Month: July 2023

With ‘Barbie,’ Greta Gerwig breaks a box office record for female directors

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Read time : 4 mins

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Margot Robbie, left, and writer/director/executive producer Greta Gerwig arrive at the premiere of “Barbie” on Sunday, July 9, 2023, at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer

“Barbie” didn’t just break the opening weekend record for 2023; It also shattered the first weekend record for a film directed by a woman.

With $162 million in ticket sales from North American theaters, according to studio totals Monday, “Barbie” catapulted past both “Captain Marvel,” which was co-directed by Anna Boden and opened to $153.4 million in 2019, and “Wonder Woman,” Patty Jenkins ‘ 2017 film that debuted to $103.3 million. Boasting a reported price tag of $145 million, “Barbie” also cost less to produce than “Captain Marvel” ($152 million) and “Wonder Woman” ($200 million).

Globally, it far surpassed “Wonder Woman’s” debut with over $337 million versus $228.3 million, though “Captain Marvel’s” global launch was higher at $455 million. Continue reading

Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and other tech firms agree to AI safeguards set by the White House

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President Joe Biden arrives to speaks about artificial intelligence in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Friday, July 21, 2023, in Washington, as from left, Adam Selipsky, CEO of Amazon Web Services; Greg Brockman, President of OpenAI; Nick Clegg, President of Meta; Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Inflection AI; Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic; and Kent Walker, President of Google watch. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

By MATT O’BRIEN and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Friday that new commitments by Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and other companies that are leading the development of artificial intelligence technology to meet a set of AI safeguards brokered by his White House are an important step toward managing the “enormous” promise and risks posed by the technology.

Biden announced that his administration has secured voluntary commitments from seven U.S. companies meant to ensure that their AI products are safe before they release them. Some of the commitments call for third-party oversight of the workings of the next generation of AI systems, though they don’t detail who will audit the technology or hold the companies accountable.

“We must be clear eyed and vigilant about the threats emerging technologies can pose,” Biden said, adding that the companies have a “fundamental obligation” to ensure their products are safe. Continue reading

In fight against Canada fires, dancing South Africa crews are a familiar and uplifting sight

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South African firefighters gather for a safety briefing in Fox Creek, Alberta, on Tuesday, July 4, 2023. Several countries, including South Africa, deployed firefighters to Canada to help local efforts to control widespread wildfires. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

By NOAH BERGER Associated Press

FOX CREEK, Alberta (AP) — Some three dozen South African firefighters, clad in their bright yellow jackets and dark blue pants, danced, sang and cheered in a sprawling parking lot close by the majestic woods of central Alberta. The mood was light as the men and women smiled and clapped, some taking out smartphones to record video of their dancing colleagues before heading off to another day battling the fires raging through Canada.

The group gathered on an early July day in the small town of Fox Creek had traveled nearly 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers) to help fight the hundreds of devastating wildfires that have burned homes and wild lands in the region, destroying an area about the size of the U.S. state of Virginia. They chanted and worked through drills before signing a Canadian flag presented to them as a token of thanks. Continue reading

Hollywood plunges into all-out war on the heels of pandemic and a streaming revolution

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Striking writers and actors chant as they walk a picket line, Friday July 14, 2023, at NBC Universal Studios in New York. The picketing comes a day after the main actors’ union voted to join screenwriters in a double-barreled strike for the first time in more than six decades. The dispute immediately shut down production across the entertainment industry after talks for a new contract with studios and streaming services broke down. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — To get a sense of just how much animosity is flying around Hollywood these days, watch how Ron Perlman responded to a report that the studios aimed to prolong a strike long enough for writers to lose their homes.

Perlman, the hulking, gravel-voiced actor of “Hellboy,” leaned into the camera in a since-deleted Instagram live video to vent his anger. “Listen to me, mother-(expletive),” Perlman said. “There’s a lot of ways to lose your house.”

Three years after the pandemic brought Hollywood to a standstill, the film and TV industry has again ground to a halt. This time, though, the industry is engaged in a bitter battle over how streaming — after advancing rapidly during the pandemic — has upended the economics of entertainment. Continue reading

No more free coffee on your birthday? Companies rein in customer rewards programs — here’s why

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File – The Dunkin’ logo is seen on a storefront, Friday, Oct. 14, 2022, in Boston. Reward programs have long been a way for brands to build loyalty and incentivize spending. But now some companies are becoming a bit more stingy, and customers are taking notice. Last fall, for example, many balked at Dunkin’s decision to stop offering a free drink on their birthday and instead give them triple loyalty points on their purchase. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS AP Business Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reward programs, including birthday freebies and discounts, have long been a way for brands to build loyalty and incentivize spending. But now some companies are becoming a bit more stingy — and customers are taking notice.

Last fall, for example, many balked at Dunkin’s decision to stop offering a free drink on their birthday and instead give them triple loyalty points on their purchase. On June 1, Sephora started requiring a $25 minimum purchase for online customers looking to claim a free gift and 250 loyalty points during their birthday month. And Red Robin added a dine-in only and $4.99 minimum purchase requirement for customers to get their free birthday burger.

Changes to birthday rewards or redemption requirements aren’t new. Starbucks, which gives its rewards members a free drink or food item for their birthdays, progressively limited the timeframe for redeeming that gift over the years — from 30 days, to one week, to four days and, finally, to just the date of your birthday in 2018. Continue reading