It’s Memorial Day in the U.S., which means tons of Box Office activity as some blockbuster new releases hit theatres this weekend. X-MEN: APOCALYPSE prevails over the North American Box Office with $66 million in its debut from 4,150 theatres for 20th Century Fox. Critics gave this installment mixed reviews with a 49% on the Tomatometer, while Audiences thought much better of it with an A CinemaScore.

Disney‘s ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS debuts in second with $29 million from 3,763 theatres. Critics gave it a 29% on the Tomatometer, while Audiences loved it with an A- CinemaScore.

Last week’s champ THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE slips to third with $20 million still for Sony Pictures, from 3,932 theatres.  Thus far it has made $74 million in North America.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR is in fourth with $16.5 million for Disney, from 3,395 theatres. It has made $378 million thus far in its domestic run.

NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING earns $9.4 million in it second week out for Universal Pictures, bringing its run so far to $40 million.

THE NICE GUYS in its second week out makes $6.8 million for Warner Bros., a cumulative $24 million thus far made.

Rounding-out the Top Ten is ZOOTOPIA earning $866k in its thirteenth week out for Disney!

To celebrate the release of the new film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Mega Bloks has created construction toys for Turtles‘ fans of all ages! Now you can build your favorite characters, vehicles and locations from the movie.  Build the Turtles Lair and Battle Truck or recreate one of the amazing chase scenes with Bebop and Rocksteady on their motorcycles.  Even Casey Jones is ready to help take the bad guys down.  Mini-figures, buildable vehicles and construction play sets based on the movie are available now from Mega Bloks at your favorite retail and online stores.

Watch the Trailer:

Artwork:

Mr. Will + The Stars of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows:

To all my Willionaire$ at the advance screening of #TMNT2 with #StephenAmell, have fun!!! 🐢

A photo posted by Mr. Will Wong 📸 (@mrwillwong) on May 24, 2016 at 3:45pm PDT

To enter to win, simply click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK. Click “share” from there for an extra chance! Canadian Readers only please.

G’luck, Willionaire$!

 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS is in theatres Friday, June 3, 2016.

TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMovie.com

(Photo/video credit: Paramount Pictures Canada)

After first surfacing in the late 90s, New York-born Electronic Music icon Moby has gone on to sell over 20 million albums en route to a litany of GRAMMY nominations. In addition to being a musical trailblazer, he has been vocal about animal rights and veganism.

Moby, born Richard Melville Hall, has had a career of longevity and now is in Toronto promoting latest memoir PORCERLAIN: A MEMOIR. After holding a book signing last night at Harbourfront Centre, Moby was out early doing the TV rounds including Breakfast Television and The Morning Show.

We caught-up with the amazingly-nice Moby following an appearance where a fan had multiple CDs and vinyls, to which he signed every single one with an animation. Thoughtful!  His day was made spending time with some model dogs who were promoting Woofstock this weekend. We hear he was in love with a gray Sharpei!

To learn more about Moby‘s Memoir, click here.

See our Snap:

So cool meeting #MOBY. He is in town promoting memoir, #Porcelain.

A photo posted by Mr. Will Wong 📸 (@mrwillwong) on May 27, 2016 at 6:44am PDT

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)

Woofstock is an annual festival  – the largest of its kind in North America – celebrating dogs and their adoring owners! Filled with vendors offering some innovative doggy creations, fashion shows and more, it offers dog owners and their beloved companions a chance to make some new friends!

In town and headlining this year’s edition is internet sensation DOUG THE PUG (@ItsDougThePug). The adorable dog did the rounds earlier today including a stopoff at The Morning Show with some of his model friends, including a Sharpei and two French Bulldogs.

We were thrilled to get to meet the adorable little guy after following his adventures on Instagram for a while now!

See our Video:

So cool meeting celebrity dog #DougThePug (@itsdougthepug)! He appears this weekend at #Woofstock!

A video posted by Mr. Will Wong 📸 (@mrwillwong) on May 27, 2016 at 6:27am PDT

Woofstock runs Saturday, May 28 and Sunday, May 29 at Woodbine Park. Learn more here!

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)

Taking place between Thursday, May 26 and June 5, 2016, the 26th edition of INSIDE OUT Toronto LGBT Film Festival kicked off tonight at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. Brought to us in part by RBC and CTV, the Festival shines a light on Feature and Short Films with issues impacting the LGBT community.

Toronto Mayor John Tory came out to express his full support at the party and gala!

The #Toronto Mayor @JohnTory visited us tonight at @InsideOutTO ! #InsideOut #InsideOut16 #LGBT #FilmFest pic.twitter.com/0m9gXOUi70

— TouchwoodPR (@TouchwoodPR) May 27, 2016

Films from both emerging and established heroes locally and internationally are front and center at this year’s Festival, with highlights including opening night gala OTHER PEOPLE, THE INTERVENTION, STRIKE A POSE featuring Madonna‘s backup dancers, LITTLE MEN, DEPARTURE, CLOSET MONSTER, ALMOST ADULTS, ESTEROS and more.

We had the pleasure of attending one of the year’s best bashes at TIFF Lightbox Malaparte with amazing tunes spun by DJs Nino Brown, Sammy Royale of Yes Yes Y’all and Business Woman’s Special Infamy.

Some sights from the Bash:

A complete list of Guests attending this year’s INSIDE OUT Festival.

GUESTS IN ATTENDANCE – FEATURES:
•    ALMOST ADULTS: Sarah Rotella (director), Elise Bauman (actor), Winny Clark (actor), Justin Friesan (actor), Mark Matechuk (actor), Pujaa Pandey (actor), Adrianna DiLonardo (writer) Rebecca Swift (producer)
•    AND STILL WE RISE: Nancy Nicol (co-director), Sizwe Alexandre Inkingi (community member)
•    CLOSET MONSTER: Stephen Dunn (director/writer), Kevin Krikst (producer)
•    ESTEROS: Papu Curotto (director)
•    FIRST GIRL I LOVED: Dylan Gelula (actor), Kerem Sanga (writer/director)
•    FRONT COVER: Raymond Yeung (director), Stan Guingon (co-producer)
•    HEARTLAND:  Maura Anderson (director), Velinda Godfrey (writer/producer)
•    HURRICANE BIANCA: Ray Haylock as Bianca Del Rio  (actor), Matt Kugelman (director), Ash Christian (producer)
•    I LOVE YOU BOTH: Kristin Archibald (actor/writer), Lucas Neff (actor)
•    KIKI: Gia Love (subject), Christopher Waldorf (subject)
•    LAST MEN STANDING: Tim Hussin (co-director,) Erin Brethauer (co-director)
•    LIEBMANN: Jules Herrmann (director/producer)
•    LITTLE MEN: Ira Sachs (director)
•    MAJOR!: Major Griffin-Gracy (subject), Annalise Ophelian (director/producer)
•    MEMORIES OF A PENITENT HEART: Cecilia Aldarondo (director)
•    MILES: Nathan Adolff (director/co-writer), Ash Christian (producer)
•    NORTH MOUNTAIN: Bretten Hannam (director)
•    OUT RUN: S. Leo Chiang (co-director/co-producer), Johnny Symons (co-director/co-producer)
•    PARIS 05:59: THEO & HUGO: Olivier Ducastel (co-director), Geoffrey Couët (actor)
•    RE:ORIENTATIONS: Richard Fung (director)
•    SAME DIFFERENCE: Kyle Wentzel (co-director)
•    SPA NIGHT: Andrew Ahn (writer/director)
•    SUICIDE KALE: Brittani Nichols (producer/writer)
•    THE SAME DIFFERENCE: Nneka Onuorah (director)
•    THE SLIPPERS: Morgan White (director/producer)
•    TWO SOFT THINGS, TWO HARD THINGS: Mark Woods (co-director/producer), Michael Yerxa (co-director/producer)
•    WHERE ARE YOU GOING, HABIBI?: Susanna Duellmann (producer)

GUESTS IN ATTENDANCE – SHORTS:
•    AIDOS: Robert Gray (director)
•    AN EVENING: Søren Green (director)
•    AT HOME: Dinaly Tran (director)
•    BEATERS: Ian McAndrew (director)
•    BENJAMIN: Sherren Lee (director)
•    BETWEEN YOU AND ME: Chase Joynt (director)
•    BOOTWMN: Sam McWilliams (co-director/producer), Paige Gratland (co-director/producer),
•    BREAKING FAST: Mike Mosallam (director/writer), Sarah Bazzi (producer)
•    BUDDY: Niels Bourgonje (director)
•    CECIL & CARL: Andrew Peek (producer)
•    CLOSING: Chase Casanova (director), Tracy Brown (executive producer)
•    CRAZY HOUSE: Aaron Mirkin (director)
•    DINNER WITH JEFFREY: Sam Greisman (director/writer)
•    ECSTASY: Kyle Reaume (director)
•    FAMOUS DIAMONDS: Daniel McIntyre (director),
•    FIRST NIGHT OUT: Julianne Saltalamacchia (actor), Will Mayo (director)
•    GAYSIANS: Vicky Du (co-director),
•    GUIDANCE: Josh Wolff (director/writer), Bryn Packard (actor)
•    HAZE: James Resendes (writer/director)
•    HELLO TITTY: Skyler Braeden Fox (co-director)
•    JACKIE: James Fanizza (director)
•    JIMMY DOES DATING: Sunny Drake (actor, writer)
•    JOHNNY: Micah Stuart (director), Brandon Crowder (actor/writer)
•    LAST VESTIGES: Seth Poulin (director)
•    LEFT HOOK: Sue Johnson (producer)
•    MAPOU: Giovana Olmos (director)
•    OCCUPY ME: Adam Fitzgerald (director)
•    OLD DOGS, NEW TRICKS: Michael Agnew (director)
•    PAINT IT WHITE: Bessie Cheng (director)
•    PYOTR495: Blake Mawson (director/writer)
•    RIBBONS: Brandon Cordeiro (director)
•    SCENES FROM ANOTHER MARRIAGE: Erik Anderson (director)
•    SHEBANG: Jon Simon (director), Brenna Coates (actor)
•    SPUNKLE: Lisa Donato (director)
•    STAKE: Alyssa Pankiw (director/writer)
•    SUMMER HAZE: Alex Peace (writer/producer)
•    THE FIRST SESSION: Fawzia Mirza (actor/producer)
•    THE FUTURE PERFECT: Nick Citton (director)
•    ULTRA BLEU: Nick Neon (director/writer)
•    UNTITLED (ELEVEN YEARS): Scott Miller Berry (director)
•    WEDLOCKED: Puppett (director/editor)

(Photo credit: Touchwood PR/Mr. Will Wong)

Review by George Kozera for Mr. Will Wong

At around the ¾ mark of FOREVER PLAID, they do a three minute and 11 second homage to the Ed Sullivan Show. The first time I saw this Musical (oh so many years ago) and that particular piece of theatrical brilliance, I laughed so hard I literally fell off my seat and landed in the aisle. Not wishing to repeat that rather embarrassing moment and firmly ensconced in my aisle seat for the long awaited return of this show to Toronto, playing for a limited engagement at the same venue where it first triumphed, the Panasonic Theatre, I had forgotten just how good and entertaining and joyous and wholesome this show is before and after that still hysterically funny bit.

Whereas Elvis may have been King in the late 50s, music on the radio and television variety shows were still dominated by four-part guy groups, harmonizing songs that every mom and grandma would sing along too. FOREVER PLAID is a musical about Sparky, Smudge, Jinx and Frankie: four lads who meet up in high school, form a group, and perform regularly at supermarket openings and proms. On the night they finally get their big break to perform at the Airport Hilton cocktail bar, the 4 are tragically killed in a car accident. This musical is all about the show they would have given had they survived.

Vocally, the actors on the stage are above reproach. The harmonies are text book perfection. As Jinx, Dora award-winning actor for playing Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys, Jeff Madden’s hypnotic soprano soars. Jonathan Cullen (Frankie) and Matt Cassidy (Smudge) encompass their roles with joie de vivre, finesse and gusto. I was completely mesmerized by Scott Beaudin’s portrayal of Sparky. From the snapping of his fingers or stomping his foot to the beat of a song to his vocal chops and swaying dance movements, it’s a transformative, deceptively natural and a beautifully modulated performance.

FOREVER PLAID will melt the heart of even the most hardened audience member and put a silly grin on their face to boot. For those of us of a certain age who actually remember watching the Perry Como show with the family or the lyrics to Catch a Falling Star or Topo Gigio, it’s a MUST SEE!!!

FOREVER PLAID runs through June 12, 2016 at Panasonic Theatre. Click here to learn more.

Universal Pictures Canada + Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to win an awesome WARCRAFT Prize Pack!

Synopsis:
From Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures comes Warcraft, an epic adventure of world-colliding conflict based on Blizzard Entertainment’s global phenomenon.

The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: Orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people and their home.

So begins a spectacular saga of power and sacrifice in which war has many faces, and everyone fights for something.

Directed by Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) and written by Charles Leavitt and Jones, the film starring Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbell, Ben Schnetzer, Rob Kazinsky and Daniel Wu is a Legendary Pictures, Blizzard Entertainment and Atlas Entertainment production.

See the Trailer:

Artwork:

Prize Pack (Billy not included):

To enter to win, simply click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK. For an extra chance, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON INSTAGRAM.  Indicate for us what size T-Shirt you are requesting also.

G’luck, Willionaire$!

Universal Pictures Canada release WARCRAFT on Friday, June 10, 2016 in RealD 3D and IMAX.

(Photo/video credit: Universal Pictures Canada)

You must see this new Trailer for the intriguing THE SPACE BETWEEN US starring Asa Butterfield and Britt Robertson, out this Summer!

Synopsis:

In this interplanetary adventure, a space shuttle embarks on the first mission to colonize Mars, only to discover after takeoff that one of the astronauts is pregnant. Shortly after landing, she dies from complications while giving birth to the first human born on the red planet – never revealing who the father is. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Gardner Elliot (Asa Butterfield) – an inquisitive, highly intelligent boy who reaches the age of 16 having only met 14 people in his very unconventional upbringing. While searching for clues about his father, and the home planet he’s never known, Gardner begins an online friendship with a street smart girl in Colorado named Tulsa (Britt Robertson). When he finally gets a chance to go to Earth, he’s eager to experience all of the wonders he could only read about on Mars – from the most simple to the extraordinary. But once his explorations begin, scientists discover that Gardner’s organs can’t withstand Earth’s atmosphere.  Eager to find his father, Gardner escapes the team of scientists and joins with Tulsa on a race against time to unravel the mysteries of how he came to be, and where he belongs in the universe.

See the Trailer:

VVS Films release THE SPACE BETWEEN US Friday, December 21, 2016.

(Photo/video credit: VVS Films)

Out in less than a month, FINDING DORY s one of this summer’s most awaited moments! Check out this cute new Trailer!

Synopsis:

Disney•Pixar‘s “Finding Dory” reunites everyone’s favourite forgetful blue tang, Dory, with her friends Nemo and Marlin on a search for answers about her past. What can she remember? Who are her parents? And where did she learn to speak Whale?

See the new Trailer:

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Canada release FINDING DORY Friday, June 17, 2016.

(Photo/video credit: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Canada)

Brought to us by the Canadian Picture Pioneers, providing fellowship and assistance to those in the Canadian Motion Picture industry, the CANADIAN PICTURE PIONEERS SOCIAL is set to take place Thursday, June 9, 2016 at SAME NIGHTCLUB in Toronto!

This one night brings together people in the motion picture, television, print and broadcasting industries and is a fantastic networking opportunity and fun night out! The is an evening of great music provided by vinyl DJ Humble Mike from Record Collective and classic rock covers by Toronto’s own Hot Wax.

We’d like to give away five pairs of tickets for you to attend this year’s PIONEERS SOCIAL!  To enter, simply click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK!

Good luck.  Learn more about the event here.