Geek News

Geek News on the Radio for December 18th, 2017

‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ has monster box office opening

“The Last Jedi,” the eighth installment in the “Star Wars” saga, premiered this weekend to the second-biggest opening ever in North America. It brought in an estimated $220 million, according to Disney. The Disney film’s opening is second only to its predecessor, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which opened to $248 million in December 2015. “The Last Jedi” also had the second-biggest Thursday night opening and the second-biggest opening day. Again, only “Force Awakens” has made more in those categories. The film has made $450 million around the world since opening overseas Wednesday. Those numbers are eye-popping because the film hasn’t opened yet in China, the world’s second-biggest film market. It will premiere there on January 5.

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Watch the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Star Wars director

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir didn’t miss out on the Star Wars excitement this weekend. After “Music and the Spoken Word” on Sunday, the choir sang “Happy Birthday” to Rian Johnson, the director of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” which hit theaters this weekend. Screenwriter Ted Griffin (“Ocean’s Eleven”) shared the moment from the LDS Conference Center with the Star Wars director via FaceTime. Griffin is married to Sutton Foster, who was the guest soloist for the choir’s Christmas concert and who performed during “Music and the Spoken Word.” Steve Kuykendall, who attending the Sunday broadcast, shared a video of the moment on Facebook.

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The Hidden Succession News in Rupert Murdoch’s Sale of Fox Entertainment to Disney

Rupert Murdoch’s sale of Twenty-first Century Fox’s mostly entertainment assets to Disney merits major news. It reveals Fox’s lack of size, or “scale,” in a business increasingly dominated by corporate behemoths. It confirms Disney’s lust to compete with Netflix. But there is something else: after years of speculation regarding which son will succeed Murdoch, the sale signals that Rupert has made a “Sophie’s Choice” among his sons Lachlan and James. This is partly “a story about succession,” a board member of one of Rupert Murdoch’s companies told me. “Rupert has put his chips on Lachlan.” The sale turns Fox into a company focused on news and sports, which are Lachlan’s great passions. Lachlan, forty-six, and James, forty-four, have vastly different interests and have never been close. Still, it has been unclear who would succeed Rupert as chairman.

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