Universal

Hollywood whines there’s a lost moviegoing audience in the middle and southern part of the U.S. that the industry doesn’t make movies for. Well, then make movies for them. That’s exactly what Universal, Warner Bros and Amblin did in rebooting Twisters to a grand stateside start of $80M, an awesome 60% ahead of its $50M+
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Twisters, a new chapter in the Amblin-produced, Michael Crichton co-written franchise, will hit U.S. and Canada with a force of $50M from Friday-Sunday. That number will easily outstrip the start of the original 1996 movie which posted $41M. Already, Twisters counts $12.5M from 38 international box office markets since yesterday. Universal has domestic and Warner
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As Illumination/Universal’s Despicable Me 4 continues global rollout, and with its Friday numbers included, the latest from Gru and the gang has helped propel the Despicable Me/Minions franchise across the $5B mark (to $5.025B through Friday) at the worldwide box office. This makes it the first animated franchise ever to reach the milestone. It was
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The bananas obsessed creatures won’t stop: Universal Pictures will release Illumination’s Minions 3 on Wed, June 30, 2027. The news comes in the wake of Despicable Me 4 clearing $255M at the global box office following its July 3 opening stateside. Minions 3 is written by Brian Lynch (Minions, The Secret Life of Pets films) and directed
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Families will not stop heading to the cinemas this week as Illumination/Universal‘s Despicable Me 4 storms into summer with what’s looking like a $110M-$120M 5-day U.S./Canada opening at 4,000 theaters. This as Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 remains strong after a third No. 1 weekend, that pic heading to half billion stateside before the week is
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Universal‘s massive musical tentpole bet Wicked originally was dated to go head-to-head with Disney Animation’s five-quad movie Moana 2 on Wednesday, November 27, the day before Thanksgiving, but will now go five days earlier on Friday, Nov. 22. A very smart release date change. Both movies are aimed at females. But Wicked counts a fanbase
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After lighting up CineEurope with a feast of tulips last year and then again the Caesars Colosseum at CinemaCon in April, Universal returned to Barcelona today with a presentation heavy on its upcoming two-part musical Wicked. The jam-packed show also highlighted its 30-strong film slate and concluded with a surprise first-look at a scene from
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So we got Inside Out 2 potentially reaching $90M this coming weekend, Paramount’s Quiet Place: Day One north of $40M+ on June 28, and the July 3rd release of Illumination/Universal‘s Despicable Me 4 targeting a $100M+ over 5-days, likely more. Fingers crossed, but it’s momentum at the summer box office. Why a Wednesday opening? Because
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Universal and Illumination‘s smash The Super Mario Bros Movie finishes No. 1 to make it a wrap on Deadline’s Most Valuable Blockbuster tournament for 2023. While the industry is still coming out of Covid and the aftermath of the strikes, there’s no question about the major motion picture studios’ embrace of the theatrical downstream model; steamers
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EXCLUSIVE: DreamWorks Animation/Universal’s Kung Fu Panda 4 crossed the $500M mark globally this past weekend, reaching the milestone on a staggered release pattern that has worked well for the partners in the past (think Puss in Boots: The Last Wish). Through Wednesday, it’s at $324M international box office and $509M worldwide. Directed by Mike Mitchell
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Deadline’s Most Valuable Blockbuster tournament is back. While studios during Covid wildly embraced the theatrical day-and-date model when cinemas were closed, they soon realized there’s nothing more profitable than a theatrical release and the downstreams that come with it. If anything, theatrical is the advertisement for a movie’s longevity in subsequent home entertainment windows. Entering
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Apple Original Films‘ third movie to go wide in theaters, the $200M Matthew Vaughn directed Argylle, hits cinemas this weekend via a distribution deal with Universal and a mid-teens start is expected. As the old saying goes in distribution, ‘It would be nice if it had a 2 in front of it,’ meaning a $20M+
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The Dev Patel directed and starring action thriller, Monkey Man, is now getting a release via Jordan Peele‘s Monkeypaw and its deal at Universal. In more good news for exhibition, the movie will hit theaters on April 5. You can watch the trailer here: Monkey Man was originally set up at Netflix, however, Peele had
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More tweaking to this year’s film schedule continues with Blumhouse/Universal‘s James McAvoy thriller, Speak No Evil, going from Aug. 9 to Sept. 13, where an untitled Blumhouse movie already has dibs. Speak No Evil, which we are hearing very hot things about, moves away from Liongate’s feature take of videogame, Borderlands, and MGM’s Flint Strong
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Globally, including most everywhere overseas, 2023 box office was led by a mix of Barbie, The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Oppenheimer, curious bedfellows who nevertheless proved that cultural phenomena can come in different forms and set turnstiles spinning. Both the global and international box office saw improvement in 2023 versus 2022 with an estimated
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Michael, the Michael Jackson biopic starring Jaafar Jackson as the King of Pop, is getting a global release. Lionsgate is releasing the movie stateside on April 18, 2025, with Universal is handling overseas distribution. Today, Lionsgate announced that it was beginning production on director Antoine Fuqua’s Michael on January 22. The John Logan-scripted movie, produced
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There’s always been a demand for horror in the New Year, and Universal, Blumhouse and Atomic Monster are meeting that this weekend with Night Swim which made $1.45M in previews at 2,750 theaters from showtimes that began at 5PM. The PG-13 movie isn’t expected to be M3GAN, the early PG-13 horror doll hit from last
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Updated Christmas Day: While everyone was sleeping during the pre-Christmas week, Universal undated both Monkeypaw Productions that were slated for 2024 on Sept. 27 and Christmas Day. These were all strike-related movies. TBD when both secret untitled features return. Universal replaced the Dec. 25 release with Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu while Lionsgate swooped in and took
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