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Pete Davidson doesn’t take Kanye West’s digs too literally, otherwise he would be hospitalized…for real.

During Davidson’s Netflix Is a Joke: The Festival set, the “Saturday Night Live” star responded to multi-hyphenate artist West’s lyric that he is HIV-positive.

“I’ve had a really weird year. I had an AIDS scare this year,” Davidson joked onstage. “Yeah, I did, and you’re like, ‘Pete, wow, what’s going on in your life? Are you sharing needles? Are you doing heroin? Are you having tons of unprotected sex?’ No, Kanye told me I had AIDS. And he’s a genius so I was like, ‘Oh, fuck. I better call my doctor. The guy who made ‘College Dropout’ thinks I have AIDS.'”

Davidson went on to explain that saying someone has AIDS is “such a ’90s, early 2000s thing.”

“John Mulaney called me and he was like ‘AIDS?...

After directing three Purge films and writing all five, franchise creator James DeMonaco knew he needed a radical change. So he revisited an older script of his that celebrated his first loves: cinema and Staten Island. And thanks to The Purge franchise’s worldwide gross of $535 million on a $53 million budget overall, DeMonaco had earned “one for him” in the eyes of his partners at Blumhouse and Universal Pictures.

“Without saying it, I think Jason [Blum] was saying that by just saying yes to the project,” DeMonaco tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I think he liked the script,...

After directing three Purge films and writing all five, franchise creator James DeMonaco knew he needed a radical change. So he revisited an older script of his that celebrated his first loves: cinema and Staten Island. And thanks to The Purge franchise’s worldwide gross of $535 million on a $53 million budget overall, DeMonaco had earned “one for him” in the eyes of his partners at Blumhouse and Universal Pictures.

“Without saying it, I think Jason [Blum] was saying that by just saying yes to the project,” DeMonaco tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I think he liked the script,...

Exclusive: Richie Merritt, Trevor Long, Raven Goodwin and Luke David Blumm have joined the cast of indie drama, Lola James.

The four actors will star opposite previously announced cast members Nicola Peltz (Transformers: Age of Extinction) and Virginia Madsen. Peltz will also make her feature directorial debut with the film, co-directing it with The Florida Project actress Bria Vinaite.

The film, scripted by Peltz, is set in 2002, somewhere in Middle America, following 19-year-old Lola James (Peltz) as she works to save enough money to get her little brother, Arlo, out of their toxic home. All Lola wants is for Arlo to have a chance at a life she never had. While trying to keep her head above water, she spirals into a drug addiction that threatens to consume her. Arlo’s bright outlook on life keeps her hopeful—until one tragic night, when her whole world gets uprooted.

William Hurt, Maude Apatow, Corey Stoll and Lara Pulver have joined the cast of Pantheon, AMC’s first animated, primetime drama. Additionally, Pantheon creator and showrunner Craig Silverstein is expanding his relationship with AMC Studios, the studio behind the series, with an exclusive multi-year overall deal. Under the pact, Silverstein will develop and produce new series for AMC Networks’ Entertainment Group as well as other content companies. The news was announced Thursday during AMC’s presentation at the TCA Press Tour.

“Craig is simply an incredible talent and we’re thrilled to further our partnership with someone who has been an appreciated member of the AMC Networks family for some time,” said Dan McDermott, president of original programming for AMC Networks. “His brilliant work and writing have introduced viewers to truly unique worlds, anchored...

What happens in this hospital would make you sick! From the weirdest depths of the twisted mind of Andy Milligan, Hollywood’s weirdest director, comes Surgikill! A film you may have once heard your drunk uncle blabbering about, the camp staple and undeniably last in the filmography of the “Ed Wood of Staten Island,” Andy Milligan. …

The post Surgikill – Frolic Pictures Acquires Andy Milligan’s Last Film appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

‘Unhinged.’

Australian critics scorned Unhinged but audiences turned out last weekend for the road rage thriller starring Russell Crowe and Caren Pistorius.

The Studiocanal release, which stars Pistorius as a single mother who incurs the wrath of Crowe’s character, drummed up $802,000 on more than 200 screens.

Even so, ticket sales remain depressed with Melbourne’s cinemas closed (26 per cent of the market) and most locations operating on reduced sessions and with capacity limits.

The top 20 titles generated nearly $2 million, 11 per cent up on the previous frame, according to Numero, but nearly 90 per cent below the same weekend a year ago – $17.8 million – when Universal launched Fast & Furious Hobbs and Shaw.

Clearly the pandemic is deterring some cinemagoers. “I think that the fear of what is happening with Covid-19 is impacting audiences still, especially the older audience,” Majestic Cinemas CEO Kieren Dell tells If.

“Most of the other movies we have on are aimed at that audience.

The King of Staten Island is an incredible movie that has recently been released on demand for people to stream at home instead. The movie stars Pete Davidson in the leading role, rocking plenty of interesting tattoos. He takes on a very honest and truthful character persona, proving himself to be one of the more likable actors and comedians of this generation and he is only getting better.

Related: Every Performance In The King Of Staten Island, Ranked

Pete Davidson is only 26 years old this year and is currently a cast member on Saturday Night Live where he does stand-up comedy and has appeared on a few MTV shows as well! Here are some facts about The King of Staten Island.

Exclusive: Lots of movement on the international box office front this past weekend, and into the beginning of the week. Korean zombie sequel Peninsula, as we reported Sunday, made a meal of five overseas markets with a $21M Wednesday-Sunday frame. That’s the best start we’ve seen since March when Onward opened to $28M in 47 markets just as coronavirus fears were spiking and most countries closed cinemas.

On Monday, China got back to business, reaching $500K roughly from about 9K screenings in low-risk areas. Today, the Middle Kingdom surpassed that with $677K as of 10Pm local and mostly off of reissues in the mix, led by Christmas hit Sheep Without A Shepherd.

There is still no confirmed date for Beijing movie theaters to open, though we are hearing it could be within a week. That would be even better news as Hollywood titles that were sidelined by Covid are...

Even though theaters have been closed, The King of Staten Island has still become one of the summer’s biggest box-office hits. When it was released digitally, it was the most-rented title across nearly all digital platforms for three consecutive weeks. Even though it’s been available at home since its opening day, there will still be [...]

The post Judd Apatow, Pete Davidson Tease Plenty Of Extras For ‘Staten Island’ Disc Release appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

Two months ago, Universal CEO Jeff Shell told Wall Street that it took”Trolls World Tour” less than two weeks to gross $95 on premium VOD. This week, on the four top 10 lists we track, that studio holds 17 of the 40 slots.

“Trolls” and the Judd Apatow’s “The King of Staten Island” both landed at #1 at two sites, all at the premium $19.99 price. “Trolls” transitioned to Est (electronic sell through), as opposed to rental only, which got the animated sequel the no. 1 slot at iTunes (it doesn’t list rental-only titles) and Fandango. “Staten Island” is no. 2 at Fandango, and no. 1 at Spectrum.

Also showing traction is Universal’s “You Should Have Left,” which is third at both Spectrum and FandangoNow (its rental-only status precludes iTunes; Amazon Prime shows less interest). Jon Stewart’s badly reviewed “Irrestistible” placed fourth at FandangoNow. Since it was only released on Friday and their chart is a full week,...

The so-called King of Staten Island and the writer of Staten Island Summer are teaming up again after years of working together on Saturday Night Live, as Pete Davidson and Colin Jost are set to star in Universal's wedding comedy Worst Man. The story follows a soon-to-be married couple and their families in the weeks leading up to the big day. Don't be surprised if Jost plays the groom, and Davidson plays his "best man." We've seen this kind of story before, of course, but something tells me it'll be much funnier this …...

Exclusive: Updated with figures for Infamous…For a second time, Universal/Blumhouse’s Elisabeth Moss horror movie The Invisible Man has taken the top spot at the box office.

That win, in the pic’s 16th weekend, reps its second No. 1 finish since opening over the February 28-March 1 weekend, thus stepping on the nine-week streak of the studio’s DreamWorks Animation sequel Trolls World Tour, $383,000 to $275,700.

In fact, Universal’s movies — despite all the hullabaloo about Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island being pulled from theaters at the last minute, some reporting over “terms” — owned six spots in this weekend’s top 10.

Universal wouldn’t have shied away from another title in the distressed marketplace if they could,...

Mid-June is prime summer-movie playtime, a period that launched massive hits like “Incredibles 2” and “Jurassic World.” That’s not our world now, and the top performing films look very different: “Da 5 Bloods” on Netflix, Universal’s “The King of Staten Island” on premium VOD, and a weird little Kevin James movie like “Becky” from Quiver Distribution.

Spike Lee’s latest, one of the best-reviewed films of the year and Netflix’s first potential awards contender, is listed at not only #1 among the streamer’s movies, but also tops their overall content list. It reached that its second day out, and remained so for three days running. The durability will count: Netflix represents mass-audience tastes, similar to wide-release movies.

Pete Davidson’s semi-autobiographical “Staten Island” hit #1 at the top spots, as expected including FandangoNow and Amazon Prime, which lists by transactions. Spectrum should show up next week, while iTunes...

Mid-June is prime summer-movie playtime, a period that launched massive hits like “Incredibles 2” and “Jurassic World.” That’s not our world now, and the top performing films look very different: “Da 5 Bloods” on Netflix, Universal’s “The King of Staten Island” on premium VOD, and a weird little Kevin James movie like “Becky” from Quiver Distribution.

Spike Lee’s latest, one of the best-reviewed films of the year and Netflix’s first potential awards contender, is listed at not only #1 among the streamer’s movies, but also tops their overall content list. It reached that its second day out, and remained so for three days running. The durability will count: Netflix represents mass-audience tastes, similar to wide-release movies.

Pete Davidson’s semi-autobiographical “Staten Island” hit #1 at the top spots, as expected including FandangoNow and Amazon Prime, which lists by transactions. Spectrum should show up next week, while iTunes...

Did you want to be a fireman when you were growing up? Great! Now what if you turned out to be a stoner with nothing to offer the world aside from crappy tattoos? As surprising as it may seem, that does describe the main character in The King of Staten Island. But that's where he is at the start. There's a story to tell, and there's a reason to tell his story. It's not about giving up drugs and getting a job, but it sort of is. It's more about giving up laziness and getting a real life. Judd Apatow is back again with a new film starring a famous comedian, Pete Davidson, playing a character who isn't really him, but it's based on his life and his upbringing anyway. And it's good! Apatow kills it yet again with an authentic, original comedy. There's heaps of dark and dry humor,...

Though the character’s name has been changed, The King of Staten Island finds Pete Davidson playing a fictionalized version of himself. Scott’s story closely mirrors his own, though the paths diverge around the time Davidson became a stand-up comic, and the film imagines what his life might be like without that success. Davidson also co-wrote [...]

The post Pete Davidson Became ‘King Of Staten Island’ For His Mother appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

Universal scrambled to scrub Pete Davidson and Judd Apatow’s new comedy “The King of Staten Island” from theaters — mainly drive-ins — after the film was mistakenly booked at roughly 100 theaters across the country.

An individual familiar with the mix up said that Universal booked “The King of Staten Island” in a limited number of theaters, like it had done for “Trolls World Tour,” which premiered on streaming in April.

Once executives realized the mishap, even though Apatow’s film was intended to only go on streaming, they pulled it from the theaters at which it had been booked.

Also Read: Pete Davidson Wanted 'King of Staten Island' to Be 'Love Letter to His Mom,' Judd Appatow Says

The film, which is based on what Davidson’s life could have been like had he not become a comedian — the SNL cast member is from Staten Island, New York — is...

Marisa Tomei has become a fixture of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Aunt May to Tom Holland’s Peter Parker in “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “Spider-Man: Far From Home.” Next up for the Oscar winner is a turn playing the mother of Pete Davidson’s character in Judd Apatow’s comedy “The King of Staten Island.” Why the sudden shift to mom characters? In a new interview with Collider, Tomei says she “really regrets starting down this road” when asked about the change.

“I really regret starting down this road and I really regret starting to do that,” Tomei said. “I was, you know, talked into it — not [‘King of Staten Island’], but I mean just that change — and I really always felt like, ‘Oh, I could play a lot of things.’ Honestly, [playing a mom is] probably more of a stretch than other things. But, it’s — yeah, I guess I said it all.”

“I think...

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: a lovable loser in a state of perpetual arrested development. A group of friends that love and support, but are probably holding him/her back. A good girl/guy, offering up a real relationship. A new, better life, if they’d only grow up a little.

This is the story of “The King of Staten Island,” the new film by Judd Apatow. It is also, at its core, the story of most of Apatow’s previous directorial efforts – “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Knocked Up,” “Funny People,” and “Trainwreck” are also basically the same narrative, and it’s also, with some minor alterations, the through-line of several projects he’s produced, including “Girls,” “Bridesmaids,” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.” As both a producer and director, he’s taken to showcasing rising talents, often writing his films in collaboration with the performer in question.

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Judd Apatow’s latest film is something of a new departure for a filmmaker whose body of work is peppered with assorted low-brow stoner comedies and other self-reflexive multigenerational narratives. Co-written by Apatow, Dave Sirus and Saturday Night Live regular cast member Pete Davidson, The King Of Staten Island is a beautifully understated, funny and all together more mature offering from the filmmaker whose more recent work has failed to replicate the success of some of his earlier work.

(from left) Scott Carlin (Pete Davidson) and Ray Bishop (Bill Burr) in The King of Staten Island, directed by Judd Apatow.

Starring Davidson, Bill Burr and Marisa Tomei, the film is semi-autobiographical story based on the young comedian’s life. It reimagines how things would have been for the famously self-deprecating comic if he had stayed put in his native Staten Island instead of taking up comedy at an early age.

Judd Apatow makes big commercial comedies, and “The King of Staten Island” is no exception. However, while developing the project with Pete Davidson and drawing on the comic actor’s personal life, Apatow decided he needed to capture the rough-and-tumble nature of the character’s experiences. As a result, the movie has a more naturalistic quality than Apatow’s other work, with a restless camera that hovers alongside the jaded twentysomething with documentary-like finesse.

To develop that quality, Apatow turned to one of the most respected cinematographers in the industry. Robert Elswit, the Paul Thomas Anderson Dp revered for his work on “There Will Be Blood” and “Boogie Nights” among many others, played a key role in developing the new direction that “The King of Staten Island” represents in Apatow’s filmography.

“I had wanted to work with him for a very long time,” Apatow said in a recent phone interview with IndieWire,...

Becoming

Set to Alicia Keys’ “Girl on Fire,” the new Netflix documentary’s trailer highlights footage from former First Lady Michelle Obama’s life – before and after her husband’s presidency took their family to the oval office. Going back to her working-class upbringing, she says, “I am from the South Side of Chicago. That tells you as much about me as you need to know.” Elsewhere in the clip, Obama opens up about obstacles she has faced as a black woman, remembering a guidance counselor who once told her she was “reaching too high.

Universal released the trailer for Pete Davidson’s summer comedy, “The King of Staten Island” on Thursday, starring the “SNL” comedian in his first lead feature role.

The semi-autobiographical comedy, directed by Judd Apatow, incorporates elements of Davidson’s own life, including losing his firefighter father during the Sept. 11 attacks.

The film centers around Scott (Davidson), who has been a case of arrested development since his father died when he was 7. As his younger sister heads off to college, Scott, now in his mid-20s, spends his days smoking weed and giving his friends tattoos. It’s not until his mother starts dating a new man, Ray, whom Scott disapproves of, that he begins to finally confront his grief and reevaluate his life.

The trailer makes good use of Davidson’s and Apatow’s comedic backgrounds, showing Scott’s friends make fun of his disfigured tattoos and Scott bearing his...

Judd Apatow in an Instagram conversation with SNL’s Pete Davidson announced that they’re summer comedy,originally slated to hit theaters on June 19, will now go on VOD on June 12.

The comedy based on Davidson’s life, directed by Apatow and co-written by Davidson, Apatow and former SNL scribe David Sirus was expected to make its world premiere at SXSW with further play at the Tribeca Film Festival, but both events were canceled.

In the below video, Davidson is asking Apatow about the status of the movie. Both say they haven’t heard from Universal about the movie’s status.

Judd Apatow's upcoming movie The King of Staten Island will skip an early summer theatrical release and debut directly on premium VOD amid the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the filmmaker said Monday.

The Universal comedy was slated to open in cinemas June 19. It will instead be made available to rent beginning June 12 on a host of digital platforms. The price for a 48-hour rental will be $19.99.

The King of Staten Island stars Saturday Night Live breakout Pete Davidson in his first lead feature role alongside Marisa Tomei and Steve Buscemi. The semi-autobiographical coming-of-age comedy incorporates elements ...

Entering its 19th edition this year, Tribeca Film Festival has announced its feature film lineup, including a number of anticipated titles as well as festival favorites. World premiering at the festival is Chad Hartigan’s sci-fi romance Little Fish, Gerardo Naranjo’s Kokoloko, Eleanor Coppola’s Love is Love is Love, Michael Winterbottom’s sequel The Trip to Greece, Rodney Ascher’s A Glitch in the Matrix, Talya Lavie’s Honeymood, BenDavid Grabinski’s Happily, Bryan Bertino’s The Dark & The Wicked, plus documentaries on Stanley Kubrick, Dmx, Harry Belafonte, John Belushi, Brian Wilson, and more.

In terms of festival favorites, there’s Josephine Decker’s Shirley (our review), Jayro Bustamante’s La Llorona Heidi Ewing’s I Carry You With Me, Gaspar Noé’s medium-length work Lux Aeterna, the St. Vincent-Carrie Brownstein collaboration The Nowhere Inn, and more. Plus, Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island will...