The Mothership: ‘Moana’ and the year of the animated film
Is 2016 the year of the animated film?
According to Box Office Mojo, two of the top three movies in the U.S. based on gross domestic box office earnings are animated: Finding Dory is first and The Secret Life of Pets is third. And we have yet to factor in the Disney movie Moana, which hit theaters on during the week of Thanksgiving. Last weekend, it dominated the box office with $81 million.
So what gives? Is there something about this new wave of animated movies luring moviegoers? Is this a sign of a weak crop of movies in other genres? USA TODAY’s Kelly Lawler (@klawls) and Brett Molina (@brettmolina23) share our thoughts on Moana and why this year’s animated films are performing so well at box office.
In our Nerd Alert segment, we discuss the massive CW crossover event featuring Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.
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Taylor Swift is Forbes’ highest-paid musician of 2016 with $170M
Taylor Swift is 2016’s highest paid celebrity — and more specifically, the year’s highest-paid musician, Forbes revealed Wednesday.
Swift pulled in $170 million during the magazine’s scoring period of June 2015 to June 2016. Forbesrecognized the singer’s unsurpassed earning power earlier this year, announcing in July that Swift was their highest-earning celebrity of any stripe.
And now, we know Swift’s closest competition in the music realm. Not even the four members of One Direction could gross more than the singularly powerful Swift; the boy band, which currently on hiatus, came in second on the list with $110 million, thanks to the revenue from their recent On The Road Again Tour. Adele, came in third with $80.5 million, buoyed by her 2015 album 25 and subsequent tour.
Last year, the highest-paid musician title went to Swift’s archrival Katy Perry, who earned $135 million in 2015, compared to Swift’s then-payday of $80 million. In 2016, Perry earned $41 million.
Coming in fourth on the 2016 musicians list was Madonna ($76.5 million), earning revenue from her Rebel Heart Tour and perfume and clothing deals, with Rihanna in fifth ($75 million) thanks to endorsement deals with Dior, Puma, Samsung and other brands.
Where’s Beyoncé, you ask? While her Formation World Tour grossed nearly $5 million per city, most of its dates fell outside of Forbes’ scoring period. Nevertheless, she still landed at No. 17 with $54 million. Expect to see her towards the top of Forbes’ 2017 list.
Deeper on the list were rock names AC/DC (No. 7, $67.5 million), the Rolling Stones (No. 8, $66.5 million) and Bruce Springsteen (No. 11, $60.5 million).
In the realms of pop and hip hop, top earners included Diddy (No. 10, $62 million), Justin Bieber (No. 13, $56 million), The Weeknd (No. 15, $55 million), Jay Z (No. 18, $53.5 million) and Dr. Dre (No. 25, $41 million).
Meet Joanna Coles’ ‘So Cosmo’ crew
Working for a top women’s magazine is a dream come true … right?
With an exacting boss who is looking a lot like Miranda Priestly in an exclusive clip shared with USA TODAY, maybe not so much.
E!’s latest reality series – which we first learned about back in September – is set to premiere Feb. 8, with a special preview hitting screens Dec. 20. So who are the lucky Cosmo staffers trying to maintain their personal lives while pleasing Hearst’s chief content officer Joanna Coles?
Coles’ young crew includes brand coordinator Diandra Barnwell, senior fashion editor Tiffany Reid, bookings director Steven Brown, fitness contributor Evan Betts, fashion editor Adam Mansuroglu, senior fashion editor James Worthington Demolet and executive beauty director Leah Wyar.
E!’s So Cosmo: Preview Special airs Tuesday, Dec. 20, at 8pm ET/PT. The series premiere of So Cosmo airs Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 8pm ET/PT.
NFL players’ colorful shoes for ‘My Cause, My Cleats’
Gift guide: Crowdfunded travel products sure to please
Another holiday season is here and, as the number of available shopping days dwindles down to single digits, most of us will be scrambling to find something for that one person who is seemingly un-giftable. It doesn’t matter how many catalogs you flip through, how many aisles you browse or how many Cyber Monday sales you double-clicked, you still haven’t found the right gift. It’s especially hard to find something new or unique for the frequent travelers on your shopping list: We already have monogrammed passport covers and, honestly, who wants to unwrap a set of universal wall adapters? So instead of hastily buying a set of vacuum bags for your favorite frequent flier, check out some of this month’s coolest crowdfunded travel products here: http://usat.ly/2gWo0AU
