‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ cashes in with a $220M debut weekend

By Jake Coyle The Associated Press

December 17, 2017 - 9:16 am

NEW YORK — “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” rocketed to a debut of $220 million at the box office, landing the second-best opening weekend ever in North America and slotting in behind only its predecessor, “The Force Awakens.”

The Disney blockbuster is only the fourth film to open above $200 million in North America. Aside from “The Force Awakens,” the others are “The Avengers” and “Jurassic World.”

Good reviews helped it. Rian Johnson’s sequel to “The Force Awakens” has a 93 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences endorsed it too, giving it an A on CinemaScore.

The weekend’s only other new wide release came from 20th Century Fox, the film studio that Disney on Thursday acquired as part of its $52.4 billion purchase of its parent company, 21st Century Fox. “Ferdinand” grossed $13.3 million.

This image released by Disney shows Nala, voiced by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, left, and Simb ...

“The Lion King” is back

By Jake Coyle The Associated Press

July 18, 2019 - 11:15 pm

The remakes have been a mixed bag offering some combination of modern visual effects, fresh casting andnarrative tweaks to catch up more dated material to the times.

‘It: Chapter Two’ trailer released at Comic-Con

July 18, 2019 - 1:33 pm

“It: Chapter Two” is not taking it easy on the grown losers’ club if the new trailer is any indication, and the shoot itself doesn’t sound much calmer than battling a demonic clown either.

Musician Common performs "Glory" from "Selma" onstage during the 87th Annual Academy Awards at ...

Rapper Common leads this week’s best bets in Las Vegas

July 18, 2019 - 1:32 pm

The rapper brings his “Let Love Have the Last Word” tour to The Smith Center’s Reynolds Hall on Saturday.

This image released by Sony Pictures shows Jake Gyllenhaal, left, and Tom Holland in a scene fr ...

‘Spider-Man’ does victory lap over ‘Crawl,’ ‘Stuber’

By Linsdey Bahr The Associated Press

July 14, 2019 - 10:42 am

“Spider-Man: Far From Home” is celebrating another weekend at No. 1, but non-franchise fare continues to struggle at the box office.

Ted Levine as Alan Shepard in "From the Earth to the Moon." (Anthony Neste/HBO)

Movies to help prepare for the moon landing 50th anniversary

By Christopher Lawrence / RJ

July 12, 2019 - 5:54 pm

From the Neil Armstrong biopic “First Man” to “Amazon Women on the Moon,” some of these are more helpful than others.

Director Jon Favreau poses during a news conference to promote his film, "The Lion King" on Jun ...

Actor-director Jon Favreau on his roots, roles and ‘The Lion King’

By C.L. Gaber Special to the / RJ

July 12, 2019 - 5:05 pm

Jon Favreau directs the remake of “The Lion King,” which could be one of the biggest box-office hits of the summer, with Beyonce, James Earl Jones, Donald Glover and Seth Rogen voicing the characters.

Denise Nickerson, Violet Beauregarde in ‘Willy Wonka,’ dies at 62

By Dennis Rudner / RJ

July 11, 2019 - 11:24 pm

Denise Nickerson, who portrayed the bratty, gum-chewing bloated Violet Beauregarde in the popular movie “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” has died.