FILE: SHOWBIZ YEARENDER: The top entertainment stories of 2012: movies, music and entertainment

Record ID: 393608

  • Title: FILE: SHOWBIZ YEARENDER: The top entertainment stories of 2012: movies, music and entertainment
  • Date: 13th December 2012
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS) PSY BACKSTAGE AT AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS
  • Embargoed: 28th December 2012 12:00
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  • Location: Usa, United Kingdom
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  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA6O7HHFNVRNSH31Y6HA54QYOGJ
  • Story Text: The biggest headlines in movies, music and entertainment from the year 2012 including super heroes win big at the box office, "The Artist" sweeps most film awards, Adele dominates the Grammys, and Angelina Jolie shows some leg.



    From box office blockbusters and bombs, to the year's biggest songs, from celebrity scandals to superstar comebacks, 2012 was a headline making year in the world of showbiz.
    MOVIES.
    The summer of 2012 belonged to action heroes, with comic book-come-to-life films dominating the box office. "The Avengers," which brought together a multitude of famous faces led by Robert Downey Jr., was the year's top earner, bringing in more than 1.5 billion dollars worldwide.
    Coming in at number two was another installment of the Batman franchise, "The Dark Knight Rises," which took in a little more than 1 billion U.S. dollars.
    Kids took "Ice Age: Continental Drift" to number three worldwide, raking in 874 million USD.
    James Bond returned with "Skyfall" - marking the 50th year since the franchise began. Led by Daniel Craig, the film took in 869 million USD from spy fans around the globe.
    Rounding out the top five was another super hero - "The Amazing Spider Man," the reboot of the franchise favorite - which earned more than 752 million USD.
    Other notable films this year included the final installment of the "Twilight" series - "Breaking Dawn Part 2." Bella, Jacob and Edward ended strong, earning more than 705 million USD. And while "Twilight" came to a close, "The Hunger Games" is just getting started. The first, in what will be a three-part series, took in more than 686 million USD globally.
    Not all films fared well, however. 2012 had multiple flops. Making the most headlines for its poor box office performance was "John Carter," starring Taylor Kitsch. The film, which earned 282 million USD worldwide, reportedly cost upwards of 300 million USD to make and market.
    Taylor Kitsch was also at the helm of another flop this year, "Battleship," which grossed 302 million USD internationally. The film, based on the popular board game, only took in a mere 65 million USD at the North American box office.
    But good news for Kitsch - he wasn't part of the worst grossing movie this year. That title went to children's movie, "Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure." Boasting a cast of Toni Braxton, Christopher Lloyd, and Jaime Pressly, the film proved to be one of the biggest bombs of all time. Though the movie cost around 60 million, it took in barely 1 million at the end of the day.
    MUSIC.
    No matter where on earth you live, there was no escaping "Gangnam Style." The catchy tune danced its way onto charts all over the world, making its singer, Korean rapper Psy an overnight sensation and household name. The video for the song was viewed on YouTube more than 800 million times - making it the most viewed video on the site ever. And Psy toured the world - from performing at the American Music Awards, where he was named the AMA new media honoree, to meeting with the U.N. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon.
    Other chart toppers included Carly Rae Jepsen, with her contagious hit, "Call Me Maybe." The song topped the charts and was crowned 'the official song of summer' by numerous music magazines. Taylor Swift returned with her latest album, "Red." The album's lead single, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" was a worldwide commercial success, helping the album to achieve the biggest sales debut of the year with 1.2 millions copies sold. And "One Direction" continued their British invasion with their second album, "Take Me Home," which debuted at number one in more than 35 different countries.
    Russian feminist punk rock group Pussy Riot made global headlines this year after three of the members were arrested and jailed performing an anti-Vladmir Putin song inside a Moscow cathedral. Charged with hooliganism, the trio were denied bail and held in custody until their trial began in late July. In October, band member Yekaterina Samutsevich was freed on probation. The sentences of the other two women, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, were upheld.
    The hottest tour tickets in town belonged to a set of classic rockers and a pop queen. First, legendary British rockers, The Rolling Stones, kicked off a series of five shows to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts hit London's O2 arena and held concerts in Brooklyn and New Jersey.
    The second, Madonna toured the globe with her "MDNA" tour, making headlines in virtually every stop with her political comments and her nipple-exposing performance. Launching in Israel, the singer hit the Middle East, Europe, North America, Asia and Australia performing to sold out crowds in most every major city.
    AWARDS.
    The Grammy Awards had one undisputed winner this year and that was Adele. The British songstress swept the awards taking home six trophies for her album, "21." The album was a huge success, selling more than 10 million copies worldwide and never leaving the Billboard chart since its debut in February 2011.
    There was a lot of French spoken at the two biggest movie awards - the Golden Globes and the Oscars - as silent film "The Artist" dominated with multiple wins at both. A romantic tale about a failing actor who finds love at a time when movies were changing from silents to talkies, "The Artist" picked up three Globes including best musical or comedy and best actor in a musical or comedy for its star, French actor Jean Dujardin. At the Oscars, the movie took home five awards for best film, best actor, and best director for Michel Hazanavicius, as well as for musical score and costume design.
    Despite all the awards, it was Angelina Jolie - or at least her leg - who garnered the most attention at the Oscars. Jolie, accustomed to having the spotlight on her and perhaps not her appendage, attended the Oscars in a black Atelier Versace dress with a daring slit. The actress playfully revealed her right leg on the red carpet and on stage at the show, leading many to question her motivation for the daring pose and causing a stir online - the twitter handle @AngiesRightLeg popped up and quickly amassed a few thousand followers.
    At the Emmys, "Homeland" toppled "Mad Men" to win the top drama prize as the Primetime Emmy awards favored politics and 21st century tensions over shows set in bygone eras. On the comedy side, "Modern Family," ABC's show about the chaotic lives of three related couples and their children, won best series for a third year and supporting actor Emmys for Eric Stonestreet and Julie Bowen, as well as a directing award.
    ENTERTAINMENT.
    Lindsay Lohan's life was a story all in itself this year. In March, after completing mandatory community service for a probation violation stemming from a 2011 jewelry theft case, Lohan was put on unsupervised probation and told to obey all rules and laws or risk it being revoked. Lohan then signed on to star as Elizabeth Taylor, in the Lifetime TV movie "Liz & Dick," but was in a car accident on her way to set in mid-summer, her Porsche smashing into a truck on a busy highway. She told police she was not at the wheel, but that was then found to be false. In November, Santa Monica police charged her with reckless driving and lying to police - the same day, coincidentally, that she as arrested in New York on assault charges, stemming from a night club fight with another woman.
    Kevin Clash, the puppeteer behind the "Sesame Street" character Elmo, resigned following allegations that he had sex with multiple underage boys. Four different men filed suits against Clash, saying they all had sexual relationships with him while they were teenagers. The first accuser recanted his claims, but the other three are pursuing lawsuits.
    Demi Moore sought professional help to treat "exhaustion" and "overall health" issues this year, following her split late last year from husband of six years, Ashton Kutcher. The actress entered rehab after she was rushed to hospital after paramedics were called to her Los Angeles home. Celebrity news website TMZ.com cited substance abuse as the cause, but that could not be confirmed.
    Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey, both new judges on "American Idol," were the subject of a heated argument released on viral video. Taped during an audition of "Idol" hopefuls in Charlotte, North Carolina, the video shows Minaj yelling and cursing at Carey, calling her "her highness." The day after the video was leaked, Carey spoke with Barbara Walters, telling her she was concerned for her safety and hiring extra security.
    Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood made a cameo appearance and a seemingly off-the-cuff speech at the Republican National Convention. Eastwood's appearance, including an ad-libbed monologue with an imaginary Barack Obama in an empty chair, seemed to thrill many in the audience, but was widely panned by observers across the political spectrum.
    Britney Spears returned to the public eye, signing on to be a judge on Simon Cowell's U.S. show "X Factor." The singer was reportedly paid 15 million dollars for her participation. Over the course of the season, Spears' appearances have been solid - though some critics have called her boring.
    It was a part scandalous, part joyous year for the British royals. Pictures of a naked Prince Harry were published on a U.S. website, showing the grandson of Britain's Queen Elizabeth cavorting with a nude young woman in a hotel room in Las Vegas. Harry, who has a reputation as a partying playboy, was seen in one snap covering up his genitals with his hands while an apparently naked woman hides behind his back. The other pictured the prince clinging to a naked woman from behind.
    Harry wasn't the only one caught in revealing pics. Britain's royal family began legal action against a French magazine for a "grotesque" breach of privacy after it published topless photographs of Prince William's wife Kate Middleton. Celebrity gossip magazine Closer published a dozen shots of the Duchess of Cambridge on holiday in southern France as she slipped off her bikini top, relaxed on a sun lounger and at one point pulled down the back of her bikini bottoms while William rubbed sun cream on her lower back.
    On the brighter side, Britain's Queen Elizabeth honored her Diamond Jubilee - her 60th year on the throne - with a series of events, including a concert by some of pop's royalty. Stevie Wonder, Kylie Minogue, Elton John and Paul McCartney all paid tribute to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.
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