Universal

If you were shopping in Target this weekend, you didn’t hear the sound of Christmas carols over the loudspeaker, rather the showstopper “Defying Gravity” from Universal‘s Wicked. But there’s more, for on the main throughfare at the Sunset Blvd location, is a standee of Wicked attire, from slippers to sweatshirts. Meanwhile over at their Starbucks,
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Broadway musicals adapted to the screen are an erratic genre at the box office, despite Miramax’s multi-Oscar winning Chicago reviving the long-dormant Hollywood genre back in 2002 with $306.8M WW. Yet for every Les Miserables ($442.7M) hit from Universal, there were massive misfires like Dear Evan Hansen and Cats. This weekend, Universal defied the odds
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EXCLUSIVE: Universal/DreamWorks Animation’sThe Wild Robot has crossed the three-century mark globally, with $300.5M through Friday. The Chris Sanders-directed critical darling is now at $134.4M domestic and $166.1M from the international box office. The Wild Robot is the No. 2 non-sequel studio film of 2024, behind It Ends with Us; the No. 1 non-sequel Hollywood animated title
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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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