Eloise Mills Recognized as Dean’s Laureate by Florida State University

News

Eloise Mills Recognized as Dean’s Laureate by Florida State University

2025-04-16 20:01 Last Updated At：20:10

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 16, 2025--

William Mills Agency, the nation’s leading fintech public relations and marketing firm, announced Eloise B. Mills was named as a 2025 Dean’s Laureate for Florida State University’s College of Communications and Information.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250416495819/en/

The Dean’s Laureates is a new designation reserved for those who have exemplified the values of the College of Communication and Information at the highest possible level. She is recognized in the inaugural class of laureates alongside nine other esteemed honorees.

“I have long admired Eloise Mills as a professional and been grateful for her as an alumna,” said Michelle Kazmer, dean of the College of Communication and Information. “She has truly embodied the vision and mission of the FSU College of Communication and Information and has been a wonderful partner and supporter. Our students, our programs, and the world are better because of Eloise Mills, and I'm pleased to honor her as one of the first Dean's Laureates.”

Alongside her husband William “Bill” Mills Jr., Eloise Mills cofounded William Mills Agency in 1977. She currently serves as the chairman of the firm. Since 2003, the agency has supported FSU students through the Bill and Eloise Mills Scholarship and the pair were recognized as “Outstanding Alumni” in 2010.

“FSU has been an integral part of our story since starting the agency almost 50 years ago,” said Eloise Mills. “I am honored to be named in the first class of Dean’s Laureates as it is recognition of the work we’ve done for our clients, community and my alma mater.”

The College of Communication and Information at Florida State University is a global leader in advancing communication and information sciences. The College fosters innovative research, empowers all voices and develops scholars and future leaders who drive meaningful change in an increasingly connected world. Connect with the Florida State University College of Communication and Information on LinkedIn, Instagram and X. Additional photography from the ceremony may be found here: https://cci.fsu.edu/distinguished-alumni-deans-laureates/

About William Mills Agency

William Mills Agency is North America’s leading fintech public relations and marketing firm. The agency has established its reputation through the successful execution of media relations, marketing services and crisis communications programs. The company serves clients ranging in size from small start-ups to large, publicly traded companies. For more information, please visit https://www.williammills.com/financial-public-relations and connect with WMA on LinkedIn, X and YouTube.

Box Office: ‘Mandalorian and Grogu’ tops charts and ‘Obsession’ grows in second weekend

After nearly seven years away from the big screen, a new Star Wars movie drew healthy but not record-breaking crowds to global theaters this weekend. According to studio estimates on Sunday, “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” made $82 million in ticket sales from 4,300 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. By the end of Monday’s Memorial Day holiday, it’s expected to have earned $102 million domestically and $165 million globally.

It exceeded opening weekend expectations for the movie, a continuation of Disney+ spinoff series “The Mandalorian,” but it’s also on the low end of Disney-era Star Wars releases, closer to “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” which made $103 million over the four-day Memorial Day frame in 2018. While “Solo” was considered a disaster, the metrics around “The Mandalorian and Grogu” are a little different.

The production budget for “Solo” was in the $300 million range, while “The Mandalorian and Grogu” was made for significantly less — a reported $165 million, not accounting for marketing and promotion costs. It makes the journey to profitability more likely, especially when factoring in positive audience scores. Although critics were mixed to negative on the movie (it currently carries a 63% on Rotten Tomatoes), ticket buyers overall gave it an A- CinemaScore. Boys under the age of 13 are especially high on the movie: They gave it an A CinemaScore and a perfect five on PostTrak. Parents also gave it a five out of five.

The Jon Favreau-directed movie stars Pedro Pascal as the titular bounty hunter and puts him and his tiny green companion on a mission to save Jabba’s son Rotta the Hutt, who is voiced by Jeremy Allen White.

“Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” could also be graded on a bit of a curve because of the streaming component, both that it started as a series, and that it will eventually end up as a value add on Disney+, which was only about a month old when the last Star Wars movie, “The Rise of Skywalker,” debuted in December 2019.

Star Wars as a brand is in a time of transition under its new leadership team of Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan; Earlier this year it was announced that Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, who produced “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” was stepping down after 13 years. The question for the industry is whether audience interest in Star Wars on the big screen might have cooled slightly, and if next year’s “Star Wars: Starfighter,” starring Ryan Gosling, will provide a definitive answer. Until then, the hope is that strong audience and exit scores will propel word-of-mouth generated enthusiasm in the coming weeks.

Word-of-mouth certainly helped Curry Barker’s relationship horror movie “Obsession” defy the standard box office trajectory and do better business in its second weekend. The Focus Features had an astonishing 30% uptick in ticket sales, earning $22.4 million from 2,655 theaters. The studio, which acquired the microbudget movie for some $15 million, is projecting that it will have made $28.2 million by the end of Monday, bringing its running total to $58.5 million. It snagged the second-place spot, while “Michael” landed in third place with $20 million for the three-day weekend. The Michael Jackson biopic has now earned $782.4 million.

“Obsession” also did better than the new horror movie “Passenger,” a Paramount Pictures release with Melissa Leo, which grossed an estimated $8.7 million from 2,534 locations. It’s expected to earn $10.5 million over its first four days. The movie received poor reviews from both critics (44% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (B- Cinema Score).

The mix of movies this year didn’t hold a candle to last year’s record Memorial Day weekend, which was led by Disney’s live-action “Lilo & Stitch” and “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.” The overall four-day frame this year will net out around $211 million, down about 36% from last year’s $330 million. It’s also far from the disastrous 2024 Memorial Day weekend box office, a 30-year low, when “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” opened.