From Mario the money maker to AI the music maker, here are your top entertainment headlines.
Weekend Box Office
There was valid hype leading up to the release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, but after its third week in theaters, the film continues to impress. The Chris Pratt-led movie had already raked in enough during its opening weekend to have the highest-grossing domestic box office debut of the year. with $204.6 million, but it has now more than doubled that. In North America, the film has collected $434.33 million. Meanwhile at the global box office, the number stands at $871 million.
No other film challenged for the top spot this past weekend, but coming in at number two was the horror movie Evil Dead Rise. It had a solid breakout weekend in the U.S. with $23.5 million. The Covenant starring Jake Gyllenhaal rounded out the top three with just $6.28 million.
Let's Get the Trial On
The heirs of Marvin Gaye's co-writer on the iconic 1974 song, Let's Get It On, are pressing forward with its legal claims against Ed Sheeran and his 2014 hit Thinking Out Loud.
A jury will now be tasked in deciding if Sheeran is guilty of pirating elements from the older classic. The Associated Press reported that the estate of co-writer Ed Townsend filed a lawsuit in 2017 citing "striking similarities" in the music. Judge Louis L. Stanton is set to hear the case, which is expected to last a week.
Lawyers for Sheeran said the structural similarities in the two songs is evidence that most popular music has the same foundation.
"The two songs share versions of a similar and unprotectable chord progression that was freely available to all songwriters," his team said in its filing.
In a previous fight over Marvin Gaye's intellectual property, a court found that 2013's Blurred Lines, performed by Pharrell Robin Thicke, and T.I., used elements from Gaye's 1977 song Got to Give it Up.
Musicians vs. AI
Artificial intelligence tech is moving faster than ever before, and it's getting some fans and detractors in the music biz. Artist Grimes (the ex-partner of AI-proponent Elon Musk) is one of those who says she's open to allowing the tech to use her voice to create new music.
"I'll split 50 percent royalties on any successful AI-generated song that uses my voice," she posted in a tweet.
The announcement was in response to an article about the recently viral AI-produced song featuring fake Drake and fake Weeknd.
Drake himself might not be the biggest fan of the tech.
Following the circulation of a remix of fake Drake rapping to Ice Spice's Munch, he took to Instagram, seemingly fed up with the entire situation by stating,"This is the final straw AI."
