UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

Halloween Horror Nights will not take place this year due to concerns over public health regulations, Universal Studios announced Friday.

Hugs from Mickey Mouse are out at Walt Disney World. So is bunching up at Six Flags to snag a front-seat roller coaster ride. But the season won’t be completely lost for thrill-seekers. Carefree days of sharing cotton candy on crowded midways will give way this year to temperature scans at the gates, mandatory masks at many parks, hand-sanitizing...

As parts of the country begin to lift stay-at-home orders, theme parks like Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World Resort have announced their plans to reopen and their visions for creating a sanitized environment where they will try to keep park goers and employees safe.

Harry Potter fans and roller coaster lovers are streaming back into Universal Orlando Resort this week. Universal Orlando reopened to passholders Wednesday and Thursday, and it will allow the general public back in Friday.

The company that owns Universal theme parks around the world said it’s delaying construction on a fourth theme park in Florida and that the opening of a Nintendo-themed park in Japan will be pushed back by a few months in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

According to a report in the Hollywood Reporter, Universal and the toy company have inked a five-year exclusive agreement to develop, produce and distribute films based on its intellectual property and original ideas.

The coronavirus pandemic has cracked Hollywood’s traditional theatrical window. Universal Pictures on Monday said it will make its current and upcoming films available for on-demand rental, becoming the first major studio to turn directly to home viewing in light of the virus.

The coronavirus is bringing the entertainment world almost to a standstill.

The magical dates have been revealed for the enchanting experience at Universal Studios Hollywood and Orlando.

The resort already operates Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, as well as the Volcano Bay water park, in Orlando.

European Union authorities on Tuesday fined the Japanese company behind Hello Kitty for restricting cross-border online sales of toys, mugs, bags and other products featuring the cartoon cat girl. The EU’s antitrust commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, said that Sanrio Co. was fined 6.2 million euros ($7 million) because the company violated the bloc’s competition rules with licensing agreements that banned traders...

Tiffany Haddish says she chose to join a boycott of Georgia after she read the state’s new anti-abortion legislation. Haddish announced this week that she had cancelled a show in the state and explained her reasoning Tuesday at the launch of a “Harry Potter” mobile augmented-reality game. “The reason that I cancelled the show, is because I read that bill,”...

Tiffany Haddish says she chose to join a boycott of Georgia after she read the state’s new anti-abortion legislation. Haddish announced this week that she had cancelled a show in the state and explained her reasoning Tuesday at the launch of a “Harry Potter” mobile augmented-reality game. “The reason that I cancelled the show, is because I read that bill,”...

Protesters have scaled the Universal Studios globe and are waving green flags on Earth Day Monday.

Andre Previn, the pianist, composer and conductor whose broad reach took in the worlds of Hollywood, jazz and classical music, always rejecting suggestions that his bop ‘n’ blues moonlighting lessened his stature, died Thursday. He was 89.

Demi Lovato was spotted out of rehab this weekend, hanging out in the Los Angeles area.

TripAdvisor recently released its lists of the top amusement and water parks in the world based on its users’ feedback for the Travelers’ Choice Awards. Universal’s Islands of Adventure in Orlando came in at the number one amusement park.

You may not have thought much about the 2009 movie “Avatar” over the past eight years, but Disney sure has. The Magic Kingdom is wagering a reported half-billion dollars that you and zillions of other people will line up for new theme park attractions based on the movie’s bioluminescent world of Pandora.