Widespread optimism months ago that domestic box office might readily return to pre-Covid levels has given way to a new sense of pragmatism about the movie business.
21.08.2022 - 22:41 / deadline.com
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.
When using restated international box office numbers, this would qualify the sequel as the 9th highest-grossing movie ever worldwide (currency exchanges are in massive flux at the moment with, notably, the euro and the dollar essentially at rare parity; so a drag for Hollywood). In non-restated figures, TGM comes in at No. 12 — either way an astonishing achievement, especially for a film that did not play in China or Russia. The breakdown through today is $683.4M domestic (surpassing Avengers: Infinity War as the No. 6 highest-grossing movie in history) and $720M overseas.
Maverick is headed to digital this week for purchase only, and then 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD November 1 from Paramount Home Entertainment. But it will remain in theaters.
Overseas this frame, the Tom Cruise phenom added $8.7M in 63 markets, essentially flat with last session. Throughout its 13-week run, the holds on this Joseph Kosinski-directed movie have been out of this world.
Several major markets were up this weekend including Germany (+36%), the UK (+28%) and France (+6%). Elsewhere, Netherlands spiked 46% while Belgium was up 42% and Austria 19%.
TGM is Cruise’s biggest movie of all time. For Paramount, it is the biggest live-action title in 37 offshore markets including the UK, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, Korea and Saudi Arabia.
The UK for its part is on the verge of crossing $100M with $98.5M to date. Despite recent competition from local titles, Japan has reached $85.8M — landing at No. 2 this session and down just 13% from last. Ko
Widespread optimism months ago that domestic box office might readily return to pre-Covid levels has given way to a new sense of pragmatism about the movie business.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Family comedy “Table For Six” has set an opening day local record for a comedy film in Hong Kong, to the relief of producers who were forced to digest a releasing delay of six months. The Sunny Chan-directed film opened Wednesday in Hong Kong and Macau at 61 theatres, playing a total of 608 sessions. That gave it an accumulated box office of HK$1,986,701 ($255,000). “Table for Six,” which chronicles a family’s holiday gathering where food, love, friendship, jealousy and relationships are on the menu, had originally been planned as a dish to be served at Chinese New Year, in February. And producers had assembled a cast of major Hong Kong and regional talents, including Dayo Wong, Stephy Tang, Louise Cheung, Ivana Wong, Lin Min-Chen and Chan Charm Man.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Art-house title “Return to Dust” was a surprise weekend winner, topping the mainland China box office in its ninth weekend of release. The astonishing feat occurred on an otherwise depressed weekend in which China’s cinema box office dipped to a three-month low. This reflected the summer season winding to an end and anti-COVID measures once again forcing major Chinese cities into retreat. Data from consultancy Artisan Gateway showed “Return” grossing $5.3 million (RMB36.2 million) between Friday and Sunday. Those three days accounted for nearly half of the $12.7 million (RMB87.4 million) cumulative total it has earned since release on July 8, 2022.
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.
Get ready to engage the boosters and take flight, because Top Gun: Maverick has made a daring flight to debut at Number 1 on the Official Film Chart.
Andre Rieu vanquishes safari action adventure Beast to top the UK and Ireland box office. The Dutch violinist and conductor has been releasing his summer concert into UK cinemas every year since 2011, gradually building up box office to a pre-pandemic peak in 2019 with £1. 8m for the event.
Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and Media After Warner Bros. executives signed off on the risky decision to bankroll their $90 million look at the life of Elvis Presley with a little-known actor portraying the hip-swinging rocker, producer Gail Berman reached for her phone. She wanted to immortalize the moment for Austin Butler, the man who reportedly beat out the likes of Ansel Elgort and Miles Teller to land the kind of role that can make a career. “I needed to take a photo of all these people sitting around after they made a decision that was going to mark a major change in Austin’s life,” says Berman. “It was wonderful that they saw from his screen test just how good he was, and that they were ready to support him on this journey.”
Naman Ramachandran Documentary specialist distributor Piece of Magic Entertainment’s “Andre Rieu’s 2022 Maastricht Summer Concert,” a concert film featuring Dutch violinist and conductor Andre Rieu, led a sluggish weekend at the U.K. and Ireland box office. The film collected £799,474 ($932,330) in a weekend when no film crossed the £1 million mark, according to numbers provided by Comscore. It was a three-day bank holiday weekend in the U.K. Ten previous Rieu concerts have grossed more in their opening weekend, but none managed to top the charts, per Comscore. The last event film to top the charts in the territory was “Michael Ball and Alfie Boe: Back Together” in Oct. 2020.
Similar to recent weeks, we’re still in a holding pattern at the international box office, awaiting major new wide studio releases. There were a few milestones this session, however, and Japan has in general been a bright spot with local pic One Piece Film: Red and the continued thrum of Top Gun: Maverick while the market does the bulk of the lifting to potentially push Jurassic World Dominion across the $1B mark worldwide.
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.
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.
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.
Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero” topped the box office in its debut, beating expectations by collecting an impressive $21 million in North American ticket sales.The anime film, playing on 3,007 screens, is backed by the production company Crunchyroll, which specializes in Japanese anime film and television. “Super Hero” is a necessary bright spot in an otherwise dreary August at the movies.
Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk meet on Saturday night in a repeat of their heavyweight world title clash from September 2021.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSpace comedy Moon Man held on to the top spot at the mainland China box office for a third weekend. It has now accumulated $363 million.Released on July 29, “Moon Man” earned RMB217 million ($32.4 million) between Friday and Sunday earning some 45% of the nationwide weekend total, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. The film’s invulnerability underlines once again how the Chinese exhibition and distribution sector has become focused on major hits and top-heavy.There could scarcely be more powerful demonstration of that than the photographs carried over the weekend by Mainland Chinese of Hong Kong star Louis Koo apparently in tears over the disappointing box office stars for “Warriors of Future,” the sci-fi fantasy that he starred in, financed and produced.
Sony’s Bullet Train was the global and international box office leader for the studios during its sophomore frame with an added $17M from 61 overseas markets for an offshore cume of $60M and global riding the rails past $100M for $114.5M through Sunday.