‘Fantastic Beasts’ spins magic at box office

‘Fantastic Beasts’ spins magic at box office

LOS ANGELES

Harry Potter spinoff “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” cast a spell over audiences in its debut, summoning $75 million according to studio estimates Sunday and unseating “Doctor Strange” from the top spot.

Starring Eddie Redmayne and directed by Harry Potter alum David Yates, “Fantastic Beasts,” a Warner Bros. release, cost around $180 million to produce, and is meant to kick off a five film franchise based on author and screenwriter J.K. Rowling’s creation.

it was a strong weekend for all-ages films overall in the lead-up to the holiday, with “Doctor Strange” placing second with $17.7 million and “Trolls” close behind in third with $17.5 million. The sci-fi mindbender “Arrival” took fourth with $11.8 million, while the themed comedy “Almost Christmas” rounded out the top five with $7 million.

Trump demands equal time on ‘SNL’

NEW YORK

Fresh from calling on the cast of “Hamilton” to apologize, president-elect Donald Trump returned to Twitter Sunday morning to offer his thoughts on the return of Alec Baldwin to “Saturday Night Live.”

“I watched parts of nbcsnl Saturday Night Live last night. It is a totally one-sided, biased show – nothing funny at all. Equal time for us?” Trump said.

Baldwin replied in a series of tweets Sunday morning. Among them he said: “Equal time? Election is over. There is no more equal time. Now u try 2 b Pres + ppl respond. That’s pretty much it.”

Drake shines at AMAs

LOS ANGELES

The 2016 American Music Awards featured a number of pop stars strumming their guitars, Drake making a rare awards show appearance, an emotional speech from Selena Gomez and political moments about president-elect Donald Trump.

Drake, who has skipped his fair share of awards shows in recent years, was the big winner with four awards and debuted a new commercial for Apple Music.

Justin Bieber, who performed from his tour in Zurich, Switzerland, also won four awards.

Pop star Ariana Grande took home the trophy for artist of the year.

Gomez, who lost artist of the year but won favorite female artist – pop/rock, gave a heartfelt speech onstage that earned a loud applause from the audience at the Microsoft Theater in LA.

For a complete list of winners, go to www.theamas.com.

Combined dispatches