Entertainment News

Warner Bros. stopped launching Batman in Russia just days before it opened in theaters there as Hollywood moved to suspend plans to expand in the country following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Warner Bros., Walt Disney Co. and Sony Pictures said Monday they would “pause” the release of their films in Russia. Each studio has significant upcoming releases that were set to debut internationally in the coming weeks.

Batman, one of the most anticipated films of the year, launches on Friday in North America and many overseas territories, including Russia.

“In light of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, WarnerMedia has suspended the release of its feature film Batman in Russia,” a studio spokesman said in a statement.

“We will continue to monitor the situation as it develops. We hope for a speedy and peaceful resolution of this tragedy. “

The move by Warner Bros. closely followed a similar decision Monday by Walt Disney Co.

The studio planned to open the Pixar Turning Red film in Russia on March 10. This movie goes straight to Disney + in the US.

Warner Bros. was expected before Disney was announced. to continue with the Russian version of The Batman.

“Given the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the tragic humanitarian crisis, we are suspending the release of theatrical films in Russia, including Pixar’s forthcoming Turning Red,” a Disney spokesman said in a statement.

“We will make future business decisions based on the evolving situation. In the meantime, given the scale of the emerging refugee crisis, we are working with our NGO partners to provide emergency and other humanitarian assistance to refugees.

Late Monday, Hollywood shifted to confused plans in Russia as global pressure intensified to sever business ties with the country over the war in Ukraine. Western economic sanctions led to a sharp fall in the Russian ruble on Monday as many nations took steps to block Russian banks.

On Saturday, the Ukrainian Film Academy called for an international boycott of the Russian film industry.

The Film Association (MPA) said Monday that it “stands by the international community to uphold the rule of law and condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

“On behalf of our member companies, which run the film, television and streaming industries, we express our strongest support for the vibrant creative community of Ukraine, which, like all people, deserves to live and work in peace,” the statement said. MPA statement.

Russia is not the leading market for Hollywood, but the country usually ranks in the top dozen countries in the world in terms of box office.

Sony Spider-Man’s recent hit: No Way Home, which grossed $ 1.85 billion in worldwide ticket sales, grossed $ 46.7 million in Russia.

Sony’s latest release, Tom Holland adventure Uncharted, has grossed about $ 20 million in Russia in the last two weeks.

After Disney and Warner Bros. made their announcements, Sony followed suit.

“Given the ongoing hostilities in Ukraine and the resulting uncertainty and humanitarian crisis unfolding in the region, we will pause our planned theatrical performances in Russia, including the forthcoming edition of Morbius,” Sony said in a statement. of Spider- The opening of the men’s spinoff in early April.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been affected, and we hope that this crisis will be resolved quickly.

A screen shows the logo and ticker for The Walt Disney Company on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, USA, December 14, 2017. REUTERS / Brendan McDermid

February 28 – Hollywood studios Disney, Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures Entertainment said they would stop cinemas in upcoming films in Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine and the unfolding humanitarian crisis.

Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) said on Monday that it was pausing the release of theatrical films in Russia, starting with the upcoming edition of Pixar Animation Studios, “Turning Red”. Hours later, WarnerMedia said it would pause this week’s edition of Batman in Russia.

“We will make future business decisions based on the evolving situation,” a Disney statement said. “Meanwhile, given the scale of the emerging refugee crisis, we are working with our NGO partners to provide emergency and other humanitarian assistance.”

Given the ongoing hostilities in Ukraine, “we will pause our planned theatrical releases in Russia, including the upcoming edition of Morbius,” a spokesman for Sony Pictures Entertainment said in a statement.

Over the weekend, the Ukrainian Film Academy launched an online petition calling for an international boycott of Russian cinema and the Russian film industry after the invasion.

Russia is an important market for Hollywood, with $ 601 million at the box office in 2021, or about 2.8% of global ticket sales, which amounted to $ 21.4 billion last year, according to Comscore.

Several major films are scheduled for global release, “Batman”, which is scheduled for release in Russia on March 3 as part of the global release, and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” by Paramount Pictures, which makes its global debut on April 8. .

WarnerMedia said it would continue to monitor the situation as it awaits “a speedy and peaceful resolution of this tragedy.”

A Hollywood trade publication reported that the studio’s executives were struggling with the Russian issue as the United States and its European allies imposed economic sanctions.

“If the United States and its allies want to tear Russia apart from the rest of the world, then how are we going to go on and release our films there?” A studio manager told The Hollywood Reporter.

Report by Dawn Chmielewski; Additional reports by Shubhendu Deshmukh; Edited by Sandra Mahler, Sri Navaratnam and Subhranshu Sahu

Our standards: ‘ principles of trust.

Disney became the first major Hollywood studio to pause its release at the Russian box office in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Given the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the tragic humanitarian crisis, we are pausing the release of theatrical films in Russia, including the upcoming Turning red from Pixar, “said a spokesman for Walt Disney Co. in a statement. “We will make future business decisions based on the evolving situation. In the meantime, given the scale of the emerging refugee crisis, we are working with our NGO partners to provide emergency and other humanitarian assistance to refugees.

Turning red was scheduled to open on March 10 in Russia, which was fertile ground for the latest films about Hollywood events, including Sony films Spider-Man: No way home. The film has grossed more than $ 44.5 million to date in the country. Other upcoming Disney releases to be released in Russia include Dr. Strange in the multiverse of madness (May 5) and Light year (June 16).

After the initial publication of this story, WarnerMedia pulled The Batman since its upcoming release in Russia, while Hollywood studio executives are debating whether to download their upcoming films from Russia. Sony followed suit in the early hours of Monday night and said it would not release the film on Jared Leto Morbius in Russia at the end of March.

Over the weekend, a studio manager said THR“If the United States and its allies want to separate Russia from the rest of the world, then how will we continue to release our films there?” Another CEO added, “How can anyone advertise their films in state media right now in Russia?”

Other upcoming photos from the Hollywood event include Paramount’s The lost city and Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

Hollywood studios are likely to be affected by the European Union’s decision over the weekend to expel Russia from the global banking system SWIFT. Without SWIFT, studios may not be able to get money back from their Russian distribution partners.

On Monday night, the Film Association issued its first statement on the invasion. “The IPA supports the international community in upholding the rule of law and condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “On behalf of our member companies that run the film, television and streaming industries, we express our strongest support for the vibrant creative community in Ukraine, which, like all people, deserves to live and work in peace,” the statement said. .

Updated to note that The Batman’s Russia has been downloaded, as well as the MPA and Morbius statement.

(Editor’s note: The story was updated at 2:21 p.m. ET to reflect new information.)

Former UFC heavyweight champion Kane Velázquez was jailed on Monday after being involved in a shooting that injured one person.

NBC Bay Area, citing “sources with direct knowledge of the investigation”, first announced the news of Velazquez’s involvement in the shooting in Morgan Hill, California. The San Jose Police Department is investigating the shooting and did not provide details about Velazquez.

Although it is not clear how Velazquez was involved, online records show late Monday night that he was detained in the Santa Clara County Jail by the Department of Corrections without bail. No charges have been filed and the reason for his detention is unknown.

San Jose Police Media Relations Office tweets that the victim of the shooting was shot “at least once” near the intersection of Monterey Highway and Bailey Avenue. He was “transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.” One suspect has been detained, but his motive is unknown. The signal for the shooting was given at 15:14 local time, police said.

Velazquez, 39, is training at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, about 25 miles north of the shooting site. He was born in Salinas, about 40 miles south of Morgan Hill.

Velázquez has not competed in MMA since a 26-second knockout loss to current heavyweight champion Francis Nganu in February 2019. Since then, he has been wrestling professionally with the WWE, as well as in Mexico.

Although Velazquez is believed to be retired, AKA head coach Javier Mendes recently told MMA Junkie that “he has it if he wants it” regarding a potential return to MMA.

Velazquez was a two-time UFC heavyweight champion. Various injuries plagued him throughout his career.

Connected

The concept of the HBO show has changed over the years, from defining the genre to “prestigious dramas” such as The Sopranosto sharp / weird comedies like Restrain your enthusiasmto extremely expensive spectacles at the cinema level such as Game of Thronesbut although the attention attracted by the spectacles seemed to captivate everything else, a little show called Euphoria moves by truck, dominating the cultural conversation with its trivial stories with high stakes for teenagers, drugs, sex and Zendaya.

And now, from last season’s finale, Euphoria it is now HBO’s second most-watched show since 2004, the first Game of Thrones. This statistic comes from HBO itself (through Diversity), so there is no explanation for this thing “from 2004” (perhaps some medium-term Deadwood or Soprano the season was technically bigger, but HBO doesn’t want to lose good PR Euphoria?), but the point is this Euphoria is huge.

So huge Diversity says the ratings for the episode have risen “almost 100 percent” since the first season and reached a “high value for a new series” with the episode, which aired against the Super Bowl earlier this month. Who would have thought that there is not much crossover between the audience Euphoria and the Super Bowl?

It’s worth noting that it all comes from HBO, so it’s just pointless HBO propaganda (like when Netflix brags about how popular its original content is), but his decision to divulge that fact at least shows that HBO is very pleased. from Euphoria. Besides, speaking of nonsense, the show is “the most tweeted TV show of the decade (so far),” according to separate Diversity report.

If that was something that mattered, though, we’d all hear about … 9-1-1: Lone Star much more than we do now. (To this writing, this is one of the shows that is currently on trend on Twitter and what lends itself best to this kind of joke. WWE Raw and The bachelor not so funny, you know.)

If you are looking forward to see what it is Euphoria hype is around, the second season has just ended and it is already has been renewed for a third.

Action star Steven Seagal – who was banned from Ukraine for five years in 2017 after Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the actor a Russian passport – spoke about the Ukrainian conflict on Monday, saying he saw the two sides “as one family”.

“Most of us have friends and family in Russia and Ukraine,” the action star told Fox News Digital on Monday. “I see both as one family and I really believe that this is an external entity that spends huge sums of money on propaganda to provoke the two countries to be in conflict with each other.

“We pray that both sides will reach a positive, peaceful solution in which we can live and prosper together in peace,” the 69-year-old added.

The “Under Siege” star has been appointed special envoy for humanitarian relations with the United States by the Russian Foreign Ministry in 2018. The unpaid concert will facilitate relations between Russia and the United States in the humanitarian field, including cooperation in culture, arts, public and youth exchange, “the agency said.

In 2021, Seagal was officially introduced at a ceremony at the Proputin’s Just Russia-Patriots for the Truth political party.

He received Russian citizenship in 2016 and defended Russia’s leadership in annexing Crimea in 2014, calling Putin “one of the great living world leaders.”

Months after he received Russian citizenship and was personally presented with a passport from Putin, Ukraine considered the “Hard Killing” actor a threat to national security and banned him from entering the country for five years.

Seagal’s citizenship was to be a sign of improved US-Russian relations.

Both Seagal and Putin practice martial arts and have attended several events together during his visits to Russia.

Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine last week, wreaking havoc on the Eastern European nation.

Although the exact death toll is unclear, hundreds of civilians have been reported, including at least 16 children. Hundreds of thousands have already fled the violence in neighboring nations, sparking a huge refugee crisis in Europe.

Just a week ago, Edge showed up Monday night is harsh with an open challenge for anyone who wants to step up and make a new moment with him in WrestleMania 38 on April 2 and 3, 2022 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. There were a few phrases in his promotion that could be taken as jokes for everyone from Cody Rhodes to AJ Styles.

He returned this week to find out who would answer the call.

It was really phenomenal.

“I accept,” Stiles said.

“I’m glad I wanted this game for a long time,” Edge said.

“But I want the AJ bulldog – I don’t want the man who played a bitch on the Omos team last year.”

Fighting words!

Edge swung here in full force, hitting Stiles with a number of cheap punches, including a good old-fashioned kick to the nuts, and was booed at the end of the segment. This is thanks to not one, but TWO conchairtos.

The updated WrestleMania 38 match cards:

First night

• SmackDown Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Ronda Rosie
• Women’s Rough Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Bianca Bellar
• Miz and Logan Paul vs. Ray and Dominic Mysterio

Second night

• The winner takes all WWE / Universal Championship Unification: Brock Lesnar (c) against Roman Reigns (c)

Indefinitely

• Edge vs. AJ Styles
• Women’s Team Championship: Queen Zelina and Carmela vs. Sasha Banks and Naomi