Film

Refresh for latest…: As it vroomed into domestic theaters, turbocharging North America with a pandemic record $70M start, Universal’s F9 also opened in 22 new overseas markets, lifting the international box office cume to $335M and putting $405M in the tank globally. F9 has surpassed the lifetime of last summer’s Tenet both internationally and worldwide,

EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures International Productions has acquired worldwide distribution rights to The Calm Beyond, a survivalist thriller that premiered in competition at the 2020 Adelaide Film Festival. This is the feature directorial debut of the late Joshua Wong, the award-winning commercials and shorts director, who tragically lost his battle with cancer in December 2020. From a

IFC Film’s Werewolves Within saw the biggest debut in a weekend without many new limited releases. Directed by Josh Ruben and written by Mishna Wolff, the comedy-horror flick stars Sam Richardson (Veep) and Milana Vayntrub. In the Ubisoft game-based film, a proposed pipeline creates divisions within the small town of Beaverfield and a snowstorm traps

Even with close to 40% of the Canadian box office offline as Ontario remains closed until late July, and the Arclight/Pacific Theatres closed in L.A., the total weekend domestic box office came in at $98.08M per Comscore’s early Sunday AM estimate. Some distributors even have the weekend higher at $99.1M. It’s a great indication that

Bruce Springsteen woke Broadway from a 15-month sleep Saturday, returning to live performance to deliver an emotional, updated rendition of his 2017 smash Springsteen on Broadway to an audience so wildly enthusiastic the star himself cautioned against “cheering every dumb f*cking thing” he said lest the show last all night. As it was, the re-opening

EXCLUSIVE:  Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has hired industry veteran Kevin Holloway as Head Film Buyer. The news comes in the wake of the cineaste chain arising out of bankruptcy and opening a new location in El Paso, TX. Plans for new theaters in Manhattan, Staten Island, St. Louis, and Washington D.C. are scheduled for this year.

With the fall and early winter corridor being fiercely competitive, Warner Bros. is changing a trio of release dates in order to best position their movies. All of them will still go day-and-date on HBO Max (for first 31 days) with theatrical. With MGM/United Artists Releasing’s 007 movie No Time to Die on Oct. 8, Warners

Universal’s F9 is off to a great start as expected having grossed $7.1M from 3,100 theaters that began showtimes at 7PM. The pic expands to 4,179 theaters today, the widest ever for a film being released during the pandemic. In more great news: F9 did more business last night than Hobbs & Shaw did in its Thursday previews which were $5.8M

The Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park production of Merry Wives will begin performances next month with audience capacity at Central Park’s Delacorte Theater expanded significantly over what was previously announced. Though masks will be required for audiences at the beloved New York summertime institution, audience size will be expanded from the previously announced

Consumer enthusiasm for the return of in-person events combined with deeper digital engagement during the pandemic will allow both to thrive, according to a new study by UTA IQ, the research arm of the giant agency. The report, Virtual + Reality: The Future of Digital & Live Entertainment in a Post-Pandemic World, backs up what’s

EXCLUSIVE: Open Road Films, which didn’t pull back on theatrical releases for cinemas during the pandemic like other studios, has set a release date of September 17 for its Gerard Butler action movie Copshop from Joe Carnahan. Written by Carnahan and Kurt McLeod, Copshop follows a wily con artist who is on the run from a

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s more specific details as to how the advance tickets sales are for Universal’s F9 heading into the weekend: The Justin Lin-directed sequel is bound to be the biggest pre-seller of 2021 to date for Fandango. Already, F9 is outpacing the opening weekend pre-sales of Paramount’s A Quiet Place Part II which continued on to post a 4-day debut

After 17 months of one-and-off promotion, including two Super Bowl spots, Universal’s F9 finally arrives at U.S. and Canadian theaters with high hopes of turbo-charging what has been a rudderless summer box office post Memorial Day weekend as the pandemic calms. F9 will be the widest theatrical release during the pandemic at 4K theaters, which still

Steppenwolf’s production of The Minutes, the new Tracy Letts play that had begun previews on Broadway when the industry shut down in March 2020, will resume performances in March 2022, with an official opening night on Thursday, April 7. The play, with cast to be announced, will take up residence at Broadway’s Studio 54 theater,

Let’s celebrate victories where we can as the domestic box office looks to get on track from the pandemic. It took 12 weekends, but finally Warner Bros./Legendary’s Godzilla vs. Kong crossed $100M at the domestic B.O., becoming the second movie to do so after Paramount’s A Quiet Place Part II which did it in three weekends. GvK made

As the motion picture industry looks to get back on track at the box office, and avoid being the laughing stock of streamers, the latest question begged is: What was Sony thinking when they decided to move Hotel Transylvania: Transformania onto the Oct. 1-3 opening weekend of MGM’s Addams Family 2? Both Halloween-centric animated movies

Specialty box office is ready for liftoff. With Los Angeles and New York completely peeling back restrictions on theater capacity for the first weekend, we are starting to see rays of hope illuminate the limited release space. Meet The Blacks 2 blasted expectations last week by posting a $1M+ debut (per screen average of $2,533).

Refresh for latest…: International box office markets this weekend were again rife with holdovers doing solid business, while also awaiting a new major title to swing summer into full gear. Lionsgate/Millennium’s Stateside champ, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard was the only signifiant new opener this session with an estimated $7.8M in its debut in 21 overseas

Regal Cinemas is taking over the cinema space occupied by the Arclight Sherman Oaks in Sherman Oaks, CA. The L.A. Times reported that Cineworld-owned Regal Cinemas signed a lease yesterday with the mall landlord Douglas Emmett Inc. Regal will reportedly sink $10M into renovating the cinemas bringing it up to date on par with its

It’s thrilling to watch Lionsgate make a run at the box office top spot with The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, a grown-up comedy. Not a kiddie fantasy, like Peter Rabbit 2 or Cruella. Not a Covid-era placeholder, like The War With Grandpa, or a streaming event, like Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. But a rough, raucous, R-rated action