NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

‘Zootopia,’ ‘London’ dethrone ‘Deadpool’

LOS ANGELES

“Deadpool’s” three-week reign atop the box office has ended thanks to a handful of new openers, including “Zootopia” and “London Has Fallen.”

The top spot went to Disney’s “Zootopia” which staged a box-office stampede in its first weekend in North American theaters with $73.7 million, according to comScore estimates Sunday. It’s the fourth-highest March opening and a best for a Disney Animation three-day debut.

The studio’s previous record-holder, “Frozen,” grossed $67.4 million over three days in its Thanksgiving opening.

Critics and audiences love the film, which features the voices of Jason Bateman and Ginnifer Goodwin. It got a coveted A Cinema-Score and a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score. According to exit polls, families made up 73 percent of opening weekend audiences.

Dave Hollis, Disney’s Executive Vice President of Distribution, said “Zootopia” is the latest in a “creative renaissance” for the Disney Animation group, including “Tangled,” “Frozen,” “Big Hero 6” and “Wreck-It Ralph.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to comScore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released today:

1. “Zootopia,” $73.7 million ($63.4 million international).

2. “London Has Fallen,” $21.7 million ($12 million international).

3. “Deadpool,” $16.4 million ($21.2 million international).

4. “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot,” $7.6 million.

5. “Gods of Egypt,” $5 million ($15.7 million international).

6. “Risen,” $3.9 million.”

7. “Kung Fu Panda 3,” $3.5 million ($3.1 million international).

8. “The Revenant,” $3.3 million ($12.5 million international).

9. “Eddie The Eagle,” $3.1 million.

10. “The Witch,” $2.5 million ($590,000 international).

Modern email inventor, Ray Tomlinson, dies

Raymond Tomlinson, the inventor of modern email and a technological leader, died Saturday.

Raytheon Co., his employer, confirmed his death; the details were not immediately available.

Email existed in a limited capacity before Tomlinson in that electronic messages could be shared amid multiple people within a limited framework. But until his invention in 1971 of the first network person-to-person email, there was no way to send something to a specific person at a specific address.

Tomlinson wrote and sent the first email on the ARPANET system, a computer network that was created for the U.S. government that is considered a precursor to the Internet. Tomlinson also contributed to the network’s development, among numerous other pioneering technologies in the programming world.

At the time, few people had personal computers. The popularity of personal email wouldn’t take off until years later and would ultimately become an integral part of modern life.

“It wasn’t an assignment at all; he was just fooling around. He was looking for something to do with ARPANET,” Raytheon spokeswoman Joyce Kuzman said.

Associated Press