“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” tops North American box office for second week

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Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania led the domestic box office with a $32.2 million, despite suffering one of the worst second-week declines in recent years with a 70% drop from its stellar $105.5 million opening weekend. The Marvel film fell behind every other comparable in its second-weekend performance: 2015’s Ant-Man dropped 56% in its sophomore week, while 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp fell 62% at the same point.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania fell further behind in its second frame than other Marvel titles including Thor: Love and Thunder (-68%), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (-67%), and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (-63%).

Universal’s Cocaine Bear took second place with $23 million from 3,534 screens in its opening weekend. The horror-comedy surpassed expectations thanks to social media buzz created by Universal’s marketing campaign. Lionsgate’s Jesus Revolution brought in $15.52 million from 2,475 sites in its theatrical debut, with the film scoring an A+ CinemaScore rating.  Finally Avatar: The Way of Water finished in fourth place with $4.7 million from 2,495 locations in its eleventh weekend in release, brining its total to $664 million domestically . Avatar: The Way of Water is now the third highest-grossing film of all time globally with a worldwide total of $2.26 billion.

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‘Succession’ to end with Season 4 on HBO

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The Emmy-winning HBO drama ‘Succession‘ will end with Season 4.  Creator and showrunner Jesse Armstrong confirmed that the upcoming fourth season will be its final run on the premium cable network. ‘Succession‘ earned the Emmy Award for best drama series for both its second and third seasons. The cast includes Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Nicholas Braun, Kieran Culkin, Matthew Macfadyen and Sarah Snook, who have collected numerous wins among them.

Armstrong told the New Yorker that “there’s a promise in the title of Succession. I’ve never thought this could go on forever. The end has always been kind of present in my mind. From season two, I’ve been trying to think: Is it the next one, or the one after that, or is it the one after that?  I got together with a few of my fellow writers before we started the writing of season four, in about November, December, 2021, and I sort of said, ‘Look, I think this maybe should be it. But what do you think?’ And we played out various scenarios: We could do a couple of short seasons, or two more seasons. Or we could go on for ages and turn the show into something rather different, and be a more rangy, freewheeling kind of fun show, where there would be good weeks and bad weeks. Or we could do something a bit more muscular and complete, and go out sort of strong. And that was definitely always my preference.”

Armstrong then added: “I feel deeply conflicted. I quite enjoy this period when we’re editing — where the whole season is there — but we haven’t put it out yet. I like the interregnum. And I also quite liked the period where me and my close collaborators knew that this was probably it, or this was it, but hadn’t had to face up to it in the world. It’s been a difficult decision, because the collaborations — with the cast, with my fellow writers, with Nick Britell and Mark Mylod and the other directors — they’ve just been so good. And I feel like I’ve done the best work I can do, working with them. And HBO has been generous and would probably have done more seasons, and they have been nice about saying, ‘It’s your decision.’ That’s nice, but it’s also a responsibility in the end — it feels quite perverse to stop doing it.”

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Jonas Brothers announce five-show residency on Broadway

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Jonas Brother shared news of their five-night residency on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre in NY, taking place March 14-18: “Your boys are back in town 🗽 We’re coming to Broadway and playing the Marquis Theatre March 14-18!! Each night will be focused on a different album and we’ll be playing all the hits. Believe us when we say you won’t want to miss these shows… ! jonasbrothers.com

Each night’s performance at the Marquis Theatre will feature one of their albums in its entirety,  in its order of release, including: “Jonas Brothers,” “A Little Bit Longer,” “Lines, Vines and Trying Times,” “Happiness Begins” and the upcoming “The Album”, set for release on May 12th.

Jonas Brothers also dropped a new song titled “Wings” from their upcoming sixth album, “The Album.”  The Album” is the follow-up to the Jonas Brothers’ most recent release, “Happiness Begins” in 2019, which was their first new music in 10 years. Take a listen to “Wings”- here.

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Bebe Rexha will serve as headliner at the 2023 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards

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The 2023 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards have added Bebe Rexha as this year’s headlining performer. Bebe said in a statement, “I’ve always loved the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards! I can’t wait to perform and see who gets slimed.” 

The 2023 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, hosted by Nate Burleson and Charli D’Amelio, will be held at the Microsoft Theater on March 4, with the show airing at 7 p.m. ET.  Taylor Swift leads the list of musical nominees with six, with Harry Styles earning the second-most nominations with four, and Lizzo and Beyoncé are tied in third with three nods each.

Nick.com has the complete list of nominees, where you can vote for who you want to win this year. For more information, head to KidsChoiceAwards.com.

Bebe Rexha tapped as Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards 2023 headlining performer

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2023 SAG Awards: See the full list of winners

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The 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards were held on Sunday, steaming on Netflix’s YouTube channel, as well as on Twitter and Facebook.

The film “Everything Everywhere All at Once” walked away as the big winner of the evening – breaking records to become the biggest film winner in the history of the SAGs by sweeping nearly every category. Brendan Fraser earned best actor honors for his work in “The Whale,” while ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ co-stars Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan won for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor in a Movie, respectively.

In the television categories, the sitcom “Abbott Elementary” won the best TV comedy ensemble statue, while “The White Lotus” took home the best TV drama ensemble honor. Ozark’s Jason Bateman won for Best Actor in a Drama Series, and Jennifer Coolidge won Best Actress in a Drama Series for The White Lotus. Jean Smart earned the trophy for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for Hacks and Jeremy Allen White earned the honor for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for The Bear. Jessica Chastain won the statuette for Best Actress in a TV Movie or Limited Series for George & Tammy and Sam Elliott was named Best Actor in a TV Movie or Limited Series for 1883.

Andrew Garfield presented the ‘SAG Life Achievement Award’ to his ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ co-star Sally Field. Field earned nine SAG nominations throughout her career and won one for outstanding performance in a drama series in 2009 for “Brothers & Sisters.”

For the full list of winners, head to www.sagawards.org.

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ABC’s ‘The Goldbergs’ to end after 10 Seasons

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ABC’s “The Goldbergs” is ending after 10 seasons. The finale for Season 10 is set to air on May 3, and will also serve as the series finale. Series creator Adam F. Goldberg loosely based ‘The Goldbergs’ on his own childhood in the 1980s, with the cast of the show comprised of Wendi McLendon-Covey, Sean Giambrone, Troy Gentile, Hayley Orrantia, and Sam Lerner, with Patton Oswalt serving as the narrator.

‘The Goldbergs’ is currently the longest-running live-action network comedy on the air, but has dealt with controversies over the past few years. George Segal, who starred as Albert “Pops” Solomon on the show, passed away in early 2021, and series star Jeff Garlin exited the show later that same year following an HR misconduct investigation.

Series star and executive producer McLendon-Covey said in a statement: “It’s been an honor to be part of ‘The Goldbergs’ for the last decade. I’m really proud of what we accomplished with the show, and I’m so lucky to have had such a rewarding experience. I will miss my TV family and every last crew member. Thanks to our brilliant writers for giving us thoughtful story arcs year after year, and for being so collaborative. Thanks to the best EPs in the business. And thanks to all our fans (the Goldnerds) for being so sweet and supportive. My heart is full…But I definitely hope I never see another pair of shoulder pads for the rest of my life.”

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Ed Sheeran launches hot sauce line with Kraft Heinz

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The Kraft Heinz Company has unveiled their new collaboration with Ed Sheeran. The company and Sheehan co-created “the ultimate” hot sauce under the newly created ‘Tingly Ted’s’ brand name, which is available for pre-order now.

Sheeran, a self-proclaimed sauce fanatic, had already worked with Kraft Heinz on previous collaborations involving Heinz ketchup. He sought out the company to develop a hot sauce saying: “I love sauces, that’s no secret. But the older I’ve got, the more I love and need spice with every single meal. I travel a lot, so having a bottle in my suitcase wherever I go that can spice up any and every meal seemed like a good idea. I knew I didn’t wanna do a watery hot sauce, as they usually all get relegated to the same shelf of other random hot sauces. I wanted to make a sauce that took the same pride of place as ketchup. I had a year of whittling down the perfect flavors with a great mixing team, and we settled on two absolute belters. The Tingly and the Xtra Tingly. I’ve had them on tour with me recently to try them with all sorts of meals, and there really isn’t anything they don’t go with (except bananas, don’t do that) … I’m so excited to bring this product out, it’s genuinely something I use every day on all three meals. I hope you love them as much as I do x.”

Tingly Ted’s — named after Sheeran’s childhood nickname — comes in two flavors, and is made using red jalapeños and capsicum chillies. For more information, head to: www.tinglyteds.co.uk.

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The Weeknd and Ariana Grande team up for ‘Die for You (Remix)’

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The Weeknd and Ariana Grande have teamed up once again, this time on a new remix of his single from 2016, “Die for You.”  The Weeknd and Grande previously collaborated on The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears (Remix)” and Grande’s “Love Me Harder” and “Off the Table.”

The duo shared both the song and lyric video for the remix; the original “Die for You” appeared on The Weeknd’s third studio album, Starboy, released in 2017. He previously shared an unreleased music video for the song in November.

Take a look at the lyric video for Die for You (Remix) here.

The Weeknd Enlists Ariana Grande For New ‘Die For You’ Remix

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Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 16 years on rape conviction in L.A.

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Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 16 years in prison Thursday for a rape conviction in Los Angeles. The 70-year-old Weinstein was convicted in the Los Angeles case in December, three years after he was convicted at a sex crimes trial in New York City. Weinstein’s new sentence will run consecutive with the 23-year term given to him in his New York trial, giving him a total of 39 years behind bars in sex crimes convictions.

A jury found Weinstein guilty of three counts in the L.A. case, related to the accuser known as Jane Doe 1: ‘forcible rape, forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by foreign object.’  The jury found him not guilty of sexual battery by restraint involving a second accuser, identified as Jane Doe 2, and was unable to reach verdicts for allegations involving Jane Doe 3 and Jane Doe 4. Appearing in a wheelchair and a gray county jail uniform, Weinstein was allowed to speak during the hearing, where he proclaimed his innocence, accusing Jane Doe 1 of being an “actress” who can “turn on” her tears: “Please don’t sentence me to life in prison. I don’t deserve it. There are so many things wrong with this case. … This is a setup.”

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has said that Weinstein faced up to 24 years in the Los Angeles case. Weinstein’s legal team filed an appeal requesting a new trial, alleging that evidence was excluded about a romantic relationship between Jane Doe 1 and a witness that could have altered the jury’s decision. Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench denied Weinstein’s request for a new trial.

Weinstein was convicted in New York in 2020 of third-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual act for crimes against two women. Weinstein pleaded not guilty at both trials and has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex. In both trials, Weinstein waived his right to take the witness stand.

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Hugh Jackman and Coldplay’s Chris Martin to co-chair 2023 Global Citizen NOW summit

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Actor Hugh Jackman and Coldplay’s Chris Martin were announced as co-chairs for the Global Citizen Now thought leadership summit, taking place in New York City on April 27-28.  Organizers tweeted the event will feature appearances by “the biggest names in music, entertainment, philanthropy, public policy, climate activism and the corporate sector.” Among those confirmed to take part are Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission; Mia Mottley, prime minister of Barbados; Nana Akufo-Addo, president of Ghana; and Erna Solberg, former prime minister of Norway.

A press release reads that the two-day program is “focused on turning ideas into impact and driving urgent action to end extreme poverty NOW … convening the brightest minds and leading voices across all spheres of society, from world leaders to grassroots activists, Global Citizen NOW showcases the power of cross-sector collaboration to solve the most urgent issues facing humanity and our planet.”

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