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Lil Wayne Returns To New Orleans To Give Out Turkeys

Posted: 19 Nov 2011 12:54 AM PST

'It's a beautiful feeling overall,' Weezy tells MTV News, alongside Cash Money co-founders Birdman and Slim.
By Rob Markman, with reporting by Travis Laurendine

Birdman and Lil Wayne give out turkeys in New Orleans on Friday
Photo: Travis Laurendine

Who says you can't go home again? With Thanksgiving just a few days away, Cash Money Records returned to New Orleans on Friday to hand out turkeys and give back to the city that birthed them.

"It's actually been my first time back here for the past eight or nine years, and they've been doing this for 15 years," Lil Wayne told MTV News. "I haven't been back here to do this for so long just being super busy, just always on tour."

Since Cash Money's meteoric rise in the music industry, Tunechi and Birdman have since relocated to Miami but have never forgotten their roots. Every year Baby and members of the Cash Money team return to help out the less fortunate, and even though it has been some years since Wayne himself went back to his old stomping grounds, Friday's experience isn't lost on him.

"Those times I did it years ago, I was just a kid and I was just doing it because Baby and Slim, we were giving away turkeys at a park and that's what we were doin'," Weezy said. "Now it's a totally different feeling, because I can actually give you that and say, 'Here, happy Thanksgiving.' I can do that, and I can provide that for you. That's a different feeling in general, and it's a beautiful feeling overall."

Typically quiet Cash Money co-founder Ronald "Slim" Williams doesn't take his record label's success for granted. "God blessed people to bless other people," he said. "It makes it so special for us to come back home and see a smile on people's face after they received their turkeys and all the other items that go with it. So it's real big and real special for us."

Overall, CMR co-CEO Birdman just wants the people from his old neighborhood to know that despite his multiplatinum success, he isn't that much different than the people in New Orleans. He hopes that going back to the community where he made his bones will spawn a new cycle of success. "Knowing we once were them, so for me to see that they see us hopefully it's an inspiration for them and something positive can come out of it, because we once were them," he said.

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'Breaking Dawn' Breaks Box-Office Records

Posted: 18 Nov 2011 11:18 PM PST

Latest 'Twilight' entry has third-highest opening day ever.
By Ryan J. Downey

Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner in "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1"
Photo: Summit

"Twilight" fans came out in force Friday and made sure "Breaking Dawn" broke records.

"The Twilight Saga" may be drawing to a close, but there's nothing close to a slowdown at the box office. Estimates put the Friday numbers for the second-to-last entry in the series at $138 million around the world, as "Breaking Dawn" rolled out in 54 global markets. The domestic box office received a welcome 11 percent boost from the same period last year, thanks to the legions of "Twilight" fans.

Midnight showings helped propel "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1" past "The Dark Knight," "Transformers" and most of the "Potter" movies in the all-time opening-day box-office record books. "Breaking Dawn - Part 1" enjoyed the third-highest opening day ever with a projected $72 million in domestic receipts, according to studio estimates. The first part of Edward, Bella and Jacob's final chapter together didn't manage to beat the opening day of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2" or 2009's "New Moon," but it was a close race between the "Twilight" films. "New Moon" opened with $72.7 million, and final calculations could change the outcome between the two.

"Twilight" fans who endured long lines for midnight showings accounted for $30.25 million of the "Breaking Dawn" first day-number. Based on the receipts thus far, industry watchers predict an opening weekend in the $140 million range, which is more than Summit Entertainment's conservative projections. That would give the latest "Twilight" the fifth-highest opening weekend ever behind "Deathly Hallows, Part 2," "The Dark Knight," "Spider-Man 3" and "New Moon." "Eclipse" opened with $68.5 million; the first "Twilight" debuted with $36 million.

Critics savaged director Bill Condon's first foray into Stephenie Meyer territory, but audiences have told a different story. "Breaking Dawn - Part 1" scored a paltry 27 percent on film review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences have given it a B+ CinemaScore. "Eclipse" and the first film remain tied as the best-reviewed in the series, with 49 percent each on the Tomatometer.

As expected, nothing else in theaters had anything close to the momentum of the continuing "Twilight" phenomenon. Despite additional revenue from 3-D showings, "Happy Feet 2" opened with less than half of the previous movie's first day in 2006. The animated feature (which once again features the voice of "The Lord of the Rings" star Elijah Wood) took in just $5.9 million, according to studio estimates.

Last weekend's #1 movie, "Immortals," was down 74 percent with $3.82 million. That decline is much worse than comparable swords-and-sandals action pictures like "300" and "Clash of the Titans." The horribly reviewed Adam Sandler vehicle "Jack and Jill" made $3.5 million in its second Friday in theaters. "Puss in Boots" dropped steeply but has earned well over $100 million in the last few weeks.

Well over a decade ago, the big box-office story started with a T as well: "Titanic" was on its way to become the highest-grossing movie of all time (later surpassed by "Avatar") and the heartthrob generating all the heat was Leonardo DiCaprio, not Robert Pattinson. Nowadays, the 37-year-old actor and philanthropist is all grown up and starring in director Clint Eastwood's "J. Edgar" biopic. The limited-release period drama dropped 58 percent on its second Friday and has generated an estimated $16.6 million thus far. The movie certainly wasn't conceived as a blockbuster. DiCaprio still has summer-movie clout: "Inception" has grossed nearly $300 million since it was released in July 2010.

Check out everything we've got on "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1."

For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.

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