The story of the man who discovered Donna Summer, Gladys Knight, The Isley Brothers and Bill Withers is coming to the big screen. Spinning Gold, based on the life of Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart, is set to release March 31, but the trailer for the movie is out now.
The trailer takes us back to the ’70s when Bogart decided to open what would become the most successful independent record company at the time. It captures the moment LaDonna Adrian Gaines learned her moniker would be Donna Summer; the studio session during which the song title “Midnight Plane to Houston” became Knight’s “Midnight Train to Georgia”; and the financial battles the label faced while competing against other record companies. In multiple scenes, Bogart is seen talking his artists out of doubt, and into fame and stardom.
Written, directed and produced by Bogart’s son Timothy Scott Bogart, Spinning Gold sees a star-studded cast playing the icons who inspired them. Wiz Khalifa will star as George Clinton, Jason Derulo as Ron Isley of The Isley Brothers, Tayla Parx as Donna Summer, Pink Sweat$ as Bill Withers and Ledisi as Gladys Knight.
Michelle Monaghan, Jay Pharoah, Dan Fogler, Jason Issacs, Lyndsy Fonseca, Chris Redd, Casey Likes, Sebastian Maniscalco and Jeremy Jordan are also part of the cast.
Thursday night, ABC airs the all-star specialBeauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration, a tribute to the classic animated film that stars H.E.R. as Belle and Josh Groban as The Beast, plus Shania Twain, Martin Short, David Alan Grier and Rita Moreno. Groban says the special is an “ambitious” production that isn’t quite a movie and isn’t quite a musical … it’s more of a hybrid.
“The amount of people and effort that it took to put this together was really quite incredible,” he tells ABC Audio. “We’re in costume and singing the songs and acting some of the scenes, and there’s puppetry … and it’s just going to be a really good time.”
Speaking of costumes, Groban says the promotional photos have deliberately hidden what he’ll look like as The Beast. “We wanted to interpret the character in a way that was artistically just a different vibe than everybody has seen,” he teases. “So it is very beastly and it is very large and I can’t wait for people to see what they’ve done.”
Groban is also excited for people to see him singing with Oscar- and Grammy-winning R&B star H.E.R. as Belle.
“We come from different kinds of musical landscapes, but I thought we blended really, really well together,” he notes. And for him, the songs they’re singing are the true highlights of the project.
“Every one of us in the cast, no matter where we come from, comedy or rock or pop or wherever else, we all have hummed these melodies since we were kids,” says Groban, adding, “I hope that that love and passion that we all have for it comes across in the special.”
Beauty and the Beast: A 30 Celebration airs at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
Outgoing Republican Gov. Doug Ducey began stacking shipping containers along the border to use as a physical barrier to deter migrants from coming across the border to Arizona illegally.
A nearly two-week stalemate broke out after Ducey tried to put containers on land that belongs to the Reclamation and Forest Service along the border — land that is federally protected.
In October, Ducey sued the federal government claiming the action was necessary due to what he called the high burden Arizona has experienced with the influx of migrants arriving at the border.
But the Justice Department says what Arizona is doing with the shipping containers is illegal.
“Officials from Reclamation and the Forest Service have notified Arizona that it is trespassing on federal lands, the lawsuit filed in Arizona District Court on Wednesday said. “Not only has Arizona refused to halt its trespasses and remove the shipping containers from federal lands, but it has indicated that it will continue to trespass on federal lands and install additional shipping containers,” the DOJ said.
The Justice Department alleges that representatives from the Arizona Department of Emergency Management placed nearly four miles of shipping containers illegally along the border and cleared out vegetation to put even more containers.
“Arizona has indicated that it will place additional shipping containers for approximately six more miles on National Forest System lands,” the Justice Department said. “Arizona’s installation of shipping containers along the border on federal public lands is also detrimentally affecting law enforcement functions. Arizona’s installation activities have substantially curtailed the Forest Service’s ability to freely access the border area, and the installation of the containers could impede access to crime scenes or to investigating criminal activity originating on the other side of the containers, including drug trafficking,” the lawsuit said.
DOJ says Arizona is violating the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause that holds that — when there’s a conflict — federal laws take priority over state laws.
The sheriff in the county where the border wall section in question exists said he is frustrated with what he called the “illegal dumping” occurring– telling FOX 10 Phoenix he could make arrests.
“The area where they’re placing the containers is entirely on federal land, on national forest land,” Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway said. “It’s not state land, it’s not private land, and the federal government has said this [is] illegal activity. So, just the way if I saw somebody doing an assault or a homicide or a vehicle theft on public land within my county, I would charge that person with a crime.”
Knotfest was previously held in Japan in 2014 and 2016. The planned return in 2020 was postponed multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In other Knotfest news, Motionless in White has dropped off the lineup for this weekend’s Knotfest Brazil, citing “widespread and serious illness amongst our band and touring crew.” The group was also scheduled to perform in Brazil this week with Bring Me the Horizon.
Motionless canceled a U.S. concert earlier this month due to frontman Chris “Motionless” Cerulli battling an upper respiratory infection.
Siouxsie and the Banshees frontwoman Siouxsie Sioux hasn’t performed live since 2013, but that’ll change next year.
The “Kiss Them For Me” artist is confirmed to perform at the United Kingdom’s 2023 Latitude Festival, taking place July 20-23.
The bill also includes Pulp, George Ezra, Paolo Nutini and The Kooks. For the full lineup and all ticket info, visit LatitudeFestival.com.
When Sioux takes the stage at Latitude next year, she might see some younger fans in the audience. The music of Siouxsie and the Banshees has been reaching Generation Z this year with a placement on the Stranger Things season 4 soundtrack, while Sioux helped influence the viral Wednesday dance scene.
Meanwhile, a new Banshees compilation titled All Souls dropped in October.
Mike Rozman/Warner Brothers/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
A behind-the-scenes video of an executive producer of The Ellen DeGeneres Show saying farewell to the chat show’s crew is being seen in a new light after the death by suicide of Stephen “tWitch” Boss.
Boss, the show’s in-house DJ and an executive producer on the show, is seen behind his fellow EP Andy Lassner as the latter gives a poignant toast to the crew as the long-running, Emmy-winning program wrapped in the spring.
“This is a life change, and we’re all going through it,” Lassner says of the show’s ending in a video that was shared on Instagram by former Warner Bros. Television senior communications executive Johanna Fuentes. “And it’s OK to be sad, and to reach out to each other.”
He added, “Keep each other close, don’t keep in the pain, talk to someone — anyone,” as Boss nodded behind him.
Fuentes’ caption read, “Have have been rooting for Twitch through every chapter, from when I first saw him audition on SYTYCD [So You Think You Can Dance] and every moment in between, including our work at WB and Ellen.”
She called him “an immense talent who brought joy to every room he walked into,” describing Boss, as many have — including DeGeneres herself Wednesday — as “such a bright light.”
Boss’ body was found in a Los Angeles motel room Tuesday evening. The medical examiner determined he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
If you are in crisis or know someone in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or by visiting 988lifeline.org. You can also contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
As previously reported, The Rolling Stones are dropping the new live album and DVD GRRR Live! on February 10, and to celebrate they’ve announced a new interactive virtual concert event with Kiswe.
The online screening will take place February 2 at 8 p.m. Thanks to the Kiswe Live platform, viewers from across the globe can be part of the excitement. They can share short video selfies, and they’ll be able to see themselves on screen and be seen by others as the performance airs.
GRRR Live!, recorded December 15, 2012, at Newark’s Prudential Center during the band’s 50 & Counting tour, was the final of four shows in the New York area and was a pay-per-view event. It featured guest appearances by such big names as Bruce Springsteen, Lady Gaga, John Mayer, Gary Clark Jr., Mick Taylor and The Black Keys.
Tickets for the interactive experience go on sale Thursday at 3 p.m. ET at RollingStonesNewark.com.
Just weeks after announcing he’d be once again playing the Man of Steel, Henry Cavill is out.
That’s the word from both the actor and James Gunn, who, along with producer Peter Safran, is tasked with getting Warner Bros. Discovery’s DC Comics-based cinematic universe back on track.
Cavill’s surprise return to the role he first played in 2013’s Man of Steel was teased to an after credits scene in Black Adam. The Witcher star subsequently posted a video to fans confirming he would be back as the Last Son of Krypton. However, Gunn’s and Safran’s plans for the future have scuttled the actor’s return to the role.
Cavill broke the bad news to fans on Instagram Wednesday. “…After being told by the studio to announce my return back in October, prior to their hire, this news isn’t the easiest, but that’s life. The changing of the guard is something that happens. I respect that. James and Peter have a universe to build. I wish them and all involved with the new universe the best of luck, and the happiest of fortunes.”
For his part, Guardians of the Galaxy writer-director Gunn tweeted fans that he’s been writing a Superman movie “for a while,” and it will in “no way” be an origin story. “…our story will be focusing on an earlier part of Superman’s life, so the character will not be played by Henry Cavill,” Gunn explained.
He added, “But we just had a great meeting with Henry and we’re big fans and we talked about a number of exciting possibilities to work together in the future.”
Speaking of possibilities, Gunn’s tweets also hinted at the DCU return of Ben Affleck. While Affleck played Batman/Bruce Wayne in a series of films, starting with 2016’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Gunn said he met with Affleck “because he wants to direct & we want him to direct; we just have to find the right project.”
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and country stars everywhere are halting their busy tour schedules and work lives to spend time with the most important people in their lives: their kids.
Ski trips are a popular holiday choice for all kinds of families and country stars are no exception: Jason Aldean and his wife, Brittany, headed out to Colorado this month so that their two toddler children, Memphis and Navy, could hit the slopes.
Great minds think alike, and Luke Bryan typically likes to take his family out for ski trips during the holidays. The Bryans will stay close to home this year, though: the singer’s wife, Caroline, recently underwent hip surgery. That’s not stopping the family from hosting its annual Pranksmas tradition, though, despite the fact that Caroline is using a wheelchair and crutches this year.
But not all the stars are snowbirds: Russell Dickerson and wife Kailey are celebrating the end of the year with a beach trip, according to Kailey’s Instagram Stories. The couple are parents to 2-year-old Remington.
Then there’s others who simply prefer to stay close to home. Charles Kelley’s wife, Cassie, is usually a noted travel enthusiast, who often takes their 6-year-old son, Ward, along on her vacations. Holiday season in the Kelley household hit a snag this year thanks to the flu, but that didn’t stop them from decorating a classically elegant Christmas tree. Check out the finished product, and more glimpses into the holidays, over on her social media.
Tyler Perry has set his next feature film for Netflix about the 6888th battalion, the only all-black, all-female battalion in the World War II effort. Perry wrote the script for the project, titled Six Triple Eight, which is based on an article by Kevin M. Hymel published in WWII History Magazine by Sovereign Media. Six Triple Eight is Perry’s fourth film with the streamer, following A Fall From Grace, A Madea Homecoming, and most recently A Jazzman’s Blues…
HBO Max has renewed Mindy Kaling‘s comedy series The Sex Lives of College Girls for a third season. The series follows Kimberly, Bela, Leighton and Whitney — played respectively by Pauline Chalamet, Amrit Kaur, Renee Rapp and Alyah Chanelle Scott — four roommates who live out their hormone-fueled lives. Since its premiere on November 21, the show’s second season has been HBO Max’s top-rated original programs, according to the streamer. The final two episodes of season 2 launch Thursday…
Deadline reports Reese Witherspoon will executive produce and star in the half-hour comedy series All stars, coming to Amazon Prime Video. All Stars follows Witherspoon as a former cheerleader from Daytona Beach who “cons her way across the pond to teach cheerleading at a school in coastal England and has to show a ragtag group of students — and herself — how to be All Stars”…
