The Phantom Link

• The Atlantic "Fear of a Black Hobbit" insightful piece about politics and 'nostalgia' franchises
• Boy Culture the latest updated edition of "Encyclopedia Madonnica" (one of our all time fav showbiz books) is out. Buy one if you haven't yet and love Madonna. It's a treasure trove.
• Vulture looks at Baz's tortured artists from Moulin Rouge! to Elvis

Very significant Broadway news regarding The Phantom of the Opera, A trans riff on Gotham City characters, Superman II cosplay, and more after the jump...

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Links: Paul Sorvino's passing, BAFTA rule tweaks, and Nope's famous film strip

• NYT Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas, The Rocketeer, Nixon), beloved character actor and father of Oscar winner Mira Sorvino, has died at 83
• Guardian Sad news: Shonka Dukureh, who sang "Hound Dog" in her feature debut in Elvis as Big Mama Thornton has died at just 44

Much Happier links after the jump involving "Horse in Motion" from Nope, 'All the Way' Mae from A League of Their Own, Jessica Chastain's new film, and more...

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How many of the spring/summer hits will Oscar recognize?

by Nathaniel R

How many of the year's critically embraced / audience approved movies from the first half of the year will Oscar recognize? Savvy awards fans know that if you open very late you dont necessarily need audiences (or even the critics to a lesser extent) because the voters haven't had time to process the various responses. The only "influence" then becomes the publicity and the awards campaigns themselves, which is what the distributors prefer. That way they control the messaging.

If you open earlier than the second half of December, it's a completely different story. Critical and audience response completely matter as your film takes on various consensus markers like  "surprise hit" or "flop" or "respected but didn't connect". All sorts of things happen that unconsciously or consciously affect voting. In short, both critical and audience approval have to be there in order to generate enthusiasm that will justify a campaign later in the year. In that sense we have only four movies that have opened at this writing in 2022 that we must take seriously for prizes at year's end. They are...

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Tweetweek, Rattle and Roll

Fun or thoughtful showbiz tweets curated for you since Social Media is too (understandably) depressing of late given the collapse of Democracy. But on that note, before we begin, two iconic women meeting this exact unsettling evil moment in time.

GET READY, GAYS. YOU’RE NEXT.

— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) June 24, 2022

pic.twitter.com/Kt4wYKanUG

— Lee Grant (@TheLeeGrant) June 24, 2022

More after the jump including Evan Rachel Wood, My Best Friend's Wedding, Barbie, Crimes of the Future, and Baz-driven Elvis Mania...

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Weekend Box Office: The popularity of 'Elvis' shouldn't have been a surprise

Two mavericks, one real (Rock star Elvis Presley) and one fictional (Pilot Pete "Maverick" Mitchell), battled it out for the #1 position at the box office and until the actuals come in its a draw. Let's discuss...

1. ELVIS $30.5 -NEW. 3,948 screens
It's always worth celebrating when a non-franchise film opens big. Good on Baz for pulling it off again. Box office pundits seem shocked at how well it did but why? Elvis Presley is the best selling solo act of all time and when it comes to the best-selling musicians, movies about them have built in audiences. Bohemian Rhapsody was a behemoth at the box office. Rocketman was a hit. If they ever make a crowd pleasing bio about Fleetwood Mac or Mariah Carey or The Beatles, those will probably be huge, too. Who knows... maybe even the upcoming Whitney Houston and Madonna biopics will be blockbusters.

1. TOP GUN MAVERICK $30.5 - 5th weekend. 3,906 screens
Tom Cruise's legacy sequel is the $1 film of the year (domestically) with  $521.7 in the US alone...

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