Screen Actors Guild Awards Cancel Live Nominations Announcement Due to Los Angeles Wildfires

A general view of the carpet at the 30th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, Feb. 24, 2024, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP)
A general view of the carpet at the 30th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, Feb. 24, 2024, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP)
TT
20

Screen Actors Guild Awards Cancel Live Nominations Announcement Due to Los Angeles Wildfires

A general view of the carpet at the 30th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, Feb. 24, 2024, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP)
A general view of the carpet at the 30th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, Feb. 24, 2024, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP)

The Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations have canceled an in-person announcement planned for Wednesday morning due to devastating wildfires and winds in the Los Angeles area.

The nominations for awards honoring the best performances in movies and television will be announced by press release instead of at a live event hosted by actors Joey King and Cooper Koch.

Homes and structures are burning in a pair of wind-swept fires in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles and Altadena, a neighborhood near Pasadena, California.

Kristen Bell will host the 31st annual awards ceremony, which will stream live on Netflix on Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. Eastern from the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles. Idris Elba hosted last year’s ceremony.

The SAG Awards are a reliable Oscar bellwether for the acting and best picture categories.

The fires have led to the cancellation of several entertainment events, including Wednesday's premiere of the Robbie Williams biopic “Better Man,” a premiere of Jennifer Lopez's “Unstoppable” movie and the premiere of Universal Pictures' upcoming horror film “Wolf Man.”



‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ Bites Off $318 Million at the Global Box Office

This image released by Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment shows Scarlett Johansson in a scene from " Jurassic World: Rebirth." (Jasin Boland/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment via AP)
This image released by Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment shows Scarlett Johansson in a scene from " Jurassic World: Rebirth." (Jasin Boland/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment via AP)
TT
20

‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ Bites Off $318 Million at the Global Box Office

This image released by Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment shows Scarlett Johansson in a scene from " Jurassic World: Rebirth." (Jasin Boland/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment via AP)
This image released by Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment shows Scarlett Johansson in a scene from " Jurassic World: Rebirth." (Jasin Boland/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment via AP)

Dinosaur fatigue may be a theme in “Jurassic World Rebirth,” but moviegoing audiences don’t seem to have that reservation. The newest installment in the “Jurassic World” franchise ruled the Fourth of July holiday box office with a global, five-day launch of $318.3 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Universal Pictures release, directed by Gareth Edwards, opened on Wednesday and earned $147.3 million in its first five days in 4,308 North American theaters. An estimated $91.5 million of that comes from the traditional “three day” weekend, which includes the Friday holiday, Saturday and projected Sunday ticket sales.

Internationally, it opened in 82 markets including China, adding $171 million to the opening total. According to the studio, $41.5 million of that came from China alone, where it played on 65,000 screens, 760 of which were IMAX. It's the country's biggest MPA (Motion Picture Association) opening of the year.

“Rebirth,” starring Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey, is the fourth movie in the “Jurassic World” series and the seventh since Steven Spielberg’s original Michael Crichton adaptation stormed theaters in the summer of 1993. The new film received mixed reviews from critics, carrying a 51% on Rotten Tomatoes, and B CinemaScore from opening weekend audiences, The Associated Press reported.

Factors like the holiday weekend, inflation and post-COVID moviegoing realities make it difficult to fairly compare the “Rebirth” launch to the other films in the “Jurassic World” franchise, the first of which opened to $208 million domestically in 2015. The other two, “Fallen Kingdom” and “Dominion” opened to $148 million and $145 million respectively.

“Jurassic World Rebirth” introduced a new main cast to the series and brought back a familiar voice in “Jurassic Park” screenwriter David Koepp to guide the story about a dangerous hunt for dinosaur DNA (not for making dinosaurs this time, but for curing heart disease). It cost a reported $180 million net to produce, not including marketing and promotion costs.

The campaign was far reaching, including a global press tour, with stops everywhere from London to Seoul, integrated marketing across NBC Universal platforms and brand tie-ins with everything from Jeep and 7-11 to Johansson’s skincare line.

No major new films dared go up against the dinosaurs, who left last week’s champion, the Brad Pitt racing movie “F1,” in the dust. “F1” fell a modest 54% in its second weekend with $26.1 million, helping bring its domestic total to $109.5 million. It continues to play on IMAX screens with accounted for $7.6 million of the North American weekend ticket sales. Globally, it's nearing $300 million with a running total of $293.6 million.

Third place went to Universal's live-action “How to Train Your Dragon,” which earned $11 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its domestic total to $224 million. Disney and Pixar's “Elio” landed in fourth place with $5.7 million. Globally, “Elio” has just crossed $96 million in three weekends.