Box Office

March 20, 2020 12:33PM PT With U.S. theaters remaining closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Paramount Pictures is giving “Sonic the Hedgehog” an early release on digital. The studio said on Friday that the family-friendly action-adventure, based on the Sega video game character, would be available for early digital release on March 31 — 46

The International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), the body that represents European movie theater owners, has underscored its opposition to any challenge to the theatrical window despite the widespread closure of cinemas due to the coronavirus crisis. In a statement issued Friday, UNIC said: “With the financial impacts of this unprecedented crisis on our industry still

Universal and Illumination have delayed the release “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” the latest tentpole to get pushed back amid the coronavirus pandemic. The animated family film was scheduled to hit theaters July 3 and doesn’t have a new launch date. Most movie theaters across the country have been shut down for an indefinite period

Movie theaters in multiple states — Colorado, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington — have been ordered to close in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The unprecedented move comes as theater chains — with the exception of Regal Cinemas — have tried to stay open while taking steps

Theatrical box office in South Korean capital, Seoul dipped to a 16-year low, as ticket sales have moved in inverse proportion to the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus rises. Exhibitors have turned to re-releases to try to entice audiences. Data from the Korean Film Council’s KOBIS service showed that just 244,000 tickets were sold

Much of public life in the United States essentially ground to a halt this week. In the entertainment world, theme parks shut down, Broadway went dark, studios pulled major tentpoles from their release calendar, and virtually all Hollywood movies and TV shows halted production as coronavirus continues to rapidly spread across North America. The exhibition

March 12, 2020 9:23AM PT Paramount Pictures has postponed its theatrical release for “The Lovebirds,” a romantic comedy starring Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae that was scheduled to hit theaters on April 3. The studio, which has not set a new release date, made the move in response to the global impact of coronavirus. The

Three new movies will hit theaters on Friday, but likely none will be able to dethrone the reigning box office champ, “Onward.” Disney’s animated fantasy adventure debuted to $39 million last weekend, a lackluster result for a Pixar film, but enough to dominate the competition. Unless one of this weekend’s newcomers — Universal’s “The Hunt,”

Northern Ireland’s biggest movie theater chain has introduced a mandatory “seat separation” policy, along with other measures intended to counter the growing spread of the coronavirus. A statement released Tuesday evening by Omniplex said that “after a thorough risk assessment and analysis of the global cinema market,” the company would leave every second cinema seat

The Korean box office hit rock bottom this weekend due to coronavirus that is fast spreading in the country. According to KOBIS, the box-office tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council, the country’s box office managed some 230,803 ticket sales between Saturday and Sunday. That is lower than the previous weekend’s 285,663 admissions and

In Italy, which is suffering the biggest coronavirus outbreak in Europe with more than 350 deaths, box office crashed to an all time low of €439.000 ($500,000) over the March 5 weekend frame. Or rather, the portion of the weekend prior to Sunday May 8. On Sunday the government ordered a total shutdown until at least April

U.K. theater chains are keeping calm and carrying on in the face of coronavirus. While the outbreak of the respiratory virus has wreaked havoc in European countries such as Italy, where around 850 screens had shuttered as of Monday, the U.K. has yet to feel the social impact of the outbreak, with just 164 positive

Disney-Pixar’s fantasy film “Onward” launched with $2 million in North America on Thursday night. The number is in the same range as “The Secret Life of Pets 2,” which opened with $2.3 million in previews in June and went on to a $47 million launch weekend. “Onward” is expected to dominate domestic moviegoing this weekend

Despite fears that coronavirus could impact moviegoing across the globe, Disney’s “Mulan” is expected to pull off solid opening weekend ticket sales at the domestic box office. According to early estimates, the live-action remake should collect $85 million when it debuts in U.S. theaters on March 27, though some tracking services predict that number could

Disney and Pixar’s “Onward” is expected to dominate moviegoing in North America when it debuts this weekend. The family-friendly animated adventure should collect $40 million to $45 million from 4,200 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. “Onward,” anchored by voice performances from Tom Holland and Chris Pratt, isn’t the only new movie launching, but it

China’s box office might have lost as much as RMB 1.5 billion ($214 million) in the first two months of this year due to the coronavirus outbreak, but a nationwide resumption of movie theaters and production is unlikely to happen any time soon. “Judging from the current situation, the film industry is not equipped to

Despite a solid showing from Universal’s “The Invisible Man” at the international box office, Paramount’s family film “Sonic the Hedgehog” reigned supreme for the third weekend in a row. “Sonic” added $26.8 million from 62 abroad markets, representing about 76% of its foreign footprint and bringing its international total to $137.2 million. Domestically, the movie

Elisabeth Moss’ “The Invisible Man” scared up a solid $26 million opening weekend at 3,610 North American locations, estimates showed Saturday. Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog,” which had led for the past two weekends, will finish second with about $15 million at 4,177 sites for a 17-day total of roughly $127 million. The sophomore frame of

Universal’s “The Invisible Man” materialized with $1.7 million at 2,850 North American locations on Thursday night. “The Invisible Man” is expected to earn north of $20 million this weekend when it opens in 3,610 theaters across North America. Independent box office tracking services estimate ticket sales could wind up closer to $30 million since word

February 27, 2020 11:25PM PT In response to the coronavirus crisis, the Japanese film industry has begun to delay releases, close theaters and refund ticket purchases. The releases of the new “Doraemon” and “Jimaro” feature animations targeted at kids out of school for the spring break, have been delayed. The former was scheduled to open

With “The Invisible Man,” a terrifying thriller starring Elisabeth Moss, Universal is attempting to revive the cinematic prospects for its classic monster properties. After “The Mummy” with Tom Cruise flamed out theaters in 2017, the studio scraped its plans to form an interconnected Dark Universe and instead retooled its vision to create standalone stories unique

Focus Features’ “Emma,” an adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel, had a solid opening at the specialty box office this weekend. Director Autumn de Wilde’s feature film debut earned $230,000 in its debut outing across five theaters in New York and Los Angeles, ranking No. 1 in each location. That success translated to a $46,000

“The Call of the Wild” is on path for a narrow victory over “Sonic the Hedgehog” in North America with about $28 million at 3,752 locations, estimates showed Saturday. Disney-20th Century’s launch of the Harrison Ford movie has opened well above pre-release expectations and will wind up with a $3 million lead on “Sonic.” STX’s

“The Call of the Wild” and “Sonic the Hedgehog” are in a tight race for first place at North American multiplexes, with as much as $27 million each, early estimates showed on Friday. Disney-20th Century’s launch of Harrison Ford’s “The Call of the Wild” is coming in well above pre-release forecasts, which had been in

Harrison Ford’s “The Call of the Wild” opened with $1 million in Thursday night previews. STX’s supernatural horror sequel “Brahms: The Boy II,” meanwhile, earned $375,000 at 1,800 screens from Thursday previews. The earnings for Disney-20th Century’s “The Call of the Wild” is in the same vicinity as “The Upside,” which took in $1.1 million

Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” is reaping box office riches after its groundbreaking Oscar best picture win. The twisted South Korean thriller collected $5.5 million over the weekend, an exceptional 234% increase in ticket sales and the biggest post-Oscar boost for a best picture winner in the past decade. In the seven days since the Academy

“Sonic the Hedgehog” is speeding to a $65 million opening at the North American box office this President’s Day weekend, according to estimates. Paramount’s action-adventure, based on the Sega video game character, had been pegged to generate $40-45 million prior to its launch. Should estimates hold, it could break the $54 million record set last

“Sonic the Hedgehog” is racing to a dominant $55 million opening at 3,150 North American locations during the four-day President’s Day weekend in a launch that’s above forecasts, early estimates showed Friday. Universal’s romantic drama “The Photograph” and Sony-Blumhouse’s “Fantasy Island” are both performing in line with forecasts in the $12 million to $14 million

Paramount’s family film “Sonic the Hedgehog” is expected to race ahead of its box office competition when it debuts in theaters this weekend. The action adventure, based on the video game character, should collect $40 million to $45 million from 4,130 venues over the Presidents’ Day holiday stretch. Those figures would easily be enough to claim

February 9, 2020 10:04PM PT Bong Joon Ho’s acclaimed South Korean thriller “Parasite” became the first foreign-language film to win best picture at the Oscars, and the historic win had Hollywood heavyweights like Ava DuVernay, Sandra Oh and Priyanka Chopra cheering. “MASSIVE! HISTORIC! LANDMARK! PARASITE! The world is big and it is beautiful and films