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HOLLYWOOD #12345_20261026
FOR RELEASE OCT. 26, 2026
BYLINE: By Tony Rizzo
PHOTO CREDIT: Depositphotos
PHOTO CAPTION: Bill Pullman (Set to star as Hugh Hefner in "Playmates")
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HOLLYWOOD -- Steve McQueen, who passed away in 1980 at 50, is making a major comeback ... of sorts! Two of his best films are being remade. "The Thomas Crown Affair" (1968) cost $4.3 million and grossed $14 million, with Faye Dunaway co-starring. The remake is due on March 5 and stars Michael B. Jordan, Kenneth Branagh, Adria Arjona and Lily Gladstone. Netflix is also developing a remake of "The Getaway" (1972), which originally starred Ali MacGraw alongside McQueen and grossed $36.7 million against its $3.3 million cost.
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In 1968, at a star-studded celebrity screening, I was assaulted and battered by Elliott Gould as four of us invited photographers were shooting him with his wife, Barbra Streisand, while they ran out of the Directors Guild on Sunset Boulevard. After being treated at UCLA Medical Center for a dislocated shoulder and bruises, I sued him. Three years later, a judge in a Los Angeles Court found him guilty of two counts of battery ... but this is another story for another time.
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Another trip down memory lane is the upcoming film "Playmates," starring Bill Pullman as Hugh Hefner and Jessica Biel and Lily-Rose Depp as Playboy Playmates at Hefner's mansion. I was invited to Hefner's mansion six times, and I'll never forget the long three-block driveway to the entrance.
I was greeted by Hefner and several Playmates, and at night, I'd end up in the dimly lit "grotto" pool, where I once witnessed the late Tom Smothers (of the Smothers Brothers) having his way with one of Hefner's bunnies! It didn't seem to bother them that I was there, and I tried not to watch their lovemaking. (Yeah, sure!) Talk about a gold-medal moment!
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Hats off to Marion Ross, who was known as Marion Cunningham on "Happy Days" (1974-1984). Ross turned 97 on Oct. 25. She was the star of about 50 films and had dozens of TV guest appearances. Her character, Emily, was wed to Captain Stubing (Gavin MacLEOd) on the last episode of "The Love Boat" in 1986. (I shot MacLEOd's real wedding to his second wife, Patti Kendig, in 1974.) Ross' last film was "Senior Entourage" (2021) before retiring at 92.
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Really, Tom Cruise, have you lost your mind? At 64, you look as handsome as the biggest movie star on the planet should! How could you think anyone would like seeing you as an unattractive old man? You've proven that you're a great actor, but hiding your good looks and sex appeal under a bush was a miscalculation! "Digger" has taken in $42 million so far, but it cost $180 million.
You'd think two-time Oscar-winning director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu would've known that hiding your sex appeal under a bushel was igniting a bomb!
(c) 2026 King Features Synd., Inc.
