Pat Saperstein Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorApple Studios has landed the hot movie package starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt with Jon Watts directing that’s been the subject of a feverish bidding war, according to two sources with knowledge of the project.“Spider-Man: Homecoming” director Watts will write, direct and produce with Clooney’s Smokehouse Pictures and Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment producing. Lionsgate, Sony, Netflix, Universal, Amazon, Annapurna and Warner Bros.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorFrench director Julia Ducournau, who burst onto the world filmmaking scene in 2016 with her first feature “Raw,” is changing the vocabulary of cinema with her heart-stopping imagery and boundary-blurring approach to genre.That originality helped propel her second film, “Titane,” to a Palme d’Or in Cannes this year, making Ducournau just the second woman to win the prestigious prize after Jane Campion.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorLeonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Rob Morgan and Jonah Hill are facing the threat of a comet hitting Earth in a new clip from the Netflix movie “Don’t Look Up.” The clip was shown during Netflix’s Tudum event to showcase its upcoming TV series and movies.The dark sci-fi comedy, directed by Adam McKay, stars Lawrence and DiCaprio as two low-level astronomers who try to warn politicians and others that the Earth is in danger as a giant asteroid

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorCharacter actor Basil Hoffman, who had more than 100 roles in television shows and movies, died Sept. 17, according to his manager Brad Lemack.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorLet the games begin at Tatel in Beverly Hills, the glamorous new Spanish-accented spot with investors including soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo and L.A. Lakers champion Pau Gasol.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorDocumentary studio XTR is in production on “Lakota Nation vs. the United States,” the first film to chronicle the Lakota Indians’ fight to reclaim control of the Black Hills.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorActor-comedian Chris Rock tweeted Sunday that he has COVID-19. “Trust me, you don’t want this.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorWarner Bros.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorWill Smith starrer “King Richard” will close the AFI Fest on Nov. 14 at the TCL Chinese Theatre, the American Film Institute announced Wednesday.Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, the film follows Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams, and his life raising the champion athletes.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorAfter a remarkable 54-year run, Genesis singer and drummer Phil Collins seems finally ready to “put it to bed” after the band’s next tour, he said in a recent interview.After a year-and-a-half-long pandemic postponement, the The Last Domino Tour will now kick off in the U.K. in October and move on to North America in November.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorSony Pictures announced Thursday it has blocked out an awards-friendly spot on Dec. 23, 2022 for the Whitney Houston biopic “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” starring Naomi Ackie.Other dates announced include a Sept.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorLos Angeles is losing its old-school delis, most recently Greenblatt’s, but a new generation of Jewish food specialists are updating the concept with high-quality ingredients and time-tested comfort food.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorThe Toronto Film Festival will honor cinematographer Ari Wegner with the Variety Artisan Award at this year’s Tribute Awards, co-heads Joana Vicente and Cameron Bailey announced.Each year, the award recognizes a creative who has excelled at their craft and made an outstanding contribution to cinema and entertainment. The Tribute Awards will be broadcast on the final day of the festival, Saturday, Sept.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorA biopic based on the life of the late “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry is in the works from Roddenberry Entertainment.Gene Roddenberry’s son Rod Roddenberry is producing with Trevor Roth; the duo serves as executive producers on current series “Star Trek: Discovery” and “Star Trek: Picard.” Adam Mazer, the Emmy-winning writer of the Dr. Jack Kevorkian movie “You Don’t Know Jack” starring Al Pacino, is writing the screenplay.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorJoe Morella, a former Variety reporter who became a biographer of numerous Hollywood stars, died Aug. 13 of Covid-related illness in San Diego, Calif.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorLos Angeles chefs Niki Nakayama and Jordan Kahn are some of the country’s most innovative chefs, and they put their creativity to the test for a recent collaboration featuring the new Lyriq electric SUV, with their efforts showcased in two mini-documentaries on the 60 Second Docs platform.Nakayama, whose kaiseki restaurant N/Naka has won international attention, and Kahn, whose Culver City restaurant Vespertine is at the cutting edge of experiential tasting menus,

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorWith outdoor performances just about the only saving grace this summer, two of L.A.’s top venues are taking different but delicious approaches to feeding music lovers. At The Ford theater, where upcoming shows include Rodrigo y Gabriela and Patti Smith with Jackson Smith and Tony Shanahan, Jocelyn Ramirez recently introduced Todo Verde, featuring plant-based Mexican dishes.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorGreenblatt’s Deli-Restaurant and Fine Wine Shop, which served up chicken matzo ball soup and sold fine wines on Sunset Boulevard for 95 years, closed its doors Wednesday. The sudden closure came as a surprise to generations of diners who loved the institution’s hearty food, long hours and proximity to the Laugh Factory.The deli was opened by Herman Greenblatt in 1926 and purchased by the Kavin family, which still owns it, in the 1940s.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorPat Hitchcock, director Alfred Hitchcock’s only child, has died at 93.Her daughter, Katie O’Connell-Fiala, confirmed that she died Monday in Thousand Oaks, Calif.She appeared in her father’s films including “Strangers on a Train,” “Psycho” and “Stage Fright.” In “Psycho,” Hitchcock played Janet Leigh’s office mate Caroline, who offers to share her tranquillizers.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorAllan “Blaze” Blazek, a respected rock ‘n’ roll engineer and producer of albums by The Eagles, The Who, Joe Walsh, The J. Geils Band, Elvin Bishop, Johnny Winter, REO Speedwagon, Rick Derringer and more, died in Michigan City, Ind.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorHerbert Schlosser, the NBC executive who championed the groundbreaking sketch show “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” and oversaw the launch of “Saturday Night Live,” died Friday in Manhattan. He was 95.“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Herb Schlosser,” NBC said in a statement.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorFantastic Fest has announced the lineup for its Sept.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorAs the city fully re-opens, Los Angeles restaurants are pulling out all the stops to welcome back patrons. Some have been open for outdoor dining throughout, others are just now reopening, but they’re all in the mood to celebrate after the past 18 months that devastated the restaurant world.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorThe Gotham Film & Media Institute, which oversees the Gotham Awards, announced Thursday that the awards for acting will no longer be defined by gender.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorViacomCBS president and CEO Bob Bakish sent employees a memo Wednesday detailing the company’s concerns over the Delta variant of COVID-19 and specifying that most workers would not return to the office until Oct. 18 “at the very earliest.”Bakish specified that employees returning to ViacomCBS prior to Oct.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorWhen they open the door to Bicyclette, diners might think they’ve stumbled into a cozy bistro in an old house somewhere outside of Paris.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorWomen in Film, Los Angeles, ReFrame and Time’s Up have issued a joint statement calling Disney’s characterization of Scarlett Johansson a “gendered character attack.”The statement from the advocacy organizations reads, “While we take no position on the business issues in the litigation between Scarlett Johansson and The Walt Disney Company, we stand firmly against Disney’s recent statement which attempts to characterize Johansson as insensitive or selfish for

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorNetflix will require actors and those who come in close proximity to them to be vaccinated against COVID-19, in accordance with Hollywood’s new Return-to-Work protocols.The mandate, which is the first broad production vaccination requirement to be announced by a Hollywood studio, will affect the casts and “Zone A” crew — those who come in close contact with actors — for all of the streamer’s U.S.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorThe Indie Spirit Awards announced Thursday that the ceremony will move to March 6 next year, three weeks ahead of the March 27 Oscar date.For many years, the awards have been held on the Saturday before the Oscars when a large number of stars and filmmakers are in town and ready to celebrate. The ceremony will move to 5 p.m.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorBozoma Saint John, Netflix’s chief marketing officer, posted a message Saturday from the company’s Co-CEO and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos, in which he discussed the recent firing of three senior marketing executives over disparaging remarks they sent in a public company Slack channel.The three employees of the film marketing team were let go for making comments critical of other Netflix staffers, which were not characterized as racist, sexist, homophobic or

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorSony Pictures Classics announced Thursday it has acquired rights for North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East for “Compartment No. 6,” the Finnish film that premiered in competition in Cannes.Acquired from Totem Films, it’s the second feature directed by Juho Kuosmanen, and is based on the novel by Rosa Liksom.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorJohn Langley, who created the long-running TV show “Cops” which helped usher in the reality TV era, died Saturday of an apparent heart attack in Baja, Mexico, according to his reps. He was 78.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorAs the city fully re-opens, Los Angeles restaurants are pulling out all the stops to welcome back patrons. Some have been open for outdoor dining throughout, others are just now reopening, but they’re all in the mood to celebrate after the past 16 months that devastated the restaurant world.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorMark Peel, the influential longtime Los Angeles chef and restaurateur who founded Campanile with his ex-wife Nancy Silverton, died Sunday in Los Angeles. He was 67.His daughter told the Los Angeles Times that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer just nine days ago.Peel appeared twice on “Top Chef Masters” and was a “Top Chef” judge in 2009 and 2010.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorTwo members have resigned from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as the organization is in the midst of a thorough overhaul.Diederik von Hoogstraten of the Netherlands and Wenting Xu of China sent a letter of resignation to the HFPA leadership, the L.A. Times reported Thursday.The two overseas journalists said in their letter that the HFPA is a place where “bullying of members by members is left unquestioned and unpunished.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorCalifornia governor Gavin Newsom celebrated the full reopening of the state Tuesday at a Universal Studios Hollywood new conference, with Shrek and the Minions appearing to help herald his arrival.“I want to thank everybody who worked so hard to work through the misinformation and politics,” Newsom said, emphasizing the state’s high 70% vaccination rate and current low COVID-19 case rate.The announcement of the end of capacity and most mask requirements came