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NBC News reports: Conductor James Levine, who ruled over the Metropolitan Opera for more than four decades before being eased aside when his health declined and then was fired for sexual improprieties, has died. He was 77. Levine died March 9 in Palm Springs, California, of natural causes, his physician of 17 years, Dr. Len Horovitz, said Wednesday. Levine made …

Deadline reports: Michelle Obama’s bringing her healthy eating initiatives to Jimmy Kimmel Live. In a clip promoting Obama’s upcoming late-night appearance, the former First Lady meets Jimmy Kimmel’s his daughter, Jane, who is reluctant to try vegetables. When Obama asks why she’s hesitant to try the veggies, Jane responds. “I don’t really like to try new things,” she tells the …

Deadline Hollywood reports: This morning, in a rare feat, composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross pulled a pair of Original Score nominations for Soul and Mank. Throughout film history, we’ve often seen a single composer earn two Academy Award nominations for different films, in the same year. The most recent to do so was Alexandre Desplat, who was nominated in …

Deadline reports: A Michigan hospital system is investigating an alleged The Price is Right-style game during operations. Although no one is shouting, “Come on down!” to start the game, social media photos have been posted of doctors playing a game segment called “Guess The Weight.” In one of the Instagram posts, an account run by 35 obstetrics and gynecology residents …

Variety reports: If the Grammys had a dress code this year, it might be: Wear your cardigan to the disco. It’s sweater weather, but also the season of the Studio 54 minidress, as Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa look likeliest to make headlines for picking up top honors Sunday night after the close of the Grammys. The album, record and …

Variety reports: “Avengers: Endgame,” the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink Marvel superhero blockbuster, is poised to relinquish its title as the highest-grossing movie in history to “Avatar,” the previous record-holder. Prior to the release of “Endgame” in April 2019, James Cameron’s groundbreaking sci-fi epic held the ultimate box office crown for a decade with $2.7897 billion worldwide. “Avengers: Endgame” eclipsed that milestone ever so …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: Seth Rogen’s newly launched cannabis lifestyle brand site, Houseplant, crashed on Thursday due to the overwhelming demand. The site was so inundated, Rogen said it needed to be taken down temporarily. The actor and marijuana advocate/businessman said previously that the site encountered a “tremendous amount of traffic” and for those trying to get in to have patience. …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Lou Ottens, the Dutch engineer who invented the cassette tape and helped develop the compact disc decades later, has died. He was 94. Amsterdam-based news outlet NRC Handelsblad confirmed the news but didn’t provide details. Working to alleviate the challenge of huge reel-to-reel decks and the portability of recordings, Ottens began working on the audio cassette when …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Deadline hears that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is seriously considering locating the 93rd Academy Awards at Union Station, the cavernous main railway station in Los Angeles. Nothing is set yet, but sources said that is the venue AMPAS and ABC favor at the moment. Even though the nominations will be revealed Monday and …

Variety reports: The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” has been smashing records practically since it was first released late in November of 2019 — and on Monday it broke what might be the most momentous one of all: It became the first song to spend a full year in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. That dwarfs the previous record, …

Deadline reports: The eyes of the world will focus on Minneapolis this Monday, as the trial of a former police officer accused of killing George Floyd is expected to begin. Protests are already underway in the city and its surrounding neighborhoods, which were devastated in the aftermath of Floyd’s death. As widely reported, Officer Derek Chauvin faces murder charges for …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: By early afternoon on Friday, numerous showings of Disney’s new animated pic Raya and the Last Dragon were sold out at AMC 19th Street in Manhattan. Ditto for Searchlight’s specialty pic Nomadland. The multiplex was among dozens of cinemas across New York City — including the country’s busiest theater, the AMC Empire 25 in Times Square …

Rolling Stone reports: The inspiration for Brooke Eden’s new song “Sunroof” actually came to her in a perfectly unlikely place: the parking lot of a Mexican restaurant. While she waited for her girlfriend to pick up their takeout order, Eden felt the sun beaming in through the windows and cracked the sunroof for the first time all year. “It was …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Joan Weldon, stage actress and a Warner Bros. contract player in the 1950s who achieved lasting sci-fi fame in the creature feature giant ant classic Them!, died Feb. 11 at her home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She was 90. Her death was only recently announced by her family. A cause was not specified, but the family notes …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Amazon Fire TV has bolstered its lineup of live streaming channels to more than 400 — half of which are free, ad-supported offerings — and has updated several features. Nearly 20 programmers are supplying live channel content, among them bundled subscription services like YouTube TV, Sling TV and Philo. Newly integrated on Fire are free offerings like …

Variety reports: The 73rd Emmy Awards has an airdate: CBS and the Television Academy announced Tuesday that this year’s Emmys will air live on Sunday, Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. ET (which is 5 p.m. PT). The ceremony will air on CBS as well as on demand on sister streamer Paramount Plus. Host(s), producers and venue for the Emmys will …

New today from our pal Matt Baume: The sitcom Bewitched is one of the queerest shows I’ve ever seen — which is a little strange, since it’s about a straight couple. Just a few years later, Soap had gay characters; Mary Hartman Mary Hartman had a gay couple; MASH had a gay coming-out episode. Bewitched never had any of that. …

Deadline Hollywood reports:  The 78th Golden Globes air on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT live on NBC, with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler returning to host for the first time since they hosted three ceremonies in row from 2013-2015. They return to a show that will be unlike any other thanks to the coronavirus restrictions, which will see …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: Sponge on the Run comes four years after the elaborate $20 million Broadway musical based on the cartoon, which was a commercial disappointment but a delirious critical darling. The show’s psychedelic Day-Glo marine world appears to have been influential not only in the look of the new movie but also in the extent to which songs …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Deadline has confirmed that author Ta-Nehisi Coates is writing a Superman reboot feature for Warner Bros and DC, which J.J. Abrams is producing under his Bad Robot label. Hannah Minghella will serve as producer. No plot yet and no attachments despite the fact that we’ve heard how Henry Cavill is eager to get back into the cape. …