This weekend’s box office is all about Disney/Pixar’s “Toy Story 4,” which opened on 4,575 screens to $47 million on Friday and is now expected to earn an opening weekend of $120-125 million, according to industry estimates.
While that’s below the $140 million projected by Disney before the weekend and well behind the animation record $182 million set by “Incredibles 2” last year, that figure would still stand as the third highest opening weekend of 2019 so far. It will also stand as either the third or fourth largest opening ever for an animated feature, depending on whether it takes the No. 3 spot from “Shrek the Third,” which opened to $121 million in 2007.
It’s also worth noting that the final opening weekend figure could be a few notches higher than current estimates, as Saturday and Sunday matinees could perform above current expectations thanks to the film’s sterling word of mouth. “Toy Story 4” has received near-unanimous praise from critics and audiences with a 98% Rotten Tomatoes score and an A on CinemaScore, matching the reception received in 2010 by “Toy Story 3,” which opened to $110 million.
With “Toy Story 4” estimated to account for 60% of all box office business this weekend, Orion/United Artists’ “Child’s Play” sits in a very distant second, grossing $6 million on Friday from 3,007 screens. It is currently estimated to open on the lower end of studio projections with $15-16 million.
The marketing for this horror reboot embraced its status as counter-programming to “Toy Story,” with spoof posters showing the killer doll Chucky killing off Woody and several of his fellow toys. The film is the first in the series done without creator Don Mancini or original Chucky voice actor Brad Dourif, but has received the highest Rotten Tomatoes score of any theatrically released installments since the 1988 original with 60% from critics. Audiences, however, weren’t impressed and gave it a C+.
In third is Disney’s “Aladdin” with $14 million in its fifth weekend, giving it a domestic total of $289 million. Completing the top five are Universal/Illumination’s “The Secret Life of Pets 2” and Sony’s “Men In Black: International,” both of which are currently estimated to earn $10.5 million this weekend. For “Pets 2,” the domestic total now stands at $117 million after three weekends, while “MIB: International” is falling 65% from its franchise-low $30 million weekend.
Lisa Marie Presley took to Twitter to share an epic family photo with her kids on June 20 and we can’t get over how much her 26-year-old son Benjamin Keough looks like his grandfather Elvis Presley!
The King of Rock and Roll is alive once again…in the form of his grandson! Elvis Presley’s only daughter Lisa Marie Presley, 51, posted a gorgeous black and white family photo on June 20 that showed her posing with her four kids, and her oldest son, Benjamin Keough, 26, is a spitting image of his late grandfather. In the gorgeous pic, curly-haired hunk Benjamin shows off his extremely similar features to the “Love Me Tender” crooner while standing next to his older sister Riley Keough, 30, who is standing next to mom Lisa Marie. Their younger siblings, twinsFinley and Harper, 10, are also standing and smiling in the photo. “Mama Lion with cubs,” Lisa Marie captioned the post along with some heart emojis, a lion face emoji, and a kissing face emoji.
Once Lisa Marie posted the adorable snapshot, it didn’t take long for her followers to reply with how in awe they were of how much Benjamin looks like Elvis. “Beautiful Mama Lion and beautiful cubs! Your son is a twin of your Dad! Nice family!” one follower wrote. “Elvis Jr.” another commented. “That boy looks just like Elvis!” yet another shocked follower pointed out.
This isn’t the first time Benjamin, whose father is Lisa Marie’s ex-husband Danny Keough, turned heads for looking like his very famous family member. Throughout the years, as photos of the private young man found their way on the internet, there’s been many comments on various sites about how his good genes definitely show in his handsome face.
In addition to living on in Lisa Marie and his grandchildren, Elvis once again proved his legacy is strong in the recent Elvis All-Star Tribute TV special, which aired in Feb, and featured some of today’s biggest singers, including Shawn Mendes, Carrie Underwood, Blake Shelton, and Josh Groban performing his biggest hits.
“The first night is always slightly wobbly,” Mick Jagger quipped as the Rolling Stones kicked off their 2019 No Filter tour at Chicago’s Soldier Field. But there’s “wobbly” and then there’s Stones wobbly—and stakes were high tonight. It was the Stones’ first show in nearly a year—their first since Jagger underwent surgery in April to replace a heart valve. So Mick was extra Mick tonight, as if maybe somewhere deep in that surgically reconstructed heart of stone, he felt he had something to prove. If so, he proved it. The show was a triumph for the World’s Greatest Rock & Roll Band, with Mick prancing all over the stadium in prime hip-shaking, troubadour-trapping fight mode.
The Stones needed to postpone their 17-date 2019 North American tour because of their frontman’s health issues. But barely two months after his procedure, a month shy of his 76th birthday, Mick dismissed any worries about whether he might hold back onstage. He already made headlines with his instant-classic post-op dance video, flaunting his undiminished moves in classic Mick mode: part clever sales pitch for the new tour, part narcissistic come-on. None of the Stones were holding back tonight.
The band didn’t come to waste time on frills—no special guests, not much chit-chat. They came to show off, on a chilly June night in Sweet Home Chicago, in front of a sold-out stadium full of 60,000 fans. (The house rules warned Stones fans: “No drugs, illegal substances, legal highs, nitrous oxide, psychoactive substances, etc.” Somehow, Keith Richards was allowed in the building.)
The show kicked off with “Street Fighting Man,” “Let’s Spend the Night Together” and “Tumbling Dice,” with Keith slashing away at his guitar while Mick scampered down his catwalk with evident glee. Ron Wood dashed around in Mick’s footsteps, ever the mischievous schoolboy. Even Charlie Watts couldn’t resist flashing a smile behind the drums. Mick’s moves all night had a defiant “told you so” vibe, coming back so soon after his heart surgery. You were worried whether this guy was in peak condition? Picture yourself moving like this on the best day of your damn life.
Keith and Woody just revealed their secrets of crafting the perfect Stones set list, but nobody would have guessed tonight’s weirdest pick: they busted out an excellent version of “Sad Sad Sad,” a long-forgotten Steel Wheels cut they haven’t played since 2002. Every night of the tour has a wild-card slot with a classic voted by the fans: tonight Mick announced the fans’ pick was “You Got Me Rocking,” a dubious electoral result to say the least. Even Mick had trouble making this claim with a straight face.
But the show really blew up into a Stones-worthy trip around the half-hour point, when the four core Stones gathered together on the B-stage for an acoustic set. “Angie” was an extremely welcome surprise, with Mick milking the sentimental resonance of the final question: “Ain’t it good to be aliiiiive?” “Angie” led right into the hoedown decadence of “Dead Flowers.” The moment felt like an unspoken tribute to the Stones’ fallen muse Anita Pallenberg, who died in 2017 after a lifetime of giving them hellacious trouble. (And inspiration—for the Stones, the two will always go hand in hand.)
After that, the energy never flagged: the show got frisker and better as it went on, with Mick earning his crown as Mr. Fever In The Funkhouse. He really let it loose during “Sympathy for the Devil,” sashaying and prancing and spinning and taunting the crowd with endless “tell me baaay-baaay, what’s my name?” squeals. He brought fresh intensity to the role of Lucifer, Prince of Darkness, as if he felt an urgent need to assure the crowd, “Hoo, and I cannot stress this enough, hoo.” The expanded band included keyboardist Chuck Leavell, vocalists Sasha Allen and Bernard Fowler and hometown hero Darryl Jones, who has held down the bass gig nearly as long as Bill Wyman did. (Mick introduced Jones as “the South Side’s finest!”)
Keith held center stage beside Charlie, the two of them all severe gravitas amid the Mick-and-Woody antics. Keith took over for his excellent showcase segment, announcing, “Good to be back. Good to be anywhere.” He did a rugged version of “You Got The Silver,” facing off with Woody on acoustic guitar and Watts’ brushed drums, then rocking out with a beautifully unrepentant version of his outlaw anthem, “Before They Make Me Run.”
The Rolling Stones kick off the North American run of their ‘NO FILTER’ Tour at Soldier Field in Chicago, IL on Friday, June 21, 2019 (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for RS)
The North American tour runs through the summer, wrapping up August 31st in Miami. But it makes sense that the Stones started by bringing it all back home to Chicago, just down the road a piece from the old Chess Studios on 2120 South Michigan Avenue. (When the Stones first toured America in 1964, they made a pilgrimage to the birthplace for so many of their favorite blues records; as Keith has said, they found Muddy Waters casually painting the ceiling.) Going for local humor as always, Mick joked about Chicago delicacies such as “Italian beef,” and introduced Ron Wood as “the Monet of the Magnificent Mile.” (Wood, a prolific dauber of canvasses rather than ceilings, has a new book of his painted Stones set lists, Set-Pieces.)
Mick played up the Cockney accent in “Paint It Black,” making it feel almost like an accidental elegy for David Bowie. “Midnight Rambler” became a showcase for each member of the band, with Mick’s gratifyingly vivid harmonica, stretching out into a snippet of “You Gotta Move.” For the final stretch they blasted through one crowd-killing classic after another: “Brown Sugar,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Start Me Up,” “Satisfaction,” a long and stormy “Gimme Shelter” where Jagger faced off with Sasha Allen over the sex-and-death groove.
But the surprise musical and emotional highlight of the night: “Miss You,” which the band stretched out into something longer, lonelier, more soulfully naked than ever before. Mick skipped up the catwalk and lingered there alone during the breakdown soliloquy, moaning the line “I wanna sing! I wanna sing!” over and over. You wouldn’t exactly say he seemed emotionally unguarded—this is Mick Jagger, after all. But he fleshed out all the grown-up divorce anguish in the song—an ode to middle-aged loneliness in the big city, a song Mick wrote in his mid-thirties, back when he figured that was as middle-aged as anyone could get. (He had no idea.) He didn’t back down from the emotion in the song, and didn’t make a camp joke out of it, either. He made it feel like a moment of doubt and pain—as vulnerable as he’s ever sounded.
Could it be that for a moment—maybe just a fraction of a flicker of a moment—the Rolling Stones wondered if they needed to prove they could do this? Maybe. But not bloody likely. Every moment of “Miss You” was the Rolling Stones at the top of their game—as was the entire show. Make no mistake, these guys were shamelessly showing off all night. They earned that.
Set List:
“Street Fighting Man”
“Let’s Spend The Night Together”
“Tumbling Dice”
“Sad Sad Sad”
“You Got Me Rocking”
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want”
“Angie”
“Dead Flowers”
“Sympathy for the Devil”
“Honky Tonk Women”
“You Got The Silver”
“Before They Make Me Run”
“Miss You”
“Paint It Black”
“Midnight Rambler”
“Start Me Up”
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash”
“Brown Sugar”
To justify the change Publisher Dan DiDio was quoted as saying ‘we’re returning to a singular presentation of the DC brand that was present throughout most of our history until 1993 when we launched Vertigo to provide an outlet for edgier material. That kind of material is now mainstream across all genres, so we thought it was the right time to bring greater clarity to the DC brand and reinforce our commitment to storytelling for all of our fans in every age group. This new system will replace the age ratings we currently use on our material.
With Jim Lee, Publisher, quoted as saying,
What we’ve done here is apply an ages and stages organizing philosophy that will strengthen what we’re already doing well, whether that is our move into the young adult and middle grade audience or our long track record of success with creator-driven pop-up lines. We will also continue to publish creator-owned projects, and will evaluate and assign to the appropriate label to help our fans find the best books for their interests. These new labels not only bring greater consistency and focus to our characters, but they also open up a wealth of new opportunities for the talent working on our books.
However, what I have been told is that this comes straight from the top. The previous new imprints were set up under the auspices of former DC President Diane Nelson and this is a way of undoing that. The new President Pamela Lifford, I am told, has a particular disdain for imprints. And reducing them to three, designated purely by age, is the minimum needed to get the job done.
Lots of people have looked to sales performance of recent Vertigo books to justify the change but they ignore the main aspects behind the decision – or that Vertigo sales are, mostly unreported and the estimated stats grossly underestimate sales. Ask a Vertigo creator to show you their sales report/royalty statements sometime.
Firstly, top talent deserting Vertigo after contractual changes imposed when Alan Horn was chairman of Warners, the loss of two figures most associated with the imprint Karen Berger and then Shelly Bond, and then the impact of Batman Damned putting every book at DC Comics under the spotlight for anything that might damage the DC brand, with Second Coming and SFSX (Safe Sex) being early casualties. And all this was fuel to the fire of President Pamela Lifford getting rid of what she saw as superfluous imprints.
So now we have three. And rather than imprints, they are to be regarded as age barriers, replacing the previous guidelines:
E – EVERYONE – Appropriate for readers of all ages. May contain cartoon violence and/or some comic mischief.
T – TEEN – Appropriate for readers aged 12 and older. May contain mild violence, language and/or suggestive themes.
T+ – TEEN PLUS – Appropriate for readers aged 15 and older. May contain moderate violence, mild profanity, graphic imagery and/or suggestive themes.
M – MATURE – Appropriate for readers aged 17 and older. May contain intense violence, extensive profanity, nudity, sexual themes and other content suitable only for older readers.
Which will now be thus:
DC Kids will focus on readers ages 8-12 and offer content created specifically for the middle-grade reader
DC, focusing on ages 13+, will primarily be the current DC universe of characters
DC Black Label will focus on content appropriate for readers 17 and older
So right away there is a bigger impact. A number of DC Universe regular titles are currently published as T+ – Teen Plus, appropriate for readers aged 15 and over. Upcoming titles for August and September includes The Batman Who Laughs, Batman Vs Ra’s Al Ghul, Year Of The Villain one-shots, Wildcats, Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy, Batman And The Outsiders, Flash Forward, Catwoman, DCased, Deathstroke, Event Leviathan, Freedom Fighters, The Green Lantern, Harley Quinn, Justice League, Justice League Dark, Justice League Odyssey, Martian Manhunter, Red Hood: Outlaw, Superman’s Friend Jimmy Olsen, Gotham City Monsters and Young Justice.
Those titles are either going to move to Black Label, or have their content toned down so that they are 13+ suitable. Batman Who Laughs, Batman Vs Ra’s Al Ghul, Wildcats, they could be Black Label. But the rest? No chance.
Halle Berry damn near returned to her home to find the locks changed and a strange man living inside.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... 59-year-old Ronald Eugene Griffin first showed up at an L.A. property owned by the actress in January and allegedly fiddled with the locks, but took off when he was approached by Halle's gardener.
A couple months later, in March ... cops received a trespassing call from workers at Berry's pad, who said Griffin was there with a locksmith trying to get in, claiming he was the new owner of the home and had the deed to prove it.
We're told he'd already managed to have one of the locks changed, and actually made a call to the police when he was confronted by the employees at the house. Yes, he was audacious enough to call the cops claiming ownership and pointing the finger at Halle's employees as trespassers!!!
According to law enforcement ... when police arrived Griffin maintained he was the owner of the house, but LAPD detectives quickly determined Griffin had fraudulently changed the title of the residence.
Halle told the detectives she had no idea who he was ... and definitely didn't give him permission to be at her home.
Griffin was later arrested and hit with a felony count of procuring and offering a false warranty deed and an additional count of petty theft. His bond's set at $36k.
Strangely enough ... we're told the guy didn't even know it was Halle's place. Just luck of the draw for her.
This isn't the first time Halle's had major issues with intruders. Back in 2011, she came home, walked in the kitchen and told cops, "As I opened my glass kitchen door and closed it behind me, all of a sudden I sensed someone behind me and turned to see the intruder standing less than a foot behind me, staring through my glass kitchen door." The guy was arrested.
A picture of Lisa Marie Presley's son channeling her famous father, Elvis Presley, has the internet all shook up.
Presley shared a rare family photo on Twitter Thursday with her four children – daughter Riley Keough, 30, son Benjamin Keough, 26 and twin daughters Harper and Finley Lockwood, 10.
"Mama Lion with cubs," she captioned the black-and-white picture of herself hugging her brood during a Los Angeles gathering for Riley's 30th birthday in late May.
But, it was one specific family member who caught people's attention.
Fans couldn't help but notice Benjamin's striking resemblance to his iconic grandfather Elvis Presley, the "King of Rock and Roll" himself.
Related: John Stamos and son Billy wear matching Elvis Presley jumpsuits in rockin' birthday photo
"Your son is a twin of your Dad! Nice family!" one user commented, while another added, "Very cool how your son has your Dad's traits and yours."
One fan wrote, "While your son is identical to your father, but then you are also!"
Earlier this year, Presley opened up about her past addiction to opioids and painkillers, crediting her children with giving her the "purpose to heal."
Presley wrote the foreword to Harry Nelson's book, "The United States of Opioids: A Prescription for Liberating a Nation in Pain." She revealed that she became addicted to opioids after her doctors prescribed them following the birth of her twins in 2008.
"I am grateful to be alive today, and to have four beautiful children who have given me a sense of purpose that has carried me through dark times," she wrote.
More: Arnold Schwarzenegger's son Joseph Baena re-creates his iconic bodybuilding pose
When Prince Harry began his relationship with Suits actress Meghan Markle, the royal was noticeably happier. The handsome prince was constantly smiling, his face beaming with joy, and when Meghan was by his side, his happiness reached an entirely new level.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle | Samir Hussein/WireImage
It was clear that Harry was genuinely in love, and suddenly Meghan became one of the most popular women in the entire world. Fans just couldn’t get enough. Everyone was waiting to see how their relationship would evolve. When the couple became engaged, the public was ecstatic, just bursting with happiness for the soon to be Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Ever since their marriage, however, it seems that Harry’s life is changing. While some may say that this is completely normal, others are pointing the finger at his wife. So, why does Meghan get blamed for everything in Harry’s life?
Is Meghan Markle really pushing out his friends?
Before meeting Meghan Markle, Prince Harry had a large circle of close friends. They were his buddies, as well as his close confidants. Since the royal wedding, it seems that Harry only has time for Meghan. Now that baby Archie is here, he is focusing on being the best dad he possibly can.
According to Meghan’s former friend, TV presenter Lizzie Cundy, Meghan has “pushed out” most of Harry’s friends in the short time that they have been married. Cundy also claims to have been “ghosted” by Meghan, seemingly cut out of her life after five years. According to Harry’s friend Tom Inskip, after advising Harry not to get married at all, he has been completely fazed out of the prince’s life.
Prince Harry has new priorities
It used to be that Prince Harry was always up for a good time with friends. He has been photographed outside of London nightclubs and at sporting events. He was always wearing a huge smile and appearing to be enjoying himself.
Since his relationship with Meghan began, and especially since announcing her pregnancy, many of his friends appear to have been shut-out of his life. But the fact is the Duke of Sussex has new priorities now, especially as a new father. His behavior is not unusual for a new father and husband who is trying to give his new family the attention that they need and deserve.
Meghan Markle has changed Harry for the better
Many royal fans can agree that Meghan has certainly changed Harry for the better. It used to be that scandals would manage to find their way to the prince. We can all remember incidents that he was involved in, such as a scuffle with a photographer outside of a London nightclub.
In addition, Harry was a pretty heavy drinker and smoker in his bachelor days. Since his marriage, Meghan has encouraged him to be healthier, eat better, exercise, and give up alcohol and cigarettes. It’s a pretty safe bet that we won’t see Prince Harry in questionable situations like we used to.
Why is Meghan always blamed for everything in Harry’s life?
We have to wonder why Meghan is always coming under fire for everything that goes on in her husband’s life. Some people may feel that Meghan is trying to change not only the monarchy but also trying to control Harry’s life altogether.
According to a royal commentator, Meghan always seems to take the blame simply because she is “different.” It would appear as though Harry will not stand for everyone placing blame on Meghan. He has made it clear that he plans to stand by her side no matter what.
Most people can say that they have never seen Prince Harry so happy. Clearly, the changes that Meghan has made in his life are having a positive impact.
