"Purge: Election Year" Now the Biggest-Grossing Movie in the Franchise‏

Performing beyond expectations at the Philippine box-office, Universal Pictures' “The Purge: Election Year” opened to a jaw-dropping P25.8-million weekend, easily outgrossing the final total receipts of its two predecessors – combined!

The previous films in the violent suspense-thriller franchise – 2013's “The Purge” and 2014's “The Purge: Anarchy” – posted a combined cumulative gross of P16-million after their entire run. “Election Year” has already surpassed that figure by 64% on its first five days of release alone, and the film isn't showing signs of slowing down.

"The BFG" -- First Disney Film to be Directed by Steven Spielberg‏

Disney and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Walden Media, present the fantasy adventure film “The BFG,” the first-ever motion picture adaptation of Roald Dahl’s resonant tale of childhood, the magic of dreams and the extraordinary friendship between a young girl and a big friendly giant.

Directed by three-time Academy Award® winner Steven Spielberg, the film reunites the director with his Oscar-nominated collaborator on “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,” Melissa Mathison, who adapted the childrens author’s timeless adventure for the big screen.

The film stars Oscar® winner Mark Rylance as the Big Friendly Giant; newcomer Ruby Barnhill as Sophie, the orphan who befriends him and is swept into a world of rampaging giants; Penelope Wilton as the Queen; Jemaine Clement as Fleshlumpeater, the most fearsome giant from Giant Country; Rebecca Hall as Mary, the Queen’s handmaid; Rafe Spall as Mr. Tibbs, the Queen’s butler; and Bill Hader as Bloodbottler, another unruly giant from Giant Country.

“The BFG” marked somewhat of a departure for Steven Spielberg. He explains, “I've been very blessed to have had all kinds of beautiful experiences telling stories. I'm hesitant to emphasize one story over the other because they have all had tremendous value to me. But I think the number of historical movies that I've been making—films like ‘Lincoln,’ ‘Bridge of Spies’ and then going further back to films like ‘Amistad’ and ‘Schindler’s List’—have kept me fettered to the accuracy of telling a historical story.”

“So being able to escape into the world of dreams and imaginations has been a dream in itself,” he continues. “That makes ‘The BFG’ special, because it was my escape into what I think I kind of do best, which is just let my imagination run away with itself.”

According to Spielberg, he was raised on Grimm fairytales and they were very dark and very frightening with no redeeming social value, whatsoever. “They were almost object lessons for kids, but Dahl and Disney both subscribed to the precepts of children's folklore and embraced the darkness, because what is a fairytale without a dark center?” he says. “Without that dark center, where is the redemption, and how do you bring all of us out from the bowels of a nightmare into the most beautiful, enchanting dream we'd ever seen?”

The fact that Dahl chose a young girl as his protagonist in “The BFG” was something the director appreciated as well. Sophie is a strong girl who does not take no for an answer and is not intimidated by someone who is six-times bigger than her, and the character is similar to strong females who are at the center of many Walt Disney films.

“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” has always been Spielberg’s favorite Disney film. “I saw it in a movie theater during its ninth revival when I was only seven or eight years old and it really stuck with me. I can still remember being so frightened and terrified, but at the same time, so satisfied with that amazing ending.”

Roald Dahl and Walt Disney actually met in April of 1943 to discuss a number of projects, one of which was “The Gremlins,” one of Dahl’s first stories. The film was eventually shelved, but was later released as a book by Disney and Random House with all proceeds going to the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund. The book did go on however, to serve as inspiration for the 1984 film “Gremlins,” which, coincidentally, was produced by Spielberg.

The filmmakers were all in agreement that “The BFG” felt like a hybrid between a classic Disney film and a movie from Amblin Entertainment (the production company Spielberg, Kennedy and Marshall founded in 1981), so they were thrilled when the studio green lit the film in the spring of 2015, making “The BFG” the first Walt Disney film to be directed by Steven Spielberg.

Opening across the Philippines on Aug. 10, “The BFG” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures through Columbia Pictures. Like us on Facebook, WaltDisneyStudiosPH; follow us on Twitter, @disney_phil; follow us on Instagram, @disney.ph and use the hashtag #TheBFGPH.

Enchanted Rose Takes Spotlight in "Beauty and the Beast" Teaser Poster‏

Disney has just revealed the teaser poster of its live-action “Beauty and the Beast,” shining a light on the magical rose that's pivotal to the story.

Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” is a live-action re-telling of the studio’s animated classic which refashions the classic characters from the tale as old as time for a contemporary audience, staying true to the original music while updating the score with several new songs.

“Beauty and the Beast” is the fantastic journey of Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle’s enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast’s hideous exterior and realize the kind heart and soul of the true Prince within.

The film stars: Emma Watson as Belle; Dan Stevens as the Beast; Luke Evans as Gaston, the handsome, but shallow villager who woos Belle; Oscar® winner Kevin Kline as Maurice, Belle’s eccentric, but lovable father; Josh Gad as Lefou, Gaston’s long-suffering aide-de-camp; Golden Globe® nominee Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, the candelabra; Oscar nominee Stanley Tucci as Maestro Cadenza, the harpsichord; Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette, the feather duster; six-time Tony Award® winner Audra McDonald as Madame Garderobe, the wardrobe; Oscar nominee Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, the mantel clock; and two-time Academy Award® winner Emma Thompson as the teapot, Mrs. Potts.

7-Eleven Rewards You With Every CLiQQ!

I'm really thankful that there are convenience stores like 7-Eleven that provides almost everything I need all the time. But would it be cooler when you can get rewarded with every purchase?

Well 7-eleven already has that with their Everyday Rewards which comes in card and digital format. After some time, they also introduced the CLiQQ kiosk which was a great help in doing eServices like load, paying the bill et cetera. Now they combined them all together and launched the CLiQQ mobile app!

The rewards for loyalty continues and they also expanded more features that comes with the app. Using CLiQQ and enjoying its benefits is easy and gratifying. The app includes a loyalty barcode that lets 7-Eleven customers earn points every time they make purchases worth P50 or more. These points can then be used to redeem items from the CLiQQ Rewards Catalog, which includes a wide array of products. Customers can even share their points with friends, letting them have their pick of rewards as well.

Modern Day Robin Hood In “MARAUDERS”

“Marauders” reels into action when a bank is hit by a brutal heist, all evidence points to the owner (Bruce Willis) and his high-powered clients. But as a group of FBI agents (Christopher Meloni, Dave Bautista and Adrian Grenier) dig deeper into the case — and the deadly heists continue — it becomes clear that a larger conspiracy is at play.

Bruce Willis portrays Jeffrey Hubert, president and owner of Hubert National Bank, and the target of repeated heists.  An air of entitlement and authority, he goes ballistic when the local newspaper smells a scandal beyond simple robbery.

"Ghostbusters" Taps the Comedy Chops of Chris Hemsworth

One of the most sought after actors in Hollywood today, Chris Hemsworth (“Thor” and “The Avengers” series) takes on the role of receptionist Kevin, a clueless man with a sweet simple attitude that both charms and confounds his female bosses to no end, in Columbia Pictures' new action-adventure “Ghostbusters” (in Philippine cinemas Friday, July 15).

“Ghostbusters” makes its long-awaited return, rebooted with a cast of hilarious new characters. Thirty years after the beloved original franchise took the world by storm, director Paul Feig brings his fresh take to the supernatural comedy, joined by some of the funniest actors working today – Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, and Chris Hemsworth.

A bigger and better DigPH digital market summit for SMEs returns this July

As modern entreprenuers revolutionize the idea of business each day, communicating effectively with their consumers becomes a continuing challenge. This year, DigPH, the country’s largest digital and mobile marketing summit for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) returns on July 13, 2016 at Crowne Plaza, Ortigas Center, Pasig City with bigger and better ideas to help business owners adapt to where their market has vastly shifted.

DigPH was born out of the collaboration between Globe myBusiness and Globe Digital Advertising (AdSpark) after seeing an opportunity from the desire of SMEs to expand their businesses through a strategy that is cost-efficient and effective.

“We want our modern day SME entreprenuers to fully embrace and appreciate digital marketing that will bring lots of benefits to their business.  In view of this, we made this year’s DigPH much bigger and more packed with insights that business owners will certainly be able to use. We hope to give them a day of exposure, learning, and experience,” said Bela Gupta D'Souza, Director for AdSpark.

AlDub Celebrates One Year With Imagine You and Me

It is almost one year when we were introduced to Yaya Dub and Alden which many would never though would explode into a worldwide phenomenon that trended everyday and has conquered a lot of brands. We also remember that the hashtag #AlDubEBSaTamangPanahon trended as the most used hashtag in 24 hours as certified by twitter and the Guinness World Records.

This success also meant endorsements and more exposure for the couple which they said is really life changing for the both of them. Alden who has been a kapuso star and has been paired with Louise Delos Reyes and Marian Rivera and also had a stint in playing Jose Rizal for Illustrado, found himself in Eat Bulaga primarily to promote and dance met in a segment of Juan for All, All for One with Jose and Wally the Dubsmash Diva which is Yaya Dub. And you all know what happened next.

Cholesterol incidence in PH on the rise

Del Monte Heart Smart and PATACSI partner to help address and raise awareness on the rising incidence of high cholesterol in the country

The number of Filipinos with high levels of cholesterol has greatly increased, results from the 8th National Nutrition Survey show. In 2008, 31.3% or 1 in 3 Filipino adults had borderline to high cholesterol. The latest survey in 2013 by the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI), however, shows that the prevalence has alarmingly spiked to 1 in 2 Filipino adults. The FNRI’s latest data reveals that 46.9% of Filipinos aged 20 and up today have borderline to high cholesterol.

"SNL" Star Kate McKinnon Invents Gadgets that Capture Spirits in "Ghostbusters"‏

Saturday Night Live” standout Kate McKinnon stars as Jillian Holtzmann, a nuclear engineer, munitions expert, and proton wrangler, in Columbia Pictures' new action-adventure “Ghostbusters” (in Philippine cinemas Friday, July 15).

(Watch the featurette “Meet Your Ghostbuster: Holtzmann!” at http://youtu.be/W3fqt2jIhUU.)

“Ghostbusters” makes its long-awaited return, rebooted with a cast of hilarious new characters. Thirty years after the beloved original franchise took the world by storm, director Paul Feig brings his fresh take to the supernatural comedy, joined by some of the funniest actors working today – Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, and Chris Hemsworth.