Burning Q’s: Budget Stars & the Vanishing Charlize
With the economy hurting us average folks, are celebrities suffering, too? What kind of cutbacks are people in Hollywood making, if any?Mo
Fear not for Will Smith. He stands little chance of losing his Big Willie lifestyle. The giant undulating superpool, nestled deep inside his sprawling megacompound off the Mulholland Raceway, will still sparkle. And the one tennis court will remain as spotlessly maintained as the second tennis court right next to it.
But the Industry is also getting mighty sick of $20 million salaries for stars who, in the end, may not attract the crowds. Here’s how they’re trimming fat…
More stars are facing salaries tied strictly to box office performance. Yes, small-time hood Jason Statham pulled in a $5 million payday for making Crank 2, and Meryl Streep reportedly charged $1 million for a week’s work on Rendition. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, Jim Carrey didn’t get a single dime up-front for his next movie, Yes Man, due out this winter. Instead, he’ll get a higher percentage of the movie’s revenue, whatever that might be.
Keep those Burning Q’s coming, my little B!tchlettes!
Riddle me this, non-Batman: Why doesn’t superlooker Charlize Theron get any face time for the Hancock promos? KS, Tucson
She has face time in the trailers, so you must be referring to the posters. You should know that, according to producers and other insiders, Smith is considered to be the only true A-list movie star working right now, meaning he’s the only personon this entire miserable planetwho can guarantee box office on name recognition alone. Costar Charlize Theron, carnivorously hot as she may be, doesn’t fit that category. Even Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt don’t these days.
Who is that girl with the phone in her hand in the Answer B!tch photo thingy? Is that youuuuu Leslie?Selim, Rotterdam
Nooooo, Selim.
Does have any plans to bring back the reality show Paradise City anytime soon? Hate to admit it, but I was addicted! Thanks! Junker
Let’s put it this way: Enjoy that first season, which is available on iTunes.
Oh, and be my fan on Facebook, ’kay?
Disney Rolls to Rock Sequel
Camp Rock, well, rocked. And now Disney is ready to roll on a sequel.
Just days after the Jonas Brothers-starring TV movie debuted on the kid-friendly cable net, Disney has gone to work crafting a follow-up for the camera-friendly musical trio.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, production on the second small-screen installment will kick off in late spring or summer of 2009 with all three tween heartthrobsJoe, Kevin and Nick Jonasset to return.
The TV movie, made in the same mold as the High School Musicals, averaged 8.9 million viewers Friday night, besting the ratings received by the original HSM to become the most-watched nonsequel film the channel’s ever aired. (The unqualified title holder is HSM 2, which pulled in 17.2 million viewers in its first airing.)
Better start looking over your shoulder, Troy boy.
Tom Hanks All for TV, Radio Actors Making a Deal
Tom Hanks probably won’t be hurting too much if there’s an actors’ strike, but that doesn’t mean he cares to see any hard-up fellow thesps slinging lattes at Starbucks instead of practicing their craft this summer.
In hopes of avoiding yet another debilitating Industry strike, Hanks has thrown his support behind the new contract that the smaller of the two major actors unionsthe American Federation of Television and Radio Artistshas arrived at with the major studios and networks.
The two-time Oscar winner added his name to an email petition encouraging AFTRA members to vote for the new deal, despite the Screen Actors Guild’s continued haggling over further concessions.
“Either our employers will lock us out, or SAG will strike,” the petition states. “There really is no alternative if the AFTRA deal is defeated.”
SAG has let it be known that it’s likely their negotiations will continue beyond its current contract’s June 30 expiration, although it isn’t opposed to letting actors keep working without a deal.
AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, which reps the major studios, reached a tentative agreement late last month.
James Cromwell, Adam Arkin, Morgan Fairchild and Tess Harper have also added their names to the AFTRA petition.
Hanks teamed up in February with fellow all-stars Meryl Streep, George Clooney and Robert De Niro in taking out a full-page ad in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter urging SAG to begin talks with the studios early so as to avoid a repeat of the 100-day writers’ strike that ended up costing L.A. County more than $2 billion.
SAG and the AMPTP kicked off formal negotiations April 15, but the alliance temporarily walked away from the table May 6, citing the actors’ “continued adherence to unreasonable demands.”
Casting Couch: Woodard Comes in From the Cold
Alfre Woodard is getting into the spy biz.
The Emmy-winning actress has signed on to costar with Christian Slater in the new NBC series My Own Worst Enemy, a sort of small-screen version of James Cameron’s movie True Lies.
Per the Hollywood Reporter, Enemy revolves around an easygoing suburban dad (Slater) who, when not watching over his family, moonlights as a debonair secret agent.
Woodard, who was Emmy’d for her Desperate Housewives turn, will play his tough-as-nails boss at HQ, who also interacts with the spy in his everyday life via her cover identity.
Enemy, which also features Saffron Burrows, Mike O’Malley and Yara Martinez, will air Mondays at 10 p.m. on the Peacock net, starting this fall.
In other casting news, Saving Private Ryan’s Adam Goldberg is joining forces with up-and-comers Emily VanCamp and Dan Byrd for the indie coming-of-age tale Norman.
The drama will follow a wisecracking troubled teen (Byrd) who pretends he’s dying of cancer. Complications ensue as he deals with new high school love (VanCamp) and his teacher (Goldberg).
After a stint last season on HBO’s Entourage, Goldberg joined the upcoming indie horror flick From Within. He’ll then return to the tube opposite Lost’s Harrold Perrineau in the new ABC series The Unusuals.
Norman is now filming in Spokane, Wash.