Will ‘Black Widow’ Have Exclusive Movie Theater Run? It’ll Be A “Last-Minute” Call, Disney CEO Bob Chapek Says

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaThe box office success of “Godzilla vs. Kong” lifted exhibition industry stocks on Monday, reinvigorating the share prices of leading theater companies such as AMC, Imax and Cinemark.The monster mano a mano grossed a mighty $48.5 million in its first five days in theaters, setting a record for the pandemic era and signaling that after a punishing year the movie business may be poised for a post-COVID comeback.

ViacomCBS has disclosed the compensation for its top executives, in its second proxy filing since its creation via the recombination of Viacom and CBS Corp. The Redstone family-controlled company said in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that CEO Bob Bakish received $39 million in 2020, compared with his overall 2019 pay of nearly $36.6 million.

Hey, Hollywooders! What’s Good in the ‘Wood?After looking up movies in theaters, and scrolling through the different movie showtimes and seats available, I decided to get a movie ticket for Godzilla vs. Kong, one of the many new movie releases out now in movie theaters. Last night, I headed to the Cinemark movie theater near me, and let me tell you, it was uhhh-maaa-zing to be back in a movie theater.

HOUSTON -- A historic Houston theater that director Richard Linklater called his “film school” and that for decades was the place to catch hard-to-find independent and foreign films has closed for good — like many theaters and other businesses, a victim of the coronavirus pandemic.After nearly 82 years in business, the River Oaks Theatre turned off its projectors last month, depriving the nation's fourth-largest city of an institution where everyone from rappers to suburban kids and cinephiles

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish got a massive pay bump last year with his total compensation rising by more than $20 million to $38.9 million.Bakish’s haul was padded by $19.7 million in bonus compensation and another $16 million in stock awards. His base salary for last year was $3.1 million, according to ViacomCBS’ annual proxy filing with the U.S.

ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish’ total pay package last year came in at $38.97 million, the company said Friday.

Sign up to FREE email alerts from our Money Saving Club Newsletter

New Line/DC’s Dwayne Johnson superhero movie Black Adam has cast Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate aka Kent Nelson, Deadline has confirmed.

Ron Livingston is joining the upcoming The Flash movie.

Angelique Jackson “Entertainment Tonight” has found its newest co-host, elevating Nischelle Turner to the top job alongside current host Kevin Frazier. With the promotion, Turner makes history as the first Black woman to serve as co-host of “ET.”“It means everything to me,” Turner tells Variety of the historic moment.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaHollywood producers and filmmakers think they know what audiences want after a roughly a year of being stuck in their homes, cut off from friends and family while a global pandemic raged.“People want to escape,” predicts Milan Popelka, chief operating officer of FilmNation, the company behind “Arrival” and “Late Night.” “Stories that are more uplifting and optimistic will be at a premium.

As of now, Disney is set to release “Black Widow” in about a month and a half. Normally, that would mean the marketing machine would be in full swing, with clips, trailers, TV spots, billboards, and all that stuff.

Elaine Low Senior TV WriterAfter a more-than-yearlong closure, Disneyland is set to reopen on April 30, Disney CEO Bob Chapek told CNBC’s “Squawk Alley” Wednesday morning.More to come… 

“I feel there is no substitute for going out to the movies. There is nothing like it.” Steven SpielbergGoing to the movies looks a lot different than it used to look.

Harkins is one of the theater chains in the Peoria, AZ market that didn’t play Raya over Disney’s stiff rental terms. We broke the story last week that Cinemark, Harkins and Canada’s Cineplex refused to play Raya after Disney wouldn’t budge on their terms for the feature which was also available to Disney+ subscribers at the extra cost of $30.

Today at Disney’s annual shareholder meeting, CEO Bob Chapek continued to underscore that the release date for Marvel’s long-awaited feature Black Widow is May 7, and that the Cate Shortland-directed title will be seen in theaters. Chapek made the same confirmation back on Feb. 11 during the studio’s FYQ1 earnings call.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek responded to a shareholder on Tuesday who accused Tinseltown, as well as the multimillion-dollar company, of a double standard in firing Gina Carano due to her political affiliation.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek defended the Gina Carano firing on Tuesday, insisting the company doesn’t characterize itself as “left-leaning or right-leaning.”He added that the company stands for universal values and that, “we seek to have not only how we operate, but the content we make, reflect the rich diversity of the world we live in.”Carano was dropped from “The Mandalorian” after the actress posted comments Lucasfilm said it considers “abhorrent” on her social media.More to come…

Disney CEO Chapek Bob Chapek Tuesday said he doesn’t “really see Disney as characterizing itself as left-leaning or right-leaning” – responding to a shareholder who accused Hollywood and the company of a double standard in firing Gina Carano from The Mandalorian because she’s a conservative.

Elaine Low Senior TV WriterAfter California officials issued new guidelines Friday allowing theme parks and stadiums to reopen as early as April 1, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said at the company’s annual shareholder meeting Tuesday that Disneyland could open its gates again in a matter of weeks.“The fact is, it will take some time to get them ready for our guests,” he said, adding that Disney is focused on “recalling more than 10,000 furloughed cast members and training them to operate under the