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‘Fast X’ Speeds to No. 1; Knocks ‘Guardians 3’ to 2nd 

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Vin Diesel in a scene from "Fast X." (Universal Pictures via AP)
This image released by Universal Pictures shows Vin Diesel in a scene from "Fast X." (Universal Pictures via AP)
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‘Fast X’ Speeds to No. 1; Knocks ‘Guardians 3’ to 2nd 

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Vin Diesel in a scene from "Fast X." (Universal Pictures via AP)
This image released by Universal Pictures shows Vin Diesel in a scene from "Fast X." (Universal Pictures via AP)

The 10th installment of the “Fast and Furious” franchise was off to the races this weekend, knocking “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” out of first place and easily claiming the No. 1 spot at the box office. “Fast X” earned $67.5 million in ticket sales from 4,046 North American theaters, according to estimates from Universal Pictures on Sunday.

It’s on the lower end of openings for the series which peaked with “Furious 7’s” $142.2 million launch, the sole movie in the series to surpass $100 million out of the gates. “Fast X’s” domestic debut only ranks above the first three. The last movie, “F9,” opened to $70 million in 2021.

But this is also a series that has usually made the bulk of its money internationally, often over 70%. True to form, overseas it’s on turbo drive. “Fast X” opened in 84 markets internationally, playing in over 24,000 theaters, where it earned an estimated $251.4 million. The top market was China with $78.3 million, followed by Mexico with $16.7 million. And it adds up to a $319 million global debut — the third biggest of the franchise.

“It’s a global franchise with a very broad audience,” said Jim Orr, Universal’s head of domestic distribution. “The themes resonate across the world.”

Directed by Louis Leterrier (who took over from Justin Lin during production), “Fast X” brings back the familiar crew including Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson and Jordana Brewster and adds several newcomers, like Brie Larson, Rita Moreno and a villain played by Jason Momoa. The ever-expanding cast also includes Jason Statham, Charlize Theron, Scott Eastwood and Helen Mirren.

Reports say the movie cost $340 million to produce, not including marketing.

Reviews were mixed for “Fast X,” the beginning of the end for the $6 billion franchise, which currently has a 54% on Rotten Tomatoes. AP’s Mark Kennedy wrote in his review that, “It has become almost camp, as if it breathed in too much of its own fumes” and that it’s also “monstrously silly and stupidly entertaining.”

According to exit polls audienecs were 29% Caucasian, 29% Hispanic and 21% Black, and 58% were between the ages of 18 and 34. They gave the film a B+ CinemaScore.

In its third weekend, Disney and Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” made an estimated $32 million in North America to take second place. It’s now made $266.5 million domestically and $659.1 million globally.

Third place went to another Universal juggernaut, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which is now in its seventh weekend and available to rent on VOD. Nevertheless, it earned an additional $9.8 million in North America, bringing its domestic total to $549.3 million.

“Book Club: The Next Chapter” added $3 million in its second weekend to take fourth place, while “Evil Dead Rise” rounded out the top five in its fifth weekend with $2.4 million.

“Mario” and “Fast X” are just the latest success stories for Universal, following hits like “Cocaine Bear” and “M3GAN.” And later this summer, on July 21, they’ll release Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.”

“Universal as a studio is just on a roll like no other by having this incredible slate of films from all different types of genres,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “They’ve created a release strategy that’s really picture perfect so far.”

“Fast X” doesn’t have an entirely open runway though. Next weekend there will be sizable competition in Disney’s live-action “The Little Mermaid,” in addition to a slew of crowd-pleasers hoping to catch a Memorial Day weekend audience, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus in “You Hurt My Feelings” and the broad comedy “About My Father,” with Sebastian Maniscalco and Robert De Niro.

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Entertainment

Festival at Greece’s Ancient Theaters Dedicated to Maria Callas and Century since Her Birth

Spectators enter the Odeon of Herodes Atticus for a performance of "Madame Butterfly" in Athens, on Thursday, June 1, 2023. (AP)
Spectators enter the Odeon of Herodes Atticus for a performance of "Madame Butterfly" in Athens, on Thursday, June 1, 2023. (AP)
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Festival at Greece’s Ancient Theaters Dedicated to Maria Callas and Century since Her Birth

Spectators enter the Odeon of Herodes Atticus for a performance of "Madame Butterfly" in Athens, on Thursday, June 1, 2023. (AP)
Spectators enter the Odeon of Herodes Atticus for a performance of "Madame Butterfly" in Athens, on Thursday, June 1, 2023. (AP)

The music from "Madame Butterfly" and other major operas is known to Greek audiences largely through the recorded performances of Maria Callas, the US-born Greek artist who died in 1977 and is still revered here.

For theatergoers in Athens, watching the tragic story of the young geisha Cio-Cio-San unfold in Puccini's emotionally charged classic has become a familiar favorite at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the stone theater the Romans built at the foot of the Acropolis more than 1,800 years ago.

Late Thursday, it hosted an open-air performance of "Madame Butterfly" to launch Greece’s main summer theater and arts festival, dedicated this year to Callas and the century since her birth in Manhattan on Dec. 2, 1923. She died of a heart attack at her home in Paris at age 53.

Officially known as the Athens-Epidaurus Festival, the summer concerts and plays are also held at the ancient theater of Epidaurus, the UNESCO world heritage site in southern Greece. Much of the program was chosen to complement the centenary celebrations.

Ticket sales from June performances by an opera world power couple, French tenor Roberto Alagna and Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, will help fund the planned summer opening of a Callas Museum in central Athens, according to festival artistic director Katerina Evangelatos.

"It’s all part of the year’s celebrations marking the 100 years ... since the birth of the great diva of opera," Evangelatos said.

Finally free of constraints imposed by the pandemic, the festival has been expanded this year to include new venues and additional collaboration with overseas artists, festivals and theater companies. Organizers also created a new online platform to help Greek performers seek opportunities abroad.

"One of the main objectives of the festival has always been to be outward-looking," Evangelatos told reporters during a recent presentation of this year’s festival. "We don’t want to just bring artists from abroad, we want to build collaboration and relationships."

The lineup this year includes the superstar Chinese pianist Lang Lang, the German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, classical pianist and conductor Christoph Eschenbach and the pioneering German electronic band Kraftwerk, as well as a performance by Icelandic band Sigur Ros with the London Contemporary Orchestra.

The Greek National Opera produced "Madame Butterfly," choosing French director Olivier Py and the Italian choreographer Daniel Izzo. The title role was given to soprano Anna Sohn, who on Thursday gave the first of four scheduled performances.

Sohn partnered with Italian tenor Andrea Carè for a sparse interpretation of the Italian classic, featuring giant helium-filled balloons, dancers in head-to-toe white makeup and time-bending backdrops that included scenes of Japan’s World War II nuclear devastation and modern banner ads for major US commercial brands.

Publicist Constance Shuman, who promotes the work of the Greek National Opera in the United States, said a performance by the company was a fitting start for the festival in the year marking what would have been Callas' 100th birthday.

Born Maria Kalogeropoulos, the singer made her professional debut with the GNO in Athens as an 18-year-old student.

"When she became internationally known, she always came back here, and she really is emblematic of what this opera company is about," Shuman said.

"This is the opening of the Maria Callas year, but her early years are not known about by a lot of people," she said. "So this is a chance to tell people about how Greece and the Greek National Opera contributed to her becoming Maria Callas."

Entertainment

Billy Joel to End His Record-Breaking Concert Series at Madison Square Garden in 2024 

Billy Joel speaks at a news conference at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, June 1, 2023, in New York, to announce his MSG residency will end after July 2024. (AP)
Billy Joel speaks at a news conference at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, June 1, 2023, in New York, to announce his MSG residency will end after July 2024. (AP)
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Billy Joel to End His Record-Breaking Concert Series at Madison Square Garden in 2024 

Billy Joel speaks at a news conference at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, June 1, 2023, in New York, to announce his MSG residency will end after July 2024. (AP)
Billy Joel speaks at a news conference at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, June 1, 2023, in New York, to announce his MSG residency will end after July 2024. (AP)

Billy Joel is finally moving out of his monthly perch at Madison Square Garden. The singer-songwriter says he will conclude his residency in July 2024 with his 150th lifetime performance at the venue.

“It’s hard to believe we’ve been able to do this for 10 years,” Joel said at a news conference Thursday. “I’m now 74. I’ll be 75 next year. It seems like a nice number.”

The record-breaking residency began in January 2014 with Joel playing one show every month at the Garden for, as he said at the time, “as long as the demand continues.”

In January 2015, Joel broke his own record of the “most consecutive performances by any artist” with the 13th show of the residency and a new banner was raised to the Garden’s rafters.

In July 2015, with his 65th lifetime show, Joel broke another record for the “most lifetime performances by any artist,” for which another banner was raised. Both of Joel’s banners continue to hang at the Garden.

“There’s only one thing that’s more New York than Billy Joel — and that’s a Billy Joel concert at MSG,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “For more than 50 years, Billy’s music has defined our city and brought us together. On behalf of 8.5 million New Yorkers, congratulations, Billy, on a historic run of sold-out shows at MSG, and thank you for a lifetime of bringing joy to us all.”

Joel has had 33 Top 40 hits, including three No. 1s — “It’s Still Rock and Roll To Me,” “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and “Tell Her About It” — and four No. 1 albums — “52nd Street,” “Glass Houses,” “Storm Front” and “River of Dreams.”

He won six Grammys — as well as a Grammy Legend Award in 1990 — as well as being inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992.

Entertainment

Movie Review: The Giddy Splendor of ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ 

This image released by Sony Pictures Animation shows Miles Morales as Spider-Man, voiced by Shameik Moore, in a scene from Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation's "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." (Sony Pictures Animation via AP)
This image released by Sony Pictures Animation shows Miles Morales as Spider-Man, voiced by Shameik Moore, in a scene from Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation's "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." (Sony Pictures Animation via AP)
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Movie Review: The Giddy Splendor of ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ 

This image released by Sony Pictures Animation shows Miles Morales as Spider-Man, voiced by Shameik Moore, in a scene from Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation's "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." (Sony Pictures Animation via AP)
This image released by Sony Pictures Animation shows Miles Morales as Spider-Man, voiced by Shameik Moore, in a scene from Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation's "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." (Sony Pictures Animation via AP)

Let’s get this upfront: “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” was the best comic-book film of the last decade.

With an animation blizzard blown straight in from the pages of comics, “Into the Spider-Verse” took a supercollider to all the conventions of the superhero movie. Solemnity was out. Gone, too, was the idea of a chosen one. Spider-Man could be anyone, including a graffiti-tagging kid from Brooklyn, including a pig named Spider-Ham. The possibilities of the comic book movie were suddenly limitless. With Post Malone and Swae Lee’s “Sunflower” thumping, the vibes were, as they say, immaculate.

So a lot to live up to. Yet five years later, the Spider-verse is still expanding in thrilling ways. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is the rare sequel that dazzles as much as the original did. It’s something to behold. Colors drip, invert and splatter in a shimmering pop-art swirl.

If “Into the Spider-Verse” reveled in the head-spinning collision of universes, “Across the Spider-Verse” turns the multiverse blender up a notch, or 10. Worlds bump into each other like shoppers in a crowded bodega. Spider-Men and Spider-Women tumble forth like unloaded clown cars. In this frenetic, freewheeling thing that dares you keep up with its web-slinging pace, the sheer muchness of what’s in the frame can be almost overwhelming.

But despite all that’s going on, “Across the Spider-Verse” is remarkably grounded as a coming-of-age tale. The masterful flair of writers-producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who penned the script with David Callaham, lies in how they detonate convention and then assemble the leftover, splintered shards to build something deceptively sweet and simple.

The directing team has been entirely swapped out. Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson take the reins in this second chapter, which finds Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) now a 15-year-old with a better handle on his crime-fighting powers. He’s less adept, though, at communicating with his parents, Jefferson (Brian Tyree Henry) and Rio (Luna Lauren Vélez), who still don’t know their son’s secret identity and are growing increasingly concerned about his strange behavior.

Similar issues bedevil Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), who by revealing to her police captain father (Shea Whigham) that she’s Spider-Woman has caused a huge rift in their relationship. (He blames her for Peter Parker’s death.)

When Miles and Gwen, stuck in worlds apart, meet again and swing in tandem through New York, they’re less a romantically linked Spidey pair than they are a couple of teenagers whose parents just don’t understand. When they sit together, on the underside of a ledge on the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, gazing at an upside down Manhattan, hazy and blue in the distance, the lingering image perfectly encapsulates an electrifyingly downside-up movie franchise.

In its chaotic and jumbled way, “Across the Spider-Verse” keeps playing with these notions. Miles and Gwen, rightly, feel exceptional — that their problems are unique to being enormously gifted kids. But the movie again and again reinforced that, yes, they’re supremely talented, but, no, they’re far from alone. “I’m Spider-Woman,” Gwen says when a pregnant superhero (Issa Rae) peels in on a motorbike. “Me, too,” she replies.

This being a “Spider-Verse” movie, though, there more than just a few Spider-Men lurking about. There are actually gobs of them, each from some parallel world. (Among those here are a Mumbai-like New York, a Lego land and a nightmarish alternate reality.) The portals start opening thanks to The Spot (Jason Schwartzman), a supervillain-in-training who looks like a splotchy blank page with ink drops on him.

But Spot’s powers grow, bringing the attention of the Spider-Society, a gaggle of Spider-People who guard over order in the multiverse. Some of them are pretty cool — most notably Daniel Kaluuya’s Spider-Punk, a British rocker who looks like he dropped out of The Clash. Others, like the leader Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac), are more serious and haunted.

When worlds start colliding, prescribed storylines get upset. Seemingly anything goes in these multiverse realms, but, Miguel informs us, there is Canon that needs to be obeyed. Certain foundational narrative beats must occur, in some form, for every Spider-Man, including the sacrifice of a loved one.

When Miles tests these tenets, he brings about a cataclysmic battle across the Spider-Verse, and a movie series hellbent on deconstruction faces-off against formula. For Lord and Miller, the post-modern makers of “The Lego Movie” and “The Mitchells vs. The Machines,” it’s a battle they’ve been girding for their whole lives.

The danger in all these crisscrossing dimensions is that no reality seems to mean all that much. By exponentially multiplying worlds and Spider-Men, “Across the Spider-Verse” risks making itself dizzy. Yet it surprisingly, even movingly, stays true to the teenage emotions at its core and the parent-kid relationships driving all these multiverse convulsions.

It’s the first Marvel movie that I felt in the theater a palpable disappointment that it was over. (“Across the Spider-Verse” is a sequel in two parts, and ends here in full-on cliffhanger fashion.) That “Across the Spider-Verse” earned that response is surely partly due to its giddy design just as it is to its conviction that we all contain multitudes. As Rachel Dratch’s principal says in the film: “Every person is a universe.”

Entertainment

Erykah Badu Basks in Her New Era of Reinvention and Expansion 

Erykah Badu arrives at the Valentino ready-to-wear Spring/Summer 2023 fashion collection presented in Paris on Oct. 2, 2022. (AP)
Erykah Badu arrives at the Valentino ready-to-wear Spring/Summer 2023 fashion collection presented in Paris on Oct. 2, 2022. (AP)
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Erykah Badu Basks in Her New Era of Reinvention and Expansion 

Erykah Badu arrives at the Valentino ready-to-wear Spring/Summer 2023 fashion collection presented in Paris on Oct. 2, 2022. (AP)
Erykah Badu arrives at the Valentino ready-to-wear Spring/Summer 2023 fashion collection presented in Paris on Oct. 2, 2022. (AP)

Erykah Badu has unintentionally occupied the role of culture shifter and influencer for 20 plus years, well before it became a trendy, social media descriptor. Her impact has vibrated throughout music and fashion, and the “Green Eyes” songstress sees it clearly.

“I can hear my influence in music. I can see my influence style,” explained the four-time Grammy winner. “I hear my words resonated all over the world...So yeah, I can see it.”

That cultural cache may be why her collaboration with Italian fashion house Marni has been so anticipated. The Marni x Erykah Badu capsule was released in select US Marni boutiques last month. The 42-piece collection features women's ready-to-wear garments, including dresses, accessories and footwear, accented with handmade leather patchwork, heavy wools, bold sequins and lush velvets. Badu, 52, who is known for her creative and eccentric style, was hands on in all aspects.

“I’ve worked the same way in every area of my life; on stage I’m doing sound, I’m doing lighting, set design, costume, hair, makeup,” said Badu, whose 18-year-old daughter Puma modeled for the campaign. “I’m involved in everything. I am a creator. I am a visionary...we put those things together and came up with something really creative.”

Claire Sulmers, CEO of the influential style blog Fashion Bomb Daily, says Badu's versatility has made her a muse for designers.

“She is a trendsetter, but she’s always marched to the beat of her own drum...she can work anything, from a designer you might find at a flea market, to a runway,” said Sulmers, who called Badu an icon. “I think that is what can be attributed to her collaborating with brands because a lot of these brands that might have been under the radar or off the radar, now they’re like, ‘Whoa, there’s this beautiful woman who is an amazing artist, who also has an amazing style, and we want to work with her.’”

As Badu enters the fashion industry and launches other business ventures, the singer-songwriter is keeping her feet firmly planted in music with a tour on the horizon. In a wide-ranging video interview with The Associated Press, Badu discussed her businesses and creativity.

The line between entertainer and philosopher is often blurred when conversing with the “Next Lifetime” artist. When asked what makes her happy, she mentions her diet; when questioned about the creation of her classic records, she brings up the latest theories on the formation of the pyramids.

Her aura has a warm, but intense gravitational pull, and there’s a long-running joke that one can’t look into her eyes without falling into a trance — a myth Badu embraces. She has embarked through life with a creative fearlessness.

“If I’m a little nervous or afraid, I feel brave because of the confidence,” said Badu, who has served as both a birthing and end-of-life doula for the past two decades. “That has always driven my creativity and art. So, it’s easy to be a non-conformist, especially when you feel confident that there’s no such thing as losing because even those moments are lessons. I take all the information and use them to reinvent myself each day.”

Badu has helped bring babies into the world for friends, family and even celebrity mothers like singers Summer Walker and Teyana Taylor, stating the relationships happen organically, and she only agrees if she can dedicate the time. There’s no website or phone number to request the “Love of My Life” singer's doula services, at least not yet.

“(If) the money gets tight, then we’ll see,” she joked.

A champion for Black women and free thinking, she’s not only in an era of reinvention, but expansion.

Draped in Afrocentric garb including statuesque headwraps and ankh jewelry, Badu teleported into the music scene in 1997 with her debut album, “Baduizm.” It earned her a best new artist Grammy nomination and a best R&B album win.

A pioneer of the '90s neo-soul movement with contemporaries like Maxwell, D’Angelo and Jill Scott, Badu crafted soulful classics like “On & On,”“Tyrone,”“Bag Lady,”“Didn’t Cha Know” and “Window Seat.” Her last official project was 2015’s “But You Caint Use My Phone” mixtape.

“I’m always working on new music. I don’t know when I’ll put it out, but I’m waiting for the right time,” said the 2018 Soul Train Legend honoree. “I like to feel necessary for my real audience. My real audience is trees and wind and rain, air — ancestors and things like that.”

Badu says music is the star that her other businesses orbit around.

“Everything is vibration and sound, from the sound of the birds that I’ve heard since I was a child... (to) the clothes I wear — the clothes in my Marni line all have bells on them,” explained the Dallas native, who still resides in the city. “So, if I associate everything with music, it’s very easy for me to create...there’s a variety of things I listen to throughout the day, from wind chimes in the morning to Brent Faiyaz in the afternoon to Bach — I mean, there’s just so many different things. I just love music and frequency. It is my therapy.”

One of her most impactful musical contributions didn’t come from a hit, but from the lesser-known “Master Teacher Medley” on 2008’s “New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)” album. Produced by Shafiq Husayn, that song is largely credited with reintroducing the term “stay woke” — with collaborator Georgia Anne Muldrow chanting those words — to a new generation.

“From the time they started using it for Black Lives Matter (social protests), it was out of my hands because it kind of doesn’t really belong to us anymore,” said Badu, who describes the phrase as a person’s heighted awareness of everything going on around them.

However, when conservatives made the term a political lightening rod, Badu decided to speak out.

“It got a little out of hand. That’s why I had to say something about it, because people were starting to use it as a weapon,” she continued. “If it gets into the wrong hands...I’ve gotta interfere and bring it back in.”

Badu, who has an upcoming Funko Pop! figure that sold out during pre-order, is prepping for a highly anticipated 25-date tour kicking off this month. Yasiin Bey, the hip-hop star formerly known as Mos Def, will join her for the “Unfollow Me” tour.

“I just want people to follow their own heart,” said the active social media user, giggling at the cheekiness of the title. “It’s about your journey.”

As Badu, who will appear in the upcoming film “The Piano Lesson” starring Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington, continues her own odyssey, her outlook is one of gratefulness and optimism.

“When I open my eyes in the morning, I say, ’Still here! Got another chance today do some good (expletive), create some great (expletive) — be challenged by people and make the right choices. Another chance to discriminate between things that are useful in my brain...(and) thoughts that are not,” she revealed. “That’s woke. That’s awareness — knowing that there is adversity, but also using the tools that you have to navigate through your world.”

Entertainment

Animated Spider-Man Back with ‘Arthouse’ Sequel to Oscar Winner

US actor Shameik Moore arrives for the world premiere of "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" at the Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles, California, on May 30, 2023. (AFP)
US actor Shameik Moore arrives for the world premiere of "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" at the Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles, California, on May 30, 2023. (AFP)
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Animated Spider-Man Back with ‘Arthouse’ Sequel to Oscar Winner

US actor Shameik Moore arrives for the world premiere of "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" at the Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles, California, on May 30, 2023. (AFP)
US actor Shameik Moore arrives for the world premiere of "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" at the Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles, California, on May 30, 2023. (AFP)

Nearly five years after the animated "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" won an Oscar with its innovative, biracial take on the beloved webslinger, a wildly ambitious sequel aims to further blur the boundaries between superhero films and arthouse cinema.

 

"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," out Friday in the United States, picks up the story of half-Black, half-Latino Miles Morales, again using an eye-popping blend of decades-old 2D comic book drawing techniques with the latest computer-generated visual effects.

 

This time, the action takes place across several parallel universes, each one visualized in its own unique animated style, from a paint-streaked, grungy 1990s New York to a kaleidoscopic futuristic hybrid of Mumbai and Manhattan.

 

The movie employed three directors, more than 1,000 artists, and runs at two hours and 20 minutes -- unusually long for an animated film.

 

Its creators told AFP that the success of the first movie -- which holds the highest-ever rating for a superhero movie on Rotten Tomatoes (97 percent) -- "gave us permission to just be even more daring on this film."

 

"I feel like we got the amazing opportunity as directors to make the world's biggest independent film, basically," said co-director Justin K. Thompson.

 

"It's an arthouse film, disguised as a superhero movie."

 

'The Spider-Verse'

 

The film's hero Morales was first introduced to comic books in 2011, but came to mainstream attention with "Into the Spider-Verse," which won the Academy Award for best animated feature in 2019.

 

Morales shares a familiar backstory with Peter Parker -- bitten by a radioactive spider, he quickly deploys his new powers to swing between Manhattan skyscrapers and fight crime.

 

But his diverse ancestry and fondness for trendy sneakers and rap music set him apart from the "traditional" Spider-Man.

 

It is all made possible thanks to the concept of a "multiverse," in which different versions of the same characters exist in parallel dimensions -- and occasionally interact -- that has been used in comic books for decades.

 

In recent years, the multiverse has become popular in Hollywood too, as movie studios feed audiences' boundless appetite for more and more superhero films, and writers scramble to explain how they can possibly all fit together.

 

"The thing that shocked us on the first movie was, there was no resistance to the idea of a multiverse -- that the audience were completely on board and, like, not confused!" Christopher Miller, who co-produced both movies, told AFP.

 

"It allowed this movie to go to even more spectacular places -- to introduce more unusual characters."

 

The first Spider-Verse movie had a 1930s film noir-style private eye Spider-Man, and even a Spider-Ham pig character. This time, we meet a British punk rocker Spidey, and a dashing Indian version.

 

Two-hour barrier

 

Aside from the complexity of its dimension-hopping plot, the new film has raised eyebrows due to its length.

 

While upcoming adult dramas such as Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" and Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" are set to top three hours, anything longer than two hours for a US animated feature is highly unusual.

 

And "Across the Spider-Verse" is the first of two sequels, with "Beyond the Spider-Verse" to conclude events next year.

 

But the creators shrugged off the notion that "a film that happens to be animated" must be brief, noting that "quiet" moments from the first film involving Miles bonding with his father and uncle were fan favorites.

 

"The peaks don't play as high if those lows don't play as beautifully low as they do," said co-director Joaquim Dos Santos.

 

"Those are the moments you're losing -- the moments that actually make the film special in the first place," added fellow director Kemp Powers, who also co-wrote Pixar's "Soul."

 

"Of course, if it were six hours, that's too long," he joked.

Entertainment

How ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’ Found a Sound of Its Own 

Ari Notartomaso, Marisa Davila, Cheyenne Isabel Wells and Tricia Fukuhara attend Paramount +'s "Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies" FYC Event at Hollywood Athletic Club on May 14, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
Ari Notartomaso, Marisa Davila, Cheyenne Isabel Wells and Tricia Fukuhara attend Paramount +'s "Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies" FYC Event at Hollywood Athletic Club on May 14, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
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How ‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’ Found a Sound of Its Own 

Ari Notartomaso, Marisa Davila, Cheyenne Isabel Wells and Tricia Fukuhara attend Paramount +'s "Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies" FYC Event at Hollywood Athletic Club on May 14, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
Ari Notartomaso, Marisa Davila, Cheyenne Isabel Wells and Tricia Fukuhara attend Paramount +'s "Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies" FYC Event at Hollywood Athletic Club on May 14, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Getty Images/AFP)

While songwriter Justin Tranter has attained success by penning hit pop anthems like Justin Bieber's "Sorry" and Imagine Dragons' "Believer," writing music for the Paramount+ prequel "Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies" took him in a new direction.

For the 10-part musical TV series based on the famous 1978 film "Grease," Tranter wrote 30 original tracks - most of which weren't in the vein of the pop songs for which he is known.

"I'm very proud of my pop songs but there isn't the level of storytelling that's required for a musical," Tranter told Reuters.

"Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies" is set in 1954, four years before the story of the US high school movie starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

The first season, which ends on Thursday, follows four rebellious students who unite to become the misfits of Rydell High and eventually the "Pink Ladies" clique. The show's lead, Marisa Davila, portrays Jane Facciano, the first female student to run for class president.

When he knew he was interested in being a part of the project, Tranter wrote his own original audition song, "Too Cool," which is featured in the first episode.

One of the main challenges Tranter faced was emulating the popular songs from the original film, which incorporated sounds from different decades.

"Some of it feels very true to the '50s and some of it is very much a late '70s take," Tranter said, referring to the original "Grease."

He also wanted to bring some of his contemporary pop style into the mix as well.

"We are waiting to see how an audience receives 30 original songs over 10 episodes. No-one has done it before, so we don't know how it's going to work," Tranter said.

Entertainment

HBO Estimates 2.9 Million Watched ‘Succession’ Finale on Sunday Night 

This image released by HBO shows Brian Cox as Logan Roy in a scene from the series "Succession." (HBO via AP)
This image released by HBO shows Brian Cox as Logan Roy in a scene from the series "Succession." (HBO via AP)
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HBO Estimates 2.9 Million Watched ‘Succession’ Finale on Sunday Night 

This image released by HBO shows Brian Cox as Logan Roy in a scene from the series "Succession." (HBO via AP)
This image released by HBO shows Brian Cox as Logan Roy in a scene from the series "Succession." (HBO via AP)

HBO said 2.9 million people watched or streamed the series finale of “Succession” on Sunday night, a series record that is expected to grow as delayed viewing is taken into account.

That beat the first-night record of 2.75 million for an episode that aired on April 30, earlier in the fourth and last season of the family drama about a media company.

The audience can be expected to expand significantly when delayed viewing is taken into account. For example, “Succession” episodes this season have been seen by an average of 8.7 million viewers, according to the Nielsen company.

The series finale provided an answer to the question central to the story, about whether any of media magnate Logan Roy’s children would inherit control over his media empire.

“Succession” didn’t approach HBO’s record of 19.8 million people who watched the 2019 finale of “Game of Thrones” on its premiere night. HBO estimated that some 46 million people have watched that episode when delayed viewing is taken into account.

HBO said that “Barry,” its series starring Bill Hader, had 700,000 viewers on the night of its finale this past week. Episodes have been average 3.4 million viewers this season.

Entertainment

‘The Little Mermaid’ Makes Box Office Splash with $95.5 Million Opening

This image released by Disney shows Melissa McCarthy as Ursula in "The Little Mermaid." (Disney via AP)
This image released by Disney shows Melissa McCarthy as Ursula in "The Little Mermaid." (Disney via AP)
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‘The Little Mermaid’ Makes Box Office Splash with $95.5 Million Opening

This image released by Disney shows Melissa McCarthy as Ursula in "The Little Mermaid." (Disney via AP)
This image released by Disney shows Melissa McCarthy as Ursula in "The Little Mermaid." (Disney via AP)

“The Little Mermaid” made moviegoers want to be under the sea on Memorial Day weekend.

Disney’s live-action remake of its 1989 animated classic easily outswam the competition, bringing in $95.5 million on 4,320 screens in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday.

And Disney estimates the film starring Halle Bailey as the titular mermaid Ariel and Melissa McCarthy as her sea witch nemesis Ursula will reach $117.5 million by the time the holiday is over. It ranks as the fifth biggest Memorial Day weekend opening ever.

It displaces “Fast X” in the top spot. The 10th installment in the “Fast and Furious” franchise starring Vin Diesel has lagged behind more recent releases in the series, bringing in $23 million domestically for a two-week total of $108 million for Universal Pictures.

In its fourth weekend, Disney and Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” made an estimated $20 million in North America to take third place. It’s now made $299 million domestically.

The performance of “The Little Mermaid” represents something of a bounce-back for Disney’s animated-to-live-action remakes, and makes it likely they will keep coming indefinitely. Poor reception and the pandemic had some recent reboots either performing poorly or skipping theatrical releases for Disney +, including “Dumbo,” “Mulan” and “Pinocchio.”

“It works as long as the movies deliver,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “It’s great for Disney to be able to go to their archive by reviving these titles that started off as huge hits in the animated realm.”

The opening puts it in the top tier of Disney’s remakes, with a similar performance to 2019′s “Aladdin,” though it was well short of 2017′s “Beauty and the Beast,” which opened to more than $170 million, and 2019′s “The Lion King,” which brought in more than $190 million in its first weekend.

Audiences thought it delivered. The film had an A CinemaScore, and according to exit polling had more ticket buyers between ages 25 and 34 than children, suggesting nostalgic adults were essential.

“The multi-generational component of this cannot be overstated,” Dergarabedian said.

Critics were more lukewarm. The movie is currently at 67% on Rotten Tomatoes. In her review, Lindsey Bahr of The Associated Press called it “a somewhat drab undertaking with sparks of bioluminescence” that like too many of the Disney remakes “prioritized nostalgia and familiarity over compelling visual storytelling.”

She said Bailey, half of the sister R&B duo Chloe x Halle, still shone with a “lovely presence” and “superb voice.”

Directed by Rob Marshall with a reported budget of $250 million before marketing, “The Little Mermaid” tells the story of a yearning, wayward daughter who cuts a devil’s deal to swap her fins for a pair of legs. It features the songs from Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, including “Part of Your World” and “Under the Sea,” that helped the original film spark a Disney animation renaissance in the 1990s.

Fourth place went to Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which keeps reaching new levels in its eighth weekend. Now available to rent on VOD, it still earned $6.3 million in theaters. Its cumulative total of $559 million makes Mario and Luigi the year’s biggest earners so far.

Comics couldn’t stand up to Ariel as the week’s other new releases sank.

“The Machine,” an action comedy starring stand-up comedian Bert Kreischer, finished fifth with $4.9 million domestically. And “About My Father,” the broad comedy starring stand-up Sebastian Maniscalco and Robert De Niro, was sixth with $4.3 million.

It’s not clear whether “The Little Mermaid” will have legs — or fins — going forward. Next week brings the release of animated “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” with “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” arriving the following week.

Entertainment

Crime Thriller Steals Best Pic at Bollywood Awards in UAE

Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez was one of many stars on the green carpet. Giuseppe CACACE / AFP
Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez was one of many stars on the green carpet. Giuseppe CACACE / AFP
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Crime Thriller Steals Best Pic at Bollywood Awards in UAE

Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez was one of many stars on the green carpet. Giuseppe CACACE / AFP
Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez was one of many stars on the green carpet. Giuseppe CACACE / AFP

Crime thriller "Drishyam 2" was crowned best picture as Bollywood glossed over its recent struggles with a high-octane International Indian Film Academy Awards show in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Director Abhishek Pathak's gritty remake of a Malayalam film took the top honor at the end of a four-hour ceremony of pumping dance routines that showcased the Hindi-language movie industry, AFP said.

Best director went to Ranganathan Madhavan for "Rocketry: The Nambi Effect". Hrithik Roshan won best actor for his role in "Vikram Vedha" and Alia Bhatt took best actress for "Gangubai Kathiawadi".

"Brahmastra: Part One - Shiva" picked up a number of prizes including best supporting actress for Mouni Roy and best female playback singer for star vocalist Shreya Ghoshal.

The IIFA awards, intended to reach an international audience, were held for the second year running in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates where more than a third of the 10 million population is Indian.

The Hindi-language film industry was worth $2.5 billion in 2019. India also releases hundreds of films in its 21 other official languages, churning out about 1,600 each year total.

But Mumbai-based Bollywood, the world's most prolific producer of movies, has been mired in crisis since the pandemic with ticket sales remaining low since cinemas reopened.

The rise in streaming services, competition from other parts of India and demand for meatier fare than Bollywood's trademark song-and-dance routines have all contributed to the slump, experts say.

However, superstar Shah Rukh Khan's "Pathaan" smashed Indian box office records in January, in a positive sign for the industry.

Shiny gold shirt

Indian cinema also received a boost in March when viral dance hit "Naatu Naatu" won an Oscar for best song, a first for a film from the country.

"What does IIFA mean for (Indian) cinema? I think opening up to the global stage and also bringing us to the global stage as well, so it's exciting both ways," said actress Jacqueline Fernandez, wearing an Arab-inspired head covering.

Among the highlights, heart-throb Varun Dhawan, wearing a shiny gold shirt, rode onto the stage on a mini-dune buggy, and ceremony host Vicky Kaushal drew screams from the audience when he launched into a dance number.

Actor and eco-activist Dia Mirza reminded the crowd about pressing environmental concerns months before the UAE, one of the world's biggest oil producers, hosts the COP28 United Nations climate talks in November and December.

Veteran actor Kamal Haasan was awarded for his outstanding achievement in Indian cinema and Anil Kapoor won best supporting actor for his role in "Jugjugg Jeeyo".

"Darlings" took best original story, and best female debut was Khushali Kumar in "Dhokha: Round D Corner".

The IIFA show, one of a number of Indian awards ceremonies, has been held in several countries since its debut in London in 2000. Voting is done online by fans.

Entertainment

‘Succession’ Fans Brace for Series Finale of Emmy-Winning Hit Drama

This image released by HBO shows Justin Kirk as Jeryd Mencken in a scene from the series "Succession." (HBO via AP)
This image released by HBO shows Justin Kirk as Jeryd Mencken in a scene from the series "Succession." (HBO via AP)
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‘Succession’ Fans Brace for Series Finale of Emmy-Winning Hit Drama

This image released by HBO shows Justin Kirk as Jeryd Mencken in a scene from the series "Succession." (HBO via AP)
This image released by HBO shows Justin Kirk as Jeryd Mencken in a scene from the series "Succession." (HBO via AP)

Jennifer Gould, an Oregon-based trusts and estates lawyer, thinks the premise of “Succession” – HBO’s hit series chronicling a billionaire media mogul and his children’s struggles to take over the family company — is a little flawed.

“The idea that they wouldn’t have a firm succession plan in place is ridiculous,” Gould said.

Still, she has set aside Monday for “crying and grieving” after watching the hotly anticipated series finale airing Sunday evening.

With the critically acclaimed drama's fourth and final season ending, dedicated fans of “Succession” are locking in plans to watch the whopping 88-minute finale while turning online for emotional support, memes and endless theories about how the show could end and who will prevail.

“No one I know in real life watches the show,” Gould said, adding that the emotional toll of season four made her look for support online, which is how she landed on the social news website Reddit, where a chat dedicated to all things “Succession” has more than 456,000 members.

In preparation for Sunday, Gould also is rereading “King Lear,” among Shakespeare’s bleakest tragedies, about a declining monarch and his children’s battle for the crown. Gould thinks the play could offer clues to how the series will end.

“It’s fairly obvious that it’s a loose retelling of King Lear,” Gould said of “Succession.” “I watch it obsessively. I don’t think there’s another way to watch it.”

“Succession” always has been about the membership of its audience, not its size, and its popularity among the coastal media and agenda-setting groups that the show depicts and attracts means the finale should leave a cultural mark.

More recent prestige TV finales are a better analogue for “Succession” than those of the network behemoths of decades past. For example, “The Sopranos” suddenly cutting to black to the song “Don’t Stop Believin’” in 2007 set the standard for both talkability and inscrutability.

Pamela Soin, a management consultant in New York City, said the end of the monumental New Jersey mob saga was the only finale generating more excitement than “Succession” for her “because that was after seven years of investment.”

Soin and a group of friends have watched every “Succession” episode this season with a serious ritual.

“We turn off all the lights, cinema style, put on the surround sound and watch in complete silence,” Soin said. “Then we have a debrief.”

But Soin said she'll be alone for the final episode because of the Memorial Day holiday weekend in the US.

On social media platforms including Twitter, Reddit and the chatting app Discord, popular among gamers, “Succession” fans share countless memes and swirling theories about which of the Murdoch-esque Roy family members, corporate executives and hangers-on will prevail in the finale. Fans have searched for clues in past episodes, characters' names, the show's opening sequence and elsewhere.

Show creator Jesse Armstrong told The New Yorker earlier this year “there’s a promise in the title of ‘Succession,’” which some have taken as a sign that the show's central question will be answered.

Soin thinks the finale will leave many unresolved plot lines and questions open to interpretation.

“I love how they handle a lot of things off-camera,” Soin said of the show's writers, who throughout the series have peppered pivotal backstories of the main characters in later scenes and passing conversations.

“Just like in real life, you find out about things that happened when you weren’t there,” Soin said.

Conclusions to hit TV series can be hit-or-miss. The bloody 2013 ending of Walter White’s story on “Breaking Bad,” and Don Draper’s more zen ending on “Mad Men” in 2015, generally satisfied their finicky fans. The 2019 conclusion of “Game of Thrones” — the last big finish for an HBO show — generally did not. Endings are hard to pull off and disappointment tends to be the norm, to which the makers of “Seinfeld” and “Lost” can attest.

HBO has been able to ratchet up suspense ahead of Sunday's “Succession” finale in part by airing only one episode per week, a decision that fans who grew up in the streaming age may be too young to remember was once the norm for TV series.

Suraj Nandy, a 20-year-old college student from Bengaluru, India, said he was counting down the hours until Sunday's finale, which airs at 6:30 a.m. local time.

“I'm going to huddle, get a blanket and snacks and sit there in awe,” Nandy said.

An economics student at Canada's University of Western Ontario, Nandy said he was disappointed by the “Game of Thrones” conclusion and had watched all of “Breaking Bad,” too, but considers “Succession” “easily, by far, my favorite show of the bunch.”

As for his finale plans, Nandy said he'll join some friends online for a virtual watch party. But it won't end there.

“I’ll probably cry for a couple of days and then watch it again,” Nandy said. “I’d like to reexperience the whole thing in one sitting.”