Bollywood celebrates rocking year, riding high on action flicks, unbridled masculinity and misogyny
Bollywood, Indiaโs Hindi language movie industry, made an impressive comeback in 2023 after a pandemic-driven slowdown, audience fatigue, and the streaming platforms taking away a big chunk of viewership.
โMission: Impossibleโ debuts with $80M over five days, igniting box office but missing expectations
After a globe-trotting publicity blitz by star Tom Cruise, โMission: Impossible โ Dead Reckoning Part Oneโ launched with a franchise-best $80 million over five days, though it came in shy of industry expectations with a $56.2 million haul over the three-day weekend.
Rihanna, Martin Scorsese hype Paramount movies at CinemaCon
Paramount Pictures, still riding high on the success of โTop Gun: Maverickโsโ nearly $1.5 billion in worldwide ticket sales, brought a slew of stars from Rihanna to Martin Scorsese to CinemaCon for its presentation to theater owners Thursday.
New this week: Brooke Shields, 'Grease' prequel and NF album
This weekโs new entertainment releases include an album from Michigan rapper NF, a two-part documentary about Brooke Shields on Hulu, and Kathryn Hahn portraying a character inspired by writer Cheryl Strayed in the series โTiny Beautiful Things.โ.
New this week: Mariah Carey special, 'Maverick,' 'Best Man'
This weekโs new entertainment releases include Mariah Carey in concert on CBS singing Christmas songs, a free stream of the beloved 1965 animated special โA Charlie Brown Christmasโ and megahit "Top Gun: Maverickโ lands on Paramount+ on Thursday.
'Elvis,' 'Top Gun' tie for box-office crown with $30.5M each
Baz Luhrmannโs Elvis Presley biopic โElvisโ shook up theaters with an estimated $30.5 million in weekend ticket sales, but โ in a box-office rarity โ โElvisโ tied โTop Gun: Maverick,โ which also reported $30.5 million, for No. 1 in theaters.
Back to normal? Cannes Film Festival prepares to party
After the 2020 Cannes Film Festival was canceled by the pandemic and the 2021 edition was scaled back โ even kisses were forbade on the red carpet โ the lavish French Riviera cinema soiree is set to return with a festival that promises to be something like normal.
Movies love a comeback story. This summer, it's their turn.
Hollywood is bringing out some of its biggest and most reliable players for the 2022 summer movie season, which unofficially kicks off this weekend with the help of Marvel and Disneyโs โDoctor Strange and the Multitverse of Madnessโ and runs through the end of August.
John Travolta selling $5M oceanic mansion with 20 bedrooms
FILE - In this Aug. 22, 2019 file photo, actor John Travolta attends the LA premiere of "The Fanatic" at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles. The Maine mansion that Travolta shared with his late wife, actor Kelly Preston, has been put up for sale. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)ISLESBORO, Maine โ The Maine mansion that actor John Travolta shared with his late wife, actor Kelly Preston, has been put up for sale. Built in 1903, the 10,830-square-foot home has 20 bedrooms and sits on a 48-acre estate along the ocean. Travolta became a Hollywood star in the 1970s and was nominated for an acting Oscar for his 1977 performance in โSaturday Night Fever.โ He was nominated again for his role in 1994's โPulp Fiction.โ
1st private space crew paying $55M each to fly to station
FILE - This photo provided by NASA shows SpaceX's Dragon undocking from International Space Station on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021. (NASA via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. โ The first private space station crew was introduced Tuesday: Three men who are each paying $55 million to fly on a SpaceX rocket. โThis is the first private flight to the International Space Station. Russia has been in the off-the-planet tourism business for years, selling rides to the International Space Station since 2001. Lopez-Alegria, a former space station resident and spacewalking leader, called the group a โcollection of pioneers."
Q&A: Clooney on 'Midnight Sky' and his twilight as an actor
โThe Midnight Sky,โ which Clooney directed and stars in, is an apocalyptic sci-fi drama with some striking solitude. Debuting Wednesday on Netflix, โThe Midnight Sky,โ based on Lily Brooks-Dalton's novel โGood Morning, Midnight," is Clooney's seventh film as director and his biggest scaled production yet. ___AP: You finished shooting โThe Midnight Skyโ in February, right before the pandemic began. AP: What drew you to โThe Midnight Skyโ? I know people who are older -- older than me, even -- who live with real regret.
On a mission: Tom Cruise insists on social distancing on set
FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020 file photo, actor Tom Cruise wears a face mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as he greets fans during a break from shooting Mission Impossible 7, along Rome's Fori Imperiali avenue. Tom Cruise has launched an expletive-laden rant at colleagues on the set of his latest Mission: Impossible movie after he reportedly spotted two workers failing to abide by social distancing rules. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, file)LONDON โ Tom Cruise has launched an expletive-laden rant at colleagues on the set of his latest "Mission: Impossible" movie, after he reportedly spotted two workers failing to respect social distancing rules. Many movies have either been delayed until after the pandemic is over or because of COVID-related delays on set, including the seventh instalment of the โMission: Impossibleโ franchise. During his outburst, Cruise notes the higher costs for insuring a movie in these times.
Worldโs space achievements a bright spot in stressful 2020
The European and Russian space agencies skipped the 2020 Mars launch window, their life-sniffing Mars rover grounded until 2022 because of technical issues and COVID-19 restrictions. Three weeks later, SpaceX launched its biggest cargo shipment yet to the space station for NASA. If the repairs work and the capsule finally reaches the space station, the first Starliner astronauts could be flying by summer. The actor was in talks with NASA this year about filming a movie at the space station. โWhatever else can be said about the four years of the Trump administration, they have been positive for the U.S. civilian space program,โ noted John Logsdon, professor emeritus at George Washington Universityโs Space Policy Institute.
Final goodbye: Recalling influential people who died in 2020
The world also said goodbye to U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement who died in July. Other former political figures who died this year include Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, New York Mayor David Dinkins, Arizona Gov. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2020 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___David Stern, 77. The guitarist who supplied the scratching, seething sound that fueled the highly influential British punk band Gang of Four. He fused African rhythms with funk to become one of the most influential musicians in world dance music.
Venice reclaims spotlight as 1st COVID-era film fest opens
Festival attendees cycle in front of the main cinema ahead of the start of the 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020. The 77th edition of the worlds oldest film festival opening Wednesday looks nothing like its predecessors. Italys strict 10-week lockdown largely tamed the virus, but infections are now rebounding after summer vacations. Guests to the glamorous film festival are not exempt. Italian films are well represented, including the first Italian opening-night film in years, the out-of-competition family drama Lacci by Daniele Luchetti.
Tom Cruise Once Crashed Kate Hudsonโs Party By Scaling the Fence to Her Parentsโ House
Tom Cruise knows how to make an entrance! I'm standing at the door making sure people who aren't supposed to be at the party aren't coming in," she recalls. "There's like 400 people in my parents' house, and I'm kind of freaking out a bit. "I see someone scaling, literally scaling, an eight-foot gate at my parents' house. I'm about to yell at this guy, and it's Tom Cruise!