We are hearing from U.S. industry sources as well as those on the ground in the PRC that the offices of China Film Group in Shanghai and those of China’s Film Bureau are re-opened for business, a sign that the country’s exhibition is on its way to a gradual recovery after being shuttered since the
Exhibition
Includes charts of the 2020 domestic box office standings to date, as well as final charts for the weekend of March 13-15 and Monday “For all intents and purposes, the industry is shut down” screamed one studio boss tonight about the state of exhibition, “What’s left that’s open?” With Cinemark shutting down tomorrow, the last
Cinemark is joining the other major U.S. exhibition circuits in shutting its doors in the face of the growing coronavirus pandemic. The chain said Tuesday it is closing all 345 of its U.S. theater effective Wednesday. “Through these absolutely unprecedented and evolving times, one thing will not change, and that is Cinemark’s dedication to its
Organizers of CineEurope, the major exhibition conference that takes place in Barcelona each June, have updated on their plans in light of the coronavirus crisis. The team has set a deadline of May 4 for a final decision on whether it will forge ahead. Run by Film Expo Group, and the official convention of the
BREAKING: The largest theatrical exhibition company in the United States announced tonight that effective tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17, all 630 AMC locations in the country will close for at least six to 12 weeks, in compliance with local, state and federal directives, and as a precaution to help ensure the health and safety of moviegoers
EXCLUSIVE: In sign of what many are expecting is yet to come for all theaters in the U.S., Regal Cinemas is shutting down all their theatre locations starting Tuesday, March 17 as a precaution amid the current circumstances. All theatres will remain closed until further notice. Regal, is the second-biggest chain in the U.S. with 7,155
The world’s largest theater chain may face a cash crunch, forcing it to sell assets or raise dilutive financing as the exhibition business is in an uphill battle against the spreading coronavirus The theater industry was already facing a tough 2020 before Covid-19 hit, noted analyst Alan Gould of Loop Capital. AMC Entertainment’s recently sinking
UPDATE: As a preventative measure for the spread of coronavirus, Mayor Eric Garcetti took to Facebook Live to announce that he has now taken executive action to close all movie theaters, bars, nightclubs, entertainment venues and gyms until March 31. Restaurants will remain open but will only provide takeout and delivery. However, grocery stores, food
What we’re about to inform you about cannot be read into as an indication of long-term trends, or even short-term. The state of exhibition and the domestic box office is changing by the hour in the current coronavirus climate and by tomorrow or even before next Friday we could be looking at a different theatrical
As the first big movie theater chain to address the coronavirus situation in the U.S., AMC Theatres announced today that they’re reducing capacity in each of their auditoriums by 50% starting tomorrow Saturday, March 14 and continuing until April 30, 2020. The chain will do so by capping ticket sales for each showtime in each
We just got word that Regal Cinemas is the next biggest chain stateside to enforce a reduced auditorium capacity size of 50% where applicable and “with state mandates on social gatherings” says the exhibitor. AMC just recently announced a similar policy. Of the distribution bosses we’ve spoken to, we hear that they don’t expect any
With our world changing in real-time as America grips with the coronavirus outbreak, movie theaters across America stand as the last line of entertainment to remain open, as theme parks, sports games, and events close down for indefinite amounts of time. Sources tell me that it will come down to local governments in regards to
National Amusements, the Redstone family holding company, was placed on negative credit watch by ratings agency S&P Global after shares of ViacomCBS – which NAI uses as debt collateral – skidded so low over the past three weeks that the parent technically defaulted on a bank loan. That’s a headache for NAI but also a
Disney/Pixar’s Onward made $2 million on Thursday night in box office previews, according to the Burbank, CA studio, from shows that started at 6 PM. Previous previews around this range include Disney’s Dumbo ($2.6M, $45.9M opening), Monsters University ($2.6M, $82.4M opening), Moana (which previewed on a Tuesday before Thanksgiving with $2.6M, 3-day of $56.6M, 5-day much greater due to Thanksgiving
EXCLUSIVE: Disney/Pixar’s family film Onward has been banned in multiple Middle East markets due to the film’s minor reference to a lesbian relationship. In the movie, about two teenage elf brothers in a mythical world who embark on a quest for magic, there is a passing reference to an LGBTQ relationship between two secondary characters.
Despite the swelling panic about the coronavirus, the global business for Disney/Pixar’s elf fantasy feature Onward should turn out to be solid. To date, there aren’t any theaters closed in the U.S. (nor do sources expect any in the near future), certainly not in a grave way like China’s which has seen its nationwide exhibition
Sony has dated Melanie Laurent’s feature adaptation of Kristin Hannah’s international bestseller The Nightingale for December 25, 2020. With the Christmas debut of Greta Gerwig’s PG-rated Little Women last year, Sony saw a multitude of women flock to that movie, which grossed more than $203 million worldwide and earned six Oscar noms, winning one for Costume Design.
5th Update Sunday AM: Moviegoers didn’t have a problem finding Blumhouse’s The Invisible Man on Saturday with the Leigh Whannell movie racking up $11.1M, a 12% surge over Friday’s $9.9M for a weekend that Universal is calling at $29M (some rival estimates have it in the low $28M range). Even more commendable: if you back out those
EXCLUSIVE: Seventeen years after the release of Bad Boys II, Sony’s Bad Boys For Life dominated domestic, overseas and global turnstiles in its mid-January debut. On Saturday, it will cross $400 million globally, with current cumes through Thursday at $193.1M domestic and $204.1M from the international box office. Bad Boys 4 is in the works.
Universal–Blumhouse’s The Invisible Man made its first appearance last night at 7PM shows nationwide with $1.65M, an an amount of cash that’s near both studios’ previous collaborations, Get Out ($1.8M Thursday) and Split ($2M). Both 2017 titles overperformed their $20M-predicted tracking at the time, with Split posting a $40M start, and Get Out taking $33.3M. Invisible Man, directed and written by Leigh
As a precaution due to the outbreak of the coronavirus in Italy, AMC Theatres boss Adam Aron mentioned today on the exhib chain’s 4Q 2019 earnings call that the exhibitor has closed 22 of its 47 theaters in the country for a week. Since Monday, the number of cases of the coronavirus has spiked from
The Parasite train keeps on gaining traction. The four-time Oscar-winning Bong Joon-ho dark comedy is crossing $50M right now at the domestic box office — but the real question is, can it beat Life Is Beautiful’s box office gross of $57M. If it maintains its momentum, signs are pointing to yes. As its Imax run comes to
John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place Part II, the sequel to his surprise 2018 Paramount-Platinum Dunes $341M-global grossing genre hit A Quiet Place, arrived on tracking this morning with a projected opening of $60M. The sequel hits theaters on March 20, and is on track to beat the first film’s $50.2M domestic opening. A Quiet Place Part
It’s not as if Universal anticipated the opening of its gaslight thriller The Invisible Man to coincide with the guilty verdict handed down this week to movie mogul Harvey Weinstein in his sexual misconduct trial. But the Blumhouse-produced movie written and directed by Leigh Whannell arrives in cinemas at a moment when the #MeToo movement
Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog got off to a solid start on Thursday night, scoring $3M from shows that began at 5PM at 3,150 locations. That number is the same as what Dreamworks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World made last year with a $3M Thursday off 6pm showtimes before going to a $55M opening weekend. Other
The first Disney release of 2020, Pixar’s Onward, arrived on tracking today with a $44 million projection. Some believe that the forecast for the March 6 release is low and could go higher. The movie directed by Dan Scanlon and featuring the voices of Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Octavia Spencer and Julia Louis-Dreyfus is set in a suburban
Rian Johnson’s Lionsgate/MRC whodunit Knives Out has sailed past the $300M mark worldwide. It’s the latest milestone for the box office anomaly that is becoming the second-highest-grossing original movie of 2019 behind Us and also whipping Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s $142.4M stateside. More amazing: This Thanksgiving release is still in the domestic
As Neon rides the awards season wave with Bong Joon Ho’s cinematic masterpiece Parasite, they aren’t stopping with delivering genre titles that speak to their brand. This weekend Neon will debut their chilling thriller The Lodge directed by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz. Written by Fiala, Franz, and Casci, The Lodge follows a family that decides to spend
When you’re doing a movie trailer launch nowadays and need to grab everyone’s attention, it helps to throw a concert. Universal’s trailer for F9 (aka Fast & Furious 9), since dropping its near four-minute trailer on Friday ahead of the Super Bowl, has clocked a massive 439.3 million global views across YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. And
In expanding to the deeper parts of its DC universe, Warner Bros is launching Suicide Squad spinoff Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn this weekend, repping the comic book label’s continued march into R-rated fare post Joker and Watchmen. It is projected for a worldwide start between $110 million-$125 million, a take that