Movies

Very early figures here for Barbenheimer given their wonderous first week. So early we don’t have the figures for Disney’s Haunted Mansion previews yet, nor the official studio numbers. But it’s another sexy $20M+ day for Barbie with an estimated $21.4M on Thursday (-7% from Wednesday), ending its first week at $258.6M. The pic should

A4’s supernatural horror Talk To Me opens the debut film by Australian brothers and popular YouTubers Danny and Michael Philippou on 2,300 screens. Strong reviews (see Deadline’s here), A24 large built-in fan base and its elevated horror cred saw a Thursday gross of $1.25 million, looking to top a $4-5M weekend. The Sundance-premiering pic follows

Just in time for Oscar season, 20th Century Studios has dated the Jeff Nichols written and directed, The Bikeriders, which follows the rise of a Midwestern motorcycle club through the lives of its members. The pic will open on Dec. 1 this year. The Bikeriders is based on the Danny Lyon novel, and it’s produced

Media giant Comcast beat on its top and bottom line for the three months ended in June with theme parks and studio strong, even as the latter basks in another giant opening, for Opppenheimer, in the current third quarter. Total revenue nosed up 1.7% to $30.5 billion for the second quarter ended in June. Net income jumped

Wednesday isn’t a day like Tuesday, where there are cheap tickets up for sale, but that didn’t stop Warner Bros.’ Barbie from continuing its daily weekday $20M+ streak. The Greta Gerwig-directed feature grossed $23M yesterday, -12% from Tuesday, sending its six-day running total to $237.1M. America’s No. 1 doll definitely is crossing $300M this weekend,

Mike Cavanagh, the president of Comcast who was recently named the de-facto head of NBC Universal, said the company remains “committed to reaching a fair deal [with actors and writers[ as soon as possible, so we can get back to doing what we do best, which making great content together.” In a change, he kicked

The Barbenheimer phenomenon just keeps going. To wit: there is so much energy happening at international box office turnstiles that Tuesday’s grosses on Warner Bros’ Greta Gerwig-directed Barbie and Universal’s Christopher Nolan opus Oppenheimer were down just 1% from Monday. The offshore gross through Tuesday on Barbie is now $258.5M with global at $472.6M. As

Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz said last weekend’s blockbuster release of Barbie – the toymaker’s first-ever major theatrical film – is a moment that “will be remembered as a key milestone in our company’s history.” His comments came amid second-quarter numbers in line with Wall Street forecasts. “The Barbie movie is a showcase for the cultural

We knew Warner Bros’ Barbie and Universal’s Oppenheimer were going to be big — but not this big. Paramount’s Tom Cruise sequel Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One learned that the hard way (65% Weekend 2 decline with $19.3M) by going one weekend before the dual tidal wave, trying to avoid the wake of

Amid all the noise about studios taking apart the fall and fourth-quarter release schedule over the SAG-AFTRA strike, here’s some good news: Amazon is taking its Emerald Fennell-directed movie Saltburn out on Black Friday, November 24, in New York and Los Angeles. Pic will expand December 1. In the wake of releasing Ben Affleck’s Air

Air-conditioned Broadway held its own as New York City plunged ever deeper into a hot summer last week, with total box office receipts keeping steady at $31,520,593, a tiny increase of 2% over the previous week. Total attendance for the 30 Broadway productions was 257,204, consistent with the previous week but up nearly 15% over

CEO Adam Aron said a court ruling Friday that makes it harder for AMC Entertainment to raise cash has serious implications for the circuit’s financial stability — a blowout ‘Barbenheimer’ weekend at the box office and surging share price notwithstanding. “AMC must be in a position to raise equity capital. I repeat, to protect AMC’s

The mysterious sanctuary hidden away in the Jemez mountains was known only as Box 1663 in the mid 1950s. The mission of its 13,000 residents was to create “the gadget.” Living there was a challenge. “It’s a prison camp for eggheads,” whispered one scientist. As a young newsman, I decided I had to find a

When it comes to the road to blockbuster glory, some projects are willed, some happen instantaneously, while others go through a long development hell. That’s just what happens when you’re perfecting toward a hopeful billion-grossing title. In the case of Mattel’s Barbie, it was arguably a 14-year journey that began at Universal. It stands to

One of the prime records Barbie is breaking this weekend is the best domestic start for a movie helmed by a female director with $155M. That figure beats that of 2019’s Captain Marvel which was co-helmed by Anna Boden and had a $153M start. Other big starts for movies helmed by a woman filmmaker include

Searchlight Pictures’ comedy Theater Camp held its own on a big weekend of box office coin flowing in from Barbie and Oppenheimer. Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s Sundance-winner (U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble) expanded to 10 markets/51 theaters, up from six locations in New York and LA opening weekend, taking in an estimated $266,000

While the Hollywood Studios and WGA and SAG-AFTRA are at a standstill in labor talks –streaming residuals being a big bone of contention– the theatrical side of the business exploded with Barbenheimer together grossing over $511M worldwide, $235.5M of that being domestic. Never before in the history of Hollywood movies have two films opened respectively

Florida detectives are searching for an attacker who beat a 63-year-old man who asked him to move from reserved seats into an adjacent space. The attack happened on July 10 at an AMC Theater at 2315 N. Federal Highway in Pompano Beach, Florida shortly before 10 PM. The movie the victim purchased tickets for was

Another 2023 theatrical release gets moved due to the SAG-AFTRA strike as MGM is pushing the Zendaya starring, Luca Guadagnino directed R-Rated tennis romance to April 26, 2024. The pic was scheduled to open stateside on Sept. 15, working off the heat of its Venice Film Festival opening night premiere. That world premiere is not

Christopher Nolan’s highly-anticipated and highly-reviewed Oppenheimer has begun overseas rollout with strong results versus some of the director’s previous titles. On Wednesday, the Universal film opened in 10 offshore markets, grossing $2.4M and led by France and Indonesia. These are early days as the critically-lauded Cillian Murphy-led biographical drama/political thriller will be playing a total

Return To Dust, an arthouse hit in China last summer before being pulled from release, opens Stateside this weekend with Film Movement presenting on two screens – NYC’s BAM Rose Cinema and the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago, expanding to LA and Seattle next Friday. The distributor acquired the film directed by Li Ruijun

In a contorted legal case, a Delaware judge today struck down a settlement that would have helped AMC Entertainment move ahead with steps to raise cash and shore up its stock. “To cut to the chase, the settlement cannot be approved as submitted,” Judge Morgan Zurn of Delaware Chancery Court wrote in a 69-page opinion

EXCLUSIVE: In light of the current strikes, A24 is pausing the release of Julio Torres’ Problemista which was set to launch limited on Aug. 4. The new release date will be determined down the road. The studio is doing this to support filmmaker Torres, furthermore these awards-type indie movies need their stars, Tilda Swinton here,

EXCLUSIVE: The box office event of the year which has Warner Bros. mass female attraction, Barbie, and Universal’s Christopher Nolan directed, Oppenheimer, has officially fired off its confetti guns with the movies seeing respectively an estimated $20M and $9M+ from their previews. Again, these numbers could fluctuate by morning. Even if Barbie falls short of

Cillian Murphy and Christopher Nolan are marking their sixth collaboration with Oppenheimer, the biographical epic about the titular complicated and brilliant physicist tasked with leading the Manhattan Project, the secret effort to create the atom bomb, and the moral and political struggles that followed. This is the first time Murphy, who plays Oppenheimer, is essaying

EXCLUSIVE: While there’s been whispers of films possibly moving out of 2023 into 2024 and beyond due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, it’s hands off for horror film franchises, particularly Lionsgate’s Saw X. The studio is so excited about the next sequel and its testing, they’re moving up the pic’s release date from Oct. 27 to

“You’re being managed on Barbie” was a snarky text I received last night, “it’s at least $130M.” The point of that is the projections out there for the Greta Gerwig directed feature take of the Mattel doll are indeed wild. Rivals were spotting $90M-$125M; Warners asserting $75M. Today, to support the crazy fever of moviegoing

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema said CEO Shelli Taylor is retiring in August and named president Michael Kustermann as its new chief executive. The fast-growing dine-in chain, that’s been hugely successful luring post-pandemic moviegoers back to theaters, said its board of directors, including Taylor and executive chairman Tim League, selected Kustermann as Taylor steps down, effective August

Netflix will be first out of the gate with quarterly earnings after market close today amid a level of Hollywood labor strife not seen since the 1960s. Writers and actors are protesting declines in pay and working conditions — an industry shift that many blame on the company whose name is synonymous with streaming. The

On the edge of what is bound to be the domestic box office’s third $200M+ weekend thanks to Barbie and Oppenheimer, the motion picture industry’s fret is whether the great post-pandemic moviegoing rebound is about to screech to a halt due to the SAG-AFTRA strike and actors prohibited from promoting. Barbie and Oppenheimer are expected