Recall issued for 38,000 GM vehicles in Canada over software safety glitch
Transport Canada has issued a recall for 38,000 General Motors (GM) vehicles for safety risks related to a software glitch, the agency reported in a notice on Wednesday.
The Walt Disney Co.'s "Wish" had been expected to rule the Thanksgiving weekend box office, but moviegoers instead feasted on leftovers, as "The Hunger Games: Songbirds and Snakes" led ticket sales for the second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Neither of the weekend's top new releases -- "Wish" and Ridley Scott's "Napoleon" -- could keep up with Lionsgate's "Hunger Games" prequel. After debuting the previous weekend with US$44.6 million, the return to Panem proved the top draw for holiday moviegoers, grossing US$28.8 million over the weekend and US$42 million over the five-day holiday frame.
In two weeks of release, "Songbirds and Snakes" has grossed nearly US$100 million domestically and US$200 million globally.
The closer contest was for second place, where "Napoleon" narrowly outmaneuvered "Wish." Scott's epic outperformed expectations to take US$32.5 million over the five-day weekend and an estimated US$20.4 million Friday through Sunday. The film, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the French emperor and Vanessa Kirby as his wife Josephine de Beauharnais, was also the top movie globally with US$78.8 million.
Reviews were mixed (61% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and ticket buyers were non-plussed (a "B-" CinemaScore), but "Napoleon" fared far better in theaters than its subject did at Waterloo.
"Napoleon," like Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon," is a big-budget statement by Apple Studios of the streamer's swelling Hollywood ambitions. With an estimated budget of US$200 million, "Napoleon" may still have a long road to reach profitability for Apple (which partnered with Sony to distribute "Napoleon" theatrically), but it's an undeniably strong beginning for an adult-skewing 168-minute historical drama.
"Wish," however, had been supposed to have a more starry-eyed start. Disney Animation releases like "Frozen II" (US$123.7 million over five days in 2019), "Ralph Breaks the Internet" (US$84.6 million in 2018) and "Coco" (US$71 million in 2017), have often owned Thanksgiving moviegoing.
But "Wish" wobbled, coming in with US$31.7 million over five days and US$19.5 million Friday through Sunday.
"Wish," at least, is faring better than Disney's Thanksgiving release last year: 2022's "Strange World" bombed with a five-day US$18.9 million opening. But hopes had been higher for "Wish," co-written and co-directed by the "Frozen" team of Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee and featuring the voices of Ariana DeBose and Chris Pine. "Wish," a fairy tale centered around a wished-upon star, is also a celebration of Disney, itself, timed to the studio's 100th anniversary and rife with callbacks to Disney favorites.
But instead of righting an up-and-down year for Disney, "Wish" is, for now, adding to some of the studio's recent headaches, including the underperforming "The Marvels." The Marvel sequel has limped to US$76.9 million domestically and US$110.2 million overseas in three weeks.
Still, the storybook isn't written yet on "Wish." It could follow the lead of Pixar's "Elemental," which launched with a lukewarm US$29.6 million in June but found its legs, ultimately grossing nearly US$500 million worldwide.
"Wish" also faced direct competition for families in "Trolls Band Together." The DreamWorks and Universal Pictures release opened a week prior, and took in US$17.5 million in its second frame (US$25.3 million over five days).
Also entering wide-release over the holiday weekend was Emerald Fennell's "Saltburn," the writer-director's follow-up to 2020's "Promising Young Woman." After debuting in seven packed theaters last weekend, "Saltburn" grossed about US$3 million over five days for Amazon and MGM. Barry Keoghan stars as an Oxford student befriended by a rich classmate (Jacob Elordi) and invited to his family's country manor.
Transport Canada has issued a recall for 38,000 General Motors (GM) vehicles for safety risks related to a software glitch, the agency reported in a notice on Wednesday.
About 10 senior Hezbollah commanders were killed along with Ibrahim Aqil, leader of the movement's Radwan special forces unit who was attacked in an Israeli air strike in Beirut on Friday, Israel's military spokesperson said.
An 11-year-old boy died Monday after subway surfing in New York City. He's the fourth person to die from subway surfing in the city this year.
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
Communication breakdowns with local law enforcement hampered the Secret Service's performance ahead of a July assassination attempt on former U.S. president Donald Trump, according to a new report that lays out a litany of missed opportunities to stop a gunman who opened fire from an unsecured roof.
An Ontario man says he’s still waiting for a vehicle he purchased on Kijiji to be delivered to his home. But after more than a month, he says he’s losing hope that the car will arrive and believes that he is a victim of a scam.
An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.
Israel’s military has struck the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, in a dramatic escalation in a year-long period of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.
A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.
David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.
Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.