Celeb News Aggregate
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Most moviegoers' mission Memorial Day weekend will be to see Paramount's "Mission: Impossible 2."
The PG-13-rated action adventure sequel -- known for short as "M:I-2" -- got off to a flying start with its Wednesday opening to $12.5 million at a record-setting 3,653 theaters ($3,422 per theater).
"It's a 37% first choice in the tracking," an insider points out, predicting blockbuster business for the long holiday weekend. Looking back, he adds, the original "Mission" was a 27% first choice when it opened, and last year's "Star Wars: Episode One -- The Phantom Menace" was a 43% first choice.
"M:I-2's" Wednesday gross compares very favorably to the original "Mission: Impossible's" opening day total of $11.8 million for Wed., May 22, 1996, at 3,012 theaters ($3,918 per theater). That gross actually included pre-opening Tuesday night preview showings as well
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News, April 21: Madonna's Label Loses Big Bucks, Kim Basinger Sells Engagement Ring, Cannes Releases Film Lineup
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HOLLYWOOD, Jan. 8, 2001 -- Those darn Muggles are just so serious about everything.
Drug paraphernalia was found at the movie studio where "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" is filming outside London, Warner Bros. confirmed to Reuters on Sunday.
No word on what exactly is the drug instrument in question. Warners Bros. issued a statement saying that the items in question were not found on, or near, any of the sets being used by the production. The studio also said that law enforcement was immediately notified after discovery of the paraphernalia.
MORE 'HARRY POTTER' NEWS: Reuters also reports that "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling is saying today that she plans to publish two special edition of the fantasy series aiming to raise $33 million for deprived children.
The two new tales are named "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" and "Quidditch Thro
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SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 25, 2000 -- Most moviegoers' mission Memorial Day weekend will be to see Paramount's "Mission: Impossible 2."
The PG-13-rated action adventure sequel -- known for short as "M:I-2" -- got off to a flying start with its Wednesday opening to $12.5 million at a record-setting 3,653 theaters ($3,422 per theater).
"It's a 37 percent first choice in the tracking," an insider points out, predicting blockbuster business for the long holiday weekend. Looking back, he adds, the original "Mission" was a 27 percent first choice when it opened, and last year's "Star Wars: Episode One -- The Phantom Menace" was a 43 percent first choice.
"M:I-2's" Wednesday gross compares very favorably to the original "Mission: Impossible's" opening day total of $11.8 million for Wed., May 22, 1996, at 3,012 theaters ($3,918 per theater). That gross actually included p
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Dinosaurs snapped back to life this weekend as Buena Vista/Disney's "Dinosaur" kicked off to nearly $39 million.
The PG-rated, computer-animated feature, which cut short the chart-topping reign of DreamWorks' "Gladiator," set a record as the year's biggest opening with an ESTIMATED $38.6 million at 3,257 theaters ($11,860 per theater).
"Dinosaur's" per-theater average was the highest for any film playing in wide or limited release this weekend.
"I think it's great," Buena Vista Distribution president Chuck Viane said Sunday morning.
Noting that some studios had estimated the picture as opening to even bigger numbers, Viane said, "I know some of my competitors have given me more credit than we're giving ourselves, but I'd rather see it than say it and then have to back off. If tomorrow (when actual weekend figures are released) it's a bigger num
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A "Dino"-mite opening by Disney's "Dinosaur" should cut DreamWorks' "Gladiator" down to size this weekend.
After its two-week box office reign, "Gladiator" should fall prey to Buena Vista/Disney's opening of its PG-rated computer-animated "Dinosaur" at 3,257 theaters.
"Dinosaur's" 21% first-choice tracking doesn't really tell the whole story, according to insiders. "It's just fine, because kids' movies don't track," says one executive.
Estimates by Hollywood handicappers of just how big "Dinosaur" will open range from a cautious $25-35 million to a really exuberant $35-40 million. Making projections even more challenging is the fact that a great many "Dinosaur" tickets will be sold at reduced prices to children.
"'Lion King' did $40.9 million in its opening weekend," explains one source. "Now, it opened the end of June. Kids were out of school
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SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 9, 2000 -- So he got to shoot on an island off Thailand for months, flying friends in for visits and soaking up an island paradise. But Leonardo DiCaprio, star of "The Beach," has one little quibble.
Says Leo to the British magazine The Face, "It truly bothered me ... that [Richard, DiCaprio's character] never had any kind of sexual contact with Francoise," a stunning Frenchwoman played by Virginie Ledoyen, with whom he does a little smooching and frolicking in the surf.
"The constant foreplay between the two characters never amounted to anything," the 25-year-old DiCaprio says. "And I really wanted something, whether it be complete and utter rejection or some sort of wild sexual encounter. ... It just had to happen." Well, it just goes to show that even the King of the World can't have it all.
SCANDAL SHEET: Vanity Fair