There was further good news from the international box office this weekend, even as it continues to be clear that markets need fresh titles to keep the reopening momentum going — be they local, from Hollywood or even reissues of older event pictures. We remain in uncharted waters around the globe. But progress in the
Dolittle
China’s third Friday back to the movies scored a slight increase on last week’s comparable day at $4.38M. It’s short of the $7.6M generated last Sunday which was boosted by Warner Bros’ reissue of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, but still a jump on last Friday, while midweeks were solid. Play today was led by DreamWorks/Amblin/Universal’s 1917
SATURDAY UPDATE: Since cinemas reopened in China’s low-risk areas on July 20, the market today had its biggest day yet. Box office was $5.74M (RMB 40M) overall for the day, according to Maoyan figures. That reps a 38% jump from Friday. After leading last weekend and the midweeks, then dropping to No. 2 on Friday,
China’s second Friday with cinemas back to business in low-risk areas rang up another $4M at local turnstiles, a 39% increase versus the same day last week. About 60% of movie theaters are now operating, with capacity limits and social distancing still in place, so all numbers are to be taken with a grain of
On their first Friday back to operations, Chinese cinemas did roughly $2.92M worth of box office business — more than tripling Thursday’s figures and making a sizable jump from Monday when theaters opened to about $501K in low-risk areas across the country. There was growth throughout the midweeks which is encouraging since less than 40%
As expected, Chinese authorities have given the go-ahead for cinemas in Beijing to reopen this coming Friday. That’s also when the first new Hollywood titles will hit the market, including Dolittle and Bloodshot. Only cinemas in the capital’s low-risk areas will be able to resume operations — and with strict sanitary measures in place, state
EXCLUSIVE: Wasting no time as cinemas prepare to reopen beginning next week in most of China, a first batch of titles due for release has been identified. Universal’s Dolittle has been granted a July 24 date while we understand that Sony’s Bloodshot, handled locally by Bona Film, will also go out that same day. This
Sony’s Bad Boys For Life continues to lead the international box office, taking the top spot for the 3rd weekend in a row. The offshore frame was $30.8M in 63 markets for an overseas cume of $142.7M and a worldwide total of $291M to date. Globally, it’s the biggest in the franchise and is holding
Refresh for latest…: Sony’s Bad Boys For Life kept the joyride going in its sophomore session at the international box office. The weekend was worth $42M in 58 markets for an offshore cume of $95M and bringing global to $215M. The overseas drop was 39% in the holdover hubs. Following last week’s debut, the well-received
Refresh for latest…: Seventeen years after the release of Bad Boys II, Sony’s Bad Boys For Life dominated domestic, overseas and global turnstiles in its debut, and will cross $100M worldwide when including the domestic four-day weekend. At the international box office, the Will Smith/Martin Lawrence cop flick set a new franchise record launch of
Sony’s Bad Boys for Life, a sequel 17 years in the waiting, previewed at 3,154 theaters last night making a great $6.36M. That amount for the R-rated film is bigger than American Sniper‘s $5.3M preview, which turned out to be the record opener over the 2015 MLK holiday with a 4-day of $107.2M. Sony is seeing a $38M
The rituals of awards season are ideal for surrounding hits with glitz, but some big-budget movies with mixed reviews can get lost in the smoke and mirrors. Consider the case of three of history’s priciest creature features — Dolittle, Underwater and Cats — all opening quietly amidst Oscar distractions, and leaving potential write-offs surpassing $100
After Will Smith notched the biggest-grossing film of his career with last summer’s $1 billion hit Aladdin, can he keep the box office heat wave going with Martin Lawrence in reviving their Bad Boys franchise? The third film, Bad Boys for Life, finally arrives over MLK weekend 13 years after the second movie, with a projected take
Refresh for latest…: Sam Mendes’ 1917 takes the worldwide crown this weekend with $56.4M. The Golden Globe Best Picture (Drama) winner from DreamWorks/Amblin/Universal was tops domestically and added $19.92M at the international box office from 30 Amblin and Universal markets. The global total through Sunday brings the estimated worldwide cume to $60.4M. The one-shot movie
Sony’s long-awaited Will Smith and Martin Lawrence re-team Bad Boys for Life arrived on tracking today with a $40M-$45M 4-day opening projection. Among action comedies launched over the holiday, that forecast is around where Ride Along ($48.6M) and Ride Along 2 ($41M) opened. 2014’s Ride Along starring Kevin Hart and Ice Cube was the record opening over MLK until Clint Eastwood’s