NEWSMAKERS
NEWSMAKERS
‘Underworld’ takes box office with $25M
LOS ANGELES
Kate Beckinsale is back with a vengeance, with her latest “Underworld” movie opening at No. 1 this weekend.
“Underworld Awakening” made an estimated $25.4 million, distributor Sony Screen Gems reported Sunday.
Opening in second place was “Red Tails” from executive producer George Lucas, about the Tuskegee Airmen who were the first black fighter pilots to serve in World War II. It made an estimated $19.1 million, according to 20th Century Fox.
Rounding out the top five were: “Contraband,” $12.2 million; “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” $10.5 million; and “Haywire,” $9 million.
Ohio site gets statue of Schwarzenegger
COLUMBUS
A sculpted version of Arnold Schwarzenegger in his bodybuilding prime is getting a permanent home in central Ohio.
The Columbus Dispatch reports an 8-foot bronze statue of the actor and former California governor will stand outside the Veterans Memorial exhibition space that hosts the Arnold Sports Festival. It will be unveiled March 2 during the multisport festival.
The statue showing the young bodybuilder flexing his muscles is based on the same prototype used to create the trophy for the winner of the bodybuilding contest at the festival.
The Columbus statue was donated by Dr. Robert Goldman, the president emeritus of the National Academy of Sports Medicine.
Steven Tyler of ‘Idol’ sings anthem at AFC
FOXBOROUGH, MASS.
What would Steven Tyler, the American Idol judge, think of Steven Tyler, who sang the national anthem at the AFC championship game on Sunday?
Let’s just say the rendition probably wouldn’t get him to Hollywood.
The 63-year-old frontman for the Boston-based rock group Aerosmith warbled “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the New England Patriots played the Baltimore Ravens. Tyler appeared with his trademark scarf — this one with the Patriots logo in red, white and blue sequins.
A favorite in that region because of his ties to that area, Tyler was cheered by the crowd anyway.
Neil Young journeys to Utah with new film
PARK CITY, UTAH
Neil Young recalls how his first concert film with director Jonathan Demme was a lush, stately tribute to country music.
He says their latest, “Neil Young Journeys,” is more like an electric bolt, with a “grinding, blinding beauty to it.”
Their 2006 film “Neil Young: Heart of Gold” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was a reflective, comforting chronicle of two shows Young performed at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium alongside such longtime musical comrades as Emmylou Harris, Ben Keith and Spooner Oldham.
“Journeys” is a raw, thunderous counterpart, filmed by Demme at Toronto’s Massey Hall during the closing shows of Young’s solo tour last year. Solo often implies intimate and acoustic, but Young wails away on electric guitar, harmonica, piano and organ throughout the show.
The new film played Saturday at the Slamdance Film Festival, a rival showcase to Sundance. Demme says it was a fitting place because both Slamdance and the film share something of a “bad-boy” attitude.
“‘Journeys’ is so different from ‘Heart of Gold.’ It’s like the other side of the universe,” Young, 66, said in an interview alongside Demme.
Associated Press