Hollywood: Eric Roberts
By Tony Rizzo
HOLLYWOOD -- Eric Roberts, Julia Roberts' brother, was once an up-and-coming lead actor. He received Oscar and Golden Globe nominations in 1985 for "Runaway Train," as well as Golden Globe nominations for "King of the Gypsies" (1978) and "Star 80" (1983). But he became a working actor, having acted in more than 515 films. Last year alone, he did 33 films and has 60 projects in the works for next year. But now, at 66, he's landed a plum role playing Margot Robbie's father in Oscar-winning "La La Land" director Damien Chazelle's film, "Babylon," which also stars Brad Pitt, arriving Dec. 23. We'd call it a comeback, but after 515 films, Eric Roberts never went away!
Eric Roberts. PHOTO CREDIT: Depositphotos
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Warren Beatty now has a lawsuit brought upon him by a woman claiming he coerced her to have sex when she was 14 and he was 35. The suit names "an actor nominated for an Academy Award in 1967 for playing Clyde in 'Bonnie And Clyde.'" The woman alleges they met on the set, and he gave her his phone number instructing her to call. She maintains that they had sex on multiple occasions. A 2019 California law opened a three-year window to file claims of child abuse otherwise barred by the statute of limitations. She's charging Beatty with sexual battery, sexual assault and sex with a minor.
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On a happier note ... Godzilla turned 68 on Nov. 3, which Toho Studios proclaimed globally as "Godzilla Day." The first "Godzilla" was released in 1954, and to widen its appeal for American audiences, Toho added Raymond Burr to the sequel "Godzilla, King of the Monsters!" in 1956 as an on-camera reporter narrating the proceedings. A year later, Burr became Perry Mason for a decade.
Thirty-one more Godzilla films followed this sequel. Toho is now preparing a 33rd Godzilla film, and AppleTV+ is creating a Godzilla series.
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Is Steven Spielberg changing his mind about making films for streaming platforms? He recently admitted, "The pandemic created an opportunity for streaming platforms to raise their subscription levels and also throw some of my filmmaker friends under the bus. ... They were paid off, and their films were suddenly relegated to, in this case, HBO Max. ... And then everything started to change." He claims that audiences who end up making the trek to theaters tend to feel the trip was worthwhile.
However, he used his film "The Post" (2017), which starred Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep and earned six Oscar nominations, as an example of a film that could have benefited from being a streaming-only release: "The film had something to say to millions of people, and we were never going to get those millions into enough theaters to make a difference."
(c) 2022 King Features Synd., Inc.