Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.
‘Top Gun: Maverick’ lawsuit against Paramount rejected by US judge
Paramount Pictures has won the dismissal of a lawsuit claiming its 2022 Tom Cruise blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick” borrowed too much from a 1983 magazine article that inspired the original “Top Gun” film. In a decision on Friday, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson in Los Angeles said the sequel was not “substantially similar” to Ehud Yonay’s “Top Guns,” about the U.S. Navy’s Top Gun fighter pilot training school in San Diego.
Actor Jonathan Majors avoids jail after domestic violence conviction
Jonathan Majors, a fast-rising Hollywood star before domestic violence charges derailed his career, avoided jail and was sentenced to one year of domestic-violence counseling on Monday after being found guilty of attacking his former girlfriend. The sentence was imposed by Justice Michael Gaffey of the state Supreme Court in Manhattan, where Majors was convicted on Dec. 18 of one count each of third-degree assault and second-degree harassment, neither a felony, against Grace Jabbari.
Amy Winehouse biopic ‘Back to Black’ a celebration, its makers say
Amy Winehouse’s lyrics and music were the “guiding star” for director Sam Taylor-Johnson in bringing the late singer’s story to the screen in “Back to Black”. The biographical feature film follows Winehouse’s rise to fame and portrays her relationships with her family and former husband Blake Fielder-Civil.
Bjorn Ulvaeus says ABBA success humbling as he marks two milestones
ABBA’s Bjorn Ulvaeus reflected on the Swedish pop group’s reach and longevity as he joined “Mamma Mia!” cast and creators for the musical’s 25th anniversary celebrations in London on Saturday. Saturday also marked 50 years since ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest final in Brighton, United Kingdom, in 1974 with the song “Waterloo”, bringing them to global attention.
Vivendi’s Canal+ makes mandatory buyout offer for South Africa’s MultiChoice
French media group Vivendi’s Canal+ made an all-cash mandatory offer on Monday to buy all the shares of South African broadcaster MultiChoice it does not already own for 35 billion rand ($1.9 billion), both companies said. That offer at 125 rand per share follows an indicative offer of 105 rand made by Canal+ on Feb. 1, which MultiChoice rejected as significantly undervaluing the company.
EU regulators assess Apple’s plan for complying with music streaming order
EU antitrust regulators are checking if an Apple proposal would comply with their order to let Spotify and other music streaming services inform users of payment options outside its App Store, the European Commission said on Monday. The iPhone maker risks antitrust charges and fresh fines if its proposal announced last Friday fails to satisfy the EU competition enforcer, which issued its order together with a 1.84 billion euro ($2 billion) fine last month
(With inputs from agencies.)