FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — New England Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers is active for Sunday's game against the Indianapolis Colts after being taken off the commissioner exempt list this week amid his ongoing domestic violence and drug case.
Peppers was back in the Patriots’ facility and participated in workouts this week with his teammates for the first time since being placed on the list on Oct. 9, two days after he was arrested and charged with shoving his girlfriend’s head into a wall and choking her.
Peppers, 29, pleaded not guilty in Quincy District Court to charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a Class “B” substance believed to be cocaine. A trial date has been set for Jan. 22.
The league said this week that its review is ongoing and not affected by the change in Peppers’ roster status.
Peppers has appeared in four games this season and has 23 tackles.
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FILE - New England Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers answers questions during a news conference after playing against the New York Jets in an NFL football game, Sept. 19, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, file)
NEW YORK (AP) — Christmas came early at the box office this year.
“Moana 2” brought in a tidal wave of moviegoers over the Thanksgiving Day weekend, setting records with $221 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. That, combined with “Wicked” and “Gladiator II,” made for an unprecedented weekend in cinemas and a confluence of blockbusters more like what’s often found in late December.
Expectations were high for Walt Disney Co.’s “Moana 2,” but the film blew predictions out of the water. Its five-day opening set a new record for Thanksgiving moviegoing. The previous best was $125 million for “Frozen 2” in its second week of release in 2019. “Moana 2” added $165.3 million internationally.
At the same time, the sensation of “Wicked” showed no signs of slowing down. The Universal Pictures musical brought in $117.5 million over the five-day weekend, pushing its two-week global total to $359.2 million. Not accounting for inflation, “Wicked” is now the highest grossing Broadway adaptation over “Grease.” (That 1978 film grossed $190 million, but factoring in inflation would put it past $900 million.)
“Gladiator II,” meanwhile, also held well, dipping 44% from its opening weekend. Ridley Scott’s sequel to his Oscar-winning best picture original collected $44 million in its second weekend. While its steep price tag of $250 million will make profitability challenging, “Gladiator II” has swiftly gathered $320 million worldwide.
Those three films drove the overall box office to more than $400 million in Thanksgiving weekend ticket sales, a record. For an industry that has been battered in recent years by the pandemic, work stoppages and the upheaval caused by streaming, it was a triumphant weekend that showed the still-potent power of Hollywood’s blockbuster machine. Before “Wicked,” “Moana 2” and “Gladiator II” arrived in theaters, ticket sales were running about 25% behind pre-pandemic levels.
Michael O’Leary, president and chief executive of the National Association of Theatre Owners, said the weekend showed what’s possible when “all the pieces of the puzzle come together” in compelling big-budget movies with marketing muscle.
“We’re very optimistic that this weekend is the start of what we believe is a full-on charge into the future,” he said. "The remaining quarter of this year looks very promising and then on into 2025 and 2026. We’re hoping next year is the first kind of normal year this industry has had in a long time.”
Like the last time such anticipated movies collided on the release calendar — as in 2023's much-ballyhooed “Barbenheimer" — the movie industry again could see evidence of a rising moviegoing tide lifting all blockbusters. In recent years, studios have typically tried to space out most of their biggest releases. Earlier this fall, “Venom: The Last Dance," for example, was the No. 1 film for three straight weeks, despite not being particularly successful.
“For a long, long time in Hollywood, there’s been a belief that you don’t put big blockbuster movies up against each other,” said O'Leary. “But the truth of the matter is that competition is good. It’s good for the movies. It’s good for the studios. It’s good for the theater owners. But it’s particularly good for the moviegoing public.”
This combination of images shows promotional art for "Gladiator II," left, and "Wicked." (Paramount/Universal Pictures via AP)
Cynthia Erivo, left, and Ariana Grande arrive at the premiere of "Wicked" on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. In “Wicked,” Elphaba and Glinda travel from Shiz University to the Emerald City on a glistening green train to meet the wizard. In real life, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande have traveled much farther and wider and longer and on airplanes to promote their hotly anticipated film. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Auli'i Cravalho, left and Dwayne Johnson pose for photographers upon arrival at the UK premiere of Moana 2 on Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, at a central London cinema. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
FILE - Ariana Grande, left, poses for a selfie with a fan at the premiere of 'Wicked' at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angele, Nov. 9, 2024. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP File)
This image released by Disney shows the characters Moana, voiced by Auli'i Cravalho, holding Simea, voiced by Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda, in a scene from "Moana 2." (Disney via AP)
