Movies

In the wake of his departure from Studio Movie Grill, that circuit’s founder Brian Schultz has launched Look Dine-In Cinemas, another luxury dine-in exhibition concept. Look is taking over three Studio Movie Grill California leases and reopening the venues in the near future: Monrovia (July 15th), Downey (July 22nd) and Glendale (July 29). Look Dine-In

Friday AM Update: Universal had not one, but two wide release previews last night as they head into the four-day Independence Day weekend, with both DreamWorks Animation’s The Boss Baby: Family Business, and Blumhouse’s The Forever Purge grossing $1.3M apiece. Those looking for more technicality: Boss Baby 2 took in $1.31M at 2,700 theaters from shows which began

Questlove’s Summer of Soul is up to 753 theaters as the doc about the 1969 ‘Black Woodstock’ concert in Harlem that debuted in two locations last weekend crossed into arthouse, commercial and urban venues. Not that it was easy, said Frank Rodriguez, SVP General Sales Manager, Searchlight Pictures. “Exhibitors are eager to get back on

STXfilms has dated four movies for theatrical release: the Kristen Bell-Vince Vaughn coupon comedy Queenpins for Sept. 10, the sports drama National Champions for Nov. 24, the Chris Pine-Ben Foster reteam Violence of Action for Dec. 10 and Guy Ritchie’s untitled film for Jan. 21, 2022. “We have been busy building a strong and diverse slate with a number of

A24 got ahead of the Independence Day wide release competition yesterday with the opening of their Sundance Janicza Bravo directed thriller Zola which took in $505K at 1,468 theaters for a 6th place rank. The movie, based on the zany Twitter thread, boasts 88% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and is expected to bring in $2M-$4M

Lionsgate’s Nicolas Cage self parody feature The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent will open on April 22, 2022. The title was previously unset. In the action comedy, Nicolas Cage stars as… Nicolas Cage. Creatively unfulfilled and facing financial ruin, the fictionalized version of Cage must accept a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of a dangerous

UPDATED: Netflix said Wednesday that My Little Pony: A New Generation will debut on the streamer on September 24, 2021, the same date it had been planned to premiere when the eOne animated pic was set up at Paramount. Netflix acquired global rights in February when the pandemic was wrecking havoc with movie theaters. The

After raising the bar on what a movie can open to during the pandemic with F9‘s $70M weekend, Universal is adding a one-two wide release punch to the weekend with the debut of two titles geared at two different demos: DreamWorks Animation’s The Boss Baby: Family Business which is set to do $15M+ and Blumhouse’s The Forever

As Broadway gets ready to rock with you once again, there’s a new man in the mirror for the Michael Jackson musical. The producers said today that Myles Frost will play the King of Pop in MJ, replacing Ephraim Sykes, who has exited to film a movie. He’ll take over the coveted role for the

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

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

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

Questlove’s Summer of Soul (Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) will tease the specialty box office this weekend with the brilliantly reviewed Sundance Grand Jury and Audience award-winner in special engagements in two theaters to tee up a wide release on some 600 screens, and Hulu, July 2. The film from Searchlight Pictures about the 1969

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

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