MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU!
‘LILO & STITCH’ AIMING $1 BILLION
Disney’s blue alien from outer space, initially a cartoon figure but now a live-action feature star, is a red-hot commodity among film-goers.
“Lilo and Stitch,” the live-action film shot in Hawaii last year, looms to become the first Hollywood title of 2025 to join the $1 billion box office club. The feat could be accomplished over the Fourth of July weekend.
And the film is enjoying enormous success without the benefit of a big-name Hollywood star. Maia Kealoha, who portrays Lilo, is the discovery playing opposite the dog-like Stitch character, the alien who needs no introduction.
In its sixth week at the cinema, the film has already logged $401 million taking kids to see it, and in some situations, a second outing to watch the movie. R-rated features are customarily one and done.
Disney’s “Frozen” was able to break the billion-dollar mark, accumulating just shy of $1.3 billion globally. Currently, “Lilo & Stitch” has earned $948 million worldwide, with every likelihood to pass the billion-dollar count.
The live-action picture already has out-grossed the entire $273.1 million global of run of 2002’s animated “Lilo & Stitch” and the tally has not been adjusted for inflation.
Tom Cruise smartly did not anticipate his “Mission: Impossibe,” which opened the same day opposite “Lilo & Stitch,” would exceed his action film, and he certainly didn’t anticipate the little girl named Lilo and her blue pet named Stitch would unseat his 2022 feature adventure “Top Gun: Maverick” ($160.5 million) as the biggest Memorial Day opener of all time.
Oh, the power and prowess of the Hawaii-groomed flick…
Whee, the people
Manoa Valley Theatre’s “Manoa Marquee” event, at 7:30 p.m. July 23 at MVT, will feature Jerry Santos, the legendary island entertainer.
Henry Kapono is hosting the program, also featuring Kailua Moon, as part of an ongoing Kapono/MVT series of a variety of shows.
Tickets start at $25, available at https://ci.ovationtix.com/35307/production/1211148?performanceld=11513542 …
Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro will appear at Blue Note Hawaii in a two-night stand July 22 and 23.
His accompanists will be Jackson Waldhoff, bass; Michael Grande, keyboards; and Shawn Pimental, drums.
Shimabukuro then heads to the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan.
Showtimes are 6. and 8:30 p.m. Doors open at 4:30 and 8 p.m. for beverage and food service.
Tickets are $55 for premium seating and $45 for bar area.
Reservations: www.bluenotehawaii.com or 808-777-4890…
“‘Wicked’ still topping Broadway gross list
The leaders led — in the weekly list of Broadway show grosses — for the week ending June 29. Thus, “Wicked” was the hot ticket.
But two newcomers made their first appearance on the Top 10: “Maybe Happy Ending,” at No. 9, and “Just in Time,” at No. 10.
The Top 10:
1–“Wicked,” $2.435 million
2—”Glengarry Glen Ross,” $2.230 million
3—”The Picture of Dorian Gray,” $2.092 million
4—”The Lion King,” $2.067 million
5—”Hamilton,” $1.939 million
6—”Sunset Blvd.,” $1.851 million
7—”Aladdin,” $1.376 million
8—”Death Becomes Her,” $1.355 million
9—”Maybe Happy Ending,” $1.307 million
10—“Just in Time,” $1.279 million
The complete list, courtesy of the Broadway League:
And that’s Show Biz…
A PIN-NACLE FOR LILO & STITCH
I was able to secure a bunch of Lilo and Stitch decals a few weeks ago, just prior to the launch of the summer’s live-action blockbuster film, “Lilo & Stitch.”
The images were all over the map – dark, funny, illusional, whimsical – and I wasn’t certain how best to utilize these images as lapel pins. Each pin tells a story, but you have to create and shape the tale; the collection had attitude, if you know what I mean; Stitch and his cohorts reflect a range of emotion.
Not a Disney product, I surmised. Some pins had Japanese katakana words, perhaps embracing and reflecting anime motifs.
So, what to do?
Decided to mount each image to create a pin. But who should be the recipients?
There are slogans like “‘Ohana Means Family,” “Alien Encounter,” and “Out of This World..” Hmmm, sounded like fodder for T-shirts.
I had nearly 50 images and decided to save several for a friend with two sons, and saved a couple for myself. I wound up packageing a gift bag with the bulk of the pins, destined to the Kamehameha Schools Children’s Chorus, whose voices are heard – lovely and reflecting pride — in Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” film. There aren’t enough pins for all the keiki, but choir director Linell Bright will find a way to distribute these pins.
UPDATE: TWO FILIPINO TONY WINNERS
Turns out there were two Tony Award winners with Hawaii roots in Sunday’s telecast from Radio City Music Hall in New York.
We knew and applauded one, Nicole Scherzinger, who picked up the trophy for Leading Actress in a Musical, for her powerful portrayal of Norma Desmond in “Sunset Blvd.,” which also was the coveted winner of the Best Revival of a Musical.
Scherzinger, of Hawaiian, Ukrainian and Filipino ancestry, also earned the unofficial Tony for being the first bare-footed singer to perform her featured tune, “As If We’ve Never Said Goodbye.”
What we didn’t know, until this morning, that Hawaii can claim another Tony winner in Darren Criss, who earned Tony as Leading Male in a Musical, for his role of Oliver in “Maybe Happy Ending.” He claims Filipino roots, since his family lived here when he was young.
The media in the Philippine have been pouring out the hurrahs for Schwerzinger and Criss.
Call this response Pinoy Pride.
Schwerzinger has long mentioned her multi-racial roots while being the leader of the Pussycat Dolls. She mentioned her mixed- blood extractions when excepting her Tony, revealing that the win made “a little girl from Hawaiian, Ukrainian and Filipino roots see her dream come true.”
She added, “Growing up, I always felt like I didn’t belong, but you all have made me feel like I belong, and I have come home, at last.”
Criss credits his Filipino heritage in shaping his foundation. Criss is Filipino on his mother’s side; his mom, Cerina Bru, was born in Cebu, in the Philippines, and is of Filipino, Chinese, and Spanish descent. Although Criss was born and raised in the U.S., he has embraced his multicultural background and is proud of his connection to his Filipino roots, especially through family and food. His family resided in Honolulu from 1988 to 1992, and colleagues recall he attended St. Clement’s School for pre-school/kindergarten, but his primary education was in schools in the San Francisco area.
Criss also is the first islander to pick up two trophies the same night – one for Leading Actor and a second for being a producer of “Maybe Happy Ending,” voted Best Musical. which was judged 2025’s Best New Musical. No ifs or maybes here, since the show was the evening’s big winner of six awards, including best director (Michael Arden), Best Score (Will Aronson and Hue Park), Best Book (Aronson and Park) and Best Scenic Design (Dane Laffrey and George Reeve)…
The scoop on Clooney play
George Clooney’s’ “Good Night, and Good Luck” closed Sunday, with two performances – a matinee and evening show – prior to the Tony Awards June 8. The finale was that taped performance
Some factoids:
- Clooney was paid $1 each for writing, directing, and acting in ‘”Good Night, and Good Luck.”
- He took a pay cut; originally, his fee was $3 each for writing, directing and acting.
- It cost $7.5 million to make.
- Due to a spinal injury he received on the set of his film “Syriana” a few months earlier, Clooney could not pass the tests to be insured. So he mortgaged his own house in Los Angeles to make the film.
- The play recouped its $9.5 million capitalization in just over seven weeks.
- The play broke Broadway gross records, posting $4 million-plus figures each week.
- It played to 100 per cent capacity, at the Winter Garden Theatre, which has a capacity of 1,508 seats— 1,001 orchestra seats and 507 mezzanine seats.. .
- Average ticket price was $339.
- A CNN telecast of the play had viewership of 7.34 million – and setting a record in the process, of being the first live performance of a play on TV.
- Clooney was nominated in the Best Actor category, but did not win…
The Top 10, for the week ending June 8:
1—”Good Night, And Good Luck,” $4.331 million
2—“Othello,” $3.807million
3—“Wicked,” $2.413 million
4—“Glengarry Glen Ross,” $2.358 million
5—”The Lion King,” $2.002 million
6—“Hamilton,” $$1.983 million
7—”The Picture of Dorian Gray,” $1.367 million
8—“Death Becomes Her”, $1.347 million
9—“Aladdin,” $1.286 million
10—“Sunset Blvd.,” $1.261 million
The complete list of the grosses, for the week ending June 8:
And that’s Show Biz…
‘STITCH’ SKIPPED STREAMING ROUTE
There’s joy and jubilation aplenty, in Disney’s live-action “Lilo & Stitch” summertime hit.
Islanders flocking back to the cinema, to enjoy a bona fide treasure and pleasure, will realize this isn’t a kiddie film. It’s a dramady with laughs, with a positive script and appealing cartoon characters coming to life.
Surely, you must know someone in the film – a relative, a neighbor down the street, a hula dancer you’ve seen –so there’s plenty to applaud. Further, “L&S” appear to be this year’s smash hit, so clap like crazy. With its opening weekend gross last week topping $183 million domestically, it’s almost certain that a Disney sequel will be in the works in the distant future.
For the record, Disney earlier pegged “Lilo & Stitch” as a streaming film via its Disney+. Luckily, somebody saw gold and plans swiftly changed. “L&S’s” performance – a live-action flick with cartoon roots — was No. 2 for the Mouse House for the first weekend — with “The Lion King” checking in at No. 1 with $171 million” in 2019 and “Beauty & the Beast” garnering $174 million in 2017.
Clearly, the blue alien from the cartoon original is back and steals the picture. Stitch was naughty, two decades again, and he’s still unabashedly eager to create havoc, and he’s the key non-human (also known as 626, in his earlier life) we still adore. The cutie who steals the film is newcomer Maia Kealoha, who brings Lilo to life, but she’s still searching for a friend, still loving Elvis Presley on vinyl, and is unafraid to shove her hula halau smartie off the stage. She needs a companion badly, and this turns out to be Stitch, who resembles a dog or a koala bear, who’s blue, with a lot of teeth, has special powers, and well, becomes a pet and a companion in escapades that put both in trouble. Lilo names him Stitch, and he arrives from the heavens and they become best buddies. Message here: you take the friend that crashes in your troubled life.
Her sister Nani (Sydney Agudon) still frets about holding a job, finding another one, caring for Lilo, and dodges the social worker Mrs. Kekoa (Tia Carrere) who wants to split the family. But yes, Lilo and Stitch both know – family means ‘ohana, and no one gets left behind.
‘Twas the mantra then, and it still works now. If you don’t abandon hope.
Kaipo Dudoit, appearing as David Kawena in his feature film debut, has a crush on Nani, and is a neighbor of Lilo and Nani. Off camera, he dances hula with Robert Cazimero’s Merrie Monarch-winning Halau Na Kamalei O Lililehua, occasionally sings with his father’s group Ho‘okena, plays the violin, and is a massage therapist. Reviewers are calling him a hunk! He boasts a fit body, and he’s got trendy, Hawaiian tattoos.
And how can you resist Tutu (Amy Hill), the caring surrogate grandmother to Lilo and Stitch and a neighborhood pal anyone would want and comes to your rescue. She voiced a fruit seller in the animated cartoon, but in the flesh, she’s precious. Looks the part, talks the part, and has the heart of a beloved tutu wahine.
Heard, but not seen – the enthusiastic and engaging Kamehameha Schools Children Chorus (directed by Lynette K. Bright – performing the charismatic “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride,” this time with American Idol winner Iam Tongi plus Mark Keali‘i Ho‘omalu joining in. That tune, plus “He Mele No Lilo,” are back for another serenade, with links to the first animated “Lilo & Stitch” film. They were good luck charms then, and lovely sounds of aloha now, like great friends reunited again.
There’s more off-camera camaraderie in the screenwriter role. Chris Kekaniokalani Bright co-wrote the movie with Mike Van Waes. Chris’s mom is Lynelle Bright, Kamehameha Schools Children Chorus, and as a child, Chris became friends with Dean Dubois and Chris Sanders, original screenplay writers of the first “L&S” cartoon feature, sharing cultural and island history then. Sanders directed the cartoon and voiced Stitch, and leaves everyone in stitches in the live-action update. However, the director here is Dean Fleischer Camp, known for his precious “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” who masterly nurtured the spirit of Hawaii and delivered the right touches and sentiments dealing with woman/female issues of life challenges. Lilo is a little princess, but this is not your customary princess adventure.
Locals also know that Chris’ father Clarke Bright is now bandmaster of the Royal Hawaiian Band, and conductor of the orchestra at all I’m a Bright Kid Foundation musicals, and his grandmother is Mo Bright and late grandfather was Ronald B. Bright, legendary director and drama teacher at Castle High School.
Clooney drama will air live before Tonys
George Clooney’s “Good Night and Good Luck” continues to sit atop Broadway’s weekly box office grosses, for the week ending May 25. The play has set records, now in the lofty $4 million club; it is vying for five Tony Awards, including Clooney’s Best Actor in a Drama nomination in the June 8 event. The show will air live in an unprecedented screening at 7 p.m. ET (1 p.m. Hawaii time) the day before, June 7.
The Top 10:
1—”Good Night, and Good Luck,” $4.238 million
2—”Othello,” $3.327 million
3—“Glengarry Glen Ross,” $2.750 million
4—”Wicked,“ $2.353 million
5—”The Lion King,” $2.055 million
6—“Hamilton,” $1.956 million
7—”Death Becomes Her,” $1.559 million
8—”Aladdin,” $1.349 million
9—”Moulin Rouge! The Musical,“ $1.277 million
10–“The Outsiders,” $1.268 million
The full list, courtesy the Broadway Guild:
And that’s Show Biz…