The video game industry hit a four-year low in May, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
Video game sales apparently hit its lowest monthly U.S. profit since October 2006, totalling $743.1 million. That number may seem high, but it’s nothing compared to the $866.8 million of last year.
“A light slate of new releases is at the heart of this month’s performance,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. “As a result of a lighter release slate, promotional activity at retail and in circulars was reduced as well, which undoubtedly affected not only planned but impulse purchases.”
Frazier says it is unfair to base all results on figures, though, as an increasing amount of video game sales derive from online or downloadable exclusive content purchases.
This year’s top selling game was ‘L.A. Noire,’ a murder-mystery action game set in old L.A.
I agree with the analyst. Much of today’s market comes from the online world, so we have to factor in the sales from that. I don’t think video games are going anywhere anytime soon.
Candy Spelling, mother to actress Tori Spelling, has sold her expensive home to a 22-year-old, reports E Online.
The home, which is the most expensive home on the U.S. market, was put for sale two years ago by Spelling for $150 million. The 4.7 acre Holmby Hills home belonged to her and late husband, Aaron Spelling, the producer of 90210.
Now, the home is apparently being sold to a 22-year-old heiress of a British billionaire. Yes, she’s 22, and yes, that’s ridiculous.
Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone, the daughter of billionaire racing boss Bernie Ecclestone, is up for the pad – and it’s going to cost her. The place has its own gift-wrapping room, for heavens sake.
As for Spelling, she has downsized to a $35 million penthouse in Century City. Rough life.
Lady Gaga is the highest paid celebrity under 30, reports Reuters.
The 25-year-old pop phenomenon topped Forbes ‘Highest Paid Celebrities Under 30′ list this year, earning a whopping $90 million dollars.
In second place comes 17-year-old Justin Bieber, who earned $53 million, while 26-year-old Lebron James is in third with $48 million.
Other notable mentions include Taylor Swift at No. 5, with $45 million, and Beyonce at No. 8, with $35 million. Beyonce was number one last year, where she earned $87 million, but that was most likely because she was touring.
Those who didn’t make the top ten include Rihanna at No. 11 and Lil Wayne at No. 20.
See the full list below!
1. Lady Gaga, 25, who earned $90 million.
2. Justin Bieber, 17, who earned $53 million.
3. Miami Heat’s LeBron James, 26, who earned $48 million.
4. Tennis Star Roger Federer, 29, earned $47 million.
5. Taylor Swift, 21, earned $45 million.
6. Katy Perry, 26, $44 million.
7. Real Madrid soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, 26, earned $38 million.
8. Beyonce, 29, $35 million.
9. Barcelona soccer star Lionel Messi, 23, earned $32 million.
10. Tennis Star Rafael Nadal, 25, earned $31 million.
Lady Gaga claims she went bankrupt during her ‘Monster Ball’ world tour, reports CTV.
With her tour earning an estimated $125 million and sold out tickets being the norm at every show, one would think Gaga was racking in the dough, right? Wrong.
Despite the success of the tour, Gaga claims the production of the show, from her couture costumes to many backup dancers and set design, caused her to actually spend more money than she was earning.
She told the ‘Financial Times’ newspaper: “I put everything in the show, and I actually went bankrupt after the first extension of the ‘Monster Ball’. And it was funny because I didn’t know! And I remember I called everybody and said, ‘Why is everyone saying I have no money? This is ridiculous, I have five number one singles’ — and they said, ‘Well, you’re $3 million in debt.’ ”
That’s too funny, but props to her for not compromising on the integrity of her show. If Gaga wants something, she’ll get it.
Gaga does admit to spending her hard earned cash, though, but not on who you think. The ‘Born This Way’ hit maker claims the only real riches she’s spent is for her parents.
“The only big things I’ve purchased are my dad’s heart valve and a Rolls-Royce for my parents, for their anniversary. And that was only because my dad had a Lady Gaga licence plate on our old car and it was making me crazy because he was getting followed everywhere, so I bought him a new car.”
I would really love to meet her parents, I think that would be an interesting interview. I couldn’t even imagine saying ‘yep, Lady Gaga is my daughter.’ But if she bought me a Rolls-Royce, I’m sure that wouldn’t be too difficult.
‘The Hangover II’ dominated the box office this weekend with $86.5 million, reports Entertainment Weekly.
The film’s debut is the best weekend opening ever for a live-action comedy, beating ‘Austin Powers in Goldmember‘s’ $73.1 million debut. It’s also the second-best opening for an R-rated film, topping ‘The Passion of the Christ’ but falling short of ‘The Matrix Reloaded.’
By comparison, the original ‘Hangover’ made less than half that amount, making $59.2 million its first five days.
In second place was ‘Kung Fu Panda 2,’ with the animated martial-arts comedy grossing $48 million over the weekend. That’s a step down from the 2008 original, which debuted to $60.2 million.
In third place is ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,’ which dropped 56 percent for a weekend gross of $39.3 million.
‘Bridesmaids‘ slipped only 22 percent for $16.4 million, coming in at fourth, which is pretty impressive considering that the R-rated comedy had to compete with ‘The Hangover II.’ Action flick ‘Thor’ came in at fifth with $9.4 million.
I knew that the ‘Hangover’ sequel would do well, but I’m pretty satisfied that ‘Bridesmaids’ is still doing well too since the film actually deserves the success.
Reality star Bethenny Frankel is being sued for $100 million, reports TMZ.
Being the creator of the Skinnygirl margarita brand, Frankel has been sued for more than $100 million for allegedly cutting her former management company out of the biggest deal of her life.
Frankel’s former management company, Raw Talent, claims Bethenny signed with them back in 2008 with the hopes of maximizing the potential of her Skinnygirl cocktail line. And then dropped them when she began making big money.
According to the lawsuit, Raw Talent claims “[Bethenny] expressly represented that any agreement relating to the exploitation of the Skinnygirl Cocktail Brand would be commissionable under their management agreement.”
The company claims they hooked up Frankel with some powerful people in the liquor biz, only for Beth to then fire them days before she sold Skinnygirl for a reported $120 million.
Raw Talent claims they want their cut of the deal, $12 million, plus $100 million in punitive damages.
That’s some pretty shady business. I’m thinking that this was probably just a miscommunication in the contract or something, because I don’t think Frankel really needs the money that bad. $100 million in ‘damages’ seems an awful lot too, though. The company kind of seems shady as well, so who can we trust?
‘Harry Potter’ star Daniel Radcliffe is the richest actor under 30, reports CTV.
The actor, who recently finished filming his run of ‘Potter’ films, made £28.5 million ($45 million) in 2009-10, pushing his net worth to about £48 million ($75 million).
The 21-year-old is not the only ‘Harry Potter’ actor to appear in The Sunday Times Rich List of young people. Emma Watson comes in at 13 with earnings of £2 million, pushing her total up to £22 million, joint with Rupert Grint.
Radcliffe is now currently appearing in the Broadway musical ‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.’
Other stars who made the list include ‘Twilight’ star Robert Pattinson, who came in at number nine worth a total of £32 million, narrowly beating Keira Knightley, whose net work is £30 million – putting her at number 10.
Princes William and Harry came in one place after Keira thanks to their inheritance from their late mother Diana and land owning. Wow, the thought of royalty being worth less than a vampire in a really bad movie frightens me.
Here is The Sunday Times’ Rich Top 10 List of the 50 Richest Young People:
1. Thomas Persson, Fashion, £700 million
2. Robin Arora, Retail, £343 million
3. Fawn and India Rose James, Property, £302 million
4. Arthur Landon, Inheritance, £200 million
5. Daniel Radcliffe, Movies, £48 million
6. Lord Mostyn and Family, Land, £44 million
7. Sam Barnett, Internet, £40 million
8. Sean O’Connor, Property, £32 million
9. Robert Pattinson, Movies, £32 million
10. Keira Knightley, Movies, £30 million
‘Fast Five,’ the fifth installment of the ‘Fast and Furious’ movies, opened up this weekend with a whopping $83.6 million, reports the LA Times.
This is quite a surprise for a sequel film. The film marks the biggest opening weekend for any film this year by far, blowing away ‘Rio’s’ $39.2 debut last month. It’s also the best opening of any film in the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise, whose fourth film brought in $71 million on its premiere in 2009.
The other two new films that opened in wide release this weekend failed to compare in ticket sales. The cheesy teenfest ‘Prom’ only grossed a weak $5 million, meanwhile the animated sequel “Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil” opened with a soft $4.1 million, far less than the original.
‘Fast Five’ has helped pushed the box office out of its slump as well, with ticket sales up 52% this weekend as compared with the same weekend last year.
The studio spent at least $170 million to produce the movie, according to three people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to discuss the film’s budget. A Universal spokeswoman said the actual cost was $125 million.
The studio made a number of changes to the “Fast” franchise with this film, switching its genre from a pure underground-racing movie to a heist film. Guess it paid off. The movie reunites stars from all four ‘Fast’ movies, including Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, and introduces newcomer Dwayne Johnson. ‘Fast Five’ also has a different international setting, taking place in Rio de Janeiro.
The movie also did well overseas too, opening in 14 foreign markets this weekend and collecting $45.3 million, bringing its international tally to $81.4 million. The film took the No. 1 spot in 10 countries.
Those who saw the film loved it, giving it an average grade of A, according to market research firm CinemaScore.
I honestly thought everyone was over this film, but apparently not, so expect many sequels to come. I stopped watching after the second.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Jersey Shore’s” The Situation is making millions of dollars. It is estimated that he will make $5 Million Dollars this year.
How does he do it? Well the man is diversified, that’s for sure. Here is how The Situation is making the big money:
- $60,000 per episode for “Jersey Shore”
- Roughly $1 Million in appearance fees
- Developing several products, including an “abcentric” workout video
- A six figure deal to promote a new vodka line
- Other endorsement deals
- Released a rap song on iTunes
Yes it’s somewhat sad this guy can make this kind of dough, but could be worse. Imagine if it was Snooki making this money? Then we would all jump off a cliff.
Ke$ha’s former management company is claiming she owes them millions of dollars from her hit album. Ke$ha has fired back saying she doesn’t owe a dime because she fired the company in 2008.
TMZ reports DAS Communications managed the singer in 2008, and they have filed a lawsuit against Ke$ha for $14 Million. Ke$ha has fired back and filed for the lawsuit to be thrown out of court, saying she was in her legal rights to fire the firm.
A source close to Ke$ha says this event is “a sad cynical attempt by a manager trying to profit off his former client’s recent successes.”
