ABBA Singer Agnetha Makes Comeback as Solo Artist

Agnetha Faltskog stands second left in ABBA's wax figures displayed at Stockholm's ABBA museum. Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP/File
Agnetha Faltskog stands second left in ABBA's wax figures displayed at Stockholm's ABBA museum. Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP/File
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ABBA Singer Agnetha Makes Comeback as Solo Artist

Agnetha Faltskog stands second left in ABBA's wax figures displayed at Stockholm's ABBA museum. Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP/File
Agnetha Faltskog stands second left in ABBA's wax figures displayed at Stockholm's ABBA museum. Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP/File

Two years after iconic Swedish pop group ABBA returned with a new album, singer Agnetha Faltskog has announced she will unveil a new single as a solo artist this week.

"So... where do we go from here?," the 73-year-old asked in a post to Instagram late Tuesday.

She said the single -- also titled "Where Do We Go From Here?" -- would be premiering on BBC Radio 2 on Thursday, AFP said.

Singers Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad represented the double A in the ABBA acronym alongside Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson.

The artist had last week teased that a new release was in the works, in an Instagram post that just said "Where Do We Go From Here?", without further explanation.

While it took ABBA nearly 40 years to return with a new album after the band split in the early 1980s, Faltskog has since produced several solo albums, the last "A" came out in 2013.

ABBA were propelled to global stardom after their 1974 Eurovision Song Contest win with "Waterloo" but they split in 1982, a year after the album, "The Visitors".

In 2018 the supergroup confirmed rumors they had returned to the studio to record new music.

ABBA finally announced a new album in September 2021 and released the singles "I still have faith in you" and "Don't shut me down" ahead of the 10-track "Voyage" two months later.

ABBA also made a return to the stage with a London show the following year in the form of projected holograms -- dubbed "ABBAtars."



Dwayne Johnson’s $200 Million-plus Christmas Pic Opens to $34.1 Million

Dwayne Johnson, Lucy Liu, and Chris Evans laugh at the premiere of the holiday film "Red One" in New York City, New York US, November 11, 2024. REUTERS/Kent J Edwards
Dwayne Johnson, Lucy Liu, and Chris Evans laugh at the premiere of the holiday film "Red One" in New York City, New York US, November 11, 2024. REUTERS/Kent J Edwards
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Dwayne Johnson’s $200 Million-plus Christmas Pic Opens to $34.1 Million

Dwayne Johnson, Lucy Liu, and Chris Evans laugh at the premiere of the holiday film "Red One" in New York City, New York US, November 11, 2024. REUTERS/Kent J Edwards
Dwayne Johnson, Lucy Liu, and Chris Evans laugh at the premiere of the holiday film "Red One" in New York City, New York US, November 11, 2024. REUTERS/Kent J Edwards

Moviegoers were not exactly feeling the Christmas spirit this weekend, or at least not based on their attendance at “Red One” showings.
The big budget, star-driven action comedy with Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans sold $34.1 million in tickets in its first weekend in theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday. It easily topped a box office populated mostly by holdovers.
For traditional studios, a $34.1 million debut against a $200 million-plus production budget would be a clear indication of a flop. Some even peg the budget closer to $250 million. But “Red One” is an Amazon MGM Studios release with the luxury of playing the long game rather than relying solely on global box office where Johnson tentpoles often overperform. The film may have a life on Prime Video for years to come, The Associated Press reported.
“Red One,” in which Johnson plays Santa’s bodyguard, was originally built to go straight-to-streaming. It was greenlit prior to Amazon's acquisition of MGM. One interpretation of its lifecycle is that the theatrical earnings are not only just a bonus, but an additive gesture toward struggling theaters looking for a consistent stream of new films.
“Amazon has 250 million plus worldwide subscribers to the platform. It’s similar to the way Netflix, I think, looks at stuff for their platform,” said Kevin Wilson, head of distribution for Amazon MGM Studios. “There’s a there’s a massive value for a movie like this in terms of how many eyeballs you’re going to get.”
The first major studio holiday release since 2018, “Red One” opened on 4,032 screens, including IMAX and other large formats, on an otherwise quiet weekend for major releases.
“We’re really happy with the results," Wilson said. “I think when you look at the theatrical marketplace that's sometimes unforgiving, especially for original films, this is a good result for us.”
Since 2020, only seven films that weren't sequels or based on another piece of intellectual property have opened over $30 million (including “Oppenheimer” and “Nope.”)
Warner Bros. is handling the overseas release, where it has made an estimated $50 million in two weekends from 75 territories and 14,783 screens.
Still, it’s certainly not a theatrical hit in North America. Even “Joker: Folie à Deux” made slightly more in its first weekend. “Red One,” directed by Jake Kasdan and produced by Johnson’s Seven Bucks, was roundly rejected by critics, with a dismal 33% Rotten Tomatoes score. Jake Coyle, in his review for The Associated Press, wrote that it “feels like an unwanted high-priced Christmas present.”
Audiences were kinder than they were to “Joker 2,” giving it an A- CinemaScore, suggesting, perhaps, that the idea of it becoming a perennial holiday favorite is not so off-base.
“Red One” is also overperforming in the middle of the country, Wilson said, and perhaps will have a nice holdover over Thanksgiving as a different option to the behemoths on the way.
Sony's “Venom: The Last Dance” added $7.4 million this weekend's box office to take second place, bringing its domestic total to $127.6 million. Globally, its total stands at $436.1 million.
Lionsgate's “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” landed in third with $5.4 million. That much more modestly budgeted Christmas movie has already nearly doubled its $10 million production budget in two weeks. Fourth place went to A24’s Hugh Grant horror “Heretic,” with $5.2 million, bumping its total gross to $20.4 million.
Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot” rounded out the top five in its eighth weekend in theaters with an additional $4.3 million. The animated film surpassed $300 million worldwide.
This weekend is a bit of a stopover before the Thanksgiving tentpoles arrive. Next week, “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” face off in theaters with “Moana 2”, which also stars Johnson, sailing in the Wednesday before the holiday.
“Gladiator II” also got a bit of a head start internationally, where it opened in 63 markets this weekend to gross $87 million. That's a record for filmmaker Ridley Scott and for an R-rated international release from Paramount. It opens in the US and Canada on Nov. 22.