*A Mean Girls musical, co-written by Tina Fey and produced by Lorne Michaels, will open on Broadway on April 8th. It will begin previews March 12th.
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“American Idol” Judges’ Budget May Be Blown-Everyone that thought paying Katy Perry as much as 25 million dollars to judge “AI” was insane may be able to say “I told you so” now.
Rumor has it the budget to hire judges for the iconic show’s reboot is shot. Besides Perry’s haul, Ryan Seacrest was inked for around 10 million. So how do they add two more judges? Disney perks! We’re talking production deals, licensing and merchandising deals for Disney properties ... and also theme park partnerships.
Luke Bryan has been offered a slot, according to TMZ, but the deal isn’t sealed…yet.
Source: TMZ
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Shailene Woodley Details Dakota Access Pipeline Protest Experience-
Actress and activist Shailene Woodley is sharing details of her protest and arrest at Standing Rock with “Marie Claire.”
The “Big Little Lies” actress talked about being arrested last October. That was when tanks rolled into the protesters’ camp site and arrested a few, including Woodley, for trespassing and rioting. Woodley describes being taken to the county jail and the strip search. "I was strip-searched. Like get naked, turn over, spread your butt cheeks, bend over. They were looking for drugs in my ass."
She said a takeaway from the experience is the gravity of being behind bars where “no one can save you.”
Source: E! News
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Weird News
Girl Finds Excalibur In A Lake-A young English girl may have a new claim to the throne - or at least an interesting tale to tell.
Seven-year-old Matilda Jones was with her family on a trip to Dozmary Pool in Cornwall last week when something in the water caught her eye. Imagine her surprise when she fished the object out and it happened to be a four-foot-sword. It's the same spot where according to legend, King Arthur's Excalibur, as was his wish, was thrown back to the Lady of the Lake after his death.
The lucky girl’s dad was in disbelief at the find. "I told her not to be silly and it was probably a bit of fencing," Paul Jones told the press. "But when I looked down I realized it was a sword. It was just there laying flat on the bottom of the lake."
While Excalibur may confer the kingdom to its owner, Matilda's father thinks this sword is probably just an old film prop.
Source: USA Today
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*Ryan Murphy and Sarah Paulson will reunite for a Netflix series following Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Sarah stars in Ryan's latest installment of American Horror Story. Michael Douglas, who produced the original movie, will also produce the series.
*In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, George Clooney says he's housing a refugee who was threatened by ISIS while on a bus to Mosul. "He survived and came to America. He got through all the checks, and once he got through those, it was like, 'Listen, we got your back. You want to get an education? You want to move your life forward? This is something that we can do." The man is now living in a house Clooney has in Augusta, Kentucky, and is a student at the University of Chicago.
*The upcoming seventh season of Veep, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, will be its last.
*A Spanish woman who believed Salvador Dali was her father is not, a DNA test has proved. The artist's body was exhumed for testing in June.
(BBC News)
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*Disney is being criticized for adding a white character to its live-adaptation of Aladdin.
Billy Magnussen, a white actor, will play a prince in the remake, a character not in the 1992 animated version, and and many social media users aren't happy about it. Some are even calling it whitewashing, even though the rest of the cast, led by Will Smith, are people of color.
Magnussen’s character will be Aladdin’s rival to winning over Princess Jasmine’s heart. Another new character has also been added to the movie, Jasmine’s friend and handmaiden Mara, who will played by Nasim Pedrad (Saturday Night Live).
The film, directed by Guy Ritchie, does not have a release date yet. (Page Six)
Talk About It:
- The movie has already been criticized for casting Indian-British actress Naomi Scott as Jasmine, who is considered Middle Eastern.
- Ed Skrein recently dropped out of the new Hellboy movie amid accusations of white washing.
- Billy Magnussen also played a prince in Disney's Into the Woods.
- Will Smith plays Genie, a role played by white actor Robin Williams in the animated version.
- Will Smith has posted the first pic from the set.
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The NFL season kicks off today with the Patriots vs. the Chiefs on NBC.
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY
SEPTEMBER 7
Evan Rachel Wood, actress (30)
Shannon Elizabeth, actress (44)
Leslie Jones, actress (50)
Gloria Gaynor, singer (68)
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---IT (Horror)
WHAT'S IT ABOUT? In Derry, Maine in the summer of 1989, a group of outcast kids discovers a shape-shifting entity who may be linked to the recent cases of missing children in the town, but also face their own personal demons in the process
WHO'S IN IT? Bill Skarsgård, Finn Wolfhard, Jaeden Lieberher
TRIVIA:
- The Stephen King book was first adapted as a TV movie, starring Tim Curry as Pennywise the Clown, in 1990.
- A sequel is already planned.
- The book is more than 1100 pages long. It was published in 1986.
- It's expected to have the biggest opening ever for a horror movie.
--HOME AGAIN (Comedy)
WHAT'S IT ABOUT? Life for a single mom in Los Angeles takes an unexpected turn when she allows three young guys to move in with her.
WHO'S IN IT? Reese Witherspoon, Nat Wolff, Michael Sheen, Candice Bergen, Lake Bell
TRIVIA:
- Rose Byrne was once attached to star.
- Written and directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer, who is the daughter of writer/directors Nancy Meyersand Charles Shyer, whose credits include Father of the Bride, The Parent Trap, What Women Want and Private Benjamin.
--9/11 (Drama)
WHAT'S IT ABOUT? Five people find themselves trapped in an elevator in the World Trade Center's North Tower on 9/11.
WHO'S IN IT? Charlie Sheen, Whoopi Goldberg, Gina Gershon, Luis Guzman, Wood Harris, Jacqueline Bisset, Bruce Davison
TRIVIA:
- Opening in only 400 theaters.
- Based on the 2011 play Elevator by Patrick James Carson.
- Charlie Sheen is a 9/11 Truther. In a 2006 interview on Alex Jones's radio show, Sheen suggested that a "controlled demolition" actually caused the Twin Towers to collapse.
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Over 90 million people reportedly relied on torrents to watch the season premiere, and according to Torrent Freak, the numbers only get more staggering from there.
• the latest season was pirated more than a billion times in total. on average each episode was pirated 140 million times, compared to 32 million views through legal channels.