Mu Ali

Krull (1983) Japanese Poster 🇯🇵

Fair play to Uefa who are expected to keep Euro 2028 ticket prices similar to Euro 2024. Cheapest tickets below £30. 40% of all tickets (1.2m) below £60. To subsidise these tickets and make up inflation shortfall, Uefa introducing a new tier 1+ category.

Pepsi paid $2 billion for the rights to market the Star Wars prequels. They went all-in on this first film. The toys ended up making more money than the tickets. All of it was built on a poster with no actors, no plot, and not even the movie's full name. On November 10, 1998, an ad agency called New Wave Creative, working with two Lucasfilm employees, Ellen Lee and Jim Ward, put this image into theaters. It just said "Star Wars Episode I" at the bottom. No subtitle. A kid walking in the desert casting Darth Vader's shadow. Star Wars hadn't released a new film since Return of the Jedi in 1983. This one image had to sell the comeback. Pepsi's deal covered everything. Pepsi cans, Frito-Lay chips, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC. They printed 8 billion cans featuring Star Wars characters. Guinness World Records listed it as the largest brand partnership deal in history. Lucasfilm's own ad budget was just $20 million. When the teaser trailer dropped a few days later, it only played in a handful of U.S. theaters. Fans bought full-price tickets to a 3-hour Brad Pitt movie called Meet Joe Black, watched the 2-minute Star Wars trailer, and walked out before the film started. Some theaters started replaying the trailer after Meet Joe Black ended so people would actually stay in their seats. That trailer got 35 million downloads online, which in 1998 meant waiting an hour on a screeching dial-up modem to watch a pixelated rectangle on your monitor. The Phantom Menace opened May 19, 1999. A workplace consulting firm, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, estimated that 2.2 million Americans skipped work that day, costing employers about $293 million in lost productivity. In one day. The movie made over $1 billion at the box office. The merchandise made roughly $2 billion, nearly double the ticket sales. Lego's Star Wars toy line blew past its own sales forecast. I looked up what happened to the people behind this poster. Ellen Lee went to Pixar. Jim Ward became president of LucasArts (Lucasfilm's video game company), ran for Congress in Arizona, and then became CEO of the Phoenix Symphony. New Wave Creative went on to design the posters for Borat and Shaun of the Dead. And Drew Struzan, who painted the theatrical Star Wars posters (the colorful painted ones you probably picture when you think "Star Wars poster," not this minimalist teaser), died last October at 78 from Alzheimer's. The Star Wars franchise has generated an estimated $46.7 billion in total revenue. Pepsi bet $2 billion on a franchise that announced its comeback with nothing but a boy and a shadow on a wall.

Cocktail (1988) won a Razzie for Worst Film of the Year, and I demand a recount. It shaped bar culture. It looks gorgeous, you get Elisabeth Shue AND Gina Gershon, an ultra-charismatic Bryan Brown, and Tom Cruise doing Tom Cruise-type things. That bad? Or do we love it a little?

RATINGS: #SNLUK continued with over 200k viewers again last night, dropping only 9% from its debut last week, and still beating Channel 4 in the slot.

‘Project Hail Mary’ has now grossed $300.8M globally. Its second domestic weekend had a 32% drop — one of the smallest for recent blockbusters. Read our review: bit.ly/DFMary

BOX OFFICE: #ProjectHailMary grabs $54M in its second weekend. That is.. - Bigger than the 2nd weekends for SINNERS, OPPENHEIMER and DUNE 2. - Only a 32% drop from last weekend. - Highest grossing ever for Amazon/MGM since the merger. - Its 2nd weekend is the 3rd highest grossing weekend of 2026

Dave Filoni says ‘MAUL - SHADOW LORD’ will bring some of George Lucas’ original plans for Maul to life. “George [Lucas] and I had had some talks about Maul over the years and what his plans for Maul had been. And so I felt [Maul - Shadow Lord] was a way of honoring that future that we were going to have and finally bringing some of it to light.” (Source: @starwars)

CHO. ❤️

James Tolkan has died at 94. "Son, your ego's writing checks your body can't cash." - Top Gun (1986) This scene is a masterclass in movie shorthand. In seconds you get Maverick’s attitude, his history, how he flies, and the entire setup. And Tolkan absolutely nails it.

This Barbie x #ProjectHailMary poster is the best. Thank you, District_Movies (on IG).

All White on the night. Ben White scores from a corner on his return from exile, then gives away pen. Set-pieces again, ole, ole. 1-1. Not a classic. What did Thomas Tuchel learn? That England weren't tested in qualifying, didn't play any team of real substance. Uruguay rugged (Ronald Araujo somehow escaped punishment for a filthy challenge on Phil Foden), streetwise and kept the ball. Shows the threat lying in wait this summer. Tuchel learned that England's best player was Harry Maguire, who made some vital blocks, and is surely on the plane to the World Cup. Marcus Rashford did well in some electrifying bursts, another on the plane. Cole Palmer got on the ball when he came on, strengthened his claim, especially with Foden disappointing (and wounded). James Garner was neat and tidy on his debut, and delivered some good corners. James Trafford rarely tested, claimed a couple of crosses, and had no chance with Valverde's low, pacey pen. England's No 3, building for the future? Tuchel learned that England’s inswinging corners will be a useful weapon at the World Cup. Garner took some good corners, aiming for Maguire and Dominic Solanke. Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka, both rested, can deliver them. Palmer, curling corner in, caused chaos and brought England's goal. White, who was playing centre-back, pounced at the far-post. Jeers and cheers ensued. Some England fans making their point about White's exile. No problem for England players - they celebrated enthusiastically with White. Brief VAR delay looking at Wharton blocking Gimenez. But there had been plenty similar which went unpunished. So, given the ref's threshold, it did not appear a clear and obvious error when he initially ignored White's glancing foot up on Vinas. VAR intervened, ref changed mind, White booked, Valverde clinical, frustration for England's B team. A-team return on Tuesday against Japan. #ENG #ENGURU

John Hannah will return for ‘THE MUMMY 4’. In theaters on May 19, 2028. (Source: hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-n…)

Graham Thorpe's legacy lives on with 'Thorpey’s Bat and Chat' sessions 🫶🏏 Funded by donations made at the Kia Oval during 'A Day for Thorpey' last summer, mental health charity Mind has launched a new programme to support people with their wellbeing through cricket 🙌 Learn more 🔗 kiaoval.com/a-day-for-thor… 🤎 | #SurreyFamily

Ryan Coogler's upcoming The X-Files reboot at Hulu has cast Himesh Patel to co-lead opposite Danielle Deadwyler, teeing up an unexpected Station Eleven reunion for the duo. Read more: #Echobox=1774555379-2" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">empireonline.com/tv/news/ryan-c…

I will have my revenge. The all-new series Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord streams April 6 only on @DisneyPlus.

The reveal of Glen Powell as Fox McCloud in ‘THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE’.

Race you there? @thekillers perform at the UCL Final Kick Off Show by PEPSI on May 30th. #pepsikickoffshow

A fresh look at @WembleyStadium ahead of our first Send-Off Series fixture! 😍

Someone created a fully operational JOHNNY 5 from scratch and omg how cool 🙌 (instagram Saundersmachineworks)