Those dancing penguins proved resilient as Happy Feet topped the weekend box office for the second straight week with $37.9m gross, the 15th film of the year to go over the $100 million mark, followed by Casino Royale ($31m), Déjà Vu ($20m), Deck the Halls ($12m) and Borat ($10.4m), which also went over the $100 million mark in its fourth week of release. Industrywide ticket sales were off only a smidgen from the same weekend a year ago, when the blockbuster Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire fueled a huge box-office turnout. Year to date, box-office revenue is up 5.5% at $8.4 billion vs. $8 billion in 2005 and attendance has climbed 3.9%.
Meanwhile, the L.A. Times reports that Universal is getting cold feet over its $42.5 million commitment to Sacha Baron Cohen for his next project, a film based on his Austrian fashionista character Bruno here. The story says, despite the fact Borat has gone over the $100 million mark at the box office, the lawsuits engendered by the film for civil rights violations and the gay subject matter of the new movie could turn people off.
Jay-Z returned to his hometown for a sold-out show at the Howard Gilman Opera House at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. For the N.Y. Times take, go here.
To read veteran L.A. Times critic emeritus Robert Hilburn’s rather fawning profile of Interscope chief Jimmy Iovine, go here.
With nominations ready to be announced a week from Tuesday (12/7), the L.A. Times’ Steve Hochman looks into his Grammy crystal ball and sees definite noms for the likes of Bob Dylan, the Dixie Chicks, John Mayer, Mary J. Blige, Corinne Bailey Rae, KT Tunstall, Carrie Underwood, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and more. See his picks here.
The N.Y. Times’ Jeff Leeds contemplates the effects of AARP’s sponsorship of 80-year-old legend Tony Bennett’s current tour here.
MUSIC ON TV: Tom Waits on Letterman (CBS,
ON THIS
In 1964: The Beatles released “I Feel Fine” in the
In 1964: Mick Jagger was fined $18 for reckless driving in
In 1967: The Beatles released Magical Mystery Tour.
In 1969: The Rolling Stones played
In 1970: George Harrison released All Things Must Pass.
In 1971: Led Zeppelin IV entered the Billboard album chart at #36.
In 1981: The Allman Brothers Band and the Grateful Dead canceled a show at
In 1995: The Beatles’ Anthology I set a first week sales record, with 1.2 million copies sold in the
In 1997: A memorial service was held for the INXS’ Michael Hutchence in
In 2003: Billboard reported that the Rolling Stones' Licks tour was the second-highest grossing tour of all time, making a total of $300 hundred million dollars.
In 2004: Lil Jon got married in Fajardo,
THE NEW UMG
Gosh, we hope there are more press releases.
TIKTOK BANNED!
Unless the Senate manages to make this whole thing go away, that is.
THE NEW HUGE COUNTRY ACT
No, not that one.
TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN PLAYLIST
Now 100% unlicensed!
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