U2's '360' Tour Will Gross $736.1 Million

NASHVILLE -- On Saturday night in Moncton, N.B., U2 will perform the 110th and final show of its monster 360 tour, wrapping up not only epic technological and musical achievements, but also going into the history books as the biggest tour ever. When the final numbers are tallied, U2 360 will record a gross of $736,137,344 and total attendance of 7,268,430, Billboard.com/biz has learned, both the highest tour tallies ever reported to Billboard. U2 broke the Rolling Stones' previous gross record of $558 million on April 10 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, as first reported on Billboard.biz on April 8.our editor recommendsU2's 360 Tour Highest Grossing Tour of All TimeBillboard Music Awards: U2 Accepts Touring Award PHOTOS: Top 10 Highest-Paid Music Artists The success of 360 is a testament not only to the enduring global appeal of the band, but also its ground-breaking-and risky-360-degree production, which increased the capacities of stadiums by as much as 25 percent. Details of the tour were first revealed on Billboard.com in March of 2009, when the tour, in support of the band's 2008 album No Line On The Horizon, was still operating under the working title of Kiss The Future. By the time it was officially announced on March 9 of that year, the tour carried the 360 title, which longtime band manager Paul McGuinness says is a reference not only to the unique production of the tour, but also a sly nod to U2's long-term multi-rights deal with promoter Live Nation, "a little private joke to amuse myself at one point." This was the band's first tour under that deal, steered by long-time U2 tour producer Arthur Fogel, chairman of Live Nation Global Touring and his Toronto-based team. The tour began June 30, 2009, in Barcelona, Spain, and swept across Europe before landing on North American shores on Sept. 12 in Chicago. This was the first time the band had played stadiums on the continent since the PopMart tour in 1997-98. REVIEW: U2 at Angels Stadium As popular as U2 is worldwide, launching a never-before-attempted 360 configuration that would put 7 million tickets in the marketplace in a treacherous global economy was ambitious, to say the least. "I remember when everything was first laid out, the production was conceived, and we came to the realization of what it did to the capacities," Fogel told Billboard.com/biz backstage at the tour's 100th stop in Nashville earlier this month. "We were in a meeting in New York, we saw the design, and talked about all the different angles. There was a moment of sitting there and everyone thinking, 'do you think we'll sell the tickets?' My gut was 'absolutely yes,' and I remember leaving the meeting and thinking, 'oh shit.'" Beyond the huge financial commitment the band and producers had made in launching the massive tour (not to mention a daily nut of $750,000 on the road, according to McGuinness), the aesthetic success of the production and the staging known as "the claw," which literally surrounds the band with fans, depends on full houses. "There's nowhere to hide," Fogel says. "It was definitely scary." But sell those tickets they did, all over the world, and Fogel says what he learned from 360 was "probably more so than any other tour, to trust my instincts." The launch and execution of 360 were meticulously planned for more than a year, but those best-laid plans were blown up when news came last spring that the tour's second North American leg would have to be scrapped due to an injury and resulting back surgery for U2 front man Bono. Producers were already on the ground at what was to be the tour's first stop on that round in Salt Lake City when the news came. Rejiggering the tour midstream was "challenging," says Fogel. But the team moved quickly from the initial shock to rebuilding the North American leg for a year later, and did that so expertly that they not only were able to put most fans in the exact seat they would have been had the tour gone off as planned, but also found seven more shows, including the band's first Nashville stop in 30 years. "It was difficult at the time, but the most amazing thing through it all was the refund rate across all the shows was only about 9 percent, which is ridiculous," says Fogel. "And we resold all those tickets." The final North American dates are considered by those involved to be among the band's best on the tour, and mark a triumphant return to stadiums on this continent after the last stadium run in PopMart, which struggled to sell tickets in some markets. U2 played stadiums internationally but arenas in North America on the Vertigo tour in 2005-07 the Elevation tour of 2001. "After PopMart, the strategy was definitely to build back up North America, under-play, create that buzz and that demand, and I think we did a great job with that," says Fogel, who has now produced four of the top five highest-grossing tours of all time. "To go outdoors in America this time, particularly with this production, is a story in itself. This thing, apart from, obviously, the band, great musicians, great music, great songs, was about creating that buzz in the world about this production. That was the hook." Now that U2 360 is set to close, Fogel says the magnitude of the accomplishment, which he calls a "career highlight," is "finally starting to sink in." Related Topics International U2

The 7 Things to Know About Rosie O'Donnell's New Talk Show

Rosie O'Donnell Rosie O'Donnell may be taking over Oprah Winfrey's Chicago studio to launch her talk show, but she's not trying to be the next Oprah. Appearing in front of reporters Friday during OWN's fall TV preview session, O'Donnell said her appeal is very different from Oprah's. "I think the reason for my previous success is that I'm really not aspirational [like Oprah is]," she said. "I'm inspirational... in the sense that people at home so related to me that they felt they could be at the table with me and Madonna." "I really am more the audience," she continued. "No one at home is going, 'I wish I could be Rosie O'Donnell, an overweight lesbian who yells too much." That said, The Rosie Show, which will premiere Monday, Oct. 10 at 7/6c, will be quite different from The Oprah Winfrey Show. "My job is mostly to be entertaining and funny, which is what I'm hoping to do," she said. Here are seven things to know about the show before its debut: No Tom Selleck Moments. Promise. To hear O'Donnell tell it, she is older, wiser and hoping her new show can remain feud-free. "We're going to have a controversy segment," she deadpanned, right before cracking up: "No, we're not!" No reporter brought up her public spats with Donald Trump and Barbara Walters, but O'Donnell volunteered that she'll still cover controversies, but "not in a way like Tom Selleck or anything, because once you've done that..." The audience will get freebies - but there will be no Rosie's Favorite Things. Just because she's on Winfrey's network doesn't mean she'll be rewarding people with cars or trips to Australia. "You will get a gift if you come to my show, but it's not going to be something huge," she said. Like Oprah, however, she'll endorse products she actually loves. Her favorite? Schick Intuition razors, "the best thing to happen to women since Tampax Multipax!" Games! A holdover from The Rosie O'Donnell Show, games will round out every episode.Cross your fingers that this means the return of Koosh balls! Celebrities, yes! Fawning, no! "It won't be your average talk show," O'Donnell said, explaining that she'll have one guest per episode - and that person will be someone with something to say. Also, having already lived most of her star-studded dreams - "[Barbra Streisand] has stayed at my house," she said - there will be less unabashed adoration. "The enthusiasm I've had for celebrities has changed," she said. "I've evolved and grown." On her wish list? Russell Brand and British singer Adele. Basic cable be thy name. Why did O'Donnell forgo a chance fora splashy broadcast comeback and instead plant herself on a startup like OWN? O'Donnell said Winfrey asked her the same question. Her reply: "Because it's you." "You may not get you," she said to Winfrey, who introduced O'Donnell's session. "But I'm 50 and half my life I've gotten [you]." (O'Donnell confessed she still gets nervous when Winfrey calls.) She added that she didn't want to align herself with a major network that treated Conan O'Brien they way NBC did. Behind the Scenes will live on. There are only three episodes left of Season 25: Oprah Behind The Scenes - sniff-sniff! -- but O'Donnell plans on including similarly warts-and-all segments within The Rosie Show. "In addition to guests and games, viewers will get a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to do a talk show," she said. You'll also have an up-close-and-personal view of O'Donnell herself: "You're going to see what it feels like to be 50 years old, to move to another city, to be divorced, which I never thought I would be," she said. "I wasn't what I thought it would be [at this age] ... You've got a blueprint when you're in your 20s and 30s and you get to your 50s and you're like, 'Holy crap, I didn't expect that.'" Comedy Tonight! O'Donnell is first and foremost a comedian, and not unlike other late-night shows, The Rosie O'Donnell show will kick off with a comedy segment.Call it your "ha-ha moment." Will you tune in to Rosie's new show?

Persepolis

The film begins at Paris-Orly Airport where Marjane Satrapi (Chiara Mastroianni) is unable to board a plane to Iran, for reasons that are not clearly explained. Sitting down to smoke a cigarette, she remembers her life as a girl in 1978 at the age of 9. As a child, Marji lived in Tehran with dreams of being a prophet and an emulator of Bruce Lee. Juxtaposing her childhood ambitions is the general uprising against the US-backed Shah of Iran, with her middle-class family participating in rallies and protests with high hopes for a better society. Meanwhile, Marji attempts to identify with her generation's point of view, whether it is threatening the child of an unpopular government official, or competing for the greater childish prestige of having a relative who has been a political prisoner the longest time. Marji and a group of friends attempt to attack a young boy whose father, a member of SAVAK, killed Communists for fun, but they are stopped by her mother (Catherine Deneuve). That night, God appears before her to teach her about forgiveness, and about how she should not take justice into her own hands. One day Marji's Uncle Anoosh arrives to have dinner with the family and catch up with them after recently being released from prison. Anoosh tells Marji about his life on the run from the government for rebelling with his Communist ideology, and that he was imprisoned by Iranian authorities when he attempted to return to Iran from Russia. He also speaks of his nine years spent in prison to subtly warn Marji of the consequences of standing up for innocent people, but that she should always remember her family and remain true to herself.

During this time all political enemies ceased fighting and elections for a new leading power commenced. However, things do not get any better for the family, when they are profoundly upset when Islamic Fundamentalists win the elections with 99.99% of the vote and force Iranian society into its own kind of repressive state. The hands of the law, now controlled by Khomeini, make laws that make things worse for the Iranian people, such as forcing women to dress modestly (including wearing the hijab) to rearresting and executing Anouche for his political beliefs. Profoundly disillusioned, Marji rejects her prophetic aspirations before God and tries with her family to fit into the reality of the intolerant regime. To make things worse, the Iran-Iraq war breaks out and Marji sees for herself the horrors of death and destruction; the Iranian government begins implementing blatant laws that create ridiculous injustices. Marji witnesses her father threatened by teenage government officials wielding machine-guns and watches her critically ill uncle die because an unqualified government-appointed hospital administrator refuses to let him go abroad for medical treatment. The family tries to find some solace in secret parties where they can enjoy simple pleasures the government has outlawed, such as alcohol. As she grows up, Marji begins a life of over-confidence, where she refuses to stay out of trouble, where she secretly buys Western heavy metal music, notably Iron Maiden, on the black market, wears unorthodox clothing such as a denim jacket, and even celebrating punk rock and other Western music sensations like Michael Jackson, or openly rebutting a teacher's lies about the abuses of the government.

Fearing her arrest for her outspokenness, Marji's parents make the difficult decision to send her to a French Lycée in Vienna, Austria in 1983, where she could be safe and free to express herself. She lives with Catholic nuns when she arrives and soon finds herself on edge with the discriminatory and judgemental nuns. Marji does make new friends, but ultimately she feels intolerably isolated in a foreign land surrounded by annoyingly superficial people who take their freedoms for granted. As the years pass on, Marji is thrown out of her temporary shelter for verbally abusing a nun, and is driven out into the streets. Marji continues to go from house to house, until ending up in a house of Frau Dr. Schloss, a retired philosophy teacher. One night, Her grandmother's voice about staying true to herself resonates within her when she leaves a party after lying about her nationality; telling an acquaintance that she was French. Her shame culminates in a passionate love affair with Markus, a debonair native, which traumatically ends on her eighteenth birthday when she discovers him cheating on her. Also, her previous lover reveals himself to be homosexual after a bad sexual experience with Marji. Marjane falls apart over her breakup, and when she is accused of stealing Frau Dr. Schloss's brooch, Marji gets fed up and angrily leaves. She spends the day on a park bench, and reflects upon how cruel Markus was to her. She soon discovers that she has nowhere to go and ends up living on the street for a few months. Eventually, she becomes so ill that she contracts bronchitis, and almost ends up dying.

Eventually, Marji recovers in a Vienna Hospital, and returns to Iran in 1987, with her family's permission and hopes that the conclusion of the war would mean an improved life there. After a while of spending her time in front of television for days on end, doing nothing to advance her life, Marji falls into a clinical depression over the state of affairs in Iran and the misery that has nearly ruined her family. It is not clearly explained in the movie, but she attempts suicide by overdosing on her medication. She gets into bed and closes her eyes before she enters a dream where God and the spirit of Karl Marx appear before her to remind her of what is important and encourage her to go on with living. She bounces back with renewed determination and begins enjoying life again: she attends university classes, goes to parties, and even enters a relationship with a fellow student, who is later revealed to be Reza. With the recent death of Khomeini, Marji notices that things have gradually gone worse; she discovers that Iranian society is more tyrannized than ever with numerous atrocities occurring. With Ali Khamenei now controlling the society, Mass executions for political beliefs and petty religious absurdities and hypocrisies have become common in everyday life (she and her boyfriend are caught holding hands and their parents forced to pay a fine), much to Marjane's dismay. While this makes living as both a student and a woman intolerable, Marji manages to hold on to her rebellious attitude. However, she starts resorting to personal survival tactics to protect herself, such as falsely accusing a man of making a pass at her to avoid being arrested for wearing make up and marrying her boyfriend to avoid scrutiny by the religious police. Her grandmother, disappointed by Marji's behaviour, berates Marji, and tells her that both her grandfather and her uncle died supporting freedom and innocent people, and that she never forsake them or her family by succumbing to the repressive environment of Iran. Marji, realising her mistake, does what she can to fix it, and her grandmother is pleased upon hearing that Marjane openly confronted the blatant sexist double standard in her university's forum on public morality.

By 1994, her marriage is falling apart and things come to an end when the police raid a party, resulting in a friend being killed trying to escape. After these incidents and her divorce, the family decides that Marji leave the country again, and this time permanently, to avoid her being targeted by the authorities as a political dissident. Marji's mother then forbids Marji from coming back, to which Marji reluctantly agrees. Her grandmother was never to be seen again by Marji, and she dies soon after her departure. Marji is shown collecting her luggage and getting into a taxi. As the taxi pulls away from the south terminal of Paris-Orly Airport, the narrative cuts back to the present day. When the driver asks Marji where she is from, she replies "Iran", showing that she's kept the promise she made to Anoosh and her grandmother years ago that she would remember where she came from and that she would always stay true to herself. The screen fades to black as she recalls her final memory of her grandmother telling her how she placed jasmine in her brassiere to allow her to smell lovely every day, and the credits then follow.