New on DVD & Blu-ray: 'Ride Along', 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty', 'Philomena'

Ride Along - James Payton is in love and wants to ask his girlfriend to marry him. But her brother Ben can't stand James and doesn't take him seriously to even consider him good enough for his little sister. James has also applied to the police academy, so Ben gets convinced to take James on a ride along during police hours in order for the two to bond, but Ben has other ideas that he hopes will drive James far, far away from him and his sister. The film stars Kevin Hart, Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne, Tika Sumpter, and John Leguizamo. 

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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - Walter develops pictures for Life magazine, and now that the magazine is moving online and laying off those who are no longer needed on the paper publishing side, Walter embarks on a journey to track down the cover photo for the final magazine issue before it gets back to his bosses that it's been lost. Along the way, Walter discovers that life can be so much more than sitting behind a desk. The film is directed and stars Ben Stiller, Sean Penn, Kristen Wiig, and Adam Scott. 

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Philomena - Best Picture nominee, the film follows the real story of Philomena Lee, a woman whose son was forcefully taken from her 50 years prior and give up for adoption. She sets out with a former BBC journalist in order to find him and together they uncover secrets of the past while trying to bring together mother and son. The film stars Judi Dench and Steve Coogan. 

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The Nut Job - Finding nuts for the long winter is a team effort. Surly doesn't feel that way at all, so breaks from the team to find his own nuts and is therefore banished. But when the nut tree burns down, Surly is forced to compete with his former friends for food and the overwhelming amount of nuts at the new nut store downtown. Starring the voice talents of Will Arnett, Katherine Heigl, Brendan Fraser, and Liam Neeson. 

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Black Nativity - The adaptation of Langston Hughes's play follows the teenager Langston as he's sent from his hometown of Baltimore to celebrate the holidays with his estrange relatives in New York City. When he realizes that he can't live under his relatives' rules, Langston tries to get back home to his mother and learns the meaning of faith and family along the way in this holiday musical. The film stars Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, Jennifer Hudson, Tyrese Gibson, and Jacob Latimore. 

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The Invisible Woman - Charles Dickens was many things to many people. A husband, father, writer, and actor. And while he was generally a quiet man, behind closed doors, Dickens was finding his inspiration and muse in someone he didn't talk much about. The mystery woman is thought to be his inspiration for several of his most famous books. The film is directed and stars Ralph Fiennes, Felicity Jones, and Kristin Scott Thomas. 

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Better Living Through Chemistry - A pharmacist, leading a generally boring and uneventful life, gets caught up in more than he can handle when he begins an affair with one of his customers, which involves sex, drugs, and murder. The film stars Sam Rockwell, Olivia Wilde, Jane Fonda, Michelle Monaghan, Ray Liotta, and Ben Schwartz. 

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Date and Switch - It's time for their senior prom, and two guys make a pact to lose their virginity before their memorable night is over, but find their friendship is put to the test when one of them admits he's gay. The film stars Nicholas Braun, Hunter Cope, and Dakota Johnson. 

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Free Ride - Trying to make life better for your kids when you're caught in the middle of the drug trade in Florida during the '70s is hard, but not impossible because Christina tries to do just that after moving from Ohio and being introduced to drug trafficking. The film stars Anna Paquin, Drea de Matteo, and Liana Liberato. 

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'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' is 2013's Biggest Offender of Movie Product Placement

There are so many awards in Hollywood that it's very easy to lose count of them all. Some of the more fun awards, though, don't have a telecast, and aren't attended by the Hollywood A-list. One of these is brandhannel's annual Brandcameo Product Placement Awards. Brandhannel's creative awards have been around since 2004, and have handed out awards to movies with obvious product placements, even going so far as to separate them into very distinct categories. 

The site has been tracking the ad placement in films for over fifteen years, and it's come to their attention that the number of ads in award-winning films has gone down since 2001, with 2013 being the lowest. Which is impressive, considering the assumption that product placement has only gotten worse. Maybe the product placement has just gotten larger in size, just in case you didn't notice it was there (I'm looking at you, Man of Steel!). 

The primary offender of 2013 was The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. The film had product placement interwoven into its plot, such as Papa John's Pizza, Life magazine, and eHarmony. Other movies that had product placement, but didn't get any awards, were Man of Steel (7-11, IHOP, and Sears's large store sign were particularly annoying), Iron Man 3 (Yili milk and Oracle, anyone?), and, though tobacco ad placements are practically non-existent these, Marlboro still makes an appearance in Sylvester Stalone's Escape Plan. 

You can check out the winners of the 2014 Product Placement Awards below! And if you're interested in finding out how brandchannel calculates all of these things and some other fun and interesting tidbits about product placement and movies, head on over to their to find out. 

                                                     

2013 Award for Overall Product Placement 
Budweiser - appeared in Lee Daniels' The Butler, Nebraska, Don Jon, and Star Trek Into Darkness (where a Budweiser factory was used as a stand-in for a spaceship at the end of the film. Interesting fact, right?)

2013 Award for Achievement in Product Placement in a Single Film 
Pain and Gain 

2013 Award for Worst Product Placement
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

2013 Award for Product Placement Achievement in an Oscar-Nominated Film
Philomena and Guinness

2013 Award for Product Placement Achievement in a Foreign Film 
Dhoom 3 and BMW


2013 Award for Best Role in a Supporting Product Placement 
The Internship and Google

2013 Award for Best Off-Screen Supporting Product 
Anchorman 2 and Dodge Durango

2013 Award for Product Placement Impact 
Frozen and Norway

2013 Lifetime Achievement Award for Product Placement 
Under Armour

2013 Award for Product Placement Adaptation 
Warm Bodies and BMW

2013 Award for Visual Effects in Product Placement
Rush

The Forrest Gump Award for Achievement in Reverse Product Placement 
Anchorman 2 and The Rigid Ghost condoms

2013 Coca-Cola Kid Award for Product Placement Title 

午夜微博 (Wǔyè wēibó) "Midnight Weibo"

2013 Wayne's World Award for Product Placement Product Placement 

Anchorman 2 and Jockey

2013 Award for Unwanted Product Placement 

Anchorman 2 and BP

2013 Cleo McDowell "My Buns Have No Seeds" Award 

Movie 43 and ViewThisTube and Zwoogle

2013 Award for Product Placement Production 

Smurfs 2

2013 Award for Original Short 

Sriracha! The Movie

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Box Office: 'The Hobbit', 'Frozen' Fend Off 'The Wolf of Wall Street'

1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug- $29.8M/$190.3M
2. Frozen- $28.8M/$248.3M
After six weeks, Frozen continues to show remarkable strength, gaining a whopping 47% from last week. The total is the 2nd-highest ever for a sixth weekend, surpassing Titanic and just behind Avatar. That's pretty good company Disney is happy to be associated with.
3. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues- $20.1M/$83.6M
Slipping only 20% from last week is Anchorman 2, which at $83M is just a nudge under the entire domestic haul of the first film.
4. American Hustle- $19.5M/$60M
5. The Wolf of Wall Street- $18.5M/$34.3M
The biggest debut of the week was Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio's The Wolf of Wall Street, which opened big on Christmas Day ($10M) and lost steam afterwards. This one's going to be interesting to follow over the next few weeks, because it's a potential Oscar contender and will likely see some sort of bump from that. But at the same time the subject matter, which features DiCaprio indulging in unheard of levels of greed, excess, and sex, may turn off large portions of the audience. The film cost about $90M and there's no real danger of it not making any money, but it may not be as big of a hit as some may have predicted, especially with audiences only giving it a 'C' Cinemascore.
6. Saving Mr. Banks- $14M/$37.8M
As expected, Disney's Saving Mr. Banks is playing extremely well this holiday season, up 50% from last week.
7. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty- $13M/$25.5M
The only real feel-good movie of the new releases is Ben Stiller's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but it may be feeling the effects of Frozen's continued strength. The film has been getting battered like a post by critics, but audiences have taken to it with a 'B+' Cinemascore. Costing around $90M it will need some help to get in the black, but the globe-hopping film should play well overseas. I'm also predicting this will have longer legs domestically than it seems right now.
8. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire- $10.2M/$391.1M
9. 47 Ronin- $9.8M/$20.5M
Well, the stench of failure has been all over Universal's inexplicable $200M 47 Ronin for a couple of years, and this soft opening solidifies it. Keanu Reeves leads the big-budget, special effects-heavy samurai epic, and it's largely due to him that it even did this well because the marketing has been pretty terrible. Critics have crushed it, although audiences seemed to love it enough to grant it at 'B+' Cinemascore, and maybe there will be greater returns on Blu-Ray. However you know things aren't going well when a time-honored tale such as the 47 Ronin can't even do well overseas, where it's only earned $6M.
10. Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas- $7.4M/$43.7M

The Sylvester Stallone vs. Robert De Niro boxing comedy Grudge Match opened to a measly $7.3M weekend and $13.4M for the holiday week.  It's another in a string of duds for Stallone, but perhaps not as big of a deal since it only cost $40M.

Opening in limited release was August: Osage County, hitting five sites to earn $179K. Peter Berg's military drama Lone Survivor opened in two sites for $92K, and Ralph Fiennes The Invisible Woman earned $37K in three locations.

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Cinema Royale #45- The Wolf of Wall Street; The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

On the final episode of 2013, Cinema Royale goes out with a bang taking a look at Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio's insane The Wolf of Wall Street! Plus, some have been mentioning Academy Awards and Ben Stiller in the same breath for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but is it really that good? Plus, big news on Fast & Furious 7, Guardians of the Galaxy, X-men: Days of Future Past and more!

You can find Cinema Royale every single week on Blogtalkradio, Itunes, Libsyn, Stitcher, Podomatic, and as part of the Hashtag Studios Broadcast Network.  Listen to the latest episode below...

Discover Movies Internet Radio with Cinema Royale on BlogTalkRadio

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Review: Ben Stiller's 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'

One can't help but chuckle at the irony; the boring and insignificant Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) works at LIFE Magazine. It's an obvious, fairly easy gag for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but then again it's a fairly obvious film with a clear mandate to be a big, uplifting, charmer about taking life by the horns. Directed with ambition that occasionally exceeds Stiller's grasp, it's a film that's easy to mock but has enough good heart and whimsy to be just as easy to love.

Stiller dials down the goofy antics just a tad as the shy and forgettable Walter Mitty, a negative aspect manager at LIFE magazine, and yes the job is as boring as daily existence. When we first meet him he's staring at the EHarmony profile of Cheryl (Kristen Wiig), a colleague he's been crushing on but never had the stones to talk to. Does he even have the guts to electronically reach out and make the first move? At times of indecision and great anxiety, Walter's vivid imagination takes over, imagining himself to be more confident, more adventurous, manlier, more EVERYTHING than he is in reality.

Stiller balances Walter's surreal escapism with a dose of cold hard truth; the print world is dying and LIFE magazine is going digital, firing most of the staff and putting his own job in jeopardy. The villainous corporate stooge designed to oversee the change (Adam Scott, in a ridiculous beard that screams "bad guy") doesn't see much value in Walter's job developing photos, but that changes when renowned photographer Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn, enigmatic as ever) sends in an image that is said to capture the very essence of the magazine. The only problem is that Walter can't find this life-changing photo, and in an effort to save his job must break out of his shell and start living.

In his fifth directorial effort, Stiller shows real signs of growth, and with the aid of cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh the film has a dreamlike malleability not unlike the work of Michel Gondry. In one stirring scene a flock of birds circle to form Cheryl's loving face; in another his breathy words are scrawled across the screen like a journal log, capturing his newfound explorer's spirit.  As Walter's journey takes him from Greenland to Iceland and the highest mountains of the Himalayas, the gap between the life he leads and the one he desires begins to close.

As Stiller indulges visually, he shows a total lack of restraint elsewhere in ways that hurt the film tremendously. Embarrassing levels of distracting product placement too often resemble one long commercial ad, and much of Walter's trek is condensed through song-heavy montage. We can't help but wish there was a little more magic on display in his magical adventure. Patton Oswalt voices a pestering EHarmony rep who is constantly calling in while Walter expands his horizons, and their conversations don't really need anything other than to emphasize what we can see with our own eyes. Despite these problems, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is an earnest and sincere story about turning one's dreams into positive action. As other movies this Christmas seem to be about pushing the limits of good taste, Ben Stiller is delivering the one true feel-good movie of the season.

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Six-Minute Trailer for Ben Stiller's 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'

Spinning out of its premiere at NYFF, Ben Stiller's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty briefly rode a wave of Oscar buzz for the director/star, and there are perhaps enough glowing reviews to keep it in the race. And while there has been a great deal of praise for Stiller doing something different than his usual brand of broad comedy, there has been a swell of criticism claiming the film aspires only to be a piece of family-friendly entertainment and nothing more. Whatever it turns out to be, a new six-minute trailer provides the best look at the film yet.

Based on the James Thurber short story and the 1947 Danny Kaye film, the story centers on Walter Mitty, a LIFE magazine editor who escapes his dull, invisible life by indulging in fantastical daydreams. Inspired by a photograph and the desire to save the job of the woman he loves (Kristen Wiig), Mitty sets off on an epic adventure that takes him to all corners of the globe.

We'll be checking the film out later today so expect a verdict soon. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty opens Christmas Day.

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*UPDATE* New Trailer, Poster, and Clip from Ben Stiller's 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'

Described in some ads as this generation's Forrest Gump, Ben Stiller's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty does seem to be riding a wave of popular support, even if its critical prospects have diminished somewhat. The feel-good film has Stiller in the title role as an inconsequential LIFE Magazine employee who escapes his boring life with the help of a vivid imagination. When presented with the opportunity to win the heart of the woman he loves, played by Kristen Wiig, he embarks on an epic globe-hopping adventure.

Part of that adventure involves fighting sharks, jumping from airplanes, and biking up a volcano according to this new clip. A new trailer and poster asking us to "Stop Dreaming and Start Living" have also been released. Is it real or Memorex? We'll find out when The Secret Life of Walter Mitty opens on Christmas Day.




The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty - Trailer / Bande-Annonce #3 [VO|HD720p] by Team Lyricis

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Ben Stiller Travels the World in New 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' Trailer

The line between reality and the surreal are blurred in Ben Stiller's rather ambitious The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, an adaptation of the classic, uplifting James Thurber story and 1947 film. Pulling double-duty as director and star, he plays a powerless sad-sack LIFE Magazine employee who indulges in his overactive imagination to escape a boring existence. A new 3-minute international trailer has been released offering us perhaps the most complete look at the film yet.

Co-starring Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn, Patton Oswalt, and Sean Penn, the story goes into sweeping epic territory as Mitty must finally begin to experience life and go on an exotic global adventure. Stiller is in new territory tackling a film of this scope, and early reviews have been split on how well he pulled it off. The trailer definitely veers towards the overly sentimental, but it also looks like the sort of film that audiences could easily fall in love with.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty opens Christmas Day.

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New Trailer for Ben Stiller's 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'

Depending on who you talk to, either Ben Stiller's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is an Academy Awards contender, or just a really game effort. The trailer blew many people away and had Oscar talk buzzing, but its premiere at NYFF over the weekend was mixed amongst critics. However, audiences responded with thunderous applause so this is one we may not know its full awards potential until we see how it performs at the box office.

A new trailer for the film has arrived and it looks like an ambitious, globe-trotting visual spectacle. While it's not quite on the scale of last year's Life of Pi, its certainly impressive and shows a flair we've never seen from Stiller as a director. He also plays the titular Mitty, a bland workhorse at Life magazine who uses his vivid imagination as an escape from his boring, powerless existence. Spurred into a grand adventure by a mysterious photo and the woman he secretly yearns for, Mitty experiences in real life what he had only been imagining for so long. One of the big questions is how Stiller will be able to juggle what appears to be a number of different genres; romance, science-fiction, fantasy, comedy; and make it all work in a cohesive way without becoming overly sentimental.

Also starring Sean Penn, Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn, and Patton Oswalt, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty opens Christmas Day.

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New Posters for 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty', 'The Family', and 'Captain Phillips'

 Director and star Ben Stiller goes on an epic journey in three new posters for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Based on the James Thurber story, the film centers on a daydreaming office worker who grows the courage to go on a real-life journey to save the jobs of his colleagues and the woman he loves, played by Kristen Wiig. These are brilliant images, that better than anything we've seen recently get across simply the surreal aspects of the film. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty opens on Christmas Day.

Is that blood or paint in these posters for Luc Besson's The Family? My guess is that the red stuff all over Robert De Niro's hands isn't endorsed by Glidden™. He plays an ex-Mafia boss who enters his family into the Witness Protection Program in France after turning rat against the mob. But they find their new boring lives tough to maintain, and as they fall into old habits, it attracts the attention of those they were running from.The action-comedy also stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Dianna Agron, and Tommy Lee Jones, opening on September 13th.

Tom Hanks takes on the title role in Captain Phillips, the harrowing true story of the U.S. Maersk Alabama vessel's hijacking by Somalian pirates in 2009. Directed by Paul Greengrass and co-starring Catherine Keener, the film could be one of two (along with Saving Mr. Banks) that could thrust Hanks back into the Best Actor race for the first time in years.

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First Trailer for Ben Stiller's 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'

It was a surprise to many when Ben Stiller took on an adaptation of James Thurber's amazing short story, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It had been adapted to the screen notably before in 1947, and seemed like an odd follow-up to Stiller's last directorial effort, the rambunctious spoof Tropic Thunder. But when he started to surround the film with a cast that included Sean Penn, Shirley MacLaine, and Kristen Wiig, it seemed as if he may be aiming for something more substantial, and less Night at the Museum. Now that the first trailer has arrived, we can see that to definitely be the case.

 Emphasizing simple mood and emotion over silly antics or loud explosions, the trailer is a refreshing change of pace for Stiller, and lends credence to the rumors of a potential Oscar campaign. Stiller stars as Walter Mitty, a magazine proofreader who escapes his boring and powerless life by indulging in a fantasy world in which he is the hero. When his job and that of the woman he secretly yearns for are threatened, he finally takes action in the real world by embarking on an extraordinary global adventure. It looks like a powerful character study and the sort of small-scale human story we don't see very often, and could prove to be major player when it opens on Christmas Day.

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Sean Penn joins Ben Stiller's 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'

A day of weird casting news continues. Sean Penn has as much comedic ability as anybody, but he rarely shows it. I mean, what was the last comedy the guy's done? Sweet and Lowdown? We almost saw him in The Three Stooges, but he was smart enough to flee. Whenever it was, we're going to see Penn dust off the ol' funnybone in Ben Stiller's remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

What started out as merely a starring vehicle for Stiller has turned into quite the show as he'll direct a cast that includes Kristen Wiig, Shirley MacLaine, Adam Scott, and Patton Oswalt. Based on the James Thurber short story and the 1947 Danny Kaye film, it follows a sad sack photo manager at LIFE magazine who is steamrolled by everybody in his life. It's only through his vivid imagination and daydreaming that he can escape, but they prove to be a problem when he returns to the real world. Penn will have a small but important role as a photographer.

Filming begins later this month, and after it's completed we'll likely see Penn jump move forward with his next directorial effort, The Comedian, which will star Wiig and Robert De Niro. [Deadline]

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Patton Oswalt circles 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'

Patton Oswalt makes every film he's in better. Period. Not only is he a brilliant stand up comedian with a nerdy streak a mile wide, but he's been fantastic in a number of supporting roles on the big and small screen. When he finally got a chance to play the leading man, in 2009's Big Fan, he gave a performance that I considered to be Oscar worthy, although it was mostly ignored.  He was just snubbed again for a scene stealing turn opposite Charlize Theron in Young Adult, but whether the Academy recognizes him or not, producers do. Which is why he keeps snagging key roles in some great films.

Variety reports that Oswalt is now circling a supporting gig in the remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, to star and be directed by Ben Stiller. Taking it's cues from the 1947 Danny Kaye classic, which was based on a James Thurber short story, the film follows a sad sack pushover who daydreams an exciting, fantastic life for himself, which causes problems when he returns to reality. Kristen Wiig will play one of Mitty's co-workers and his dream girl, while Shirley MacLaine is Mitty's mother. Oswalt's role is said to be that of an eHarmoney rep who helps Mitty create an online profile.

If you saw last night's trailer for Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, you probably noticed Oswalt in that as well. He'll be seen next in that film on June 22nd.

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Kristen Wiig joins 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' with Ben Stiller

Now that we can finally drive a nail into the coffin of a Bridesmaids sequel, it's time to start looking at the far more interesting stuff Kristen Wiig will be taking on the in the next few months. Earlier today it was revealed that her next film would be one she's been attached to for awhile now. That would be The Comedian, which stars Robert De Niro and is directed by Sean Penn. A big move for the SNL star and one that will expand her sphere of influence greatly. That report was accurate....for about five minutes, because Wiig has now taken on another high profile role in a film that will be shooting in just a couple of months.

She'll be joining the cast of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which has Ben Stiller both in front of and behind the camera. A remake of the 1947 classic about a welcome mat of a man who daydreams fantastic,extraordinary lives for himself as a means of coping with his boring life. Wiig will play Mitty's co-worker at the magazine he works for, and his ultimate dream girl. Shirley MacLaine is the only other attached at this point, playing Mitty's mother.

With filming beginning in April, Wiig may need to take some time off from SNL. She'll be seen next in the indie comedy, Friends with Kids, opening on March 9th. The Comedian will kick off some time this summer. [THR]

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