Movies

The winter box office continues to have some breadth as MGM’s Creed III, the feature directorial debut of Michael B. Jordan, eyes a potential franchise-high opening for the Rocky spinoff about Apollo Creed’s son with a $38M-$40M bow at 4,007 theaters. Previous Creed pics played during the Thanksgiving frame in 2015 and 2018, respectively opening

AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron said the new Sightline ticket pricing regime the chain’s trying out in three markets has the potential to expand the moviegoing market and prevent future price hikes. “We are in inflationary times, and inflationary times cause costs to rise,” he said. “Under the pre-Sightline structure of the industry, if we

The highly anticipated Illumination Entertainment/Universal movie The Super Mario Bros. Movie will be opening on Wednesday, April 5 around the world before Easter weekend instead of Good Friday, April 7. In what is arguably expected to be one of the biggest openings of the spring, the Chris Pratt-Chris Day-Anya Taylor-Joy, Seth Rogen, Jack Black, etc

UPDATE, writethru: Coming out of its second weekend, Disney/Marvel’s Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania has grossed $363.6M globally. Of that, $167.3M is from domestic and $196.3M from the international box office. The sophomore overseas frame was $46.4M in 52 markets with a slighter drop than in North America, coming in 57% behind last weekend’s bow

Universal/Illumination/Nintendo’s The Super Mario Bros Movie has become the latest Hollywood title to secure a release date in China. The big-screen spin on the iconic videogame franchise will hit Chinese cinemas on April 5, in time for Ching Ming Festival and in step with some other international markets as well as two days before the

The Quiet Girl, an Oscar contender for Best International Feature, opened to a robust $60k on six screens this weekend for a per-theater average of $10k. The film by Colm Bairead presented by SUPER LTD is based on the short story by Claire Keegan of a shy nine-year-old girl in rural Ireland. It led debuts

Warner Bros/New Line/DC’s sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods hit early tracking Thursday and surprised many with a low projection of $35 million, which is under the first installment’s $53.5M opening in 2019. Realize it’s still early, and Warner Bros hasn’t fully fire-breathed its marketing campaign yet. The odd thing is that tracking was comping

NATO will present Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas with its Spirit of the Industry Award at CinemaCon in April for the event’s closing night Big Screen Achievement Awards. It comes as the Nolan written-directed Oppenheimer is set for theatrical release July 21 from Universal Pictures. Produced by Thomas, Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven and Nolan.  “I am

Amazon’s upcoming wide release of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Nike movie Air exclusively in theaters in April “could represent the start of a substantive move into theatrical exhibition by streaming companies,” said Sean Gamble, chief executive of nation’s third-largest movie chain. Amazon last month releaves plans to give Air a wide theatrical release April

Super LTD presents Best International Feature Oscar nominee The Quiet Girl and, as the Academy Awards approach, RRR ramps up again and Navalny returns to theaters for one-week run. Also opening, Aaron Eckhart in Ambush, Charlotte Rampling in Juniper and comedian Jim Gaffigan as the host of a failing children’s science TV show in Linoleum.

Universal’s R-rated Elizabeth Banks campy genre pic Cocaine Bear lifted $2M last night from previews at 3,000 theaters that began at 5PM. The $30M-budgeted movie, in a weekend that will easily be dominated by Disney/Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania with an estimated $40M (-62%), is set to do in the high teens pulling

Here’s a movie Focus Features is excited about for next awards season, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see it world premiering at a big film festival some time this year: Alexander Payne’s New England prep school comedy The Holdovers. The Universal label just dated the pic for November 10 with a wider break on

Imax said today it expects to return to its pre-pandemic gross box office level of $1.1 billion in 2023, even as it reported revenue of $98 million for last year’s fourth quarter, down 10% from the year before. Earnings per share fell to 19 cents from 31 cents. CEO Rich Gelfond attributed the dip to the Chinese

Imax chief executive Rich Gelfond said blockbuster titles will probably be back on Imax screens later this year, as per Top Gun: Maverick last year and, more recently, Titanic’s 25th anniversary re-release. “Yes, I think they do. Especially seeing what happens at the Academy Awards, and what wins,” said Gelfond when asked on a conference

Broadway in Hollywood has tuned up the slate of musicals for its 2023-24 season. Headed to the Pantages Theatre stage starting late this year are the touring productions of MJ The Musical, The Wiz, Chicago The Musical, Girl from the North Country, Mrs. Doubtfire, Peter Pan and Company. “We’re gonna be startin’ somethin’ exciting,” Broadway

Bankrupt Regal parent Cineworld said it had multiple bids for all or some of its assets in initial expressions of interest due last week. Its business includes Regal in the U.S.; Cineworld and Picturehouse in the UK and Ireland; and “rest of world” cinemas in Central and Eastern Europe, and Israel. Cineworld attorney Joshua Sussberg

Focus Features has set a September 8 global release date for My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3. That will give some breadth to the post-Labor Day box office and an option for older female moviegoers, that weekend already having New Line’s The Nun 2 on the schedule. Part 3 was written and directed by the

This just in: Disney/Marvel Studios’ sequel The Marvels will no longer be opening on July 28, rather Nov. 10, which is where Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opened last year over the Veterans Day long holiday weekend to a November record of $181.3M. November has also been a prime place for other MCU titles like Thor:

Despite Disney/Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania soaking up the global box office with $225M start, the studio’s sister 20th Century Studios/Lightstorm James Cameron sequel Avatar: The Way of Water refuses to stop, despite the fact that the former title has all the premium tickets. Avatar: The Way of Water‘s running worldwide total now

EO, the Sideshow/Janus films release told from the point of view of a donkey, is set to pass the $1 million mark in week 14. The Cannes-premiering film by Jerzy Skolimowski, Academy Award nominated for Best International Feature, will gross an estimated $27.6k for the four-day President’s weekend on 37 screens for a cume of just