BoxOffice

Refresh for latest…: With cinemas in the bulk of the European majors now dealing with a second wave of closures amid the COVID-19 crisis, international box office is again led by Asia this weekend — and should continue to be so for the foreseeable future. Japan’s runaway smash Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train is
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It’s not common for a studio specialty label to lead the weekend box office two weeks in a row. But that’s the anomaly of pandemic times, and here we have Focus Features taking No. 1 again after last weekend’s Amblin horror film, Come Play, with the Kevin Costner–Diane Lane crime thriller Let Him Go with $1.47M yesterday (including
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CinemaCon has set its dates for next year and is being extra cautious due to the pandemic. Originally scheduled for April 26-29, the exhibition-film distribution confab at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas will now happen between Aug. 23-26, 2021. This year’s CinemaCon was cancelled as COVID-19 took its grip on the nation, with a slew
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This weekend, Focus Features will bring to theaters the feature adaptation of Let Him Go starring Oscar winner Kevin Costner and Oscar nominee Diane Lane. Directed and written by Thomas Bezucha, the suspense thriller is based on Larry Watson’s popular 2013 novel of the same name. The story follows retired sheriff George Blackledge (Costner) and
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Disney has officially pulled their 20th Century Studios’ features Free Guy and Death on the Nile off the December calendar, leaving a grim immediate future in place for exhibition which was praying to make buck on a holiday moviegoing season. This leaves Warner Bros.’ Wonder Woman 1984 left standing on Dec. 25, however, everyone with a brain is betting that
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AMC Entertainment said revenue for the September quarter plunged 91% to $119 million. Losses widened to $905 million from $54 million as the financially strapped exhibitor struggles with the impact of the global pandemic. The financially struggling chain’s COVID trials have been high profile and heavy hitting because of its size — the biggest chain
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AMC CEO Adam Aron channeled Winston Churchill Monday, comparing the exhibition industry’s last stand against COVID-19 (and Chapter 11) to the U.K.’s fight for survival during World War II. Wall Street analysts on a conference call were too polite to bring up the word bankruptcy directly, nor did Aron. He said again that the chain
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The nation’s fourth-biggest cinema chain Marcus Theatres saw revenue plunge and swing to the red in its most recent third-quarter earnings released Tuesday. It beat Wall Street forecasts, however, and emphasized its solid financials underpinned by the fact it owns most of its theatres. Family-owned Marcus, based in Milwaukee, owns or operates 1,110 screens at
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European cinema trade body UNIC has today renewed its call to national governments for further public funding support of the exhibition industry during the COVID-19 crisis. UNIC says the current situation is “undeniably the most challenging period faced by European cinemas in their long history,” and adds that the coronavirus pandemic “has dealt the sector
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Not to send everyone screaming for the exits, but it wouldn’t be out of the question if Warner Bros. moves Wonder Woman 1984 off its Christmas Day global theatrical release. Facts are facts whether former Vice President Joe Biden takes the U.S. Presidency tomorrow night or if President Donald Trump continues: New York City and Los
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SUNDAY AM, Refresh for updates and chart: Focus Features/Amblin’s PG-13 horror movie Come Play came in much better than expected, seeing a boost on Halloween night (as opposed to expected drop) with $1.3M, +18% over Friday+preview’s $1.1M. This puts the pic’s opening weekend at $3.15M in No. 1 spot. One industry insider tells me about the boost,
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Focus Features has the widest entry at the pandemic weekend box office with Jacob Chase’s PG-13 Amblin horror film Come Play, and therefore the No. 1 movie at the box office, earning $1M yesterday at 2,183 theaters. $150K of that figure came from Thursday previews. Come Play, which now has a 52% rating on Rotten
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Paramount has shifted the release date of its animated feature Rumble to May 14, 2021, pushing it further back from its previous January 19, 2021 date. Paramount Animation and WWE Studios are teaming on the pic, which is directed by Hamish Grieve and originally was slated for a summer 2020 bow before the exhibition business
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Focus Features has set a June 25, 2021 theatrical release for Justin Chon’s drama Blue Bayou which the label picked up global rights to last spring during the Cannes virtual market. The pic, which also stars Chon, tells the timely story of a uniquely American family fighting for their future. Antonio LeBlanc (Chon), a Korean
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This weekend is Halloween and Focus Features is delivering some scares with the Jacob Chase-directed horror Come Play, which opens in theaters starting today. Come Play is based on Chase’s 2017 short film Larry. The feature version which is dubbed as “a terrifying new vision in horror” follows Oliver (newcomer Azhy Robertson), a lonely young boy
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Shares in IMAX were down in pre-market trading this morning after the company announced its Q3 results, which included a loss of $47.2M on revenues of $37.3M. As of 10AM ET, they were down 4.92%. CEO Rich Gelfond, however, remains bullish on the theatrical business and the company’s future health. “Our financial position gives us
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Exhibitors got another setbacks today as MGM has delayed the release of its Aretha Franklin biopic Respect, starring Jennifer Hudson, from January 15 to August 13. The studio also has pulled its Tomb Raider sequel starring Alicia Vikander and Kristin Scott Thomas from its March 19 premiere date; that film now is unset. Respect, MGM/United Artists
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Studio Movie Grill, the in-theater dining chain with seven California locations has filed for bankruptcy, one of the first leading exhibitors to officially buckle under pandemic-related financial stress. The Dallas-based company filed for Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas. It will continue to operate but reorganize with the protections
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Refresh for latest…: To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Volunteers Army entering the Korean War, the Middle Kingdom released epic The Sacrifice this weekend. The locally-titled Jin Gang Chuan grossed an estimated $53M in its three-day bow. While not a record start for the year in the market, the actioner could hold
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Of the titles debuting in the specialty box office space this weekend, Well Go USA’s Synchronic had a decent showing, opening in 326 theaters to the tune of an estimated $225,070, averaging $690 per theater for its opening weekend. Set in New Orleans, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s sci-fi pic follows two best friends Steve
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