My Publicist Note Book

Ice Cube will star as Fagin in a new film remake of the classic musical  Oliver . The remake will be ‘a modern and musical take’ on the classic Charles Dickens tale about an orphan boy who joins a gang of pickpockets in London.  It will ‘cross many genres’ in terms of music, with some hip-hop thrown in courtesy of the N.W.A. rapper who is reportedly set to play Fagin, the gang leader.  Cube   is also said to be producing with his company Cube Vision. Cube’s producing credits include the critically acclaimed N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton, buddy comedy Ride Along 2 and comedy Fist Fight set for release next year. The Lionel Bart musical will be adapted by Danny Strong ( The Butler ), with  Hamilton 's Thomas Kail directing.  Marc Platt, Cube Vision's Jeff Kwatinetz, and Ice Cube produce for the Walt Disney Company. Based on the Charles Dickens novel  Oliver Twist , the classic musical features beloved so...

Music collective the Dungeon Family will reunite on stage for the first time in 10 years at the seventh annual ONE Musicfest in Atlanta. Festival founder Jason "J'' Carter announced Monday that Ice Cube and Erykah will headline the one-day music event. The festival will take place Sept. 10 at Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood. "This is a big deal for us," Carter said. "It's our most dynamic lineup ever." The Dungeon Family includes an array of members from Big Boi, CeeLo Green, Killer Mike, Rico Wade and Organized Noise. Other members include Big Gipp, T-Mo, Cool Breeze, Witchdoctor, Backbone, Big Rube, Sleepy Brown, Ray Murray and Slimm Calhoun. The lineup also includes Busta Rhymes, Gary Clark Jr., Andra Day, A$AP Ferg, Jazmine Sullivan, Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals and BJ The Chicago Kid. "It's not too many places where you can say you saw Ice Cube perform during his 25th a...

“ Straight Outta Compton ” is headed straight to the top of the U.S. box office with an opening weekend of more than $40 million in its sights. That should more than double the opening for Warner Bros.’ spy drama “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” which carries plenty of star power with Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer and Alicia Vikander. The music biopic, focused on the groundbreaking rap group N.W.A, looks likely to keep Universal’s hot streak at the 2015 box office in tact following hits with “Jurassic World,” “Minions,” “Trainwreck,” “Furious 7” and “Fifty Shades of Grey.” The most conservative estimates for “Straight Outta Compton,” co-financed by Legendary Pictures with a budget of $29 million, have placed the debut in the $25 million to $29 million range. Tracking is strongest among African-American and Caucasian male audiences but Phil Contrino, VP and chief analyst at BoxOffice.com, said the movie is showing plenty of traction in all demographics outside of the cor...

IN THEATERS TODAY! In the movies, casting a hot comedian at just the right time is probably a combination of calculation and luck. How can you know somebody's going to be cresting a year or two before signing him to a contract? Whatever it was for the makers of "Ride Along," they've caught Kevin Hart at an ideal moment. Hart has been knocking around doing comedy specials and stand-up, along with roles in ensembles movies like "This Is the End." His theatrically released standup film, "Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain," did surprisingly strong business on relatively few screens last summer, and his prominence in the ads for "Grudge Match" (in which his role was small) suggested his perceived box-office value. In "Ride Along," Hart gets full co-starring status and lots of room to roam. The movie's blueprint is "48 HRS." and similar cop movies, with Hart in the Eddie Murphy role — which means Ice Cube plays N...

Kevin Hart and Ice Cube  lead the lineup in  RIDE ALONG , the new film from the director and the producer of the blockbuster comedy Think Like a Man. When a fast-talking guy joins his girlfriend’s brother—a hot-tempered cop—to patrol the streets of Atlanta, he gets entangled in the officer’s latest case. Now, in order to prove that he deserves his future bride, he must survive the most insane 24 hours of his life. For the past two years, high-school security guard Ben (Hart) has been trying to show decorated APD detective James (Cube) that he’s more than just a video-game junkie who’s unworthy of James’ sister, Angela (Tika Sumpter). When Ben finally gets accepted into the academy, he thinks he’s earned the seasoned policeman’s respect and asks for his blessing to marry Angela. Knowing that a ride along will demonstrate if Ben has what it takes to take care of his sister, James invites him on a shift designed to scare the hell out of the trainee. But when the wild ni...