Global box office recovery still hobbled by pandemic, despite 2021 gains

Following last year’s cancelation and this year’s postponements, the annual CineEurope convention kicks off today in Barcelona. And what better time for studios and overseas exhibition to come together and celebrate the theatrical experience as we come off of a banner international box office weekend led by MGM/Eon/Universal’s lively launch of No Time To Die.

Not only that, but it also exceeds the $80 million opening of the first “Venom” in 2018, putting it on course to join “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” as the second post-shutdown film to reach $200 million domestic. Premium formats like IMAX were also a major factor behind the new pandemic era record, as Premium Large Formats accounted for 23% of the weekend gross.

China’s ‘The Battle at Lake Changjin’ was the highest grossing film anywhere in the world over the past weekend, with a $203 million haul.That score was fractionally lower than the combined total earned by “No Time to Die” ($119 million in international markets) and by “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” ($90.2 million in North America).The film was the far away winner in mainland China, where it was released on Thursday, a day ahead of the National Day holiday.

Of course, the biggest market for the film is Bond’s homeland of the UK, where the film has set a pandemic era record with an estimated $34.8 million 4-day opening from 772 locations, the country’s widest release ever.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is a hit!

Not only that, it also exceeds the $80 million opening of the first “Venom” in 2018, putting it on course to join “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” as the second post-shutdown film to reach $200 million domestic. Premium formats like IMAX were also a major factor behind the new pandemic era record as 64% of tickets sold were premium tickets, bumping up the film’s performance.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Venom: Let There be Carnage” roared to $90 million in its debut, setting a new pandemic record.

James Bond film No Time To Die has landed the biggest opening day at the UK box office in the pandemic era.According to estimates from producers at Universal (via Daily Mail), the long-delayed film made between £4.5million and £5m on its first day at the box office on Thursday (September 30).These first day ticket sales are 13% higher than the last Bond film, 2015’s Spectre, but 26% lower than Skyfall (2012).As Deadline reports, the film is estimated to make an £83m ($113m) bow at the

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefJames Bond franchise film “No Time to Die” opened in top spot at the box office in South Korea on Wednesday. But the opening score on its commercial debut won’t require a rewrite of the local record books.The film earned $663,000 (KRW785 million) from 104,000 ticket sales, according to data from the Kobis box office service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterFollowing a quiet stretch at the domestic box office, Sony’s comic book sequel “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” looks to make some noise. The film opens in theaters on Friday after five delays, something of a pandemic-record.Directed by Andy Serkis and starring Tom Hardy as an otherworldly lethal protector, the superhero movie is estimated to collect at least $50 million in its opening weekend.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterAfter a longer wait than he may have hoped, James Bond is finally returning to the big screen. For beleaguered movie theaters across the globe, it’s not a minute too soon.“No Time to Die,” the latest entry in the British spy series, is expected to ignite the international box office and generate at least $90 million over the weekend.

It has been a long time coming, but this week, one of the most hotly awaited films of the pandemic era is finally hitting cinemas after several Covid-induced date changes. MGM/Eon/Universal’s No Time to Die begins rollout at the international box office starting Wednesday (September 29) in Korea and adds such majors as the UK, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico and Spain through Friday, October 1.

Ellise Shafer administratorIt’s official: “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” has surpassed fellow Marvel film “Black Widow” as the highest-grossing film of 2021 and the pandemic at the domestic box office.On Friday, the superhero adventure starring Simu Liu captured $3.59 million from 3,952 theaters, which was enough to push it past “Black Widow” with a total gross of $186.7 million.

In third this weekend is 20th Century’s “Free Guy” with $4 million in its seventh weekend, giving it a total of $114 million. Universal/MGM’s “Candyman” is fourth with $2.46 million in its fifth weekend and a $56.8 million total, and Warner Bros.’ “Cry Macho” is No.

New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. finally brought the “Mortal Kombat” franchise back to the big screen with a hard-reboot produced by James Wan and director Simon McQuoid.

Warner Bros/Legendary Pictures’ sci-fi epic Dune is starting early rollout this weekend, looking to capitalize on momentum coming off of its star-packed world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, which was followed by an event at Paris’ Grand Rex cinema and screenings in Deauville and Toronto — all in just the past two weeks.

The worldwide box office for 2021 is projected to come in at $20.2B, 52% down on the record-breaking 2019 and 68% above the pandemic-hobbled 2020, says a new report from Gower Street Analytics. The London-based film tech company, which specializes in predictive box office for the distribution and exhibition sectors, calculated the end-of-year estimate following its assessment that global box office had matched 2020’s total results by the close of last month.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefGlobal box office this year overtook 2020’s COVID-stricken total of $12 billion at the end of August. It is now forecast to reach $20.2 billion in 2021, according to analysis firm Gower Street Analytics.The good news is that would represent a 68% rebound compared with last year.