Latest news with #Smurfs
Express Tribune
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
ASAP Rocky spotted in wheelchair in West Hollywood sparking concern over sudden condition
ASAP Rocky was seen in a wheelchair this week in West Hollywood, prompting a wave of concern and speculation from fans online. In photos published by TMZ, the rapper was captured being assisted into a yellow Hummer while partially covering his face with a blanket. He appeared visibly subdued, and the unusual appearance quickly went viral. Photo: Backgrid While no official statement has been made by Rocky or his representatives, TMZ has since reported that the artist was reportedly recovering from recent dental surgery. Despite this explanation, fans were caught off guard, especially considering his recent string of public appearances where he appeared healthy and upbeat. Just days before, Rocky had returned from Paris Fashion Week, where he presented his latest AWGE collection and attended Jonathan Anderson's Dior debut. Prior to that, he appeared alongside Rihanna at the Smurfs world premiere in Brussels. Rihanna, who voices Smurfette in the film, is currently expecting their third child following the birth of their sons in 2022 and 2023. The timing of the incident comes as Rocky continues to prepare for the release of his long-anticipated fourth album, Don't Be Dumb. Originally slated for release in August 2024, the project has been delayed, though several singles—such as 'Highjack,' 'Tailor Swif,' 'Ruby Rosary,' and 'Pray4DaGang'—have already been released.
Express Tribune
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
How to shoot your reboot
As most parents of small children can attest, one of the world's greatest places to take a nap is a cinema. This holds particularly true if that cinema's head honchoes have had the foresight to install reclining leather seats and an industrial-strength air conditioning unit blasting out shades of the Arctic. It is why so many brave souls will fork over hard-earned money to sit through the Smurfs film this summer, probably the reason Inside Out 2 was able to rake in over a billion dollars last year, and must be why filmmakers deem it perfectly acceptable to toss out a sequel to Bad Guys next month. There is nothing that primary caregivers of young children love more than a good nap, and they are willing to pay to get it. However, if scheduling a decent daytime nap is your primary goal when you cave to child-originated requests to watch the live action remake of Dreamworks' How To Train Your Dragon at the cinema (which has already been out for about five weeks, so it is time you stopped dragging your feet), then you are urged to reconsider. No naps will be had here today. For a solid two hours, writer and director Dean DeBlois and his How To Train Your Dragon team have just one goal: to blow your mind, completely and utterly. How to make a remake You are defenceless against this incoming mind-blowiing no matter which side you are approaching this remake from. It doesn't matter if you are a taking your first baby steps into this franchise, or are a devoted fan of the animated original, or if have only the wispiest of memories of when you watched it twice 15 years ago. Whatever your current state of mind is, Gerard Butler's blue eyes - lifted straight from the animation (as is Butler himself) - will give you an electric shock. As Stoic the Vast, Butler's beautiful Scottish lilt and the soliloquies of seething frustration he spits out at his son (and our hero) Hiccup are lifted straight from the original. You will either swim in an ocean of nostalgia as memories of the original ticker-tape before you, or squirm as the tiniest hidden part of you begins to relate - for the first time - to this unreasonable mountain of a man. Stoic desperately wants his son to live up to his dragon-slaying Viking heritage, and is genuinely flabbergasted at how he can produce a boy so unlike him in every way. Fifteen years later, we may still swear our allegiance to Hiccup, but now, with Butler there in the flesh to make us understand Stoic better than ever, is it possible that we understand his growing desperation over the generation gap? You will see Vikings of unorthodox ethnicity as the cast expands to include diversity, but Stoic offers the simplest of explanations to explain as to how they came to be here in the cold and dragon-infested Isle of Berk. However, it is our most important Viking, the almost twig-like Hiccup, who will abscond with your heart. A hero in the purest form, Hiccup's struggles for acceptance will twang a chord in anyone who has ever struggled to gain acceptance, be it at school or at home or anywhere else. His story speaks to everyone in that movie theatre, whether you are the child who dragged your parents, or the parents who gave in to the child. You cannot help but adore this boy with a beautiful soul, who does everything he can to protect the dragon he once vowed to kill. If you somehow remain unmoved by the boy, the first time you see Toothless the dragon slide open one giant cat-like emerald eye, you may understand that love at first sight does, in fact, exist. It is a love that will blossom with every tentative step both boy and dragon take towards one another, and burgeon to bursting point when you take to the skies with Toothless and Hiccup for the very first time. As you soar above mountains, dive through valleys and glide over seas, you will realise only now that you are doing what neither Peter Pan nor Aladdin's magic carpet could pull off. You are flying without wings, transported far beyond the confines of your cinema leather chair. However, all of this is a moot point, regardless of whether or not you cherished that longstanding childhood ambition of flying; from the moment those opening credits roll across the screen, the music will swallow you whole with no intention of letting you go. It really doesn't matter what Stoic, Hiccup or Toothless get up to. At the end of the day, you get a gift of plaintive orchestra that conveys Vikings' struggle with dragons, a boy's bottomless love for the pet who gave him a purpose, and a dragon's undying devotion for the one person who ever understood him. Close your eyes, and you will picture it all playing out in the screen of your mind. If music could speak words, John Powell's score says as much as every word spoken by the cast - and beyond. And now, because we are also happy to include even the most reluctant filmgoer, if you still find yourself checking your Instagram notifications during this mesmerising two hours, then it is possible you are cyrogenically frozen and you are watching this as you time-travelled from a dystopian future. In which case you probably have bigger problems than one live-action remake. A final lesson If Disney could somehow learn how Dreamworks and DeBlois harness all the devotion and attention to detail that goes into creating a true faithful remake, nitpickity fans could perhaps stop complaining about the off-centre sunrise in the 2019 Lion King or the muted lifeless colours of the 2019 Aladdin. (For one thing, they wouldn't have to complain because no one filmmaker would have been idiotic enough to allow it to happen.) Because this is 2025, and we have thus already suffered through numerous Disney reboots, by now we already know that when we hear the phrase 'live-action remake', it is really code for 'soulless cash grab'. We have no one but ourselves to blame for production houses' predeliction for soulless cash grabs when it comes to children's films, because, if you recall, parents are by no means averse to very expensive naps in a dark room. DeBlois, however, is the man responsible for the first animated How To Train Your Dragon in 2010, and has thus sidestepped all these Disney-esque pitfalls to give us the direct opposite of a soulless cash grab. Instead, with consummate surgeon-like precision as he reconstructs the film shot-by-shot, he has given us, a soulful tribute - one that is emboldened with a rich orchestra and a cast and crew who treat the original with reverence it deserves. In conclusion, your dreams of that nap will, regrettably - albeit fittingly in a film featuring fire-breathing dragons - go up in smoke. Save the nap for when you are forced to go and endure Smurfs.
USA Today
a day ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Nick Offerman got 'pretty giggly' over playing Smurfs with John Goodman
To save their world, they must come to ours. 💙 Watch the new Official Trailer for #SmurfsMovie – Only in theatres July 18 Actor Nick Offerman likens getting a movie pitch to the feeling of unwrapping a present at Christmas. "Sometimes it says it has Amy Poehler, and it's written by Mike Schur," Offerman explained in an interview with For The Win. "And this one, it's like, it's Smurfs, and you're like, 'Come on.' And then Rihanna, and then John Goodman as Papa Smurf is so ridiculous." The former Parks and Recreation star is part of a loaded cast, including Goodman and another huge name as his Smurf-y movie brothers. "I am thrilled to get to play brothers, and also to imagine myself in the middle of a trio of men, and the other two are John Goodman and Kurt Russell," said Offerman. "You know, for a farm kid from Illinois, that gets me pretty giggly. So it's been really fun." Smurfs hit theaters on July 18, bringing the little blue beings back to the big screen in the United States for the fourth time. This is the first time, however, that it has been under the Paramount Pictures umbrella. The loaded cast also includes Dan Levy, Sandra Oh, Natasha Lyonne, Amy Sedaris, Hannah Waddingham, James Corden, Nick Kroll and Octavia Spencer. The Smurfs cast is far-and-away its biggest strength, and having a voice work expert like Goodman elevates the project. Goodman has lent his voice to major animated movies like Monsters Inc. (Sullivan), The Emperor's New Groove (Pascha) and The Princess and the Frog ("Big Daddy" La Bouff), and the long-time actor loves the challenge. "It's fun to go away to a pure fantasy place," Goodman gushed. "It's actually a wonderful community that you're helping to create. I mean, it's been created, but you're breathing a little life into it, and thinking of it like that, it just gets you excited."
The Hindu
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
‘Superman' flexes its might in second weekend with $57.3 million
James Gunn's Supermanshowed staying power in its second weekend at North American box offices, collecting $57.3 million in ticket sales and remaining the No. 1 movie in cinemas, according to studio estimates Sunday. None of the week's new releases — I Know What You Did Last Summer, Smurfs, and Eddington — came close to touching Warner Bros. and DC Studios' superhero success. Superman dipped 54% from its domestic opening, an average decline for a big summer film. In two weeks, Superman has grossed $406.8 million worldwide, a good start for the movie DC Studios is banking on to restart its movie operations. A big test looms next weekend, when the Walt Disney Co. releases Marvel's The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Strong audience scores and good reviews should help propel the $225 million-budgeted Superman toward profitability in the coming weeks. For Warner Bros. and DC Studios, Superman is key to kicking off a 10-year plan for the comic book adaptation studio. Co-heads Gunn and Peter Safra were tasked with rehabilitating the flagging operation. Next on tap are the films Supergirland Clayfacein 2026. But Superman is far from flying solo in theatres right now. Universal Pictures' Jurassic World: Rebirth came in second this weekend, with $23.4 million in its third week of release. The seventh Jurassic movie, this one starring Scarlett Johansson, held its own despite the competition from Superman. In three weeks, it accrued $648 million worldwide. Apple Studios and Warner Bros.' F1: The Movie has also shown legs, especially internationally. In its fourth weekend, the Brad Pitt racing drama dipped just 26% domestically, bringing in $9.6 million in North America and another $29.5 million overseas. Its global total stands at $460.8 million. But both of the biggest new releases — Sony Pictures' I Know What You Did Last Summer and Paramount Pictures' Smurfs — fell flat. I Know What You Did Last Summer opened with $13 million, a fair result for a movie budgeted at a modest $18 million, but a disappointing opening for a well-known horror franchise. The film, directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, is set 27 years after the 1997 original. Teenagers played by Madelyn Cline and Chase Sui Wonders are again haunted for covering up a car accident. The movie's reviews (38% 'fresh' on Rotten Tomatoes) were poor for I Know What You Did Last Summer, and audiences graded it similarly. The film notched a 'C+' on CinemaScore. The original collected $72.6 million in its domestic run in 1997. Paramount Pictures' Smurfs debuted in fourth place this weekend with $11 million. The latest big-screen reboot for the woodland blue creatures prominently features Rihanna as the voice of Smurfette. But reviews (21% 'fresh' on Rotten Tomatoes) were terrible. Audiences were kinder, giving it a 'B+' on CinemaScore, but the $58 million-budgeted release will depend largely on its international sales. In 56 overseas markets, Smurfs earned $22.6 million. Ari Aster's Eddington opened with $4.2 million on 2,111 screens for A24. Since its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Eddington has been particularly divisive. The pandemic-set Western features Joaquin Phoenix as the right-wing sheriff of a small New Mexico town who faces off with its liberal mayor (Pedro Pascal). While Aster's first film, 2018's Hereditary ($82.8 million worldwide against a $10 million budget), helped establish A24 as an indie powerhouse, the less-than-stellar launch of Eddington marks the second box-office disappointment for Aster. His 2023 film Beau Is Afraid cost $35 million to make but collected just $12.4 million worldwide. Eddington cost about $25 million to produce. Audiences gave it a 'C+' on CinemaScore. None of Aster's previous films have been graded higher. Yet collectively, Hollywood is enjoying a very good summer. According to data firm Comscore, the 2025 summer box office is up 15.9% over the same period last year, with the year-to-date sales running 15% ahead of 2025. Summer ticket sales have amassed about $2.6 billion domestically, according to Comscore. With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore: 1. Superman, $57.3 million. 2. Jurassic World Rebirth, $23.4 million. 3. I Know What You Did Last Summer, $13 million. 4. Smurfs, $11 million. 5. F1: The Movie, $9.6 million. 6. How to Train Your Dragon, $5.4 million. 7. Eddington, $4.3 million. 8. Elio, $2 million. 9. Lilo & Stitch, $1.5 million. 10. 28 Years Later, $1.3 million.
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Pregnant Rihanna shows off her huge bare baby bump as she goes for dinner in LA
PREGNANT Rihanna has shown off her huge bare baby bump while going out for dinner in LA at her favorite eatery. The stunning singer and business mogul, 37, who announced her pregnancy earlier this year, looks ready to pop. Advertisement 4 Rihanna has put on a very sultry display while out and about in LA Credit: BackGrid 4 She rocked a sexy ensemble while showing off her baby bump Credit: BackGrid Stepping out to head for dinner at her favorite Italian restaurant, Giorgio Baldi, Rihanna put her bump on display in the process. Giorgio Baldi is a "luxurious family-run Italian spot near the ocean" which serves seafood and pasta. While heading out for food at the spot, Rihanna looked sensational in a navy suit, sheer mesh bra and polka dot tie. The mother-of-two wore her navy blazer open at the front, with her bump protruding out of it. Advertisement Read More about Rihanna She wore her hair slicked back, and kept her makeup natural and soft, yet glamorous. 'FLAWLESS' EXPECTANT MOTHER With a brown lined lip, which had a glossy finish, Rihanna looked fierce and content as she went about her evening. The Umbrella songstress, who is smitten with Their eldest is RZA Athelston Mayers, who was born in May 2022 and their younger is Riot Rose Mayers, who was born in August 2023. Advertisement Most read in Celebrity Fans have reacted to Rihanna's chic Sunday night display on social media, with many quick to swoon over the stunning ensemble. "She really stepped out looking flawless again," swooned one fan on X. Pregnant Rihanna's third baby's gender revealed as partner A$AP Rocky slips and leaks news on Smurfs red carpet "Eating these pregnancy looks up," declared a second. "'m obsessed with her style," said a third. Advertisement Meanwhile, other fans speculated what gender her unborn baby might be. GENDER SPECULATION "Looks like a 3rd boy in there," said one. Rihanna & A$AP Rocky's Relationship Timeline Rihanna and A$AP Rocky have been Hollywood's "it Rihanna and A$AP Rocky met in 2012 but didn't become romantically involved until late 2019 Rumors began to circulate that Rihanna and A$AP were an item in January 2020 after they'd been spotted on numerous outings together That December, it was reported that the celebrity duo made their relationship official In May 2021, A$AP expressed his feelings for Rihanna during an interview with GQ In January 2022, the lovebirds revealed they were expecting their first child by showing off Rihanna's pregnant belly in a series of photos of them in Harlem, New York Later that May, they welcomed their son, Riot In February 2023, Rihanna announced she was expecting again by flaunting her baby bump on stage during her Super Bowl Halftime performance Rihanna gave birth to their second son, RZA, in August 2023 The couple confirmed they're pregnant with their third baby at the Met Gala in May 2025 "she's having a girl," declared a second. "Carrying a girl hit different ngl," penned a third. Advertisement "I love this fit and I'm hoping it's a girl," said a fourth. And other fans were quick to comment on her frequent visits to Giorgio Baldi. 'SHE'S ALWAYS THERE!' One person said: "I wanna go to LA and try this restaurant because this all she eat & it better be good." "How good is this restaurant?? She's always there," said a second. Advertisement While a third wrote: "She loves that restaurant so much." Rihanna announced her third pregnancy in May when she attended the Met Gala. Rihanna's pregnancy announcement and baby bump debut at the Met came just days after speculation that she was expecting heated up. The singer is currently all loved up with A$AP Rocky, with whom she already shares two children. Advertisement 4 Rihanna is already a doting mother to two sons Credit: Getty 4 She and A$AP Rocky will soon welcome their third child together Credit: Getty
