Monday, May 1, 2017

'Fate of the Furious' drives China box office to fastest growth in over a year

China's box office sales grew at their fastest pace in over a year in April, driven by the U.S. action movie "The Fate of the Furious", the eighth instalment of the high-octane fast car franchise.

Monthly ticket sales jumped nearly 57 percent from the same period a year ago to 4.9 billion yuan ($707.5 million), data from box office tracker EntGroup showed, the largest monthly growth since February last year.

China's box office, a magnet for Hollywood producers, saw growth stall last year amid a crackdown on subsidies and a weak slate of movies. Ticket sales grew under 4 percent in 2016, down sharply from around 50-percent growth the year before.

After a stronger start this year, China ticket sales slid again in February and March.

The sharp April rise came on the back of the latest outing from Universal's hugely-popular Fast and Furious franchise. The film, released in mid-April in China, has so far raked in $362.7 million in the China market, EntGroup data showed.

Despite a slowdown in box office sales in the market, US studios are increasingly looking to China to boost global revenues, though they face issues from a local quota system for imported films to questions over censorship.

Hollywood is lobbying to increase the official quota level of 34 imported films a year and to raise the share of sales that international partners receive, as a revenue-sharing deal struck in 2012 comes up for review this year.

"The Fate of the Furious", which stars Vin Diesel and Jason Statham, is the second-highest grossing movie of 2017 so far behind "Beauty and the Beast", with global ticket sales of $1.06 billion, according to Box Office Mojo.

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Shah Rukh speaks like a poet, Salman is incredible: Katrina Kaif

Bollywood's lovely lass Katrina Kaif, who has been in news since her debut on Instagram a few days ago, is one of the few actresses to have starred opposite the three major Khans of the Bollywood. 

Speaking at India Today's Mind Rocks Guwahati 2017, the actress got candid about working with Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan.

About Salman Khan, she remarked, "He is a strong man. He will always set an example for people who look up to him. It is difficult to guess what he thinks. His strength and silence are admirable qualities. He is an incredible person."

She is all prepared to reunite with the star in the sequel of Ek Tha Tiger; Tiger Zinda Hai. The movie is likely to release during Christmas.

One the other hand, "Shah Rukh Khan is a very knowledgeable person. He speaks like a poet and has got an energy which never stops," remarked the actress, who has starred opposite him in Jab Tak Hai Jaan.

Speaking about Aamir, she said that "he has a different approach to working. His approach is very meticulous. He puts in a lot of physical work and mental preparation. No one puts that kind of dedication to work." The two have starred in Dhoom 3.

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Yasir Hussain’s absolutely offensive joke on child abuse leads to uproar

Actor Yasir Hussain on Saturday night made a crass joke about child molestation that has caught social media in a whirlwind of anger.

When Ahsan Khan went up to the stage to receive his Hum Award for his role in Udaari – which raised the ultra delicate and less-talked-about issue of child molestation – Hussain said, "Itna khobsurat child molester, kash main bhi bacha hota. (Seeing such a good-looking child molester, I wish I was a child too!)"

While some media outlets reported that the audience did not pause to call out Hussain on his insensitive remark and continued to laugh, Twitter was taking none of it.

 

Hassan Choudary
Hassan Choudary's Twitter account

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To add to this, it is said that the joke was not in the script.

The question that follows, importantly, is that since extemporary comments shine a light on what a person is like on the inside, the side only they are aware of, is Hussain one of those who actually thinks abuse and other social issues are hilarious?

But this is what Hussain has to say:

 

 

"I am just as against child abuse as you all are. The joke I made is being portrayed in a different manner than I had originally intended to. I apologise to Ahsan bhai and the rest."

 

 

#yasirhussain #humawards

A post shared by yasir hussain (@yasir.hussain131) on

 

When someone from a local media outlet managed to talk to him, interestingly, this is what he had to say, "First of all, no one's talking about the first part of my segment which got a lot of laughs, why is the positive aspect of my performance being put aside?"

"Secondly, when you improvise, things come out of your mouth that may not be appropriate. What I said, I said in praise of Ahsan Khan, it had nothing to do with child molestation. I certainly didn't mean to encourage child molestation. But if this hurts people, then I have said sorry for it," he continued.

Really?

 

 

You may already have good projects like movie Karachi Se Lahore and drama serial Dareecha under your belt, but it doesn't excuse you from being inconsiderate towards social issues.

While the show will, nevertheless, be remembered for this distasteful joke, let's hope more awareness is spread about such issues.

 

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Deepika’s no-show at Priyanka’s party fuels fallout rumours

Leading Bollywood ladies Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra have been making headlines after they appeared in big Hollywood projects – namely Baywatch and xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, respectively – but Indian media is abuzz with entirely something else.

Citing alleged fallout gossip due to professional tussle on an international level, various media outlets have been reporting that the two stunning actresses are not on good terms and that that's why the Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani star was absent at a recent party hosted by Priyanka.

Sources, however, say that Deepika is quite busy with her work, which is why she was unable to attend Teri Meri Kahaani actress' event. "Deepika has been shooting at nights for Padmavati and was even shooting at Film City on the night of the party," a friend said, according to Pinkvilla.

 

 

Earlier, Deepika had slammed the rumours when she said, "I like the fact that you use the word 'friend' because that's what she is to me. […] I feel extremely awkward and weird when such comparisons are made because I don't even believe that we are professional rivals. We never were. So, why should we be now?"

 

 

Priyanka agreed; "I have been compared to actresses all my life. I have no problems with that. They compare me to everyone during each release. It's become a habit now," she stated, as per the publication.

Maybe it's time the beauties are taken at their words and left alone to focus on their careers?

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'Latin Lover' Tops 'The Circle,' 'Fate of the Furious' Rides to Third Straight No. 1

LOS ANGELES (via Variety.com): It has become a familiar story – The Fate of the Furious is, once again, the box office champ.

The massively-popular eighth episode in the Fast and Furious franchise earned $19.4 million this weekend from 4,077 locations, placing it securely in first place during a sputtering weekend, anticipating the summer season. After winning the domestic box office for three straight weeks, the Universal movie's US total stands at $192.7 million.

Not only that, Fate's global total officially crossed the $1-billion mark, making it the 21st highest grossing movie of all time behind 2006's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Its total global sum stands at $1.06 billion.

On the other hand, it fuelled China's box office sales to their fastest pace in over a year in April, churning in $362.7 million in the China market, EntGroup data showed.

But while Fate's victory seemed inevitable, the rest of the weekend's top five reaped intrigue. Pantelion's How to be a Latin Lover slid into second over Tom Hanks and Emma Watson's not-so-distant future tech-thriller The Circle. Led by Mexican star Eugenio Derbez, Latin Lover attracted $12 million from only 1,118 targeted locations. The opening weekend's audience domestically was 89% Hispanic.

In Latin Lover, Derbez plays a man named Maximo who made a career seducing older women. When his now 80-year-old wife kicks him out for a younger man, Maximo goes to live with his sister (Salma Hayek) and attempts to remaster his art of seduction. Rob Lowe and Kristen Bell also star in comedic actor Ken Marino's directorial debut. Derbez has won over the domestic box office in the past. In 2013 Instructions Not Included, which he directed in addition to starring in, earned $7.8 million in its opening weekend from only 348 theatres.

Despite screening in only 420 locations, the South Indian epic Baahubali 2: The Conclusion landed in third for the weekend with a hefty sum of $10.5 million. The movie, from Great India Films, is the sequel to Baahubali: The Beginning which made $3.6 million when it opened in 236 theatres in 2015. S.S. Rajamouli returned to direct the movie starring Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, and Anushka Shetty.

Baahubali 2 earned $1.8 million of its domestic total from 45 IMAX screens alone. Five domestic IMAX locations set new three-day weekend records, and the film also set records in India, making it the biggest domestic IMAX opening for a foreign language film.

Not every story from the weekend box office was quite so rosy. Slapped with a rare D+ CinemaScore and a 17% on Rotten Tomatoes, The Circle landed $9.3 million from 3,163 theatres, falling short of its double-digit projections. The $18-million movie was acquired by EuropaCorp for an estimated $8 million.

The film hoped to draw audiences by tapping into modern-day anxieties surrounding technology and privacy. In the movie, Hanks plays the CEO of a Silicon Valley social media company. His young employee, played by Watson, finds herself wrapped up in an experiment that tests ethical limits. James Ponsoldt directed the movie and co-wrote the script with Dave Eggers, who wrote the novel on which the movie was based.

Blumhouse's BH Tilt label released Sleight in 565 theatres and saw a weekend gross of $1.7 million. The film tells the story of a young street magician in Los Angeles (Jacob Latimore) who uses magic and his mind to save his kidnapped sister. Seychelle Gabriel, Dule Hill, Storm Reid and Sasheer Zamata also star. The label's marketing and release strategy targeted a young, urban audience – 72% of audiences fell in the 18-34 demo and 45% were African-American.

In its fifth weekend, Fox's Boss Baby held onto the fifth position. The animated film earned an additional $9.1 million from 3,739 locations, raising its domestic total to just shy of $150 million.

Next weekend marks the first summer frame and should see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 post huge numbers. The sequel earned over $101 million at the foreign box office in its opened weekend – one ahead of the US When the now-beloved first Guardians movie launched as a relatively unknown property in August of 2014, it made $94 million in its opening weekend.

 

 

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Muslim comedian Hasan Minhaj tears down Trump policies, piece by piece

Hasan Minhaj, commonly known for his role of the correspondent on The Daily Show program, ripped apart US President Donald Trump and his policies at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, which took place in Washington on Saturday.

The 25-minute-long game of heated taunts was initiated brilliantly by Minhaj. "No one wanted to do this. So of course, it landed in the hands of an immigrant. That's how it always goes down. [And] I'll be known in a few weeks, no. 830-287," he said.

"In the age of Trump, you guys have to be more perfect, now more than ever," he said, calling the event the "series finale" since Trump was notably absent as he boycotted media outlets.

The speech was full of snide comments, as Minhaj rained down jabs and jeers at the incumbent president. "Now you know what it feels like to be a minority," he said since if "one of you messes up, [Trump] blames your entire group".

Minhaj viciously criticised Trump's dislike of the minorities, including Muslims, Sikhs, and the LGBT community. "Everyone is gonna expect you to be the mouthpiece for the entire group," he said to the crowd of celebrated reporters and journalists.

As to why he thinks he can talk on this matter, he had the perfect response: "You guys got a lot more experience than me, but I got three decades of being brown."

Blazing away despite the organisers' wishes of refraining from mocking Trump, Minhaj said he did so to honour US constitutional protection of free speech. "Only in America can a first-generation, Indian-American Muslim kid get on this stage and make fun of the president," he explained.

The comedian went on to say that minority communities experience a lot of prejudice and are stereotypically thought to be the bad guys – which means that if someone from the marginalised groups does an outstanding job, they "get hit with the most condescending line in the English language: 'Hey, you're actually one of the good ones'".

White House Correspondents' Dinner is famous for its traditional roasting of state policies, administration's beliefs and viewpoints, and the US Presidents, who also take the stage to make self-deprecating remarks in a light-hearted evening with the press.

However, it's "not Donald Trump's style," says NBC News' Andrea Mitchell, hinting at how the president manages to make comments that imply he's the best at every job and that he'll make "America great again".

Trump had instead scheduled a rally in Pennsylvania where he brutally lambasted the media, including prominent names such as CNN and The New York Times, and became the first incumbent US president to bow out in 36 years.

To which, Minhaj's response was: "We have to address the elephant not in the room. The leader of our country is not here. But that's because he's in Moscow."

"As for the other guy, I think he's in Pennsylvania because he can't take a joke."

Regardless, Minhaj managed to pull in Trump's lies and his unnaturally long ties as well.

"We are here to talk about the truth. It is 2017, and we are living in the golden age of lying. Now's the time to be a liar, and Donald Trump is liar in chief. And remember, you guys are public enemy no. 1. You are his biggest enemy. Journalists, ISIS, normal-length ties."

Plus, it's good that Trump gets to play golf frequently, claims Minhaj referring to media's disapproval of the president's hobby. "I think I speak for all of us when I say he's done far too much bombing this month."

So if you think you need to double up your efforts as an immigrant or come from an immigrant family for lesser credit than you deserve, Hasan Minhaj has the best advice.

"Remember, you're a minority. […] You gotta think like a minority."

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‘Baghdaddy’: New York turns Iraq war into musical

NEW YORK: The Iraq war may not sound like musical comedy, but an Off-Broadway revival is spinning intelligence failures and tragedy into a farce that offers potent messages for Donald Trump´s America.

"Baghdaddy" officially opens on Monday, telling the true story of an Iraqi defector, code named Curveball, whose claims about weapons of mass destruction became justification for the US-led invasion in 2003.

"If you put ´Hamilton´ and ´The Office´ in a blender you would have this show," says producer Charlie Fink of the Broadway smash hit about American founding father Alexander and the US television sitcom.

The plot opens in the present day with disgraced CIA spies gathering at a support group -- think Spooks Anonymous -- as they seek understanding and redemption for mistakes that haunt them years later.

The action then switches back in time to Frankfurt airport, where the informant offers to trade apparent secrets about Saddam Hussein´s presumed bio-weapons program for political asylum.

German intelligence consults the CIA, where analysts driven by ambition, office crushes and intransigent bosses see Curveball as a ticket out of everyday routine and a fast-track to promotion.

But the growing farce quickly gives way to the 9/11 attacks, swapping comedy for tragedy and the onset of a war still being fought today, 14 years after an invasion found no weapons of mass destruction.

It´s a fast-paced script woven into a tight score that blends traditional musical theater and camp dancing with hip-hop tracks that carry a stark warning that history should not repeat itself.

Fink says it is more relevant than ever in today´s climate of "fake news" and "alternative facts" as some fear that Trump could drag the country into another conflict, if not in Syria then over North Korea.

"It has an immediacy that it didn´t have in 2015 and a sense that we´re doing this all again," says Fink, referring to a short run two years ago.

´Scary´

"It feels like a time when rules are being rewritten and authority is listening to its instincts, rather than listening to facts and analysis. And that´s scary," says Fink.

The first preview on April 6 coincided with the day that the president ordered a cruise missile attack on a Syrian airbase, the first direct US action against the Syrian regime.

Low budget and in the works for 10 years, there are just eight actors playing six main roles. "Baghdaddy" returns at the height of the Broadway season, competing with more than a dozen other new shows.

It also spreads responsibility for the 2003 invasion far and wide, not just at the door of then president George W. Bush or the US government but the country as a whole and its Western allies in general.

"We all messed up," says Marshall Pailet, director, co-writer and composer. Far from seeing comedy as inappropriate, he says it´s a great vehicle to get New York theater-goers thinking.

"Because we open up their minds and their hearts with comedy, we´re able to slip in substance, story, character and a lesson."

A.D. Penedo, who wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the book, admits it was daunting to turn the subject into a musical that both entertains and sends people away with a clear message.

"We want them to be entertained and moved," he said. "But we want them to take away... that even though you feel like you don´t matter, you really do, and there´s ramifications for your actions."

The show is scheduled to run until June 18 at St Luke´s Theatre, a basement venue just steps from Times Square.

But never does the show laugh at war itself. More than 4,500 US troops have died in Iraq since 2003. Some estimates for the number of civilians to have perished range from 173,916 to nearly half a million.

"We all own it," says Fink. "A wound in the world that is not going to be healed with tears or laughter."

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