Happy Friday! With all the Harry Potter premieres and mania that has been going on this week, it’s easy to forget that there are other movies opening before Potter’s July 15 release. Read on to see what film will occupy your time at the box office before then, as well as other news happening today.
- US jobs barely rose in June, with non-farm payrolls rising only 18,000, the weakest reading since September. The unemployment rate climbed to a six-month high of 9.2 percent. The new Labor Department reports shattered expectations the economy was starting to accelerate after a soft patch in the first half of the year. (Reuters)
- A Michigan gunman, Rodrick Shonte Dantzler, went on a shooting spree yesterday, killing seven people before killing himself. He opened fire in two Grand Rapids homes, which left two children dead, including his own daughter. Police don’t know what the motive behind the shooting was, but they say, “We believe there were prior relationships with at least one person at each location, so we think there were some difficulties there.” (Guardian)
- The Casey Anthony case has pushed states to implement a new law, being called Caylee’s Law. Four states, Florida, New York, Oklahoma and West Virginia, are drafting legislation which will force parents to report missing children in the first 24 hours. (Dailymail)
- In weekend box office news, Horrible Bosses and Zookeeper will do their best to compete with Transformers: Dark of the Moon in theaters, but they don’t really stand a good chance at the number one spot. Transformers has already amassed $204.4 million in its first eight days of release. Horrible Bosses is expected to rake in $27 million, while Zookeeper is estimated to make around $21 million. (Entertainment Weekly)
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened at 12,717.90 this morning, and is currently down 118.29 points. (MSN Money)
