Film

FRIDAY AFTERNOON: As expected, Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4 is headed to the second biggest opening of the franchise with $52M after an $18.4M Friday (including previews) at 4.035 theaters. The first Kung Fu Panda in 2008 opened to $60.2M, that DWA title distributed by Paramount at the time. Legendary/Warner Bros’ Dune: Part Two

Warner Bros/Legendary Entertainment’s Dune: Part Two held strongly in its sophomore session at the international box office, adding $81M to handily cross the $200M overseas milestone, and reaching $367.5M globally. We’ll dig further into Dune 2’s second frame below, including its China start. In the meantime, let’s look at what’s new this weekend.  Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s

Chinese comedy drama YOLO from Sony Pictures International had a yodeling good domestic debut, grossing $840k on 200 screens, making no. 9 on the weekend top 10. Directed and produced by and starring China’s top grossing female helmer, Jia Ling, it’s earned close to $482 million in China since opening Feb. 10 — and was

MoviePass CEO Stacey Spikes said the service may give users buying tickets on the app the option of watching a bucket of commercials in exchange for credits they can cash in for movie tickets. Spikes – who relaunched the company out of bankruptcy in 2022 – wants to start a beta trial this coming summer.

EXCLUSIVE: Specialty distributor 3388 Films has acquired rights to Vietnamese smash Mai, and has set a March 22 theatrical release across North America and Europe. From director Tran Thanh, the romance drama is now the No. 1 movie of all time in Vietnam, having crossed 500B VND ($20M) locally this past week.  Mai will go

After the rolling laughs, hoots, hollers, whistling and clapping at tonight’s world premiere of Road House at SXSW on Friday, Amazon MGM Studios may want to think again before putting this Jake Gyllenhaal–Conor McGregor rock ’em sock ’em beefcakes pugilist movie on Prime Video. It doesn’t take an elbow to the head to wake up

A24’s psychological thriller Love Lies Bleeding by director Rose Glass starring Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian, Jena Malone and Anna Baryshnikov, with Dave Franco and Ed Harris, opens in limited release on five screens in New York and LA , expanding next week. A reclusive gym manager Lou (Steward) falls hard for Jackie (O’Brian), an ambitious bodybuilder headed

The thawing of the winter box office continues this weekend with Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4 which is bound to see the franchise’s second highest domestic opening at $50M+ at 3,900 theaters after the original 2008 movie ($60.2M). But that’s not all, it’s also the second biggest start for a DWA title after Universal

An Enemy of the People, director Sam Gold’s Broadway revival of the Ibsen classic starring Jeremy Strong and Michael Imperioli, is off to a great start, grossing more than $1M last week and playing to stand-room-only crowds. In its first week of seven previews, Enemy grossed $1,005,141, filling 103.16% of seating capacity at Circle in

EXCLUSIVE: Just in time for SXSW season, A24 has dated MaXXXine, the third movie in the Ti West horror franchise, for July 5. The first movie, X, made its world premiere in 2022 at SXSW, where the filmmaker promptly announced its sequel, Pearl, starring the franchise’s main scream queen, Mia Goth. Savor the retro teaser

Eduardo Acuna, who’s kept a low profile since taking the top job at Cineworld last summer, took a bow in NYC this week to showcase the world’s largest 4DX auditorium at the renovated Regal Times Square. The exhibitor partnered with CJ 4DPLEX, a cinema tech innovator of cutting-edge formats like this one that uses immersive

Two well-reviewed indies are taking a bow in limited release in the shadow of Dune, A24’s Problemista by Julio Torres, and Shayda from Sony Pictures Classics, the feature debut of Noora Niasari. Torres, the comedian, actor and writer, in his directorial debut, stars with Tilda Swinton as Problemista gets its release at last after being

Julio Torres’s directorial debut Problemista from A24 posted the highest per-screen average of the weekend with a solid limited opening, grossing $140.9k on five screens in New York and LA with multiple sold out Q&As. The film starring Torres and Tilda Swinton saw a PSA of $28k and strong exits at all locations. A surreal

Legendary Entertainment/Warner Bros.’ Dune: Part Two came in higher with an $82.5M opening. That’s all thanks to a higher than anticipated Sunday of $21.65M versus $20.3M. Presales, I hear in Imax remain strong into next weekend as some moviegoers want to sidestep crowds and get the best seats. The sandworm epic is following a box

EXCLUSIVE: Sound of Freedom distributor Angel Studios says nearly 84% of the tickets furnished by “pay-it-forward” buyers who wanted other patrons to see the movie for free were ultimately redeemed. With Jim Caviezel starring as real-life anti-child-trafficking activist Tim Ballard, the film became a left-field box office smash in 2023, outdoing mega-budget Hollywood titles like

FRIDAY UPDATE: Dune: Part Two added 42 international box office markets on Thursday, taking the offshore cume on the Denis Villeneuve-directed sequel to $20.8M in a total 55. This includes two full-days of play and previews in those markets. The Warner Bros/Legendary Entertainment sci-fi spectacular is the No. 1 U.S. title in all markets and

When movies come out, we grade them with reviews, define them by box office returns or eyeballs on streaming services, and maybe trophies down the line. But every successful, ambitious film starts with a dream, followed by compromise and adversity. Deadline offers the occasional peek into the creative aspirations, and the sweat and blood that

UPDATED, Friday AM after Thursday EXCLUSIVE: Legendary/Warner Bros‘ Dune Part Two has now grown to $12 million-plus in previews, Warner Bros said Friday. That’s from 4,500 locations; Imax alone delivered $4.5M of that number, or 38%. Of that preview figure, $2M came from an Imax fan screening on February 25. Audience reactions have hit Rotten

EXCLUSIVE: Welcome back to the cinema, everyone. Legendary Entertainment/Warner Bros‘ Dune: Part Two is off to a strong start with $10 million-plus in previews, per industry estimates Thursday. We hear that figure includes $2M from the Imax fan event screening that took place February 25. Note that these numbers do not come from Warner Bros,

Searchlight movie The Greatest Hits following its March 14 world premiere at SXSW will hit select theaters on April 5 and stream on Hulu on April 12. The Ned Benson written and directed title follows Harriet (Lucy Boynton) who finds art imitating life when she discovers certain songs can transport her back in time –