Amazon MGM Studios is doubling down on its original film business. The studio arrives at MIPCOM Cannes with nearly all its eggs in Earth Abide‘s basket, an original series starring Alexander Ludwig (Vikings) and Jessica Frances Dukes (Ozark). The show is a post-apocalyptic tale, based on George R. Stewart’s 1949 novel, about the fall of
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The indie box office busted out this year, hitting is stride post-Covid with an eclectic string of releases that made a splash artistically and financially. Independents and mini-majors saw $1.47 billion in box office receipts as of Dec. 27, up from $811.7 million in 2022, according to Comscore. Focus Features had the biggest limited opening
Cinemark CEO Sean Gamble said Apple and Amazon, two behemoths of the tech world but newcomers to the wide-release movie business, are so far “very pleased” with their results. During a conference call with Wall Street analysts to discuss third-quarter results, the major exhibitor boss said Cinemark’s conversations with the two tech firms indicate they
UPDATED, 4:49 PM: In the wake of notching a shiny 82% fresh Rotten Tomatoes score with critics coming out of its Telluride Film Festival premiere, Saltburn from Oscar winning filmmaker Emerald Fennell is going a week earlier on Nov. 17, limited. MGM will then expand the film on Nov. 22 to take advantage of holiday
Amid all the noise about studios taking apart the fall and fourth-quarter release schedule over the SAG-AFTRA strike, here’s some good news: Amazon is taking its Emerald Fennell-directed movie Saltburn out on Black Friday, November 24, in New York and Los Angeles. Pic will expand December 1. In the wake of releasing Ben Affleck’s Air
EXCLUSIVE: The Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation has created the Erik Lomis Leadership Award, which will be bestowed at the charity’s 30th Annual Film Row Charity Golf Classic. Modeled after the Payne Stewart Award given annually by the PGA Tour, which is given to a player whose values align with the character, charity, and
The media news cycle is in a frenzy today over a Bloomberg piece that Apple will shell out a $1 billion to produce big screen features annually. That’s great news for exhibition, yes. But, in reality, doing the math, the streamer was already bound to spend in the billions on a feature slate. Apple’s deep
The death of MGM distribution chief Erik Lomis on Wednesday has shocked many around Hollywood. More than just being a sage to filmmakers and executives about the motion picture business, Lomis was known for his generosity fundraising with the Will Rogers Institute, cultivating others’ careers, and even being a mentor to many in their personal
The power of a wide theatrical release was realized this weekend by streamer Amazon in its pivot back to the big screen with MGM/United Artists Releasing’s Creed III. It easily minted the best opening ever for the Seattle-based parent, as well as for the Rocky franchise, with $58.6M domestic, $100.4M worldwide. While Amazon has snapped
Amazon did not report viewership figures for their $200M Skydance acquisition title The Tomorrow War, but third-party streaming analytics corp Samba TV did, and the Chris Pratt movie drew 2.41M U.S. households during the 4-day holiday weekend. The previous 3-day weekend viewership for Amazon movies Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse, another Skydance pick-up by the streamer, and
Amazon will drop the Millennium Media Kate Beckinsale action movie Jolt on June 23. The pic, directed by Tanya Wexler and written by Scott Wascha, also stars Bobby Cannavale, Jai Courtney, Laverne Cox, David Bradley, Ori Pfeffer, Susan Sarandon and Stanley Tucci. Jolt centers around Lindy, a beautiful, sardonically-funny woman with a painful secret: Due to a
So with Amazon’s $8.45 billion absorption of MGM, are future James Bond films destined to be relegated to streaming? Don’t even think about it. Eon Bosses Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson released a statement this AM saying that “We are committed to continuing to make James Bond films for the worldwide theatrical audience.” As
In the wake of Monday’s news that Amazon is making a go at MGM, it’s been radio silence. As of today, we hear that both sides remain actively in talks, and want to get the deal done soon but the time frame remains undefined. With Amazon’s recent acquisition of big pics like Paramount’s Coming 2
Amazon’s recent pick-up of Sony’s Camila Cabello musical movie Cinderella will hit the streamer this fall in 240 countries. As Deadline first told you last week, Sony decided to license worldwide (sans China) to Amazon instead of going with a summer theatrical release. Many reasons I heard for the sale, one being the continued closure
In the wake of Amazon Prime Video clicking 175 million customers, the streamer’s acquisition of Skydance/Paramount’s Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse drew 2.3 million U.S. households in its first weekend according to Samba TV. That number beats the 1.6M Samba TV households which streamed Amazon’s Borat Subsequent Moviefilm over its first weekend of Oct. 23-25. The third party
We first told you that Skydance sold the Chris Pratt sci-fi film The Tomorrow War to Amazon Studios for $200M, and now that deal has closed with the streamer setting a July 2 drop date in 240 countries and territories. It’s the second Paramount release that Amazon has picked up after Coming 2 America which
Amazon isn’t being transparent in the weekend viewership of Coming 2 America, the Eddie Murphy comedy sequel the streamer picked up for $125 million back in October, which we first told you about. Rather they’ve serviced a statement pointing to The Digital Entertainment Group/Screen Engine/ASI’s VOD weekend rankings which contains streaming, PVOD and VOD feature
Can cinemas play day-and-date releases from Warner Bros after continually refusing to show Netflix films? The big circuits have to be feeling really stupid now: If they had only made a deal with Netflix last year on Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman at a 45-day window instead of emphatically rejecting one, perhaps this looming apocalypse brought on
Amazon will release their acquisition of Paramount Pictures’ Eddie Murphy sequel Coming 2 America on March 5, 2021. The movie was originally slated for a Dec. 18 theatrical release before Paramount unloaded the feature to Amazon for $125M in a global rights deal, as we first told you. It’s another be global pic launch for Amazon
Regina King’s feature directorial debut from Amazon Studios, One Night in Miami… will open in select theaters on Christmas Day, Dec. 25. The movie, based on Olivier-nominated Kemp Powers’ 2013 stage play, will get a global launch on Prime Video on Jan. 15, 2021. The pic recently made its world premiere at the Venice Film
Amazon Studios and Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society are hosting a nationwide summer screening series “A Night at the Drive-In” with the Black Panther star is curating with a line-up of features celebrating diverse voices in cinemas. The series kicks off on July 1 and runs through Aug. 26. Attendance will be at no cost to local
EXCLUSIVE: With the recent shutdown of movie theaters due to COVID-19, the STX action family comedy My Spy, which was last scheduled for theatrical release on April 17, is heading to Amazon Prime. Amazon Studios picked up the Peter Segal-directed PG-13 movie from STXFilms and MWM Studios for U.S. and key foreign territories. A streaming date will
EXCLUSIVE: In a play to strike when the iron is hot with awards season voters, Amazon will now launch Scott Z. Burns’ The Report deeper in season with a theatrical debut on Nov. 15, followed by an Amazon Prime Video play beginning Nov. 29. This is around the same time last year that Netflix launched Roma, however
EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Studios is shifting its anticipated Eddie Redmayne–Felicity Jones pic The Aeronauts deeper into awards season, from October 25 to December 6, we can reveal. In a potentially telling move about Amazon’s future direction, the company is also collapsing the intended theatrical window for the ballooning disaster film. Instead of a traditional theatrical release,