Reuters Entertainment News Summary

07/25/2016 16:58

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Magic lights up Warner Bros' Comic-Con panel, superheroes reign

Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne brought the wizarding world of "Harry Potter" to real life briefly on Saturday, as he helped hand out wooden wands to the 6,500-plus audience at a Comic-Con panel and made everyone perform a spell. Redmayne, the lead actor of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," asked the audience to shout the incantation for the light-up spell "Lumos Maxima" to unveil a new trailer. "Fantastic Beasts," due out in November, is a spin-off from the magical "Harry Potter" universe created by J.K. Rowling.

Streaming activity helps keep Drake's 'Views' atop Billboard 200

Strong streaming activity helped keep Canadian R&B artist Drake at the top of the weekly U.S. Billboard 200 album chart on Monday for an 11th non-consecutive week. Drake's "Views" sold 16,000 albums, 156,000 songs and was streamed 85 million times across platforms such as Apple Music and Spotify, totaling 89,000 album units according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.

Pokemon Go gets big Comic-Con stage, creator talks success and future

The creator of the wildly popular Pokemon Go gaming app received the celebrity treatment on Sunday at the final day of San Diego's annual Comic-Con, as he discussed the viral popularity and future of the game. John Hanke, founder of Niantic Labs and developer of Pokemon Go, was welcomed with loud applause from more than 6,500 fans on a stage usually reserved for star-studded presentations from movie studios and TV networks.

Box Office: 'Star Trek Beyond' racks up solid $59.6 million, 'Lights Out' scores

"Star Trek Beyond" debuted to a solid $59.6 million this weekend, signaling that after six television series, 13 movies and 50 years in the pop culture conversation, there's still life left in one of Hollywood's most durable franchises. And there are more intergalactic missions to come. As boon to Trekkies, Paramount took the unusual step of announcing yet another sequel was in the works even before this latest USS Enterprise adventure sailed into theaters. The studio has lined up Chris Hemsworth to reprise his role as Capt. Kirk's father despite the fact that he was incinerated in a spaceship disaster in a previous film. In science-fiction, it seems, death is merely a temporary predicament.

Star Wars may propel U.S. toy industry to best year since '99: NPD

The Force is with the U.S. toy industry this year. Demand for Star Wars merchandise is set to propel toy sales growth to a 17 year-high, according to industry research firm The NPD Group.

Marvel serves star-studded surprises at Comic-Con for new film slate

Amid fog and lasers on Saturday, Marvel gave frenzied fans at Comic-Con their first look at a new Black Panther movie cast, the mysterious Doctor Strange, a Spider-Man teen movie and an Oscar-winning actress as the new Captain Marvel. The 6,500-plus audience, many of whom had queued overnight at San Diego's annual film and pop culture event, were introduced to the lead cast of the "Black Panther" movie, directed by "Creed" filmmaker Ryan Coogler.

Bolshoi Ballet marks 60th anniversary of landmark London visit

At the height of the Cold War, dancers from Russia's Bolshoi Ballet did their bit to thaw East-West relations, flying to London in 1956 to make their first performances for British audiences who had never seen anything quite like it. This week, they return to mark the 60th anniversary of an event that was a triumph of art over geopolitics in a year when Britain was rocked by the Suez crisis and the Soviet Union invaded Hungary.

Harry Potter's 'Cursed Child' story already a U.S. best-seller

Harry Potter is casting a spell, again, over the publishing industry Nine years after the publication of the seventh and last book in the best-selling boy wizard series, pre-orders for the script of a new, sold-out London play is the most pre-ordered book since 2007 in the United States, retail book sellers Barnes & Noble said on Monday.

07/25/2016 16:58