Cinegoers make date with disaster film "2012"

Monday, November 16, 2009 LOS ANGELES: Disaster swept the world during the weekend as the apocalyptic movie "2012" registered the biggest opening for a non-franchise movie.The latest calamity epic from "Independence Day" director Roland Emmerich sold $225 million worth of tickets globally, distributor Columbia Pictures said on Sunday.Moviegoers in the United States and Canada chipped in $65 million, at the high end of bullish industry forecasts.The foreign tally of $160 million came from 105 countries, led by France with $17.2 million, Russia with $15.3 million and Emmerich's native Germany with $12.4 million. It opens in Japan next weekend.Columbia, a unit of Sony Corp, said "2012" recorded the highest worldwide opening ever for an original film not based on an established franchise, brand or best-selling novel.In overall worldwide terms, it ranks at No. 9, behind pictures from such franchises as "Harry Potter," "Spider-Man" and "Star Wars," as well as the adaptation of "The Da Vinci Code." The record of $394 million was set in July by "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.""2012," which cost about $200 million to make, uses the Mayan calendar and other end-of-days prophecies to depict the world's demise courtesy of a solar meltdown. Critics were predictably skeptical.The studio had been hoping for a worldwide opening in the $150 million range, said Rory Bruer, Columbia's president of worldwide distribution.

Comments

India's swine flu death rate is increasing

Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in

Cuba's world-famous cigar festival closes in Havana

Sunday, February 28, 2010 HAVANA: Hundreds of wealthy merchants and cigar aficionados from all parts of the world gathered in Havana this week to bid high stakes for humidors full of premium cigars. Cuba's annual Habanos festival ended on Friday night with an auction of ornate humidors of cedar and mahogany stacked with hand-rolled stogies that raised 800,000 euros ($1.09 million dollars). Habanos S.A. executives this month said cigar sales fell 8 percent to $360 million in 2009, so they have created the Julieta, a smaller, milder version of the Romeo y Julieta cigar, aimed specifically at female smokers. Women now make up only 5 to 10 percent of customers for Habanos. But even with the creation of the Julieta, Garcia said Habanos has only modest hopes for 2010 sales, due largely to a weak economy in Spain, the biggest market for Cuban cigars. The flavor of premium tobacco relies on the soil and climate in which it is grown. The western province of Pinar Del Rio, famous fo

Cyprus lace to be declared UNESCO cultural heritage

Tuesday, September 08, 2009 NICOSIA: Traditional hand-made lace produced in the Larnaca district village of Lefkara in Cyprus known as lefkaritiko includeded in UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). Soseilos said that the relevant UNESCO committee has already decided to include lefkaritiko in its list of the world’s ICH, a more recent addition to UNESCO’s long-standing list of World Heritage sites, and the decision will be formally announced at the UNESCO General Assembly next month. The tradition of needlework and lace embroidery in Lefkara goes back centuries.

ONE NEWS

Search This Blog