Imax CEO Says Weekend Box Office Shows “Paradigm Shift” In Moviegoing: Revenue Jumps, Company Swings To Profit In Q2

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros.’ “Barbie” and Universal’s “Oppenheimer” continued ruling the U.K. and Ireland box office for a fourth consecutive weekend. Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” topped the charts yet again with £4.4 million ($5.6 million) for a total of £78.2 million, per numbers from Comscore.

Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, whose $375 million acquisition of Redbox closed about a year ago, delivered second-quarter financial results reflecting the company’s struggle to fully digest the deal.

Barbie and Oppenheimer are continuing to reign as “Barbenheimer.”

AMC Entertainment’s CEO Adam Aron warned that the chain risks financial peril if it can’t raise fresh cash as needed while exhibition continues its post-Covid recovery amid Hollywood strikes.

Oppenheimer is extending its run in IMAX theaters!

Ethan Shanfeld Due to popular demand, “Oppenheimer” has extended its 70mm run at Imax theaters nationwide through the end of August. The previous end date, which was already an extension of the film’s original run in Imax 70mm format, was Aug. 17.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Meg 2: The Trench,” the second instalment in the Chinese-financed giant shark franchise, was the top film worldwide over the weekend. But in its China home market “Meg 2” was beaten by strong previews of “No More Bets.” Nevertheless, the arrival of two popular films at the top of the chart meant that China enjoyed its third highest box office weekend of the year, with a $185 million haul. That score is the strongest weekend of 2023 outside the Chinese New Year holiday season.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Ryu Seung-wan’s female-led crime caper “Smugglers” topped the South Korean box office for a second weekend, ahead of new release title “Ransomed.” “Smugglers” enjoyed a strong hold in its second weekend of release and commanded 42% market share. It delivered $7.09 million, a drop of only 20% on its opening weekend, giving a 12-day cumulative of $26.2 million, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).

Meg 2: The Trench is out now, and the numbers are in!

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Amazon CEO Andy Jassy enthused about the potential of generative AI technology to cut costs and create brand-new user experiences — saying every team in the company is working on multiple projects in the area, including in its entertainment business. On the tech giant’s second-quarter earnings call Thursday, Jassy said, “Inside Amazon, every one of our teams is working on building generative AI applications that reinvent and enhance their customers’ experience.” That includes multiple projects in its entertainment business, AWS, its advertising business and in Amazon’s devices business: “You can just imagine what we’re working on with respect to Alexa there.” Generative AI refers to a type of artificial-intelligence technology that can create new text, images, videos or synthetic data based on massive data sets.

There’s no stopping Warner Bros. Barbie as sources tell us the Greta Gerwig movie has a shot at hitting the billion mark this Sunday worldwide, if not Monday. Stateside she’s eyeing a third weekend around $55M, -41%, give or take, and she’ll cross the $400M stateside mark by Thursday, her 15th day of release.

Marcus Corp. CEO Greg Marcus insisted today that dual Hollywood strikes are nowhere near as threatening to exhibition as Covid was amid hand-wringing that a second massive hit to movie theaters is unfolding.

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros.’ “Barbie” and Universal’s “Oppenheimer” continued their domination of the U.K. and Ireland box office with a combined £21.4 million ($27.3 million) after their second weekend, per numbers from Comscore. Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” topped the charts for the second week in a row with £13.2 million, and now has a total of £47.9 million.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms,” the first part of Wuershan’s big-budget “Fengshen Trilogy,” topped the mainland China box office for the second weekend and expanded its week-on-week haul by 35%. ‘Barbie’ also showed signs of resilience in a market where it opened a week earlier in a disappointing fifth place. “Creation of the Gods I” grossed $57.6 million.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief There is female empowerment in Korean cinemas, but it is coming more from local characters, than global hit “Barbie.” Female-led crime action film “Smugglers” dominated the weekend at the South Korean box office and pushed aside “Mission: impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” which had headed the chart for the previous two sessions. “Smugglers” earned $9.31 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic), giving it a nearly 54% market share. Over its full five opening days, the film has built up a cumulative total of $13.1 million.

The Barbenheimer hype continues.

Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz said last weekend’s blockbuster release of Barbie – the toymaker’s first-ever major theatrical film – is a moment that “will be remembered as a key milestone in our company’s history.” His comments came amid second-quarter numbers in line with Wall Street forecasts.

CEO Adam Aron said a court ruling Friday that makes it harder for AMC Entertainment to raise cash has serious implications for the circuit’s financial stability — a blowout ‘Barbenheimer’ weekend at the box office and surging share price notwithstanding.

AMC Entertainment set a new post-Covid record for global admissions revenue this past weekend with Barbie and Oppenheimer leading a charge that drew 7.8 million moviegoers to theaters.

Barbie‘s historic opening weekend at the box office proves we’re all living in Barbieland.