Waitress, the hit Broadway musical that played more than 1,500 performances during its 2016-2020 run, will return for a limited, four-month engagement this September, with composer Sara Bareilles in the lead role, producers announced today. Bareilles will star as the pie-making Jenna Hunterson when the show begins performances Sept. 2 at Broadway’s Ethel Barrymore Theatre,
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Robert Downey Sr. — whose credits included filmmaking, directing, writing, acting and fathering Robert Downey Jr. — has died at the age of 85. Sr. died in his sleep at home in NYC Wednesday after a battle with Parkinson’s Disease, according to his wife, who spoke to the NY Daily News. Downey Sr.’s career started
As we told you over the weekend, Disney/Marvel’s Black Widow presales were set to outstrip that of Universal’s F9 at the same point in time before its opening weekend, and this morning Fandango has reported that the Cate Shortland-directed movie is their best pre-seller so far in 2021. Black Widow advance ticket sales are also
Finally after a near 15 month wait, Marvel’s long-awaited Black Widow will debut around the world after being locked up from the pandemic, and the industry’s global weekend expectation is as high as $140M. That’s essentially $50M from 46 material markets, save China and most of South East Asia. Among the major territories going are France, Italy,
EXCLUSIVE: In a recent Samba TV measurement, 783K U.S. households tuned into Universal’s The Boss Baby: Family Business on the studio’s streaming service Peacock over the four-day July 4th holiday weekend. That number for the DreamWorks Animation title beats the four-day Memorial Day debut of Disney’s live-action pic Cruella on Disney+ Premier, which clocked 686K U.S. households that
Suzzanne Douglas — best known as the matriarch in the WB sitcom “The Parent ‘Hood” and who recently appeared in the Netflix series “When They See Us” — has died, TMZ has confirmed. The veteran actress’ husband tells TMZ … Suzzanne died Wednesday at her home in Martha’s Vineyard from complications of cancer. Her husband
A Christmas Carol has been adapted by Hollywood many times before and through a modern lens with movies like 1988’s Scrooged starring Bill Murray, A Muppet Christmas Carol, and 2009’s Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Details are thin about the creative liberties being made for Spirited, but the fact that it’s a musical definitely sets it
Lionsgate’s English-language remake of Francis Veber’s French feature hit The Valet has been acquired by Disney’s direct-to-consumer platforms for a summer 2022 release as a Hulu Original in the U.S. and a Disney+ Star Original abroad. Directed by Richard Wong and starring Eugenio Derbez and Samara Weaving, The Valet follows Olivia (Weaving), a movie star who enlists
Company, Marianne Elliott’s reimagined production of the Stephen Sondheim/George Furth musical starring Katrina Lenk and Patti LuPone, will begin Broadway performances a month earlier than previously announced, with the new preview date now set for Monday, Nov. 15. The official opening night is now Thursday, Dec. 9 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, a full
Amazon did not report viewership figures for their $200M Skydance acquisition title The Tomorrow War, but third-party streaming analytics corp Samba TV did, and the Chris Pratt movie drew 2.41M U.S. households during the 4-day holiday weekend. The previous 3-day weekend viewership for Amazon movies Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse, another Skydance pick-up by the streamer, and
Paul Rudd once gave Seth Rogen a massage — which might sound goofy … but there’s a twist that makes all the more hilarious, the details of which Seth shared to much fanfare. The actor/director dished on the hilarious story out of nowhere Monday on Twitter, telling the tale of the time his good pal,
In March 2020, the box office was essentially cryogenically frozen thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s been slowly thawing out ever since, with things crawling back towards normal. Week to week we would see some movies hit big, but mandates and restrictions kept the market limited. This weekend, however, the industry has finally crossed a
Warning: The following interview contains some spoilers about Black Widow, opening July 9 in theaters and on Disney+ Premier. After being delayed for more than a year due to Covid, Black Widow, the second feature movie in the MCU post the franchise’s pinnacle, 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, will finally see the light of day. Industry estimates project
There’s a rare piece of movie history going up for auction … the 1949 Oscar trophy for Best Special Effects for “Mighty Joe Young” … and it’s expected to fetch a fortune. It’s not often you see Oscars on the auction block … the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences loathes seeing its trophies
CinemaBlend participates in affiliate programs with various companies. We may earn a commission when you click on or make purchases via links. This article contains spoilers from Flashback and its ending. Read no further if you haven’t seen the Dylan O’Brien movie yet! Christopher MacBride’s film Flashback stars Dylan O’Brien as Fred Fitzell, a young
Refresh for latest…: Universal’s F9 is gearing up to hit the $500M mark globally, a milestone it will cross on Monday as it becomes the first Hollywood movie to do so during the pandemic era, and the first since any studio film originally released during 2019. The Justin Lin-helmed title will also join China’s Hi,
Summer of Soul (Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) will report a three-day cum of $650K in 752 theaters in North America for a per screen average of $865, distributor Searchlight said of the Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson doc about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. The film, with an A+ CinemaScore, performed best in
Play video content TMZSports.com “I would say a good percentage of professional wrestlers, maybe 69% to be exact, wanna be The Rock by the time it’s all said and done.” That’s Dean Muhtadi (formerly known as Mojo Rawley in WWE) — telling TMZ Sports he’s getting into acting — in a way only he could.
For those who need to be brought up to speed, the feud between Dwayne Johnson and Tyrese Gibson began in earnest when Universal Pictures gave the greenlight to Fast & Furious spinoff Hobbs & Shaw, which was headlined by The Rock and fellow franchise alum Jason Statham. While this was exciting for fans, Gibson took
EXCLUSIVE: Blue Fox Entertainment has taken the US rights to Paul A. Kaufman’s YA dramedy Butter. An autumn theatrical release is currently planned. The movie tells the story of Butter (Alex Kersting), a smart, funny high school junior who happens to be obese. Butter manages to befriend the prettiest girl at school, Anna (McKaley Miller), via
Play video content TMZ.com Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck let it ride Friday … taking in all the cool stuff at Universal Studios. The freshly re-minted couple were joined by 2 young girls — unclear whose kids — as they meandered around the amusement park. This wasn’t your average day pass to the park …
Questlove’s Summer of Soul is up to 753 theaters as the doc about the 1969 ‘Black Woodstock’ concert in Harlem that debuted in two locations last weekend crossed into arthouse, commercial and urban venues. Not that it was easy, said Frank Rodriguez, SVP General Sales Manager, Searchlight Pictures. “Exhibitors are eager to get back on
Debuting his presence on TikTok with a callback to a deep cut in his resume, Ryan Reynolds clearly understands his fans. Those who have taken his ride to stardom, and survived both X-Men: Origins – Wolverine and Green Lantern, will appreciate the reference to an underrated gem. But those who are relatively new to the
Focus Features is shifting Downton Abbey 2 from Dec. 22 to Friday, March 18, 2022. Universal Pictures International will release internationally on the same date. The pic’s original principal cast have returned for the second film, which wraps production in August. New additions are Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye and Dominic West. The screenplay is by
Friday AM Update: Universal had not one, but two wide release previews last night as they head into the four-day Independence Day weekend, with both DreamWorks Animation’s The Boss Baby: Family Business, and Blumhouse’s The Forever Purge grossing $1.3M apiece. Those looking for more technicality: Boss Baby 2 took in $1.31M at 2,700 theaters from shows which began
In the wake of his departure from Studio Movie Grill, that circuit’s founder Brian Schultz has launched Look Dine-In Cinemas, another luxury dine-in exhibition concept. Look is taking over three Studio Movie Grill California leases and reopening the venues in the near future: Monrovia (July 15th), Downey (July 22nd) and Glendale (July 29). Look Dine-In
While Riddler will be The Batman’s main antagonist, he won’t be the only notable Caped Crusader adversary causing trouble, as we’ll also spend time with Zoë Kravitz’s Catwoman, Colin Farrell’s Penguin and John Turturro’s Carmine Falcone. The Batman’s cast also includes Robert Pattinson as the eponymous protagonist, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, Andy Serkis as
A24 got ahead of the Independence Day wide release competition yesterday with the opening of their Sundance Janicza Bravo directed thriller Zola which took in $505K at 1,468 theaters for a 6th place rank. The movie, based on the zany Twitter thread, boasts 88% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and is expected to bring in $2M-$4M
Chris Kattan allegedly pulled an anti-masker moment onboard an American Airlines flight, frightening other passengers and prompting airline staff to order him off the plane … TMZ has learned. Sources with direct knowledge tell us … the ex-‘SNL’ star had boarded the flight Monday from Dallas/Fort Worth to LAX, but his appearance startled several passengers
Unlike The First Purge, which was a prequel set before the events of the original 2013 film, The Forever Purge is a direct sequel to The Purge: Election Year that jumps ahead in the franchise timeline and sees the fascistic New Founding Fathers Of America reclaim power and reinstate the annual 12-hour horror show the