Box Office: ‘The Gentlemen’ Opens With $725,000 on Thursday Night

In a noteworthy feat for an original title, Rian Johnson's whodunnit Knives Out has reached the $300 million mark at the worldwide box office.Knives Out's domestic total through Monday stands at $159.1 million, with an international tally of $140.9 million.The crime caper — which first hit theaters in late November — is the second-most successful original movie of 2019 at the global box office behind Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which grossed $374.2 million.

Oscar-nominated star Margot Robbie won over the audience in 2016's Suicide Squad as Harley Quinn. However, she couldn't lure in moviegoers to buy a ticket to Birds of Prey. The Oscar-nominated actress reprised the DC character for the second time in DCEU and audiences did not seem interested in watching Harley Quinn back in action. Birds of Prey minted $33 million in North America, which is one of the worst openings a DC movie has ever seen in the US.

Fear of the coronavirus increased its impact on the South Korean cinema industry. Films were cancelled and box office revenues dropped for a second weekend.

By Dino-Ray Ramos

Margot Robbie’s “Birds of Prey” is set to open well below forecasts, with about $34 million at 4,236 North American sites, early estimates showed on Friday.

Margot Robbie’s “Birds of Prey” flew to $4 million on Thursday night.

By Anthony D'Alessandro, Nancy Tartaglione

Fear of the spread of the coronavirus that is sweeping China has begun to contaminate the film industry in South Korea.

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) — Box office newcomers “Rhythm Section” and “Gretel and Hansel” fumbled as “Bad Boys for Life” remained champions during a painfully slow Super Bowl weekend.

By Dino-Ray Ramos

Paramount’s spy thriller “The Rhythm Section,” starring Blake Lively, opened quietly with $235,000 at 2,256 North American locations on Thursday night.

GÖTEBORG, Sweden — Home to the most dynamic streaming markets in Western Europe, the Nordic region still posted solid box office returns in 2019, especially from Hollywood tentpoles “The Lion King,” “Avengers: Endgame” and “Joker,” which ruled on all top ten charts, except in Denmark. Local fare, however, lost ground in all five territories.

Locally-made action comedy “The Grand Grandmaster” emerged on top of the Hong Kong box office during the Lunar New Year holiday. But, hit by the aftermath of political protest and growing precautions against the coronavirus threat, the theatrical business took a steep tumble.

The Japanese box office leaped by 17% in 2019 to set a record $2.4 billion score, according to figures announced Tuesday by the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, locally known as Eirin. The previous high was the $2.2 billion recorded in 2016.

Measures to limit travel and the closure of most cinemas almost completely eliminated box office takings in China on what should have been the country’s busiest movie-going weekend of the year. The pain is set to continue.

Sony’s “Bad Boys for Life” is dominating North American moviegoing with about $26 million at 2,155 sites, early estimates showed Friday.

NEW YORK — Matthew McConaughey loved the duds his sharp-dressed weed dealer wears in The Gentlemen. So much so that he did one thing when shooting wrapped — he swiped them.

Cinema box office in Australia dipped by 2% in 2019 to an annual total of A$1.23 billion, or $841 million, according to data from the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia. That was the country’s third highest figure in local currency terms, but it also shows the theatrical industry to be rangebound since 2015.

Opening on Wednesday (Jan. 15), Korean-made comedy “Secret Zoo” landed on top of the South Korean box office. The Son Jae-gon (“My Scary Girl”) film earned $5.95 million from 813,000 admissions over its opening five days, including $4.3 million earned over the weekend. That was enough for a 38% share of the country’s total weekend box office. Distributed by Acemaker Movieworks, “Secret Zoo” sees the story of a couple who try to save a zoo from being shut down.

LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) — Universal’s Dolittle and 1917 found out what Bad Boys will do when they come for you at the box office. Sony’s Bad Boys for Life, the third entry in the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence-led series, beat expectations and towered over the competition during the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.