Hustlers earned Jennifer Lopez the best live-action opening of her career over the weekend, as the real-life stripper story beat expectations with a $33 million domestic debut. The film hit theaters just six days after it premiered to rave reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival, with audiences seeing eye-to-eye with the strong critical buzz coming out of TIFF.
The movie is based on a 2015 piece in The Cut called "The Hustlers at Scores" and follows a group of New York strippers who scammed their Wall Street clients in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Lopez plays Ramona, a fictional version of the operation's real-life ringleader, who takes Destiny, a younger dancer played by Constance Wu (Crazy Rich Asians), under her wing.
Lopez plays a supporting role to Wu's lead, but her performance is already the most acclaimed acting role of her 30-year career in the spotlight. What started as breathlessly-tweeted hosannas from critics at TIFF, now looks to be building towards an all-but-guaranteed Best Supporting Actress nomination for Lopez at next year's Oscars, thanks to popular consensus, impressive ticket sales, and an Academy-friendly pre-packaged comeback narrative.
Despite the encouraging numbers, Hustlers was only the second biggest movie of the weekend, coming in behind It: Chapter Two which made $40 million in its second week at the box office. But it still opened almost $30 million ahead of another prestigious adaptation: The Goldfinch.
The big-screen take on the 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel bombed in its debut, making just $2.6 million; good enough for the eighth spot on the weekend box-office rankings. Despite an A-list cast toplined by Nicole Kidman and Ansel Elgort, the movie failed to make a dent with audiences. A 25 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes probably did not help its theatrical performance, with the site's top critics using words like "lifeless," "mangled," and "dull" to describe the movie.
With most of the major festivals complete and Labor Day fading fast, this weekend marked the unofficial start to the Fall movie season, and dozens of other awards contenders are sure to follow from now until New Year's. But, we can already assume two clear takeaways about this year's race: Jennifer Lopez will compete for an Oscar in 2020. Nicole Kidman — probably not.
Perteet Spencer, Co-Founder of AYO Foods, joins ChedHER to discuss how the brand is bringing West African cuisine to the frozen food industry and building a grocery aisle her daughters can be proud of.
Crystal Etienne, Founder and CEO of period apparel company Ruby Love and Co-Founder of VC firm CaJE, joins ChedHER to discuss her experience bootstrapping her company to $10 million, and how she's creating a new era of venture capital and empowering Black women with 'soil' funding to start and grow their businesses.
E-commerce platform for construction and building materials RenoRun has raised $142 million in a Series B round, which the company says is the fourth largest Series B round in Canadian history. RenoRun’s platform offers same-day delivery of construction materials to job sites in Canada and the United States. The company aims to revolutionize the construction industry by maximizing productivity and efficiency. RenoRun co-founder and CEO Eamonn O’Rourke joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Like so many other cities, Miami experienced a tourism boom over the summer after vaccines were distributed. But, the Omicron variant has thrown the travel industry for a loop. David Whitaker, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, joined Cheddar to discuss the city as a tourist destination, and how it has handled headwinds from the pandemic.
Rockstar Energy, a subsidiary of Pepsico, unveiled its new beverage brand, Rockstar Unplugged, changing up the energy drink formula with hemp seed oil as an ingredient. PepsiCo Energy CMO Fabiola Torres joined Cheddar News to talk about how the product promotes “good vibes” and allows consumers to unwind and discuss partnering with "MTV Unplugged" for a concert series. "We couldn't find a better partnership that MTV," she said. "MTV Unplugged has been such an iconic proposition … and we believe that we're the right partners because the insight of our proposition for Rockstar Unplugged comes from music.
Eight months after the National Football League announced $1 million in research into cannabinoids, the NFL-NFLPA Joint Pain Management Committee has awarded the funding to two teams of medical researchers at the University of California San Diego and the University of Regina. The NFL says the studies will investigate the effects of cannabinoids on pain management and neuroprotection from concussion in elite football players, respectively. Cheddar correspondent Chloe Ailello spoke with Jeff Miller, the executive vice president of communications, public affairs, and policy for the NFL, about the studies, as well as the recent lawsuit filed against the NFL by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. "Maybe we can learn things from other alternative pain approaches that are going to benefit our player population and then sports medicine as a whole," Miller said.
Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, NJ and Ayana Morris, co-director of the documentary 'Why Is We Americans?,' join Cheddar News to discuss the new documentary highlighting the impact of the Baraka family.
Former New York City mayor and lawyer to Donald Trump Rudy Giuliani made his singing debut on a taping of Fox’s The Masked Singer. However, Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke, two judges on the competition show, reportedly left in protest when Giuliani was unmasked upon being eliminated.
All Hands celebrates Black History Month by highlighting achievements in inclusivity and paying homage to those who have fought for equal rights. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) joins Cheddar News to discuss voter suppression; Damali Peterman, CEO of Breakthrough ADR, elaborates on the biggest barriers for Black professionals; Andre Perry, senior fellow of Brookings Institution, dives into student loans and the racial wealth divide; and lastly, BET CEO Scott Mills discusses the company's initiatives for 2022.
