by admin | May 22, 2025 | Hollywood Reporter News, News
Marvel Studios’ marquee team of heroes need a bit more time to reassemble.
Avengers: Doomsday is pushing back its release date in theaters from May 1, 2026 to Dec. 18, 2026, while Avengers: Secret Wars will now open Dec. 17, 2027 instead of May 7, 2027.
Disney, however, isn’t giving up the coveted start-of-summer-slot in 2026 and has set 20th Century’s The Devil Wears Prada 2 to take Doomsday‘s date and open May 1.
During a nearly five-and-a-half hour livestream in late March, Marvel Studios began unveiling its cast for Avengers: Doomsday, revealing a mix of Marvel Cinematic Universe mainstays as well as actors from 20th Century Fox’s now-defunct X-Men universe and upcoming stars of Fantastic Four: First Steps. Notable names missing from the roll call included Tom Holland (Spider-Man) and Chris Evans (Captain America), the latter of whom is expected to appear in at least one of the two-part movies.
Additionally, a number of characters from Thunderbolts* will also be featured in the upcoming Avengers movies.
Insiders say Doomsday and Secret Wars are two of the biggest titles Marvel has ever made, and the date shifts help the production schedules (Doomsday is shooting). Marvel has learned the hard way what can happen when rushing things.
The December date has been kind to Marvel; that’s when Sony’s blockbuster Spider-Man: No Way Home debuted.
In other release news, Disney and 20th Century announced they will open Ridley Scott’s star-studded apocalyptic thriller The Dog Stars on March 27, 2026.
by admin | May 22, 2025 | Hollywood Reporter News, News
July Fourth fireworks are coming early to the summer box office, thanks to the combo of Disney’s live-action redo of Lilo & Stitch and Tom Cruise’s final Mission: Impossible movie from Paramount and Skydance.
The two tentpoles are expected to fuel the biggest Memorial Day of all time in terms of ticket sales and set numerous records in their own right. While the mash-up isn’t expected to be quite the same cultural phenomenon that Barbenheimer was, the potent combo of the two movies can’t be ignored. Parents may take their kids to see Lilo one day, then ditch them and go see Mission sometime else over the long holiday weekend (as for a moniker, how about “Stitchin: Impossible”).
The overall Memorial Day revenue crown currently belongs to the $306 million in ticket sales collected in 2013 when Fast & Furious 6 zoomed to $117 million, followed by The Hangover Part III with $50 million. It would also mark the best showing for two Memorial Day titles going up against each other. In 2007, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End opened to $140 million over the holiday frame, followed by Shrek the Third with $67 million.
There’s more: The biggest headline of Thursday’s latest tracking report from the National Research Group was Lilo & Stitch. Three weeks ago, NRG’s four-day opening number was $120 million. Now, it’s $165 million, a jaw-dropping gross that would, in an ironic twist, see Lilo & Stitch supplant Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick ($160 million) as the biggest Memorial Day opener of all time, not adjusted for inflation.
The news got even better for Disney and production company Rideback as early grosses began coming in from Thursday previews and Friday matinees — the PG pic is now projected to collect a massive $170 million to $180 million domestically, including a record $14.5 million in Thursday previews.
Lilo & Stitch isn’t just drawing interest from families; it’s popping big time among teenage girls and younger women — i.e., Gen Z and younger Millennials — who grew up on the first 2002 movie and resulting TV show about a Hawaiian girl with a fraught family life who adopts an adorable, albeit trouble-making, dog-like alien. Box office pundits say the nostalgic factor is running high, just as it did among Millennials and Gen Z’ers for the live-action Aladdin, which made $1.1 billion in global ticket sales after getting families, teens and younger adults.
The live-action Lilo & Stitch — originally intended to go straight to Disney+, helping to explain its modest $100 million production budget — would mark one of the better openings for a Disney live-action film. It has a current Rotten Tomatoes score of 72 percent.
Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, with a current RT critics score of 79 percent, is on course to open to $78 million for the four days, in line with tracking. That would more than make up for the lackluster $54.7 million bow of the previous film in the series, as well as supplant the $61.2 million three-day launch of Mission: Impossible — Fallout to set a new franchise opening record.
Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie went back to the drawing board after Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One disappointed and, among other changes, renamed the film. Their efforts appear to be paying off if tracking is correct. Final Reckoning resonates with its older male target audience in a major way, as well as among older females and younger males (the only quadrant who isn’t so interested are younger females).
A big challenge in terms of the film’s financial success is its $400 million net budget before marketing — making it one of the most expensive films ever made — although Paramount insiders note that each new installment increases the value of the entire library, including a spike in home entertainment sales and rentals of previous titles.
The two films will kick off what’s expected to be a stellar June in terms of ticket sales. Hollywood got even more good news on Thursday when early tracking confirmed that Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s live-action How to Train Your Dragon is eyeing a $72 million domestic debut.
May 23, 4 p.m. Updated with early box office returns.
by admin | May 18, 2025 | Hollywood Reporter News, News
In a third consecutive win, Warner Bros. is doing scary great business at the box office thanks to New Line’s critically acclaimed Final Destination Bloodlines.
The supernatural horror-thriller pic topped the weekend with a franchise-best domestic opening of $51.7 million, ahead of expectations. Overseas, it earned $54.1 million for a global start of $105.8 million, up from Sunday’s estimate of $101.2 million, thanks to a strong Sunday. Either number was more than enough to successfully revive a long-dormant franchise that was first introduced to audiences a quarter of a century ago. The last installment, Final Destination 5, was released in 2011 and opened to $18 million, not adjusted for inflation. (On Saturday, the pic was only expected to do $46 million to $47 million.)
Embraced by critics and audiences, Bloodlines is directed by Adam Stein and Zach Lipovsky. The R-rated title stars Kaitlyn Santa Juana as a young woman who discovers that her grandmother was able to cheat death and save numerous lives, albeit with frightening consequences. Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Anna Lore, Tony Todd, Gabrielle Rose, Brec Bassinger and Max Lloyd-Jones also star.
Warners is dominating the upper reaches of the box office chart beyond just Bloodlines.
Ryan Coogler‘s water-cooler sensation Sinners, now in its fifth weekend, isn’t far behind Disney and Marvel’s Thunderbolts*, which placed second in its third weekend with $16.5 million. That put the superhero pic’s domestic total north of $155 million through Sunday, as it cleared the $300 million mark globally with $325.7 million in worldwide ticket sales.
Sinners earned $15.4 million for an eye-popping North American tally of $240 million as it too raced past the $300 million mark to finish the weekend with a global haul of $316.8 million.
A Minecraft Movie also enjoyed an enviable hold and claimed a fourth-place finish with $5.9 million in its seventh weekend. The video game adaptation is the top-grossing pic of the year to date with more than $928 million in global ticket sales, including $416.6 million domestically.
Rounding out the top five is Amazon MGM Studios’ The Accountant, starring Ben Affleck. The pic earned $4.9 million in its fourth outing for a solid domestic total of nearly $60 million.
The outlook for Lionsgate and Live Nation’s Hurry Up Tomorrow, a musical psychological thriller about a tormented pop star played by Abel Tesfaye — also known as The Weeknd — isn’t so good. The film, a companion piece to his studio album of the same name, opened in sixth place with a forgettable $3.3 million.
Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan co-star in Hurry Up Tomorrow, which has been panned by critics. Audiences aren’t so enamored, either (the pic was slapped with a C- CinemaScore). Directed by Trey Edward Shults, the film sees Tesfaye play a fictionalized version of himself, or rather, a musician on the verge of a mental breakdown who is pulled into an existential odyssey by a mysterious stranger.
At the specialty box office, A24’s Friendship expanded into 62 locations. It’s on course to earn $2.5 million for a per-theater average of $23,333, the best of the weekend.
May 18, 9:00 a.m.: Updated with revised estimates.
May 19, 9:00 a.m.: Updated with weekend actuals.
This story was originally published May 17, 9:34 a.m.
by admin | May 13, 2025 | Hollywood Reporter News, News
For years, there’s been a spike in moviegoing on Tuesdays, when it can cost half as much to take a trip to thousands of cinemas across the country.
AMC Theatres — the country’s largest exhibitor — upped the ante in a major way on Monday when extending the discount to Wednesdays for members of AMC Stubs program, which is free to join (the loyalty program presently boasts 36 million subscribers).
Beginning July 9, 2025, Stubs members can buy a ticket for all releases at 50 percent off the normal adult-evening ticket price. The new policy will commence several days before James Gunn‘s Superman flies into cinemas on July 11 and not long after July Fourth tentpole Jurassic World: Rebirth debuts on July 2.
While certain movies and holiday time periods may be excluded from the “50% Off Wednesdays” program, it is envisioned that if successful, this new AMC pricing initiative will be almost universally available at all AMC locations in the United States going forward, the company said. The circuit did not specify whether Superman will be immediately available for the discount.
Hollywood studios have increasingly been urging exhibitors to be more price conscious, and AMC — the largest chain in the country, in addition to the world — appears to be responding to the clarion call in implementing the new “50% Off Wednesdays” program. It remains to be seen how quickly rivals follow suit.
The upcharge for Imax, Dolby Cinema and other premium large-format experiences will still apply, along with online ticketing fees, but the base ticket price will be likewise be discounted by 50 percent.
Unlike the new Wednesday decree, AMC’s Tuesday discount varies from market to market. However, as with other circuits, ticket prices are 50 percent off.
“Realistically, we could not afford to have made this change to our ticket pricing strategy until the box office showed true signs of sustained recovery. But in April and now in May, the box office has been booming, and the remainder of 2025 appears poised to continue that upward box office trend,” AMC chair-CEO Adam Aron said in announcing the new initiative.
He continued, “The introduction of Discount Tuesdays several years ago has turned Tuesday into one of the best attended days of the week, in part because there is a segment of the moviegoing audience who looks first for a great value in their moviegoing. With the introduction by AMC of 50% off Wednesdays, we’re looking to turn Wednesday into a similarly strong attendance day for moviegoers at our theaters.”
by admin | May 4, 2025 | Hollywood Reporter News, News
A group of misfits and outsiders are making headlines at the box office after winning over audiences and critics in a major way.
Marvel and Disney Thunderbolts* soared to the top of the domestic chart with an estimated domestic opening of $76 million from 4,330 theaters, slightly ahead of expectations for a superhero pic that features lesser-known characters. While Marvel and Disney would no doubt have liked north of $80 million, the biggest factor will be how the $180 million movie legs out.
Overseas, the star-studded ensemble pic led by Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan pulled in $86.1 million for a global start of $162.1 million; again, in line with expectations. The global Imax haul was a huge $20 million.
It drew impressive audience sentiment across the board, including boasting a glowing 95 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the third-highest score for a title in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a tie with Spider-Man: Far From Home and behind Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (98 percent) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (97 percent). And on PostTrak exit polls, audiences are giving it a rave 4.5 out of 5 stars, while it received an A- CinemaScore.
Thunderbolts* played to an ethnically diverse audience and also skewed less male (63 percent) than many Marvel titles.
Directed by Jake Schreier, the film brings together a band of dysfunctional outsiders — and lesser-known comic book characters — who discover their potential to be heroes when working together. In addition to Pugh (Yelena Belova) and Stan (Bucky Barnes), the movie features Wyatt Russell (John Walker), David Harbour (Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian), Lewis Pullman (Bob), Hannah John-Kamen (Ghost), Olga Kurylenko (Taskmaster) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (CIA director Valentine Allegra de Fontaine).
In the film, Louis-Dreyfus’ villainous character has positioned a number of MCU loners and rejects to kill each other for her own nefarious reasons. But they instead decide to team up in response to the obvious setup, bringing along newcomer Bob, who suffers from a mental illness that has catastrophic consequences after he’s subjected to cruel experimentation.
The Marvel pic is contributing to the continuing boom in moviegoing at the box office, with ticket sales for the weekend up 95 percent over last year when Universal’sThe Fall Guy kicked off summer to disappointing results (Deadpool & Wolverine was forced to relocate to late July because of the strikes). And year-to-date revenue is now up nearly 16 percent over 2024.
Ryan Coogler’s sleeper sensation Sinners enjoyed a phenomenal third weekend as it came in second $33 million. The supernatural vampire pic, from Warner Bros., continues to break all the rules and fell a scant 28 percent or less for a domestic tally of $179.7 million and $236.7 million globally.
And Warners decision to hold “rowdy” screenings of A Minecraft Movie seems to have paid off as it climbed back up the chart to third place with an estimated $13.7 million as it approaches the $400 million mark domestically and $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales.
No other major studio dared open a new wide release opposite the Marvel event pic. Elsewhere, Alec Baldwin’s controversial-laced Rust finally opened in select theaters while also being available on premium VOD. The Western flailed in its debut — at least in cinemas — with an estimated opening gross of just $25,000 from 115 theaters. The movie opens four years after Baldwin, who co-wrote and produced the film, accidentally discharged a weapon he thought only had blanks. A live round was in the chamber, and the bullet fatally wounded cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and also hit director-writer Joel Souza.
Baldwin paid a settlement to Hutchins’ surviving family and Matthew Hutchins, the widower, was made an executive producer on the project. In a recent interview, Souza said the family ultimately wanted to finish the film, and asked that he return. He now says he regrets ever making the movie.
by admin | May 2, 2025 | Hollywood Reporter News, News
Thunderbolts* stormed to $11.5 million in Thursday previews in a promising start for Marvel’s ensemble superhero pic.
The star-studded movie, led by Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan, kicks off the summer box office in what’s become a tradition for Kevin Feige‘s studio with only a few exceptions. The pic is winning over critics and audiences alike; as of Friday morning, Thunderbolts* boasted an 95 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the third-highest score for a title in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a tie with Spider-Man: Far From Home and behind Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (98 percent) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (97 percent). It’s still early, of course, and scores can change by one or two points as the weekend wears on. And on PostTrak exit polls, audiences are giving it a rave 4.5 out 5 stars.
Tracking suggests the movie will open in the $70 million to $73 million range domestically, and $160 million to $175 million globally, against a $180 million production budget before marketing. Word of mouth could see that number climb higher, as well as ensure svelte legs in the days ahead (some are already predicting north of $80 million). As a way of comparison, Marvel’s Captain America: Brave New World had an audience RT score of 92 percent when opening to $88.8 million earlier this year. (That film’s critics score was a rotten 48 percent, compared to a glowing 89 percent for Thunderbolts*.)
The unexpected spring bloom currently underway at the box office — led by Ryan Coogler’s sleeper sensation Sinners — proves that people want the communal experience of watching a film together.
Thunderbolts* is a pivotal moment for Marvel as it kicks off a new hoped-for franchise. Directed by Jake Schreier, the film brings together a band of dysfunctional outsiders — and lesser-known comic book characters — who discover their potential to be heroes when working together.
In addition to Pugh (Yelena Belova) and Stan (Bucky Barnes), the movie features Wyatt Russell (John Walker), David Harbour (Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian), Lewis Pullman (Bob), Hannah John-Kamen (Ghost), Olga Kurylenko (Taskmaster) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (CIA director Valentine Allegra de Fontaine).
“Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan lead a gratifyingly fresh and soulful Marvel adventure,” The Hollywood Reporter‘s chief film critic David Rooney writes in his review. “While a handful of the characters and the actors playing them have appeared in previous entries, there’s a disarming freshness to this first-time assembly, not to mention something even more unexpected: heart. That’s due to an appealing ensemble cast but also to the new blood of a creative team with a distinctive take on the genre.”
In the film, Louis-Dreyfus’ villainous character has positioned a number of MCU loners and rejects to kill each other for her own nefarious reasons. But they instead decide to team up in response to the obvious setup, bringing along newcomer Bob, who suffers from a mental illness that has catastrophic consequences after he’s subjected to cruel experimentation.
Overseas, Thunderbolts’ is opening everywhere timed to its release in North America, including in China.
