Weekend news roundup 25/11: ‘Glicked’ double box office & F1

Jonathan Victoria • 25 Nov 2024 News

Plus series teaser, tennis champion & England victorious.

Verstappen claims fourth-consecutive title in Vegas

Max Verstappen has successfully retained the Drivers’ Championship crown following the result of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, winning the title with two races to spare.

The 2024 season has seen stronger competition than we have witnessed in a long time, but one constant has been the Dutchman’s lead, which he has held onto for the entire year.

Lando Norris was his only contender, the Brit still mathematically able to win the title heading into the weekend. But after finishing one place behind Verstappen when he needed to outscore him by at least three points to keep the title alive, Norris was officially eliminated, leaving Verstappen to celebrate in his fourth-consecutive championship.

‘Glicked’ double opening impresses at box office

Gladiator II and Wicked both made their debuts in the US box office over the weekend, with many pairing them together to form ‘Glicked’. Together, the two films managed to rake in a commendable amount in their opening weekends, collectively making $169.5m.

Wicked led the way, taking $114m alone to make it the third-best opening this year, behind Deadpool & Wolverine ($211m) and Inside Out 2 ($154m). It did set new records, most notably shattering the record for best Broadway-to-film adaptation, a record previously set at just $31m by 2014s Into the Woods.

Gladiator II performed admirably, adding to the doubles total with $55.5m domestically. While it didn’t quite reach the heights of Wicked, it is currently outdoing it in the global box office. Gladiator II has been available to other nations already for at least a week, where it has collected a grand $165.5m, giving it a global total of $221m.

Sinner caps off sensational season with Davis Cup win

Just one week ago, Jannik Sinner put the pin in his stellar singles season by winning the ATP Tour Finals. This weekend, he took it one step further, helping his Italy team to victory as they defended their Davis Cup title.

2024 has been Sinner’s year, with highlights including winning his first Grand Slam title and finishing the year ranked as world number one for the first time.

The Italian led his side to victory over the Netherlands in the Davis Cup final, giving Sinner a perfect ending to the year, having won 29 of his last 30 singles matches.

Suits: LA official teaser trailer starring Stephen Amell

Fans of Suits (the series not the dresswear) were treated to a teaser trailer for the first spinoff of the original show, Suits: LA.

The trailer gives a first look at Stephen Amell’s lawyer character in action, as well as showing off some of the other main characters for the show.

It should be stressed that this is a teaser trailer, so fans who are desperate for details on the story and what’s to come will be disappointed.

The 30-sec clip does nothing more than glance over details over the top of the iconic Suits theme tune, Greenback Boogie by Ima Robot. It does, however, let us know that the show will begin airing inn February 2025.

Credit: Suits LA (NBC) Teaser HD - Stephen Amell series (TV Promos, YouTube)

England snap five-game losing streak with win over Japan

England were finally able to claim their first win in the Autumn Nations Series with a storming 59-14 win over Japan.

Nine tries scored gave the hosts their first win in five games and ensured that they wouldn’t end the year on an overly sour note.

With that said, previous tight losses to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in the tournament plus other disappointing results throughout the year raises many questions of the side at present.

Those questions may continue into 2025 as the next time they will be in action will be against the defending Six Nations champions Ireland on 1st February 2025.