Harry Potter has conjured up a tidy sum from the first overseas debuts of his final film on its way to a potentially record-shattering opening weekend.
Distributor Warner Bros. says “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ took in $43.6 million in 26 countries outside the United States on its first day Wednesday.
Studio executives said Thursday the franchise finale had the biggest opening day ever in several countries, including Australia with $7.5 million, Italy with $4.6 million and Sweden with $2.1 million. In France, the studio said “Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ had the biggest Wednesday opening ever at $7.1 million.
In the countries where the film opened Wednesday, total revenues were 82 percent higher than they were on the first day for “Deathly Hallows: Part 1″ last November, according to Warner Bros.
The finale got a boost from the franchise’s first 3-D installment.
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Harry Potter, Overseas
Beyonce showed her generosity to fans on Thursday by ordering pizza for hundreds of devotees waiting to attend a special TV concert taping in London.
The Halo hit-maker is filming the second half of A Night With Beyonce for U.K. network ITV and fans began lining up outside the secret location early on Thursday morning, hours before showtime, to ensure they got prime seats.
Beyonce decided to reward their loyalty with a tasty treat – ordering 200 pizzas to feed the large crowd. Venue staff also gave out bottles of water to an estimated 500 fans.
The superstar began taping the hour-long TV special on Wednesday, performing hits such as Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It), Crazy In Love and Irreplaceable, as well as songs from her new album 4.
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Pizza
KATE Hudson and rocker fiance Matthew have Bellamy revealed they have named their newborn son Bingham Bing Hawn Bellamy.
Hudson, 32, welcomed her second child – and her first baby with the British rocker – on Saturday but sources close to the actress said she was struggling to decide on the perfect name for the boy.
But Bellamy tweeted to fans yesterday: “So happy! Just had a baby boy, Bingham “Bing” Hawn Bellamy.”
“For those wondering, Bingham is my mum’s maiden name and Bing Russell was Kurt’s dad. Family connections all round!” the 33-year-old Muse frontman explained.
“Mum and baby are strong and healthy. Mum was a warrior, Bing popped out after 4.5 hours of intense pushing!” the proud father added about the baby that weighed in at 3.2kg.
He joins big brother Ryder Russell, Hudson’s 7-year-old son with ex-husband Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes.
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Son
There is a stereotype about the classical music form known as minimalism, and it is best summed up in a joke about one of the genre’s most famous composers:
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Philip Glass.
If there were “knock, knock” jokes in 19th century Austria, the same riff might have been made about Anton Bruckner. Bruckner’s critics and many concertgoers at the time were turned off by the use of repetition in his symphonies, in addition to the breadth and length of those works. But when Franz Welser-Möst hears the repeated motives and rhythms, and the sweeping moods and textures of Bruckner’s symphonic creations, he finds the roots of a dominant style of concert music in the last few decades.
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Big Troubles at Webster Hall in May
Lo-fi indie poppers Big Troubles recently signed to Slumberland, who will release their sophomore LP Romantic Comedy on September 27. With the help of Mitch Easter, who worked on the first two R.E.M. albums and Pavement’s Brighten the Corners, the band remarkably cleaned up their sound from their scratchy debut. Mitch’s style suits the band well, whose new single “Misery” is the perfect soundtrack to a ’90s backyard keg party. Don’t let the somber track title fool you either. “Misery” is a lighthearted alt-rocker with frontman Alex Craig repeatedly insisting “I just wanna have some fun.” Grab the MP3 above and check out the artwork and tracklist below.
Big Troubles will go on a tour in support of the album this fall with their Slumberland label-mates The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.
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Big Troubles, Troubles