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Variety reports that ‘Halloween Ends’, the latest installment in the ‘Halloween’ film franchise, earned $41.3 million to finish at the top of the domestic box office in its opening weekend.  Halloween Ends — billed as the final showdown between Laurie Strode (played by Jamie Lee Curtis) and Michael Myers, became the first film since Jordan Peele’s Nope to debut above the $40 million mark.

Halloween Ends was also simultaneously released on the Peacock streaming service, and became the most-watched series or film of all time over a two-day period on Peacock. The movie amassed an additional $17.17 million internationally to push its worldwide box office to $58.42 million.

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Conservative social media app Parler said in a statement on Monday that Kanye ‘Ye’ West has agreed to buy the platform, this coming after other social media platforms suspended him in recent weeks over antisemitic posts. Parler is one of several right-wing-friendly social media platforms to emerge in the Donald Trump era.

Ye said in a statement released by Parler: “In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves.” Financial terms of the deal weren’t announced; Ye’s net worth is reportedly $2 billion, and much of his fortune comes from his Yeezy sneakers brand and partnerships with Gap and Adidas.  However, business ties between Ye and the Gap were severed recently, and Adidas said it’s also reviewing its business relationship with him.

Parler, which initially launched in 2018, was caught in controversy last year over the role it played in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol building. That led a slew of tech companies, including Google and Amazon, to blacklist the service, making its app and website inaccessible.  Apple restored the app on its App Store platform in April 2021, and Google reinstated the app on its Play Store in September,  stating the company changed some of its content moderation policies and enforcement.

Parlement Technologies CEO George Farmer said on Monday that the deal “will change the world, and change the way the world thinks about free speech. Ye is making a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again. Once again, Ye proves that he is one step ahead of the legacy media narrative. Parlement will be honored to help him achieve his goals.” Farmer is married to conservative activist Candace Owens, one of Ye’s advocates on social media.

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/kanye-west-buy-wing-friendly-parler-91617098

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Sydney Sweeney is set to star in a new “Barbarella” movie for Sony Pictures. Adapted from French writer and illustrator Jean-Claude Forest’s comic series and directed by Roger Vadim, the original 1968 “Barbarella” starred Jane Fonda as the space-traveling heroine. The film has garnered ‘cult film’ status over the years, with Barbarella widely seen as one of Fonda’s most iconic on-screen roles.

The new project for Sony is in early development, with no director, producer or writer currently attached; however Sweeney seemed to confirm the project through an Instagram post, sharing an image of original artwork from the original 1968 film with a caption: “time to save the universe.”

Sweeney has a slate of projects lined up with Sony Pictures — she is co-starring alongside Dakota Johnson in the Marvel Comics adaptation “Madame Web,” and will star in “The Registration,” an adaptation of Madison Lawson’s thriller of the same name. Additionally, Sweeney’s acclaimed performances in the first season of HBO’s comedy series “The White Lotus” and the network’s “Euphoria” earned her two Emmy nominations for both programs.

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20th Century Studios announced the ensemble cast of director Kenneth Branagh’s third film in the Hercule Poirot series based on Agatha Christie novels, titled “A Haunting in Venice.”  Branagh reprises his role as Poirot, with Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan, Michelle Yeoh, Kyle Allen, Camille Cottin, Jude Hill, Ali Khan, Emma Laird, Kelly Reilly and Riccardo Scamarico rounding out the cast.

The film – set in post-WWII Venice on All Hallows’ Eve – follows another mystery featuring the celebrated sleuth Poirot, and is inspired by Christie’s “Hallowe’en Party.” Branagh said of the new film: “This is a fantastic development of the character Hercule Poirot, as well as the Agatha Christie franchise. Based on a complex, little known tale of mystery set at Halloween in a pictorially ravishing city, it is an amazing opportunity for us, as filmmakers, and we are relishing the chance to deliver something truly spine-chilling for our loyal movie audiences.”

Production on the film will begin in November, with filming in London and location work in Venice. A Haunting in Venice will open in theaters nationwide in 2023.

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Michelle Yeoh and Pete Davidson have joined the cast of Paramount’s upcoming film Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts, based on Hasbro’s Transformers action figures. The latest film in a franchise chronicling the war between factions of alien robots, and will ‘take audiences on a ’90s globetrotting adventure, introducing the robot tribes known as the Maximals and Terrorcons to the existing battle on earth between the Autobots and Decepticons.’

Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback will lead the cast of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, set for release on June 9, 2023. Yeoh will voice the Maximal Airazor, with Davidson voicing the Autobot Mirage. Announcing the news today via behind-the-scenes videos with the actors in the recording booth was director Steven Caple Jr.: “Pete Davidson in disguise.  @transformersmovie cast is amazing, man. Sneak peek of Pete voicing Mirage & @michelleyeoh_official blessing us as the voice of Air Razor #rotb 2023.”

Yeoh will soon be seen in Avatar: The Way of Water and three more films in the James Cameron franchise, as well as Netflix’s The School for Good and Evil and The Witcher: Blood Origin.

SNL alum Davidson recently starred opposite Kaley Cuoco in Peacock’s rom-com Meet Cute, and will soon be seen in David Michôd’s A24 pic Wizards!, James DeMonaco’s horror-thriller The Home, Craig Gillespie’s Dumb Money and the Peacock series, Bupkis.

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Freevee, the streaming service backed by Amazon, has ordered a pilot for Jessica Simpson’s memoir, ‘Open Book.’  The half-hour scripted comedy will star singer/songwriter/actress Katelyn Tarver, and Fuller House’s John Stamos.

Open Book is described as ‘a propulsive, music-soaked coming-of-age story that is inspired by Jessica Simpson’s best-selling memoir.’  The show follows pop star Sadie Sparrow (Tarver) from her mid-20s rise from ingenue to mogul, introducing viewers to the family, friends and lovers she collects along the way.  Stamos will play Butch Thorn, a divorced former singer-songwriter and alcoholic with self-destructive tendencies who is attracted to Sadie, making things awkward when he realizes she’s the young pop star he’s been hired  to write songs with.

Simpson’s memoir sold half a million copies and was the highest-grossing memoir from a female entertainment personality in history at the time of its debut.  In 2020, Simpson signed a multimedia rights deal with Amazon which also included a series of short stories published by Amazon Original Stories. The next project from that deal — ‘Movie Star: They Always Say They’re Single — A True Story ‘— will debut in February.

Katelyn Tarver & John Stamos To Star In Amazon Freevee’s ‘Open Book’ Pilot Inspired By Jessica Simpson Memoir

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