Widespread optimism months ago that domestic box office might readily return to pre-Covid levels has given way to a new sense of pragmatism about the movie business.
22.08.2022 - 12:33 / deadline.com
With no new wide Hollywood tentpole releases until October, we’re in a period of holdovers, and local titles excelling in their home markets (and beyond), while Top Gun: Maverick continues to soar and there’s a will it or won’t it question mark over Jurassic World Dominion‘s shot at getting to $1B global.
Overall, it was a fairly active weekend at the international box office, with Germany in particular seeing uplift on a handful of titles — Constantin’s Guglhupfgeschwader is still No. 1 there after three frames.
On Friday, Gru and the crew landed the biggest opening day of the pandemic for an animated title in China; impressive since the Chinese authorities handed out the date just 11 days prior. Ultimately, Rise of Gru grossed $11.8M for the weekend. It was up against a new local animated entry, New Gods: Yang Jian (which won the frame at RMB 134M/$19.6M). Gru has strong social scores and is the second-highest Hollywood debut for an animated title during the pandemic.
Rise Of Gru is the only Hollywood film releasing in China of late — and for the foreseeable future — while an estimated 17% of locations (including 25% of Shanghai cinemas) are currently still closed due to Covid restrictions. There are two more weeks of school holiday, and we’re told that schools are demanding families take precautions to help stop the spread before children return to classrooms.
In Italy, the origins story opened on Thursday with an 86% share, grossing $1.6M from 446 cinemas. Excluding previews, this was the biggest Universal pandemic opening day, and the 4th biggest Universal opening day of all time as well as the 3rd biggest of the pandemic. The weekend cume of $6.1M (including previews) is line with the opening of Despicable Me 3. Rise
Widespread optimism months ago that domestic box office might readily return to pre-Covid levels has given way to a new sense of pragmatism about the movie business.
Justin Bieber has announced that he is taking another break from his world tour, which was due to run through to the end of March next year, due to ongoing health issues.The musician postponed US tour dates in June after revealing that he had been diagnosed with Ramsay-Hunt Syndrome, which had caused part of his face to become paralysed.He resumed the tour at the end of July with a show at the Lucca Summer Festival in Italy, before playing a number of concerts in Europe in the month that followed, and then travelling to Brazil to play Rock In Rio at the weekend.From there, he was due to tour South America, and then travel on to South Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, before returning to Europe for more shows there – including dates in the UK and Ireland.However, in a statement on social media last night, he told fans: “Earlier this year, I went public about my battle with Ramsay-Hunt Syndrome, where my face was partly paralysed. As a result of this illness, I was not able to complete the North American leg of the Justice Tour”.“After resting and consulting with my doctors, family and team, I went to Europe in an effort to continue with the tour”, he continued.
This was yet another soft weekend at the international box office with no major fresh titles and as summer fully closes out in Europe and beyond.
Strictly Come Dancing's four new professionals are set to be introduced to viewers in a cinematic routine filmed alongside the returning cast. European cup winner Vito Coppola, Chinese national champion Carlos Gu, former Under-21 British national champion Lauren Oakley and Latin dance champion Michelle Tsiakkas complete the show's largest-ever line-up of 20 pros this year.They join the returning Dianne Buswell, Nadiya Bychkova, Graziano Di Prima, Amy Dowden, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Cameron Lombard, Gorka Marquez, Luba Mushtuk, Giovanni Pernice, Jowita Przystal, Johannes Radebe, Kai Widdrington and Nancy Xu.The introductory routine will form part of the Strictly Come Dancing launch show airing on BBC One and iPlayer on 17 September.
box office, there is a near-term question mark about what will happen next: Will recovery stall due to a paucity of Hollywood tentpole movies? Or will international theatrical decouple and find new drivers to maintain the momentum? The good news is that most of the international market’s top territories are now fully open and operating without significant restrictions on seating capacity. These include the U.K. and Ireland, Japan, France, Germany, Spain, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Brazil. The smaller number of territories still laboring under restrictions nevertheless include some valuable ones: China, Turkey, Argentina, Hong Kong and Russia.
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Ethan Shanfeld After being slapped by Will Smith onstage at the Oscars, Chris Rock says the Academy has asked him to host next year’s award ceremony. Performing a show in Phoenix on Aug. 28, Rock told the crowd that he turned down the offer, per The Arizona Republic. The comedian apparently joked that his return to the Oscars would be like asking Nicole Brown Simpson “to go back to the restaurant,” a reference to the murder trial of O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife, who left her glasses at an Italian restaurant before being killed. Throughout his 90-minute stand-up comedy show, Rock said the Oscars slap hurt, noting that Smith played boxer Muhammad Ali in the 2001 movie “Ali.”
Chris Rock will not be returning to the Academy Awards as a host. During the comedian’s Sunday night show in Phoenix, Rock shared with the audience that he was asked to host next year’s Oscar Awards ceremony, which he denied, according to the Arizona Republic. Rock, 57, made a joke to the crowd and compared returning to the Academy Awards to Nicole Brown Simpson’s death.
Chris Rock to be emceeing the Oscars anytime soon. According to multiple eyewitness, Rock revealed during his Sunday night show in Phoenix, that he was asked to host next year's show, but refused.As many will remember, it was at the 2022 Academy Awards that Will Smith slapped Rock in the face after he made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith before presenting the award for Best Documentary Feature. «Chris Rock said he was asked to host next year's Academy Awards at his Sunday night show at Arizona Financial Theatre, and that he refused the offer,» the eyewitness shared. «He also noted that he was offered the chance to do a Super Bowl commercial that he also declined.»Eyewitnesses also told ET that Rock compared hosting the Oscars to returning to the scene of a crime, referencing the murder trial of O.J.
Similar to recent weeks, we’re still in a holding pattern at the international box office, awaiting major new wide studio releases. There were a few milestones this session, however, and Japan has in general been a bright spot with local pic One Piece Film: Red and the continued thrum of Top Gun: Maverick while the market does the bulk of the lifting to potentially push Jurassic World Dominion across the $1B mark worldwide.
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Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese animation film “New Gods: Yang Jian” was the top film at the mainland China box office over the latest weekend. “Minions: The Rise of Gru” opened in third place.“New Gods: Yang Jian” earned 19.8 million (RMB134 million) on its debut between Friday and Sunday, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. It places ahead of previous winner “Moon Man” which slipped from first to second place with a $17.8 million (RMB121 million) fourth weekend.
Continuing its hypersonic run, Paramount/Skydance’s Top Gun: Maverick has, in its 13th weekend of release, crossed the $1.4B mark worldwide, lifting the cume to a touch over $1.403B through today.