Hollywood: Dirty Dancing
By Tony Rizzo
HOLLYWOOD -- For many years, Jennifer Grey has been trying to launch a sequel to "Dirty Dancing" (which made $214 million in 1987) and, again, play Frances "Baby" Houseman. Grey confesses, "The role of Baby has held a very deep and meaningful place in my heart, as it has in the hearts of so many fans over the years. I've long wondered where we might find Baby years later ..."
Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze in "Dirty Dancing" (1987). PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of Vestron Pictures
More importantly, where will they find a leading man like Patrick Swayze, who passed away in 2009 at 57 from pancreatic cancer? Has it been too long since the first film? Can they find an actor who can match the charisma that she and Swayze brought to the screen? Stay tuned!
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Brad Pitt has never rested on his laurels. The 62-year-old superstar elevated his recent sports film "F1," which became the highest-grossing auto-racing film of all time. "F1" grossed $633.1 million and earned four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.
Next up, Pitt is in the action-adventure film "Heart of the Beast" with J.K. Simmons. He's also just wrapped "The Adventures of Cliff Booth," which was written as a sequel by Quentin Tarantino to "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" (2019). Scott Caan and Elizabeth Debicki (of "Guardians of the Galaxy") co-star in the film with him.
Pitt's been dating jewelry executive Ines de Ramon since 2022.
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The Chia Pet made its debut in 1977, and there have been many pets that were made to resemble famous people such as Homer Simpson, Sophia of "The Golden Girls," Oscar the Grouch, Hello Kitty, Abraham Lincoln, The Mandalorian from "Star Wars," Godzilla, and even our current president! But they're taking it up a notch ...
It's been announced that they'll be making a major motion picture starring -- you guessed it -- the Chia Pet! Have they finally run out of things to make movies about?
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When Universal Pictures invested in the Broadway production of "Wicked" in 2003, they had no idea it would earn them $1.8 billion over the next 22 years. No doubt the big money signs from Broadway colored their judgment when they split the movie version into two parts. If they had heeded the reviews from Broadway critics who all wrote that Act II of "Wicked" had no great songs and was not as satisfying as Act I, they would have curbed their greed and not split it into two films.
"Wicked: Part I" received glowing reviews and 10 Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress, but it only won two Oscars for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. "Wicked: Part I" earned a big $758.8 million, while "Wicked: For Good," made $527.8 million (probably because of great audience expectations). "Wicked: For Good" didn't receive a single Oscar nomination -- not one. Guess "Wicked: For Good" couldn't make it "Over the Rainbow!"
(c) 2026 King Features Synd., Inc.