negative. One of the show's writers argued in an op-ed that "13 Reasons Why" inspires necessary conversations, but mental health professionals' opinions have been divided.

In spite of the controversy, Netflix is reportedly nearing a Season 2 renewal, so "13 Reasons Why" probably isn't going anywhere, much as some educators might wish it would.

[via: CBC; Variety]



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'Big Bang Theory' Stars Mayim Bialik, Melissa Rauch Score Big Raises

US-ENTERTAINMENT-PEOPLES CHOICE AWARDSThe whole "Big Bang Theory" gang has officially agreed to two more season of the show -- with huge paychecks.

Of the CBS series' lead actors, Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch were the final two stars whose deals needed to be finalized after the show was renewed through Season 12 in March. Their contracts come weeks after their cast mates signed on the dotted line because the two were fighting for higher pay. Now, their efforts are paying off.

Bialik and Rauch were reportedly pulling in around $175,000 to $200,000 an episode prior to their new deals, but Deadlines sources indicate that they'll earn somewhere between $425,000 and $500,000 per episode in the coming seasons. As big of a jump as that is, though, it doesn't take an astrophysicist like Raj to calculate that they will still be making substantially less than their co-stars Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg, and Kunal Nayyar. The other five will each command nearly $1 million per episode with their new contracts.

To be fair, both Bialik and Rauch joined the show later than the others, coming on as guest stars in Season 3. However, they earned series regular status in Season 4 and have become key members of the brilliant and nerdy group. Bialik, for example, has received multiple Emmy nods for her work as Amy, plus won a Critic's Choice Television Award.

In any case, the deals have been made, so now we can look forward to "The Big Bang Theory" Season 11.

[via: Deadline]



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'Twin Peaks' Revival Keeps the Mystery Alive With New Teaser

And so it begins ... again.

The first teaser is here for Showtime's "Twin Peaks" revival. The 30-second video only offers glimpses at the continuation, but it is exciting nonetheless. This is a new season that comes more than 25 years after the last.

When we finally get to welcome "Twin Peaks" back to the air, it is bound to enthrall us with more mystery. The new teaser, released Friday, shows familiar sights, including the Twin Peaks Sheriff's Department, the Double R diner, the Fat Trout Trailer Park, the fog-laden woods, and more. We don't know how any of these places will play into the latest season yet, but we can't wait to find out.

Written by show creators Mark Frost and David Lynch, the story picks up 25 years after where "Twin Peaks" Season 2 left off. Multiple stars from the original series are returning, including Kyle MacLachlan (Dale Cooper), Grace Zabriskie (Sarah Palmer), Everett McGill (Ed Hurley), and many others.

"Twin Peaks" premieres Sunday, May 21 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Showtime.



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John Boyega's Star Wars Fame Once Ruined a Date

Star Wars CelebrationBecoming famous hasn't necessarily helped John Boyega's love life.

The "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" actor recently appeared on "The Graham Norton Show," where he revealed how his role in the blockbuster once sank a date for him. It's a funny little tale, but the presence of Amy Schumer, Goldie Hawn, and Orlando Bloom made it even better. The fellow actors added to the fun with amusing commentary, especially Schumer, who couldn't resist a joke about reacting to "a guy with a huge saber."

As Boyega's dating disaster story goes, he had taken a woman out in New York City. Everything was going well until she asked what he does, just as they happened to be driving through Times Square, where his Star Wars promotional images were on display. He answered the question by showing her, and unfortunately, that put a damper on their date.

"That picture in itself just kind of affected her," he said, confirming that the relationship didn't go anywhere.

Alas, they were no Han and Leia (pre-split, that is).

Watch the hilarious group discuss the story, among other topics, below.

[via: "The Graham Norton Show"]



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Two 'Wonder Woman' Promos Tease Ares Fight

Her name is Diana, Princess of Themyscira. Eh, just call her Diana Prince. Or better yet, "Wonder Woman."

Two new TV spots are promoting the upcoming DC Comics superhero flick. Most of the footage has already been seen in the trailers, but the first promo does have the briefest glimpse of an epic duel between Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) and Ares. From off camera, he slashes at her with a sword — which she stops with her magical bracelets (around the 11 second mark):

Yeah, not much to see, but perhaps Warner Bros. will release more footage soon introducing Ares (David Thewlis in motion capture).

The second promo is a bit more light-hearted, as Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) awkwardly tries to introduce this otherworldly Amazon in 1940s London. Her name doesn't exactly roll off the tongue! It's kind of a brilliant way of explaining how Diana gets her last name.

"Wonder Woman" opens in theaters June 2.



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'Roseanne' Revival With Original Cast in the Works

Roseanne (ABC) season 1Fall 1988Shown: [top] Sara Gilbert, Alicia Goranson, Laurie Metcalf [on sofa] Michael Fishman, Roseanne, John Goodman'Roseanne" may be the next classic series to get a revival.

Deadline reports that an eight-episode limited series revival of the hit '90s blue collar comedy is in the works. The original cast members — including Roseanne Barr, John Goodman, and Sara Gilbert — would reprise their roles.

Original series producers Barr, Tom Werner, and Bruce Helford are on board, as is Gilbert and Whitney Cummings.

Several outlets are reportedly bidding for the project, including original network home ABC and revival master Netflix (which has successfully made "Fuller House," "One Day at a Time," and "Gilmore Girls"). ABC is considered the "sentimental" favorite.

"Roseanne" was acclaimed for its honest depiction of a working class family. Roseanne was a factory worker, while husband Dan was a contractor. They and their three kids (later four) barely scraped by.

The show featured many notable guest stars, including George Clooney, Debbie Reynolds, Bruce Willis, and Sharon Stone.

Like with the upcoming "Will & Grace" revival, the idea was born when Goodman appeared on "The Talk" with co-host Gilbert, and the two staged a mini-reunion.

"Oh, hell yes ... if we could get everyone together," he told co-host Julie Chen of a potential revival. "The Big R [Barr] and I did a pilot about five years ago that didn't go anywhere ... but we were very happy to work together."



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'Fear the Walking Dead' Season 3 Promo: Survival at All Costs

Utter mayhem breaks out in Season 3 of "Fear the Walking Dead." And Madison (Kim Dickens) is ready to survive at any and all costs.

Entertainment Weekly debuted the first promo for the AMC spinoff drama, which features Madison laying about with her knife and threatening to kill anyone who gets in her way. Meanwhile, Travis (Cliff Curtis) seems to run into a menacing group of people, while Strand (Colman Domingo) hangs off a ledge, literally.

Season 3 picks up with Nick (Frank Dillane) and Luciana (Danay Garcia) having escaped death at the hands of the American militia group, but are still in a world of trouble. Alicia (Alicia Debnam-Carey) struggles with her mother's murderous actions, while Ofelia (Mercedes Mason) deals with captivity. The season also introduces members of the Otto family, survivalists who prepared for the fall of democracy.

"Fear the Walking Dead" Season 3 premieres June 4 on AMC.

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Emma Watson Has an Idea for 'Beauty and the Beast' Sequel

If Disney decides to make a sequel to "Beauty and the Beast," they can bring back Emma Watson not just as the star but as a writer, too!

"I would love to do a sequel," the actress told Access Hollywood. "I always thought that Belle would become a teacher and she would run a library in the castle and open it up to the village."

"Beauty and the Beast" was a mega blockbuster, earning more than $1.1 billion worldwide. So, talk of a potential sequel, or spinoff, started up as the movie continued to rake in cash.

Watson's idea definitely sounds like a plausible for Belle, whose love of books and learning is a defining characteristic. Perhaps she could take a new character, an orphaned boy with special talents, under her wing. And the antagonists could be a cruel teacher and a bullying student. Oh wait, Watson's already done that kind of story.



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Vin Diesel Wants a Rocket and Groot 'Guardians' Spinoff -- But Does James Gunn?

Vin Diesel thinks a Rocket and Groot "Guardians of the Galaxy" spinoff would be "huge," and we can't disagree.

The actor, who voices the lovable tree creature, just told USA Today, "James Gunn has always wanted a Rocket and Groot movie. And I know that Disney is very much into being successful. And the most successful poster in Disney's future is the poster that has 'Groot vs. Hulk.' ... [The world] cannot wait to see it."

However, Gunn (who wrote and directed both "GOTG" movies) seemed to cast doubt on that happening. "Vin has a lot of ideas. I don't know where he comes up with these things! I love Vin," he told USA Today at "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2"s premiere.

So is a spinoff just a figment of Diesel's imagination or is Gunn simply being ultra-coy?

There is a "Rocket and Groot" animated TV series listed on IMDb, but with Kevin Michael Richardson, who already voices Groot on "Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy" TV series.

Until that spinoff is officially announced, we'll just be over here playing with our Groot and Rocket action figures, thanks!



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'Firestarter' is the Latest Stephen King Movie Getting a Remake

Add "Firestarter" to the growing list of remakes of Stephen King movies: New versions of "It" and a TV series of "The Mist" are already headed our way.

The 1984 version of "Firestarter" starred Drew Barrymore as a young girl with pyrokinetic abilities who's abducted by the government because -- of course -- they want to use her as a weapon. It was the third film for Barrymore, who was nine when the movie opened. It got terrible reviews (it's got a 39% rating on Rotten Tomatoes) so a remake could actually be better.

THR reports that Akiva Goldsman ("Winter's Tale") will direct for horror studio Blumhouse. Jason Blum announced the news at the Overlook Film Festival at Timberline Lodge in Mt. Hood, OR, where Goldsman's latest film, "Stephanie," premiered. It stars Anna Torv ("Fringe") and Frank Grillo as parents who take in an an orphaned girl with unworldly powers.

Goldsman's directorial resumé is slim, but he's also produced big movies including "Paranormal Activity" films, "I Am Legend," and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." He also wrote the scripts for the most recent "The Ring" sequel "Rings," and "I, Robot."



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'The Circle' Director James Ponsoldt on Casting John Boyega and Then Leaving Him in a Corner

There are few films as keenly of-the-moment as "The Circle."

This nifty little cautionary thriller, based on a book by vaulted author Dave Eggers, follows Mae (Emma Watson), a young woman who gets the chance of the lifetime when she's given a job at a staggering tech behemoth (run, in part, by Tom Hanks, playing a character as charming as he is potentially dangerous). In "The Circle," ideas that are in the current conversational bloodstream, provocatively channeling our own fears about transparency, privacy, and surveillance are packaged within compelling character work and a familiar suspense framework. Some of the movie plays like the most edge-of-your-seat TED talk you've ever watched, other portions are like "Black Mirror," but with the more absurd elements toned down considerably.

And you could feel those modern anxieties at the film's premiere, as part of the Tribeca Film Festival, in New York. Watson and Hanks were there, as was the film's director, James Ponsoldt, who I got to sit down with the next day in midtown Manhattan. The filmmaker, who some will know from his previous films "The Spectacular Now" and "The End of the Tour," makes bold leaps forward with this film, which is playful, colorful, and slick. (Cinematographer Matthew Libatique, a frequent confederate of Darren Aronofsky's, absolutely kills it.)

It was a refreshingly wide-ranging conversation that covered everything from working with Eggers on the film's screenplay to being one of the last filmmakers to direct the late, great Bill Paxton, to what his interest levels are in taking over a big Hollywood franchise. As always, Ponsoldt is engaging and forthcoming. He is, like Mae in the film, totally transparent.

What was it like adapting Dave Eggers with Dave Eggers?

It was great. "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" came out when I was in college. It made a huge impact on me and pretty much everyone I knew; we were all obsessed with the book. I think I've read everything of his since. He feels like a cultural commentator who is speaking not only to my generation, but definitely to my generation. When "The Circle" came out, I was excited to read it was a Dave Eggers novel but it felt really different. It was plagued with genre and was a dark satire and Mae was a character who I felt was compelling and frustrating, and I realize my complicated relationship with the character was because I saw some of myself in the character, for better or worse, probably for worse. And the book really haunted me. That's what I was bringing to it.

When I first talked to Dave about it he was just great, in as much as his take was, the book is the book, the movie should be the movie, it shouldn't be blindly adherent. He thinks the best film adaptations of books take the theme but invent and necessarily have to strip away and invent things for the screen. I think a literal adaptation of that book would have had to be a 10-hour miniseries, and perhaps a great one.

So Dave said that at the outset, but there was a part of me that was wondering. I would be, if I spent years on a novel, [apprehensive] if someone was diving into it and ripping it apart in some cases. But he was just the best. The first draft of it he read and he sent me back a printed out copy with some penciled in notes but was very supportive. And then it became a constant back-and-forth. He had no ego in it at all. He was the first one to say, "What about this?" and "What about that?" The entire time I found it constantly inspiring. He was a great collaborator.

Now that Tom Hanks has been in two of his adaptations, is he the Tony Stark of the Dave Eggers Cinematic Universe?

I don't know! It's so funny! It's pretty cool, that relationship. I was at an amazing fundraiser in San Francisco on Monday night, and Tom was the guest of honor. It was raising money for an organization that Dave is part of. Just watching their rapport was like, Yes, I would listen to one of our most celebrated novelists and one of our most celebrated actors talk all night long. That's pretty cool.

Was there any fear that you were going to get to it too late? Because the story is very of-the-moment.

Yeah, for sure! I think any film in the history of films where technology is any part of it, you have that question, because technology changes. So does the movie become moot? I think that's always a question. I don't think so. If you just fetishize the gadgets then, yes, that's potentially a place where you can get into murky water. But if your real concern is issues of privacy and surveillance and overreach and us and the way we relate to technology and our own ego and our desire for privacy and yet our desire to be known and our love of free and new stuff that might come with fine print that we may or may not read, I don't see those issues going away.

A few pages into Dave's book, he says something to the extent of, "The Circle is a company that has subsumed all of its competitors." It's five minutes into the future, it's an alternate now. We went out of our way to make sure all of the tech in the film is either built from the ground up or seriously adapted from other things so you'll really only see it in the film. Yes, the technology will definitely change but we still watch movies with older cars.

And there is a little bit of magic to the technology.

Oh, totally. There's certainly a sense of humor to the book and hopefully the movie. It is satire and it is ridiculous and I'm not sure, when the book came out, that everybody read it that way. But it does have a sense of humor about it. I don't think it an overly techno-phobic or Luddite book. I think there's some belief that if you write something that engages with issues of technology, that you hate technology. That's like making a movie about fascism and saying that you hate politics. But it's like, no, you'd argue for good politics and ethnical politicians. But we were trying to tell the story through one person.

Was it fun going from the wintery desolation of "The End of the Tour" to "The Circle," which is so sunny and bright and has graphics all over the place?

Yeah. But they present their own challenges. On one hand, it's easy to do a naturalism, although "End of the Tour" had a period naturalism that was pretty hard actually because it was 20 years ago. We think we know what 1946 or 1968 looks like, but 1996 is like now but not quite. So a lot of it was just removing, removing, removing. In this case, I think people are used to anything involving technology being dystopian looking -- cold and symmetrical and everyone wears white. But that's not how these companies look and feel, and it doesn't benefit the story, it makes things a little too binary. These companies are young and fun and idealistic. They can also feel naïve but there is a youthful energy and spirit there, for better or worse. My time at tech campuses, I spent time in giant open floor plans with walls that say, "DISRUPT." Where you're like, is this a parody of itself? But it's easy to be a cynic in that world.

You bring up cynicism and what's interesting about Mae is that she never succumbs to cynicism. She's the same optimist at the end of the movie that she was at the beginning. Was that important for you?

Yeah, totally. I think Dave's book is tricky and fun. It's like a dark fairy tale or adult fable or something. Through Mae's choices, there are tragic, cataclysmic repercussions, and it doesn't mean that she doesn't fundamentally changes her feelings about privacy or what she's open to or what she sees in the future. Personally, she's not going to get into government regulation antitrust issues. She's a believer. She's a disrupter who, like all of us, believes our position is better than those that came before us. But the truth is her vision for the future could be far worse. She just can't possibly know. This year alone we've seen what disruption means and that can be aided by the Internet and Twitter, with people using it as a platform to affect elections in multiple countries. I'm sure there were people on both sides who believed they were right and the other side was wrong.

I wanted to ask you about someone who is becoming a regular collaborator: composer Danny Elfman. His score for this movie is amazing, and I don't know that he's ever done a score that's this electronic.

I don't know that he has. You go back to Oingo Boingo, there's a lot of synth stuff there. Danny is amazing. I was a huge fan. I knew who Danny Elfman was before I understood what composers did. "Batman" was the first movie I ever bought and I was obsessed with "The Simpsons." There's definitely a sound. Danny can do anything. But there's the stuff with Tim Burton and the stuff with Sam Raimi. There's also the stuff he's done with David O. Russell and Gus Van Sant. I was excited for "End of the Tour" because, like most of my films, there's probably about 20 minutes of music. But I was excited to collaborate with him in a way that I hadn't heard him do before.

With "The Circle," it was a movie with a lot of sound, especially when she gets into the world of The Circle. Surprisingly, there's a lot of human voice that's been futzed with, or auto-tuned to the point that you can't recognize it's a human voice, which was intentional. We talked a lot about electronic music and I'm a huge fan of it. To some people, who are not fans of it, it can sound cold, but for me I've never found that. But starting with Kraftwerk and onward there's so much humanity and wit and warmth to it. We wanted to create a soundscape for Mae that was overwhelming. There's a lot. In the same way that the camera doesn't stop moving when she starts working at the Circle, neither does the score.

Can you talk about working with Beck?

Yeah. Working with ... "My pal Beck," say that with quotes. The truth is, when you go to some of these places and I went to one of them for research and there was a free Hot Chip concert on a Thursday night. Of course there's a free Hot Chip concert and yoga and free food. We wanted someone to come in and perform that feels very matter-of-fact, another Tuesday night at The Circle. When his name came up, I had been a huge fan forever but I didn't think there was any way he'd do it. And then we heard that he thought it'd be really fun. But I still didn't think it would happen because I just assume things would fall apart. And we got to the day and it was like, He's really going to be there, huh? And he was there and he was amazing! It's hard to tell, but the camera swoops down and swirls around him; it's pretty elaborate. He was great and had incredible dance moves and was spot on. He did it again and again. Then he said, "We probably have another hour, hour and a half in us." So I was like, "Cool!"

Did he know your movies or was he a fan of the book or what? Did you ever find out?

That's a really good question. Some of the folks involved, like our music supervisor, grew up in L.A., and she had grown up in some of the same circles as Beck. I don't know what she told him. I assume he read the book because he's very cultured and he and Dave Eggers know each other. But beyond that I didn't fish too much. I didn't want to tempt fate. I was just excited that he was there.

You dedicate the movie to Bill Paxton and his performance is so great and affecting. Everyone loved him, and he was known as being the nicest guy. What was your experience with him?

He was the nicest guy. I hadn't worked with him before, so my only frame of reference was with this film. He had this kind of aw-shucks Texas demeanor, but he was genuinely kind, properly disciplined; he knew how to do his job and was obsessed with getting the details right for his character and framing the character honestly and humanely and not judging the character.

Like most great actors, he was most concerned with making his fellow actors feel good. And he was also a really good filmmaker. It's obvious that he understood how a set worked and what everyone's job was and had a lot of respect for everyone. He was the glue on set with this animating energy. He is someone who would text me and say, "Turn on TCM, there's a really obscure noir you need to watch." I knew him through the lens of that experience.

Everyone loved him and he seemed to genuinely love everybody. I feel bad, first and foremost, for his family, but it feels like a bummer for everybody -- his family, his fans. He should have been here for decades to come.

Your take on casting is really interesting. Because when I found out Bill Paxton was in the movie I assumed he was one of the Three Wise Men. Can you talk about your approach to casting?

With the Three Wise Men, my first frame of reference was Dave's book. So I checked there; I was thinking about people in the real world although they're fictional characters. It's like, "Who would have been a hacker programmer in real life?" What do those images look like? And have they been influenced by other movies I've seen? What do people who actually run multimillion-dollar companies look like? How do they talk? What's their background? Are they villainous like I think they'd be? Probably not. It was a lot of those things. In the case of Tom Hanks's character, what are the aspects of a charismatic person who really believes what he believes? Really wants to democratize the world but that being said is making billions of dollars for the company, which muddies up the intentions.

Bill's character was hard because it's tricky to portray someone with a chronic illness. That's part of the dynamic of Mae's family, it's part of the drama, part of the anxiety, and one of the aspects of The Circle, which is that they have an amazing health care and can treat a member of her family with a preexisting condition. You need an actor like Bill Paxton to get that character spot-on.

Was it hard casting an actor as charismatic as John Boyega and leaving him in the back of the room for most of his scenes?

Well, it's Emma's movie, right? She's in every scene. But one is really fortunate to get amazing actors to play those other roles. I'm someone who would make a movie with that actor or actress and have them in every scene. I can't wait to make a movie that's John Boyega in every scene or Karen Gillan in every scene. That would be really thrilling. John's amazing, and you see Tom doing it as well. Tom has had no problem starring in movies but they also have no problem serving the story and being a supporting role. I had loved John in "Attack the Block" and met with him and found him to be so intense in the best way. He was charismatic, intense, and focused. So I was thrilled that he was going to do it, because his life was going to change very soon.

As a filmgoer, I'm always excited when actors who are typically stars play a very different version that what they're known for or play a supporting role. Part of having a vibrant career is making those decisions.

You're of the age/resume of filmmakers who are having big projects thrown their way. Has that happened to you? Does any of that stuff interest you?

You know. Yes, they have offered things to me. But it depends. For me, I like ideas that aren't beholden to massive corporate interests. I could imagine making a movie that's an absolute no-budget movie or a movie with a pretty big budget. But something that is just part two or three or four or five doesn't necessarily sound as exciting to me.

I am writing something for Disney, but it's an original idea that, if I'm lucky enough to make it, will be a much bigger budget than what I'm used to. So there will be those pressures. But I'm excited to build that world. I have tremendous respect for those filmmakers, some of whom are friends of mine, who step into a franchise where there's a lot of love for the graphic novel or whatever it is it's based on. It's a different type of pressure. It's nice to build your own little universe and go on and build another one.

"The Circle" is out today everywhere.



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'La La Land' Director Making Another Musical Drama -- For TV

Damien Chazelle

Damien Chazelle, the Oscar-winning director of "La La Land," is tackling another musical project, but this time for the small screen.

THR reports that Chazelle is attached to direct "The Eddy," which is described as "a musical drama set in contemporary multicultural Paris that revolves around a club, its owner, the house band and the volatile city that surrounds them."

The other talent associated with the project is pretty impressive as well: Jack Thorne, who wrote the play "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" J.K. Rowling, is the screenwriter; Grammy-winning songwriter Glen Ballard -- who co-wrote Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill" and Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" -- and Alan Poul ("Six Feet Under") will executive produce.

It's probably too much to expect Ryan Gosling or Emma Stone to reteam for the project. But Gosling and Chazelle are reuniting on the next big-screen project, "First Man," a biopic of astronaut Neil Armstrong -- a film that we're guessing will involve zero piano playing or classic jazz.



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Emma Stone Reveals How She Copes With Crippling Anxiety (Video)

Emma StoneEmma Stone just released a video where she talks about how severe her anxiety was as a child: She never thought she could leave home or have a normal life.

"I truly, as a kid, did not think I would ever be able to move away from home or be apart from people I had separation anxiety with," she says in the video. "It has always been something that I've lived with and it flares up in big ways at different times in my life. Sometimes while it's happening, like while I'm in a phase of big turmoil, it feels like it's never gonna end — but it does."

The video is part of a campaign from the Child Mind Institute, which gets famous people to talk about their own struggles with metal illness and learning disorders. According to Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz, who's heading the institute's campaign Speak Up for Kids, 17 million kids in the U.S. have a mental health or learning disorder.

"One of the things that change people's minds about this is when we decrease stigma ... And now I think it's time for us to recognize how real, common and treatable these diseases are," he tells People, citing how important it is for kids to know they're not alone.

Michael Phelps and Jesse Eisenberg have also shared videos for the campaign, which launches in May.

Stone, who just won an Oscar for "La La Land," thanks her "great therapist" and the coping strategies she's learned over the years to let her live "a pretty normal and exciting and vibrant life."



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'Facts of Life' Star Charlotte Rae Diagnosed With Bone Cancer

Charlotte RaeCharlotte Rae, who played beloved housemother Edna Garrett on "The Facts of Life," has revealed she has bone cancer.

She told People the heartbreaking news: "Last Monday, I found out I have bone cancer. About seven years ago, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer — which is a miracle that they found it because usually it's too late. My mother, sister and my uncle died of pancreatic cancer. After six months of chemotherapy, I was cancer-free. I lost my hair, but I had beautiful wigs. Nobody even knew."

The actress, who just turned 91, says she hasn't made up her mind whether to undergo treatment again. "I'm not in any pain right now. I'm feeling so terrific and so glad to be above ground," she said. "Now I have to figure out whether I want to go have treatment again to opt for life. I love life. I've had a wonderful one already. I have this decision to make."

Co-star Mindy Cohn tweeted a reunion photo for Rae's birthday on April 22. The cast reunited in 2001 for a TV movie, "The Facts of Life Reunion."

Rae played Edna Garrett on "The Facts of Life" from 1979 - 1986, a role she first played on "Diff'rent Strokes." Rae released her memoir, "The Facts of My Life," in 2015.

"At 91, every day is a birthday," she says. "[In my book] I want to tell everybody to celebrate every day, to savor the day and be good to yourself, love yourself, and then you can be good to others and be of service to others.

Her most recent role was in "Ricki and the Flash." She has also guest starred on "Pretty Little Liars" and "Girl Meets World."

We wish her all the best.



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Thursday, April 27, 2017

A 'Game of Thrones' Linguistics Course Will Soon Be Taught UC Berkeley

Some "Game of Thrones" fans study the show like its their homework, but for some UC Berkeley students, it kind of will be.

David J. Peterson, the creator of Dothraki and High Valyrian, has signed on to teach the course "The Linguistics of 'Game of Thrones' and the Art of Language Invention" at the university this summer. Valued at three units, the class will meet four days a week during the May 22-June 30 summer session. Peterson's goal is to teach his students about what it takes to create a naturalistic language, meaning one that shares hallmarks with real tongues that have evolved around the world.

The expert-turned-instructor, who himself went to Berkeley, knows a thing or two about how to accomplish that feat. He got into linguistics as an undergrad and later pursued a master's degree in the field as well. That's why it so convincing when "Game of Thrones" characters switch into one of the show's distinct foreign tongues.

Since Peterson started working on the HBO series, it seems like he has become Hollywood's go-to guy for realistic, fake languages. You can hear ones he developed in "about a dozen other shows and movies," as he told Berkeley News. We like that he is teaching the next generation, so for his sake, we hope his class doesn't turn out a bunch of linguistics who want to fight him for his Iron Throne.

[via: Berkeley News]



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New 'Little Women' Will Star Lea Thompson

Marie Claire Celebrates 'Fresh Faces' with an Event Sponsored by Maybelline - ArrivalsThe March family is returning to the big screen.

"Little Women" is being adapted to film again, so there will be a new Marmee in town,among other characters. Lea Thompson is set to play the March matriarch, Deadline reports. The adaptation is said to be modern, which would make it very different from what we've seen in the past.

Originally a novel by Louisa May Alcott, published in 1868, the story centers on sisters Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March as they come of age during the Civil War. They are guided by their caring and charitable mother, Marmee, especially while their father is away fighting. The Marches' story is a classic and has been adapted for the silver screen on multiple occasions, from a silent version in 1917 to 1994's "Little Women" starring Claire Danes, Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Susan Sarandon, and Christian Bale.

A modern take has the potential to be interesting -- that, or terrible, but let's be optimistic. We'll be curious to see what the project's writers, director Clare Niederpruem and Kristi Shimek, have come up with. "Little Women" is scheduled to start shooting in June and is due out in 2018, in time for the book's 150th anniversary.

[via: Deadline]

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Netflix's 'Ingobernable' Renewed for Season 2

Netflix is bringing back the Spanish-language series "Ingobernable" ("Ungovernable") for a second season.

The streamer unveiled a video announcement Thursday, promising another round of political drama in 2018. "Ingobernable" Season 2 will bring us another 15 episodes, which means we'll get to see what happens to Emilia (Kate del Castillo), the fictional ex-first lady of Mexico. In Season 1, Emilia had to go on the run after her husband was assassinated and she became a primary suspect. And that was only the beginning.

From what we can glean from the new video, Season 2 will be just as intense; the announcement shows scenes of protesters (notably with the number 39 painted on their foreheads), violence, explosions, and general chaos. It also teases that Emilia will have to put up a fight to survive.

A specific release date for "Ingobernable" Season 2 hasn't yet been released, but expect the series to return to Netflix with more next year.



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Watch Chris Pratt Make the Weirdest Prank Call on BBC Radio 1

US-ENTERTAINMENT-PREMIERE-PASSENGERSChris Pratt is a superhero when it comes to thinking on his feet.

The actor was out promoting Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" when he was given a strange task on BBC Radio 1's "The Matt Edmondson Show." The host roped him in to making an AlphabetiCall, a prank phone call in which every sentence has to start with a different letter of the alphabet, in alphabetical order. Even more specifically, Pratt had to call a pet shop and ask them about stick insects given their similarities to Baby Groot, Vin Diesel's "Guardians" character.

The task might not sound that exciting, but Pratt's call turned out pretty great. He sounded a little robotic and a little bit pained, but he also managed to make sense in a very strange sort of way. It helped that he spoke with possibly the nicest person ever -- the woman never seemed to get suspicious or angry, and she stuck it out from A to Z.

Pratt appears next in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," out on May 5.



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'Cars 3' Director Brian Fee on Going From Story Artist to Filmmaker

It's no secret that Pixar bigwig John Lasseter loves cars, and it's this love of cars that birthed the first "Cars" film (which he directed) and the sequel (which, after a period of development with another filmmaker, Lasseter ultimately took over and directed). So it's really saying something that he was able to let go of his baby, handing the keys to "Cars 3" over to Brian Fee, a relatively unknown story artist within the much larger Pixar framework. Fee had been a part of the first two "Cars" films but this was something altogether different; he'd have to wrangle hundreds of artists and animators and take the franchise back to its roots after the sequel threatened to derail the series. That's a lot for any filmmaker, much less a first-timer.

But if that sounds like a stressful proposition, you wouldn't be able to tell by talking with Fee. I got to sit down with the director at the Sonoma Raceway, a beautiful track in northern California (and a perfect backdrop to talk about all things cars) and he told me about his history with the franchise, the third act to Lightning McQueen's story, and how Ron Howard's "Rush" inspired the look of the film.Moviefone: Can you talk about your history with this franchise?

Brian Fee: I started on "Cars" as a story assistant. And what that meant was that I helped the real story artists get their work done. Because we were all drawing on paper, so I helped them finish their drawings. They would draw the important stuff and I would do the background, which just had to be traced over from drawing to drawing. It was busy work, really. But it was to help them get their work done. The story supervisor at the time, the late Joe Ranft, I wanted to stay at the company and asked him, "How do I stay here?" And he said, "Make yourself indispensable." It was the best advice I ever got. Because it was all about doing the very best you can and don't show it to anybody until it's the best it can be.

I gave myself a very high bar and that helped me become an actual story artist. So, one day I got the big boy pants and they let me be a story artist. I learned on the job, learned from everybody I could, and worked on "Cars 2" with John Lasseter. By that time I was considered more of a veteran story artist. It's weird to be the young green kid and wake up one day and realize that I'm a veteran now. But I think a lot of people have that experience. So I worked with John on "Cars 2" and then worked with him in development of "Cars 3." I was working on ideas and things and that's when I was called into John's office, unexpectedly. That's when John told me, not asked, that I was directing "Cars 3." Ed Catmull was there and he was the one who said, "We realize we're not asking you. We know that."

What was your reaction?

I was extremely honored they considered me for this; it was an honor they thought I was ready for this. And I was so excited because these characters were like family to me and I was excited to tell their story. At the same time I was terrified because I hadn't directed anything before and I had a lot to learn in a very short amount of time.

What was the biggest surprise when making the movie?

I wouldn't say there was a surprise, but the hardest thing was the story. I came from story but that is still the hardest thing. Everything else was less difficult because I can trust everyone. Everyone is an expert. I'm dealing with the best people in the business. So it's my job to inspire them to do great work and once they do that work I judge it against one thing: Is this helping us tell our story and is it not helping us tell our story? And if it's helping us tell our story, great! If it's not helping us tell our story yet why is that? What can we do? And try again.

I know the studio is now mimicking real lenses in the computer when it comes to photography. What was your approach to the visuals and what lenses did you use?

Having never done anything in live-action, I didn't know the first thing about lenses, so, luckily, my DP knew everything about lenses. So all I had to do was describe the look. So he could take care of all the technical stuff. We could just get in there and play with the look. And he [DP Jeremy Lasky] brings a lot to the table. A lot of the scenes are incredible because of his fantastic work. We talked early on about not wanting any of the races to feel overly conservative. And by that I mean any of the angles. It's just like, let's find the right times to push these angles on the characters to emphasize the grittiness of a real race. It's a very extreme thing -- the speeds and everything that happens down there. I wanted to take what was already done and push it a little bit more.

Were you referencing anything, either live-action or animation, when it came to the racing?

We looked at a lot of stuff. I really liked that movie "Rush" and how they shot that. So there was some really great racing things in there. But we had to be really careful because our cars are characters. So anytime you go below the nose, because you think low angles are really dramatic, but once it goes below the nose you lose the eyes. So there were some limitations and tradeoffs. It became: Is this shot about them being a car or a character? So it was always a balancing act.

You've talked about how this is the third act of Lightning McQueen's story. How would you chart his adventure?

In "Cars," he was the latest greatest; he was the new kid on the scene. He was the hotshot rookie. In "Cars 2," he's maintaining. In "Cars 2," you can easily say you have a little bit of an older McQueen and he's at the top of his game and at the top of his celebrity. So how do you have that character fall from grace? And age is the most obvious thing. We talked to Jeff Gordon and he said that, when he was young, he would go really hard but you would wear out your car. And the older he got, the more experience he got and he realized he didn't have to wear out his car. And the young guys would pass him. He'd say, "He might have passed me but he's wearing out his tires and using all of his gas. In 10 laps, I'll pass him." And 10 laps later, he'd pass them.

So the problem was, when those young people passed him and 10 laps later he didn't pass them, that's when he realized he'd lost some of the charge he had. That happens with every athlete. We started looking at -- you can't do everything forever. But if that's all you know and that's your self-worth, how do you deal with the fact that you'll never be what you once were?

These movies obviously go through a thousand iterations. What was the story on the very first version of this movie?

Very first version? There were hints of a mentorship between Lightning and Doc. There was a Cruz character. It was a boy, not a girl. It took place in California, not the south. And Cruz was a farmer. Think Route 99. There was a scene where the sign got tipped upside down. That was the beginning. McQueen was going through more of a midlife crisis. There was a mistaken identity and McQueen didn't look like himself. But that was bizarre territory and we quickly moved away from that.

Obviously, John Lasseter is going to have to retire at some point, just like McQueen. Did he contribute anything story-wise?

He contributed a lot, story-wise. For him, on a personal level, I think the mentorship sank in more. Later in the process, his son won a student Academy Award. And John felt the pride of watching his son receive the award. The pride matched or even surpassed his own experiences of receiving awards. That had a profound effect on him. And I've looked at John as a mentor from day one, even as a story assistant, I was watching how John did it. Because he's a master at it.

"Cars 3" opens June 16th.



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'Game of Thrones': 'There Are Huge Spoilers Online,' Says Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

If you don't want any spoilers for "Game of Thrones" Season 7, you might need to stay off the internet.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who plays Jaime "The Kingslayer" Lannister, opened up about spoilers and leaks during an interview for the Build Series Monday, and he basically admitted that the truth is often out there.

"Every year there are huge spoilers online where people find out real stuff and they will post it, and you go, 'Oh my God, they just spoiled the whole season online!'" he said.

That might sound bad if you don't want Westeros' secrets revealed ahead of time, but you shouldn't worry too much. Take it from Coster-Waldau, who has learned that leaks aren't actually a disaster. With how many "spoilers" there are that turn out to be false, it becomes nearly impossible to separate the good intel from the bad. Typically, true spoilers get "lost in the shuffle," the actor says.

Coster-Waldau has heard plenty of interesting theories regarding his own character, especially the one that suggests Jaime will kill Cersei (Lena Headey), his twin-slash-lover. He hasn't admitted anything, of course, but he did throw fuel on the fire by saying that "it might happen, who knows?" Basically, he may add Queenslayer to his resume, but he also might not.

The rampant speculation and (possibly true) spoilers are definitely going to continue between now and "Game of Thrones" Season 7's July 16 premiere, so like Coster-Waldau, we're just going to roll with it.

[via: Huffington Post]

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Nicolas Cage Suffered Onset Injury While Filming '#211'

German Sustainability Award 2016All those action flicks Nicolas Cage does had to catch up with him at some point.

The actor has reportedly suffered an onset injury, but luckily it doesn't sound like one that is particularly horrible, all things considered. Cage broke his ankle while filming the film "#211" in Bulgaria, Deadline reports. Painful as it may be, he sought medical attention and hopes to be able to start shooting again within two weeks.

The injury came in what was said to be a freak accident. The movie, which centers on a bank heist, is action-heavy, so it makes sense that even a professional like Cage could get hurt. He was taken to a hospital in Sofia, Bulgaria, and then returned to Los Angeles for further care after finding out doctors wanted him to undergo surgery.

It remains to be seen how Cage's broken ankle will impact production, but hopefully he will be back on his feet (literally) soon.

[via: Deadline]



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A 'Downton Abbey' Immersive Experience Is Launching in June

The Crawley clan isn't headed back to TV, but "Downton Abbey" fans can at least look forward to a return (of sorts) to their favorite British estate.

NBCUniversal International Studios and Imagine Exhibitions have teamed up on a "Downton Abbey" immersive experience, as they announced Wednesday. Called "Downton Abbey: The Exhibition," it gives visitors a chance to view the show's sets and costumes, not to mention never-before-seen footage. You'll have to go somewhere unexpected to see it, though; contrary to what you might expect, the exhibition is launching at Singapore's Marina Bay Sands instead of in the U.K., where the BBC series was filmed.

Like the period drama's six seasons, the exhibition features different time periods and places. It sounds like fun for any "Downton" die-hard, as long as they can get to Singapore to see it. The exhibition launches June 17, and those who wish to visit can pre-register for tickets on its official website.

[via: Variety]



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'Miracle' Star Michael Mantenuto Dies at 35

'Miracle' Motion Picture PremiereSad news came Thursday, especially for fans of the 2004 Disney film "Miracle": One of the stars, Michael Mantenuto, has died at age 35.

The actor was found dead in his car by police in Des Moines, Washington, TMZ reports. He had committed suicide by shooting himself, according to the coroner.

In college, Mantenuto played hockey at the University of Maine. He later used those skill in "Miracle," a film that tells the underdog tale of the legendary 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. His character, Jack O'Callahan, was a key member of the gold medal-winning squad who went on to play in the NHL.

Although "Miracle" received a positive reception and even won the 2004 ESPY Award for Best Sports Movie, Mantenuto only starred in three movies over the course of his acting careerl. One of them was 2008's "Surfer, Dude" with Matthew McConaughey. He later enlisted in the army and served in the Special Forces.

Not surprisingly, the tragic news was met with sadness on social media; fans expressed their grief and paid tribute to the late actor.

[via: TMZ]



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Mandy Moore Is Shark Bait in '47 Meters Down' Trailer

The sharks are circling — and Mandy Moore has no way out in the trailer for "47 Meters Down."

Moore plays a woman who goes on a post-breakup vacation to Mexico with her sister (Claire Holt). Locals persuade them to go shark cage diving, assuring them it's completely safe. But once they get in the cage, the line breaks and the cage sinks 47 meters down to the ocean floor.

And all the while, huge great white sharks — drawn there by blood thrown into the water by the crew — circle and begin snapping at the cage. The sisters will have to find a way back to the surface through the deadly sharks before their air runs out.

As the "This Is Us" star told Entertainment Weekly, "The majority of the movie is us completely freaking out. Imagine somebody who's at the bottom of the ocean, who's never gone diving before, doesn't know how to clear her air or what any of her equipment does. It's the f—ing most terrifying nightmare on the planet to her. Most of the time I was shooting, I would be going through my [oxygen] tank in two seconds because I was hyperventilating."

"47 Meters Down" opens in theaters June 16.



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'13 Reasons Why' Close to Season 2 Renewal By Netflix

Welcome to more tapes — "13 Reasons Why" is on the verge of getting a second season on Netflix.

Deadline reports that the streaming service is close to ordering Season 2 of the adaptation of Jay Asher's bestselling YA novel. And the Hollywood Reporter says that a writers room was opened a few weeks ago. Another sign that Season 2 is happening? Ross Butler, who plays Ross Butler on "13 Reasons Why," dropped out of his other acting gig on The CW's "Riverdale" due to scheduling conflicts.

"13 Reasons Why" received mostly positive reviews and has been trending on social media since its debut. The show starred Dylan Minnette as a high school teen reeling from the suicide of a friend, Hannah (Katherine Langford). He receives a box of tapes she recorded before her death, with each tape explaining how 13 people were responsible for her death.

While the show has been praised for its spotlight on bullying and sexual assault, it has also been criticized for its graphic depiction of suicide.

It's unclear how the premise of "13 Reasons Why" will be extended into a second season. All of Hannah's tapes were played, so that structure can't be continued. Season 2 could focus on the aftermath of the tapes being revealed to her parents — the lawsuit they brought against the school, or a rape trial for Bryce. Alternatively, the second season could explore Alex's suicide attempt or the hint that Tyler is planning a school shooting.



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Ewan McGregor in Talks to Star in Live-Action Winnie the Pooh Movie

ENTERTAINMENT-US-CINEMA-BEAUTY AND THE BEAST-ARRIVALSDisney isn't slowing down on remaking its animated classics into live-action movies.

Fresh off the blockbuster success of "Beauty and the Beast" and setting a release date for "The Lion King," Disney is getting to work on a live-action version of "Winnie the Pooh." And according to The Hollywood Reporter, Ewan McGregor is in talks to star.

He'd play the titular character in "Christopher Robin," which will be directed by Marc Forster. Christopher is a businessman focused on his career. He's completely lost his sense of imagination — until Pooh shows up at his door one day, ready to take him on a new adventure.

This isn't McGregor's first experience with a live-action remake of a Disney hit; he played Lumiere in "Beauty and the Beast." And he's had a very busy year, starring in "T2: Trainspotting" and FX's "Fargo" Season 3.

In addition to a "Winnie the Pooh" remake, Disney's slate includes new versions of "Aladdin," "Mulan," and possibly "Dumbo."



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Johnny Depp Surprises Guests on Pirates of the Caribbean Ride at Disneyland

Jack Sparrow was spotted at Disneyland!

Guests on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride got a huge surprise when Johnny Depp made an appearance in full Jack Sparrow costume. He spoke lines from the movies as riders watched from their boats.

"Everyone was surprised, shocked and excited to see him," one visitor told E! News. "He acted exactly like his character in the movies."

Depp is promoting "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales," the fifth installment in the blockbuster franchise. Jack Sparrow is evading his longtime nemesis, Armando Salazar (Javier Bardem), whose Spanish Navy ghost crew is hunting down every pirate at sea. Jack, with the help of Henry Turner — Will and Elizabeth's son — must track down the Trident of Poseidon to survive. The movie opens May 26.

Here are some reactions from Disneyland guests at Depp's cameo:



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Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Honest Trailers Does 'The Social Network': 'The World's Smartest Film About the World's Dullest Premise'

Screen Junkies is back with another installment in its Honest Trailers series, and this time, "The Social Network" is in the hot seat.

The people behind the film don't have to worry, though: The video has mostly complimentary feedback. Even though the narrator says the Aaron Sorkin-penned biopic has "the world's dullest premise," the reviews are pretty glowing. Sorkin gets praise for making "boring litigation exciting," to the point that the narrators even calls for another Facebook movie.

Of course, there was some criticism as well. Namely, in regard to the film's accuracy -- or lack thereof.

"If you want to know the real story behind Facebook, watch something else, because they're bending the truth harder than the news your uncle posts on his wall," we hear.

We're reminded of the artistic license taken, from Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) looking like an "awkward scowling robot" to his ex-girlfriend who supposedly inspired the site being completely made-up.

Watch the full video below.



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New 'Alien: Covenant' Prologue Shows What Happened After 'Prometheus'

"Alien: Covenant" still hasn't opened in theaters, but Ridley Scott isn't making us wait for the "Prometheus" sequel before tackling some of the prior film's unanswered questions.

20th Century Fox unveiled a new short today that serves as a second prologue to "Alien: Covenant." Called "The Crossing," it shows what happened to the android David (Michael Fassbender) and Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Katherine Waterston) after the Prometheus mission took its horrifying turn. At less than three-minutes-long, the prologue doesn't reveal all, but it does show Dr. Shaw healing David, and the duo heading to (and possibly arriving at) the Engineer's homeworld.

"Alien: Covenant" will pick up after the events of both "Prometheus" and "The Crossing" as a different colony ship, Covenant, travels to the far side of the galaxy. Looking for a remote planet, they'll end up on what seems to be an uncharted paradise but actually turns out to be a place more like hell. Fassbender and Waterston return, and the film also stars Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Amy Seimetz, Jussie Smollett, Callie Hernandez, Nathaniel Dean, Alexander England, and Benjamin Rigby.

"Alien: Covenant" hits theaters May 19.



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'That Thing You Do!': The Wonders Reunited for Performance at the Roxy

Vin Diesel Throws Mock Fit on 'Ellen' Over Charlize Theron's 'Fast 8' Kissing Feedback

'Fast & Furious 8' Madrid PhotocallVin Diesel put the "furious" in "The Fate of the Furious" on Tuesday.

While appearing on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," the actor had a faux tantrum when host DeGeneres brought up how his "Fast 8" co-star Charlize Theron had described his kissing technique in a scene from the movie as "like a dead fish" when she last visited the show. The scene in question is one in which her character, the villainous Cipher, locks lips with Dominic Toretto (Diesel) to prove he has turned his back on his family. He allows it, but he's not exactly an eager participant.

Still, Diesel offered a glowing review of the kiss to USA Today in early April.

"Do I know she enjoyed it? Oh, my God, yeah," he said. "A kiss cannot lie, lips don't lie. No, they didn't. She OWNED it."

Theron, on the other hand, had a very different description.

"His character is just frozen like a dead fish," DeGeneres quoted her as saying. "He's saying it was the best kiss ever. It was the most psychotic kiss ever. And this whole spiel about how 'lips don't lie' -- I like a little more movement in my men."

Confronted on Tuesday with the news that her lips did lie, Diesel burst out of his chair -- not once but twice -- yelling, "What?!" in mock outrage. He looked to the "Ellen" audience for support, asking, "Do I look like a dead fish?!"

For all his shouting, though, Diesel didn't seem to take the feedback personally. Kissing incompatibility aside, he joked that "you don't come on 'Ellen' ... and compare [him] to a dead fish" because the host starred in "Finding Dory." There's kind of a strange logic in that ... maybe?

Poor Diesel. Maybe he can get his Fast and Furious leading lady Michelle Rodriguez to vouch for his non-fish-like kissing abilities.



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'Walking Dead' Season 8 Will Be More 'Kinetic,' 'Breakneck'

Ross Marquand as Aaron, Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, Christian Serratos as Rosita Espinosa, Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan - The Walking Dead _ Season 7, Episode 8 - Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC"The Walking Dead" Season 7 finale brought together several disparate groups and now, it's full-speed forward. Showrunner Scott M. Gimple promised a faster pace for Season 8, which is slated to premiere on AMC this the fall.

"By virtue of the fact that the narrative has turned into one of pretty intense conflict," Gimple told Entertainment Weekly, "it's going to affect the structure in ways that make it a bit more kinetic, a bit more breakneck — shifting away from entire stories in one episode, and sort of fractured over several episodes, with little pieces of each story coming together."

So, it seems there will be fewer interludes at Alexandria, Hill-Top, and Kingdom, and more scenes of all the groups working together to fight Negan and the Saviours (and their allies, the Garbage Pail Kids).

Season 7 featured episodes focusing on Morgan, Sasha, and Eugene. But with war upon everyone, "Things are going to move, and possibly not have the kind of deep dives into characters in single episodes, but rather laying out the pieces as we go on."



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