‘Blue Beetle’ Unseats ‘Barbie’ Atop Box Office, Ending Four-Week Reign

A general view of the blue carpet during Warner Bros' "Blue Beetle" premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, on August 15, 2023. (AFP)
A general view of the blue carpet during Warner Bros' "Blue Beetle" premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, on August 15, 2023. (AFP)
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‘Blue Beetle’ Unseats ‘Barbie’ Atop Box Office, Ending Four-Week Reign

A general view of the blue carpet during Warner Bros' "Blue Beetle" premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, on August 15, 2023. (AFP)
A general view of the blue carpet during Warner Bros' "Blue Beetle" premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, on August 15, 2023. (AFP)

The DC superhero film “Blue Beetle” led weekend ticket sales with a modest $25.4 million opening, according to studio estimates Sunday, dethroning “Barbie” from the top spot after a record-setting run that left movie theaters colored pink for a month.

The “Barbie” phenomenon is far from over. Greta Gerwig’s film, which earlier this week became the highest grossing Warner Bros. release ever domestically, nearly managed to stay No. 1 again with $21.5 million in its fifth weekend. It's up to $567.3 million in North America and an eye-popping $1.28 billion globally.

The other half of “Barbenheimer” also continues to perform remarkably well for a movie so far into its run.

Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” took in $10.6 million in its fifth week. With a $285.2 million domestic total, “Oppenheimer” now owns the distinction of being the biggest box-office hit never to land No. 1 at the weekend box office. The previous record-holder for that unlikely stat is 2016’s “Sing,” which grossed $270.3 million in the shadow of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” and “Hidden Figures.”

Universal Pictures' “Oppenheimer” has done even better overseas. Its global gross stands at an estimated $717.8 million through Sunday.

“Blue Beetle,” starring Xolo Maridueña, came in on the lower side of expectations and notched one of the lower debuts for a DC Comics movie. Though earlier planned as a streaming-only release, Warner Bros. elected to put “Blue Beetle,” the first DC movie to star a Latino superhero, into theaters in the late summer, a typically quiet period at the box office.

The production price tag of about $105 million was lower for “Blue Beetle” than the average superhero film. It's one of the last releases produced under an earlier regime at DC Studios, which James Gunn and Peter Safran took the reins of last year.

The film, directed by Ángel Manuel Soto and written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, drew solid reviews – certainly better than the three previous DC releases this year (“The Flash,” “Black Adam” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods”). “Blue Beetle” (76% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) is the rare comic-book film to put a Hispanic cast front and center.

But it also faced some tough luck, and not just in the unexpected staying power of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” Southern California was bracing Sunday for Hurricane Hilary — potentially dampening ticket sales in the region. (Los Angeles was still its top market.) And like recent releases, “Blue Beetle," which added $18 million internationally, didn't have its cast available to promote the movie due to the ongoing actors strike.

Universal’s raunchy R-rated canine comedy “Strays” showed even less bite. The film, with a voice cast including Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx, landed in fifth place with $8.4 million. Comedies have generally struggled in theaters in recent years, but “Strays” had it particularly rough given that its starry cast was unavailable.

“Strays” was very narrowly bested by “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.” The Paramount Pictures animated release earned $8.4 million in its third weekend, bringing its domestic total to $88.1 million.



Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi Welcome First Child Via Adoption

FILE - Millie Bobby Brown, left, and Jake Bongiovi arrive at the premiere of "The Electric State" on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at The Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Millie Bobby Brown, left, and Jake Bongiovi arrive at the premiere of "The Electric State" on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at The Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
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Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi Welcome First Child Via Adoption

FILE - Millie Bobby Brown, left, and Jake Bongiovi arrive at the premiere of "The Electric State" on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at The Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Millie Bobby Brown, left, and Jake Bongiovi arrive at the premiere of "The Electric State" on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at The Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi adopted a daughter, the first child for the married couple, this summer, they announced Thursday.

“We are beyond excited to embark on this beautiful next chapter of parenthood in both peace and privacy,” the couple wrote in a social media statement. No further details were released.

Brown, 21, and Bongiovi, 23, were married in a private ceremony in May 2024. Representatives for Brown and Bongiovi did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ request for comment.

Brown gained recognition for her starring role as Eleven in the Duffer brothers' sci-fi series “Stranger Things.” The fifth and final season will air this November and December, a culmination of nine years of the show's production. The British actor has pursued other acting and business ventures in that time, including the Netflix original “Enola Holmes” films and a “Godzilla” film. She even released a romance book in 2023.

Bongiovi is the son of Jon Bon Jovi, founder and frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi. Bongiovi debuted his own acting career as the star in “Rockbottom,” which released last year.

Brown stressed the importance of family during the 2024 premiere of her Netflix film “Damsel,” where Bongiovi and his parents were in attendance.

“I'm just so lucky that they're here tonight and it just means so much to me,” Brown told The Associated Press then. “Family is everything and just to have my second family here means everything.”

The couple lives in Georgia. She recently told the AP she enjoys living on a farm, largely disconnected from social media, while promoting her 2025 Netflix film “The Electric State.”


Helen Mirren Says It’s Great to See Older People’s Life Experiences in ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ 

 (L-R) Ben Kingsley, Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan attend Netflix's "The Thursday Murder Club" New York Screening at The Plaza Hotel on August 14, 2025 in New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)
(L-R) Ben Kingsley, Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan attend Netflix's "The Thursday Murder Club" New York Screening at The Plaza Hotel on August 14, 2025 in New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Helen Mirren Says It’s Great to See Older People’s Life Experiences in ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ 

 (L-R) Ben Kingsley, Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan attend Netflix's "The Thursday Murder Club" New York Screening at The Plaza Hotel on August 14, 2025 in New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)
(L-R) Ben Kingsley, Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan attend Netflix's "The Thursday Murder Club" New York Screening at The Plaza Hotel on August 14, 2025 in New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)

Actor Helen Mirren, one of the stars of "The Thursday Murder Club," a movie about a group of retirees who enjoy cracking unresolved murder cases, said it's great to see older people’s life experiences celebrated on screen.

Eighty-year-old Mirren plays former spy Elizabeth Best in the new Netflix mystery, who along with her other impressive retired friends - played by Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie - find themselves with a real murder to solve.

"We underestimate older people. I did it when I was 25," Mirren said at the film's premiere in London on Thursday.

"It's absolutely right that young people feel as if the world is theirs and nobody's ever done what they're doing before, you know, but the reality is, of course, every generation has done everything that they're doing."

Directed by Chris Columbus, the film is based on Richard Osman's 2020 best-selling novel by the same name.

"I don't plot at all," Osman said of his writing process. "I literally have a rough idea of what might happen. I have a little twist somewhere, but I literally write a chapter at a time and see what happens," he said.

Describing the movie, one of the screenplay writers, Katy Brand, said it mixes "serious, heartfelt warmth" and moments of silliness, humor and satire.

"This whole sort of genre that we have in this country of the sort of Sunday night crime drama ... where amateur sleuthing goes on but it's also got mischief to it."

As for the future, with three more novels in the series already out and a fifth instalment from Osman planned for autumn, he hopes there will be more films.

"Certainly if it does well," he said. "I think the cast had such an amazing time last summer filming this. So I think they'd like to spend next summer filming another one as well. Fingers crossed." Osman said.

Netflix will begin streaming "The Thursday Murder Club" on August 28.


Ciara Reinforces Her Passion for Music with ‘CiCi’, Her First Album Since 2019 

Ciara poses for a portrait on Monday, Aug 18, 2025, in New York. (AP)
Ciara poses for a portrait on Monday, Aug 18, 2025, in New York. (AP)
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Ciara Reinforces Her Passion for Music with ‘CiCi’, Her First Album Since 2019 

Ciara poses for a portrait on Monday, Aug 18, 2025, in New York. (AP)
Ciara poses for a portrait on Monday, Aug 18, 2025, in New York. (AP)

Ciara will deliver a new bundle of joy on Friday, but it’s not the fifth child her husband publicly flirts with her about.

“It’s time. Honestly, I’ve been working on this album for almost five years,” said the R&B-pop superstar. “I put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, as they would say, into this project ... I literally gave birth to two babies while I was making this project, too. So, a lot has happened.”

Expanding her 2023 seven-track EP “CiCi,” it’s the Grammy winner’s first album since 2019’s “Beauty Marks,” her first as an independent artist.

“I was still actively putting out music on the project. So, it’s not like I was five years chillin',” said the “Level Up” artist. “If I ever stop loving the process and experience, then I'll stop. But I have so much passion for it and I just feel so fortunate that 21 years later, from my first album ‘Goodies’ to now, that I still have the same excitement I had as a little girl.”

Her eighth studio album, “CiCi” includes songs from the EP such as “How We Roll,” her 2023 Chris Brown collaboration which reached No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B digital song sales charts, “Forever” with Lil Baby and the sensual bop, “Low Key.” But the 14-track full-length record, with writing and production from Theron Thomas and J.R. Rotem, separates itself with appearances from Tyga, BossMan DLow and Busta Rhymes. Latto also joins her on “This Right Here,” an anticipated reunion with Jazze Pha who executive produced her 2004 debut, hitting No. 3 on the Billboard 200.

One of the preeminent stage performers in her class and lauded for her dancing, Ciara owns smashes like “Goodies” which topped the Billboard 100, “Oh” featuring Ludacris, “Body Party,” and “Promise.” Four albums reached the Billboard 200 top 10, including 2006’s “Ciara: The Evolution” which hit No. 1.

In an era where music is often released rapidly, Ciara's leisurely pace has been questioned by fans and critics, wondering if she’s traded her love for music for a perceived socialite lifestyle with her Super Bowl-winning husband, Russell Wilson.

“I feel like I don’t have to explain anything to anybody,” said the “Ride” singer, who's recently released collaborations with several Asian artists. “Not every year has been about music. And sometimes, it’s been about me just growing as a human. Sometimes, it’s been about me finding my way obviously as a mom, and then I have family now and my husband, being there for him. These are all real things.”

It’s a perception she aims at on “Run It Up” with BossMan Dlow, singing, “No matter how many points I put up on the board, you know they gon’ hate / I’m in a league of my own, I’m a wife and a mom / ... You ain't gotta worry, you know that we straight.”

“I go from the stage to the classroom. I go from the classroom to the football field to support my husband. Then, I got on my schedule we’re gonna go school shopping tomorrow,” said the 39-year-old who wrote on every song. “That’s how my life is, but I would not have it any other way.”

Other standout tracks include the previously released slow jam “Ecstasy” which she later remixed with Normani and Teyana Taylor, and the feel good “Drop Your Love,” sampling “Love Come Down” from Evelyn “Champagne” King. She continued her two-step groove on “This Right Here,” recreating the nostalgic magic with Pha and resurfacing his memorable “Ci-araaa!” ad-lib.

“It’s always been love with Jazze and I ... there was behind-the-scenes type of stuff that was beyond he and I,” referring to the producer who crafted her megahit “1,2 Step” with Missy Elliott. “People want the classic him. They want me to be me, too, in that moment. And so, I feel like we accomplished that.”

Becoming one of the first celebrities to gain Benin citizenship as part of a recent law by the small West African nation granting rights to descendants of enslaved people, Ciara hopes to shed light on the country, as well as the continent which has exploded globally in the music market thanks to Afrobeats.

She’s also expanding her Why Not You Foundation, the nonprofit founded with Wilson in 2014 to help disadvantaged youth with educational and personal development resources. With Why Not You centers already in Atlanta and Pittsburgh, they plan to expand in the New York-New Jersey area. Wilson signed with the New York Giants during the offseason.

“Success to me is yes, putting out music. Being the best artist I can be, hopefully being known as one of the best to ever do it ... But it’s not solely in that,” she said. “People lose themselves because they didn’t live. I don’t want to be that girl – I’m not going to be that girl."