The 2018 box office may have ended with a bang, but 2019 looks like it’s starting with a whimper. With no major releases hitting theaters, “Aquaman” should easily retain its No. 1 spot atop the domestic box office charts for the third consecutive weekend. The only newcomer to the marquees is Columbia Pictures’ “Escape Room,”
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In one of the more effectively preposterous death-trap suspense scenes of “Escape Room,” half a dozen terrified strangers, who have signed on to compete in a game of experiential survival, find themselves in an oversize bar that looks like it might, under different circumstances, be a fun place to hang out. It’s a couple of
Box office returns in Italy dropped about 5% to €555 million ($631 million) in 2018, posting their worst result in a decade as Hollywood blockbusters drew in fewer Italian moviegoers than usual. On the bright side, Italian films gained traction last year, scoring a 22% market share, up from 16% in 2017, marking the second-best showing
Nordisk Film is developing “The Lioness,” an international feature film and a miniseries about Karen Blixen, the Danish author best known for her autobiographical novel “Out of Africa,” which Sydney Pollack adapted into the 1985 pic starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. The film and miniseries will be written by Jakob Weis (“That Time of
Letitia Wright and Lakeith Stanfield are among the up-and-coming actors who have been nominated for BAFTA’s coveted Rising Star Award. The Rising Star is the only BAFTA winner to be decided by public vote. Last year’s winner was Daniel Kaluuya, the star of social satire-cum-horror film “Get Out,” which also featured Stanfield. Wright co-starred with Kaluuya in Marvel
The Palm Springs Intl. Film Festival Gala on Jan. 3, held at the Palm Springs Convention Center, honors a variety of talent. For more information, see psfilmfest.org/events/events-calendar/film-awards-gala. Those being feted include: The cast of “Mary Poppins Returns” Ensemble Performance Award “‘Mary Poppins Returns is a happy film, that re-creates the magic and adventure of the first film,”
The Oscars can be a joyous but also stressful time for Hollywood. After the nonstop campaigning, highs and disappointments, projects heralded and snubbed, the urge to flee L.A., unplug and get your head back together can feel like a necessity. Australian billionaire and property developer Lang Walker’s new ultra-luxurious, exclusive $100 million retreat Kokomo Private
Since awards ceremonies will begin imminently, nominees and presenters need to ask themselves: Should I make political remarks? For the past few years, political speeches have grabbed the most headlines at the Emmys, Golden Globes and SAG Awards (Oscars have been comparatively muted). Hollywood awards have a worldwide audience; even if it’s not televised, remarks
In today’s film news roundup, “Vice” wins in Capri, Ninet Tayeb is starring in “Tell Me Why I Don’t Like Mondays,” and Chen Kaige’s “Legend of the Demon Cat” gets U.S. distribution. CAPRI AWARDS “Vice” has won four awards at the Capri-Hollywood International Film Festival, including best picture, best supporting actress for Amy Adams, and
Jeff Bridges grew up with show business in his veins. His father, the late Lloyd Bridges, was a gregarious sort who not only loved the making of movies, but the selling of them as well. He would encourage his children to give it a go. “This is a great life,” he would tell them. Still,
Warner Bros. has bought the RatPac-Dune Entertainment library, consisting of 15% to 25% stakes in each of 76 films that the RatPac co-financed, including 2017’s “Wonder Woman” and 2013 Oscar winner “Gravity.” The library was generated by RatPac with the studio through a five-year slate deal. Other notable titles included in the deal include “It,”
2018’s movie business hit all-time benchmarks of $11.9 billion in North America and $41.7 billion globally, with Disney taking in nearly a fifth of that figure. ComScore announced the official 2018 final figures Wednesday with Disney taking in $7.33 billion globally last year — the second-biggest year for a studio in industry history, behind only
[SPOILER ALERT: The following interview contains some details about the end of “Transformers” prequel “Bumblebee.”] Christina Hodson could be one of the busiest young screenwriters in Hollywood. Her “Transformers” prequel “Bumblebee” has generated $157 million at the global box office during a crowded holiday frame. After fears of franchise fatigue for a saga that seemed
Cuban-born musician Arturo Sandoval is well known as a top trumpeter and recording artist in the jazz world. Now, at 69, he’s thinking of changing careers, and hopes his score for Clint Eastwood’s “The Mule,” based on the story of an elderly Midwestern horticulturist who stumbles into a job transporting cocaine for the Mexican cartel,
It will be difficult to top 2018’s banner year at the box office. A number of overperforming blockbusters, combined with a healthy crop of surprise hits, propelled the domestic market to record heights. It’s safe to say this year has its work cut out for it. Fortunately, an intrepid lion cub, a demonic dancing clown
Nearly three decades after “The Simpsons” became a fixture on Fox, Bart Simpson is still 10 years old. Call it “the Peter Pan effect”: a never-grow-up miracle in which hand-drawn characters defy age in a way that flesh-and-blood actors find impossible. And then there’s DreamWorks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon” series, which has taken
Kevin Smith has launched pre-production on his long-promised “Jay and Silent Bob” reboot with Jay Mewes and producer Jordan Monsanto. Smith, who first announced the project in August, 2017, made the announcement in Jan. 1 tweet: “Spent the first day of 2019 having a #JayAndSilentBobReboot pre-pre-production meeting.” Smith and Mewes made their film debut in
Nearly all regional film critics groups (36 so far) have chimed in with picks for the best of 2018 cinema. So it’s time for a cross-section before the industry continues weighing in with guild announcements this week and next. Critics have singled out 11 films as the year’s best, but one stands above the rest.
January 2, 2019 5:08AM PT “Absolutely Fabulous” star Joanna Lumley has been tapped to host the BAFTA Film Awards ceremony for the second consecutive year. Lumley will reprise her emcee role at the Feb. 10 gala in London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall. “We’re thrilled that Joanna has agreed to return as our host for a
Spain’s box office dipped slightly last year, edging down 1.9% in theatrical revenues and 2% in admissions, according to a Comscore report published Wednesday. In all, Spain’s B.O. gross came in at €585.7 million ($673.1 million), with 97.7 million cinema tickets sold. “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” from Universal Pictures Intl., which dominated last year in
China’s total box office revenue grew 9% in 2018 to $8.87 billion (RMB60.98 billion). But the rate of expansion was slower rate than the year before, when it rose 13.5%, state media and government reports said. Nevertheless, the country met its government-set 2018 box office target of RMB60 billion yuan in ticket sales on December
Theatrical box office in Hong Kong grew by nearly 6% in 2018. Gross takings hit HK$1.96 billion, compared with HK$1.85 billion in 2017, in local currency terms, according to data from Hong Kong Box Office Ltd. As the Hong Kong dollar is closely pegged to the American currency, most of that gain can be translated
Director Bi Gan’s dreamy pseudo-noir “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” defied the odds stacked against art house fare at China’s commercial-leaning box office to take in a whopping $37.9 million on its opening day December 31. That beat even superhero blockbuster “Venom” in both pre-sales and first day mainland box office tallies. The haul — achieved
How much difference a year makes! Early last December, around the time critics’ groups do their annual awards voting, if you’d asked me to make a list of the 10 best Netflix original films of 2017, I could’ve named two contenders — Sundance winner “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore” and Noah
January 1, 2019 1:15PM PT Like many people on New Year’s Eve, Tiffany Haddish had a night she’d probably like to forget. While performing to a sold-out audience at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Haddish reportedly bombed so hard on Monday night, several fans got up and walked out of the comedy show.
“Aquaman” capped off 2018 in style. DC’s superhero adventure will cross the $200 million mark at the domestic box office just a few hours after the ball dropped on the year. Its total now stands at $199.5 million. “Aquaman” — directed by James Wan and starring Jason Momoa — topped the charts in North America
On December 28, when Barack Obama posted a list of his favorite movies of 2018 (there are 15 films on it, listed alphabetically), you could see, hear, feel, and just about touch the paroxysm of rapture it set off within the film-critic community. To an extraordinary degree, he had validated their tastes. Obama, in that
There may not be any more eggnog to drink or mistletoe to stand under, but don’t despair — Hulu is coming in clutch with over 200 new titles arriving to the streaming service next month. Ease into the new year by rewatching classics like “Beetlejuice,” “Heathers” and “Rain Man,” or snuggle up with a bowl of
December 31, 2018 2:10PM PT The French Revolution gets a stultifyingly formulaic treatment in this star-filled re-creation of the momentous years from the fall of the Bastille to the death of Louis XVI. It’s impossible to imagine a more ploddingly old-fashioned account of the French Revolution than “One Nation, One King,” a film desperate to
The holidays might be over, but Netflix has a quick fix for the back-to-work blues. Sing along to your favorite Beatles songs in “Across the Universe” or laugh along with the Joker as he tries to thwart Batman in “The Dark Knight” when both arrive to the streaming platform next month. A couple classics are