Latest in Frank Sinatra

EXCLUSIVE: The hot movie package du jour is Scandalous! This is a drama that has Jeremy Pope — freshly minted Emmy nominee for the Netflix series Hollywood — to play Sammy Davis Jr and Janet Mock (Hollywood and Pose) to direct a drama about the interracial love affair between the entertainer and actress Kim Novak, who…

Donald Trump’s plans for a new landmark honoring “the greatest Americans who ever lived” is off to a rocky start. Already under fire for its lack of diversity in the initial proposed selections, Trump received a new wallop from Nancy Sinatra, daughter of legendary actor and singer Frank Sinatra. In response to a tweet…

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Pictures is moving forward with a biopic of Sammy Davis Jr. Studio has set Charles Murray to write the script. The film is produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura; fellow musical icon Lionel Richie, latter of whom was instrumental in gathering rights from Sammy Davis Jr’s estate; and Mike Menchel. The…

Forty four is jamming to 44 songs this summer. President Barack Obama shared the former first couple’s summer 2019 playlist today on social media, and it includes 44 tracks spanning multiple decades. “With summer winding down, here's a sampling of what Michelle and I have been listening to — some new, some old, some…

Lady Gaga’s first gig since she wowed the Academy Awards took place last week just a few blocks away from the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, getting much less attention than the worldwide broadcast. The Black Rabbit Rose, a tiny venue on nearby Hudson Street that has a speakeasy vibe and usually hosts magic shows, saw a…

Nancy Sinatra Sr., the first of Frank Sinatra’s four wives and mother of his three children, has died. She was 101 and passed peacefully, according to her daughter, Nancy Sinatra Jr., via Twitter. No cause of death was given. Frank and the former Nancy Barbato were New Jersey natives and married from 1939-1951. “My…

EXCLUSIVE: 2BFilms has acquired distribution rights to Davi’s Way, its second pickup after the launch of its debut feature First We Take Brooklyn in February this year. The documentary will debut in theaters July 13 from 2BFilms, and the company is doing a reception at Cannes next week for international…

It is every journalist's dream: Publish an article and movie producers start chasing the film rights. That's the situation Gay Talese finds himself in, but there's a twist: He wrote the article for Esquire over 50 years ago. It was called "Frank Sinatra Has A Cold" – not a very promising title, but the piece acquired…

EXCLUSIVE: At long last, 20th Century Fox is moving forward with Guys And Dolls. The studio has set Michael Grandage to direct the picture, and casting is just getting underway on the remake of the stage and movie classic. Danny Strong wrote the script. John Goldwyn is producing the picture with Working Title. Bernie…

CBS and the Recording Academy will honor the late Frank Sinatra and the 100th anniversary of his birth with a primetime tribute special Sinatra 100 – An All Star Grammy Concert. Carrie Underwood, John Legend, Alicia Keys, Garth Brooks, Adam Levine and Usher are among the initial artists set for the special. The live…

HBO’s latest Alex Gibney documentary, Sinatra: All Or Nothing At All, premiered Sunday and out-delivered the network’s year-to-date time-slot average by 73% in total viewers – 963,000 vs 556,000. This improvement, not surprising given the subject matter, was driven by adults ages 50 and older, while younger adult…

Peter Bart and Mike Fleming Jr. worked together for two decades at Daily Variety. In this weekly column, two old friends get together and grind their axes, mostly on the movie business.  FLEMING: I need to start off on a serious note. Deadline ran an article last week that generated controversy and hurt feelings. An…