Korea Box Office Stages Tentative Recovery as Cinema Restrictions Ease

FRIDAY MIDDAY UPDATE: Focus Features sequel Downton Abbey: A New Era is heading toward an $18M opening after a projected $8M Friday that includes $1M in Thursday night previews.

Box office is big news this week, not so much for its totals as for its totemic significance. Throngs will greet Top Gun: Maverick, but will kids join the grownups to see a nearly 60 year-old actor starring in a sequel to a 36 year-old hit? At the other end of the audience spectrum, will seniors conquer their torpor to catch the new Downton and even lure their kids – the movie is dubiously titled Downton Abbey: A New Era to motivate the youth quadrant.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe mainland China box office remained moribund over the latest weekend, lacking direction or new releases and achieving nationwide revenue of just $11.4 million.The country is continuing to suffer from clusters of COVID infections that have caused mass lockdowns in some cities and the temporary closure of many cinemas. Even as there is now talk of easing restrictions in Shanghai, which had been locked down for five weeks, there is the prospect of new restrictions in capital city Beijing. The government has also imposed a blanket ban on all but essential overseas travel.U.S.

Roadside Attractions’ faith-based family comedy Family Camp opened to $1.42 million and is no. 9 of the top 10 ten this weekend on 854 screens. One of the strongest indie openings this year, the film saw a release campaign led by WTA Media lean heavily into the faith-based audience with strong grassroots marketing to churches and ministry organizations, an active digital and social presence and partnerships with the K-LOVE and Air1 faith-based radio networks.

Refresh for latest…: Disney/Marvel’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness is approaching $700M globally after two weekends. The worldwide cume through Sunday is now an estimated $688.1M, including $291.9M domestic and $396.2M from the international box office. The latter number will shortly pass The Batman to become the biggest overseas release of 2022.

Naman Ramachandran Disney’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Of Madness” opened atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with a mighty £19.5 million ($24.3 million), according to numbers released by Comscore.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefCinema box office in China fell back to the lower depths over the weekend, with just $8.9 million of revenue across a country of 1.3 billion inhabitants.Business continues to be badly hit by COVID-related closures as the disease shows signs of spread around the country, while slowly diminishing in Shanghai where there was a full lockdown that lasted many weeks.Business appeared to spike upwards a week earlier, driven by the May Day holiday. But Chinese state media reports that the Sunday to Wednesday May day period was down 82% compared with last year.The latest weekend box office total (Friday to Sunday) was the second lowest this year.

Audrey Diwan’s opened to an estimated $34k on four screens in NY and LA this weekend for a PTA of $8,500. The locations on both coasts — IFC Center/AMC Lincoln Square and The Landmark/AMC The Grove — while limited showed the abortion drama set in 1968 France competing successfully in commercial crossover multiplexes as well as arthouses.

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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” opened with a stunning $14.4 million debut weekend in South Korea, far in excess of any film this year at the Korean box office. Its five-day opening score was $29.1 million.Data from the Korean Film Council’s Kobis tracking service shows the film garnered an 87% market share over the weekend, as it lifted nationwide box office to pre-COVID levels for the first time in more than two years.

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.

despite poor reviews.The star-studded flick, with Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Strange, is now projected to top $200 million in US sales through Sunday, well ahead of the $160 million to $180 million previously expected, according to Variety.“Dr.

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.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the latest timeline-bending installment in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, looks to start the summer movie season with a sizzle.The comic book movie — the second standalone superhero adventure to spotlight Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Stephen Strange — is projected to collect a mighty $160 million to $180 million when it opens in 4,400 North American theaters over the weekend. Some box office experts believe that excitement for all things Marvel could propel the film’s three-day tally closer to $200 million.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefTheatrical box office in mainland China enjoyed a weekend bounce over the May Day holiday and a new market leader, despite a shortage of fresh titles and mounting cinema closures.Romantic comedy “Stay With Me” was the top-scoring new release title with $8.4 million (RMB55.4 million), according to data from Artisan Gateway, a consultancy and research firm. The film about long distance relationships, distributed by Enlight Pictures, deposed “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” which had held the top spot for three previous weekends. U.S.

$1.9 billion box office hit in the midst of record COVID-19 infection rates, it was fitting that Sony Pictures was the first studio to make its presentation at CinemaCon 2022 as Chairman/CEO Tom Rothman and his team took a victory lap after a successful winter led by “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”“What are you guys doing here? Don’t you know you’re dead? Not only merely dead but most sincerely dead?” joked Rothman to the CinemaCon attendees as he touted the $3.3 billion that Sony films have grossed at the worldwide box office.Along with the runaway success of “No Way Home,” Sony also released another Marvel hit with “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” which reached $500 million worldwide without the aid of China, while “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” and “Uncharted” also found solid success with domestic audiences. The numbers vindicate Rothman and Sony motion picture group president Josh Greenstein’s pledge at last year’s CinemaCon to commit to theatrical releasing and to be a key part of the pandemic box office rebuilding process.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefBox office in mainland China over the weekend was the lowest this year as thousands of cinemas remained closed due to the expanding COVID outbreak.Data from consultancy Artisan Gateway showed that nationwide cinema revenue between Friday and Sunday sank to just $8.2 million. That compared with $10.5 the previous weekend.“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” was again the highest grossing title, with $1.7 million (RMB11.0 million), advancing its aggregate to $17.3 million (RMB111) since release on April 8, 2022.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefCinemas in South Korea received the good news last week that anti-COVID measures, including reduced seating capacity and bans on consumption of food and drink, were to end. But audiences reacted gingerly.“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” led the box office for a second weekend with $1.63 million, a drop of 44% from its opening weekend, and a 12-day cumulative of $6.55 million.

Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros’ Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore crossed the $200M mark at the international box office this weekend, holding the top overseas position for the third frame in a row. The offshore session added $38.3M in 67 markets for a running total of $213.2M with worldwide at $280.3M.