'Avengers: Endgame' breaks all-time box office record

Agencies
July 22, 2019

Los Angeles, Jul 22: Superhero blockbuster Avengers: Endgame has officially become the biggest movie of all time, Disney confirmed Sunday, ending the 10-year reign of James Cameron's Avatar atop the global box office.

The epic finale to Disney-owned Marvel's 22-movie 'Infinity Saga' story-arc took in an estimated $1.5 million at home and abroad in its 13th weekend to bring its total since its April 26 release to $2.7902 billion.

Avatar, released in 2009, made $2.7897 billion, including its original theatrical run and various re-releases.

Marvel Studios and its parent company pre-empted the announcement on Saturday, revealing that Endgame was just $500,000 behind as of Friday, and would "close this gap by tomorrow."

The coronation of Endgame was timed to coincide with the appearance of Marvel president Kevin Feige at San Diego Comic-Con, the world's biggest pop culture fan convention.

"You have to shout out to James Cameron, who held that title for a long time," Feige said.

"If you adjust for inflation he still holds the title, and he'll probably get the title again as soon as he puts out another movie. But for right now... Avengers: Endgame is the biggest film of all time."

Both films are now owned by Disney following its takeover of 21st Century Fox.

Endgame drew a sky-high 94 per cent rating on the Rotten Tomatoes website and features a star-studded cast including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Bradley Cooper and Josh Brolin.

The fourth chapter in the team-up adventures of Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and company cost around $500 million to make, including marketing costs.

It set a new standard for Hollywood blockbusters in its opening weekend with stunning hauls of $357 million in North America and $1.2 billion worldwide.

Packed with spectacular fight scenes, special effects, gags and tear-jerking moments, it almost doubled the previous world record opening weekend take held by its predecessor, Avengers: Infinity War.

Among the many other superlatives thrown in Marvel's direction, Endgame was the widest release in North American history, showing on 4,662 screens in the US and Canada.

Disney co-chairman Alan Horn thanked "fans around the world who lifted Avengers: Endgame to these historic heights."

"Of course, even with the passage of a decade, the impact of James Cameron's Avatar remains as powerful as ever, and the astonishing achievements of both of these films are ongoing proof of the power of movies," he added.

Back on Earth, the roar of The Lion King rattled the cinematic world as the new Disney film scored a huge debut in North American theatres with an estimated $185 million for the three-day weekend, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported.

The Lion King, director Jon Favreau's update of the classic 1994 animated film, notched the biggest domestic launch ever for a PG-rated film, and an all-time record for a July release, the Hollywood Reporter said. Worldwide, the movie has passed the half-billion-dollar mark.

The film employs hyper-realistic computer-generated images and has a voice cast including Donald Glover as Simba and Beyonce as Nala, as well as Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor and James Earl Jones.

Well back in second place was Sony's Spider-Man: Far From Home at $21 million. The latest instalment in the blockbuster franchise picks up where Avengers: Endgame left off, with Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man atop a cast including Samuel L. Jackson, Zendaya, Jake Gyllenhaal -- and Favreau.

In third was Toy Story 4, taking in $14.6 million in its fifth week out while the fourth spot went to Paramount's Crawl, at $6 million.

The disaster thriller tells the story of a father and daughter (Barry Pepper and Kaya Scodelario) battling hungry gators after a hurricane hits their Florida town.

And in fifth was Universal's Yesterday, at $5.1 million. The sweet comedy is based on the entertaining if fantastic premise of a struggling musician (Himesh Patel) suddenly becoming one of the only people on Earth who remembers the Beatles.

Rounding out the weekend's top 10 were:

Stuber ($4 million)

Aladdin ($3.8 million)

Annabelle Comes Home ($2.7 million)

Midsommar ($1.6 million)

The Secret Life of Pets 2 ($1.5 million)

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News Network
July 14,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: Going down the memory lane, late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's close friend and actor Rhea Chakraborty recalled her memories with the departed actor as Rajput's untimely demise completed one month on Tuesday.

This marks the 'Jalebi' actor's first social media post dedicated to Rajput after his demise.

Chakraborty took to Instagram to post two pictures of herself with the 'Kai Po Che!' actor and complimented the post with a long emotional note.

She began the note by stating how she is "still struggling" to face her emotions and said that she will never come to terms with the actor's demise.

"Still struggling to face my emotions.. an irreparable numbness in my heart. You are the one who made me believe in love, the power of it," she wrote.

"You taught me how a simple mathematical equation can decipher the meaning of life and I promise you that I learnt from you every day. I will never come to terms with you not being here anymore," she added.

Terming Rajput as the "greatest physicist," the 'Mere Dad Ki Maruti' actor then recalled Rajput's passion for astrophysics.

"I know you're in a much more peaceful place now. The moon, the stars, the galaxies would've welcomed "the greatest physicist "with open arms," Chakraborty wrote.

Full of empathy and joy, you could lighten up a shooting star - now, you are one. I will wait for you my shooting star and make a wish to bring you back to me," she added.

Remembering the bond that she shared with him, Rhea wrote, "You were everything a beautiful person could be, the greatest wonder that the world has seen. My words are incapable of expressing the love we have and I guess you truly meant it when you said it is beyond both of us."

"You loved everything with an open heart, and now you've shown me that our love is indeed exponential," she added.

The 28-year-old actor ended the note by stating how she will love Rajput for a "lifetime."

"Be in peace Sushi. 30 days of losing you but a lifetime of loving you....Eternally connected. To infinity and beyond," she wrote.

Chakraborty and Rajput were close friends and were also set to share the screen space in the film 'Happy Anniversary.'

Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai residence on June 14. The investigation in the case related to Rajput's demise is currently underway for which Chakraborty was also interrogated by Mumbai Police.

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Agencies
July 8,2020

Washington D.C, Jul 8: Adding another feather to her cap, actor Priyanka Chopra on Wednesday announced that she has been chosen as the ambassador of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2020.

Priyanka has joined the list of 50 celebrated filmmakers and actors who are invited as the ambassadors of the TIFF.

The 37-year-old star put out a post on Instagram and shared a montage featuring snippets of her empowering addresses at the TIFF. Along with the video, Priyanka noted that the TIFF has been a second home for her.

She wrote, "Throughout my career TIFF has been a second home for me, with many of my films, as both an actor and producer, making their world debut at the festival."

Talking about the film festival that focuses on special stories and storytellers, the 'Dostana' star added, "TIFF has always been at the forefront of supporting and championing global content that showcases diversity and inclusion, a charge led by my friend @cameronpbailey and his talented team, who work with passion to shine a spotlight on these special stories and storytellers."

"Even more than that, one of the most exceptional parts of the festival are the fans of cinema who congregate to celebrate the magic of the movies, and who have always embraced me with so much warmth and love," Priyanka added.

She shared that she feels proud to serve as the ambassador to the festival and noted," I am very proud to serve as an ambassador this year, and I look forward to continuing a relationship that I value tremendously."

The esteemed film festival will be opting for digital screenings and virtual red carpets in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The festival is scheduled to kick off from September 10 to September 19, 2020. 

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News Network
February 12,2020

London, Feb 12: Oscar-winning British director Steve McQueen is returning to his art roots with a series of short films at London's Tate Modern art gallery, offering a sensory exploration of black identity.

McQueen, who became the first black director to win the best picture Academy Award in 2014 for "12 Years a Slave", is now based between London and Amsterdam and is focused on championing diversity in the film industry.

Visitors to his new exhibition will be greeted by "Static", a film of New York's Statue of Liberty, scrutinising the iconic symbol from every possible angle at very close range against a deafening backdrop of the helicopter from where the footage was filmed.

"What interests Steve is our view of the world, how humans are trying to represent Liberty," said Fiontan Moran, assistant curator of the exhibition.

"7th Nov, 2001" features a still shot of a body while McQueen's cousin Marcus tells of how he accidentally killed his brother, a particularly traumatic experience for the artist.

"Western Deep" is another visceral work, giving a sense through sights and sounds in an interactive installation of the experiences of miners in South Africa, following them to the bottom of the mine.

"Ashes", meanwhile, is a tribute to a young fisherman from Grenada, the island where McQueen's family originated.

The images of beauty and sweetness filmed from his boat are tragically reversed on the other side of the projection screen, which shows a grave commissioned by McQueen for the eponymous young fisherman, who was killed by drug traffickers.

African-American singer, actor and civil rights activist Paul Robeson (1898-1976) is honoured in "End Credits".

The film shows censored FBI documents detailing the agency's surveillance of Robeson, read by a voice-over artist, for five hours.

"He is... testing the limits of how people can be documented in an era of mass surveillance," said Moran.

In a similarly militant vein, the exhibition features the sculpture "Weight", which was first shown in the prison cell where the writer and playwright Oscar Wilde was imprisoned.

It depicts a golden mosquito net draped over a metal prison bed frame, addressing the theme of confinement and the power of the imagination to break free.

The show runs alongside an exhibition of McQueen's giant portraits of London school classes, many of which appeared on the streets of London last year.

"I remember my first school trip to Tate when I was an impressionable eight-year-old, which was really the moment I gained an understanding that anything is possible," said McQueen, adding it was "where in some ways my journey as an artist first began".

He recently told the Financial Times newspaper the difference between his art films and his feature films was that the former were poetry, the latter like a novel.

"Poetry is condensed, precise, fragmented," he said. "The novel is the yarn".

The exhibition opens on February 13 and runs until May 11.

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