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    Zendaya Makes Two Arrivals to the Met Gala Red Carpet

    The first thing you need to know about the black taffeta Givenchy spring 1996 haute couture dress Zendaya wore to make a late (re)entrance at the Met Gala is that it was the second John Galliano design she wore for the event. The first was a custom Maison Margiela couture dress he created specifically for her, which she wore at the start of the evening.The second thing you need to know about that second Galliano dress is that she bought it.The third thing you need to know about the dress is that it was originally Look No. 8 of Mr. Galliano’s first Givenchy couture collection, back when the appointment of the upstart Brit at the venerable Parisian house had set all of French fashion into an affronted tizzy.And the last thing you need to know is that all those things, added together at a peak eyeball moment, amount to a major declaration of independence by Zendaya, and perhaps the next step in Mr. Galliano’s return to the bosom of fashion following the documentary “High & Low: John Galliano” and his much lauded January Maison Margiela couture show.For Zendaya, the look, which was designed the year she was born, nods to the evening’s dress code in being vintage, rare and, with its full skirt and laced-up bodice, recalls the aristocracy of the ancien régime. It also represents “an investment in herself,” said Rita Watnick, the founder of Lily et Cie, the vintage clothing dealer in Los Angeles who sold the dress to Zendaya and Law Roach, her “image architect.”“It says, ‘I am not an emissary for a brand,’” Ms. Watnick went on. “‘I am my own emissary.’” That’s quite a news bulletin at a party that has become, for many brands and celebrities, a quasi-advertising moment.As for Mr. Galliano, his dresses have reappeared on red carpets before, but never under quite as big a spotlight. (Zendaya also wore vintage Galliano — a look from his spring 1998 collection — to Anna Wintour’s pre-Met dinner.) And while he may not have been granted the retrospective exhibition that the Met was rumored to have considered, being worn by an extremely high-profile co-host of the party of the year may be the next best thing. More

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    ‘Dune: Part Two’ Draws Biggest Opening Since ‘Barbie’ at the Box Office

    The science-fiction sequel sold an estimated $81.5 million in tickets in the United States and Canada, the biggest opening for a Hollywood film since “Barbie.”“Dune: Part Two” and its A-list cast jump-started moviegoing in North America after a dismal start to the year.The science-fiction sequel sold an estimated $81.5 million in tickets in the United States and Canada from Thursday night to Sunday, the biggest opening for a Hollywood film since “Barbie” in July. (Taylor Swift’s concert documentary arrived to $93 million in October.) “Dune: Part Two,” directed by Denis Villeneuve, collected an additional $97 million overseas. IMAX screenings were especially strong.Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros. spent $190 million to produce “Dune: Part Two,” not including a megawatt marketing campaign that found Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, Austin Butler, Anya-Taylor Joy, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin and Florence Pugh trotting red carpets in Mexico City, London and New York.The movie had originally been scheduled for November, but Legendary pushed back the release date because of the actors’ strike: Without the buzzy young cast promoting the movie — Zendaya’s bottom-baring robot suit at the London premiere arrived on the internet as a sonic boom — Legendary feared that “Part Two” would not turn out audiences in big enough numbers to warrant the high budget. Sci-fi fans were likely to come one way or another. But Legendary also needed to sell the film’s more delicate story — a boy becoming a man, a guy falling in love — which would be more difficult without cast interviews.“It was a tough decision because I knew moving the movie out of the fall was going to cause a lot of pain for exhibition,” said Josh Grode, Legendary’s chief executive, using Hollywood jargon for theaters. “But when you have a cast like this one, you use it.”“We’re really, really happy,” Mr. Grode added.Ticket sales in North America had been down 20 percent this year compared with the same period last year. “Dune: Part Two” narrowed the decline to 13 percent. Theaters have struggled partly because studios have not released a steady flow of films; moviegoing begets moviegoing, analysts say, with trailers playing before titles on one weekend helping to fill seats the next. Marquees will be less sparse in March. “Kung Fu Panda 4,” “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” and Legendary’s “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” are all expected to be hits.Second place for the weekend went to “Bob Marley: One Love” (Paramount), with about $7.4 million in ticket sales, lifting its three-week domestic total to $82.8 million. The faith-based drama “Ordinary Angels” (Lionsgate) collected $3.9 million, for a two-week total of $12.6 million. More