morning wire

Lisa Gutierrez | (TNS) The Kansas City Star The film that gives Travis Kelce his first billed credit as a movie producer received largely positive reviews and a standing ovation at its premiere. “My Dead Friend Zoe” debuted at the SXSW Film & TV Festival over the weekend. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end is one of 10 executive producers. Kelce was in Singapore with girlfriend Taylor Swift as she wrapped up a six-concert stand and did not attend the festival in Austin, Texas. The film’s director, Kyle Hausmann-Stokes,…

The 96th Annual Academy Awards returned to the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 10. The awards show began an hour earlier than previous years, starting at 4 p.m. For many viewers at home, the most talked-about night in Hollywood was also the conclusion of the nearly yearlong Barbenheimer saga. today we are officially saying goodbye to one of the most iconic era in cinematic history pic.twitter.com/ef3n76nuSR — َ (@popcultfilm) March 10, 2024 Fans enjoyed various moments between the cast of the “Barbie” Movie such as Ryan…

Burger runs are becoming as much a part of the entertainment industry’s awards season as the red carpet, and Shake Shack is looking for a piece of the action. The New York-based chain is launching a contest on how long it will take the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to get through its annual awards ceremony on Sunday, March 10. It will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, and ABC will broadcast it beginning 4 p.m., with red carpet coverage beginning at 10 a.m. If the show goes over or under 3 hours…

That murky Avatar “experience” that Disney has dangled as a tantalizing possibility for Anaheim as the company and the city hammer out the final details of the massive $1.9 billion DisneylandForward project just got a little clearer. Disney CEO Bob Iger said an Avatar-based themed land is coming to the Disneyland resort during a Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference on Tuesday, March 5. “We have one Avatar-based land, Pandora, in Florida,” Iger said at the teleconference. “We’re going to put a second one…

For writer-director Peter Farrelly, it was love at first laugh when he read the screenplay for “Ricky Stanicky,” his new R-rated comedy starring John Cena and Zac Efron. That it took more than a decade to get it made? Eh, that’s just Hollywood, the Oscar-winning filmmaker says. “I’m used to it,” says Farrelly, who won Academy Awards for best picture and best original screenplay for “Green Book” in 2019. “Like, ‘Dumb and Dumber’ took five years. ‘Something About Mary’ took 10 years. ‘Kingpin’ was an old script. “It takes a…

Lucasfilm’s “The Mandalorian & Grogu” and 14 other film projects have been greenlighted for California’s film and TV tax-credit program. The California Film Commission said the productions will create nearly 20,000 jobs and add nearly $408 million into the state’s economy. The California Film and Television Tax Credit Program offers companies a 20% tax break for productions with a budget of at least $1 million. The credit applies only to the first $100 million in expenditures and uplifts, or purchases paid off over…

By Harmeet Kaur | CNN  A British film industry group has raised the age rating for the beloved children’s classic “Mary Poppins” over discriminatory language. The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), which regulates films and video content in the country, changed the rating of the 1964 Disney musical last week from U (Universal) to PG (Parental Guidance) because it features a racial slur once used by White Europeans to refer to the native peoples of southern Africa. “Mary Poppins (1964) includes two uses of the…

A star known for her stellar beauty hides it under a wig, unflattering makeup and 30 extra pounds. A fiery actor signs on to play a milquetoast, broken man. A first-time director strips away the work of an Oscar-nominated writer – who also happens to be the producer – and then fights with the studio and fires the cinematographer. And the language in the script? Shocking, even scandalous. What could go wrong?  In “Cocktails with George and Martha: Movies, Marriage and the Making of ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,’” which…

By Dan Heching and Alli Rosenbloom | CNN Like so many other holidays, Valentine’s Day can evoke a staggeringly wide range of feelings. The good news: Whether you lean in to the romance of it all or run screaming from it, there’s a movie out there for you. In light of the very subjective nature of this red heart-drenched day, here’s a list of mood-specific film recommendations that are sure to scratch whatever itch you might be feeling. If you’re feeling nostalgic, watch ‘An Affair to Remember’ Starting off with a true…

By ANDREW DALTON | AP Entertainment Writer Christian Bale broke ground Wednesday on a project he’s been pursuing for 16 years — the building of a dozen homes and a community center in Palmdale intended to keep siblings in foster care together. The Oscar winner stood with a grin and a shovel full of dirt alongside local politicians and donors in the decidedly non-Hollywood city of Palmdale, 60 miles north and across the San Gabriel Mountains from Los Angeles. But Bale, who was Batman in director Christopher Nolan ‘s “Dark…