Box Office: ‘Cars 3’ Races Past ‘Wonder Woman’ to No. 1
This weekend featured a heated race between four new films that opened in wide release. As of Sunday morning, it appears some have fared better than others. The big winner is Disney and Pixar’s “Cars 3,” which is speeding to $53.5 million from 4,256 locations, putting it in first place. That’s a lower opening than “Cars” ($60.1 million) and “Cars 2” ($66.1 million), but still enough to win the weekend. The first two “Cars” movies combined have made more than $435 million in the U.S. and $1 billion globally. The “Cars” films are far from Disney and Pixar’s highest earners, but “Cars 3” is another example that even a decent opening for the duo is a victory in the big picture. The movie stars the voices of Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen and Larry the Cable Guy as side-kick Mater and also features of the voices of N.C. racing legend Richard Petty and his son Kyle Petty.
Livestreams, bad blood drive Katy Perry’s ‘Witness’ to No.1
After weeks of promotion, a 96-hour livestream and an attempt to end some bad blood with Taylor Swift, Katy Perry’s “Witness” made its debut atop the U.S. Billboard 200 chart on Monday, the singer’s third chart-topping album. “Witness,” in which Perry infused political themes into pop music, sold 162,000 albums, 51,000 songs and was streamed more than 19 million times in its opening week, totaling 180,000 album units, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.
U.S. top court turns away ‘dancing baby’ copyright case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a closely watched copyright dispute known as the “dancing baby” case over a company’s move to take down a home video posted online showing a toddler joyfully bouncing to the late pop star Prince’s song “Let’s Go Crazy.” The case pitted a Pennsylvania woman, Stephanie Lenz, against record company Universal Music Group (UMG), the Vivendi SA-owned unit that enforces Prince’s copyrights. She sued Universal Music Group after it directed the video-sharing website YouTube to remove a 29-second video she had posted in 2007 that showed her 13-month-old son dancing to the 1984 song.
Beyonce’s father confirms the birth of her twins in Twitter message
The father of pop star Beyonce turned to Twitter on Sunday to say his daughter was now the mother of twins, confirming earlier reports of the year’s most highly anticipated celebrity birth. “They’re here!” wrote Mathew Knowles in a tweet that included a digital birthday card that read: “Happy Birthday to the twins! Love, Grandad.”
Cosby deadlock makes task of finding second jury even more difficult
Now that Bill Cosby’s first sex assault trial has ended in deadlock, the difficulty of seating an unbiased jury for the famed entertainer’s retrial may have ratcheted higher, thanks to blanket media coverage of the sensational case, legal experts say. Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge Steven O’Neill has kept secret the names of the 12 jurors who spent 52 hours in an unsuccessful effort to decide whether Cosby, now 79, drugged and sexually assaulted Andrea Constand at his home in a Philadelphia suburb in 2004.
Lynyrd Skynyrd sues ex-drummer over movie about 1977 plane crash
Surviving members of Lynyrd Skynyrd have filed a lawsuit against the Southern rock band’s former drummer to halt the production of a movie depicting the 1977 plane crash that killed lead singer Ronnie Van Zant. Lead guitarist Gary Rossington, Ronnie’s brother and current lead singer Johnny Van Zant, and others contend that “Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash,” based on recollections of former drummer Artimus Pyle, violated a 1988 consent order governing the use of the band’s name.
Jack Black leads star-studded cast for ‘Jumanji’ reboot
U.S. actor Jack Black has some big comedic shoes to fill in his forthcoming project, which sees him take the lead role in “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” a star-studded reboot of the hit 1995 comedy that starred the late Robin Williams. Black said that he only watched the original film after being cast in the follow-up. He described Williams as a “genius” who was “at the peak of his powers” in the movie.
U.S. top court finds law banning offensive trademarks unconstitutional
In a decision that could benefit the NFL’s Washington Redskins, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday threw out a federal prohibition on disparaging trademarks as a constitutional violation in a major free speech ruling involving a band called The Slants. The court ruled 8-0 in favor of the Portland, Oregon-based Asian-American dance rock band, which had been denied a trademark because the government deemed its name disparaging to people of Asian descent. The Slants challenged that rejection as a violation of free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, and the Supreme Court agreed.
Actress Carrie Fisher had cocaine, heroin in system, autopsy shows
“Star Wars” actress Carrie Fisher had traces of cocaine, heroin and party drug MDMA, also known as ecstasy, in her system when she died suddenly in December, according to a full autopsy report released on Monday. The autopsy report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner could not ascertain what effect the cocaine and other drugs may have had on her system.
