Open Thread

Deadline reports: Universal/Blumhouse’s big screen version of nine-year-old videogame Five Nights at Freddy’s has hit an unprecedented $78M opening, $4.4M shy of what Uni wowed with earlier this summer in firing up Oppenheimer ($82.4M). Yet, while presales indicated a huge hit, the whole Peacock day-and-date of it all, which wound up knocking out projections on Halloween Ends a year ago …

Deadline reports: Los Angeles is the second-most expensive city in the United States, according to a new survey. A U.S. News and World Report list of the most expensive places to live saw three of the top five cities in Southern California placed. San Diego was named as the most expensive city in the nation, followed by Los Angeles, Honolulu …

NBC News reports: Hawk, a debonair State Department employee, and Tim, a wide-eyed recent college graduate, fall in love after meeting on the night of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidential victory in 1952, just as Sen. Joseph McCarthy and his chief legal counsel, Roy Cohn — determined to root out any communists and queer people working in the U.S. government — …

The Associated Press reports: It ain’t the Olympics, but a group of Floridians plan to host competitions themed according to the collective antics of the beer-loving, gator-possessing, rap-sheet heavy, mullet-wearing social media phenomenon known as “Florida Man.” Organizers of the “Florida Man Games” describe the competition as “the most insane athletic showdown on Earth.” The games will poke fun at …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Disney+ and BBC have announced premiere dates for the three new Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials. The first special, The Star Beast, will premiere November 25, followed by Wild Blue Yonder on December 2 and The Giggle on December 9. The specials reunite the 14th Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Temple-Noble (Catherine Tate) as they come face-to-face …

Yahoo Sports reports: The UFC announced Tuesday a new sponsorship deal with Anheuser-Busch that makes Bud Light the “official beer partner of the UFC,” replacing Modelo. A source familiar with the terms told Yahoo Sports that the deal, which takes effect on Jan. 1, is worth in excess of $100 million. The UFC had a previous sponsorship deal with Anheuser-Busch …

Billboard Magazine reports: Taylor Swift joins the elite club of artists with 10 or more No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, as “Cruel Summer” ascends to the summit, from No. 9, becoming her 10th leader. The song, which previously peaked at No. 3, was originally released on Swift’s 2019 Republic Records album Lover before being promoted as …

USA Today reports: In a movie match-up almost as unlikely as “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” Martin Scorsese took on Taylor Swift in cinemas this weekend. And while the box office belonged for a second time to “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” got off to a strong start in Apple Studios’ first major theatrical gambit. After …

The Associated Press reports: There isn’t much Cher hasn’t done in her career. She’s achieved EGOT status, she’s the only artist to have a No. 1 song in each of the past six decades — heck, she’s got her own gelato business, Cherlato. But a Christmas album? That’s new territory. So, why now? “I just didn’t want to do one,” …

Billboard Magazine reports: It’s safe to say that RuPaul Charles is one of the busiest celebrities currently working in the business. Alongside hosting and executive producing his Emmy-winning reality series RuPaul’s Drag Race, the drag icon has spent 2023 overseeing the show’s growing number of international spinoffs, hosting his own game show and writing a book. Now, RuPaul is revealing …

Deadline reports: With more than 1,500 performances during its initial 2016-2020 Broadway run, and a subsequent three-month post-Covid-shutdown remount, Waitress: The Musical baked its way into the hearts of theatergoers, and in December folks who didn’t make it to New York City will get a chance to see what the fuss was about: Bleecker Street and Fathom Events have set …

Reuters reports: Netflix increased subscription prices for some of its streaming plans in the United States, Britain and France on Wednesday as it shattered new customer expectations, and its shares jumped 13%. The company picked up almost 9 million subscribers around the globe, surpassing the 6 million expected by Wall Street analysts, according to LSEG. Netflix said it expected a …

Deadline reports: Just over six months after criminal charges were dropped against Alec Baldwin for the 2021 killing of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, new involuntary manslaughter claims could be put before a grand jury in a matter of weeks. “After extensive investigation over the past several months, additional facts have come to light that we believe show Mr. Baldwin has …

Deadline reports: Conservative media company Daily Wire is making its own live action adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairytale, Snow White, called Snow White And The Evil Queen. The film, which is set to release in 2024, will be the first feature-length production for the company’s kids entertainment platform called Bentkey, and will star conservative YouTuber Brett Cooper, host of …

Variety reports: Long live the new box office queen. After selling out stadiums across the country, Taylor Swift is filling movie theaters with “The Eras Tour” concert film, which ignited to estimates of $95 million to $97 million over the weekend. At the international box office, “Eras Tour” collected $31 million to $33 million, putting its initial global tally between …

Rolling Stone reports: The B-52’s singer Kate Pierson gets into the Friday the 13th spirit with her new solo single “Every Day Is Halloween,” co-written by Sia. “‘Every Day Is Halloween’ is a haunting yet uplifting song about a woman who is dying to be seen! She finally gets to return as an apparition, and all her secrets are finally …

Variety reports: Mark Goddard, known for playing Major Don West on the CBS series “Lost in Space,” died in Hingham, Mass. on Oct. 10 of pulmonary fibrosis. He was 87. In statement posted to Facebook, Goddard’s wife, Evelyn Pezzulich, confirmed that the actor was hospitalized with pneumonia and then transferred to a rehabilitation center, where the doctors discovered he was …

Variety reports: Since the dawn of cell phones, it’s been taboo to use them at the movies. But for the first time that he can remember, Marcus Theatres president Gregory Marcus is encouraging moviegoers to keep their iPhones in hand and — gasp — even use them for Taylor Swift‘s “Eras Tour” concert film, which premieres in theaters on Friday. …

Variety reports: Cher has denied the allegations that surfaced last month accusing her of employing four men to abduct her adult son. In a new interview with People, the singer adamantly states: “That rumor is not true.” The shocking allegation first appeared in divorce documents involving Cher’s son Elijah Blue Allman and his wife, Marie Angela King. They were recently …

Variety reports: These waters are getting choppy. On the same day that Warner Bros. dropped the trailer for its $215 million “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” embarrassing documents from the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial surfaced on Reddit, creating a new headache for the studio behind the film. Following “Aquaman’s” release in 2018, the studio and Wan decided to drop …