Movies

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

Sony Pictures Classics said it’s planning to release Sean Mullin’s documentary on baseball superstar Yogi Berra, It Ain’t Over, in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on May 12, expanding over following weeks. The film is produced by Natalie Metzger, Matt Miller, Peter Sobiloff and Mike Sobiloff with Vanishing Angle and Off Media, and

The 3x Oscar-nominated Damien Chazelle-directed early Hollywood epic Babylon will hit Paramount+ on Feb. 21 in U.S and Canada, which is 61 days after its theatrical window. The Paramount/C2 movie which stars Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva and Lukas Haas will also debut in U.K., Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Latin America, Brazil and

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

SATURDAY UPDATE, Refresh for latest…: Disney/Marvel’s Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania flew into another eight overseas markets on Friday, taking the international box office cume through yesterday to $52.6M. Globally, it’s just kissing $100M at $98.6M. The full global weekend is eyed at about $225M+, lower than where we saw it coming into the launch,

Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical has grossed over $33M in UK cinemas since its release on November 25 last year, picking up two BAFTA nominations along the way. In a unique deal, Sony/TriStar retained UK rights to the movie while Netflix financed the pic and took the rest of the world, debuting it on the

FRIDAY AFTERNOON: Disney/Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is headed to being the third highest opening for Presidents Day weekend as well as February. While 4-day estimates are wild between $115M-$125M, today is shaping up to be around $44M (that includes last night’s $17.5M) for a 3-day at $100M at 4,345 theaters. These are

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:

The title that saw Riz Ahmed stifle laughter, the press room crack up and Allison Williams murmur “no comment” at Oscar nominations last month hits theaters today as ShortsTV presents Oscar Nominated Short Films at circa 380 locations in 75 markets. The program, three feature-length presentations of the five nominees for Live Action, Animated and

John Wick has been through a lot in three chapters of his story, and with John Wick: Chapter 4 the seemingly unkillable assassin will have a new challenge to face and try to survive. The High Table wants John Wick dealt with, and that task will fall to the Marquis de Gramont, played by Bill

EXCLUSIVE: When a tentpole works at the global box office, there’s a ripple effect with exhibition partners, not just the studio, bathing in riches. Such is the case for CJ 4DPlex’s Screen X and 4DX auditoriums which can brag that Avatar: The Way of Water, as it clocks $2.1 billion worldwide, is the exhibitor’s highest

For the last couple of years Johnny Depp has spent more time in courtrooms than he has on movie screens. And following a couple of high-profile separations between Depp and studios, his future film remains in question. But there is one place where Johnny Depp’s image has remained recently, in ads for the Dior Sauvage

Even on a specialty level, horror just works post-pandemic with the latest pop from a strong showing by a trio of films, Fear and Infinity Pool, released this weekend, and Skinamarink in week three. Fear hails from Deon and Roxanne Avent Taylor’s Hidden Empire Film Group, the all-Black production company behind cult hit Meet The

What a week for Megan Fox. The actress, mom and social media personality totally rocked out on the latter this weekend thanks to sporting a new hairstyle and having a little fun at the expense of her fiancé Machine Gun Kelly. I honestly don’t know how she finds the time.  First and foremost, the big

Earlier this week, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water became the No. 5 highest-grossing movie ever worldwide, and, as expected, has now surfed to the No. 4 position on the all-time chart. In so doing, it leaves Star Wars: The Force Awakens in its wake with nearly $2.075B globally.  Through Friday, the worldwide gross

Looking over the slate 2023 new movie releases, one of the much-anticipated blockbusters coming out in the first half of the year is Fast X, a.k.a. the tenth main installment of the Fast & Furious franchise (11th counting the spinoff Hobbs & Shaw). Fast X also marks the beginning of the end of The Fast

Neon and Topic Studios present writer/director Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool at 1,835 theaters in a lively specialty weekend sandwiched between a new crop of Sundance films and noteworthy expansions in the glow of Oscar nominations. Infinity Pool, staring Alexander Skarsgard, Mia Goth, Cleopatra Coleman and Jalil Lespert, had a splashy debut last weekend in the

With Wednesday’s worldwide box office grosses included, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has surpassed $2.054B globally, and jumped up a notch on the all-time worldwide chart.  Globally through yesterday, the epic sci-fi adventure passed Avengers: Infinity War ($2,052M) with $2,054.7M to become the No. 5 highest-grossing movie ever worldwide. As we wrote on

Kristen Stewart has been teasing her ambition to get behind the camera and make her first feature film for a few years now. The Oscar-nominated actress known for the Twilight saga and a host of critically-acclaimed roles has her sights set on adapting one of her favorite books, Lidia Yuknavitch’s The Chronology of Water. In

Regal parent Cineworld said it’s opted to pursue a sale of assets and the process “is well under way” with non-binding bids due February 16. The company said in a bankruptcy filing this week that it’s reached out to 30 “potential transaction parties” including many competitors. If the debtors (Cineworld and its affiliates) find one

Although Zach Cregger has been active in the comedy corner of the entertainment industry for many years, with his credits including The Whitest Kids U’ Know, Wrecked and Miss March, last year he made a big splash in the horror realm with Barbarian. The “crazy” flick starring Bill Skarsgård, Georgina Campbell and Justin Long was

With a slimmed-down roster and many productions offering 2 for 1 tickets during the annual Broadway Week promotion, Broadway box office was down 24% for the week ending January 22, with the 23-show total at $25,835,362. Attendance of 204,847 was off 17% from the previous week when 29 shows were on the boards. Despite the

The horror genre’s renaissance is showing no signs of slowing down, with projects like M3GAN starting the year off with a bang. One of the most highly anticipated upcoming horror movies is definitly Scream VI, which is the second one helmed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. The movie will largely follow the two sets