Month: September 2025

The Conjuring: Last Rites is the No. 1 movie in North America, earning $83 million in its first weekend of release — and making it the highest earning film debut in the ‘Conjuring’ franchise.

‘Last Rites’ is directed by Michael Chaves and is the sequel to The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.  Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson once again reprise the roles of real-life paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren, and the latest film based on the Warren’s investigation of the Smurl haunting in Pennsylvania. Mia Tomlinson and Ben Hardy also star in ‘Last Rites,’ which is billed as the ninth and final title in ‘Phase One’ of The Conjuring Universe — the top-earning horror franchise ever, after collecting more than $2.3 billion in global ticket sales.

Elsewhere at the box office this weekend, Hamilton took the No. 2 spot with $10 million, followed by Weapons at No. 3 with $5.4 million, Freakier Friday at No. 4 with $3.8 million, and Caught Stealing at No. 5 with $3.2 million.  The Roses came in at No. 6 with $2.8 million, The Fantastic Four: First Steps took the No. 7 spot with $2.8 million, The Bad Guys 2 came in at No. 8 with $2.5 million, Light of the World hit No. 9 with $2.4 million, and Superman rounded out the No. 10 with $1 million.

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Tony winner Billy Porter is immediately departing the Broadway revival of the musical Cabaret after being diagnoses with sepsis.

A post on X read “Come hear the music play. Final performance September 2. Due to a serious case of sepsis, Billy Porter must also withdraw from the production. His doctors are confident that he will make a full recovery but have advised him to maintain a restful schedule. Marty Lauter and David Merino will perform as Emcee for the final 2 weeks. Performance schedule to be announced.”

Porter, 55, was slated for a 13-week engagement in Cabaret that was supposed to run through Oct. 19. Porter and Marisha Wallace, who plays Sally Bowles, started in their roles on July 22 after playing the roles on London’s West End.

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The MTV VMAs aired live on Sunday from UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, hosted by LL Cool J. The show aired on CBS for the first time in addition to their longtime home on MTV and stream live on Paramount+

Lady Gaga dominated the 2025 VMAs with four wins, including ‘Artist of the Year;’ while Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter both won a total of three awards. Grande won the night’s highest honor, ‘Video of the Year,’ for her song “brighter days ahead”; while Carpenter won the Best Pop Artist award.

Gaga went into the evening with 18 nominations, followed by Bruno Mars with 11, Kendrick Lamar with 10 and Sabrina Carpenter and ROSÉ both with 9.

Other winners were Rosé, who won song of the year for “APT.,” her collaboration with Bruno Mars; and KATSEYE, who won MTV Push performance of the year for “Touch.” Mars and Gaga also won best collaboration for “Die With a Smile.”

During the show, Mariah Carey was presented with the Video Vanguard Award, Busta Rhymes received the inaugural Rock the Bells Visionary Award, and Ricky Martin accepted the inaugural Latin Icon Award. All three artists also performed.

The most emotional performance of the night was a tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne, featuring Yungblood, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry performing “Crazy Train,” “Changes” and “Mama I’m Coming Home.”

For the full list of winners, head HERE.

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