Page 26 - Florida Sentinel 9-28-18

Entertainment
Rihanna’s L.A. Home Robbed
Will Packer’s ‘Night School’ With Kevin Hart And Tiffany Haddish Opens Friday
Rihanna’s Hollywood Hills, Calif., home was robbed on the night of Sept. 25. It’s the latest burglary in a string of break-ins in the high class celebrity-packed neighborhood.
Authorities responded to the scene after “a burglary call came in at 9:30 p.m.” from her residence.
Thankfully Rihanna was not home at the time of the incident.
Rihanna’s robbery is the latest on a string of burglaries in the area.
Earlier in the week, an- other Hollywood Hills home close to George and Amal Clooney was robbed.
LAPD said they are look-
During the week before any of his films come out, Atlanta producer and St. Pete native Will Packer said he always feels a mix- ture of anxiety and excite- ment.
Indeed, his latest comedic vehicle “Night School” (out Friday, Septem- ber 28) has all the ingredi- ents for a big hit: an easy-to-absorb concept (misfits try to get GEDs), two of the hottest stars on the planet (Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish), an en- semble of amusing talent (e.g. Rob Riggle, Taran Killam, Mary Lynn Ra- jskub, Romany Malco, Al Madrigal) and the director of the monster hit “Girls
KEVIN HART AND TIFFANY HADDISH
Trip.” (domestic gross: $148 million)
Movieweb is projecting a decent $18 million opening for “Night School” but it could easily go higher.
Packer knows how to
produce hits on modest budgets, from “The Gospel” (domestic box office: $16 million) and “Stomp the Yard” ($75 million) to “Think Like a Man” ($96 million) and two “Ride Along” films (combined: $280 million). This is also the first time Hart’s new production company has de- veloped a film with Packer’s company.
“Night School,” Packer said, was made for under $30 million. “Hollywood nowadays doesn’t make a lot of movies in that range,” Packer said. “They’re in the business of home runs. Not a lot of people can make movies at this level and make real money.”
RIHANNA
ing for “three black male sus- pects armed with guns who entered the home, struck a victim over the head and then fled the scene.”
It was reported that four people were tied up and held at gunpoint as thieves ran- sacked the residence, fleeing with jewelry and cash.
Will Packer Productions Names President Prior To ‘Night School’ Debut; Update Other Projects
Bill Cosby Will Have Access To TV, Tablet In Jail To Receive Email
Will Packer Productions (WPP) announced this week that it has named James F. Lopez as President.
In his promotion, Lopez will continue to grow and oversee all aspects of film production, as well as lead efforts to expand & diversify the company’s slate.
Previously, Lopez was Head of Motion Pictures at Packer’s WPM, where he was responsible for develop- ing and overseeing produc- tion on all film projects through the company’s first look deal with Universal Pic- tures. In total, Packer and Lopez’s shared film credits have reaped just over half
Tracy Oliver and Kenya Barris are expected to re- turn as screenwriters, but a plot is still being hammered out. Talks with the cast re- turning are ongoing.
While Little, Jacob’s Lad- der and What Men What are part of the Packer 2019 production slate, the com- pany plans to put more proj- ects in the pipeline for 2020 release by the end of this year.
The Kevin Hart On the Run remains in development as Tim Story, the action comedy’s director, works with Eddie Murphy on New Line’s reboot of Grumpy Old Men.
Bill Cosby spent his first night as Inmate No. NN7687 at a state correctional facility outside Philadelphia Tuesday. He also posed for a new mugshot in his first set of prison blues.
Cosby, 81, was immedi- ately taken into custody Tues- day after a Montgomery County judge handed down a three-to-10-year state-prison sentence for his 2004 sexual assault of Andrea Con- stand.
He will be permanently housed at the SCI Phoenix prison in Collegeville, Pennsyl- vania, according to the state's Department of Corrections website.
As a new arrival, Cosby will be assessed by prison medical staff, psychologists and other staff, and be allowed phone calls, visits and time for exercise.
He will also be "able to pur- chase his own television, radio and tablet so that he will be able to receive email, music and books," Press Secretary for Corrections Amy Wor- den said. "These are posses- sions that inmates are allowed to have.”
As for Cosby's first meal in jail? Baked meatballs and rice, green beans, mashed po- tatoes and gravy, Lisa Du- rand, spokesperson for SCI Phoenix said. Lunch on Thurs- day reportedly includes a half-
BILL COSBY
cup of Jell-O, the dessert Cosby touted in ads for more than 25 years; Satur- day's menu has choco- late pudding.
WILL PACKER AND JAMES F. LOPEZ
billion at the global box of- fice ($528.8M).
Meanwhile, regarding Girls Trip 2, the sequel is still in talks, but there’s no greenlight yet at Universal.
The dis- graced "Cosby Show" alum is being housed in "a single cell in a unit adjacent to the infir- mary," according to a press re- lease from SCI Phoenix, a practically new maximum-se- curity facility that opened its
doors in July.
The prison’s long-term
goal is to place Cosby in the general population, officials said.
However, O. J. Simpson, a former convict himself, told TMZ that he had expected Cosby to be placed in protec- tive custody because he is a target.
Simpson, who was re- leased from a Nevada prison last September after serving nine years for a botched rob- bery, said, "I'm sure there will be guys protecting him but they're gonna have to put him in protective custody ... be- cause it takes one nut, ya know?"
He added, "The problem is the nature of the crime. Rapists are frowned upon in prison."
PAGE 18-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2018