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One would be forgiven for not noticing, but Daisy Ridley, of "Star Wars" fame, had a new movie arrive in theaters over the weekend. Indeed, as director Oz Perkins' Stephen King adaptation "The Monkey" crushed it and Marvel's "Captain America: Brave New World" once again topped the charts, "Cleaner" arrived with hardly any fanfare. This is even more surprising when we consider the fact that "Casino Royale" director Martin Campbell was at the helm. Yet, it doesn't make it any less true.

Quiver Distribution's action flick "Cleaner" debuted on just 378 screens in the U.S., taking in a mere $426,150, making for a not-at-all-great per-screen average of just over $1,100. This one is going to be lucky to hold onto those relatively few screens in the coming weeks, meaning it will be lucky to clear $1 million domestically. That's ... not good.

The film centers on a group of radical activists who take...

Meryl Streep is lending her voice to the climate change crisis — literally.

The Oscar-winning icon narrates “Want to Tell a Great Story,” a new PSA that debuted today from the Sustainable Entertainment Alliance made in partnership with the Nrdc’s Rewrite the Future.

“Hey, want to see a story about climate change?” Streep asks in the opening seconds before a series of clips from Get Out, The Lego Movie and Anchorman show characters saying “no” in quick succession. “We get it, we really do. Climate change is scary. It can make us feel, well, a little anxious. And we turn to movies and TV to escape. But what if we changed the question?”

Streep does just that and alters the query: “Want to see a great story? Stories can engage with the climate even as they entertain. Whether they are dramatic or funny or stories of courage, stories about protecting what you love,...

Margot Robbie's potential Barbie sequel could break her box office curse from previous sequels. Barbie 2 could surpass the success of Birds of Prey, The Suicide Squad, and Peter Rabbit 2. While Barbie 2 with Robbie and Gerwig is uncertain, Hollywood's trend of sequels may lead to its creation.

There's no doubt that Barbie 2 would be the most anticipated movie of its release year, but the sequel could do even more by breaking one negative Margot Robbie record. In 2023, Margot Robbie made waves by starring in and producing the blockbuster hit, Barbie. Based on the iconic Mattel doll, Greta Gerwig's Barbie became a huge pop culture moment. Its star-studded cast, amazing soundtrack, and heartwarming story made it a favorite of the year. This gives Margot Robbie major opportunities when it comes to potentially following Barbie up with a sequel.

Barbie 2's sequel story could go in any number of directions.

Dan Lin has found his right hand man.

Former Sony head turned producer Doug Belgrad is joining Netflix as vice president of film.

“We are thrilled to welcome Doug to our film team as Vice President of Film,” said Lin in a statement. “He brings a wealth of experience to the role from his many years as a respected studio executive, producer and co-financier. We will be leaning on Doug’s great creative instincts, his eye for talent, and his deep relationships across the filmmaking and talent community. We can’t wait for him to get started and look forward to his many contributions as we pursue our mission to make best-in-class films across every genre.”

Belgrad’s hire is the first major exec move by Lin, who took over as head of film in April after taking over the job from Scott Stuber. Lin is tasked with steering the...

Denzel Washington's The Equalizer 3 nabs the #9 spot in Netflix's global top 10 movies list, with 3.6 million views. The movie is directed by Antoine Fuqua and features Washington's Robert McCall clashing with organized crime in Italy. The Equalizer 3 earned mostly positive reviews from critics and was a box office success.

The Equalizer 3, which stars Denzel Washington, makes the global Netflix top 10 movies list. Released in 2023, The Equalizer 3 is directed by Antoine Fuqua and marks Washington's third and seemingly final outing as ex-CIA assassin Robert McCall. The movie was met with mostly positive reviews upon its release, with the trilogy-capper sending McCall out on a high note as he faces off against the mafia in Italy.

Netflix has released its global top 10 chart for the week of March 25–31, and The Equalizer 3 ranks as the ninth most popular movie with 3.6 million views in total and 6.6 million hours viewed.

Exclusive: Domhnall Gleeson has joined the cast of Apple’s Fountain of Youth, a feature film based on an original idea that will be directed by Guy Ritchie and hails from Skydance Media. Also starring John Krasinski and Natalie Portman, the film will be produced for Apple by Skydance, Vinson Films and Project X Entertainment.

Written by James Vanderbilt, the pic follows estranged siblings (Krasinski and Portman) who partner on a global heist to find the mythological Fountain of Youth. They must use their knowledge of history to follow clues on an epic adventure that will change their lives — and possibly lead to immortality.

Hailing from a first-look partnership between Apple and Skydance, Fountain of Youth will be produced by Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger. Tripp Vinson will produce through his Vinson Films along with Project X’s Vanderbilt, William Sherak and Paul Neinstein. Ritchie & Ivan Atkinson...

Daisy Ridley's return to Star Wars as Rey is not surprising given her success in the franchise and the potential for new material to explore. Ridley's non-Star Wars projects have not been well-received, with muddled scripts and a lack of attention. Returning to Star Wars could revitalize Ridley's career and put her in the spotlight, potentially boosting her popularity and success.

Daisy Ridley is officially returning to the Star Wars universe as Rey, but the decision isn’t particularly surprising based on the movies she's made outside the franchise. Ridley made her debut appearance as Rey in The Force Awakens and transformed the character into a lovable protagonist. She became an undeniable highlight of the sequel trilogy and succeeded in earning roles in other movies.

The ending of The Rise of Skywalker finally confirmed Rey to be Emperor Palpatine’s granddaughter. Not only did this end her story in the Skywalker Saga,...

Despite recent box office failures, Margot Robbie's role in the successful film Barbie has restored her box office reputation and reaffirmed her star status. Barbie's massive box office success, including becoming Warner Bros.' biggest hit and surpassing records, compensates for Robbie's previous flops and solidifies her position in Hollywood. Robbie's ability to carry a movie to over $1 billion, along with her talent, experience, and collaborations with renowned directors and actors, proves her value and popularity in the industry.

After suffering a box office losing streak since Covid, Barbie has redeemed Margot Robbie's latest run of movies. Despite Robbie's popularity, her most recent films haven't had quite as much success at the box office as some of her earlier movies. The likes of The Wolf of Wall Street and the first Suicide Squad helped cement Robbie as a box office draw. Her growth in popularity over the years has...

Before Margot Robbie was Barbie, she was Harley Quinn, Naomi Lapaglia, Tonya Harding, and many more characters. There's no doubt Robbie loves her job as an actor, and while tackling the role of an iconic children's toy wasn't initially on her career bucket list, it's clear she's happy she took a chance with the role.

A month before the highly anticipated July 2023 release of "Barbie," Robbie spoke to Vogue about how playing the role never even crossed her mind. "It wasn't that I ever wanted to play Barbie, or dreamt of being Barbie, or anything like that," she explained. "This is going to sound stupid, but I really didn't even think about playing Barbie until years into developing the project."

And while "Barbie" might arguably be Robbie's most hyped-up movie in her career so far, it's by no means the only role she's slayed. Take a look back at Robbie's best movies below.

Following two family-friendly adventures that brought the beloved rabbit to life, Peter Rabbit 3 updates have been relatively scarce. Based on Beatrix Potter's series of children's books, the first Peter Rabbit movie was released in 2018 to strong box office and warm reviews. The sequel was released in 2021 to a more mixed response and earning nearly half of the original's total gross. Peter Rabbit, directed by Will Gluck, follows the eponymous troublemaking rabbit, voiced by James Corden, and his family of animals (including voices of Elizabeth Debicki and Margot Robbie) and humans Bea and Thomas McGregor (Rose Byrne and Domnhall Gleeson). The mixed family travels to London to discuss Bea's book deal with a publisher, and Peter gets mixed up in some hijinks along the way.

Though there seems to be plenty of room for the franchise to grow from here, fans are still waiting to hear any real news on a third entry.

I can’t say I ever would have expected to hear that Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson would direct a live-action/hybrid reimagining of The Aristocats for Disney, but here we are. Deadline reports that Questlove will be getting behind the camera for The Aristocats, which was first revealed more than a year ago.

The original 1970 movie revolved around a family of Parisian felines who discover that they’re set to inherit a fortune from their owner. But when a jealous butler kidnaps them and leaves them in the country, they must find their way back home with the help of a smooth-talking tomcat. Will Gluck (Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway) and Keith Bunin (Onward) are set to pen the script for the live-action adaptation of The Aristocats, with Gluck also producing through his Olive Bridge Entertainment banner. In addition to directing The Aristocats, Questlove will also executive produce the project as well as oversee the music.

Succession star Sarah Snook is having a memorable year, with one chapter ending and another set to begin.

During Monday’s premiere event in New York City for the upcoming fourth and final season of her HBO series, the actress revealed to Entertainment Tonight that she and husband Dave Lawson are expecting their first child together.

The 35-year-old pregnant star discussed her baby bump with the outlet and revealed that she is 32 weeks along. “It’s exciting,” she said about the news. “I feel great.”

She debuted her baby bump at the New York premiere for Succession’s final season.

Snook is best known for playing Shiv Roy on the Emmy-winning series Succession. The show’s final 10 episodes kick off Sunday when season four debuts. She also stars in the forthcoming horror flick Run Rabbit Run, which debuted earlier this year at Sundance before Netflix picked it up.

The star...

Sola Media has acquired international distribution rights for the next three animated features in the “Sanctuary City” franchise, produced by Australian production house Like a Photon Creative.

First up will be “Combat Wombat – Back 2 Back,” which will be released theatrically by Universal Pictures in Australia in spring 2024. Sola Media will be selling worldwide rights, excluding Australia/New Zealand and Latin America. First footage will be shown at next week’s European Film Market in Berlin.

“Combat Wombat – Back 2 Back” follows caped crusader Maggie Diggins (Deborah Mailman) and trusty side-kick Sweetie (Ed Oxenbould), who face dastardly tech genius Lenny Glick, played by David Wenham.

Lead animator, Rebecca O’Brien, previously worked on Disney’s “Monsters at Work,” “Elena of Avalor” and “Alice’s Wonderland Bakery.” The film will be directed by Ricard Cussó and Tania Vincent, and is produced by Ryan Greaves, Kristen Souvlis and Nadine Bates. The film will be ready for...

'The Drover's Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson', 'Peter Rabbit 2', 'Wyrmwood: Apocalypse', 'Mortal Kombat' and 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' lead the feature film nominees for the upcoming Australian Production Design Guild Awards, while 'La Brea', 'Firebite', 'Pieces of Her', 'Frayed' and 'New Gold Mountain' lead in TV.

The post ‘The Drover’s Wife’, ‘Frayed’, ‘La Brea’ designers up for Apdg Awards appeared first on If Magazine.

Australian pay-tv operator Foxtel has renewed its film and TV supply deal with Hollywood studio Sony Pictures. The multi-year agreement covers new release movies, library titles and TV series.

Foxtel, which is owned by News Corp. and Telstra, will be able to play the content on its pay-tv channels as well as its 2020-launched streaming service Binge.

Sony has enjoyed a succession of movie hits in the past year. The deal includes “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” and “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway” all of which were top ten box office hits in Australia. Other titles include “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” and “Uncharted.” Currently unreleased movies that fall under the deal include “Where the Crawdads Sing” and Brad Pitt and Sandra Bullock starrer, “Bullet Train.”

“Sony is one of our most important suppliers of movie content and we are thrilled to have them continue as our long-term partner,...

After hosting "The Late Late Show" for nearly seven years, James Corden plans to leave his late-night gig behind in favor of pursuing "one more adventure." Corden, who recently extended his hosting contract with CBS for an additional year, will depart the show in summer 2023, Deadline announced on April 28.

"It's been a really hard decision to leave because I'm so immensely proud of the show."

"It's been a really hard decision to leave because I'm so immensely proud of the show," Corden said. "I'm thrilled to be extending [for a year]. I always thought I'd [host] for five years and then leave, and then I stayed on. I've really been thinking about it for a long time, thinking whether there might be one more adventure."

Corden first began hosting "The Late Late Show" in 2015, succeeding Craig Ferguson, who hosted the late-night talk show for nine years. Since he first joined the show, Corden has...

Exclusive: Deadline has your first look at Rose Byrne’s transformation into an Elvis impersonator for Seriously Red, a musical comedy set to make its world premiere in Narrative Feature Competition at the SXSW Film Festival on March 13.

The film from director Gracie Otto (Under the Volcano) finds Red (Krew Boylan) at a crossroads in her life. A vivacious and hilarious redhaired woman grappling with high expectations and low self-esteem, she pours herself a cup of ambition and trades her 9 to 5 career in real estate for a life under the spotlight as a Dolly Parton impersonator. After misreading her work party’s dress code, Red tumbles out of bed into a new world of tribute artists and impersonators in her wild and messy journey, romancing a Kenny Rogers impersonator and looking to lose herself, so that she may ultimately find herself.

Seriously Red also stars Bobby Cannavale (Blue Jasmine) and...

Cinema box office in Australia rebounded by 50% in 2021, compared with 2020, the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic. But the theatrical business was still less than half the level of 2019.

Gross boss office was A$605 million ($432 million) according to data from the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia and tracking service Numero. That compared with A$401 million ($286 million) in 2020 and A$1.23 billion ($878 million) in 2019.

Despite the country’s slow and spotty reopening – Melbourne endured one of the world’s longest lockdowns – Australian films enjoyed a year that was stronger that in many pre-pandemic periods. Their combined gross was A$71.5 million ($51.0 million), or 12% of the national total, compared with A$22.7 million, or a 6% market share in 2020, and A$40 million or 3.5% in 2019.

The local charge was led by “Peter Rabbit 2” with A$22.0 million ($15.7 million) and “The Dry” with A$20.1 million ($14.3 million). Rounding out Australia’s top five titles were: “Mortal Kombat,” “Penguin Bloom” and “High Ground.

Total admissions for 2021 were up to 74m, an increase of 68% on 2020’s admissions.

The UK-Ireland box office bounced back in the wake of the pandemic, with total admissions for 2021 reaching 74m, an increase of 68% on 2020’s admissions, according to the BFI’s annual official statistics report.

The year presented two very different half years of business for UK cinemas. The first four months was marked by cinemas being closed and reopening from early May. Then October saw the release of No Time To Die and 16.4m admissions, the third highest October on record. The trajectory of recovery saw admissions reach...

They were led by Sony’s ‘Peter Rabbit 2’ and Roadshow’s ‘The Dry’.

Australian films and co-productions garnered 11.8 % of the local box office market in 2021, the biggest share for 35 years, according to figures from Numero/Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia (Mpdaa).

Sony’s Peter Rabbit 2, an Australian-us production, was the highest grossing local film, with a gross of US$16m, but with Roadshow’s literary adaptation The Dry, starring Eric Bana, snapping at its heels with a 2021 gross of $14.6m (total gross is $15.5m thanks to 2020 previews).

The other biggest local performers were Warner Bros’ Mortal Kombat...

Exclusive: Disney doesn’t look to be slowing down any time soon when it comes to adapting classic animated pics into live-action features. Sources tell Deadline that an adaptation of The Aristocats is in early development with the studio’s live-action team. Will Gluck and Keith Bunin will pen the script, with Gluck producing through his Olive Bridge Entertainment banner.

The film is based on the 1970 animated pic, which followed a family of Parisian felines who learn they are set to inherit a fortune from their owner. When the owner’s jealous butler kidnaps them and leaves them in the country, they must team up with a smooth-talking tomcat to try to make it back home before it’s too late.

Since it’s very early in development, not much more is known about the new film, including whether it would be for theatrical or streaming. Sources did add that...

Domhnall Gleeson has been tapped as the co-lead opposite Steve Carell in The Patient, FX’s 10-episode half-hour limited series from The Americans creative duo Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields, and FX Productions.

Also joining the cast are Linda Emond, Laura Niemi and Andrew Leeds.

Co-written by Fields and Weisberg, in The Patient, a psychotherapist (Carell) finds himself held prisoner by a serial killer (Gleeson) with an unusual request: curb his homicidal urges. But unwinding the mind of this man while also dealing with the waves of his own repressed troubles creates a journey perhaps as treacherous as his captivity.

Chris Long has come on board as an executive producer and will direct the first two episodes of the series, with production scheduled to begin this week. Kevin Bray and Gwyneth Horder-Payton will also be directing on the series.

Fields and Weisberg executive produce along with Carell, Caroline Moore, Victor Hsu and Long.

The Tony-nominated Gleeson recently finished a sold-out run of Enda Walsh’s play Medicine at New York’s St. Ann’s Warehouse. He’ll next be seen in David Mandel’s HBO limited series White House Plumbers in the role of John Dean opposite Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux as Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy, respectively. Recently, Gleeson appeared in Frank of Ireland for Channel 4 and Amazon, a series he also co-produced and wrote with Michael Moloney and brother Brian Gleeson, and in Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway opposite Rose Byrne and James Corden.

Gleeson is repped by Paradigm and The Agency.

Total box office revenues in the U.K. and Ireland in 2021 rose 85% to £596.9 million ($811.1 million) from 2020’s total of £323.2 million ($439.3 million), according to the annual box office review released by Comscore. However, these numbers remain far below pre-pandemic levels when annual box office exceeded £1.3 billion in each of the five years up to 2019.

Cinemas were closed for the first 19 weeks of 2021 and allowed to reopen from May 17, but unlike 2020, which had repeated closures, 2021 did not witness any enforced closures since reopening.

The report reveals that 497 new titles were released in cinemas in 2021, up from 444 in 2020. Looking only at the period when cinemas were able to open, 2021 had just 20% fewer titles released mid-May to December than 2019, which had 625 releases in the equivalent period. Comscore expects 2022 to return to the usual volume, which peaked in 2019 at 938 new releases.

2020 saw a resurgence in drive-in cinemas, with 31 opened. Eight of these sites continued to...

It was a thin week on the video on demand charts: only 13 different titles, a record low, placed on the three VOD lists we follow and track. And while holdover successes like “No Time to Die” (United Artists/$19.99) and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” (Sony/$19.99) returned to their #1 positions, the real story this week is the ongoing success of three “holiday classics.”

Though each film has placed on the VOD charts in recent weeks, these three older family-oriented titles — including “The Grinch,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” and “Elf” — are currently at their highest level of audience interest. “The Grinch” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (Universal/both $3.99) both placed among the top six films at Apple TV/iTunes, Google Play, and Vudu. The Will Ferrell-starring “Elf” (Warner Bros./$3.99) clocks in lower, but also appears on all three. And, as Vudu ranks its titles by revenue intake, the films...

If your household isn’t wall-to-wall Elf for the entirety of this month, then a) that must be nice and quiet. Can I come and stay? and b) you must be on the look-out for some alternative film options. Find them below in our handy guide to what’s premiering daily on Sky Cinema in the UK in December. Yes, there’s Christmas fare, including something about an animated cow, Mel Gibson playing a gun-toting Santa Claus, and two Sky Original festive films Last Train to Christmas and A Christmas Number One, but there’s much more besides.

Our highlights include monster mash-up Godzilla vs. Kong, Lin-Manuel Miranda musical In the Heights, excellent Thomas Vinterberg drinking drama Another Round (Mads Mikkelsen’s closing scene is worth the price of admission alone), and The Suicide Squad, which needs no introduction round these parts. There’s also the Peter Rabbit sequel for...

‘Encanto’ delivers biggest opening for animated feature in pandemic era.

Worldwide box office November 26-28 Rank Film (distributor) 3-day (World) Cume (World) 3-day (Int’l) Cume (Int’l) Territories 1. Encanto (Disney) $56.3m $69.6m $29.3m $29.3m 48 2. Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Sony) $33.1m $115.7m $8.6m $28m 41 3. House Of Gucci (Universal) $27m $34.7m $12.8m $12.8m 41 4. Be Somebody (Various) $21.8m $94.3m $21.8m $94.3m 1 5. Eternals (Disney) $18.1m $368.4m $10.2m $217.8m 50

Credit: Comscore, all figures estimates

‘Encanto’ debuts at top of global box office

Updated: Disney animation Encanto has landed at the top of the global box office in its opening session, boosted by the Thanksgiving holiday in the US.

Exclusive: Film, television and media production company Olive Bridge Entertainment, which is led by filmmaker Will Gluck and producer Richard Schwartz, today announced the promotions of Madison Jones and Jacqueline Monetta.

Jones has been elevated to Director of Development in the company’s TV division. Upcoming projects she’ll be working on include the Hulu series Woke, the upcoming eOne series Hollywood Con Queen, along with several other projects in development at Peacock, Netflix, Disney+ and ABC. She previously worked on Netflix’s Chicago Party Aunt and the Disney+ documentary mini-series Among The Stars. She’s a four-year vet of Olive Bridge.

Monetta has been promoted to Creative Executive in Olive Bridge’s Film department, and will oversee projects such as Much Ado and End of the World for Columbia, Blackfriars for eOne, and other features currently in development at Searchlight, Disney and Netflix. Previously, she worked on Gluck’s...

ABC’s The Newsreader has collected a further six Aacta Award nominations, taking its total to 16, with the academy unveiling the technical craft nominees today.

Nitram now leads in film after picking up another eight nominations, taking its total to 15. High Ground gathered four further nods, taking its tally to 12, tying it with The Dry, which gained another six today.

This year’s Industry Awards will again be virtual, broadcast online on Aacta TV as part of the 2021 ScreenFest Program, as well as Binge and Foxtel Arena, December 6. The ceremony will then be held two days later at the Sydney Opera House.

This year, key film prizes as best supporting actor and actress in a film, as well as best original and adapted screenplays, will be presented during the industry awards, rather than the main ceremony as has been the case in previous years. Other key TV prizes will also...

“High Ground,” a 1930s-set drama film, picked up eight nominations for the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards. It narrowly led the field of contenders that included controversial drama “Nitram” with seven nominations, “The Dry” with six and “Penguin Bloom” with five.

Nominations were announced over the weekend ahead of a week of voting. The winners will be announced at a ceremony at Sydney Opera House on Dec. 8, 2021.

Six films received nominations for best film: “The Dry,” “The Furnace,” “High Ground,” “Nitram,” “Penguin Bloom” and “Rams.” Five of the six also received nominations for best director.

“High Ground,” received five of its nominations for acting, with two of its performers going head-to-head in the best actor category, and two more in the best supporting actor section.

Similarly, “Nitram,” which chronicles the build-up to a real-life mass shooting in Tasmania, received nominations for its two leads and two supporting cast.

Friday will see the launch of the first stage of the Australian Feature Film Summit, an event spearheaded by a working group across exhibition, distribution and production, which aims to break down sector silos to build further theatrical success for Australian features.

Its origins lie in provocative questions about the future of local film posed by producer and distributor Sue Maslin back in 2018.

Such as: Have we turned into a vanity publishing industry with little connection between creative ideas and audiences? If the old business models are broken, how can we work differently? How can we get a better equation between risk/reward?

Maslin felt a disconnect between what exhibitors were prepared to show on screens and what filmmakers were making, with the vast majority of Australian films earning less than $1 million. It occurred to her that most producers had little to do with the ‘retail’ end of the industry.

MGM/Eon/Universal’s No Time To Die stormed the UK when it opened on September 30, going on to become the market’s highest-grossing film of 2021 across just its launch frame.

The film’s full weekend bow was $35.1M, the UK’s sixth biggest of all time and the biggest three-day start in the franchise’s history — and this during a pandemic. After months and months of theatrical gloom the film’s performance has been a tonic for the cinema sector.

Through Wednesday in the UK, 007 has climbed to $79M (£58M). While this is great news and something to be celebrated for what was the No. 4 international box office market in 2020 (and which is currently shaping up at No. 3 for 2021), does it herald a mega-return to cinemas, or will the Bond effect give way to more down-to-Earth numbers ahead?

Notes one exhibition executive: “Between Shang-Chi and Bond there wasn’t much product,...

The film has £52.6m, ahead of ‘Spectre’ at the same stage but behind ‘Skyfall’.

Rank Film (Distributor) Three-day gross (Oct 8-10) Total gross to date Week 1 No Time To Die (Universal) £15.2m £52.6m 2 2 The Addams Family (Universal) £2m £2m 1 3 Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (Disney) £556,579 £20.5m 6 4 The Paw Patrol Movie (Paramount) £126,000 £8.3m 9 5 The Many Saints Of Newark (Warner Bros) £125,000 £1.9m 3

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.36

Universal’s No Time To Die has surged to £52.6m from just 11 days in cinemas, comfortably retaining the UK-Ireland box office lead on its second weekend.

The film took £15.2m from Friday to Sunday,...

But both are eclipsed by Chinese release ‘The Battle At Lake Changjin’.

Worldwide Box Office October 1-3 2021 Rank Film (Distributor) 3-day (World) Cume (World)3-day (Int’l) Cume (Int’l) Territories 1. The Battle At Lake Changjin (various) $201.3m $232.9m $201.3m $232.9m 1 2. No Time To Die (Universal) $119.1m $119.1m $119.1m $119.1m 54 3. Venom: Let There Be Carnage (Sony) $103.9m $103.9m $13.8m $13.8m 2 4. My Country, My Parents (various) $75.7m $89.6m $75.7m $89.6m 1 5. The Addams Family 2 (Universal) $18m $18m - - 1

Credit: Comscore, all figures estimates

Sensational UK leads No Time To Die pack in $119m opening

Updated: With No Time To Die, Universal...

James Bond blockbuster will look to break £20m on opening weekend.

Universal’s James Bond blockbuster No Time To Die will look to break the £20m mark on its first weekend in cinemas, as it receives the widest opening of any title in the history of the UK-Ireland box office.

The 25th film in the Eon Productions Bond franchise is playing in 772 cinemas this weekend, comfortably surpassing the previous record-holder – Disney’s Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker in 2019 with 744.

With a few sites still to come in, Universal is reporting the film has taken £4.89m on its opening day.

Highest-grossing opening film was in 10th place.

RankFilm (Distributor)Three-day gross (Sep 17-19)Total gross to dateWeek 1 Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (Disney) £2.4m £15.8m 3 2 Free Guy (Disney) £674,645 £15.3m 6 3 Respect (Universal) £377,395 £1.2m 2 4 Candyman (Universal) £323,350 £4.3m 4 5 The Paw Patrol Movie (Paramount) £262,000 £7.6m 6

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.37

The UK-Ireland top five was comprised entirley of holdovers for the three-day September 17-19 weekend.

Disney’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings held top spot for a third consecutive week, with a drop of 34% bringing in £2.4m. It now has a decent £15.8m in total, rising to 22nd...

In 2018, producer and distributor Sue Maslin posed some provocative questions regarding the future of Australian feature film.

Among them: Have we turned into a vanity publishing industry with little connection between creative ideas and audiences? If the old business models are broken, how can we work differently?

It kicked off introspection among industry, and sparked lively conversation at that year’s Prism, hosted by Screen Producers Australia (Spa), that gathered executives from federal and state screen agencies, producers, distributors and exhibitors.

Out of that event hatched a cross-industry working group who for the past three years have met regularly to strategise how to grow a local feature film sector that makes more commercially successful and culturally relevant films.

Among its founding members are Maslin; Independent Cinemas Australia CEO Adrianne Pecotic; producer Antony I. Ginnane; Event Cinemas general manager of content Claire Gandy; Spa director of policy Holly Brimble; Motion Picture...

‘Candyman’ starts in second place for Universal.

Rank Film (Distributor) Three-day gross (Aug 27-29) Total gross to date Week 1 Free Guy (Disney) £1.6m £11.2m 3 2 Candyman (Universal) £1.1m £1.46m 1 3 The Paw Patrol Movie (Paramount) £563,000 £5.9m 3 4 Andre Rieu’s 2021 Summer Concert: Together Again (Piece of Magic Entertainment) £432,000 £432,000 1 5 Jungle Cruise (Disney) £402,000 £11.14m 5

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.38

Disney’s Free Guy led the UK-Ireland box office for a third successive weekend with a £1.6m Friday to Sunday result, as Picturehouse Entertainment’s The Nest scored a strong result for an independent title.

Free Guy’s result was down 29% on its previous session, representing...

“Respect” (United Artists/$19.99) was released on the big screen on August 13 to high praise for Jennifer Hudson’s portrayal of Aretha Franklin but a disappointing gross of $17 million in its first two weeks of play in over 3,200 theaters. That meant the film got an unusually quick transition to home platforms on August 27. Early results show the film could return a higher amount to the distributor that way than via its theater play.

The biopic, appealing primarily to an older audience, and thus more of a challenge for getting people in seats, added Premium VOD on Friday. It is #2 on iTunes, trailing only the much cheaper “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard” (Lionsgate/$5.99) in total number of transactions. Google Play, which usually lags a day or two in capturing activity, has it at #4. Vudu, which calculates by revenue, places it at #3 for the seven day period ending Sunday, but #1 over the weekend.

The...

There are some who will cite streaming platforms at the death of the cinema and an overload of both movies and music that give too much choice and not enough financial recompense to those involved in their making. While this may be true in a number of recent cases, there are also occasions when having any movie at your fingertips can give a franchise and the company behind it a bit of a boost. It seems that Sony are currently riding on such a wave of attention right now thanks to the arrival of the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer. While the trailer itself was a huge record breaker, the ripples that have come from it are almost as big as those being seen in the Marvel Multiverse as all of Sony's previous Spider-Man movies have found themselves soaring up the iTunes rental chart.

All seven of Sony's Spider-Man...

After a two-month blackout period in China for Hollywood movies, Disney/20th Century Studios’ Free Guy is looking to lead all pics in the country at the weekend B.O. with a $18M+, possibly $20M take. That’s a promising start for one of the first big movies from Hollywood after a long-hiatus, besting the $15M opening weekend of A Quiet Place Part II, and the $7.8M first weekend of Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway.

The Shawn Levy-directed pic, off a very good Maoyan 9.2 score (Deadpool 2 7.6), a Tpp of 9.0, and solid Douban of 7.8, has cashed in a first day of $5.4M.

With Covid conditions improving in China, the number of theaters closed has shrunk from 31% to 27%. We also hear that in low-risk areas, cinemas are operating at 75% capacity.

Heading into the weekend, the Ryan Reynolds movie has grossed $130.3M globally, split between $65.7M domestic (No. 1 through two weeks) and $64.6M international.

’Free Guy’ dropped only 7% on its opening session.

RankFilm (Distributor)Three-day gross (Aug 20-22)Total gross to dateWeek 1 Free Guy (Disney) £2.26m £7.2m 2 2 The Paw Patrol Movie (Paramount) £1.03m £4.47m 2 3 The Suicide Squad (Warner Bros) £653,885 £12.3m 4 4 Jungle Cruise (Disney) £652,000 £10m 4 5 People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan (Universal) £553,261 £896,992 1

Disney’s original comedy Free Guy posted a good hold on its second session in UK-Ireland cinemas to retain the box office lead, as BBC mockumentary feature People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan broke into the top five on its first weekend.

Free Guy dropped only 7% on its opening session, with £2.26m taking it to £7.2m.

Disney and 20th Century Studios’ sci-fi action comedy Free Guy, starring Ryan Reynolds, has locked down a China release on Aug. 27.

The last-minute official clearance gives Disney’s China teams just one week to mount a local marketing campaign for the movie. Still, it’s welcome news for the U.S. industry as a whole after the lengthy blackout on Hollywood film openings in the country and scant China earnings to date throughout 2021.

Disney and Pixar’s Luca, which opened Friday, was the first Hollywood title to hit China since Sony’s Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway on June 11 (it earned $30.7 million). Luca lost ...

Disney and 20th Century Studios’ sci-fi action comedy Free Guy, starring Ryan Reynolds, has locked down a China release on Aug. 27.

The last-minute official clearance gives Disney’s China teams just one week to mount a local marketing campaign for the movie. Still, it’s welcome news for the U.S. industry as a whole after the lengthy blackout on Hollywood film openings in the country and scant China earnings to date throughout 2021.

Disney and Pixar’s Luca, which opened Friday, was the first Hollywood title to hit China since Sony’s Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway on June 11 (it earned $30.7 million). Luca lost ...

Disney’s 20th Century Studios’ Ryan Reynolds movie Free Guy is getting a China release date of Aug. 27.

The most recent major Hollywood titles to hit the Prc are Disney/Pixar’s Luca today which made $1.18M on its opening day, behind the 22nd day of local title Raging Fire ($2.84M) and Sony’s Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway in mid-June. To date, Peter Rabbit 2 has grossed $30.7M in China., repping close to a third of its overseas $113.4M results.

This comes as great news as there has been a backlog in China of submitted Hollywood product including Warner Bros’ Space Jam: A New Legacy, Disney’s Jungle Cruise, Warner Bros.’ Reminiscence and Dune, and Disney’s upcoming Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings. The likelihood of a Black Widow release remains dubious.

The first Deadpool movie didn’t release in China as it was too violent,...

Strong start for the Ryan Reynolds blockbuster.

Rank Film (Distributor) Three-day gross (Aug 13-15) Total gross to date Week 1 Free Guy (Disney) £2.39m £2.47m 1 2 The Paw Patrol Movie (Paramount) £1.26m £2.41m 1 3 The Suicide Squad (Warner Bros) £1.07m £10.8m 3 4 Jungle Cruise (Disney) £845,000 £8.5m 3 5 Space Jam: A New Legacy (Warner Bros) £505,000 £10.1m 4

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.39

Disney’s Ryan Reynolds blockbuster Free Guy has opened with £2.39m to top the UK-Ireland box office this weekend.

The film scored a £3,824 average from 625 locations, and has £2.47m including previews.

This is a decent return for what is a rare ‘original’ big-budget studio film...

Disney/Pixar’s coming of age sea monster story Luca has been granted a theatrical release date on Aug. 20, which will make it the first Hollywood studio release in the country in over two and a half months.

China’s film regulators have been instituting a longer-than-usual blackout on major foreign film releases in deference to the celebrations surrounding this summer’s 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party. The last U.S. film to release in China was Sony’s Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway way back on June 11.

With the North American box office still ailing due ...

Disney/Pixar’s coming of age sea monster story Luca has been granted a China theatrical release date on Aug. 20, which will make it the first Hollywood studio release in the country in over two and a half months.

China’s film regulators have been instituting a longer-than-usual blackout on major foreign film releases in deference to the celebrations surrounding this summer’s 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party. The last U.S. film to release in China was Sony’s Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway way back on June 11.

With the North American box office still ailing ...

Disney/Pixar’s sea monster story Luca has been granted an August 20 release date in China, signaling that the end of the giant market’s latest unofficial blackout period may be afoot. While Luca will take a prime slot amid a series of local holdovers and is the first Hollywood studio title to release since June, its date also comes at a time when about 30% of cinemas are closed in the market due to a Covid surge, and as box office overall has been muted there. Last week, movie theaters reset capacity limits to 75% in low-risk areas, and those in medium- and high-risk areas were closed. Presumed local blockbuster The Battle At Lake Changjin subsequently postponed its August 12 release.

Disney will have more than a week to get the China Luca marketing machine going — a luxury that was not afforded some movies earlier in the season. Luca is also getting a Friday launch,...

Keep track of when films are coming out in the territory.

Cinemas in the UK and Ireland are set to reopen this spring, following months of closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Screen is listing the release dates for films in the territory in the calendar below. For distributors who wish to add/amend a date on the calendar, please get in touch with Screen here.

Indoor cinemas in England and Scotland will be allowed to reopen from May 17; with dates yet to be confirmed for Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Screen is also tracking reopening dates of cinemas in...

The UK-Ireland top five remains the same for the second week in a row.

RankFilm (Distributor)Three-day gross (Aug 6-8)Total gross to dateWeek 1 The Suicide Squad (Warner Bros) £2.27m £7.98m 2 2 Jungle Cruise (Disney) £1.96m £6.16m 2 3 Space Jam: A New Legacy (Warner Bros) £1.07m £8.97m 3 4 The Croods 2: A New Age (Universal) £866,792 £5.9m 4 5 Black Widow (Disney) £537,676 £17.49m 5

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.39

The Suicide Squad topped the UK and Ireland box office for a second consecutive weekend, whilst Stillwater starring Matt Damon was the highest new opener in seventh.

Warner Bros’ The Suicide Squad took £2.27m on its second session,...