Inside Scoop MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2013
Visit us online at smdp.com
3
‘Iron Man 3’ rules world, ‘Pain & Gain’ takes U.S. DAVID GERMAIN AP Movie Writer
LOS ANGELES “Iron Man 3” was the heavylifter at theaters with a colossal overseas debut that overshadowed a gang of mercenary bodybuilders in a sleepy pre-summer weekend at the domestic box office. The Marvel Studios superhero sequel starring Robert Downey Jr. got a head-start on its domestic launch next Friday with a $195.3 million opening in 42 overseas markets, distributor Disney reported Sunday. That topped the $185.1 million start for Marvel’s “The Avengers,” which opened in 39 markets over the same weekend last year a week ahead of its record-breaking domestic debut of $207.4 million. “You don’t know that you could ever repeat the kind of experience we had a year ago, and here the Marvel team brought together another incredible movie,” said Dave Hollis, head of distribution for Disney. “We’ve had this as a pattern for Marvel films to kind of let momentum internationally help signal to the domestic audience that the film is coming, something big is coming.” Director Michael Bay’s “Pain & Gain,” a true-crime tale of bodybuilders on the make, muscled into first-place domestically with a $20 million debut. The Paramount release starring Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie knocked off Tom Cruise’s sci-fi adventure “Oblivion” after a week in the No. 1 spot. Universal’s “Oblivion” slipped to second-place with $17.4 million, raising its domestic total to $64.7 million. Lionsgate’s all-star nuptial comedy “The Big Wedding” tanked at No. 4 with just $7.5 million. The ensemble cast includes Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Robin Williams, Susan Sarandon and Katherine Heigl, but the movie was almost universally trashed by critics and held little interest for audiences. Paramount, which distributed the earlier “Iron Man” movies and still has a financial stake in the comic-book flicks after Disney bought Marvel, had a small-scale success with “Pain & Gain.” SEE BOX OFFICE PAGE 10
WHAT A SIGHT
Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com Kids gather around as giant puppets march down the Third Street Promenade as part of the L.A. Puppet Fest, a month-long festival.
Invasive snail spreading in Southern California ASSOCIATED PRESS MALIBU, Calif. An invasive snail species is slowly but steadily taking over Southern California waterways. Despite six years of efforts to stop them, New Zealand mudsnails have shown up in nearly a dozen creeks in the Santa Monica Mountains, up from three in 2006, the Ventura Star reported. “It’s incredible. They just literally take over the entire bottom of the stream,” said Mark Abramson, senior watershed adviser for the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation. In some spots, “every surface you touch is mudsnails,” he said. Researchers worry that the snails can crowd out other species that serve as food for fish. The snails are tiny, ranging from the size of a grain of sand to about an eighth of an inch. They have few predators in California,
Since 1967
Quality & Value Always! Open 6am - 2:30pm Mon. - Fri. 6am - 4pm Sat. - Sun.
can reproduce asexually, live in any type of water and can survive on dry surfaces for days. Because they are so small, they can easily be transported on clothing, boats or pets. The snails are a problem throughout the West. They’ve been found in Colorado, Utah, Washington state and in Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park, where authorities have reported finding more than 500,000 per square yard. The snails may have hitched a ride on hatchery fish or eggs to reach the West and then spread on fishing gear, experts said. In California, they have shown up in inland California rivers and in the Santa Cruz Mountains. In the Santa Monica Mountains, which run from Los Angeles into Ventura County, they were first spotted in water samples in late 2005. “All you have to do is get one snail in a stream and the stream is infected —just one of those little, teeny things. That’s how all
the streams get infected,” said Katy Delaney, a wildlife ecologist with the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. She recently spotted thousands of them in Solstice Canyon in the Malibu area in waters where they had not previously appeared. While there is no easy way to eradicate the snails, authorities are trying to curb their expansion. Researchers freeze their clothing and gear for up to 48 hours to kill hitchhiking mud snails. The Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation and other agencies have posted hundreds of signs urging people to help avoid spreading them. “I still think if we can prevent them from getting into every stream, that’s a worthwhile endeavor,” Abramson said. Among other things, experts advise people to avoid contact with streams, to remove all mud and completely dry anything that’s been in a lake or stream, and to use different gear in different bodies of water.
Your Neighborhood Compounding Pharmacy & So Much More! All Your Prescription Needs • Hormone Pro-Aging • Pet Meds Holistic Herbal Medicine • Medicinal Tea/Boba & Coffee Bar Medical Weight Loss • Free Delivery
310-399-7892 27322 Main n St. Santaa Monica www.theomeletteparlor.com
“Awesome Patio!” 1820 WILSHIRE BLVD., SANTA MONICA, CA 90403 P:
310.264.3800 |
F:
310.264.3804