That Media Hut: May 5, 2012

Saturday, May 5, 2012

"The Avengers" Has 2nd Biggest Friday Open Of All Time

Who's that? The second best film to open on a Friday.

As if we didn't already see this coming.

The superhero flick The Avengers enjoyed the second-largest opening day ever on Friday, pulling in $80.5 million, which trails only Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which made $91.1 million on its first day. If all goes well, however, Disney’s comic-book adaptation may have another way to demonstrate that the film is the antithesis of John Carter: by beating the $169.2 million opening-weekend record set by the Potter movie.

The Avengers features Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson among its cast of do-gooders who team up to fight a villain intent on enslaving humanity. Duh.

[Entertainment Weekly]

BC Hang-Gliding Pilot Granted Bail, Memory Card Recovered ‎

A Vancouver man named William Jonathan Orders was charged with obstruction of justice after swallowing the memory card from a video camera that was on when a woman fell to her death at his hang-gliding business last week.

Lenami Godinez-Avila fell 300 meters off Mount Woodside in the Fraser Valley while on a tandem flight with Orders, after her rigging became detached from the glider. Orders's rigging was secure and Godinez tried to hang on to his feet, but she lost her grip, bringing one of Orders's shoes down with her.

Orders offers his hang-gliding customers the option to purchase a video recording of their flights with him, something he captures using a specially mounted camera pole, as advertised on his website. After the accident, Orders removed the camera's memory card and swallowed it whole, seemingly desperate to prevent investigators from finding out what truly went wrong on that fatal flight.

Earlier this week, x-rays were done to track the evidence's "progress" in Orders's GI tract, and now police have confirmed the memory card has been successfully recovered. There is not yet any word on what, if anything, is shown on the video of the fall. Nor have they chosen to discuss the "nature" of the, ahem... "retrieval."

[Vancouver Sun - Image via Jiri Hera/Shutterstock]

Alex Trebek Considering Retirement After 28 Years

Sorry ... What is Jeopardy! without Alex Trebek?

The face and voice of the popular game show may be considering retirement after 28 years, according to the New York Post. The newspaper said that the 71-year-old Trebek told interviewers he was considering it, but may hang in for two more years so that he can say he hosted for 30 years.

The Post reports that Trebek said: “A lot of people have been telling me, ‘Alex, you’ve got to go for at least 30. You’ve just done 28. Now at least do two more.’ So that has a nice ring to it. Put in your 30. And go help people.”

[NY Post]

Media Hut Roundup (Apr 30-May 4)

Box Office

Before even debuting in America, 'The Avengers' has already broke box office records [Hollywood Reporter]
Sony is not totally sold on "The Amazing Spiderman" [Uproxx]
A new trailer for "The Dark Knight Rises" was released [YouTube]
Transformers director is in the process of a Treasure Island prequel [Deadline]
Francis Lawrence has been confirmed for The Hunger Games sequel [Entertainment Weekly]
The movie "Neighborhood Watch" due out later this year with Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn now officially goes by "The Watch" [E!]

Entertainment

Kim Kardashian says she wants to star in her own sitcom [NY Post]
Rapper Jay-Z says he's launching a Facebook game [Forbes]
Rihanna landed a role in 'Fast And Furious' sequel [NME]
The late Michael Jackson reportedly had an affair with Whitney Houston [Radar]
The Artist's Uggie (the dog) is getting a book deal [The Week]
Jessica Simpson welcomed a baby girl into the world [E!]
Jonas Brothers are splitting from their record label [Billboard]
Pepsi is resurrecting the "King of Pop" Michael Jackson for their new ad campaign [E!]
Mick Jagger is set to host the season finale of Saturday Night Live on May 19 [Hollywood Reporter]
Former Mrs. Kutcher, Demi Moore has changed her Twitter handle to "@justdemi" [E!]
Looks like The Bachelor host Chris Harrison is indeed himself, a bachelor [People]

News

An Australian billionaire wants to build a Titanic replica [SMH]
Conrad Black is returning to Canada on a temporary permit [CBC]
The Greater Toronto Area could be getting a 2nd hockey team after having plans to build an arena approved [The Star]
A Montreal cab driver was caught on video running over pedestrians. He has since been released on bail [Montreal Gazette]
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich announced the suspension of his campaign [The Star]
NFL superstar Junior Seau was found dead in his California home, ruled as an apparent suicide [USA Today]

Other

Torrent site The Pirate Bay is set to be blocked in the U.K. [BBC]
Canada's next bachelor is a CFL free agent [Huffington Post]
Duran Duran will headline the opening ceremonies at the 2012 Olympics in London this summer [Death & Taxes]
Canadian business writer Malcolm Gladwell is predicting the demise of college football [Slate]
Three allegedly clueless grandmas became an Internet sensation this week, but they’ve been around for quite some time [Crushable]
A look inside Vancouver’s supervised drug injection centre, the only one of its kind in North America [AWL]
A 104-year-old woman reclaims the title of world’s oldest paraglider [YouTube]
Meet the UC Berkeley freshman who’s managed to completely automate his dorm room [Gizmodo]
Is this truly the most offensive picture on the internet? [Unreality]
Facebook is set to go public on May 18 [The Star]
CBC has announced it will not be renewing "Wheel Of Fortune" or "Jeopardy" [The Star]
Amazon is planning to launch original TV programming [Flavorwave]
Playboy has deemed the Ferrari 250 GTO the greatest car of all time [Business Insider]
The guy who invented email sits for an interview upon his induction into the Internet Hall of Fame [The Verge]
Edvard Munch's "The Scream" sold at auction for a whopping $19.9M, becoming most expensive painting to be sold at auction [LA Times]
The Comedy Network/Adult Swim will launch in Canada on July 4 [Digital Journal]

Sports

42-year-old Yankees closer Mariano Rivera tore his ACL Thursday, likely ending his career [NY Times]

Video: Coldplay Pays Tribute To Adam Yauch

Beastie Boy Adam Yauch died Friday after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 47. Words can’t describe how incredibly sad this news is. So let’s not use words. Instead check out this video from the Hollywood Bowl Friday night with Coldplay paying tribute with a piano-led version of (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party). I don’t even much like Coldplay but this is so beautiful. They should release this to pay homage to Yauch.

[YouTube]

Video: Cat Washing Dishes

Most cats are adverse to unnecessary water contact, but this dishwasher cat can’t get enough and loves to help with the dishes after dinner! If only I could get my cat to do that.

[YouTube]

Video: Surprise Concert From Copenhagen Orchestra On Subway

A flashmob invaded a Copenhagen, Denmark Metro train last month, but in this case, the flashmob was the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra.

They treated unsuspecting commuters to a performance of Grieg’s “Peer Gynt,” and creative agency Makropol captured the whole thing on video.

Right about now, a few people on that train are probably wishing they had taken their earbuds out.

[22 Words]