Tag: Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman Joins Paramount+ Original Series ‘Lioness’

Oscar and Emmy Award winner Nicole Kidman is set to star in and executive produce the upcoming Paramount+ original series “Lioness.”

Kidman joins previously announced cast members Zoe Saldaña and Laysla De Oliveira for the new espionage series from “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan. “Lionsess” is based on a real-life CIA program and follows Cruz Manuelos (De Oliveira), a rough-around-the-edges but passionate young Marine recruited to join the CIA’s Lioness Engagement Team to help bring down a terrorist organization from within. Saldaña will play Joe, the station chief of the Lioness program tasked with training, managing and leading her female undercover operatives.

Kidman will play Kaitlyn Meade, the CIA’s senior supervisor who has had a long career of playing the politics game. She must juggle the trappings of being a woman in the high-ranking intelligence community, a wife who longs for the attention she herself can’t even give and a mentor to someone veering suspiciously close to the same rocky road she’s found herself on.

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“Lioness” will also star Jill Wagner as Bobby, a CIA Special Activities Division operative; Dave Annable as Neil, Joe’s husband and the father of their two daughters; LaMonica Garrett and James Jordan as Tucker and Two Cups, respectively, both experienced CIA Special Activities Division operatives on Joe’s team; Austin Hébert as Randy, a tech specialist in charge of surveillance; Hannah Love Lanier as Kate, Joe and Neil’s daughter; Stephanie Nur as Aaliyah, the daughter of a billionaire businessman with ties to terrorism; and Jonah Wharton as Tex, another member of Joe’s team.

The series is being produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios exclusively for Paramount+. Kidman will serve as an executive producer under her production company, Blossom Films. In addition to Sheridan and Kidman, other executive producers include Saldaña, David C. Glasser, Ron Burkle, Bob Yari, David Hutkin, Jill Wagner, Geyer Kosinski, Michael Malone and John Hillcoat.

The Northman

4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY REVIEW:

Universal;
Drama;
Box Office $34.23 million;
$29.98 DVD, $34.98 Blu-ray, $44.98 UHD BD;
Rated ‘R’ for strong bloody violence, some sexual content and nudity.
Stars Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Ethan Hawke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Gustav Lindh, Elliott Rose, Willem Dafoe, Oscar Novak, Björk.

Director Robert Eggers’ The Northman provides him a nice opportunity to deliver a Viking history lesson. Not through the film itself, which is basically Hamlet by way of Conan the Barbarian, but through a commentary track in which he points out where historical research influenced the story and look of the film.

He also spends a surprising amount of time in the commentary picking apart things he doesn’t like about the film that he wishes he could have done in better in hindsight. So, points for honesty.

The Northman is a grimy tale of revenge set in the 10th century, and is based on the Scandinavian legend of Amleth — the same stories that also provided the source material for Shakespeare’s Hamlet (or, as Ethan Hawke helpfully points out in the bonus materials, The Lion King), for those so inclined to notice a few similarities in the plot.

In the film, Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) is a Viking prince who, as a boy, was forced to flee his kingdom after witnessing his father’s murder at the hands of his uncle (Claes Bang), who subsequently also married his mother (Nicole Kidman) in seizing the throne. Growing up as a Viking warrior known as a berserker, Amleth vows revenge against his uncle, participating in raids on isolated villages until he gets a chance to strike.

He eventually learns his uncle was deposed and is living on a farm in Iceland. Amleth makes his way to the island, where he encounters a young sorceress named Olga (Anya Taylor-Joy), who agrees to aid him as part of a prophecy.

Impressively shot with some well-staged action sequences, the film is dark and bloody, though watching it after the commentary will probably take some of the edge off it.

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The Blu-ray includes about 40 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes that delve further into the Viking lore that influenced the movie.

The 12-minute “An Ageless Epic” focuses on the film’s story and historic accuracy; the 11-minute “The Faces of Vikings” explores the characters; and the five-minute “A Norse Landscape” shows off the film’s locations and set design.

Getting into more specific aspects of the film, the four-minute “Amleth’s Journey to Manhood” looks at the filming of a ritual early in the story; the four-minute “Shooting the Raid” deals with the film’s approach to action through the shooting of a centerpiece sequence; and the three-minute “Knattleikr Game” discusses an ancient game that is played at a key point in the plot.

Finally, there are nine short deleted scenes that run a total of about 13 minutes, most of which are inconsequential extensions to scenes in the movie.

Viking Saga ‘The Northman’ Headed to Digital June 6, Disc June 7

The Viking saga The Northman will be available on digital with exclusive bonus content June 6, and on 4K Ultra HD Collector’s Edition, Blu-ray Collector’s Edition and DVD June 7 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

From director Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse), the film stars Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Ethan Hawke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Willem Dafoe, Claes Bang and Björk.

In the film, after witnessing first-hand the murder of his father, a Viking prince (Skarsgård) devotes his life to avenge his father’s death, save his mother and reclaim his kingdom.

Bonus features include nine deleted and extended scenes and behind-the-scenes featurettes.

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‘The Northman’ Among Trilogy of New Releases at the Domestic Weekend Box Office

In the typical lull before the opening of what is expected to be a monstrous blockbuster, Disney’s May 6 release of Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse, three niche films are battling it out at the North American box office this weekend.

The showdown is something of a test to see whether smaller films can still draw audiences to theaters, amid lingering hesitancy from the COVID-19 pandemic and the proliferation of new movies on streaming services.

The Northman, a Viking epic from Focus Features and New Regency Pictures, stars Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk, and Willem Dafoe, and was directed by Robert Eggers, who previously won praise for the horror films The Witch (2015) and Lighthouse (2019). The Northman has already been hailed for its production values — not surprising, given its estimated budget of up to $90 million — and enjoys an 88% aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes as of Friday (April 22) morning. The film also earned just under $1.4 million in Thursday night previews, more than the two other new releases, Dreamworks Animation’s Bad Guys (just under $1.2 million) and the latest Nicolas Cage film, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent ($835,000), from Lionsgate.

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Bad Guys is an animated family film with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 86%. The film marks the directorial debut of Pierre Perifel and is based on the children’s book series of the same name by Aaron Blabey. The voice cast includes Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, and Anthony Ramos. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times hailed Bad Guys as “a great-looking film with terrific performances, some lovely messaging and a steady parade of solid laughs — some the kids will enjoy and just as many targeted squarely at the grown-up kids in the audience.”

And The Unbreakable Weight of Massive Talent is a satire with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 89%. Cage plays a fictional version of himself, who has to accept a $1 million offer to attend a not-quite-right superfan’s birthday party. To make things worse, he’s recruited by a CIA operative (played by Tiffany Haddish) and is forced to channel his own iconic characters to save the proverbial day.

All three films are projected to finish behind two big-budget, high-profile holdovers: Warner Bros. Pictures’ Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, the third installment in the “Harry Potter” spinoff franchise, which opened to $43 million over the Easter weekend, and Paramount Pictures’ Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which generated $30 million its sophomore weekend. The film’s total domestic take, according to Box Office Mojo, is nearly $129 million.

Samba TV: Viewers Covet Fictional Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz Movie Over Real-Life Doc

New data from Samba TV finds that viewers seem more interested in Being the Ricardos than the actual ones.

Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem’s fictional portrayal of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, the real-life married couple behind the iconic “I Love Lucy” TV series, is more popular among Amazon Prime Viewers than the “Luci & Desi” documentary from actor-comedian Amy Poehler. Both programs are exclusively available on the streamer.

“Lucy & Desi” was seen by 230,000 U.S. households from its premiere on March 4 through March 10, according to Samba TV, which tracks linear and streaming viewership across its addressable footprint of 46 million opted-in devices worldwide. That’s less than a quarter of the households that watched Being the Ricardos, which was seen by 1.1 million U.S. households during its Dec. 21 – 27, 2021 debut.

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The U.S. audience for “Lucy & Desi” skewed wealthy ($200,000+ +16%), female (+9%), older (65-74 +33%), and white (+15%).

The audience was similar to Being the Ricardos, where U.S. households with older viewers over-indexed compared to overall viewership, 55-64 (+14%), 65-74 (+23%), 75-100 (+22%). Households with white viewers also over-indexed (+12%).

“I Love Lucy” ended its national broadcast run 65 years ago.

Female-Driven Anthology Series ‘Roar’ Debuts on Apple TV+ April 15

The female-driven anthology series “Roar” will debut globally with all eight episodes on Apple TV+ April 15.

Based on a book of short stories by Cecelia Ahern, the series is the first to be released under “Roar” creators and co-showrunners Carly Mensch and Liz Flahive’s (“Glow”) overall deal with Apple TV+. It stars Nicole Kidman, Cynthia Erivo, Issa Rae, Merritt Wever, Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, Meera Syal, Fivel Stewart and Kara Hayward.  

“Roar” offers an insightful, poignant and sometimes hilarious portrait of what it means to be a woman today, according to the Apple TV+ release. Featuring a unique blend of magical realism, familiar domestic and professional scenarios, and futuristic worlds, the eight stories mirror the dilemmas of ordinary women in accessible yet surprising ways.

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In addition to starring, Kidman executive produces alongside Per Saari and their Blossom Films. Bruna Papandrea, Steve Hutensky and Allie Goss executive produce on behalf of Made Up Stories. Author Cecelia Ahern executive produces through Greenlight Go. and Theresa Park executive produces for her Per Capita Productions. “Roar” is produced for Apple by Endeavor Content.

Samba TV: 1.1 Million Amazon Prime Households Stream ‘Being the Ricardos’

Being the Ricardos, the Amazon Studios’ biopic written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, about the relationship between “I Love Lucy” stars Lucille Ball (played by Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (Javiar Bardem), generated more than 1.1 million Prime Video households in its first week of release (through Dec. 26), according to new data from Samba TV.

The data firm tracks more than 46 million opted-in televisions globally, including 28 million in the U.S.

With the “I Love Lucy” comedy series originally airing in the 1950s, the Prime Video demo skewed older than normal, with U.S. households aged 55-64 (up 14%), 65-74 (up 23%), 75-100 (up 22%) among the streamers. White households also over-indexed (up 12%) as well.

In international markets, 29,000 U.K. households watched the movies, 3,000 German households, and 6,000 Australian homes watched the film during the same period.

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Being the Ricardos

STREAMING REVIEW: 

Amazon Prime Video;
Drama;
Rated ‘R’ for language.
Stars Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, J.K. Simmons, Nina Arianda, Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat, Jake Lacy, Clark Gregg, Christopher Denham, John Rubinstein, Linda Lavin, Ronny Cox.

Leave it to Aaron Sorkin to chronicle the life of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz while making “I Love Lucy” from the perspective of the show’s writers.

The entertaining docudrama Being the Ricardos provides a thorough look at the challenges of television production, focusing on a week behind the scenes of the iconic sitcom while Ball tries to save her marriage while dealing with the potential fallout of being accused of being a communist in the 1950s.

Writer-director Sorkin uses a number of narrative tricks at his disposal, beginning with a framing device involving older versions of the show’s three primary writers — Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll — played by John Rubinstein, Linda Lavin and Ronny Cox, respectively as if being interviewed for a documentary (Tony Hale, Alia Shawkat and Jake Lacy play the younger versions).

The trio end up telling the story of how Lucy (Nicole Kidman) met Desi (Javier Bardem), navigated the tricky waters of show business, got married and created an iconic show that changed the course of TV history.

During the week in question, tensions run a bit higher than usual. As Ball wonders if her career is about to end over HUAC, she argues with the writers over jokes in the show and deals with rumors of Desi’s womanizing. Meanwhile, the couple also wants to turn her impending pregnancy into a storyline, much to the chagrin of network executives at CBS, as Desi appeals to the show’s sponsor to force the issue.

It’s a lot to process in two hours, but Sorkin keeps it pithy with his trademark crisp dialogue, and the performances are terrific throughout. One clever conceit involves peering into Ball’s comedy mind as she imagines a scene coming to fruition, allowing Sorkin to re-create moments from the sitcom in black-and-white.

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Unlike with his previous film, The Trial of the Chicago 7, which was dripping in political commentary, Sorkin manages to keep any overt politicization of the subject matter at bay, hinting at the debate between the theories and realities of communism without delving too deeply into the particulars (though in interviews he likens the hysteria to modern cancel culture). He also isn’t so uncouth as to point out how “I Love Lucy” was sponsored by the Philip Morris tobacco company, and both Lucy and Desi would eventually die of illnesses known to be exacerbated by smoking.

The particulars of the story are mostly accurate in the aggregate, though in typical Hollywood fashion Sorkin has changed some details and rearranged the timeline for dramatic effect. For instance, the episode shown being produced, “Fred and Ethel Fight,” was the 22nd episode of the series, not the 37th as stated in the movie. And the communist controversy came about a year later, apparently around episode 68, months after Little Ricky was born. The episode in particular was likely chosen because its topic paralleled Lucy and Desi’s own marital troubles in the film, and provided a nice insight into Lucy’s penchant for physical comedy.

On another note, the casting as Lavin to play the older Pugh is a nice touch, as Pugh and Carroll were among the executive producers of the sitcom “Alice” that starred Lavin.

Amazon Unveils Trailer for ‘I Love Lucy’ Film ‘Being the Ricardos’

Amazon Studios on Oct. 19 dropped a trailer for Being the Ricardos, a behind-the-scenes look at the famed husband-and-wife team behind the iconic “I Love Lucy” sitcom, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

The film, which opens in theaters on Dec. 10 and starts streaming on Amazon Prime Video on Dec. 21, stars Nicole Kidman as Ball and Javier Bardem as Arnaz — known on the show as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo.

Written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, the film also stars Jake Lacy, J.K. Simmons, Nina Arianda, Tony Hale, and Alia Shawkat.

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It follows Ball and Arnaz through a single production week on the set of “I Love Lucy,” as they contend with shocking personal accusations, a political smear and cultural taboos.

The film was produced by Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch of Escape Artists. Executive producers include Ball and Arnaz’s two children, Desi Arnaz Jr. and Lucie Arnaz, alongside Stuart Besser, Lauren Lohman, and Escape Artists’ Jenna Block and David Bloomfield.

AMC Theatres Hires Nicole Kidman in $25 Million Marketing Campaign

AMC Entertainment has hired Nicole Kidman as its pitchperson in a $25 million marketing campaign aimed at jumpstarting moviegoer interest in returning to enjoy the theatrical experience.

The 15-, 30- and 60-second “We Make Movies Better” spots  feature Kidman encouraging people to return to the cineplex and relive box office magic.

“As we have said repeatedly of late, thanks to the billions of dollars we have raised this year, AMC is strong, and it is time for AMC to play on offense again,” CEO Adam Aron said in a statement.

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The price of the marketing campaign is noteworthy considering AMC a year ago was on the brink of bankruptcy as its screens and others remained largely shuttered due to the pandemic.

Following the record $90 million domestic Labor Day box office for Marvel Cinematic Universe release Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, AMC is spreading its wings.