BOX OFFICE: Star Wars opens to mega $238 million weekend domestically and $517 million globally, the biggest opening of all time: “Other records broken by Force Awakens in North America include widest December release of all time (4,134 theaters), biggest Thursday-night previews ($57 million), biggest single day and biggest opening day ($120.5 million), first film to cross $100 million in a single day, fastest film to $100 million and $200 million, top theater average for a wide release ($57,568) and biggest Imax opening ($30.1 million). And Force Awakens came close to taking the record for biggest Saturday from Jurassic World ($69.2 million).”
AIR SCARE: An Air France flight from Mauritius to Kenya made an emergency landing after a suspicious device was found in a lavatory. It later turned out to have no explosives. “Frederic Gagey, the head of the airline, said the device was made of cardboard, paper and a household timer. In a news conference in Paris, Gagey congratulated the crew for their cool-headed reaction to divert the plane.”
STARS: Star Wars actor John Boyega told Jimmy Fallon that his friends thought he was just an extra in the movie:
SPACE: Elon Musk to attempt reusable rocket landing on land at Cape Canaveral Sunday night. “On Sunday evening at around 8 p.m. ET, a 229.6-foot Falcon 9 rocket will lift off out of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. About 10 minutes after lift off, part of the rocket, called the first stage or booster, will separate from the spacecraft, and that’s when the really exciting stuff happens. Using GPS tracking, the first stage will fly back to its launch site at Cape Canaveral for an epic landing attempt on land.”
UPDATE: Launch delayed 24 hours:
Just reviewed mission params w SpaceX team. Monte Carlo runs show tmrw night has a 10% higher chance of a good landing. Punting 24 hrs.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2015
MUSIC AND POLITICS: Hillary Clinton wants to be as good a president as Beyoncé is a performer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqzLqZ6y-eU
NATURE: Is this the sound of a whale in love? “The latest release in the humpback whale’s haunting sound collection is a track so unusual that scientists hardly know what to make of it.”
https://youtu.be/bYmccAtIzFo
STUD FOR SUNDAY: Nico Tortorella, who plays Sutton Foster’s younger boyfriend on TV Land’s series Younger, says there is a calendar of his character coming.
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