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Box Office Recap – 01/04/2021

The first weekend of 2021 brought in just $13 million, compared to the record-making $219.5 million of 2016. Wonder Woman 1984 topped the box office with $5.5 million, down 67% over its opening weekend, for a total domestic haul of $28.5 million. Many are blaming the low turnout on the fact that Warner Bros. opted to release the Gal Gadot-toplined Patty Jenkins production on HBO Max. 

No word yet on how the release helped boost subscribers to the nascent streamers. Croods: A New Age came in second with $2.18 million. 

Looking back at 2020, there’s bad news and good news. The bad news is the pandemic devastated many businesses, and the film industry was hit hard. The 2020 domestic box office fell 80% to $2.3 billion, behind China’s haul of $2.7 billion. This is the first time China beat North America’s totals. In another first, a Chinese film, The Eight Hundred, topped the box office with $440 million. Hollywood’s biggest earner was Sony’s Bad Boys for Life, which opened in mid-January and brought in $413 million. Next up was Sam Mendes’ 1917, which took in $385 million after opening on January 10th. 

The first tentpole released post-pandemic, Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, starring Robert Pattinson, brought in $362 million worldwide. 

2019 brought in $11.4 billion; this year’s receipts were the lowest in 40 years as many cinemas faced shutdowns for nine+ months in the U.S. Globally, movie ticket sales are expected to bring in $11.5-$12 billion, down from 2019’s $42.5 billion.

Now, for the good news. Women directed a record number of films last year, according to a study from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University. Women comprised 16% of directors who helmed the 100 highest-grossing films in 2020, up from 12% in 2019 and 4% in 2018. 

High-budget efforts include Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland, Cathy Yan’s Birds of Prey and Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 1984. Others, including Zhao’s The Eternals and Cate Shortland’s Black Widow were pushed to 2021 due to the pandemic. 

CHECK IT OUT:

Read the Full Story: http://bit.ly/3hHsufA

Read more here: http://bit.ly/2LiLd4H

 Top 10:

  1. Wonder Woman 1984, $5.5M
  2. Croods: A New Age, $2.18M
  3. News of the World, $1.69M
  4. Monster Hunter, $1.25M
  5. Fatale, $700K
  6. Promising Young Woman, $660K
  7. Pinocchio, $284K
  8. The War With Grandpa, $114K
  9. Alien, $75K
  10. Come Play, $55K

 

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Car Crash in Gray, ME

Picture Courtesy of Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office

 

GRAY, ME – On 12/30/2020 at around 2 PM the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office along with the Gray Fire/EMS responded to the area of 242 West Gray Road in Gray for a two-vehicle motor vehicle crash.

A 2011 White Chevrolet Aveo traveling southbound on West Gray road crossed the centerline and crashed into a silver 2002 Toyota Tundra traveling northbound.  The Aveo was being operated by 19 year old Chandler Magee of Gray. The evidence obtained on scene showed he was operating recklessly and lost control of his vehicle, which caused him to cross the centerline. Nicholas Catruch, 38 years of age, of Gorham, Maine was operating the Tundra.

Nicholas Catruch was treated on scene and released and Chandler Magee was transported to Maine Medical Center with serious bodily injuries.

The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit is assisting in the investigation of this crash.

The traffic on West Gray road was detoured for one hour so the crash could be investigated. The road is now open to traffic.

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Feel Good Story of the Week – Virginia Man Finds Stolen 1969 Camaro After 17 Years

A Virgina man was finally reunited with his 1969 Camaro—17 years after it was stolen. Tommy Cook said that his beloved vintage car was stolen from his auto repair lot in Woodbridge, VA in 2003. At the time, the vehicle was painted Hugger Orange and did not have an engine. Cook reported the Camaro stolen and continued to renew its missing status in the years that followed. He says that he never gave up hope that they would be reunited one day. Finally, 17 years later, a friend of Cook’s asked him to come to an auto shop to look at a 1968 Camaro he was considering purchasing. When he arrived, it was a 1969 Camaro in the corner of the garage that caught Cook’s eye. Despite the fact that it was hoodless, painted green, had an engine installed, and bore a fraudulent VIN on the dashboard, Cook had a feeling about it and dug deeper. He quickly learned that the car had, in fact, originally been painted Hugger Orange. He checked the VIN in a different location on the vehicle (under the hood) and it matched his missing car. The 1969 Camaro had apparently changed hands four times since being stolen in 2003, during which time many expensive improvements had been made, including the installation of an engine.

For the full story and pictures click here.

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Gino’s Favorite Interviews of 2020 – John Beede, Author of The Warrior Challenge

This interview is one of my favorite Interviews of the year. John Beede is a very fascinating guy and has written a great book for young boys and girls alike. I enjoyed my time immensely with John and hope to have him back on the show some time soon to learn more about him and his extraordinary life. Enjoy the interview below. This originally aired September 4th, 2020. – Gino

 

How do we raise “good sons”?

Being a tough guy and showing no emotion…traits we’ve long-considered masculine…are no longer the ideals we want for our boys.

As we try to raise caring, thoughtful, respectful young men, this book will lead the pack, teaching them to become humans of a higher standard who embrace their emotions and feelings.

Unlike any book out there, THE WARRIOR CHALLENGE recounts engrossing stories about courageous men across history, providing real-life examples of modern manhood, and teaching messages about compassion and authenticity.

Author, mountain climber, and youth speaker John Beede disproves the “boys will be boys” mentality and encourages boys to be, above all, good humans. And this book applies to girls too!

John Beede set out to write THE WARRIOR CHALLENGE: 8 Quests for Boys to Grow Up with Kindness, Courage, and Grit to shift our shared definition and understanding of manhood and masculinity. This is a revolutionary and must-have book for boys who want to embrace who they are and find their best path to becoming good men! This no-holds-barred, action- packed, illustrated guide teaches boys to accept their own vulnerability and trust their heads, hearts, and souls.

By undertaking “The Warrior Challenge,” boys will learn a different kind of strength and what it means to be a man. Each chapter is accompanied by a comic book-style-artwork. Part of the challenge also is to ask boys to not take this journey alone, but to share it with either their parents, caretakers, teachers, or other role models in their lives. This book’s combination of interactive storytelling, real-life stories, and challenges will teach boys to be empathetic, vulnerable, and authentically them.

John Beede joined Gino on the Magic Morning Show today to discuss the book a little deeper. Click below to listen…

 

Pick up your copy today – WHEREVER BOOKS ARE SOLD!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: John Beede is a mountaineer, global adventurer, humanitarian, and keynote speaker. He has climbed the tallest mountain on all seven continents, including Mount Everest. He’s also been struck by lightning, been attacked by a five-foot iguana, and gone swimming with great white sharks. His travels have taken him to more than seventy countries and he’s survived every classification of natural disaster. Through it all, John’s core message to the kids he speaks to and teaches is that we live by the strength of our morals and values, not our accomplishments. He has shared this message via motivational presentations and workshops to nearly one million live audience members in all fifty U.S. states and all across the world. He has given keynote speeches for national teen organizations including 4-H, FCCLA, FBLA, DECA, BPA, SkillsUSA, ScoutsUSA, FFA, Teen Institute, and the National Association of Student Councils. John is also the author of Climb On! Success Strategies for Teens and The Mini-Manual for Becoming Super Awesome. He is an Eagle Scout and he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Wheaton College.   John lives in Nevada. Find him online at www.climbonsuccess.com.

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Box Office Recap – 12/28/2020

Warner Bros. revealed that Wonder Woman 1984 broke pandemic records, bringing in $16.7 million at 2,151 locations. It was released on Christmas Day. While it broke records for the pandemic, it was a flop by normal market conditions; by comparison, the first Wonder Woman opened to $103.2 million over the first weekend in June.

Meanwhile, Twitter users are reporting glitches in the HBO Max release, citing issues with logging on and streaming glitches. 

CHECK IT OUT:

Read the Full Story: http://bit.ly/3hu3c4s

Hooray for Hollywood: Here are this past weekend’s box office results.

  1. Wonder Woman 1984 – $16.7 Million (CINEMA SCOOP … The movie earned $85 million worldwide … The movie cost $200 million to produce)
  2. News of the World – $2.4 Million
  3. The Croods: A New Age – $1.7 Million
  4. Promising Young Woman – $680K
  5. Fatale – $660K
  6. Pinocchio – $274K
  7. The War with Grandpa – $90K
  8. Freaky – $50K
  9. Come Play – $40K
  10. Half Brothers – $35K

 

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Experts Predict Pop Songs Will Be Shorter In The Future As Attention Span Length Drops

By the time 2030 rolls around, experts say pop songs will likely be shorter. Researchers from Samsung found that the attention span of music fans dropped from 12 seconds to eight since the year 2000, so it’s harder than ever for musicians to draw listeners in early while also keeping the song short with the choruses happening early on.

Samsung writes in a blog post, “At the end of the decade it’s predicted that the average song will be a maximum of two minutes, putting the old three-minute pop song cliché to rest.” Even today, among the ten most-streamed songs on Spotify, 80 percent are shorter than four minutes.

Other research has shown that the length of the average number one song has decreased by nearly 20 percent over the past 20 years.

Click here to read the full article.

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Merry Christmas! Santa Claus Visits with Gino on The Magic Morning Show

Santa Claus took some time out of his very busy schedule today and stopped by the Magic 104 Studio to visit with Gino on The Magic Morning Show. Santa answered listener questions and even had some very special shout outs for some very good boys and girls from the Mount Washington Valley.

He also asked a favor of us here in the valley, to go out tonight at 6pm to our yards and ring a bell in order to help send “Christmas Cheer” to all. You can even send a clip of yourself “ringing in Christmas” on Santa’s Facebook Page. Listen to the interview for the details and click here for Santa’s Facebook. 

Merry Christmas from Magic 104!