Sandra Bullock can afford to buy a small planet
And House of Cards isn’t addictive for everyone
The Hollywood Reporter says Sandra Bullock will earn a not-so-small fortune from Gravity.
She signed to accept $20 million up front, against 15 per cent of the gross. The movie is already past the $700 million mark in ticket sales worldwide, which you’d think would mean $105 million for Bullock. But the miracles of modern showbiz accounting must be factored in, and they always work in the studio’s favour: the Reporter says she’ll earn about $70 million.
Not bad, considering that the movie has also left her in the hunt for a best-actress Oscar Sunday night.
She’s 49.
Paula Deen, energetically marketing herself in a carefully orchestrated comeback bid, says she’ll be launching a new $20 million restaurant, among other projects.
The Georgia-born celebrity chef saw her career implode in June after she acknowledged that white people of her generation and region sometimes use the N-word. The ensuing racial-discrimination suit evaporated, but not before she lost her corporate tie-ins, TV shows and book publisher.
But now her company has received a $75 million shot in the arm from an investment firm, and she’s “fighting to get my name back,” she told People mag. The new resto, Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen, will open late this summer in scenic Pigeon Forge, Tenn., near Dolly Parton’s theme park, Dollywood.
Paula is 67.
Love House of Cards, do you? Me too. Kate Mara, the show’s second female lead, apparently doesn’t quite share our enthusiasm.
Mara, who stars i n the Netflix political drama with
Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, told In Touch mag that she still hasn’t bothered to watch all of the show’s second “season.”
The whole 13-episode second chunk of the series was released on Valentine’s Day, and nobody knows how many relationships broke up because one partner is a fan and the other isn’t.
But Mara told In Touch that when it comes to watching the new episodes, “I’m not done yet. I haven’t seen the whole season.
“I thought I was going to binge on the first two days, but on Valentine’s Day, I was so tired I only got to episode 5, so now I’m on episode 7.”
She’s 31.
I recently told you about indie sweetheart Greta Ger
wig landing the lead role in this new How I Met Your Mother spinoff, and how film nerds everywhere are cranky about her perceived sellout. (She’ll also write and exec-produce, so it’s a sweet deal for her.)
Now comes word that a male lead has been named for How I Met Your Dad. Nobody’s complaining about
Drew Tarver selling out, because nobody’s heard of him.
He had small roles in unknown TV shows, plus some trivial movie gigs. On the other hand, he’s a member of Upright Citizens Brigade, the improv group that has included Amy Poehler, and he’s done a lot of sketch comedy.
I say the same thing I said about Gerwig’s casting: Let’s give this thing a chance.