NEWSMAKERS | ‘Unknown’ wins with debut of $21.8M

NEWSMAKERS

‘Unknown’ wins with debut of $21.8M

LOS ANGELES

Liam Neeson has proved himself a known quantity again at the box office.

His thriller, “Unknown,” debuted as the No. 1 movie with $21.8 million, following in the footsteps of his 2009 action hit “Taken,” according to studio estimates Sunday.

Another action tale, “I Am Number Four,” opened at No. 2 with $19.5 million.

Disney’s animated comedy, “Gnomeo & Juliet,” was No. 3 with $19.4 million, finishing so closely to “I Am Number Four” that the two movies could change rankings when studios release final numbers Tuesday, after the long Presidents Day weekend.

Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston’s romance “Just Go With It,” which had been No. 1 the previous weekend, fell to fourth place with $18.2 million. The weekend’s other new wide release, Martin Lawrence’s comedy, “Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son,” was No. 5 with $17 million.

Invitations sent out for royal wedding

LONDON

Keep an eye on the mailbox — Britain’s Prince William and bride-to-be Kate Middleton have sent out invites to their hotly anticipated royal wedding to around 1,900 guests.

Military personnel and charity workers will mingle with European royalty, diplomats and the family and friends of the couple at the Westminster Abbey ceremony on April 29, St. James’s Palace said Sunday.

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh will lead a group of 50 members of the British royal family at the wedding, while around 40 representatives of foreign royal families — likely to include dignitaries from Spain, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Greece — also will attend.

It isn’t yet known whether celebrities such as singer Elton John — a friend of William’s mother, Diana, the Princess of Wales — or Kanye West, a favorite of the prince’s who performed at a 2007 tribute concert for his mother, are among those who’ll receive an invite.

‘Narnia’ exec dies at 39

NEW YORK

Perry Moore, a co- producer of “The Chronicles of Narnia” film series and the author of an award-winning novel about a gay teenager with superpowers, was found unconscious in his home and died later at a hospital, police said. He was 39.

His father, Bill Moore, told The New York Daily News in Saturday editions that an initial autopsy was inconclusive. “I have no clue what happened. The examiner said he was in good condition,” Bill Moore said. His father and friends said he suffered from chronic back pain.

Moore was found unconscious in the bathroom of his Manhattan home Thursday, and doctors couldn’t save his life, police said. The cause of death will be determined by the city’s medical examiner, but no foul play was suspected.

Monroe, former host of ‘Meet the Press,’ dies

WASHINGTON

Bill Monroe, who hosted the long-running Washington political television show “Meet the Press” for nearly a decade, died Thursday at a Washington-area nursing home.

Monroe, 90, was the NBC show’s fourth moderator, from 1975 to 1984, and interviewed prominent political figures ranging from President Jimmy Carter to U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Tim Russert, who was the best- known host of “Meet the Press,” assumed the host’s chair in 1991 after a series of short stints by others after Monroe’s departure.

Monroe’s daughter, Lee Monroe, said her father had taken a fall in December that put him in a nursing home and had not been well since.

Associated Press