Scouting Hollywood: March 21-27
A roundup of news, gossip and history of the entertainment business brought to you from Hollywood, Calif.
The Panda beat the Sandworms! Kung Fu Panda 4 grossed over $58 million in its opening weekend and beat Dune: Part 2 that held onto second with $46 million. Of course, at about one-half the length of Dune, Panda was able to squeeze in more screenings as well as being a much more family oriented release.
The domestic box office is trending well below last year at this time. In the first 13 weeks of 2023 there were 28 wide releases that grossed $2.6 billion. This year, there have been 27 wide releases, but the box office gross is $1.6 billion. A new Ghostbusters film, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, is opening on the 22nd and is forecast to do around $150 million.
This year’s Oscar presentation had a few surprises but went off without a hitch even though an estimated 1,000 demonstrators attempted to interfere, but at best the angry crowd delayed the show’s start by only five minutes. One noteworthy win was for the siblings Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell who became, respectively, the youngest and second-youngest people to have won a second Oscar. The previous youngest was Luise Rainer, who was 28 when she won her second statue for The Good Earth in 1938. Eilish is 22 and O’Connell 26.
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