A nationwide release date has been announced by the promoters of "American Assassin," a long-anticipated movie starring Michael Keaton and built around a terrorist-fighting hero created by Twin Cities novelist Vince Flynn.
"On September 15th, 2017, the Mitch Rapp saga begins," read the first of several promotional tweets sent in rapid succession Monday by CBS Films that trumpeted the film's nationwide rollout. "American Assassin" is an adaptation of Flynn's series of 14 bestselling spy thrillers. All of the books made the New York Times bestseller list.
Keaton portrays Cold War veteran Stan Hurley, who trains CIA black-ops recruit Rapp, played by Dylan O'Brien of "The Maze Runner" fame. The pair are dispatched on a mission to stop an operative from starting World War III in the Middle East. Taylor Kitsch portrays the villainous operative in the movie.
Flynn, who grew up in St. Paul and graduated from St. Thomas Academy and the University of St. Thomas, died in 2013 after a 2½-year battle with prostate cancer. He was 47.
Paul Walsh
'Gong Show' creator Chuck Barris dies
Chuck Barris, whose game show empire included "The Dating Game," "The Newlywed Game" and that infamous factory of cheese, "The Gong Show," has died. He was 87. Barris died of natural causes Tuesday afternoon at his home in Palisades, N.Y., said publicist Paul Shefrin. Barris made game show history right off the bat, in 1966, with "The Dating Game," hosted by Jim Lange. Celebrities and future celebrities who appeared as contestants included Michael Jackson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steve Martin and a pre-"Charlie's Angels" Farrah Fawcett, introduced as "an accomplished artist and sculptress." After the show became a hit on both daytime and nighttime TV, the Barris machine accelerated. At one point Barris was supplying TV networks with 27 hours of entertainment a week.
Homecoming: Grammy-winning artist Chance the Rapper is planning a return to his hometown of Chicago this summer to headline the Lollapalooza music festival. Other headliners announced Wednesday morning include The Killers, Lorde, Arcade Fire, Muse and Blink-182.The four-day festival will run Aug. 3-6 in Chicago's lakefront Grant Park. Lollapalooza called Chance the Rapper's headlining act a "hero's homecoming." The more than 170-act lineup also includes mainstay artists like Spoon, Ryan Adams, Foster the People and Wiz Khalifa.
Debut: Tina Fey's stage adaptation of "Mean Girls" will make its world premiere at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. The new musical is based on the 2004 film about a naive girl who falls in love with her new high school's coolest, prettiest, most treacherous triumvirate of girls, called The Plastics. The show will run from Oct. 31-Dec. 3.
