October 03, 2019
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'West Side Story': Steven Spielberg reflects after remake wraps
West Side Story, a new movie directed by Steven Spielberg, has wrapped production.
20th Century Fox shared the news, new cast photos and a letter from Spielberg in a tweet Wednesday.
West Side Story is a remake of the 1961 movie of the same name, based on the Broadway musical. The new film stars Ansel Elgort as Tony, Rachel Zegler as Maria, Ariana DeBose as Anita and David Alvarez as Bernando.
Spielberg appears in new photos with the cast, including Elgort, Zegler, DeBose and Alvarez, and Rita Moreno, who portrays Valentina. He said in an open letter that filming West Side Story was an unprecedented experience.
"This has been a journey without precedence: a joyful, stunningly moving, endlessly surprising encounter with the story and score of one of the world's greatest musicals," Spielberg wrote.
"My brilliantly talented, fiercely committed, generous and apparently inexhaustible cast and crew of hundreds have given our film everything they've got, and already I can say that the film we'll be releasing on December 18, 2020 owes everything to them, as does its immensely grateful director," he added.
Spielberg also paid tribute to Jerome Robbins, who conceived, directed and choreographed the original Broadway musical, and Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, who wrote the book, music and lyrics.
"For the light they've shed on the world, for Stephen Sondheim's insight, guidance and support, and for the openhearted support of the Bernstein, Laurents and Robbins estates, I owe more than I can possibly express," Spielberg said.
Moreno, who played Anita in the 1961 film, joined the cast of the remake in November 2018. Her character, Valentina, is a reimagined and expanded version of the character Doc.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I see myself revisiting this seminal work," Moreno said on Twitter. "And to be asked by Steven Spielberg to participate is simply thrilling! I am tingling!"
West Side Story opens in theaters Dec. 18, 2020.
Superman actors Brandon Routh, Tyler Hoechlin meet on 'Crisis' set
Superman actors Brandon Routh and Tyler Hoechlin had a friendly introduction on the Crisis on Infinite Earths set.
Routh, 39, shared a photo with Hoechlin, 32, Tuesday on Instagram while filming the CW special crossover event.
The picture shows Routh and Hoechlin in their red and blue Superman costumes. Routh joked about their pairing in the caption.
"#DoubleVision -- the new #Superman ability!" he wrote. "Grateful to share the #Arrowverse as #Superman for a short time with the charming & gracious @tylerhoechlin! I never really thought I'd get to meet #Superman in person... Gotta say, it's all it's cracked up to be!"
Routh played Superman in the 2006 film Superman Returns and now portrays Ray Palmer, aka The Atom, on Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. Hoechlin plays Superman on Supergirl.
Routh will play the Kingdom Come version of Superman and The Atom in Crisis on Infinite Earths, according to Entertainment Weekly.
"It's an opportunity for me to kind of say hello and goodbye to the character in a way I didn't get to the first time," Routh said of returning to Superman. "I'm just very honored to be able to do this one last time."
Tom Welling will play a third version of Superman in Crisis on Infinite Earths. The actor portrayed Clark Kent, aka Superman, in The WB/CW series Smallville.
Crisis on Infinite Earths brings together the Arrowverse, The CW's shared universe of DC Comics characters. The CW will air the first three episodes of the five-episode TV event in December, with the final two to broadcast in January.
LOOSE LIPS:
"It's so funny, because I actually would bring guys there that I'd dated to kind of, like, flex a little bit ...I'd be like, 'I'm Disney royalty,' and then I'd break up with them after the fireworks. It was always a good story."
--Ashley Tisdale, on her High School Musical-era habit of breaking up with her dates at Disneyland, on The Late Late Show with James Corden
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Which cast member says 'Grease 2' role was a 'total fluke'?
Tyler Perry receives star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Tyler Perry received the 2,675th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday.
Actors Kerry Washington and Idris Elba introduced Perry, who has directed each of them in movies. Washington said she was coming off a Broadway run when Perry cast her in For Colored Girls.
"He is our astronomer," Washington said. "He is tracking the stars and seeing the stars. He's studying the stars. He is naming the stars. He is knighting the stars and reminding the world that we have always shone bright."
Elba starred in Perry's Daddy's Little Girls. He credits Perry with helping him cast off the typecast of drug dealer Stringer Bell, whom Elba played on The Wire.
"Because of that role, it changed not only my career but it also changed the way I believe that people cast black men," Elba said. "We are fathers. We are men. We are human beings. We're not just drug dealers. We're not just criminals."
Perry said all the stars on the Walk of Fame inspire Hollywood hopefuls to dream. He wants his to inspire specific dreamers.
"This one in particular is for the underdogs," Perry said. "This one in particular is for the ones who want to do it there way. This one in particular is for the ones who want to bring as many people through the door as they can."
Perry made his Hollywood debut in 2005's Diary of a Mad Black Woman, which introduced his stage character Madea to movies. The movie opened at No. 1 at the box office and Perry began directing his own Madea movies, and other dramas not featuring his matriarch character.
"I've been there," Perry said. "I've been struggling, I've been out, broke, homeless. There was a perseverance, a tremendous faith in God, a tremendous hope that allowed me to keep going."
Perry's star is located at 7024 Hollywood Blvd.
R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe to release solo single Saturday
Former R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe will release his first solo single this week.
The 59-year-old singer announced on his website Wednesday that he will release the song "Your Capricious Soul" and a music video directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson on Saturday.
The Saturday release coincides with Extinction Rebellion's International Rebellion protests, set to take place Monday. Protestors will take to the streets in 60 countries to urge governments to address climate change.
Stipe will donate his earnings from sales and synchronization licensing from "Your Capricious Soul" to Extinction Rebellion for a full year.
"I took a long break from music, and I wanted to jump back in. I love 'Your Capricious Soul' -- it's my first solo work. I want to add my voice to this exciting shift in consciousness," Stipe said. "I believe we can bring the kind of change needed to improve our beautiful planet earth, our standing and our place on it."
"Your Capricious Soul" will be available exclusively on Stipe's website. The song is priced at 77 cents per download, although fans can enter a larger amount of their choosing.
Stipe came to fame with R.E.M., which disbanded in 2011. As a solo artist, he released the song "In the Sun" with Chris Martin in 2006 and "Rio Grande" with Courtney Love in 2013.
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Which cast member says 'Grease 2' role was a 'total fluke'?
Michelle Pfeiffer says her starring role in Grease 2 was a "total fluke."
The 61-year-old actress recalled her audition for the 1982 film during Tuesday's episode of The Late Late Show with James Corden.
Pfeiffer said she somehow managed to survive the casting process for Grease 2, a musical, despite not having dancing or singing experience.
"It was a total fluke that I got that part," Pfeiffer said. "I went on a lark. I wasn't a dancer, I wasn't a singer. I was in this short little purple skirt with go-go boots."
"We had the dancing auditions, it's literally like a chorus line -- this line goes and then the next line goes. I kept sneaking in the back and finally, it was only me," she added. "I got the part, shockingly enough."
Pfeiffer and Maxwell Caulfield played Stephanie Zinone and Michael Carrington in Grease 2, a sequel to the 1978 movie Grease. The original starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, who said on Watch What Happens Live in 2016 that she didn't like the sequel.
"I kind of remember they did ask [Travolta and me] ... to do it and then it didn't happen. I didn't think it was going to happen, and then they made it with other people," Newton-John said.
Pfeiffer went on to star in Scarface in 1983. She will next appear in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, which opens in theaters Oct. 18. Pfeiffer attended the film's premiere Monday with Angelina Jolie and her children.
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