'Oz' again sweeps box office
LOS ANGELES, March 17 (UPI) -- "Oz The Great and Powerful," starring James Franco and Mila Kunis, swept the box office for the second weekend with $42.222 million in receipts.
"The Call," starring Halle Berry and Abigail Breslin, was a distant second with $17.1 million.
All studio estimates of North American gross receipts are via Box Office Mojo.
"The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" was third with $10.305 million; "Jack the Giant Slayer" fourth with $6.22 million; "Identity Thief" fifth with $4.519 million; "Snitch" sixth with $3.5 million.
"21 and Over" seventh with $2.619 million; "Silver Linings Playbook" eighth with $2.587 million; "Safe Haven" ninth with $2.495 million.
"Escape From Planet Earth" was 10th with $2.327 million.
Bon Jovi sells 30,000 tickets in 4 hours
MADRID, March 17 (UPI) -- Just hours after tickets went on sale for a concert by New Jersey rock band Bon Jovi in Madrid, more than 30,000 tickets had been sold, officials said.
The show isn't until June 27, but 30,000 fans of the group bought their tickets within four hours of them going on sale Saturday, thinkSPAIN reported.
Ticket prices range between $23.50 and $50.91, because the band said it wanted as many fans to be able to afford the show at the Vicente Calderon stadium as possible.
The stop in Madrid is part of Bon Jovi's tour promoting their new album "What About Now," which features the hit single "Because We Can."
Prince, Timberlake close out SXSW
AUSTIN, Texas, March 17 (UPI) -- Thousands lined up to try to attend performances by Prince and Justin Timberlake at smaller venues on the final night of SXSW in Austin, Texas.
Prince performed Saturday evening before 250 contest winners at La Zona Rosa while thousands lined up outside, KTBC-TV, Austin, reported.
Aaron Defoore, who runs security at the venue, told KVUE-TV, Austin, described Prince as "high maintenance."
"A feng shui specialist came in to design his greenroom. The stage is just absolutely fabulous. We've been working all day and all night just to get it set up," he said, adding that security was tight at the venue.
"I expect a thousand people trying to squeeze through that door at the same time," Defoore said. "I hear a lot of stories, a lot of excuses, a lot of badges a lot of wristbands but we're just trying to sift through the people that belong and the people who don't."
Meanwhile, Timberlake performed at The Copper Tank Event Center Saturday night. Ten thousand fans signed up for the new Myspace in order to win tickets, KVUE reported. A large crowd of people without tickets gathered outside the venue with the hopes of getting in.
"We figured we would hang out and maybe someone would feel sorry for us and let us in. We really want to go in but it's such a small place we're not sure how successful we'll be," said Timberlake Fan Kimberly Hart.
SXSW, or South-by-Southwest, is a festival in Austin that sees musicians, authors, indie movie makers and others gather for a series of concerts, lectures and film screenings.
Tyler Perry holds party after screening
ATLANTA, March 17 (UPI) -- Tyler Perry invited Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and a host of other celebrities to his Atlanta home for a party after a screening of his latest film.
The stars of "Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor," including Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Lance Gross, Ella Joyce and Renee Taylor, attended the red-carpet screening of the film Saturday night, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Perry, writer and director of the film, held a party at his 30,000-square-foot French provincial mansion after the screening, inviting actors, musicians and even politicians Georgia Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.
Perry appeared to address the state's lawmakers in an address made directly before the film screening.
"I am committed to making sure these tax credits become permanent in the state of Georgia," he said, referring to the state's tax policy favoring the film industry.
"I want to tell you guys how much I love and appreciate all your hard work," Perry said at the screening. "I want to say thank you."
