NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Horror possesses weekend box office

LOS ANGELES

A late-summer horror tale took possession of the weekend box office as Hollywood quietly wound down a busy season that turned out to be not so busy.

“The Possession” debuted as the No. 1 movie with $21.3 million over the four-day Labor Day weekend, according to studio estimates.

Opening in second-place with $13 million was the Weinstein Co. bootlegging drama “Lawless.”

Rounding out the top five were: “The Expendables 2,” $11.2 million, third; “The Bourne Legacy,” $9.4 million, fourth; and “ParaNorman,” $8.8 million, fifth.

Starship lead guitarist dies after Neb. concert

NORFOLK, NEB.

Mark Abrahamian, the lead guitarist for the rock band Starship, died of a heart attack after a concert in Norfolk, Neb., his road manager said. He was 46.

Road manager Scott Harrison said Abrahamian collapsed after a performance Sunday night.

Abrahamian went into the next room and was talking to his fiancee.

Abrahamian joined Starship 11 years ago. He was on the phone when he collapsed, Harrison said. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Harrison says an autopsy was done Monday.

Lost Crowe gets a lift

NEW YORK

Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe lost his way kayaking in the waters off New York’s Long Island and was picked up by a U.S. Coast Guard boat and ferried to a harbor, officials said Sunday.

The 48-year-old actor was kayaking with a friend and launched from Cold Spring Harbor on Saturday afternoon on the Long Island Sound, according to U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Robert Swieciki. As it got dark, the two got lost and eventually headed for shore, beaching their kayaks in Huntington Bay, nearly 10 miles east from where they had set out.

The U.S. Coast Guard was patrolling the area, and heard Crowe call out to them from the shore around 10 p.m., Swieciki said. The “Gladiator” actor and his friend, whom Swieciki didn’t recognize, paddled over to the boat. The Coast Guard officers pulled them up and, along with their kayaks, gave them a ride to Huntington Harbor.

Promoters’ email: concern over Jackson

LOS ANGELES

Promoters of Michael Jackson’s planned 2009 comeback described in emails how they feared for the megastar’s stability, saying he was out of shape and consumed with self-doubt.

The Los Angeles Times obtained some 250 pages of messages, most between executives at Anschutz Entertainment Group, which was financing the ill-fated “This Is It” concerts set for London. Some of the emails indicated that executives were concerned that Jackson’s planned 50-show stand at AEG’s 02 Arena would be an expensive bust.

In one exchange AEG’s Randy Phillips wrote his boss that Jackson was “an emotionally paralyzed mess.” Phillips was writing from Jackson’s London hotel suite just hours before a press conference announcing the concert run.

“MJ is locked in his room drunk and despondent,” Phillips said in an email to AEG President Tim Leiweke. “I [am] trying to sober him up.”

In an interview with the newspaper, AEG’s attorney Marvin Putnam suggested Phillips had exaggerated in his emails and said Jackson’s behavior appeared to be a case of “nerves.”

Associated Press