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IRS To Start Sending Out Special Payments Worth Up To $1400; Christmas Kicks Off Big Movie Weekend; For Music Lovers Bob Dylan Biopic A Complete Unknown. Aired 11:30a-12p ET
Aired December 25, 2024 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:30:00]
SHANNON NAJMABADI, REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Or how much you would be eligible for. Just so you know and can check for yourself. This was about people that generally made 80,000 in adjusted gross income as an individual or 160,000 as a married or joint filer. They should be eligible for at least some money based on your 2021 AGI. And you will either get -- you will get a letter from the IRS saying, we are sending this money to you, a notification letter. And it should come to you by direct deposit to the bank account on your 2023 tax return, 2023 tax records, or by mail by paper check.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Something to look out for a little late Christmas, very late Christmas gift for some people coming in. It's good to see you, Shannon. Thank you so much for jumping on. Really appreciate it.
Coming up for us, one of the biggest movie moments of the year kicks off today. What's big at the box office this holiday? You're in the CNN Newsroom.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AUSTIN ROSE, U.S. AIR FORCE BASIC MILITARY TRAINING: Hello, I'm trainee Rose. I'm currently at U.S. Air Force basic military training on Lackland, Texas. I am from Las Vegas, Nevada. I want to wish everyone back home a Merry Christmas and happy holidays. I can't wait to see my friends and family at graduation. Love you all.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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[11:35:18]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISRAEL FERNANDEZ: Hello family (inaudible). Just wanted to say I miss you. I can't wait to go home. You'll be spending Christmas time here in Germany. I'm excited for Brady to come over. We're going to spend New Year's together. Love you guys. Happy Christmas.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BOLDUAN: So movie theaters can often be the place to be on Christmas
as families are flocking to the box office to see some of the biggest films of the year. Today, the highly anticipated film about Bob Dylan, A Complete Unknown, is out starring Timothee Chalamet and Elle Fanning. This film though, joining many other family-friendly films that have really come out in recent days.
Joining us now is senior media analyst for comScore, Paul Dergarabedian to walk us through which flick is best for you. This is important information for me and I sincerely appreciate your help on this, Paul.
Let's start. Let's jump in. I'm going to play some of the trailers to get people enmeshed into what we're talking about. And then I want your take. Let's start with this Bob Dylan film, A Complete Unknown. Let me play this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TIMOTHEE CHALAMET: You tramped all the way from Minnesota. Why is that? I wanted to catch a spark.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're traveling in the north country fair.
TIMOTHEE CHALAMET: I say no one wants to hear what a kid wrote last month.
ELLE FANNING: Well, I like your songs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who wrote this?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: Okay, so one, you know, there's going to be great music in this film, but who should be going to see this movie today?
PAUL DERGARABEDIAN, SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST, COMSCORE: Well, I think it's for any music lover or anyone who loves that era of music. And Bob Dylan has given his approval to this film and given the cast. I mean, Edward Norton plays Pete Seeger. I mean, how cool is that? Joan Baez is in the film, the character played by a great actress playing Joan Baez. It is just for those of us who still listen to Bob Dylan practically every day, who love vinyl albums, who know their history about music. And for Timothee Chalamet, what an actor. I mean, I think he's still underrated despite being out there for years and years in the Dune movies and other small independent films. This, I think, is just a knockout. This is at the top of my list.
You know, I give it a must See rating for. And it opens today, which is really cool.
BOLDUAN: Yes. And Chalamet, I mean, a lot of people thought he was like a flash-in-the-pan type of actor, but he has really proven so much more than that. And I'm excited to see this film for that reason included.
All right, number two, are you ready for it? Let's go into number two.
DERGARABEDIAN: Yes, I'm ready.
BOLDUAN: Very different film. One of the biggest ones in the country right now. Maybe the biggest. Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SONIC: Here we go. Showtime.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is this Den of Madness?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you Detective Pikachu?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He does look like a Pokemon. Pika. Pika.
SONIC: Konichi. What? Get down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's Time Shadow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: Okay, Paul, you say this film is perfect for the whole family. Why?
DERGARABEDIAN: It is. And it just opened this past weekend. It's the number one movie in the country, and it's up to $405 million worldwide already, according to our comScore data. So I think it's just a movie that is perfect for the entire family. I mean, these movies that are Rated PG and there have been a lot of hit movies that are PG this year. And in fact, PG rated animated films and animated family films have accounted for 25 percent of the year's box office.
So this is a big market for movie theaters to have kids and families. And especially right now with the holidays. I mean, today you could go out and see a couple of movies and you could go to the multiplex and some of your family could actually go see one movie. And you can see Notes for Attu and one auditorium, you'll see Sonic 2 or, excuse me, Sonic The Hedgehog 3 in another auditorium. So I think it's just a bevy of riches for moviegoers and movie lovers out there right now on the big screen.
BOLDUAN: And maybe something that families need even more time, a little time apart after so much time together. You go to Sonic.
DERGARABEDIAN: There you go.
BOLDUAN: I'm going to Bob Dylan and --
DERGARABEDIAN: Exactly.
BOLDUAN: And of course, one of the most talked about films of recent this year is Wicked, which is already -- it's been out and it's already been -- seemed to be very popular. But just to remind folks, watch this.
[11:40:05]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are people born wicked or do they have wickedness thrust upon them? You're green.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome you students to Shiz University. Ms.?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Elphaba.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can room with Ms. Galinda.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: And Paul. You are breaking the rules on this one, I am told. My sources tell me you're giving this one a 12 popcorn buckets out of the available 10.
DERGARABEDIAN: With butter on top, by the way, I might add, because this is like the quintessential holiday movie for families. You could take the toddlers, you can take grandma and grandpa, and everybody in between. This movie has Oscar buzz. Going for it again. A PG-rated film. It's closing in on $600 million in box office worldwide. It opened on the 22nd of November as part of the Glickett weekend with Gladiator 2. And again, it just keeps going and going and reportedly from a mall, George Lucas called John M. Chu, the director, to tell him what a great movie it was.
I think that's true. I mean, imagine George Lucas at a mall seeing a movie and then calling the director. That gets 12 popcorn buckets right there.
BOLDUAN: Yes, I am here for that for sure. A lot of sequels. Or can you call it a sequel when you're talking Sonic 3? Anyway, this is a conversation for later. But anyway, sequels abound. Moana 2 is also bringing in a ton of money. Let me play this for everybody.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MOANA: You wanted to come this time.
SIMEA: Moana.
MOANA: Little sis.
SIMEA: Big sis. You were gone forever.
MOANA: It was three days.
SIMEA: Where are we going?
MOANA: Before Maui stole Tippity's heart, our ancestors wanted to connect our island to all the people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: I love the characters in Moana. What's your rating on this popular sequel?
DERGARABEDIAN: Well, I give that 10 out of 10 popcorn buckets because that was the movie that powered the biggest Thanksgiving frame, meaning Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving through Sunday. That was the film that capitalized on the whole Blicket phenomenon. Moana 2 open powered a 425 million five-day domestic box office. And that set into motion the year that will wind up at could be close to $8.8 billion in domestic box office for New York comScore data. And I'm really excited because Moana 2 again set off sort of a chain reaction to moviegoing. And now that's playing all the way through this latter part of the year.
And that's great news for movie theaters heading into 2025. So I give Moana two like popcorn buckets for box office for the movie, for what it means to theaters, and what it Means for audiences as well. Pretty cool. Pretty cool.
BOLDUAN: What movies? Looking ahead. What movies are you looking forward to in '25?
DERGARABEDIAN: Yes, I knew -- I had a feeling you would ask me this. For me, if you haven't seen the Superman trailer for the new Superman movie coming out July 11th next year, directed by James Gunn, you're missing out. It has about, I think I just checked about 45 million views on the official -- for the official teaser trailer for this film. And it has maybe the best superhero character in my opinion ever, which is Krypto the Superdog. If you love dogs like I do and I know everybody does when that dog -- and I'm not spoiling anything. It's in the teaser trailer when Superdog shows up after Superman whistles for him. It's just a heart-wrenching moment.
I mean, so I think this is at the whole Superman franchise. You know, get this rolling again. They've had a lot of starts and stops on it, but I think for D.C., this is huge. Again, July 11th of next year. I'm all in on Superman.
BOLDUAN: And also on this one, this might be my favorite Lois Lane of all time. She's an amazing actress and I'm really looking forward to her portrayal of Lois Lane.
DERGARABEDIAN: Absolutely. The casting is great and I'm just really excited for that one. And the trailer just dropped last week and 45 million views and counting for that trailer. There's a lot of interest in that film. No question.
BOLDUAN: My co-anchor John Berman was in the middle of a commercial break and almost missed being back on air because the trailer dropped and he was watching it on full volume. It was a whole situation. That's how anticipated that teaser was.
DERGARABEDIAN: But didn't cry when he saw Superdog when krypto, because I cried when I saw the dog.
BOLDUAN: That's very sweet, Paul.
DERGARABEDIAN: I'll admit it right here.
BOLDUAN: You can. You can Strongman cry. Good to see you, Paul. Thank you very much.
[11:45:06]
DERGARABEDIAN: Thank you, Kate. Happy holidays to you and happy New Year.
BOLDUAN: Thank you. All right, friends, one lucky person could be getting a substantial Christmas bonus this year. Maybe the understatement of the year. With the Mega Millions jackpot soaring to $1.15 billion for the holiday drawing. That is the fifth-largest jackpot in the game's history and the largest prize ever offered in the month of December. It totals more than $516 million in cash. The next drawing takes place Friday. Good luck, friends.
Still to come for us after Santa, it's a big day for sports. From the court to the field, we've got you covered, of course. We'll be right back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NDEYE BOUSSO: Hello, I'm Trainee Bousso. I'm currently at U.S. Air Force basic military training on GBSA Lakeland, Texas. I'm from Columbus, Ohio. So I want to wish everyone at home a happy holiday. And I can't wait to see you at graduation. Love you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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[11:50:28]
BOLDUAN: Fans rejoice. This Christmas day is jam packed with big games. And from the hardwood to the gridiron, there is really something for everybody. In the NBA, LeBron James and the Lakers are going to take on Steph Curry and the Warriors as part of a five-game slate of holiday matchups. In the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers will be hosting the defending champions Kansas City Chiefs as Netflix kicks off its much anticipated NFL doubleheader, complete with a halftime show with none other than Beyonce.
Joining me right now is CNN sports analyst in USA today sports columnist Christine Brennan, who -- I would love to spend Christmas with no one other than you. I am so thankful to see you. It's really good to see you.
Okay, let's start with the NBA. We've got a few things I want to run through, Christine. Big -- five big games on tap today. What are you watching for? What are the storylines?
CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: There are so many great all- stars and players in this. I mean, the NBA has figured this out and they pack these games. You can watch them wall to for literally like 12, 10, 12 hours. And not that everyone will, but you can dive in and then jump out, get some food, and come back. And really, you mentioned the Lakers and Golden State. And I've got to tell you this, LeBron James, my colleague Jeff Zilgutt at USA Today had a great line. He said that LeBron James is as ubiquitous as Santa Claus.
LeBron has played in 19 Christmas games in his career. So in many ways he is Santa. And I think watching him against Steph Curry, you've got some of the young stars. It is again just the NBA understanding the magnitude of this day and the possibilities with so many people at home wanting to watch.
BOLDUAN: So true. I love that. LeBron James is just as big as Santa Claus. In so many minds, that is so true. And then you've got the Netflix factor here when it comes to the NFL. How, how big of a deal is this? Because in the very recent past, Netflix has had some issues.
BRENNAN: They certainly have. Yes, Kate. You know the Mike Tyson fight in November, it was literally breaking the Internet right?
BOLDUAN: Like literally was. Yes.
BRENNAN: Right. And that, you know, that was Netflix. We understand what next Netflix is. It is also not a regular channel that can handle the overload. And so here we go with the NFL with two Netflix games, $150 million. It makes a lot of sense that the NFL wants these games. That's what they are getting to put them on.
But the fact is, we don't know what's going to happen when so many football fans, you know, our national pastime, NFL football, so many fans want to watch these games in the midst of those NBA games were just talking about. So it'll be fascinating to see. I imagine there'll be some, you know, controversy. There'll probably be some people are angry calling, who knows who, calling Netflix and say, how in the world can we get these games? So we'll watch that very closely.
And you're right. Beyonce is a halftime show. Oh, boy. You know, now we are talking about a real issue for Netflix. We'll see how they perform today.
BOLDUAN: No, no. And that is like, not a joke. I mean, you've got like the biggest of biggest stars doing your halftime show. They put out a teaser on this. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEYONCE, AMERICAN SINGER: Can you hear me?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: I mean, flawless. So much so, Christine, this is -- I love this. The Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson says he's skipping the locker room at halftime to watch Beyonce. I mean, this is going to be -- I mean, this rivals everything I always feel -- I feel like.
BRENNAN: Well, it does. The coach, though, John Harbor said, maybe not. We'll see about where the star quarterback is during halftime. But these are four playoff teams. These are really good games. So there's not a dud here. There's not a team that's not going anywhere. These are all four teams that are marquee games, both of them, and great teams that are going to go to the playoffs.
So those are terrific. It's a terrific draw and the NFL has realized it, too, can play on Christmas Day and grab some of those eyeballs. Millions of them waiting to be entertained.
BOLDUAN: Yes. And something that. To be celebrated. I'm turning to college and I'm turning to college volleyball. I've been wanting to talk to you about this. Penn State, the women's volleyball head coach, Kate Schumacher-Cawley has become the first female coach to win an NCAA volleyball championship. She is the definition of badass, pardon my language. Because she's also doing this in the middle of fighting breast cancer, has been coaching throughout chemotherapy. And I want to play some of what she had to say after all this.
[11:55:10]
KATE SCHUMACHER-CAWLEY, PENN STATE HEAD COACH: I'm inspired by the young kids that are sick. You know, I told you I did my I'm doing treatment at UPenn and every time I walk into the hospital, I walk right past the children's hospital. And so, you know, sure, if I can be inspiration to someone, then I take that. But, you know, I feel good and I'm lucky to have the people around me and I think that's why we're successful.
BOLDUAN: Just mark the moment. Give me it.
BRENNAN: Absolutely. Well, I know you played volleyball in college. I love volleyball, watch a lot of it. And played in high school. And it's a sport that is growing. And this is a story, frankly, that hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. It was a big deal over the weekend, Penn State winning that title and again the first woman head coach to win a Division 1 NCAA volleyball title, which is kind of a.m. It took this long, but that won't she certainly won't be the last.
But to keep playing, being diagnosed during the season with stage two breast cancer, as you said. And the idea being she was going to keep coaching, in other words, she wasn't going to take time off. And she has looked to her players have said, hey, coach, we got you.
You know, if there's something that you need to go do, we'll be fine. The players playing for her and of course, a great victory, NCAA championship, and truly one of the best stories of the holiday season.
BOLDUAN: 100 percent, thank you for marketing with me, Christine. Happy holidays. Thank you so much.
And thank you all so much for joining us today. I'm Kate Bolduan. We really hope you have a wonderful rest of your holiday. From our whole show team to you. Enjoy your time with your family and friends. Stay with us. Inside Politics with Dana Bash starts after a short break.
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