Entertainment

Entertainment

New Changes Coming to The Oscars

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The Hollywood Reporter:

To address the concerns of those who find the show to be too long and boring (thanks largely to the current existence of 24 competitive awards, of which the general public only cares about a few), Bailey and Academy CEO Dawn Hudson said in a letter to members that the board has “committed to producing an entertaining show in three hours.” They explain that this will be achieved partly by “present[ing] select categories live, in the Dolby Theatre, during commercial breaks (categories to be determined).” Those categories will not be removed from the telecast; instead, “the winning moments will then be edited and aired later in the broadcast.”

And:

At least as important, in terms of improving the ratings of the Oscars telecast for ABC, the Academy also said in its letter that it “will create a new category for outstanding achievement in popular film,” adding that “[e]ligibility requirements and other key details will be forthcoming.”

So, is this just “the Marvel movie” category?

Johnny Depp’s Notorious B.I.G. Movie Pulled From Theater Release

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The Hollywood Reporter:

Johnny Depp’s Notorious B.I.G. thriller City of Lies has been pulled from the schedule a month before it was set to hit theaters.

The movie, formerly known as LAbyrinth, was slated to open Sept. 7 in North America by Global Road Entertainment. No new date has been set for the film.

The move comes amid a series of woes for the actor, including a damaging Rolling Stone profile in June, that make any publicity campaign tough.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon Developing Film About McDonald’s Monopoly Scam

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Remember that story about the McDonald’s Monopoly scam? It sounded like a good movie idea. Well, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are currently developing a film about it:

Ben Affleck is attached to direct and Matt Damon to star in a true-crime story written by Jeff Maysh and published in The Daily Beast several days ago about an ex-cop who rigged the McDonald’s Monopoly game, allegedly stealing over $24 million and sharing it with an unsavory group of co-conspirators who offered kickbacks to the mastermind. The Pearl Street partners will produce, and the Deadpool scribes Paul Wernick & Rhett Reese will write the script.

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Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter Reteaming for ‘Bill & Ted 3’

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The Hollywood Reporter:

Currently in preproduction, Bill & Ted Face the Music will see the duo long past their days as time-traveling teenagers and now weighed down by middle age and the responsibilities of family. They’ve written thousands of tunes, but they have yet to write a good one, much less the greatest song ever written. With the fabric of time and space tearing around them, a visitor from the future warns our heroes that only their song can save life as we know it.