Celebrity Status: Barbie, Oppenheimer, And Foxx, Oh My!
Barbie grossed an estimated $155 million during its opening 3-day domestic weekend. With the help of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer ($80.5 million), this is the fourth biggest domestic weekend of all time ($301.4 million).
… Adding on the international earnings, Barbie has grossed $337 million worldwide. Oppenheimer added $93.7 million internationally, making its global opening total $174.2 million.
- Barbie, $155 million
- Oppenheimer, $80.5 million
- Sound of Freedom, $20.1 million
- Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, $19.5 million
- Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, $6.7 million
====
Jamie Foxx has shared a statement with fans, providing his first comments on his April hospitalization following a sudden medical complication. Details on the actor’s condition had been scarce, but Foxx vows that he’s “coming back and able to work”.
… In a video shared on social media Foxx said he “went through something that I thought I would never ever go through. I know a lot of people were waiting, wanting to hear updates. But, to be honest with you, I just didn’t want you to see me like that … I want you to see me laughing and having a good time, partying, cracking a joke, doing a movie or television show. I didn’t want you to see me with tubes running out of me and trying to figure out if I was going to make it through.”
… Foxx was admitted to an Atlanta hospital in April after facing a “medical complication,” halting production on his Netflix film Back in Action, in which he will star alongside Cameron Diaz. Foxx did not provide further details on his recovery.
====
Daymond John, a celebrity investor and star of the TV show Shark Tank, has been granted a permanent restraining order against three former contestants of the show. The restraining order was granted after John alleged that the former contestants made disparaging comments about him online. The former contestants are Al “Bubba” Baker, his wife Sabrina, and their daughter Brittani.
… According to Deadline, which obtained the court docs, the Bakers, who made claims in recent months that John attempted to take over their business — Bubba Q’s Boneless Baby Back Ribs — and cut them out of potential profits, following their appearance on Shark Tank, were ordered Friday by a New Jersey federal court to stop speaking publicly about their experience with John. They appeared in season 5 of the ABC reality series in 2014.
====
The combined strike by Hollywood actors and screenwriters is entering its second week with no sign that a swift ending will be achieved.
For a week, actors including household names like Tina Fey, Kevin Bacon and wife Kyra Sedgwick, Rosario Dawson, David Duchovny and other stars have joined working class performers and writers on picket lines outside studios and corporate offices of streaming giants Amazon, MAX and Netflix.
====
Tony Bennett, the eminent and timeless stylist whose devotion to classic American songs and knack for creating new standards such as “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” graced a decadeslong career that brought him admirers from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga, died Friday. He was 96, just two weeks short of his birthday.
Publicist Sylvia Weiner confirmed Bennett’s death to The Associated Press, saying he died in his hometown of New York. There was no specific cause, but Bennett had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016.
On TV tonight:
THE BACHELORETTE (8p ET, ABC) – New. Charity and the bachelors spend a week in New Orleans filled with unexpected dates and shocking twists.