Guilty pleasures
By NewsPress Now
‘Garfield,’ ‘Furiosa’ repeat atop box office charts as slow summer grinds on
It was a quiet weekend at North American movie theaters, dominated once again by Sony’s “The Garfield Movie,” Warner Bros.’ “ Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga “ and a slew of holdovers. Flipping the script from their Memorial weekend openings, the animated orange cat crept ahead of the wasteland warrior in their second outing.
“The Garfield Movie” earned a chart-topping $14 million in ticket sales while “Furiosa” settled into third place in a close race with “IF,” according to studio estimates on Sunday. Both “IF” and “Furiosa” are estimated to have earned $10.8 million, with “IF” getting the slight edge.
“Garfield” fell only 42% in its second weekend in North America. It also topped the global box office adding $27 million from international territories, bringing its running worldwide to $152.2 million. The animated pic featuring the voice of Chris Pratt will essentially have the market to itself until “Inside Out 2” arrives on June 14.
“Furiosa,” meanwhile, fell 59% from its first weekend, adding just under $10.8 million from 3,864 locations in the U.S. and Canada. That puts its running domestic total at $49.7 million and its global sum at $114.4 million against a $168 million production budget.
There were several new releases that opened on over 1,000 screens this weekend: Sony/Crunchyroll’s anime “Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle”; IFC’s horror “In a Violent Nature”; Roadside Attractions’ Diane Keaton-Alfre Woodard-Kathy Bates comedy “Summer Camp”; And Bleecker Street’s father-son drama “Ezra.” None managed to crack the top five, however.
Disney also released the well-reviewed “ Young Woman and the Sea,” starring Daisy Ridley as the first woman to swim the English Channel, but did not report its ticket sales. Likewise, Richard Linklater’s “ Hit Man “ is currently playing in select theaters around the country before it comes to streaming next week, but Netflix does not release box office numbers.
Second place went to Paramount’s “ IF,” with $10.8 million in its third weekend. John Krasinski’s imaginary friends fantasy starring Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming has now made over $80.4 million domestically and $138 million worldwide. Disney/20th Century Studios’ “ Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes “ landed in fourth place in its fourth weekend with $8.8 million. It has now made $140 million domestically and $337.1 million globally.
And the Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt action-comedy “ The Fall Guy, “ which is currently available to purchase at home, rounded out the top five with $4.2 million, bringing its domestic total to $80.3 million. Globally, the Universal release has made $157.9 million.
“Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle,” based on the Japanese high school volleyball series, made an estimated $3.5 million from 1,119 locations. The slasher “In a Violent Nature” opened to $2.2 million from 1,426 locations (a massive release for IFC Films and Shudder). And, “Ezra,” about a stand-up comedian (Bobby Cannavale) and his autistic son, earned $1.2 million from 1,320 screens.
The 2024 box office is struggling compared to both last year (down 23.9%) and pre-pandemic standards (down 42.2% from 2019 and 46.4% from 2018), according to data from Comscore. On this weekend last year, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” opened to $120.7 million while “The Little Mermaid” was still pulling in over $41.4 million in its second weekend. This year has yet to have any film open to over $100 million domestically.
While “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” had yet to storm theaters at this point last year, there had been several substantial hits including “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” ($1.36 billion global total), “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” ($845.5 million) and “Fast X” ($704.7 million).
“It should come as no surprise given the nature of this year’s trajectory that we are running this far behind,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “I understand why people are concerned about where this year is going, but it’s never too late to get things running again.”
“It’s a momentum business,” he added. “The attention right now is focused on what will be the big movie to get the summer moving in the right direction.”
That big summer movie could arrive in the form of “Inside Out 2,” which could open to over $85 million according to early projections, and propel other juggernauts like “Despicable Me 4” (July 3) and “Deadpool & Wolverine” (July 26).
Dergarabedian also noted that absent a big superhero movie, it’s the family-oriented films that have been resonating recently. They might not open to the biggest numbers, but as “IF” and “The Gafield Movie” have proven, they have staying power.
The top-grossing movie of this year remains “ Dune: Part Two,” which Warner Bros. released in early March and has made over $711 million globally. Its domestic take of $282.1 million represents 10.5% of the overall box office for 2024.
“Dune” filmmaker Denis Villeneuve over the weekend said that he was “disappointed to still be number one” while at the Canadian Screen Awards in Toronto where he was collecting an award.
“I hope soon that there will be other successes at the box office,” Villeneuve said, as reported by Yahoo. “I hope sooner or later that this summer box office will be much better.”
Rupert Murdoch ties the knot for the fifth time in ceremony
NEW YORK | Media magnate Rupert Murdoch, 93, has married for the fifth time, his corporation, News Corp, confirmed Sunday.
Murdoch and Elena Zhukova, a 67-year-old Russian-born retired molecular biologist, wed Saturday in a ceremony at his vineyard estate in Bel Air, California. Photographs of the newly married couple were released by News Corp. The couple announced their engagement in March.
Murdoch was most recently married to model and actor Jerry Hall. They were wed in 2016 and divorced in 2022.
Zhukova is the ex-wife of Alexander Zhukov, a billionaire energy investor and Russian politician. Their daughter, Dasha, was previously married to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who used to own the Premier League soccer club Chelsea.
Last fall, Murdoch stepped down as leader of both Fox News’ parent company and his News Corp media holdings. His son, Lachlan, took his place in a media empire that spans continents and helped to shape modern American politics.
In 1952, Murdoch inherited a newspaper in his native Australia from his father. Over decades, he built a news and entertainment enterprise that became prominent in the United States and Britain, including ownership of such notable newspapers as The Times of London and The Wall Street Journal.
Fox News Channel, the 24-hour network founded in 1996, has profoundly influenced television, becoming a popular news source among many conservative U.S. audiences and politicians.
Jennifer Lopez cancels summer tour: ‘I am completely heartsick and devastated’
NEW YORK | Jennifer Lopez has canceled her 2024 North American tour, representatives for Live Nation confirmed to The Associated Press.
“Jennifer is taking time off to be with her children, family and close friends,” they said in a statement.
The tour was to be her first in five years, in support of her first solo album in a decade, “This Is Me… Now” and its companion film.
The tour was scheduled to kick off on June 26 in Orlando, Florida, and conclude in Houston on Aug. 31. Live Nation shared that attendees who purchased tickets through Ticketmaster will be automatically refunded.
Lopez offered her own statement to fans on her OntheJLo website and newsletter, writing, “I am completely heartsick and devastated about letting you down. Please know that I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t feel that it was absolutely necessary.”
She continued: “I promise I will make it up to you and we will all be together again. I love you all so much. Until next time…”
“This Is Me… Now” was released early this year, 20 years after her hit album, “This Is Me… Then.” Lopez told the AP that the new album was a “miracle” and “a second chance. And I’d love to capture this moment in time the way that album captured that moment in time.”
Daughter of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt files court petition to remove father’s last name
A daughter of actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt filed paperwork to legally remove “Pitt” from her name on the day she turned 18.
Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt submitted a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court on May 27 to change her name to Shiloh Nouvel Jolie, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The third-eldest of the former couple’s six children was born in Swakopmund, Namibia, on May 27, 2006. The siblings also include Maddox, Pax, Zahara and twins Knox and Vivienne.
Shiloh, who performs as a voice actor in the film “Kung Fu Panda 3,” is the first of the siblings to file a petition for a legal name change, but some of the other children have dropped public use of their father’s last name in recent years, the Times reported.
Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt in September 2016 but the details of the divorce have not yet been finalized.
The actors, who were married in August 2014, have filed lawsuits against each other in recent years stemming from disagreements over their shared business ventures and property including a winery in France, the Times reported.
—From AP reports
