By Todd Cunningham
TheWrap

The Kevin Hart-Ice Cube comedy “Ride Along” pulled off a box-office three-peat this weekend, holding off Zac Efron’s “That Awkward Moment” with an estimated $12.3 million.

The R-rated “bro-mantic comedy” starring Efron, Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan took in $9 million and was in a tight race for second with Disney’s animated hit “Frozen,” which got $2.2 million from sing-along versions in more than 2,000 theaters nationwide and skated to an estimated $9.3 million.

The weekend’s other wide opener, director Jason Reitman’s Kate Winslet-Josh Brolin drama “Labor Day,” finished seventh with a lackluster $5 million for the three days.

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Both Focus Features’ “Awkward Moment” and paramount’s “Labor Day” targeted mainly female audiences as counter-programming plays on a weekend when much of the nation’s focus was on Sunday’s Super Bowl.

But neither found enough of an audience to derail “Ride Along” and distributor Universal, which has topped the box office for four straight weeks. The Tim Story-directed “Ride Along” is up to $93 million domestically — very impressive for a movie that cost $25 million to make.

The Tom Gormican-directed “Awkward Moment” hit the mark with its target demographic, with 64 percent of its audience female an 61 percent younger than 25 years of age. Analysts had expected a little more given the trio of young stars, but the first weekend haul is OK with Focus, which acquired rights to the $8 million film for $1.5 million. The reviews have been lousy (22 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences gave it a “B” CinemaScore.

The sing-along re-release is just the latest triumph for “Frozen,” which has snowballed into a global Blockbuster, with more than $360 million domestically and $864 million worldwide. The album features the Oscar-nominated single “Let It Go,” and has spent three weeks atop the Billboard top 200 chart — the first soundtrack to do that since “High School Musical 2” in 2007.

Another animated movie, Open Road’s “The Nut Job” finished fourth with $7.6 million. The squirrel tale featuring the voice of Will Arnett has taken in $50 million since opening three weeks ago.

“Lone Survivor,” which started Universal’s winning streak when it opened No. 1 four weeks ago, crossed the $100 million mark after taking in $7.1 million this weekend. The Afghan War drama starring Mark Wahlberg is up to nearly $105 million domestically.

“Labor Day,” co-financed to the tune of $18 million by paramount Indian Paintbrush, drew an audience that was older – 71 percent above the age of 25 – and 59 percent women. Audiences gave a “B-” CinemaScore to the drama revolving around an escaped convict and a single mom, which co-starred Gattlin Griffith and Tobey Maguire.

Sony’s “American Hustle” continues to the hottest Best Picture Oscar nominee at the box office. It took in $4.3 million over the weekend to raise its domestic to $133 million, which makes it director David O. Russell’s highest-grossing film, ahead of last year’s “Silver Linings Playbook” ($132 million).

Warner Bros. re-released “Gravity” in 330 Imax theaters this weekend and those screening provided more than half of its $2 million three-day total. Alfonso Cuaron’s 3D space epic remains by far the highest-grossing Best Picture contender overall with $264 million domestically, and nearly $700 million worldwide since opening in October.

paramount’s awards contender “The Wolf Of Wall Street” took in $3.4 million in its sixth week. Its domestic total is up to $104 million, making it the fourth of director Martin Scorsese’s movies to top $100 million – and they have all starred Leonardo DiCaprio. “Shutter Island,” “The Departed” and “The Aviator” are the others.

The top ten:

“Ride Along,” $12.3M;

“Frozen,” $9.3M;

“That Awkward Moment,” $9M;

“The Nut Job,” $7.6M;

“Lone Survivor,” $7.1M;

“Jack Ryan; Shadow Recruit,” $5.4M

“Labor Day,” $5.3M;

“American Hustle,” $4.3M;

“The Wolf of Wall Street,” $3.5M;

“I, Frankenstein,” $3.5M

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Veteran actress Dame Judi Dench never considered the possibility of winning an Oscar, because she was advised early on in her career to stick to theatre.

The British icon is nominated for the Best Actress honor at the 2014 Academy Awards for her role in “Philomena” after previously scooping a Best Supporting Actress prize in 1999 for her role as Queen Elizabeth I in “Shakespeare In Love.”

But Dench admits the possibility of landing an Oscar nomination, let alone winning, never crossed her mind as a young actress because an industry boss once advised her against making the transition from the stage to the big screen.

She tells Britain’s The Times, “I was told very early on that I would never make films and I settled for that. I was a theater actor and films didn’t come into my thinking or anything. It has all changed very much since ‘Mrs Brown’ (for which she was nominated for an Oscar in 1998). So now I do more films than I do work in the theatre. So an Oscar is something I never considered.”

However, the actress has declined to name and shame the person who had given her the bad advice, adding, “I’ve never said that, out of respect for the man who said it, who was a very great and respected person.”

Dench will learn if she is another Oscar winner on 2 March, when the 86th Academy Awards ceremony takes place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in his New York City apartment on Sunday of an apparent drug overdose, according to a New York Police Department source.

The source said Hoffman was found dead after a 911 emergency call from a friend of the actor. The source gave no further details.

The New York Times, citing a law enforcement official, said investigators found a syringe in Hoffman’s arm and an envelope containing what was believed to be heroin.

Hoffman, 46, won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 2005 biographical film “Capote,” and received three Academy Award nominations as Best Supporting Actor.

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Oscar winner Forest Whitaker is in negotiations to write, direct and star in a big screen adaptation of bestselling novel “The Shack.”

Movie executives at Summit Entertainment acquired the film rights to William Paul Young’s spiritual book last year, and now they are keen to bring the star onboard to take charge of the project.

The 2007 novel follows the story of a man who receives a note, seemingly from God, four years after his daughter is abducted while on a family vacation. If Whitaker signs on, “The Shack” will become the first film he both directs and appears in. He previously stepped behind the camera for the movie adaptation of “Waiting to Exhale” in 1995, 1998 romantic drama “Hope Floats” and 2004’s “First Daughter.”

It’s shaping up to be a busy year for Whitaker — he is also in talks to join Liam Neeson in a third instalment of his hit action franchise “Taken,” while he will receive the Chairman’s Award for his humanitarian work at the 45th annual NAACP Image Awards next month.

By Jeff Sneider
TheWrap

After working together on “Silver Linings Playbook” and “American Hustle,” David O. Russell may be reteaming with Oscar-winning starlet Jennifer Lawrence on an untitled movie about single mom-turned-entrepreneur Joy Mangano, an individual familiar with the project has told TheWrap.

Russell is in negotiations to rewrite an original screenplay from Oscar-nominated “Bridesmaids” co-writer Annie Mumolo, with an eye to direct the project. Lawrence is not attached at this time, but Russell would like her to star and has discussed the project with the actress.

John Davis and John Fox will produce the movie with Ken Mok.

Mangano was working multiple jobs to support her three children when she sold her mop making enterprise to HSN for millions of dollars. Known as the “Mother of Invention,” Mangano created the Miracle Mop and Huggable Hangers.

It’s unknown when Lawrence would have the time to star in the project, as she is attached to star in Universal’s “East of Eden” and Lionsgate’s “Burial Rites.” She’s also expected to reprise her role as Mystique in “X-Men: Apocalypse.”

Russell recently received multiple Oscar nominations for directing and co-writing “American Hustle” with Eric Warren Singer. Lawrence is also nominated for Best Supporting Actress, though “12 Years a Slave” star Lupita Nyong’o is considered the favorite in that category. CAA reps both Russell and Lawrence.

Deadline broke the news. 

The post David O. Russell Courting Jennifer Lawrence for Joy Mangano Movie at Fox 2000 appeared first on TheWrap.

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s cinema board has lifted its ban on Danish director Lars von Trier’s movie “Nymphomaniac II.”

The National Center of Cinematography viewed the movie for a second time on Thursday and decided to lift the ban it had imposed the day before.

The film will be labeled IM 18 in Romania and shown to adults only.

The distributor, Independence Film, told The Associated Press on Friday that the movie will be released in Romania on Feb. 7 as scheduled.

“We consider this decision … a return to normality. There is no censorship,” it said in a statement.

The film “Nymphomaniac I” already is being shown in Romanian cinemas.

The two movies are a drama about a woman’s erotic journey from birth to the age of 50.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The motion picture academy says it’s rescinding the Academy Awards original song nomination for “Alone Yet Not Alone” from the film of the same name after it discovered composer Bruce Broughton emailed members of the group’s music branch to make them aware of his submission during the nominations voting period.

Broughton serves as a member of the music branch’s executive committee and is a former governor for the academy.

Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs said Wednesday using a position within the organization to personally promote one’s own Oscar submission creates the appearance of an unfair advantage.

An additional nominee will not be named. The other nominees are “Happy” from “Despicable Me 2”; “Let It Go” from “Frozen”; “The Moon Song” from “Her”; and “Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.”

TORONTO (AP) — The Toronto International Film Festival is cracking down on movie studios that break a promise to premiere their films at the festival.

TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey said Wednesday a film shown during the four days of the festival will have to be a world or North American premier or they will be bumped to the fifth day or later of the Sept. 4-14 festival.

Bailey says they were annoyed when Fox Searchlight’s “12 Years a Slave,” debuted at Colorado’s Telluride Film Festival despite being promised a world premiere at Toronto.

Bailey, who returned from Los Angeles this week, says they want to make sure that when they stand on stage and say it’s a premiere it really is.

The Telluride festival has increasingly premiered films just ahead of Toronto.

OUTSTANDING FILM WIDE RELEASE
Blue Is the Warmest Color (Sundance Selects)
Dallas Buyers Club (Focus Features)
Kill Your Darlings (Sony Pictures Classics)
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
(Sony Pictures Releasing)
Philomena (The Weinstein Company)

OUTSTANDING FILM LIMITED RELEASE
Concussion (RADiUS-The Weinstein Company)
Geography Club (Breaking Glass Pictures)
Out in the Dark (Breaking Glass Pictures)
Reaching for the Moon (Wolfe Releasing)
Yossi (Strand Releasing)

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
The Fosters (ABC Family)
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
Orphan Black (BBC America)
Pretty Little Liars (ABC Family)
Shameless (Showtime)

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox)
Glee (Fox)
Modern Family (ABC)
Orange is the New Black (Netflix)
Please Like Me (Pivot)

OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL EPISODE
(in a series without a regular LGBT character)
“Bride and Prejudice” The Soul Man (TV Land)
“LARP and the Real Girl” Supernatural (The CW)
“Secret Lives” Drop Dead Diva (Lifetime)
“Snow Angels” Elementary (CBS)
“There’s the Door” Necessary Roughness (USA Network)

OUTSTANDING TV MOVIE OR MINI-SERIES
Behind the Candelabra (HBO)
In the Flesh (BBC America)

OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY
Bridegroom (Virgil Films / OWN)
Call Me Kuchu (Cinedigm)
God Loves Uganda (Variance Films)
The New Black (Promised Land Films)
Valentine Road (HBO)

OUTSTANDING REALITY PROGRAM
Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce (Fuse)
Cyndi Lauper: Still So Unusual (WE tv)
Dream School (Sundance Channel)
Project Runway (Lifetime)
Small Town Security (AMC)

OUTSTANDING TALK SHOW EPISODE
“Are Gay Parents Different?” The Ricki Lake Show (syndicated)
“First Openly Gay NBA Player Jason Collins and his Family” Oprah’s Next Chapter (OWN)
“Fred Rosser” The Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated)
“Laverne Cox” Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell (FX)
“Modern Family Values” Raising McCain (Pivot)

OUTSTANDING DAILY DRAMA
Days of Our Lives (NBC)

OUTSTANDING TV JOURNALISM – NEWSMAGAZINE
“Chris to Kristin: A Navy Seal’s Secret” Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN)
“India’s Third Gender” The Stream (Al Jazeera America)
“The Rebounder: The Kenneth Faried Story” E:60 (ESPN)
“Transgender at 11: Listening to Jazz” 20/20 (ABC)
“The Welcoming Movement” To the Contrary (PBS)

OUTSTANDING TV JOURNALISM SEGMENT
“Gay Rights at Work” MSNBC Live (MSNBC)
“Portman Reverses Position on Gay Marriage” Starting Point (CNN)
“Pride Prejudice” Melissa Harris-Perry (MSNBC)
“Scouts Dishonor” The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell (MSNBC)
“Wild Blue Yonder: Scott Hines” The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC)

OUTSTANDING NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
“Boy or Girl? Gender a New Challenge for Schools” by Martha Irvine (Associated Press)
“Gay Ex-mayor Who Fled U.S. Awaits Immigration Change” by Jeremy Roebuck (San Antonio Express-News [San Antonio, Texas])
“LGBTQ in the Capital” (series) by Melissa Griffiths (Juneau Empire [Juneau, Alaska])
“Poor Black and Hispanic Men Are the Face of H.I.V.” by Donald G. McNeil, Jr. (The New York Times)
“Why Bisexuals Stay in the Closet” by Emily Alpert (Los Angeles Times)

OUTSTANDING MAGAZINE ARTICLE
“The Hidden War Against Gay Teens” by Alex Morris (Rolling Stone)
“Owning the Middle by Kate Fagan (ESPN The Magazine)
“The Perfect Wife” by Ariel Levy (The New Yorker)
“What’s Wrong With Exxon?” by Antonia Juhasz (The Advocate)
“Why Gay and Lesbian Couples Pay More” by Carolyn M. Brown (Black Enterprise)

OUTSTANDING MAGAZINE OVERALL COVERAGE
The Advocate
ESPN The Magazine
The New Yorker
People
Time

OUTSTANDING DIGITAL JOURNALISM ARTICLE
“How Fallon Fox Became the First Known Transgender Athlete in MMA” by Loretta Hunt (SportsIllustrated.CNN.com)
“How One Lawyer Turned the Idea of Marriage Equality into Reality” by Chris Geidner (Buzzfeed.com)
“Prime Timers: Spotlight on LGBT Seniors” (series) (Advocate.com)
“Repression and Gay Rights in Russia” by Sean Guillory (TheNation.com)
“Sex, Lies and HIV: When What You Don’t Tell Your Partner is a Crime” by Sergio Hernandez (Buzzfeed.com / ProPublica.org)

OUTSTANDING DIGITAL JOURNALISM – MULTIMEDIA
“Bisexuals Get Their Turn in the White House” by Alyona Minkovski (Live.HuffingtonPost.com)
“Coming Out Kicking” by Cyd Zeigler (Outsports.com)
“Remixing the Trans and Hip Hop Conversation” by Marc Lamont Hill (Live.HuffingtonPost.com)
“To Get Married, They Left Ohio” by Julie Zimmerman on behalf of the Cincinnati Enquirer Editorial Board (Cincinnati.Com)
“We Are Here: LGBTI in Uganda” by Sunnivie Brydum, D. David Robinson (Advocate.com)

OUTSTANDING BLOG
Autostraddle (http://www.autostraddle.com)
Elixher (http://elixher.com/)
Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters (http://www.holybulliesandheadlessmonsters.blogspot.com/)
The New Civil Rights Movement (http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com)
TransGriot (http://transgriot.blogspot.com/)

OUTSTANDING MUSIC ARTIST
Elton John, The Diving Board (Capitol Records)
Goldfrapp, Tales of Us (Mute)
Lady Gaga, ARTPOP (Interscope Records)
Tegan and Sara, Heartthrob (Warner Bros. Records)
Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City (XL Recordings)

OUTSTANDING COMIC BOOK
Batwoman, written by W. Haden Blackman, J.H. Williams III, Marc Andreyko (DC Comics)
Fearless Defenders, written by Cullen Bunn (Marvel Comics)
Husbands, written by Jane Espenson, Brad Bell (Dark Horse Comics)
Life with Archie, written by Paul Kupperberg (Archie Comics)
Young Avengers, written by Kieron Gillen (Marvel Comics)

OUTSTANDING NOVELA
Amores Verdaderos (Univision)

OUTSTANDING DAYTIME TALK SHOW EPISODE
“Entregando a mi nieta” Caso Cerrado (Telemundo)
“Exclusivas Declaraciones” Al Rojo Vivo (Telemundo)
“Matrimonios del mismo sexo: Entrevista con Daniel Zavala y Yohandel Ruiz” Un Nuevo Dia (Telemundo)
“Rachel” Casos de Familia (Univision)
“Una pareja gay celebrara el Dia del Padre luego de luchar por sus derechos” Despierta America (Univision)

OUTSTANDING TALK SHOW INTERVIEW
“Debate por la igualdad” Al Punto (Univision)
“Decision Historica” Sin Limites con Elizabeth Espinosa (CNN en Espanol)
“Homosexuales en la delegacion de los EE.UU.” Realidades en Contexto (CNN en Espanol)
“Karina Hermosillo hablo de sus motivos en Nuestra Belleza Latina” Sabado Gigante (Univision)
“El Matrimonio, Asunto de Dos” Cala (CNN en Espanol)

OUTSTANDING TV JOURNALISM – NEWSMAGAZINE
“Locutor Policia” Aqui y Ahora (Univision)
“Lucha por la Igualdad” Panorama Mundial (CNN en Espanol)
“El Pastor Homofobico” Primer Impacto (Univision)
“Rompiendo Estereotipos” Aqui y Ahora (Univision)

OUTSTANDING TV JOURNALISM SEGMENT
“El Caso Zamudio” Nuestro Mundo (CNN en Espanol)
“La comunidad gay hispana se siente perseguida en los EEUU” Noticias Univision (Univision)
“Decision Historica” Noticiero Telemundo (Telemundo)
“Mayoria de hispanos aceptan uniones homosexuales” Noticiero NTN (NTN)
“Si nos dejan: adopciones entre parejas gays” Noticias MundoFox (MundoFox)

OUTSTANDING LOCAL TV JOURNALISM
“Hasta que la corte nos una” Noticias Telemundo 51 (WSCV-51 [Miami, Fla.])
“Mi nino es nina: familia en Florida cuenta su experiencia criando a una hija transgenero” Noticias 23 Univision (WLTV-23 [Miami, Fla.])
“Natalia: rompiendo barreras” Noticiero Telemundo Arizona (KTAZ-39 [Phoenix, Ariz.])
“Reportaje Especial: Derechos Homosexuales” Noticiero Telemundo Washington (WZDC-25 [Washington, D.C.])
“Undocuqueers” Noticias Univision 34 (KMEX-34 [Los Angeles, Calif.])

OUTSTANDING NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
“Critican homophobia de prelate” by Juan Matossian (El Diario La Prensa)
“Desiguales por imperativo legal” by Jose Angel Gonzalo Garcia de Leon (Diario Las Americas)
“Un nuevo panorama migratorio para miles de parejas gay” by Eloy Bleifuss Prados (Diario Hoy)
“Su esposa la hizo residente” by Virginia Gaglianone (La Opinion)
“Transgeneros: discriminados tres veces” by Belhu Sanabria (La Raza)

OUTSTANDING DIGITAL JOURNALISM ARTICLE
“Joven birracial y lesbiana es pionera en concurso de belleza de EE.UU.” (CNNenEspanol.cnn.com)
“Richard Blanco: el poeta latino y gay que conquisto a Barack Obama” by Daniel Basteiro (voces.huffingtonpost.com)
“Vive en California y ya se prepara para casarse” by Maritza Diaz Alcaide (PrimeraHora.com)

OUTSTANDING DIGITAL JOURNALISM MULTIMEDIA
“Eric y Juan, un matrimonio feliz a pesar de todo” by Fernando Mexia (EFE.com)
“Karina Hermosillo, de ‘Nuestra Belleza Latina’, es lesbiana y no tolera la discriminacion” (PeopleenEspanol.com)
“Karina Hermosillo de ‘Nuestra Belleza Latina’ quiere ser la primera reina gay (voces.huffingtonpost.com) “Primera pareja gay hispana gana residencia permanente” (HolaCiudad.com)

WENN

Organizers of this year’s Oscars ceremony will celebrate the 75th anniversary of screen classic “The Wizard of Oz.”

The beloved movie, released in 1939 and starring Judy Garland, garnered six Academy Award nominations and won two golden statuettes for Best Song and Best Score. Academy officials have announced the movie’s upcoming milestone will be marked at Hollywood’s biggest night on March 2.

Bing: More about ‘Wizard of Oz’ | Watch videos

A statement from the prizegiving’s producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron reads, “We are delighted to celebrate the birthday of one of the most beloved movies of all time at this year’s Oscars.” The ceremony, to be hosted Ellen DeGeneres, will take place at the Dolby Theatre.

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