‘Shazam!’ holds onto top spot at box office

‘Shazam!’ holds onto top spot at box office

NEW YORK

A rush of newcomers couldn’t shake “Shazam!” from the top spot, as the superhero comedy led the box office for the second- straight weekend with $25.1 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Lionsgate’s “Hellboy” reboot, the animated Laika Studios release “Missing Link,” the college romance “After” and even the long-delayed “Mary Magdalene,” originally to be released by the Weinstein Co., all opened in theaters. But the strongest new release of them all was, predictably, the Will Packer-produced one: “Little.”

The body-swap comedy “Little” came in second with $15.5 million for Universal Pictures. Made for just $20 million, “Little” is just the most recent profit-maker for Packer, the “Girls Trip” producer.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

1. “Shazam!” $25.1 million ($35.9 million international).

2. “Little,” $15.5 million ($1.9 million international).

3. “Hellboy,” $12 million ($10.1 million international).

4. “Pet Sematary,” $10 million ($12.6 million international).

5. “Dumbo,” $9.2 million ($22 million international).

Joyce Carol Oates’ husband dies at 83

NEW YORK

Charles Gross, a longtime Princeton professor of neuroscience and husband to author Joyce Carol Oates, has died. He was 83.

Oates said Gross died from cancer Saturday in Oakland, Calif.

She shared an image of him hiking in a lush green forest on Twitter and remembered him as her “brilliant, beautiful, beloved husband.”

Gross spent 43 years on the faculty of Princeton’s psychology department where the university credited him with revolutionizing understanding of sensory processing and pattern recognition. Princeton called his work “foundational to the field of cognitive neuroscience” when he retired in 2013.

Oates, who chronicled her grief over her first husband’s death in 2011’s “A Widow’s Story,” wed Gross in 2009. Oates taught creative writing at Princeton until 2014. Gross was famed for his backyard pig roasts and canoe trips.

Rapper Waka Flocka uninjured in shooting

ATLANTA

Rapper Waka Flocka Flame escaped injury when gunshots were fired at an Atlanta recording studio earlier this month.

News outlets quote Atlanta police as saying that at least three men fired several shots into the ZAC Recording studio on April 4 when there were about a dozen people inside.

One man was shot in the arm. Waka Flocka had to take cover, but was not injured.

Associated Press