Alex Garland’s dystopian Civil War, about America torn asunder by a president run amok and brutal acts of war committed on ordinary citizens, sparked plenty of speculation — and assumptions — heading into its debut in theaters over the April 12-14 weekend. Would it be a win in blue states but a losing battle in
Box Office
Alex Garland‘s dystopian action movie Civil War conquered the domestic box office this weekend with $25.7 million, ahead of expectations and scoring A24’s biggest opening ever. The $50 million movie about a divided America is a big swing for A24 as it tries to produce bigger movies, marking its most expensive production to date. There
Japanese anime master Hayao Miyazaki is revered in China as much as he is anywhere. The 83-year-old filmmaker’s Oscar-winning swan song The Boy and the Heron opened last Wednesday in China to take advantage of the country’s Qingming public holiday and by Sunday it had earned $73 million — more than its totals in both
Following a slightly stronger than projected first quarter at the international box office, and with some titles added to the release calendar later in the year, Gower Street Analytics has increased its global box office projection for 2024 to $32.3B. This is a 2.5% hike from the London-based firm’s previous 2024 estimate of $31.5B, but remains a
There was very little doubt what movie would win the box office this weekend. After all, last weekend’s Sunday report was all about how the latest MonsterVerse title managed to have the second best opening of 2024 thus far. Instead of wondering which title would land the #1 spot, the big questions instead have been
Japanese anime master Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning swan song The Boy and the Heron has taken flight at China’s box office in a major way. The enigmatic Studio Ghibli hit opened in China on Wednesday and soared to $13.7 million (RMB 99.1 million), nudging aside Warner Bros and Legendary Entertainment’s prior box-office champ Godzilla x Kong:
Enemies-turned-frenemies proved just what the Easter weekend box office needed. Warner Bros. and Legendary’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire opened a monstrous $80 million at the domestic box office, well ahead of an expected $45 million to $55 million. The tentpole scored the second-best opening in the MonsterVerse Universe, no small feat for a
The Ghostbusters are back in action. Sony’s spring event pic Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is opening everywhere Friday in North America following select Thursday previews. It also begins its international rollout this week. The studio is betting on an opening in the $43 million to $44 million range, while tracking services are suggesting $45 or more.
March has been a very different month for the 2024 domestic box office compared to what we got used to in the previous two. In January and February, Hollywood had little to really get movie-goers excited about heading to their local cinema, and that was very much reflected in ticket sales. The past few weeks
Kung Fu Panda 4 and Dune: Part Two are still going strong at the box office, with both movies celebrating milestones this weekend. From DreamWorks Animation and Universal, the Jack Black-voiced Kung Fu 4 is expected to top the chart with an estimated $31.5 million-plus from 4,067 theaters as it leaps past the $100 million
EXCLUSIVE: Sound of Freedom distributor Angel Studios says nearly 84% of the tickets furnished by “pay-it-forward” buyers who wanted other patrons to see the movie for free were ultimately redeemed. With Jim Caviezel starring as real-life anti-child-trafficking activist Tim Ballard, the film became a left-field box office smash in 2023, outdoing mega-budget Hollywood titles like
Warner Bros. and Legendary’s Dune: Part Two has delivered on its promise to reenergize the box office after a terrible early winter. Denis Villeneuve’s sequel — sporting an A-list cast led by Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya — opened to an estimated $81.5 million in North America this weekend, double the first film and the biggest
In 2016, Ryan Reynolds‘ first Deadpool movie scored a huge marketing touchdown at the Super Bowl when using the weekend of the big game to hold a number of promotional events, culminating with a final trailer spot released during the showdown between the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers. Two weeks later, the irreverent R-rated pic
Spurned by many critics and consumers alike, Matthew Vaughn‘s pricey spy comedy Argylle bombed at the North American box office in the biggest miss to date for Apple’s theatrical ambitions. The movie opened to an estimated $18 million from 3,605 cinemas against a price tag of $200 million to $250 million, according to sources. The
A film about the impact of divine intervention on a failing relationship has become the first Filipino title to surpass $16M at the global box office. Rewind crossed the the 900M Philippine pesos worldwide gross mark this week, a huge return for the local box office. The local record was previously held by Hello, Love,
This weekend marked the second straight that featured no major wide releases. It’s pretty typical for January to be a slow month, but the lack of audiences showing up to see the available options doesn’t bode well as the movie industry tries to regain momentum after the Hollywood strikes wreaked havoc on the movie schedule.
EXCLUSIVE: India’s box office revenue reached a record $1.47B (Rs122.3B) in 2023, a 15% increase over the previous year, according to a report from Mumbai-based Ormax Media. But growth was partly due to rising ticket prices as admissions have still not recovered to the same level as 2019. In comparison, India had total box office
Oh, January: it’s hard to be disappointed because expectations are perpetually oh so very low. While history has shown that this month is capable of producing box office surprises, we didn’t see any trace of that happening in the last three days. In my column last week, I noted that there was a lack of
EXCLUSIVE: Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki has achieved his best global box office in a decade with Cannes Jury Prize winner Fallen Leaves which has racked up a total gross of $12.4M, according to figures released by its producers. This is the director’s second highest box office result behind 2011 drama Le Havre. The Helsinki-set love story, about
Cinema export agency Unifrance’s annual international box office report for 2023 revealed on Tuesday that Russia was the top market in terms of admissions for French cinema last year. Given that Russia’s relations with Europe are at their lowest ebb since the end of the Cold War in 1991 as its ongoing war on Ukraine
I’m trying to stay optimistic. It takes some effort, as just about everyone seems to think the film business is a mess–strike-thinned schedule, cultural chaos, streaming models in flux. But, hey, the Golden Globes audience was up by half, never mind critical reaction to the show. There are still signs of life out there. So
In early January, it can feel natural to view everything as a portent of what’s to come in the next 12 months… but that’s thankfully not the case with the box office. Annually, this is a time for the industry when blockbuster holdovers from the previous year do battle with low potential studio releases that
B. Riley analyst Eric Wold, who has stayed generally bullish on the movie theater business despite its recent trials, is now warning investors that the arrival of a “down box office year” has made him “increasingly cautious.” In a note to clients about his 2024 outlook, Wold wrote that he expects the stock performance of
Gower Street Analytics has come up with an early estimate for 2024 global box office, projecting a roughly 5% downturn versus 2023 to $31.5B (Gower currently is pegging 2023 at $33.4B). This marks the first post-pandemic decrease in the London-based firm’s annual forecast. Should the figure hold, it would put the year -20% against the
Deadpool 3, Beetlejuice 2 and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire top Fandango‘s list of most-anticipated wide-release movies in 2024. (See the full top 10 and other charts below.) The NBCUniversal-owned digital movie brand surveyed 8,000 ticket buyers about the titles they’re most looking forward to, and also gauged their mood heading into next year. About 81% of
For the second week in a row, the major Hollywood studios opted not to put out any new releases – and it’s been grasped as a box office opportunity for alternative releases. To start December, Beyonce’s Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé took the #1 spot in the Top 10, riding the concert movie wave started
Taylor Swift: ‘The Eras Tour concert film has become the highest-grossing concert film of all time, earning an impressive $178 million domestically since its debut on Thursday, October 12. Among the list of the top-grossing concert films at the domestic box office are the recently rereleased Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, Talking Heads concert film
Six months in, the strikes are over. Ten days out, the holidays begin. As for the movies—unfortunately, the most exciting part of the year is already behind us. It’s disconcerting to realize that there is no unavoidably dazzling, must-see, pop cultural event film on the schedule for the rest of 2023. Certainly, some fine pictures,
AMC Entertainment swung to a profit last quarter and saw revenue jump 45%, besting Wall Street forecasts. CEO Adam Aron found the numbers “quite satisfying.” But, he said, the short-term impacts of the writer’s and actor’s strikes will cause additional and needless challenges for AMC in 2024. Without taking sides as to who is to
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