Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Monday 30 deceMber 2019
'Skywalker' rises again; 'Little Women' go big at box office

By ANDREW DALTON brought in $362.8 million for
Associated Press Disney, falling just short of
LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Star the earnings of its prede-
Wars" was still rising in the cessor, 2017's "Star Wars:
last weekend of the year, The Last Jedi" in a compa-
while "Little Women" broke rable span.
big at the box office. Helped by the Christmas
"Star Wars: The Rise of Sky- holiday week, "Star Wars"
walker" brought in $72 mil- had a smaller-than-aver-
lion over the weekend to age 59% drop-off in its sec-
remain the top-earning film ond weekend after earn-
in North America by light- ing $175 million in its first.
years, according to studio "For a movie that opened
estimates Sunday. that big, that is a modest
In 10 days of release it has drop," said Paul Derga-
This image released by Disney/Lucasfilm shows, from left, Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca, Oscar
Isaac as Poe Dameron, Daisy Ridley as Rey and John Boyega as Finn in a scene from "Star Wars:
The Rise of Skywalker."
Associated Press

rabedian, senior media an- "With Greta Gerwig's rep- nationwide opening next
alyst for Comscore. "Movies utation as a filmmaker, month as it ramps up its Os-
that open this time of year, a great cast and a per- cars campaign.
they usually have legs." fect holiday release date, As 2019 ends, annual over-
Sony's "Jumanji: The Next they've got quite a hit on all box office revenue is
Level," earned $35.3 million the their hands," Derga- down by 4%, though it
for second place and has rabedian said. gained ground in its latter
tallied a total of $175.5 mil- "Uncut Gems," an even months, narrowing a deficit
lion through its third week- smaller film that has also that was 11% in April, and
end of release. sparked awards-season 2018 was always going to
Director Greta Gerwig's re- buzz for Adam Sandler's be tough to beat.
imagining of the American rare dramatic performance "Last year was an outlier,"
literary classic "Little Wom- as a jeweler and gambling Dergarabedian said. "It
en" had a $16.5-million addict, entered the top was just a massive year."
weekend and a five-day 10 for the first time as it ex- Between Marvel and "Star
total of $29 million since its panded to more screens Wars," and its animation
Christmas opening, a major in its first week. The film divisions, 2019 was utterly
performance for a smaller- earned $9.6 million over the owned by Disney, which
audience film with a bud- weekend and has brought had all five of the year's top
get dwarfed by the top in $20 million overall. grossing movies: "Avengers:
two films. The film, also a Director Sam Mendes' ex- Endgame," "The Lion King,"
Sony release, starring Sao- perimental World War I "Toy Story 4," "Captain Mar-
irse Ronan, Emma Watson, epic "1917," earned more vel" and "Frozen 2."
Florence Pugh and Laura than $1 million since its And with "The Rise of Sky-
Dern, scored big with both Christmas opening despite walker" ending the year at
audiences and critics and showing in only 11 theaters. No. 7 and "Aladdin" at No.
is gaining momentum as an The huge per-screen aver- 8, the mega-mouse ate up
awards-season favorite. age bodes well for the film's seven of the top 10 spots.q

Netflix series examines ‘perfect

storm’ that felled NFL star

mer NFL star Aaron Hernandez’s story still
fascinates — and now it’s heading back
to the small screen. Netflix is releasing
“Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernan-
dez” on Jan. 15. The three-part docu-
mentary examines the meteoric but
troubled — and violent — rise and fall of
the late New England Patriots tight end.
A teaser for director Geno McDermott’s
film opens with chilling audio of a col-
In this Sept. 5, 2012 file photo, New England lect call Hernandez made to his fian-
Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez speaks cee, Shayanna Jenkins. Hernandez can
in the locker room at Gillette Stadium in be heard saying: “My whole body’s
Foxborough, Mass. shaking right now.” Jenkins asks, “What
Associated Press happened?” and Hernandez responds:
By WILLIAM J. KOLE “You know my temper.”
Associated Press Hernandez’s death came just a few days
BOSTON (AP) — More than two years af- after he was acquitted of most charges
ter he killed himself in his prison cell, for- in the double murder case. q