'Iron Man' gets heavy start at box office

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Iron Man," the latest Marvel comics title brought to the big screen, grossed an estimated $32.5 million from its first full day in North American theaters, independent box office analysts reported on Saturday.

That tally, generated from Friday showings in some 4,100 U.S. and Canadian cinemas, put "Iron Man" on track to meet or exceed the $85 million-plus opening weekends posted by sequels to two other Marvel franchises -- "Spider-Man" and "X-Men."

"Iron Man" stars Robert Downey Jr. as a billionaire industrialist and playboy named Tony Stark who wrestles with a midlife crisis as he invents a high-tech suit of armor that transforms him into a superhero.

The movie, which cost about $150 million to make and another $75 million to market, co-stars Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow and has drawn mostly favorable reviews.

Distributed through Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures, the film is the first self-financed production from Marvel Studios and is being closely watched as the first major release of the summer movie season.

The 18-weekend stretch from May through August can account for as much as 40 percent of Hollywood's total domestic box office receipts for a year.

Neither Paramount nor Marvel issued first-day figures for "Iron Man."

'Tropic Thunder' beats Batman at the box office

 

 

 

 

 Big-screen Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. scored his second No. 1 movie of the summer on Sunday as Hollywood spoof "Tropic Thunder" ended the monthlong reign of "The Dark Knight" atop the North American box office.

"Tropic Thunder," a farcical combat movie within a comedy that also stars Ben Stiller and Jack Black, grossed $26 million during its first weekend in U.S. and Canadian theaters, bringing its five-day estimated total from Wednesday's opening to $37 million.

Downey who appears in the film in blackface, portraying a white actor playing a black action hero, also starred in the summer's first chart-topping movie, Marvel Studios' "Iron Man."

The superhero drama, which like "Tropic Thunder" was distributed by Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures, grossed nearly $99 million its opening weekend in May.

In "Tropic Thunder," Downey, Stiller and Black star as self-absorbed Hollywood actors caught up in a real-life battle with narco-terrorists while filming a war movie in Southeast Asia. The film was directed, co-written and co-produced by Stiller.

The blockbuster Batman sequel "The Dark Knight" slipped to No. 2 with $16.8 million in ticket sales in its fifth weekend of release but broke yet another commercial barrier along the way by becoming the second-highest-grossing film ever, according to box office tracking service Media By Numbers.

BATMAN FINDS NEW PERCH

"The Dark Knight," starring Christian Bale as Batman and the late Heath Ledger as the villainous Joker in his last completed role, has now amassed more than $471 million in domestic ticket sales. That tally ranks second only to the $601 million grossed by all-time champion "Titanic."

Shilpa Shetty's 'Bigg Boss' kick starts

New Delhi, Aug 18(IANS) The second season of TV reality show 'Bigg Boss' will have controversy galore. With politicians Rahul Mahajan and Sanjay Nirupam, notorious British reality TV star Jade Goody and gangster Abu Salem's companion Monica Bedi among many others, the show will make for exciting viewing over the next three months.

Fourteen contestants including television actors Ketki Dave and Rakhi Vijayan, item girl Sambhavna Seth, actors Payal Rohatgi and Monica Bedi, non-celebrity Elina apart from Jade Goody are part of the female inmates of the 'Bigg Boss' house.

Among the men are model-actor Zulfi Syed, music reality show winner Debojit Saha, MTV Roadies 5.0 winner Ashutosh Kaushik, TV actress Shweta Tiwari's estranged husband Raja Chaudhry, Congress member Sanjay Nirupam, Rahul Mahajan - son of late Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pramod Mahajan and famous comedian Ehsaan Qureshi.

While all of them will be closeted in a specially designed house for three months under 24-hour surveillance, with no access to telephones or television, Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, who had won the international format of the show 'Celebrity Big Brother' in 2007, will be hosting the show.

Yash Raj Films embroiled in another 'title' controversy

Yash Raj Films has once again got embroiled in a controversy over the title of its forthcoming movie 'Thoda Pyaar, Thoda Magic,' which has Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji in lead roles.

The film is co-produced and directed by Kunal Kohli.

Actor-producer Saahil Chadha has challenged the title of 'Thoda Pyaar, Thoda Magic,' saying it is similar to the title of 'Thoda Life, Thoda Magic,' which is his first film as a producer and he had registered it with the Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association (IMPPA) two years ago.

'When I took up the matter with Kunal Kohli last month, he promised me that he would change the title to 'Thoda Magic Ho Jai'. But he went back on his word as the trailer of the movie now being shown with YRF's 'Tashan' bears the title 'Thoda Pyaar, Thoda Magic', which sounds similar to the title of my movie,' Saahil told IANS Friday morning.

Kohli, on the other hand, disputed Saahil's argument.

'As the title registration committee of the Film and Television Producers' Guild of India, with whom the title of our movie has been registered, has cleared it, personally, I have nothing to comment on the matter,' Kunal said, but refused to elaborate further.

Saahil has now lodged a complaint with IMPPA, saying that as his movie, 'Thoda Life, Thoda Magic,' would be released almost simultaneously with 'Thoda Pyaar, Thoda Life,' due on June 27, it would affect his venture the most.

Classical dance training helped me in Bollywood: Esha Deol

 

Dubai, Aug 15 (IANS) Her training in Indian classical dance helped her in the Bollywood film industry rather than hamper her career, says actor Esha Deol.

'It is not a question of maintaining a balance (between classical and Hindi film dances). I think my training in classical dances has actually helped me in all the filmi jhatkas and matkas,' the star of such films as 'Dus', 'No Entry', 'Dhoom' and 'Kaal' said in the course of a media interaction here Thursday.

Esha is here, along with her mother Hema Malini and sister Ahana Deol, at the invitation of the Indian Business and Professional Council (IBPC), Dubai, for a classical dance recital to mark the India's independence day Friday.

Talking about her foray into classical dance, Esha, an Odissi artiste, said that it was her mother who got her into the art.

Aamir Khan turns down appeals to boycott Olympic torch relay

 

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan said on Tuesday he remained committed to participating in the Olympic torch relay in India despite receiving several requests asking him to boycott the event.

Khan, 43, said he empathised with the people of Tibet but wanted to keep the Beijing Olympics separate from the issue of human rights violations.

"When I do run with the torch on the 17th of April it is not in support of China. In fact it will be with a prayer in my heart for the people of Tibet, and indeed for all people across the world who are victims of human rights violations," Khan said in a blog post on his web site (www.aamirkhan.com) on Tuesday.

"However, I feel that the Olympic Games do not belong to China," the actor said adding it would be hard to find a place to hold the Games where the local government has not been accused of human rights violations.

Rapper DMX arrested after missing Ariz. court date

 

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Chart-topping rap star DMX was arrested at a store in Florida on Thursday for failing to appear in an Arizona court on drug charges, authorities said.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the rapper, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was taken into custody outside a Wal-Mart store in north Miami Beach on a warrant issued by a Maricopa County Superior Court commissioner.

The 37-year-old, who has a home outside Phoenix, failed to appear on Tuesday for a pretrial conference on charges relating to marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession, one of several legal battles he faces in Arizona.

He was arrested in May on drug and animal cruelty charges after sheriff's deputies raided his Cave Creek, Arizona, home. Authorities alleged that there were dog carcasses and malnourished pit bulls at the residence.