The Off-Broadway play Well, I'll Let You Go, had 2 acclaimed runs off-Broadway, both starring Quincy Tyler Bernstein. The supporting cast included Danny McCarthy and Constance Schulman. I wonder if other cast members from that play will appear in Furious?
There's been a lot of reporting about the cost of producing shows on Broadway, including in the NY Times, Wall Street Journal and just today in Philip Boroff's substack. The Boroff article in particular listed a number of budgets: $30M for Purple Rain, Paddington, Dolly, and Death Becomes Her. He also reported that Benjamin Button and The Heart are budgeted at $15M for possible Broadway transfers and I know Cats: The Jellicle Ball was also capitalized in the $15-18M range. Other than a mention of Galileo at $23M, I found it curious that the budgets mainly fell in the $15M and $30M buckets and have been trying to understand why.
I know Cats and Benjamin Button have basically static sets (except the modest staircase at the end of Cats) and are less technically demanding as the other shows cited. Could that be the primary difference - shows with lots of (moving) sets, and tech requirements and lengthy development processes end up adding another $10-$15M to the budget? Or is is that the $30M shows have expensive IP - song, book/movie rights - and all those rights-holders/estates want their (expensive) cut? I'm curious what ALW's took in royalties for Cats. He could afford to play the long game and kept them low in the hopes this production could be franchised around the world.
I would rather producers (and non-profit theaters) took risks on original works - they have certainly been on the cheaper side: Kimberly Akimbo ($7M), Hadestown ($11.5M), and Maybe Happy Ending ($15M).
I love The Watch but like some of you, have been feeling that the guys aren't covering much TV. For those of you who want some service journalism - what new shows are debuting and are they worth your time - consider the new-ish podcast TV is Good, with the great Alan Sepinwall (who might have been the one to pioneer episode-by-episode recaps of shows like The Wire, The Sopranos and Breaking Bad) and Vulture/NY Mag's Kathryn VanArendonk.
Each week they will review/discuss a recently debuting show and pair it with a vintage show that shares the same theme/showrunner/concept.
While Andy and CR have moaned about the lack of shows to watch this summer, Alan and Kathryn have devoted episodes to:
- Little House on the Prairie
- Lucky
- Stuart Fails to Save the Universe
- Elle (the Legally Blonde prequel)
- The Vampire Lestat
- Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed
And they really do the homework - they usually have watched all the episodes released to critics, so they can give you an idea if the show is worth committing time to.
Their Patreon has special episodes devoted to classic tv episodes, like the finale of The Americans.
I've linked to a recent episode about Stuart Fails to Save the Universe which is paired with a discussion of bizarre spinoffs including the myriad Brady Bunch spinoffs (did you know in The Bradys, Bobby Brady is a NASCAR driver, gets into an accident and is a paraplegic? And Marcia is an alcoholic?)
Screen cap from commercial promoting new season beginning next week.
Sean has spoken positively about "Tuner" at least twice - once many months ago (I think to CR) and recently with Amanda during the summer movie preview game (where both predicted a very high 74 Metacritic score and he said it is a really good movie). I think Sean saw the movie at Telluride.
This is one of those "they don't make them like they used to" crime/thriller/dramas with romance and comedy elements executed at a high level. If it was made 30 years ago, it would have starred Matt Damon or the other Leo and been a huge hit and now be covered on The Rewatchables (blue collar lead character is more talented and smarter than his pretty-boy looks, lots of procedural elements, some grit, generally unsentimental).
The way Sean has talked up the movie, I'm really hoping he will interview the director on an upcoming episode. Sean tends to interview young directors with interesting back stories and Daniel Roher seems to fit the bill - he made his career making documentaries, and won an Oscar for "Navalny"; "Tuner" is his first narrative movie. And this is Roher's 2nd movie released in 3 months, as he co-directed "The AI Doc", which was released in March. The posted podcast schedule has them covering The Mandalorian 5/26 and Backrooms 5/29. I can see Sean interviewing the Backrooms director 5/29 but hopefully he can interview Roher 5/26.
Previously, Regal had kept the special screenings vague about who would be doing the Q&As.
For a group of 3 seeing MHE together, what would you recommend? They would want to sit together. And are there discount codes that can get you seats less than $129 (including service?) This is using "happiest".
Edit: thank you all for your guidance!
Maybe it's a combination of LS having just 4 screenings (vs 17 for Devil Wears Prada 2 and 6 for Michael in its 3rd weekend) and LS being a popular venue but is there anything special about the 7:15pm screening of The Sheep Detectives? Any rumors of giveaways or special appearances?
Since the reviews have come out, I've become excited to see this. Would be happy that this near-sellout is an indication of potential sleeper status.