By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — With the summer box office for films in a slump, expectations for “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” were quite high. If the opening weekend is any indicator, the latest edition of the Will Smith/Martin Lawrence action/comedy franchise, will do well. It started last Friday with a $21.6 million dollar opening day from 3,885 locations across Friday and preview screenings. The latest edition to the franchise, directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, was anticipated to exceed $53 million through the three-day frame in North America. That’s better than Sony’s initial projection of $30…
Author: Ron Wynn
When the NBA Finals begin Thursday the Bostin Celtics will be trying to make history on multiple fronts as they face the Dallas Mavericks. First, they will be seeking their 18th championship banner, breaking a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most in league history. Second, their head coach Joe Mazzula would become at 35 the youngest head coach to win a title since Bill Russell back in 1969. Mazzulla only got the interim tag removed from his position at the start of this season. The league is also making news in the broadcast booth as commentator Doris…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Film and television star Mahershala Ali’s profile and exposure just keeps growing, and now may be joining the cast of a huge film franchise. It was announced last week that Ali was in talks to star in the next edition of the “Jurassic World” franchise alongside Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey. The story was initially reported in the Hollywood Reporter. This latest edition would also star Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Rupert Friend. The film will reportedly be directed by Gareth Edwards with a mid-June production start date in London. The original screenwriter of “Jurassic Park…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The new show “Diarra From Detroit,” now streaming on BET+, doesn’t try to hedge or soften its image, message, direction or tone. The creator feels that this is the best way to both reach a general audience, yet also maintain artistic credibility. Creator and principal star Diarra Kilpatrick leads the series as the main character who moves into her childhood home following an explosive fight with her husband, Francois (Morris Chestnut). Unwilling to confront her deteriorating marriage, she distracts herself with a Tinder date. However, after she’s subsequently ghosted, she lets rage and insomnia…
It was only three years ago that the NCAA was appealing to the Supreme Court in a last-ditch attempt to keep from having to pay college athletes, especially football and basketball players, an annual cash supplement on top of their scholarships. The amount they didn’t want to pay was $5,980. Today that figure is laughable, especially in light of a new agreement that was reached this week which finally acknowledges that bigtime college sports isn’t remotely about amateurism, not that it ever was anyway. The NCAA and the Power 5 conferences voted this week on a 10-year deal that will…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — While the popularity of mainstream media isn’t exactly soaring, those who are still getting the bulk of their news and information from it apparently trust Black newsmakers. “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt topped all broadcast TV anchors in the latest survey taken by The Hollywood Reporter in conjunction with the survey/research firm Morning Consult. The survey was conducted earlier this month among a sample of 2,239 U.S. adults. They were asked opinion about 40-plus major TV news stars and also surveyed about trends regarding America’s fractured media diet during this presidential campaign year.…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The “Beverly Hills Cop” franchise that began in the ‘80s hasn’t died yet. The latest incarnation is set to appear next month, and like many other notable recent projects will be issued on a streaming platform. Netflix released the trailer for “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” last week and it’s now widely available online. The film returns Eddie Murphy to the role that made him a film superstar, and is the fourth in the series. Aside from Murphy it will also feature both familiar franchise veterans some newcomers. The cast includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Taylour…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The Vanderbilt Commodores are hoping that postseason play will help bolster a season that began great, but then had lots of rough stretches, particularly in SEC play. Vanderbilt finished the regular season at 35-20, and only a 12-4 victory in the finale at Kentucky gave them the requisite 13 conference wins many observers feel were essential in getting an NCAA Tournament bid. They won’t know until the weekend if their streak of appearances will increase to 18, but they did know where they would be to start the SEC Tournament portion of the postseason.…
If there were ever any remaining doubts that boxing, once among the nation’s most popular sports, has lost its importance and impact it’s the fact over the weekend a heavyweight championship bout occurred and it got less attention than the NBA and NHL playoffs, regular season baseball, the PGA championship, pretty much everything else happening. Making things even more depressing for what few boxing fans remain is that it was a historic fight. Oleksandr Usyk, a left-hander from the Ukraine, defeated Tyson Fury in a split decision that according to the reporters who covered it was a great 12-round bout.…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Whenever actors portray actual people, especially those of historical significance, there’s a special challenge involved. Andre Holland acknowledges that taking on the role of Black Panther founder Huey P. Newton in the upcoming Apple + TV series “The Big Cigar” was quite a formidable undertaking. “The story I’m about to tell you is true, at least mostly true, at least how I remember it,” Holland said during a recent Hollywood Reporter interview. “But it is coming through the lens of Hollywood, so let’s see how much of my story (Newton’s) they’re really willing to…