‘Star Wars’ trailer to play during ‘Monday Night Football’

‘Star Wars’ trailer to play during ‘Monday Night Football’

LOS ANGELES

More than just football fans will likely be tuning in to watch halftime on “Monday Night Football” this week.

A new trailer for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will debut during halftime of the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles game, Lucasfilm announced Sunday. Tickets also will go on sale for the film, opening Dec. 18, after the trailer plays.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN, which, like Lucasfilm is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company.

“The Force Awakens,” the seventh film in the franchise, is one of the most-anticipated of the year.

‘Goosebumps’ scares others from No. 1 spot

LOS ANGELES

Scare-seeking audiences preferred the family-friendly “Goosebumps” over the gothic horror of Guillermo del Toro’s haunted house pic “Crimson Peak” two weekends out from Halloween.

Sony’s “Goosebumps,” based on the popular book series, earned $23.5 million out of the gates to take the first-place spot, while del Toro’s “Crimson Peak” languished at fourth with $12.8 million.

“Goosebumps” also managed to beat “The Martian” by a hair, pushing Ridley Scott’s space adventure to the second-place spot for the first time in its three-week run with $21.5 million.

Steven Spielberg’s well-received cold-war thriller “Bridge of Spies,” meanwhile, debuted in third-place with $15.4 million from 2,811 theaters.

In fifth place was “Hotel Transylvania 2” with $12.3 million.

Eddie Murphy gets top US humor prize

WASHINGTON

Eddie Murphy is trading places with Mark Twain.

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts honored the comedian, film star, producer and director Sunday evening with the nation’s top prize for humor.

A lineup of funny men and women including Dave Chappelle, George Lopez, Kathy Griffin, Arsenio Hall, Trevor Noah and Whitney Cummings were to salute Murphy with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

The humor prize honors those who influence society in the tradition of Samuel Clemens, the writer and satirist known as Mark Twain. Past honorees include Jay Leno, Carol Burnett, Tina Fey, Whoopi Goldberg, Ellen DeGeneres, Will Ferrell, Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby.

Murphy gained national attention when he joined “SNL” in 1980 at age 19.

Associated Press