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‘Jurassic World: Rebirth' roars to top of North American box office

‘Jurassic World: Rebirth' roars to top of North American box office

Kuwait Times09-07-2025
'Jurassic World: Rebirth' -- the latest installment in the blockbuster dinosaur saga -- stomped the July 4th weekend competition at the North American box office, raking in a whopping $91.5 million in its debut, industry estimates showed Sunday. The Universal film, starring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali, takes viewers to an abandoned island research facility for the original Jurassic Park theme park, where secrets -- and genetically mutated dinosaurs -- are lurking.
'This is an excellent opening for the 7th episode of an action-adventure monster series,' said analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. 'The series has been especially good overseas and so far foreign business is outstanding. Dinosaur action is understood in all languages and across all cultures.' 'F1: The Movie,' the Apple and Warner Bros. flick starring Brad Pitt as a washed-up Formula One driver who gets one last shot at redemption, slipped to second place at $26.1 million, Exhibitor Relations said.
(From left) British actor Rupert Friend, American actress and singer Scarlett Johansson and English actor Jonathan Bailey pose for a photo session during a press conference to promote the film "Jurassic World: Rebirth" in Seoul.
English actor Jonathan Bailey attends a red carpet event to promote the film "Jurassic World: Rebirth" in Seoul.
American actress Scarlett Johansson attends a red carpet event to promote the film "Jurassic World: Rebirth" in Seoul.
'How to Train Your Dragon,' Universal and DreamWorks Animation's live-action reboot of the popular 2010 film, held in third place at $11 million. The family-friendly film tells the story of a Viking named Hiccup (Mason Thames) who strikes up a friendship with Toothless the dragon. In fourth place was Disney/Pixar Animation's latest original film 'Elio,' at $5.7 million in the United States and Canada. 'Elio' tells the story of a young boy who is mistaken by aliens as an intergalactic ambassador for Earth. The voice cast includes Oscar winner Zoe Saldana.
In fifth place was Columbia Pictures' zombie sequel '28 Years Later,' which took in $4.6 million. The Danny Boyle-directed threequel picks up -- as the title suggests -- more than a generation after the initial outbreak of the Rage Virus. Rounding out the top 10 were:
'M3GAN 2.0' ($3.8 million)
'Lilo & Stitch' ($3.8 million)
'Mission: Impossible -- The Final Reckoning' ($2.7 million)
'Materialists' ($1.3 million)
'Ballerina' ($725,000)—AFP
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Thousands to pay respects as Ozzy Osbourne laid to rest in UK hometown
Thousands to pay respects as Ozzy Osbourne laid to rest in UK hometown

Kuwait Times

time15 hours ago

  • Kuwait Times

Thousands to pay respects as Ozzy Osbourne laid to rest in UK hometown

Thousands are expected to line the streets of Ozzy Osbourne's UK hometown of Birmingham on Wednesday to honor the heavy metal hell-raiser as he is laid to rest. Osbourne, nicknamed the 'Prince of Darkness' and who once bit a bat while on stage while performing with his Black Sabbath band, died on July 22 at the age of 76. The heavy metal star, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2019, passed away just over a fortnight after playing a final gig before a sold-out crowd in Birmingham. Birmingham city council said Osbourne's funeral cortege would pass slowly through the city from 1:00 pm (1200 GMT) down Broad Street to Black Sabbath bridge, along a route planned with the rocker's family. The hearse and vehicles will be accompanied by a live brass band performance by local musicians from Bostin' Brass. Osbourne will then be laid to rest at a private funeral service. 'Ozzy was more than a music legend - he was a son of Birmingham,' Zafar Iqbal, the lord mayor of the central English city, said in a statement. 'It was important to the city that we support a fitting, dignified tribute ahead of a private family funeral. 'We know how much this moment will mean to his fans. We're proud to host it here with his loving family in the place where it all began,' Iqbal added. Mourners and music fans line the streets ready to pay their respects, before the funeral cortege of Ozzy Osbourne. A fan holds a drawing of the late lead singer of Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne. A person holds a melon that they carved an image of the late lead singer of Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne. A person carves an image into a melon of the late lead singer of Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne. Mourners and music fans line the streets to pay their respects as the funeral cortege of Ozzy Osbourne, the late lead singer of Black Sabbath, makes its way through Birmingham. Mourners and music fans line the streets to pay their respects as the funeral cortege of Ozzy Osbourne, the late lead singer of Black Sabbath, makes its way through Birmingham. The family of Ozzy Osbourne, son Jack Osbourne (left), window Sharon Osbourne (center) and daughter Kelly Osbourne (right) arrive to lay flowers at the Black Sabbath Bridge bench on Broad Street during a funeral procession for Ozzy Osbourne. Ozzy Osbourne's window Sharon Osbourne (center) reacts at the Black Sabbath Bridge bench on Broad Street during a funeral procession for Ozzy Osbourne. Thousands of fans have left heartfelt messages and floral tributes at the bridge in recent days, mourning the death of the musician who was instrumental in pioneering heavy metal, an offshoot of hard rock. Black Sabbath enjoyed huge commercial success in the 1970s and 80s after forming in Birmingham in 1968. Their eponymous 1970 debut album made the UK top 10 and paved the way for a string of hit records, including their most famous song 'Paranoid'. The group went on to sell more than 75 million albums worldwide and were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. Osbourne was added for a second time last year as a solo artist. Osbourne gained notoriety for his outlandish stunts, many of them fueled by his lavish use of drugs and alcohol. In 1989, he was arrested for drunkenly trying to strangle his wife Sharon, which he once mentioned in a 2007 interview. His live performances at the height of his hedonism have gone down in rock folklore, particularly the 1982 gig in the US city of Des Moines when he bit a bat on stage. Osbourne said he thought a fan had thrown a fake rubber bat onstage, and it was not until he took a bite that he realized it was real.--AFP

Sydney Sweeney's 'good jeans' ad just sparked a culture war — here's what happened
Sydney Sweeney's 'good jeans' ad just sparked a culture war — here's what happened

Arab Times

time3 days ago

  • Arab Times

Sydney Sweeney's 'good jeans' ad just sparked a culture war — here's what happened

NEW YORK, July 31, (AP): US fashion retailer American Eagle Outfitters wanted to make a splash with its new advertising campaign starring 27-year-old actor Sydney Sweeney. The ad blitz included "clever, even provocative language' and was "definitely going to push buttons,' the company's chief marketing officer told trade media outlets. It has. The question now is whether some of the public reactions the fall denim campaign produced is what American Eagle intended. Titled "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,' the campaign sparked a debate about race, Western beauty standards, and the backlash to "woke' American politics and culture. Most of the negative reception focused on videos that used the word "genes' instead of "jeans' when discussing the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actor known for the HBO series "Euphoria' and "White Lotus.' Some critics saw the wordplay as a nod, either unintentional or deliberate, to eugenics, a discredited theory that held humanity could be improved through selective breeding for certain traits. Marcus Collins, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, said the criticism could have been avoided if the ads showed models of various races making the "genes' pun. "You can either say this was ignorance, or this was laziness, or say that this is intentional,' Collins said. "Either one of the three aren't good.' Other commenters accused detractors of reading too much into the campaign's message. "I love how the leftist meltdown over the Sydney Sweeney ad has only resulted in a beautiful white blonde girl with blue eyes getting 1000x the exposure for her 'good genes,'" former Fox News host Megyn Kelly wrote Tuesday on X. American Eagle didn't respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press. The ad blitz comes as the teen retailer, like many merchants, wrestles with sluggish consumer spending and higher costs from tariffs. American Eagle reported that total sales were down 5% for its February-April quarter compared to a year earlier. A day after Sweeney was announced as the company's latest celebrity collaborator, American Eagle's stock closed more than 4% up. Shares were volatile this week and trading nearly 2% down Wednesday. Like many trendy clothing brands, American Eagle has to differentiate itself from other mid-priced chains with a famous face or by saying something edgy, according to Alan Adamson, co-founder of marketing consultancy Metaforce. Adamson said the Sweeney campaign shares a lineage with Calvin Klein jeans ads from 1980 that featured a 15-year-old Brooke Shields saying, "You want to know what comes in between me and my Calvins? Nothing.' Some TV networks declined to air the spots because of its suggestive double entendre and Shields' age. "It's the same playbook: a very hot model saying provocative things shot in an interesting way,' Adamson said. Chief Marketing Officer Craig Brommers told industry news website Retail Brew last week that "Sydney is the biggest get in the history of American Eagle,' and the company would promote the partnership in a way that matched. The campaign features videos of Sweeney wearing slouchy jeans in various settings. She will appear on 3-D billboards in Times Square and elsewhere, speaking to users on Snapchat and Instagram, and in an AI-enabled try-on feature. American Eagle also plans to launch a limited edition Sydney jean to raise awareness of domestic violence, with sales proceeds going to a nonprofit crisis counseling service. In a news release, the company noted "Sweeney's girl next door charm and main character energy - paired with her ability to not take herself too seriously - is the hallmark of this bold, playful campaign.' In one video, Sweeney walks toward an American Eagle billboard of her and the tagline "Sydney Sweeney has great genes.' She crosses out "genes' and replaces it with "jeans.' But what critics found the most troubling was a teaser video in which Sweeney says, "Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.' The video appeared on American Eagle's Facebook page and other social media channels but is not part of the campaign. While remarking that someone has good genes is sometimes used as a compliment, the phrase also has sinister connotations. Eugenics gained popularity in early 20th century America, and Nazi Germany embraced it to carry out Adolf Hitler's plan for an Aryan master race. Civil rights activists have noted signs of eugenics regaining a foothold through the far right's promotion of the "great replacement theory,' a racist ideology that alleges a conspiracy to diminish the influence of white people. Shalini Shankar, a cultural and linguistic anthropologist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, said she had problems with American Eagle's "genes' versus "jeans' because it exacerbates a limited concept of beauty. "American Eagle, I guess, wants to rebrand itself for a particular kind of white privileged American,' Shankar said. "And that is the kind of aspirational image they want to circulate for people who want to wear their denim.' Many critics compared the American Eagle ad to a misstep by Pepsi in 2017, when it released a TV ad that showed model Kendall Jenner offer a can of soda to a police officer while ostensibly stepping away from a photo shoot to join a crowd of protesters. Viewers mocked the spot for appearing to trivialize protests of police killings of Black people. Pepsi apologized and pulled the ad. The demonstrations that followed the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis pushed many U.S. companies to make their advertising better reflect consumers of all races. Some marketers say they've observed another shift since President Donald Trump returned to office and moved to abolish all federal DEI programs and policies. Jazmin Burrell, founder of brand consulting agency Lizzie Della Creative Strategies, said she's noticed while shopping with her cousin more ads and signs that prominently feature white models. "I can see us going back to a world where diversity is not really the standard expectation in advertising,' Burrell said. American Eagle has been praised for diverse marketing in the past, including creating a denim hijab in 2017 and offering its Aerie lingerie brand in a wide range of sizes. A year ago, the company released a limited edition denim collection with tennis star Coco Gauff. The retailer has an ongoing diversity, equity and inclusion program that is primarily geared toward employees. Two days before announcing the Sweeney campaign, American Eagle named the latest recipients of its scholarship award for employees who are driving anti-racism, equality and social justice initiatives. Marketing experts offer mixed opinions on whether the attention surrounding "good jeans' will be good for business. "They were probably thinking that this is going to be their moment," Myles Worthington, the founder and CEO of marketing and creative agency WORTHI. "But this is doing the opposite and deeply distorting their brand." Melissa Murphy, a marketing professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business, said she liked certain parts of the campaign but hoped it would be expanded to showcase people besides Sweeney for the "sake of the brand.' Other experts say the buzz is good even if it's not uniformly positive.

‘Fantastic Four' wins battle of heroes at North America box office
‘Fantastic Four' wins battle of heroes at North America box office

Kuwait Times

time3 days ago

  • Kuwait Times

‘Fantastic Four' wins battle of heroes at North America box office

(From left to right) Matt Shakman, Joseph Quinn, Ralph Ineson, Louis D'Esposito, Co-President, Marvel Studios, Julia Garner, Pedro Pascal, Kevin Feige, President, Marvel Studios, Vanessa Kirby, H.E.R.B.I.E, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and The Thing attend The Fantastic Four: First Steps World Premiere at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California on July 21, 2025.--AFP photos 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps,' Disney's hotly anticipated reboot of the Marvel Comics superhero franchise, conquered the North American weekend box office, earning $118 million and sidelining 'Superman,' industry estimates showed Sunday. 'Fantastic Four' -- starring actor-of-the-moment Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Emmy winner Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn ('Stranger Things') -- tells the story of a team of heroes trying to save a retro-futuristic world from the evil Galactus. 'This is an outstanding opening,' said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. ''Fantastic Four' was a modest and struggling superhero series; it just caught up with the biggest and the best.' 'Superman,' the latest big-budget action film featuring the iconic superhero from Warner Bros. and DC Studios, slipped to second place at $24.9 million, Exhibitor Relations said. That puts the global take of the film, starring David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, over the $500 million mark. 'Jurassic World: Rebirth' -- the latest installment in the blockbuster dinosaur saga -- finished in third place at $13 million. Its worldwide total stands at $672.5 million. A view of the crowd during The Fantastic Four: First Steps Penn Plaza Celebratory Event at Penn Plaza Pavilion. The Thing and Owen Hahn give a cooking demonstration during The Fantastic Four: First Steps Penn Plaza Celebratory Event at Penn Plaza Pavilion. H.E.R.B.I.E. and Owen Hahn give a cooking demonstration during The Fantastic Four: First Steps Penn Plaza Celebratory Event at Penn Plaza Pavilion. (From left) H.E.R.B.I.E., Joseph Quinn, and The Thing attend The Fantastic Four: First Steps Penn Plaza Celebratory Event at Penn Plaza Pavilion. The Thing and Pedro Pascal attend The Fantastic Four: First Steps Penn Plaza Celebratory Event at Penn Plaza Pavilion. The Universal film, starring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali, takes viewers to an abandoned island research facility, where secrets -- and genetically mutated dinosaurs -- are lurking. 'F1: The Movie,' the Apple and Warner Bros. flick starring Brad Pitt as a washed-up Formula One driver who gets one last shot at redemption, moved up to fourth place at $6.2 million. 'Smurfs,' the latest film featuring the adorable blue creatures and starring Rihanna as Smurfette, slipped to fifth place in only its second week in theaters with $5.4 million in North American ticket sales. 'The box office is on an excellent run that started two weeks ago,' Gross said. 'These are not the good old days, but 'Fantastic Four' and 'Superman' are performing extremely well. Superheroes are showing some swagger, and it's good news for the industry.' Rounding out the top 10 were: 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' ($5.1 million) 'How to Train Your Dragon' ($2.8 million) 'Eddington' ($1.7 million) 'Saiyaara' ($1.3 million) 'Oh, Hi!' ($1.1 million) —AFP

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