Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/315215642?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
'The Voice' gives Danielle every chance to shine
TV
6 hours ago
After Monday's live final performances on "The Voice," it?s pretty clear who the show hopes will be crowned the champion on Tuesday.
Danielle Bradbery was given the prime slots and closed the show Monday night. Before she?d even uttered her first note of ?Born to Fly,? Adam Levine already had anointed her the winner and Blake Shelton, the 16-year-old's coach, had said (again) that she was one of the most important artists they?d ever seen walk across the show's stage.
And just in case the sentiment was unclear, both stars left the show?s viewers with an unmistakable last impression.
?What else can I possibly say? Your perfection is almost boring me at this point. It?s too perfect,? Adam said.
?As your coach, I?d like to sit here and say coach-y type things, but at the end of the day ? I?m one of the millions of people out there that you have wrapped around your finger,? Blake said. ?Thank God that you came to 'The Voice' to debut yourself, because you are such an important person in music and I can?t say enough about you.?
Some might argue that this is quite a lot of praise to put on a teenager.
Nevertheless, ?The Voice? spared nothing in giving her the chance to shine.
Danielle sang in the back half of every one of the live performance shows, and that wasn?t about to change this late in the game. On Monday, not only did she sing last, she was involved in three of the final four performances. If late impressions are what woo voters, she got her fair share and then some.
Her three songs were by Patty Loveless, Pam Tillis and Sara Evans, continuing the Blake strategy of keeping Michelle squarely in the country lane. It?s not the most fascinating approach to song selection in the world, but it works for the superstar every year and it did again on Monday.
The Swon Brothers, on the other hand, finished all three of their individual performances before Danielle took the stage for a second time. Except for a random group performance with the rest of the top 12, they were done for the night with 40 minutes left in the show. It doesn?t take a conspiracy theorist to guess that the likable Okies on Blake's team weren?t the top choice of whoever made the schedule.
That?s nothing new for the brothers. They?ve taken the opposite road from Danielle, having performed in the first half of every live show and survived where others in that position have faltered. They were again nothing but fun. And they did get Shakira to wave a little ?Go Okies?pennant ? although considering that she followed that by wearing Michelle-like glasses and a tiny cowboy hat to honor Danielle, she was mostly trying to get some airtime on a night where she had no remaining singers of her own to support.
Michelle Chamuel had the most memorable performance of the night with ?Why? by Annie Lennox. Part of the song was sung to an image of her in a mirror, which fascinated Blake to no end. She and coach Usher said more nice things about each other, and the hopeful still has the most range of any singer in the competition.
But for ?The Voice,? range isn?t as important as genre. Though Usher did his part by having Michelle reprise Taylor Swift?s ?I Knew You Were Trouble,? she?s an indie-rock girl in a country competition, and that likely means a runner-up finish and a front-row seat for Danielle?s coronation Tuesday.
Who are you rooting for to win? Click on the "Talk about it" button below and tell us!
Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/voice-gives-danielle-every-chance-shine-finals-6C10357251
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CA-NEWS Summary
Obama says will meet oversight board about NSA surveillance
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Monday he will meet soon with a privacy and civil liberties oversight board to discuss ways to balance the need for U.S. surveillance while respecting people's right to privacy. Obama, in an interview with PBS anchor Charlie Rose, said he believed there is plenty of transparency about the U.S. government's top-secret monitoring of Americans' phone and Internet data but that he has asked the intelligence community to see if there is more that can be revealed about it to reassure people.
Putin faces isolation over Syria as G8 ratchets up pressure
ENNISKILLEN, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin faced further isolation on the second day of a G8 summit on Tuesday as world leaders lined up to pressure him into toning down his support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Following an icy encounter between the Kremlin chief and U.S. President Barack Obama late on Monday, the G8 leaders will seek to find resolution to a war that has prompted powers across the Middle East to square off on sectarian lines.
Explosion in Kabul near Afghan national parliament: police
KABUL (Reuters) - An explosion on Tuesday morning rocked an area in the west of the Afghan capital, Kabul, close to the country's national parliament, police said. The explosion occurred soon after 9 a. m. (12.30 a.m. EDT) in an area called Karta-e Seh, a Kabul police source said, and came as hundreds of local and international officials gathered on Kabul's outskirts ahead of a ceremony to mark the beginning of the final phase of security transition to Afghan forces across the nation.
FBI rushes to Newark airport after passenger says poison on plane
NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) - A passenger who screamed that he had poison aboard a plane that was headed for New Jersey's Newark airport on Monday was taken into custody by FBI agents when the plane landed, law enforcement officials said. United Airlines Flight 116 was en route from Hong Kong to Newark Liberty International Airport when a passenger "became disruptive," the carrier said.
Lawyer Cliff Sloan faces tough assignment: Closing Guantanamo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cliff Sloan has represented Jon Bon Jovi's band in legal matters and argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, he has perhaps his toughest assignment: Helping to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Washington attorney was named on Monday as the State Department's Guantanamo Bay envoy, a central player in President Barack Obama's renewed push to make good on a 2008 campaign promise to shut the installation where the United States holds terrorism suspects. Obama wants to close the facility because it is a legacy of the Bush administration that he feels has damaged the U.S. reputation with allies around the world.
Turkey could deploy army to quell protests
ANKARA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's deputy prime minister said on Monday the armed forces could be called up if needed to help quell popular protests that have swept Turkish cities in the last two weeks, the first time the possibility of a military role has been raised. Bulent Arinc made the remarks in Ankara, where 1,000 striking trade union workers faced off briefly against police backed by several water cannon, before police retreated and the crowd left.
U.S. right to arm Syrian rebels, says Israeli president
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli President Shimon Peres has thrown his weight behind U.S. plans to arm Syrian rebels, shrugging off fears the weapons could be turned on Israel and exacerbate the conflict. In a wide-ranging interview with Reuters before his 90th birthday, Peres dismissed the idea that Israel could launch a unilateral military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities and urged Palestinians and Israelis to forge immediate peace.
Snowden hits back against critics of NSA leaks
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The former National Security Agency contractor who revealed the U.S. government's top-secret monitoring of Americans' phone and Internet data fought back against his critics on Monday, saying the government's "litany of lies" about the programs compelled him to act. Edward Snowden told an online forum run by Britain's Guardian newspaper that he considered it an honor to be called a traitor by people like former Vice President Dick Cheney, and he urged President Barack Obama to "return to sanity" and roll back the surveillance effort.
Obama sees Iran's election of moderate as hopeful sign
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Monday that Iran's election of a moderate as its next president is a sign that Iranians want to move in a different direction, but he was uncertain whether it would lead to a breakthrough over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. In an interview with public television anchor Charlie Rose, Obama said the United States and its allies would be willing to hold talks with Iran over its nuclear program, as long as Tehran recognized that international sanctions would not be lifted unless Iran proved it is not building a nuclear weapon.
Putin, Obama face off over Syria; rebels get Saudi missiles
ENISKILLEN, Northern Ireland/DUBAI (Reuters) - Rebels fought to halt an advance by President Bashar al-Assad's forces into northern Syria on Monday while U.S. President Barack Obama faced a showdown with Russia's Vladimir Putin over Obama's decision last week to arm the insurgents. New evidence emerged of escalating foreign support for the rebels, with a Gulf source telling Reuters that Saudi Arabia had equipped fighters for the first time with shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, their most urgent request. Rebels said Riyadh had also sent them anti-tank missiles.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-000524607.html
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Monday, June 17, 2013
Nokia RM-877 approved by FCC with AT&T LTE, likely is the EOS
Oh, the tales FCC employees could tell -- if they were allowed to discuss them. A Nokia device, known only as the RM-877, has passed the agency's approval process. This mystery unit contains AT&T-compatible LTE bands (2, 4, 5 and 17, to be specific), pentaband HSPA+ / WCDMA and quad-band GSM / EDGE. Additionally, it also sports NFC, Bluetooth and dual-band WiFi. According to the above diagram, the handset measures 130.35mm tall and 71.4mm wide, which makes it a millimeter taller and wider than the Lumia 925. We're still combing the documents for any more clues, but we've already seen reports that appear to match this model number with the EOS that we're expecting to see on July 11th.
Update: As we continue to look through the documents, we've noticed mention of the device being tested with a "camera grip" (model PD-95G). It definitely gives us more reason to believe this is the EOS. Additionally, we've also noticed that a wireless charging cover was involved in testing, which means it's likely optional, much like the Lumia 925.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Nokia, AT&T
Source: FCC
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/RwgxfXKWMFY/
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Ark. Sen. Pryor hit from right, left before 2014
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) ? The conservative Club for Growth tags Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor as President Barack Obama's "closest ally" in the state. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's gun-control advocacy group says Pryor "let us down."
Pryor's re-election race is 17 months away, but the Democratic incumbent seen as perhaps the most vulnerable in 2014 is already taking hits from the right and the left. That's forced the second-term senator to aggressively defend himself and step into re-election mode sooner than planned, even though he has no Republican opponent.
"My goal right now is to put the campaign off until the election year, 2014," Pryor told reporters recently. "They keep dragging me back into the politics, they keep running ads and trying to keep it stirred it up here."
Republicans are trying to unseat Pryor and three other Democratic incumbents who represent states that Republican Mitt Romney won in last year's presidential race: Mark Begich of Alaska, Kay Hagan of North Carolina and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana.
Democrats need to defend 21 seats, including seven in largely rural states that Obama lost in 2012.
Republicans need to pick up six seats to regain Senate control. But the GOP is defending fewer incumbents and could benefit from history: The party controlling the White House usually loses seats during the midterm election of a second-term president.
Pryor, who began airing his first television ad last month, faces pressure especially early in Arkansas. He's trying to survive in a state where Republicans enjoyed widespread gains over the past two election cycles, fueled by Obama's unpopularity.
The GOP controls both chambers of the Legislature and all four U.S. House seats. In 2010, Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln lost her bid for a third term. Last year, Republicans swept all four House seats and won control of the Legislature for the first time since Reconstruction.
National and state Republicans are eager to topple Pryor, whose father, David, was a senator and governor. It's a turnaround from 2008, when Republicans were unable to find anyone to challenge Mark Pryor and he easily won a second term.
"When you hear Arkansas Democrats try to spin things for Mark Pryor, the only things they can point to is he's raised a lot of money, he's got a high name ID and the fact his father is popular," David Ray, a spokesman for the state GOP. "That's not a very strong place to start."
Among Republicans, U.S. Reps. Tom Cotton and Steve Womack are widely viewed as potential challengers.
So far, Pryor is taking heat from outside groups rather than a challenger. The Senate Conservatives Fund, a political action committee, has begun airing $320,000 worth of television ads criticizing Pryor's 2009 vote for the federal health care law and calling him too liberal.
The conservative Club for Growth, which backed Cotton last year, has aired ads linking Pryor to Obama.
At the same time, Pryor has absorbed criticism from the left after voting against expanded background checks for firearms purchases.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the Bloomberg group, is airing television and radio ads criticizing Pryor for the vote. The ad invokes the shooting death of Bill Gwatney, the state Democratic Party chairman who was killed in his office in 2008. Bloomberg has also urged New York donors to not contribute to Pryor or the other Democratic senators who voted against the background checks measure in April.
"When my dear innocent friend was shot to death, I didn't blame guns. I blamed a system that makes it so terribly easy for criminals or the dangerous mentally ill to buy guns," Angela Bradford-Barnes, who worked with Gwatney, says in the ad. "That's why I was so disappointed when Mark Pryor voted against comprehensive background checks. On that vote, he let us down."
Robert McLarty, a Democratic consultant in Little Rock who's not affiliated with Pryor's campaign, said the senator's biggest challenge right now is that he doesn't have an announced opponent while he's fending off attacks from both sides.
"He's not able to direct a compare and contrast style campaign," McLarty said. "He's not able to take a candidate on the other side and say this is how we differ."
But McLarty and others say Pryor is in a better position than Lincoln was in 2010.
She survived a bruising Democratic primary with the help of former President Bill Clinton, who campaigned for her. But she lost handily in the fall of 2010. Pryor has higher approval figures than Lincoln did and appears unlikely at this point to draw a serious primary challenger next spring.
Clinton headlined a March fundraiser to kick off Pryor's re-election bid, helping him raise more than $1 million in a night. Pryor reported having more than $3.4 million in the bank for the 2014 race.
"The reason this is a race of national significance is because it's about whether a senator who cares about his own people more than ideological purity can be financed, elected, lifted by the people he has served in the face of all these crazy currents that are taking America and tearing it to shreds," Clinton said at the event.
Pryor is trying to find middle ground on issues such as gun control, where he contends his vote represents a constituency that values hunting and gun rights. He's also argued that a competing measure he supported that was endorsed by the National Rifle Association would have done more to address gun violence.
The NRA has also stepped in to help Pryor, with a radio ad airing in the state thanking the lawmaker for his vote.
Without an opponent, Pryor is casting the fight over gun control as one with Bloomberg.
"The mayor of New York City is running ads against me because I opposed President Obama's gun control legislation. Nothing in the Obama plan would have prevented tragedies like Newtown, Aurora, Tucson or even Jonesboro," Pryor says in his television ad. "I'm committed to finding real solutions to gun violence while protecting our Second Amendment rights."
When Bloomberg's group ran ads before the background checks vote, Pryor responded: "I don't take gun advice from the mayor of New York City. I listen to Arkansans."
He's also distanced himself from Obama and national Democrats on other issues. He's opposed gay marriage despite a growing chorus of support from lawmakers from his party in other states and criticized the Internal Revenue Service for targeting conservative groups.
Pryor said he's trying to keep his focus on Arkansas.
"All I can do is be the very best senator I can be. I wish these outside groups would let me do that and not have to fool around with the election," Pryor said. "People in Arkansas are tired of the election. They want us to get up to Washington and take care of the nation's business."
___
Associated Press writer Ken Thomas contributed to this report.
___
Follow Andrew DeMillo on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ademillo
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ark-sen-pryor-hit-left-2014-085128242.html
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Manu Ginobili sparks Spurs to Game 5 win
SAN ANTONIO (AP) ? Across three NBA championships and more than 100 playoff victories together, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have built a bond most teammates will never share.
So maybe Ginobili could ignore it when he was suddenly being criticized around San Antonio.
You better believe it bothered the others.
"Yeah, of course," Parker said. "Because for everything he did for the franchise, I thought it was a little bit too harsh. We understand it's a business. He came out big tonight."
Just like Parker said he would.
Ginobili broke out of a slump in a big way with 24 points and 10 assists in his first start of the season, and the Spurs beat the Miami Heat 114-104 on Sunday night to take a 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals.
Parker scored 26 points, Duncan had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Ginobili had his highest-scoring game of the season as the Spurs became the first team to shoot 60 percent in a finals game in four years.
"He's such a huge part of what we do and how far we've come. You can see it tonight in how we played and the results of the game," Duncan said. "We're always confident in him. ... We know he has it in him. We hope he can bring it forward for one more win."
Danny Green smashed the NBA Finals record for 3-pointers, hitting six more and scoring 24 points. Kawhi Leonard finished with 16, but the stage was set when Ginobili trotted out with Duncan, Parker and the rest of starters in what could have been the last finals home game for a trio that's meant so much to San Antonio.
One more victory and the Spurs' Big Three, not Miami's, will be the one that rules the NBA.
And a big reason was Ginobili, as he's been for so long ? just not during what had been a miserable series for the former Sixth Man of the Year.
"I was angry, disappointed," Ginobili said. "We are playing in the NBA Finals, we were 2-2, and I felt I still wasn't really helping the team that much," Ginobili said. "And that was the frustrating part."
On Sunday, it was all forgotten.
"He's obviously very popular. He's been here a long time. He's helped us have a lot of success over the years," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade each scored 25 points for the Heat, who host Game 6 on Tuesday night. They need a victory to force the first Game 7 in the finals since the Lakers beat the Celtics in 2010.
Miami's Big Three formed a few weeks after that game, with predictions of multiple titles to follow. Now they're a loss away from going just 1 for 3 in finals to start their partnership, while the Spurs could run their perfect record to 5 for 5.
"This is the position we're in and the most important game is Game 6," James said. "We can't worry about a Game 7, we have to worry about Game 6."
Duncan won his first title in 1999, and Parker and Ginobili were with him for three championships since. They have been the perfect partnership, keeping the Spurs in the hunt virtually every year while teams such as the Lakers, Mavericks and Suns have all risen and fallen in the Western Conference during that time.
They remained unbeaten in Game 5s, including two previous victories when the series was tied at 2-2. Of the 27 times the finals have been tied at 2-2, the Game 5 winner has won 20 of them.
Miami was the most recent loser, falling to Dallas in Game 5 in 2011 before being eliminated at home the next game.
"We're going to see if we're a better ballclub and if we're better prepared for this moment," Wade said.
San Antonio shot 42 of 70, right at 60 percent. The last team to make 60 percent of its shots in the finals was Orlando, which hit 62.5 in Game 3 against the Lakers in 2009, according to STATS.
"They just absolutely outplayed us," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "At times they were just picking one guy out at a time and going at us mano y mano. That will change."
Ray Allen scored 21 points on the night for the Heat as he watched Green shatter his finals 3-point record. Green has 25 3s in the series. Allen made 22 3-pointers in six games in the 2008 finals for Boston.
Chris Bosh scored 16 points for Miami, Wade had 10 assists, and James had eight assists and six rebounds, but it was their defense that let the Heat down in this one.
The Heat were within one with 3:05 left in the third quarter before Green hit yet another 3-pointer and Ginobili followed with the stretch that turned the game into the fourth straight blowout of the finals.
The crafty lefty plays with a flair developed on the courts of Argentina and perfected in Europe before coming to the NBA. He sees angles other players can't and takes risks few others would, but his style has been the perfect fit alongside Duncan and Parker.
He converted a three-point play, tossed in a floater with his left hand as he drifted right, and found Tiago Splitter under the hoop with a pass to make it 85-74.
He flipped in another runner with 2.9 seconds to go in the period, sending the Spurs to the fourth with an 87-75 lead as fans chanted "Manu! Manu!" during the break between the third and fourth quarters.
Ginobili had been averaging just 7.5 points on 34.5 percent shooting in the series, making only three of his 16 3-point attempts. But Popovich made the finals' second lineup change in two games, after the Heat inserted Mike Miller to start Game 4.
Ginobili didn't make a start this season and certainly hadn't been playing like someone who belonged with the first five. But in the Spurs' biggest game of the season, they remained confident he would break out, and they were right.
"I knew that I was not scoring much and I felt it in the air. But I tried not to care about it. I know I'm critical enough of myself to be worrying about what other people say," Ginobili said.
It was the first time he scored 24 or more points since having 34 on June 4, 2012, against Oklahoma City, according to STATS.
The AT&T Center crowd roared when Ginobili was the last starter announced, the cheers growing louder when he made a jumper ? originally ruled a 3-pointer but later overturned by replay ? on the first possession. He assisted on the Spurs' next three baskets, and it was 15-10 when he later hit a 3 that did count.
Parker picked it up from there, dancing his way into the lane repeatedly and scoring seven points in a 12-0 run that made it 29-17.
Leonard's 3-pointer with 4.7 seconds left, on an assist from Ginobili, made it 32-19 and gave the Spurs 12 makes in 19 attempts (63 percent) in the opening 12 minutes.
Green's third straight 3-pointer made it 45-28 about 5 minutes into the second quarter, and it seemed the trend of blowouts would continue.
But James suddenly got rolling during a 14-2 Miami spurt that cut it to five on his third consecutive Heat basket.
San Antonio made 21 of 34 shots (62 percent) in the first half, opening a 61-52 lead on Parker's drive with 0.4 seconds left.
Miami then ran off eight in a row to start the second half and get within one. They cut it to one again later in the period before Ginobili led the flurry that finished the Heat for good.
It was a fitting finish if it was the last home game in the finals for San Antonio's star trio, which has combined for 101 playoff victories. Ginobili has said he might think about retirement as he turns 36 next month, and Duncan is 37.
Both coaches said it was difficult waiting two days between games ? Popovich said it was "like death" ? though he did say it was great for the Spurs because they have some older players.
The break seemed to help his team early, particularly Parker, whose energy sagged in the second half of Game 4 as he struggled with a strained hamstring that he said could tear at any time and would've had him sidelined during the regular season.
If things fall right for the Spurs, he'll have plenty of time to heal after Tuesday.
Notes: The last team to lose Game 5 of a 2-2 series and then win the title was the Los Angeles Lakers, when they beat Boston in 2010. ... The Spurs said Sunday that reserve guard Patty Mills had surgery to remove an abscess Friday and would miss the rest of the series. Mills had an infection in his right foot and the abscess developed between his fourth and fifth toes.
___
Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/manu-ginobili-sparks-spurs-game-5-win-025442617.html
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Box Office Guru Wrapup: Man of Steel Sets June Record
This weekend, Superman was reborn at the box office as the big-budget gamble Man of Steel paid off handsomely with a spectacular opening weekend in North America plus impressive launches overseas in only a portion of the international marketplace. The Warner Bros. summer tentpole grossed an estimated $113.1M domestically, breaking the record for the biggest June opening ever. Adding in $12M from Thursday night group sales led by Walmart's promotion for 7:00pm shows, the total stood at a stellar $125.1M. The Friday-to-Sunday portion for the PG-13 film averaged a muscular $26,879 from 4,207 theaters including 331 IMAX screens. Toy Story 3 held the June record since 2010 with $110.3M.
The 3.5-day performance exceeded the extended seven-day holiday opening of 2006's reboot Superman Returns which amounted to $108.1M during the week leading up to Independence Day. That mega-budgeted film eventually inched its way into the double century club ending with $200.1M but was seen as a creative and commercial disappointment which failed to lead to a new franchise being born. The new reboot may match the last one's gross by the end of next weekend.
Man of Steel was directed by Zack Snyder with Henry Cavill taking on the title role and also featured an Oscar-caliber cast including Russell Crowe, Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Michael Shannon and Laurence Fishburne. Christopher Nolan, who successfully rebooted the Batman franchise for the studio, produced Steel and lent much to the box office pull of the film. After getting the origin story out of the way in 2005's Batman Begins, grosses soared even higher for the next two chapters leading to a $2.5 billion global trilogy, so it was crucial for Warner Bros. to relaunch Superman in a way that brought in the masses.
Reviews were mixed but paying audiences gave the super hero flick an encouraging A- grade from CinemaScore. Friday debuted to $44.1M including $9M in midnight shows. Saturday fell an understandable 18% to $36.3M while Sunday was projected to dip by only 10% to $32.7M thanks to the Father's Day holiday. Much of the film's story involves Superman's two dads from Krypton and Earth and how they molded him.
Studio research showed that Man of Steel skewed towards men as expected with 56% being male. But that made for a better female turnout than usual for a comic book pic. Iron Man 3 and Avengers were both 61% male and last summer's Spider-Man reboot played 58% male. The stronger cross-gender appeal could allow it to play well over the coming weeks especially with the Fourth of July holiday around the corner.
3,350 theaters offered a 3D option with those screens accounting for 41% of the gross. With conversions, even for effects-driven action pictures, audiences nowadays typically prefer the original 2D version at regular prices instead. IMAX venues contributed 12% of the total gross with $13.3M and a sturdy average of $40,181 since Thursday night. Tickets cost as much as $21.50 to experience Man of Steel in IMAX 3D in New York City. Massive cross-promotions with brand partners helped to drive in business too for the event film.
The international launch for Man of Steel was also quite strong even though many top markets open later. The weekend saw $71.6M from 24 markets led by the U.K., Mexico, and Korea which were the only majors to open this week. 27 new countries will launch next weekend including key territories like France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia and China so Man of Steel has much more ahead this summer. But so far, the first weekend delivered $196.7M in global sales.
Opening far behind in second place was the new doomsday comedy This is the End with an estimated $20.5M over three days and $32.8M since its launch on Tuesday night with 7:00pm shows. It was a respectable opening for the Sony release especially considering the distraction Clark Kent had over the target audience of young men. Playing in 3,055 locations, the raunchy R-rated comedy starring Seth Rogen, James Franco, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill and Jay Baruchel averaged $6,710 over the Friday-to-Sunday period. The full gross was below the $41.3M five-day debut of Pineapple Express in August 2008 which was from many of the same team members.
Reviews were very solid for End but the CinemaScore grade was a B+ which is commendable, not glowing. The road ahead features plenty of new action movies which will continue to lure in young men so it will not be easy. But Rogen and company hope that word-of-mouth will help it reach many more moviegoers over the weeks ahead, especially those who want a rowdy laugh and are all actioned out. Studio research showed that the crowd was 60% male and 52% over 25. With a $32M production budget and marketing costs not in the same league as summer tentpoles, the comedy should turn out to be a moneymaker regardless of how it plays overseas.
Holding steady in third place was Lionsgate's heist thriller Now You See Me with an estimated $10.3M, down 46%, for a robust cume to date of $80M. Now the top-grossing installment of the franchise, Universal's Fast & Furious 6 followed with an estimated $9.4M dropping 52% pushing the domestic tally to a muscular $219.6M. Worldwide, it's also the highest-grossing Furious flick with a total now of $636.9M and still growing.
Last week's top film The Purge got beaten down tumbling a frightening 76% to an estimated $8.2M. The micro-budgeted $3M pic has nonetheless raked in a healthy $52M in ten days for Universal. The Fox comedy The Internship fell a troubling 60% in its second weekend to an estimated $7M putting the Vince Vaughn-Owen Wilson pic at a disappointing $31M.
Dropping 50% to an estimated $6M in its fourth round was the animated film Epic which has collected $95.4M to date for Fox. Star Trek Into Darkness followed with an estimated $5.7M, off 51%, for an impressive $210.5M for Paramount.
The summer's most notable flop so far, Will Smith's critically panned father-son sci-fi adventure After Earth, crumbled 65% to an estimated $3.8M for a lousy $54.2M cume to date for the pricey $130M gamble. Flirting with the quadruple century mark, Iron Man 3 rounded out the top ten with an estimated $2.9M in its seventh weekend, down 50%. Disney has grossed $399.6M to date and $1.2 billion globally.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $186.8M which was up a stellar 55% from last year when Madagascar 3 remained at number one with $34.1M; and up 29% from 2011 when Green Lantern debuted in the top spot with $53.2M.
Follow Gitesh on Twitter!
Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1927672/news/1927672/
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