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Tuesday October 10, 2017 16 ENtertainment

“BLADE Runner 2049” has made far less than expected on its opening weekend at the U.S. box offi ce.

The US$31.5 million total will be a major disappoint-ment for distributor Warner Bros, which had projected ticket sales of between US$45 millon and US$50 million.

Its 163-minute running time, limiting the number of screen-ings, was said to be one factor in the under-performance.

But it was still the weekend’s most popular movie in the U.S. and it topped the U.K. box offi ce.

The sequel to the 1982 cult classic, which also stars Har-rison Ford as well as Ryan Gosling, cost Sony and Alcon Entertainment US$150 millon to make.

Despite strong advance ticket sales and glowing reviews from many critics, the movie made US$12.7 millon Thursday night and Friday, US $11.4 millon Saturday and a projected US$7.4 millon

Sunday from just over 4,000 cinemas.

Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with comScore, said: “The core of enthusiastic and loyal ‘Blade Runner’ fans were over 25 and predomi-nantly male, and propelled the fi lm as expected to the top spot, but a lengthy running time and lesser interest among females made it tougher for the fi lm to reach the original weekend box offi ce projections.”

Men over 25 accounted for half the audience, according to PostTrack, with women over 25 making up 27 percent.

Jeff Goldstein, of Warner Bros, said “Blade Runner 2049” had disappointed in smaller cities and in the south and midwest, where the run-ning time and baseball playoffs appeared to have deterred moviegoers.

“We did well in the major and high-profi le markets,” he said. “Alcon and Denis [Ville-neuve, the director] made an amazing movie. The audience

for it was narrower than we anticipated.”

Globally, the fi lm took US$ 50.2 millon and claimed the number one spot in 45 of its 63 markets, Screen Daily reported.

That tally was higher than the US$44.6 millon for “The Martian,” starring Matt Damon, on its opening week-end in 2015. The movie was directed by Ridley Scott, who also made the original “Blade Runner” and was an executive producer on “2049.”

The Chinese comedy “Never Say Die” took US$66 millon globally to top the interna-tional box offi ce, pushing “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” into second place.

The remake of the “Stephen King” killer clown thriller has now taken US$305 millon in the U.S. and almost as much internationally, to top the US$600 millon mark globally, making it the most successful horror fi lm.

(SD-Agencies)

‘Blade Runner 2049’ disappoints at US box office

Ryan Gosling, Denis Villeneuve, Ana de Armas and Harrison Ford (from L to R) at the Paris premiere of “Blade Runner 2049.” SD-Agencies

RAPPER Nelly has been arrested after a woman accused him of raping her on his tour bus following a concert near Seattle.

Police in Auburn said they arrested the artist after a woman called emergency ser-vices at 03:48 (10:48 GMT) to report a sex assault.

The singer strongly denies the allegations and has now been released.

“I have not been charged... therefore no bail was required,” he tweeted.

“I was released, pending fur-ther investigation.”

The singer tweeted that he was “beyond shocked that I have been targeted with this false allegation”.

“I am completely innocent,” he said. “I am confi dent that once the facts are looked at, it will be very clear that I am the victim of a false allegation.”

Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Iral Haynes Jr, was taken into custody on a second degree rape charge, TMZ said.

In a statement his lawyer also described the allegation as “completely fabricated.”

“Our initial investigation clearly establishes this allega-tion is devoid of credibility and is motivated by greed and vin-dictiveness,” Scott Rosenblum

said in a statement.Nelly is best known for his

U.S. number one hits “Hot in Herre” and “Dilemma.” He last released a studio album in 2013.

In 2015 he was arrested on felony charges after police found drugs and guns on board his tour bus.

The 42-year-old is currently on tour with Backstreet Boys and Florida Georgia Line, and performed in Auburn on Friday night.

The bus was parked near a local Walmart at the time of the alleged incident. A police statement said they were con-tinuing to investigate.

Nelly was due to perform on the Smooth Stadium Tour in Ridgefi eld near Portland on Saturday evening.

(SD-Agencies)

Nelly arrested over alleged tour

bus rape

A MAGAZINE publisher will appeal against a US$3.6m defamation payout awarded to Hollywood actress Rebel Wilson.

Wilson was awarded the dam-ages by an Australian court last month after arguing that she had been wrongly portrayed as a liar in several articles.

The sum was a record for a defamation case in Australia.

On Monday, publisher Bauer Media said it would lodge an appeal.

“It’s important for us to revisit this unprecedented decision on the quantum of damages, which also has broad implications for the media industry,” a lawyer for the group, Adrian Goss, said in a statement.

Bauer Media argued during

the case that the articles were not defamatory, but the appeal announced Monday contests only the payout’s size.

In June, a jury ruled the eight articles had harmed the Aus-tralian actress’ career in Holly-wood, where she has appeared in fi lms such as “Bridesmaids” and “Pitch Perfect.”

In ordering the payout in Sep-tember, Justice John Dixon said the defamation case had been “unprecedented in this country” because of its international reach.

“Ms Wilson’s reputation as an actress of integrity was wrongly damaged in a manner that affected her marketability in a huge worldwide audience,” he said.

(SD-Agencies)

Rebel Wilson: Bauer Media to fi ght record defamation payout

Rapper Nelly

Rebel Wilson wins her defamation case against Bauer Media in June. SD-Agencies