‘Fear’, ‘Infinity Pool’, ‘Skinamarink’ Scare Up Cash In Indie Horror Bonanza – Specialty Box Office

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount and Spyglass Media’s Scream VI hit tracking today with what looks to be a franchise opening record of $37M stateside. The previous highest opening for a Scream movie was Scream 3 back in 2000 which debuted to $34.7M stateside.

The tentpole drought, created by the pandemic’s post-production logjam, is officially over this weekend as Disney and Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania opens the flood gates on what is a consisted flow of event movies from this Friday until early September.

Broadway continued filling seats last week as the annual deep-discount Broadway Week promotion (actually three weeks) came to a close. Total receipts for the 21 productions tallied to $23,064,393, with attendance of 192,323 at 95% of capacity.

Utopia opened Clay Tatum and Whitmer Thomas’ slacker comedy The Civil Dead, the feature debut from the lifelong friends from Gulf Shores, Alabama who have been making projects together — from skateboarding videos to an HBO special — since grade school. It’s grossed $17k so far on 27 screens including a sneak-preview Q&A tour at Alamo Drafthouse locations in NY, LA, San Francisco, Denver and Austin that started last week. The five Alamos sold out a dozen screenings and have grossed $10K of the $17k for the 2022 Slamdance Audience Award winner, which that was made for $30k.

In both a noble gesture toward exhibition after the studio’s Project Popcorn, and in a means to monetize downstream revenues, Warner Bros is taking what was a HBO Max movie, Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike’s Last Dance, and putting into 1,500 theatrical locations this weekend. That’s with a thrifty marketing spend. It’s the second movie after New Line’s House Party ($8.8M)whereby Warners has reversed engineered a streaming release for the big screen. Meanwhile, Paramount, is building off the heat of James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, with a 25th anniversary 3D re-issue of the filmmaker’s Oscar winning 1997 title, Titanic. There’s two arguments to be made that either could notch No. 1: Titanic apparently tracking better than the fall re-issue of Avatar ($10.5M opening) with a shot at double digits in 2,400 theaters and the Channing Tatum-Salma Hayek Pinault threequel also having a potential $10M debut with the chance for more heading into Valentine’s Day Tuesday.

EXCLUSIVE: Arthouse streamer and distributor Mubi has traditionally been shy about revealing performance numbers for its movies, but today we can reveal that BAFTA and Oscar hopeful Aftersun has become the company’s most streamed release globally.

Discounts, winter promotions, benefit performances and the absence from the roster of now-closed solid earner The Piano Lesson added up to a slide in Broadway box office for the week ending Feb. 5, down about 9% from the previous week to $23,518,702.

Continuing its powerhouse run at worldwide turnstiles, Shah Rukh Khan espionage actioner Pathaan has topped the global box office century mark, getting there in 12 days on Sunday and now with $103.6M through Monday. It is the first Bollywood movie to the $100M milestone without a China release.

K-Pop legend BTS may be on hiatus but fans are decidedly not. Concert film BTS: Yet To Come hit no. 5 at the North American Box office this weekend with $5.1 million on 1,100+ screens, for a cume topping $7.8 million from the first showing Feb. 1.

Refresh for latest…: James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has overtaken the filmmaker’s own Titanic at the international box office with an estimated $1.538B through Sunday. That makes it the No. 3 movie of all time abroad, behind the original Avatar and Avengers: Endgame.

Universal’s M. Night Shyamalan R-rated thriller Knock at the Cabin opened its doors last night to $1.45 million in previews off showtimes that began at 5 p.m. That number is just under the preview figure of Shyamalan‘s Old, which did $1.5M before a $16.8M opening. Knock at the Cabin‘s previews makes sense as the tracking outlook for the movie is between $15M-$17M at 3,643 theaters. It also has the fuel from PLF and Dolby ticketing. The pic cost $20M before P&A.

Production spend in the UK high-end TV (HETV) and film industries reached a record £6.3BN ($7.8BN) in 2022, BFI statistics released today reveal.

After reigning over the weekend box office for the last seven weekends, 20th Century Studios/Disney/Lightstorm’s 4x Oscar nominated Avatar: The Way of Water will cede No. 1 to Universal’s M. Night Shyamalan thriller Knock at the Cabin which is set to do $15M-$17M per tracking sources at 3,600 theaters.

Just a couple of weeks ago, the folks at Sundance were startled by Brandon Cronenberg’s “Infinity Pool.” Not only is it another mind-bending feature from one of the most experimental, somewhat mainstream filmmakers working today, but he surprised everyone with an NC-17 cut of the film. This is a different version than what was just released this past weekend in theaters, which carried a more typical R rating.

Just a couple of weeks ago, the folks at Sundance were startled by Brandon Cronenberg’s “Infinity Pool.” Not only is it another mind-bending feature from one of the most experimental, somewhat mainstream filmmakers working today, but he surprised everyone with an NC-17 cut of the film. This is a different version than what was just released this past weekend in theaters, which carried a more typical R rating.

Major spoilers for “Infinity Pool” follow; if you haven’t seen the movie do not read further.One night James and Em decide to take a trip outside the confines of the cushy resort. Guests are warned not to leave the hotel grounds as the country is dangerous and unpredictable.

Neon and Topic Studios present writer/director Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool at 1,835 theaters in a lively specialty weekend sandwiched between a new crop of Sundance films and noteworthy expansions in the glow of Oscar nominations.

EXCLUSIVE: Fast-rising filmmakers Travon Free and Martin Roe have signed with CAA for representation, at the same time announcing the Paramount Pictures film Razorblade Tears, based on the New York Times bestselling novel by S.A. Cosby, as their next project.

Not yet thirty years old, Mia Goth has already collaborated with several world-renowned filmmakers for her willingness to follow their most demented muses. Her girlish appearance strikes a shocking contrast with the atrocity exhibitions that she gravitates toward: eagerly taking to sexual grooming in Lars Von Trier’s “Nymphomaniac;” undergoing forcible insemination and grisly spaghettification with Claire Denis in “High Life;” becoming an insane asylum’s incestuous princess for Gore Verbinski in “A Cure for Wellness;” witnessing her own disembowelment as part of the orgiastic blood ritual Luca Guadagnino that’s the grand finale to “Suspiria;” manifesting a century of madness for Ti West’s in-progress trio of period pieces of “X,” “Pearl,” and the upcoming “Maxxxine.” And so it’s no surprise that Goth’s latest outing is another twisted affair: Brandon Cronenberg‘s “Infinity Pool,” which takes place at a Mediterranean beach resort that hides a violent and depraved sub-culture.

With a slimmed-down roster and many productions offering 2 for 1 tickets during the annual Broadway Week promotion, Broadway box office was down 24% for the week ending January 22, with the 23-show total at $25,835,362. Attendance of 204,847 was off 17% from the previous week when 29 shows were on the boards.