New records for ‘Squid Game’ and ‘Wicked,’ ‘Star Wars’ actor dies at 77, and more of today’s top stories
Gold Derby’s top news stories for Dec. 31, 2024. Happy New Year!
UPDATE:
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Squid Game Season 2 breaks records for Netflix
According to Netflix, Season 2 of the Korean horror series Squid Game set a new viewership record with 68 million views in its first four days, between Dec. 26 and Dec. 30. The previous record was Tim Burton‘s Wednesday, which amassed 50.1 million views during its first four days in November 2022. The third and final season of Squid Game, from acclaimed filmmaker Hwang Dong-hyuk, will be released in 2025.
Squid Game 2 was the most-watched TV show this week in 92 out of the 93 countries that Netflix lists in its rankings. The United States is the only country that had something else at No. 1 and No. 2: a pair Christmas Day football games. On Netflix’s list of most-watched non-English shows, Season 1 of Squid Game remains in the first position, while Season 2 is expected to jump past Money Heist and Lupin in the coming weeks to enter the top two.
Wicked stage musical makes Broadway history
Talk about popular! Buoyed by the big budget film adaptation of Wicked, directed by Jon M. Chu, the original stage version on Broadway just grossed a gravity-defying $5 million over the holidays. That’s the highest weekly gross ever for any Broadway production. Usually the show delivers eight performances throughout the week, but this week it produced nine (as did The Lion King, Aladdin, and The Great Gatsby), which helps account for the eye-popping monetary total.
Of course, Wicked is everywhere right now thanks to the box-office smash starring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba Thropp, aka the Wicked Witch of the West, and Ariana Grande as Galinda Upland, aka Glinda the Good Witch. It’s nominated for four Golden Globes and is a frontrunner for several nominations at the upcoming 2025 Oscars, including Best Picture. The Broadway version of Wicked has been around since 2003, and it won three Tony Awards for Best Actress (Idina Menzel), Best Scenic Design, and Best Costume Design.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 12/31/24 at 10:55 am PT.
Angus MacInnes of Star Wars fame dies
Canadian actor Angus MacInnes died “peacefully” at the age of 77, his family announced today on Facebook. He was best known as Gold Leader/Jon “Dutch” Vander in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977), reprising the role in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), which was his final acting credit, according to IMDb. MacInnes’ filmography also included Hellboy (2004), Judge Dredd (1995), and Witness (1985).
“His work touched countless lives,” the MacInnes family wrote in a statement, “and he took great pride in being part of these stories that continue to resonate with audiences worldwide. Angus was more than an actor — he was a kind, thoughtful, and generous soul who brought warmth and humor into the lives of everyone who knew him. He will be deeply missed by his family, friends and fellow actors but also by his fans around the world.”
SEEOscars: Demi Moore creeps into Best Actress top 5 for ‘The Substance’
The Kardashians releases teaser for Season 6
The sixth season of Hulu’s celeb-reality show The Kardashians will be all about breaking boundaries. In the new teaser (watch below), we see the six K’s — Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian Barker, Khloé Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, and Kylie Jenner — stepping outside of their static portraits and becoming a part of the living world around them. “Boundaries are made to be broken,” declares the new tagline. The Kardashians Season 6 will premiere on Feb. 6 on Hulu in the U.S. and on Disney+ internationally.
Here is the official synopsis: “The Kardashian-Jenners return with a year full of challenges, milestones, and new adventures. With uncertain futures and their past returning to haunt them, Kourtney, Kim, Khloé, Kendall, Kylie, and Kris will have to rely on each other as they navigate their roles as moms and businesswomen, to overcome the obstacles that come with their increasingly complicated lives.”
Stephen Fry among the King’s 2025 New Year Honours
Entertainer Stephen Fry, author Jacqueline Wilson, and actors Eddie Marsan, Carey Mulligan, and Sarah Lancashire were among the 1,200 people from the U.K. who will receive knighthoods in the new year from King Charles III. Fry’s 2025 honor is for his work in the field of mental health awareness.
“When you are recognized, it does make you feel a bit ‘crikey,'” Fry said today, according to the Independent. “But I think the most emotional thing is that when I think of my childhood, and my dreadful unhappiness and misery and stupidity, and everything that led to so many failures as a child. And for my parents, really, what a disaster. I mean every time the phone rang, they thought, ‘Oh, God, what has Stephen done now?’ It was a sort of joke in the family.”
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