Robert De Niro Has Pulled The Controversial Anti-Vaccination Documentary From Tribeca Film Festival

Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images

Robert De Niro announced on Saturday that Andrew Wakefield’s controversial documentary, which links vaccinations to autism, will no longer be shown at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.

Just a day after De Niro, a festival cofounder, defended his selection of Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe, he and his team have decided to pull the film from the festival line-up. In a statement to BuzzFeed News, De Niro explained that he previously included Wakefield’s documentary on the roster to start a conversation about autism. De Niro, who revealed he has an autistic child in his earlier statement, said that it’s “an issue that is deeply personal to me and my family.”

After reviewing Wakefield’s documentary, however, De Niro decided it no longer “contributes to or furthers the discussion” that he had hoped for.

Here is the full statement from De Niro issued to BuzzFeed News on Saturday via a representative for the film festival:

“My intent in screening this film was to provide an opportunity for conversation around an issue that is deeply personal to me and my family. But after reviewing it over the past few days with the Tribeca Film Festival team and others from the scientific community, we do not believe it contributes to or furthers the discussion I had hoped for.
The Festival doesn’t seek to avoid or shy away from controversy. However, we have concerns with certain things in this film that we feel prevent us from presenting it in the Festival program. We have decided to remove it from our schedule.”

15 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About “The Neverending Story”

1. Atreyu was originally supposed to have green skin, like in the book.

Crystal Ro / BuzzFeed / Warner Bros.

His character was a member of a tribe literally called the “Greenskins,” who hunted purple buffalo.

2. Noah Hathaway, the actor who played Atreyu, actually had a really bad horse-riding accident just before shooting began.

Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com

Warner Bros.

 

He had to spend two months in the hospital recovering from a crushed vertebra after a horse fell on top of him.

3. There were two Falkor, the Luck Dragon, models built; one had a head weighing over 200 pounds.

Warner Bros.

There was also steel from an actual airplane involved in making him too.

4. Also, it took about 25 people to puppeteer Falkor altogether.

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com

 

The director, Wolfgang Peterson, commented, “One person was responsible for operating Falkor’s nose, one for eyebrows, one for the upper lip, and one for the lower lip.”

5. Tami Stronach, who played the Childlike Empress, lost two teeth before filming and had to wear fake teeth, aka flippers for the shoot.

Warner Bros.

In the beginning, the fake teeth made her speak with a slight lisp too.

6. The scenes in the Swamps of Sadness took two months to film…

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And that was only a fraction of the entire film shoot, which lasted a whole year.

7. …and at a cost of $130,000 a day!

Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com

Warner Bros. / Via youtube.com

 

The swamp was made entirely inside a soundstage at Bavaria Film Studios.

8. One person, actor Alan Oppenheimer, actually provided the voice of Falkor, Rockbiter, G’mork (the wolf), and the narrator.

Via imdb.com

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros.

 

He’s also known for providing the voice of He-Man’s nemesis, Skeletor.

9. The original, German theatrical release of the film has a much more serious-looking intro, with credits over black.

Warner Bros.

You can see a side-by-side comparison of screen shots from the original German release with the American release here.

10. Although it’s pretty questionable in the film, the name Bastian yells out, according to the book, is “Moonchild”.

Warner Bros.

If you rewatch the scene it seems like he is indeed yelling “Moonchild”. Probably, anyway. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

11. At the time, it was the most expensive film production made in German history.

Crystal Ro / BuzzFeed / Warner Bros.

It cost $25 million to make in 1984 or, according to my very scientific inflation calculations, probably like $100 million today (do NOT take my word for it though).

12. Steven Spielberg was given Auryn (Atreyu’s necklace) by director Wolfgang Peterson as a “thank you” gift for his help with the film.

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Peterson credits Spielberg with the helping out during editing of the film in order to make it appeal more to American audiences.

13. Turns out, Bastian totally lives in Vancouver, Canada.

Warner Bros.

Well, at least that is where a lot of the “real world” scenes were shot for the movie.

14. The author of the book that the film was based on pretty much hated the movie.

Warner Bros.

Michael Ende was quoted at a press conference calling it, “that revolting movie” and demanded that his name be removed from the credits.

15. And finally, if you can’t get enough Neverending Story in your life today, you can actually ride on Falkor at Bavaria Filmstadt in Munich, Germany:

Bavaria Films / Via filmstadt.de

Oh My God You Need To See This Photo Of Ice-T And Coco’s Daughter

In case you don’t know, this is Ice-T and Coco.

Law and Order: SVU, Ice-T Loves Coco, being a world-famous rapper — these two have a lot of awesome platitudes between them.

Last fall, Coco gave birth to the couple’s first child, Chanel Nicole. Look how cute she is!

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And since then, the proud parents have gushed over their daughter on Instagram.

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instagram.com

 

They’ve also made an Instagram for Chanel because infants need to start being active on social media ASAP.

But lemme tell you, Baby Chanel has posted an Instagram that will literally make you break out into the world’s biggest grin. Wanna see?

That was a test. Because honestly, I don’t think you’re ready for this smile. CLICK AT YOUR OWN RISK:

I MEAN THOSE CHEEKS. THAT LAUGH. WHAT A CUTIE.

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Stay fly, Chanel!

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The Kardashian-Jenners Looked Fly AF Walking Into Church For Easter

The Kardashian-Jenners are always up for a major style moment.

Some might even call their style iconic.

So do you think they were going to walk into church for Easter Sunday super caj? ‘Cause you’d be wrong. Kourtney went the lacy route.

While Khloé was Bianca Jagger 2.0.

Lamar Odom was there too!

Kendall did the whole casual-glam thing in some ripped jeans and heels.

So I guess we can call Kris’ look Miami Vice meets chic French menswear.

And Kris’ boyfriend Corey Gamble wore this.

The Kardashian-Jenners — always ready for some FASHFUN.

“Batman v Superman” Sets Box Office Records For Both Superheroes

Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Clay Enos / Warner Bros. Pictures

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice flew higher than any movie based on DC Comics superheroes has before, opening in the U.S. and Canada with an estimated $170.1 million over the Easter holiday weekend.

That easily beats the $116.6 million record debut for Superman movies held by 2013’s Man of Steel.

It also just surpasses the $160.9 million debut held by 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises, as well as the $158.4 million debut of 2008’s The Dark Knight.

When adjusting for inflation, however, Batman v Superman falls behind the debuts of both Dark Knight movies, as well as several films based on Marvel Comics characters, including 2012’s The Avengers and 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Adam B. Vary / BuzzFeed News

Still, this is an astronomic box office take for any movie, and it set several other box office records in the process. It’s easily the best opening weekend for director Zack Snyder, and stars Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill.

And anyone still holding onto the notion that there is such a thing as “summer movie season” anymore, especially in terms of box office power, should seriously reconsider. Batman v Superman earned not only the all-time biggest domestic debut in March — beating the $152.5 million set by The Hunger Games in 2012 — it’s the biggest debut ever for a movie opening before May.

Internationally, BVS earned an estimated $254 million, including roughly $57.3 million in China, a record debut for Warner Bros. Pictures. Overall, the movie has grossed a gigantic $424.1 million worldwide.

Adam B. Vary / BuzzFeed News

This copious display of financial strength comes as very good news for Warner Bros., which is using Batman v Superman to launch an ambitious and risky cinematic ecosystem based on DC Comics characters into a marketplace already saturated with superhero movies. The next of the DC-based films, Suicide Squad, opens Aug. 5 — after Captain America: Civil War and X-Men: Apocalypse in May, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows in June.

This weekend’s returns, however, do present at least one cause for concern for Warner Bros. and the DC Films team. Batman v Superman earned a lackluster “B” rating from the audience polling firm CinemaScore. From men, who made up roughly 62% of ticket buyers, the film earned a “B–” rating, suggesting word-of-mouth on the movie is subdued at best.
How the movie fares over the following weeks, where it isn’t considered to face much competition until The Jungle Book opens on April 15, will strongly indicate audiences’ long-term enthusiasm for Snyder’s downbeat and morally ambiguous approach to the material. Critics, meanwhile, have made their scorn for that approach abundantly clear.

Here are the estimated top 10 box office figures for Friday to Sunday, courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice* — $170.1 million
2. Zootopia — $23.1 million
3. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2* — $18.1 million
4. Miracles from Heaven — $9.5 million
4. The Divergent Series: Allegiant — $9.5 million
6. 10 Cloverfield Lane — $6 million
7. Deadpool — $5 million
8. London Has Fallen — $2.9 million
9. Hello, My Name is Doris — $1.7 million
10. Eye in the Sky — $1 million

This “Matrix” Theory Might Prove That Neo Wasn’t Actually The One

The folks over at io9 have revived a Matrix theory that may prove Neo wasn’t actually The One — it was his nemesis, Agent Smith.

The theory outlines why Smith might have actually been the secret “hero” of the story.

First of all, the Oracle says “The One” is a “man born inside the Matrix.” But Neo was born in one of the human incubators the machines used to harvest energy.

Agent Smith, however, was born in the Matrix.

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And he, like Neo, could change anything he wanted inside the Matrix.

We also learn from The Architect in Matrix Reloaded that The One is the person who will return to the Source and reload the Matrix.

And as you probably know, at the end of Matrix Revolutions, Smith fuses himself with Neo (who’s plugged into the Source in the real world), so it’s technically not Neo who reloads the Matrix. It’s Smith.

AND when you think about it, the Oracle never tells Neo he’s The One.

Remember their first meeting in the first movie? She’s straight-up like, “Nope. You’re not.”

But when she meets Smith in the last movie, their interaction is so mysterious and weird.

Smith calling the Oracle “mom” might mean she created him for the very purpose of fulfilling his destiny as The One.

Which means she tricked everyone into thinking Neo was The One…

…so that he could bring Agent Smith what he needed to force him to reload the Matrix.

So, basically, Neo might not be The One. But it’s fine, because none of this is real life anyway, and we’re all plugged into the Matrix right now.

24 Hilarious Tweets From The India-Bangladesh World Cup Match

1.

Beggar to Dhoni: Sir, do you have any change. Dhoni: No. Same 11.
— Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats)

2.

Rohit Sharma in important matches.
— Kabir (@The_Sleigher)

3.

Indian team doesn't have beer because they keep losing the openers.
— Trendulkar (@Trendulkar)

4.

*THEN* 'Sachin out ho gaya kya?' ' Yes ' :( *NOW* 'Kohli out ho gaya kya?' ' Yes ' :(
— $ir $ri $ri Magal (@jhunjhunwala)

5.

* Fielder catches the ball * Batsman : Catch Vijay Mallya first!
— Don (@Juuism)

6.

Good partnership by Dhoni and Jadeja.
— Charming McCharmface (@sidin)

7.

Yeh Bangladeshi fielders ball aate hi aise dive maar ke let jaate hain jaise taar ke neeche se border paar kar rahe ho. #IndvsBan
— The-Lying-Lama (@KyaUkhaadLega)

8.

Rohit "Jasprit Bumrah is rare talent" Very true. Very rare you get bowler this bad. #IndvsBan
— Big Nas (@NasirJamshed_)

9.

Jasprit Bumrah Live : #IndvsBan
— $ir $ri $ri Magal (@jhunjhunwala)

10.

Hardik Pandya has been catching so brilliantly that he could have caught Vijay Mallya easily #IndvsBan
— Cricket Bakchod (@AllTimeBakchod)

11.

Today Indian team has dropped more catches than the number of times they have dropped Aashish Nehra. #IndvsBan
— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh)

12.

Indian Cricket fans right now... #IndvsBan
— Paresh Rawal (@Babu_Bhaiyaa)

13.

Feel bad for Dhonis daughter who might lose sleep again tonight
— Tanmay Bhat (@thetanmay)

14.

How Dhoni reacts behind the stumps. #IndvsBan
— अंकित (@indiantweeter)

15.

Dhoni does stumping faster than 'MutualFundInvestmentsaresubjecttomarketrisksReadallschemerelateddocumentscarefully' #IndvsBan
— Manish (@Slysterr)

16.

Close Enough ? #IndvsBan
— The-Lying-Lama (@KyaUkhaadLega)

17.

Even Twilight is a better love story than Segwag-Laxman commentary. #IndvsBan
— Sagarcasm (@sagarcasm)

18.

I was alive when all our hopes were resting on Nehra 😂 #IndvsBan
— गीतिका (@ggiittiikkaa)

19.

#IndvsBan Indians watching the match like ...
— Arslan Naseer (@ComicsByArslan)

20.

This match is not good for our heart rate or our bladder pressure :-( #IndvsBan
— $ir $ri $ri Magal (@jhunjhunwala)

21.

Indian bowler bowling Yorkers.
— MCV (@LeftArmOver_)

22.

THIS IS HARDIK WHERE IS JEETDIK YAAR SAHI DIK TO LAYA KARO
— Abhishek Madan (@abhishekmadan)

23.

Watching such close t20 matches with your parents is a test of your tongue. #IndvsBan
— Sagarcasm (@sagarcasm)

24.

Never before has a shittier game created so much excitement

— Sidvee (@sidvee)