According to this article, the big box office news is that Sony’s counter programming gamble with Meryl Streep in “Hope Springs” could pay off. The film opened on Wednesday and has almost $10 million in ticket sales. Friday night accounted for about half of that. If it holds up tonight and Sunday, “Hope Springs”–with Tommy Lee Jones and Steve Carell–could be a nice little hit. Then Sony will bring it back out for Oscar consideration, with nominations going to Streep and Jones at least. What a pleasant turn of events. Sony’s Amy Pascal can sleep tonight. Streep has a lot of good will built up. And audiences who are depending on that have found an excellent film.

A bunch of new pictures from appearances in the early 1980s have been added to the image library. There are new press room pictures from the 1980 and 1983 Academy Awards, Meryl’s appearance at the 1980 Hasty Pudding Awards, a lovely picture from the 1981 Kennedy Center Honors and three new pictures from the 1983 commencement speech at Vassar College.

Appearances – 1983 – Vassar Commencement Speech
Appearances – 1983 – Academy Awards – Press Room
Appearances – 1981 – Kennedy Center Honors
Appearances – 1980 – Hasty Pudding Awards
Appearances – 1980 – Academy Awards – Press Room

Meryl’s full appearance on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live” has been added to the image library. I haven’t seen this show before, but it was fun seeing Meryl doint an interview that didn’t feature the standard questions. She talked and joked about her co-stars, reviewed some of her past films and of course promoted “Hope Springs”. This is definately worth a watch. Captures from the interview have been added to the photo gallery as well, check the previews below.

Since “Watch What Happens Live” has been the last talkshow appearance to promote the release of “Hope Springs”, why not rewind her latest appearances – there’s a collection of all “Hope Springs” related talkshows on the sidebar with links to full videos, captures and comments. Enjoy.

High definition screencaptures of Meryl’s August 06 appearance on “The Charlie Rose Show” have been added to the image library.

Press release courtesy CBS: “Doint New York City’s “Shakespeare in the Park” is special”, actor Kevin Kline tells “CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood”. “It’s an institution,” Sam Waterston tells Tracy Smith. If all the world’s a stage, as William Shakespeare once noted, then New York City’s Delecorte Theater might be a little better than others. For five decades, Central Park has been home to free summer performances of Shakespeare classics under the stars, and as correspondent Tracy Smith reports, actors say the work is magical. “It is an institution, but still remains true to its original purpose, which was the best playwright in the English language for free, for everybody who wants to come,” actor Sam Waterston tells Smith of “Shakespeare in the Park.” The production has attracted some of the entertainment world’s biggest names to the outdoor stage and helped launched the careers of others. To get a sense of the magic launched in 1962 by the late theater producer Joe Papp, Smith talks to Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Amy Adams, James Earl Jones, Waterston and others. Smith’s piece will air August 12 on “CBS Sunday Morming with Charloes Osgood” (9:00-10:30 AM, ET) on the CBS Television Network. Rand Morrison is the executive producer.

On August 05, Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell and director David Frankel participated in the Apple Store SoHo’s “Meet the Filmmakers” series to talk about “Hope Springs”. You can grab the podcast for free at the store’s iTunes. The conversation panel can be now watched in the video archive.

The full interview with Meryl and Tommy Lee Jones on “The View” has been broadcast yesterday and has been added to the video archive, alongside captures from the show in the image library. It’s, as always, a very funny and charming interview, so be sure to check it. Up next is the Apple Store conversation panel, so stay tuned.

Lots of new video bits have been added to the archive. There’s a new compilation video from the New York premiere of “Hope Springs”, including interviews with the cast, the New York junket video has been updated as well (now sporting eleven minutes of interviews), there’s new clip from the film and two additional television spots. Enjoy the new clips.

Article courtesy USA Today: Of Meryl Streep’s abundance of gifts, one stands out in particular: the ability to laugh at herself. Her left hand is bandaged after an avocado-peeling accident that severed nerves and requires physical therapy. She still can’t believe her kitchen debacle, the confluence of foolhardiness and the wrong knife. “From now on, I’m changing everything. I learn something every day. I do. Six months to a year, it will take to heal,” Streep says ruefully. “I shouldn’t cross against the light, and that’s when you get hit by the bike coming the wrong way. You know it. And you think, how can you tell your children anything when you’re the idiot?”

That’s not the word anyone would use to describe her. Streep is one of the most respected, revered actresses working today, and she won an Oscar, her third, this year for playing Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. Yet Streep, effusive, funny and warm, sounds like a giddy drama school graduate when she talks about her day job. “Oh, my God. I can’t believe they’re still letting me do this!” The complete article can be read here.

Today, “Hope Springs” opens in US theaters. If you’re among the happy ones to see it on the big screen, please share your thoughts on the film in the comments as I’m sure many visitors appreciate a fan’s view on the film as well. Please make sure not to include spoilers, or mark your post as spoilers, so people can enjoy the film when they see it themselves. To everyone who has a ticket already, enjoy watching “Hope Springs”.