Weekly news roundup 03/01/24: First time for 2024!

Jonathan Victoria • 03 Jan 2024 News

Select news stories from across sports and entertainment so far this week.

Littler vs Humphries in World Darts Championship final

In case you needed reminding.... IT'S WORLD DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL DAY 💥 pic.twitter.com/lHexfV5U4w

— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) January 3, 2024

The fairytale run for the young 16-year-old Luke Littler continues to the final, where the lad from Runcorn, Cheshire will have a shot at the World Darts Championship.

He will face fellow countryman and tournament favourite Luke Humphries after he dismantled Scott Willaims in a clean sweep that saw him take the world number one spot in the process.

Littler has been the talk of the tournament, for he hasn’t simply shown up and got lucky, but instead has shown an ability to not only rival the best but even overshadow them. 

He has beaten two former champions on his road to the final; Robert Cross (2018 champion) in the semi-finals 6-2, and one of the greats of the game, five-time champion Raymond van Barneveld in the last-16 4-1.

The final will be shown on Sky Sports tonight from 7:30pm.

Wonka topped final domestic box office of 2023

Wonka was the final champion of the box office in 2023, finishing at the top ahead of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in second and Migration in the third spot.

The latest take on the classic Roald Dahl story starring Timothy Chalamet made $22.4m at the US box office over the final weekend of 2023, taking its domestic total to $139.7m. Additionally, a further $244.4m worldwide takes Wonka’s total up to $384.1m.

Aquaman 2 reigned supreme over the Christmas weekend but fell back a place after taking in $18.2m this weekend gone. It has now reached $81.7m domestically with a further $173.6m worldwide to see the total surpass a quarter of a billion, sitting at $255.3m.

Universal’s family-fun-film Migration managed to bring in $17m over the weekend. It’s now made $59.1m domestically, $46.4m internationally, bringing the global total $105.6m.

Raducanu’s return results in victory

She's back!

A refreshed, revitalised and reformed Emma Raducanu returns to tennis with a WIN 🔥 pic.twitter.com/a5izk1ajra

— Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) January 2, 2024

Emma Raducanu made a triumphant return to the courts when she beat Elena-Gabriela Ruse at the ASB Classic in Auckland - her first match following an eight-month injury layoff.

Raducanu had been absent since last April after undergoing surgery on both wrists and left ankle.

The 2021 US Open champion battled a hard-fought match with Ruse, going the full three sets to win 6-3 4-6 7-5.

The 21-year-old will now face the 2023 WTA Comeback Player of the Year Elina Svitolana, who is currently ranked 25th in the world - a full 276 places higher than Raducanu, who sits in 301st.

Jack Black to play Steve in upcoming Minecraft movie

The iconic voice of Jack Black (School of Rock) will be the voice behind the similarly iconic Minecraft Steve in the upcoming Minecraft movie.

Black will be joining current cast members Emma Myers (Wednesday), Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple) and Sebastian Hansen (Just Mercy), as well as potentially Jason Momoa (Aquaman), who is said to have been in talks for a role.

A Minecraft movie has been in development since at least 2014 and finally, it began filming in December 2023.

The film is currently slated to be released on 4th April 2025.

Rooney’s disastrous Birmingham tenure over

Wayne Rooney’s time as Birmingham City manager has come to an end after just 83 days in charge.

He took charge for 15 games and in that stretch guided his side to just two wins. The nine defeats in that time saw the Blues fall from sixth in the table to 20th.

Despite his sacking, the former England top scorer remained adamant that this would not be his final managerial role.

In a post made on his Twitter/X account, Rooney shared his disappointment at not being given enough time and that he will now take some time with his family to prepare for the next opportunity.