France’s National Film Center, the CNC, has taken measures to relax the country’s notoriously strict windows policy during the coronavirus pandemic. A reduction from the traditional four-month delay between theatrical release and DVD or TVOD was earlier granted for all titles that were already in cinemas on March 14, while movies whose release was set
International Box Office
Support measures for exhibitors in Korea were unveiled this week which include seeing them exempted from paying into the national movie development fund, as one of the world’s biggest markets suffers cinema closures and all-time box office lows amid the coronavirus crisis. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki announced the moves on Wednesday,
Last week, Illumination/Universal’s Minions: The Rise Of Gru stepped off of its global release which was previously set for late June in some offshore markets and for July 3 domestically. It has now been scheduled for July 2, 2021, taking the slot that belonged to Sing 2, which in turn is now headed to Christmas
Editors’ Note: With full acknowledgment of the big-picture implications of a pandemic that has already claimed thousands of lives, cratered global economies and closed international borders, Deadline’s Coping With COVID-19 Crisis series is a forum for those in the entertainment space grappling with myriad consequences of seeing a great industry screech to a halt. The
Some of the last holdouts in Asia are joining the raft of global markets to see cinema closures, even as the picture in China was beginning to look brighter, before taking a turn today. At this point, all major international box office markets (along with domestic) are essentially closed. Even in places where turnstiles are
From Saturday, a first batch of 205 cinemas will re-open for business in Shanghai. This follows last weekend’s opening of 500+ theaters in other China provinces, though Shanghai becomes the first tier one city to turn the lights back on as the coronavirus reportedly abates in the Middle Kingdom. The Shanghai municipal government made the
As the coronavirus reportedly continues to abate in China, film authorities are taking an everything old is new again approach. As of last count there were about 500 movie theaters open in the world’s second biggest box office hub. And as this expands, some of them may soon be playing such favorites as the Avengers
After last week setting a May 4 deadline to decide if CineEurope would go ahead as planned this June, organizers at Film Expo Group have now said they are postponing the major exhibition convention to August. Originally scheduled for June 22-25 in Barcelona, Spain, the annual event has been moved to August 3-6. Keeping safety
As the number of new cases of the coronavirus shows signs of abating in China, a smattering of cinemas re-opened in a handful of provinces across the country this weekend. On Friday, there were 486 movie theaters back at work, while Saturday the total was upped to 507, local reports say. This reps just 4.5%
As China looks to re-open its cinemas, possibly by the end of this month, Warner Bros today announced on its official Weibo account that Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone is to return to the market, though no date has been set. This follows our report yesterday that Hollywood studios have been approached to bring
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
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has announced new measures to control the spread of the coronavirus with gatherings of more than 100 people forbidden for the foreseeable future. This is down from the previous 1,000 person limit and follows President Emmanuel Macron’s speech last night which stipulated that all schools and universities in the country
Amid the coronavirus epidemic, organizers of the Beijing International Film Festival have indefinitely postponed the event which was set to take place from April 19-26 this year. The move was expected as China has now recorded 80,735 cases of Covid-19 and 3,119 deaths. However, the National Health Commission said there were only 40 new cases
Refresh for latest…: Disney/Pixar’s Onward topped the global and international box office chart this weekend, but came in vastly below projections. A $68M worldwide start includes just $28M from 47 material offshore markets. That’s well under the $40M-$55M range the industry was seeing ahead of the weekend. The spread of the coronavirus, and the fears
As the coronavirus (aka Covid-19) spreads into Europe, cinemas in some parts of France have been closed for the next two weeks. This concerns the northern Oise area, which is located in the Hauts de France region, as well as the northwest department Le Morbihan located in Brittany. The Louvre museum also saw its second
Refresh for latest…: Universal/Blumhouse’s The Invisible Man made its first appearance at the international box office this weekend, scaring up $20.2M in 47 markets. Combined with the strong domestic start, the Leigh Whannell-directed pic debuted to $49.2M globally. In like-for-like offshore openings, the Elisabeth Moss-starrer is tracking in line with Lights Out, A Quiet Place
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.
“The impact in 2020 from Corvid-19 (coronavirus) on the motion picture business cannot be overstated,” a finance source recently told us. That’s as the closure of cinemas in China alone is approaching a loss of $2B to the global box office, while the disease has now seen spikes in Korea and Italy. What looked in
Refresh for latest…: Paramount’s Sonic The Hedgehog continues to be top critter of the litter at the global and international box office this weekend with an added $38.3M from 56 overseas markets. That brings the offshore cume to $96.5M and worldwide to $203.1M. Sonic raced into an additional 16 hubs this frame, with several No.
Refresh for latest…: Paramount’s Sonic The Hedgehog raced to a $100M worldwide opening this weekend, including $43M from the international box office, and a domestic record for a videogame pic. The adaptation of Sega’s globally popular property is playing in 40 offshore markets, repping 60% of the overseas footprint. Directed by Jeff Fowler, Sonic had
EXCLUSIVE: Sam Mendes’ WWI epic 1917 has become eOne’s highest grossing release ever in the UK, overtaking The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, with a local grab of £36.2M ($46.9M) through Monday. The milestone hit this past weekend after 1917 dominated the BAFTA Awards on February 2, followed by Oscars this past Sunday for
Newly minted four-time Oscar winner Bong Joon Ho is being hailed in his native South Korea and elsewhere today for Parasite’s history-making achievement in becoming the first foreign-language film to win the Best Picture Academy Award. From social media salutes to an official message from President Moon Jae-in, the Bonghive is abuzz. Moon congratulated Parasite
Warner Bros’ Birds Of Prey took flight across 51 overseas markets on Wednesday and Thursday, grossing $7.8M at the international box office through its first two days. The Cathy Yan-directed DC spinoff has opened to No. 1 in its major plays, save Korea and Italy where local titles are dominating. Ahead of the weekend, the
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
As the coronavirus continues its rapid spread, China continues to struggle with consequences of the disease on myriad levels. The updated count of confirmed cases has crossed 6,000 on the mainland, with 132 people dead. Separately to the tragic human toll of the virus, the economic impact could exceed $40B on a global level. Today,
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
Amid the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus, Chinese producers and distributors have pulled the release of all films set for the Lunar New Year period that begins this weekend. There were seven potential blockbusters due to hit theaters this weekend, which typically kicks off a highly lucrative session at local turnstiles, but the government has
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
Disney/Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker has officially crossed the $1B mark globally, becoming Disney’s 7th release of 2019 to the milestone. The epic saga-ending installment is also the 9th film of the year to get there (along with Sony’s Spider-Man: Far From Home and Warner Bros’ Joker). The Star Wars pic’s accomplishment is
Sony Pictures said Tuesday that Greta Gerwig’s Little Women will be released February 14 in China. The news comes a day after the latest adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s iconic novel scored six Oscar nominations including Best Picture. The film recently passed $100 million at the worldwide box office, with its current global cume at