ENTERTAINMENT
DID U KNOW?...
MICHAEL JACKSON HAS
MADE $600 MILLION
POSTHUMOUSLY
SHE’S BACK AT IT: OPRAH TO STAR IN “SELMA”
Since Michael Jackson’s 2009 death, his
estate has raked in more than $600 million,
according to The Huffington Post. Although
the King of Pop has been dead for five
years, Michael Jackson is still bringing in
a major fortune with posthumous projects
approved by his estate.
The drama reunites the Oscarnominated actress with her “Butler”
co-star David Oyelowo
Oscar-nominated actress Oprah
Winfrey has joined the cast of
Ava DuVernay's “Selma,” the civil
rights drama that the media mogul
is also producing. The drama
follows MLK's landmark 1965
voting rights campaign, which is
regarded
as the peak of the civil rights movement.
The film stars David Oyelowo as Martin
Luther King Jr.; Carmen Ejogo as Coretta
Scott King; Tom
Wilkinson as
Pres. Lyndon B.
Johnson; Tim
Roth as George
Wallace;
Cuba Gooding
Jr. as Fred
Gray; Common
as James Bevel;
Wendell Pierce as
Rev. Hosea Williams;
Stephan James as
John Lewis; Nigel
Thatch as Malcolm
X; Stan Houston as
Sheriff Jim Clark;
and Keith Stanfield
as Jimmie Lee
Jackson. Winfrey
will play Annie Lee
Cooper, an elderly
woman who tried
to register to vote
and was unfairly
denied by Sheriff
Clark. She was
a visible leader
amongst the civil
rights protesters
in Selma. She
was filming “Selma” in Atlanta when her close
friend Maya Angelou passed away, though not
before Angelou giving the project her blessing.
The film will see a limited release this Christmas
and then a full nationwide release on January
9th, 2015.
Winfrey earned an Oscar nomination for her performance
in Steven Spielberg's “The Color Purple.” She most recently played Oyelowo's
mother in “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.” In addition to “Selma,” Winfrey, along
with Steven Spielberg and Juliet Blake, is producing DreamWorks’ “The
Hundred-Foot Journey,” which hits theaters in August.
JUDGE GREG MATHIS HEADS EXEC
TEAM FOR BET’S ‘JUST KEKE’ SHOW
BET Networks announced that its new daily talk
show “Just Keke,” from Telepictures, hosted by
dynamic actress, singer and activist Keke Palmer
(pictured top left), “Just Keke” will air Monday
through Friday during its initial four-week run. The
show premiered Monday, June 30 at 5 P.M. ET/PT
directly preceding the network’s long-running music
series “106 & Park.” It was also announced that
joining Judge Greg Mathis (pictured bottom right) as
Executive Producers of the show will be Candi Carter
(“The Oprah Winfrey Show,” CEO, New Chapter
Entertainment) and Andrew Scher (“Dr. Phil,” “Queen
Latifah,” “Ricki Lake”). Larry and Sharon Palmer of
Laron Entertainment are Consulting Producers on
the project. The series is from Mathis Productions in
association with Telepictures, for BET Networks. An
influential voice of her generation at age 20, Palmer will bow as the youngest
talk show host in television history. “Just Keke” will target millennials by
covering a variety of topics including social issues, pop culture, fashion,
relationships, celebrity interviews and more. The daily talker will feature an
innovative set design with a heavy focus on social media integration.
ARSENIO HALL'S MANAGER SUGGESTS THE LATE
NIGHT SHOW MAY BE REVIVED YET AGAIN
After announcing with fanfare in February that
CBS Television Distribution had renewed "The
Arsenio Hall" for a second season, and then
reneging on those plans to say the last week of
May that the late