Weekend news roundup 29/01: Super Bowl set, Box Office latest & more

Monday 29 January 2024 by Jonathan Victoria  News

Super Bowl showdown set

49ers vs Chiefs.

Super Bowl LVIII.

Sunday, February 11. Las Vegas.

— Sky Sports NFL (@SkySportsNFL) January 29, 2024

The matchup for Super Bowl LVIII has been confirmed as a rematch of four years earlier, with the San Francisco 49ers facing the Kansas City Chiefs.

The 49ers, who finished as the first seed in the NFC with a 12-5 record, triumphed in the NFC Championship over the Detroit Lions in a second-half comeback victory, winning 34-31.

Earlier in the AFC Championship, the Chiefs beat the favoured Baltimore Ravens 17-10 to book their fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years, and aiming for a third championship victory from those four appearances.

Super Bowl LVIII will take place at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada on 11th February.

New Halo season 2 trailer released

Credit: Halo The Series | Season 2 | Fight As One | Paramount+ (Paramount Plus, Youtube)

A new trailer for the upcoming second season of the Halo series was revealed during the AFC Championship game.

The next season is set to bring the Fall of Reach as well as show the impending war with the Covenant arriving, as well as the in-fighting between Master Chief and the other captains and Spartans.

This new trailer is likely the last to come before the premier of the new season, which is set to begin streaming on 8th February on Paramount+.

Australian Open champions crowned

Credit: Qinwen Zheng v Aryna Sabalenka Highlights | Australian Open 2024 Final (Australian Open TV, Youtube)

Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka have been crowned as the men’s and women’s singles Australian Open champions.

Sabalenka seemed inevitable throughout as she aimed to defend her crown. She didn’t drop a single set throughout the whole tournament, only went to a tie-break set once, won the final convincingly 6-3 6-2 over Qinwen Zheng, and even had a perfect match in the third round, beating Lesia Tsurenko 6-0 6-0.

As for Jannik Sinner, the 22-year-old fought hard for his first Grand Slam title, beating tough opposition along the way including arguably the greatest of all time Novak Djokovic. Sinner beat Daniil Medvedez in five sets after losing the first two, proving that the next generation is here and they are ready to take over.

Box Office continues slow trend

It was a second disappointing week at the box office as just $57.2m was brought in at the US domestic box office. 

The Beekeeper moved back up to the top spot, bringing in $7.4m this weekend. Domestically it has now earned $42.2m, with a further $61.9m internationally, which means it has surpassed the $100m mark with $104.1m globally.

Closely behind in second place this weekend was Mean Girls with $7.2m. That brings it to $60.8m domestically, plus $22.6m internationally for a global total so far of $83.4m.

And remaining in the bronze position was Wonka, going six weeks strong in the box office now. Another $5.9m this weekend take the domestic total to $195.1m. The international total sits at $356.9m, which means it has now earned $552m globally.

England pulls off all-time victory

Credit: India vs England 1st Test (Day 4) | Tom Hartley inspires HISTORIC win | TNT Cricket Highlights (TNT Sports, Youtube)

England cricket has surprised everyone with an incredible comeback victory over India in the first Test of the series.

On the final day, England trailed by 190 runs, which should have been an insurmountable chase as India are a formidable Test foe, especially when at home. They had won 43 out of their last 47 Tests, had never lost a Test at home which they had led by 100 runs or more in the first innings, and had won their last 16 home Test series.

England didn’t care about the facts or the odds, though, as Ollie Pope stepped up in days three and four to score 196 from 278 deliveries. Paired with Tom Hartley’s monumental seven wickets in the second innings alone (nine in total), England managed to pull off one of the greatest Test victories of all time, winning by 28 runs.