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Nolan's 'The Odyssey' storms the box office with a $264.1 million global debut

NEW YORK (AP) -- Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" launched with an estimated $124.5 million in domestic ticket sales and another $139.6 million from overseas, notching an even better debut than "Oppenheimer" and marking the filmmaker's best opening since 2012's "The Dark Knight Rises."

Nolan flexed his singular box-office might with a global debut unlike any other. Few filmmakers alive could pull off a starry, big-budget adaptation of Homer's epic poem. But in a Hollywood where intellectual property rights rule most hits, Nolan turned one of the world's oldest works of literature into an unlikely summer blockbuster.

The Universal production was no small gamble on Nolan, coming off the 2023 best picture-winning "Oppenheimer." With a production budget of $250 million, it's among the most expensive R-rated movies ever made. Universal is spending some $125 million to market it.

But no behind-the-camera name turns out audiences more than Nolan's. So great was the hype on "The Odyssey" that IMAX put tickets on sale for some 70 mm showtimes a full year in advance. To satisfy the extraordinary demand for Nolan's preferred format, IMAX 70 mm, some theaters added midnight and 3 a.m. screenings -- and sold them out.

"It's incredibly rewarding to see the palpable excitement in theaters this weekend," said Jim Orr, head of domestic distribution for Universal. "Nolan has crafted an epic adventure. It's on a scale that audiences have responded to extraordinarily well."

IMAX drives ticket sales

Billed as Nolan's first feature shot entirely with IMAX cameras, the format drove a huge slice of ticket sales. That included $29.6 million domestically on IMAX and $51.8 million globally, leading to the company's best weekend ever. IMAX is dedicating its screens entirely to "The Odyssey" for three weeks. Though only 41 IMAX screens can screen "The Odyssey" in 70 mm, they accounted for $6.3 million in ticket sales.

"The IMAX of it all helped turn it from not only a blockbuster, but a global cultural event," said Rich Gelfond, chief executive of IMAX. "We have tickets on sale for week five in some theaters and some of them have already sold out."

Since the pandemic, Nolan has been at the forefront of reviving cinemas. His "Tenet" was one of the first big releases to wade back into theaters in 2020. Three years later, "Oppenheimer" and Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" combined to create arguably the movies' signature moment of the decade. "Oppenheimer" ultimately grossed $975 million worldwide.

"The Odyssey" arrived in theaters during Hollywood's best summer since 2019. Ticket sales are running 10.4% ahead of last year, according to Rentrak. The industry is expecting the first $10 billion year at the domestic box office since the pandemic.

Universal sees 'The Odyssey' playing into the fall

The only question for "The Odyssey" will be how front-loaded it is, given that many moviegoers have had this weekend circled for months. The film faced no new-release competition over the weekend, and it won't next weekend, either.

Gelfond said that presales for the movie's second weekend would rank among their 10 best presales, proof that many moviegoers are waiting to see the film in their preferred format. IMAX 70mm screenings, he said, are largely sold out for the next month, except for some front row seats.

Justice Department activates untested court for 'alien terrorist' deportations

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Trump administration has filed a first-ever petition to a secretive and dormant court created 30 years ago to consider government requests to deport so-called "alien terrorists" from the United States.

The Alien Terrorist Removal Court was established in 1996 but had never received a petition until this past Wednesday, when the Justice Department filed an application seeking the removal of an individual whose name is withheld from the single-page document posted on the court's website.

The chief judge of the five-member court, Joan Ericksen, said in a written response to the petition that a hearing was held on Thursday during which the court had "questions about the nexus that the government alleges between the actions of the respondent and the specific sections and subsections it invokes with respect to those actions.

"The answers persuaded the Court that the Government could benefit from the opportunity for more thoughtful consideration," wrote Ericksen, a federal judge in Minnesota.

She directed the Justice Department to provide more information by Wednesday.

The court's authorities emerged from the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which permits the attorney general to file under seal applications for the deportation of a suspected "alien terrorist." If an application is granted, the court must hold a public hearing at which the government has the burden to prove that the individual satisfies that definition. Applications must be approved by the attorney general or deputy attorney general.

Federal law says that an individual could qualify as an "alien terrorist" by, among other factors, having "engaged in a terrorist activity," endorsing or espousing terrorist activities and by belonging to a political or social group that encourages terrorist activity.

The court has been dormant since its creation, having received -- until last week -- no applications and conducting no hearings, according to a summary posted on the Federal Judicial Center website. It is comprised of five judges selected by Chief Justice John Roberts.

The Trump administration has moved aggressively over the last year to carry out deportations, including invoking a 1798 wartime law, the Alien Enemies Act, to remove Venezuelan migrants who officials accuse of being part of a terrorist gang. During a hearing in that case last year, the Washington judge presiding over it, James Boasberg, indicated that the Alien Terrorist Removal Court would be the natural forum to consider a request for deportation on national security grounds.

"In fact, Congress has an answer for us, doesn't it? Because they created the Alien Terrorist Removal Court," he said. "So if there's a national security concern with having these hearings…you can always go to the ATRC, which would be a first, but that's what it's there for, right?"

The petition was first reported by Court Watch, an independent news site.

Taylor Farms recalls lettuce shipped to 27 states over cyclospora risk

Taylor Farms has expanded a voluntary recall of its iceberg lettuce products sourced from central Mexico because of a potential link to the multistate cyclospora outbreak that has sickened people across the U.S.

Products with the potential to be contaminated with the diarrhea-causing parasite were shipped to 27 states including Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois and New Jersey, the California-based company said in a statement Friday.

"We are actively removing the implicated products," the statement said, adding that the company has stopped sourcing lettuce from an implicated lot in central Mexico.

U.S. health officials earlier this week identified lettuce from a supplier in Mexico as a source of cyclospora contamination in food served at Taco Bell restaurants in five Midwestern states.

The Taylor Farms recall announcement listed 25 shredded lettuce and salad mix products sold under eight different brand codes. Taylor Farms did not respond to an emailed request for the full names of those brands or retailers. The recalled products were shipped as recently as Thursday and have "best by" dates as late as Aug. 3.

Sysco, the nation's largest food distributor, has halted distribution of all Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce products sourced from Mexico and instructed customers to destroy them.

Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that infects food that has come into contact with human feces, most commonly when produce is irrigated or washed with contaminated water. When ingested, the parasite causes intestinal illness marked by "frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements," according to the CDC.

In 2026, cyclospora has sickened at least 1,645 people in the U.S. and hospitalized 141, according to the CDC, which is investigating more than 5,000 additional illnesses that may be linked to the parasite. This time last year, only 249 cases had been reported.

The CDC initially warned consumers to avoid eating shredded lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.

"Taco Bell worked swiftly to voluntarily remove the product from restaurants and the affected ingredient has been removed from our supply chain nationwide," the company said in a statement Friday.

License revoked for boarding school in Utah where Paris Hilton says she was abused as a teen

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah revoked another campus license on Friday for the boarding school where Paris Hilton said she was abused as a teenager, marking a major victory in the hotel heiress' yearslong effort to get the school shut down.

The Utah Department of Health and Human Services' decision cites a multitude of noncompliance citations in 2026 for the Provo Canyon School's Provo campus, including not protecting "a client from potential harm or acts of violence," and "using cruel and unnecessary practice on a child." More than a dozen of the citations were noted on Friday.

"No child should be hurt in a program that is meant to protect them; particularly programs that require the authorization of the state to operate," Shannon Thoman-Black, director of the division of licensing and background checks at the health and human services department, said in a statement.

Earlier this month, the state revoked the license for the Provo Canyon School's other campus in Utah, saying the school has "failed to provide applicable health and safety services for clients."

Paris Hilton, the media personality who spent almost a year at the school in the late 1990s, said the latest announcement means she finally feels a sense of "peace."

"This horrific chapter of abuse, neglect, and trauma has finally come to an end," she said in a statement.

The school, which is described on its website as a psychiatric residential treatment facility for youth ages 12 to 18, has until Aug. 15 to stop providing services at its Provo campus. In the interim, Utah officials will be monitoring the facility at least once a week, according to the state's Department of Health and Human Services.

Staci Bradley, the school's director of business development, said in a statement that they do not agree with the state's decision and "are carefully reviewing all available legal and administrative avenues, including the appeals process."

The facility has 15 days to request a hearing before the department.

Hilton alleges that school staff members beat her, watched her shower, fed her unknown pills and locked her in solitary confinement without clothing.

"Today means no child will ever have to endure what we did at Provo Canyon School again," she said.

She has testified about her experiences there in Congress and state legislatures around the U.S., helping pass laws to protect teens in Utah and more than a dozen other states. Utah has long played an outsized role in the troubled teen industry, a network of private, for-profit residential centers for children with behavioral issues.

In June, Hilton returned to the Provo Canyon School to support two families who filed lawsuits alleging that their children were mistreated at the school.

The school is under new ownership, and the administration has said it can't comment on anything that came before the change, including Hilton's time there.

Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate arrested in Miami, US Marshals Service tells AP

Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, whose social media empire promoting wealth, male dominance and misogyny has made them among the world's most polarizing internet personalities, were arrested Saturday in Miami as British authorities sought their extradition on rape and sex trafficking charges.

The brothers were taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service on a sealed warrant, agency spokesperson Brady McCarron told The Associated Press, placing the United States at the center of an international legal saga that has stretched from Romania to Britain.

British prosecutors announced Saturday that they were seeking the brothers' extradition on charges alleging they raped and trafficked women between 2010 and 2017.

The dual U.S. and British citizens moved to Romania in 2016. They were arrested there in 2022, accused of participating in schemes to lure women for sexual exploitation. They denied those allegations and the Romanian case hasn't gone forward because of legal and procedural problems.

Last year, they were allowed to leave Romania and flew to Florida on a private jet.

The brothers are expected to appear in Miami's federal court early next week, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive law enforcement operations.

The pending charges in the United Kingdom accused the brothers of abusing women in an area north of London, where they grew up. Their lawyers had said they denied the allegations.

Joseph McBride, an attorney representing the Tate brothers, said in a phone interview Saturday evening that he has not been able to speak with his clients but called the new charges out of the U.K. "filth and slander" intended to derail defamation lawsuits filed by the brothers in the U.S.

"They're pulling out all the stops to make sure these guys never get their day in court," McBride said.

"We are confident that once a competent judge sees the facts, and once the Department of Justice confronts this egregious abuse of its own authority, Andrew and Tristan Tate will walk free. America does not do Britain's political dirty work."

Andrew Tate, 39, first reached a mainstream audience as a contestant on the U.K. reality television show "Big Brother" in 2016. He was removed from the show when a video surfaced that appeared to show Tate assaulting a woman. He and his brother Tristan Tate, 38, are vocal supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Andrew Tate has amassed over 10 million followers on X but has been banned from platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram for violating hate speech guidelines. His most widely condemned rhetoric includes comments that women who are sexually assaulted should bear some responsibility for their attacks, graphic descriptions of how he might attack women and criticisms of people who seek treatment for mental illness.

The Tate brothers have consistently denied allegations of abuse and human trafficking, claiming that violent and misogynistic statements have been taken out of context or were intended as jokes.