National Buzz

In a weekend where no new releases cracked the Top 10 and six movies maintained their exact spot in the rankings, you’d think there would be less news worth sharing. That isn’t quite the case. Sure, as sites like Box Office Mojo have noted, this is a historically bad Labor Day Weekend for movies in theaters, but it’s also a uniquely static weekend for releases, one that even required me to create a second chart just to capture all the data points. Let’s start as we always do, with the box office grosses as of Sunday afternoon:

Dave Hlubek, lead guitarist and co-founder of Southern rock icons Molly Hatchet, has died at the age of 66.

Steely Dan legend Walter Becker has died of unknown causes at the age of 67.

One of the underrated elements of the horror community is how many of them have the opportunity to meet their heroes. When famous actors and filmmakers die, they tend to be remembered at a distance on the quality of their work; when horror icons like George Romero or Wes Craven pass, however, people have first-hand accounts of meeting them at festivals and conventions. So as word spreads today about the death of legendary Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Tobe Hooper, you’ll hear more than a few first-hand accounts of what it was like to talk about the genre with Hooper. That’s the power of the horror community.

Welcome to Augusts, where overall weekend grosses can decline for three consecutive weekends  —  $122, $116, and $95 million, respectively  —  and a new action-comedy can be the surprise winner of the weekend. Audiences might still be interested in creepy dolls, but it was a hyper-violent buddy film about professional killers that took home the gold. Here’s the box office projections, as of Sunday afternoon:

Today the world of comedy lost one of its brightest stars. Jerry Lewis was no stranger to controversy during his decades-long career, but his impact on both Hollywood and comedy in general cannot be denied. From his early days as Dean Martin’s partner-in-crime to his career-capping turn in Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy  —  and countless box office success in the interim  —  Lewis’s impact on Hollywood will be a source of much discussion for years to come.

The total solar eclipse set to take place this Monday, August 21, is a rare, almost magical treat for anyone interested by what's up there in the sky and how it works. NASA has been preparing for the celestial event, and we wanted to share a few key pieces to help you better enjoy and understand what's about to happen.

White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is out of his job, according to multiple reports.

A van rammed into a group of people in a popular tourist area in Barcelona, Spain, injuring many and killing at least one person.

Emma Stone has come a long way from her La La Land character Mia’s humble barista origins: she’s now the highest-paid actress of this year, thanks mostly to last year’s Damien Chazelle film that rocketed her around the awards circuit last winter.