Today In Entertainment

AUGUST 31, 2020

What's news: Tenet launches to $53 million overseas as global movie theaters slowly reopen, The New Mutants opens to $7 million in North America, The Eight Hundred continues to dominate China's box office, AMC Theatres sells Baltic holdings to bolster balance sheet, the winners and performances from the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards. Plus: Ryan Coogler and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman. --Alex Weprin

 'Tenet' Has Big Overseas Debut

➤Tenet brings the box office back to life. In a major win for the moviegoing experience in the COVID-19 era, Christopher Nolan's Tenet grossed a better-than-expected $53 million-plus as it debuted internationally in 41 markets, including Canada.

--Among the grosses reported by Warner Bros., the U.K. led with $7.1 million, not that far behind Nolan's Inception and Interstellar. France turned in $5.7 million, followed by Germany with $4.2 million. Warner Bros. didn't provide other territory grosses, but said that 32 markets in Europe, Middle East and African region accounted for $37 million of the weekend's grosses despite reduced capacity. The story.

+Meanwhile: Superhero genre pic The New Mutants opened to $7 million from 2,412 theaters in North America as struggling cinemas reopen amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

--From 20th Century and Disney, the long-delayed movie is one of the first titles to launch nationwide after a five-month theater shutdown across the U.S. The film came in on the lower end of expectations, although projections are tough in this climate. "It is very early and we are encouraged by this start," says Disney film distribution chief Cathleen Taff. "We are optimistic about a return to the movies." The story.

+But the world's box office winner remained The Eight Hundred. China's blockbuster war epic earned a healthy $69 million during its second weekend on Chinese screens, retaining the global box office crown over Christopher Nolan's Tenet. The movie has brought in $276.8 million over the past 10 days, according to local box office tracker Artisan Gateway. The war film is expected to march past the $300 million mark in China sometime later this week. More.

➤AMC Theatres sells Baltic holdings to bolster its liquidity. Up Invest, the owner of a Baltics cinema group, will acquire all nine venues in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia for what AMC called "an attractive valuation."

--"This transaction marks yet another bold and decisive action taken, on the heels of our capital raising in April and debt restructuring and capital raising in July, to bolster our liquidity and strengthen our balance sheet at a transaction multiple that underscores the inherent value of our theatre portfolio and resilience of our business," said AMC CEO and president Adam Aron. "We continue to be encouraged by attendance levels at theaters that have reopened in Europe, where essentially all theaters are open, and in the U.S., where almost 300 theaters are currently open for business." The story.

 Chadwick Boseman Tributes

➤Black Panther filmmaker Ryan Coogler on Sunday morning released a lengthy, emotional tribute to Chadwick Boseman. The director wrote of the late star: "it is with a heavy heart and a sense of deep gratitude to have ever been in his presence, that I have to reckon with the fact that Chad is an ancestor now."

--“Because he was a caretaker, a leader, and a man of faith, dignity and pride, he shielded his collaborators from his suffering. He lived a beautiful life. And he made great art. Day after day, year after year. That was who he was. He was an epic firework display. I will tell stories about being there for some of the brilliant sparks till the end of my days.” The story.

➤Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Chadwick Boseman’s importance to the Black community. The THR columnist reflects on Boseman's legacy: "We saw a whole history of our people’s struggles and triumphs shining in the bright eyes of one indomitable man."

--"He was and is a celluloid monument as powerful as the Lincoln Memorial, a visual manifestation of the qualities African Americans strive for, so that his name itself conjures the image of a black man with integrity and courage. Someone devoted to truth and an unwillingness to compromise his principles." The column.

➤Critic's notebook: In Black Panther, Chadwick Boseman created a fresh model of Black manhood.  The star’s vulnerable, tender portrayal was so inspiring in part because of its departure from many of the qualities usually associated with strong Black screen heroes, writes Eisa Nefertari Ulen.

--"Because he was king, his tender regard for the equally empowered women all around him felt like a key to success in the Wakanda universe. Boseman surfaced a softness that only enlarged his power. You can keep your Hulks and Thors. Not tortured or twisted like Batman, not infected with venom like Spider-Man and certainly not displaced from his original home like Superman, Boseman’s Black Panther wielded a super-human power derived from his People." The notebook.

+In related news: Netflix has delayed a planned virtual preview of its drama film Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, starring Boseman in his last role... The final tweet posted to Boseman's Twitter account sharing the news of his passing is now the most liked tweet of all time... ABC aired Black Panther commercial-free last night, followed by an ABC News special about Boseman's life... A number of parents and family members over the weekend shared pictures via social media of how their children were handling the grief over the death of  Boseman...

+Also: Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards were dedicated to Boseman. "We dedicate tonight's show to a man whose spirit touched so many," said host Keke Palmer. "He is a true hero, not just on screen, but in everything he did. His impact lives forever." That moment kicked off the show with a performance from The Weeknd.

--Further into the event, footage of Boseman from the 2018 MTV VMAs was shown as he was referred to a a "real superhero." The words "Rest in Power" filled the screen, with a photo of a smiling Boseman and the years he lived: 1976 - 2020. The story.

 The MTV Video Music Awards

➤The Weeknd won video of the year for "Blinding Lights" at Sunday's 2020 MTV VMAs. Other winners Sunday night included Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande, BTS, Taylor Swift, H.E.R., Maluma, Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Thee Stallion.

--Gaga's other wins included artist of the year and song of the year for "Rain on Me," her collaboration with Ariana Grande, while BTS was named best group, best K-pop and best pop, among others. The Weeknd also won best R&B. The full list of winners.

+Behind the scenes: Degen Pener spoke to Keke Palmer ahead of the show, who said that she had received no fewer than 10 COVID tests (about every two days) ahead of the live show. “This is the first big thing in New York I think since COVID began. If you are planning on doing something like this, we have to be on strict guidelines. I just want to do what we need to do to get it done — I’m willing to jump through hoops. I think we need entertainment right now. It’s what I do and what I love.” The story.

+Racial justice was on the mind of many: Despite having no live audience to receive applause from or a red carpet to interviewed on, musicians and celebrities at the MTV Video Music Awards were not silent when it came to the Black Lives Matter movement and the nation's growing call for racial justice and inclusivity. The story.

+The VMAs marked a night of firsts for Lady Gaga as she made her debut televised performance of "Rain on Me" alongside Ariana Grande and became the first recipient of the show's TRICON award. More.

+South Korean boy band BTS performed a live TV debut of their English language single "Dynamite" at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards on Saturday, taking the stage in suits and ties. More.

➤SoCal Journalism Awards: The Hollywood Reporter's Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was named best columnist at the 62nd Southern California Journalism Awards, which were announced Saturday via a virtual presentation. This marks Abdul-Jabbar's fifth straight year winning the award. THR also took top honors in several other categories. More.

➤Awards Chatter podcast: Ramy Yousef, the Golden Globe winner, for a semi-autobiographical show about a Muslim American millennial's identity crisis, reflects on his own relationship with faith, how stand-up comedy changed his life and good, bad and ugly responses to his show. Listen.

In other news...

--Influential Chinese video platform Bilibili has taken a 9.9 percent stake in Huanxi Media, the rising film and TV studio that counts blockbuster directors Xu Zheng, Zhang Yimou and Ning Hao as major shareholders.

--Bella Thorne on Saturday issued a lengthy apology after she was heavily criticized by users of OnlyFans, a content subscription service.

--Cyberpunk 2077, Projekt Red's long-awaited action role-player, was the big winner at the 2020 European games fair, winning the overall Best of Gamescom Award as well as prizes for best PlayStation game, best PC game, best roleplaying titles and the Most Wanted consumer prize voted on by regular gamers.

--The nominees for this year’s Harvey Awards showcase a comic industry filled with possibility, with a breadth of material being celebrated from Boom! Studios’ horror series Something Is Killing the Children to Eleanor Davis’ deeply personal, political graphic novel The Hard Tomorrow.

--Lovecraft Country: Jurnee Smollett on that haunting confrontation. THR speaks with the HBO horror series' star about how that scene-stealing third episode "took everything out of me, but you've got to sacrifice something."

--Cliff Robinson, an early star in UConn's rise to power and longtime top sixth man in the NBA, died Saturday. He was 53.

What else we're reading...

--"After Kenosha, NBA announcers are done sticking to sports" [The Daily Beast]

--"You Don’t Know Her: Thirty years into an epic career, Mariah Carey is still trying to explain herself." [Vulture]

--"Back to school with Mario Dedivanovic" [The New Yorker]

--"With his TikTok pursuit, Walmart CEO seeks to revamp retailer again" [WSJ]

Today's birthdays: Van Morrison, 75, Richard Gere, 71, Chris Tucker, 49, Joe Budden, 40, Debbie Gibson, 50.

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AUGUST 31, 2020

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