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"Mamma Mia!" DVD is making money, money, money: $30 million on first day...

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"Mamma Mia!" is already the most successful film musical of all time worldwide raked in over $30 million its first day out on DVD, according to an email I just got from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

It had already been proclaimed the fastest selling DVD of all time in the U.K. after first-day sales reached 1.6 million units, surpassing the previous record holder "Titanic."

The film garnered two Golden Globe ®nominations last week: Best Picture (Musical or Comedy) and Best Actress in Musical or Comedy for Meryl Streep.

In Australia, the DVD became the biggest DVD release of the past two years, holding the number-one spot for four consecutive weeks and was also Universal's biggest home entertainment release ever in Germany, with one million units shipped to date.

In addition to Streep, the film also stars Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Julie Walters, Dominic Cooper and Christine Baranski.

"Mamma Mia" out on DVD today...

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,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,mia.jpgWell this sounds like the perfect stocking stuffer!

The hit movie version of the stage smash "Mamma Mia!," starring the Golden Glove Award nominated Meryl Streep, hits store shelves today on DVD and Blu-ray Hi-Def.

Here's some more info on the DVD features:
- A sing-along bonus feature that includes on-screen lyrics for 22 musical numbers
- Includes all-new musical number, "The Name of the Game"
- Deleted scenes and Outtakes
- Featurettes that give an in-depth look at the making of Mamma Mia! The Movie.
- 2-Disc Special Edition available for a Limited Time Only with digital copy

Below is some of the DVD bonus material featuring Meryl and other members of the cast:

Catching up with the legendary Mitzi Gaynor...

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Let's face it, they don't make stars like Mitzi Gaynor anymore.

Best known as the leading lady in the blockbuster musical "Rogers & Hammerstein's South Pacific," Gaynor is a rare talent who can sing, dance and tell jokes all while looking amazingly bright-eyed and beautiful.

I was surprised to discover that she never really saw herself as a screen beauty when headlining such 50s musicals as "Les Girls," "Anything Goes," "Bloodhounds of Broadway," and "The I Don't Care Girl."

"I always thought I looked like a dog's dinner," she joked. "And I never thought I was all that good in the movies. They really didn't quite know what to do with me in the movies."
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But they did know what to do with Gaynor on television where she was a sensation in a series of annual TV specials that aired annually from the late 60s through the late 70s. They featured spectacular costumes by Bob Mackie who also designed for Cher and Carol Burnett and the list of guest stars reads like a Who's Who of television.

There is a renewed interest in the specials are the subject of the new DVD documentary "Mitzi Gaynor: Razzle Dazzle! The Special Years" out Tuesday. The specials were the focus of an evening at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences four nights ago and of KOCE's fundraising drive this weekend.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,gaynor177.jpg"From the time TV started, I'd been offered all kinds of things but I never wanted to do (a series)," Gaynor explained to me a few days before the Academy event. "Gene Kelly had suggested only doing event television and that's why I only did specials."

Watching the specials now, the 77-year-old Gaynor said "is just a revelation for me. I didn't know I did that! Now, I'm thrilled. I'm loving every moment of it."

The newfound attention comes at a good time. Two years ago, Gaynor's husband Jack Bean died after 52 years of marriage. He was the producer of her specials and guided her career.

"When he passed away, I just mourned," she said.

Then she decided to return to performing and is putting together a stage show to take on the road early next year with dates already booked in San Francisco, Palm Springs and in Cerritos.

"(Performing) was his life for me and I owe it to him to go back," she said.

Another reason for getting back on stage three years shy of 80: "It's not that I'm not lazy, I just don't want everything to fall on the floor all at once...I'll always a gypsy my dear."

Here are some videos of her spectacular specials in all their glory:

And here is Mitzi doing the title number in the film "Anything Goes"

Morning Tune: John Barrowman sings "Night and Day"

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This is a number from the film "De-Lovely" starring Kevin Kline as Cole Porter. Enjoy!

Mitzi Gaynor: "I always thought I looked like a dog's dinner...

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,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,mitzi.jpgI'm writing a column on Mitzi Gaynor's sensational series of TV specials in the late 60s through late 70s that are the subject of a new documentary. I watched the DVD of it earlier this week and was astonished by the absolute talent and charm possessed by this dazzling star - best known for her starring role in the big-screen version of "South Pacific."

I interviewed Miss Gaynor, now 77, this afternoon and I'll share it all with you later this week. But there was one thing that was so funny that I had to share it right away. When discussing her appearance, the still beautiful star said: "I always thought I looked like a dog's dinner."

Hilarious.


A chat with "High School Musical" director Kenny Ortega...

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,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,ortegaa28.jpg"High School Musical 3: Senior Year" director Kenny Ortega certainly is one of the happiest guys in showbiz right now.

After warming up with the wildly successful Disney Channel movies "High School Musical" and "High School Musical 2," Ortega achieved something incredible over the weekend when the third film - and first to be released in theaters - grossed $42 million to achieve
the biggest opening for any musical in history.

All along, the Emmy-winning director and choreographer had just wanted to get back to the big screen. He had worked with Gene Kelly on 1980's "Xanadu" and choreographed all those great dance scenes in 1987's "Dirty Dancing" then settled into a successful career or directing episodic television and choreographing Super Bowl half-time shows, the Academy Awards, one of Michael Jackson's world tours and Madonna's "Marerial Girl" music video.

"I've been wanting it for a really long time," Oretga told me recently. "I did the first 'High School Musical' in hopes that it would perhaps it would open a few doors and enable me to work on the big canvas again. So it's a dream come true and we've had the time of
our lives."

The first two "High School" movies now seem like just a rehearsal.

"We were really prepared and we were able to design differently," he said. "We had a bigger schedule and a bigger screen. We were able to really have a lot of fun. And it really is a movie, it's not a television show thrown up on a big screen. We're very proud of that."
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,ortega28.jpgBut a lot more has changed since that first movie besides the production budget. Leads Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens have become superstars. Ortega said they got where they are the old-fashioned way: they earned it.

"We went through the most wonderful process in finding them," he said. "It was like a Broadway audition, it took weeks. Months actually. When we finally narrowed it down to about 35 kids, We auditioned them for like six hours a day. They went through dance,
singing, improv, scene work, athletics. A real workshop. We knew who were getting into business with by the time we were getting out of those auditions."

What they were getting into is what looks like one of the most successful musical franchises of all time!

My night at the premiere of "High School Musical 3"

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,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,zac17.jpgNo, it wasn't Shea Stadium in 1965 and they weren't the Beatles.

But my guess is the frenzied scene of the Fab Four playing their famous concert at the height of Beatlemania was similar in some ways to what went down Thursday night at Galin Center on the USC campus.

It was the premiere of "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" and the screams from fans were so deafening, it was hard to think straight - especially when it came to the franchise's two biggest stars: Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens.

Hundreds of kids admitted to taking the day off from school to attend the event and showed their enthusiasm by waving red and white pom-poms, shreiking during Zac's close-ups and laughing in all the right spots during the movie. It screened in a venue that Disney had transformed from basketball arena to a giant movie theater.

There were hundreds of excited fans lined up behind barricades leading to the red carpet and I heard one woman say, "I've been here since last night!"

Like I said, like the Beatles.

Hudgens emerged from her limosine just as I was walking by so I got a good look at this tiny star wearing a short white dress with flowing sleeves. She reached the red carpet where Efron and other castmates including Corbin Bleu, Ashley Tisdale (her blond hair now brunette), Lucas Krabeel, Olesa Rulin and Monique Coleman were already giving interviews.

Among the other stars who showed up to lend support for the movie, which opens Friday, were Paula Abdul, "Hannah Montana" co-star Cody Linley and his "Dancing With the Stars" partner Julianne Hough and several young stars of various Disney shows including Selena Gomez, Brenda Song, Kyle Massey, Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, and Greg Finley.

"These guys have a good thing going on 'High School Musical.' "Too bad it's the last one," said Finley, who stars on "Secret Life of an American Teenager."

Instead of the usual glitzy after-party, guests simply picked up turkey or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on their way in along with a bucket of popcorn and drinks. With my food in hand, I bumped into a familiar looking guy: Mickey Dolenz. He wasn't a Beatle, but he was a member of The Monkees!

"I'm just here for the free popcorn," he joked. "I'm really just a big fan of musicals and musical theater and it's really great to see that genre being revived like this."

Dolenz himself has been performing in a lot of musicals including "Aida," "Pippin," "Grease" and "Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum."

"The Monkees was essentially musical theater on TV," he said. "'High School Musical' does bring it back and I'm glad."

I took my great friend Lorna Harris along to the premiere and after, she admitted that she really enjoyed the film. Neither of us had seen either of the first two movies so when the third opened with a cheesy musical number during a high school basketball game, we were dubious.

Bu the movie won us over and Lorna remarked that it reminded her of how she felt after the first time she saw "Grease" only, of course, this movie is a far cleaner version of that 1978 classic! (BTW, Lorna is now editing Boudica.com, a social news site for women. Check it out!)

-- Earlier post: A chat With High School Musical director Kenny Ortega...

Greg's Review of "Mamma Mia"

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Knock me over with a feather. Meryl Streep has managed to, once again, astonish. Is there no end to this woman's amazing talent?

Outfest attendees got to see Meryl's musical "Mamma Mia" a week or so early Thursday night during two sold out showings at the DGA Theatre. I was igddy with excitement but running late for the 7 p.m. screening. But the musical gods were watching over me as I was the second-to-the-last car let in to the DGA parking structure before it was declared full and I was the very last Outpass holder let in under the 15 minute rule. If you are a passholder and don't arrive at least 15 minutes early, you have to wait in line with the other ticket holders which could mean a crummy seat.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,mia.jpgWe were treated to an appearance of one of the film's stars, Amanda Seyfried, who was given an ovation as she ran onto the stage to charmingly introduce the movie. Amanda is a real talent who plays Meryl's daughter in the movie - the daughter getting married who invites the three men who could potentially be her father to the wedidng. T^hey are played Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard.

Pierce cannot sing, let's face it. But he doesn't try too often, thankfully. This is the ladies' show all the way. In a bit of brilliant casting, Meryl is joined by two-time Tony winner and Emmy winner Christine Baranski and Oscar nominee Julie Walters who play her best friends.

What a delicious trio!

The movie was shot in the Greek isles so it is visually quite brilliant. And except for a dip in energy about midway through, the movie really zips along. I liked it more than "Hairspray," "Chicago" and maybe even "Dreamgirls" which I loved.

The reason is Meryl. Magical Meryl. When she is standing on the rocks by the water singing "The Winner Takes It All" to Brosnan, i don't think she has ever been more beautiful, more brilliant. It is kind of a Jennifer Hudson "And I'm Telling You, I'm Not Going" moment and it is breathtaking.

Other standout numbers include Walters dancing on the table tops singing "Take A Chance On Me" to Skarsgard, a wonderful "Mamma Mia" led by Meryl, "I Have A Dream" by Seyfried, and group numbers "Dancing Queen," and 'SOS."

You don't have to be an ABBA fan or to have seen the show on stage to absolutely enjoy this film. I promise.

The "Mamma Mia" trailer...

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Mamma Mia! Meryl Streep! Magnificant! Here is Miss Streep at the London premiere of the film which opens soon ... but not soon enough for me! Here is the trailer:

Will Glenn Close headline "Sunset Boulevard" feature?

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aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaapatti.jpgWhen and if a big-screen version of "Sunset Boulevard" is made, it appears that Glenn Close, who won a Tony for her performance as Norma Desmond on Broadway, would play the lead.I just read all of this on AfterEllen.com which I do not check enough and shgould because it is filled with goodies. The site had previosuly had a poll and its readers agreed that Close was the best choice with 55 percent picking her over Meryl Streep (27 percent) and Barbra Streisand (18 percent). I'm sure Babs isn't interested but I would think Streep would also be an excellent choice.
But if I could cast the role? I'd give it to the great Patti LuPone who originated the role on the London stage but was dumped before the Broadway run (which she was contracted to do) in favor of Close who had triumphed in the Los Angeles production.
LuPone deserved better.

Greg's Review: I loved "Hairspray"

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aaaaaaaaaaaahairspray1.jpgThis was a real treat. New Line Cinema's big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical "Hairspray" translates well into a feature film and made me all but forget the original 1988 film about star struck teens on a local Baltimore dance show that launched it all. This movie is full of energy, wonderful music and dancing and has a strong and clear message about diversity.
While I could not wait to see "Dreamgirls" last year, I was a bit more casual about "Hairspray" even though I had enjoyed the show when it was at the Pantages in LA a few years back. My pal Jim Key joined me for a screening last night at The ArcLight and a man and a woman approached us and asked if the seats next to me were available. It was Sam Harris, who played my favorite character of Perry Pearl on CBS' now-cancelled "The Class" which I still mourn. So Sam sits down next to me and without hesitation I start doing Perry Pearl lines. I say: "When life gives you lemons..." And in unison we say: "Make Chicken Picatta!" We dissolve in laughter. Jim looks confused as does Sam's friend, the actress Bridget Moynahan - pregnant and beautiful.
I told Sam how much I miss Perry and he said: 'I miss Perry too."
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Anyway, back to the movie: I loved it from the first frame to the last. I want the soundtrack, I want to see it again, it's gonna make gobs of money at the box office.
I wasn't sure how the casting of John Travolta as Edna would work out but the man who made us swoon in the 70s musicals "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease" can add a very different musical triumph to his resume. He is great fun in the role, totally gives himself over to it, and I gotta say, you kinda forget it's John Travolta after awhile. And how he dances so well in that fat suit, I'll never know. But he shines.
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So does Michelle Pfeiffer as the racist, stage mother, station manager who is the real villian in the piece. My friend Jim didn't even realize it was Pfeiffer until the credits. She nails the role and does a great job as the evil one in this battle of good vs. evil.
And then there is Latifah who is a Queen. She should be a paret of all movie musicals in the near future as she follows up her Oscar-nominated performance in "Chicago" with a heckuva turn here.
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We also loved the oh-so-handsome James Marsden who showed that he can sing and dance as well as be absolutely adorable. The younger crowd should also embrace this movie what with the castings of Amanda Bynes, Zac Efron, Britney Snow and Elijah Kelly. Look for some funny moments from Allison Janney as a Christian wacko mother of Amanda Bynes character.
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But, let's face it, the film absolutely could not work if the role of the loveable, brave and spirited Tracy Turnblad isn't spot-on. In newcomer Nikki Blonsky, we have our Tracy. She is a wonder. She dances up a storm with utter self-belief and abandon and she doesn't see the world in black and white or fat and thin. She sees things in terms of right and wrong. Blacks should be able to dance on the show with whites, chubby girls should be able to win the Miss Hairspray contest if they deserve to. Her character works to shatter the social norms of the day and Blonsky makes you believe in her every step of the way.


Jerry Herman dishes about Lucy and Streisand...

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mame_lucy_trumpet.jpgJerry Herman, the lyricist-composer of such legendary Broadway hits as "Hello, Dolly!" "Mame" and "La Cage Aux Folles," is being honored in LA tonight at The Actors Fund's annual Tony Awards bash and did an interview with LA's INMagazine to mark the ocassion.
The best parts are when he dishes about the widely criticized castings of Lucille Ball in "Mame" and Barbra Streisand in "Hello, Dolly!" when big-screen movies were made of the hit stage musicals.
Lucy was in her early 60s and ending her 20-plus year run in sitcoms when she took on the plum role of Mame Dennis. Says Herman: "I love Lucille Ball, but that casting was such a mistake. Can you imagine the film if Angela [Lansbury, who played the role on Broadway] had done it? It would have been a remarkable piece of work."
portrait.jpg246642.jpgHerman, of course, had wanted "Dolly!" to star Carol Channing who had been the toast of Broadway in the part of Doly Levi that instead went to a red-hot Streisand who had just triumphed in "Funny Girl." Looking back though, Herman said of Streisand in the movie: 'Those songs had never been sung so beautifully...I saw it last year at the Egyptian in a special showing, with all the modern equipment, and I sat with an audience that laughed and laughed and was moved, and really appreciated that film. I think Barbra did an amazing job, knowing in her heart that she was not right for the role, but making it her own. I think time wll be kind to that film."

The "Hairspray" movie poster surfaces...

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I don't know who is who. Maybe you can figure it out. The cast includes John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Allison Janney, Queen Latifah, Christopher Walken and James Marsden and Nicole Blonsky.

"Hairspray" blows away crowd at ShoWest...

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Sometimes, you just can't be everywhere at once. For the past three years, this is the week that I have been in Las Vegas covering the ShoWest Convention. I was there when Brad and Angelina walked out on stage about 10 feet from each other a few years ago to try and not look like they were a couple (yeah, right). Al Gore was there last year to push "An Inconvenient Truth" which I skipped to see some creepy movie called "Hard Candy." It was at ShoWest where I watched a Thomas Jane movie ("The Stander") with Thomas Jane sitting right in front of me, blocking my view of a Thomas Jane nude scene. What was I supposed to say, "Can you please movie your head so I can see your ASS?" And at my first ShoWest, I got to ask Meryl Streep a question during a press conference, see Bette Midler real up close and see a very pregnant Gwynth Paltrow teeter on these sky-high platform shoes.
Ah, memories.
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But this year, after a grueling award season, It was decided I would take a vacation instead of go to ShoWest. I was cool with that but now that I see what I missed...I'm PISSED! New Line Cinema had called last week and invited me to this "Hairspray" event and I casually begged off since I'd not be attending. Now I see that it was my chance to see James Marsden in the flesh! The my queen, Latifah, and Michele Pfeiffer...and John Travolta! And whoever the girl is playing the Ricki Lake part.
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hairspray-cast-showest-la 3.jpgThis is an account of the evening: It was a full house with the cast of Hairspray was on hand at ShoWest on Wednesday night — John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer, Zac Efron, Brittany Snow, James Marsden, Elijah Kelley, Allison Janney, Christopher Walken, and Nicole Blonsky as the lead.
JustJared.com reports that 20 minutes of footage from the film (out July 20) was previewed at ShoWest and the reviews are great!
By the way, my reviews were not so great last night. On the last night of my vacation in Palm Springs, I took a break from watching tennis, downed a few greyhounds (vodka and grapefruit juice) and took the stage at the Spurline on Arenas Street downtown. It was kareoke night. I bombed bigtime! Sang a painful version of Carole King's "It's Too Late" but instead of getting booed, the crowd was behind me when I confessed, mid-song, to singing like Cameron Diaz in "My Best Friend's Wedding." After that, everyone sang the choruses with me and I got a big cheer at the end and some high-fives.
Uh boy...I shoulda gone to ShoWest to hear the professionals sing...

Johnny Depp headlines film version of "Sweeney Todd"

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Filming of Tim Burton's "Sweeney Todd," a feature film version of the classic Broadway musical, was halted this week due to the illness of star Johnny Depp's daughter. Lily-Rose Depp has been released from the hospital after nine days of treatment for what is thought to have been a serious case of blood poisoning.
Depp’s spokesperson Robin Baum confirmed that Lily-Rose is now “doing much better” and has been taken back to the London hotel.
A representative from the Sweeney Todd production said: “We have adjusted the schedule to accommodate [Johnny’s] needs at this moment. We understand that [Lily-Rose] is improving. Obviously, everybody at the studio is certainly with them in their good spirits.”
Depp plays the main character in the film, which is a screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s macabre musical about a vengeful London barber in 19th-century London. It marks the sixth time that Depp and Burton have joined forces, with past movies including ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,’ ‘Ed Wood,’ ‘Edward Scissorhands’ and ‘Sleepy Hollow.’
The story of Sweeney Todd is of a wrongfully imprisoned barber in Victorian England who sets out to seek revenge on the judge who imprisoned him. He is helped by Mrs. Lovett, who bakes Sweeney's victims into "the worst pies in London."
The film also stars Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Sacha Baron Cohen and Christopher Lee with the stars doing their own singing for the film, which is scheduled for a late 2007 release. Carter has the role of Mrs. Lovett which was originated by Angela Lansbury on Broadway in the late 1970s and won her a fourth Tony Award. The great Patti Lupone played the role in a Broadway revival of the show last season and was Tony nominated for her performance.
Carter has some mighty big shoes to fill.

"The Sound of Music" coming to ABC Family next month...

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aamusic.jpgMy friend, PR guru Frank Groff, is the person who introduced me to the pleasures of "The Sound of Music" several years ago. So I can't help but think that Frank will be very happy about this news: The cable network ABC Family will pay $3 million for the rights to air the 1965 film "The Sound of Music" for three years, sharing it with its sister broadcast network ABC.
ABC Family's first three primetime runs of the film will be during the evenings of April 6-8 at 7 PM each night!
Beginning with those airings, ABC Family can air the show seven times each year for the next three years, any time between January to September. The ABC network can air the film once a year for the next three years, but only from October to December.
Of course, you could always buy the DVD.

Pierce Brosnan lands role in "Mamma Mia"

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I'll bet Pierce Brosnan thought playing James Bond would be the highlight of his career. Well, now he's been signed for a movie that I think is a dream role: Brosnan will star opposite Meryl Streep in "Mamma Mia!," the film adaptation of the hit musical with a score of all ABBA songs.
aabrosnan1.jpgBrosnan, who will duet with Streep on "S.O.S.," sang a few Irish standards in the indie drama "Evelyn," and sang onstage early in his career. He will play Sam, one of three men summoned to a Greek isle by a young woman who believes one of them is her father.
"I said yes right away because it meant working with Meryl Streep," Brosnan told Daily Variety. "Secondly, I saw the show with my family in London, and found it just so wonderfully happy and joyful, and so pitched in time forever in the 1970s. What a kick in the pants, to be able to go off and spend time with Meryl on some Greek island, singing ABBA songs."
The movie begins shooting June 25 in London and Greece.

One Night Only: original Effie Jennifer Holliday will sing on E! Oscar pre-show...

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JenniferHolliday.jpgJennifer Holliday originated the role of Effie in the first Broadway production of "Dreamgirls" 25 years ago and took home the Tony Award for it. She also won a Grammy then went on to a recording career of some success but has never returned to those early-career heights. On Sunday, for those who want to see and hear Oscar front-runner Jennifer Hudson's predecessor to the role, tune in to E! channel's Oscar pre-show (5 p.m. eastern, 2 p.m. pacific) when Holliday, from the rooftop of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, will sing "And I Am Telling You (I'm Not Going)."
Prior to the film's debut, Holliday complained that she had not been invited to its premiere ("I think they thought to have success with this, they had to destroy my legacy") and also thinks it would have been nice if the filmmakers had offered her a cameo role in the film, as they did Loretta Devine, with whom Holliday starred in the original Broadway show.
"Chita Rivera was in [the feature film version] of "Chicago" and Ricki Lake is going to be in "Hairspray.'" Holliday tells USA Today. "There were plenty of little parts all of us could have played. I would have liked to have been Deena's mother."
tr_dreamgirls.jpgMaybe if they had given her a small role, Holliday would have been more impressed with the film: "All I like about the movie is that it was made. Over 20 years they've been trying to make this and I think the movie lost the heart and soul of it."
She also gives something of a backhanded compliment to Hudson: "I'm proud of what Jennifer reprsents. Her Effie stands on its own. If I say her performance wasn't good, then I'm not not good because they were the same. She's going to win an Oscar and all three of us - Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Holliday and Effie - will be up there when she wins."
I'm thinking Florence Ballard, the Supreme on who Effie is so obviously based, might be up there on that stage too and Hudson has made so secret that it was Ballard who was her inspiration for the role.

The Dreamgirls become cover girls....

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There has been some grumblings about how celebrities are replacing models on the covers of various national magazines. I say, hooray! Why not feature beautiful women who can do more than walk down a runway? Two of the best examples are two of the "it" girls of the moment: Beyonce Knowles and Jennifer Hudson who are currently gracing the covers of "Sports Illustrated" and "Vogue," respectively.
Both are riding high: Beyonce knocked "Listen" out of the park when she performed at last weekend's Grammy Awards and Jennifer is still the favorite to walk away with the Academy Award next Sunday for best supporting actress.
On top of all that, their wonderful movie, "Dreamgirls," is poised to cross the $100 million mark at the domestic box office sometime over the Presidents Day weekend!

Beyonce and Jennifer had real-life models for "Dreamgirls"

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20070115_100739_111607_gold.jpgEveryone figures that "Dreamgirls" is based on the story of "The Supremes," the ultimate girl group of the 60s founded by childhood friends Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard. Even though the movie is a fictionalized version of what went down with the group, stars Beyonce Knowles and Jennifer Hudson made no secret of who their inspirations were in shaping their characters.
"Absolutely Diana Ross was a huge inspiration," said Beyonce, whose character of Deena is very Ross-like. "Her music was always on, her movie posters on my wall. [Deena] is not exactly Diana Ross, it's not a movie of her life. But she was absolutely the inspiration."
aross.jpgBeyonce says she was nervous to meet Ross after the movie came out but said the meeting went fine. Ross has not commented on the film. But with her first new CD in many years due out next week, she no doubt will say SOMETHING about it. But, you never know. Ross has a way of saying a lot but not saying a lot and has rarely been very candid.
Hudson, winner of the best supporting actress Globe and the Oscar front-runner, said her characterization was indeed inspired by the late Ballard who, like Effie in the film, was replaced as lead singer then kicked out of the group. While Effie bounced back in the film, Ballard never did and died in poverty at the age of 32.
So, it was especially touching Monday night when Hudson ended her acceptance speech by saying: "I want to dedicate this award to a lady who never really got a fair chance. This award is for Florence Ballard. You will never be forgotten."


"Dreamgirls" finally goes nationwide...today!

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adreams.jpgMy guess is that there have been plenty of readers who think, "Why the hell does Greg keep going on and on about 'Dreamgirls'"? Well, you will get a chance to find out as the movie finally goes into wide release in 1,900 theaters in the U.S.
So fare, the movie has grossed $56.2 million domestically (as of Wednesday) and has earned all kinds of award show nominations. I think it's a shoo-in to reach at least $150 million. Three years ago, the musical "Chicago" went on to take in $170 million after it won the best picture Oscar. The movie is up for five Golden Globe awards on Monday and should win in some key categories and I think that could result in a nice box office boost as well.
So go see "Dreamgirls" this weekend and let me know what you think of it!

About Out
in Hollywood


Greg Hernandez authored Out In Hollywood for the Daily News from June 2006 to February 2009. He can now be found at Greg In Hollywood: www.greginhollywood.com

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