Box Office

The New Year weekend rankings give a bizarre indication of the havoc currently being wreaked on the Korean box office by the coronavirus, audience caution and stay at home orders. For a start, a Hollywood title scored a rare victory. “Wonder Woman 1984,” the most recently released film of international significance, took the top spot

Cinema admissions in France, Europe’s biggest movie market, plunged 70% in 2020, compared with 2019, decimated by COVID-19, which saw French cinemas shutter for 176 days this year, France’s National Film Board (CNC) announced on Wednesday. Total ticket sales came in at 65.1 million, according to the CNC, 65.2 million according to Comscore, which valued

“Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train,” the animated film that has become the Japanese entertainment world tsunami of 2020, pushed its cumulative earnings to $313.7 million (JPY32.5 billion) over the Dec. 26-27 weekend. This makes the film that the biggest-ever box office hit in Japan, overtaking the previous record-holder, Miyazaki Hayao’s 2001 animated fantasy “Spirited

Hong Kong’s “Shock Wave 2” out-earned “Wonder Woman 1984” in China in just two days, topping the local box office this weekend with a $51.4 million debut, according to data from Maoyan. By the end of Christmas Day, “Shock Wave 2” had grossed $28.6 million (RMB187 million), more than the $23 million (RMB151 million) “Wonder

Christmas is often one of the most popular times of year to gather the family and watch a new movie, and this holiday was no different. The biggest distinction, however, is that the season’s biggest releases — “Wonder Woman 1984” and “Soul” — battled for streaming service subscribers rather than box office dollars. “Wonder Woman

Japan’s leading film distributor and exhibitor Toho Tuesday announced that it is upping the official box office total of the 2001 Miyazaki Hayao animation “Spirited Away” by $8.5 million to $304 million, the all-time record for any film in the Japanese market. The new figure includes revival screenings of the film this year in the

Chinese action comedy “Bath Buddy” topped the mainland China box office over the weekend with a $28.1 million opening splash. The box office performance came despite the film being in hot water behind the scenes. The Yi Zhenxing-directed film tells the improbable tale of a rich kid who loses his memory and instead ends up

Adam Aron, CEO and president of the AMC Entertainment theater chain, is opposing Warner Bros.’ plan to simultaneously release all of its 2021 movies on HBO Max and in theaters. Aron noted Thursday afternoon that he had backed Warner’s previous strategy, unveiled on Nov. 22, to roll out “Wonder Woman 1984” on Christmas Day on

AMC Entertainment Holdings has filed to raise up to $844 million by selling stock as the exhibitor struggles to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. The S-3 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission said AMC plans to sell up to 200 shares at an estimated offering price of $4.22 per share, based on trading Nov.

In Hollywood these days, the only certainty is that nothing is certain. Already, the coronavirus pandemic has been responsible for some shocking developments in the film world: “Tenet” keeping its release date, “Wonder Woman 1984” debuting on HBO Max and “Mulan” eschewing U.S. theaters for Disney Plus, to name just a few. As the new

Body-swap horror comedy “Freaky” repeated as the winner of a seriously subdued U.S. box office with $1.2 million at 2,057 locations in North America. The Universal and Blumhouse Productions’ movie stars Vince Vaughn as a serial killer and Kathryn Newton as a low-profile high schooler who inadvertently switch bodies on Friday the 13th. “Freaky” has

War film “The Sacrifice” was the most watched title in Chinese theaters for the third consecutive weekend. It earned $9.2 million over the frame and extended its cumulative score to $150 million, since release on Oct. 23. Over the weekend just completed, U.S.-Canadian animation “Paw Patrol: Mighty Pups” bounced its way to second place with

Indoor movie theaters in Sacramento and San Diego will have to close due to those counties being moved back into the state’s most restrictive “purple” tier due to higher case rates of COVID-19. On Tuesday, the state’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Mark Ghaly, announced 10 counties that are being required to move

The National Association of Theatre Owners is imploring Congress to enact federal relief legislation to save local movie theaters hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic. NATO said Monday that the situation is dire and noted that the industry cannot continue to operate in its current state. It pointed out that even in places where movie theaters

Korean cinemas got a boost as coronavirus restrictions were reduced to their lowest level, meaning that an empty seat no longer has to be left between every audience member. The move, implemented from Monday, came too late to transform the weekend. CGV and other cinema operators told the Yonhap news agency that their booking systems

Patriotic and gritty war film “The Sacrifice” topped the mainland Chinese box office for the second week. It earned $28.6 million over the weekend, lifting its ten-day cumulative score to $106 million, according to data from Artisan Gateway. Of that weekend score, some $1.6 million was earned from 670 Imax screens. The Imax box office

Once upon a time, in a bygone era, people felt comfortable leaving the house to watch a movie in theaters without fears of contracting or spreading a deadly virus. There were unexpected hits and some painful misses. But through the highs and lows, there was at least one genre that reliably drew audiences: horror. For

Comedy drama, “Samjin Company English Class” tickled up enough laughs to score $2.1 million over its opening weekend. But the wider Korean box office remains range-bound at destructively low levels. “Samjin,” which tells a tale of three young women determined to improve themselves, and who along the way stumble across the nefarious activities of the

The beleaguered AMC Theatres chain has warned it may have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy if it cannot obtain additional sources of liquidity. The company made the disclosure Tuesday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission about an equity distribution agreement with Citigroup Global Markets and Goldman Sachs to sell up to

China’s year-to-date box office came within a whisker of $2 billion on Sunday, with the latest weekend adding $46.4 million to the running total. That was enough for China to take the 2020 global crown. While the latest theatrical weekend total represented a 32% decline compared with the previous session, and lacked a notable new

There’s at least one thing promising about the holidays: “Promising Young Woman,” a revenge thriller starring Carey Mulligan, is hitting theaters on Christmas Day. While most movies are fleeing the release calendar this year, “Promising Young Woman” is one of the few films to take a chance on an unpredictable 2020. As it stands, it

Screen Media has bought all North American rights to “Skyfire,” China’s first big-budget disaster movie, from Highland Film Group and plans to release the film in theaters and on demand in December. “Skyfire” is directed by Simon West and stars Jason Isaacs (“Hotel Mumbai”), Hannah Quinlivan (“Skyscraper”), Xueqi Wang (“Iron Man 3”) and Shawn Dou

The National Association of Theatre Owners of California/Nevada has unanimously agreed to remain closed in San Francisco, despite receiving the go-ahead from city officials to reopen. The trade group said Wednesday that the city’s ban on serving concessions makes it “economically impossible” for theaters to reopen and “significantly limits” the moviegoing experience for audiences. “NATO of

Dinosaurs won’t rule the big screen again until 2022. “Jurassic World: Dominion” will now debut on June 10, 2022 — a year later than originally planned. Universal Pictures, the studio behind the sci-fi adventure franchise, initially slated the movie for summer 2021. While announcing the release date change on Twitter, director Colin Trevorrow also debuted

The China box office bounced back this weekend to its pre-pandemic levels, figures from its National Day holiday weekend show — proving that the right mix of competitive new local titles can entice viewers in, what this year is very much on track to be, the world’s largest movie market. The news comes as other

Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures have delayed the release of “Dune,” the big-budget sci-fi epic from director Denis Villeneuve. It will no longer premiere on Dec. 18 and is now slated to debut in theaters on Oct. 1, 2021. A spokesperson for Warner Bros. declined to comment. The move was expected after the studio pushed

Survival thriller “Alone” is getting plenty of company at movie theaters and on digital platforms — amid otherwise tough times in the exhibition business. “We’ve been able to emphasize that ‘Alone’ is a very elemental and primal story for audiences,” said Magnolia president Eamonn Bowles. “For audiences, the situation is very recognizable. It’s very well-directed.”

Credit rating agency Standard and Poors has warned that the AMC Entertainment chain is in danger of defaulting on its debt due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. S&P issued the bleak warning Friday as part of a downgrade in the company’s credit rating from CCC+ to CCC-, moving into the junk bond category, and cited

“No Time to Die,” the latest James Bond installment, will be postponed until next year, the filmmakers announced Friday. The film, starring Daniel Craig in his final stint as the agent formerly known as 007, is expected to hit theaters April 2, 2021, a year later than initially planned. Back in March, “No Time to

Rober Zemeckis’ adaptation of “The Witches” starring Anne Hathaway is landing on HBO Max just in time for Halloween. The Warner Bros. dark fantasy comedy will debut on the subscription streaming service, owned by parent company WarnerMedia, on Oct. 22. “The Witches” was originally expected to open in theaters on Oct. 9, but like almost