NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

‘Thor: The Dark World’ bashes box office with $86M

Superheroes continue to defeat their foes at the box office.

Disney’s “Thor: The Dark World,” earning $86.1 million, dominated the weekend box office as it opened domestically at No. 1, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Starring Chris Hemsworth, the Marvel superhero sequel earned $109.4 million when it opened internationally last weekend and $94 million internationally this weekend.

Paramount hidden-camera comedy “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” held the second-place slot at the box office for the second weekend in a row, earning $11.3 million during its third weekend.

Relativity Media’s 3-D animated kiddie flick “Free Birds,” soared into third place with $11.2 million in its second weekend.

In fourth place was “Last Vegas” with $11.1 million; and in fifth place was “Ender’s Game” with $10.2 million.

Gaga lends image to USA Today logo

Lady Gaga is lending some of her artistic eye and star power to USA Today’s pages in advance of the singer’s new album, “ARTPOP.”

USA Today says a logo featuring an image of a statue of the pop provocateur will appear in today’s editions of the newspaper’s “LIFE” section.

The newspaper says Lady Gaga is the first guest contributor to design a logo for the newspaper.

The logo was designed in collaboration with the performer and artist Jeff Koons, who designed Lady Gaga’s cover art for “ARTPOP,” due out Tuesday.

The album is Lady Gaga’s third release.

The singer has sold nearly 9 million albums on her way to becoming one of music’s more-colorful figures.

Redford honored for contributions to Utah

SALT LAKE CITY

Utah’s governor and other top officials have honored Robert Redford for his on-camera and off-camera contributions to the state as owner of the Sundance ski resort and founder of the Sundance Film Festival and Sundance Institute.

Some 500 people, including U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch and Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, attended the Saturday event billed as “The Governor’s Salute to Robert Redford: A Utah Tribute to an American Icon.” Gov. Gary Herbert praised the 77-year-old Redford for his celebrated movie career. Some of his movies, including “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “Jeremiah Johnson,” were filmed in Utah.

Associated Press