Imax Reports $60 Million in Q1 Revenue as Live Events Division Launches

Endeavor Group reported on Thursday that first-quarter revenue surged 37% from last year, as the entertainment powerhouse delivered growth from its key sports, content production and talent representation businesses.The conglomerate run by Hollywood mogul Ari Emanuel increased revenue to $1.47 billion during the first three months of the year, eclipsing the year-ago period’s $1.07 billion. Much of the growth was attributed to an economic recovery from pandemic lockdowns that sideswiped live events such as its Ultimate Fighting Championship franchise and the Super Bowl.Profit during the period rose to $517.7 million of net income, up from $2.4 million in the year-ago period when Endeavor was not a publicly-traded company.

Endeavor sales jumped 38% to nearly $1.5 billion and the company reported net income of $518 million as talent representation and live events jumped. EPS was $1.19 for the first quarter ended in March, a year after the talent agency, UFC owner and live event operator went public in an IPO.

As Russian president Vladimir Putin was preparing to address the nation Monday morning during the annual Victory Day parade commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, local television menus were reportedly hacked with program descriptions on smart TVs replaced by a message reading, “The blood of thousands of Ukrainians and hundreds of murdered children is on your hands. TV and the authorities are lying. No to war.”

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the newest timeline-altering tentpole in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, captured a huge $265 million in its international box office debut.Those mighty ticket sales represent the second-biggest opening weekend overseas in pandemic times. Sony’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” still stands as the highest-grossing COVID-era debut with $340 million internationally.The second “Doctor Strange” film, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the goatee-rocking sorcerer, generated $185 million in North America over the weekend, bringing its global tally to a massive $450 million.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterDoctor Strange and his questionably effective book of spells has summoned a blockbuster $185 million at North American movie theaters over the weekend, reaffirming the box office dominance of Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe after a shakier, pandemic-battered year for the franchise.The timeline-bending “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” represents a return to form for Disney’s MCU after COVID-era releases “Black Widow” ($80 million debut, plus $60 million on Disney Plus), “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” ($75 million debut), and “Eternals” ($71 million debut). Due to the pandemic and other extenuating circumstances, those installments failed to live up to their franchise predecessors in terms of ticket sales.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the latest timeline-bending entry in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, has kicked off at the international box office, collecting $27.2 million on opening day.The film is currently playing in 20 overseas markets, including France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Korea. “Doctor Strange 2” opens in North America and several other territories on Friday.

China and Hollywood used to seemingly have a healthy, symbiotic relationship. Hollywood released massive blockbusters in the Asian nation, they made massive bank, audiences were happy, and presumably Chinese theater owners were doing quite well for themselves, along with Hollywood often got massive box office boosts from the country.

New York Times series published Saturday.Investigative reporter Nicholas Confessore’s three-part series “American Nationalist” investigates how the right-wing host seized upon the “white fear” and white nationalism stoked by the Trump administration to rack up ratings.The series begins with selections from Carlson’s “encyclopedia of provocations,” citing his remarks about immigrants, Black Lives Matter protesters and refugees. It also dives into his ardent defense of the insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol, as well as Vladimir Putin throughout Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.An analysis of 1,150 episodes of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” revealed how Carlson has popularized “dog-whistle” terms like “legacy Americans” that had once been relegated to white nationalist publications.

Two British aid workers - one from Warrington - have been captured by Russian soldiers in Ukraine, it was reported today. The two men, both volunteer humanitarian workers, were said to have been taken by Vladimir Putin's forces while heading towards Dniprorudne in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast region of south-eastern Ukraine on Monday.

Big-screen pioneer Imax said it recorded a net non-cash provision of $6.9 million, or $0.12 per share, due to an increase in reserves given the uncertainty of collecting receivables in Russia. With the Russia-Ukraine war ongoing, sanctions and boycotts underway include all major studios pulling releases from Russia.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and Media“The Batman,” the moody re-imagining of the Bruce Wayne saga that became a box office success this spring, helped lift the earnings of Imax during the exhibition company’s first quarter. Revenues at Imax climbed 55% to $60 million for the three-month period ending in April, which the company attributed to the popularity of the comic book reboot, as well as to the appeal of some special events like the re-release of “Get Back,” a documentary about The Beatles that initially debuted on Disney +. “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” the superhero sequel that dominated the holiday box office, continued to put up impressive numbers into 2022.

The Sims, after three copies of the game auspiciously appeared at the scene of an arrest alongside Nazi paraphernalia.Yesterday (April 25), the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation reported that six people have been arrested in regards to an assassination plot. According to the Committee, the group was working with Ukrainian security services and planned to target journalist and alleged propagandist Vladimir Solovyov with a car bomb in Moscow.As reported by the New York Post, shared images of the arrest scene led to sceptics suggesting that the arrests were part of an operation to frame Ukrainian officials as Nazis, something that Russian president Vladimir Putin has repeatedly claimed since launching an invasion of Ukraine.And in these pictures from the raid we have a "Ukrainian neo-Nazi starter pack" courtesy of the FSB pic.twitter.com/5FSvpze1lG— Francis Scarr (@francska1) April 25, 2022The images in question display Nazi clothing and literature, Ukrainian passports, and – bizarrely – a copy of The Sims 3 with two physical expansions for the game.

Last week, we learned that Netflix was spending $30 million per episode on the fourth season of “Stranger Things,” which is double the costs of the final season of HBO‘s “Game of Thrones” at $15 million per and a huge jump from the $6 million price tag on the first season episodes of “Stranger Things.” That’s not the only high-priced streaming series on the way.