TV/Film
Box Office: ‘Encanto’ Leads Quiet Post-Holiday Weekend
Walt Disney Animation’s original musical animated adventure Encanto led a quiet post-Thanksgiving session at the box office, which is always quiet the weekend following the holiday. This year was further complicated by the ongoing pandemic and concerns about the new omicron variant. Explore See latest videos, charts and news Encanto, featuring original songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda, grossed $12.7 million from 3,980 theaters in its second weekend for a domestic total of $58 million and $58.1 million overseas — where omicron is more of a concern — for a global cume of $116.1 million. The pic is setting records in parts of Latin America, where it has earned $5.9 million in Colombia, the film’s No. 1 foreign market behind France ($6.5 million). Sony’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife followed closely i...
Watch Kacey Musgraves Struggle to Pick Her Favorite Color With Elmo & Big Bird on ‘Sesame Street’
Kacey Musgraves is the latest musician to make a visit to Sesame Street. During her recent appearance, the country singer struggles to pick her favorite color in the rainbow while singing the song “All the Colors of the World” but is able to come to a solution by the end of the segment with help from the show’s beloved characters. In the clip, Elmo asks Musgraves what her problem is, to which she replies that she can’t decide what her favorite color is. After Elmo reveals that his favorite color is red — like his furry body — she sings, “Red is Elmo’s favorite color/ You know I really like red too/ It sometimes means stop/ Or love you a lot/ And red reminds me of you/ And that’s why of all the colors in the world/ Red is the color I like the most.” Explore See latest videos, charts and new...
Michael Bublé Enlists Camila Cabello, Jimmy Fallon & More Guests for ‘Christmas in the City’ Special
When Michael Bublé celebrates Christmas in the City next week on NBC, he’s inviting some friends along for the sleigh ride, Billboard can exclusively reveal. Camila Cabello, Jimmy Fallon, Leon Bridges, Ted Lasso actress Hannah Waddingham and even Kermit the Frog are joining the festivities, backed by a 48-piece orchestra. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “I’m especially excited about this year’s show and our phenomenal guests,” Bublé said in a statement. “It will be a night to remember and I can’t wait to celebrate with everyone.” Michael Bublé’s Christmas in the City, premiering Monday, Dec. 6, at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the crooner’s Christmas album, which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 back in 2011 a...
Miley Cyrus to Co-Host ‘Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party’ With Pete Davidson
It’s official: New Year’s Eve 2021 will be a “Party in the U.S.A.” On Monday (Nov. 29), NBC announced that Miley Cyrus is set to host the network’s special to ring in 2022. Titled Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party, the telecast will be executive produced by Lorne Michaels and co-hosted by Pete Davidson. Additional celebrity guests and musical performances for the evening are expected to be announced in coming weeks. Explore See latest videos, charts and news “In what is sure to be an exciting and fun evening, we are looking forward to partnering with Lorne Michaels and ringing in 2022 with a night of incredible entertainment, led by Miley and Pete,” said NBCUniversal executive vice president of live events, specials and E! News Jen Neal said in a statement. Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party will be ...
Box Office: ‘Encanto’ Eyes $40M-Plus Opening; ‘House of Gucci’ Sewing Up $22M
Hollywood and theater owners have reason to be thankful this holiday season, even if moviegoing has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. Walt Disney Animation’s musical adventure Encanto is succeeding in luring families back to the multiplex and is looking at a five-day Thanksgiving opening of $40 million or more after grossing $11 million on Black Friday (Nov. 26). Fueled by Latinos and an A CinemaScore, Encanto should boast the top showing of the COVID-19 era for a family title. It is the first major animated studio title to receive an exclusive theatrical window since the pandemic struck in spring 2020 and opens as younger children are authorized to be vaccinated. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news With original songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda, ...
Saweetie Has Some Unfinished Business With Kyle Mooney in New ‘SNL’ Promo
It must be awkward for Saweetie to reunite with her “ex-fiancé” Kyle Mooney on the Saturday Night Live stage. In a new promo for this weekend’s episode, host Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) introduces musical guest Saweetie, who turns and says a cold “hello, Kyle” to the longtime castmember. “Do you two know each other?” his SNL castmate Cecily Strong asks. “We did,” Mooney says. “Until she broke up off our engagement.” Explore Explore Saweetie See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Liu wonders, “Is this going to be a problem?” I guess we’ll have to tune in Saturday night to find out. Saweetie and Liu are both making their Saturday Night Live debuts this weekend. On Friday (Nov. 19), the rapper premiered the brand-new song “Icy Chain,” wh...
Kelly Clarkson Carries On ‘Kellyoke’ Wins With ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’ Cover
If there’s a song Kelly Clarkson can’t sing, well, we haven’t come across it yet. On Thursday’s (Nov. 11) episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, the American Idol winner and three-time Billboard Hot 100 topper tackled My Chemical Romance‘s “Welcome to the Black Parade,” carrying on her long-running Kellyoke segment on the show. Her version clocks in at just over a minute and a half, but we’d gladly listen to Clarkson singing all five minutes of the My Chem classic. MCR’s “Welcome to the Black Parade” is, thus far, the band’s only top 10 hit on the Hot 100; it topped the Alternative Airplay chart in 2006, when parent album The Black Parade was released. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. ...
Session Musicians Win Greenlight for $8M Royalty Fee Settlement With AFM, SAG-AFTRA
The lawsuit, filed by musician Kevin Risto in June 2018, accused AFM and SAG-AFTRA of essentially taking an illegal cut from the recording royalties that are paid to so-called non-featured artists — better known as session musicians. The two unions administer the Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund, which holds performance royalties from non-interactive digital streaming services like Pandora for the use of copyrighted sound recordings. The fund then distributes that money to session musicians, both union and non-union alike. Risto, a non-union musician, accused AFM and SAG-AFTRA of exploiting their control over the fund to improperly tack on a new 3% service fee, paid directly to the unions, before distributing that money. The lawsuit said the new fee was not in the best ...
Lady Gaga Poses Nude for ‘British Vogue,’ Talks Playing Patrizia Reggiani in ‘House of Gucci’
Though Gaga went all in with method acting while playing Patrizia, she also revealed that she never took the next step — meeting Patrizia Reggiani in person to get a better idea of what she is like in real life, minus the tabloid fodder. “I only felt that I could truly do this story justice if I approached it with the eye of a curious woman who was interested in possessing a journalistic spirit so that I could read between the lines of what was happening in the film’s scenes,” she said, adding that “nobody was going to tell me who Patrizia Gucci was. Not even Patrizia Gucci.” Playing the role for such a long time — which Gaga says consisted of a year and a half — got in the singer-turned actress’ head. “I had some psychological difficulty at ...
Timothee Chalamet Shares ‘Wonka’ First Look
Warner Bros. also shared the images on their social media channels. The film’s principal photography recently began in London. Earlier this year it was announced Chalamet had signed to star as young Willy Wonka in Warner Bros.’ reimagining of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Warner Bros. described the prequel — the film is set to take place before the events of the book — as a “vivid, mythical beginnings of the imaginative young inventor before he becomes the renowned scrumdiddlyumptious Mozart of chocolate.” Paul King, the director of the Paddington movies, will helm the musical with David Heyman and Luke Kelly producing. Rowan Atkinson, Sally Hawkins, Keegan-Michael Key and Olivia Colman are set to star in the film. You Deserve to Make Money Even Wh...
‘Artists Are Here to Disturb the Peace’: Madonna and ‘Madame X’ Directors on the Doc’s Message
The concert film gives viewers a look at the Madame X Tour through the eyes of Madonna and her fearless persona, Madame X, a secret agent who travels around the world, fighting for freedom. Nuno Xico, one of the documentary’s directors, says that the album is political — featuring songs about gun control, as well as rights for minorities, women and the LGBTQIA+ community — which, in turn, makes the film political as well. “If you distill the songs, those themes are already there, so to bring those themes [to the film] was easy,” Xico told The Hollywood Reporter. “Madonna is political.” Xico and fellow directors Sasha Kasiuha and Ricardo Gomes worked long hours, sometimes six days a week, as Kasiuha noted that collaborating with Madonna was “intense” and “exciting.” “It’s great. You get to ...
Sam Asghari Calls Out Netflix After ‘Britney vs Spears’ Trailer Arrives
Asghari reacted to Campbell’s comment with a “100” emoji. Billboard has reached out to Netflix for comment. Spears has yet to respond to the trailer, but after The New York Times released its Framing Britney Spears documentary, the singer told Instagram followers on March 30 that she was “embarrassed by the light they put me in,” and that she “cried for two weeks” after watching a part of the documentary. Netflix’s official synopsis of the documentary reads, “The world knows Britney Spears: performer, artist, icon. But in the last few years, her name has been publicly tied to another, more mysterious term: conservatorship. Britney vs Spears tells the explosive story of Britney’s life and her public and private s...
