From left, Lebron James and Bugs Bunny in Warner Bros. Pictures’ “SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY.”
Warner Bros. Pictures*LeBron James is king of the box office this weekend, where Space Jam: A New Legacy is doing better than expected with its domestic debut reaching $32 million from 3,956 theaters, easily enough to bench holdover Black Widow.
The big-budget sequel to the 1996 classic movie grossed $13.2 million on Friday (July 16), while Black Widow fell a huge 80 percent to $8 million on its second Friday for a projected sophomore outing in the $26 million-$27 million range from 4,275 locations.
Space Jam 2 is on course to score the biggest opening for a family title in the pandemic-era despite poor reviews, growing concerns over the Delta variant and new mask mandates in L.A. County that kick in at midnight Saturday.
Heading into the weekend, Warner Bros. expected Space Jam 2 to open in the $20 million range. That would have been a problematic start for a movie that cost a reported $150 million to make. The film is being buoyed by an A- CinemaScore and an ethnically diverse audience.
The live-action/animated movie is also available on HBO Max. (Black Widow is likewise playing in the home via Disney Premier Access.)
In Space Jam 2, Brown encounters a plethora of classic Warner Bros. characters. Michael Jordan starred in the first Space Jam, which debuted to roughly $27 million without adjusting for inflation.
Black Widow is facing a huge drop in is second weekend of 65 percent-70 percent. The Marvel pic will still come in No. 2, followed by Sony’s Escape Room: Champion of Tournaments. The sequel opened to $3.8 million on Friday for projected $8.7 million weekend.
At the specialty box office, the new documentary Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain will make the top 10 with a projected weekend opening of $1.7 million or more for Focus Features after earning $760,000 on Friday from 927 theaters.
The doc about the famous chef, who died in 2018, sparked a debate over ethical issues last week when director Morgan Neville revealed he had used artificial intelligence to create a version of Bourdain’s voice for about 45 seconds.
Not for the first time, Moby is speaking out against Donald Trump’s administration with clear frustration.
“The U.S. is collapsing under a deeply corrupt and shockingly ineffective administration,” the longtime electronic musician shared on social media. “These are unbelievably dark times.”
Moby went deeper into his thoughts through a video message, where he explained that people outside the United States keep asking Americans what is actually happening in the country.
“So many of my friends outside the United States keep asking me, ‘what the hell is happening over there?’ And honestly, we don’t even know,” he said. “The country is being controlled by one of the most corrupt, dangerous and incompetent administrations imaginable. Nobody fully understands what’s happening right now. These are very dark times in America.”
Moby joins a growing list of artists publicly criticizing Trump and MAGA politics, including Bruce Springsteen, Jack White, Eminem and Billie Eilish.
Earlier this year, Moby uploaded another statement to social media where he addressed how people should respond following the killing of Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis. “The real question isn’t whether people should feel horrified or outraged by what’s happening in the United States,” Moby explained in the Jan. 26 clip. “The question is what are we actually going to do about it?”
The musician and activist also encouraged people to protest, saying demonstrations are a constitutional right and something he believes Trump’s administration is attempting to weaken.
In the end, he urged people to vote regularly, “not only during the upcoming midterms, even though those matter, but also in every special election throughout the year.” He also encouraged supporters to “stop giving money to the scumbag corporations backing Trump and ICE. We all know who they are. Boycott them.”
His newest remarks arrive as the U.S. Justice Department unveils a nearly $1.8 billion compensation fund for Trump allies who claim they were unfairly investigated. At the same time, the Strait of Hormuz remains shut down following military action launched by the U.S. and Israel against Iran in late February without approval from Congress, leading to rising gas prices across the globe.
Throughout his independent music career, Moby has earned 10 entries on the Billboard 200 along with two songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and an enormous catalog of sync placements. Overseas, particularly in the United Kingdom, he is viewed as one of the defining artists of his era. He scored two No. 1 albums there with Play from 1999 and 18 from 2002, alongside 18 top 40 singles and two nominations for Best International Male at the BRIT Awards.
Check out Moby’s newest social media post below.
