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"Spider-Man -- Across the Spider-Verse" earned 120-and-a-half-million-dollars in its first weekend in theaters across the U.S. and Canada. The latest installment in the Spidey franchise scored the second-biggest opening of this year behind only "The Super Mario Brothers Movie". In second place is "The Little Mermaid" with nearly 41-million-bucks followed by the horror movie "The Boogeyman" with just over 12-million-dollars.
The honors continue today for a Florida teenager who's pretty good at spelling. 14-year-old Dev Shah of Pinellas County won the Scripps National Spelling Bee last week, and this afternoon, he'll ring the closing bell at the NASDAQ stock exchange. Shah already toured the White House and was on the Today show, but he says he never got into spelling bees for the attention. He says he just did it because he liked it.
https://www.today.com/video/meet-the-2023-winner-of-the-scripps-national-spelling-bee-179362885760
Las Vegas has opened its first cannabis-friendly hotel. "The Lexi Hotel," close to the Strip, is a first for Sin City. Developers say the 64-room property is the only cannabis-inclusive property in town. The Lexi will feature guest rooms and suites with the entire fourth floor designated for those who enjoy smoking weed. According to the hotel CEO, that floor has a new air filtration system.
Billy Joel is moving out: he's ending his residency at Madison Square Garden after more than a decade. The Long Island native says his last show, set for July of 2024, will be his 150th performance at the Garden. The Piano Man has sold more than one-point-six-million tickets in that time. Since 1978, Joel has set records for the most lifetime performances by an artist at MSG, along with the most consecutive performances. The first of his final ten concerts at the Garden will take place October 20th.
The 'Barbie' movie is causing a pink emergency. In a recent interview, director Greta Gerwig explained in an effort to create the world of Barbieland, set designers needed so much pink paint they caused an international shortage. Warner Bros completely bought out the signature Barbie pink color from the major paint distrubutor Rosco. A spokesperson for the paint company said "we gave them everything we could" but Warner Bros completely cleaned them out. Fans can immerse themselves in the colorful world of 'Barbie' at theaters on July 21st.
https://variety.com/2023/film/news/barbie-movie-dreamhouse-pink-paint-shortage-1235632222/