Open Thread

Variety reports: “Barbie” continues to shatter records nearly a month after the Malibu icon first graced the big screen. The Greta Gerwig comedy has earned $1.18 billion at the worldwide box office and now ranks as the second highest-grossing release in the history of Warner Bros. Internationally, the film earned $45.1 million from 75 markets to bring its foreign gross …

Billboard Magazine reports: Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor is sharing some positive news about his battle with cancer. The 62-year-old musician, who revealed his stage 4 prostate cancer diagnosis in November 2022 (he was initially diagnosed in 2018), says he expects to live another five years thanks to a “nuclear medicine” called Lutetium-177. Taylor tells BBC Breakfast that scientists contacted …

Variety reports: The organizer of Malaysia’s Good Vibes Festival is seeking over $2 million in damages from the 1975 after frontman Matty Healy’s on-stage protest against the country’s anti-LGBTQ laws resulted in authorities canceling the event. Healy kissed his male bandmate — bassist Ross MacDonald — on stage, resulting in the group getting banned from performing in Malaysia. The shutdown …

Variety reports: The “prince of England’s hearts” falls for the American president’s son (or is it the other way around?) in “Red, White & Royal Blue,” an effervescent gay rom-com that might be easily dismissed as a mere trifle, were it not for the still-historic novelty of its existence. Arriving less than a year after “Bros,” director Matthew López’s Amazon-backed, …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Add Billy Porter to the list of thousands financially affected by the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, following the revelation that the actor will have to sell his house, at an extremely precarious moment for entertainment workers. “I have to sell my house… Because we’re on strike. And I don’t know when we’re gonna go back [to work],” …

USA Today reports: Rapper Tory Lanez was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion. The sentence for the 31-year-old Canadian rapper, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, was handed down Tuesday after several delays. The rapper was given about 10 months of credit for time he’s served since his conviction in December. Lanez’ …

The New York Times reports: William Friedkin, a filmmaker whose gritty, visceral style and fascination with characters on the edge helped make “The French Connection” and “The Exorcist” two of the biggest box-office hits of the 1970s, died on Monday at his home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. He was 87. The cause was heart failure and …

Deadline reports: A female BBC journalist has discovered that she receives more than 80% of all the online abuse received by the entire corporation. Marianna Spring, the BBC’s first disinformation and social media correspondent, tells The Times newspaper that, during the first six months of this year alone, she received more than 11,771 personal slurs. She tells the newspaper: “It’s …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Meeting for the first time in more than three months, the Writers Guild and the AMPTP on Friday failed to reach an agreement to resume contract negotiations. Their inability to agree on terms for returning to the bargaining table comes after their much anticipated meeting to discuss a possible resumption of talks. “As of now, there is …

Variety reports: As she heads into the third weekend of release, Warner Bros’ Barbie has hit two new milestones, crossing both $500M at the international box office and the nine-century mark worldwide. The Greta Gerwig-directed phenomenon added $16.8M from 69 offshore markets on Thursday, bringing the overseas total to $509.7M through yesterday. Globally, the doll is standing tall with $916.1M …

Variety reports: Apple CEO Tim Cook today boasted of a new milestone for the world’s biggest tech company: It now has more than 1 billion paid subscriptions across all apps and services, up 150 million year over year. During the quarter, sales in Apple’s services unit grew 8.2%, to $21.21 billion. The services segment includes the App Store, Apple Pay, …

Deadline Hollywood reports: There’s no stopping Warner Bros. Barbie as sources tell us the Greta Gerwig movie has a shot at hitting the billion mark this Sunday worldwide, if not Monday. Stateside she’s eyeing a third weekend around $55M, -41%, give or take, and she’ll cross the $400M stateside mark by Thursday, her 15th day of release. That’s faster than …

Billboard Magazine reports: Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” rises to No. 1, from its No. 2 debut, on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. The single, released in May, reigns amid buzz after CMT pulled its video, which premiered July 14, from rotation after three days, resulting in a surge of attention. The song, released on Macon/Broken …

Variety reports: Celebrities are taking to social media to pay tribute to actor Paul Reubens, best known for creating and starring as the beloved comedy character Pee-wee Herman. He died Sunday night at the age of 70 after a private battle with cancer. His career spanned from the stage to the screen, and he starred as Pee-wee in multiple films …

Variety reports: After two weeks on the big screen, “Barbie” has generated $351.4 million in North America to stand as the fourth-biggest domestic release of the year. Globally, the Warner Bros. film has grossed more than $750 million and ranks as the third-largest film of the year. Meanwhile, “Oppenheimer” has earned $174 million at the domestic box office and $400 …

Billboard Magazine reports: Kylie Minogue is headed to Las Vegas. The “Padam Padam” singer announced on Thursday (July 27) that she has scheduled her first-ever residency at the Venetian Resort Las Vegas’ Voltaire this fall. The gigs for the first headliner run at the 1,000-seat cabaret-style space at the Venetian are slated to kick off on Nov. 3, with tickets …

Variety reports: Randy Meisner, the retired American singer and co-founding member of the Eagles, died on July 26 in Los Angeles due to complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a statement shared by the band on their website. He was 77. Meisner, along with Glenn Frey, Don Henley, and Bernie Leadon, formed the Eagles in 1971. He …

Variety reports: “Drag Race” fans rejoice. Full 90-minute episodes of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 15 are headed to Paramount+. From Aug. 9, fans will be able to tune in and relive Sasha Colby entering the “Drag Race” werk room and slaying her way through the season to her crowning glory during the season finale when she became “America’s Next Drag …

Deadline reports: Jason Aldean stood by the footage used in his controversial video for “Try That in a Small Town.” However, the video has since been edited to remove clips from Black Lives Matter protests in Atlanta. The country singer in the middle of backlash over the lyrics of his song and imagery in his video is accused of being …

Billboard Magazine reports: Following a satire site posting a story that Luke Bryan, in solidarity with his friend Jason Aldean, has asked CMT to pull his music videos from the channel, posters on social media have run wild with the untrue story. On Friday (July 21), satirical website Uplifting Today posted a story with the headline, “Luke Bryan pulls his …