Disney

In the first sign today on Disney Investor Day that the studio might be going the way of WarnerMedia-HBO Max in their simultaneous theatrical-streaming strategy, the studio will release their upcoming animated feature Raya And the Last Dragon both in theaters and on Disney+ premiere access (ala Mulan over Labor Day weekend) in March. The pic
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Even though a combined 100 movie and TV series titles were announced today during Disney Investor Day, with 80% of them going to Disney+, let it be noted that the Burbank, CA studio didn’t burn down its 2021 theatrical release schedule, like WarnerMedia did last week, in order to keep the fire going on its
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Movie theater stocks were mixed Friday as the industry absorbed shock waves from Warner Bros.’ window-smashing announcement the day before when the cinema group collectively plunged by double digits. The smaller, publicly-traded U.S. chains have lower debt and are in better financial shape. Third- and fourth-ranked circuits Cinemark and Marcus both rose by more than
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If you’re dying to know what the total revenue reap was from Disney’s combined PVOD/Disney+-overseas theatrical release experiment of Mulan, well, we just have to wait for the studio’s investor day on Dec. 10. That’s when they’re reportedly going to tell us more. Disney CEO Bob Chapek said on today’s year-end earning call that he was “pleased
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Walt Disney blew past Wall Street estimates last quarter although it swung to red and revenue fell with Disneyland shuttered, and movie theaters in major markets dark. It’s the last showbiz giant to report financials in the latest earnings round and the most anticipated as its sprawling businesses touch most of media and entertainment for
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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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Disney last week moved Pixar’s Soul off of its domestic November 20 date and onto Disney+, where it will now be released December 25 in the U.S. and other global markets where the streaming service is available. Similar to its move with Mulan, the decision has upset European exhibitors who are starved for major new
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Here’s something no one was really expecting at the weekend box office, especially during a depressed time when there aren’t any new major studio wide releases: Disney’s wide re-issue of 1993 cult classic witch comedy Hocus Pocus is doing rather well at 2,570 theaters on its way to what looks to be a $1.6M-$1.8M estimated weekend
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In the wake of COVID-19’s continued grip on the box office, Disney made another round of release-date changes Wednesday, the good news for exhibition being: Nothing is headed to Disney+. That includes Pixar’s Soul, which is currently sticking to its November 20 release against MGM’s James Bond movie No Time to Die.  While we already
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Not everyone is ready to go back to theater, and it’s going to take a long time before moviegoers are comfortable. Warner Bros.’ domestic box office for Tenet, which only made $6.7M in its second stateside weekend (technically 3rd) is an indicator of this, of course, with New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco closures being
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Mulan, Disney’s live-action update on its 1998 animated classic grossed an estimated RMB 52.5M ($8.26M) on its opening Friday in China. The figure includes midnights, and portends a three-day weekend around $26M. This is a disappointment for the Niki Caro-directed movie which has faced mounting controversy in recent days, and will have suffered from piracy
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How seemingly fitting it is to have the box office prospects for a time-travel thriller like Warner Bros’ Tenet changing in real time. That’s not to say that opening-weekend projections are going in reverse, rather, the last-minute reopenings of theaters in New Jersey, Maryland and some parts of California are providing the commercial potential for the
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Disney is moving 20th Century Studios’ prequel The King’s Man from Sept. 18 to Feb. 26, 2021. Now the sheer news of this is apt to spring alarm from exhibition, especially in the wake of Mulan heading to Disney+ over Labor Day weekend, however, I hear that Disney remains focused on the long game for theatrical. They’re
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Right now Universal and AMC are looking like saints in the exhibition business after taking a kicking in the teeth by rival circuits for their controversial deal last week to crunch the theatrical window to 17 days with an option for PVOD thereafter. Disney’s announcement after the market closed to bring Mulan to their 60.5M Disney+
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Refresh for updates: On Disney’s 3Q earnings call today, it was announced that Mulan is going to Disney+ on Sept. 4. Specifically, Disney will be releasing the film theatrically in certain markets where the studio currently has no announced launch plans for Disney+ and where theaters are open (i.e. China). The concern with opening the film in
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Disney is no longer releasing Mulan on Aug. 21 and is unsetting the movie for the time being.  Oy, just when AMC was looking to turn the lights back on with a big movie in pockets of the country. I understand that the No. 1 industry leader at the global box office isn’t waiting to see where
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In the wake of Disney pushing Avatar 2 from Dec. 17, 2021 to Dec. 16, 2022; Sony is taking advantage of the opportunity and putting its Spider-Man: Far From Home sequel there. Remember, that’s a continued co-production between the Culver City, CA lot and Disney. The Far From Home sequel becomes the sole wide entry on its new date.
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While it was indicated well before their Comic-Con@Home panel when news broke of Mulan‘s theatrical pause, Disney is keeping 20th Century Studios/Marvel’s The New Mutants on the theatrical release calendar. Rumors were flying around yesterday that the horror-mutant movie was headed to Disney+ in September. This was spurred from what I’m told was a fan-made trailer
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EXCLUSIVE: For the first time since the February 1997 reissue, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is leading at the box office this weekend after clocking an estimated $175K at 483 locations. Empire should end the weekend with a 3-day take in between the high $400K and low $500K. Some of these recent classic reissues such as Ghostbusters last weekend,
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The Disney catalog joined Universal’s this weekend in playing whatever theaters were open at the box office as the majority of exhibition’s 5,9K theaters remain shuttered nationwide due to COVID-19. Overall, ticket sales continued to be distressed. Disney’s 2016 Oscar-winning hit Zootopia took the top spot with an estimated $280K, putting its liftime total at $341.5M,
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Stock plunged with showbiz knocked hard as COVID-19 infections surged, three governors issued travel restrictions and investor hopes for a recovery fizzled. The DJIA plunged more than 700 points, or 2.7%, its worst showing in weeks. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were both down sharply. Media and entertainment stocks, sensitive to advertising, film and TV
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The 2020 edition of CineEurope got underway online today with executives chiming in on what exhibition and distribution will look like as coronavirus restrictions ease. The studios normally would have been in Barcelona this week to show off their upcoming slates to European exhibitors. Instead, Film Expo Group did a nice job of pivoting to
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Studios look set to gain the upper hand in skirmishes with exhibition over windowing as trends during the COVID-19 pandemic extend into the future with mid-range films generating the $50-$100 million range the most at risk of dwindling theatrical runs, according to a leading Wall Street analyst. Exhibitors have until now been able to stand
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The much-delayed former Fox/Marvel The New Mutants is not going to Disney+ or Hulu, and remains on track for a theatrical release, now set for Aug. 28 this year. New Mutants stands alone as the only wide entry on the pre-Labor Day weekend frame. The pic’s history of release dates include April 13, 2018; Feb. 22, 2019;
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