Pop Culture/Entertainment Watch 8/27/06
Box Office Report: It's no surprise that the last few weekends in August are generally slow and boring, but this has to be one of the least exciting weekends in a long time, with most debuting films barely making a dent on the chart. As I predicted, Invinicble snagged the top spot, although it did slightly poorer than I thought, taking in a total of $17.0 million. The other films in the Top 10 were already in rotation, except for Beerfest, in fourth place with $6.5 million, and Idlewild, which tanked in eighth place with only $5.9 million. Take a good look at Little Miss Sunshine, though, which jumped a whopping 33% to land in third place with $7.5 million after a 750 theater increase, while Snakes on a Plane, the top film (or was it?) of last weekend dropped a whopping 57% to land in ninth place. The full top 10 appears below.
1. Invincible -- $17.0 million
2. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby -- $8.0 million
3. Little Miss Sunshine -- $7.5 million
4. Beerfest -- $6.5 million
5. Accepted -- $6.47 million
6. World Trade Center -- $6.4 million
7. Step Up -- $6.2 million
8. Idlewild -- $5.9 million
9. Snakes on a Plane -- $5.9 million
10. Barnyard: The Original Party Animals -- $5.4 million
Wildfire burns at Jackson’s Neverland Ranch: A wildfire burned about 40 acres of Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch on Friday, coming within a quarter-mile of the main residence, according to reports, although no structures had caught fire. Jackson, 47, was not at the house. He has been living in the Middle Eastern kingdom of Bahrain since being acquitted of child molestation charges in California in June 2005. Good thing he wasn't there, either, or we might have had a repeat of this.
"24" has a new commander in chief: Harry Lennix, who played the chief of staff on ABC's short-lived drama Commander in Chief, has been tapped for a recurring role on 24. And newly cast as terrorists are Adoni Maropis and Steven Schub, whom you might remember from... oh, you're about as likely to remember them as Katharine McPhee is to recall her last Happy Meal.
Baywatch Star Brande Roderick Engaged: Actress Brande Roderick is set to wed former Denver Bronco Glenn Cadrez. Cadrez, 36, proposed on Sunday in front of more than 30,000 spectators at the Del Mar Classic horse race in Del Mar, Calif., where Roderick, 32, was on hand to present the prize to the winner. He got down on one knee and presented her with a 3.5-carat diamond ring he had designed himself. Congrats!
Until next time, Peace out!
Anthony