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Barbie movie wins box office battle in US

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The Barbie film has become the US and Canada’s biggest film of the year so far, said distributor Warner Bros.

An estimated $155m (£120m) was made in its opening weekend, the company said.

Meanwhile, new release Oppenheimer – also out on Friday – made $93.7m (£72m) in the US, said Universal Pictures.

The features come at a time when cinemas in general are struggling as they lose out to competition from streaming.

Meanwhile, in the UK, Vue said both films had led to the cinema chain seeing its busiest weekend in four years.

Vue, which has 91 cinemas throughout the UK and Ireland, said it saw its biggest weekend in four years and second biggest weekend in history by admissions, with director Greta Gerwig’s Barbie on track to become the biggest film of 2023, ahead of Super Mario Bros.

The two films brought in half a million people to Vue screens, with 4,000 sold out viewings for Barbie across the UK and Ireland, the company said.

Vue added that its most popular sites for Barbie include Cambridge, Glasgow St Enoch, Leeds Kirkstall, Bolton, Islington in London and Bolton.

Oppenheimer’s plot is centred on the development of the first atomic bomb, starring Cillian Murphy and directed by Christopher Nolan.

Meanwhile, Barbie tells a coming-of-age story of the children’s character where she explores her identity and encourages friend Ken to establish individuality.

The two films were both released on Friday and the competition between them both was referred to on social media as “Barbenheimer”.

The opening weekend for Barbie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, has seen its ticket sales overtake that for the opening weekend of blockbuster Super Mario Bros, making Barbie the biggest film of 2023 so far.

Worldwide, Barbie’s debut took in $337m (£293m).

On Twitter, one user said that it had been years since she had felt like going to the theatres to re-watch a movie, but Barbie had achieved that for her. She said it would “remain a timeless masterpiece over the years – ideas really are forever”.

Before the films’ release, Odeon in the UK said more than 200,000 advance tickets had been bought and some 10,000 filmgoers were expected to see both the Barbie and Oppenheimer films during the opening weekend.

Meanwhile, Vue cinema in the UK reported on Friday that Barbie’s pre-sale purchases were “higher than any other blockbuster released this year”. Admissions on Friday were the highest for any Friday since the pandemic – and the chain’s third biggest Friday ever.

Universal Pictures said Oppenheimer had made £8.05m in the UK and Ireland since Friday.

It added that Oppenheimer was forecast to have a better opening three days than Christopher Nolan’s other blockbusters – space-themed Interstellar, war thriller Dunkirk and sci-fi hit Inception.

Earlier in July, stars left the premiere of Oppenheimer early because of strike action over grievances including the encroachment of artificial intelligence in the making and writing of Hollywood films.

The film made $93.7m (£75m) in international markets, bringing its global total to $174.2m (£135m), Universal Pictures said.

(BBC News)

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Rihanna reveals pregnancy at Met Gala

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Singer Rihanna has confirmed she is expecting her third baby while attending fashion’s biggest night of the year, the Met Gala in New York.

The 37-year-old cradled her bump and smiled for the cameras while appearing on the red carpet, which was navy with daffodils.

Rihanna, whose real name is Robyn Fenty, and her partner, rapper A$AP Rocky, already have two sons.

A$AP Rocky, also known as Rakim Mayers, thanked reporters who offered their congratulations on the red carpet.

“It is time to just show the people what we were cooking up,” he said.

(BBC News)

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Brazil police foil bomb attack on Lady Gaga concert

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Brazilian police said they thwarted a bomb attack planned for Lady Gaga’s concert on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday.

The Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro state, in co-ordination with the justice ministry, said suspects had recruited participants to carry out attacks using improvised explosives and the plan was aimed at gaining notoriety on social media.

The person responsible for the plan and a teenager were arrested, the police said.

Lady Gaga’s team said they learned about the bomb threat only from media reports the morning after the gig. A crowd of more than two million people gathered for the concert, which was free to attend.

Police said the group that planned the attack had been spreading hate speech, mainly against children, adolescents and the LGBTQ+ community.

The alleged mastermind was arrested for illegal possession of a firearm in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, while the teenager was detained for storing child pornography in Rio.

Those responsible were also promoting the radicalisation of teenagers, including self-harm and violent content “as a form of belonging and challenge among young people”.

A spokesperson for Lady Gaga told The Hollywood Reporter: “We learned about this alleged threat via media reports this morning.

“Prior to and during the show, there were no known safety concerns, nor any communication from the police or authorities to Lady Gaga regarding any potential risks.”

The justice ministry said the suspects had identified themselves as Lady Gaga fans, known widely as “Little Monsters”.

Police issued search warrants across the states of Rio de Janeiro, Mato Grosso, Rio Grande do Sul and Sao Paulo, and electronic devices and other materials were seized.

“Operation Fake Monster” was launched following a tip-off from Rio state police intelligence, which uncovered online groups encouraging violence among teenagers using coded language and extremist symbolism.

The concert was paid for by the city in an attempt to revitalise Rio’s economy, with expectations it could bring in $100m (£75m).

In a massive security operation, 5,000 officers were deployed and attendees had to pass through metal detectors. Drones and facial recognition cameras were also used to police the event.

Lady Gaga, who last performed in Brazil in 2012, took the stage as part of a tour to promote her eighth album, Mayhem.

The singer wore Brazil-themed costumes for some of her acts, with outfits inspired by the national football team.

“You waited for more than 10 years for me,” an emotional Lady Gaga told the huge crowd, holding out a Brazilian flag.

(BBC News)

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Trump says non-US movies to be hit with 100% tariffs

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US President Donald Trump says he will hit movies made in foreign countries with 100% tariffs, as he ramps up trade disputes with nations around the world.

Trump said he was authorising the US Trade Representative to start the process to impose the levy because America’s movie industry was dying “a very fast death”.

He blamed a “concerted effort” by other countries that offer incentives to attract filmmakers and studios, which he described as a “National Security threat”.

“It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has imposed tariffs on countries around the world.

He argues tariffs will boost US manufacturers and protect jobs – but the global economy has been thrown into chaos as a result, and prices on goods around the world are expected to rise.

Ahead of his inauguration, Trump appointed three film stars – Jon Voight, Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone – to be special ambassadors tasked with promoting business opportunities in Hollywood, which he described as a “great but very troubled place”.

“They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!” Trump wrote at the time.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick responded to the latest announcement, saying “We’re on it”.

The US remains a major film production hub globally despite challenges, according to movie industry research firm ProdPro.

Its most recent annual report shows the country saw $14.54bn (£10.94bn) of production spending last year. That was down by 26% since 2022, though.

Countries that have attracted an increase in spending over the same period include Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK, according to the report.

Even before this most recent announcement, the US movie industry had been impacted by the fallout from Trump’s trade policies.

In April, China said it was reducing its quota of American films allowed into the country.

“The wrong action of the US government to abuse tariffs on China will inevitably further reduce the domestic audience’s favourability towards American films,” the China Film Administration said.

“We will follow the market rules, respect the audience’s choice, and moderately reduce the number of American films imported.”

Trump has hit China hardest with his tariffs salvo, imposing import taxes of up to 145% on goods from there.

His administration said last month that when the new tariffs are added on to existing ones, the levies on some Chinese goods could reach 245%.

Beijing has hit back with a 125% import duty on goods from the US.

Other countries currently face a blanket US tariff of 10% until a pause on higher levies expires in July.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said he was meeting with many countries, including China, on trade deals.

He added, however, that he had no plans to speak with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this week – despite previous reports that Washington had approached Beijing about holding trade talks.

Asked if any trade agreements would be announced this week, Trump said that could “very well be”, but gave no details.

Earlier, Trump signalled he may be willing to lower tariffs on China.

“At some point, I’m going to lower them, because otherwise, you could never do business with them, and they want to do business very much,” he said in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press.

(BBC News)

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