Troubled trio: Director Richard Linklater is all set to make a sequel to the 1973 film The Last Detail.
JIM'S MOVIE CHEAT SHEET - 2 September
GREEN LIGHT FOR 'LAST DETAIL' SEQUEL
After nurturing the project for 10 years, director Richad Linklater is finally gearing up to make a sequel to the 1973 Hal Ashby film The Last Detail, which starred Randy Quaid, Otis Young and Jack Nicholson. Based on the 2005 book Last Flag Flying by Darryl Ponicson (who wrote The Last Detail novel, as well as Taps, which was made into a film in 1981). The cast includes Laurence Fishburne, Steve Carrell and Bryan Cranston.
ACTOR'S EQUITY BACKS CLINTON
In an arguably stupid move, America's Actor's Equity Association has publicly backed Democrat Hillary Clinton over Republican Donald Trump to be the next leader of the free world. The group is apparently living in fear of Trump's rhetoric about dissolving unions and it's the first time it's ever backed a presidential candidate. But it clearly is going against the views of actors who are either Republican - and there are lots of them - or who wish to keep their politics to themselves. The decision certainly won't help the impression that Hollywood is driven by liberals. The move certainly won't be making Clint Eastwood happy.
MCKELLAN'S REJECTS WEDDING OFFER
It's not news in the strictest sense but Sir Ian McKellan, 77, has revealed in an interview with the Daily Mail that in 2013 he was approached by representatives of Napster founder/Facebook honcho Sean Parker to appear at his Lord of the Rings themed wedding in full Gandalf costume. The offer: $1.5 million. McKellan's response: "I am sorry. Gandalf doesn't do weddings." Talk about passing an artistic integrity test.
J-LAW'S SALARY HAUL HALF OF IRON MAN'S
It's not a case of crying poor of anything but in this age of gender imbalance we need to point out that while Jennifer Lawrence (Hunger Games; Joy) has topped the latest Forbes list of highest paid actresses with a $46m moneybag, that still ranks at about half of what Robert Downey Jr hoovers in for all those Iron Man movies. It's equally important to point out that the widely quoted figures in these widely reported Forbes lists are guesses, not official figures. Interviews with industry experts, agents, producers etc, help the good people at Forbes arrive at their best possible estimate. In general, A-list actors and actresses keep such figures to themselves in the interests of maintaining leverage during those lengthy contract negotiations.
SWEDISH KIDS GET GO-AHEAD TO SEE DIRTY CARTOON
The distinctly adult animated comedy Sausage Party has managed to receive a family friendly rating in Sweden. It has an 11 rating, which means kids as young as seven are legally cleared to go see it, provided they drag an adult along. Here's hoping any adult confronted with such a request at least checks out the trailer, then overrules the kid.
CHINESE STUDIO SADDLES UP FOR MORE WESTERN MOVIES
China Loves Hollywood, part 453. The ginormous Chinese entertainment company Dalian Wanda Group is set to invest another $2 billion into acquiring two Hollywood studios, the aim being to further assimilate more and more American filmmaking technology and techniques into the Chinese method. Details are still hush hush, but the company is also looking to buy into Paramount. The outfit already owns the AMC cinema chain - the 2nd biggest in the US, it also introduced the multiplex concept to American filmgoers - and the Wanda Cinema Line (the biggest chain in China) and is hungry to swallow a Hollywood studio in one gulp to continue the growth of Western film love in China. Just a thought, but these big cultural bridges that are being built through cinema surely counter much of the tensions boiling on the geo-political front.
...BUT TIGHTEN LOCAL GUIDELINES
Having said that, China's overlords of media at the offices of the State Administration for Press, Publishing, Radio, Film and Television have issued anti-vulgarity, anti-hedonist guidelines to prevent local films and TV shows from promoting the type of Western-style values they see in Western movies, such as the easy acquisition of fame and riches. This signals a clear contradiction in the culture, and reminds us that China is still a Communist country. The solution? Simple: more movies!
BEN-HUR DEBUTS SOFTLY AS 'MOMS' RULE AGAIN
The not-very-anticipated remake of Ben-Hur (#4) opened mildly with a far-from-biblical take of $1.3 million on 316 screens. The top three spots were securely locked up by: Bad Moms (#1; $2.7m on 310 for a total of $11.3m); Suicide Squad (#2; $2.44m on 314; $30.9m); and Sausage Party (#3; $1.61m on 224; $7.36m).
The comedy David Brent: Life on the Road (#10) struggled for an audience with a take of $508,852 on 220; while the historical epic Free State of Jones (#12) did thin business with $188,251 on 102.
