Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper's 'A Star Is Born' Soundtrack Debuts at No. 1

One of the positives of "A Star is Born" is, no doubt, the top-notch soundtrack and the fact that songs with actual instrumentation (good ol' bass, drum, piano and guitar) are back at the top of the Billboard charts since God knows how long.

It is no surprise then that Gaga-mania mixed with word of mouth for the film has made the film's soundtrack sell more than 231,000 copies in the week ending Oct. 11, according to Nielsen Music -- according to Billboard that's "the biggest week for a soundtrack in more than three-and-a-half years. Of Star’s overall starting sum, 162,000 were in album sales."

'A Star Is Born' and 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Submitted as Dramas NOT Musicals for Golden Globes Consideration

Warner Bros.’ "A Star is Born" is, by all accounts, a musically-driven film that, truth be told, belongs in the "musical" category at the Golden Globes. Ditto 20th Century Fox’s by-the-books "Bohemian Rhapsody," which features an incredible performance from Rami Malek, the latter recounts the ups and downs of the band Queen. 

So what's the deal with both films being submitted as dramas for the 2019 Golden Globe awards? Calculated strategy, of course. Especially when it comes to 'Star,' the Bradley Cooper-directed film is going to be a major player at the Globes and Oscars, Warner doesn't want it to be seen as a 'light' musically-driven picture, they want it to be seen as a meaty statement, which, of course, it isn't. It's a remake of a remake of a remake, which, by all accounts, pulls the same strings as its predecessors. Think of it as an updated, modern-day version of the 1974 Kris Kristofferson/Barbara Streisand version, which also takes place in the country music world. Cooper's version is slightly better, but not by all that much. 

Anne Thompson broke this story yesterday and it's gotten pundits scratching their heads. But I don't really think there's much to be confused about here -- being relegated to the 'musical' category is a downgrade in terms of how your film may be perceived at the Oscars. There's a lot of fluff in that category, no need to be part of that crowd, especially when  'Star' has a shot at winning the Drama category.

Despite Bad Reviews 'Venom' Has Bite At Box-Office, $80M Opening Weekend; 'A Star Is Born' Opens With Impressive $41M

"Despite a rocky road to release the strange off-brand start to the Sony Marvel Spider-man Without Spider-Man Cinematic Universe know as Venom opened to an incredible $80M at #1. That smashes the previous October opening record holder Gravity which set the bar at $55.7M in 2013. It's weird to think a superhero/villain film could ever be considered an underdog story (especially this year) but Venom might have been it. Fans of the film were first put on edge when Sony finally decided that the film would get a PG-13 rating which angered star of the film Tom Hardy who's been vocal about the cuts from the R-rated version. Then there was the awful critics reviews who trashed the film as one of the worst of the year. So while the film opened to $10M on Thursday there was nothing there that guaranteed an ending like this with a potential massive drop-off by Sunday. But the monster just kept growing and now it's become yet another huge success for the superhero genre."

1. Venom — Sony — $80,030,000
2. A Star is Born —Warner Bros. — $41,250,000
3. Smallfoot —Warner Bros.— $14,900,000 
4. Night School — Uni. — $12,275,000
5. The House With A Clock In Its Walls — Uni. — $7,295,000 
6. A Simple Favor — Lionsgate — $3,435,000
7. The Nun— Warner Bros. — $2,610,000
8. Hell Fest — LGF — $2,075,000 ($8,864,476)
9. Crazy Rich Asians — WB — $2,060,000 
10. The Predator — Fox — $900,000

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