The Battalion Aggielife Page 3 • Tuesday, June 15, 1999 !/£« way he ^playing =)nsaid; : —edtole; ■cial qu- “js I’ve tit; There; —it thegi who f ■iBushi' -vife, Q _ lakehiiij canm Powers Claims Top of Charts —it Austi: —iture h —ross ih inner? a: atform; ow by; ies. Nm — Stan a:. I LOS ANGELES (AP) — Austin Powers is absolutely swinging, baby. I Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, the James Bond spoof sequel starring Mike Myers as a sexually charged man of mystery, took in $54.7 million over the weekend, making more in its first three days than the orig inal movie did in its entire run. I That knocked the latest Star Wars installment out of first place and accorded unlikely blockbuster status to a con- c|ept that started out as an in-joke Myers thought few peo ple would get. Now, everywhere you turn, somebody is trying to do his best Austin Powers imitation, imposing a bad English accent on his buzzwords: “Oh, behave!’’ and “Yeah, baby! ■eah!†“We’re stunned, it’s almost surreal,’’ said Mike Deluca, president of production at New Line Cinema, the film’s dis tributor. “I think in a weird way the culture caught up with K.’’ The original, Austin Powers: International Man of Mys tery, tested poorly and opened to a tepid $9.5 million in May 1997. People just did not seem to understand the hu mor about a ’60s spy with bad teeth, a bearskin rug of a Chest and an infatuation with sex. Myers said the idea was inspired by his late father, a iverpool-born salesman who loved British comedy, from eter Sellers to “Monty Python.†| “You would have had to have grown up in my house to get it,†Myers said before the film opened. But audiences warmed up to Austin’s humor, and the $16 million-budget film hung on through the summer to ross $53.9 million and turn a profit. Then it went to video, where it was — as Austin would I say — smashing. The tape dominated the 1998 video fcharts, with $44 million in sales. It spawned Austin theme parties in colleges and homes, and set the groundwork for | the sequel, with double the budget. New Line also raised expectations with trailers that poked fun at the hype around The Phantom Menace. Fea turing Dr. Evil, also played by Myers, the ads tell movie goers that if they see just one film this summer, go to Star Wars; but if they see two films, check out Austin Powers 2. Then the studio launched a huge — and risque — pro motional push, using carefully selected marketing partners that adopted Myers’ peculiar brand of double-entendre- laced humor. One Virgin Atlantic Airways billboard had Austin beam ing, “Five times a day? Yeah, baby!†to promote the air line’s five daily flights to London. Or a Heineken com mercial had a masseuse admiring Austin’s Heiney — his beer, that is. By the time the movie opened, audiences were feeling shagadelic. “Mike Meyers is a genius. He’s one of the funniest co medians I’ve ever seen,†said Mike Rosenkrantz, a ma chinist from Chesapeake, Va., who called in sick from work Monday to catch a matinee in Norfolk. The sequel sends Austin back to 1969 to reclaim his stolen mojo — or libido — from Dr. Evil. Along the way, Austin falls for the sexy female spy Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham). “Good sequel. It fit right in with the previews,†said David English, 22, a North Carolina State University stu dent, outside a theater in Raleigh. “I enjoyed the last one. I just thought it was a great comedy.†The film became the top-opening comedy (beating last year’s The Waterboy, which debuted with $39.4 million); the top June opener (beating Batman Forever with $52.7 million in 1995) and the No. 2 non-holiday weekend open er (behind only The Phantom Menace with $64.8 million last month). The numbers are not adjusted for inflation. “It’s a little bit of a Rocky Horror Picture Show thing on a larger scale,†said director Jay Roach, who saw people lined up for Austin 2 dressed as their favorite characters. “It’s Mike’s spirit of joy and his love of this music and this culture, this color and movement. People young and old want to share it with him, and that’s his genius.†PEOPLE IN THE NEWS Johnson watches son’s Henderson to host JOHNSON ligh school graduation s 0 EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — This time, pltsfswas Magic Johnson’s turn to cheer at Eior ichigan State University. eEiittf The former Spartan K#id retired NBA great li atched from a private itoi )x at the school’s Bres- 5#) Center on Saturday as 3 ro* c s son, Andre, received diploma from Everett gh School. Johnson graduated am Everett before going j., ito Michigan State and leading the Spar se ns to the 1979 NCAA championship. # ir« When Andre’s name was read, his father apt to his feet, clapped and shouted, hnson was also celebrating the recovery his father, Earvin Johnson Sr., from a # roke last week. Andre, 18, plans to move to Los Ange- 3 this summer and work at his father’s impany, Magic Johnson Enterprises, lich includes coffee houses, restaurants i#; id movie theaters. He also plans to study ^ isiness management at Santa Monica Ju- ^br College. > “I’m going to turn him into a business man,†his father said. morning news show NEW YORK (AP) — Mrs. Brady is coming to morning television. Florence Henderson, the actress who played Carol Brady in the 1970s situation comedy “The Brady Bunch,†will be a co-host of “Later Today,†a NBC News show set to premiere this fall, an NBC executive who asked not to be identified said Monday. She will be paired with Jodi Applegate of NBC News and Asha Blake, who currently works as an anchor at KNBC-TV, the net work’s Los Angeles affiliate, the executive said. Henderson played a widowed mom with three daughters who married an architect with three sons on “The Brady Bunch.†The comedy ran on ABC from 1969-1974 and became something of a camp classic and the subject of two 1990s movie spoofs. She replayed the role twice in two short lived series, during 1977 and 1990. Henderson also has a history in morn ing TV — she was a “Today girl†in 1959 when Dave Garroway was the host, con tributing interviews and features to the pro gram. “Later Today,†as the title suggests, is set to follow “Today†in NBC’s morning schedule and will be modeled after the lighter fare in that show’s last hour. Applegate is now a host of “Weekend To day.†NBC is expected to appoint Soledad O’Brien to replace her on that show. NBC News had no comment on the report. Lopez ducks out of Puerto Rican parade NEW YORK (AP) — Her hit album On the 6 is named for a New York City subway train, but it was by foot and by car that Jen nifer Lopez put herself on display for ador ing crowds at the Puerto Rican Day Parade. The actress-singer strolled up Fifth Av enue for about 10 blocks of the parade Sunday before she ducked onto a side street to escape hordes of clamoring pho tographers. Fans watching from behind po lice barricades shouted “Jennifer!†and cheered as she waved and made her hasty exit. Later in the afternoon, Lopez returned to the parade — this time in a top-down convertible where she looked a little more relaxed. A line of police officers flanked the car to keep photographers away. Lopez, who starred in the movie Selena, was born in the Bronx. She named her al bum for the No. 6 subway train, which runs from her old neighborhood into Manhattan. Mandela receives gifts from Zulu king NONGOMA, South Africa (AP) — Presi dent Nelson Mandela is leaving office a rich er man — six cows, a bull and five calves richer. Mandela also received a shield, a spear and a leopard skin Saturday from Goodwill Zwelithini, the king of the Zulus. A brass band and tradi tional Zulu dancers enter tained more than 500 guests outside the king’s palace in the KwaZulu-Natal province while Mandela and Zwelithini met inside. Mandela retires Wednesday, when his hand-picked successor Thabo Mbeki is in augurated. MANDELA Collins shares views about musical peers NEW YORK (AP) — Phil Collins is not afraid to share his opinions about others in the music business. “Music can do two things,†the singer says in the upcoming USA Weekend mag azine. “It can build bridges and make people understand each other and their differences. Or it can dig the ditch and make the problem bigger. Rap is making the problem bigger.†On divas: “Just tell me what you’re singing about. Don’t embroider every thing. She’s a fantastic singer, Mariah Carey. Fantastic singer, Whitney Houston. But I get tired of the embroidery, to be honest.†And last but not least: “I play a lot of Sting stuff. He’s a little arrogant some times. But he’s allowed to be. He’s a good-looking, talented guy.†Geri Halliwell tours Philippines for U.N. MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Geri Halli well began her first tour Monday as a U.N. Population Fund goodwill ambassador by promoting contraceptives in the Philip pines, where the dominant Catholic church considers artificial birth control a taboo. The first stop for the former Ginger Spice was a clinic run by Marie Stopes In ternational, a charity promoting contra ceptive use and reproductive health.