Entertainment

Cruise outshines Oscars rivals as Academy readies for award show

Published

8 months ago

February 14, 2023

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Cruise outshines Oscars rivals as Academy readies for award show

Tom Cruise lived up to his billing as the “last true movie star” as nearly 200 of this year’s Oscar nominees gathered to celebrate — and size up their competition — at the Academy’s boozy annual luncheon Monday.

In a room packed with A-listers such as Steven Spielberg and Cate Blanchett, there was no doubt Cruise remained the biggest draw, with a crowd of wellwishers from Hollywood moguls to Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai lining up to greet him throughout the event.

Cruise is nominated this year as a producer of ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ in which he also starred. The film is considered a growing frontrunner for the best picture Oscar — Hollywood’s most prestigious prize.

“It’s been incredible… I just want to get people into theaters,” Cruise told AFP.

“But this is lovely,” he admitted, motioning to the Beverly Hills ballroom, packed with Oscar nominees and Academy voters, and kitted out with giant golden statuettes and open champagne bars.

The 95th Academy Awards will be held on March 12.

Academy voters this year handed out various nominations for box office smash hits such as ‘Maverick,’, ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ and ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ — raising hopes that Oscars TV audiences will pick back up.

“The awards gods have smiled on us — there’s nothing we can do about that,” joked Glenn Weiss, who is returning to produce next month’s Oscars telecast ceremony.

During her luncheon speech, Academy president Janet Yang also reiterated her wish to leave behind the “unprecedented” controversy of last year, when Will Smith infamously slapped Chris Rock live on the Oscars stage before being banned.

“What happened on stage was totally unacceptable. And the response from our organization was inadequate,” she said.

Smith was allowed to remain at the Oscars and accept his best actor prize after striking Rock, and was only later banned from attending the Academy Awards for a decade.

The Academy “must actively compassionately and decisively” in times of crisis, said Yang, to applause.

After lunch, the names of all 182 attending nominees, plus directors representing their countries in the international feature film category, were read out, and the nominees posed for the traditional, giant-sized “class photo.”

‘Everything Everywhere All At Once,’ a quirky sci-fi with a predominantly Asian cast which is many pundits’ tip for best picture winner, earned the most nominations this year with 11, and its cast received many of the loudest cheers on Monday.

“We paid them a lot of money to do that!” joked best actress nominee Michelle Yeoh, describing the indie film’s giant success as “a dream come true.”

Colin Farrell and Austin Butler, best actor nominees and stars of best picture rivals ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ and ‘Elvis,’ also drew raucous cheers from the luncheon crowd.

‘American dream’

Notable by her absence Monday was Andrea Riseborough, who controversially earned a coveted best actress nomination after an intense, last-minute social media campaign mounted by prominent celebrities.

But among the nominees present was Kazuo Ishiguro, nominated for writing the screenplay of British drama ‘Living,’ some five years after he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in Stockholm.

“This is very different… This is like some version of the American dream. So many people dream about being here,” he said.

“The Oscars are more like an election — there’s a lot more campaigning” than for other famous awards, he added.

His fellow Nobel prizewinner, Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, attended as an executive producer of ‘Stranger at the Gate,’ a short documentary about a US Marine veteran who plotted to blow up a mosque in his hometown.

“It’s surreal,” she told AFP after meeting Cruise. “I’ve seen him on the screen and now I’m seeing him in person.”

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Entertainment

‘Expend4bles’ opens with epic flop while ‘Nun 2’ claims top spot again at the box office

Published

2 days ago

September 25, 2023

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Expend4bles' opens with epic flop while 'Nun 2' claims top spot again at the box office

Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham weren’t enough to save “Expend4bles” from a debut box office flop. The fourth installment suffered the action-packed franchise’s worst opening weekend while “The Nun 2” took home the top spot for a third straight week, data firm Comscore reported on Sunday.

The Lionsgate and Millennium’s film, also known as “Expendables 4,” pulled in a mediocre $8.3 million for the big-budget project. It starred several popular names, including Stallone, Statham, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Megan Fox and Dolph Lundgren. It’s been nearly a decade since the franchise released a film, which opened with $15.8 million and eventually grossed $214 million globally.

But times have certainly changed, as the film barely placed second behind “The Nun 2,” a horror movie that earned $8.4 million in its first week. It’s been a solid start for that Warner Bros.’ project — a spinoff from the lucrative “Conjuring” franchise. So far, the Michael Chaves-directed sequel has grossed more than $69 million.

“It’s a star-studded franchise, but horror is a different situation,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “It just seems no matter what if you’re scared in the movie theater a couple times in an hour and a half or two, that’s worth the price of admission.”

In third, “A Haunting in Venice” earned $6.3 million. Kenneth Branagh’s third Agatha Christie adaptation, following 2017’s “Murder on the Orient Express” and 2022’s “Death on the Nile,” has drawn in over $25.3 million after two weeks.

“The Equalizer 3,” starring Denzel Washington, only dropped to fourth place with $4.725 million. In four weeks, it has grossed $81.1 million domestically.

“Barbie,” the biggest movie of 2023, is still carrying some momentum from the summer into the fall season. The Greta Gerwig box-office smash ranked in the top five, earning $3.2 million this week and a domestic total of more than $630 million after a 10-week period.

Sixth place went to “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3,” with $3 million, while “It Lives Inside” opened its first week with $2.6 million. The Sony film “Dumb Money,” a dramatization of the GameStop stock frenzy, stayed put in the eighth position for a second week in a row with $2.5 million.

“Blue Beetle” fell to ninth, with $1.8 million, and “Oppenheimer” rounded out the top 10 with $1.6 million. The Christopher Nolan film has garnered $321 million domestically.

In all, it was another slow output for box office figures as many Hollywood projects are still on hold due to the ongoing Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and Writers Guild of America strikes.

This weekend grossed the lowest since Dec. 9, 2022, Dergarabedian said. It was also the first time since the weekend of Feb. 10, 2023 to not have a movie earn over $10 million.

But Dergarabedian said a “spectacular October” could be on the way with the much-anticipated “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” concert film, “The Exorcist: Believer” and “Saw X.”

“Things are going to change next week or the weeks after when Taylor Swift hits the multiplex,” he said. “This is the natural ebbs and flow of the box office. That means one thing: We’ll be back to normal.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “The Nun II,” $8.4 million.

2. “Expend4bles,” $8.3 million.

3. “A Haunting in Venice,” $6.3 million.

4. “The Equalizer 3,” $4.7 million.

5. “Barbie,” $3.2 million.

6. “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3,” $3 million.

7. “It Lives Inside,” 2.6 million.

8. “Dumb Money,” $2.5 million.

9. “Blue Beetle,” $1.8 million.

10. “Oppenheimer,” $1.6 million.

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Entertainment

When will Saudi Arabia’s first cinema event take place?

Published

2 days ago

September 25, 2023

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When will Saudi Arabia's first cinema event take place?

First time in the history of Saudi Arabia, a cinema event is being organised on Oct 1 in Riyadh.

According to a media outlet, about 100 people will participate in this event titled “Saudi Film Forum.” As many as 50 important speakers will speak on the occasion and the event will conclude on Oct 4.

The media reported that this would be the first event of its kind in the kingdom to be held at the Boulevard City Exhibition Hall in Riyadh. The aim of the event is to transform the film industry into a major contributor to the Saudi economy.

Following the initiative, the film industry will be able to achieve sustainable and renewed economic growth by expanding investment opportunities and cooperation through exchange of experiences.

Renowned filmmakers, producers, directors, investors and international media persons will join the gathering so that they could ascertain the reality and future of filmmaking in Saudi Arabia.

Workshops and several other sections including Inspiration Zone, Innovation Zone, Interactive Activities Zone, Experiences Zone and Business Zone are also part of the event.

The media reported that Saudi Film Commission CEO Engineer Abdullah Al Ayyaf had described the forum as a major success for the film industry.

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Entertainment

Hamaima Malik’s photoshoot in pool attracts fans

Published

2 days ago

September 25, 2023

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Hamaima Malik's photoshoot in pool attracts fans

Fans of Humaima Malik are very much surprised to have a look of her recent photoshoot in the swimming pool.

The actor shared a few videos of the photoshoot in the pool with her fans on the Instagram. Her photoshoot invited a number of comments from the fans. Hamaima Malik’s unique pose in the pool is being loved by the fans.

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