'Godzilla Vs Kong' Comes Out Swinging In China With $21.5M Friday; Full Overseas Opening $90 Million

Warner Bros/Legendary’s Godzilla Vs Kong thrashed off to an estimated $21.5M (RMB 140M) start in China today, good for the best opening day of a Hollywood title in the market since Covid began and portending a weekend in the high $60Ms. The film positively dominated the Middle Kingdom with an 88% share and played on 42,482 screens. Including the other 37 overseas markets where GVK is launching this session, the fourth title in Legendary’s modern monster series is now looking at a $90M+ international box office debut. The Adam Wingard-directed pic is releasing abroad ahead of domestic which falls on March 31 day-and-date in theaters and on HBO Max.

As we noted in our preview, GVK‘s bow will top WB’s own Tenet ($53M international opening weekend) to mark the biggest offshore debut for a studio movie in the pandemic era.

Social scores in China, where Legendary handles, are solid with a 9 on Maoyan (versus Godzilla: King Of The Monsters‘ ultimate 8.5). The Douban critical rating is currently 7 compared to KOTM‘s 6.3. GVK is looking to duke it out with KOTM‘s (unadjusted) $66M China launch and currently leads pre-sales through all of next week until local title My Sister opens on Friday. Maoyan today predicts an RMB 878.5M ($134M) finish for GVK, though these figures are subject to change.

Either way, this should come as some relief to the studios given a seeming rejection of U.S. films in China recently — and amid the current backlash against American products that’s been spurred by past comments of fashion brands about labor conditions in Xinjiang. Fortunately, that does not appear to be having an impact on the monster mash-up.




https://deadline.com/2021/03/godzilla-vs-kong-opening-weekend-china-international-box-office-1234722557/

FL-GOV: Nikki Fried fundraising on poll showing good gubernatorial prospects

Democratic Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried may not have said anything publicly yet about running for Governor, but she’s liking a poll suggesting she should.

Fried’s political committee Florida Consumers First is fundraising on a poll released Thursday by St. Pete Polls that found her and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis essentially deadlocked in a hypothetical 2022 election matchup.

“Although I haven’t made a decision about running yet, this is promising news,” Fried declares in an email blast that went out Friday from her political committee.

The poll, commissioned by Florida Politics, found the incumbent Republican Governor and the potential Democratic challenger both taking about 45% of the vote if the 2022 election were held now.

There are other Democrats posturing for a gubernatorial run. Sen. Randolph Bracy of Ocoee appears to be setting up infrastructure. Speculation also swirls about U.S. Rep. and former Gov. Charlie Christ, former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, U.S. Rep. Val Demings, and her husband, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings. None has declared or made any overt moves yet.





https://floridapolitics.com/archives/415213-nikki-fried-fundraising-on-poll-showing-good-gubernatorial-prospects

Tweet of the Day

Michigan GOP chair calls top Democratic women 'witches', jokes about assassinating congressmen.

LANSING, Mich. — The leader of Michigan’s Republican Party referred to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and two other top Democratic elected woman as “witches” and joked about assassination when asked how to remove two GOP congressman who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump.

Ron Weiser’s statements Thursday during a local Republican meeting, which are on video, were reported by The Detroit News on Friday.

A crowd member asked how to unseat Reps. Fred Upton and Peter Meijer. Weiser said the party was focused on defeating “three witches” — a misogynistic reference to Whitmer, state Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who are up for reelection in 2022.

Whitmer, whose coronavirus lockdown last year led armed demonstrators to protest, became the target of an alleged kidnapping plot by extremists who also talked about attacking the state Capitol and taking hostages.




https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/michigan-gop-chair-calls-top-democratic-women-witches/2021/03/26/125aa490-8e51-11eb-a33e-da28941cb9ac_story.html

Biden to hold first fundraiser as president, a virtual event to benefit Atlanta's mayor

President Biden on Friday is scheduled to hold his first political fundraiser as president, a virtual event from the White House to benefit the reelection campaign of Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D), an early and staunch supporter of his presidential bid.

Meanwhile, Vice President Harris is seeking to maintain a focus on the administration’s efforts to combat the coronavirus. She is scheduled to travel to Connecticut with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to highlight provisions of the $1.9 trillion relief package related to child poverty and education.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/03/26/joe-biden-live-updates/

THE SUICIDE SQUAD Trailer (2021)

Southwest Pilot Caught On Hot Mic Blasting Bay Area 'Liberal F**ks' And 'Weirdos'

A ranting Southwest Airlines pilot was caught on a hot mic at Mineta San Jose International Airport slamming the San Francisco Bay Area’s “goddamn liberal f**ks” and “f**king weirdos.”

Southwest confirmed to the San Francisco Chronicle that the pilot was indeed one of theirs and that the company was dealing with the issue “internally.” Southwest did not reveal the pilot’s identity.

The expletive-riddled tirade occurred March 13 and was was first reported by travel site One Mile at a Time. It was initially revealed in a tweet by Will Lawton, a private pilot based in San Jose who routinely listens to air traffic control chatter on LiveATC. The first jolting remark from the Southwest flight was an extremely angry: “Fuck this place.”

Lawton deduced the plane and the airline from the communications.

“As to whether it was the captain or the first officer, there’s no way to know, and only Southwest would have a record of what pilots were working what flights on that day,” Lawton said in a message to the Chronicle.




https://www.huffpost.com/entry/southwest-pilot-rant-weirdo-liberal-bay-area_n_605d1e2ec5b6531eed035ad8

Extra Bonus Tweet of the Day

San Francisco Board of Education Votes to Remove Allison Collins As VP Over Racist Tweets

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — Members of the San Francisco Board of Education on Thursday voted to remove Vice President Alison Collins from her leadership position over racist tweets she posted five years ago.

Collins has been under fire in recent weeks for the 2016 social media comments. The firestorm over Collins is just the latest involving the embattled leadership of San Francisco schools.

On Thursday evening Laura Dudnick with the San Francisco Unified School District confirmed that the SF Board of Education on Thursday passed the resolution “Assertion of No-Confidence,” removing Commissioner Collins from her leadership position as Vice President and from all committees of the San Francisco Board of Education “for the duration of her term and effective immediately.”

Dudnick told KPIX the resolution was co-authored by Commissioners Jenny Lam and Faauuga Moliga, and was passed by the SF Board of Education in a vote of 5 to 2.


https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/03/25/san-francisco-board-education-votes-remove-allison-collins-vp-over-racist-tweets/

In partisan divide, Senate Judiciary Committee splits on Justice Department nominee Gupta

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bitterly divided U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday remained split over whether to approve the nomination of Vanita Gupta to be President Joe Biden’s associate attorney general, with Republicans on the attack over her history of advocating for progressive policies.

The tied vote in committee was not seen as a setback for Gupta, because her nomination can now proceed to the floor of the full Senate, which Democrats control. However, it will face an additional procedural hurdle before the Senate can formally vote to confirm her.

“Her public record is too extreme and her testimony hasn’t helped me contextualize it in any meaningful way,” Ranking Republican Charles Grassley said on Thursday prior to the vote.

At the same committee hearing on Thursday, Republicans and Democrats unanimously approved Biden’s deputy attorney general nominee, Lisa Monaco, by voice vote without any debate. She won praise from Grassley as being a “consummate professional.”

Gupta, who previously headed the civil rights division during the Obama administration, fiercely criticized former President Donald Trump in her role as head of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights advocacy group.



https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-senate-justice/in-partisan-divide-senate-judiciary-committee-splits-on-justice-department-nominee-gupta-idUSKBN2BH1CN