The same-day release of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer has sparked a frenzy on social media in recent weeks. But as cotton candy plastic pop meets death, destroyer of worlds on Friday 21 July, it’s worth pointing out that, incredibly, this has happened before. Fifteen years ago on 18 July 2008, dark versus light had another box office showdown, when Nolan’s The Dark Knight was released on the same day as Abba-inspired musical sensation Mamma Mia! Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Of course, social media was a very different beast back then. We can only dream of what the meme machine would have churned out with Christian Bale’s foreboding Batman and Amanda Seyfreid’s bride-to-be Sophie. Or what about Heath Ledger’s terrifying Joker and Pierce Brosnan’s smooth-as-you-like Sam Carmichael? The Dark Knight won the opening weekend by some distance, bringing in $158.4m in ticket sales compared to $27.7m for Mamma Mia! However, the Abba extravaganza clawed back some ground in the end, earning $611m in total, though still far less than The Dark Knight’s $1bn. Of course, theatre fans will point to the resounding success of Mamma Mia! the musical, which is the second-most successful production of all time with $4bn in total revenue, only lagging behind The Phantom Of The Opera. And beyond the numbers, news outlet Vulture even positioned the event as a good versus evil, light versus dark battle “for the soul of America” ahead of opening weekend. Sounds familiar, right? “It’s tempting to look at this weekend, in fact, as a mandate on how Americans feel about the state and future of our great nation,” the publication wrote at the time. “Is America optimistic? Do we essentially view ourselves as attractive, tan actresses frolicking on the beach to ABBA songs? Or is the soul of America chaotic and violent, like the deranged anti-hero whose electrifying presence animates The Dark Knight?” Twitter users tried to give the 15-year-old film pairing the Barbenheimer treatment. One person wrote: “Just realised the dark knight/mamma mia release day could have been called “Abbatman”. Why wasn’t I on Twitter in 2008?” It’s too early to say which of Barbie or Oppenheimer will come out on top on their opening weekend – though analysts have predicted a win for the former. But with the films hitting cinemas on 21 July, we don’t have long until we find out. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Kamaru Usman will face Khamzat Chimaev in the co-main event of UFC 294, after replacing Paulo Costa on 10 days’ notice. Usman, who reigned as welterweight champion from 2018 until 2022, will make his middleweight debut in the bout, which pits him against one of the most dominant prospects in mixed martial arts. Swedish-born Russian Chimaev is 12-0 as a professional with 11 stoppage wins. The match-up was confirmed on Wednesday (11 October), when Costa revealed that he would need two elbow surgeries this week, having already undergone one two weeks ago. As such, the Brazilian is out of UFC 294, which takes place in Abu Dhabi on 21 October. The 32-year-old’s withdrawal was the second by a Brazilian in the space of two days; on Tuesday (10 October), Charles Oliveira withdrew from the main event of UFC 294 due to a severe cut over his right eye. Oliveira was due to challenge Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title in a rematch – 12 months after the Russian submitted him in the same venue in Abu Dhabi. Alexander Volkanovski, who holds the featherweight title, is stepping in to replace Oliveira and contest his own rematch with Makhachev, who narrowly outpointed him to retain the lightweight belt in February. Usman, 36, last fought in March, suffering a decision loss to Leon Edwards while challenging for the welterweight title, which Edwards took from the Nigerian-American with a brutal head kick last August. Chimaev, 29, last fought in September 2022, submitting Kevin Holland in Round 1. Chimaev was originally set to face Nate Diaz on that occasion but missed weight, leading the card to be altered on short notice. Diaz instead fought and submitted Tony Ferguson in the main event. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Usada ends UFC partnership over ‘untenable’ Conor McGregor situation Charles Oliveira replaced by Alexander Volkanovski in Islam Makhachev fight UFC schedule 2023: Every major fight happening this year

Dave Grohl surprised fans with a third appearance at Glastonbury on Saturday (24 June), as he joined Guns N' Roses on stage for their closing track. The band performed a two-hour-plus set with tracks including 'Live And Let Die', 'Knocking On Heaven’s Door', 'Sweet Child O’ Mine and November Rain'. Festival-goers were delighted as guitarist Slash performed the opening riff to their 1987 hit song 'Welcome To The Jungle.' Switching up the lyrics, Axl Rose sang: "Do you know where you are? You’re in the jungle, Glastonbury!" The lead singer later invited Foo Fighters frontman Grohl onstage to help them close out the show with an explosive performance of 'Paradise City'. Grohl had appeared earlier on Saturday as a guest for The Pretenders, having previously performed a secret slot with Foo Fighters on Friday (23 June). Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter It didn't take long for fans to turn to Twitter, with one writing: "Wow! Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, Guns N' Roses rocks the house with Dave Grohl for an electrifying performance of Paradise City!" "Ohh Dave Grohl and Guns ‘n’ Roses at #Glastonbury. Actually Dave Grohl at anything," another added. Meanwhile, a third poked fun at his multiple appearances, writing: "David Grohl sure gets around, doesn’t he? I’m fully expecting him to come up in the piano in Elton Johns set tonight." It comes after Grohl was spotted on the train to Glastonbury earlier in the day after posing with a member of staff for a photo. A GWR spokesman said: ""Even rock royalty knows that there is no better way to travel to Glastonbury than by train! You never know who is going to churn up on board our trains!" Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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TikTok prankster Mizzy has been banned from using social media after he was found guilty of posting videos without consent. The star, real name Bacari-Bronze O’Garro, was found to have “deliberately flouted” a court order prohibiting him from sharing videos of people without their consent “within hours” of it being passed. Judge Matthew Bone, overseeing the 19-year-old’s trial at Stratford Magistrates Court on Thursday, slammed O’Garro for “lacking all credibility” after he denied four counts of breaching the order. He ordered the father-of-one not to use social media “at all” except to send messages until he is sentenced next month and warned that he could go to prison for the offences he had committed. It comes after O’Garro’s defence lawyer Paul Lennon revealed to the court earlier on Thursday that his client had been arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. O’Garro’s main witness in the case, who was due to give evidence at the trial, was also arrested and both were bailed on the condition that they do not contact each other. Mr Lennon attempted to adjourn the hearing, claiming O’Garro was unable to receive a “fair trial” without his only witness, but his application was rejected by Judge Bone. I found it to be an intentional, immediate, and deliberate challenge to the criminal behaviour order Judge Bone The court heard how O’Garro began sharing videos of people without their consent on the same day the criminal behaviour order was passed on May 24 this year. It was shown footage, shared on O’Garro’s Twitter account on the night of May 24 featuring him in Westfield shopping centre, Stratford, after he appeared on Piers Morgan’s TalkTV show and mocked the British judicial system. In the video, passersby were visible in the background as Mizzy said to the camera: “The UK law is a joke.” Other videos shared on O’Garro’s Snapchat account, which were also in breach, showed him grabbing hold of a schoolboy by his uniform and another showing him fight a man with dwarfism, which O’Garro claimed were hoax videos made with their prior agreement. O’Garro’s claim that one of his friends, who had access to his login details, posted the Twitter videos without his consent, was dismissed by Judge Bone as “inconceivable”. The judge said: “I have to say I did not accept the evidence of the defendant – it lacked all credibility. “Within hours of the criminal behaviour order he posed (in Westfield) stating the video would be shared and it was. “The defendant was filmed trying to shake a man’s hand from whom consent was not obtained. “He had just appeared on national television saying the British law was weak. “I found it to be an intentional, immediate and deliberate challenge to the criminal behaviour order. You need to understand that you deliberately flouted this court order within hours of it being made Judge Bone “Dealing again with charge four, two people were roughed up on camera by the defendant – I found his behaviour was again a deliberate challenge to the criminal behaviour order.” Judge Bone found O’Garro not guilty on two further counts of the same charge, ruling that the videos in question may already have been shared before the criminal behaviour order was passed. However, he warned O’Garro: “The defendant shouldn’t take much comfort from that. “What I have convicted him of crosses the custody threshold. “This is a man who has stepped over the line of the order in a deliberate way. “You need to understand the seriousness of your situation now. “You need to understand that you deliberately flouted this court order within hours of it being made.” O’Garro will be sentenced on November 21 at Thames Magistrates Court. Read More Study finds ‘deepfakes’ from Ukraine war undermining trust in conflict footage More than 500 potential cyber attacks logged every second, BT says AI being used to create child abuse imagery, watchdog warns ChatGPT and other chatbots ‘can be tricked into making code for cyber attacks’ Tinder adds Matchmaker feature to let friends recommend potential dates Google and Meta withdraw from upcoming Web Summit

Asher Hong overcame an uncharacteristic fall on the floor exercise to take the lead after the opening round of the U.S. men’s gymnastics championships

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