Movies

AT&T CEO John Stankey took a Godzilla vs. Kong victory lap Thursday as the film managed to storm the domestic box office and provide a solid boost for HBO Max. Subsidiary WarnerMedia’s strategy of releasing its 2021 slate day-and-date in movie theaters and on its new premium streaming service was highly controversial when announced last

Despite AT&T CEO John Stankey’s victory lap today about WarnerMedia’s theatrical and HBO Max release strategy with Godzilla vs. Kong, the studio’s R-rated title, Mortal Kombat, is facing a serious threat at the weekend box office from a traditional theatrical release and rival Asian IP, Funimation’s Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train.  Since

Imax and Imagine Documentaries have formed a five-year production and distribution agreement, a slate which will include movies on the subjects of space, exploration, natural sciences, music, civilization, society and more. The first title to be released under the agreement is Eliza McNitt’s Mars 2080 in 2022, produced by Apollo 13‘s Brian Grazer and Ron Howard,

We first told you about the Neil Burger-directed thriller The Marsh King’s Daughter, starring Daisy Ridley, which Black Bear Pictures, Anonymous Content and STX International were selling at EFM. Today, STXfilms is taking U.S. rights to the feature, putting them back in business with Burger who directed the $100M-plus B.O. hit for them, The Upside, which the studio

Sony has dated Denzel Washington’s directorial A Journal for Jordan for Dec. 10 in New York and LA with a wide break on Dec. 22. The film is based on Dana Canedy’s New York Times best-selling memoir of the same title, which was published in 2008. Washington directs Michael B. Jordan and Chanté Adams off

Sebastian Stan and Denise Gough set off on a whirlwind weekend romance in Monday, a romantic drama that IFC Films released in theaters and on-demand Friday. It’s the fourth feature from director Argyris Papadimitropoulos, who also wrote and produced the film. Here is the plot: When Mickey (Stan) is dragged away from his DJ set

Refresh for latest…: Fuel-injecting some mega muscle into the international box office landscape, Universal’s F9 is revving up for a May 21 release date in China, a full five weeks before domestic. But China won’t be the only overseas market to release early, as I hear several other key hubs are also going throughout the

(Interactive chart with estimates below) This week, Neon released its COVID-inspired horror film In The Earth, directed by Ben Wheatley (Down Terrace, Kill List). Written across 15 days last August, the movie follows a scientist and a park scout in the midst of a pandemic. Their journey into a forest becomes imperiled as they find

Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros/Legendary’s Godzilla Vs Kong is approaching the $400M global mark, as it topped $300M at the international box office this weekend. Adding $12.2M from 41 overseas markets (a good -49% hold), the monsters have cumed an estimated $309.7M offshore for $390.2M worldwide through Sunday. After overtaking Tenet as the No. 1

Sony Pictures Classics will open Ty Roberts’ 12 Mighty Orphans on June 11 in New York and Texas with a wider expansion on June 18. Texas theaters will do advanced screenings starting June 10. 12 Mighty Orphans tells the true story of the Mighty Mites, the football team of a Fort Worth orphanage who during

SATURDAY AM UPDATE:  Refresh for more analysis With no new wide releases, and New Line’s Mortal Kombat pushed to next weekend, Warner Bros./Legendary’s Godzilla vs. Kong is still in charge with $2.075M on Friday, -47% from a week ago, at 3,001 theaters and a current running total of $74.9M. The three-day is expected to be $7.1M, -49% with

The closure of Pacific Theatres and ArcLight may have sounded alarm bells over the dire state of exhibition due to the coronavirus pandemic, but theater owners are especially frustrated, anxious and unnerved that a signature government lifeline so far has struggled to get up and running. The Shuttered Venues Operators Grant (SVOG), as the Small Business

Imax CEO Rich Gelfond earned $6.9 million last year, down slightly from $7.1 million in 2019 as the pandemic shuttered theaters and Imax screens around the world. The package included base pay of $1.2 million and a stock award valued at $5.5 million. Imax, while hard hit like the rest of the industry, was able

EXCLUSIVE: The last thing we needed to hear as the box office and exhibition were rebounding from the pandemic was a piece of bad news, but word spread like wild fire in distribution and exhibition circles that the Arclight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres won’t be reopening. The chain, owned by Decurion, has issued a statement

Ahead of the summer release of Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, Moscow’s Dream Island Theme Park has officially opened its new “Hotel Transylvania” attraction. This comes as Transformania, the final chapter in the $1.3B franchise, is due for rollout beginning July 23 in North America and internationally from August 4. It is currently scheduled to hit Russia on

With a confirmed, and late-breaking, re-release date, Peter Jackson’s The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring has been scheduled to hit China’s movie theaters tomorrow (April 16). The second film, The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers, will follow next Friday, April 23. The Oscar-winning New Line trilogy will play in

EXCLUSIVE: The Tiffany Haddish and Billy Crystal dramedy Here Today has been picked up by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions’ Stage 6 Films and will open in theaters on May 7. Crystal directed the movie, repping his eighth time directing and his third on a feature film. Crystal co-wrote the screenplay with his fellow Saturday Night Live alum and

EXCLUSIVE: Universal executive Xavier Albert, who has been Managing Director for France since 2016, is taking on a dual-market role with the studio and will also become Managing Director for Italy. Albert will take over the MD Italy post from Richard Borg who is retiring in July after 30 years with the Universal Pictures International

Two of the country’s major theatrical venues announced reopening plans today, with the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles and the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. set to house Broadway productions in November and October, respectively. In Los Angeles, the Ahmanson’s 2021-22 season will start later than previously announced – instead of an August opening with

Sony’s Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson action comedy The Man From Toronto has set a release date of Jan. 14, 2022. The pic was taken off the theatrical release calendar as the pandemic took hold.  At one point, it was scheduled to open on Nov. 20. Hart owns two of MLK’s biggest openings for Ride Along, ranked third