Romania’s Film Industry Reaches a ‘Turning Point,’ Backed by Box Office Success: ‘This Is a Completely Different Beast’

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese mystery drama “Lost in the Stars” expanded in its second week on release and gave China its third biggest box office weekend of the year. The film earned $117 million, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. That was significantly up from its opening weekend of $70.7 million (RMB502 million) a week earlier and enough to make it the second biggest film on the planet, behind “Indiana Jones,” according to Comscore. After two weekends on release, it has accumulated $320 million. “Lost in the Stars” is a Chinese adaptation of a 1990 Russian movie “A Trap for the Lonely Man,” which itself was adapted from a Robert Thomas stage play. It sees a woman disappear while on an overseas trip with her husband. Just as mysteriously, she reappears at the moment that the search for her is running out of steam. But the man refuses to accept that she is the same woman and believes that she is an imposter.

Fans of The Name of The Rose author Umberto Eco turned out in NYC, boosting the documentary on medieval scholar turned novelist and social commentator to over $9.1k on one screen – a nice showing by The Cinema Guild for a foreign language documentary on a solid weekend for some indie and arthouse fare.

Refresh for latest…: Disney/Lucasfilm’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is off to a disappointing start with a $130M global opening. Of that, $70M is from 52 international box office markets as the the fifth installment in the beloved 42-year-old franchise came in below projections.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.The film stars Harrison Ford in his fifth and final portrayal of archeologist-extraordinaire Jones. “While Ford is scrappy and lovable as ever, Indy was never a role that should have been played for 41 years,” The Post said.“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” remained in second place this week, taking home $3.435 million.

SATURDAY AM: Refresh for chart…and more analysis Disney/Lucasfilm’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is still bound to open at the bottom of end of tracking’s projection of $60M as this morning. I saw an estimate in The Flash vicinity of $55M last night and took an Alka Seltzer out of shock. Hopefully Dial of Destiny doesn’t fall apart tonight and at least stays on course for a Mission: Impossible – Fallout type opening in the $60M range over three days. That figure might be good for exhibition and popcorn sales over the five-day holiday weekend, but it stinks for a movie that has a reported cost of $250M to near $300M before P&A.

As the summer season shines onto the box office, movie grosses don’t match what they used to be in seasons past.

$2.3 billion “Avatar: The Way of Water” raked in last Christmas — movie theaters are back to being an armory of high-profile bombs. This weekend, wobbly Warner Bros.’ “The Flash” dropped a staggering 73% in its second week to a worldwide total of just $210 million. A more-than-50% decline for an expensive DC Comics superhero film spells trouble.Consider that fellow Justice League member “Aquaman” made $229 million by his second weekend in the US and Canada alone.Pixar’s uninspired “Elemental,” released June 16 and so far having grossed $121 million, will wind up as one of the Disney-owned animation studio’s biggest failures ever.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Chinese mystery drama “Lost in the Stars” was the top-grossing film on the planet over the latest weekend – despite playing only a single territory. The film earned $70.7 million (RMB502 million) between Friday and Sunday in mainland China, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. That put it far and away ahead of other Chinese new releases and Hollywood’s holdovers “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” and “The Flash.” With the Dragon Boat Festival holiday occurring on Thursday, the film was given an unusual one-day advance on the normal releasing pattern in China. Including Thursday takings, the film made a total of $98.3 million (RMB968 million).

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.The Jennifer Lawrence-led flick centers around a 32-year-old bartender and Uber driver who accepts a job to date a 19-year-old from a Craigslist ad created by his parents.Rolling Stone said the A-List actress is “easily the best thing in this comedy about a woman hired to ‘date’ a shy high school senior — yet not even foul-mouthed, no-filter J-Law can save this mess.”“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” crawled up to second place after being in third last week, earning 5.7 million. There was buzz from fans that a sequel to the flick would be released in March, but that rumor was dispelled from an anonymous artist who worked on the movie.“There’s no way that movie’s coming out then,” the employee dished to Vulture.“Everyone’s been fully focused on Across the Spider-Verse and barely crossing the finish line.

As Prince William prepares to turn 41, a body language and behaviour expert has said that the Prince of Wales "tends to carry his own confidence within him now". Speaking on behalf of Betfair Casino, body language and behavioural expert Darren Stanton has analysed Prince William over recent years, particularly since inheriting his new role as Prince of Wales. “Right now, I think William is at the pinnacle of his strength, in terms of his non-verbal communication.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean blockbuster “The Roundup: No Way Out” suffered a 50% week-on-week decline, but it was still strong enough to see a pair of Hollywood newcomers. The third part of the Don Lee-starring Roundup franchise, “No Way Out” earned $5.16 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council. It accounted for a 42% share of the market and attracted 650,000 additional spectators.

The Post noted in a review that called the flick “solidly entertaining.”The film is tracking to open in the $70 million range over the long Father’s Day and Juneteenth weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.Next in line was Pixar’s new animated adventure film “Elemental,” which grossed $11.8 million in its opening night on Friday. It could end up being Pixar’s lowest debut, wrote the blog Slashfilm.The family flick is set in a New York-esque metropolis inhabited by anthropomorphic wind, water, fire and Earth citizens, and is sweet but underwhelming, said The Post.“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” took third in the box office, raking in $8.1 million.

Christopher Vourlias Romanian filmmaker Cosmin Nicolae’s “Pyrrhic,” a feature debut about an army veteran sent into a downward spiral after returning home from Afghanistan, took home the top prize Friday at the Transilvania Pitch Stop, the co-production forum of the Transilvania Film Festival. The Chainsaw Europe Post-Production Award comes with €25,000 ($27,400) in post-production services for the winning project. Nicolae’s war drama follows a veteran returning to her hometown on the Black Sea coast, where a harrowing discovery jeopardizes the process of coming to terms with her traumas and with a drifting society. The film is produced by Velvet Moraru of Bucharest-based Icon Production.

Mark Duplass is an actor, producer and filmmaker who has featured in a plethora of television and film projects, with one of his notable roles being in Apple+’s The Morning Show. His performance in the series earned him an Emmy nomination in 2020 and a Golden Globe nom in 2022. 

Naman Ramachandran Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse” led the U.K. and Ireland box office for the second consecutive weekend with £4 million ($5.1 million), according to numbers from Comscore. The web-slinging animation now has a total of £16.2 million. Paramount’s “Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts” debuted in second place with a healthy £2.9 million. In its third weekend, in second position, Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” collected £2.1 million for a total of £19.9 million. In fourth place, another Disney title, “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3” earned £511,837 in its sixth weekend for a total of £35.5 million. Rounding off the top five in its fourth weekend was Universal’s “Fast X” with £475,640 and a total of £14.2 million.

Things took a dramatic turn on Monday night when two bombshells entered the Love Island villa, leaving the lads frazzled and the ladies frantic. One of the new bombshells included Leah Taylor who had a completely different look before her arrival on the hit ITV2 show. Leah, 27, who his best pals with former Love Island star, Maura Higgins looked stunning as she walked into the villa alongside Charlotte Sumner during Monday night's episode.The bombshell beauty donned a short black satin dress while her long ombre hair was styled down in loose waves.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter After less than two weeks of release, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” has surpassed the entire box office run of its predecessor, 2018’s Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” Over the weekend, the comic book sequel hit $226 million in North America and $390 million globally. It now stands as Sony’s highest-grossing animated release in history. The original film, also a box office winner, tapped out with $190 in North America and $384 million globally. Despite competition from Paramount’s “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” which opened to $60 million and targets a similar audience of younger males, “Spider-Verse” added $55 million in its second weekend of release, a decline of $55% from its huge $120 million debut.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.The flick, which The Post called “another annoying robo-flop,” is expected to see an over $100 million international debut, according to Deadline.It dethroned “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” which brought in $16.6 million, after holding the No. 1 spot on its opener last weekend.Eagle-eared fans reported sound problems with the computer-animated movie, and Sony promptly sent a new version to theaters, according to Variety.“The Little Mermaid” swam down a notch to third place, raking in just over $6.8 million in sales.

"Spider-Man" actor Tom Holland announced he’s momentarily taking a step back from his acting career.  After the British star struggled to play the role of producer and actor simultaneously, Holland revealed what pushed him to take a break from Hollywood.  "It was a tough time, for sure," the 27-year-old said during an interview with "Extra" for his film "The Crowded Room." "We were exploring certain emotions that I have definitely never experienced before. And then on top of that, being a producer, dealing with the day-to-day problems that come with any film set, just added that extra level of pressure." While Holland executive produced the dark psychological-thriller series, he admitted that portraying a character who is suffering from mental health issues at the same time wasn’t an easy task.  "I’m no stranger to hard work," Holland noted.

The box office for “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” just keeps on growing, and the film has just hit another major milestone.