EXCLUSIVE: Solstice Studios is temporarily taking their Mark Wahlberg drama Joe Bell off the calendar in plans for a theatrical release later this year. The decision, I hear, comes due to the continued depressed state of the domestic box office during the pandemic; this despite this morning’s great news that No. 1 movie chain AMC is
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Struggling AMC Entertainment said early Monday it has raised or signed commitments for $917 million including additional financing since December, calling it “enough cash to “make it through this dark, coronavirus-impacted winter.” “This means that any talk of an imminent bankruptcy for AMC is completely off the table,” said CEO Adam Aron in a statement.
Refresh for latest…: Disney/Pixar’s Soul got off to a jazzy start in Korea this weekend, debuting at No. 1 and seeing the second best bow for a non-local title since the Covid pandemic began. The Pete Docter-directed original also launched in Russia, at No. 1, and came in ahead of several pre-Covid animation openings. In
The specialty box office found some shine this weekend with four new titles starting with the Gravitas Ventures pic Our Friend starring Jason Segel, Casey Affleck and Dakota Johnson. The Gabriela Cowperthwaite-directed drama based on Matthew Teague’s book The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word debuted at 543 locations and grossed an estimated $250K on
Sony has sold worldwide rights to the Phil Lord and Christopher Miller animated feature The Mitchells vs. the Machines to Netflix. The pic was previously known as Connected. The pic jumped around the release calendar during the pandemic, with an opening date of Oct. 23 then ultimately March 12 before Netflix acquired. I understand that Netflix pursued the
Searchlight Pictures, ever the believer in theatrical, has dated four releases for 2021. Their Sundance horror pickup The Night House will turn its lights on July 16. The David Bruckner directed titles which Searchlight shelled out a reported $12M for last January follows a widow (Rebecca Hall) who begins to uncover her recently deceased husband’s disturbing secrets.
If you are looking to stir emotions and grab some tissues this weekend Our Friend has got you covered. Based on Matthew Teague’s book The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word, Gabriela Cowperthwaite directs this heartfelt drama adapted by Brad Ingelsby that follows journalist Matt (Casey Affleck), his wife Nicole (Dakota Johnson) and their two
In the wake of MGM, Universal and Sony making major Q1 release date changes to their theatrical schedule yesterday, Disney is pushing a few of its 20th Century Studios releases to deeper in the calendar. It’s much delayed Matthew Vaughn directed period action feature The King’s Man is no longer going on March 12, rather Aug. 20
As we told you earlier, MGM was moving 007 film No Time to Die to the fall and away from Easter weekend. Right now it’s going on Oct. 8. MGM just made news official. Universal has overseas on 007, but they refuse to go hunger over the Easter weekend. Remember, they released Trolls World Tour on PVOD last
The major studios waited until Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th U.S. president to make their release-date changes official. Here’s what Sony is doing. The Kay Cannon-directed musical Cinderella, starring Camila Cabello in the title role, will open on July 16 instead of Feb. 5 as expected. The studio wants to keep the
As expected, here’s more shifting of the Q1 theatrical release schedule: Universal Amblin Entertainment’s Bios, which stars Tom Hanks, will open now on Aug. 13, taking the place of an untitled Blumhouse movie that Uni had there. The pic, directed by Miguel Sapochnik, was dated for April 16. Written by Craig Luck, who is making his feature
It’s a streaming world, and we’re just living in it. With a majority of the globe’s movie theaters closed due to Covid, and Hollywood studios scrambling to figure out new distribution models, Netflix has already been experiencing the roaring ’20s with close to 204 million subscribers taking in the service worldwide and the company’s market
Warner Bros will be releasing Wonka on March 17, 2023, a prequel to Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which focuses on the candy architect Willy Wonka’s younger days before having his confection empire. The movie has been in development for roughly four years. David Heyman was always attached as producer, and Paddington director Paul King is helming.
Refresh for updates and box office chart: In a continued pandemic marketplace such as this with close to 60% of all movie theaters still closed, whether you’re a distributor or an exhibitor, you have to be thankful for any amount of money you can get your hands on. Open Road has released the second Liam
If there are any milestones worth noting this week, it’s that the Focus Features thriller Promising Young Woman crossed the $3 million in its fourth week in theaters. This weekend the Emerald Fennell-directed pic starring Carey Mulligan played in 1,333 theaters and added an estimated $430K to its box office till this weekend and is on
Refresh for latest…: Fans of Kollywood cinema got a treat this weekend as Tamil action thriller Master debuted in India and a handful of other markets across the harvest festival period. While we do not have confirmed figures for the Vijay-starrer in India, estimates had it at around $11M from Wednesday-Friday with the film believed
Master, the highly-anticipated Tamil action thriller from director Lokesh Kanagaraj, has gotten off to a strong start at India’s box office and in other markets where it’s playing worldwide. Meanwhile, a Hindi remake of the Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi-starrer has today been set by Endemol Shine India, CINE1 Studios and 7 Screens. Hopes have been
EXCLUSIVE: Upcoming Chinese fantasy epic A Writer’s Odyssey (previously Assassin In Red) has landed a U.S. release on February 12, 2021, matching up with the local release which is timed for the typically lucrative Chinese New Year box office stretch. The movie comes from Chinese studio CMC Pictures, which is behind the mega-grossing The Wandering Earth
Warner Bros, in the waking of making good with Legendary on the simultaneous release of Godzilla vs. Kong in theaters and on HBO Max, will be releasing the movie on March 26 instead of May 21. It was reported last Friday that Warner Bros and financier Legendary, which owns a majority of the movie, avoided a legal
The IFC Films documentary MLK/FBI from filmmaker Sam Pollard (Two Trains Runnin’, Eyes on the Prize) makes its debut in select theaters today as well as on demand. The release aligns with Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 18 and it is super relevant to America’s wild inequity and racist treatment of the Black community —
EXCLUSIVE: Voltage Pictures is selling worldwide on The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, the Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary production we first told you about, which follows the 2011 fatal shooting of a 68-year-old White Plains, NY Black man by police after he accidentally triggered his LifeAid medical alert. Voltage will begin talks on the title
Warner Bros is moving The Many Saints of Newark from March 12 to Sept. 24. New Line is releasing. Remember, WarnerMedia announced that its entire 2021 slate is going theatrical and HBO Max at the same time, but big chains like AMC are negotiating terms on a film by film basis. So that means not everything Warners
The Pongal holiday is kicking off in southern India with the release of Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Master, the first major local picture to hit cinemas since the Covid crisis began. The Tamil action thriller stars Vijay (who’s also referred to at home as “Thalapathy” or “Commander”) and Vijay Sethupathi, and hopes are being pinned on it
EXCLUSIVE: Hot off today’s London Critics’ Circle Film Awards where it scored eight nominations, Saint Maud from A24, will be hitting theaters in a limited release on Jan. 29. Additionally, I hear EPIX went after the movie strongly for a Pay TV-all platform release on Feb. 12 in a deal that was estimated to be
In what should not be a shocker, we are hearing that MGM/Eon’s No Time to Die is bound to move from its Easter weekend release of April 2 to some time in the fall, as the world waits for this pandemic to come under control. Several sources inform us this morning. Note, the UK, is a
Lionsgate has slated Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar for a February 12 release on premium video on demand, the latest concession to a theatrical marketplace upended by Covid-19. The comedy, which was set up nearly two years ago, had originally eyed a 2020 release. It pairs Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, who
Sony’s Morbius, starring Jared Leto, will no longer debut on March 19 rather Oct. 8. With COVID cases raging as we await a calmer administration to set foot in Washington and deal with the nation’s health crisis, many are expecting this year’s Q1 theatrical releases to move. Morbius moves on to a release date currently occupied by United
The Broadway premiere of Skeleton Crew, written by Tony Award nominee Dominique Morisseau (Ain’t Too Proud) and directed by Tony winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson (August Wilson’s Jitney) will begin performances on Broadway during the winter of 2022, producer Manhattan Theatre Club announced today. The production joins MTC’s previously announced 2021-22 Broadway line-up of Santiago-Hudson’s Lackawanna Blues
International box office was led again by China this weekend with local titles A Little Red Flower and Shock Wave 2 at the top of the charts, and Disney/Pixar’s Soul continuing its jazzy run there. The Pete Docter-directed original is soon to become Pixar’s No. 3 highest-grossing title ever in the market. Other weekend highlights
Specialty box office titles and those that also have their foot in the wide release landscape make up the majority of the top box office numbers of the weekend — which is pretty darn good all things considered. Some of these titles would be considered more “specialty” in the before-times, but as the box office