Doctors concerned about potential spread of bird flu in Canada
H5N1 or avian flu has been detected at dozens of U.S. dairy farms and Canadian experts are urging surveillance on our side of the border too.
Winter storms and cinema closures in North America didn't dampen the opening weekend for " Mean Girls. " The Paramount release, adapted from the Broadway musical and the 2004 Tiny Fey movie, earned US$28 million in its first three days in theaters according to studio estimates Sunday. Not accounting for inflation, that's more than the US$24.4 million the first movie made in its opening weekend.
The "Mean Girls" comeptition over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend included several new releases, like the Jason Statham movie " The Beekeeper " and the Jay-Z produced biblical satire "The Book of Clarence," in addition to a slew of awards contenders capitalizing on buzz from recent nominations and the Golden Globes.
As with "Barbie," another enthusiastically pink movie, female audiences made up the vast majority of opening weekend ticket buyers for "Mean Girls." According to exit polls, 70 per cent were between the ages of 18 and 34, which, yes, means that it had appeal for audiences who hadn't been born when Regina George was first introduced to the world.
This iteration of "Mean Girls" stars Angourie Rice, Auli'i Cravalho and Renee Rap, who played Regina on stage. It was originally planned to go straight to streaming on Paramount+, but the studio pivoted after test scores were positive.
Fey returned to write and co-star in the new film, which was directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. and cost a reported US$36 million to produce. Reviews have been more positive than not, with a 70 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences gave it a B CinemaScore which may not bode especially well for word-of-mouth appeal. Recent musicals like "Wonka" and "The Color Purple" scored in the A-range.
Amazon and MGM's "The Beekeeper" debuted in second place with an estimated US$16.8 million from 3,303 theaters. Men made up approximately 62 per cent of ticket buyers and audiences overall gave it a B+ CinemaScore. By the end of the four-day weekend, the studio expects it to have made US$19.1 million. Miramax handled the international distribution for "The Beekeper," which also grossed US$20.4 million from 49 territories.
Third place went to "Wonka," which added US$8.4 million in its fifth weekend. The Timothee Chalamet-led musical has now made over US$178 million domestically and US$500 million globally.
The Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell romantic comedy "Anyone But You," a Sony release, is turning into a bit of a sleeper success as well, making nearly US$7 million in its fourth weekend. By Monday, its domestic total should be around US$56.5 million. Universal and Illumination's "Migration" rounded out the top five with US$6.2 million in its fourth weekend.
Not everything landed this weekend, though. " The Book of Clarence," a faith-based comedy/drama with a starry, ensemble cast including LaKeith Stanfield, Omar Sy, RJ Cyler, David Oyelowo, Alfre Woodard and Teyana Taylor is not off to a promising start. The Legendary Pictures release opened to an estimated US$2.6 million from just over 2,000 locations.
Written and directed by the British singer-songwriter Jeymes Samuel (stage name The Bullitts), it was self-consciously styled after Golden Age biblical epics like "The Ten Commandments." It has also gotten mixed reviews, with 68 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes and a B CinemaScore.
The Walt Disney Co. sent its 2020 Pixar film "Soul" to movie theaters this weekend as well, where it made US$429,000 from 1350 locations in North America. It's the first of several Pixar movies, including "Luca" and "Turning Red," that Disney is bringing to theaters this winter after all had streaming-only releases on Disney+ during the pandemic.
Hollywood's awards season is also in full swing, and though many top contenders are already available to watch at home, some are still rolling out in theaters and hoping to capitalize on new nominations and awards shows like last weekend's Golden Globes. "Poor Things," which was a big winner, added US$1.8 million from only 580 theaters. "All of Us Strangers" took in US$474,000 from 120 screens. "American Fiction" expanded nationwide and made US$1.9 million from 625 screens. "The Zone of Interest," playing on 25 screens, also crossed US$1 million.
H5N1 or avian flu has been detected at dozens of U.S. dairy farms and Canadian experts are urging surveillance on our side of the border too.
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says Canadian interest rates don't have to match U.S. or global rates, but there is a limit to how much they can diverge.
Canada's financial intelligence agency says it has levied a $9.2-million penalty against The Toronto-Dominion Bank for non-compliance with money laundering and terrorist financing measures as the bank also faces compliance investigations in the U.S.
Prince William and his wife Kate released a picture of their daughter Charlotte to mark the princess's ninth birthday on Thursday.
A Canadian restaurant lowered its prices this week, and though news of price tags dropping rather than climbing sounds unusual, the business strategy in this case is not, according to experts in the field.
Investors considering where to park their money have a choice: go with a traditional financial adviser or trust in an algorithm. Here are the pros and cons of both.
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Nathaly Paola Castro Torres has a rare disorder called Laron syndrome that is caused by a genetic mutation. It stunts her growth but also provides a hidden silver lining: Her body is protected from chronic diseases such as cancer that often take life away long before old age.
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglas barriers.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.