Box Office

Universal and MGM’s “Candyman” is expected to slay the domestic box office in its opening weekend, with a projected gross of $20.7 million. The horror film, directed by Nia DaCosta, raked in $9.1 million from 3,569 theaters on Friday, and is expected to add another $11 million to its total by the end of the

Universal and MGM’s reimagining of “Candyman” is expected to scare off its competition at the weekend box office. After numerous COVID-related delays, the R-rated slasher film, based on the urban legend of a killer who is summoned by those daring to repeat his name five times into a mirror, opens Friday in more than 3,400

“Free Guy,” the video-game action comedy starring Ryan Reynolds, opened to $2.2 million in Thursday night previews. The movie is projected to take home around $15 million to $18 million after it opens Friday in 4,165 North American theaters for its opening weekend, with some projections showing ticket sales could reach $20 million. However, as

Despite the best-laid plans of Hollywood studio and cinema operators, the movie theater business is still struggling to mount a recovery from COVID-19. For a while, the box office looked poised for a comeback, with a string of pandemic-era record opening weekends, including “A Quiet Place Part II” ($48 million), “F9” ($70 million) and “Black

“Escape From Mogadishu” held on to its place at the top of the South Korean box office for the second weekend. It comfortably overcame the challenge from newly released “The Suicide Squad.” “Mogadishu” earned $4.26 million in its second weekend of release, down only 14% compared with its first session, in which it took $4.96

Highly-anticipated mainland Chinese film “The Battle at Lake Changjin,” which was due to have been released later this month has been postponed to an unspecified date. The move, announced late on Thursday, was caused by a recent resurgence in COVID-19 cases in China. The film is a Korean War epic that is co-directed by Chen

“The Suicide Squad” will storm the domestic box office, with the Warner Bros. R-rated superhero adventure on track to generate more than $30 million in its opening weekend. As the only new movie to debut nationwide, “The Suicide Squad” won’t have much competition to top the charts in North America. Like the entire Warner Bros.

Donnie Yen-starring action thriller “Raging Fire” roared to the top this weekend in China with a $37.2 million opening, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway, but its sales were far from enough to revive China’s slumping ticket sales. Yen was last seen on Chinese screens last year in Disney’s “Mulan,” which performed worse than

Prior to the pandemic, assessing the financial success or failure of a film was relatively simple and finite. For a big-budgeted movie, the volume of ticket sales collected in its first three days in movie theaters gave a good indication of whether or not it would be profitable. There were exceptions, of course, but for

Korean-made action film “Escape From Mogadishu” overcame new release “Jungle Cruise” and holdover “Boss Baby 2” to dominate the South Korean box office over the weekend. “Mogadishu,” directed by the consistently successful Ryoo Seung-wan, played on 1,688 screens nationwide and earned $4.93 million between Friday and Sunday. That gave it a 57% share of the

“Jungle Cruise” completed its first voyage with $34.2 million in theatrical ticket sales and another $30 million on Disney Plus, leading the competition in North America. The Disney film, starring Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson, debuted slightly ahead of expectations despite concerns the Delta variant would keep family crowds at home. At the international box

All aboard the “Jungle Cruise” — the Disney film, starring Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson, is riding to an estimated $32 million opening weekend at the domestic box office. “Jungle Cruise,” based on the famed Disney theme park ride, took in $13.378 million from 4,310 theaters on Friday. Despite the delta variant possibly deterring some

“Green Snake,” the Chinese animated sequel to the folktale adaptation “White Snake,” slithered past propaganda films to the top of the box office this weekend with a $29.7 million debut, according to Maoyan figures. The platform currently predicts that “Green Snake” will go on to gross $77.5 million, which would make it more successful than

In a twist fitting for an M. Night Shyamalan thriller, “Old” is the No. 1 movie at the domestic box office with $16.5 million in ticket sales. Heading into the weekend, reigning champ “Space Jam: A New Legacy” and fellow newcomer “Snake Eyes” were projected to lead North American charts. Instead, “Space Jam 2” had

“Old,” the newest thriller from director M. Night Shyamalan, is poised to top the domestic box office charts this weekend with an estimated $15.75 million. The Universal film, starring Alex Wolff and Thomasin McKenzie, took in $6.8 million from 3,355 theaters on Friday. Throughout the weekend, it’s expected to add roughly another $9 million to

Two new movies — “Snake Eyes” starring Henry Golding and M. Night Shyamalan’s “Old” — will open nationwide this weekend, but neither are expected to take down reigning champ “Space Jam: A New Legacy” on domestic box office charts. After its $31 million start, the sequel to 1996’s sports comedy “Space Jam,” the latest version

“Black Widow” held on to top spot at the South Korean box office despite a challenge from the new release of local horror film “The Medium.” New release, “Space Jam: A New Legacy” made no impact. The Disney-Marvel film saw weekend earnings of $4.09 million, a drop of 54% compared with the previous session. Since

The New South Wales state government is stepping in with A$75 million of emergency aid to the performing arts and music sectors as the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus is causing an extension of Sydney’s latest lockdown. The sold out “Hamilton” at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre, which opened on March 27, has shuttered

Disney’s “Black Widow,” the first Marvel movie to grace theaters in two years, has surpassed a notable box office milestone, hitting $200 million worldwide. For the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a franchise that remains unrivaled at the box office, that would not traditionally be a benchmark worth highlighting. Many of its recent installments, at least the

Chinese censors have approved Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi spectacular “Dune” for release in the world’s largest film market. The film has officially announced that it will hit local screens this year, although it has not yet set a release date. In late June, Warner Bros. shifted the film’s U.S. release date back from Oct. 1 to

The tear-jerking, patriotic pandemic film “Chinese Doctors” locked down a $53.5 million China opening weekend, according to Maoyan, setting itself up to become the most commercially successful political tribute film so far this year. Such films have been helped along by a line-up cleared of competitors. This week, only political films, children’s content and a

A powerful opening by “Black Widow” lifted the South Korean box office to its biggest weekend this year. The Disney-Marvel title dominated proceedings with an 80% market share. The film launched in Korea on Wednesday and raced far ahead of the competition. According to data from Kobis, the Korean Film Council-operated tracking service, “Black Widow”

Disney and Marvel’s superhero adventure “Black Widow” captured a massive $80 million in its first weekend, crushing the benchmark for the biggest opening weekend since the pandemic. In a first for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the film opened simultaneously in theaters and on Disney Plus as part of the streaming service’s Premier Access offering, where

The U.S. film industry is heaving a sigh of relief that “Black Widow” is poised to become the highest grossing domestic debut of the post-pandemic era, marking America’s return to moviegoing in force. The Scarlett Johansson-starrer is projected to earn around $80 million in its North American opening weekend, beating out “F9” last month. It

For the first time in a long time, people are actually going to the movies. After a delayed start to summer, Universal’s action franchise “F9: The Fast Saga,” Paramount’s thriller “A Quiet Place Part II” and the Warner Bros. monster movie “Godzilla vs. Kong” have each had a hand in putting butts in seats at

China’s two new propaganda films topped the box office over their first weekend in theaters, but it appears that the politically correct content may not prove popular enough to drive sales at blockbuster levels. Most of the biggest local blockbusters set to hit China over the rest of the year are propaganda titles. Though analysts

Local film “Hard Hit” held on to top spot at the South Korean box office for the second week, keeping Hollywood holdovers and new release titles at bay. The Busan-set action thriller scored $2.07 million in its second weekend on release, according to data from the Kobis tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council

“F9,” the ninth installment in the “Fast and Furious” franchise, is holding its own at the top of the domestic box office charts in its second week of release. Over the Fourth of July long weekend, the action flick is expected to add another $32.9 million to its gross from 4,203 theaters, raising its cume

Chinese propaganda film “1921” grossed $13 million on its opening day Thursday, outperforming debuts from Hollywood releases like “Cruella,” “A Quiet Place Part II” and “Peter Rabbit 2.” Patriotic titles “1921” and “The Pioneer” kicked off China’s summer season with a nationalist splash with Thursday premieres. Both films were created as tributes to China’s ruling

Busan-set chase thriller “Hard Hit” this weekend became the first local film to head the South Korean box office in more than a month. It earned $2.27 million in its opening weekend. The arrival of a significant, commercial film from Korea may be a sign of growing confidence that the return to business of the