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By H. Alan Scott and Lauren Giella
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This week is all about commemorating legends, kicking off with the cultural icons who came before us. Film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert will be remembered with their own statues in Chicago, and The Beatles will be getting an expanded museum. Nicolas Cage’s transformation to play the football coach hall-of-famer John Madden has us rolling on the floor, while rumors about the casting of the late Dolly Parton for her biopic are not so funny. And we remember the iconic Patrick Stewart, best known for his role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Photo illustration by Newsweek/Getty
Celebrity: Two Thumbs Up!
Beloved film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert will be immortalized in a life-sized bronze sculpture in Chicago. The pair were long-time Windy City newspaper critics (Siskel at the Chicago Tribune and Ebert at the Chicago Sun-Times) before joining forces on the syndicated show Sneak Previews and later At the Movies and Siskel & Ebert.
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While today, AMC A-Listers pore over Letterboxd reviews like thesis papers and Rotten Tomatoes scores influence box office numbers, Siskel and Ebert became famous for a simple but effective rating system for films: thumbs up or thumbs down.
Even when delivering harsh feedback, their rapport and charm softened the blow. They introduced an accessible form of criticism to the everyday moviegoer and taught a generation of movie buffs how to love and talk about film.
The statue, titled “Siskel & Ebert: Two Thumbs Up,” will feature both men delivering their famous rating system and will live at Prudential Plaza on Randolph Street in Chicago, near where both men worked for decades at local newspapers.
A Hollywood memorabilia auction will help raise money for the project, featuring items from other famous Chicago-area stars. This includes a signed Toy Story Jessie doll from Joan Cusack and a Caddyshack lobby card signed by Bill Murray.
Music: Come Together
Move over Graceland! There's a new music legend destination across the pond. The Beatles are getting an expanded museum in their hometown of Liverpool, England, just in time for Sam Mendes' quartet of films based on the Fab Four.
Apple Corps, which handles the band's business interests, is taking the lead and said the new 100,000-square-foot Beatles Story museum won't open until 2028. CEO Tom Greene said the attraction would give The Beatles a world-class destination for fans to visit in Liverpool, where they can learn the story of the world's most influential band. The exhibit will include immersive technology, original artifacts, reconstructed sets and priceless memorabilia tracking the explosion of Beatlemania.
Paul McCartney commented on a post about the immersive experience, "I love Liverpool. It's part of who I am, it’s part of who The Beatles are. If you’d told us this was going to happen when we were hanging out and getting started we’d never have believed it.
"The extraordinary plans the Apple Corps team have shown me for The Beatles Story take me right back to that journey, from Liverpool to the world and back home again," he continued. "It couldn’t have happened without Liverpool and I can’t wait for people to be able to step into our story and share the experience."
Movies: Nicolas Cage Falls Flat as Madden
Have you seen Nicolas Cage as John Madden in the new film Madden? Because once you do, you can’t unsee it. While getting lost in a role isn’t exactly new for the Oscar winner, Cage's drastic physical transformation is leaving fans of the late Oakland Raiders football coach and sports commentator asking: Why? That’s the risk an actor takes with a role like this—if it doesn’t land, it becomes a punchline. And based on initial reactions to Cage’s performance, it’s looking more laughable than laudable.
Biopic: Sweeney Is Wrong for Dolly
There’s a rumor floating around that Sydney Sweeney is being eyed to play Dolly Parton in an upcoming biopic. While the Euphoria actress is undoubtedly talented, the backlash to this rumor makes one thing clear: Please don’t do this. Sweeney might have the look and the acting abilities to tackle the late country icon, but frankly, she's far too controversial to take on a universally adored legend whose recent passing is still raw. If Hollywood is looking in any direction, it needs to be toward Sabrina Carpenter. Not only does the “Espresso” singer have the acting and vocal chops—she’s already locked in to play Ginger Rogers opposite Tom Holland in the upcoming Fred Astaire biopic—but she also had a real relationship with Parton. The two even collaborated on a version of Carpenter’s "Please Please Please.” So, please, please, please, leave this one to Sabrina.
In Memoriam: Stewart’s Bold Legacy
Patrick Stewart, who died at age 86 on October 28, will be forever remembered by Star Trek fans as Jean-Luc Picard in The Next Generation. It was a landmark role in many ways. Bald men were often the butt of jokes in the ’80s, but Stewart made his baldness a symbol of strength, intelligence and masculinity. Now many a man, from Vin Diesel to Stanley Tucci, boldly follows his tonsorial ways. Godspeed.
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