Avatars

Source: Walt Disney Studios

The Na’vi return to the big screen this weekend as Disney looks to reignite interest in its newly acquired Avatar franchise, three months before the debut of the long-delayed sequel, “Avatar: The Way of Water.”

Bringing the highest-grossing film of all time back to theaters has two purposes for Disney: drum up excitement for “The Way of Water” and fill a vacant spot on the theatrical calendar. The sequel is one of four due over the next decade.

The rerelease of the original film is a sort of litmus test for whether audiences still want to visit its eco-conscious science fiction world.

“Many questions have been asked about the film’s pop culture legacy over the past decade, but we also have to remember that James Cameron has been doubted before and proven many wrong,” said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com.

Directed by Cameron, the

Read More
09/22/2022 PREMIUM EXCLUSIVE: Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde pack on the PDA after a date night in New York City.  The long time couple are going strong and were seen sharing a long kiss despite rumors of trouble.  The pair enjoyed a night off after Harry completed 15 consecutive nights of his tour at Madison Square Garden.  sales@theimagedirect.com Please byline:TheImageDirect.com *EXCLUSIVE PLEASE EMAIL sales@theimagedirect.com FOR FEES BEFORE USE

09/22/2022 PREMIUM EXCLUSIVE: Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde pack on the PDA after a date night in New York City. The long time couple are going strong and were seen sharing a long kiss despite rumors of trouble. The pair enjoyed a night off after Harry completed 15 consecutive nights of his tour at Madison Square Garden. [email protected] Please byline:TheImageDirect.com *EXCLUSIVE PLEASE EMAIL [email protected] FOR FEES BEFORE USE

TheImageDirect.com

Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles are feeling loved up!

A day prior to the theater premiere for Don’t Worry Darling on Thursday, the director and singer were seen sharing a kiss during an evening outing in New York City.

In the sighting the two were kissing, and at one point Styles, 28, had his arms around Wilde as the pair walked through the street in the Big Apple.

Wilde was also seen dancing in the audience of his final Madison Square

Read More

People who work from home say they’re working, and numerous objective studies show that’s true. But many managers are still worried that they aren’t.

in a new study by Microsoft, nearly 90 percent of office workers reported being productive at work, and objective measures — increased hours worked, meetings taken, and amount and quality of work completed — prove them out. Meanwhile, 85 percent of bosses say hybrid work makes it hard to be confident that employees are being productive.

That uncertainty, coupled with a looming recession and many companies moving back to more time in the office, is prompting workers to increase show that they’re working — which is decidedly not the same as actually working. Rather, it’s what some have called “productivity theater.”

Productivity theater is when workers frequently update their status on Slack or toggle their mouse to make sure the status light in Microsoft Teams

Read More
An artist's depiction of the future Associated Bank Theater Center.  Associated Bank announced a $10 million sponsorship agreement with the Rep on Thursday.  The Rep plans to build a new theater complex at its current location.

Associated Bank announced a $10 million sponsorship agreement Thursday with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater for the theater’s new home, which will be named Associated Bank Theater Center through 2042.

Milwaukee Rep plans to build a new theater complex at its current site downtown on East Wells Street, completely redoing two of its three theaters as well as expanding its facilities into some little-used loading dock space.

The Associated Bank agreement is a significant plank in the Rep’s $75 million campaign to build the new theater complex. A substantial amount has already been raised, Milwaukee Rep Executive Director Chad Bauman said during a Zoom interview. He promised that an update on the campaign plus detailed information on building plans would be made public in November or December.

The Rep structure, which it owns, is attached to the Associated Bank River Center. An Associated affiliate bought the 28-story, 373,000-square-foot office tower formerly

Read More

Artistry, which began as the Bloomington Civic Theater in 1955 and for 60-plus years has been an entertainment mainstay in the south metro, finds itself at an existential crossroad.

Executive director Kevin Ramach abruptly resigned Sept. 7 for reasons that only now are becoming public: The theater company is freighted with debt, and its relationships with key stakeholders have been ruptured. It announced Wednesday that it has postponed its latest production, “Godspell,” until next year. Also, future productions are on hold, and artists have not been paid.

“We have past due bills that without pausing some programming and clearing those, we wouldn’t have been able to move forward as an organization,” said Kelli Foster Warder, Artistry’s producing consultant.

“We were selling tickets and engaging our audience, but poor financial management meant we had no buffer and no runway to build forward.”

Before the pandemic, Artistry had a $2 million annual

Read More