Brett Gelman Took Inspiration From Fran Lebowitz for ‘Lyle, Lyle Crocodile’ Villain Mr. Grumps

Broadway is going Back to the Future this summer when the Olivier Award-winning musical stage adaptation of the 1985 film begins previews at the Winter Garden Theatre. Making the trip stateside will be Roger Bart and Hugh Coles reprising their West End performances as Doc Brown and George McFly.

Naman Ramachandran Sony’s “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile,” the film adaptation of the children’s books by Bernard Waber, featuring a singing crocodile, bowed at the U.K. and Ireland box office with £2.7 million ($3.1 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. Universal’s “Halloween Ends,” the final instalment in the horror trilogy of sequels to the original 1978 film, starring Jamie Lee Curtis, debuted in second place with £2.1 million. Another horror, Paramount’s “Smile,” collected £1.4 million in third position in its third weekend for a total of £7.2 million. In fourth place, in its fourth weekend, Universal’s “Ticket to Paradise,” starring Julia Roberts and George Clooney, took £617,041 for a total of £7.7 million.

“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” tells (and sings) the story of a stage-shy crocodile who has the voice of an angel (Shawn Mendes). Lyle gets discovered by Hector P.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Cinemed, the Mediterranean Cinema Film Festival, is partnering up with Lebanese film org Aflamuna / Beirut DC to launch a new co-production and co-financing initiative aimed at high-profile projects from the Arab world. The new program, which is also backed by France’s National Film Board and is part of the festival’s industry showcase Cinemed Meetings, will present seven projects involving 22 Arab countries, including Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Liban, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Syria, among others. All selected projects are currently in development and are being brought by filmmakers who have previously directed at least one short film.

Former Central Intelligence Agency officer David Priess defended being a signatory on a letter with more than two dozen other current and former intel agents and experts who claimed the New York Post's Hunter Biden laptop bombshell looked like a "Russian information operation." In October 2020, the Post broke the story about how then-Wilmington computer shopkeeper John-Paul Mac Isaac came into possession of the laptop first son Hunter Biden left at his store near Trolley Square.  A copy of the hard drive was provided to the FBI and another to former New York City Republican Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. "It is for all these reasons that we write to say that the arrival on the US political scene of emails purportedly belonging to Vice President Biden’s son Hunter, much of it related to his time serving on the Board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation," Priess and fellow signatories wrote in-part.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor The creative mandate for the VFX team on “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” was to deliver a premium film with a singing and dancing CG character that both adults and children could believe was real. Based on the children’s book by Bernard Weber, the film follows Josh (Winslow Fegley), a young boy struggling to fit in, his dad (Scoot McNairy) and stepmother (Constance Wu). Upon moving to the city, the family finds out their new home is inhabited by a singing crocodile named Lyle, voiced by Shawn Mendes. Josh Gordon, who co-directed the film with Will Speck, says it was important that Lyle didn’t come off mean or menacing. Gordon explains, “That’s part of the character — he scares people — but Lyle is somebody who people judge by his cover. They don’t understand that underneath he is incredibly soulful and sweet.”

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter David O. Russell’s star-studded period drama “Amsterdam” collapsed in its box office debut, earning an anemic $6.5 million from 3,005 North American theaters. The movie, which cost $80 million to produce, couldn’t overcome bad reviews and minimal buzz and is shaping up to be one of the biggest misfires of the year. This weekend’s other newcomer “Lyle Lyle Crocodile” also fell short of expectations with $11.5 million from 4,350 cinemas in its opening weekend. However, Sony’s animated family film, an adaptation of the popular children’s book about an  anthropomorphic reptile (who sings!) voiced by Shawn Mendes, won’t be as painful for the studio given its $50 million price tag.

Shawn Mendes has new songs on the Lyle, Lyle Crocodile soundtrack! – Just Jared Jr Kate Middleton was heckled during a visit in Ireland – Celebitchy Cheryl Burke is heading to court – DListed Get the scoop on Simon Cowell‘s new competition series – Just Jared Jr

“Smile” has had fairly positive audience metrics with a B- on CinemaScore and a 69% positive score on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak, but nothing that would indicate particularly long legs for a horror film. But this second weekend total would be just a 26% drop from the film’s $22.6 million opening weekend, giving the film a $49 million 10-day total against a $17 million budget ahead of the release of Universal’s “Halloween Ends” next Friday.

J. Kim Murphy There’s one key question gripping the world this weekend: will the box office be smiling, or will it be Lyling? Sony’s “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” had hopes to challenge for the top slot at the box office this weekend, though it seems that the family comedy won’t be able to outpace the second weekend of Paramount’s smash horror film “Smile.” Meanwhile, 20th Century Studios’ “Amsterdam” is bombing in its debut, aiming to finish in third. “Lyle, Lyle” landed a $3.47 million opening day, screening in 4,350 locations. While that’s not exactly the most impressive opening day on paper, the majority of ticket sales for the musical will come with family audiences attending screenings on Saturday, Sunday and the Monday holiday of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which will keep a good fraction of kids out of school.

“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” book series is now a major motion picture. The live action/CGI musical comedy stars a whole host of names, including one Canadian singer as the voice of a talented crocodile. The film will feature songs performed by star Shawn Mendes and written by the songwriting team behind “The Greatest Showman” — Benj Pasek and Justin Paul — with an ensemble cast that includes Javier Bardem and Constance Wu.For “Lyle,” Pasek and Paul are joined by Ari Afsar, Emily Gardner, Xu Hall, Mark Sonnenblick and Joriah Kwamé.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Josh Gordon and Will Speck’s live-action musical “Lyle Lyle Crocodile” lives up to it name. The story, about a crocodile named Lyle voiced by Shawn Mendes that can dance and sing, features songs penned by the award-winning Justin Paul and Benj Pasek. The dup then brought in a team of songwriters to carve out toe-tapping, infectious earworms. From the get-go songwriting and composing duo Pasek and Paul knew Lyle would be a singing crocodile which made the project all the more exciting for them. “But when the voice actor became Shawn Mendes, that really informed a lot of the style and what we were going to write for,” explains Pasek. 

Jordan Moreau “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” is slowly getting ready to take a bite out of the weekend box office. It earned $575,000 from 3,453 theaters in Thursday previews, while David O. Russell’s “Amsterdam” picked up $550,000 million from 3,005 theaters. Sony’s live-action/CGI hybrid, co-financed by TSG, is a family-friendly movie about a singing crocodile, starring Grammy-nominated artist Shawn Mendes as the titular reptile. The studio projects an opening haul of $11 million to $12 million, with some projections belting out upwards of $15 million. With a budget of $50 million, it will need plenty of support from kids and families over the fall to snap up a profit. The cast includes Javier Bardem as Hector P. Valenti, Lyle’s flamboyant owner, Brett Gelman as Mr. Grumps and Constance Wu, Scoot McNairy and Winslow Fegley as the Primm family. The Primms move to a new house in New York City, where they discover Lyle, a saltwater crocodile with the voice of a high-end recording artist, living in their attic.

Not exactly the flashiest of Thursday nights for previews as Sony’s feature take of the classic children’s book Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile saw $575K off showtimes that began at 3PM in 3,453 locations while New Regency/20th Century Studios/Disney’s Amsterdam baked $550K off previews that began at 6PM in 3,005 locations.

“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile,” the adaptation of the children’s book series by Bernard Waber, lending his pipes to a cute crocodile who only sings and never talks. Mendes still relates to Lyle even though his main form of communication is through song rather than speech.“He’s this huge kind of physical being.

The new family film Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is now playing in theaters and it’s expected to top the box office this weekend.

The cast of HBO Max’s Velma was announced at New York Comic-Con on Thursday by series executive producer and star Mindy Kaling. Alongside Kaling, who portrays the titular character, the leads include Constance Wu (Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile) as Daphne, Sam Richardson (Ted Lasso) as Shaggy, and Glenn Howerton (It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia) as Fred.

The classic computer game The Oregon Trail is currently being adapted into a musical from the same team who are bringing “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” to the big screen.