HOT: Put Through the Mill
The protests in response to the jailing of Meek Mill will likely heat up after a recent bail hearing. The rapper was sentenced to two-to-four years after Judge Genece Brinkley decided two since-dismissed charges violated his parole. During a delayed hearing on Dec. 1, Brinkley denied Mill bail, saying he was a “danger to the community.” Many believe the judge is being exceptionally unfair to Mill and are rallying in support — superstars Jay-Z and Drake, as well as activists like Al Sharpton, have spoken out on the matter. Brinkley is reportedly under FBI investigation for possible “extortionate” demands after she allegedly asked Mill to drop his current management team and sign with a friend of hers.
WARM: The Never-Ending Wu-Tang Album Story
When the only copy of Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon A Time In Shaolin was sold for $2 million to the much-hated Martin Shkreli, a faked tweet purported to show a clause in the purchase contract that voided the sale if a member of the Hip Hop group — or Bill Murray — reclaimed it in a “heist or caper.” That would make a great movie, but a script written from the point of view of the actual album might be event better (Charlie Kaufman, are you listening?). Besides its shrouded-in-mystery genesis, the album has lived through Shkreli’s creepy live streams and efforts to sell it on eBay for $1 million (no one knows if it was sold). The latest Shaolin chapter could see it seized by prosecutors involved in Shkreli’s securities fraud case. Could the final scene of Shaolin’s Big Adventure be a sad close-up of the crying album being sold at a police auction for $12?
COLD: We Might Rock You
The long-in-the-works authorized biopic on Queen has some bumps on its way to production (Sacha Baron Cohen was originally cast as Freddie Mercury but quit). And now that it’s filming and has a Christmas 2018 release date, it has hit another major snag. The movie has halted production because director Bryan Singer hasn’t showed up on the set since Thanksgiving. Singer’s representatives say his absence is due to health problems, but sources told The Hollywood Reporter that he has missed days before and has been routinely late to the set, frustrating the producers, who are said to be considering replacing him. (UPDATE: After CityBeat went to press, 20th Century Fox announced Singer was no longer working on the project.)
