Call it box office magic: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness scored some $36 million from sneak peek screenings in the U.S. alone on Thursday.
The film from Marvel Studios officially opened Friday.
The sequel, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the one-time Sorcerer Supreme, and also featuring Marvel movie veterans Benedict Wong, Elizabeth Olsen and Rachel McAdams, as well as newcomer Xochitl [SOH-chee] Gomez, previously opened overseas, and has already earned more than $85 million from those foreign markets, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The trade notes that Multiverse’s Thursday performance represents the eighth-largest sneak preview haul in history.
Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness is playing an upcoming benefit concert in support of the mental health organization To Write Love on Her Arms.
The show, which will be presented by the event platform WithOthers, takes place May 12 in Los Angeles, and will also feature performances by musicians Emily James and nobody likes you pat.
Season two of the Apple TV+ spy thriller Tehran debuts today, with Glenn Close joining the cast as a Western woman Western woman living in Iran who has “a lot of secrets,” which she tells ABC Audio is what attracted her to the character.
Says Close, “I love characters that have a lot of secrets, that not all of them are revealed. And I love characters like that.”
Another reason was the show’s multiculturalism, which she applauds Apple TV+ for giving a global platform.
“Well I think this show is really…pioneering the platform that Apple TV+ has created for shows that are not English speaking, coming from various countries, telling stories that only they can tell.”
Close says the most challenging part of the role was learning to speak Iran’s primary language, Farsi
“I wanted to be an American speaking perfect Farsi…And it’s a very tricky language,” she explains. “And because of the time I had in studying it, I never could think in Farsi, which is, I think, the final step. So it still was just a series of sounds. I started to be able to understand each word more. But then you have to get the intonation right and you have to get the tempo right.”
Series regular Niv Sultan plays Tamar Rabinyan, a Mossad hacker-agent whose failed mission to help destroy Iran’s nuclear reactor forces her to plan an operation that will place everyone dear to her in jeopardy. She tells ABC Audio that she felt more pressure heading into the show’s second season.
“After first season, we had expectations, we felt like the audience has expectations,” she says. “We had Glenn Close on board. So everything I can say, everything was much more stressful but exciting as well.”
–In a recent interview with Charlamagne tha God for The Hollywood Reporter‘s Emerging Hollywood series, actress/TV host La La Anthony opened up about the difficult decision to divorce her husband of 11 years, Carmelo Anthony.
“Stepping away from that marriage was such an incredibly hard decision for me,” Anthony explained. “Staying is easier. Walking away is harder…trying to rebuild a life by yourself.”
After “years” of separation, says La La, she officially filed for divorce in June 2021. Discussing the split, which happened in October of last year, the 39-year-old actress said she wasn’t optimistic about being married again.
“I don’t know what God has in store for me,” she said. “I’m just living and taking care of my son.”
La La and Melo share a 15-year-old son, Kiyan Anthony. Speaking about the status of her current relationship with the NBA star, she says it’s “great” and they are co-parenting well.
–When Lil WaynenamedMissy Elliott as one of his top five rappers, he said it was because of the “huge influence” she had over “everything” he’s done. In response to Wayne’s declaration, Missy sent the love right back to the rapper, acknowledging his greatness as a legend as well.
“Whenever @LilTunechi says my name in his interviews twitter don’t have enough space for me [to say] my GRATEFULNESS because he is a LEGEND himself who birthed many emcees after him & as a man to acknowledge me as a big influence 4 him I send you love WAYNE.”
Wayne also named Biggie, Jay-Z and UGK as among his favorites, before noting that he hadn’t listed himself. “I can’t touch them guys. I would never put myself in my list,” he humbly stated.
Twenty-three-year-old IsiahLee, the man cops say tackled Dave Chappelle onstage at The Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday, has pleaded not guilty to the four misdemeanor charges against him.
Lee is being held on $30,000 bail, and a judge on Friday also ordered the suspect not to come within 100 yards of Chappelle or the famed venue.
A bail review hearing scheduled for early next week.
On Thursday, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuerissued a video statement announcing that he has filed four charges against Lee, including battery, promising the incident will be prosecuted “vigorously.” He noted, “this alleged attack must have consequences.”
Barry Manilow is bringing his hit-packed show to the East Coast this August.
Barry’s Hits 2022 tour, featuring special guest Dave Koz, will kick off August 4 in Boston and wrap up in Philadelphia, PA on August 14. In between, he’ll perform in Newark, NJ; Queens, NY; Allentown, PA; and Providence, RI.
Tickets go on sale starting Friday, May 13 at 11 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster; American Express Card members can get them starting May 9 at 10 a.m. local time.
If you’d prefer to see Barry in Sin City, his The Hits Come Home! show at the Westgate International Theater in Las Vegas has been extended through 2023.
Here are the dates and venues for the Hits 2022 arena tour:
8/4 -– Boston, MA, TD Garden
8/5 -– Newark, NJ, Prudential Center
8/6 -– Belmont Park, NY, UBS Arena
8/12 –- Allentown, PA, PPL Center
8/13 –- Providence, RI, Dunkin’ Donuts Center
8/14 –- Philadelphia, PA, Wells Fargo Center
(NEW YORK) — At least 109 children have been sickened — including five who have died — from mysterious cases of hepatitis with an unknown cause, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.
Reports of the cases, which have been identified in 25 states and territories over the past seven months, come days after officials from the World Health Organization said that they were investigating similar cases around the globe.
Overall, more than 90% of these patients under investigation in the U.S. were hospitalized, 14% received liver transplants and more than half had a confirmed infection from adenovirus, common viruses that can cause a variety of illness. The majority of these children have fully recovered, officials said.
Officials acknowledged that the increase in cases may be alarming, but overall, the rate of severe pediatric hepatitis cases is still quite rare.
“We know this update may be of concern especially to parents and guardians of young children,” said Dr. Jay Butler, deputy director for infectious diseases for the CDC, told reporters during a phone briefing on Friday. “It’s important to remember that severe hepatitis in children is rare, even with the potential increase in cases that we’re reporting today,”
Officials stressed that this is an evolving situation, and investigators are “casting a wide net” to help determine the cause of these outbreaks.
“Although rare, children can have serious hepatitis, and it’s not uncommon for the cause to be unknown. The 109 patients under investigation were identified as having been all within the past seven months. Not all the cases are recent, and some may of them may ultimately wind up not being linked to the current investigation,” Butler said.
Officials reported that they are working closely with public health experts around the world to understand the global outbreak of cases. Globally, around 278 cases have been identified, according to World Health Organization officials, with many of the sick children under the age of 10.
Thus far, none of the common hepatitis viruses (A, B, C, delta and E) can be traced to the cases and officials do not believe there is any connection to the COVID-19 vaccination, as many children had either not been vaccinated or were not yet eligible to be vaccinated.
Officials repeatedly stressed it is still unknown what is behind this concerning outbreak.
It’s not clear what role other factors may play, such as environmental exposure — including animals, medications, or other infections that the children might have, Butler said.
“Investigators both here and abroad and around the globe are working hard to determine the cause,” Butler said.
A potential connection to adenovirus remains “top of the list” for viruses of interest, and one of the leading hypotheses by investigators for what could be causing the outbreak.
Although there has been no known connection to COVID-19, specifically among the nine cases of severe hepatitis among children in Alabama, Butler said overall, a potential link to COVID-19 is still under investigation.
Health experts recommend that parents be aware of any concerning symptoms that could be linked to hepatitis, including vomiting, dark urine, light colored stools, and yellowing of the skin. Officials encouraged parents to contact their child’s health care provider with any concerns, should any concerning symptoms emerge.
Parents should also take every-day preventative actions to protect against infections, including regular handwashing, avoiding people who are sick, covering coughs and sneezes, and avoiding the touching of the eyes, nose or mouth.
This Is Us star Chris Sullivan and his wife, Rachel Sullivan, are expecting their second child.
“We have wrapped my final scenes for #thisisus. What an incredible 6 years these have been,” the 41-year-old actor shared Thursday on Instagram, adding, “With every end, there is a new beginning…so here is a trailer of what’s to come.”
However, what appeared to be a post dedicated to the beloved NBC series turned out to be a setup for a bigger surprise, as an attached video showed the couple’s 21-month-old son, Bear, sporting a shirt with the words “only child” crossed out and “big brother” written below it. Bear then hands his father a sonogram photo.
“It’s a…girl!!!” read a caption at the end of the video, followed by “Arriving Nov 1…ish.”
Chris’ This Is Us cast mates shared their joy over the news in the comments.
Mandy Moore replied with five red heart emojis, while his on-screen wife Chrissy Metz responded with a party hat and heart emoji.
Jennifer Garner chimed in with “So much is happening — congratulations, you guys!!!” while Home Town’s Erin Napier added, “I can’t wait to squeeze this precious baby!!” followed by two hearts.
(PHILADELPHIA) — A Philadelphia-based vegan food company is accusing Dunkin’ and Beyond Meat of stealing its slogan.
The donut chain and the plant-based meat giant partnered a few years ago to create a vegan breakfast sandwich which was sold in Dunkin’ stores.
According to court documents obtained by ABC News from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Vegadelphia claimed Dunkin Brands Inc and Beyond Meat Inc collectively “knew about this federally registered trademark on information and belief when they adopted the indistinguishable ‘great taste, plant-based’ slogan for a celebrity-laden national advertising campaign supporting their Beyond Sausage meat substitute menu item.”
Vegadelphia said in the complaint it has used its original slogan since 2013 and that the result of Dunkin’ and Beyond’s “illegal campaign” caused a “profitable shift of Dunkin’s marketplace positioning, expansion of its nationwide overall sales, increase in customer purchases per visit, growth of Beyond’s base of repeat customers, and improvement of Dunkin’s share price, greatly enhancing the goodwill of both companies.”
The breakfast sandwich in question, made with Beyond Meat products, launched in 2019 but other media outlets including Reuters, note that the chain dropped it from most of its store menus last year.
A representative for Dunkin’ told ABC News the brand does not comment on pending litigation. Beyond Meat did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Vegadelphia also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The plant-based company, founded in 2004, sells its meat alternative beef and chicken products along the East Coast and at El Meson Sandwiches restaurants in Puerto Rico and Florida.
On top of the alleged slogan imitation, Vegadelphia claimed that advertisements for Dunkin’ “used placement and imagery in their branding” that it called “nearly identical” to its own. “The overlap in font style, stacked text, and even sunray background imagery, is beyond coincidence,” the complaint said in the court document.
According to the lawsuit, Beyond Meat applied for and was denied a trademark in 2020 almost identical to “great taste, plant-based” by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office based on a likely confusion with Vegadelphia’s trademark.
Vegadelphia asked the court to block Dunkin’ and Beyond Meat from using the slogan and requested an undisclosed amount of money damages.
As the rock world continues to mourn the unexpected death of Taylor Hawkins, Hayley Williams has shared a story about Paramore‘s connection to the late Foo Fighters drummer.
In the latest episode of her Everything Is Emo BBC Sounds radio show, Williams explains that the drum kit used by Zac Farro during Paramore’s first shows and tours used to belong to Hawkins.
“A friend that lived in town lent [Farro] a drum kit, which he ultimately gave to him, and it belonged to Taylor Hawkins first,” Williams shares. “Taylor had sold his drum hit to a place called Fork’s Drum Closet in Nashville that has been a staple in our city for a really long time.”
“The fact that, somehow, Zac ended up with Taylor Hawkins’ kit for our first shows, our first tours, it’s like we stole a blessing from Taylor Hawkins,” she laughs. “It’s like we took it as him saying, ‘Yes, go for it.'”
Williams clarifies that she doesn’t “want to center myself or Paramore in the conversation around Taylor Hawkins’ death,” while adding, “It’s just to say that he meant a lot to so many people.”
“There’s so many stories I’m sure we’ve yet to hear about him,” Williams says. “Things that he’s done for people, ways that he touched people’s lives.”
