Bleecker Street Drama ‘Supernova’ Theatrical Debut Warms Up Specialty Box Office

In the span of six days, the Chinese box office roared to a $1.2B Lunar New Year record, with Wanda Pictures’ Detective Chinatown 3 setting global benchmarks for the biggest opening day and weekend in a single market.

As the specialty box office space continues to navigate the digital VOD and day and date waters, numbers are trickling in but, again, they don’t necessarily give a solid reflection of a film’s box office performance as they did in the before-times (aka pre-Covid). On this President’s Day holiday weekend, award season faves like A24’s Minari dropped in approximately 61 markets before heading to PVOD on February 26 while Sony Pictures’ French Exit had a very limited theatrical run.

Rebecca Davis editorChina made history this weekend with record sales of nearly $775 million (RMB50 billion) within the first three days of the Chinese New Year holiday, led by an incredible $424 million (RMB2.74 billion) debut from “Detective Chinatown 3.”This marked the first time the country’s national box office has ever broken RMB1 billion ($155 million) a day for three consecutive days, a feat achieved despite caps on max theater capacity at 75% in most of the country and 50% in areas

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Detective Chinatown 3” lived up to its billing as the box office favorite over the Chinese New Year holiday period, with first day grosses passing $150 million by 4pm local time.Data from ticketing agency Maoyan showed the franchise comedy adventure film as clocking up RMB975 million of revenues, and claiming over 60% of the nationwide box office total.

EXCLUSIVE: NEON and Bleecker Street have formed the joint home entertainment distribution company DECAL.

Studio Ghibli released Earwig and the Witch on February 3 in 430 theaters and dropped the animated feature from the legendary studio on HBO Max on February 5. The Goro Miyazaki-directed film with the voice talents of Richard E. Grant, Kacey Musgraves, and Dan Stevens earned an estimated $99,941 on its opening weekend to bring its cume to $132,768

Constantin’s new Resident Evil distributed by Sony Screen Gems has been set to open on Labor Day weekend, Sept. 3 this year. Paramount’s Jackass is the only other major studio wide release scheduled at that time.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterWould audiences pay to see a new movie in theaters if they could watch the same title at home from the comfort of their couch? Prior to the pandemic, the response from theater operators and cinema purists would have been a resounding “no.”Yet Hollywood is finding that, at least while a plague of Biblical proportion rages, the answer is: sorta.“The Little Things,” a crime thriller starring Denzel Washington and Rami Malek, topped domestic box office charts,

Pucker up! John Krasinski hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time on Saturday, January 30, and Pete Davidson gave him a warm welcome.

Harry Macqueen’s drama Supernova is one of many films this weekend that will open in theaters before hitting a digital platform — this seems to be a new trend.

Lily Moayeri Duran Duran premiered the video for its cover of David Bowie’s “Five Years” this morning on the band’s YouTube channel. The song was released Jan.

Earlier this month Duran Duran covered David Bowie’s “Five Years” at a tribute concert to the late music icon. Now, the band have released a music video for the track.

Variety Staff Follow Us on TwitterWarner Chappell Music, the publishing arm of Warner Music Group, has named David Woirhaye as the company’s new executive vice president and global chief financial officer, effectively immediately. In his new role, he will report into Guy Moot, Co-Chair and CEO and Carianne Marshall, Co-Chair and COO.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe Brussels-based International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), which represents European cinema’s main trade associations, is launching an appeal for more government support to face an estimated 70.6% drop in total 2020 box office grosses across Europe, which it says accounts for a loss of €6.2 billion ($7.5 billion) in theatrical revenues compared to 2019.“National governments and European institutions have introduced various support schemes since the start

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefBox office in Australia fell by 69% in 2020 as the coronavirus outbreak forced cinema closures, capacity restrictions, the postponement of film releases and public health concerns about attending theatres.Data published on Thursday by the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia showed nationwide annual revenues slumped from A$1.23 billion($937 million) in 2019 to just A$401 million ($306 million) in 2020.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentTheatrical box office takings in Japan fell by 45% in 2020, compared with the previous year, as coronavirus took its toll on cinemagoing. But that makes Japan one of the most resilient major box office territories.Data published Wednesday by the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (Eiren) show that total box office was $1.37 billion (JPY143 billion) 45% down on 2019’s $2.5 billion (JPY261 billion).

The Japanese box office plummeted more than 45 percent in 2020 after the novel coronavirus pandemic briefly shuttered cinemas in the country and weighed on moviegoing throughout much of the year. Total ticket sales revenue clocked in at $1.38 billion (143.3 billion yen), down from $2.39 billion (261 billion yen) in 2019, which had set an all-time record.

As exhibitors get set to report results from the last quarter of their annus horribilis, 2020, one Wall Street bull is predicting record box office in 2023.

Liam Neeson's action thriller The Marksman stayed atop the languishing domestic box office in its second weekend with an estimated $2 million. There were no new wide releases as most Hollywood studios continue to delay their high-profile titles amid COVID-19 and continued theater closures, including in the top 10 moviegoing markets.