Arts
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Meet the YouTubers remaking Hollywood, one Gen Z box-office smash at a time
Some of the most promising young filmmakers in the movie business are arriving in Hollywood already experts at entertaining audiences and going viral. The twin sensations of “Obsession” and “Backrooms” — both by 20-something YouTubers-turned-filmmakers — has put a new spotlight on an increasingly well-trod path to the director’s chair. Hollywood executives are scouring platforms…
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Exclusive: Universal beat Disney as Hollywood’s maker of the most expensive movie of all time
NBCUniversal has taken Disney’s title of making the most expensive movie of all time, according to analysis of recently filed financial statements. The filings show that Universal Pictures spent $658.8 million making the 2022 action-adventure pic “Jurassic World: Dominion,” surpassing the previous record-holder, Disney’s 2015 “Star Wars” reboot “The Force Awakens” which cost $638.9 million.…
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Steven Spielberg takes top spot in box office with ‘Disclosure Day’ performing as expected
Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day,” billed as his first popcorn movie in years, launched with $44 million in domestic theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday. “Disclosure Day” opened largely as expected, collecting $92.9 million worldwide over its first weekend. That was good enough to give the 79-year-old Spielberg, who conceived the film’s story, his best opening weekend…
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Basketball vs. the Beautiful Game: the fight for America’s summer sports attention
For one extraordinary week in June, American sports fans faced a choice no previous generation had confronted at this scale: the New York Knicks chasing their first NBA championship in 53 years, or the U.S. men’s national soccer team playing its opening World Cup match on home soil. Both events delivered historic numbers. Both are…
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Gene Shalit, who made film criticism a television institution, dies at 100
Gene Shalit, a movie critic and arts reporter for the “Today” show over four decades who was known for his puffy hair, oversized handlebar mustache and affection for groan-inducing puns, has died. He was 100. Shalit’s family announced the death Friday to NBC News, saying in a statement that he “passed away peacefully today after…
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Aliens are so mainstream the Catholic Church just fired an exorcist for saying UFOs are demons
In “Disclosure Day,” out Friday, Steven Spielberg is once again inviting audiences to ponder the existence of extraterrestrial life — and the implications it would have for religion on Earth. But Spielberg is hardly the only one making headlines of late about UFOs and the possibility of life on other planets. What was once considered…
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The curse of Trump watching sports in person: the home team seems to always lose
If President Donald Trump is coming to the game, bet on the visiting team. You’ll usually be in the money — at least if recent history holds. The New York Knicks, after two straight wins in the finals against the San Antonio Spurs, lost at home 115-111 on Monday night with Trump, a longtime fan…
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Trump on getting loudly booed by hometown New York: ‘It was, I think, mostly cheers’
Donald Trump was booed loudly by fans inside Madison Square Garden when he was shown on video screens during the national anthem as he became the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals game. Chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” echoed through the arena as Avery Wilson sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” but they they gave way to…
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Another low-budget film crushes an expensive action movie at the box office — ‘an outstanding opening for a comedy sequel this far into the series’
The summer box office is booming — but not because of the usual suspects. After three weeks of indie horror dominance at the box office, the slasher spoof “Scary Movie” topped ticket sales with $55 million over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday, easily besting the far-from-mighty “Masters of the Universe.” A new order…
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Trump will be the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals game. But New Yorkers love the Knicks more than they love him
There was a time when Donald Trump was just another celebrity sitting courtside at New York Knicks games. He was famous, but not yet flanked by Secret Service agents or defined by the politics that have left him deeply unpopular in his hometown. Now, more than a decade after attending his last Knicks game at…