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Oscar Winner Javier Bardem Makes 1st Foray Into TV Playing “Monster” Jose Menendez in Series

Roger Friedman
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Oscar Winner Javier Bardem Makes 1st Foray Into TV Playing “Monster” Jose Menendez in Series

Jose Menendez was such a monster that his sons, Lyle and Erik, killed him and his wife, Kitty.

Now Oscar winner Javier Bardem, a legit marquee star, is going to play Jose in Ryan Murphy’s series, “Monsters.” That’s a big get for Murphy, whose shows were starting to fade a bit.

Another hot movie name, Chloe Sevigny, is playing Kitty. “General Hospital” star Nicholas Alexander Chavez, is Lyle, the older brother. Cooper Koch is Erik.

“Monsters” will be on Netflix, but there’s no airdate yet. It’s an anthology series, with one season already banked and ready to go.

The Menendez brothers killed their parents while they were eating ice cream and watching TV. No word if there’s an ice cream sponsor tie-in yet, but it would be ironic if they were slurping Good Humor! (Sorry, had to do it.)

I used this picture because I’ll take any excuse to have Bardem’s SAG nominated wife Penelope Cruz on the page!

Javier, btw, won his Oscar for “No Country for Old Men” playing a seriously scary monster in the Coens’ film.

Exclusives: “Abbott Elementary” Premiere Surprise, Kieran Culkin Possibly Joining “Existing Show” — “White Lotus”? — Caroline Aaron Back to “Ghosts”

Roger Friedman
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Exclusives: “Abbott Elementary” Premiere Surprise, Kieran Culkin Possibly Joining “Existing Show” — “White Lotus”? — Caroline Aaron Back to “Ghosts”

Who needs the Emmy Awards when you have the Critics Choice gala?

The Barker Hangar at Santa Monica Airport was filled with every imaginable TV star last night, all the big players from all the TV shows.

Quinta Brunson is a tiny human being who is ABC’s biggest star. The creator of the huge hit, “Abbott Elementary,” let me in on a secret about the comedy’s return on February 7th. They’re going “meta.” “The show is based on the school year,” Brunson said, “But we’ve been gone because of the strikes. So when we pick up, we’re going to explain why we’re only coming back now. It’s really funny. You’re going to love it, I hope.” Maybe the teachers were on strike, too!

Of course, the most fun was seeing all the people from “Succession.” The show is over and there’s no spin off, according to creator Jesse Armstrong. There had been some suggestion that it could be done, but Armstrong scotched that idea when I asked him.

Now Sarah Snook, who won Best Actress in a Drama last night, is off to London to play 26 characters in a one woman version of “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” Brian Cox is starring with Patricia Clarkson, also in the West End, in “Long Day’s Journey into Night.” These will be hot hot tickets in London theater, and — if well received — likely coming to New York.

Kieran Culkin won Best Actor in a Drama for playing Roman Roy with such dazzling glibness. What will he do next? He told me: “I may be joining an existing series.” The deal isn’t done yet so he couldn’t say which one. What could it be? “Shrinking” or “Severance” on Apple TV? “Hacks” on HBO? Culkin would be an A plus addition to any series. UPDATED Hearing Culkin could be joining “White Lotus,” also an HBO show. Roman Roy in Thailand?

Caroline Aaron has just wrapped six seasons playing the real Mrs. Maisel, Joel’s mother, on “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” (Midge, you remember, is a Weissman.) She tells me that she’s going back to doing “a bunch” of episodes on CBS’s hit sitcom, “Ghosts.” She plays Carol, the ex wife of the guy with the arrow through this neck. Aaron has done two episodes previously. I’ll watch anything she’s in, so “Ghosts” here we come!

The great Tony Shalhoub played Abe, Midge’s father, and won a ton of awards. But he’s also famous for “Monk,” which came back this fall in a movie for Peacock. He was nominated for a CCA Award last night and told me he’s open to coming back in more “Monk” movies and is just waiting to see if scripts will surface. You can’t have too much Shalhoub, that’s for sure!

I was thrilled to run into Abigail Spencer, who’s starring in “Extended Family” on NBC. Across the network and Peacock, “Extended Family” has scored over 10 million viewers in its first three episodes. Abigail has usually done drama, but she’s so much fun in person. “I’m a comedian now!” she told me.

Oscar Races Tighten Up as “Oppenheimer” Wins Critics Choice Awards, Top Acting Honors Go to Paul Giamatti, Emma Stone, Robert Downey Jr, Da’Vine Joy Randolph

Roger Friedman
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Oscar Races Tighten Up as “Oppenheimer” Wins Critics Choice Awards, Top Acting Honors Go to Paul Giamatti, Emma Stone, Robert Downey Jr, Da’Vine Joy Randolph

The Critics Choice Awards were pretty refreshing after the miserable Golden Globes last weekend.

“Oppenheimer” swept the movie side, while “Succession” took the TV department. In film, there were some surprises as Paul Giamatti and Emma Stone triumphed in lead, and Robert Downey Jr. and Da’Vine Joy Randolph won in supporting.

Of the four, Stone’s win was the biggest surprise as Lily Gladstone was the expected victor. She may yet prevail. We’ll have to see how the SAG Awards play out.

Giamatti’s win over Cillian Murphy from “Oppenheimer” makes sense. In “The Holdovers,” Giamatti — long a favorite with no awards — is overdue. That isn’t to say anything about Murphy, whose work as Oppenheimer is stellar. But it’s also the latter actor’s first foray into this arena.

In TV the big winners were “Succession” and “The Bear.” More than likely these choices will echo at tonight’s Emmy Awards, making it a little bit of a letdown.

Chelsea Handler was again a humorous and sophisticated host without embarrassing or humiliating anyone. The two hour show was a lesson in how to do these things in an entertaining and energetic way. Kudos to everyone involved.

Because the show was running a little short, the surprise of the night was asking Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie to come on stage and receive Best Comedy for “Barbie.” America Ferrara of that film was presented with the See Her award and gave such a moving speech that Oscar winner Brie Larson burst into tears at her table. She told me she was overwhelmed by Ferrara, who’s really become an oracle in Hollywood these days.

BEST PICTURE
Oppenheimer

BEST DIRECTOR
Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer

BEST ACTOR
Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers

BEST ACTRESS
Emma Stone – Poor Things

BEST LIMITED SERIES
Beef (Netflix)

BEST DRAMA SERIES
Succession (HBO | Max)

BEST COMEDY SERIES

Succession (HBO | Max)

BEST COMEDY SERIES
The Bear (FX)

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Kieran Culkin – Succession (HBO | Max)

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Sarah Snook – Succession (HBO | Max)

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

Oppenheimer

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jeremy Allen White – The Bear (FX)

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Ayo Edebiri – The Bear (FX)

BEST SONG
“I’m Just Ken” – Barbie

BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Steven Yeun – Beef (Netflix)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Ali Wong – Beef (Netflix)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Ebon Moss-Bachrach – The Bear (FX)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Meryl Streep – Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Billy Crudup – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Elizabeth Debicki – The Crown (Netflix)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Maria Bello – Beef (Netflix)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Jonathan Bailey – Fellow Travelers (Showtime)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert Downey Jr. – Oppenheimer

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers

BEST COMEDY (non-televised)
Barbie

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY (non-televised)
Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach – Barbie

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY (non-televised)
Cord Jefferson – American Fiction

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE (non-televised)
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM (non-televised)
Anatomy of a Fall

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS (non-televised)
Oppenheimer

EXCLUSIVE: Jonathan Majors Loses Role in Willem Dafoe Movie Based on Walter Mosley Novel to Corey Hawkins

Roger Friedman
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EXCLUSIVE: Jonathan Majors Loses Role in Willem Dafoe Movie Based on Walter Mosley Novel to Corey Hawkins

Very quietly, Jonathan Majors has lost another job.

I’m told that Majors was set to play against Willem Dafoe in a movie based on Walter Mosley’s mystery novel, “The Man in My Basement.”

But with Majors’ conviction last month on domestic abuse charges, he’s out of the film.

Coming in will be — I can tell you exclusively — Corey Hawkins. Hawkins is currently in “The Color Purple” playing Harpo to Danielle Brooks’s Sofia. He was on Broadway last year in “Top Dog/Underdog,” where he wowed crowds and won raves. He was also nominated for a Tony Award.

Up and comer Nadia Latif is directing. Filming abroad in Scotland is imminent.

Dafoe is off the charts great in “Poor Things,” currently in theaters. He just received a SAG nomination for Best Supporting Actor and is heading to the Oscars, I suspect.

Here’s the Amazon description of “The Man in the Basement”:

Charles’s summer with a man in his basement turns into an exploration of inconceivable worlds of power and manipulation, and unimagined realms of humanity. Walter Mosley pierces long-hidden veins of justice and morality with startling insight into the deepest mysteries of human nature.
The man at Charles Blakey’s door has a proposition almost too strange for words. The stranger offers him $50,000 in cash to spend the summer in Charles’s basement, and Charles cannot even begin to guess why. The beautiful house has been in the Blakey family for generations, but Charles has just lost his job and is behind on his mortgage payments. The money would be welcome. But Charles Blakey is black and Anniston Bennet is white, and it is clear that the stranger wants more than a basement view.

This story c2024 Showbiz411.com. Unauthorized use could result in all kinds of trouble.

BAFTA’s Annual Gala Tea Party: Movie and TV Stars Heat Up Annual Event on a Cold Los Angeles Afternoon

Roger Friedman
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BAFTA’s Annual Gala Tea Party: Movie and TV Stars Heat Up Annual Event on a Cold Los Angeles Afternoon

For some reason, the annual BAFTA tea party which usually takes place in the Four Seasons Beverly Hills ballroom was moved this year to an outdoor event space at the Maybourne Hotel not far away.

Luckily dozens of stars and famous faces heated up the tea because there were no heaters and a pretty stiff wind blowing in. This did not deter anyone including a knockout group that included this alphabetically arranged bunch:

Jonathan Bailey, Fantasia Barrino, Maria Bello, Emily Blunt, Danielle Brooks, Quinta Brunson, Neve Campbell, Tantoo Cardinal, Sam Claflin, Brian Cox, Willem Dafoe, William Stanford Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Leonardo DiCaprio, Colman Domingo, Phil Dunster, Phoebe Dynevor, Ayo Edebiri, Emerald Fennell, America Ferrera, Dominique Fishback, Greta Gerwig, Paul Giamatti, Brett Goldstein, Paul Walter Hauser, Tom Hiddleston, Derek Hough, Julianne Hough, Glenn Howerton, Janelle James, Cord Jefferson, Mark Johnson, Harry Jowsey, Joseph Lee, Eva Longoria, Archie Madekwe, Ashley Madekwe, Julianne Moore, Lamorne Morris, Carey Mulligan, Cillian Murphy, Cara Jade Myers, Chris Perfetti, Rosamund Pike, Karen Pittman, Adina Porter, Bella Ramsey, Judy Reyes, Alfonso Ribeiro, Sam Richardson, Andrea Riseborough, Seth Rogen, Mark Ruffalo, Matthias Schweighöfer, Rhea Seehorn, Dominic Sessa, J. Smith-Cameron, Celine Song, Lisa Ann Walter, Diane Warren, Jeffrey Wright.

c2024 Showbiz411

So what was going on? First of all, a change in leadership as Joyce Pierpoline has taken over the chairman’s job at BAFTA USA. Pierpoline has been a behind the scenes producer in the New York movie world for a couple of decades now and she’s going to up the profile of BAFTA immensely.

Most of those names above are headed to tonight’s Critics Choice Movie and TV Awards tonight on the CW network (7pm EST).

Some of them popped in and out — the cold was maybe daunting for bare shoulders — but most stuck around for some time. Particularly enjoying the crumpets and tea were “Succession” actor Brian Cox, J Smith Cameron, and Zoe Winters, plus “Holdovers” star Paul Giamatti who chatted with “Poor Things” actor Willem Dafoe. I ran into Neve Campbell, who said she’s open to coming back to the “Scream” series under the right conditions, Maria Bello told me all about living in Paris, and so on.

Bryan Cranston Among Stars Remembering “Days of Our Lives” Star, Bill Hayes, 98 Years Old

Roger Friedman
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Bryan Cranston Among Stars Remembering “Days of Our Lives” Star, Bill Hayes, 98 Years Old

I’m a little behind here but “Days of Our Lives” star Bill Hayes has died at age 98. He joined the show in 1970 and has played Doug Williams ever since then, even with some breaks. Hayes fell in love with his leading lady, Susan Seaforth, and they married in 1974. They were so popular they were featured on the cover of Time Magazine. In recent years they were heavily featured on the show. Bill Hayes’s last appearance was just last month.

As actors have come and gone on the nearly 60 year old soap, the Hayeses became its heart and soul. The character of Doug Williams arrived as a conman but became a cafe owner and song and dance man. Hayes was the first actor ever to sing on a soap, and it was a regular thing. (He used to perform on the show with the late Robert Clary, who most people remember from “Hogan’s Heroes.”)

There are a lot of tributes to Bill Hayes all over social media. But the one below was writte by Bryan Cranston and posted to Deadline’s comments page.

I’ll also say I have a soft spot for the Hayeses. They were on TC seemingly every afternoon I was in junior high and high school. Their longevity is to be applauded. Condolences to their families.

Critics Choice Awards Could Benefit from NFL Scheduling Change Due to Snow, Bad News for Emmys?

Roger Friedman
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Critics Choice Awards Could Benefit from NFL Scheduling Change Due to Snow, Bad News for Emmys?

Weather or not, awards season continues with some potential ratings issues.

The NFL game set for Sunday — the Bills vs. the Steelers — has been moved to Monday because Buffalo is under 10 feet of snow and the temperature is below minus 300. The Bills are asking fans to come with shovels to dig them out so the game can even happen on Monday.

That’s good news for Sunday’s Critics Choice Awards on the CW network at 7pm. Most football will be over by the time the show starts, and will definitely be done by 8:30pm. Ratings for the CCA should be given a little push now by the absence of real competition.

But Monday’s Emmy Awards, basically a repeat of the CCA with the same people and similar nominations, could face headwinds.

Now there will be two back to back games on Monday, potentially soaking up a huge part of the TV audience.. The much anticipated Eagles vs. Buccaneers game on Monday starts at the same time as the Emmy Awards. The Eagles are heavy favorites. So are “Succession” and “The Bear” in drama and comedy, but who knows? Also, the Emmys were voted on last summer for a season that’s already been usurped in many cases by a succeeding one — meaning they aren’t really current. In the case of “The Bear,” for example, the voting was for their first season, not the second one that’s already played.

Acts of God are not in the Nielsen playbook. so stay tuned, especially for the CCA on Sunday which has all the movie and the TV stars and the very funny and smart Chelsea Handler as host.

Jennifer Lopez’s Comeback Single “Can’t Get Enough” Fails to Launch, Stalls at Number 22 on iTunes

Roger Friedman
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Jennifer Lopez’s Comeback Single “Can’t Get Enough” Fails to Launch, Stalls at Number 22 on iTunes

Jennifer Lopez’s fans have gotten enough.

After a big premiere on Wednesday, Lopez’s “Can’t Get Enough” has stalled on the iTunes charts at number 22.

At the same time, Ariana Grande’s “Yes, and?” hit number 1 out of the box and has remained there since yesterday morning. Of course, Grande is half Lopez’s age and her fans are motivated and paying attention to releases.

Lopez was banking on a hit to help launch her new album, coming next month, called “This is Me… Now.”

The video that accompanies the new song is fun but maybe doesn’t help Lopez’s image. It centers on a wedding. She’s in the dress, etc. It’s her umpteenth video or movie involving that theme, which may be a tad too much at this point.

“Can’t Get Enough” is a hybrid single, made of musical particle board — ten songwriters are listed and is built on two samples of obscure old songs. Conversely, the Ariana Grande song is new, written by hit maker Max Martin and his team.

Exclusive: Meryl Streep Returning for Season 4 of “Only Murders” But Not Dating Martin Short — Just on the Show

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: Meryl Streep Returning for Season 4 of “Only Murders” But Not Dating Martin Short — Just on the Show

Exclusive: Meryl Streep and all the cast of “Only Murders in the Building” are returning for Season 4 of “Only Murders in the Building.”

I already told a few weeks ago Nathan Lane was coming back. Season 4 will see all the actors — starting with Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez — back for more murder investigations at the Arconia.

I also confirmed with Streep and Short that they are not dating. A rumor popped up after the Golden Globes last Sunday that their fictional relationship had turned into something more.

When I asked each of them about it at Friday’s sensational American Film Institute lunch, they assured me they are just great friends.

The annual AFI lunch at the Four Seasons Hotel ballroom honors 10 movies and 10 TV shows of the last season. AFI director Bob Gazzale runs a smooth operation that’s not televised, but a time for all the filmmakers to have fun and not compete for awards.

“There are no losers here,” Gazzale told the star studded A list crowd that included the casts of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Oppenheimer,” “Poor Things,” “Maestro” and TV shows like “Succession” and “Abbott Elementary.”

As a bonus, Gazzale always has a surprise honoree. This year was no exception, with Oscar and Tony winner Ellen Burstyn, age 91 and fit as a fiddle, flying in from New York to give her benediction on the whole show. The audience of famous actors and directors — from Bradley Cooper to Leonardo DiCaprio to Julianne Moore and Sarah Snook went wild when Burstyn — elegant, refined, and feisty– took the stage.

There were also plenty of execs and famed Hollywood leaders in the room including the magnificent George Stevens Jr,. Kathleen Kennedy, Bob Daly, Jean Firstenberg, Mike DeLuca and Pam Abdy of Warner Bros. celebrating their new deal with Tom Cruise with Warner DIscovery’s David Zaslav.

(Another party — this one celebrating movie channel TCM — followed the luncheon with the Warner’s gang reaffirming their total support for the channel. They announced that Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson had already renewed their commitment to the channel for another year.)

Gazzale made special mention of having three AFI Lifetime Achievement winners in the room: Spielberg, Streep, and Steve Martin. Streep basked in the limelight as our greatest actress, and no one disagreed. She told me after lunch that she’s getting back into film with several projects cooking, not just “Only Murders.”

More to come…including notes from Universal’s cocktail party last night for “Oppenheimer” and “The Holdovers,” with all the casts and special appearances by The Rock and Snoop Dogg — in the same room!

photo c2024 Showbiz411.com

UPDATE Exclusive Selena Gomez-Linda Ronstadt Movie Director Has a Silver Lining in David O. Russell

Roger Friedman
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UPDATE Exclusive Selena Gomez-Linda Ronstadt Movie Director Has a Silver Lining in David O. Russell

c2024 Showbiz411.com

I told you back in July 2023 that Selena Gomez would play Linda Ronstadt in a film written and produced by James Keach.

Then this week Rolling Stone and other outlets ignored that exclusive and just announced it themselves based on a photo Gomez posted of the cover of Ronstadt’s memoir.

That was pretty crappy, right? But now I can tell you EXCLUSIVELY that David O. Russell will direct the film. The award winning director of “Silver Linings Playbook’ and “American Hustle” is a huge Ronstadt fan. This is something he’s wanted to for a long time. It’s likely that the vocals in the film will be mostly from Ronstadt’s recordings, although Gomez has a great voice and could certainly contribute to the soundtrack.

I actually knew this was happening back in the summer, but I was asked to wait until all the t’s were crossed and i’s were dotted. Apparently this now the case. There’s no title yet, but “When Will I Be Loved” sounds like it might fit.

Ronstadt was the pre-eminent female pop star of the 70s into the 80s. She was a hot number, a smart pop tart who took control of her career and her life. She had dozens of hits while dating A listers like George Lucas and California governor Jerry Brown. The Eagles played behind her, she toured with Jackson Browne, and it’s her voice you hear on Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold.”

In the 80s, Linda expanded her portfolio and even appeared to acclaim on Broadway opposite Kevin Kline in “The Pirates of Penzance.” She formed a trio with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris, and had a major hit with Aaron Neville. How all that is packed into two hours is still unclear but Russell will make a terrific film, of that I am sure.

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