‘Godzilla Minus One’ broke box office records

Timothée Chalamet‘s Wonka has topped the global box office.The musical prequel directed by Paul King pulled in a whopping $92.6million (£73.1million) over the weekend, topping the box office in 60 of its 77 international markets, according to Screen Daily. Its worldwide total currently stands at $150million (£118.4million).In the US, it made its debut pulling in $39million (£30.8million) over the weekend to top the box office and enjoyed strong openings in France at $5.1million (£4million) and Australia $4million (£3.2million).The UK/Ireland leads the international pack with $23.2million (£18.3million) after 10 days, ahead of Mexico with $11.2million (£8.3million).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese-made crime drama, “Endless Journey” opened on top of the mainland China box office on a weekend with three new releases in the top five. The Wanda Pictures and Alibaba title earned $20.5 million (RMB146 million) between Friday and Sunday, its official opening weekend, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. Together with previews from the week earlier, it ended the weekend with a cumulative total of $34.5 million (RMB245 million).

Refresh for latest…: After opening early in 37 international box office markets last weekend, Warner Bros/Village Roadshow/Heyday Films’ Wonka expanded its release this session to the rest of the world (save Korea which goes in late January). The results are sweet.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Fact-based action drama “12.12: The Day” won a fourth weekend at the South Korea box office and became the second highest grossing film of the year. The political thriller incurred a steep week-on-week drop in takings, managing only $5.89 million in its fourth weekend, compared with $11.4 million in its third. But it still hogged a 72% market share, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). After releasing on Nov.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.The musical fantasy, which tells the story of the fictional proprietor in the 1964 Roald Dahl novel “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” stars Timothée Chalamet in the titular role. The Post said the actor exudes “impish charm and oddball quirks” and the film “delivers not so much a world of pure imagination as a land of constant cuteness.”The flick reportedly cost $125 million to make, so will have to earn double its budget, $250 million, to be deemed a box office success, according to Screen Rant.

Madonna’s “Celebration Tour” has lived up to its name — in honor of her 40th anniversary in music — one of the most fun parts has been seeing which surprise guest will take the judge’s seat alongside the Queen of Pop during “Vogue.”Since the tour opened in October at the O2 Arena in London, so far everyone from her oldest children Lourdes Leon and Rocco Ritchie to designers Donatella Versace and Jean Paul Gaultier to FKA Twigs and M’s longtime friend Debi Mazar has taken that seat of honor during the ballroom scene. And to kick off the US leg of her tour at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on Wednesday night, Madonna could’ve certainly had her pick of celebs to bring it back to where it all began, in New York.

In the words of the poet Buck Dharma “Oh no, they say he’s got to go. Go go Godzilla, yeah.” However, despite this protestation, Godzilla seems to be going nowhere. Gearing up for their 70th anniversary next year, Godzilla has been a constant presence for the last 10 years since his Hollywood revival in the Monsterverse. That cinematic universe alone has had 4 cinematic entries, and a series currently streaming on Apple TV+. There’s also been 3 animated movies for Netflix and an animated series. But as any true Godzilla fan will tell you, nothing quite beats a feature from the team at Toho. 2016 saw Shin Godzilla impress audiences with its satire and political commentary, detailing how the appearance of a giant monster might go down. 7 years later Toho have decided to hit reset once again for this stand-alone entry.

Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance‘ concert film has suffered a sharp drop at the US box office over a week after its release.Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé – which documents the singer’s recent tour of the same name – initially topped the US domestic box office following its release on December 1.However, the film has now fallen to fifth place after earning $5million (£3.98million) in its second weekend, a 77 per cent drop, taking its total US haul to $28million (£22million), and $33million (£26million) globally.It comes after Renaissance initially stormed the US box office, taking in $21million (£16million) in North America in its opening weekend. However, it fell short of Taylor Swift‘s recent Eras Tour film, which made $92.8million (£73.9million) in its opening weekend and took $250million (£199million) globally across its run.Beyoncé partnered with AMC Theatres to distribute the film, much like Swift, meaning each will reportedly earn 50 per cent of ticket sales.

Barry M. Bloom The long wait for Shohei Ohtani to end his free agency is over.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.The Japanese animated fantasy, which The Washington Post called a “magical, otherworldly tale,” is expected to enjoy a $10.7 to 12 million opening weekend, Deadline reported.It is the only entirely foreign film to lead the weekend box office this year, the first since August 2022’s “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.”In second place was “Godzilla Minus One,” with a $2.25 million take. The film, which is the 37th in the Godzilla franchise, now holds the title ofBiggest Single-Day Domestic Box Office For A Foreign Live-Action Film, according to Screen Rant.Queen Bey was dethroned this week as Beyoncé’s film, which was in first place last week, fell down to third.Her documentary concert movie “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé” took injust $1.6 million, a drop of 75% since last Friday.“Trolls Band Together,” which debuted on Nov.

J. Kim Murphy Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” looks to soar atop domestic charts this weekend after earning about $5.4 million across Friday and various preview screenings. Playing in 2,205 theaters, the GKids release has the benefit of Imax and other premium large format auditoriums to boost those numbers.

Yorgos Lanthimos’ Venice Golden Lion Winner Poor Things is here with Searchlight Pictures sewing up nine theaters in four major markets for leg one of the Emma Stone-starring surreal-period-comedy-horror.

After one Japanese title delivered at the sleepy December box office last weekend, that being Godzilla Minus One, here’s another that’s set to dominate: Studio Ghibli and GKIDS’ Hayao Miyazaki‘s The Boy and the Heron which is looking at a No. 1 lead with $10M+ after $2.39M Thursday and early access previews.

J. Kim Murphy Ellen Holly, a stage and screen actor who became the first Black star of a daytime television series with her role as Carla Gray in ABC’s soap opera “One Life to Live,” died Wednesday at Cavalry Hospital in the Bronx, N.Y. She was 92.

Ellen Holly, the first Black person to star in a soap opera with her lead role on One Life to Live, died Wednesday at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx, N.Y. She was 92 and died in her sleep.

It only hit US theaters last weekend, but “Godzilla Minus One” is the talk of the industry right now, with some critics considering it a landmark blockbuster and one of the best “Godzilla” movies ever made. That’s high praise for director Takashi Yamazaki, who now has significant crossover appeal after a long tenure in the Japanese film industry.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor London-based international documentary sales and production outfit Dogwoof has boarded world sales for Shiori Ito’s feature documentary, “Black Box Diaries,” which will receive its world premiere in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. The film follows director and journalist Ito’s courageous investigation of her own sexual assault in an improbable attempt to prosecute her high-profile offender.

Godzilla Minus One, now at $14.36 million at the box office, has stomped into a record — it’s now the highest grossing live-action Japanese film in North America. This follows an opening weekend that marked the biggest Stateside debut of a foreign film this year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Leading Japanese publishing house Kodansha has struck a deal with new production company Majestic Limited for a feature film adaptation of its “Origin” comic. Created by Boichi (“Dr. Stone,” “Sun-Ken Rock”), a renown Korean manga artist (real name Park Mu-jik) who is based in Japan, “Origin” is set in a near-future where humanity has achieved incredible advancements in technology and robotics. It tells a story of self-discovery, morality, and what it means to be human. Winning the grand prize for manga at the 22nd Japan Media Arts Festival and currently only printed abroad, the English translation of “Origin” hit U.S.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Political drama thriller “12.12: The Day” dominated the South Korean box office for a second weekend with a $13 million haul. Its second weekend outing topped its first session, when it earned $11.2 million, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). And the film (aka “Seoul Spring”) increased its share of the weekend’s total cinema market to a crushing 81%. Separately, ComScore calculated that the film’s single country receipts made it the seventh highest grossing film in the world over the weekend. After two weekends on release, “12.12: The Day” has garnered $34.2 million, making it already the sixth ranking film in Korea this year and the third biggest Korean-produced picture.