Paul Simon Planning 'Graceland' Tour, Box Set (Video)

A 25th anniversary tour to celebrate Paul Simon's landmark Graceland album next season influences early planning stages. The tour would coincide getting a Graceland box set the new the new sony Legacy will release inside the late spring, most likely in May.our editor recommends9/11: Paul Simon Works at Twin Towers Memorial Service (Video)Carlos Santana, Paul Simon Protest Cuts to Grammy Groups Simon told Billboard.biz he needs to reunite artists who as well as with him later, incorporated within this the South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Within This summer time, Simon returned to Nigeria along with his band and completed with trumpeter Hugh Masekela and Ladysmith Black Mambazo for just about any crowd of 300 people. Director Joe Berlinger, whose credits include documentaries round the West Memphis Three and Metallica, shot the performance for just about any film which will be incorporated in the 25th anniversary box set. Berlinger's film may also be apt to be published to film festivals. PHOTOS: Top Finest Paid out Artists "The documentary," Simon mentioned, "needed me towards the artistic aspects as well as the political areas of making Graceland as well as the believe that ornamented it and the way it absolutely was resolved, plus what remains from this and that which you study on it." Simon, who along with the U.S. and Europe in the year and summer season following a relieve So Beautiful roughly What, returns to undertaking March. 17 in Phoenix, Ariz. The tour systems November. 26 in Atlantic City, N.J. Later, Simon received the album of year Grammy for Graceland. Simon and also the entourage along with the planet from early February through early This summer time, returning to Europe inside the summer season of 1989 undertaking music inspired by South African township jive, zydeco and Mexican conjunto. While Graceland was launched on Warner Bros., taken Simon licensed his catalog towards the new the new sony Music, getting together all his solo and Simon & Garfunkel work in one location, aside from So Beautiful roughly What, that's on Hear Music/Concord. The brand new the new sony Legacy re-released his first four solo albums in June. CAA, Simon's booking agent, wouldn't discuss the tour. Related Subjects Paul Simon

Shearer chides Fox over 'The Simpsons'

'The Simpsons'Harry Shearer, one of the six stars who voices for figures on "The Simpsons," launched a disagreement Friday chiding last century Fox TV due to not enabling he and also the fellow cast individuals to possess any profit participation inside the series.The statement came at that time the studio is mentioned to own enforced a deadline round the cast to simply accept a 45% pay cut or risk obtaining the Fox series finish in the present 23rd season."I'm prepared to enable them to cut my salary not just 45% but greater than 70%," mentioned Shearer via his repetition, Allan Mayer. "All I'd request as a swap is always that I be allowed just a little share in the eventual profits."20th TV has contended it's forget about economically viable to continue production because of the fee for that actors' salaries, which has risen to $440,000 per episode.Because the studio has due to the cast boosts in salary in 4 or 5 different renegotiations coming back to 1998, what is the news Corp.-possessed entity has not given them in the share in the back finish. "Simpsons" has acquired billions in profits from distribution, DVD, selling together with other global revenue streams.While Shearer acknowledged the salaries he and also the fellow cast people receive, which total no less than $8 million per season for each actor, are exorbitant by any standard, they are a part of the requirement for the franchise."All I'd request as a swap is always that I be allowed just a little share in the eventual profits," mentioned Shearer, who noted he doesn't speak for your other cast people.But Shearer added that Fox has rejected his reps' request he get yourself a small little bit of the trunk finish in exchange for any 70% cut."There has been, the Fox people mentioned, without any conditions that the network would consider enabling me or even the stars to discuss inside the show's success."Top producers round the series have formerly recognized unspecified pay cuts to continue for just about any 24th season, as Variety first reported.Shearer, a skilled comic actor whose credits include "That is Spine Tap" and "Saturday Evening Live," might be the to start the "Simpsons" cast stored within the dispute to go to public with critique of Fox. Another stars inside the standoff include Nancy Cartwright, Hank Azaria, Yeardley Cruz, Serta Castellaneta and Julie Kavner.Shearer does the voices of several "Simpsons" figures including Mr. Burns, Waylon Smithers, Ned Flanders and Rev. Timothy Lovejoy. Contact Andrew Wallenstein at andrew.wallenstein@variety.com

Sugar Ray Leonard on Real Steel, Life Behind the Scenes and the Problem With Boxing Today

You might not think that Real Steel, the sci-fi action flick about a washed-up boxer and the junkyard robot he trains toward a fictional fighting championship, would carry much boxing credibility. But that’s where Sugar Ray Leonard comes in. The Hall of Famer was recruited by director Shawn Levy to choreograph the robot fights and most importantly, to advise the filmmakers on how to establish a humanistic relationship between the movie’s beleaguered trainer (Hugh Jackman) and Atom, the robo-underdog he takes on, that audiences will want to root for. In anticipation of the Steven Spielberg-produced film’s release, Leonard sat down with Movieline to explain why Real Steel will bring people to tears, how his relationship with trainer Angelo Dundee inspired Hugh’s performance and the realism of Rocky. So congratulations on Real Steel! Thanks. It’s a great movie that I think everyone is really going to love. What originally appealed to you about the idea of choreographing a robot boxing movie? I didn’t know that this movie would be as complete as it turned out to be. It covers everything though — the physicality, the power and the intrigue of boxing in general. It also covered the emotional attachment and drama between the father and his son and the robot and the trainer. There’s such a mixture of emotions that are so present in boxing. It’s a sport that demands your attention. It’s really touching. You mentioned that you didn’t know Real Steel would be so complete when you first signed on. Were you concerned about being part of a boxing film that might misrepresent the sport? Well, after talking with Hugh Jackman and Shawn Levy, not at all. I wasn’t too sure about the whole story and the premise of the movie. Even though I read the script, I still didn’t feel it. It wasn’t until I was on set with Hugh choreographing this one robot. It was important for me that Hugh felt an attachment to Atom, the robot [he trains] because with trainers and fighters, there is an intimate connection there. I wasn’t concerned with his use of punches — because that looks good anyway — but I wanted him to show on his face that look of a passionate trainer. He pulled that off. How did you establish the importance of that fighter-trainer connection with Hugh? I kept stressing the importance of that relationship in my fights. I kept telling him stories about back in the day, when I was losing a fight and my trainer Angelo Dundee was shouting at me, “You’re blowing it, son! You’re blowing it!” He knew to say the perfect soundbite and look at me this certain way — not desperate but with a sense of urgency that was real. He looked at me that way, and Hugh had to have the same attachment to Atom, a robot. That was not easy to do, but he did it because he’s such a great actor. It’s so much more than that boom, boom, boom, boom. It’s that association between that little kid and his dad, and the dad and his fighter. Those connections there are most important. You make it seem like that relationship between the fighter and trainer is almost more important than the skills and punches being thrown in the ring. Have you seen other boxing films that really got that fighter-trainer relationship right? You see that in most fights, but films never really captured that the way that Real Steel has — and with robots, too! That’s a whole different arena. A boxer has so many emotions during a fight and Shawn Levy had to draw those emotions out of a robot. I took my wife and my mother-in-law and my kids and they all loved it. My mother-in-law and my wife cried because they felt that attachment. They cared about the people in this movie. Do you envision that the future of boxing will involve robot fighters like Real Steel? I really hope not, but phew! Boxing has taken a few black eyes in the recent past. The thing that bothers me about boxing is that there are just too many self-governing bodies. Champions don’t fight champions like they used to. To prove you’re the best, you have to fight and beat the best. I understand the way the sport operates now from a business standpoint, but at some point you’ve got to come to grips and compromise. Who knows what can happen in the next 10 or 20 years from now? I look at this little gadget here [points at an iPhone], and I remember that I had one of the first cell phones and it was this huge thing with the huge base and antenna. Now look where we are. I could never have imagined this. Does it scare you that people may no longer be stimulated by the amount of violence in human boxing and will need to see machines literally tear each other apart? We have a younger generation of people who want instant gratification. We want action! We want entertainment! Hopefully that will be awhile before we get there. Aside from Real Steel, do you have a favorite boxing movie? The movies that I truly enjoy watching are The Champ — that’s one of my favorite films — and Million Dollar Baby. Was that good or what? Raging Bull and The Fighter — The Fighter because I was a part of that history. There’s been some movies that have really hit home because they’ve resonated with fans because of that emotional context and involvement between the fighter and the trainer. People love to see people overcome the odds. And come on! Rocky! I saw Rocky the day before my first professional fight in Baltimore. What do you remember about that experience? It was the night before my first professional fight, and I was not the underdog by any long shot. But that movie was so inspirational and Rocky — or Sly — did these little things, these idiosyncrasies that real fighters do. That egg thing — drinking the raw eggs — I probably did that two or three times before I just said, “I don’t need this.” That was a well-scripted movie that really captured the life of a fighter. And then years later, you had the chance to work with Sylvester Stallone on the television show The Contender. I know. Can you believe that? All those years later, I got to work with Sly. You know, my life and my career have been amazing. Now, these 30 plus years later, I’m working with Hugh Jackman on a movie that I know is going to be a hit because it captivates the audience. Do you have any aspiration to get back in front of the camera like you did on The Contender or more recently for The Fighter? Not really. I’m at a point in my life where I enjoy doing this type of stuff. I’ve had my day in the sun. I’ve had a good life. I’ve done that. I don’t need that anymore. You can find me behind the scenes.

Film marketers savor social media

Twentieth Century Fox Intl.s Kieran Breen, left, and Exclusive Medias Alex Walton discuss international marketing at the Variety summit. While social media can be alluringly cheap, marketing overall is getting more expensive.That was the consensus at Variety's Film Marketing Summit on Wednesday, when panelists discussed the growing challenges -- and benefits -- presented by the proliferation of digital and social-media platforms."Digital is a very grown-up medium -- it's no longer the new kid on the block," said Sony senior VP of international digital marketing Michael Fisk. "Everyone in my marketing group should be a digital marketer."And while some platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, can be cheap and effective ways to generate buzz, emerging platforms have inflated the new-media budgets for many marketing divisions."Media is by far and away the bulk of our costs, and we've been looking for ways to be much more efficient in our media spend," Kieran Breen, exec VP of international marketing for 20th Century Fox, told the audience. "When new media comes around, (we're) trying not to just add it to our media spend budgets."Breen added media inflation has added to the cost crunch, saying that "inflation, particularly in the digital space, has gone through the roof." While inflation is a naturaleconomic component, marketers did enjoy a brief respite in 2008."For about 12 months, media was deflationary, and it was a weird and wonderful feeling that we don't get very often because our spends went much further."And while franchises have the appeal of brand recognition, commercial films are often prohibitively expensive to market for companies without big studio budgets."A lot of times you'll have a really good film, and a distributor will come to you and say, 'The problem is that it's too commercial of a film, so I can't just rely on the critics. I need to spend a lot of money to release this movie,'" said Eric Christenson, prexy of HIS Films. "It's not even the costs of them acquiring the movie."All this makes social media even more appealing, with word-of-mouth hits like "The Help" and "Midnight in Paris" are just recent examples of how inexpensive buzz can fuel box office results."Social media has become one of the most economical ways to reach and define audiences," said Marian Koltai-Levine, exec VP of film for PMK*BNC.Ivan Reitman, who gave the day's keynote speech, knows the importance of word-of-mouth marketing in a way that predates the Internet. The "Animal House" producer credits the intangible buzz that built around National Lampoon's 1978 pic with much of its B.O. success."What happens with a movie or two a year (is) this kind of secret signal goes out," Reitman said. "Sometimes it only works in one country, sometimes it works all over the world. It's like this electricity that gets generated." Contact Rachel Abrams at Rachel.Abrams@variety.com

Stars Come Out to Support Reading

On Monday, the NY City organization Children of Bellevue Hospital hosted its 15th annual Starry Night Stories, an event at which noted actors read excerpts from children's stories to recruit volunteers and donors for the hospital's Reach Out and Read program.This year's group of stars included Julianne Moore, Samuel L. Jackson (who read with Moore from her children's book "Freckleface Strawberry: Best Friends Forever"), John C. Reilly, Billy Crudup, Ana Gasteyer, Brooke Shields, and LaTanya Richardson.Reach Out and Read's mission is to prepare the city's youngest children to succeed in school, as research indicates that children who are read to at an early age build a strong foundation for later learning and ultimately excel in school. The program matched the performers with the stories they read, hoping to inspire the adult audience members to volunteer or donate money."Anyone with a brain in their head knows that reading to children is important," said Reilly. "Not just for reading skills, but for the special connection that occurs between children and the people that read to them." The best friend of Reilly's mother-in-law is the program's outgoing director, Linda van Schaick."One of the greatest gifts we can give a child is the love of reading, and it's never too early to begin," said van Schaick.Crudup said that he read to his own son every night while he was growing up, and Moore, an honorary co-chair of Reach Out and Read, said her mother and son both volunteer with the program. When asked how this year's event compared to those in previous years, she said with a laugh, "It depends on how much money they make."Reach Out and Read also partners with doctors to prescribe books during checkups, hoping to encourage families, especially those living in poverty, to read together."If you ask any of the pediatricians in this room, they'll tell you how meaningful this is," said Perri Klass, the organization's national medical director. "It's something we do for our own children, and it's something you can do to help a child every day."

White House Drama From 'Cowboys & Aliens,' 'Robot Chicken' Teams Lands at ABC

Getty ImagesJon Favreau, Roberto Orci and Seth Green ABC has snagged an hourlong White House drama project from Jon Favreau, Roberto Orci, Seth Green and Michael Dougherty. The network has made a put pilot commitment for Secret Cabinet, a procedural that follows a newly-elected president and his "secret Cabinet," the government's covert team of America's most elite minds who investigate and protect the nation from strange occurrences and "conspiracy theory truths." Favreau, who will write, will also direct. Orci, Green and Dougherty will also write, along with executive producing. The project marks a reunion of sorts for Favreau and Orci, who teamed up on the big-screen adaptation of Cowboys & Aliens earlier this summer. Orci's writing and producing partner, Alex Kurtzman, will serve as an executive producer on the project along with Heather Kadin (Fox pilot Exit Strategy) and Matt Senreich (Robot Chicken). Dougherty previously penned Superman Returns and X2, while Green created Adult Swim's Robot Chicken. Secret Cabinet hails from K/O Paper Products and 20th TV. Jon Favreau Seth Green Roberto Orci Alex Kurtzman

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How 'Pan Am,' 'Playboy Club' Re-Produced Legendary Looks In the '60s

TV's dependence on early-ླྀs style shows no manifestation of preventing. This fall, new series Pan Am and also the Playboy Club are featuring two legendary looks lengthy recognized (for better or worse) using the era: the stewardess and also the Bunny.our editor recommends'Pan Am': Exactly what the Audiences Are Saying'Pan Am' Among Season's Most high-priced PilotsHugh Hefner: 5 Stuff You Did not Know of the Playboy Founder, Reality Star and Jilted Groom'The Playboy Club' Showrunner: 'There's a concept of the Show That's False' PHOTOS: Fall TV's 12 Most Anticipated Shows For, authenticity was vital in re-creating Pan Am's blue uniforms and also the Playboy Club's cotton-tail suits. Within the situation of Playboy Club, costume designer Isis Mussenden (The Stories of Narnia series) was not able to locate even one original uniform. "We began hunting photos," states Mussenden, who consulted with Hugh Hefner around the clothes for that NBC drama series, occur Chicago in 1960. To produce costumes to resist 12-hour filming days, she decided on a lustrous cotton-backed satin inside a rainbow of colours, from red-colored and hot pink to cobalt. Each suit -- two for each one of the five leads -- required 10 hrs to create. The all inclusive costs per uniform? $3,000 including built-in bra, French cuff, Playboy cuff links, bow tie, satin ears and dyed-to-match 3-inch heels. Mussenden produced 50 additional, less-costly suits for extra supplies. PHOTOS: ABC's Year Television Shows: 'Pan Am,' 'Charlie's Angels' and much more Hefner had comments, including one which the suits weren't cut sufficient around the leg. "I sent Mr. Hefner a photograph of him with five rabbits and also the leg was precisely the height we used," states Mussenden. "We featured the low leg cut." The manufacturers of ABC's Pan Am could find the air carriers' original uniforms. Professional producer Nancy Ganis, an old flight attendant for that air travel, situated an accumulation of originals in Palo Alto, Calif. PHOTOS: Preview NBC's Fall Key Art for 'Playboy Club,' 'Grimm,' 'Whitney,' More "We replicated them exactly," she states. "The only real factor we needed to adjust was the colour. Due to hd, the suit looked too blue-grey on camera. Now it's not far from the initial blue." Costume designer Ane Crabtree (Forex's Justified) notes the brand new twill uniforms are a little more form-fitting through darting. Otherwise, the initial specs were maintained: below the knee pencil-skirt 3-inch heels while greeting people within the airport terminal (the stewardesses could become 1 ½-inch heels within the cabin) and pillbox hats including a brass Pan Am logo design. TV REVIEW: Pan Am As the Playboy Club designers labored carefully with Playboy executives from the beginning, Pan Am's makers had much more of a fight. "The privileges towards the logo design are possessed with a Colonial group, a number of whom have been around the Pan Am board," states Ganis. "They desired to safeguard the legacy." After 3 years of discussions, Ganis went East to conquer the board. "I described it might be a good adventure of youthful women finding the planet,Inch she states. "They understood what it really designed to me. For any youthful girl to have the ability to travel and become so independent, it had been just remarkable." TV REVIEW: The Playboy Club Obtain The LOOK: To capture the new-faced great thing about the Pan Am flight family and friends, series makeup mind Patricia Regan consulted the air travel's official guide presented to stewardesses within the sixties. It needed that girls begin a defined eye "to provide the look of large round eyes" and a little pink or barrier around the cheekbones and lips, as seen above on series star Margot Robbie [pictured right]. Related Subjects Hugh Hefner Pan Am The Playboy Club Fall TV Preview Margot Robbie