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2 articles from 2009

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Weekend Report: 'Hangover' Gets High, 'Up' Hangs On

8 June 2009 1:50 PM, PDT | Box Office Mojo | See recent BoxOfficeMojo.com news »

The Hangover hit the jackpot over the weekend, narrowly edging out Up for the top spot. The ribald comedy had been projected to trail the Pixar adventure in Sunday's studio estimates, but was revised upward once actual grosses poured in. Hangover's Friday dominance combined with a better-than-expected Sunday haul cinched its position, despite Up soaring past it on Saturday as well as being marginally ahead on Sunday. Both pictures were highly successful for their genres and wound up less than two percent apart. Less fortunate was Land of the Lost, which debuted at a distant third. The weekend as a whole came in at $165.5 million, off six percent from the same period last year when Kung Fu Panda opened. The Hangover packed a much greater wallop than the norm for its genre, taking in $45 million on around 4,500 screens at 3,269 sites. It was hyped as the preordained raunchy comedy hit of the season, »

- Brandon Gray

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Penn Quits Acting For The White House

7 April 2009 12:00 PM, PDT | WENN | See recent WENN news »

American actor/producer Kal Penn has left hit TV show House to work for U.S. President Barack Obama.

The 31-year-old actor has accepted a position as the associate director in the White House's Office of Public Liaison & Intergovernmental Affairs.

Penn - also known for his role in stoner comedy Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle - was written out of the TV drama in an episode that aired in the U.S. on Monday.

And he's preparing to leave acting behind for good even though the salary for the government job is far less than the money he makes from his career on screen.

He tells Entertainment Weekly, "(The Office of Public Liaison & Intergovernmental Affairs) do outreach with the American public and with different organisations. They're basically the front door of the White House. They take out all of the red tape that falls between the general public and the White House.

"I love what I do as an actor. I couldn't love it more. But probably from the time I was a kid, I really enjoyed that balance between the arts and public service. I thought this might be the right time to go off and do something else.

"There's not a lot of financial reward in these jobs. Obviously, the opportunity to serve in a capacity like this is an incredible honor."

Penn is currently working on a graduate certificate in international security from California's prestigious Stanford University.

He also campaigned for Obama last year as a member of his National Arts Policy Committee. »

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2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2005 | 2004

2 articles from 2009

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