Categories
Movies

I honestly enjoyed My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 more than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but my expectations for both were very low, and so should your’s be!!

Box office report: Batman v Superman soars to record-breaking $170 million

Looks like those mediocre reviews weren’t box office kryptonite after all.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice shattered box office records, opening to an estimated $170.1 million domestically over Easter weekend.

Not only did Zack Snyder’s superhero epic set a new record for the all-time biggest March opening, obliterating The Hunger Games’ $152.5 million, but Batman v Superman now stands as the sixth biggest opening of all time. It also squeaked by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 ($169.2 million) to earn Warner Bros.’ biggest opening ever.

Internationally, it added another $254 million for a worldwide total of $424 million — the fourth-biggest global opening of all time. Domestically, Batman v Superman didn’t manage to surpass its Marvel counterparts like The Avengers or Iron Man 3, but it did beat both globally, becoming only the fourth movie in history to cross $400 million worldwide in one weekend.

Ben Affleck’s Batman also dethroned Christian Bale in The Dark Knight Rises ($160.9 million) and The Dark Knight ($158.4 million) as the biggest Batman and DC Comics openings ever.

Batman v Superman’s runaway success spells good news for Warner Bros. after a lackluster 2015, and the studio had several pricy flops last year, including Jupiter Ascending, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and Pan. Batman v Superman carries a $250 million price tag, but it serves as a launch pad for the new DC movie universe, including next year’s Wonder Woman and the upcoming Justice League movie.

Going into the weekend, there was some question over how Batman v Superman’s critical reviews would affect its box office performance. Critics were less than kind, and it currently holds only a 29 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Still, Batman v Superman managed a B CinemaScore. An estimated 62 percent of its audience was male.

In all, Batman v Superman opened in 4,242 theaters, including 388 IMAX theaters, and with an IMAX opening of $18 million, it set an Easter record, surpassing Furious 7’s $13.3 million. Roughly 40 percent of Batman v Superman’s entire domestic total came from 3D screens.

In non-superhero-related box office news, Zootopia continued its excellent run, taking second place with an estimated $23.1 million. Now in its fourth weekend, Disney’s animated adventure has racked up $240 million domestically and $697 million worldwide.

And this weekend’s other new wide release had a great opening, albeit on a smaller scale. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 bowed to an estimated $18.1 million, 14 years after the original. The first Big Fat Greek Wedding still holds multiple box office records, opening to just $597,000 and going on to earn a total of $241.4 million domestically. It’s still the highest-grossing rom-com in domestic box office history and the biggest movie to never hit No. 1. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, which sees Nia Vardalos and John Corbett reprising their roles from the original, earned an A- CinemaScore.

As for fourth and fifth places? The Divergent Series: Allegiant and Miracles From Heaven tied with an estimated $9.5 million. Allegiant had a not-so-great second weekend, as the third installment in the saga of Tris Prior fell an estimated 67 percent. After two weeks, its domestic total now stands at $46.6 million. Lionsgate split the final novel in Veronica Roth’s trilogy into two books, and Ascendant will hit theaters on June 9, 2017.

The faith-based drama Miracles From Heaven, on the other hand, apparently from benefitted from Easter weekend, falling only 36 percent in its second weekend. The Jennifer Garner-starring drama has earned $34.1 million domestically after 12 days in release.

Here are this weekend’s top five at the box office:

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. The Divergent Series: Allegiant — $9.5 million
5. Miracles From Heaven — $9.5 million

Categories
People

My heart is broken tonight. May he rest in peace

Garry Shandling Dies at 66

Comedian, actor, writer and producer Garry Shandling, known for “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show” and “The Larry Sanders Show,” died Thursday, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed. He was 66.

A spokesman for the LAPD said they received a 911 call from Shandling’s home on Thursday, saying the comedian suffered from a “medical emergency.” He later died at an L.A. hospital.

Shandling wasn’t known to be suffering from any illnesses, and just a few days ago retweeted Kathy Griffin’s photo of himself, her and Bob Odenkirk.

The influential comedian was known for his neurotic observational humor, particularly about romantic relationships, and his no-holds-barred skewering of showbiz in his inventive TV shows. “The Larry Sanders Show” was one of the early pillars of HBO’s original series strategy, garnering Emmy Awards and critical acclaim during its 1992-1998 run.

Born in Chicago, Shandling was raised in Tucson, Ariz., and started out majoring in electrical engineering before completing a marketing degree at the University of Arizona. After moving to Los Angeles, he sold a script for “Sanford and Son” and also wrote for “Welcome Back, Kotter.” He guest-hosted on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and was in consideration to become Carson’s replacement. After a serious car accident, he began working on his stand-up comedy act.

In 1986, he created his own sitcom “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,” also an early original series effort for Showtime. The show, also co-created by Alan Zweibel, was nominated for four Emmys, and ran until 1990. The show was noted for being one that often broke the fourth wall, with Shandling speaking directly to the audience, and he played a version of himself: a stand-up comedian aware of the fact that he is a sitcom character. Even the theme song was self-referential from the opening line: “This is the theme to Garry’s show…”

The seeds of “Larry Sanders Show” were planted on Showtime in 1986 when Shandling hosted “The Garry Shandling Show 25th Anniversary Special,” a parody of a Johnny Carson-esque anniversary special. He starred and co-created “Larry Sanders Show” for HBO, set in the office of a fictional late-night talk show, with Dennis Klein. Shandling was nominated for 18 Emmys for the show and, along with Peter Tolan, won an Emmy for the series finale.

“The Larry Sanders Show” was said to have a lasting impact on TV comedy, influencing such series as “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” It cracked several “best of” lists, including Time’s 100 Best TV Shows of All Time. Judd Apatow was among the staff writers on the show who went on to become a major player in the industry.

Among his film and voice acting appearances were “Iron Man 2,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Dr. Dolittle,” “Zoolander” and “Over the Hedge.” The notorious flop “Town and Country,” in which he co-starred with Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton, was a big disappointment for Shandling in 2001.

Although the comedian hadn’t amassed many recent credits, he worked behind the scenes with numerous writers and comedians including Apatow and Sacha Baron Cohen, helping them hone their material.

NBC offered him $5 million to take over “Late Night” when David Letterman moved to CBS in 1993, but he declined. He was also offered “The Late Late Show” but declined to do the “Larry Sanders Show.”

He was also a formidable host, hosting the Grammys in 1990, 1993 and 1994, and the Emmys in 2000 and 2004.

Shandling was never married and did not have children.

Categories
Movies

Got to see 10 Cloverfield Lane this week and I loved it!!

Box office report: Zootopia threepeats as Allegiant opens to series low

The third installment in the Divergent series failed to live up to its predecessors, clearing the way for Zootopia to spend its third straight weekend at Number 1.

The Shailene Woodley-starring Allegiant opened this weekend to an estimated $29.1 million, earning just over half of what the original Divergent did. The first film adapted from Veronica Roth’s young adult series opened to $54.6 million in 2014, and last year’s Insurgent fell slightly for a $52.3 million opening.

That kind of drop off isn’t uncommon for movie series, and The Hunger Games, Lionsgate’s other YA franchise, performed similarly, but The Hunger Games only fell about 23 percent between Catching Fire and the first Mockingjay. Allegiant dropped by almost half, which isn’t a great sign for the upcoming final movie in the series. Like Mockingjay, Lionsgate chose to split Allegiant into two movies, with part two, Ascendant, hitting theaters on June 9, 2017. The last book in Roth’s trilogy was fairly controversial among fans, and the first part of the movie adaptation has been savaged by critics, earning a 10 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Allegiant also earned a B CinemaScore.

As for our box office winner, Zootopia continued to trample the competition, exceeding expectations once again and falling only 26 percent for a third weekend of about $38 million. So far, Disney’s animated adventure has earned an estimated $201.8 million domestically, and its global total currently stands at $591.7 million. Domestically, Zootopia has already surpassed other Walt Disney Animation Studios films like Tangled (which tapped out at $200.8 million) and Wreck-It Ralph ($189.4 million), and if Zootopia continues at this pace, it’s poised to overtake Frozen as the biggest non-Pixar animated Disney film of all time.

This weekend’s other major new release snagged third place, as the Jennifer Garner-starring Miracles From Heaven earned an estimated $15 million over three days and $18.6 million since it opened on Wednesday. Sony’s Affirm label has had success in the past with similar faith-based films like Heaven Is For Real ($22.5 million in 2014) and War Room ($11.4 million in 2015), and Miracles From Heaven now holds the second-biggest opening of all time for an Affirm film. Directed by The 33’s Patricia Riggen, Miracles stars Garner and Queen Latifah, and it earned an A+ CinemaScore.

Outside of the top five, The Bronze also opened in 1,167 theaters, earning only $421,434 for a dismal per-theater average of $361. That gives the Melissa Rauch-starring comedy the fifth-worst opening theater average of all time (for a new movie in at least 1,000 theaters).

The rest of the top five belonged to holdovers 10 Cloverfield Lane and Deadpool. 10 Cloverfield Lane managed to hold off the traditionally steep second weekend drop for horror movies, falling only 49 percent for $12.5 million. Through Sunday, its domestic total now sits at $45.2 million.

Deadpool also added another $8 million in its sixth weekend for a domestic total of $340.9 million. The Ryan Reynolds-starring superhero flick is now less than $10 million away from overtaking American Sniper ($350.1 million) to become the second biggest R-rated movie of all time. (The Passion of the Christ still stands at No. 1 with $370.8 million.)

Jeff Nichols’ sci-fi adventure Midnight Special, starring Michael Shannon and Joel Edgerton, also had a solid opening of $185,000 in five theaters for a location average of $37,000.

Here are this weekend’s top five at the box office:

1. Zootopia — $38 million
2. The Divergent Series: Allegiant — $29.1 million
3. Miracles From Heaven — $15 million
4. 10 Cloverfield Lane — $12.5 million
5. Deadpool — $8 million

Categories
Business

This is the business of music.

Paul McCartney is re-acquiring The Beatles’ catalog

Paul McCartney has begun the process of re-acquiring The Beatles’ catalog three decades after it was purchased by Michael Jackson.

As Billboard explains, the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 affords songwriters the ability to reclaim the publishers’ share of their songs. Of those songs written before 1978, songwriters can reclaim them after 56 years. The Lennon-McCartney catalog will qualify beginning in 2018.

“In order to reclaim publishing ownership of a song,” Billboard notes, “a songwriter must file with the U.S. Copyright Office, terminating the publishing anywhere from 2 to 10 years before the 56 years elapse, in order to obtain ownership of that song’s publishing in a timely manner.” Billboard reports that McCartney filed a termination notice for 32 Lennon-McCartney songs on December 15th, 2015.

McCartney is eligible to reclaim only his half of the Lennon-McCartney compositions, and only in the United States. In 2009, Yoko Ono agreed to a deal with Sony/ATV giving the company ownership of John Lennon’s half for the life of the copyright (70 years after the death of McCartney).

Incredibly, McCartney has never before owned the rights to a majority of the music he wrote as a member of The Beatles. The compositions were originally owned by Northern Songs, the publishing company established by Beatles manager Brian Epstein. Following Epstein’s death in 1967, Northern Songs was sold to ATV Music, despite efforts by McCartney and Lennon to purchase the company themselves.

In 1985, Michael Jackson famously purchased ATV Music after having a conversation with McCartney about the value of music publishing. McCartney considered Jackson’s purchase a betrayal of their friendship, as he knew of McCartney’s own desire to acquire the catalog. 10 years later, Jackson agreed to a merge ATV with Sony, relinquishing half of his stack in the process. Sony acquired the remaining 50% from Jackson’s estate earlier this month.

Categories
Books

Nope, I’m not the Dan that he’s referring to. I wish!!

Purple reign: Prince announces he’s writing memoir

NEW YORK — Prince has been pretty prolific in the studio lately, but the pop veteran is apparently finding time to write a memoir.

It was announced Friday that Spiegel & Grau, an imprint of Random House, had acquired the book. And Prince shared the news himself at a Manhattan club that night, telling the crowd, “The good people at Random House made me an offer I can’t refuse.”

Prince revealed that the working title for the book is The Beautiful Ones. A person he referred to as “my brother Dan” is “helping me with it,” he added, “and he’s a good critic…He’s not a ‘yes’ man at all.”

A press release describes the memoir as “an unconventional and poetic journey through (Prince’s) life and creative work — from the family that shaped him and the people, places, and ideas that fired his creative imagination, to the stories behind the music that changed the world.”

The book will be published in fall 2017.

Categories
Bruuuuuuuuce!!

Bruce rocks!!

Bruce Springsteen wrote a rockin’ tardy note for a 9-year-old superfan

Nine-year-old Xabi Glovsky was a little late to school on Wednesday, but that was nothing a tardy note from Bruce Springsteen couldn’t solve.

Springsteen, who is infamous for his lengthy shows, noticed Xabi and his dad holding a sign in the crowd during his Los Angeles show last Tuesday.

SEE ALSO: Watch Bruce Springsteen dance with a 91-year-old grandma
“Bruce, I will be late to school tomorrow. Please sign my note :),” the sign read.

Later, Xabi and his dad got to meet Springsteen backstage — after a 35-song set, naturally.

And not only did The Boss sign Xabi’s note, he also wrote it. The whole thing.

“Dear Ms. Jackson, Xabi has been out very late rocking & rolling. Please excuse him if he is tardy,” Springsteen wrote. He signed the note with a flourish — we’re sure Ms. Jackson was very impressed.

This isn’t the first time a kid has needed a tardy note after a Springsteen show, though it seems to be the first time Springsteen has stepped in to write the note himself.

If The Boss wants to keep having 35-song concerts on school nights, this might be a practice he should continue.

Categories
Music

I sure hope that we don’t.

Don Henley on Future of the Eagles: ‘I Don’t Think You’ll See Us Performing Again’

Eagles co-founder Don Henley says the surviving members of the rock band won’t likely perform again following the recent death of his longtime bandmate Glenn Frey.

Henley, along with Eagle Joe Walsh and Jackson Browne, paid tribute to Frey at the Grammy Awards on Feb. 15, performing his iconic song “Take It Easy.” Henley described the touching performance as the Eagles’ “final farewell.”

“I think it was an appropriate farewell, he explained in an interview with the BBC, noting that the tribute almost didn’t happen. “I don’t think you’ll see us performing again.”

Frey, a founding member of the Eagles, died on Jan. 18 at the age of 67. He had been battling intestinal issues that caused the band to postpone its Kennedy Center Honours.

Categories
People

May he rest in peace.

Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake and Palmer dies at 71

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Keith Emerson, founder and keyboardist of the progressive-rock band Emerson, Lake and Palmer, has died. He was 71.

Emerson’s longtime partner, Mari Kawaguchi, called police to his condominium in Santa Monica, California, at about 1:30 a.m. on Friday.

Emerson had an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and authorities are investigating his death as a possible suicide. Kawaguchi told police that Emerson could have died anywhere between Thursday evening and Friday morning.

Emerson, drummer Carl Palmer and vocalist/guitarist Greg Lake were giants of progressive rock in the 1970s, recording six platinum-selling albums. They and other hit groups such as Pink Floyd, the Moody Blues and Genesis stepped away from rock’s emphasis on short songs with dance beats, instead creating albums with ornate pieces full of complicated rhythms, intricate chords and time signature changes. The orchestrations drew on classical and jazz styles and sometimes wedded traditional rock instruments with full orchestras.

Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s 1973 album “Brain Salad Surgery” included a nearly 30-minute composition called “Karn Evil 9” that featured a Moog synthesizer and the eerie, carnival-like lyric: “Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends.”

A musical prodigy, Emerson was born in Todmorden, Yorkshire in England. By his late teens, he was playing in blues and jazz clubs in London. He helped form one of the first progressive rock groups, the Nice, before hooking up with Lake and Palmer in 1970 and debuting with them at the Isle of Wight Festival, shows that also featured Jimi Hendrix and the Who.

Although it filled stadiums, ELP also was ridiculed as the embodiment of the pomposity and self-indulgence that rock supposedly stood against. When the punk movement took off in the mid-’70s, the band was a special target, openly loathed by the Sex Pistols’ Johnny Rotten among others.

Years later, Rotten (then calling himself John Lydon) and Emerson became friends, Lydon told News of the World in 2007.

“He’s a great bloke,” Lydon said. “I’ve told Keith in no uncertain terms that what put me off his band were those 20-minute organ solos and that film of their convoy of trucks crossing America.”

ELP broke up in 1979, reunited in 1991, later disbanded again and reunited one last time for a 2010 tour.

Throughout, Emerson continued to compose and perform, sometimes solo and other times with various musicians, including Lake.

Palmer said in a statement that Emerson “was a pioneer and an innovator whose musical genius touched all of us in the worlds of rock, classical and jazz.”

Steve Hackett, who was Genesis’ lead guitarist from 1970 to 1977, called Emerson a “great showman.”

“A lot of pop stars are there because they’ve got great hairstyles or could dance wonderfully,” he said. “But he was, above all, a fantastic musician, arranger and writer.”

Despite his influence, Emerson never considered himself a rock or pop icon and his true musical devotion lay elsewhere.

“At home, he listened to either classical or jazz. We never listened to rock,” Kawaguchi said.

“He hated being called rock star or prog-rock star…he wanted to be known as composer,” she said. “He never succumbed to being commercially successful. He had no interest. He always said: ‘I’m not a rock star. I’ve never been a rock star. All I want is to play music.'”

Kawaguchi said Emerson was able to compose without any instrument.

“He was just natural. The music was always in his head, always,” she said. “Even when he was sleeping, you know, I could tell he was always thinking about music. Sometimes he would wake up and compose music. And it was all so, so beautiful.”

Emerson had been composing and working with internationally known symphonies, including two in Germany and Japan, and was about to embark on a short tour in Japan starting on April 14 with his band, Kawaguchi said. His work included a classical piano concerto.

“All these people from the classical world were playing his music,” she said. “When he was young, he was using classical music for rock and now the wheel has turned and now the classical world is using his compositions.”

Categories
Movies

I hope to see 10 Cloverfield Lane this week.

Box office report: Zootopia takes No. 1 again

Once again, the top of the box office belonged to Zootopia, as Disney’s animated adventure pulled in a whopping $50 million in its second weekend.

After its massive $75 million opening (the biggest ever for a non-Pixar Disney animated movie), Zootopia held up even better than expected, falling only 33 percent in its second weekend and bringing its domestic total to an estimated $142.6 million — after only 10 days in theaters.

Internationally, Zootopia added another $83.1 million for a global total of $431.3 million. An estimated $56.5 million of that came from China this weekend, where Zootopia surpassed Big Hero 6 to become the highest-grossing animated Disney film of all time, as well as the third-biggest animated movie ever.

But while Zootopia maintained its claim to first place, four new wide releases also hit theaters, to mixed results.

The thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane had the best opening, posting an estimated $25.2 million in 3,391 theaters, easily earning back its mid-teens budget in just one weekend. Although producer J.J. Abrams has billed the top secret thriller as a “blood relative” to the original Cloverfield, 10 Cloverfield Lane didn’t reach as high as the first movie, which opened to $40.1 million. 10 Cloverfield Lane stars John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and John Gallagher Jr., and it earned a B- CinemaScore.

As for the three other new releases? They didn’t even manage to crack the top five. Even though the rom-com The Perfect Match opened in the fewest theaters (925), it fared the best among the new releases, earning $4.2 million for sixth place. Executive produced by Queen Latifah and starring Terrence J and Cassie Ventura, The Perfect Match follows a sworn bachelor who reconsiders his ways when he meets a mysterious woman.

The Young Messiah only pulled in $3.4 million in 1,761 theaters. The faith-based film, which follows the life of Jesus as a young boy, earned seventh place with an A- CinemaScore.

And even though The Brothers Grimsby opened in 2,235 theaters and earned a B+ CinemaScore, it only managed to scrape together a dismal $3.2 million for the weekend, making it Sacha Baron Cohen’s lowest opening ever and a far cry from other R-rated Cohen openings like 2012’s The Dictator ($17.4 million), 2009’s Bruno ($30.6 million), and 2006’s Borat ($26.5 million). Cohen stars in Grimsby as a football hooligan who teams up with his brother on a spy mission.

Instead, holdovers Deadpool, London Has Fallen, and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot rounded out the top five. Now in its fifth weekend, Deadpool added another $10.8 million to its box office haul, bringing its domestic total to a whopping $328.1 million. The Gerard Butler-starring action flick London Has Fallen also brought in $10.7 million in its second weekend for a domestic total of $38.85 million. And fifth place went to Tina Fey’s Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, which added $4.6 million in its second weekend for a domestic total of $14.6 million.

At the specialty box office, Eye in the Sky had a solid opening in five theaters, earning $117,050 for a per-theater average of $23,410. Gavin Hood’s war drama stars Helen Mirren and the late Alan Rickman, in his last film.

Here are this weekend’s top five at the box office:

1. Zootopia — $50 million
2. 10 Cloverfield Lane — $25.2 million
3. Deadpool — $10.8 million
4. London Has Fallen — $10.7 million
5. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot — $4.6 million

Categories
Television

Here’s your GoT Update!!

Kit Harington admits he’s in Game of Thrones season 6 (but still dead)

One Game of Thrones mystery has been solved ahead of season 6. Kind of.

The fate of Kit Harington’s Jon Snow has remained one of the biggest questions about what lies ahead in the HBO drama’s sixth season, and speaking with Time Out London, the star indicated he most definitely returns. But he’s coming back dead.

“I filmed some scenes of me being dead,” Harington said about the new season after previously denying a role in season 6.

“Look, I’m not in the show anymore. I’m definitely not in the new series,” he said before revealing he returns as his deceased character.

So Harington definitely returns for the new season, which is being heavily kept under wraps to the point that critics will not be receiving any advance episodes. And though Harington says he doesn’t “have a clue” about what happens in the new season or for how long he appears in the series as a corpse, his latest words are likely to do little to keep speculation at bay. Fans and critics alike will have to wait to find out exactly what happens when Game of Thrones returns April 24 to HBO. Though they can at least rest assured they’ll see more of Harington lying motionless for at least a few frames more.