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Super Bowl Halftime Show Touchdown as Apple Music Takes Over, Taylor Swift Eyed as Performer

Roger Friedman
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Super Bowl Halftime Show Touchdown as Apple Music Takes Over, Taylor Swift Eyed as Performer

Big changes for the Super Bowl halftime show.

First of all, Pepsi is out as sponsor after many years. In comes Apple Music, with very deep pockets and lots of influence.

The word is Taylor Swift will be the lead musical performer, which makes sense. Apple would be pushing her and Swift will be well into the release of her “Midnights” album coming October 21st.

The Swift-Apple combo is formidable, certainly, since Swift — who used to be opposed to streaming — is also busy replacing her older albums with re-recorded versions.

Previously the NFL had been in a deal with Jay Z and Roc Nation to supply artists for the half time show. Because of the Colin Kaepernick situation, the NFL was trying to appease Black fans by having artists like Jennifer Lopez and Shakira (2020), the Weeknd (2021) and this past year’s hip-hop spectacular guided by Dr. Dre and featuring Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and 50 Cent, with Anderson.Paak.

My guess is Swift will not be alone. She will definitely have guest stars and at least one of them will have to be from the R&B world, maybe one from country since that was where she had her start. But this will definitely be a more white bread Super Bowl show than we’ve seen in many years.

Sony’s Local “Bullet Train” Struggling to Find $100 Million Station, Might Arrive Next Week

Roger Friedman
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Sony’s Local “Bullet Train” Struggling to Find $100 Million Station, Might Arrive Next Week

It;s a good thing Brad Pitt is so rich that he’s starting a cosmetics line.

His latest film, “Bullet Train.” is late arriving at the $100 million station. Last night “Bullet Train.” already in theaters for 49 days, earned just $225,000.

Total now is $97,432,900. Unless a lot of people book passage on that train this weekend. the $100 million mark remains elusive, sort of the way backed up trains are lodged in the tunnel approaching Grand Central at rush hour.

Any more puns? “Bullet Train” will have its ticket punched early next week, we hope. But it’s been a local, not an express.

PS Sony’s re-release of “Spider Man, Enough Already” made just $20 per theater yesterday in 860 locations. “From web to ebb.”

Box Office Bonanza: Harry Styles Fans Turn Out En Masse for “Don’t Worry” Previews Despite Negative Reviews

Roger Friedman
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0
Box Office Bonanza: Harry Styles Fans Turn Out En Masse for “Don’t Worry” Previews Despite Negative Reviews

There are still some worries, but last night Harry Styles fans turned out for his big movie.

Preview showings produced $3.1 million at the box office, a lot more than anyone could have predicted considering the reviews. (That’s a 36% on Rotten Tomatoes.)

But Styles fans bought a lot of tickets. The movie is looking at a possible $20 million weekend if the Style-istics keep coming back to see their pop star idol bury his head under Florence Pugh’s dress a couple of times.

Meantime, “The Woman King” fell by another 10%.

Ratings: “The Goldbergs” Returns Down 37% After Killing Off Jeff Garlin’s Murray (Instead of Using Stand Ins)

Roger Friedman
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Ratings: “The Goldbergs” Returns Down 37% After Killing Off Jeff Garlin’s Murray (Instead of Using Stand Ins)

Fans of “The Goldbergs” were shitting shiva Wednesday night instead of watching the ABC comedy.

The show returned down more than 37% in the key demo and 30% in total audience from its finale last season. Total viewership was 2.5 million.

The reason, I’d say, was they killed off Jeff Garlin’s character, Murray, the center of the show and the only reason to watch it.

Garlin left “The Goldbergs” last January after there was a complaint from someone on the show about his backstage language or jokes or something. The show got woke and lost its audience.

For a while “The Goldbergs” pretended Murray was still around, and even used stunt doubles for him in a wedding episode.

But when season 10 picked up Wednesday night, Murray had been dead a while. That left the rest of his boring family.

Garlin will return next year in the 12th season of the much loved and awarded “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” where the backstage banter, I’m sure, is funnier than the outtakes of “The Goldbergs.”

Beatles Songs Suddenly Turn Up in Popular Movies, TV After Years of Being Too Expensive to License

Roger Friedman
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Beatles Songs Suddenly Turn Up in Popular Movies, TV After Years of Being Too Expensive to License

It used to be that Beatles songs were not allowed in popular movies or on TV shows. The Beatles’ former manager, the late Neil Aspinall, wouldn’t permit their classic tunes to be sullie by passing fancies.

After Aspinall died, there was a bit of a softening in the approach. “Baby You’re a Rich Man” turned up in “The Social Network.” I reported that producers had to pay a million bucks to get it.

But now, all of a sudden, the Beatles are slowly crossing into the mainstream.

Last night, Monty Python great Eric Idle, an old friend of the group, performed “Love Me Do” on the insipid game show. Idle was dressed as a hedgehog. (I hope he was paid a fortune.) Idle commented that he had to get Paul McCartney’s permission. McCartney replied, “Just tell me when it’s on so I know when not to watch.” Ha ha.

Today there’s a new trailer for Alejandro Innaritu’s “Bardo,” coming from Netflix. The trailer is set to the Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus.”

Netflix has deep pockets, and it’s possible they cut a deal for “Walrus” at Sony Music Publishing when they also picked up the Beatles’ song “Glass Onion” for the new “Knives Out” movie. The whole Rian Johnson film is themed around a Glass Onion, and he’s said in interviews that he got the idea from the Beatles song. In the movie, you don’t hear it, though, until the moment the movie has it climactic end.

So far, all three of these songs are from the lesser group of Beatles tunes. Let’s hope we’re never going to hear the big hits used this way. But with 251 Lennon-McCartney collaborations, there are plenty more that might pop up. (How about “I’ll Be Back” at the end of a horror film?)

Here’s Eric Idle on “The Masked Singer” followed by the Innaritu trailer.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=50R37J8ojdw

Camila Cabello Says Adios to Epic Records, Joins Interscope After Last Album Sales Disappointed

Roger Friedman
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Camila Cabello Says Adios to Epic Records, Joins Interscope After Last Album Sales Disappointed

Camila Cabello is saying ‘adios” to Epic Records after nine years.

Variety reports Cabello is dancing over to Universal Music’s Interscope Records. She started with Epic in 2013 as a member of Fifth Harmony.

But Cabello’s big sales peaked in 2019 when she was dating Shawn Mendes and they had a massive duet hit with “Senorita.” Prior to that, Cabello had her first solo smash with “Havana.” Her 2019 album, riding that crest, was “Romance,” which sold 1.6 million copies.

But this past April. Cabello released a new album, “Familia,” which was a sales disappointment, Total sales so far are just 255,000 copies. The single, “Bam Bam.” however, with Ed Sheeran, sold 1.1 million copies mostly in streaming equivalent. Sheeran is on Atlantic Records, and no one knows what his profit participation is in the deal.

Cabella is certainly not “washed up” at age 25, and she has lots of career ahead of her. But when sales fail, artists look for a change. Maybe she’ll regain her footing at Interscope. Other artists have tried the same thing. John Legend jumped from Columbia to Universal, although that hasn’t worked out. Miley Cyrus left RCA for corporate cousin Columbia, and that also hasn’t been a success. It’s all a crap shoot.

Exclusive: Clive Davis Confirms Prince Didn’t Like Having No Control Over Cover Versions of His Songs

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: Clive Davis Confirms Prince Didn’t Like Having No Control Over Cover Versions of His Songs

We’ve been honored to hear from music mogul Clive Davis on the subject of Prince not liking cover versions of his songs.

The subject came up when I wrote about Mariah Carey saying Prince didn’t care for her recording of “The Beautiful Ones.” I guess Carey recorded it without asking his permission. That’s legal. The Compulsory License provision allows anyone to record a song without getting a waiver.

In the cases of Prince covers “I Feel for You,” “Manic Monday,” and “Nothing Compares 2 U,” Prince was thrilled. They were his ideas, and he reaped the financial benefits. But with Mariah, evidently, that was not the case.

Clive Davis writes to us:

“Let me verify that Prince absolutely abhorred the compulsory license statutory provision. When Arista distributed the album “Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic” by Prince (the only album where we joined together), this was his favorite subject. During every call and during any concert we both attended, or dinner we shared, the topic of the “unfair and inequitable compulsory license” not only came up but was dialogued extremely intensely. This was at Prince’s initiation.

“I didn’t at all agree with him and we endlessly went back and forth. He had wanted me to go to Washington DC with him and meet “with Congress” to plead his case. I refused since I was at odds with his position. Then one day Prince called me to say that the reason that he kept bringing the subject up was that he found our dialogue fascinating and he would like us to record our conversations and release it on a CD. I said the CD would bomb since I didn’t believe anyone was interested in this subject except him.            

“Maybe I was right and maybe I was wrong. But I sure wish today I had tapes of those conversations. I would cherish them with much nostalgia and great affection.”

My own PS here: Clive Davis is a treasure in the music business. He’s forgotten more than we’ll ever know!

Box Office: Viola Davis’s “The Woman King” Is Struggling to Stay Afloat Mid Week

Roger Friedman
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0
Box Office: Viola Davis’s “The Woman King” Is Struggling to Stay Afloat Mid Week

Things are not going easily for “The Woman King.”

The Viola Davis starring film directed by Gina Prince Bythewood has great reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, critics are at a huge 95% and audience score is a 99.

But in real terms, the box office is suffering. After making $19.5 million over the weekend, “The Woman King” has had a rough go of it. Monday was down 72% from Sunday. Tuesday recovered a little, up 47%. But Wednesday saw a 37% downturn The total now is just under $24 million.

Tonight, “Don’t Worry Darling” which has mostly negative reviews but lots of publicity, launches previews. The power of Harry Styles’ fans will be measured, as well as the legs of “The Woman King.”

“Jeopardy” in Ratings Jeopardy as Ratings Fall 20% Since Mid Summer, Don’t Rebound with New Season

Roger Friedman
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0
“Jeopardy” in Ratings Jeopardy as Ratings Fall 20% Since Mid Summer, Don’t Rebound with New Season

The “Jeopardy” audience doesn’t seem to know a new season has begun.

Ratings for the first week of the new season, with Ken Jennings hosting, were just 4.0 million. That’s the same as the previous week of reruns.

But in mid summer, the “Jeopardy” ratings dropped about 20% and have never recovered. Of course, August was all reruns. But something hasn’t clicked yet for Season 39.

Ironically, the announcement that Jennings is now permanent as host, alternating with Mayim Bialik, was supposed to help the ratings. Jennings has always had good numbers. Maybe it’s just a case of settling into the fall season.

Meantime, Drew Barrymore’s talk show, now reconfigured as a half hour and not airing in New York until 9:30am — a death slot — has lost 100,000 viewers a day. They were up to 500,000 average but now they’re down to 400,000 in the new format. My guess is this is the last year of the Drew Barrymore Show.

Senator John Kerry, Movie Critic: Endorses a Movie for First Time Ever in Boston Globe Essay

Roger Friedman
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0
Senator John Kerry, Movie Critic: Endorses a Movie for First Time Ever in Boston Globe Essay

Senator John Kerry, former Secretary of State and a vietnam Vet, has gotten into the movie review business.

Kerry has written an essay in today’s Boston Globe about Peter Farrelly’s “The Greatest Beer Run Ever,” a movie I just saw and loved. It stars Zac Efron and Russell Crowe in the first film about Vietnam during the war — with the exception of “Da 5 Bloods,” which cut back and forth in time — in 20 years.

I’m told that Kerry asked to see the movie, loved it, asked to see it again, and even turned up at an advance screening.

“The Greatest Beer Run Ever” is based on a true story about former Marine Chickie Donohue, who was not a soldier but wanted to help out his pals who were in Vietnam during the war. In 1968, he jumped a merchant Marine ship, determined to deliver a duffel bag full of beers to his pals from Inwood (way upper Manhattan). His naive effort turned into a book (co-written with JT Molloy), and Chickie wound up getting a degree from the JFK School of Government at Harvard.

Kerry writes in The Globe: “For those of us of the Vietnam generation, the film is a poignant reminder that, whatever we did in that time and whatever our political perspective, how we experienced Vietnam is inextricably intertwined with who we experienced it with. But for all of us, the film can serve as a reminder that even in times of great division and conflict, hopefully we can find common ground; if not, at least we can find our common humanity. Learning that lesson hopefully does not demand that we travel thousands of miles from home as Chickie had to, but that we can find that spirit right here at home, again.”

“The Greatest Beer Run Ever” opens in theaters on September 30th and hits Apple TV Plus. Efron and Russell are excellent, it’s Efron’s best work, and the movie is an adventure no one should miss.

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