Cheech and Chong Take Another Hit
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Think the Cheech & Chong film franchise ended with 1984's "Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers?" Think again.
The comedy duo is reuniting after 20 years for a new feature set up at New Line Cinema that will catch up with Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong's wacky stoner personas in the present day.
The untitled project is in the early stages of development at New Line. Marin and Chong already have worked out a story line and will pen the script along with an additional writer to be recruited by New Line. Robbi Chong, one of Chong's daughters, will serve as a producer on the project.
"The world is ripe and ready for a new Cheech & Chong movie, especially considering they have a whole new generation of fans out there," said New Line senior vp production Kent Alterman, who is overseeing the project alongside New Line production president Toby Emmerich. "They came in and told us that they're ready to do something again, which we think is a great idea."
After parting company in the mid-1980s, Marin and Chong started talking about working together again about a year ago when they realized that there was a lot of Cheech & Chong-related merchandise being sold -- particularly through the Internet -- that they weren't profiting from at all.
The two started talking with Marin's manager, Power Entertainment CEO David Goldman (who now also represents Chong), about pursuing a licensing deal. At the same time, Chong's daughters, Robbi and Rae Dawn Chong, had written a script for a feature that included roles for two Cheech & Chong-esque characters.
That got them thinking about the prospect of reuniting onscreen (though the Chong sisters' script is not the basis for the New Line project), and they quickly realized that they were still very much in sync as writers and performers.
Marin, who is busy preparing for the start of production on his new Fox sitcom "The Ortegas," said the two have been approached many times over the years to reunite, but the timing never felt right. After their partnership broke up, Marin maintained a laser-like focus on establishing himself as a successful actor in his own right.
"The time finally came where I felt I had distanced myself enough from the old Cheech persona; people have accepted me as an actor," said Marin, who starred opposite Don Johnson in the CBS cop show "Nash Bridges" from 1996-2001. "I think Tommy and I have a better understanding of each other now, too. Creating with him again is the easiest thing I've ever done. It's so intuitive for us."
Chong, who most recently has been seen in a recurring role on Fox's "That '70s Show," echoed Marin's sentiments.
"It feels so good," he said. "When you've been together with someone as long as we were together, there's a oneness that can't be broken."
New Line was their first stop, Marin said, given the studio's track record with comedy franchises like "Austin Powers."
Chong credited Marin with having the foresight to allow the anticipation for a Cheech & Chong reunion to build over the years, even as the best of their films and albums achieved comedy-legend status.
"You know me -- if anybody wanted me to be in a movie with dope in it, I'm there," Chong joked. "But Cheech really protected the image. Those characters have been untouched, and now it's so fun to be back under that classic umbrella."
The six Cheech & Chong features released between 1978 and 1984 grossed about $150 million domestically. Goldman, who brokered the deal with New Line along with attorney Stan Coleman, called the new feature project "a monumental moment in comedy history that reunites the most successful comedy team since Martin and Lewis."
Marin said that they are even considering doing a live performance to promote the movie, which is expected to shoot next year during Marin's hiatus from "The Ortegas."
For the pair who first hooked up in 1968 in Vancouver -- when the Canadian-born Chong was running an improv theater group out of a topless bar -- the staying power of their older material, especially the success of the DVD release of the first Cheech & Chong flick, 1978's "Up in Smoke," has been gratifying.
"We've seen our audience grow and grow, even in the 20 years since we stopped creating stuff," Marin said. "The albums and the movies have become a rite of passage for each generation as they grow up."
Chong noted that a little stoner humor from the masters of the form should be a welcome tonic for the turbulent post-Sept. 11 era.
"This is going to be just what everyone's been needing," Chong said. "'Up in Smoke' sort of put the '60s in perspective. Now we need to put the '90s and 2000s in perspective and tell everyone that you can still laugh a little."
Plans for Stones T.O. show on track
TORONTO (CP) -- Organizers of the Rolling Stones-headlined concert to benefit Toronto said Tuesday plans to stage the mammoth event are going smoothly, with ticket sales expected to peak around 430,000.
"The Rolling Stones have been working very, very hard on making sure this is a spectacular, stellar event," said Riley O'Connor of House of Blues, the concert's promoter.
"And they've amassed one of, I think, the finest talent lineups that we've ever seen in this country."
The band has been very involved with the other 14 acts to appear at the show and have talked about "cooking up numbers" with various other bands during the July 30 show, O'Connor said.
Riley said ticket sales were approaching 400,000 and were expected to reach between 420,000 and 430,000.
Addressing concerns that some American companies would be brought in to set up for the Stones, Steve Howard of the band's tour management company said it was impossible to change some of the logistics providers.
Despite that, Howard said that "80 per cent of the non-talent budget for this show is being spent on Canadian suppliers."
"The Rolling Stones are interrupting a European tour to play this gig," said Howard, of TGA Entertainment.
"We can't ask them to change all of the international vendors" and complicate the setup, he said.
"Our aim is to deliver the best sound and visual experience to a crowd this size that anyone has ever done."
Meanwhile, the event's transportation co-ordinator, Ann Corbitt, said she was working on a plan similar to the one put in place when close to 800,000 people attended Pope John Paul's visit for World Youth Day, which also took place at Downsview Park.
"Just like World Youth Day, departure could take several hours," Corbitt said.
Corbitt said about 50,000 parking spots, all within six kilometres of the park, were in place and more would be added later.
Organizers speculated earlier it could take some people hours to leave the venue and that walking might be a better option than driving or taking public transit.
After a groundswell of public complaints about tight regulations for the concert, last week organizers softened the rules on what people can bring to the show.
Originally the list of banned items included blankets, coolers, and food and drinks -- except for two sealed bottles of water.
But organizers said concert-goers will be allowed to bring beach towels, binoculars, cellphones, sleeping bags, snacks, sealed soft drinks and soft-sided coolers.
Food and beverages will also be on sale at the concert site at lower prices than sports arenas and movie theatres, though organizers refused to say how much lower.
Broadcast rights for the show have yet to be finalized, but recent reports say talks are in motion between music network MuchMusic and CBC for a live national telecast of the event.
The coverage would have to be approved by the networks and all bands involved in the Toronto-boosting bash.
The event has been organized fairly quickly considering the massive crowd expected. Quiet planning started in mid-May after the Stones agreed to play a benefit concert for SARS-stricken Toronto, where they've practised for their last three world tours.
Twain leads CCMA nominations
CALGARY -- Shania Twain's got lots to be Up! about after her first album in five years yielded eight nominations Tuesday for the Canadian Country Music Awards.
Twain scored nods in seven categories, including two for video of the year. As well as top-selling album, the native of Timmons, Ont., is up for top single, album, song, female artist and entertainer of the year, which is selected by the fans.
Newcomer Aaron Lines (You Can't Hide Beautiful) received six nominations for entertainer, album, male artist, single, video and rising star.
Receiving five nominations each were Alberta's Terri Clark, Manitoba-based indie band Doc Walker and Gil Grand of Sudbury, Ont.
Clark, whose snarky I Just Wanna Be Mad was a No. 1 hit in the United States, will defend her top entertainer award. She's also nominated for single, album, video and female artist.
Doc Walker's nominations for group, single and song came on the strength of their hit single Rocket Girl, written by Jason McCoy.
The band also garnered nods for best independent group and independent song.
The awards will be handed out Sept. 8 in Calgary at a ceremony hosted by country crooner Paul Brandt, who is vying for male artist and entertainer.
Emerson Drive, which has lost several members since its first album scored two Top 5 releases in the United States, is up for one award, top group.
Brad Johner got three nominations for Free, a touching song outlining a father's bittersweet emotions as his daughter leaves home: top song, album and independent duo as part of the Johner Brothers.
It's not known if Twain, who is preparing for a fall tour, will attend the awards ceremony.
Twain has previously been nominated nine times and was entertainer of the year in 1999 after the smash success of Come on Over, which sold 35 million albums worldwide. She chose to pull out of the spotlight for several years have a child and cocoon at her home in Switzerland with husband producer Mutt Lange.
Grand, whose brother Jake Mathews is up for the rising star award, says it would be nice if they could both bring home hardware.
"We just had a chance to jam together during the (Calgary) Stampede on the same stage and now we're going to go to the awards show and cheer each other on," said Grand, who says moving to Calgary and the heart of Canadian country has made a huge impact on his career.
Costello Reissues Explode With Bonus Tracks
Rhino's upgrade of Elvis Costello's back catalog will continue with a staggering expansion of three early 1980s albums. Due Sept. 9 are two-disc versions of 1980's "Get Happy," 1981's "Trust" and 1983's "Punch the Clock."
A total of 73 additional tracks have been added across the three titles, which only comprised 47 songs in their original incarnation. All were recorded with the Attractions -- keyboardist Steve Nieve, drummer Pete Thomas and bassist Bruce Thomas -- as Costello's core backing band.
Each disc substantially grows from the mid-1990s Rykodisc reissues of the same albums. Those were part of a program to internationalize the titles in Costello's catalog, making U.S. and European versions the same. Rhino's distinguish themselves not only with additional bonus material, but keep the remastered original album on one disc, while adding a second to house outtakes, demos and live tracks.
The new incarnation of "Get Happy" grows the most, bolstering the original 20-track album with 30 added tracks for the reissue. The set keeps the 10 cuts that were added to the Ryko reissue and tacks on 19 more, including live versions of "High Fidelity" and "The Imposter."
Also new are alternate versions of "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down," "From a Whisper to a Scream" (which features Squeeze's Glenn Tilbrook) and "Girls Talk." In the liner notes, Costello remembers, "The last song had been given away to Dave Edmunds in a moment of drunken bravado and went on to reach No. 2 in the U.K. charts for him." In the U.S., the song reached No. 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1979.
"Trust" gains 18 tracks over the original and nine of which did not appear on the Ryko reissue, including yet another alternate version of "From a Whisper to a Scream." Alternate takes of "Clubland" and "You'll Never Be a Man" are also added, as is an instrumental piano demo of "The Long Honeymoon." Not making the shift from the Ryko reissue to the Rhino version is the outtake "Seconds of Pleasure."
In its expansion, "Punch the Clock" also loses one from the first reissue, a live version of "Everyday I Write the Book." But the set gains plenty, roping in six new rarities plus the 20 additional tracks from the Ryko version. These include BBC sessions of "Big Sister's Clothes/Stand Down Margaret" and "Danger Zone," and live versions of "The Bells" and "Back Stabbers/King Horse."
Ten demo recordings also surface, most of which "were the product of a challenge from [co-producer] Clive Langer to provide more up-tempo material for the album," according to Costello. Among the additions are demos of "Love Went Mad," "Mouth Almighty," "Let Them All Talk" and "The Element Within Her."
Costello's liner notes attempt to frame the time and mood of each album. For example, he recalls "Trust" as "easily the most drug-influenced record of my career," and the U.K. politics behind several of the songs on "Punch the Clock."
Whaddayathink?
Is this a sell out or a trip down memory lane?
Welles' 'Citizen Kane' Oscar Pulled from NY Auction
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Orson Welles' Oscar for the classic movie "Citizen Kane" will not be auctioned after a dispute with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Christie's auction house said on Tuesday.
The Oscar, awarded to Welles for co-authoring a film many regard as the best ever made, was slated to go under the hammer on Friday as part of a sale of memorabilia.
Welles' daughter Beatrice Welles had wanted to sell the statuette, but it was withdrawn after the Academy invoked its right to buy the Oscar back for $1.
"The Oscar will not be offered for sale," said Bendetta Roux at Christie's in New York. "We have decided that the dispute between the Academy and our consignor was still ongoing and not settled."
John Pavlik, spokesman for the Academy, said, "We basically object each time (a sale is attempted) in those instances where we have agreements."
Beatrice Welles signed an agreement to give the Academy a right of first refusal when it gave her a duplicate Oscar after the original was thought to be lost.
The original was later recovered.
The Academy in 1950 demanded Oscar recipients sign an agreement giving it the right to buy back the coveted statuettes for $1 each if they were put up for sale.
Pavlik said talks between lawyers for the Academy and for Welles were still ongoing about whether it would buy back the Oscar in this case.
"Citizen Kane" was the top-ranked movie on the AmericanFilm Institute's "Greatest American Movies of All Time" list.
Christie's Friday auction of entertainment items will offer a costume tail coat from "Citizen Kane," offered by an anonymous seller, and among other items some Beatles memorabilia and a Gibson guitar once owned by Bruce Springsteen.
Springsteen Tour Heads West
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's U.S. summer stadium tour has expanded with two dates on the West Coast.
Newly added into the middle of the Boss' itinerary is his first show in San Francisco since 1978 and his first ever at Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium.
On Aug. 16, the tour will visit Pacific Bell Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, followed the next day by the L.A. show. Tickets for both will go on sale Monday (July 28).
There is no official word as to whether or not the itinerary is now complete. It was previously announced that the tour would end on or around Sept. 30; at present, the last show is Sept. 27 in Milwaukee.
Monday night, the band played the fourth of 10 shows at New Jersey's Giants Stadium. Despite fierce thunderstorms that cropped up about halfway through the concert, the show continued and delivered several rarities, including an encore appearance by one-time E Street Band drummer Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez.
Here are Springsteen's remaining summer tour dates:
July 24, 26-27: East Rutherford, N.J. (Giants Stadium)
Aug. 1-2: Boston (Gillette Stadium)
Aug. 6: Pittsburgh (PNC Park)
Aug. 8-9, 11: Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field)
Aug. 13: Chicago (Comiskey Park)
Aug. 16: San Francisco (Pacific Bell Park)
Aug. 17: Los Angeles (Dodger Stadium)
Aug. 28, 30-31: East Rutherford, N.J. (Giants Stadium)
Sept. 6-7: Boston (Fenway Park)
Sept. 13: Washington, D.C. (FedEx Field)
Sept. 14: Chapel Hill, N.C. (Kenan Stadium)
Sept. 20: Buffalo, N.Y. (Ralph J. Wilson Stadium)
Sept. 21: Detroit (Comerica Park)
Sept. 25: Denver (Invesco Field at Mile High)
Sept. 27: Milwaukee (Miller Park)