'The Avengers' racks up record $200M
LOS ANGELES, May 6 (UPI) -- "Marvel's The Avengers," starring Robert Downey Jr. and an ensemble cast, took in a record $200.3 million at the U.S. box office during the weekend.
The adventure hero epic blasted through all previous records, with "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" at No. 2 with $169.18 million; "The Dark Knight" at No. 3 with $158.41 million and "The Hunger Games" at No. 4 with $152.53 million.
All studio estimates of gross U.S. box office receipts are via Box Office Mojo.
"Think Like a Man" was a distant No. 2 for the weekend with $8 million in its third week; "The Hunger Games" was third with $5.7 million; "The Lucky One" fourth with $5.51 million; "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" fifth with $5.4 million; "The Five-Year Engagement" sixth with $5.1 million; "The Raven" seventh with $2.5 million; "Safe (2012)" eighth with $2.47 million; "Chimpanzee" ninth with $2.39 million.
'Hunger Games' to hit China in June
HOLLYWOOD, May 6 (UPI) -- China has given the green light for the premiere of the U.S. blockbuster "The Hunger Games" this summer, the film's distributor said this weekend.
Lionsgate said the pending June release in China will be the first under a new revenue-sharing agreement that will enable Western distributors to pocket up to 25 percent of a film's Chinese box office receipts.
Lionsgate executive said in a written statement that "The Hunger Games" had the potential to repeat the huge business it did after its North American release, which has totaled $380 million so far.
"China is already one of the leading territories at the international box office, and the launch of 'The Hunger Games' in this key market is another sign of the franchise's continuing emergence as a truly global phenomenon," said Patrick Wachsberger and Rob Friedman, co-chairmen of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group.
Bieber's new video sets YouTube record
LOS ANGELES, May 6 (UPI) -- Singer Justin Bieber's new music video set a YouTube record by logging more than 8 million views worldwide within 24 hours of being placed online.
Bieber fans mounted a campaign on Twitter to make the video for "Boyfriend" the most popular video ever posted on YouTube, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
As of Sunday, "Boyfriend," which features Bieber at a roof-top gathering and has drawn comparisons to NSYNC's 2002 hit video for "Girlfriend," had 13,197,967 views.
Studio manager disappears in LA Valley
CALABASSAS, Calif., May 6 (UPI) -- Los Angeles County authorities have asked for the public's help in locating a movie company executive who disappeared nearly a week ago.
Gavin Smith, 57, who works for 20th Century Fox, was last seen Tuesday night near his home in the community of Oak Park.
"He did not pick up his son Wednesday morning to take him to school, and that is a concern for me," Smith's sister, Tara Addeo, told KABC-TV, Los Angeles. She called her brother a responsible parent who would not simply abandon his family.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department began an investigation late last week and asked the public to be on the lookout for Smith and his white 2000 Mercedes 420E.
The Hollywood Reporter said Smith worked at Fox's office in Calabasas on the northern end of the San Fernando Valley where he managed Fox theaters in Dallas and Oklahoma City. He lived in Oak Park with his family.
There was no word on any domestic problems or indication of foul play in the case, but Smith's wife and co-workers were concerned enough to report him missing.
"We are very concerned about Gavin," Fox Distribution President Chris Aronson told The Hollywood Reporter. "We are actively doing what we can to assist the LA Sheriff's Department."
