PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
Eric Church cancels 25K tickets bought by scalpers
Country star Eric Church has battled ticket scalpers for years as his popularity grew and he began selling out arenas. But he’s taken his biggest step yet by canceling more than 25,000 tickets to his spring tour that were purchased by scalpers and putting them back on sale for fans to purchase.
The “Springsteen” singer said he’s going to do everything he can do to stop what he calls a criminal organization that’s making millions.
“They buy thousands of tickets across the U.S., not just mine, and they end up making a fortune,” Church said. “They use fake credit cards, fake IDs. All of this is fraud.”
The tickets will be released Tuesday at noon local time for the remaining stops of the 60-city tour. Previously purchased tickets for his tour stops in Canada, which start Feb. 28 in Ontario, have already been released, and more tickets for his shows in Washington and Oregon will go on sale Feb. 27.
‘Lego Batman’ stays No. 1, conquers ‘The Great Wall’
“The Great Wall” was a hit in China. In North America, it was a dud.
The most expensive film ever made in China and with a budget of $150 million, “The Great Wall” was intended to prove that the world’s No. 2 movie marketplace could produce Hollywood-sized blockbusters of its own. Though it ran up $171 million in ticket sales in China, “The Great Wall” pulled in $18.1 million in its North American debut over Presidents Day weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.
That was good enough for third place, falling behind last weekend’s top two films, “The Lego Batman” and “Fifty Shades Darker.”
The Warner Bros. animated release easily led the box office again with $34.2 million in its second week, sliding only 35 percent.