Eddie Murphy is off the couch
TORONTO (AP) — Eddie Murphy is finally off the couch.
That’s where the 58-year-old comedian has spent much of his last few years, in a happy retreat from the public eye. But after a decade of relative relaxation, Murphy is back.
First, there’s the Netflix film “Dolemite Is My Name ,” which opens in theaters Friday. In it, Murphy plays Rudy Ray Moore, the iconic comic performer whose pimp persona, Dolemite, spawned a long-running stage show, a series of profane comedy records and the shambling 1975 classic Blaxploitation film “Dolemite.”
Murphy will also return to “Saturday Night Live” in December as host for the first time since 1984. He’s also plotting a return to stand-up, decades after giving it up. He’s planning a Netflix special for next year.
Eric Pleskow, producer, dies
BERLIN (AP) — Austrian-born film producer Eric Pleskow, who was involved in the making of Hollywood hits including “Platoon,” ‘’Rocky” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” has died at the age of 95.
The Viennale film festival said on its website that Pleskow died Tuesday without providing further details. He became the festival’s president in 1998.
Born Erich Pleskoff to a Jewish merchant in Vienna, Pleskow and his family fled Nazi persecution shortly before the outbreak of World War II, eventually reaching the United States. After training as a film editor, Pleskow was drafted into the U.S. Army and returned to Europe, where he was involved in rebuilding the famed Bavaria Studios after the war.
He later joined United Artists, rising to become the studio’s president before co-founding Orion Pictures in 1978.
Perry believes studio rivals Hollywood’s
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tyler Perry says his massive Atlanta-based studio will rival other major Hollywood studios for years to come.
The actor-director-writer is planning to unveil his Tyler Perry Studios during a star-studded grand opening on Saturday. The 330-acre studio is considered one of the largest studios in the country with 12 soundstages, 40 buildings on-site that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and over 200 acres of green space.
Some major projects have already been filmed at the studio including Perry’s “Madea” films, Marvel’s “Black Panther” and AMC’s “The Walking Dead.” He built the studio on a former Army base south of downtown Atlanta after purchasing the land in 2015.
The new studio is Perry’s second. He opened a 200,000-square-foot studio in 2006 before selling it a few years ago.
