Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Sergeant Philip Brooks said Sunday that investigators will probably ask all the drivers involved in a multi-vehicle crash in Malibu that killed a woman to voluntarily provide their phones so they can check call and text data. That includes Olympic gold medalist and Kardashian family patriarch Bruce Jenner to determine if he was texting behind the wheel of an SUV involved. Investigators are trying to determine who or what triggered the crash on the Pacific Coast Highway that injured five others. The website TMZ first reported that the department would seek a search warrant to determine if Jenner was texting. (AP)
‘SpongeBob’ floats to No. 1
‘‘The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water’’ finally unseated Clint Eastwood’s runaway hit, ‘‘American Sniper,’’ at the weekend box office, while a pair of high-priced fantasies flopped. Paramount Pictures’ ‘‘SpongeBob Movie’’ earned $56 million in North America, a huge debut for the animated Nickelodeon big-screen transfer, according to estimates Sunday. That pushed ‘‘American Sniper’’ off the top spot after a three-week reign; it took in $24.2 million in its fourth week. The lavish science-fiction adventure, ‘‘Jupiter Ascending,’’ opened with just $19 million, a meager amount for a $175 million production starring Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis . Universal’s ‘‘Seventh Son,’’ a supernatural thriller set in medieval times, debuted with a scant $7.1 million. The film, produced by Legendary Pictures and starring Jeff Bridges, cost nearly $100 million. The success of the second SpongeBob movie following 2004’s ‘‘The SpongeBob SquarePants’’ proved the continuing appeal of the 16-year-old Nickelodeon character. (AP)
Directors honor ‘Birdman’
The long takes of Alejandro Inarritu’s ‘‘Birdman’’ won out over the long production of Richard Linklater’s ‘‘Boyhood’’ at the Directors Guild Awards Saturday. Both formally ambitious in very different ways, ‘‘Boyhood’’ and ‘‘Birdman’’ have been neck-and-neck in the awards race. But after dominating the acting and producing guild awards, Inarritu’s tale about a washed-up actor looking for some authenticity on the New York stage appears to have the edge in the lead-up to the Oscars. Women took the top prize in four of the evening’s 10 categories, including Jill Soloway for the TV comedy ‘‘Transparent,’’ Lisa Cholodenko for the TV movie-miniseries ‘‘Olive Kitteridge,’’ Laura Poitras for the documentary ‘‘Citizenfour,’’ and Lesli Linka Glatter for the TV drama ‘‘Homeland.’’ (AP)
Williams off ‘Late Show’
Embattled NBC News anchor Brian Williams is backing out of a scheduled appearance on David Letterman’s ‘‘Late Show’’ on Thursday. That news from NBC came Sunday, a day after Williams said he was stepping away from ‘‘Nightly News’’ as the network looks into the anchor’s admission that he had told a false story about being on helicopter hit by a grenade while reporting on the Iraq war. Weekend anchor Lester Holt is filling in for Williams on the ‘‘Nightly News’’ (AP)
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