The Boston Globe - 02.09.2019

B6 The Boston Globe MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2019

Names

A Grand groove

SHAQ MANS THE MIKE AT SOLD-OUT SEAPORT CLUB

Hall of Fame hoopsterShaquilleO’Nealhas long since settled into his new groove as the highly in-de-

mandDJDiesel, pumping up attendees at fests around the world, from Chicago’s Lollapalooza to Bel-

gium’s Tomorrowland.

On Friday night, before heading to Electric Zoo in New York, the 7-foot-1 NBA legend wowed a sold-out

crowd at The Grand in Boston, showing those in attendance why he calls himself “a black Skrillex” as he

shifted nimbly between EDM, hip-hop, and dubstep. Celtics CEO and co-ownerWycGrousbeck(with wife

Emilia) came out to watch his former player spin at the Seaport nightclub, as did Patriots defensive end

ChaseWinovich. Earlier in the evening, the Grousbecks had been at Mystique, a new restaurant in the En-

core Boston Harbor casino, where Patriots power twinsDevinandJasonMcCourtywere also spotted wel-

coming in the weekend. ISAAC FELDBERG

Hours after a mass shooting in
West Texas, as a Category 5 hurricane
neared the Bahamas,PresidentTrump
took aim at “Will & Grace” actress
DebraMessingon Twitter.
The Emmy-winning actress had
previously called for the names of
those attending the president’s Beverly
Hills fund-raiser (set for later this
month) to be made public. On Friday,
Messing — who was raised in Rhode
Island and earned a bachelor of arts
degree from Brandeis University —
tweeted: “Please print a list of all at-
tendees please. The public has a right
to know.”

Her “Will & Grace” co-starEricMc-
Cormackadded in a tweet of his own
that he wanted to know who in Holly-
wood was backing Trump’s re-election
campaign, “so the rest of us can be
clear about who we don’t wanna work
with.” Messing retweeted that note,
adding, “Co-signed.”
Trump evidently noticed the re-
marks, calling out Messing in a tweet
Sunday morning.
“I have not forgotten that when it
was announced that I was going to do
‘The Apprentice,’ and when it then be-

came a big hit, helping NBC’s failed

lineup greatly, [Messing] came up to

me at an Upfront [sic] & profusely

thanked me, even calling me ‘Sir,’”

wrote the commander-in-chief. “How

times have changed!”

Messing responded to Trump, ask-

ing him to focus on the Texas shoot-

ing, which killed seven people and left

at least 18 others injured, and Hurri-

cane Dorian, which at that time had

not yet made landfall in the Bahamas.

Later on Sunday, Messing followed

up by sharing a partial list of “souls

lost to preventable, devastating gun vi-

olence” and calling for universal back-

ground checks in addition to an as-

sault weapons ban. “Take action,” she

wrote, “and I’ll call you Sir.”

Messing later tweeted: “I am proud

to be a donor when I contribute to a

campaign. I am happy to be listed

when I attend a fundraiser. I am as-

suming anyone who donates to

Trump’s fundraiser would feel the

same. Why wouldn’t they?”

Among Messing’s highest-profile

defenders? New York financierAntho-

nyScaramucci, who infamously

served as President Trump’s commu-

nications director for 11 days. He’s

since walked back his once-strident

support for the president, writing that

he’s “unfit for office” in a Washington

Post op-ed.

Messing “has always been a class

act,” Scaramucci tweeted at Trump.

“She treated you with respect when

you were worthy of it. Times have

changed. You are no longer worthy of

it. Stop harassing your fellow citizens

with your childish bullying.”

As his re-election campaign takes

shape, Trump is set to appear at events

in San Francisco and Beverly Hills; the

visit will mark the president’s first

time in Los Angeles since an early-Au-

gust tweetstorm in which he called

Hollywood “racist at the highest level”

following intense backlash against po-

litical satire “The Hunt.”

ISAAC FELDBERG

Messing, Trump spar on Twitter

ahead of Beverly Hills fund-raiser

INVISION/AP/FILE

“Will & Grace” co-stars Eric
McCormack and Debra Messing
want to know who will be
attending a Trump event in LA.

Never before has one studio so
dominated summer at the movies.
The Walt Disney Co. accounted for
about half of all ticket sales in US and
Canada theaters on the season, which
came to a close Sunday with theGe-
rardButleraction thriller ‘‘Angel Has
Fallen’’ topping the box office for the
second weekend.
Summer ticket sales finished 2 per-
cent behind last year, according to da-
ta firm Comscore, a slight downturn
that came despite an unprecedented
display by Disney. The studio’s ap-
proximate $2.2 billion in domestic
summer box office is greater than that
of all the major studios combined.
Summer, which for Hollywood

runs from the first weekend in May to

Labor Day, traditionally ends with a

whimper as few new releases seek to

draw audiences over the holiday

weekend. That was especially true this

weekend as nothing new dented the

top 10. Lionsgate’s ‘‘Angel Has Fallen’’

came on top again with an estimated

$11.6 million.

The final numbers on Hollywood’s

summer didn’t add up to the box-of-

fice bonanza that some predicted. In-

stead, the main storyline on the sum-

mer came to be the yawning gap be-

tween Disney and the rest of the

industry. Disney finalized its $71 bil-

lion acquisition of 20th Century Fox

in March, but it was the studio’s own

offerings that propelled its market

dominance.

Five of Disney’s films crossed $

billion this summer, including the

season’s biggest hit, ‘‘The Lion King.’’

It ranks seventh all-time globally with

$1.56 billion in ticket sales. ‘‘Aveng-

ers: Endgame’’ ($2.796 billion)

opened in late April, just before the

summer began. ‘‘Toy Story 4’’ and

‘‘Aladdin’’ both easily cleared $1 bil-

lion. The only non-Disney film in the

summer’s top four was Sony’s ‘‘Spider-

Man: Far From Home,’’ and that film

was produced by Disney’s Marvel Stu-

dios.

Disney has been the market leader

for the last four years in Hollywood as

its high-priced acquisitions — Lucas-

film, Pixar, Marvel, and now Fox —

have given the studio the intellectual

property firepower for a movie world

increasingly focused on franchises.

Only one original film this summer

ranked among the top 10, and it came

in 10th.QuentinTarantino’s ‘‘Once

Upon a Time...inHollywood’’will

have made an estimated $130.8 mil-

lion through Monday domestically,

plus sizable ticket sales abroad. It,

along with ‘‘Spider-Man,’’ helped lead

Sony to its best summer since 2006 —

but a distant No. 2 to Disney.

For the year, ticket sales are down

6.3 percent, according to Comscore.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Hollywood’s summer ends 2 percent down despite Disney dominance

DISNEY VIA AP

Disney’s ‘The Lion King’’ was the

summer’s biggest hit, with $1.

billion in ticket sales globally.

DANIELMATEUS

About400guests,manysporting

Hawaiian-styleleisaroundtheirnecks,

attendedJohn Mitchell’sSummer

TropicalFunBashtobenefittheGreg

HillFoundationandALSOne.Thepar-

tyThursdayatTheGreatestBarraised

$50,000forthecharities.

FoodwasbytheKowloonrestau-

rantandentertainmentwasprovided

bycomediansLenny Clarke,Steve

Sweeney,andTo ny V.

TheGregHillFoundationhelps

familiestouchedbytragedy.TheALS

Onefoundationfocusesonfinding

treatmentsforALSandimproving

careforthosebattlingthedisease.

PHOTOS BY BILL BRETT

FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

A night of leis and laughs for two great causes

From left: Sue Carchidi of Plymouth, Kathy Gosnell of Quincy, and
Mike Smith of Plymouth.

From left: Kara McKenna, Kim Saart, Lisa Thaxton, and Kelly Parent,

all from Stow.

Left: Event emcee Hank Morse of Medford (far left) with comedians

Lenny Clarke (center) and Steve Sweeney. Above: Greg Hill (left),

founder of the Greg Hill Foundation; Jen DiMartino, executive director

of the ALS One foundation; and party host John Mitchell of Lynnfield.

IN VIEW