Madonna Shines in ‘Celebration’ Tour after Near-Fatal Illness

Madonna seen in New York on May 4, 2019, in New York. (AFP)
Madonna seen in New York on May 4, 2019, in New York. (AFP)
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Madonna Shines in ‘Celebration’ Tour after Near-Fatal Illness

Madonna seen in New York on May 4, 2019, in New York. (AFP)
Madonna seen in New York on May 4, 2019, in New York. (AFP)

Madonna kicked off her "Celebration" tour in London on Saturday, with a performance that proved her energy, charisma and appetite for controversy were little dimmed after four decades of pop super-stardom and a brush with death earlier this year.

The 65-year-old's greatest hits show was pushed back from its original July start date after she was hospitalized in intensive care for a serious bacterial infection.

"I'm really damn surprised I made it this far. And I mean that on so many levels," she told fans at the O2 arena.

Wearing the corset and chains that defined her breakthrough, she sang "Into The Groove" before a sound problem forced her to ad-lib about her early struggles in New York.

With the backing track restored, 1983's "Holiday" recreated the hedonistic joy of a New York club before the onslaught of AIDS, marked by a tribute to those who had died.

She performed hits "Like a Prayer", while "Vogue", the hit that powered her into the 1990s, saw one of the stages become a catwalk.

Madonna addressed the situation in the Middle East. "There's a lot of really crazy things happening in the world that are so, so painful to witness," she said. "But even though our hearts are broken, our spirits cannot be broken."

On her health scare, she said: "It was a crazy year for me as well. And I didn't think I was going to make it."

With more than 40 songs in the show, some like "Papa Don't Preach" were dispatched in seconds, but all of her re-inventions, from Catholic Madonna to Country Madonna, featured.

The seven-time Grammy Award winner has rescheduled the tour's North American leg to start in December after her European concerts.



'Superman' Director James Gunn Remakes the Hero for the Big Screen

FILE PHOTO: Director James Gunn poses at a photo call for the film Superman in Culver City, California, US, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Director James Gunn poses at a photo call for the film Superman in Culver City, California, US, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
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'Superman' Director James Gunn Remakes the Hero for the Big Screen

FILE PHOTO: Director James Gunn poses at a photo call for the film Superman in Culver City, California, US, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Director James Gunn poses at a photo call for the film Superman in Culver City, California, US, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo

James Gunn, writer and director of the off-kilter "Guardians of the Galaxy" films, tussled with various ideas on how to deliver a new take on Superman to the big screen.

Gunn said he was aware of the many ways the noble hero had been approached since his 1938 debut, initially in comic books and then radio serials, television shows and movies.

The challenge was to deliver something fresh that would appeal to a new generation of moviegoers and reinvigorate Warner Bros Discovery's DC Studios.

His vision, in the movie titled simply "Superman," starts rolling out in international theaters on Wednesday and in the United States and Canada on Friday, Reuters reported.

In the opening scene, Superman, played for the first time by David Corenswet, is seen bloodied after a fight, an unusual portrayal for the Man of Steel.

"I wanted to take the character of Superman and just focus on a piece of him that we haven't necessarily seen before," Gunn said.

Gunn surrounded Superman with elements that enthralled him from the comics as a child. Superman lives in a world, Gunn said, with "superhero friends and giant monsters and flying dogs, robots and all this magical stuff."

The new film includes Superman's four-legged sidekick, a superpowered dog named Krypto first introduced in a 1955 comic. The latest version is based on Gunn's real-life, misbehaving rescue mutt.

Warner Bros is counting on "Superman" to start a new era at DC Studios, which has failed to match the superhero success of Walt Disney-owned Marvel. Gunn, who made the "Guardians" movies for Marvel, was named co-CEO of DC Studios, alongside producer Peter Safran, in 2022.

The pair have plotted a long-term slate that features a Supergirl movie for June 2026, a film based on Swamp Thing and TV shows for HBO Max. Wonder Woman and Batman also are expected to return to cinemas.

Gunn said the aesthetic that audiences see in "Superman" will not necessarily foreshadow future DC Studios endeavors. "I want to be really certain that every project has its own unique flavor," Gunn said.

"We're doing Clayface, and that doesn't feel like this movie. It's an R-rated horror movie. We're doing 'Lanterns,' which is an HBO show, which feels very much like an HBO show, very grounded, very kind of brutal. We have 'Peacemaker,' which is an adult show with a lot of emotion and a lot of comedy."

Gunn admitted he has felt the weight of responsibility to produce a hit.
"I've felt pressure all along," Gunn said. "That's been difficult."

But as he started to see initial reaction to the film, "I'm feeling pretty good," he said. "It's pretty fun. I'm seeing the effect the movie has on people."