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Many routinely refer to cinema as a dying medium, and few are optimistic about the direction the industry is headed.

Legendary director Francis Ford Coppola called Barbenheimer (aka "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer") "a win for cinema."

"I have yet to see ("Barbie" and "Oppenheimer"), but the fact that people fill big cinemas to see them, and that they are neither sequels nor prequels, do not have a number, so are really unique, is a victory for cinema."

He's not wrong.

A week after the launch of Barbenheimer, the two films have held up unusually well in cinemas. The studio estimated on Sunday that Barbie grossed a whopping $93 million in its second weekend. Oppenheimer stayed in second place with a robust $46.2 million (€41.9 million). Sales for the two films fell 43% and 44%, respectively -- a far cry from the usual second-week declines.

Barbenheimer, a perennial favorite Barbenheimer has proven that it is not a one-off phenomenon but a perennial hit at the box office. The two films combined have already grossed more than $1 billion (€908 million) at the worldwide box office.

Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at data provider Comscore, called the film "a milestone for films, for moviegoers, and for cinemas."

"Two films from rival studios that are linked in this way and that are mutually reinforcing - both in terms of box office and in terms of popularity - I don't know if there is a comparable situation in the annals of box office history," says Dergarabedian. "There's really no comparison to it."

After its best-ever grossing of the year ($162 million), pink pop sensation Barbie had a remarkably strong week and went into the weekend. The film outperformed Nolan's The Dark Knight to have the best first 11 days of any Warner Bros.

Barbie has made a quick $351.4 million in US and Canadian theaters, making it set to be the summer's biggest box-office hit. Barbie has grossed at least $20 million every day the film runs.

And the Barbie Effect isn't unique to North America. The film grossed $122.2 million internationally over the weekend. The worldwide box office is 775 million dollars (704 million euros).

Even experienced studio operators are amazed.

"That's an insane number," said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. sales director. "There's just a built-in audience that wants to be a part of the current zeitgeist. Everywhere you go, people wear pink. Pink is taking over the world."

Amidst this hype, Barbie is already attracting a crowd of repeat visitors. Goldstein estimates that 12% of sales will go to people wanting to see the film again with friends or family.

For a film industry that was trying to get back on its feet before the pandemic - and which is now mostly shut down due to strikes by actors and screenwriters - the Barbie and Oppenheimer sensations showed what's possible when everything comes together correctly.

"After the pandemic, there is no upper limit or lower limit," said Goldstein, "the films that don't work are really bad, and the films that work are really good."

Universal Pictures' Oppenheimer, meanwhile, is running more like a superhero movie than a three-hour film about researchers talking.

Nolan's drama, starring Cillian Murphy in the lead role of atomic bomb physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, has grossed $174.1 million domestically to date. With an additional $72.4 million in international theaters, Oppenheimer has already grossed over $400 million (€363 million) worldwide.

Screenings at IMAX are usually sold out. Oppenheimer has grossed $80 million (€72.6 million) worldwide from IMAX. The company announced on Sunday that it would extend the film's runtime to August 13.

In the words of Ken: "So cool."

No charges have been brought against a security man for basketball player Victor Wembanyama (19), who is alleged to have hit pop star Britney Spears (41) in the face. This was announced by the Las Vegas police on Friday (local time), as reported by "People" magazine. Spears claimed that she was struck by the security guard's hand when she approached Wembanyama at a restaurant in the US gambling capital last Wednesday. She had tapped the basketball player on the back to get his attention as he was walking away from her.

According to the Las Vegas police, in a statement, "the investigation into the alleged assault has been concluded," and "no charges will be filed against the individual involved." A police report of the incident, which is also available to People, stated that the security guard pushed away Britney Spears' hand that was touching Wembanyama's back. The report continues: "He used enough force [...] [Spears'] own hand hit her face, causing her sunglasses to fall off." This information was revealed through an investigation of surveillance footage at the Aria Hotel in Las Vegas.

Will Britney Spears still receive an apology? Media reports suggest that the pop star had reported the incident to the Las Vegas police. Britney Spears addressed the incident only yesterday on Instagram, describing it as a traumatic experience. She also expressed her hope for a public apology from the NBA rookie and his security team. Victor Wembanyama, who is set to make his NBA debut next season, stated in a released statement that he did not witness the incident firsthand, nor did he realize that the person tapping him on the back was pop star Britney Spears.

In the US series "The Crowded Room" Emmy Rossum plays the mother of Danny (Tom Holland), who is arrested after a shooting. In an interview, the 36-year-old explains how difficult it was for her to keep the necessary distance.

True-crime drama and psychological thriller fans have something new to look forward to in US series The Crowded Room (available on Apple TV+), based on the true story of accused murderer Billy Milligan it seems. In addition to "Spiderman" hero Tom Holland and "Mean Girls" actress Amanda Seyfried, US star Emmy Rossum will also play one of the main roles in the ten episodes. Rossum, who found fame at a young age in 'The Phantom of the Opera' and 'Shameless', takes on the role of Candy Sullivan, who has a complicated relationship with son Danny (Tom Holland), in 'The Crowded Room'. In an interview, Emmy Rossum now reveals that she had difficulties identifying with her role for a long time.

"She is a very young mother at 25 and also works as a bartender and nurse. The mother-son relationship in particular was very difficult to play," says the 36-year-old. "Candy is the complete opposite of me and her family background is completely different. She keeps a lot to herself and lives trapped in her own silence. It was very draining for me emotionally. It was also difficult to let go of all the baggage at the end of a to let go of the day of the shoot."

"I know what it means to love unconditionally"
At home, Emmy Rossum is supported by her family - especially her husband Sam Esmail. She has been happily married to him since 2017 and has two children together. Daughter Samantha was born in May 2021 - her son followed just a few months ago in April 2023. In an interview, the actress proudly says: "I know what it means to love unconditionally. While I'm getting more and more distant in the series to my son and we keep a lot of things secret from each other, in my real life I try by all means to protect the people I love."

Through her role in "Crowded Room" she learned "to have more empathy for such people. I know that sometimes the supposedly best people do bad things".

On the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), users can rate films and series - for example for the current movie "The Little Mermaid". However, for this Disney remake, the site had to change the rating system.

Since May 2023, actress Halle Bailey has been flickering across screens as Arielle in the Disney live-action adaptation, trying to win the heart of Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King). As usual, moviegoers can rate the film online. One of the best-known sites is the Internet Movie Database, or "IMDb" for short. However, as has now been announced on the portal, the rating system for the film has been adjusted.

According to IMDb, "The Little Mermaid" became the latest target of "Review Bombing." This is a practice of flooding a production with negative reviews from users who have multiple accounts or use bots to create new accounts. The film has received nearly 41,000 user ratings on IMDb since its theatrical release. While the film received an average positive rating of 7.0, more than 39 percent of the ratings correspond to only one star.

IMDb takes action against "Review Bombing".
IMDb posted a notice on the remake's ratings page stating that "the site's ratings mechanism has detected unusual voting activity for this title." Now "an alternative weighting calculation was applied".

While the FAQ section of the portal doesn't explain how grades are calculated, it states that "not all votes have equal impact (or 'weight') on the final score. If unusual voting activity is detected, it can an alternative weighting calculation may be applied to maintain the reliability of our system."

Criticism before the cinema release because of the skin color of the leading actress
Even before the film was released, criticism of "Arielle" was pouring down. Many complained that Halle Bailey, a dark-skinned actress, embodied the cult figure. In the cartoon, the red-haired mermaid is white.

Last year, Bailey told Variety that she received a lot of support from her family when the hashtag "NotmyAriel" started making the rounds. Her grandparents, in particular, who shared their experiences with racism and discrimination, were a great source of support. "It was inspiring and beautiful to hear her words of encouragement, saying to me, 'You don't understand what this means to us, to our community, to all the little black and brown girls who will find themselves in you'" the young actress explained at the time.

Tom Holland is dying to make another Spider-Man movie.

The 27-year-old actor has played the lead role in the iconic character since 2016 and Tom has revealed he would like to reprise the role.

Asked about the possibility of making another Spider-Man movie, Tom told 'Entertainment Tonight': "I think as long as we can do Peter Parker justice. As long as we can continue to improve the films and give them more meaning, I'll be there. I'd be stupid to say I wouldn't be the happiest kid alive if I had to do it all over again. Something is in motion but we'll just have to wait and see what happens."

Tom previously admitted he wasn't sure about his future after starring in 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' in 2021. The actor admitted the film could have been "the perfect picture-perfect ending" to his incarnation of Spider-Man. Speaking about the future of the franchise, Tom told The Hollywood Reporter: "There are far smarter people than me who have been entrusted with the task of writing future films and coming up with new ideas. And as always, I'm very excited to see what they come up with.

But maybe we don't top this movie. Perhaps this movie is the perfect picture book ending to this chapter of Spider-Man. And when it comes time for me to step down and let the new person step up, I would do so with pride.”