Latest ‘Hotel Transylvania’ and ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Movies Secure China Release Dates

The biggest box office hit of the COVID era added $1.7 million this weekend in theaters to join “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Avengers: Endgame” as the only movies to hit that rare benchmark in the U.S. and Canada.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefColumbia Pictures’ 2021 horror-thriller “Escape Room: Tournament of Champions” has been given official approval to release in cinemas in mainland China. It will launch on Saturday April 2, 2022.Directed by Adam Robitel, it is the sequel to the psychological thriller “Escape Room” that terrified audiences around the world in 2019. In the new installment, six people unwittingly find themselves locked in another series of escape rooms, slowly uncovering what they have in common to survive.The film was released in many international markets and in North America in July last year.

A trio of studio movies has received China release date confirmations for next month, including new films Ambulance and The Bad Guys, as well as last summer’s Escape Room: Tournament Of Champions.

A global pandemic which closed a majority of the world’s cinemas from 2020-21 just won’t keep large format exhibitor Imax down.

The Batman remains a hit.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterRobert Pattinson’s gritty superhero adventure “The Batman” is the No. 1 movie at the domestic box office for the third weekend in a row.That feat is not surprising because March has been relatively light in terms of new releases.

“The Batman” earns its third No. 1 weekend with $10 million grossed on Friday and an estimated $39 million weekend total.

Earlier this week, “The Batman” became just the fifth Hollywood film in the past year to gross over $500 million worldwide and should pass the $300 million domestic mark and $600 million global mark by the end of this weekend. While the new COVID-19 infection surge in China has closed over 25% of theaters in that country as “The Batman” opens there, the film is still on pace to surpass the theatrical runs of “F9” and “No Time to Die” and become only the second Hollywood film to gross over $800 million since the pandemic began.

Warner Bros/DC’s The Batman has winged its way past the half a billion dollar mark worldwide to become the fourth highest-grossing studio release of the pandemic era. The global total is $505.8M through Wednesday, and there’s still plenty of gas left in the Batmobile.

After two weeks in theaters, Warner Bros./DC’s “The Batman” has passed $500 million at the global box office, with more than half of that total coming from domestic theaters. On Wednesday, “The Batman” added $5.75 million domestically, bringing its total to $258.3 million in North America and $505.8 million worldwide.

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”) to biopics (“Elvis”) to originals (“Men”) to prestige dramas (“The Fabelmans”), and this calendar will be updated frequently throughout the year to reflect the most current information. We have also denoted streaming releases where applicable.Check out our list of 2022 movies below.March 18March 25March 31April 1April 8April 15April 22April 29May 6May 13May 20May 27June 10June 17June 24June 29July 1July 8July 15July 22July 29Aug. 5Aug.

This result signifies a weekend drop of just 51%, giving “The Batman” a better second weekend hold than any of the top 5 highest grossing films of 2021; and given the film’s ability to beat projections, that hold could improve further after Sunday actuals are reported. With this blistering pace, “The Batman” stays on track to reach $400 million in North America and potentially $1 billion worldwide, having already exceeded the domestic and global runs of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” as it joins “Spider-Man: No Way Home” as the only film in the past year to top $225 million domestic.

Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania: Transformania has been granted an April 3 theatrical release date in China. Sony last summer licensed the fourth installment in the successful franchise to Amazon worldwide, but retained China rights.

China has cleared Warner Bros’ Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore for release in the market, though a date is still to be set. The WB Weibo account posted today that “magic is coming” and said, “stay tuned.” This is the third film from the studio this year to be granted access, following The Matrix Resurrections which opened in January and The Batman which is due on March 18. After a reduced number of Hollywood movies getting into the market across 2021, whether this is a trend that will continue remains a question mark.

This Much I Know to Be True, the latest feature from Andrew Dominik which recently debuted at the Berlin Film Festival, has been set for a May theatrical release by Trafalgar Releasing.

Hollywood hasn’t been the most bullish about taking an action that would dent its bottom line, but Disney today has taken the bold move of pulling its theatrical releases from Russia temporarily in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

NEW YORK -- For the eighth time in the last two and a half months, a movie starring Tom Holland is No. 1 at the box office.The Sony Pictures videogame adaptation “Uncharted," starring Holland and Mark Wahlberg, led ticket sales for its second weekend of release with $23.3 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.“Uncharted” held well, too, dropping a modest 46% from its $44 million debut.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterSony’s video game adaptation “Uncharted,” starring Tom Holland as street-smart treasure hunter Nathan Drake, had another solid showing at the international box office.Over the weekend, the PG-13 video game adaptation collected $35 million from 64 overseas territories, pushing its international tally to $143 million. With $83 million in North American ticket sales, “Uncharted” has generated $226.4 million globally so far. That haul is impressive because “Uncharted” has yet to open in China (March 14), which currently stands as the world’s biggest theatrical market.“Uncharted” continues to pull in crowds in the United Kingdom, Holland’s birthplace.