Hollywood Week: Trump Verdict, Peltz Sells Off Disney Stake, SF Moon, Al Ruddy
- Details
- Category: Entertainment News
- Published on Saturday, 01 June 2024 09:53
- Written by Janet Walker
Americans appeared glued to their devices, as news of a verdict in the historic hush-money trial of former President Donald J. Trump hit the internet, with cable news station's bringing in more than 17 million viewers.
Trump Verdict and the Hollywood Fallout
As news of that a verdict had been reached in the criminal trial of former President Donald J. Trump, Americans dropped out and tuned in, flipping on the television to watch the final moments in this historic trial.
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While the complete numbers have not yet been published, "Nearly 17 million viewers watched coverage of the verdict — cameras aren't allowed in New York state courtrooms — on the three big cable news channels (CNN, Fox News and MSNBC) and broadcast networks ABC and CBS, based on early Nielsen ratings. Ratings figures for NBC weren't available at publication time, but it's likely they'll push the audience close to the 20 million mark when added to the other networks' totals," reported The Hollywood Reporter.
While the audience share doesn't break any records, or provide state by state demographics, the numbers prove Americans have taken a keen interest in this case, as the now convicted Donald J. Trump, remains the presumptive 2024 Republican Presidential nominee.
Sentencing will be held, Thursday, July 11, 2024, three days before the Republican National Convention scheduled to begin July 15, 2024, through July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The largest ever television audience in the history of television was the Apollo Moon Landing on July 20, 1969, when more then 150million viewers turned to witness the historic first steps of NASA Astronaut Neil Armstrong and hear the first words, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
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Activist Investor Nelson Peltz Sells off Disney Stock
Activist Investor Nelson Peltz, who has twice waged an unsuccessful battle to gain two seats on the Walt Disney Board, has reportedly controlled approximately $3.5 billion shares in the mouse house and reportedly sold off his shares valued at nearly $1 billion.
"Mr. Peltz, the billionaire head of the hedge fund Trian Fund Management, controlled about $3.5 billion in Disney stock, a vast majority of it owned by Ike Perlmutter, a former chairman of Marvel Entertainment. Mr. Peltz has now sold his portion of those shares, a person familiar with the investment said, requesting anonymity to discuss confidential matters," reported The New York Times.
The most recent confrontation between Walt Disney's CEO Robert A. Iger and Peltz ended after the shareholders voted to retain the Disney Board, intact, without the recommended removing of Maria Elena Lagomasino, 74, and Michael B.G. Forman, 61, President of the Council on Foreign Affairs claiming the two, while very accomplished, have attained success in businesses largely unrelated to DISNEY or any of its entities and fail to add to the direction.
After Peltz failed to gain the confidence of the shareholders, he decided to end his battle and sell off his interest.
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San Francisco Moon Theater on Life Support
The San Francisco 42nd Street Moon Theater, a local bay area artistic company producing live musicals is confronting one of the most challenging fiscal shortfalls in its 30-year history.
Live playhouse theaters, where many have honed their craft, are becoming a relic in our modern, post-pandemic, culture. Most musicals can be screened on a device, and outside of big-name star attractions, the local theaters, which introduce affordable live cultural experiences, is dying.
A recent email stated, "42nd Street Moon has not escaped these struggles including many new complications in this post-pandemic climate: fewer folks coming to live theatre, greater awareness of traditionally volatile and slim-margin financial models, escalating artist, staff, and materials costs, and box office shortfalls. Add to all of this, the increased burden that musicals are about twice as expensive to produce as straight plays."
Keeping local playhouse theater alive as cultural introduction to the arts is critical.
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Al Ruddy, Producer of "The Godfather," Dies
Al Ruddy, who may be best known as the producer of Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather, died this week. He was 94.
Ruddy, who began his Hollywood career after a chance meeting with a sitcom writer, and the pair pitched "Hogan's Heroes" to the CBS Chairman William S. Paley, at CBS, and it became a big hit. His follow up left some in Hollywood wondering, as he pitched himself to then Paramount Chief Robert Evans, who gave him a chance. Swimming in the deep end, Ruddy, who through fate, kismet, happenstance, or Hollywood luck, hired Betty McCart as his assistant. Ruddy was given the impossible task of producing the biggest selling book of that year, Mario Puzo's The Godfather.
While history is kind, the day to day involved in producing what has become a classic was recently depicted in Paramount's "The Offer" and proves that success in Hollywood is singularly dependent on only one person, the producer, and in this case, it was Al. Ruddy. As the impossible project was doomed from the start and Ruddy's career was entirely dependent on its success, he went the distance every day, fighting against hurricane force headwinds.
The rest they say is history. Ruddy's film became an instant success, spawning three sequels, and classic lines "Leave the gun, take the cannoli," became common place in society, even before the rise of social media which gave the film a new place in global culture.
The success of The Godfather secured Al Ruddy's career as a producer but exhausted him. He left The Godfather franchise after the first film and branched out on his own. He stayed on with Paramount, and produced The Longest Yard, a film that had a familiar ring for Ruddy, a prisoner football team playing against sadistic prison guards, close enough to the "Hogan's Heroes" concept, that it became a success.
"Decades later, Mr. Ruddy introduced Clint Eastwood to the evocative boxing short stories written by F.X. Toole. Mr. Eastwood went on to direct "Million Dollar Baby" (2004), based on stories by Mr. Toole. The movie, about the moving relationship between a boxer (Hilary Swank) and her trainer (Mr. Eastwood), won four Oscars, including best picture, which Mr. Ruddy shared with Mr. Eastwood and Tom Rosenberg," reported The New York Times.
