Constantin Film CEO Reflects on Box Office Successes, Current Challenges and New Productions

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefStudiocanal will launch rights sales at Cannes on “Kangaroo,” the first Australia-New Zealand production from the local arm of the French film and TV group Canal Plus. The film is inspired by the real-life story of The Kangaroo Sanctuary founder Chris ‘Brolga’ Barns, who has been saving and raising baby kangaroos in Central Australia since 2005.The narrative is shaped as a heart-warming family comedy about a down-on-his-luck pro surfer who becomes stranded in an Outback town after a car accident.

Audrey Diwan’s opened to an estimated $34k on four screens in NY and LA this weekend for a PTA of $8,500. The locations on both coasts — IFC Center/AMC Lincoln Square and The Landmark/AMC The Grove — while limited showed the abortion drama set in 1968 France competing successfully in commercial crossover multiplexes as well as arthouses.

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.

Audrey Diwan’s Happening launched New Directors/New Films in April, mesmerizing viewers with the story of a brilliant literature student from a working-class background seeking an abortion to keep her life from derailing. In 1963 France the procedure was illegal. The suspense builds with each week a new chapter title as she seeks help from doctors, friends, the boy she slept with, and her body continue to change. Everyone backs away, judgmental, terrified of being thrown in prison for helping, or both.

Naman Ramachandran The total U.K. and Ireland box office in April this year was £96.9 million ($119.2 million), according to numbers for the month released by Comscore.At this time in 2021, indoor cinemas remained closed due to the second nationwide lockdown, except for Guernsey and the Isle of Man, re-opening on May 17 in England and Scotland. Compared to the first four months of pre-pandemic 2019, 2022 is running 27% behind.“Sonic The Hedgehog 2” is the No.1 film of April, grossing £22.8 million, and is the fourth-highest grossing film of the year so far.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaThis sorcerer still reigns supreme.Disney and Marvel’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” earned a formidable $36 million in Thursday previews, setting the stage for what could be a massive $175 million-plus debut this weekend. This ranks as the eighth largest preview performance ever, behind “Avengers: Infinity War’s” $39 million in 2018.

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.

Refresh for latest…: Disney/Marvel’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness began offshore release on Wednesday in 20 markets and is already doing some crazy numbers. With $27.2M through yesterday, the first-day overall results are only 4% below Spider-Man: No Way Home and a staggering 153% ahead of the original 2016 Doctor Strange, as well as 210% ahead of The Batman on a like-for-like basis at today’s rates.

EXCLUSIVE: Christopher Eccleston (The Leftovers) has signed on to star alongside Daisy Ridley, Tilda Cobham-Hervey and Stephen Graham in Disney+’s upcoming film Young Woman and the Sea, from Kon-Tiki director Joachim Rønning, which is currently in production.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItaly’s Culture Minister Enrico Franceschini has announced plans to widen the window between a movie’s theatrical release date and the time it can drop locally on a streaming platform.The move comes after producers and distributors sounded alarm bells about their struggle to get audiences back into movie theaters.Speaking to the Italian industry gathered in Rome’s presidential Quirinale Palace ahead of the David di Donatello Awards — the country’s top prizes being held on Tuesday — the minister vowed to put in place new windowing regulations that will replace the current 90-day window established in March.He did not specify how wide Italy’s new window will be. RAI Cinema chief Paolo Del Brocco and Giampaolo Letta, who heads Mediaset’s Medusa film unit, over the weekend launched a joint appeal in newspaper Corriere della Sera lamenting that Italy lags behind other top European territories in terms of post-pandemic box office recovery and urging the government to come to the rescue.The two top Italian industry execs noted that Italy is the only major European territory where box office in 2021 was was down, compared with 2020.The Italian industry has been contending with the harsh fact that the county’s box office in 2021 plunged more than 50%, compared to the average annual recent pre-pandemic intake, to €170 million ($192 million) in grosses for the year and 25 million admissions.

The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Top Chef and Below Deck are the among the shows that are getting a streaming move from Hulu to Peacock.

Vortex — which opened this weekend to a full house at NYC’s IFC Center — has an unusual star, Dario Argento. Here’s how the film’s helmer Gaspar Noe convinced the iconic Italian horror movie director into his first lead acting role.

Refresh for latest…: On a weekend we could term “the calm before the Strange,” there was nevertheless sustained holdover business at the international box office, and a new entry in the form of Universal/Focus’ Downton Abbey: A New Era.

), “BARDO” will enjoy a theatrical release on a global scale later this year including in Mexico, its country of origin, as well as the US, Canada, UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Japan and Korea, among many more before debuting on Netflix.Iñàrritu previously worked with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki on his last two films to Oscar-winning effect.“BARDO” stars Daniel Giménez Cacho and Griselda Siciliani. In addition to Khondji, the film features a below-the-line team that includes production design by the Oscar-winning Mexican designer Eugenio Caballero (“Pan’s Labyrinth”) and costume design by Anna Terrazas (“ROMA”).Netflix previously released noteworthy titles like Alfonso Cuaron’s “ROMA,” Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” and Adam McKay’s “Don’t Look Up” in theaters before the films were available to stream on Netflix, and for Iñárritu’s first Netflix feature it appears he’s being given a similar rollout strategy – although it’s unclear if “BARDO” will have an exclusive theatrical window or if the film will release on streaming and in theaters on the same day.This is Iñárritu’s first film since 2015’s “The Revenant,” which earned him a Best Director Oscar on the heels of 2014’s “Birdman” which won Best Director, Picture and Original Screenplay.

Apple Original Films has landed an untitled feature film about the life of beloved actor and advocate Michael J. Fox, from Oscar-winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim. The film is currently in production in New York, Los Angeles and Vancouver.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorXTR, the award-winning nonfiction company behind “They Call Me Magic” on Apple TV Plus and the Oscar-nominated “Ascension,” announced its acquisition of a 30,000 square-foot studio located off Sunset Boulevard in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, just west of downtown.The new XTR Studios space includes production and post-production facilities, a sound stage, recording studio and offices. The acquisition represents a key milestone for the documentary industry as audience growth and business catch up to narrative.“This is an incredible time for documentaries where there is more demand than ever before.

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.

NEW YORK -- Film Foundation, the nonprofit founded by Martin Scorsese dedicated to film preservation, is launching a virtual theater to stream classic films free of charge.The film organization announced Friday that the Film Foundation Restoration Screening Room will launch May 9 with the presentation of “I Know Where I'm Going!,” Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's Scotland-set romance, recently restored by the Film Foundation and the British Film Institute's National Archive.The screening room will present films in a live-event manner, with movies playing at a specific time and accompanied by introductions and conversations. “I Know Where I’m Going!” will be available for a 24-hour window.“We’re looking forward to making these beautiful restorations available to a wide audience,” Scorsese, Film Foundation founder and chair, said in a statement.

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.