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When The Fast and the Furious first hit theaters, it was the year 2001, no one at Universal dared to think that the movie was franchise material. Yes, illegal street racing was an original and appealing concept, but how far could you push what even its producers considered a B-movie? On top of that, there were no major stars, the biggest names being Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster.

What happens when two comedians and a pair of divas walk into a spaceship? Well, if the ship happens to be made by the CGI maestros at DreamWorks, you end up with the biggest opening for animated film so far in 2015. Home, featuring the vocal talents of Jim Parsons, Steve Martin, Jennifer Lopez, and Rihanna topped the North American box office with a $54 million take in its domestic debut.

The HFPA got a peek under the hood of the massive operation that is a James Bond production, traveling to Mexico City, the location for the elaborate opening sequence of the upcoming Spectre. As is a 007 tradition, the intricate action scene which opens the movie takes place on the backdrop of an exotic festival, in this case a Day of the Dead parade and festival in the Zocalo, the capital city’s grand central square.

The HFPA got a peek under the hood of the massive operation that is a James Bond production, traveling to Mexico City, the location for the elaborate opening sequence of the upcoming Spectre. As is a 007 tradition, the intricate action scene which opens the movie takes place on the backdrop of an exotic festival, in this case a Day of the Dead parade and festival in the Zocalo, the capital city’s grand central square.

This weekend’s top new releases each reprised increasingly recycled genres with varying degrees of success. Insurgent, in which Shailene Woodley plays an exceptionally gifted teenager who is forced to take the weight of the world on her shoulders in order to save her dystopian society from further misery, opened in the United States to a comfortable $54 million.

As happens every March, there is no missing the fact that the film festival has come to town – Las Palmas, that is the capital city of the Canary Islands. The billboards are ubiquitous and the local newspapers follow every screening in the 10-day event with the same coverage that any Hollywood movie would get.

From New York to Nuremburg, Tallinn to Tianjin, Cuzco to Kuala Lumpur and throughout the towns and cities of 32 nations between them, Cinderella took center stage. Combined domestic and international revenues reached an outstanding $132.

In a slow weekend at the U. S.

Con-artist comedy Focus starring Will Smith finally managed to unseat Fifty Shades of Grey, though its $19. 2 opening is less then stellar for a film led by a star of Smith’s caliber.

A natural drop in last weekend’s spectacular numbers for Fifty Shades of Grey wasn’t unexpected, but the fall-off was steeper than expected: minus 73%.  Commentators are claiming that the film based on the erotic thriller by E.