Fortnite's Next Big In-Game Concert Stars Ariana Grande - Kotaku
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Sunday, August 1, 2021
Jay Pickett, 'General Hospital' & 'Days of Our Lives' actor dies at 60 - Fox News
Soap opera actor Jay Pickett has died unexpectedly at the age of 60 while on the set of his upcoming film, Treasure Valley. The news was confirmed by the film's director and producer, Travis Mills.
"Many of you have already heard about the tragedy that happened two days ago. Jay Pickett, our leading man, writer, producer, and creator of this movie passed away suddenly while we were on location preparing to film a scene," Mills posted on the film's Facebook page on Sunday. "There is no official explanation for the cause of his death but it appears to have been a heart attack. Everyone present tried as hard as they could to keep him alive. Our hearts are broken and we grieve for his family who are so devastated by this shocking tragedy."
1960S CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST ROBERT MOSES HAS DIED
Mills said Pickett was an "incredible man" who was "kind, sweet, and generous."
"He was one of the best actors I ever worked with and it was an honor to collaborate with him. Everyone who met him, even for the briefest moment, could feel his warmth, his wonderful spirit. It is difficult to find the words right now to say more," Mills added. "His closest friends have said that he was very happy making Treasure Valley and my hope is that he truly was. He was doing what he loved: acting, riding horses, making movies. And he was magnificent."
One of Pickett's Treasure Valley co-stars, Jim Heffel, said in a separate Facebook post that he "lost a good friend and the world lost a great person."
"Jay Pickett decided to ride off into the Heavens," Heffel wrote. "Jay died sitting on a horse ready to rope a steer in the movie Treasure Valley in Idaho. The way of a true cowboy. Jay wrote the story and starred in it. He was also coproducer with myself and Vernon Walker. He will be truly missed. Ride like the wind partner."
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Pickett, who was born on Feb. 10, 1961 in Spokane, Washington, began his acting career in the 1980s with appearances on television series including Rags to Riches and China Beach. He is best known for his work portraying Frank Scanlon on Port Charles, Dr. Chip Lakin on Days of Our Lives, and Detective David Harper on General Hospital.
In addition, Pickett appeared on shows including NCIS: Los Angeles, Queen Sugar, The Mentalist and Rosewood, and starred in TV movies such as Inspired to Kill, 16 and Missing and The Perfect Student.
He is survived by his wife, Elena, and their three children.
Jay Pickett, 'General Hospital' & 'Days of Our Lives' actor dies at 60 - Fox News
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‘Jungle Cruise’ Sets Sail With $62M Global Theatrical, Faces Choppy Overseas Waters; ‘Suicide Squad’ Slays $7M In Early Debut – International Box Office - Deadline
Refresh for latest…: In its global launch, Disney’s Jungle Cruise grossed $61.8M at worldwide turnstiles. That does not include the “over $30M” that came from Disney+ in the day-and-date streaming release (which leads to $91.8M as Anthony has reported). In pure theatrical terms, the Dwayne Johnson/Emily Blunt-starrer performed ahead of expectations domestically, and came in vastly lower at the international box office compared to pre-weekend estimates.
While the $27.6M international start for Jungle Cruise is well below the $40M projected debut, even rivals today agree the film is facing several issues which include a changing overseas Covid landscape as well as strong local titles in some markets.
To wit: France is still getting used to the required health pass (or negative Covid test) to gain entry to cinemas. Jungle Cruise ended up No. 2 there (behind local adventure comedy Kaamelott) with $1.7M. Where Jungle Cruise excelled was the UK with $3.2M, although that was below Warner Bros/DC’s The Suicide Squad which opened early to $4.7M.
Watch on Deadline
The latter film went out in five overseas markets this session before it adds 64 more next weekend. In total, Suicide Squad grossed $7M during this frame.
In these uncertain times it’s important to take note of the various and varying situations around the world. Disney has been extra in the barrel this week because of the Black Widow/Scarlett Johansson issue, but does that translate to overseas audiences? Probably not. There is absolutely unquantifiable piracy going on each time a movie appears on a premium streaming service, and that is adding to a drag on box office overall. The strength of local movies is also a factor.
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‘Jungle Cruise’ Sets Sail With $62M Global Theatrical, Faces Choppy Overseas Waters; ‘Suicide Squad’ Slays $7M In Early Debut – International Box Office - Deadline
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Jennifer Lopez And Ben Affleck Continue Their PDA Tour By Making Out On A Naples Dock - Yahoo Lifestyle
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are continuing their summer of PDA—in Italy again. Per TMZ, the newly reunited couple was seen kissing on a dock in Naples, Italy, during their European yacht trip. TMZ says the yacht they’re on costs $1.1 million.
This is hardly the first time Lopez and Affleck have shared PDA on this trip. They recreated the butt-rubbing scene from Jenny From the Block, shared a public Instagram kiss on J.Lo’s 52nd birthday, and made out at a Nerano, Italy restaurant.
“They are having a beautiful trip,” a source told People. “They celebrated Jen’s birthday at a club last night. She looked gorgeous and very happy.”
They also wore peak summer outfits (a red striped bikini top and white culottes for J.Lo and a tie-dye Ralph Lauren polo for Affleck) while on their ultimate summer yacht trip. J.Lo added her gold “Ben” necklace to the look. The custom Foundrae charm necklace was a gift from Affleck to Lopez for her birthday.
“With the custom piece Ben created for Jennifer, it clearly communicated their love, but it's also a reminder of their capacity for change and growth,” creative director and co-founder Beth Bugdaycay told E!. “For example, one of the medallions he chose represents resilience, which we describe as wild, abundant, and untamed. The blossoms are fed with passion and continue to bloom, even in darkness, against adversity. But we can't separate the flower from its thorn. The thorn is the risk we assume for something we love, for living life fully without reserve.”
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Jennifer Lopez And Ben Affleck Continue Their PDA Tour By Making Out On A Naples Dock - Yahoo Lifestyle
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Disney Pulls ‘Jungle Cruise’ Into Weekend Port With $91.8M In Global B.O. & Disney+ Premier Spend - Deadline
Sunday AM Final: Jungle Cruise kept its ship together at the domestic box office over the weekend, and actually saw an uptick in Friday-to-Saturday grosses (when you back out Thursday previews of $2.7M) of +16% which puts the adventure film at $34.2M, an opening that’s not far from Dwayne Johnson’s pre-pandemic event film Rampage ($35.7M), and the biggest family film start during the pandemic to date. All in, add $27.6M in overseas box office and $30M+ in Disney+ Premier global spend and Jungle Cruise counts a first weekend’s worth of revenues of $91.8M. Similar to Black Widow, the bulk of Disney+ Premier spend, I understand, is coming from the U.S. as our market is more accustomed to making purchases on the Disney+ streaming service, while offshore markets are still adopting.
Beamed Disney EVP of theatrical distribution Tony Chambers, “We have delivered the No. 1 family film opening of the year and take great solace in that; one can’t compare the numbers to anything pre-pandemic. With great word of mouth and audience exits, we’ve exceeded our own and industry expectations.” Jungle Cruise was expected to open to $25M domestic; Deadline heard that global theatrical estimates at $65M.
Watch on Deadline
At a time when many might be worried that the delta variant is curbing business, and that families are staying home, Jungle Cruise‘s pure U.S. and Canadian theatrical ticket sales show –once again after Warner Bros.’ Space Jam: A New Legacy’s $31M opening– the demographic is willing to head out. Again, when we see such holds and successes in the face of dynamic windows, the question continually begged is how much more could Jungle Cruise have made this weekend at the domestic B.O. without Disney+ Premier blocking its path? Overall domestic theatrical weekend per Comscore for all movies stands at $76.7M, +9%. The gap between 2021 and 2020’s running comparative U.S./Canada B.O. is now -11% with the current Jan. 1-Aug. 1 period being $1.7 billion.
However, there are those in the industry this morning who are not impressed with Jungle Cruise‘s numbers. Again, blame the global pandemic and dynamic windowing. A $91.8M combined global theatrical and PVOD start are not the ingredients to profit off a tentpole with excellent audience exits which cost an estimated $362M in negative cost, distribution and marketing expenses. But then again, what is truly making money right now in the current global marketplace? At the end of the day, a simultaneous theatrical and PVOD window brings the streaming revenue forward in time. “There’s too much evidence that the model diminishes the aggregate streaming revenue as well as cuts into a movie’s theatrical gross,” one film finance insider tells us this morning.
There are some industry analysts who claim that those sitting on the couch to watch Jungle Cruise were never going to head to the movies anyway, but there is a looming concern out there by the business that the casual moviegoer is showing some doubt about returning to the cinema. There’s no worry about avid moviegoers going out to see movies now.
On the other hand, a sign that the offshore markets still aren’t back for Jungle Cruise: Rampage posted a $114.1M an international B.O. first weekend ($55M came from China then, which wasn’t in the mix for Jungle Cruise; the remaining balance on the giant ape movie debuted to $59.1M). Disney is all about global day-and-date launches which are hampered here because of territory closures and capacity restrictions, which is why the studio continues to argue their Disney+ Premier day-and-date theatrical model. We don’t know yet which future movies on the Disney theatrical slate will commit to the experimental model.
Despite being sued by Scarlett Johansson over crushing the theatrical and PVOD window on Black Widow, Disney will defend that by putting Jungle Cruise on its streaming service for $29.99 (versus $19.99 or lower), they’re trying to put a high price point so that they’re not directly competing with movie theater ticket prices which average around $10-$15 each. Counter that with the fact that a Disney+ Premier purchase for Jungle Cruise is the better bargain for a family of four. Or it costs absolutely nothing at home if the consumer is taking in the Disney pic over a pirated site.
Some have asked me why I’m comping Jungle Cruise to Rampage, a pre-pandemic title: Because in regards to pure domestic box office, we need to see where we are versus normal standards; it’s an indicator of whether we are in a state of recovery or not. Disney and Warner’s current experimenting with dynamic windows only clouds any signs of rebound. Note, it’s not prudent to comp Jungle Cruise to Rampage in weekend 2, the latter fell -44% without any event pic competition mid-April 2018 and Jungle Cruise is apt to lose its premium large format screens to Warner Bros.’ Suicide Squad next weekend. With avid moviegoers choosing the premium theatrical experience for tentpoles in their first weekend, and Jungle Cruise doing 25% between Imax and PLF, ticket sales are apt to decrease in weekend 2 without such additions for a movie title.
Meanwhile, Black Widow‘s weekend 4 at the box office is the lowest fourth weekend for a Disney-released Marvel title ever at $6.4M.
But going back to the pic’s theatrical success at least here in the states: Johnson is always a pro in championing his movies, and he kept fans in the loop about starting the recent press tour back on July 15 (see below). In fact, the campaign started way back pre-pandemic at D23 Expo 2019 with Johnson and Blunt arriving onstage in a custom-built La Quila boat and classic car. Marketing reignited in May with a new trailer, poster, and announcement of dual theatrical and Disney+ Premier Access release on July 30, exclusively revealed on Good Morning America. Johnson shared all of this on his social media handles to his huge following.
In the face of a pandemic, Johnson and Blunt bravely appeared at the Disneyland premiere for the film and even took a surprise ride on the Jungle Cruise much to the delight of fans (see below). Social media analytics corp RelishMix reports that that pic’s social media was massive “connecting Disneyland 29.7M into the mix along with Disney Studios 62.2M, Disney+ 11.8M, Disney Channel 21.9M for a total social media universe of 559.8M total which is exceptional in relation to family live action comps. Superfan channels on YouTube are also reposting cast junkets with a viral repost rate of 23:1 for the five owned trailers which exceeds the norm of 16:1 along with key performance indicators which popped from the Disneyland premiere event last weekend.”
The Rock’s social media pull across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter counts 333.8M which according to RelishMix reps 59% of the entire reach metric for Jungle Cruise along with the action star’s YouTube channel, with 5.6M subs, which dropped trailers including the No. 1 trailer from 17 months ago at 8.3M views. And while Blunt, and stars Jesse Plemons and Paul Giamatti are non-social, the Rock’s social powers mixed with Jack Whitehall’s 10.2M fans and Edgar Ramirez’s 5.2M fans picked up the slack.
After Focus Features’ Roadrunner, arthouses continued to see the light this weekend thanks to A24’s The Green Knight which opened to $6.784M at 2,790 theaters in the No. 2 spot. That’s a result that’s just ahead of the Oscar-winning distributor’s Midsommar which did $6.56M over the three days of the 2019 Independence Day weekend, and was a Wednesday opener. Green Knight played notably in upscale and hipster arthouses, i.e. Alamo Drafthouse had five of the top ten runs, I hear. The movie did well in big cities with cash coming from New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, DC, Seattle and Phoenix. A24 hung onto this David Lowery-directed, Dev Patel fantasy film throughout the pandemic, rather than relegate it to a PVOD release, and I’m sure they aren’t sorry. The pic cost under $30M, but I understand a majority of that production cost was covered by foreign sales. The pic is on a 20-day theatrical window.
Relish Mix says that a bulk of Green Knight’s near 45M social media universe before opening weekend came from 41.3M views on five YouTube videos which were re-dated from the pic’s original February 2020 drop of materials. In regards to chatter, “Conversations shout with excitement about the approach that A24 has taken to introduce the pic’s mythology with early calls for Oscars cinematography nominations as fans of Patel and Alicia Vikander await the release.”
The studio dropped a video which clocked 7.4M views on YouTube about the pic’s origins which is the 14th Century epic poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Always keen on connecting with Gen-X and millennials, A24 even created a real roleplaying game for Green Knight.
Last weekend’s pure theatrical releases, Universal’s M. Night Shyamalan Old and Paramount’s Snake Eyes took tumbles in their second weekends respectively with -60% and -70%. Old, which posted a drop on par with Shyamalan’s 2006 misfire Lady in the Water, was good enough to take No. 3 (some have it at No. 2) with $6.76M and a ten-day of $30.6M. Snake Eyes at 2,348 theaters made $4M for a ten-day tally of $22.2M. Again the lackluster results here strictly boil down to lack of interest in the IPs, as indicated by both pics’ sour audience exits last weekend.
In 5th place is Focus Features/Participant’s Stillwater which is coming in right where many expected with $5.1M in 5th at 2,531 theaters and 232 DMAs.
“We’re thrilled to see so many parts of the country, like the Midwest and the South, returning to theaters to watch Matt (Damon) in Stillwater. Those audiences came out solidly, which is promising for the weeks to come on the film,” said Focus Features President of Distribution Lisa Bunnell. As we told you yesterday, the movie which is partially set in Stillwater, OK where Damon plays an oil-rig worker, saw five out of its top ten theaters this past weekend coming from Oklahoma which is uncommon for the domestic B.O. Stillwater‘s top theaters over Friday and Saturday were 1.) Warren 14, Oklahoma City ($16k) 2.) the Carmelview, Phoenix ($10,4K) 3.) Broken Arrow, Tulsa ($10,1K), 4.) Tibbs, Indianapolis ($8,3K), 5.) Cinemark 17, Tulsa ($7,5K), 6.) Cal Oaks, LA ($7,2K) 7) Showbiz, Oklahoma City ($7,1K), 8) AMC Stillwater ($7,1K), 9) Estrella Falls, Phoenix ($7K) and 10) Cinemark West Plano ($6,7K).
Top markets for Stillwater included LA and NY with the most runs respectively 127 (7.1% of the B.O.) and 103 cinemas (4.2%). Phoenix, San Francisco, Oklahoma City, and Denver were above their normal market share with Oklahoma City continuing to be the most impressive placing 9th with only 17 runs. Best grossing region for the film was the South. Overall in rank the other top grossing markets were 3) Dallas (69 theaters, 3.9% of B.O.), 4) Phoenix (43 theaters, 3.3%), 5) San Francisco (56 theaters, 2.5%), 6) Houston (49 theaters, 2.4%), 7) Chicago (69 theaters, 2.4%), 8) Denver (47 theaters, 2.2%), 9) Oklahoma City (17 theaters, 1.9%) and 10) Atlanta (54 theaters, 1.9%).
This weekend’s top 10 chart:
- Jungle Cruise (Dis) 4,310 theaters, Fri $13.378M/Sat $12.2M/Sun $8.5M/3-day $34.2M/Wk 1
- The Green Knight (A24) 2,790 theaters (-25)/Fri $2.878M/Sat $2.17M/Sun $1.7M/3-day $6.78M Wk 1
- Old (Uni) 3,379 theaters (+24), Fri $2.1M (-70%)/Sat $2.65M/Sun $1.99M/3-day $6.76M (-60%)/Total: $30.6M/Wk 2
- Black Widow (Dis) 3,360 theaters (-890)/Fri $1.9M (-46%)/Sat $2.6M/Sun $1.9M/3-day $6.4M (-45%)/Total $167M/Wk 4
- Stillwater (Foc) 2,531 theaters, Fri $1.85M/Sat $1.92M/Sun $1.35M/3-day $5.12M/ Wk 1
- Space Jam 2 (WB) 3,501 (-501) Fri $1.34M (-57%)/Sat $1.67M/Sun $1.26M/3-day $4.265M (-55%)/Total $60.7M/Wk 3
- Snake Eyes (Par) 3,540 (+19) Fri $1.19M/Sat $1.6M/Sun $1.19M/3-day: $4M (-70%)/Total $22.2M/Wk 2
- F9 (Uni) 2,348 (-502) theaters Fri $760K/Sat $1.06M/Sun $830K/3-day: $2.65M (-45%)/Total $168.5M/Wk 6
- Escape Room 2 (Sony) 2,086 (-729) Fri $670K/Sat $860K/Sun $670K 3-day $2.2M (-37%)/Total: $20.55M/Wk 3
- Baby Boss 2 (Uni) 1,865 (-908) theaters Fri $400K/Sat $510K/Sun $390K/3-day $1.3M (-55%)/Total: $53.4M/Wk 5
Saturday AM Update: Typically these theatrical day-and-date in-home releases tend to be frontloaded, so it will be interesting to see if Disney’s Jungle Cruise goes off course tonight after posting a solid Friday of $13.378M which has predictions at a $32.5M opening. That’s a better-than-expected opening for the Dwayne Johnson-Emily Blunt film, and bests the former’s pre-pandemic debut of Skyscraper ($24.9M) and isn’t too far from the start of his 2018 Rampage ($35.7M). Jungle Cruise is also outstripping the theatrical 3-day of family pic Cruella ($21.5M) (granted, it was a largely female skewing title), which was also available in homes on Disney+ Premier for $29.99. Imax and premium large format screens are delivering around 33% of the gross; another indicator that when people go to the movies during the pandemic, they’re choosing to watch movies in the most platinum means possible. The best markets for Jungle Cruise was the West (nine out of the top 10 theaters were in the region), Midwest, and Southeast.
How much more does Jungle Cruise make on Disney+ Premier over the weekend (at a $29.99 price)? We’re expected to find out more tomorrow.
Despite being sued by Scarlett Johansson over their shake-up of the distribution model on Black Widow, I’m sure Disney is still unapologetic about sticking to a dynamic window here on Jungle Cruise in the face of the delta variant. Last night, Paramount unset their eOne title Clifford the Big Red Dog out of concerns for the lingering virus. Disney’s defense for day-and-date remains families’ hesitation to venture out while the virus is still around, giving consumers the option of when and where to see the movie. At the same time, that has some in the industry wrinkling their eyebrows at the conglomerate as Disney theme parks remain open; in fact they pushed the state of California greatly to ease their Covid restrictions so that Disneyland could re-open.
While the overall weekend box office remains low with an estimated $73.2M from all titles – though up 3% from last weekend, we’ll never know what a full box office recovery looks like, even in the face of the pandemic, until all this day-and-date experimenting ceases. There’s no doubt that we’ll close the gap between the 2021 and 2020 box office. Through last Sunday July 25, 2021, box office was running only 18% behind the Jan. 1-July 25, 2020 period with $1.55 billion.
Jungle Cruise did well with audiences earning an A- CinemaScore, which is the same Johnson received on Rampage and San Andreas. CinemaScore/Screen Engine audience exits on PostTrak were very good with 80% in the top two boxes and a 60% from the general audience, while kids under 12 enjoyed the Disney theme park-inspired pic even more with 87% positive and a 70% recommend. Males showed up at 52%, females at 48% with 52% over 25 with 34% under 17 years old. Diversity demos were 55% Caucasian, 18% Latino, 13% Black, & 14% Asian/other.
Universal’s M. Night Shyamalan movie Old will hold the No. 2 spot a second Friday of $2.09M (-70%) and a second weekend of $6.67M (-60%) for a ten-day of $30.5M, however, A24’s The Green Knight is coming in higher than the $4M expected with its Dev Patel fantasy movie The Green Knight with an estimated $6.58M at 2,790 theaters which earned a C+ CinemaScore. That’s par for the course with A24 on their edgy genre fare: win over critics (this title at 89% certified fresh) and divide audiences (but keep them discussing the film on the way home). Green Knight‘s start is right in the wheelhouse for A24: currently slightly ahead of Midsommar‘s 3-day of $6.56M (though that Ari Aster title had a 5-day debut). With a short window of 20 days, can Green Knight leg out and do a 4x multiple like Midsommar ($27.4M)? That would come as a wonderful sign for arthouses as they are hungering to do a pre-pandemic level of business. Green Knight hooked a great 18-34 demographic of 70%, with 62% over 25, leaning male at 62%. Those who showed up were 60% Caucasian, 19% Latino, 10% Black and 11% Asian/other. The David Lowery-directed movie played best on the coasts, and in big cities, and we hear that the Scotiabank in Toronto cracked its top ten theaters — a great sign for moviegoing in the Canadian cinema capital as it reopened just over two weeks ago. Green Knight made $2.878M yesterday (including $750K previews), which is higher than Midsommar‘s Friday of $2.2M.
Disney’s Black Widow is estimated to do $6.09M in weekend 4, -48%, for a running total of $166.7M in 4th place. For those keeping track, if that estimate holds up, it will be the worst fourth weekend ever for a Disney-released Marvel title after Ant-Man‘s fourth weekend of $7.9M. Typically, all Disney-released MCU titles post fourth weekends in the double digits, with the exception of Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp ($8.76M).
Focus Features/Participant’s Stillwater will crack the top 5 with a $1.84M Friday (including $280K Thursday previews) and a $4.5M estimated Friday-Sunday start at 2,531. Audiences weren’t wowed with a B- CinemaScore. PostTrak was awful at 63% positive, and a 34% recommend. Audience leaned male at 51% with older audiences coming out at 81% over 25, 46% over 35, and 36% over 45 years old. Diversity demos were 66% White, 17% Latino, 8% Black, & 9% Asian/other. Stillwater played best in the Midwest and South with five of its top ten runs coming from Oklahoma; which rarely pops at the box office. Best numbers were in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Dallas and Houston.
Top 5 estimates for the weekend of July 30-Aug. 1
- Jungle Cruise (Dis) 4,310 theaters, Fri $13.378M/3-day $32.5M/Wk 1
- Old (Uni) 3,379 theaters (+24), Fri $2.09M (-70%)/3-day $6.67M (-60%)/Total: $30.6M/Wk 2
- The Green Knight (A24) 2,790 theaters (-25)/Fri $2.878M/3-day $6.58M Wk 1
- Black Widow (Dis) 3,360 theaters (-890)/Fri $1.9M (-46%)/3-day $6.09M (-48%)/Total $166.7M/Wk 4
- Stillwater (Foc) 2,531 theaters, Fri $1.84M/3-day $4.5M/ Wk 1
Friday afternoon update revised: While the town is getting used to projecting Warner Bros.’ day-and-date theatrical and streaming numbers, Disney’s throwing a bit of a curveball: Remember, many box office analysts didn’t see the Friday-to-Saturday 41% collapse of Black Widow coming.
Warner’s theatrical titles in the home are free to HBO Max subscribers, whereas Disney+ subs have to pay an extra $29.99 to see Jungle Cruise. To date in the pandemic, we’ve had a greater number of Warner Bros/HBO Max movies vs. Disney/Disney+ Premier titles. In revised afternoon estimates, we hear the projection for the Dwayne Johnson-Emily Blunt pairing stands between $12M-$13M today, which could near a $30M 3-day at 4,310 theaters, the pandemic’s widest opening title to date. That Friday figure includes last night’s $2.7M. Again, take these numbers with a grain of salt.
Comparing to another Disney family film that’s on a dynamic window, Jungle Cruise‘s Friday is ahead of Cruella‘s first day of $7.7M. That movie over three days of a four-day holiday weekend wound up at $21.5M. Should Jungle Cruise‘s Friday remain high, it will also best the first day for a Johnson pic since 2018’s Skyscraper ($9.2M), which went on to do $24.9M — that’s without any competition from a home release.
A24 is looking to take No. 2 with its David Lowery fantasy The Green Knight headed toward an estimated $2.5M-$3M Friday, including $750K previews. At 2,790 venues, the pic could do between $6.5M-$8M.
Universal’s M. Night Shyamalan-directed genre pic Old is seeing a $1.9M Friday (-72%), $6M second weekend, -64%, for a 10-day of $29.8M in the No. 3 spot.
Disney’s fourth weekend of Black Widow is seeing around $6.1M, -47%, after a $1.8M Friday (-48%) on its way to $166.7M for No. 4.
Focus Features’ Tom McCarthy-directed drama Stillwater is looking at $1.4M at 2,531 for a 3-day of $3.5M, further down the charts.
Friday AM update: Disney is reporting $2.7M for its Dwayne Johnson-Emily Blunt family adventure movie Jungle Cruise from shows that began at 7PM. The film, which was delayed due to the pandemic, is also hitting Disney+ Premier at $29.99 today. In the wake of Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit against Disney for breach of contract on its failure to deliver an exclusive wide theatrical release on Black Widow, I hear that the Dwayne Johnson and his Seven Bucks camp have no intention of battling Disney for any anticipated loss of dollars on this day-and-date release on the Jaume Collet-Serra-directed movie; the action star’s camp was in lock-step with the Mouse House when the announcement was made to deliver the pic to a global audience everywhere at a time when certain offshore theatrical markets (like Southeast Asia) are offline due to Covid.
Jungle Cruise is looking to do $25M this weekend, with another $40M from international territories for $65M WW at the box office.
In regards to pandemic box office numbers, and in particular Disney+ Premier-box office releases, Jungle Cruise bested the Thursday night of Cruella which did $1.4M. Note these latest experiments by Disney have roughly an exclusive Thursday night window before they hit the streaming service at midnight Friday.
Jungle Cruise‘s Thursday night is ahead of Johnson’s 2018 Skyscraper which wasn’t a high for him at the B.O.; that pic doing a $1.95M in previews at 2,950 theaters off 7PM showtimes before posting a $9.2M Friday, $24.9M 3-day. The pic finaled at $68.4M in U.S./Canada. Jungle Cruise is also ahead of Rock’s New Line/Warner Bros’ Rampage which made $2.4M on its first Thursday. That translated into a pre-pandemic 2018 Friday of $11.5M, and a $35.7M 3-day.
Disney is expected to report first weekend global PVOD numbers on Jungle Cruise on Sunday AM. Black Widow‘s first weekend on Disney+ Premier was $60M. Add in $158M WW theatrical debut, and the first weekend global B.O. and Disney PVOD take on that film was $218M. Samba TV, which only clocks terrestrial Smart TV households in streaming viewership, reported a 10-day U.S. household viewership of Black Widow of 2M which translates into a PVOD gross revenue over that frame of $59.98M stateside. To date, at the domestic B.O., the Johansson MCU movie counts $160.6M.
A24’s Dev Patel fantasy movie Green Knight came up strong with $750K at 2,790 theaters. The NY-based indie distrib’s previous preview highs include Ari Aster’s Midsommar (which started on a Tuesday) with $1.1M and the filmmaker’s Hereditary which did a $1.3M Thursday. Green Knight has the best reviews of the weekend for a wide entry at 91% fresh. Jungle Cruise is down to 63% fresh. Green Knight was previously reported to do around $4M this weekend.
Focus Features’ Stillwater also held previews at 7PM yesterday making only $280K from 1,970 locations. The Matt Damon drama, which made it world premiere at Cannes, is at 70% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie is expected to do around $5M this weekend at 2,531 locations.
Universal’s Old was the No. 1 film throughout the week with a 7-day estimate of $23.9M at 3,355 theaters. The No. 2 movie? Black Widow in its third week, which did $17.44M at 4,250.
Disney Pulls ‘Jungle Cruise’ Into Weekend Port With $91.8M In Global B.O. & Disney+ Premier Spend - Deadline
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Lollapalooza music festival cancels DaBaby performance after homophobic remarks - NBC News
The Lollapalooza music festival cancelled DaBaby's Sunday night performance in response to the rapper's recent homophobic remarks.
Organizers of the Chicago event said in a statement on Sunday morning that the rapper's remarks were contrary to the spirit of Lollapalooza and that he had been removed from the lineup of the music festival's final night.
"Lollapalooza was founded on diversity, inclusivity, respect, and love. With that in mind, DaBaby will no longer be performing at Grant Park tonight," the statement said.
DaBaby, known for his hit song "Rockstar" and for being featured in Dua Lipa's "Levitating," made the homophobic comments last Sunday night at a music festival in Miami.
He asked members of the audience to shine their cellphone flashlights if they "didn’t show up today with HIV/AIDS, any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that will make you die in two to three weeks." He then made other crude comments about gay men and women, according to a now-viral video.
DaBaby apologized for his remarks the following Monday, saying on Twitter that those living with HIV and AIDS have "the right to be upset" and that he had "no intentions on offending anybody."
Many celebrities and musicians condemned his remarks. Elton John said he was "shocked to read about the HIV misinformation and homophobic statements made at a recent DaBaby show" and Dua Lipa said she was "horrified" upon hearing what the rapper said.
Representatives for DaBaby could not be immediately reached for comment.
Lollapalooza music festival cancels DaBaby performance after homophobic remarks - NBC News
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Courage the Cowardly Dog Star Thea White Dies at 81 - ComicBook.com
Today, the Cartoon Network fandom is taking time to mourn the loss of a beautiful soul. Thea White, the actress who voiced Muriel on Courage the Cowardly Dog, has passed away. She had just turned 81 back in June.
The information was posted to Facebook by John Zitzner who shared a video of White shortly before her death. The clip, which was taken on July 25, came ahead of White's death on July 30 at 11:05 am. No cause of death has been shared, but Zitzner did note in their post that White had just had a surgery on July 28.
As you can see here, White is awfully cheerful in this video as she says hello to family. "Thanks to Susan Bookshar for recording this last Sunday, July 25 some 5 days after her first surgery. Wishing her family good times as some of us were in Chautauqua for a few days, contemplating she would join us later in the week. Her last breath was Friday July 30 at 11:05 am. 2 days after her second surgery," Zitzner.
For those who are unfamiliar with White, the actress is known for her work on Courage the Cowardly Dog. The actress, who was born in June 1940, grew up loving theater in New Jersey. She took that passion to the next level by studying at an acting academy, and she did various performances on Broadway. After taking a brief leave to celebrate her marriage, White returned to acting when she was offered the role of Muriel. She voiced the lady from 1999 to 2002 when the show ended. And most recently, White returned to the role in 2021 for Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog.
Our thoughts are with White's loved ones during this difficult time. May she rest in peace.
Courage the Cowardly Dog Star Thea White Dies at 81 - ComicBook.com
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