Weekend news roundup 29/04: Littler wins again & box office latest

Jonathan Victoria • 29 Apr 2024 News

Plus a new T20 record, Sony movies delayed and Leicester’s Prem return.

Leicester secure return to Premier League

Leicester have secured an automatic promotion spot in the Championship to return straight back to the Premier League next season.

The Foxes have been the one to beat this year, sitting atop the table for the majority of the year.

Recent weeks have seen a resurgence from Leeds, who have also been excellent this year, as well as Ipswich in their bid for back-to-back promotions. Southampton, who earlier in the season embarked on a 22-game unbeaten run, saw their automatic playoff hopes end with a loss at home to Stoke on Saturday. Their hopes now lie in the playoffs.

Leicester have all but secured the title as well, leaving one more spot for automatic promotion.

Challengers aces release with top box office spot

Zendaya’s latest film Challengers debuted at the top of the US domestic box office this weekend, ahead of fellow debutant Unsung Hero and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.

With almost double the amount grossed over second place, Challengers brought in $15m in the US with a further $10m internationally for a decent $25m opening weekend altogether.

Unsung Hero has already made back its $6m budget, earning $7.75m domestically in its first weekend, although the film has only been released in the US as of yet. It will be coming to the UK on 14th June.

As for Godzilla x Kong, it was another solid week in what has been a good run at the box office for the film. Its $7.2m domestic weekend brings its totals to $181.6m domestically, $337.7m internationally and $519.3m worldwide.

Littler continues remarkable rise with European Tour title

‘The Nuke’ beat fellow Englishman Joe Cullen 8-4 in the final, showcasing his masterful ability once again, with Cullen afterwards praising the young 17-year-old as a “generational talent”.

Luke stormed into the public eye with a fascinating showing at last year's World Darts Championship, finishing runner-up to Luke Humphries. He has continued his rise into his debut year, winning his second European Tour title and is also sitting atop the Premier League Darts table with three night wins and two runners-up places.

Next up will be Night 14 of the season at P&J Luve Arena in Aberdeen, Scotland on Thursday 2nd May. Watch all the action on the night exclusively on Sky Sports.

Sony shifts movie release dates

Sony today announced some shifts in their upcoming theatrical release calendar, moving the highly-anticipated Spider-Man villain film Kraven the Hunter from 30th August to 13th December, taking the spot from the new Karate Kid film, which has been pushed back to 30th May 2025.

Kraven the Hunter, starring Aaron Talor-Johnson as the titular character, will be Sony’s first R-rated Marvel film and is set to introduce the fan-favourite comic book villain into Sony’s Spider-Man cinematic universe.

As for the new Karate Kid, Sony announced last year it would see Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio return to their roles from their respective original films.

The delay means the film will come once the sixth and final season of Cobra Kai, a Karate Kid spinoff show on Netflix, has aired.

Bairstow fires ton in record T20 chase

The Punjab Kings recorded the highest-ever successful T20 run chase after beating the Kolkata Knight Riders, who set a previously insurmountable target of 262.

The Kings’ all-time great chase was helped by England star Jonny Bairstow, who contributed with 108 not out, which included eight fours and nine sixes.

The Kings completed the record chase with eight balls to spare and matched the highest score in PL history for a team batting second, with the other side being the Royal Challengers Bengaluu’s 262-7 that was set just earlier this month.