When Ethan Wheatley came on to make his Manchester United debut, Bruno Fernandes pulled him to the side and said he had nine minutes to create the youngster a goal.
07.04.2024 - 17:13 / variety.com
Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” dominated the domestic box office again, looming large over newcomers “Monkey Man” and “The First Omen.” Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment’s monster tentpole added $31.7 million from 3,948 theaters in its second weekend of release. Ticket sales dropped a standard (for a tentpole of its size and scale) 60% from its mighty $80 million debut and stand at $132 million domestically and $361 million globally.
First-time director Dev Patel’s action thriller “Monkey Man” nabbed second place with $10.1 million from 3,029 venues, while Disney and 20th Century’s supernatural prequel “The First Omen” trailed at the No. 4 spot with a muted $8.4 million from 3,375 locations. Both “Monkey Man” and “The First Omen” were destined for streaming — and not the big screen.
With “Monkey Man,” originally set at Netflix, Universal Pictures landed rights for $10 million after filmmaker Jordan Peele (whose production company has a distribution deal with Universal) saw the movie and felt it deserved a theatrical release. “The First Omen” was produced for Hulu but pivoted to cinemas because horror has been a reliable theatrical draw, and it’s generally more financially rewarding for studios to put movies in theaters before they land on streaming. It cost around $30 million, so neither “The First Omen” nor “Monkey Man” has a terribly tough path to profitability during their big screen runs.
When Ethan Wheatley came on to make his Manchester United debut, Bruno Fernandes pulled him to the side and said he had nine minutes to create the youngster a goal.
Refresh for latest…: For the fourth weekend in a row, Warner Bros/Legendary Entertainment’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire was the top studio movie at the global and international box office. While it’s true there have not been a whole lot of wide releases on a worldwide level since the start of the year, it’s heartening to see continued play for the big titles.
Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter Box office sands continue to flow for “Dune: Part Two,” which is nearing $700 million worldwide. Director Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic has grossed $276 million in North America and $419 million overseas, bringing its global tally to $695.8 million after eight weeks of release. It’s an impressive benchmark in post-COVID times; only five movies in 2023, eight in 2022 and five in 2021 managed to cross the $700 million mark.
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.
Civil War is having a huge start for A24!
according to Box Office Mojo.The impressive premiere puts it on track for a debut of around $26 million, Variety reported.The $50 million film, from director Alex Garland, follows a team of military-embedded journalists racing against time to reach Washington, D.C. before rebel factions descend upon the White House.Starring Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Nick Offerman and Jesse Plemons, the thriller has been dubbed a “a terrifying premonition of American collapse,” though critics say its political message was “muddled.”The Post’s Johnny Oleksinski went as far as to call it “a torturous, overrated movie without a point,” bashing its script as lousy and the acting as monotonous.Behind “Civil War” was “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” which topped the charts when it premiered two weeks ago.
A24‘s Alex Garland political thriller, Civil War, is off to a solid start with $2.9M in Thursday previews, the movie on its way to $20M+ opening. Nobody, rivals nor A24 are complaining about that for what is the studio’s priciest pic — under $60M before P&A.
Naman Ramachandran Universal’s “Kung Fu Panda 4” topped the U.K. and Ireland box office with £2.8 million ($3.6 million), according to numbers from Comscore. The film now has a total of £12.7 million after two weekends.
“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” easily swatted away a pair of challengers to hold on to the top spot at the box office for the second week in a row, according to studio estimates Sunday.After its above-expectations $80 million launch last weekend, the MonsterVerse mashup brought in $31.7 million over its second weekend, a 60% drop from its debut.The Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures release, directed by Adam Wingard, has thus far outperformed any of the studio’s recent monster films except for 2014’s “Godzilla.”But with $361.1 million worldwide in two weeks, “Godzilla x Kong” could ultimately leapfrog the $529 million global haul of 2014’s “Godzilla.”The latest installment, in which Godzilla and Kong team up, cost about $135 million to produce.“Godzilla x Kong” extended its box-office reign as another primate-themed movie arrived in theaters.
Refresh for latest…: A busy holdover weekend for wide studio releases was led by the trio of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Kung Fu Panda 4 and Dune: Part Two. And, in a soaring performance, Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar winner The Boy and the Heron swooped into China helping the market set a new Qingming holiday record.
Dev Patel‘s feature directorial debut “Monkey Man” hits theaters today, and if he and producer Jordan Peele have their way, it won’t be the last time they work together. In a new interview with EW, Peele said he’d love to work with Patel as an actor someday.
Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and EventsApril kicked off with Beyoncé being presented with the Innovator Award at the iHeartRadio Awards in Los Angeles.
Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” is poised to stomp all over the box office competition… again. After its better-than-expected debut, Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment’s monster tentpole has generated $95 million domestically and $210 worldwide to date.
No dart gun, or First Omen, or Monkey Man will put Legendary/Warner Bros’ Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire to sleep this weekend. The pic, after an unexpected $80 million Easter weekend start, will continue to rumble with a 55%-60% second-weekend drop to between $32M-$36M. Through four days, the Adam Wingard-directed Monsterverse title stands at $87.7M, fueled by 57% of K-12 schools out Monday and another 14% colleges. Expect more cash today as, per Comscore, there are 28% of K-12 school out, and 5% universities.
Naman Ramachandran Honors were even atop the U.K. and Ireland box office as Universal’s “Kung Fu Panda 4” and Warner Bros.’ “Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire” battled for top spot during the Easter holiday weekend. While “Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire” won the three-day weekend, “Kung Fu Panda 4” had the higher gross including previews.
IFC Films’ Late Night With The Devil topped the specialty market in its second week, as a Tollywood and a Bollywood film both made the top ten in a rare occurrence. Strong horror and Indian fare have helped buoy the box office since Covid. They continue to fill in the top ten, including this week, which boasts a monstrous hit in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire — but is a neighborhood with fewer overall wide release due to Hollywood strikes.
Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter After three days of release, “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” stands as the third-highest-grossing movie of the year. It has collected a mighty $194 million globally in its opening weekend, ranking behind only “Dune: Part Two” ($626 million after five weeks of release) and “Kung Fu Panda 4” ($347 million after four weeks of release) in terms of overall ticket sales. The monster mashup, from Warner Bros.
whopping $37 million during its first week in theaters, according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo. The Rebecca Hall-helmed big budget beastly buddy film, which The Post said has “a brain-busting plot,” opened in 3,861 theaters, and follows 2021’s “Godzilla vs.
Zack Sharf Digital News Director Dev Patel makes his feature directorial debut with the upcoming action movie “Monkey Man,” which blew the roof off SXSW earlier this month and earned strong reviews, but getting the film made was no walk in the park. During a Reddit AMA ahead of the film’s April theatrical release, Patel told fans that directing, acting in and producing “Monkey Man” was “the most demanding thing I’ve ever done in my life” because “everyday we faced absolute catastrophe.” “I begged our financier not to shut us down a few weeks before principal photography,” Patel wrote.
Brent Lang Executive Editor “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” is looking mighty as it heads into its opening weekend, earning an impressive $10 million in Thursday previews. The muscular results come despite the fact that the film suffered meh reviews — critics faulted the latest clash of the primordial beasts for hectic pacing and overstuffed plotting. Variety‘s Owen Gleiberman, for instance, dismissed the film as “overly busy boilerplate” (though he liked the finale).