China Box Office: Weekend Revenues Fall to Lowest of the Year

Selome Hailu HBO Max and Cartoon Network has greenlit and acquired several projects for their kids and family live action slate, Variety has learned exclusively. The slate includes two specials based on Mattel’s American Girl franchise and a supernatural romance starring Peyton List.The first American Girl special has the working title “American Girl: Corinne Tan,” inspired by the doll brand’s 2022 girl of the year and the first doll of Chinese descent.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefCinema box office in China fell back to the lower depths over the weekend, with just $8.9 million of revenue across a country of 1.3 billion inhabitants.Business continues to be badly hit by COVID-related closures as the disease shows signs of spread around the country, while slowly diminishing in Shanghai where there was a full lockdown that lasted many weeks.Business appeared to spike upwards a week earlier, driven by the May Day holiday. But Chinese state media reports that the Sunday to Wednesday May day period was down 82% compared with last year.The latest weekend box office total (Friday to Sunday) was the second lowest this year.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the newest timeline-altering tentpole in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, captured a huge $265 million in its international box office debut.Those mighty ticket sales represent the second-biggest opening weekend overseas in pandemic times. Sony’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” still stands as the highest-grossing COVID-era debut with $340 million internationally.The second “Doctor Strange” film, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the goatee-rocking sorcerer, generated $185 million in North America over the weekend, bringing its global tally to a massive $450 million.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterDoctor Strange and his questionably effective book of spells has summoned a blockbuster $185 million at North American movie theaters over the weekend, reaffirming the box office dominance of Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe after a shakier, pandemic-battered year for the franchise.The timeline-bending “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” represents a return to form for Disney’s MCU after COVID-era releases “Black Widow” ($80 million debut, plus $60 million on Disney Plus), “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” ($75 million debut), and “Eternals” ($71 million debut). Due to the pandemic and other extenuating circumstances, those installments failed to live up to their franchise predecessors in terms of ticket sales.

despite poor reviews.The star-studded flick, with Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Strange, is now projected to top $200 million in US sales through Sunday, well ahead of the $160 million to $180 million previously expected, according to Variety.“Dr.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the latest timeline-bending entry in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, has kicked off at the international box office, collecting $27.2 million on opening day.The film is currently playing in 20 overseas markets, including France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Korea. “Doctor Strange 2” opens in North America and several other territories on Friday.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the latest timeline-bending installment in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, looks to start the summer movie season with a sizzle.The comic book movie — the second standalone superhero adventure to spotlight Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Stephen Strange — is projected to collect a mighty $160 million to $180 million when it opens in 4,400 North American theaters over the weekend. Some box office experts believe that excitement for all things Marvel could propel the film’s three-day tally closer to $200 million.

Naman Ramachandran The latest in the Downton saga, Universal’s “Downton Abbey: A New Era” topped the U.K. and Ireland box office with £3.07 million ($3.8 million), according to numbers released by Comscore.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefTheatrical box office in mainland China enjoyed a weekend bounce over the May Day holiday and a new market leader, despite a shortage of fresh titles and mounting cinema closures.Romantic comedy “Stay With Me” was the top-scoring new release title with $8.4 million (RMB55.4 million), according to data from Artisan Gateway, a consultancy and research firm. The film about long distance relationships, distributed by Enlight Pictures, deposed “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” which had held the top spot for three previous weekends. U.S.

So many movies are coming to Netflix this summer!

$1.9 billion box office hit in the midst of record COVID-19 infection rates, it was fitting that Sony Pictures was the first studio to make its presentation at CinemaCon 2022 as Chairman/CEO Tom Rothman and his team took a victory lap after a successful winter led by “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”“What are you guys doing here? Don’t you know you’re dead? Not only merely dead but most sincerely dead?” joked Rothman to the CinemaCon attendees as he touted the $3.3 billion that Sony films have grossed at the worldwide box office.Along with the runaway success of “No Way Home,” Sony also released another Marvel hit with “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” which reached $500 million worldwide without the aid of China, while “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” and “Uncharted” also found solid success with domestic audiences. The numbers vindicate Rothman and Sony motion picture group president Josh Greenstein’s pledge at last year’s CinemaCon to commit to theatrical releasing and to be a key part of the pandemic box office rebuilding process.

Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros’ Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore crossed the $200M mark at the international box office this weekend, holding the top overseas position for the third frame in a row. The offshore session added $38.3M in 67 markets for a running total of $213.2M with worldwide at $280.3M.

Naman Ramachandran “The Lost City” and “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” led the U.K. and Ireland box office over the four-day Easter holiday weekend.Paramount’s “The Lost City,” with a star-studded cast including Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe and Brad Pitt, debuted with £2.7 million ($3.5 million) atop the box office, according to numbers released by Comscore.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChina’s theatrical box office fell to a new low over the weekend as anti-COVID restrictions forces thousands of cinemas to close. Data from consultancy Artisan Gateway showed that nationwide box office across the world’s most populous country amounted to just $10.5 million.

Refresh for latest…: It’s no secret that Warner Bros’ Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore had a less than magical opening domestically this weekend, coming after early overseas rollout began last frame. Still, offshore this weekend, the threequel was again the top movie and ranked No. 1 in 52 markets, including 41 of the 44 new openers. The overseas sophomore frame added $71.7M for a cume of $150.4M, bringing global just shy of $200M at $193.4M. In like-for-likes Dumbledore is running 38% behind the previous installment and 42% off the original.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” welcomed a boost in ticket sales at the international box office, though the third installment in the “Harry Potter” spinoff series already seems to be running out of steam.Over the weekend, “Fantastic Beasts 3” added $71.7 million from 66 foreign markets, taking the film’s international tally to $150.4 million. After debuting to a less-than-enchanting $43 million in North America, “The Secrets of Dumbledore” has collected $193.4 million to date.Along with United States and Canada, the Warner Bros.

Warner Bros/DC’s The Batman has winged its way past three-quarters of a billion dollars at the worldwide box office, maintaining its spot as the highest-grossing film of the year, globally and domestically. The worldwide cume through Sunday is $751.1M with the Matt Reeves-directed spin on the Caped Crusader counting $386.1M at the international box office and $365M in North America.