Arrival Does $1.5 Million in Thursday Business

Arrival, the new science-fiction film from Sicario director Denis Villeneuve, opened to $1.5 million last night on the way to what Paramount hopes is an opening somewhere in the $12-15 million range. That would put it in a race with director David E. Talbert's Almost Christmas, which is expected to make around $15 million for Universal. Neither film will beat the second weekend of Doctor Strange, which is projected at $40 million plus.  [Variety]

ESPN Helps Drag Down Disney Revenue

ESPN, once a money-printing machine, is having a hard time as of late, with a reported loss of 621,000 subscribers since October making this the worst month in its history. That held back The Walt Disney Company, which had Q4 revenue of $13.1 billion, off from analyst estimates of $13.5 billion. Disney's cable network revenue was down 7 percent year over year, and operating income was down 13 percent. [The Wrap]

Facebook Eliminates Racial Targeting for Housing, Employment Ads

Grappling with legal and ethical issues posed by the rise of demographically targeted advertising practices, Facebook announced that it is putting an end to "ethnic affinity marketing" for ads that offer housing, employment and credit services. The decision came after criticism led to discussions between Facebook and federal lawmakers, including the U.S. Attorney General and the Congressional Black and Hispanic Caucuses. [USA Today]

Canon Lets You Test Its Cameras and Lenses in VR

Canon's new Camera Simulator for Oculus Rift lets users visit a virtual environment where they can simulate the act of taking pictures with different Canon cameras and lenses, with control of focus, shutter, ISO and iris. [PetaPixel]

RIP Leonard Cohen, Singer-Songwriter Favored by Filmmakers

Canadian-born poet, songwriter and singer Leonard Cohen died Monday at the age of 82. Cohen was probably best known for his 1984 song "Hallelujah," which has been covered by at least 300 different singers, per Wikipedia — including John Cale's 1991 version that later ended up underscoring a scene in Shrek. Cohen's music has been used in other features, notably including McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Natural Born Killers, and Secretary. [Film School Rejects]