Box Office: 'Raya and the Last Dragon' Stays No. 1 With $5.5M, Crosses Subdued $50M Globally

On Thursday, CAA kicked off the month of April with the CAA Amplify Town Hall to address the surge of violence against Asians and Asian Americans. These acts of violence and harassment have been on the forefront in the past week with the Atlanta shootings and the most most recent attack in New York City where a man brutally attacked 65-year-old Vilma Kari while saying racist remarks.

About 80,000 New York City employees will return to their offices on May 3, in a move Mayor Bill De Blasio called a “powerful message” about the city’s post-Covid-19 comeback.

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.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterDisney’s animated adventure “Raya and the Last Dragon” led the domestic box office in its third weekend, illustrating the appeal of family films as Hollywood attempts to mount a moviegoing revival.“Raya and the Last Dragon” collected $5.2 million from 2,261 theaters through Sunday, representing a scant 5% decline. Disney can thank the reopening of Los Angeles movie theaters for the stellar hold in ticket sales.

Los Angeles County Sheriff AlexVillanueva on Wednesday night responded to Vanessa Bryant earlier in the day publicly naming four deputies who allegedly shared gruesome photos of the crash site where her daughter and husband, Kobe Bryant, were killed last year. Vanessa Bryant posted pictures of a filed amended lawsuit onto Instagram, with the names of the deputies accused highlighted.

Kobe Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, on Wednesday posted the names of four Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies she alleges shared graphic photos from the site of the helicopter crash that killed her husband, their daughter, Gianna, and seven others.

Raya and the Last Dragon is No. 1 again.

Raya and the Last Dragon had no trouble topping the weekend box office, but couldn't match other studio family films that have played during the pandemic and despite movie theaters finally opening in New York City. The Disney film, which earned glowing glowing reviews and an A CinemaScore, took in an estimated $8.6 million in its North American debut, compared to $14.1 million a week earlier for Warner Bros.' Tom & Jerry.

Refresh for latest…: Disney’s Raya And The Last Dragon didn’t exactly come roaring out of the gate at the international box office with $17.6M from 32 markets. The global bow, including domestic’s launch, was $26.2M. Double-digit million-dollar debuts for Hollywood movies in the pandemic era are still a rare positive — and we’ve certainly seen family movies excel — but while not all openings are apples-to-apples, Raya’s start is being seen as a somewhat muted affair.

By early afternoon on Friday, numerous showings of Disney's new animated pic Raya and the Last Dragon were sold out at AMC 19th Street in Manhattan. Ditto for Searchlight's specialty pic Nomadland.

EXCLUSIVE: The New York DMA exploded last night at the box office with NYC theaters returning after a 50 1/2 week pandemic closure with an estimated gross of $307K, +614% from last Friday according to B.O. sources. I’m also told that the NY DMA was easily the No. 1 market in the country last night, followed by Salt Lake City, Dallas, Phoenix, Chicago, Houston, Denver, Minneapolis, Detroit and Montreal.

Refresh for more analysis Even with three new wide releases at this weekend’s box office, and New York City finally reopening, numbers still aren’t at pre-pandemic levels, but there’s a lot of drama going on.

EXCLUSIVE: Today, Disney rolls out Raya and the Last Dragon, what is arguably its first domestic theatrical hybrid release; second worldwide if you count Mulan. The animated movie which is booked at 2,045 theaters, sans roughly 250 Cinemark locations, but including the newly reopened New York City market, is on its way to grossing a notable $3M today and between $9M-$10M domestic this weekend per industry estimates and that’s with an availability on Disney+ for the extra price of $30.

New York City, the nation’s leading movie market along with still-shuttered Los Angeles, springs back to life Friday after being flattened by Covid-19 for nearly a year.

Naman Ramachandran Distribution and sales company Utopia Media has acquired worldwide rights for feature documentary “Moments Like This Never Last,” about artist Dash Snow.Born Dashiell Alexander Whitney Snow, Dash Snow rejected a life of privilege to make his own way as an artist on the streets of downtown New York City in the late 1990s.