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Stumping For Emmys, ‘Mad Men’s Matthew Weiner Talks 7th And Final Season

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday June 10, 2013 @ 1:08am EDTTags: AMC, Emmys, Mad Men, Matthew Weiner

Ray Richmond contributes to Deadline’s TV coverage.

Tonight’s event honoring AMC’s Mad Men at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences headquarters in North Hollywood – organized by AMC and designed to generate some Emmy season heat for a drama perceived to be past its awards prime – was perhaps most noteworthy for who wasn’t in attendance rather than who was. First, the list of those castmates who couldn’t make it: Jon Hamm (shooting a movie in India), Alison Brie (shooting a film in Toronto), Vincent Kartheiser (rehearsing a play in Minnesota), Christina Hendricks (shooting a movie in Detroit), John Slattery (prepping a film in New York), Aaron Staton (shooting a film “out of town”) and Rich Sommer (featured in a play in New York). While they still have air travel in every area where the seven no-shows were stationed, it’s perhaps understandable that they wouldn’t rush back to stump for more Emmy attention. READ MORE »

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FTC Could Scrutize Sneaky Celeb Shilling On Social Media: NYT

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday June 10, 2013 @ 12:30am EDTTags: FTC, Social Media, Twitter

While some celebs took to Twitter during the Oklahoma tornadoes to lend their support and donations to victims, Kim Kardashian was shamelessly plugging her own cosmetics line and others’ to her 17.8M followers. Classy. But Kardashian’s not alone in milking social media for endorsement cash. Others including Ashton Kutcher and Miley Cyrus are regularly sending product and service endorsements out to millions of Twitter followers who may not realize they’re being advertised to in 140 characters or less. And that has the FTC and the Council of Better Business Bureaus concerned, reports the NYT. FTC disclosure guidelines warn against deceptive online advertising practices – could government fines for non-transparent Tweets be on the horizon?

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67th Tony Awards: ‘Kinky Boots,’ ‘Pippin,’ ‘Matilda’ Nab Top Honors

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday June 9, 2013 @ 11:03pm EDTTags: Cyndi Lauper, Kinky Boots, Tony Awards

The 67th Tony Awards were unveiled tonight at Radio City Music Hall, where Neil Patrick Harris served as host for the fourth time. Among the night’s honorees, Cicely Tyson nabbed her first Tony win and Cyndi Lauper became the first woman to win the Tony for Best Score for the film-to-Broadway Best Musical Kinky Boots. Here’s the full list of winners:

BEST PLAY
“Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” by Christopher Durang

BEST MUSICAL
“Kinky Boots, The Musical”

Read More »

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Will E3 Make the Sagging Videogame Business Sexy Again?

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday June 9, 2013 @ 10:18pm EDTTags: E3, Electronic Entertainment Expo, microsoft, Nintendo, Sony

David Bloom is a Deadline contributor.

It’s a huge question for the Electronic Entertainment Expo, which opens Tuesday after the Big Three makers of game consoles – Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo – each do their annual pre-show media extravaganzas by turns beginning Monday morning. Disney will unveil games tonight based on its movies The Lone Ranger and Monsters University, though it’s possible they may also talk about games based on their Marvel and Star Wars movie franchises, especially after recently laying off many of LucasArts game designers. Other big game publishers will also unveil titles in pre-show events Monday afternoon.

All the hoopla comprises something of a return to the game industry’s heyday, say 10 years ago, when the expo was a noisy, massive, overwhelming beast that consumed the Los Angeles Convention Center for a week. It attracted tens of thousands of media and industry insiders, who faced something of a death march through game company “booths” costing millions of dollars, with dozens of often outlandishly attired staffers, followed by evening parties for 10,000 people featuring performers such as Beck and India.Arie. Read More »

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Produced By Conference: Jerry Bruckheimer Says ‘Top Gun’ Sequel Still In Play, ‘Lone Ranger’ Sequel Not Set Yet

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Sunday June 9, 2013 @ 7:42pm EDTTags: Jerry Bruckheimer, Produced By, The Lone Ranger, Top Gun

Top Gun 2 is still aiming for lift off, said Jerry Bruckheimer today. “For 30 years we’ve been trying to make a sequel and we’re not going to stop. We still want to do it with Tom [Cruise] and Paramount are still interested in making it,” the producer said Sunday at the Produced By conference. “What Tom tells me is that no matter where he goes in the world, people refer to him as Maverick,” added Bruckheimer of Tom Cruise who starred as the rebel fighter jet pilot in the original 1986 movie. “It’s something he is excited about so as long as he keeps his enthusiasm hopefully we’ll get it made,” Bruckheimer said about the sequel and its star. Bruckheimer noted that the death of original Top Gun director Tony Scott last August did put a pause on the project.

In a wide-ranging discussion with Deadline’s Pete Hammond at the PGA event, the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise and this summer’s Lone Ranger producer also revealed that star Johnny Depp often travels with his Captain Jack Sparrow costume and visits children’s hospitals unannounced. “He knows he is a very fortunate person and he wants to give back,” Bruckheimer said. Praising the actor and others, Bruckheimer said the success of his films over the decades, both with partner Don Simpson and on his own, is “always about the talent… our company worships talent.” Read More »

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Universal Studios Theme Park Introduces Pricey VIP Experience

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday June 9, 2013 @ 7:30pm EDTTags: Theme Parks, Universal Studios Hollywood

Universal Studios Hollywood is eyeing wealthier patrons’ pocketbooks as the summer swings into season. A new $299 per-person VIP ticketing option gets you into the park for a day with valet parking, continental breakfast, an unlimited front of line pass, catered gourmet lunch, and a seat on a cozy 16-person trolley. The VIP Experience, which one Uni rep likens to flying first class, also takes guests behind the scenes on the Universal backlot to sets of shows like NBC’s Parenthood and ABC’s Desperate Housewives Wisteria Lane street. Children under 5 years aren’t allowed, but Universal’s come up with a solution for families with the cash to spend: You can rent the entire trolley exclusively for a day for 16 people at $299 a pop, or just under $5K total. Disneyland, meanwhile, recently raised its prices for single-day and annual tickets.

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Produced By Conference: Mark Burnett On ‘Bible’ Follow Up, Feature Version Of History Series Finished Editing

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Sunday June 9, 2013 @ 6:30pm EDTTags: Mark Burnett, Produced By Conference, The Bible, The Voice

Mark Burnett is cooking up a sequel of a sort to The Bible series, but he’s keeping details of his next faith-based project to himself. “A lot of things have come our way since the Bible, that’s how the business works. Roma [Downey] and I will do a follow up to The Bible, no question to that, something big,” said Burnett today at the Produced By conference. No word if this next project on Christianity would be on the History Channel as The Bible was. The producer however did reveal that he has just finished editing a 2 hour and 15 minute feature version of the successful series focusing on the life of Jesus. He is now looking to sell it. “Just on the scripted side, I could spend the next 10 years just distributing the Bible series and the movie. I believe that in the next 15 years more people on the planet will have seen our Bible series that haven’t seen it,” added Burnett of the project he and wife Roma Downey produced with Hearst Entertainment & Syndication. Read More »

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Produced By Conference: Pros Forecast The Future Of VFX, Post-Rhythm & Hues

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday June 9, 2013 @ 6:28pm EDTTags: Chris DeFaria, Produced By Conference, Rhythm & Hues, VFX

Ray Richmond contributes to Deadline’s conference coverage.

In the wake of the mass layoffs and bankruptcy filing of the VFX house Rhythm & Hues at the same time it was winning the Oscar for the film Life of Pi, the entire future of the visual effects industry has come under scrutiny — even as Rhythm & Hues recovers under new ownership. The question of the company’s crash-and-burn while creating award-winning work led off a Produced By panel this morning entitled “The Unlocked Picture: Global Opportunities in VFX and 3D Conversion,” where the consensus was that the R&H situation was both an anomaly and a harbinger of VFX industry issues that won’t soon be going away. Rhythm & Hues bankruptcy“It’s a tough business and changing business, and we’re right in the middle of a very tumultuous time,” said Chris DeFaria, Exec VP of digital production, animation and visual effects for Warner Bros. Pictures. While noting that Rhythm & Hues was beset by obvious cash flow problems, DeFaria maintained that the VFX business is being altered by an increasing standardization of tools and techniques and, most importantly, by more competitive financing globally. “You have an international workforce that’s mobile and capable of setting up low cost labor markets,” he noted. “There’s a big benefit in the exchange rates. These forces conspire to make it a very difficult business.” Read More »

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Produced By Conference: Stacey Sher On Zach Braff Kickstarter Success & Scrutiny

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday June 9, 2013 @ 4:58pm EDTTags: Kickstarter, Produced By Conference, Stacey Sher

Ray Richmond is contributing to Deadline’s conference coverage.

The Kickstarter model of financing movies was front and center this morning at a Produced By conference panel entitled “The State of Producing — Finding Funding, Lining Up Talent & Securing Screens,” which replaced the scheduled session with Tom Cruise (postponed to next weekend). Before the seats were even warm, producer Stacey Sher (Django Unchained, Erin Brockovich, Pulp Fiction) was quizzed about her groundbreaking Kickstarter effort in April on behalf of Zach Braff that found his project Wish I Was Here meeting its $2 million fundraising goal in a mere four days en route to a 30-day total of $3.1 million from a grand total of 46,520 pledgers). “We were absolutely shocked,” Sher admitted. “We became these people who lived for 30 days under both a microscope and a spotlight. And it was excruciating.” Why “excruciating”? Sher explained that by virtue of being Exhibit A in the new media funding model, the haters were inspired to come out of the woodwork wondering why they deserved this kind of support. But she stressed that the experience has been overwhelmingly encouraging and positive. “The people who backed the film are going through every step of its production with us, with more access to how it’s being put together than some of our interns,” she said. Kate Hudson, Mandy Patinkin and Josh Gad will join Braff in the film about a thirtysomething actor who is trying to figure out who he is. Read More »

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Specialty Box Office: Whedon’s ‘Much Ado’ Soars; ‘Dirty Wars’ Opens Decent

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday June 9, 2013 @ 1:49pm EDTTags: Joss Whedon, Much Ado About Nothing, Specialty Box Office

Brian Brooks is a Deadline contributor.

Indie FilmsJoss Whedon‘s Much Ado About Nothing clearly ruled the Specialty Box Office this weekend. Opening in 5 theaters, the Roadside/Lionsgate release gave the 4-century-old play some 21st century adulation, grossing over $183K in 5 theaters for a $36,680 average. Whedon broke box office records last year with The Avengers and will likely do so again with his second round with the franchise, but the versatile filmmaker has clearly shown his filmmaking chops outside the big summer tentpole. Sundance Selects debuted its timely Dirty Wars in 4 runs, also opening solid. The distributor said it played sold out shows in all venues and called the launch a “promising start.” This weekend’s limited release newcomers were plentiful, though most others opened soft at best. Oz pic Wish You Were Here bowed in 11 theaters, averaging $2,338, while Kino Lorber’s You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet opened in two locations, averaging $3,500. Cinedigm’s Violet & Daisy, meanwhile, debuted in 17 locations, with a very slight $602 average, taking in over $10K. The film will move into the top ten markets next weekend. Read More »

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Simon Cowell Egged During ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ Live Finale: Video

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Sunday June 9, 2013 @ 6:07am EDTTags: Britain's Got Talent, ITV, Simon Cowell

The 7th season of Simon Cowell‘s Britain’s Got Talent concluded Saturday night with Hungarian shadow dance troupe Attraction crowned the winners. But it was during the performance of third place Welsh singing brothers Richard and Adam Johnson that a woman raced on stage and started pelting judges Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams with eggs. It later came to light that the egg-hurler was Natalie Holt, a member of the Johnsons’ backing group. She was summarily pulled off stage and issued an apology. But she later told, The Telegraph: “I basically took a stand against people miming on television and against Simon and his dreadful influence on the music industry.” After the show, an ITV spokesperson said the police had been called, but “we have decided to take no further action at this stage.” Ratings for the live final peaked at 13.1M for a 57% share and had an average rating of 11.1M viewers from 7:30-10 PM. Here’s video of the incident; the pelting starts at the 1:49 mark:

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Student Academy Awards Winners Honored

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday June 9, 2013 @ 12:15am EDTTags: Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Student Academy Awards 2013

Beverly Hills, CA — Sixteen students from colleges and universities around the world were honored tonight as winners at the 40th Student Academy Awards ceremony at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The medal placements were announced at the ceremony hosted by writer-director and 1978 Student Academy Award® winner Bob Saget. Writer-director Kimberly Peirce and actors Clark Gregg, Jason Schwartzman and Quvenzhané Wallis presented the awards.

The winners are:

Alternative
Gold Medal: “Bottled Up,” Rafael Cortina, Occidental College
Silver Medal: “Zug,” Perry Janes, University of Michigan
Bronze Medal: “The Compositor,” John Mattiuzzi, School of Visual Arts

Animation
Gold Medal: “Dia de los Muertos,” Lindsey St. Pierre and Ashley Graham, Ringling College of Art and Design
Silver Medal: “Will,” Eusong Lee, California Institute of the Arts
Bronze Medal: “Peck Pocketed,” Kevin Herron, Ringling College of Art and Design

Documentary
Gold Medal: “A Second Chance,” David Aristizabal, University of Southern California
Silver Medal: “Every Tuesday: A Portrait of The New Yorker Cartoonists,” Rachel Loube, School of Visual Arts
Bronze Medal: “Win or Lose,” Daniel Koehler, Elon University

Read More »

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Produced By Conference: Reality TV Only Getting Bigger, Louder

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday June 8, 2013 @ 10:03pm EDTTags: Produced By Conference, Reality TV

Ray Richmond contributes to Deadline’s conference coverage.

A group of cable network execs and producers shared their views on the ever-evolving reality TV landscape and how the sales game is changed this afternoon during a Produced By panel sponsored by Deadline Hollywood and entitled, “Reality Isn’t What it Used to Be: Selling Nonfiction Television.” “You used to be able to sell a show off of paper; you didn’t need tape,” recalled Stephanie Drachkovitch, a principal in 44 Blue Productions. “That’s much harder to do now. Also, what would have been a brilliant idea three years ago doesn’t make the bar. It’s not big enough, it’s not loud enough, it’s not gonna move the needle, it’s not gonna break through.” The reason for needing bigger and noisier programming ideas, she believes, is the sheer number of networks and venues doing original reality program content and vying for eyeballs. A&E’s Senior VP of Talent and Production Neil Cohen agreed that it takes a lot more juice for an idea to get sold and gain traction than it did even a couple of years ago. “It’s much more competitive and the expectations are much higher,” he said. “It used to be enough to enough to put a very primitive team together to sell to people like us. Now there’s the expectation that we’ll get a sense of the tone and storytelling style in the concept in the sizzle tape.” Read More »

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Produced By Conference: Death Threats, But No Network Censorship For ‘Walking Dead’ Execs

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday June 8, 2013 @ 9:19pm EDTTags: AMC, Gale Anne Hurd, Produced By Conference, The Walking Dead

Ray Richmond is contributing to Deadline’s conference coverage.

The Walking Dead exec producer Gale Anne Hurd admitted this afternoon that one of the hazards of her job is receiving death threats from the rabid fan base of smash hit AMC zombie drama when it dares to kill off a character. “That’s one of the dirty little secrets of social media,” she admitted during a session at the Produced By conference on the Fox lot. “The fans so identify with the characters that if you kill them off… well, first they’re in denial. It’s really the stages of grief. They say, ‘That gunshot off camera, they aren’t really dead, they’re coming back.’ And then they get angry. They threaten to hunt you down. They don’t understand the difference between reality and fantasy.”

Gale Anne Hurd Walking DeadFor the most part, however, the experience of being the highest-rated drama in cable history is a far more rewarding and less dangerous experience, Hurd and her fellow panelists agreed. She was joined at the event by Walking Dead exec producer David Alpert; Sharon Tal Yguado, EVP of global scripted programming and original development for Fox International Channels; and Marci Wiseman, SVP of business affairs for AMC. They discussed the how the show originally and famously was rejected at the pilot stage by NBC. Alpert recalled how when the comic book rights were sold to NBC in 2005, the network told him, “We want to do something totally different.” He remembered, “When they passed, I said, ‘But I thought you wanted to do something totally different.’ They said, ‘We do. We just don’t want to do a zombie show.’ That was one of the more frustrating things.” Read More »

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‘American Idol’ Executive Producers Nigel Lythgoe & Ken Warwick Officially Out

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday June 8, 2013 @ 9:00pm EDTTags: American Idol, Fox, Nigel Lythgoe

UPDATE: Veteran American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe tweeted the news of his dismissal today. He’s departing Fox’s long-running competition show, heading into its 13th season, but will stay aboard the network’s dance program So You Think You Can Dance, which he co-created, exec produces and serves as judge on. ” Just had 10 days in the Bahamas, rain everyday,” he Tweeted. ” I get back to the States and get fired. Sad! Monday we choose our top 20. I’ll smile again… Yes, don’t worry I’m on #SYTYCD. FOX still loves me. It’s not a personal thing they just feel IDOL needs new leadership after 12 Seasons.”

In response, Fox released a statement addressing both Lythgoe and fellow long-time Idol executive producer Ken Warwick’s exits. “The passion and dedication that Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick brought to American Idol guided the show to become a true cultural phenomenon. While we are saddened they will no longer be executive producers on the show, we are grateful for their tremendous contributions and look forward to continuing to work with them on additional projects.”

The departures come just a couple of days Fox brought in veteran News Corp. executives David Hill to oversee Idol and The X Factor.

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Produced By Conference: JJ Abrams Says ‘Star Wars’ Starts Production In Early 2014

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Saturday June 8, 2013 @ 8:15pm EDTTags: JJ Abrams, Produced By Conference, Produced By Conference 2013, Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Wars

“I think that the thing is so big and so massive to so many people that the key to moving forward is honoring but not revering what went before,” said JJ Abrams today about the challenges of directing the new Star Wars movie. Abrams also revealed that production on Star Wars Episode VII is set to start right at the beginning of 2014. “Most likely we are going to be moving to London at the end of the year for the Star Wars movie,” said the Star Trek Into Darkness director Saturday at the Produced By conference on the Fox lot. Abrams added that the overseas shoot “drives me insane” as he would have liked to film the movie in LA. He also noted that the plan to shoot Star Wars Episode VII for Disney in the UK was set before he was brought on board. The director joked that getting the offer to helm the new Star Wars was the only thing that would have caused him to postpone a long set family vacation.
Read More »

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NYC Mayor Bloomberg To Receive Special Tony Honor

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday June 8, 2013 @ 7:39pm EDTTags: Broadway, Mayor Bloomberg, Tony Awards

A special Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre will be presented to NYC Mayor Bloomberg at the 2013 Tonys, the awards’ committee officially announced today. Bloomberg will be feted during the June 9 telecast for his support of the Broadway community and dedication to NYC tourism. This fall he launches the interactive Spotlight On Broadway multimedia promo highlighting the theater community. Mayor Bloomberg is scheduled to appear at the Tonys as presenter alongside host Neil Patrick Harris, Tom Hanks, Jake Gyllenhaal, Scarlett Johansson, Sigourney Weaver, Anna Kendrick, Zachary Quinto, Sally Field, Audra McDonald, Cyndi Lauper, Alan Cumming, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Megan Hilty, Andrew Rannells, Jane Krakowski, Bernadette Peters, Cuba Gooding Jr, Jesse Eisenberg, Jon Cryer, Matthew Morrison, Laura Benanti, Steven Van Zandt, Hal Prince, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Barrett Foa, Martha Plimpton and Mike Tyson.

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Produced By Conference: Kurt Sutter Updates ‘Sons Of Anarchy’ Prequel Status

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Saturday June 8, 2013 @ 6:37pm EDTTags: FX, Kurt Sutter, Produced By Conference, Sons of Anarchy

Rarely at a loss for words, Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter has spoken before about doing a prequel to the FX series. Today at the Produced By conference, he told me a little bit more about where things stand with the possible look at the formation of SAMCRO. Sons Of Anarchy prequel“Right now, it is just conversations,” Sutter said after appearing on the Hit The Ground Showrunning panel. Confirming that the series, if it happened, would be with SOA’s current home of FX, Sutter said that the show wouldn’t be coming for a few years. “I want to let the property rest for a year or so after Sons is over before jumping in,” he noted. SOA is heading into its sixth season with the expectation that the biker club series will go for a least one more cycle after that. Beyond that timeline, a lot about the prequel is still up in the air. “I don’t know if it will be a series or a limited series of say 10 to 13 episodes,” Sutter said. “I don’t want to do it as a movie – tonally, I don’t see it as a movie.” Read More »

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Produced By Conference: ‘Sons Of Anarchy’s’ Kurt Sutter, Other Showrunners Look To “Scary” Digital Future

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Saturday June 8, 2013 @ 5:44pm EDTTags: Beau Willimon, Darlene Hunt, Jason Katims, Kurt Sutter, Netflix, Produced By

“New is always scary to the old and it is always about money and profit margins,” said Kurt Sutter today about the digital distribution and content models of Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. “And the talk right now is how do we make money because we are all selling either soap or subscriptions,” the often blunt Sons of Anarchy producer added. “The upside for everyone at this table is we may not know what it looks like or what the profit margins are but more people want our content,” he also said. Sutter was appearing on this year’s Produced By Conference’s Hit The Ground Showrunning panel along with House of Cards‘ Beau Willimon, Parenthood‘s Jason Katims and The Big C creator Darlene Hunt. “I’m dying to do something for Netflix. They say we’ll throw money at you and leave you alone,” joked Hunt. The producer and performer added that her current deal with Sony limits her right now from going to do a project with the likes of Netflix but she wants that to change. “I’ve told them, you have to figure it out or I won’t reup my deal,” she added. Hunt inked a two-year seven-figure overall deal with Sony Pictures TV in early April. 

Related: Tom Cruise Rescheduled At … Read More »

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