Member News Category: Box Office

Distribution

Deadline: Skydance Sweetens Offer For Paramount Global

David Ellison’s Skydance has sweetened its offer to acquire Paramount Global, Deadline has learned, in an attempt to make it more palatable to the company’s Class B stockholders.

Shareholders have trashed the outlines of a previous deal and threatened to sue. Ellison’s original offer was to buy out Par’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone for a significant premium, resulting in a windfall for her, and then merge Skydance into Paramount keeping the combined company public. Stockholders wanted to be bought out at a premium as well.

Skydance, backed by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital, sweetened the offer once late last month — offering to buy out a certain number of Class A voting shares from stockholders other than Redstone — as an exclusive monthlong negotiating period with Par ended. That still left owners of the Class B non-voting stock, who are the majority of shareholders, furious.

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Deadline: Sony Pictures Boss Tony Vinciquerra Skirts Paramount Deal Talk But Says Investment Focus Is “More IP, More Product, More Library To Sell,” Not Streaming

“We are looking for strategic investments … that complement our strategy. We are not going to go outside the strategy that has been enormously successful for us over the past several years,” he said. “We will not make investments that don’t complement our core strategy, and our strategy is to have more IP, more product, more library to sell. We’re not going to get into other businesses. We’re not going to get into a general entertainment streaming service. We’re not going to be operating other businesses that are outside the strategy that we have defined.”

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Release Window

[SUBSCRIPTION] Bloomberg: Disney Is Banking On Sequels to Help Get Pixar Back on Track

The first major test of Morris’ strategy is the release of Inside Out 2 on June 14. The movie is a sequel to the 2015 coming-of-age film about the personified emotions of Joy, Disgust, Fear, Anger and Sadness, who direct the thoughts and actions of a young girl. Inside Out grossed $859 million at the box office and won the Academy Award for best animated feature. Pixar is confident enough in the sequel that it’s giving Inside Out 2 a run of about 100 days in theaters—an extraordinarily generous amount of breathing room in the Age of Streaming, when some films are released in cinemas and online simultaneously. Pixar is also releasing a television series based on Inside Out.

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Release Calendar

Deadline: A24 Dates Fall & Holiday Slate With ‘The Front Room’, ‘A Different Man’, ‘We Live In Time’, ‘Heretic’ & ‘Baby Girl’

The theatrical late Q3 and Q4 schedule is getting booked up as A24 has dated five releases as follows:

On Sept. 6, going wide, is The Eggers Brothers’ psychological horror movie The Front Room. The movie follows a woman’s mother-in-law who movies and proves to be the house guest from hell. Sound familiar? Brandy Norwood and Kathryn Hunter star. The pic joins wide entries, Warner Bros’ Beetlejuice Beetlejuice 2024 AD and an Angel Studios’ theatrical release.

On Sept. 20, in limited release, it’s the Aaron Schimberg directed A Different Man, starring Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve and Adam Pearson. The movie which made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival follows Edward, an aspiring actor, undergoes a radical procedure to drastically transform his appearance. But his new dream face quickly turns into an obsession with reclaiming what once was.

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Release Calendar

The Hollywood Reporter: Steven Spielberg’s Next Movie to Hit Theaters in May 2026

Steven Spielberg‘s next movie will hit theaters on May, 15, 2026, Universal and Amblin Entertainment announced Thursday.

The original untitled event movie is described as an original event film created and directed by the iconic director, but plot details are being kept under tight wraps.

Based on a story by Spielberg, the screenplay is written by longtime collaborator David Koepp, whose previous work with Spielberg includes the scripts for Jurassic Park and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

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The Hollywood Reporter: Amazon MGM Picks Up Josh Brolin, Peter Dinklage Action Comedy ‘Brothers’ (Exclusive)

Brothers, the action comedy starring Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage, has found a home in Amazon MGM Studios.

The streaming giant has acquired the worldwide rights to the Legendary Pictures-made feature, setting both a theatrical and streaming release. The movie will be available to stream on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide on Oct. 17. That will be preceded by a big-screen release in select theaters starting Oct. 1.

In addition to Brolin and Dinklage, the bold-faced cast includes Oscar winner Brendan Fraser, eight-time Oscar nominee Glenn Close, Taylour Paige (Zola), late character actor M. Emmet Walsh in one of his last roles, and Jennifer Landon (Yellowstone).

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Creative Community

The Hollywood Reporter: Glen Powell Finally Conquered Hollywood. So Why Is He Leaving?

The R-rated romp, Anyone But You, began with Sweeney, who says she enlisted Powell because of his presence on-camera and the consistent feedback about “how gracious and thoughtful he was” off-camera. Together, they lined up Easy A director Will Gluck and bet big on a theatrical release. “We had offers from every streamer, and it was guaranteed [paydays] and a much bigger budget, but Syd and I really have a very similar worldview about Hollywood,” says Powell. “We said, ‘If we make this on a streamer, it won’t have any cultural impact.’ And everyone was saying rom-coms were dead theatrically so we knew we could get hosed, but we thought, ‘Let’s take the gamble,’ because what if we could bring them back?”

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Distribution

The Hollywood Reporter: Donna Langley on Theatrical Challenges, Paramount Sales Talks, and “Inevitable” Consolidation

Setoodeh kicked off the conversation by asking Langley to share her take on where the movie business sits now. “What we’re experiencing across the whole media landscape really are the trends that were really put in motion before the pandemic, but were accelerated by that,” she explained. “We’re seeing a shift in consumer behavior, which is driving a lot of rethinking and reshaping of our business.”

That shift has led to a decline in the global marketplace by “about 20 percent,” she noted. “We don’t really think we’re going to recapture that. I think as an industry we can withstand it, but the strikes last year impacted us again, and there’s just less volume going through the marketplace at the moment. I know how I am as an audience member, if there’s not too many things to go see, you kind of lose the habit. You lose the will to get yourself up off your couch and go to a movie. And there’s so many good options, of course, at home with streaming. So we need volume to come back. We need more movies, and great movies, in the marketplace.”

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Release Calendar

Variety: Christopher Reeve Documentary ‘Super/Man’ Sets Theatrical Release for Two Days Only

“Super/Man,” a documentary about the life of Christopher Reeve, will hit the big screen in the fall.

The film, which was widely embraced at Sundance and sold to Warner Bros. Discovery for roughly $15 million, will play in select theaters on Sept. 21 followed by an encore presentation on Reeve’s birthday, Sept. 25. The Warners-owned DC Studios is collaborating with Fathom Events on the theatrical release.

It’s not clear if “Super/Man” will get a wider, traditional theatrical release at a later date. Plans for the film’s international rollout have yet to be announced.

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Theatrical Experience

The Hollywood Reporter: The Summer Popcorn Wars: How Movie Theaters Prep for the Busy Season

Cinema operators work with hundreds of third-parties to get the job done, and are always on the hunt for the shiniest new enticement, such as a robotic cotton candy machine that let’s customers chose not only custom flavors, but custom designs. “Theaters partner with a wide array of vendors who are doing some really exciting and interesting new things to update every element of the theatrical experience,” National Association of Theatre Owners president-CEO Michael O’Leary says.

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Release Calendar

Variety: ’28 Years Later’ Gets June 2025 Release Date

Danny Boyle’s “28 Years Later” is hitting the big screen next summer. Sony Pictures has slated the long-awaited project for June 20, 2025.

Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes are set to star in the sequel to “28 Days Later” and “28 Weeks Later.”

Plot details are still being kept under wraps for the new screenplay, written by Alex Garland. It will be part of an upcoming trilogy, for which Nia DaCosta is in talks to direct the second film.

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Distribution

NBC News: Disney to cap the number of Marvel movies it releases each year as it doubles down on ‘quality’

Disney will release no more than three Marvel films and up to two Disney+ shows each year going forward as it works to place more focus on quality output.

The announcement by CEO Bob Iger comes as Disney shares plunged 8% in Tuesday trading following the release of the entertainment giant’s quarterly earnings.

This year will see the release of just one Marvel film: “Deadpool and Wolverine” starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, slated for a July 26 release.

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[SUBSCRIPTION] Puck: Apple’s Come-to-Jesus Moment for Movies

I’m pleased to report, however, that Cook and Cue didn’t pull the plug on theaters in that meeting, and Cook was clear in his continued support for Apple TV+ in general—or at least, that’s what Van Amburg and Erlicht have been telling people, both internally and externally. (An Apple rep declined to comment on their behalf.) I’m told the Apple leaders did prod Zack and Jamie to explain how the company can become smarter in its theatrical endeavors—which, at least by traditional metrics, haven’t gone great. Lessons were learned, the duo promised, data was collected, and it’s early—the two career TV guys will figure this theater thing out.  

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Streaming

Variety: Disney’s Entertainment Streaming Business Ekes Out Surprise Profit as Disney+ Core Subscribers Top 117 Million

Disney‘s entertainment streaming segment, anchored by Disney+, scored its first profitable quarter, helping to partially offset continued weakness in the media conglomerate’s linear TV business for the first three months of 2024.

To be sure, Disney’s overall streaming business was still in the red for the quarter when factoring in ESPN+, which had an operating loss of $65 million. The company reiterated its expectation that its combined streaming operations will achieve profitability in the September 2024 quarter.

Overall, Disney revenue for the quarter ended March 30 was in line with Wall Street expectations, while it beat on adjusted earnings per share. The Mouse House’s results got their biggest lift from the theme parks division, where revenue rose 10% and operating income was up 14%. Disney’s theatrical revenue dropped year over year “as there were no significant titles released” in the quarter, and revenue in the linear networks segment declined 8%.

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NOTE: Inclusion of articles in the newsletter DOES NOT equal an endorsement by NATO

Release Schedule

Deadline: Ishana Night Shyamalan’s Horror Pic ‘The Watchers’ Moves Back To Original Release Date – Update

Ishana Night Shyamalan’s debut film is on the move, again. And the new date is a familiar one. Two months after Warner Bros. shuffled The Watchers back by a week to the June 14-16 Fathers Day frame, the pic is headed back to its original June 7 date.

It’ll have some action-packed company that Friday, going against Sony’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die, the long-gestating fourth film in the nearly 30-year-old franchise. Lionsgate’s The Crow remake also was set for June 7, but that pic flew away from the date about three weeks ago and now is set for August 23.

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Deadline: DreamWorks Animation’s ‘The Wild Robot’ Will Go One Week Later In The Fall

DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot will now go on Sept. 27 instead of Sept. 20.

The move comes in the wake of Paramount’s animated Transformers One parking on Sept. 20 (instead of Sept. 13) as the studio needed to get a foothold on Imax auditoriums.

We heard that Transformers One was moved to get further away from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice as that Warner Bros Tim Burton directed, Michael Keaton starring sequel is expected to scare up a ton of September cash; that movie opening on Sept. 6.

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Streaming

The Hollywood Reporter: Peacock Quarterly Loss Narrows to $639M as Streamer Hits 34M Subscribers

Peacock, the streaming service of Comcast’s entertainment unit NBCUniversal, grew its first-quarter revenue and narrowed its loss to $639 million from $704 million in the year-ago period, and $825 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, despite higher programming costs. The streamer ended March with 34 paying subscribers, compared with a year-end 2023 figure of 31 million, the company also said on Thursday.

“Peacock paid subscribers increased 55 percent compared to the prior-year period to 34 million, including net additions of 3 million in the first quarter,” Comcast highlighted. “Peacock revenue increased 54 percent to $1.1 billion.”

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IMAX

Variety: Imax Q1 Revenue Drops 9%, Earnings Beat Wall Street Estimates on Lift From ‘Dune 2’

Imax fans turned up in droves to see “Dune 2” on the really big screen, helping the company top analyst earnings estimates for the first quarter of 2024.

Despite the sandworm bump, it was a tough compare with the year-ago period when Imax benefited from the blockbuster success of “Avatar: The Way of Water” in 2023 to deliver its highest-grossing Q1 to date. Revenue in the first quarter of 2024 was $79.1 million, down 9% year over year, while net income was $3.3 million (an adjusted 15 cents per share), up 33%.

During the most recent quarter, Warner Bros.’ “Dune: Part Two” became one of the Top 10 Imax releases of all time. The Denis Villeneuve-directed sci-fi epic has garnered more than $143 million at the global box office to date on Imax screens — representing 21% of the film’s total gross receipts.

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Marketing

Variety: Movie Marketing Chiefs Talk ‘Barbenheimer’ Effect, Handling Reboots and the Primacy of Trailers at Variety’s Entertainment Marketing Summit

Goldstine noted the ante for theatrical films has been raised by “an extra $100 billion worth of streaming content that has entered the marketplace” since about 2017. Dwight Caines, president of domestic marketing for Universal Pictures, concurred: “Our movies have to be undeniably an event — big screen, immersive experiences that get you off the couch.”

So did Marc Weinstock, president of worldwide marketing and distribution for Paramount Pictures. “You got to be so undeniable that the infrequent moviegoer says, ‘Yeah, I wasn’t thinking about this, I hear it’s really good. The reviews look great. It’s everywhere in culture.’”

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[SUBSCRIPTION] The Ankler: Marketing Mojo! 5 Studio Stunts that Struck Gold

The battle of Hollywood is no longer just about dividing up the audience pie, it’s about luring audiences away from other entertainment choices. If this project is to continue, it’s no longer good enough to win the biggest slice of the viewers we have. You have to lure in new ones, or entice waning viewers back — find new voters, as they put it in political parlance.

And we have to keep doing it over and over and over — probably forever —because the competition from social media-led viewing isn’t getting any smaller.

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NOTE: Inclusion of articles in the newsletter DOES NOT equal an endorsement by NATO

Box Office

Deadline: Warner Bros Tops $1B At International Box Office In Own Record Time; First Studio To Milestone In 2024

Led by Dune: Part Two and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Warner Bros has crossed the $1B mark at the international box office, becoming the first studio to reach the milestone this year. Getting there in just 15 weeks, this also sets a new speed record for WB, besting the 17 weeks it took in 2018. The full international estimate through today is $1.04B.

The studio’s biggest releases this year so far are WB/Legendary Entertainment’s Dune: Part Two which has grossed $411.8M offshore through today, with the global cume at $683.9M. WB opened the Denis Villeneuve-directed sequel in 78 markets, with Legendary East handling distribution in China.  Dune: Part Two was the No. 1 film both internationally and globally three weekends in a row.

Variety: Box Office: ‘Civil War’ Sets A24 Record With $25 Million Debut

Director Alex Garland’s provocative dystopian thriller “Civil War” lit up the box office with $25.7 million in its debut. It’s the first A24 movie to lead the charts in North America, setting an opening weekend record for the New York-based specialty studio. It also marks the biggest R-rated start of the year.