TV Obits: McWethy, Cuniff, Dabney
A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.
- John McWethy: He was a veteran journalist who was the chief national security and Pentagon reporter for ABC News from 1979 to 2004. He reported on everything from foreign affairs, the military, and the Oklahoma bombing to 9/11. He died while skiing in Keystone, CO. He was 60. ABC News President David Westin released this statement.
- Robert Cuniff: He was a writer and producer who worked on several shows, including Sesame Street, The Today Show, The Dick Cavett Show, and the Disney series Mousterpiece Theater. He died at age 81 in Brooklyn, NY.
- Augusta Dabney: She was a veteran actress who appeared on several TV shows, including the soap operas Loving (she played Isabelle Alden for 12 years), Guiding Light, General Hospital, Another World, As The World Turns, Love is a Many Splendored Thing, and The Doctors. Her other TV appearances include Law and Order, Lou Grant, Studio One, Kraft Television Theater, Suspense, Police Woman, as well as the movies The Paper, Running on Empty, and The Heartbreak Kid. She died at age 89 in Dobbs Ferry, NY.
Top 20 Nude Movie Scenes of 2007
Mr. Skin has announced his annual list of the Top 20 Movie Nude Scenes. Marissa Tomei tops the 2007 list in the film Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead. I saw the movie at the Toronto Film Festival, and can attest that Tomei hasn’t aged a day. She might be in her 40’s but she doesn’t look a day over 30.
I’m surprised however that Natalie Portman didn’t take the top spot. Sure, Portman didn’t show her private parts in Wes Anderson’s Hotel Chevalier, but she did show her behind. It was enough to get the internet talking for month. still gets over1,000 hits a day from people on search engines looking for Portman nude. Her appearance is certainly the most talked about.
I also think that Heather Matarazzo should have placed higher on the list for her nude appearance in Hostel: Part II. Besides, who would have ever thought that we would get the chance to see Weinerdog nude. Check out the full list below:
1. Marissa Tomei - Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
2. Keeley Hazell - Cashback
3. Natalie Portman - Hotel Chevalier
4. Christina Ricci - Black Snake Moan
5. Sienna Miller - Factory Girl
6. Roselyn Sanchez - Yellow
7. Malin Ackerman - The Heartbreak Kid
8. Eva Mendes - We Own the Night
9. Lena Headey - 300
10. Stormy Daniels and Nautica Thorne - Knocked Up
11. Alexa Davalos - Feast of Love
12. Chelan Simmons - Good Luck Chuck
13. Wei Tang - Lust, Caution
14. Ashley Judd - Bug
15. Olivia Wilder - Alpha Dog
16. Ana Claudia Talancon - Alone With Her
17. Danielle Harris - Halloween
18. Heather Matarazzo - Hostel: Part II
19. Amber Valetta - The Last Time
20. Lucy Liu - Blood Hunter
Box Office Tracking: Heartbreak Kid soft; Seeker headed for $5M-$8M
What ever happened to The Farrelly Brothers?
Bobby and Peter exploded onto the scene back in 1994 with the landmark rude comedy Dumb & Dumber. This gem delivered $127M domestic with lines like, According to the map, we’ve only gone 4 inches,” and “Wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?,” and “Check out the funbags on that hosehound.” You won’t get that sort of smart dialogue from scribes like William Monahan, Akiva Goldsman or Paul Haggis. In fact, neither The Polish Brothers, The Wachowski Brothers or even The Coen Brothers can match-up with The Farrellys, crude quip for crude quip, obscene sight gag for obscene sight gag.
They followed Dumb & Dumber with the every-bit-as-funny Kingpin (although it managed just $25M domestic despite a remarkable performance by Bill Murray’s comb-over swirl in the climactic bowling scene). Then came the infamous Cameron Diaz hair gel scene in There’s Something About Mary ($176.5M domestic). After the somewhat-less-funny, but still ticket-selling Me, Myself & Irene ($90.5M domestic), there came a series of a lot-less-funny and fewer-ticket-selling disappointments.
2001 - Osmosis Jones - $5.2M opening ($13.6M cume)
2001 – Shallow Hal - $22.5M opening ($70.8M cume)
2003 – Stuck On You - $9.4M opening ($33.8M cume)
2005 – Fever Pitch - $12.4M opening ($42M cume)
More…
When did the Farrelly “funny train” come off the tracks? It was the moment they started worry about redeeming messages. By all accounts, Bobby and Peter successfully turn away from any sort of moral in Heartbreak Kid (Paramount), a remake of Elaine May’s funny 1972 relationship romp. The word is that this is a funny, outrageously raunchy movie.
It would be tough for the Farrellys to miss here with a lead whose last 5 movies have combined to rake in $855M domestic. In fact, Ben Stiller’s last 12 wide release movies (since Meet the Parents in 2000) have averaged a $24M opening. He’s money in the bank.
ALL-TIME TOP 10 BEN STILLER OPENINGS
1. Madagascar - $47.2M opening
2. Meet the Fockers - $46.1M opening
3. Night at the Museum - $30.4M opening
4. Dodgeball - $30M opening
5. Meet the Parents - $28.6M opening
6. Starsky & Hutch - $28.1M opening
7. Along Came Polly - $27.7M opening
8. Zoolander - $15.5M opening
9. There’s Something About Mary - $13.7M opening
10. Mystery Men - $10M
This is a Ben, Bobby and Peter reunion, having already teamed on the mega-hit There’s Something About Mary.
Surprisingly, the tracking for The Heartbreak Kid looks soft when compared to the tracking for the R-rated relationship/comedy blockbuster Knocked Up, and even soft by Good Luck Chuck standards, but I’ve learned not to bet
against a Paramount release generated by Dreamworks.
2007 RELEASES FROM PARAMOUNT PICTURES
- DreamWorks projects are underlined -
1/5/07 – Freedom Writers - $36.6M cume ($9.4M opening)
2/9/07 – Norbit - $95.3M cume ($34.1M opening)
3/2/07 – Zodiac - $33M cume ($13.3M opening)
3/23/07 – Shooter - $47M cume ($14.5M opening)
3/30/07 – Blades of Glory - $118.2M cume ($33M opening)
4/13/07– Disturbia - $80.1M cume ($22.2M opening)
4/27/07 – Next - $18M cume ($7.1M opening)
5/18/07 – Shrek the Third - $321M cume ($121.6M opening)
7/3/07 – Transformers - $315.4M cume ($70.5M opening)
8/3/07 – Hot Rod - $13.9M cume ($5.3M opening)
8/10/07 – Stardust - $37.8M cume ($9.1M opening)
The bottom line is that, if it weren’t for Steven Spielberg, David Geffenand Jeffrey Katzenberg, 2007 would be a dismal year for Paramount and the Melrose Avenue gang.
As of Sunday (9/30), Heartbreak Kid had only 2% Un-Aided Awareness compared to 18% for Knocked Up prior to its release and 7% for Good Luck Chuck on the Sunday prior to its opening. The Stiller film trails both of the comparables in Total Awareness with 70% (Knocked Up was at 81% and Chuck was at 78%) and Definite Interest at 31% (Good Luck Chuck was at 40% and Knocked Up went off at 37%).
Here’s how the pre-opening First Choice numbers stack up as of Sunday.
OVERALL FIRST CHOICE
Knocked Up – 16%
Good Luck Chuck – 15%
Heartbreak Kid – 8%
FIRST CHOICE – MALES UNDER 25
Knocked Up – 18%
Good Luck Chuck – 14%
Heartbreak Kid – 5%
FIRST CHOICE – MALES 25 PLUS
Knocked Up – 11%
Good Luck Chuck – 10%
Heartbreak Kid – 5%
FIRST CHOICE – FEMALES UNDER 25
Good Luck Chuck – 25%
Knocked Up – 22%
Heartbreak Kid – 8%
FIRST CHOICE – FEMALES 25 PLUS
Heartbreak Kid – 16%
Knocked Up – 13%
Good Luck Chuck – 9%
This would normally spell disaster, but Dreamworks/Paramount is spending its money late, and I’m told that as of today (Thursday), Heartbreak Kid’s Total Aware is above 85% and Overall First Choice is at 18%. Still, The Farrelly Brothers plus Ben Stiller plus Dreamworks does not necessarily add up to a “slam dunk.”
My gut is telling me that this movie has been marketed in the wrong way. We just finished the summer of Knocked Up and Superbad. Raunchy, obscene, over-the-top dirty is what is selling. That’s not how Heartbreak Kid is being sold. TV ads and trailers and print ads make it look like a sweet, cute, silly, “slapsticky” date movie. This sales pitch is working with Females 25 Plus with a First Choice number of 16% in that demo. Males just aren’t very into the movie. If you’ve got the next great “raunchfest” starring Ben Stiller and directed by the Dumb & Dumber guys, why sell the movie like Music & Lyrics or License to Wed.
Knocked Up enjoyed a $30.7M opening weekend, so it looks impossible for Heartbreak Kid to match that. Good Luck Chuck managed $13.6M on its opening weekend, the quickly improving Heartbreak Kid tracking numbers along with the serious Dreamworks/Paramount marketing muscle, should lift this one considerably higher than that figure. I’m predicting a somewhat disappointing $21M-$24M for The Heartbreak Kid in its opening 3 days.
36-year old director David Cunningham, whose last major project was the well-received ABC-TV movie The Path to 9/11, was at the helm for The Seeker: The Dark is Rising (Fox), which will bow at just over 3,100 locations Friday. It’s the first film based on Susan Cooper’s series of books called The Dark is Rising Sequence. The lead role is played by kid actor Alexander Ludwig, and the cast also includes Ian McShane (Deadwood) and Frances Conroy (Six Feet Under).
With its PG-rating, youthful leads and supernatural theme, the best comparable for The Seeker is this spring’s The Invisible. Prior to its opening, The Invisible had 10% Un-Aided Awareness, 65% Total Aware, 25% Definite Interest and a 3% First Choice. That’s markedly better than The Seeker, which has 1% Un-Aided Awareness, 36% Total Aware, 25% Definite Interest and 3% First Choice.
There’s just no traction in the marketplace for this one. The Invisible opened with $7.7M, and that is probably the high end of the correct range for The Seeker: The Dark is Rising. I’m calling for $5M-$8M.
The third wide release this weekend is Sony’s Feel the Noise. This urban drama, about a young rapper in the Bronx trying to make a name for himself, stars Omarion Grandberry, a former member of the band B2K, which was featured in 2005’s You Got Served. This is a niche movie, but the movie will definitely play at the appropriate theatres in the appropriate neighborhoods.
Sony scored big early this year with the urban-themed Stomp the Yard ($21.8M opening - $61.3M cume), but that won’t be duplicated here. Stomp had buzz with 13% Un-Aided Awareness and moviegoers knew it was coming with a 65% Total Aware. Feel the Noise has just 2% Un-Aided and 28% Total Awareness. With a 4% First Choice, Feel the Noise is likely headed for just $3M-$6M.
Here are my Final Predictions for October 5-7.
1. The Heartbreak Kid - $22.75M
2. The Game Plan - $12.6M
3. The Kingdom - $9M
4. The Seeker: The Dark is Rising - $7.5M
5. Feel the Noise - $4.8M
6. Resident Evil: Extinction - $4M
7. Good Luck Chuck - $3.1M
8. 3:10 to Yuma - $2.8M
9. The Jane Austen Book Club - $2.1M
10. The Brave One - $1.9M
Read the whole story at Fantasy Moguls.
Casting Watchmen: Matthew Goode, Patrick Wilson, Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup and Jackie Earle Haley
Later this week at the San Diego Comic-Con, Zack Snyder is expected to reveal the cast for his upcoming big screen adaptation of the classic Alan Moore graphic novel Watchmen. But as we near our Wednesday afternoon flight to San Diego, actors names have started to leak onto the interwebs.
- IESB reports that Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias will be played by Matthew Goode (The Lookout, Match Point). Previous internet speculation had Jude Law attached to the role.
- Patrick Wilson (Little Children) as The Night Owl.
- LatinoReview reports that Malin Akerman (Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, The Invasion, The Heartbreak Kid) has been cast as Sally Jupiter aka The Silk Spectre.
- Billy Crudup (Almost Famous) is supposedly attached to play Dr. Manhattan.
- Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children) has been confirmed by LatinoReview as Walter Kovacs aka Rorschach
Watchmen is considered the Citizen Kane of comic books. Many of the sucessful (and some unsucessful) comic book series have borred elements and ideas from the book. Because of that, I’m worried that much of the material might now seem cliche. It will be interesting to see if they can sucessfully adapt it to the big screen. Last month we published a rumored cast list which you can read at this link. I’m sure we’ll find out many more names at the Warner Bros panel on Friday morning.