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Motown Stars Celebrate Completion of Museum Expansion Phases

Motown greats Smokey Robinson, left, and original Temptation Otis Williams applaud during the Motown Museum celebration for the completion of two of three phases of an ambitious expansion plan, including a new square/courtyard in front of the museum, in Detroit, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. (AP)
Motown greats Smokey Robinson, left, and original Temptation Otis Williams applaud during the Motown Museum celebration for the completion of two of three phases of an ambitious expansion plan, including a new square/courtyard in front of the museum, in Detroit, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. (AP)
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Motown Stars Celebrate Completion of Museum Expansion Phases

Motown greats Smokey Robinson, left, and original Temptation Otis Williams applaud during the Motown Museum celebration for the completion of two of three phases of an ambitious expansion plan, including a new square/courtyard in front of the museum, in Detroit, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. (AP)
Motown greats Smokey Robinson, left, and original Temptation Otis Williams applaud during the Motown Museum celebration for the completion of two of three phases of an ambitious expansion plan, including a new square/courtyard in front of the museum, in Detroit, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. (AP)

The historic section of Detroit where Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr. built his music empire six decades ago is now looking better than ever.

Motown legend — and Gordy's best friend — Smokey Robinson was among those who visited the newly improved Motown Museum site on Monday night for an event celebrating the completion of the first two phases of the museum's expansion.

Robinson was joined by Otis Williams, Martha Reeves and other Motown luminaries in celebrating the grand opening of Hitsville NEXT, an educational programming and creative hub, and the newly established Rocket Plaza.

"Kids who aren't even born yet will be aware of Motown," Robinson told The Associated Press during an interview ahead of the event held near the entrance to the museum. "Some of their parents weren't even born when we started this. But it's a wonderful thing."

The festivities included comments from Robinson and Williams, an original founding member of The Temptations who gifted microphones to the museum from his personal collection.

And they concluded with a performance of the Temptations classic, "My Girl," performed by the cast of the musical "Ain't Too Proud," and introduced by Marcus Paul James, who portrays Williams in the show.

"I am very happy to be part of something — this here, Motown — (that will) outlast us all," Williams said.

The museum will continue to be housed in the famed "Hitsville, USA" building at 2648 West Grand Boulevard.

But three nearby Motown-era buildings have been transformed into Hitsville NEXT, which will be home to camps, workshops, master classes and community events. It represents the first phase of the museum's expansion.

Phase two is Rocket Plaza, an outdoor plaza that will serve as a community gathering place and a welcome destination for museum visitors.

"This plaza is the new front porch to Motown," said Robin Terry, Motown Museum chairwoman and CEO.

Gordy launched Motown in 1959. His late sister, Esther Gordy Edwards, founded the museum in the former Hitsville headquarters in 1985. In addition to Robinson and The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye and many others recorded hits there before Motown moved to California in 1972.

The museum is inviting the community to its Founder’s Day celebration on Saturday in honor of Gordy Edwards, the reopening and the completed expansion phases.

And the museum on Sunday will welcome back visitors for tours of Hitsville, USA following pandemic- and construction-related closures.

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Entertainment

'Thunderbolts’ and ‘Sinners’ Top Box Office Charts Once More

Lewis Pullman, from left, Geraldine Viswanathan, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell, and Jake Schreier attend the Walt Disney Studios special screening of "Thunderbolts" at IPIC Fulton Market on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in New York. (Photo Christopher Smith/Invision/AP)
Lewis Pullman, from left, Geraldine Viswanathan, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell, and Jake Schreier attend the Walt Disney Studios special screening of "Thunderbolts" at IPIC Fulton Market on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in New York. (Photo Christopher Smith/Invision/AP)
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'Thunderbolts’ and ‘Sinners’ Top Box Office Charts Once More

Lewis Pullman, from left, Geraldine Viswanathan, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell, and Jake Schreier attend the Walt Disney Studios special screening of "Thunderbolts" at IPIC Fulton Market on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in New York. (Photo Christopher Smith/Invision/AP)
Lewis Pullman, from left, Geraldine Viswanathan, Hannah John-Kamen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell, and Jake Schreier attend the Walt Disney Studios special screening of "Thunderbolts" at IPIC Fulton Market on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in New York. (Photo Christopher Smith/Invision/AP)

Marvel’s “Thunderbolts” and Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” dominated the North American box office charts again this weekend.
Now in their second and fourth weekends respectively, the two films had some new competition, including a horror movie, a Kerry Washington action pic, a Josh Hartnett airplane thriller, and a Shakespeare-inspired musical. None of the additions made a significant impact.
“Thunderbolts” took first place, with $33.1 million from theaters in the US and Canada, according to studio estimates Sunday. That's down 55% from its opening, The Associated Press reported. Internationally, it added $34 million, bringing its global total to $272.2 million. In just two weekends, the Walt Disney Co. release is already the fourth biggest of the year, globally and domestically.
The movie is also faring better than the previous Marvel movie, “Captain America: Brave New World,” which took a big 68% dive in its second weekend. The key difference was reviews, which don’t always dictate the fate of superhero movies, but good word of mouth has helped “Thunderbolts.”
“The holding power of this film harkens back to the heyday of Marvel,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “The currency of the long-term playability is more important than the sheer opening weekends.”
The studio also has another big movie coming later this summer in “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.”
“Sinners,” meanwhile, crossed the $200 million mark in North American ticket sales this weekend, which is especially notable for an original R-rated movie. It added $21.1 million domestically, and $6.6 million internationally, bringing its global total to $283.3 million. Next weekend, it’s also returning to 70mm IMAX screens “by popular demand,” IMAX said.
Warner Bros.’ other juggernaut, “A Minecraft Movie,” has made $409 million domestically and $909.6 million globally in its six weekends in theaters. It added just under $8 million to take third place this weekend, followed by “The Accountant 2” in fourth with $6.1 million.
Several new movies also opened in wide release this weekend, but none seemed to break through the noise. The biggest of the bunch was “Clown in a Cornfield,” which earned $3.7 million (a relative high water mark for its distributor IFC) and cracked the top five.
“The second weekend in May, there is typically a bit of a lull,” Dergarabedian said. “IFC picked a perfect date for this clown to scare people into the theater."
“Shadow Force,” a Lionsgate action pic with Washington and Omar Sy from “The Grey” filmmaker Joe Carnahan, made $2 million from 2,170 screens. Vertical’s “Flight or Fight,” starring Hartnett as a mercenary on a plane full of assassins, also debuted with an estimated $2 million from 2,153 screens.
In limited release, the Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd movie “Friendship” launched on six screens in New York and Los Angeles and scored the best per-screen average of the year ($75,317) with many sellouts reported. A24 plans to expand the release nationwide over Memorial Day.
Overall, it was a relatively quiet weekend, but thanks to “A Minecraft Movie,” “Sinners” and “Thunderbolts,” the year-to-date box office is up around 16% from last year, according to Comscore data. Compared with 2019, however, it’s down over 32%.
Next week, “Final Destination: Bloodlines” should give the marketplace another jolt before two giants debut over the holiday weekend: “Lilo & Stitch” and “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.”