Fan Fare

Russell Crowe the $200 million man at foreign box office

Russell Crowe’s career may cooled a little in North America, but the New Zealand-born Australian resident remains a firm favorite with international audiences.

His latest release, “Robin Hood,” just passed the $200 million mark at the foreign box office, the first time he has hit a double-century since his Oscar-winning “Gladiator” ended up with $270 million in 2000.

On a worldwide basis, including respectable U.S./Canada sales of $104 million, the period action-adventure has earned $305.7 million. The only films ahead of it in Crowe’s canon are “Gladiator” ($457 million) and “A Beautiful Mind” ($313.5 million). Crowe will likely have to wait until later this year to see if “Robin Hood” can move up to No. 2. The film has yet to open in just one market — Japan, in December. 

According to “Robin Hood” distributor Universal Pictures, top foreign markets so far include: Britain ($22 million), France ($17 million), Australia ($16 million), Italy ($14 million), Germany ($14 million), Spain ($12 million), Russia $12 million, South Korea $10 million, Mexico $9 million, Brazil ($8 million) and China ($7 million).

Lindsay Lohan’s birthday bash

Lindsay Lohan apparently got more than she bargained for while out clubbing early on her 24th birthday.

” A waitress just hit me — punched me for no reason,” Lohan said in a Twitter message shortly after midnight.

Lohan, complete with her alcohol-monitoring anklet, was photographed by paparazzi shortly after leaving the LA club but had no apparent injuries and no elaboration on what happened.

The only explanation forthcoming – from unidentified sources — was that the “Mean Girls” actress was hanging out at the club with reality TV personality Doug Reinhardt and the waitress took exception.

To make matters worse, Lohan then moved on to another club, only to find the same angry waitress was there also.

“Lohan showed up and cried because the waitress was there as well,” another “insider” told Us magazine.  “Some birthday.”

(Gosh. Who knew LA waitresses had such busy schedules? And no, we don’t know if the waitress was working or partying herself)

“Twilight” stars in UK premiere no-show

The crowds were there but the stars weren’t. Whatever the reasons, and several were reported in the media, the central cast of the hit Twilight vampire movies did not attend the London premiere of the third instalment on Thursday night, much to the waiting fans’ annoyance.

“Gutted” was a word used more than once among those who had queued in London’s Leicester Square for hours to catch a glimpse of their big-screen heroes.

Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner appeared by video message, which was enough to satisfy some of the “Twihards” in attendance. But many others felt short-changed by their absence, particularly as Pattinson, now an A-list Hollywood heartthrob, is a Brit. Most members of the media were aware they weren’t going to show up, but I wonder why the news had not got through to the fans? And would those fans have shown up had they known?

An own goal that will backfire? Probably not. Once the disappointment passes, it is hard to imagine many people keen enough to attend a premiere not actually going to see the movie.

Larry King — from broadcast to bagels

Just days after announcing he will be quitting his CNN interview show in the fall, Larry King has found a new job that takes him right back to his Brooklyn roots — promoting a new bagel franchise.

King, 76, is to play a key role in promoting and developing the franchise business for the Original Brooklyn  Water Bagel  Co, and help with training and seminars, the company said on Thursday.

The Florida-based franchise is a quick-service restaurant chain that creates Brooklyn-flavored water and uses it in bagels, sandwiches and coffee.

King, who was born in Brooklyn and whose father was a restaurant owner,  is apparently a  big fan.

“After experiencing the product first hand, Brooklyn Water Bagel brought back childhood memories — one bite and I was back in Brooklyn,”  King said in a statement.

King said on Tuesday he was stepping down from his low-rated talk show “Larry King Live,” citing a desire to spend more time with his 7th wife and their two young sons.

His surprise announcement left CNN scrambling to fill the hole in its 9 p.m. nightly slot — and a rumor mill of potential candidates.

Mia Michaels gets claws out on “So You Think You Can Dance”

Ballet dancer Alex Wong’s surprising hip-hop routine with all-star  tWitch may have brought the house down on Wednesday’s episode of “So You Think You Can Dance”,  but it was judge Mia Michaels’  sharp tongue that had fans talking the day after.

Michaels, the outspoken Emmy-winning choreographer on the panel, gave tap dancer Melinda Sullivan a dressing down that included cutting remarks over her pigeon toes and  lack of fluidity in her salsa routine. But the lowest blow came when Michaels told the 22-year old tapper that the panel should have sent her home last week.

“We made a mistake letting Cristina go”,  Michaels told her, referring to ballroom dancer Cristina Santana, who the judges chose to send home last week while keeping Sullivan.  And Adam Shankman agreed.

Fans on the “SYTYCD” official website were outraged.   “SHAME ON THEM” said one writer on a busy thread on www.dance.community.fox.com. “To tell a dancer that they made a mistake last week in not getting rid of her is absolutely unconscionable….Constructive criticism is one thing, but this was just plain mean.”

“I am an adamant fan of the show and have never seen the judges be so cruel, catty, and unprofessional”,  said another writer.  Others called on Michaels and producer Nigel Lythgoe to make a public apology.

“It felt like Mia Michaels just couldn’t stop herself from saying it, and she should have, no matter how true it was,”  commented Salon.com blogger Christine Mathias.

Sullivan got high marks for taking the verbal attack on live national television  with stoicism.  But will she win enough public sympathy to stay out of the bottom three, and almost certain elimination on Thursday?

Twi-hards howl for “Twilight Saga: Eclipse”

We knew it would be big. We still don’t know how big, and we won’t until after the upcoming debut weekend. Read about the box office  here.

But we do know that even before it has played one full day in theaters, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” has already broken a record. The film’s midnight screenings on Wednesday raked in more than $30 million at North American box offices. Read about that here. In fact, you can read about the movie here, a review here, our interview with Taylor Lautner here, and a story about Native Americans in the film, here.

We were in Hollywood to talk to some of the “Twi-hard” fans, and some folks who were not so excited. Watch the video to see what we learned.

(video by Marc Price)

Miley Cyrus’ CD sales slide as she ditches her wholesome image

Miley Cyrus’ young fans are rebelling against her rebellion.

As the Disney starlet approaches her 18th birthday in  November, she is not unwisely downplaying her wholesome image in favor of an edgier facade. The transition shouldn’t have been too hard given all the scantily clad photos that have surfaced in the past few years, not to mention a recently released videoclip that showed 16-year-old Cyrus giving a lap dance to a 44-year-old Hollywood director. 

But her evolution into young adulthood is not getting any easier, if first-week sales of her defiantly titled new album, “Can’t Be Tamed” are anything to go by. The album, preceded by a sexy video, sold just 102,000 copies in the United States last week, landing at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 sales chart released Wednesday.

That’s a hefty drop from the 153,000 units that her Walmart-exclusive EP “Time of Our Lives” sold during its first full week last September. The EP’s numbers would have been higher if it had not gone on sale towards the end of the previous sales week, when it sold 62,000 units in just three days — enough for a No. 3 debut also.

Cyrus’ debut album under her own name, “Breakout,” launched at No. 1 in July 2008 with 371,000 units. She also hit No. 1 with a pair of albums released under her “Hannah Montana” alter ego: “Hannah Montana” kicked off with 281,000 units in 2006, and “Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus” with 326,000 the following year.

Those were the days when Cyrus/Montana concert tickets were the hottest commodity on the planet, and scalpers made a mint reselling them for huge markups to the chagrin of frustrated parents and outraged politicians. But times have changed, and youngsters are agog over Lady Gaga and Ke$ha and Drake and Justin Bieber. The latter’s debut album opened at No. 1 in March with 283,000 units and is one of the year’s biggest sellers with sales to date of 1.3 million. Drake’s debut album opened at No. 1 last week with 447,000 units.

Critics have given a guarded thumbs-up to the Cyrus metamorphosis. Entertainment Weekly’s respectful review gave “Can’t Be Tamed” a B-minus, while the New York Times said it was “the most unexpectedly thrilling” album of her career. Disney said it was heartened by market research showing that Cyrus’ fan base in the 16-22 age bracket stood at 47 percent this week from 16 percent last June.

from Photographers Blog:

Ten minutes or less with Taylor Lautner

Reuters had been approved for a ten-minute portrait session with Taylor Lautner, the heartthrob of millions of teenagers, my editor Sam Mircovich informed me the day before the shoot.

Reporter Alex Dobuzinskis had a one-on-one interview with Taylor scheduled ahead of the premier of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse." Before the release of a film, the production company organizes press junkets in which the cast is available for media interviews and occasionally for a quick photo session. Photo access is rare so whenever it's granted to us, it's welcomed.

Not unlike other press junkets, this one was held at a prestigious hotel in Los Angeles. The hotel had been rigged and retrofitted for these types of media events.

My shoot was slotted in for 3:15pm on a Saturday. I arrived one hour early, as I always do, to check in, set-up and think about my shots.

Two important things to remember during these portrait sessions are: to create an environmental portrait with no backdrop, and to create a unique look that extracts the subject from the actual hotel setting. I always aim for these two different looks.

To shoot a traditional portrait, I use a medium size Chimera softbox, a Dynalite uni400 head plugged into a jackrabbit battery and a wireless connection with pocket wizards transmitters as I prefer not to have any cables running along the floor. I am able to move around the room freely with my lighting self-contained.

Chris Brown: time to forgive? How about forget?

There is no doubt Chris Brown gave a strong performance of Michael Jackson songs at Sunday’s BET Awards. But the question it raised Sunday on the news floor here was: were his emotions real? If you don’t know what we’re talking about. You can read about it here or watch the video below.

Brown performed a medley of Michael Jackson songs that ended with “Man in the Mirror,” the King of Pop’s call for all of us to take a long look at ourselves and change in ways that make the world a better place to live. But instead of singing, Brown appeared overcome by the lyrics, seemed to be crying, tossed his earplug out of his ear at one point and bent to his knees in anguish before quickly leaving the stage soon after the song ended. He later returned after winning an “AOL Fan-demonium” award and said to the audience,  “I let y’all down before, but I won’t do it again. I promise.”

What Brown was talking about, of course, was his assault on ex-girlfriend Rihanna last year, for which he pleaded guilty to a criminal charge. He has performed community service, taken anger management classes and is currently on probation. At the time, the young R&B singer was a rising star, but the event set back his career as some radio stations took his songs off their playlists for a time. Still, Brown has endured the past year with, seemingly, some humility. He has apologized publicly several times, and he has done what the Los Angeles court system has asked of him. Read that here.

So, beyond even the question of whether his BET performance was real or just a show, there is another question: is it time to forgive Chris Brown and let him get on with his career? And if his fans forgive, will they ever forget his assault on a defenseless girl sitting next to him in his expensive rented car?

Brown’s emotional performance has triggered some heated online exchanges. “His being asked to make a tribute for the King of Pop is ultimate proof of his career being in a slump,” wrote one female poster on YouTube.com.

“I know he had? that altercation with RIRI,but thats the past,IT REALLY DOES TAKE A REAL MAN TO CRY ON NATIONAL TV,”  wrote another.

Watch the video and make your own decision:

Britain’s Prince Harry takes a tumble in New York

Britain’s Prince Harry fell off his horse during a polo match in New York City on Sunday and ended up losing the game, but he won big for his charity to help African orphans.

Prince Harry was not hurt when he tumbled from his horse early on during the third annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic on Governor’s Island, which raised money for his charity Sentebale.

The prince, son of Prince Charles and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, co-founded Sentebale with Prince Seeiso from the Lesotho Royal family to help Lesotho’s orphans and at-risk children. He recently visited the country with his elder brother Prince William to show him the work of the charity.

“You continue the finest traditions of American charity,” Prince Harry told wealthy New Yorkers and celebrities, such as Val Kilmer, Ivanka Trump and Gayle King, who had paid thousands of dollars to attend a lunch with the prince before the match and to support Sentabale.

“Your great country has always protected the downtrodden, the poorest, those most in need of help in the world. To me this is what the United States stands for,” he said.

Despite sweltering heat, more than 10,000 New Yorkers caught ferries from Manhattan and Brooklyn to watch the game at the former military base in New York Harbor. Prince Harry’s team BlackRock was defeated 6-5 by Argentinian player Ignacio “Nacho” Figueras’ team Black Watch.