August 14, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Bryan Lourd with daughter Billie Lourd — Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic(LOS ANGELES) — With theater chains just starting to re-open after months of the COVID-19 pandemic, many inside and outside of Hollywood are wondering what comes next. 

For one, super-agent Bryan Lourd, who represents A-list clients like Brad Pitt and George Clooney, and is the co-chairman of Creative Artists Agency, said the industry will get back on its feet.

“I believe it will come back,” Lourd said during the 44th Annual UCLA Entertainment Symposium, according to Deadline.

“…I think there will be a certain type of event movie with big global themes and dazzling, either movie stars or directors, who are the best of their day…and that will be reserved for four or five times a year for people.”

Obviously, that’s far fewer times than people used to go to the theater — and streaming is behind the change.

“I think behavioral patterns are permanently changed as a result of what we’ve all just been through and what we are going through now,” Lourd explained. “The ability to see almost anything you want in a quality way in your home, in a safe environment, when you want to, is unbeatable in so many ways.”

He believes that it will cause movie studios to “evolve” in regards to what they bring to theaters and when, still insisting, “I don’t think it is dead or gone.”

Despite the ease of streaming, Lourd insists moviegoers still miss the shared experience of the theater. “I think the first Friday night in the next six months or year, or three months, whenever it is [safe], will maybe be one of the biggest nights in movies, in the history of the business,” Lourd said. “I think that the audience is dormant and waiting, same thing with concerts, same thing with sports.”

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

August 14, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Apple TV+(LOS ANGELES) — Former Saturday Night Live star Jason Sudeikis returns to the small screen today with the new Apple TV+ comedy Ted Lasso, based on some comedy videos Sudekis did a couple of years ago to promote soccer on NBC.

Sudeikis plays the titular character, an unflaggingly optimistic American football coach who goes to England to take charge of a pro soccer team, and Sudeikis tells ABC Audio that he really enjoyed playing someone nice for a change.

“Look, I’m not Daniel Day Lewis. I’m not Meryl Streep. Surprise, surprise. I hate to ruin the illusion there,” he jokes. “I’m not like a method actor, but if you pretend to be horrible all day, you’re gonna be horrible for at least a half hour or hour when you get done with work, because you’re just viewing the world through that lens.”

The 44-year-old actor has created many different characters over the years, and he told ABC why he wanted to turn this one into a TV show.

“It’s a really fun way to view the world. It’s a fun sort of, you know, a prism to view the world,” he explains. “And I think that’s part of the reason why it was the desire to do that, because, you know, often if you play like different characters, sometimes you only want to play them for four minutes. I think that’s why, because of his optimism.”

Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence worked with Sudeikis on the show, and said his goal was to come up with something that would lift spirits in an otherwise difficult time.

“I want the show to have a ton of heart and be really optimistic and hopeful in a time that is not necessarily like that out there,” he tells ABC.

August 13, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Angela Weiss / AFP(LEBANON) — Yes, the real Russell Crowe has stood up, after a “very generous” donation appeared on an online fundraising page for a beloved Beirut restaurant called LeChef, which suffered damage from last week’s deadly explosion.

A journalist called Richard Hall was one of the fundraisers’ organizers, and he tweeted that “someone called Russell Crowe made a very generous donation to our Le Chef fundraiser. But not sure if it’s the @russellcrowe.”

Turns out it was.

The restaurant was a favorite of the late Anthony Bourdain, who visited it in 2006 on his Emmy-winning No Reservations show — and that evidently led the Oscar winner to pitch in.

“On behalf of Anthony Bourdain,” Crowe said, confirming his identity. “I thought that he would have probably done so if he was still around. I wish you and LeChef the best and hope things can be put back together soon.”

The Unhinged star donated $5,000 towards the fundraiser’s goal of $15,000 — it’s only $800 away from that benchmark.

The Beirut blast killed at least 135 people, and injured thousands.

Bourdain died by suicide in 2018.

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

August 13, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Mint Mobile(LOS ANGELES) — With Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock, and a host of other companies offering huge stockpiles of content, Ryan Reynolds has just launched his own — which offers just one film. 

“Every tech company needs a streaming service,” the actor and entrepreneur tweeted. “So… introducing Mint Mobile +. The world’s most affordable streaming service!”

A promotional video invites users to “binge over 80 minutes of Ryan Reynolds” — specifically, his movie Foolproof, presented in sumptuous “2003 DVD quality.”

Of course, the post is just another clever gag from the Deadpool star and marketing master, who purchased Mint Mobile last year, and who has begun voicing and appearing in on-brand sarcastic spots for the wireless carrier.

In case you need further proof Reynolds isn’t being fully serious, he followed the initial tweet with, “Two minutes after launch and our crack data team has already determined Mint Mobile + should probably be shut down by the weekend. We’ll go back to focusing on premium wireless…”

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

August 13, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Rooftop Films(NEW YORK) — For residents of New York City, the summer usually means carefree days in Central Park and countless outdoor concerts and movie screenings — but not in 2020. 

With COVID-19 keeping movie theaters closed and restricting the number of people who can gather at an event, the non-profit Rooftop Films has found success this summer with a retro classic that’s becoming popular nationwide: the drive-in. 

Normally, the organization “engages and inspires the diverse communities of New York City by showcasing the work of emerging filmmakers and musicians” as part of its outdoor annual Summer Series, but in 2020, they’re bringing the drive-in back to the fore in Queens and Brooklyn.

Their Queens Drive-In will kick off tonight with a screening of IFC Films’ Tesla, starring Ethan Hawke. Other titles include the documentary thriller The Last Out; the classic family favorite The Muppet Movie; the Academy Award-winning feature film Mad Max: Fury Road, Stanley Kubrick’s enduring and visionary sci-fi masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, and more.

Dan Nuxoll, the Artistic Director of Rooftop Films, tells ABC Audio, “[I]f done properly, [drive-ins] are really pretty much a completely safe way in these times to bring people together.”

He adds, “[P]eople are really excited about it. You know, and obviously it’s really one of the very few ways in which people can gather right now. So that’s a big part of it. But I think also, you know, it’s with movie theaters all closed, people are just missing that experience.”

Nuxoll explains that the process, from ticket buying to check in is totally contactless, and of course, the patrons stay in their cars, listening to the movie’s audio through their car’s radio. “They just need to sit back and enjoy and watch the movies!”

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.