Latest news with #BarryLevinson
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
A Casting Director Asked Steve Buscemi ‘What Is Wrong with You?' in Massive Audition Fail
Last week on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Steve Buscemi — from… well, everything — revealed that long before he was famous, he often found himself in rooms with casting agents and directors unable to connect at all. 'I was always hot and cold,' Buscemi explained. 'I never knew if I should wing it, cause sometimes I'd be good if I went in the room and I didn't really prepare. And then, the next time I'd do it, I would fail.' More from IndieWire 'It' Is Back and Derry-er Than Ever: HBO Series Is the Latest in Stephen King Cinematic Universe Jay Leno Says Late Night Hosts 'Alienate' Viewers: 'I Don't Think Anybody Wants to Hear a Lecture' And Buscemi has auditioned for the best of the best — including 'Rain Man' filmmaker Barry Levinson when he was working on the 1987 movie 'Tin Men.' He decided he had to 'really prepare' for the meeting. 'And I studied the sides, the script, and went in there and did my reading… did my audition, and he looked at me and went, 'That was really good. That's really good, Steve. Alright. Let's do it again, but this time try it…' and he gave me a very specific note.' Buscemi listen and took the note. He was ready for another try. 'And then I read it again the exact same way I just did,' he chuckled. 'There was this silence and we both just looked at each other. I think I even said, 'That was the same, wasn't it?' And he said, 'Yeah, it's OK, it's OK.' Needless to say, I did not get that part.' Another time he auditioned for EGOT-winner Mike Nichols and casting director Juliet Taylor, even though he knew he had a conflict. 'My agent at the time said, 'No, no, no. Just go. When are you gonna have an opportunity to meet these people?' So off Bescemi went, and he killed it… but when he revealed he couldn't make the shooting dates, Taylor stared at him and said, 'What is wrong with you?' Of course, Buscemi has proven himself several times over — enough to impress the Emmys (he has one on eight nominations) — in such diverse projects as 'Fargo,' '30 Rock,' 'Reservoir Dogs,' and 'Boardwalk Empire.' It's a resume that doesn't need regurgitating. He's become such a recognizable face, in fact, he can play himself on 'The Studio' in a season that also had cameos from legends like Martin Scorsese and Charlize Theron, also playing themselves. Buscemi is far from the only famous actor to struggle with an audition — even a now-A-lister like Hugh Jackman, who has since gone from Wolverine to 'The Music Man,' bungled what might've been his big break: the Benjamin Bratt role in 'Miss Congeniality' — an experienced he described as 'humiliating.' 'No one knew X-Men yet. I was a nobody,' Jackson once told Variety, though in spite of his unknown status he had the opportunity to shoot his audition with Sandra Bullock. He recalled thinking, ''Holy shit! She's amazing! And so quick and fast. I'm not even vaguely up to speed here.' I was pedaling as fast as I could, but I didn't know the script well enough.' Years before her own series 'Girls' made her a household name, Lena Dunham auditioned for Penny Marshall's 2001 film 'Riding in Cars With Boys,' and it did not go well… though not in a traumatic way. 'When I was 12, I met Penny Marshall in a failed audition for a film, 'Riding in Cars With Boys.' And that was really big for me,' Dunham related on 'The Jess Cagle Show.' 'I was treated actually really well. There was no cruelty. The only thing I'll say is I understand why I didn't get the role. Dunham explained that Marshall asked each of the young performers to tell her their names, heights, where they were from, and… then… to smile. 'And I said, I'm Lena, I'm from New York, and I don't smile on command.' And Penny Marshall said, 'It's called acting, honey.'' Dunham, now an experienced director (whose 'Good Sex' is filming now with Natalie Portman, Meg Ryan, and Mark Ruffalo), now sees things Marshall's way. 'The thing is, she was right,' Dunham said. 'Would you hire an actor who is like I'm sorry, I can't smile on command?' The thing is, I'm with Penny on this one.' You win some. You lose some. You learn some. Watch Buscemi's full interview on 'The Late Show' below. Best of IndieWire Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Movies: 56 Films the Director Wants You to See 'Song of the South': 14 Things to Know About Disney's Most Controversial Movie Nicolas Winding Refn's Favorite Films: 37 Movies the Director Wants You to See Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
A Casting Director Asked Steve Buscemi ‘What Is Wrong With You?' in Massive Audition Fail
Last week on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Steve Buscemi — from… well, everything — revealed that long before he was famous, he often found himself in rooms with casting agents and directors unable to connect at all. 'I was always hot and cold,' Buscemi explained. 'I never knew if I should wing it, cause sometimes I'd be good if I went in the room and I didn't really prepare. And then, the next time I'd do it, I would fail.' More from IndieWire 'Mother of Flies' Wins the Cheval Noir at Fantasia Festival 2025 - Read the Complete List of Winners 'Peacemaker' Season 2 Trailer Drops, Heralding the Next Step in James Gunn DC Universe And Buscemi has auditioned for the best of the best — including 'Rain Man' filmmaker Barry Levinson when he was working on the 1987 movie 'Tin Men.' He decided he had to 'really prepare' for the meeting. 'And I studied the sides, the script, and went in there and did my reading… did my audition, and he looked at me and went, 'That was really good. That's really good, Steve. Alright. Let's do it again, but this time try it…' and he gave me a very specific note.' Buscemi listen and took the note. He was ready for another try. 'And then I read it again the exact same way I just did,' he chuckled. 'There was this silence and we both just looked at each other. I think I even said, 'That was the same, wasn't it?' And he said, 'Yeah, it's OK, it's OK.' Needless to say, I did not get that part.' Another time he auditioned for EGOT-winner Mike Nichols and casting director Juliet Taylor, even though he knew he had a conflict. 'My agent at the time said, 'No, no, no. Just go. When are you gonna have an opportunity to meet these people?' So off Bescemi went, and he killed it… but when he revealed he couldn't make the shooting dates, Taylor stared at him and said, 'What is wrong with you?' Of course, Buscemi has proven himself several times over — enough to impress the Emmys (he has one on eight nominations) — in such diverse projects as 'Fargo,' '30 Rock,' 'Reservoir Dogs,' and 'Boardwalk Empire.' It's a resume that doesn't need regurgitating. He's become such a recognizable face, in fact, he can play himself on 'The Studio' in a season that also had cameos from legends like Martin Scorsese and Charlize Theron, also playing themselves. Buscemi is far from the only famous actor to struggle with an audition — even a now-A-lister like Hugh Jackman, who has since gone from Wolverine to 'The Music Man,' bungled what might've been his big break: the Benjamin Bratt role in 'Miss Congeniality' — an experienced he described as 'humiliating.' 'No one knew X-Men yet. I was a nobody,' Jackson once told Variety, though in spite of his unknown status he had the opportunity to shoot his audition with Sandra Bullock. He recalled thinking, ''Holy shit! She's amazing! And so quick and fast. I'm not even vaguely up to speed here.' I was pedaling as fast as I could, but I didn't know the script well enough.' Years before her own series 'Girls' made her a household name, Lena Dunham auditioned for Penny Marshall's 2001 film 'Riding in Cars With Boys,' and it did not go well… though not in a traumatic way. 'When I was 12, I met Penny Marshall in a failed audition for a film, 'Riding in Cars With Boys.' And that was really big for me,' Dunham related on 'The Jess Cagle Show.' 'I was treated actually really well. There was no cruelty. The only thing I'll say is I understand why I didn't get the role. Dunham explained that Marshall asked each of the young performers to tell her their names, heights, where they were from, and… then… to smile. 'And I said, I'm Lena, I'm from New York, and I don't smile on command.' And Penny Marshall said, 'It's called acting, honey.'' Dunham, now an experienced director (whose 'Good Sex' is filming now with Natalie Portman, Meg Ryan, and Mark Ruffalo), now sees things Marshall's way. 'The thing is, she was right,' Dunham said. 'Would you hire an actor who is like I'm sorry, I can't smile on command?' The thing is, I'm with Penny on this one.' You win some. You lose some. You learn some. Watch Buscemi's full interview on 'The Late Show' below. Best of IndieWire Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Movies: 56 Films the Director Wants You to See 'Song of the South': 14 Things to Know About Disney's Most Controversial Movie Nicolas Winding Refn's Favorite Films: 37 Movies the Director Wants You to See
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Michael Douglas on His Timely Doc ‘America's Burning' and His Own Political Ambitions: ‘In 'American President,' I Knew How the Script Ended'
David Smick was trying to decide on a title for his new documentary about the division taking place in America. 'I had a number of clever, abstract titles for the film,' he notes. He says it was executive producer Barry Levinson who told him: 'Dave, have you ever heard of the movie 'Dangerous Marine Animals on the Cape Cod Coast'? No, because they call it 'Jaws.' So, I went with 'America's Burning,' because I thought: you can picture that. And I had anticipated things were going to get worse.' Smick premiered 'America's Burning' a year ago at the Tribeca Film Festival. Narrated and executive produced by Michael Douglas, the film features interviews from such figures as James Carville and Leon Panetta as it details the discord between people on opposite sides of the political spectrum. It also preaches optimism in urging people and politicians to strive for unity. At the time of its premiere, notes Douglas, 'It might have been perceived as being over the top. Now it's almost underestimating what's happened since then.' But still, he says, 'The message is more important and stronger than ever.' More from Variety Martin Scorsese, Catherine Deneuve, Michael Douglas Among Star Guests at Taormina Film Festival Michael Douglas to Be Celebrated at Italy's Taormina Film Festival Where 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' Copy Will Screen (EXCLUSIVE) Michael Douglas Reminisces About Meeting Now-Wife Catherine Zeta-Jones During Career Tribute at Deauville Film Festival Smick, the chairman and CEO of the macroeconomic advisory firm Johnson Smick International as well as a bestselling author and filmmaker, is trying to maintain that positive outlook. 'I'm an optimist by nature, but there are a lot of challenges we didn't have a year ago,' he notes. 'We're discovering we're one recession away from a major social upheaval if we're not careful.' Smick points to 'so much underlying economic anger' over the distribution of wealth in the country despite our economic system being 'the envy of the world.' Smick adds, 'We're doing terrific, except we've got this underlying potential cancer that could spread, and all we need is a stiff recession, and then we're going to see the anger come out of the woodwork, and people are going to be shocked, I think.' Despite how much the world has changed since the film's premiere, Smick says he didn't see any need to add an epilogue or a coda for its streaming release. 'I didn't think it needed to be updated,' he notes. Though he is open to exploring the topic further, perhaps in a longer form. 'You go to these screenings, and I watch the audience. I wish I had two hours because there's so many issues you could get into, but you're limited. I'm thinking if we ever did expand it, it would be because someone came along and wanted to do a series.' Bringing on the man who intoned the famous 'greed is good' line in his Oscar-winning performance in 'Wall Street' was a stroke of genius, but Smick also got a welcome collaborator with Douglas. The actor came aboard when the director sent him an early cut of the film, in which Smick had provided his own narration. 'It had his excellent voiceover. They didn't need me,' he notes. Disagrees Smick, 'I have a very soft voice, not very distinctive. I said to my producer, Ian Michaels, 'We should see if there's a celebrity that can dominate this.'' He hired a casting director to work with. 'I said, 'I'd like to have someone who's center, but left to center, who is troubled by the fact that the country is so divided. I think there's a part of the country we could never agree with, but someone who [people] could get behind a movie that may be represented about 70% of the country or 80% of the country.' And first was on the list was Michael.' Douglas was instantly taken. 'It resonated with me, with all the concerns that I had, which was the loss of our middle class was having, the tremendous amount of money that the Supreme Court allowed into our elections and our lack of bipartisanship. I thought it was a good message, if I could help support it.' And Smick wants everyone to know that Douglas' EP credit was earned – he didn't just read a script and do some promos. 'His contributions were enormous,' Smick says, adding that Douglas had suggestions about moving chapters around and rearranging some things. 'I would say, minimum, his changes injected 55% more energy into the film.' Douglas says he was happy to lend his name to the film to attract attention. 'But the interesting and frustrating point was how difficult it was to get distribution,' he reveals. 'There were a lot of companies that, when we initially showed this, I think were a little afraid of it. Even though the attempt was to really be bipartisan, not picking on one party or the other.' He adds, 'So kudos to Amazon, and I'm happy they came around. And kudos to David, in terms of [how] he foresaw what was coming.' Despite having portrayed one of cinema's greatest presidents in Rob Reiner's 1995 film 'The American President,' Douglas says he has no interest in aspiring to the White House in real life. 'No, no, I'm 80,' he demurs. 'That's the magic turn-off age.' Smick, for his part, says people constantly come up to Douglas to repeat the lines from the film. 'That must happen like 10 times a month,' he responds, 'In 'American President,' I knew how the script ended. That's the big difference.' Best of Variety 'Blue Velvet,' 'Chinatown' and 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' Arrive on 4K in June All the Godzilla Movies Ranked 'House of the Dragon': Every Character and What You Need to Know About the 'Game of Thrones' Prequel
Forbes
30-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Robert De Niro Dud ‘The Alto Knights' Gets Max Streaming Premiere Date
Robert De Niro in "The Alto Knights." The Alto Knights— Robert De Niro's crime thriller that flopped in theaters — will soon look for a new audience on streaming on Max. Rated R, The Alto Knights opened in theaters on March 21 before shifting to digital streaming via premium video on demand on April 11. De Niro plays identical twins in The Alto Knights, which was directed by Barry Levinson. The film also stars Debra Messing, Cosmo Jarvis, Kathrine Narducci and Michael Rispoli. The official summary for The Alto Knights reads, 'The film follows two of New York's most notorious organized crime bosses, Frank Costello (De Niro) and Vito Genovese (De Niro), as they vie for control of the city's streets. "Once the best of friends, petty jealousies and a series of betrayals place them on a deadly collision course that will reshape the mafia (and America) forever.' Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment announced Friday that The Alto Knights will arrive on Max on Friday, June 6, and debut on HBO Linear on Saturday, June 7, at 8 p.m. ET. Max offers three streaming packages. An ad-based package costs $9.99 per month, an ad-free package is $16.99 per month and an ad-free package that includes 4K Ultra HD programming is $20.99 per month. The Alto Knights had a rough run in theaters, earning $6.1 million domestically and $3.4 million internationally for a worldwide box office gross of $9.5 million against a $45 million budget before prints and advertising costs, according to The Numbers. The Robert De Niro star vehicle was splattered with negative reviews from Rotten Tomatoes critics, who collectively gave the film a 39% 'rotten' rating based on 136 reviews. The RT Critics Consensus for the film reads, 'A competent but tired retread of mob movie tropes, The Alto Knights pits De Niro vs. De Niro with no real victor emerging.' The Alto Knights was better received by audiences, however, who gave the film a 71% 'fresh' Popcornmeter score based on 500-plus verified user ratings. The audience summary on RT for the film reads, 'Prioritizing drama over action, The Alto Knights works as a somewhat enjoyable pastiche of mob films.' The Alto Knights, starring Robert De Niro, arrives on streaming on Max on June 6 and premieres on HBO linear on June 7 at 8 p.m. ET.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why Robert De Niro's Mob Drama ‘Alto Knights' Is Such a Box Office Disaster
'The Alto Knights,' a crime thriller starring dueling Robert De Niros, made moviegoers an offer they easily refused. The Warner Bros. film was D.O.A. over the weekend with $3.2 million at the domestic box office, one of the worst-ever starts for a major studio release. 'The Alto Knights' also cratered overseas, earning $1.8 million for a bleak worldwide tally of $5.1 million. With a price tag above $45 million before marketing is taken into account, 'The Alto Knights' is already one of the year's biggest misfires. More from Variety Robert De Niro Shares TV Shows He Watches With His 'Discerning' Two-Year-Old Toddler: 'Ms. Rachel, The Wiggles, Blippi' Box Office: 'Snow White' Awakens With $16 Million Opening Day as 'Alto Knights' Bombs 'The Alto Knights' Director Barry Levinson Talks Dueling Robert De Niros, Creating Perfect Shots in 'The Natural' and Coaching Movie Stars to Great Performances Box office watchers, however, aren't exactly scratching their heads to figure out what went wrong. They believe 'The Alto Knights' hails from a genre — mobster movies — that's been sleeping with the fishes for decades. Then critics rebuked the film, which landed a poor 37% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences, at least the few people who checked the film out, were kinder, giving it a 'B' grade on CinemaScore exit polls. Still, those mixed scores don't bode well for word-of-mouth. 'This kind of crime story has been out of style for years now,' says David A. Gross, who runs the FranchiseRe movie consulting firm. 'Current soft theatrical market conditions are not going to help it.' Directed by 'Wag the Dog' and 'Rain Man' filmmaker Barry Levinson and adapted by Nicholas Pileggi, best known for his work as a writer or producer on 'Goodfellas,' 'Casino' and 'The Irishman,' the movie follows De Niro as Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, childhood friends who became two of New York's most notorious organized crime bosses. For a film like 'The Alto Knights,' which already faces strong headwinds in this theatrical landscape, to have a shot at success, it needs rave reviews or potential awards chatter. Critics weren't on board, though, with several calling the choice to have De Niro star opposite himself was unnecessarily confusing. The Washington Post's Michael O'Sullivan described the stunt as 'not just unnecessary, it's supremely distracting.' ('It invites the question: Why?' he wrote in his review) and The New Yorker's Justin Chang simply referred to the double casting as an 'odd gimmick.' It's not like gangster movies were all the rage when Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav greenlit the film in 2022. His decision to grant the film a $45 million budget and theatrical release had prompted a few raised eyebrows on the studio lot at the time. Levinson, who began working on 'The Alto Knights' (formerly titled 'Wise Guys') with Pileggi and producer Irwin Winkler before the pandemic, told Variety that Pileggi's relationship with Zaslav had paved the way for the project to get made. 'Zaslav has known Nick, and somehow in a conversation [the film] came up, and Zaslav was intrigued by it,' Levinson said in an interview prior to the movie's release. 'That was sort of how it all came together.' The studio also thought 'The Alto Knights' could be another entry in De Niro's pantheon of much-loved gangster films, several of which (like 'Goodfellas' and 'Mean Streets') were produced by Warner Bros. For De Niro, 'The Alto Knights' represented a return to the genre that made him a star. The 81-year-old became an enduring A-lister after classic Mafia movies like 'The Godfather Part II,' 'The Untouchables,' 'Casino' and 'Goodfellas.' He's even parodied his deep association with Cosa Nostra cinema in the 'Analyze This' films. Yet it's a type of film that's 30 years past its sell-by date. Even Martin Scorsese's starry 'Killers of the Flower Moon,' a Western crime drama about the 1920 Oklahoma murders in the Osage Nation, struggled at the box office against a $200 million budget. And Leonardo DiCaprio starred in that film, which was nominated for several Oscars, alongside De Niro. Meanwhile Levinson's filmography over the past quarter-century has included such commercial misfires as 2015's comedy 'Rock the Kasbah,' 2014's drama 'The Humbling,' 2012's horror mockumentary 'The Bay' and 2006's political comedy 'Man of the Year.' The Oscar-winner's last significant theatrical hit was 1997's 'Wag the Dog,' which grossed $65 million against a $15 million budget. ''Alto Knights' is a film of a bygone Hollywood era. The director and star are no longer box office draws,' says Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock. 'Warner Bros. didn't do them any favors as they barely advertised the film. When a film doesn't have major studio support in this marketplace, it's bombs away at the box office.' So who went to see 'Alto Knights' in its opening weekend? Apparently, older white men and Canadians. According to exit polls, 60% of moviegoers were male and 60% were Caucasian (comparatively, 27% were Hispanic, 7% were Black, 3% were Asian and 3% were Native American). Nearly 90% were above the age of 25. Meanwhile three of the top four highest-grossing locations — Cineplex Queensway Toronto, Cineplex Winston Churchill Toronto, Cineplex Laval Montreal — were from America's Neighbors to the North. New York City and Los Angeles typically have the top-earning theaters in North America. 'Seems like Canadians turned out for an adult drama, something that is unfortunately becoming more and more of a rarity in the North American marketplace,' Bock said. 'The Alto Knights' is the second consecutive theatrical misfire for Warner Bros. after Bong Joon Ho's big budget sci-fi comedy 'Mickey 17.' Coincidentally, both films feature a lead actor named Robert who plays multiple parts in the same movie. (In 'Mickey 17,' Robert Pattinson portrays disposable employee whose body is able to regenerate for science.) In three weeks of release, 'Mickey 17' has earned $40 million domestically and $110 million worldwide. It's a respectable tally for the original swing, except that the film cost $118 million to produce. Since 'Mickey 17' needed to earn more like $275 million to $300 million to break even, it's now projected to lose $75 million to $80 million in its big screen run. The studio's fortunes should rebound in April with 'A Minecraft Movie,' a Jack Black-led adaptation of the popular video game that's tracking for a decent opening weekend. And later in the year, there's James Gunn's 'Superman' as well as follow-ups to 'Mortal Kombat,' 'Final Destination' and 'The Conjuring.' Yet Warner Bros. has several other big swings on the calendar, including Paul Thomas Anderson's $140 million 'One Battle After Another' and Ryan Coogler's $90 million vampire thriller 'Sinners.' In the interview before the debut of 'The Alto Knights,' Levinson seemed sanguine about the volatility of the movie industry, which he's been involved with for decades. 'There are a lot of obstacles in this business, and you just have to navigate it as best you can,' Levinson told Variety. 'But there are the moments when you say, 'Look, I've been able to do a lot of stories that interested me, and I was able to work with a lot of actors that I had a great, great working relationship with.' The downside is the downside. But that comes with the territory.'
