NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Live-action ‘Dumbo’ struggles to soar

LOS ANGELES

Disney’s “Dumbo” isn’t exactly taking flight at the North American box office the way its other live-action remakes of animated classics have.

The Walt Disney Co. said Sunday that the Tim Burton-directed film has earned an estimated $45 million domestically from 4,259 locations against a $170 million production budget. It’s less than half of what “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Jungle Book” and Burton’s own “Alice in Wonderland” opened to.

The remake of the 1941 animated film stars Colin Farrell and Danny DeVito. It got mixed to negative reviews from critics and has a middling 53 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Audiences who did turn out, however, had a different response than the critics and gave the film an A- overall, according to CinemaScore.

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. “Dumbo,” $45 million ($71 million international).

2. “Us,” $33.6 million ($22.6 million international).

3. “Captain Marvel,” $20.5 million ($26.4 million international).

4. “Five Feet Apart,” $6.3 million ($6.2 million international).

5. “Unplanned,” $6.1 million.

6. “Wonder Park,” $4.9 million ($2.5 million international).

7. “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” $4.2 million ($2.6 million international).

8. “Hotel Mumbai,” $3.2 million ($640,227 international).

9. Tyler Perry’s “A Madea Family Funeral,” $2.7 million ($35,000 international).

10. “The Beach Bum,” $1.8 million ($427,000 international).

Fox’s Pirro returns after remarks about Muslim politician

NEW YORK

Fox News host Jeanine Pirro is back on the air after a two-week absence after her comments questioning a Muslim congresswoman’s loyalties.

“Justice with Judge Jeanine” returned Saturday. The former judge and prosecutor thanked her viewers but didn’t directly discuss her apparent suspension.

Pirro asked on-air March 9 whether Rep. Ilhan Omar’s traditional Muslim head covering indicated the Minnesota Democrat followed Islamic religious law that Pirro called “antithetical to the U.S. Constitution.”

Pirro later said she’d simply tried to start a debate. She added that being Muslim doesn’t mean a person doesn’t support the Constitution.

Fox said at the time it “strongly condemned” Pirro’s comments. The network didn’t explain her subsequent absence, declining to comment on what it called “internal scheduling matters.”

A message was sent to a Fox spokeswoman Sunday asking about Pirro’s return.

Associated Press