‘Earwig And The Witch’ Hits Theaters, ‘Supernova’ Stays Afloat – Specialty Box Office

As the weeks go by and the pandemic begins to lift at a very, very glacial pace we are hearing some more coins drop into the bank of the specialty box office space.

WrapPRO, indie and specialty films can no longer rely on the traditional four-screen platform release in New York and Los Angeles to kick off an awards contender’s theatrical run as both cities have had traditional theaters closed for nearly a year.

System of a Down is a renowned, Grammy-winning hard rock band, but the new Garin Hovannisian-directed documentary Truth To Power at Oscilloscope Laboratories shows a different side of them — specifically putting the spotlight on the band’s frontman, Serj Tankian.

On Wednesday, Chinese New Year box office achieved yet another new milestone with grosses for the holiday period growing to an estimated RMB 7.78B ($1.2B). This beats the previous all-time high set during the comparable 2019 holiday (RMB 5.9B). China often outdoes itself, but the fact that 2021’s Lunar New Year frame came with Covid capacity restrictions makes the performance even more staggering.

Shares in Imax surged after China's Lunar New Year holiday propelled tentpoles like Detective Chinatown 3 and Hi, Mom to blowout box office performances. Market analysts and beleaguered North American exhibitors are watching China's holiday opening weekend this year for signs of an eventual full recovery globally from the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the specialty box office space continues to navigate the digital VOD and day and date waters, numbers are trickling in but, again, they don’t necessarily give a solid reflection of a film’s box office performance as they did in the before-times (aka pre-Covid). On this President’s Day holiday weekend, award season faves like A24’s Minari dropped in approximately 61 markets before heading to PVOD on February 26 while Sony Pictures’ French Exit had a very limited theatrical run.

Street food long has been a key part of Los Angeles culture, in the past decade or so manifesting in a boom of food trucks surrounding office buildings by day and spots like Venice's Abbot Kinney Boulevard by night. Kogi's Roy Choi often has been credited as a leader of the food truck revolution since launching his Korean-Mexican fusion operation in 2008; 12 years later, he has watched as the industry took a profound hit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rebecca Davis editorChina made history this weekend with record sales of nearly $775 million (RMB50 billion) within the first three days of the Chinese New Year holiday, led by an incredible $424 million (RMB2.74 billion) debut from “Detective Chinatown 3.”This marked the first time the country’s national box office has ever broken RMB1 billion ($155 million) a day for three consecutive days, a feat achieved despite caps on max theater capacity at 75% in most of the country and 50% in areas

“My plan was to die before the money ran out” has become the anthem and tagline of the Sony Pictures Classics’ French Exit starring Michelle Pfeiffer as a 60-year-old penniless Manhattan socialite — a role that has been earning her plenty of awards season buzz.

China's comedy tentpole Detective Chinatown 3 is already doing gangbusters business ahead of its release on Friday, the first day of the lucrative Lunar New Year holiday in the country. The wildly anticipated franchise sequel has earned $85 million (RMB 548 million) in advance ticket sales, according to Artisan Gateway, which means Avengers: Endgame's all-time China presales sales record of $95.5 million (RMB 615.3 million) is well within striking distance.

Super Bowl weekend has historically been a slow weekend for the box office, but COVID-19 has made it slower than ever as only two films, Warner Bros.’ “The Little Things” and Universal/DreamWorks’ “The Croods: A New Age” grossed over $1 million this weekend.“The Little Things” will stay No. 1 in its second weekend with $2.1 million grossed in its second weekend for a 10-day total of $7.7 million.

The Little Things is still on top!

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorStudio Ghibli has been making animated features for over four decades since being co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki, director of “My Neighbor Totoro” and the Academy Award-winning “Spirited Away.”The studio’s latest release is “Earwig and the Witch” now streaming on HBO Max, and an awards contender for animated feature. The story is based on the children’s book of the same name by Dianna Wynne Jones.

The Studio Ghibli faithful will unlikely be swept away by Earwig and the Witch (definitely not to be confused with Hedwig and the Angry Inch), a pronounced departure from tradition that proves dispiritingly generic in both appearance and tone.

Harry Macqueen’s Supernova opened in 330 theaters this weekend, bringing some warmth to the specialty box office space. The Bleecker Street drama starring Colin Firth and Stanely Tucci is garnering tons of awards season buzz and has added some fuel to the specialty fire that has been struggling to stay afloat for almost a year.

Holdover play continued to dominate the international box office this weekend, notably Disney/Pixar’s Soul which led the frame with $9.3M in 13 markets amid scant drops in both Russia and Korea. This brings the offshore total to $85.2M.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticErica Wigg, the main character of Goro Miyazaki’s made-for-TV feature “Earwig and the Witch,” is both a brat and an orphan. Those two traits seldom go together in children’s stories, and the combination provides a modest starting point for this intermittently amusing CG entry from Studio Ghibli — back in business but a shadow of its former glory.

Harry Macqueen’s drama Supernova is one of many films this weekend that will open in theaters before hitting a digital platform — this seems to be a new trend.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe Brussels-based International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), which represents European cinema’s main trade associations, is launching an appeal for more government support to face an estimated 70.6% drop in total 2020 box office grosses across Europe, which it says accounts for a loss of €6.2 billion ($7.5 billion) in theatrical revenues compared to 2019.“National governments and European institutions have introduced various support schemes since the start

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefBox office in Australia fell by 69% in 2020 as the coronavirus outbreak forced cinema closures, capacity restrictions, the postponement of film releases and public health concerns about attending theatres.Data published on Thursday by the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia showed nationwide annual revenues slumped from A$1.23 billion($937 million) in 2019 to just A$401 million ($306 million) in 2020.