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'Iron Man 3' Breaks Box-Office Records With $175.3 Million Opening Weekend

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Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man.

"Iron Man 3" blew away the competition at the box office this weekend.

Tony Stark's big return to theaters brought in a massive $175.3 million in its debut.

Box office estimates had the third film in the franchise earning anywhere from $135-$170 million. 

Though it didn't duplicate the success of last year's "The Avengers" which brought in an astounding record-breaking $207 million opening weekend, "Iron Man 3" now sits second on the list, beating out "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

The film has now earned $680 million worldwide, and is well on its way to becoming one of the highest-grossing films of all time. (To rival "The Avengers," it will need to earn at least $1.5 billion.)

Here are the top five grossing weekends at the box office

MovieDistributor 

Opening Weekend              

Worldwide Box Office
"Marvel's The AvengersDisney$207.4 million          $1.5 billion
"Iron Man 3"Disney$175.3 million$680 million to date
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"Warner Bros.         $169.2 million  $1.3 billion
 "The Dark Knight Rises"Warner Bros. $160.9 million  $1 billion
 "The Dark Knight"Warner Bros.  $158.4 million $1 billion

Disney will announce its second quarter earnings this Tuesday.

Now, catch up with the entire "Iron Man" trilogy here >

SEE ALSO: What movies to check out this summer >

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11 Things You Don't Know About 'The Great Gatsby'

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great gatsby dicaprio carey mulligan

F. Scott Fitzgerald always wanted his novel "The Great Gatsby" to become a "consciously artistic achievement."

Today, it is just that. 

His American classic is mandatory reading across English classrooms. There was a time, however, when no one wanted to read about Gatsby and his lost love, Daisy.

With Baz Luhrmann's anticipated film adaptation in theaters this month, we reread our copy of the book. 

Our copy of the 182-page novel includes a 22-page introduction from publisher Charles Scribner III, which we took the time to read this time around.

It shares many details about the early drafts of Fitzgerald's novel, the lengthy process and pains with which he went through to produce it, including struggles to come up with a title, and the immediate failure of the book. 

Some would say, "Gatsby" was simply ahead of its time.

The book was highly influenced by Fitzgerald's failed play "The Vegetable: or from President to Postman."

Fitzgerald spent a year and a half working on the comedy — a satire on the American Dream and spoof of President Harding's administration — which he hoped would make him a famous Broadway playwright.

The young author began work on "Gatsby" after the first draft of "Vegetable" was complete while traveling between Long Island, Great Neck, and New York City for play rehearsal.

"Vegetable" was a disaster opening night in the fall of 1923 in Atlantic City, NJ.

(Source: "The Great Gatsby")



"Gatsby" was originally set in the Midwest—not New York—around 1885.

The original concept was to have a "Catholic element" in the novel.

Today, the story takes place in the summer of 1922 — during the Jazz Age — in both Long Island and New York City.

(Source: "The Great Gatsby")



There's a short story dedicated to Gatsby's childhood.

During Fitzgerald's early manuscript of "Gatsby," he wrote about a Catholic boy growing up in the Midwest.

According to Fitzgerald, this was to describe Gatsby's childhood in a prologue; however, it was cut from the book.

Instead, the bit was published nearly a year before "The Great Gatsby" in June 1925 in the short story, "Absolution."

(Source: "The Great Gatsby")



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Speedboat Crash Kills British TV Executive And His 8-Year-Old Daughter

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speedboat crash aftermath nick miligan bskyb exec

A senior television executive was killed alongside his eight-year-old daughter when they were thrown from their speedboat, it has emerged.

Nick Milligan, 51, a BSkyB executive. was confirmed as one of the victims of the tragedy, which occurred when the boat his family was riding in the Camel Estuary near Padstow, Cornwall, flipped over, hurling them into the water.

The other is understood to be the youngest of his three daughters, Emily, eight.

Mr Milligan’s wife Victoria, 39, their other two daughters, Olivia, 10 and Amber, 12 and their four-year-old son Kit were airlifted to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth with a range of injuries, some of which were described as "life threatening" as well as "life changing".

The family, from Wandsworth, south west London, were on holiday in the coastal town when they were thrown from the boat as it went "out of control" before mowing into them.

Mr Milligan owned a beach house in Trebetherick, across the estuary from Padstow. In a 2011 interview with an advertising magazine, he said his interests included "anything outdoors".

His mother, Mhairi, 87, said today that it was too early to comment on the tragedy.

A local skipper, Charlie Toogood, 32, was hailed a hero after managing to leap onto the speedboat and stop it before it careered into anyone else.

A Falmouth Coastguard spokesman said the water skiing instructor’s "incredible bravery" and quick-thinking undoubtedly saved many lives.

Sally Toogood, Mr Toogood's mother, told the Daily Telegraph that her son was "in a bit of a state" and was too shocked to speak about the incident.

"It's wonderful that his actions have been praised but it was an awful tragedy," she said.

Mr Toogood is believed to have witnessed the rigid inflatable boat career out of control, running the family group over.

Witnesses described the scene as “like a horror film” with the water turned red with blood.

Superintendent Jim Colwell of Devon and Cornwall police said: “This is a tragic incident, what we know at the moment is that we have two fatalities, a 51-year-old adult male and an eight-year-old female.

“We also know this was an incident that happened in the middle of the river involving, tragically, members of the same family.

“Unfortunately the family members that were taken to hospital do have life changing injuries.”

The tragedy unfolded just before 4pm on Sunday when onlookers enjoying the Bank Holiday weekend saw the boat – understood to belong to the victims – overturn, throwing all six occupants into the water before continuing out of control.

Video footage taken by a witness in the immediate aftermath of the accident shows the boat travelling in circles before being brought under control.

Both Mr Toogood and a second man, Will Jones, were praised for coming to the rescue.

Writing on Facebook, Harry Onslow said: "Thoughts are with those involved. horrible. well done Will Jones and Charlie Toogood. heroes.

Witnesses described how their actions prevented more lives being lost.

Writing on Facebook, Maria Chase said: "We were down in Padstow today and saw the tragedy and saw a hero who saved more lives by jumping on to an out-of-control speedboat from another boat."

Matt Pavitt, of the North Cornwall Coastguard, told BBC Breakfast: "Thanks to some incredible seamanship and bravery from some locals, they managed to get the boat under control and stop it from causing any further damage or harm.

"It is, as you can imagine, a very large boat. This boat is eight metres long with a very, very powerful engine on the back. It is going around and round in circles and one of the local boatmen, we understand, was able to get alongside it and somebody actually jumped from one boat to the other to bring the boat under control. So incredible bravery which undoubtedly saved lives."

Coastguard rescue teams from St Merryn and Polzeath attended the scene along with the Rock inshore lifeboat and Padstow all weather lifeboats.

Search and rescue helicopters from RNAS Culdrose and RMB Chivenor also flew to the scene.

The casualties were airlifted to hospital by two Royal Navy helicopters.

Martin Jenkins, 63, of Padstow, said: “I heard the helicopter and went over to the estuary and saw the ambulance crews working on a couple of people. It was all very frantic and the people were lying on the floor in a lot of discomfort.

“It looked terrible, the water was filled with blood like a horror film.”

A woman witness, who asked not to be named, added: “We saw two ambulances on the beach, they were working on two people who looked in a lot of trouble.

“That boat must have hit those poor people at a terrifying speed.”

Earlier reports had suggested that the speedboat crashed into a group of kayakers but the Maritime and Coastguard Agency last night said all those injured had been in the boat before the accident took place.

Mr Pavitt said: “There was a speedboat carrying six people and somehow they ended up in the water.

“Following that there was an interaction between the people in the water and the speedboat and it has left them with significant injuries.

“Unfortunately two people were confirmed deceased at the scene.”

“We had a number of local vessels and there were some canoeists there at the time to help recover some of the people from the water.”

Southwestern Ambulance Service said those injured were children and adults with leg injuries of various degrees of severity.

Supt Colwell said the victims were renting a holiday home nearby.

Police appealed for witnesses and said they were examining the boat and CCTV footage to understand how the tragedy happened.

Celebrity chef Rick Stein, who has four restaurants in Padstow, tweeted: “Our thoughts are with injured and bereaved involved in the tragic accident in Padstow this afternoon.”

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Mama June Marries Sugar Bear In Camouflage Wedding Dress — Here's Today's Buzz

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Mama June wedding here comes honey boo boo

     

SEE ALSO: "Iron Man 3" breaks box-office records with $175.3M opening weekend >

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'Iron Man 3' Has The Second-Highest Weekend Ever At Theaters — Here's Your Box-Office Roundup

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iron man 3 tony stark

"Iron Man 3" blew all of the competition away this weekend. 

The three-quel earned a massive $175.3 million opening weekend. 

That's not a surprise.  

Moviegoers not only saw the film as a sequel to 2010's "Iron Man 2," but also as a followup to last year's highest-grossing film, "The Avengers." 

The result may not have been as high as the opening weekend for "The Avengers"—the movie wasn't as kid friendly—but the film still set box-office records in China and here as the second-highest opening weekend at theaters. 

Meanwhile, the rest of the box office took a huge beating. 

Out of the top ten this week include Gerard Butler's "Olympus Has Fallen," "Jurassic Park in 3D," and "G.I. Joe: Retaliation."  

"Retaliation" took a hard hit this weekend dropping five spots and more than 65%. After six weeks, the film has taken in $355.9 million worldwide.  

Here are this weekends winners and losers in Hollywood: 

10. Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper's "The Place Beyond the Pines" dipped 50% this weekend earning $1.3 million. The Focus Features film has earned $18.7 million at the box office.  

9. "Scary Movie 5" barely holds on with $1.4 million. The sequel featuring Lindsay Lohan has earned $49.4 million worldwide. It's the lowest-grossing film in the series to date. "Scary Movie 4" earned $178 million worldwide. 

8. Oddly enough, Disney's big March hit, "Oz the Great and Powerful" jumped five spots this weekend earning $1.8 million despite bowing out of 450 theaters. The Sam Raimi directed film has earned $484.8 million worldwide. 

7. Reese Witherspoon's arrest isn't hurting the income of her latest film, "Mud." If anything, it's helping to make her indie film more popular.The film moved up four spots earning $2.2 million at theaters.  

6. Amanda Seyfried's "The Big Wedding" manages to only dip two spots after a weak opening last week. The Lionsgate film took in $3.9 million. 

5. DreamWorks Animation's "The Croods" saw one of the lowest dips at theaters (37.2%) earning $4.2 million. The caveman flick has earned $517.9 million worldwide. That's good for animation studio as analysts are worrying its next film out, "Epic," may not hold water at theaters. 

4. "Oblivion" finally took a hard hit at theaters in week three earning $5.8 million. Tom Cruise's latest action thriller has earned most of its money overseas (66%) bringing it to a total of $222.8 million worldwide. 

3. While Cruise's audience disappeared, Jackie Robinson fans helped keep "42" afloat with $6.2 million. The Warner Bros.' baseball film has earned $78.3 million without playing internationally. The film cost an estimated $40 million to produce.  

2. The Rock's "Pain and Gain" dropped 62.5% in its second week in theaters earning $7.6 million. The Michael Bay-directed film has now earned $33.9 million at theaters. 

1. "Iron Man 3" beat all estimates for the weekend taking in a huge $175.3 million. Compared to previous installments of the series, the third film blew "Iron Man 2" ($128.1 million) and "Iron Man" ($98.6 million) out of the water. The film is well on its way to earning $1 billion at the box office. Since its international debut at the end of April, the film has earned an incredible $680 million worldwide. 

"The Great Gatsby" is in theaters this weekend. See what you don't know about the book >

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Celebrities Wore Ridiculous Outfits To The Kentucky Derby

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Miranda Lambert Kentucky Derby

Celebrities flew into Louisville this weekend to attend Saturday's 139th running of the Kentucky Derby.

Miranda Lambert attended with girlfriends, Lauren Conrad posed with an astronaut, and many couples made it a date.

See who went to this year's Kentucky Derby and more importantly, how big their hat was.

Lauren Conrad posed with the AXE astronaut before the race.



Miranda Lambert signed a Moet & Chandon bottle to benefit the Churchill Downs Foundation.



Country singer Luke Bryan and wife Caroline Boyer wore their hats to the Grey Goose red carpet lounge.



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Celebrities Don't Know How To Dress For This Year's Punk-Themed Met Gala

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met gala 2012The pressure is on when it comes to dressing for the Met Gala — perhaps no other red carpet is as closely scrutinized by fashion's harshest critics.

It's one of the rare events where best-dressed lists are truly based on style, not just celebrity, and a great outfit is often well within the reach of already well-seasoned fashion types with enough spare cash to afford a $25,000 ticket and a great stylist.

But when the theme is "Punk: Chaos to Couture," things get tricky. 

Various boutique owners and high-end vintage purveyors told The New York Times that they're getting frantic requests from a variety of clients looking for something that looks on-theme but will still earn them an approving nod from Anna Wintour, who we're guessing will probably disregard the theme entirely — and she wouldn't be alone.

One of the Times' sources, Gill Linton of Byronesque, says most guests will probably play it very safe, maybe throw a couple of safety pin accessories on for good measure. The problem, according to Los Angeles boutique owner Cameron Silver, is that “rich women don’t want to look punk, or grunge.”

Frankly, we'll have our eyes peeled for any edgy, grunge-y, even slightly un-precious getups, but we won't get our hopes up. 

That said, there certainly are some designers whose recent collections could serve up the appropriate fare to interested parties. The talent list is long and more varied than ever, with a variety of distinctly non-Anna-Wintour-approved parties set to descend on the much-watched event.

But, as Eric Wilson notes, even if a few Liz-Hurley-esque punk outfits do make an appearance, does it mean anything? Can anyone at this level of protected, managed, glammed-up talent actually get punk right? (NY Times)

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A Victoria's Secret Model's Career Could Be In Danger After She Was Photographed Dropping A Bag Of White Powder

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victoria secret fashion show 2012, armory, bi, dng, lingerie, models, cute, attractive, hot, beautiful, sexy, underwear, model

Victoria's Secret model Cara Delevingne could be in trouble after she dropped a bag of what appeared to be cocaine over the weekend. 

"The small sachet tumbled out of the 20-year-old supermodel’s handbag and on to the floor as she searched for her keys...Cara swiftly covered the packet with her foot, then her handbag before snatching it up," reports UK tabloid The Sun. 

The Sun also has a photo of Delevingne dropping the bag. 

The 20-year-old walked in the Victoria's Secret runway show this year, modeling the PINK line for teens. She's also appeared in campaigns for H&M. 

H&M is reportedly investigating the incident, according to The Daily Mail. The brand dropped Kate Moss after she was photographed allegedly snorting cocaine in 2005. 

But Delevingne's career could suffer even more because of her influence on teenagers, reports Hayley Phelan at Fashionista

"Case in point: this month she covers Miss Vogue, Vogue UK’s answer to Teen Vogue," Phelan writes. "At the time of the cover release, Vogue UK EIC Alexandra Shulman described Delevingne as 'Miss Vogue made physical' with a 'maverick sense of style and fun.'"

Delevingne has yet to respond to the incident. 

SEE ALSO: Meet The Gorgeous Model Who Could Take Miranda Kerr's Place At Victoria's Secret >

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Iron Man 3's Mindblowing Opening Weekend In 4 Charts

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"Iron Man 3" opened to an outstanding $175.3 million this weekend at theaters.

Just how large is that figure?

Considering the box office has been in a miserable slump this year, it's pretty huge.

The figure made it the highest-opening film at theaters this year and the second-highest opening weekend of all time.

First, here's the opening weekend gross for "Iron Man 3" compared to the previous two installments in the franchise.  

The blue line shows actual figures while the red shows ticket sales adjusted for inflation.

iron man opening weekends

If that's not impressive, "Iron Man 3" is the first film to take in more than $100 million opening weekend this year.

See how it compares with the other highest-opening box-office weekends of the year to date:

highest box office openings 2013

If you're still not impressed, "Iron Man 3" also demolishes all of the other box-office grosses for the year so far. 

Here are the five highest-grossing films of the year so far:

highest grossing movies 2013

However, the most staggering appeal about the opening weekend for "Iron Man 3" is that its intake in one weekend is larger than all of the earnings for the box-office top 12 each weekend prior in 2013.

Take a look at the five largest box-office weekends of the year:

largest box office weekend 2013

SEE ALSO: How the rest of the box office fared this weekend >

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Lindsay Lohan Tells Piers Morgan: 'I Like Ecstasy' But 'Rehab is Pointless'

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Lindsay Lohan Piers Morgan

Before heading to rehab last week, Lindsay Lohan sat down for a lengthy interview with CNN anchor and Daily Mail columnist, Piers Morgan.

Morgan notes in his Daily Mail introduction to the Q&A that "Lindsay was extraordinarily candid, never shirked a question and made me laugh as much as she made me wince."

Lohan was indeed candid in the piece, revealing she had her first drink at age 17, and that her mom Dina “made me sleep with vomit still on me so I’d understand how it felt."

Lohan claims, "I didn’t drink again throughout high school. I was too scared!" and adds "I’ve never been a huge drinker. I’ve never woken up in the morning and had a drink."

But she does admit that when it comes to drugs she prefers “ecstasy… I liked  that better than the others.”

As for cocaine, Lohan says “Everyone thinks I’ve done it so many times. But I’ve only done it maybe four or five times in my life.” But during those handful of times, “I got caught twice.”

Lohan made sure to note, "I’ve never taken heroin either, never injected myself with anything, never done LSD. Those things all scare me."

The 26-year-old actress — who is currently four days into her 90-day court-ordered rehab stay — also says that "sending me to rehab is pointless."

"I’ve been court-ordered to do it six times," she explains to Piers Morgan. "I could write the book on rehab. The first few times I was court-ordered to rehab it was like a joke, like killing time."

"Everyone thinks I’m this crazy drug addict who shows up late to everything and behaves so badly," adds Lohan. "But I’m not. I’m bad with timing."

Instead, Lohan thinks her time would be better spent elsewhere: “The best thing they could do for me would be to make me go  abroad to different countries and work with children.”

Perhaps as practice for her own future family, as Lohan adds that in the future, “I want to work for a year and then eventually settle down and have children and a husband."

Watch Lohan and Morgan giggle while promoting the interview below:

SEE ALSO: Lindsay Lohan enters Betty Ford, fires her lawyer >

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How An '80s TV Star Got DreamWorks Animation To Buy A YouTube Channel For $33 Million

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brian robbinsBrian Robbins first spoke with former Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg after he made "Norbit," one of those Eddie Murphy comedies in which the comedian played several characters at once. Robbins directed the movie, one of ten he has made in his career, and DreamWorks, which Katzenberg co-founded, produced it.

"I remember getting a very nice phone call from him -- a congrats on 'Norbit,'" Robbins told TheWrap. "But we didn’t know each other." Katzenberg was focused on DreamWorks Animation, which he had spun off as a separate company.

Fast forward six years and the two are now partners in crime. Robbins, known to a certain generation as a star of 1980s sitcom "Head of the Class," just sold his YouTube network, AwesomenessTV to DreamWorks Animation for as much as $117 million.

The deal marked the first time a large media company bought a YouTube channel, and the price could portend a flood of money into the burgeoning world of online video. 

Also Read: Did DreamWorks Animation Just Inflate a YouTube Bubble? 

TheWrap spoke with Katzenberg and Robbins independently, but put their answers together – as they will now work for the next few years.

It was YouTube's Robert Kyncl who suggested you two get together. Why?

Robbins: I got a call from Robert who said 'I want to introduce you to Jeffrey Katzenberg if that's okay.' I said sure, and he said 'just know that once I do your life is going to change.' He connected us by email and the next morning we were having breakfast and it was very fast moving from there.

Katzenberg: Robert talked about Brian and specifically how impressed he has been with the work that he was doing and that he thought it was, knowing my interest, somebody I would really connect with. He was the matchmaker here and his instincts were spot on and perfect.

Robbins: We spent a lot of time with each other -- every day for the next 4 days having meetings, hanging out: he came to Awesomeness, I came to DreamWorks for a whole day with my team. It was pretty clear that we shared a vision for this space and what's happening and where it’s going and what it could become.

awesomenessTVHow do Awesomeness and DreamWorks Animation complement one another?

Robbins: DreamWorks Animation is an incredible global family entertainment brand. That's one. Two, Jeffrey is an amazing mogul who is a brilliant man and been successful over and over and over again. Working side by side with someone like that is enormously appealing. Three, and most importantly, we both do the same thing. We’re storytellers.

I would have been scared to get bought by Viacom or one of the media companies. This way I am dealing with Jeffrey one on one and look at him as someone who runs his business from a creative point of view. He's not an ex-lawyer or ex-accountant running a studio. He's a guy who has been in the business and been making movies forever.

People have asked 'aren’t you scared?' No, not at all. I'd be scared of all those other people who wanted to acquire me.

Katzenberg: The thing that attracted me so much to Brian is that he is in love with this medium. He is super engaged and excited about creating these bits, bites, and snacks, as he refers to them. He is really unique in that he has had incredible success in more traditional media and has nothing but opportunities in those spaces, but he chooses to be here. He's not there out of default. Most people are there because the barriers to entry are lower. He's there because he likes the form; he's mastered the form.

Also Read: Why Alloy Digital Might Hold the Secret to YouTube 

Brian, were you always planning on selling your company?

Robbins: I was just trying to build something, but when you take on venture capital money obviously in this space everyone talks about valuations and exits. I always thought we'd be acquired, but did I ever think it would happen this fast? Absolutely not.

For months now I have had people come in trying to invest, trying to buy 20 percent, 15 percent and I have not entertained any of them. Jeffrey was different because he offered me a much bigger platform. [Awesomeness] was just one part of the plan for me and now with Jeffrey there's just an opportunity to do some tremendous things.

What is that larger plan?

Katzenberg: Awesomeness is primarily geared toward teen girls, and we want to run a track parallel to that brand that is to boys, because you don't mix those different tracks. I look at this as really a first step for Brian to build on what he has done incredibly successfully with the first platform that he has in place and very quickly follow with several different platforms that expand into different demographics and eventually start to use the DreamWorks brand for some of his expansion.

Would you consider buying another YouTube channel or is this a unique proposition?

Katzenberg: If other opportunities that are similarly appealing present themselves, we will take them. We’re open to anything that we think is a good opportunity.

Both of you have talked about extending the DreamWorks Animation brand onto YouTube. Will DreamWorks and Awesomeness play together?

Robbins: I don't think they play together at all. Awesomeness continues to be Awesomeness. I don’t think Jeffrey wants to mess with that at all. I will build it into as big a company as we think and everyone thinks its’ going to be.

On the other hand, on the DreamWorks side, we definitely have some plans to take the DreamWorks brand and so some very innovative and interesting things.

Also Read: 3 Things That Need to Happen Before Big Money Gets Spent on YouTube, Hulu, Yahoo & AOL

Awesomeness has built a massive network of channels on the creative side, but how about the business side?

Katzenberg: They're in what is commonly referred to as an investment cycle. They’re building revenue and investing it back into the company while they build up engagement with users. They’re not cash positive today, but they will become cash positive.

Robbins: We’re still a very not mature business, but we’re seeing that change quickly too. We’re seeing these brands really lining up to work with us in big ways ad spend real dollars. That needle is starting to move too and it’s moving so quickly. That's what's crazy – where we were six months ago versus now for brands.

So is Brian going to help DreamWorks with TV?

Robbins: I don’t know yet. Jeffrey has a lot of plans and we’ll see where it goes. It’s too early for me to comment.

Katzenberg: What Brian is going to do in terms of his involvement in the larger DreamWorks Animation business is of great value to us. The way that he is going to help us build out our digital footprint and television business.  

What happens to your Varsity Pictures (his film and TV production company)?

Robbins: Oh well. [Sighs] My kids get to run it when they graduate from high school. They can reinvent it.

You’ve had a lot of success as a film and TV producer. So you’re just going to say screw it and just do YouTube?

Robbins: There’s no 'just' in the word YouTube to me. Any time you’ve got 1 billion people on a platform, there’s no just. If you use it properly you can really build a gigantic business. Last year we were talking this as cable 25 years ago. I’m telling you the ESPNs and CNNs and MTVs and Nickelodeons of tomorrow will come out of this ecosystem even faster than I thought.

SEE ALSO: Iron Man 3's mindblowing opening weekend in 4 charts >

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Fans Are Torn Over The Big Twist In 'Iron Man 3'

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ben kingsley iron man 3 the mandarinWarning: If you haven't seen "Iron Man 3," there are major spoilers ahead.

"Iron Man 3" is doing phenomenal at theaters.

It took in a massive $175.3 million at the box office opening weekend, broke opening-day records in China, and is closing in on $700 million worldwide already. 

While it's highly successful, and people are calling this the best "Iron Man" yet, many fans have one big gripe with the film. 

All the trailers for "Iron Man 3" present Ben Kingsley as the main villain, a terrorist named The Mandarin.  

Rave reviews before the film debuted pinned Kingsley as a spectacular adversary for Tony Stark, one of the best in ages. 

One review specifically claimed he was reminiscent of Heath Ledger's Oscar-winning performance of the Joker in 2008's "The Dark Knight." 

There's only one problem. 

If you've seen the film, Kingsley doesn't play a villain at all. 

Rather, he plays Trevor Slattery, a drunken, aspiring actor playing the role of the Mandarin for the camera.  

The commercials completely duped us. They were one giant rick roll.

Many of the reviews for the film discussed a giant twist in the film, and it turns out this was it.

Don't get us wrong, Kingsley's phenomenal in the role. We were so intrigued—and thrown off—by the odd take on the character that it was difficult whether or not to be upset with director Shane Black for pulling one over on us. 

guy pearce iron manInstead, Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who barely received any praise in reviews, turned out to be the main villain, a scientist driven mad with ambition and power.

In the Extremis comics, upon which the film is loosely based, Killian commits suicide. By the end of the "Iron Man 3," he outted himself as the real Mandarin. 

The only reason we see Kingsley as "The Mandarin" was to "give evil a face" as Killian described it on screen.

While movie goers in our theater didn't seem to be annoyed at all by this twist, overall, fans appeared torn over Marvel's decision to reinvent the classic character:

Director Shane Black told Entertainment Weekly his and co-writer Drew Pearce's argument behind the big Mandarin twist:

“What if he’s sort of this all-things-to-all-people uber-terrorist? What if he is the myth, and in the end that is what we’re dealing with, a created myth that [a research group] has perpetuated and cobbled together using elements from popular consciousness,” Black says. “It felt like it said more about the world we live in than just having [Iron Man] fight another terrorist, as opposed to putting a spin on it that said something about the way we view terror, perhaps.”

If you saw "Iron Man 3" did you enjoy the big twist in the film?

SEE ALSO: "Iron Man 3" scored big this weekend at the box office >

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Twitch Has The Power To Make Or Destroy A Professional Gamer's Career

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Back when I started playing computer games, there was this guy named “Fatal1ty” who was so good at First-Person Shooters like Quake, he inadvertently created the “eSports” industry.

It began with the Cyberathlete Professional League founded in Dallas in 1997.

It’s defunct now, but it gave out over $3 million to its tournament champions—and those champions like Fatal1ty endorsed overpriced computer parts marketed to hardcore gamers.

Pro-Gaming or “eSports” remained an afterthought to the gaming industry as a whole until 2002, when the South Koreans discovered their love for Blizzard Entertainment’s Starcraft: Brood War, a real-time strategy game.

The country's relationship to the game was so much like a “real sport.” You saw things like sports betting, and even its shadowy partner match fixing show up. 2002 also saw the founding of the obviously-named Major League Gaming and other large eSports organizations modelled, at least superficially, after the NFL, NBA and MLB, with commissioners and etc. Some championship tournaments were even broadcast on ESPN.

Things have been changing, however, in the last few months. Professional gamers used to earn their money by winning tournaments. The prize purses were substantial, but limited to the victors. But pooling all the winnings together gives you a dollar amount less than the average salary of a New York Yankee.

But the industry went through a paradigm shift, and now people can sit in their bedrooms and play videos games—and not even be that good at them—and make a decent living for themselves and their families.

The cause of this shift is Twitch.tv and its YouTube-like partnership program. They contracted with all the major tournament companies to stream their events on their website. But most importantly, they let individuals set up their own gaming streams. Suddenly being a “professional” gamer became possible not just for savants like Fatal1ty, but for anyone who could get an audience to watch them play video games. If you don’t think there are millions of people willing to watch someone mildly amusing do fairly mindless things, I direct you to the infamous Jenna Marbles.

Like YouTube, any Twitch broadcaster can enter into a partnership agreement and share ad revenue. Unlike YouTube, Twitch gives a subscription model to users who average around 1,000 viewers at any time, allowing their viewers to subscribe to their stream (and remove the commercial break and advertisements) for monthly fees around $9.99. I don’t have the precise financial data, but the model is enough for a lot of people to make a living off of it.

Now here’s the problem: Twitch has a choke-hold on the entire professional gaming industry. Unlike Google, which lets its posters basically get away with anything that isn’t pornography or copyright infringement, Twitch’s Terms of Service allow them to terminate your partnership agreement (and therefore your very livelihood, if you’re a professional gamer) for any reason at all.See 11.1 of Twitch Terms of Service. 

That’s not OK. At the risk of sounding elitist, the kinds of people earning serious amounts of money streaming their video gaming are not sophisticated or wealthy enough to organize themselves to bargain for better job security.

When Twitch terminates your Partnership Agreement, there is no warning and appeals process; a close friend of mine recently had to call the President of a major computer game developer to get his Twitch back after it was taken down for “TOS violations” (which remember, can be anything). My source inside Twitch says the termination of his Partnership Agreement was a personal vendetta of a Twitch administrator.

I see two solutions: Either (1) a competitor to Twitch needs to arise, which is unlikely considering the immense economy-of-scale of this kind of service or (2) the professional gamers of the world need to unionize and put themselves on equal footing vis-a-vis bargaining power.

These professional gamers are no different from professional athletes. Their jobs may be less glamorous, but it still takes a similar or even greater level of skill and dedication to win a tournament or run an entertaining stream. I’m not saying they deserve the kinds of contracts professional athletes get, but they deserve at least a little job security. If the gaming industry is really interested in investing in eSports, they need to reign in Twitch.tv and give their athletes the dignity and security of a steady income.

SEE ALSO: People are spending millions of hours every month watching video games on Twitch >

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How 4-Foot Tall Chuy Bravo Lives In A 'Regular-Size' Home

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Chuy Bravo Chelsea LatelyChuy Bravo is famous for being the 4-foot-tall sidekick to Chelsea Handler on her E! late night talk show, "Chelsea Lately."

Handler often refers to Chuy as her "little nugget," but the dwarf says he doesn't let his small stature change the way he lives -- even at home.

"Despite being the little nugget that I am, I live in a regular-size home," he tells the Wall Street Journal.

But, he does have to make a few changes:

Kitchen:

  • "I have a huge kitchen with a ton of cabinets—which usually is a good selling point—but I can only reach 12 out of 25."
  • "I have a case of water under my sink, and my plates and cups are kept in the lower cabinet next to my stove."

Living Room:

  • "I don't have lowered light switches or anything; in fact, I have to use extenders so I can open and close my blinds."
  • "I have a giant couch—and not just giant to me. It fits about eight regular-size people."

Gym:

  • "I turned my spare bedroom into a little gym. Most of the time it ends up as a parking lot for my scooters while they are charging."

Bedroom:

  • "Some might expect my bed to be on the floor but, you know, my lady friends would not like that. I have a regular-size bed that is way too big for me and a cute little step so I can get up on it."

SEE ALSO: Top models explain what their first apartments were like >

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EA Will Make A Bunch Of New Star Wars Games For Disney (EA, DIS)

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george lucas star wars

Disney announced today that EA won the licensing agreement to make "Star Wars" video games over the next several years. 

The news comes a few weeks after Disney announced it would shut down Lucas Arts, the gaming studio that used to make Star Wars games along with several other classic titles over the years.

Full press release below.

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The Walt Disney Company (DIS) and Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) today announced a new multi-year exclusive licensing agreement to develop and publish globally new games based on Star Warscharacters and storylines.

Under the agreement, EA will develop and publish new Star Warstitles for a core gaming audience, spanning all interactive platforms and the most popular game genres, while Disney will retain certain rights to develop new titles within the mobile, social, tablet and online game categories.

“This agreement demonstrates our commitment to creating quality game experiences that drive the popularity of the Star Wars franchise for years to come,” said John Pleasants, Co-President of Disney Interactive. “Collaborating with one of the world’s premier game developers will allow us to bring an amazing portfolio of new Star Wars titles to our fans around the world.”

“Every developer dreams of creating games for the Star Wars universe,” said EA Labels President Frank Gibeau. “Three of our top studios will fulfill that dream, crafting epic adventures for Star Wars fans. DICE and Visceral will produce new games, joining the BioWare team which continues to develop for the Star Wars franchise. The new experiences we create may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories and gameplay.”

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

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Here's That Awkward New Nicole Kidman Ad For Vitamins

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Nicole Kidman swisse wellness

Australia’s top multivitamin brand, Swisse Wellness, has launched a new campaign featuring Australian-born actress Nicole Kidman.

The 45 year-old actress – wearing a white diaphanous, full-length sundress – is seen giggling on a swing, arching her back towards the sun and running slow-motion through an open field on the historic Terra House Estate, a bucolic property located on Australia’s New South Wales coast.

The relatively low-budget commercial was created by Noisy Beast, a boutique ad agency based in Melbourne.

The creative director on the campaign, Stewart Byfield, believes it is Kidman“as she’s never been seen before – natural, down to earth, taking time out to care for her mind, body and wellbeing.”

And that's what makes the spot so weird. Generally speaking, businesses recruit celebrities when they embody the qualities that their brands are trying to project. Kidman is a sometimes brilliant actress known for her failed Scientology marriage to Tom Cruise, her experimentation with Botox, and for formerly being the face of Chanel No.5. She also maintains a frosty demeanor on-set, according to Yahoo.

Swisse Wellness, by contrast, is a company "created out of a passion for wellbeing and natural medicine". It's an awkward fit and the ad feels like it's trying too hard.

The campaign was launched in Australia in April and is set to premier in the U.S. this month on the The Ellen De Generes Show.

Oddly, Swisse Wellness has yet to update its YouTube channel with hi-def versions of the ads.

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Tommy Hilfiger Gifted Nicki Minaj A $32,000 Rolex For Being His Guest At The Met Gala

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Nicki Minaj Fashion-forward rapper Nicki Minaj will be wearing a Tommy Hilfiger gown and sitting at Tommy Hilfiger's table during tonight's Met Ball, aka fashion prom.

In order to thank Minaj for being Team Hilfiger on the big night, the designer sent her a Rolex Oyster 41mm Day-Date II watch in Everose gold that retails for a mere $32,000.

Hilfiger is also outfitting Zooey Deschanel, Debbie Harry, Lily Aldridge, and Kings of Leon-frontman Caleb Followill for the exclusive event, reports Women's Wear Daily.

Wonder if they all scored such lavish gifts?

Minaj tweeted a photo of the extravagant "thank you" to her nearly 16.5 million followers:

 Here's a better, right-side-up look at Minaj's new hardware:

Nicki Minaj Tommy Hilfiger Rolex

SEE ALSO: Celebrities wore ridiculous outfits to the Kentucky Derby >

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Lauryn Hill Sentenced To Three Months In Prison For Federal Tax Evasion

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R&B singer Lauryn Hill has been sentenced to 3 months in prison for failing to pay nearly $1 million in federal and state taxes, The Associated Press reports. 

She dodged a bullet on this one.

Hill was facing up to three years in prison for three misdemeanor counts of federal tax evasion. Up until Sunday, she had yet to come up with the cash to cover her bill.

But the singer finally made good on her debt in the eleventh hour, paying back more than $900,000 in taxes owed. 

It's likely because of that payment that the judge lessened Hill's sentence. 

In late April, a New Jersey Magistrate Judge lectured the Fugees front woman when she failed to meet another deadline to pay the debt. The judge gave her a few extra weeks to come up with the cash, and her attorney promised Hill was making new music and expecting real estate income soon. 

“This is not someone who stands before the court penniless,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo said at the hearing. "This is a criminal matter. Actions speak louder than words, and there has been no effort here to pay these taxes."

That all changed Sunday. 

"Ms. Hill has not only now fully paid, prior to sentencing, her taxes, which are part of her criminal restitution, but she has additionally fully paid her federal and state personal taxes for the entire period under examination through 2009," her attorney, Nathan Hochman, told Reuters.

In a Tumblr post Friday, Hill shared a link to her first new song in years, "Neurotic Society." From the sound of the note she wrote, Hill was pressured to release the song in light of her pending sentencing. 

"Here is a link to a piece that I was ‘required' to release immediately, by virtue of the impending legal deadline," she wrote. "I love being able to reach people directly, but in an ideal scenario, I would not have to rush the release of new music… but the message is still there." 

SEE ALSO: 13 money lies you should stop telling yourself by age 40 >

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The First 'Iron Man' Was Supposed To Feature The Mandarin As The Villain

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iron man 3 ben kingsleyEven if you haven't seen "Iron Man 3" yet, you're probably aware from the numerous trailers that the main villain is pitted as The Mandarin. 

It appeared a conscious choice given the character is considered Tony Stark's primary arch nemesis in the comics. 

It also allowed the series to come full circle. 

If you recall from the first film, a terrorist group kidnapped Stark named "The Ten Rings." It was a simple nod to The Mandarin who wears ten magical rings.  

It turns out the villain was supposed to be the primary bad guy in the first film.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, "Iron Man" trilogy producer and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said the role just "didn't work":  

“He [The Mandarin] was in every Iron Man 1 script until about 10 weeks before we started filming,” says Feige. “He was a contemporary of Tony Stark. He was younger. He was involved in business deals with [Stark.]” This Mandarin was trying to secure Stark’s vast weapons manufacturing resources, and Jeff Bridges’ character — Obadiah Stane, a mentor of Stark’s, would have been a kind of sidekick villain. “We’d have revealed that Obadiah was the mole on the inside,” Feige says. “But it did’t work. It didn’t work.” 

Instead, we received Jeff Bridges as a villain.

"Iron Man 3" has already taken in a massive $680 million at theaters worldwide.

SEE ALSO: Iron Man 3's mindblowing opening weekend in 4 charts >

More "Iron Man": Fans are torn over the big twist in the new film >

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Is 'World War Z' The Next Big Hollywood Flop?

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Paramount's upcoming zombie movie "World War Z" needs to be a hit.

Specifically, the Brad Pitt vehicle needs to break $400 million worldwide to cover a huge and expanding budget, plus marketing and advertising, according to a worrying cover story in Vanity Fair.

Vanity Fair contributor Laura M. Holson says the film suffered from poor communication between producers and director Marc Foster ("Quantum of Solace"), budget overages from the moment filming began, delays, and a lack of a clear ending when shooting started. 

After getting ABC's "Lost" screenwriter Damon Lindelof to review the film, production threw out an expensive 12-minute ending to reshoot an additional 30-40 minutes of the film that would need to be completed in three weeks time. 

Paramount paid $1 million to win the rights to Max Brooks' 2006 apocalyptic novel, "World War Z," according to Vanity Fair.  Since then, Paramount told the magazine the budget for the film which started at $150 million has at least ballooned to $170 million. It cites other rival film studios claiming the budget has inflated anywhere from $210 to $250 million.

If that's true, it wouldn't only make the film one of the most expensive zombie movies ever made, but also one of the priciest films to hit theaters.

Can it break $400 million and avoid being a flop? It's certainly possible, as 18 movies earned more in 2012.

It could be a stretch; however, considering the type of movie. The highest-grossing zombie movies ever were "Hotel Transylvania" at $347 million (if you call that a zombie movie), followed  by "Resident Evil: Afterlife" at $296 million and "Warm Bodies" at $117 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

What went wrong

Let's start with the inexperienced crew.

Vanity Fair suggests that Pitt got able to work on his passion project at Paramount was because he's friends with Paramount Pictures chairman and chief executive, Brad Grey, who co-founded Pitt's production company. 

"World War Z" will be Pitt's first time as both producer and star of a film. His previous credits as a producer include 2011's "Moneyball" and Oscar-nominated "The Tree of Life." At Paramount, Pitt produced "Eat Pray Love" starring Julia Roberts which earned $204 million worldwide. 

Director Marc Foster ("Monsters Ball," "Finding Neverland") has one action flick under his belt, 2008's James Bond sequel "Quantum of Solace."   While the film had monetary box office appeal earning $586 million at theaters, it received a lot of backlash from fans and critics alike 

Grey acknowledged Foster's limited experience in blockbuster films, and Paramount answered by hiring an experienced crew to work with them and to more or less experiment with "World War Z."

There are also the concerns about straying from the source material.

One of the main reasons people are so hyped for "World War Z" is because it's based on Max Brooks' 2006 novel. When it became clear that the film would make some major changes, however, it was a massive letdown to fans. 

Brad Pitt admits that the novel was changed more than originally intended.

"When we started working on the script, a lot of that stuff had to fall away for the story to come together," Pitt told Lindelof. 

Contrino doesn't think this will affect the box office draw at all, citing other films that have strayed from source material including Harry Potter. That's assuming the adaptation is done well.

"If the filmmakers have abandoned logic for the sake of cool visuals, an essential aspect of this potential franchise will be short-changed, and the movie may not do as well," says Gomez.

Finally, Pitt's theater appeal may be fading, with his last film, "Killing Them Softly," earning only $6.8 million on opening weekend in Fall 2012. He hasn't had a big hit at theaters since 2009's "Inglorious Basterds" and that earned $321 million worldwide.

The only Pitt films ever to gross more than $400 million worldwide are "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" ($478 million) and "Ocean's Eleven" ($450 million).

Avoiding a disaster 

I am LegendTwo industry insiders compare "World War Z" optimistically to another apocalyptic film: 2007's "I Am Legend" featuring Will Smith.

Business Insider spoke with Jeff Gomez, CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment, and Phil Contrino, Vice President and Chief Analyst of BoxOffice.com, to discuss the projections for Paramount's zombie thriller. 

Contrino says a big budget is a tough hurdle for any movie to overcome, especially one that's not part of an established franchise, but it's not the end for Pitt's zombie film. 

"I think $120 million to $150 million here is a very possible goal for "World War Z," says Contrino. "It's a kind of movie that people really respond to. I think people are missing the comparison to 'I Am Legend,' another zombie movie that was extremely successful."

(Technically "I Am Legend" was a vampire movie, which is why Box Office Mojo doesn't list it in the same category as zombie-based "World War Z.")

Gomez's Starlight Entertainment is tracking the film to draw similar numbers to "I Am Legend," noting Brad Pitt's universal appeal should also help the film at the box office. 

"We don't think it will be a disaster, because Brad Pitt is a huge draw internationally and the film's spectacle and PG-13 rating will cross demos," Jeff Gomez, CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment tells Business Insider. "If the film doesn't gel from a narrative standpoint, or gets a negative response through social media on the first weekend in the States, we still see it doing comparable box office to "I Am Legend." 

Right now, BoxOffice.com is tracking the film to earn $40 million opening weekend and $105 million domestically.

"If this movie doesn't hit $100 million domestic, then it's in a lot of trouble. It needs to at least do that," says Contrino. "It would be a bad sign for overseas [earnings] as well. $100 million would be a definite disappointment for something like this."

He's not too worried about production troubles either.

"The trickle-down effect from that story [Vanity Fair] can be potentially harmful," says Contrino. "It's not the kind of publicity you want before you open a movie, but I think often too much is made over a movie going over budget and the release date being pushed back. That kind of stuff happens more often than you know about." 

One recent example to look at is "Men in Black III." Sony's third film in the franchise suffered from multiple delays, rewrites, and a demanding Will Smith who reportedly had a $9,000 per month trailer for the film. 

The film cost a whopping estimated $250 million to produce. Granted, "MIB3" was a sequel; however, it went on to become one of the most successful movies of 2012 scoring $624 million worldwide

"Just because those things happen to a movie, doesn't mean it's going to be a disaster," says Contrino. "If they [Paramount] already spent that much on the production side, they're not just going to sit back. Expect a huge marketing push to try and salvage some profitability." 

We still have more than a month until "World War Z" hits theaters June 14. 

For now, check out the latest trailer:

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