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‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Is No. 1 Again; Conservative Doc ‘Am I Racist’ Cracks Box Office Top 5

US director Tim Burton poses on the red carpet upon arrival to attend the UK premiere of the film "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice", in central London, on August 29, 2024. (AFP)
US director Tim Burton poses on the red carpet upon arrival to attend the UK premiere of the film "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice", in central London, on August 29, 2024. (AFP)
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‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Is No. 1 Again; Conservative Doc ‘Am I Racist’ Cracks Box Office Top 5

US director Tim Burton poses on the red carpet upon arrival to attend the UK premiere of the film "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice", in central London, on August 29, 2024. (AFP)
US director Tim Burton poses on the red carpet upon arrival to attend the UK premiere of the film "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice", in central London, on August 29, 2024. (AFP)

Moviegoers said yes to more “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” this weekend.

After its monster opening, the Tim Burton sequel easily topped the domestic box office charts again with $51.6 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. Down only 54% from a week earlier, the North American gross for the Warner Bros. release is already at $188 million. Internationally, it added $28.7 million, bringing its worldwide total to a staggering $264.3 million.

“To drop just 54% is really impressive and indicative of a pretty solid word of mouth,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “Audiences are enjoying the film.”

While its hold was strong, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” didn’t have much in the way of major new competition. Fresh offerings included the James McAvoy horror “Speak No Evil,” a satirical documentary following right wing podcaster Matt Walsh; and a new Dave Bautista action pic, “The Killer's Game.”

Second place in weekend ticket sales went to “Speak No Evil,” a remake of a 2022 Danish horror film about an unsuspecting family who decides to spend a weekend with new friends in the country. McAvoy stars in it, along with Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy. With positive reviews and a shrewd release date of Friday the 13th, the Blumhouse production released by Universal Pictures made an estimated $11.5 million from 3,375 locations.

“Deadpool & Wolverine ” landed in third place in its eighth weekend with another $5.2 million. The Disney and Marvel blockbuster is now up to $621.5 million in North America and $1.3 billion globally.

The Daily Wire movie “Am I Racist?” placed fourth at the box office, with an estimated $4.7 million from only 1,517 theaters. Described as a mockumentary in the style of “Borat,” the movie has conservative columnist Walsh going undercover as a “DEI trainee.” Walsh had a similar gimmick, pretending to be a gender studies professor, in the 2022 movie “What is a Woman?” Both were directed by Justin Folk.

“Am I Racist?” cost a reported $3 million to make. To release it, the Daily Wire — the Ben Shapiro co-founded company — partnered with SDG Releasing, a distribution company founded by writers Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman, who promise the “lowest fees in the business.” Among the trailers playing before “Am I Racist?" is another film targeting conservative audiences: The upcoming Dinesh D'Souza movie “Vindicating Trump.”

Rounding out the top five was “Reagan,” the Showbiz Direct release starring Dennis Quaid as the former president, which added another $3 million in its third weekend, bringing its total domestic total to $23.3 million.

“The Killer's Game," meanwhile, debuted in sixth place with $2.6 million. Bautista stars as a hit man with a terminal illness in the action comedy, which got dismal reviews.

Next weekend, theaters will get the Optimus Prime origin pic “Transformers One,” but it may be a quiet few weeks at the box office until “Joker: Folie à Deux” dances its way onto the big screen on Oct. 4.

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André 3000's Alt-Jazz, ‘No Bars’ Solo Album Stunned Fans. Now, It’s up for Grammys

André Benjamin, also known as Andre 3000, arrives at the 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, Calif., on Feb. 21, 2015. (AP)
André Benjamin, also known as Andre 3000, arrives at the 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, Calif., on Feb. 21, 2015. (AP)
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André 3000's Alt-Jazz, ‘No Bars’ Solo Album Stunned Fans. Now, It’s up for Grammys

André Benjamin, also known as Andre 3000, arrives at the 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, Calif., on Feb. 21, 2015. (AP)
André Benjamin, also known as Andre 3000, arrives at the 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, Calif., on Feb. 21, 2015. (AP)

No one was expecting it. Late last year, André 3000 released his debut solo album, "New Blue Sun," 18 years after his legendary rap group Outkast's last studio album, "Idlewild."

But "New Blue Sun" has "no bars," he jokes. It's a divergence from rap because "there was nothing I was liking enough to rap about, or I didn't feel it sounded fresh. I'm not about to serve you un-fresh (expletive.)"

Instead, he offered up a six-track instrumental album of ambient alt-jazz — with special attention paid to the flute.

"The sound, that's how I got into it," he says of the instrument. "The portability, too. You can't tote around a piano and play in Starbucks."

He's also invested in the flute's history — like learning about Mayan flutes made from clay, a design he had re-created in cedarwood. "There’s all kinds of fables and, you know, indigenous stories that go along with playing the flute — playing like the birds or playing your heart like the wind — it kind of met (me) where I was in life," he says.

"Flutes — wind instruments in general — are the closest thing you get to actually hearing a human," he continues. "You're actually hearing the breath of a person."

"New Blue Sun" is a stunning collection, one that has earned André 3000 three new Grammy Award nominations: album of the year, alternative jazz, and instrumental composition. Those arrive exactly 25 years after the 1999 Grammys, where Outkast received their first nomination — for "Rosa Parks," from their third album, "Aquemini" — and 20 years after the group won album of the year for "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below."

"It matters because we all want to be acknowledged or recognized," André 3000 says of his new Grammy nominations. "It's a type of proof of connection, in some type of way ... especially with the Grammys, because it's voted on by a committee of musicians and people in the industry."

He's a bit surprised by the attention, too, given the type of album he created. "We have no singles on the radio, not even singles that are hot in the street," he says. "When you're sitting next to Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, these are highly, hugely popular music artists, I'm satisfied just because of that ... we won just to be a part of the whole conversation."

He theorizes that it may be because popular music listening habits are broadening. "A lot of artists are just trying different things. Even, you know, the album that Beyoncé is nominated for, it’s not her normal thing," he says of her country-and-then-some record, "Cowboy Carter.We’re in this place where things are kind of shifting and moving."

For André 3000, "New Blue Sun" has allowed him to "feel like a whole new artist," but it is also an extension of who he's always been. "Being on the road with Outkast and picking up a bass clarinet at a pawn shop in New York and just sitting on the back of the bus playing with it — these things have been around," he says.

He's also always embraced "newness," as he puts it, experimenting creatively "even if it sounds non-masterful."

"Even producing for Outkast, I was just learning these instruments. If I ... put my hands down and play ‘Ms. Jackson,’ I'm not knowing what I'm playing. But I like it," he says.

As for a new Outkast album, "I never say never," he says. "But I can say that the older I get, I feel like that time has happened."