Box Office Enjoys Biggest Weekend Since Pandemic Shut Down Theaters

Warner Bros/Legendary’s Godzilla Vs Kong will slug it out in 38 offshore markets this weekend beginning Wednesday in such hubs as Mexico, Taiwan, Indonesdia and India; followed by Russia, Korea and Australia among others on Thursday and China notably on Friday. The Adam Wingard-directed pic is releasing abroad ahead of domestic which falls on March 31 day-and-date in theaters and on HBO Max.

Just when it looked like studios were going back to a theatrical window release pattern with today’s news of Regal and Warner Bros.’ deal, Disney smashes that to bits.

Disney's fantasy-adventure Raya and the Last Dragon stayed atop the chart in its third outing, falling a mere 5 percent to $5.2 million as L.A. theaters roared back to life over the weekend in a needed boost for Hollywood and ravaged theater owners.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefKorean American drama film “Minari” can’t stop winning awards. Similarly, it continues to reign on top of the Korean box office.The Lee Isaac Chung-directed film earned $1.09 million between Friday and Monday to top the box office in South Korea, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service of the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).The figure is little changed from the previous weekend.

It’s no secret that the Brad Furman-directed City of Lies has had a rocky journey to the big screen. It’s played an exhausting game of musical chairs with distributors and a lawsuit involving the film’s location manager and the film’s star Johnny Depp. Through all, it still managed to make a theatrical debut as theaters begin to open the doors after a year of navigating the pandemic.

Refresh for latest…: James Cameron’s Avatar held the top spot at the global and international box office this weekend with $14.1M in China for the Friday-Sunday frame. The 2009 sci-fi epic re-released in the Middle Kingdom last weekend — when it reclaimed the title of all-time highest-grossing movie worldwide from Avengers: Endgame — and now counts an overseas cume of $2,073.2M for $2,833.7M global (all releases included).

For years, specialty films have counted on an Oscar best picture nomination to provide a major boost at the box office. This time around, analysts are stumped as to how much the top nominees will benefit, considering that the box office has yet to recover from the pandemic.

Theaters are beginning to open up on both coasts and the specialty box office life is starting to get some shine with each passing week. Things are slowly yet surely are gravitating to something a little more — dare I say — normal?

Refresh for latest…: As we first reported yesterday, James Cameron’s Avatar is again king of the all-time worldwide box office, having snapped the title back from Avengers: Endgame thanks to a very robust China reissue this session. The full three-day frame in the Middle Kingdom is estimated at $21.1M, also giving the sci-fi epic bragging rights to being the weekend’s global and international box office leader. The overseas gross is now an estimated $2,050.3M with $2,810.8M worldwide.

This weekend’s top 5 at the box office remained the same as last weekend’s, with Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon” staying No. 1 with $5.4 million from 2,163 locations in its second weekend and a 10-day domestic total of $15.8 million and $52.6 million globally.

Well, that didn’t take too long.

March 11, 2021Rogen eventually took to Twitter a few hours later to announce that the site was up and running again.“I fixed it! Happy to say houseplant.com is back up and running!” he later added. “We still have a waiting room set up to deal with traffic.

Seth Rogen's business is booming. The 38-year-old funnyman recently launched a cannabis lifestyle brand, which launched in the U.S.

Rebecca Davis editorFive competitive local titles have announced as of Monday that they will be vying for box office supremacy in China over the May 1 Labor Day weekend, a public holiday.They include a long-anticipated video game adaptation, an omnibus pandemic film helmed by three different female big shots from China, Hong Kong and the U.S., a sleek Aaron Kwok-starring thriller, a TV series adaptation and the first title from helmer Li Yu not to star the now-disgraced Fan Bingbing in 14

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefA notable launch for “Minari” lifted the South Korea box office to its second highest weekend of 2021. The Korean-language American-made drama performed 80% higher than the weekend’s other significant new release Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon.”Opening in first place, “Minari” clocked up $1.68 million over the weekend, according to data from the Korean Film Council’s KOBIS box office tracking service.

After winning a Golden Globe, numerous critics circle accolades as well as SAG Award, Independent Spirit Award and Critics Choice nominations, Minari has taken its success overseas as the A24 American family drama has opened at number one in South Korea.