Sony Pictures Entertainment News

The New York Times this week profiles the women of FELA! - the nine unnamed, almost speechless figures that decorate the stage of the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, representing the 27 wives of the Nigerian Afrobeat musician and political activist.

Variety reports that Fela!,will get big screen treatment by Hunger director Steve McQueen. Like the musical, the film is based on the life and music of groundbreaking African composer, performer and activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti as written in the book, Fela: The Life and Times of an African Musical Icon, by Michael Veal.

Fela!, the new musical based on the life and music of groundbreaking African composer, performer and activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, will perform on Comedy Central's 'The Colbert Report' on Monday, December 7 at 11:30pm EST.

Celine Dion, the international superstar and best-selling female artist of all time, has toured around the world and back again, and now, Sony Pictures Releasing's special programming division, The Hot Ticket, will let audiences follow her everywhere.

While there has been no official news on the SPIDER-MAN front since an announcement on November 6 that Michael Cohl had joined the show as lead producer, and that it would indeed 'open in 2010' things have been rolling along behind the scenes trying to put everything into place.

The producing team of the Broadway-bound SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark met with the show's key creatives today to confirm the following.

The Hollywood Bowl transforms into the world's largest movie theater when the perennially popular Sing-A-Long Sound of Music returns for the eighth time on Saturday, September 26, 2009, at 7:30 p.m., with the event's signature costume parade hosted by actress-comedienne Melissa Peterman at 6 p.m.

New York magazine caught up with Julie Taymor at the Monday, September 21st opening of the Metropolitan Opera season and the visionary director declared that SPIDERMAN, TURN OFF THE DARK is still set to swing to Broadway.

The New York Times is reporting that tickets for Spider-Man will go on sale on October 31, 2009.

This week's issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine checked in with the rep for Evan Rachel Wood, who previous rumors stated was let go as Mary Jane, along with other contracted performers from SPIDER-MAN when the show hit financial troubles. Wood's representative tells the magazine however that she is still on board and that she was never set loose. Co-star Alan Cumming's rep was 'unavailable for comment.'

The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted tonight to present the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to producer-executive John Calley, and Honorary Awards to actress Lauren Bacall, producer-director Roger Corman, and cinematographer Gordon Willis. All four awards will be presented at the Academy?s inaugural Governors Awards event on Saturday, November 14, at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center.

The Hollywood Bowl transforms into the world's largest movie theater when the perennially popular Sing-A-Long Sound of Music returns for the eighth time on Saturday, September 26, 2009, at 7:30 p.m., with the event's signature costume parade hosted by actress-comedienne Melissa Peterman at 6 p.m.

Michael Riedel reports in his Broadway Matinee column in the The New York Post today that while 'SPIDER-MAN, Turn Off The Dark' may have hit a snag on the road to Broadway, a friendly 'superhero' is trying to 'swing' in to get things rolling again.

The New York Times reports today that 'modest construction work is expected to resume on Wednesday morning at Broadway's Hilton Theater to prepare for the new musical production 'SPIDER-MAN, Turn Off the Dark,' even though the ultimate fate of the show is still in limbo, three people involved with the production said this afternoon.'

Variety reports on the announcement yesterday of The Walt Disney Co. buying Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion in cash and stock. That move will now bring such iconic characters as Iron Man and Spider-Man into the family of Mickey Mouse, Goofy and WALL-E. They also highlight the subject of the upcoming Broadway musical 'SPIDER-MAN, Turn Off the Dark' and its web of confusion regarding its current status.

Weekend Movie Box Office Update: August 28 - September 3, 2009

Estimated Weekend Movie Box Office: August 28 - August 30, 2009

The Actors' Gang is back with yet another unlikely Shakespearean romp for families. The Gang's Fourth Annual Summer-in-the-Park production transforms the bard's complex Cymbeline into the hilarious, kid-friendly Cymbeline the Puppet King. Performances take place outdoors in Culver City's Media Park (adjacent to the Ivy Substation) every Saturday and Sunday morning from July 25 through August 30 at 11 am, and admission is FREE.

Superstar entertainer Michael Jackson is set to be buried on the singer's birthday, August 29. On that date, Jackson, who passed away June 25, would be 51 years old.

'SPIDER-MAN, Turn Off the Dark' is set to play at Broadway's Hilton Theatre, 213 West 42nd Street. The Wall Street Journal has an article on the slightly troubled history of the space today that is worth a read.