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Robert Pattison Sci-fi ‘Mickey 17’ Opens in 1st Place, but Profitability is a Long Way Off

Robert Pattinson, left, and director Bong Joon Ho pose for photographer at the photo call for the film 'Mickey 17' at the International Film Festival, Berlinale, in Berlin, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Robert Pattinson, left, and director Bong Joon Ho pose for photographer at the photo call for the film 'Mickey 17' at the International Film Festival, Berlinale, in Berlin, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
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Robert Pattison Sci-fi ‘Mickey 17’ Opens in 1st Place, but Profitability is a Long Way Off

Robert Pattinson, left, and director Bong Joon Ho pose for photographer at the photo call for the film 'Mickey 17' at the International Film Festival, Berlinale, in Berlin, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Robert Pattinson, left, and director Bong Joon Ho pose for photographer at the photo call for the film 'Mickey 17' at the International Film Festival, Berlinale, in Berlin, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

“Parasite” filmmaker Bong Joon Ho’s original science fiction film “Mickey 17” opened in first place on the North American box office charts. According to studio estimates Sunday, the Robert Pattinson-led film earned $19.1 million in its first weekend in theaters, which was enough to dethrone “Captain America: Brave New World” after a three-week reign.
Overseas, “Mickey 17” has already made $34.2 million, bringing its worldwide total to $53.3 million. But profitability for the film is a long way off: It cost a reported $118 million to produce, which does not account for millions spent on marketing and promotion.
A week following the Oscars, where “Anora” filmmaker Sean Baker made an impassioned speech about the importance of the theatrical experience – for filmmakers to keep making movies for the big screens, for distributors to focus on theatrical releases and for audiences to keep going – “Mickey 17” is perhaps the perfect representation of this moment in the business, or at least an interesting case study. It’s an original film from an Oscar-winning director led by a big star that was afforded a blockbuster budget and given a robust theatrical release by Warner Bros., one of the few major studios remaining. But despite all of that, and reviews that were mostly positive (79% on RottenTomatoes), audiences did not treat it as an event movie, and it may ultimately struggle to break even.
Originally set for release in March 2024, Bong Joon Ho’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning “Parasite” faced several delays, which he has attributed to extenuating circumstances around the Hollywood strikes. Based on the novel “Mickey7” by Edward Ashton, Pattinson plays an expendable employee who dies on missions and is re-printed time and time again. Steven Yeun, Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo also star.
It opened in 3,807 locations domestically where it performed best in New York and Los Angeles. Premium large format showings, including IMAX screens, also accounted for nearly half of its opening weekend. Internationally, it did especially well in Korea, where it made an estimated $14.6 million.
Second place went to “Captain America: Brave New World,” which added $8.5 million from 3,480 locations in North America and $9.2 million internationally. Its global total currently rests at $370.8 million. The Walt Disney Studios is on track to become the first studio to cross $1 billion in 2025 sometime this week.
Holdovers “Last Breath,” “The Monkey” and “Paddington in Peru” rounded out the top five. The weekend also had several other newcomers in “In the Lost Lands,” a fantasy film from Paul W.S. Anderson starring Milla Jovovich and Dave Bautista, and Angel Studios' “Rule Breakers,” about Afghani girls on a robotics team.
Neon upped the theater count for “Anora” to nearly 2,000 screens after it won five Oscars on Sunday, including best picture, best director and best actress. It earned an estimated $1.9 million (up 595% from last weekend), bringing its total grosses to $18.4 million.
According to data from Comscore, the 2025 box office as a whole is up 1% from where it was last year on this weekend and down 34.2% from the last pre-pandemic box office year of 2019.

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Entertainment

It’s All Coming Back: Celine Dion Fans Gear Up for Paris Return

Canadian singer Celine Dion waves to fans as she exits Hotel Le Royal Monceau in Paris on September 3, 2026, ahead of a series of concerts in the French capital. (AFP)
Canadian singer Celine Dion waves to fans as she exits Hotel Le Royal Monceau in Paris on September 3, 2026, ahead of a series of concerts in the French capital. (AFP)
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It’s All Coming Back: Celine Dion Fans Gear Up for Paris Return

Canadian singer Celine Dion waves to fans as she exits Hotel Le Royal Monceau in Paris on September 3, 2026, ahead of a series of concerts in the French capital. (AFP)
Canadian singer Celine Dion waves to fans as she exits Hotel Le Royal Monceau in Paris on September 3, 2026, ahead of a series of concerts in the French capital. (AFP)

Fans of Canadian superstar Celine Dion are gearing up for an onstage comeback many feared might never happen, with just a day to go until her opening concert in Paris following a years-long battle with a rare neurological disorder.

The 58-year-old will on Saturday perform her first full concert since revealing she was suffering from Stiff Person Syndrome, an incurable condition that forced her to cancel shows and left her struggling to sing.

Some 30,000 fans of the "My Heart Will Go On" singer are expected to see her reclaim the spotlight each night of her 26-date run in the French capital.

"I'm really, really, really looking forward to it -- and the closer it gets, the more excited I am," said fan Elsa, who is going to one of the October shows with her sister and friends.

"We're always singing her songs at karaoke, and so many of them bring back those memories," said the 39-year-old, who preferred not to give her full last name.

She said she had been due to see Dion once before only for the concert to be cancelled after the singer fell ill -- making her all the more determined not to miss out this time.

"She's one of those artists -- one of the very few -- I really wanted to fight to get a ticket for," she said.

- 'Goosebumps' -

Dion -- whose hits include "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" and "Because You Loved Me" -- has sold around 260 million albums in English and French over a four-decade career.

She kicks off her residency at the Plenitude Arena outside Paris on Saturday evening, with 16 sold-out shows in September and October before returning for another 10 next May.

Resale tickets are scarce, with one site showing just two seats available for her September 26 show listed at an eye-watering 1,035 euros ($1,202) and another at 862 euros.

Hotel prices are also seeing a boost, with holiday booking site Kayak showing a 50 percent bump on some of her concert dates.

Florence Monsellier, a 36-year-old French IT project manager, was "absolutely delighted" to have secured six seats.

"I'll be going with my mum, my sister and my three cousins," said the self-described "lifelong fan", who last saw Dion perform in 2007.

Even those without tickets may still get a chance to see the global superstar.

Admirers have gathered outside the Royal Monceau hotel each day, where Dion has regularly emerged for impromptu exchanges with fans.

Videos posted on social media show Dion singing and dancing with fans, even seemingly taking the phone number of one after being impressed by his rendition of her new single "Bonjour, Pardon, Merci" (Hello, Excuse Me, Thank you).

Stephanie, who works near the Royal Monceau, told AFP she left work early one day last week to make sure she saw the singer after narrowly missing her the night before.

"She put on a show... I got goosebumps," said Stephanie, who declined to give her last name.

- Six-year wait -

Dion's return to the stage caps a comeback that, for years, was far from certain.

The singer revealed in December 2022 that she had been diagnosed with a rare and incurable autoimmune disorder that can cause severe muscle stiffness and agonizing spasms.

The illness forced Dion to cancel concerts, but she repeatedly vowed to fight her way back to the stage.

"I'm going to come onstage because I'm ready. And my vocal cords will not scare me, because I'm going to be ready, and I'm going to hit those notes," she told NBC two years ago.

She stunned fans with a surprise appearance at the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony, belting out the Edith Piaf classic "Hymn to Love" from the Eiffel Tower.

For Elsa, watching Dion retake the stage, however briefly, was emotional.

"By the end of her song, I was crying like a baby," she said.

Now, with her return to a full-length concert just days away, Dion has kept much of the show -- including its setlist -- under wraps, while teasing fans with a few hints and some practical advice.

"Usually I do a one-hour-40-minute show, but this one's longer," she told the crowd one night.

Her tip for those lucky enough to have tickets: "Make sure you wear good shoes."

Entertainment

Sian Heder Makes ‘Invisible People Visible’ with Toronto Film on Disability Rights

This image released by Apple shows Ruth Madeley, left, with director Sian Heder during the filming of "Being Heumann." (Apple TV via AP)
This image released by Apple shows Ruth Madeley, left, with director Sian Heder during the filming of "Being Heumann." (Apple TV via AP)
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Sian Heder Makes ‘Invisible People Visible’ with Toronto Film on Disability Rights

This image released by Apple shows Ruth Madeley, left, with director Sian Heder during the filming of "Being Heumann." (Apple TV via AP)
This image released by Apple shows Ruth Madeley, left, with director Sian Heder during the filming of "Being Heumann." (Apple TV via AP)

Academy Award ‌winner Sian Heder's feature film "Being Heumann" opened the Toronto festival with a heartfelt tale of how disabled people with an indomitable will, courage and commitment accomplished the impossible.

"Being Heumann" tells the story of Judy Heumann, the late American activist — known widely as the "mother of the disability rights movement" — as she led a group of disabled people in their fight against apathy and discrimination that resulted in the longest occupation of a federal building in US history.

"She led a group of 100 disabled people into a federal building and ‌she held ‌that building until the first legislation was passed ‌around ⁠disability rights. So ⁠she's someone everyone should know," Heder told Reuters on the red carpet ahead of the film's premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

"I think all of her work was about how to make invisible people visible and shine a light, and not just shine a light, but create the hard change of inclusion, ⁠and that's what we're doing here," Heder said.

Writer-director ‌Heder won the Oscar for Best ‌Adapted Screenplay in 2022 for her film "CODA," a coming-of-age story about the ‌only hearing member of a deaf family.

Daniel Durant, who received ‌critical acclaim for his part in that film, jumped at the chance to work with Heder again.

"She is truly a magician and you can see it on screen," he said.

The sit-in in San Francisco ‌in 1977 lasted 26 days and forced the then US Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Joseph ⁠Califano Jr. ⁠to sign regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which ensured access for people with disabilities.

British actor Ruth Madeley plays Heumann while American star Mark Ruffalo portrays Califano. Most of the film's cast are disabled actors.

"I think bringing so many different sides of Judy into the movie... People know her as this fierce activist who changed the world, so to be able to show her fun side, her wild side, her humor, her joy, all of that, is really special and meaningful," Madeley said.

The film will be released in select theaters on November 6 before streaming on Apple TV a week later.

Entertainment

Qiddiya City Signs MoUs with Five Leading Travel and Tourism Companies

The MoUs aim to establish shared frameworks for cooperation with a select group of travel and tourism service providers - SPA
The MoUs aim to establish shared frameworks for cooperation with a select group of travel and tourism service providers - SPA
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Qiddiya City Signs MoUs with Five Leading Travel and Tourism Companies

The MoUs aim to establish shared frameworks for cooperation with a select group of travel and tourism service providers - SPA
The MoUs aim to establish shared frameworks for cooperation with a select group of travel and tourism service providers - SPA

Qiddiya City has announced the signing of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with five major travel and tourism service providers: Al Faris International Travel and Tourism, Travel Destinations Solutions, Al Matar Commercial Services Company, AlMosafer Travel and Tourism Company, and Fursan Travel and Tourism Company.

The agreements form part of a strategic direction aimed at expanding Qiddiya City's network of partnerships in the travel and tourism sector, strengthening its readiness to welcome visitors, and developing more integrated pathways for accessing its diverse destinations and experiences from within the Kingdom and abroad, SPA reported.

The MoUs aim to establish shared frameworks for cooperation with a select group of travel and tourism service providers, contributing to the development of more integrated and flexible solutions for the visitor journey; from planning and booking, through travel and arrival arrangements, to enjoying Qiddiya City's experiences more smoothly and efficiently.

Through these partnerships, Qiddiya City will leverage the specialized expertise, booking infrastructure, and commercial networks of these travel companies. The joint focus will be on delivering integrated and flexible solutions across every stage of the visitor journey, from initial planning and booking to travel arrangements and arrival.

These MoUs reinforce Qiddiya City's ongoing commitment to build quality partnerships with key players in the tourism and travel ecosystem, and form part of its future plans to develop integrated tourism solutions that enhance the readiness of its destinations to welcome visitors from within the Kingdom and abroad.

These partnerships also contribute to expanding the scope of cooperation with sector partners and providing more flexible and efficient options for the visitor journey, supporting the company's objectives in establishing Qiddiya as a global destination that brings together entertainment, sport, and culture, offering inspiring experiences built on the concept of "Power of Play."