‘Jurassic’ Franchise Tops $6B Global, ‘Dominion’ At $990.4M WW – International Box Office

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Gianni Amelio’s “Lord of the Ants,” a biopic of Italian poet and playwright Aldo Braibanti, who was jailed in 1968 due to a Fascist-era anti-gay law, has reached the top spot at Italy’s box office following its launch from the Venice Film Festival. “Ants” on Monday reached the numero uno position at the local box office roster with a €483,474 ($487,000) intake from more than 300 screens following its September 8 release. While far from stellar in normal times, this result is being hailed as an encouraging sign for the country’s still sagging post-pandemic theatrical sector. Amelio’s film is now ahead of Japanese anime pic “Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo,” which was released as an event on Monday for a three day run, and “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” which is at the end of its run, following it’s Aug. 18 Italian outing.

Refresh for latest…: There was a little more excitement at the international box office this weekend, with two local movies leading the charge and a handful of new milestones for Hollywood pics.

That would give this September weekend the second-lowest total of any weekend in 2022. The only weekend with a lower amount is the weekend of Jan. 28 with $34 million.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Rolling off a banner world premiere of Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde” at the Venice Film Festival, Ana de Armas’s next stop was the Deauville Film Festival in France where she received the Hollywood Rising-Star Award on Friday (Sept. 9) in the jam-packed Palais des Congres. Attended by Dominik and the film’s producers, the ceremony was followed by the French premiere of the Netflix movie, in which de Armas delivers a riveting performance as Marilyn Monroe. De Armas, who notably starred in “Knives Out,” “No Time to Die” and “Grey Man,” succeeds Dylan Penn, Sophie Turner, Elle Fanning and Shailene Woodley as recent recipients of the Hollywood Rising Star Award.

K.J. Yossman Fresh from seeing “Elvis” become his highest-grossing film of all time in the U.K., Australian director Baz Luhrmann is set to be one of the leading speakers at this year’s Royal Television Society (RTS) conference in London, set to take place later this month. Luhrmann, who has also created series such as “The Get Down,” will be in conversation with British host Edith Bowman, discussing “the power of creativity.” Also joining the lineup are head of interactive at BBC Studios Tom Burton, Vicki Dobbs Beck, VP for immersive content at Lucasfilm and ILMxLAB, BBC technology correspondent Marc Cieslak and Jan Koeppen, president of The Walt Disney Company EMEA.

This was yet another soft weekend at the international box office with no major fresh titles and as summer fully closes out in Europe and beyond.

Neon in association with National Geographic Documentary Films said director Sara Dosa’s Fire of Love will cross $1 million at the box office this weekend, becoming the biggest documentary release of the year for combined domestic and international gross. The film opened this summer and is entering its ninth week in theaters nationally. It will stream on Disney+ later this year.

box office, there is a near-term question mark about what will happen next: Will recovery stall due to a paucity of Hollywood tentpole movies? Or will international theatrical decouple and find new drivers to maintain the momentum? The good news is that most of the international market’s top territories are now fully open and operating without significant restrictions on seating capacity. These include the U.K. and Ireland, Japan, France, Germany, Spain, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Brazil. The smaller number of territories still laboring under restrictions nevertheless include some valuable ones: China, Turkey, Argentina, Hong Kong and Russia.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Italian film industry is in a paradoxical state: production is booming but box office is bust. Italy’s five features vying for a Venice Golden Lion – plus a myriad more scattered in other Lido sections – reflect cinema Italiano’s current creative vibrancy, if you look at the cream of the crop; however, the average quality is not that great. On the plus side, the country is making a quantum leap forward in terms of the global visibility of its movies just as the number of Italian directors considered bankable in Hollywood, such as Paolo Sorrentino, Luca Guadagnino and Stefano Sollima (“Without Remorse”), to name but a few, is growing.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Italian film industry is in a paradoxical state: production is booming but box office is bust. Italy’s five features vying for a Venice Golden Lion – plus a myriad more scattered in other Lido sections – reflect cinema Italiano’s current creative vibrancy, if you look at the cream of the crop; however, the average quality is not that great. On the plus side, the country is making a quantum leap forward in terms of the global visibility of its movies just as the number of Italian directors considered bankable in Hollywood, such as Paolo Sorrentino, Luca Guadagnino and Stefano Sollima (“Without Remorse”), to name but a few, is growing.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter If three new movies debut in theaters, but nobody goes to see them… That is how Sony’s creepy thriller “The Invitation” managed to top box office charts with a paltry $7 million. Its win comes with some pretty weak bragging rights; it’s the lowest first-place finish since May 2021, when COVID was keeping people at home. Now, it’s not the pandemic that’s preventing audiences from going to theaters, it’s the lack of appealing options. Overall, the domestic box office generated just $54 million over the weekend, the worst collective result in months. And the bad times are expected to continue until at least late September or early October, when “Don’t Worry Darling” (Sept. 23), “Halloween Ends” (Oct. 14) and the comic book adaptation “Black Adam” (Oct. 21) open in theaters. It’s a disappointing finale to an otherwise strong summer at the movies, which fielded plenty of box office hits including “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” “Thor: Love and Thunder” and “Elvis.”

J. Kim Murphy In a summer that’s often seen only one new wide release in a weekend, a whopping three new films hit theaters on Friday: Sony’s horror-thriller “The Invitation,” George Miller’s “Three Thousand Years of Longing” and bank heist movie “Breaking,” starring John Boyega. However, none of them seem to be making much of an impact, as the total box office projects a sum in the $50 million to $60 million range. That wouldn’t just be the worst weekend of the summer, but also the worst since February. “The Invitation” is tracking ahead of the other two, as it looks to claim the weekend’s top spot with a meagre $6 million to $7 million gross from 3,114 locations in its opening. Critics didn’t really care for the movie — it landed a 40% approval rating from review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes — and audiences were perhaps more unenthused. The film holds a “C” grade from research firm Cinema Score, indicating a rather snoozy reception from general consumers.

“The Invitation,” a gothic horror film from Sony’s Screen Gems, made $775,000 at the box office in its Thursday night preview screenings from 2,739 locations and showings that started at 4 p.m. The film opens on more than 3,000 screens this weekend. “The Invitation” opens in a quiet week at the end of the summer and is projected for a $6 million-$7 million opening against a $10 million budget.

Dino Sofos might not be a household name in the same vein as Edinburgh TV Festival MacTaggart lecturer Emily Maitlis or former BBC North America Editor Jon Sopel, but he has had a mighty impact on the British broadcasting news landscape of late.

With no new wide Hollywood tentpole releases until October, we’re in a period of holdovers, and local titles excelling in their home markets (and beyond), while Top Gun: Maverick continues to soar and there’s a will it or won’t it question mark over Jurassic World Dominion‘s shot at getting to $1B global.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese animation film “New Gods: Yang Jian” was the top film at the mainland China box office over the latest weekend. “Minions: The Rise of Gru” opened in third place.“New Gods: Yang Jian” earned 19.8 million (RMB134 million) on its debut between Friday and Sunday, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. It places ahead of previous winner “Moon Man” which slipped from first to second place with a $17.8 million (RMB121 million) fourth weekend.

The Picturehouse release of National Geographic Documentary Films  The Territory grossed a solid $26.4K in six markets (eight screens) for a PSA of $3,308 with its climate change message attracting a broader than typical age range for a theatrical doc, especially lately, according to Picturehouse CEO Bob Berney.

Continuing its hypersonic run, Paramount/Skydance’s Top Gun: Maverick has, in its 13th weekend of release, crossed the $1.4B mark worldwide, lifting the cume to a touch over $1.403B through today.