Filmmaker Steven Spielberg has achieved EGOT status.
He’s now the 21st person to win an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.
Robert Lopez is the only double-EGOT winner.
You would be forgiven for thinking that he was already there given his career to date, but thanks to a Grammy win as one of the producers on ‘Music by John Williams,’ a tribute to the storied career (and the director’s longtime friend and collaborator), Steven Spielberg has joined the EGOT club.
For those thinking, “EWhat?” it means those who have won the four major awards, an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.
Y3SnkwuluObQfZVHoWKXa7
Spielberg becomes the 21st person to achieve the illustrious status (see more below).
But despite his many awards, Spielberg has some way to go to compete with ‘Frozen’ co-songwriter Robert Lopez, who has managed to win them all at least twice.
When will Spielberg’s next movie arrive?
The director has his latest movie, sci-fi thriller ‘Disclosure Day’, due on June 12 this year.
Emily Blunt in ‘Disclosure Day’, directed by Steven Spielberg. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Ariana Grande and Josh Gad are leading the voice cast for ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’
Jon M. Chu and Jill Culton are directing the Dr. Seuss adaptation.
‘La La Land’ Oscar winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are writing songs for it.
Looks like filmmaker Jon M. Chu is ready to reunite with one of his ‘Wicked’ stars –– the director, who is hard at work co-directing an adaptation of Dr. Seuss’‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ with Jill Culton, has now cast Ariana Grande in one of the main voice roles for the new animated movie.
ORndLOMAtEFUygCB5bUeB7
And that’s not all: as per the Instagram post from production company Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, Josh Gad is filling the other main part.
The movie boasts not just Chu and Culton, but also J.J. Abrams as producer alongside Oscar winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul writing songs for the musical movie.
Dr. Seuss’ ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ Photo: Amazon.
Written by prolific author Dr. Seuss –– AKA Theodor Seuss Geisel –– the original book was first published by Random House on January 22nd, 1990.
It was the last book to be published during Seuss’ lifetime.
The story, written in his usual rhyming form, begins with the narrator, relating the decision of the unnamed protagonist (who represents the reader) to leave town.
The protagonist travels through several geometrical and polychromatic landscapes and places, eventually encountering a place simply called “The Waiting Place,” which is ominously addressed as being a place where everyone is always waiting for something to happen.
As the protagonist continues to explore, spurred on by the thoughts of places he will visit and things he will discover, the book cheerfully concludes with an open ending.
The movie will reportedly focus on a young adventurer navigating the ups and downs of life.
What other Dr. Seuss books have been adapted?
(Left) Jim Carrey as the Grinch in ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas.’ Photo: Universal Pictures.
Seuss is an author whose works have long been source fodder for TV shows, stage productions and more, including theme park experiences.
The same studio behind ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ also has ‘Thing One and Thing Two,’ presumably focused on the chaotic sidekicks to The Cat in the Hat character, in development.
And that’s not even counting all the various theatrical productions, live shows and even movies that put the author himself front and center, talking about his life or his political views.
It’s perhaps not surprising that so many productions have sprung from his work –– after all, that includes many of the most popular children’s books of all time, selling over 600 million copies and being translated into more than 20 languages by the time of his death in 1991.
Where else can we see Ariana Grande and Josh Gad?
Ariana Granda is Glinda in ‘Wicked For Good’, directed by Jon M. Chu. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Grande, as mentioned, played Glinda in Chu’s successful movie adaptation of the ‘Wicked’ stage musical (and the Gregory Maguire novel from which the show was sourced). She received an Oscar nomination for the role and will be reprising it in the second half of the story, ‘Wicked: For Good’, also directed by Chu (since he shot them back to back).
‘Wicked: for Good’ will be in cinemas on November 21st. And Grande is not done with ‘Wicked,’ either, since she and co-star Cynthia Erivo will be part of a live concert special featuring music from the movies, which will be broadcast on NBC on November 6th.
Gad is best known for roles such as snowman Olaf in the ‘Frozen’ animated movie franchise and playing LeFou in the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ live-action film.
The actor will also return to two of his most familiar roles, including a third ‘Frozen’ entry in 2027 and ‘The Angry Birds Movie 3’, in theaters the same year.
When will ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ be in theaters?
Dr. Seuss’ ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ Photo: Amazon.
Warner Bros. Pictures Animation has announced that the movie will head to cinemas on March 17th, 2028.
That might seem like a long way away, but don’t forget the time it takes to make big, animated movies such as this.
(Left) Director Jon M. Chu on the set of ‘Wicked’, directed by Jon M. Chu. Photo: Universal Pictures. (Right) Dr. Seuss’ ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ Photo: Amazon.
Preview:
Jon M. Chu and co-director Jill Culton are adapting ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’
It’ll be the latest movie based on a Dr. Seuss book.
‘La La Land’ Oscar winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are writing songs for it.
Riding high on the success of his current musical movie, ‘Wicked,’ (even if he was denied a Best Director Oscar nomination) Jon M. Chu is already overseeing development on another, adapting the Dr. Seuss children’s tome ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ into an animated musical.
In fact, Chu has been attached to this one since 2021, but it’s now actually moving forward.
Warner Bros. Animation is backing the new project, which will see Chu co-directing alongside Jill Culton, a veteran of Pixar and DreamWorks who has directed the likes of ‘Abominable’ and ‘Open Season.’
And they have quite the team on this one –– J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot team are aboard to co-produce, and the movie will boast song by no less a duo that ‘La La Land’ and ‘The Greatest Showman’ EGOT winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
Dr. Seuss’ ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ Photo: Amazon.
Written by prolific author Dr. Seuss –– AKA Theodor Seuss Geisel –– the original book was first published by Random House on January 22nd, 1990.
It was the last book to be published during Seuss’ lifetime.
The story, written in his usual rhyming form, begins with the narrator, relating the decision of the unnamed protagonist (who represents the reader) to leave town.
The protagonist travels through several geometrical and polychromatic landscapes and places, eventually encountering a place simply called “The Waiting Place,” which is ominously addressed as being a place where everyone is always waiting for something to happen.
As the protagonist continues to explore, spurred on by the thoughts of places he will visit and things he will discover, the book cheerfully concludes with an open ending.
The same studio behind ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ also has ‘Thing One and Thing Two,’ presumably focused on the chaotic sidekicks to The Cat in the Hat character, in development.
And that’s not even counting all the various theatrical productions, live shows and even movies that put the author himself front and center, talking about his life or his political views.
It’s perhaps not surprising that so many productions have sprung from his work –– after all, that includes many of the most popular children’s books of all time, selling over 600 million copies and being translated into more than 20 languages by the time of his death in 1991.
When will ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ be in theaters?
Dr. Seuss’ ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ Photo: Amazon.
Warner Bros. Pictures Animation has announced that the movie will head to cinemas on March 17th, 2028.
That might seem like a long way away, but don’t forget the time it takes to make big, animated movies such as this.
Add to that the fact that Chu is also busy in post-production on the second part of the ‘Wicked’ movie, ‘Wicked: For Good,’ which will be in theaters on November 21st.
The movie is yet another adaption of the Charles Dickens classic ‘A Christmas Carol,’ with Will Ferrell playing the role of Christmas Present. Considering retirement after the holidays, Present chooses to haunt Clint Briggs (Ryan Reynolds), an arrogant public relations executive who is completely aware of Dickens’ story and what is happening.
Briggs soon turns the tables on Present and instead forces him to examine his own past, present, and future, with the PR exec learning lessons himself along the way. Now Present must choose between his duties as a ghost and teaching Briggs a lesson, or finding true love with Briggs’ assistant, Kimberly (Octavia Spencer).
The result is a fun musical twist on ‘A Christmas Carol,’ with fantastic musical numbers created by ‘La La Land’s Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, but the story drags with Ferrell and Reynolds basically just playing their ‘Elf’ and ‘Deadpool’ characters, respectively.
(L to R) Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell in ‘Spirited,’ premiering November 18, 2022 on Apple TV+.
There have been many adaptions of Charles Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’ over the years, including Billy Murray’s ‘Scrooged,’ ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol,’ and 2009’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Jim Carrey. ‘Spirited’ takes a fun crack at the material but is ultimately stronger as a musical than it is as a Dickens adaption.
In fact, the music is the real star of the movie, with great songs created by ‘The Greatest Showman’s Pasek and Paul. The musical numbers are also fun because the characters know they are in a musical, and for that matter, are also aware of all the ‘Christmas Carol’ adaptions of the past.
But again, this leads to a lot of ‘Deadpool’ breaking-the-forth-wall moments, which now seem tired with Reynolds involved. In fact, as entertaining as he is, Reynolds performance is very one-note and the actor is definitely leaning hard on his charming yet sarcastic public persona.
The same could be said for Will Ferrell, who while equally entertaining, is basically playing his “quiet to angry” character with the innocence of his ‘Elf’ role thrown in for good measure.
(L to R) Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell in ‘Spirited,’ premiering November 18, 2022 on Apple TV+.
That being said, the two movie stars have great onscreen chemistry together and are most entertaining in their musical numbers. Surprisingly, both actors are quite impressive singing and dancing on screen to Pasek and Paul’s music.
It’s also worth mentioning that there is a clever twist to Dickens’ story regarding Ferrell’s character, which I won’t give away, but only say that the actor ends up playing two different characters. His “second role” is more of a stretch for the actor, and while he doesn’t have a lot of screen time as the other character, is completely believable in the role.
Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer shines in the film as both Reynold’s loyal assistant and Ferrell’s love interest. The actress brings a warmth to the film, has great chemistry with Ferrell in their romantic scenes, and also kills it in her musical numbers.
Other supporting performances worth mentioning include Sunita Mani, who is quite funny as the Ghost of Christmas Past. Broadway actor Patrick Page also gives a strong performance as Present’s boss, Jacob Marley, and as one can imagine, is very good in the musical numbers.
Octavia Spencer as Kimberly in Apple TV+’s ‘Spirited .’
There are also a few fun cameos, that I will mention because they are hardly spoilers. Oscar-winner Judi Dench has a funny walk-on role as herself, while Rose Byrne is hilarious as one of Present’s successful hauntings, playing a nasty suburban housewife, aptly named “Karen.”
The screenplay by director Sean Anders and John Morris is very clever, even if it is retreading popular ‘A Christmas Carol’ tropes. While you can see many of the twists coming, it still feels like a fresh take, even if we’ve seen the basic story before.
Anders also does a fantastic job orchestrating the musical numbers, which are by far a highlight of the film. They really pop, not just with the music, but also the lighting, color palette, and the choreography. It’s like watching Christmas come alive on screen!
As far as ‘Christmas Carol’ adaptions go, ‘Spirited’ is at least an original take on the material and may someday be as beloved an adaption as ‘Scrooged’ and ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol,’ or even other Christmas movies like ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ or Ferrell’s ‘Elf.’ Time will only tell if ‘Spirited’ becomes a holiday film that is played at nauseam on cable TV like ‘A Christmas Story.’
But in the end, ‘Spirited’ is a fun holiday musical with a clever twist on the source material, and incredibly enjoyable songs written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
‘Spirited’ receives 3 out of 5 stars.
(L to R) Ryan Reynolds as Clint Briggs and Will Ferrell as Present in Apple TV+’s ‘Spirited.’
Hn1IklNyMDrBj0SDsJQQb7
L7MqWIsU
‘Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile,’ a live-action adaption of the beloved children’s story by author Bernard Waber, is currently playing in theaters and features musician Shawn Mendes as the voice of the title character.
The new movie, which was directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon, follows Josh (Winslow Fegley), who after moving to New York City befriends a singing crocodile named Lyle and tries to protect him from the evil Mr. Grumps (Brett Gelman).
But in order to save his new friend, Josh and his parents (Constance Wu and Scoot McNairy) must team up with Lyle’s charismatic owner, Hector P. Valenti (Javier Bardem).
Shawn Mendes recently spoke about the new movie, his character, how he relates to him, why Lyle sings, and the music and the humor of the movie.
You can read his full comments below or click on the video above to watch Shawn Mendes talk about ‘Lyle, Lyle Crocodile.’
To begin with, what makes Lyle a unique character?
Shawn Mendes: Lyle is just wanting to have a family, and feel at home and feel connected to people, which is a very beautiful concept for me. I think that’s what makes him so lovable and just so relatable. Because I think he’s like, “Yeah, this spotlight is beautiful and it’s cool, but it’s really love, that’s the reason that I sing and is when I feel comfortable. When I feel accepted is when I want to sing.” I think it’s a genius and universal feeling. So, I just think I relate to him a lot.
Why does Lyle only communicate in song?
SM: Ultimately, Lyle sings because he loves it. He loves music and you can see how music is his language. It’s the way that he’s communicating to the humans in the film, which I also feel like I relate to a lot. I think he is just doing it to communicate his love. I feel like that’s similarly to how humans make music. That is the way that it comes through the best is when it’s about communicating truth and communicating love.
Lyle takes a trip through New York in Columbia Pictures ‘Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile.’ Photo: Courtesy of Sony Pictures.
Can you talk about the movie’s humor?
SM: Oh, the movie is extremely funny. It actually took me by surprise how funny it was because his demeanor as a crocodile is so relaxed and small. But there’s these moments where he lets out these big roars. But they’re out of excitement, not out of him trying to scare you. I was howling because it’s hilarious. I love it.
Finally, what was it like working on the movie’s music with Oscar-winning composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul?
SM: Paul and Pasek are genius and I think they are so incredibly collaborative too. The entire time they just always wanted me to feel like I was connecting to something that was my truth. But you don’t realize because it’s connected to a movie. There’s so much you’re digesting. You don’t realize how complex, and how smart and how beautiful these songs are.
How lyrically astonishing they are and how much effort they put into them. When you’re in the recording studio going through the songs, that’s when you really start to have an eye-opening experience to how amazing they really are. It just felt like an honor and felt like a privilege to be able to work with them on this movie. I feel like they are truly two greats of their generation.
Lyle the crocodile in Columbia Pictures ‘Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile.’
84vc64U8odgeY59ep5y6R2
Tony-winning musical “Dear Evan Hansen” may be making the leap to the big screen very soon: Producers are currently working on adapting the hit show, potentially with its original star reprising his role.
According to Deadline, Universal has snapped up the rights to the hot property, which were shopped by the show’s songwriting duo, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who will also produce. The Tony winners have been working overtime in recent years, landing nominations and awards left and right for projects including “La La Land” (for which they won the Best Original Song Oscar) and “The Greatest Showman” (for which they earned another Best Original Song nomination).
In addition to Pasek and Paul, the rest of the creative team is equally solid, with Stephen Chbosky (“Wonder,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”) currently in negotiations to direct. Marc Platt — a veteran producer of high-profile movie musicals, including “La La Land,” “Into the Woods,” and the upcoming “Mary Poppins Returns” and “Aladdin” remake — is set to produce.
While Deadline’s report noted that it was unclear if original star Ben Platt (“Pitch Perfect“) would once again be playing the titular teen, Variety reports that Platt (who, coincidentally enough, is Marc Platt’s son) is in “early talks” to join the film version of the show, for which he won the Best Actor Tony. Platt played a high schooler who suffers from severe social anxiety, and winds up becoming mistakenly entangled with a classmate’s family after the other teen commits suicide.
No word yet on when production may begin. Stay tuned.
With a nod for his titular role in NBC live musical “Jesus Christ Superstar,” John Legend now has a chance to EGOT — a.k.a., win an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. It’s considered one of the most prestigious achievements a performer can attain, and it’s an extremely exclusive club, currently consisting of only 12 members.
The most recent inductee was “Frozen” songwriter Robert Lopez, who snagged his last statuette, the Oscar, in 2014. Legend already has one of those, along with the G and the T, too. Could he finally add the E to his collection? His wife, Chrissy Teigen, certainly thinks so (and has graciously agreed to clear out some space on the couple’s awards shelf).
Also joining Legend in the almost-EGOT club are songwriting duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who go by the moniker Pasek and Paul. Their most high-profile EGOT-eligible win so far came in 2017 when they took home several Oscars for “La La Land.” The duo is competing in the songwriting category again at the Emmys, landing a nomination for the original song “In the Market for a Miracle,” which appeared in Fox’s “A Christmas Story Live” (a musical adapted from Pasek and Paul’s own Broadway adaptation of the beloved yuletide film).
We’ll keep our fingers crossed for some EGOT magic come Emmys night, which is slated for September 17 on NBC.
