Box Office

Paramount’s spy thriller “The Rhythm Section,” starring Blake Lively, opened quietly with $235,000 at 2,256 North American locations on Thursday night. Horror fantasy “Gretel & Hansel” also launched on Thursday, but Orion Pictures did not report preview numbers. The new entries are expected to generate only modest returns of less than $10 million during the

Locally-made action comedy “The Grand Grandmaster” emerged on top of the Hong Kong box office during the Lunar New Year holiday. But, hit by the aftermath of political protest and growing precautions against the coronavirus threat, the theatrical business took a steep tumble. Aggregate box office over the four days between Saturday and Tuesday amounted

Ticket sales could grind to a halt over Super Bowl weekend, a notoriously quiet time of year at the box office. Two new movies are opening — Paramount’s spy thriller “The Rhythm Section” and Orion Pictures’ fantasy adventure “Gretel & Hansel” — though each is expected to make less than $10 million. Since the Super

January 28, 2020 6:26PM PT The Japanese box office leaped by 17% in 2019 to set a record $2.4 billion score, according to figures announced Tuesday by the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, locally known as Eirin. The previous high was the $2.2 billion recorded in 2016. The Makoto Shinkai animation “Weathering with You”

January 28, 2020 7:02AM PT Locally-made political drama, “The Man Standing Next” dominated the four-day Lunar New Year holiday weekend box office in South Korea. Opening on Wednesday (Jan. 22), the Showbox release earned $24.5 million from 3.23 million admissions over its opening six days. It accounted for more than 53% of the total holiday

Measures to limit travel and the closure of most cinemas almost completely eliminated box office takings in China on what should have been the country’s busiest movie-going weekend of the year. The pain is set to continue. The Chinese government extended the current public holidays by an additional three days as a means to slow the

STX’s “The Gentlemen” proved no match for Sony’s “Bad Boys for Life,” which again left box office competitors in the dust after collecting $34 million in its sophomore outing. Those ticket sales, pushing the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence-led sequel past the $100 million mark, were easily enough to claim the No. 1 spot for

The overseas release of Chinese films in the next weeks is certain to be affected by the cancellation of theatrical outings in mainland China as a response to the rampant spread of the coronavirus. On Thursday, movie companies in China announced they would not go ahead with the release of seven major films at Chinese

Cinema box office in Australia dipped by 2% in 2019 to an annual total of A$1.23 billion, or $841 million, according to data from the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia. That was the country’s third highest figure in local currency terms, but it also shows the theatrical industry to be rangebound since 2015. Australian-made

In the more than six months that protest movements have rocked Hong Kong, a whole range of business sectors have become color-coded, as both Beijing-loyal blue elements and yellow pro-democracy forces have weaponized the economy. Companies on the front line include leading bank HSBC, airline Cathay Pacific and even the subway operator MTRC. Effects range

It will be a battle of the boys at the box office this weekend as STX’s action drama “The Gentlemen” takes on reigning champ, Sony’s “Bad Boys for Life.” “Bad Boys for Life,” the third installment in the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence-led franchise, beat expectations over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, bringing in

Universal Pictures’ sci-fi thriller “Extinction” starring Lizzy Caplan and Michael Pena was critically panned, yanked from its planned 2018 U.S. theatrical debut, and offloaded to Netflix. But it has found a new life on the big screen two years later in China, where it came in fifth at the box office over the weekend with

U.K. cinema admissions exceeded 176 million last year, worth over $1.63 billion (£1.25 billion) at the box office, according to industry body Cinema First. The 2019 admissions figure is just short of 2018’s 177 million, when U.K. cinema-going reached its highest level in 50 years. The figures suggest that cinema-going is holding up in the

Rey, Finn, Poe and Kylo Ren are once again members of the billion-dollar club. Disney’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” crossed $1 billion at the global box office on Tuesday, joining the elusive company of its franchise predecessors, 2015’s “The Force Awakens” and 2017’s “The Last Jedi.” The movie has made $481 million at

Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell” and Clint Eastwood’s “Richard Jewell” both flopped in China with dismal $261,000 and $212,000 opening weekends, respectively, according to data from Maoyan.  Although “The Farewell” was distributed directly by Maoyan, one of China’s biggest online ticketing platforms, the critical darling made a paltry $78,000 (RMB537,000) on opening day Friday. Screenings were

Universal’s “Dolittle” crushed “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” in an unusual opening weekend clash at the South Korean box office. “Dolittle” accounted for 40% of the nationwide theatrical total as it earned $5.37 million over the weekend from 718,000 tickets. That put it in first place and knocked Korean volcano disaster movie “Ashfall” from

Sam Mendes’ “1917” triumphed at the global box office, generating a solid $56.42 million over the weekend. The war drama ignited to $21.17 million overseas, where Universal and Amblin Entertainment are splitting distribution. In the U.S., “1917” claimed victory with $36.5 million, enough to dethrone the reigning champ, Disney’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”

The box office has something to prove this year. Moviegoers flocked en masse in 2019 to watch key Avengers hang up their suits and shields, the Clown Prince of Crime descend into madness and Simba take the throne (again). And yet, the domestic box office slipped 4% to $11.4 billion, down from 2018’s record high

January 6, 2020 2:25AM PT South Korean disaster film “Ashfall” remained on top of the local box office in the first weekend of 2020. The CJ Entertainment release earned $4.25 million from 565,000 admissions between Friday and Sunday, accounting for 30% of the country’s total weekend box office. The volcano disaster flick has earned $54.1

January 3, 2020 7:50AM PT Sony Pictures and Screen Gems’ “The Grudge” took in a solid $1.8 million from previews on Thursday, as the low-budget horror film looks to elbow into a box office scene that’s been dominated throughout the holidays by “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” and “Jumanji: The Next Level.” The film

December 31, 2019 9:42AM PT “Ford v Ferrari” crossed a major box office milestone on Monday, surpassing $200 million in global ticket sales. 20th Century Fox’s racing drama joins a number of this year’s original films — including Lionsgate’s “Knives Out,” Universal’s “Us,” “Sony’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” STX’s “Hustlers” and Paramount’s “Rocketman”

Universal’s “Cats” was in need of a holiday miracle. Instead, the filmmaking team behind the box office disaster got a lump of coal. Tom Hooper’s big-screen adaptation has clawed its way to $38 million globally after two weeks in theaters, a dismal figure that could result in $100 million in theatrical losses, according to rival

The holiday box office proved fruitful for a wide variety of movies as overall ticket sales reached $200 million over the weekend — a 6.3% boost from last year. Disney and Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker” led the bounty, crossing $361 million in North America after this weekend’s $72 million haul. J.J. Abrams’ third

Barring a Hollywood ending, 2019 will not go down as a year for the record books. Heading into the Christmas holiday, box office receipts are down nearly 4% at roughly $11.88 billion, marking the steepest drop in half-a-decade. The lackluster results are a consequence of too many blockbuster-hopefuls that weren’t and misguided attempts to reboot,

When Universal first debuted the trailer for “Cats,” social media, to put it mildly, lost its mind. Initial footage for director Tom Hooper’s big-screen adaptation gave a glimpse at the computer wizardry, a phenomenon known in popular culture as “digital fur technology,” used to transform the actors into four-legged felines. The result, an unsettling amalgamation

Two locally-made new releases, “Ashfall” and “Start-up” topped the weekend box office in South Korea, beating “Frozen 2.” (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker releases in Korea on Jan. 8, 2020). Opening on Thursday, CJ Entertainment’s “Ashfall” debuted on top of the box office. The volcano action drama earned $18.2 million from 2.46 million admissions

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” left its box office competitors in the dust, debuting overseas to a mighty $198 million. Though the ninth installment in the space opera series is tanking in China, where it launched with $12.1 million, “Rise of Skywalker” was the No. 1 film in nearly every other international market. Directed

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” launched to a mighty $40 million during Thursday night previews, setting the stage for a massive opening weekend. The latest entry in the 42-year-old franchise is expected to earn as much as $200 million, casting a shadow across the box office, but falling short of the debuts of other

UPDATED: “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” is expected to the biggest film of the weekend globally and in North America, where an opening weekend of $170 million-$200 million is likely. But in China, it’s on course to be the weakest-performing installment of the new batch of “Star Wars” films. On Friday, in its first

Alamo Drafthouse is capping off 2019 with shine. Ticket sales for the cinema chain are up 5.8% from last year, an especially impressive feat considering the exhibition industry as a whole is pacing over 5% behind 2018. In a theatrical landscape that’s become particularly challenged by the rise of streaming services, Alamo Drafthouse attributes success