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Exclusive: Independent Artist Group has signed Eduardo Cisneros, co-creator of Apple TV+’s Eugenio Derbez starrer Acapulco and co-writer of Focus Features’ comedy Half Brothers, for representation.

Cisneros also serves as exec producer and writer of Acapulco, a comedy series now in its third season, which has been a critical success, with an average audience score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, winning the Imagen Award for Best Primetime Comedy, as well as earning nominations at the Critics’ Choice Awards and the Hca Television Awards.

The Mexican-born filmmaker teamed with his Acapulco creative partner and frequent collaborator Jason Shuman to script Half Brothers, which became a Top 10 hit around the world when it was released on Netflix last year.

The duo’s production company Raqmar recently wrapped up a multi-year first look feature deal at Sony. Development projects emerging from that deal include Telenovela, which Cisneros is writing to direct with Montecito producing,...

Here’s your guide to every movie and TV show leaving Netflix Canada in February 2024.

In case you missed it, we also covered all the movies and TV shows leaving Netflix Canada in January 2024.

One of the biggest movies to leave Netflix is Matrix Revolutions, the fourth installment of the Matrix franchise.

Please Note: This is not the full list of everything leaving Netflix UK in February 2024. More departures will be announced throughout January 2024 and February 2024.

Movies and TV Shows Leaving Netflix Canada on February 1st, 2023 All My Life (2020) American Assassin (2017) Bending All the Rules (2002) Blow (2001) Blue Valentine (2010) Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011) Dark Shadows (2012) Did You Hear About the Morgans? (2009) Fury (2014) Guilty (2015) Half Brothers (2020) Here Comes the Boom (2012) John Q. (2002) Legend (2015) Legion (2010) Love Jacked (2018) Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005) Mystic River (2003) Non-Stop (2014) The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012) Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016) Slaughterhouse Rulez (2018) Son of the Mask...

After just one week atop Netflix’s English-language TV charts, Depp V. Heard has been bumped to No. 2 in favor of Who is Erin Carter?

Audiences flocked to the thriller limited series, which is about a British expat schoolteacher living in Spain, racking up 13.2M views in its first few days on the streamer from August 21 to 27.

Depp V. Heard still managed a fairly strong week, though, with 8.3M views. That brought Painkiller in at No. 3 on the list with 5.6M views.

Untold: Swamp Kings came in fourth place during its first week on Netflix with 5M views on the series about the Florida Gators’ heyday under coach Urban Meyer. It was joined by another unscripted series, The Ultimatum: Marry Or Move On Season 2. Rounding out the list were My Dad The Bounty Hunter, At Home With The Furys, The Lincoln Lawyer and Gabby’s Dollhouse.

As for the film side of things,...

The Scream saga has seen a variety of villains and various moments have been left to the audience’s interpretation, making way for a variety of theories that completely change the whole saga. Back in 1996, master of horror Wes Craven revived the slasher genre with Scream, which mixed the classic elements of a slasher movie with satire and meta-commentary on the horror genre, its clichés, and more. Scream made way for a franchise with a TV show and six movies, and of course, there have been a variety of theories on what’s really happening with each movie’s Ghostface killer.

A key element in Scream’s expansion with various sequels is that, unlike slashers like Halloween and Friday the 13th, Scream’s Ghostface killers change in every movie. Each Ghostface killer has had a reason to go after Final Girls Sidney Prescott and Sam Carpenter, and while these have...

February is the shortest month of the year but Prime Video is paying that no mind with its jam-packed list of new releases for February 2023.

This really is an uncommonly stuffed month on the Amazon streamer and it all starts with a handful of Amazon Originals. Amazon’s original offerings kick off with the release of Dave Franco-directed romcom Somebody I Used to Know on Feb. 10. That is followed by Carnival Row season 2 – a gritty fantasy crime drama is set in a world of steampunky fairies. The show stars Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevigne and this batch of episodes will be its swan song. Meanwhile The Consultant on Feb. 24 is a dark comedy workplace thriller starring Christoph Waltz.

The biggest hits this month, however, might just be some recent cinema faves. If February is for lovers, Amazon didn’t get the memo as there are quite a few horror movies of note here.

Exclusive: UTA has signed Luis Gerardo Méndez (Narcos: Mexico), one of Mexico’s biggest stars, for representation in all areas.

Méndez is an actor, writer and producer best known for exec producing and starring in Netflix’s first Spanish-language original comedy series, Club de Cuervos. He most recently appeared in the third season of Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico, as well as in Los Enviados (The Envoys) for Paramount+, where he is currently under a first-look producing deal for Spanish-language projects.

Méndez will next be seen in a starring role in the Netflix limited series, Belascoaran, and in Netflix’s Me Time, with Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg, which is slated to premiere later this year. He will soon begin filming for the Peacock limited series, The Resort, which was written and will be directed by Andy Siara.

The actor made his entrance into the U.S. feature marketplace opposite Adam Sandler...

Exclusive: Sony Pictures Entertainment has signed an overall deal with the writing and producing team of Eduardo Cisneros and Jason Shuman under their new production arm, RaqMar Entertainment.

The new entity will focus on writing and producing with a multicultural emphasis for the theatrical market. They will also cultivate up-and-coming talent by mentoring new voices from the U.S. and international/bilingual markets.

“It is critically important to us to tell stories that subvert negative stereotypes and embrace cultural specificity in an authentic way, and we are grateful to Sony Pictures for their robust support in helping us to achieve that goal,” said Cisneros in a statement to Deadline. “Our company name, RaqMar, signifies convergence and we are honored to be in a place where underrepresented points of view meet storytelling with a global theatrical appeal.”

Cisneros co-wrote and co-produced the 2013 Spanish-language hit, Instructions Not Included which generated over $100 million at the box office globally.

Exclusive: Jimmy O. Yang and Luis Gerardo Méndez have joined the cast of the Netflix comedy Me Time starring Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg. Regina Hall is also on board. Hart’s Night School writer John Hamburg will write and direct the pic, with Hamburg also producing through his Particular Pictures along with Hart and Bryan Smiley for HartBeat Productions. Hart first announced the casting on his social media.

The film follows a stay-at-home dad (Hart) who finds himself with some “me time” for the first time in years while his wife and kids are away. He reconnects with his former best friend (Wahlberg) for a wild weekend that nearly upends his life.

Lauren Hennessey will exec produce alongside Mark Moran and Patricia Braga of HartBeat. Joe Gatta will also exec produce.

Yang is no stranger to Netflix as the two have teamed on the comedy series Space Force and...

Exclusive: Florencia Lozano (Life After You) and Juan Pablo Espinosa (Half Brothers) are set for recurring roles opposite Melissa Barrera in Breathe, Netflix’s one-hour drama series from Blindspot creator Martin Gero and writer-executive producer Brendan Gall, and Warner Bros. Television.

In Breathe, written by Gero and Gall, when a small plane crashes in the middle of the Canadian wilderness, a lone woman (Barrera) must battle the elements and odds to survive. Barrera’s Liv is a razor-sharp Manhattan attorney who finds herself profoundly out of her comfort zone when her plane crashes and she must battle for survival.

Lozano and Espinosa will play Liv’s mother and father, respectively.

Gero executive produces via his Quinn’s House production company, along with Gall. Warner Bros. TV is the studio.

Lozano co-wrote and stars in Life After You, which was awarded Best Feature and Best Actress at the Nice International Film Festival.

A nuanced and occasionally moving drama about an estranged family, Bradley Grant Smith’s Our Father features an arc that perhaps sounds too common: siblings take a road trip and along the way grow, but here, ending on a note of uncertainty. It may take a little too long for the film to reach that conclusion, but the journey allows sisters Beta (Baize Buzan) and Zelda (Allison Torem) to develop in ways that are rich and subtle even if the story lacks narrative efficiency. Perhaps the leisurely-paced journey and the tonal missteps are reflective of the circumstances Beta and Allison find themselves in, employing stints of indie quirk to put up a kind of barrier for the siblings to shield themselves with.

The film opens as Beta sleeps in her car and heads into her final day at an office job she’s just quit to pursue grad school. Having...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday revealed the 366 feature films that are eligible for consideration at the 93rd Oscars, which are set to air April 25 live on ABC.

The total number of films is up from last year’s 344 films in contention.

This year’s list was compiled based on tweaked eligibility rules implemented because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has pushed the ceremony to its latest date ever. For this year, feature films had to open by February 28 in a commercial motion picture theater for a seven-day qualifying run in at least one of six metro areas: Los Angeles County, New York City, the Bay Area, Chicago, Miami and Atlanta. Drive-in theaters open nightly were included as qualifying venues, as were films intended for theatrical release but because of the lockdown made available first via streaming, VOD service or other broadcast.

Today’s news comes...

Studio Ghibli released Earwig and the Witch on February 3 in 430 theaters and dropped the animated feature from the legendary studio on HBO Max on February 5. The Goro Miyazaki-directed film with the voice talents of Richard E. Grant, Kacey Musgraves, and Dan Stevens earned an estimated $99,941 on its opening weekend to bring its cume to $132,768

Also in its first week out is the Rlje Films horror The Reckoning which earned an estimated $72K while Vertical Entertainment’s Son of the South took in $35K on its opening weekend.

In the day and date space IFC Films’ Little Fish grossed an estimated $28K in its theatrical debut while 101 Studios’ Dara of Jasenovac earned an estimated $15K in its first weekend out in theaters. Meanwhile, Magnolia’s Two of Us and A Glitch in the Matrix both earned an estimated $3K in its limited theatrical release.

In its second weekend out, Bleecker Street...

Harry Macqueen’s Supernova opened in 330 theaters this weekend, bringing some warmth to the specialty box office space. The Bleecker Street drama starring Colin Firth and Stanely Tucci is garnering tons of awards season buzz and has added some fuel to the specialty fire that has been struggling to stay afloat for almost a year. With day and date release becoming more popular and release strategies always changing, Supernova put coins in its piggy bank as the specialty box office attempts to figure out the standard when it comes to what is a “successful opening weekend” in Covid times.

Supernova opened in 330 theaters this weekend to an estimated $98,670 with an average of $299. The film is garnering acclaim and with Firth and Tucci as its leads, the drama checks the appropriate boxes when it comes to an awards season film.

Neon’s documentary short Apollo 11: Quarantine — a title that is...

The number of films available to Oscar voters in a screening room devoted to the Best Picture category hit the 200 mark on Wednesday, which means that $2.5 million has entered the Academy coffers from films paying $12,500 each to be represented in the screening room.

The members-only Academy Screening Room hit the milestone with the addition of more than a dozen movies this week, including Fisher Stevens’ “Palmer,” Lee Daniels’ “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” John Lee Hancock’s “The Little Things,” the Russo brothers’ “Cherry,” Josh Trank’s “Capone,” the documentary “Coup 53,” the Studio Ghibli animated film “Earwig and the Witch,” the international films “Funny Boy” and “Bacarau” (neither eligible in the Oscars’ Best International Feature Film category) and some off-the-wall selections, including “Snake White – Love Endures” and “Soorarai Pottru.”

Other late additions to the screening room have included “Minari,” “Promising Young Woman,” “The White Tiger” and “Cherry,” which were not added until January.

The specialty box office found some shine this weekend with four new titles starting with the Gravitas Ventures pic Our Friend starring Jason Segel, Casey Affleck and Dakota Johnson.

The Gabriela Cowperthwaite-directed drama based on Matthew Teague’s book The Friend: Love Is Not a Big Enough Word debuted at 543 locations and grossed an estimated $250K on its first weekend out with a per-screen average $460. This bodes well for the drama which currently sits at an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes and has thrown its hat in the ring for awards season.

The film separated itself from a typical day and date release as Gravitas used a focused and targeted exhibitor marketing approach. Outside of Wonder Woman 1984, which was an SVOD release, Our Friend debuted as the largest opening for a day and date film since October 16. It looks to expand next weekend to approximately 750 locations.

Another day and date title,...

If there are any milestones worth noting this week, it’s that the Focus Features thriller Promising Young Woman crossed the $3 million in its fourth week in theaters. This weekend the Emerald Fennell-directed pic starring Carey Mulligan played in 1,333 theaters and added an estimated $430K to its box office till this weekend and is on track to earn $518K for the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend to bring its cume to about $3.4 million. The film, which landed at #6 in the top 10 this weekend, continues to garner buzz as it became available for rental on-demand this weekend. Promising Young Woman has earned numerous accolades from various critics associations across the country including Best Actress and Best Screenplay from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards.

New titles for the weekend include Nate Parker’s drama American Skin which quietly opened in 51 theaters this weekend to earn an estimated...

Specialty box office titles and those that also have their foot in the wide release landscape make up the majority of the top box office numbers of the weekend — which is pretty darn good all things considered.

Some of these titles would be considered more “specialty” in the before-times, but as the box office space shifts and digital, PVOD and virtual cinema become part of the conversation more and more, everything is a little more fluid until the “new normal” of box office is established.

As reported by Anthony D’alessandro, the #5 in the top 10 this week is Fatale starring Hilary Swank and Michael Ealy. The Lionsgate thriller added 39 theaters to its count this weekend and bank an estimated $670K to make its cume hit $4 million.

Focus Features has three titles in the top 10 this week including Emerald Fennell’s buzzy awards season title Promising Young Woman, which is now playing in 1,448 theaters.

Since no new films opened wide this weekend, the 30 percent drop in post-holiday box office isn’t quite as bad as it looks. However, the news was worse for “Wonder Woman 1984, which grossed $3 million with a 45 percent drop.

The total for the weekend was around $10 million, with 11 films. (Disney’s reissue of “Alien” tied with Focus Features’ “Half Brothers” for #10.) The same weekend last year totaled $132 million. At this writing, 59 percent of all theaters remain closed by Covid-19 regulations. That includes some theaters that reopened this week, mostly in Colorado. According to industry sources, there’s no indications that theaters will close again — but some are considering reduced hours, opening only on weekends, and other cost-saving options.

These new theaters, along with some theaters bringing back earlier films, led to several titles increasing screen counts such as “Fatale” (which debuted on PVOD Friday). The current #3, “News of the World,...

High-priced titles dominated the charts on New Year’s week with “The Croods: The New Age” leading the way. Sharing the glory was Liam Neeson: “Honest Thief,” a former theatrical/PVOD title, now thrives at $4.99, while Neeson’s 2011 Warner Bros. thriller “Unknown” is currently #1 at Netflix.

The thriving home-viewing market also includes “Soul” (Disney+ only) and “Wonder Woman 1984” (also in theaters). Neither studio reported specific results, though Warners claims “WW84” viewings by “millions” of subscribers. What constitutes a “view” remains undefined.

What stands out is the public is spending money on multiple high-price offerings. FandangoNow, which ranks by money spent, has a record nine PVOD titles in the top 10. (Only “Honest Thief” is standard priced at #4.) AmazonTV and GooglePlay also place PVOD entries in four of their five top slots.

Apart from “Croods,” the leading premium hits are “Tenet,” “Greenland,” and “The War With Grandpa.” At $14.99, “Grandpa” is less expensive,...

The specialty box office space entered 2021 with two fresh titles and one under-the-radar pic with Vertical Entertainment’s Shadow In The Cloud, Netflix’s Pieces of a Woman and Amazon Studios’ Herself. In general, reporting on box office numbers has been tricky ground considering circumstances and that will continue in 2021 — especially with the specialty box office. It will continue to be difficult to gauge the “success” of a title based on number alone as titles in the specialty space range from limited release to day-and-date release to digital/VOD/PVOD-only to virtual cinema debuts to a combo of any or all the aforementioned. Because of the numerous platforms warranted to specialty titles, the only numbers that are reported are physical box office numbers and as we all know, there’s been a struggle in that arena. Nonetheless, there is some life at the specialty box office. It’s not the greatest,...

Wonder Woman 1984 has won its second weekend at the box office after earning $5.5 million. The sequel fell 67% when compared to its debut last weekend. So far, the domestic total for the movie is $28.5 million, with a global total of $118.5 million. As of this writing, analysts don't believe that Wonder Woman 1984, which is also currently streaming on HBO Max for the next 21 days, will go past $40 million domestically.

Currently, 60% of movie theaters in North America remain closed. Many believe that Warner Bros. should have waited to release Wonder Woman 1984 later in 2021 to maximize profits. However, they rolled out the hybrid release method with the sequel, which they will attempt to replicate for the rest of their 2021 releases. The big screen news comes as HBO Max subscribers continue to reveal problems with the official stream, with many noting that it stops and stutters. Adding to problems are the mixed...

About 3 million Americans went to movie theaters this holiday weekend, with a total gross about $25 million. This we know.

We can assume that far more watched movies at home, including multiple titles that in a non-covid 19 world would either be playing in theaters now or would have already earlier this year. But we don’t know the actual numbers of these movies seen at home; only, in some cases, their relative order of popularity.

At a time when the future of movie theaters is uncertain, knowing the specifics is critical to analyzing what is likely to happen strategically when the pandemic fades. But all we have is tea leaves. Knowledge is power, but it is hard to determine right now because of the ongoing trend of streamers to obfuscate data.

Disney+ is not giving any hint of how heavily viewed Pixar’s “Soul” has been since its Friday debut. It leads on their “trending” list,...

Like the title suggests, Promising Young Woman brought a glimmer of promise to the specialty box office space. The Emerald Fennell-directed dramatic thriller starring Carey Mulligan debuted in 1,310 theaters in North America on December 25 earning an estimated $680K.

Since making its world premiere at Sundance, the film has been getting tons of buzz and acclaim. Currently sitting at 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, Promising Young Woman has — and still is — gearing up for awards season. Last week, the LA Films Critics Association awarded Mulligan with a Best Actress honor while Fennell nabbed Best Screenplay. This could very well be a forecast of what’s to come.

“We’re thrilled critics and audiences alike have championed the film, Carey, and Emerald’s genre-defying, ferocious story,” said Focus president of distribution Lisa Bunnell in a statement. “We’ve been waiting since its electrifying premiere at Sundance last year for audiences to discover Promising Young Woman...

Wonder Woman 1984 easily won the holiday box office weekend with an $85 million global haul. Domestically, the highly anticipated sequel was able to bring in an estimated $16.7 million, which is impressive due to the current public health crisis and the fact that the majority of North American movie theaters are closed. In addition, Warner Bros. also had Wonder Woman 1984 debut simultaneously on HBO Max, allowing subscribers to stream the sequel for no additional cost.

Wonder Woman 1984 was able to score the best box office numbers of the pandemic this weekend. Only 40 percent of theaters are currently operating in North America. "Wonder Woman 1984 broke records and exceeded our expectations across all of our key viewing and subscriber metrics in its first 24 hours on the service, and the interest and momentum we're seeing indicates this will likely continue well beyond the weekend," said WarnerMedia direct-to-consumer chief Andy Forssell. The...

In another slow weekend at the domestic box office, Screen Gems’ Monster Hunter managed to finally unseat The Croods, debuting at No.1 with $2.2 million. It was the first time in nine weeks that a movie from a studio other than Universal sat in the top spot.

The action-packed adaptation of the hit Capcom videogame starring Milla Jovovich and Ron Perlman unspooled in 1,736 theaters and earned a $1,267 per-screen average during its opening frame. The PG-13-rated film added $4.8 million overseas, giving it a $7 million cumulative worldwide haul. Monster Hunter reunited Jovovich with the director of her popular Resident Evil films, Paul W.S. Anderson, who seems to know how to make films that appeal to audiences, if not critics.

In the runner-up slot, Universal and DreamWorks’ animated sequel The Croods: A New Age dipped -34.7% in its fourth week, pulling in $2 million in North America this weekend. The PG-rated film, which features the voices of Nicolas Cage,...

It’s beginning to look like anything but Christmas at movie theaters. On a weekend where normally multiple films would open, including some of the biggest hits ever, the total for all titles looks to fall short of $9 million.

The top film this weekend has, at times, taken more than $100 million, and usually at least $50 million. That’s despite the usual competition of pre-holiday events vying for attention.

Normalcy would also include the release of major films, more than 4,000 theaters playing the biggest hits, and not to mention the absence of a pandemic killing more than 3,000 people a day. Things are different this year: Fewer than 40 percent of theaters are open, with 150 less than even last weekend.

That allowed “Monster Hunter” (Sony) to claim the top spot this year with $2.2 million in 1,736 theaters. From veteran genre maven Paul W.S. Anderson, starring his “Resident Evil” lead (and wife) Milla Jovovich, this...

The pandemic box office saw a narrow race between Sony/Screen Gems’ “Monster Hunter” and Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s “Croods: A New Age” this weekend, and “Monster Hunter” is currently estimated to become the first non-Universal release to reach No. 1 in eight weeks with a $2.2 million opening from 1,736 screens.

The latest video game adaptation from married actor/director team Milla Jovovich and Paul W.S. Anderson has a Rotten Tomatoes critics score of 47% and an audience score of 74%. It’s Anderson’s first No. 1 release since “Resident Evil: Retribution” in September 2012. The film was set to release in China but has been delayed over public backlash to a racist scene that will be edited out for a future release, though it is unclear how much the negative publicity will affect turnout among Chinese audiences that have usually enjoyed Anderson’s films if the country’s film board sets a new release date.

With no new major competition at the domestic box office, Universal and DreamWorks’ animated sequel The Croods: A New Age repeated at No. 1 with $3 million in its third week in theaters. The PG-rated film, which features the voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, and Ryan Reynolds, has racked up $24.3 million in North America to date, making it a rare commercial success story during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

A follow-up to the 2013 stone-age family hit which took in $187.2 million during its initial North American theatrical run seven years ago, The Croods: A New Age dipped -32.2% in its third weekend, scoring a $1,423 per-screen average in 2,115 theaters. It was the only film to surpass the $1 million mark at the domestic box office over the weekend. Overseas, the film has added a robust $52.1 million, bringing its cumulative worldwide gross to $76.3 million. However, The Croods’ three-week dominance may soon soften as the title becomes...

Robin Wright’s directorial debut “Land” will debut in theaters next year.

The drama, which stars Wright and Demian Bichir, is set to release in the U.S. on Feb. 12, 2021.

“Land” centers on Wright’s character, who goes off the grid and retreats into the wilderness after suffering an unfathomable loss. When she crosses paths with a local hunter (Bichir), she begins to confront her demons.

Wright directed several “House of Cards” episodes, but “Land” represents her first time behind the camera on a feature film. She was named one of Variety’s 10 directors to watch in 2020.

Liz Hannah, best known for co-writing Steven Spielberg’s “The Post” and the Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron comedy “Long Shot,” wrote the screenplay with Jesse Chatham and Erin Dignam.

“Land” is produced by Allyn Stewart, Lora Kennedy, Leah Holzer, and Peter Saraf. Wright also executive produced the film alongside Big Beach’s Marc Turletaub,...

Focus Features continues its steady rollout of movies into 2021 with the release of Robin Wright’s feature directorial debut drama Land on February 12, 2021, just in time for Oscar qualifications which have a cutoff date of February 28.

Land is scheduled on a weekend when the following movies are currently expected to open: 20th Century Studio’s The King’s Man and the Andy Garcia-Sharon Stone wide release What About Love.

The House of Cards Golden Globe-winning actress and episodic director stars in Land as Edee, who retreats to the wilds of the Rockies in the aftermath of an unfathomable event as she aims to stay connected to the world she once knew in the face of uncertainty. After a local hunter (Demián Bichir) brings her back from the brink of death, she must find a way to live again.

Wright directs from a screenplay by Jesse Chatham and Erin Digman.

In any other year, a movie topping the domestic box office for three consecutive weekends would be worn as a badge of honor, with the title in question typically posting healthy numbers. Obviously, though, the last nine months have been about as close to a total write-off as you can get when it comes to the theatrical industry, and animated sequel The Croods: A New Age, starring Ryan Reynolds and Emma Stone, among others, has retained the number one spot after facing competition from precisely zero new wide releases.

The good news is that the pic only cost $65 million produce, which is over $100 million less than its Academy Award nominated predecessor, and having raked in over $75 million globally so far, it’ll actually turn a profit by the time it leaves theaters. However, the prognosis is still not great for the chances of a resurgence happening any time soon.

The...

Bleecker Street’s Wild Mountain Thyme and Rlje Films’ Archenemy are the latest films to throw their hats into the specialty box office space. As we all know, for the past nine months, box office numbers have been stagnant to non-existent because of the pandemic. That said, it’s the same story for these two titles — but they get gold stars for braving the pandemic to make their theatrical debuts.

Written and directed by John Patrick Shanley and starring Emily Blunt and Jamie Dornan, the Ireland-set romance Wild Mountain Thyme opened in 450 theaters and earned an estimated $100,466 to bring its per-theater average of $223. Meanwhile, Adam Egypt Mortimer’s action thriller Archenemy starring Joe Manganiello debuted on 94 screens to gross an estimated $55,7000 for a per-screen average of $590. To further bolster its presence, Alamo Drafthouse, Legion M, SpectreVision and Rlje Films are teaming for a special virtual screening event of Archenemy with...

This weekend, there are six first-run movies in the box office top 10. (The others are reissues.) Of those six titles, five belong to Universal Studios and its specialty arm, Focus Features; they account for more than 60 percent of the weekend’s total gross.

Led by “The Croods: A New Age,” which had no real competition as the #1 title for its third weekend (it alone provided over 40 percent of the weekend gross), the studio’s lineup is not exactly a theater lifeline. All of the films are available on Premium VOD now or will be soon, and total grosses will amount to something over $7 million divided among somewhere between 2,200-2,400 theaters. That would mean an average of around $3,000 per complex. Calculating an average of eight screens per location, that’s about $375 per screen.

Things should improve next week with Sony’s video-game adaptation “Monster Hunter” with Milla Jovovich and Tony Jaa,...

Universal's DreamWorks Animation's The Croods: A New Age is number one at this weekend's box office. It marks the third consecutive weekend that the animated family movie has been number one. Croods: A New Age was able to bring in just north of $3 million and has earned $76.4 million globally since premiering 3 weeks ago. December has been quiet for movie theaters, especially since 40% of all North American theaters are closed at the moment. Wonder Woman 1984 could give the box office a shot in the arm on Christmas Day, but it's unclear what could happen after that.

Croods: A New Age will begin streaming on VOD starting December 18th for $20. However, the home entertainment competition will really begin the week after that with Wonder Woman 1984 arriving on HBO Max for no additional fee, along with the Soul release on Disney+, which is also free for current subscribers. With that being said,...

Sunday Am Final after first 8:01Am post: Even in a normal, healthy economy, the major studios are typically skittish about opening big movies before Christmas with many still busy with holiday activities. So, it comes as no surprise during a pandemic where just north of 40% of all 5,500 domestic movie theaters are open that there wouldn’t be any new wide openings this weekend. This has put Universal’s DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods: A New Age at the top of the weekend box office for a third weekend in a row with $3M, -32% for a running total of $24.M. Industry analysts believe the movie could hit $35M domestic.

Stateside, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group titles have topped the domestic box office for seven straight weeks.

No doubt, in the home entertainment holiday sphere, Croods: New Age will encounter competition later this month against HBO Max’s Wonder Woman 1994 and Disney+/Pixar’s Soul,...

With its theatrical window deal signed by AMC and Cinemark, Universal and Focus Features have continued to lead the struggling pandemic box office, as “The Croods: A New Age” earned its third straight No. 1 weekend and the studio’s seventh straight weekend atop the charts with $3 million from 2,115 screens.

Overseas, the film added $6.6 million in China and $8.4 across all overseas markets, including openings in Mexico and Ecuador. Globally, “Croods 2” now has a box office total of $76 million as Universal prepares to release the film as a premium video on-demand title in the coming week as part of its theatrical window deal. That deal, which allows Universal and Focus films to hit PVOD after three weekends in theaters, will also be used on the studios’ two remaining 2020 films: Paul Greengrass’ “News of the World” and Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman.”|

As was the case last weekend, “Croods 2” was...

Universal’s animated adventure “The Croods: A New Age” led another quiet weekend at the domestic box office. The film generated $3 million in its third weekend of release, bringing its total to $24.1 million.

Overseas, “The Croods” sequel earned another $8.4 million for a global tally of $76.3 million.

Thanks to an unprecedented agreement that allows Universal Pictures to put new releases on demand within weeks of their theatrical premieres, the studio has been more willing than rivals to unveil smaller-scale movies during the pandemic. That’s resulted in Universal and its specialty label Focus Features dominating over U.S. charts. Three of the top five highest-grossing movies this weekend belong to the Comcast-owned studio.

In second place, the Focus Features comedic drama “Half Brothers” brought in $490,000 from 1,386 screens. After two weeks in theaters, the movie has made $1.3 million.

Perennial holiday favorite “Elf,” the Will Ferrell comedy that debuted in 2003, secured the No.

U.S. weekend box office (though we still won't have theaters any time soon for some cities) 

The Croods: New Age $4.4 ($20.3 cum) Half Brothers $720k *new* Freaky $460k ($7.7 cum) All My Life $350k *new* The War With Grandpa $329k

Home Viewing? This week we rewatched The Man Who Cried (2000/2001) of all things for Murtada's Sundays with Cate podcast as well as Citizen Kane (1941) which is as marvelous as ever and finally finished The Queens Gambit (2020) which was so so satisfying. On the Rocks on Apple was a pleasant if uneventful sit. We also took in Mank  on Netflix and a preview of News of the World (in theaters at Christmas) both of which were lush and great-looking but would have been infinitely better on a big movie screen *cries* where they could totally envelop your senses and thus your mood. What did you see this week? ...

It goes without saying that the domestic box office is struggling. That said, it feels that we are trying to find different ways of framing that story every week. At the end of the day, it’s a win to report any numbers at all considering the circumstances — especially for the specialty box office space where many titles are going straight to digital or debuting in a virtual cinema. That particular data is never readily available so all we have are the estimates for films that brave the pandemic and hit physical theaters across the country. With many states issuing closures and lockdowns during the third wave of Covid, the specialty space is almost a ghost town with the exception of some holdovers that are fueling the tank with what they have.

The Jackie Chan action pic Vanguard at Gravitas Ventures dropped its screen count from 800 theaters last week to 350. This weekend,...

The Croods: A New Age won its second consecutive weekend in theaters with $4.4 million. The earnings were more than enough to take the number one spot, due to a pretty slow weekend. To date, the animated family movie has made just over $41 million globally as more and more theaters around the world begin to shut their doors again. As of this writing, theaters in most major cities across North America are still closed with no signs of reopening any time soon.

Universal turned heads early on in the pandemic when they released Trolls World Tour On Demand and in theaters on the same day. Now, Warner Bros. has announced that all of their 2021 movies will be released in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously, which is a move that large theater chains are against. A quick look at any of the box office weekends from March to now easily explain...

Few titles open at the North American box office post-Thanksgiving weekend, which usually is one of the weakest of the year. In 2019, that meant it fell short of $100 million. This year, it will see less than $9 million. Fewer than half of domestic theaters are open, of course, but the biggest barrier remains audience resistance to theaters during the pandemic.

Thanks to “The Croods: A New Age,” this isn’t the lowest-grossing weekend since theaters began reopening in mid-August. That sequel received most of the action, along with five other titles from Universal and its specialty division Focus Features.

Three of those titles — “Freaky,” “Let Him Go,” and “Come Play” — are already available at home for $19.99 after each spent three weeks in theaters. With the absence of product, they continue to place in the top 10. The three other films, including “Croods,” will also land on VOD platforms this month.

There were...

Even with Universal and Focus Features still providing new films through their PVOD deal, the pandemic has made the usually slow post-Thanksgiving weekend particularly dark for the box office, as Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s “The Croods: A New Age” was the only film to gross more than $750,000 with a second weekend total of $4.4 million from 2,205 screens.

There hasn’t been another wave of theater closures this week to affect the animated sequel’s screen count, but the escalating Covid-19 crisis, combined with a range of streaming and PVOD offerings from “Wonder Woman 1984” to “Soul” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” is expected to keep the overwhelming majority of moviegoers at home this December.

Worsening matters is that the day-and-date strategy Warner Bros. is using on “Wonder Woman 1984” this Christmas will be used for all of the studio’s 2021 titles — hitting HBO Max at the same time as theaters. While Warner Bros.

Universal and DreamWorks’ “The Croods: A New Age” repeated as winner of a mild post-Thanksgiving weekend with $4.4 million at 2,205 North American locations.

The animated comedy sequel, featuring a voice cast of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds, has been dominating the seriously subdued moviegoing business since its Nov. 25 launch with $20.3 million in its first dozen days. It’s a respectable performance, given that the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a majority of U.S. theater sites being closed. Sites that remain open often are operating with reduced capacity, limited hours and social distancing requirements.

“After an opening that topped very modest expectations, ‘Croods’ is naturally remaining the dominant film in a market operating with less than 40% of theaters open currently,” said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Box Office Pro. “Renewed lockdowns and closures across the country will probably keep exhibition’s hands tied for the remainder for the holidays,...

If there’s one weekend at the box office that studios and exhibitors typically have had no thanks for, it’s the post Thanksgiving period, typically the first weekend in December, when business drops by as much as 50%.

Last year the Black Friday weekend went from $180.9M led by Frozen 2 to $90.3M during the first frame of December, and let me tell ya somethin’, studios and exhibition are hungering for those types of tickets sales right now.

Universal remains the only major studio pumping out wide releases to those remaining movie theaters which aren’t being smashed down by lockdowns (like in California — God knows when we’ll be able to go to the movies again).

This weekend, Universal’s DreamWorks Animated title The Croods: A New Age in weekend 2 continued to see the best numbers in the current Covid-19 America, with $4.4M, -55%, crossing $20.3M in its 12th day in release.

So many movies intended for the big screen are having to forgo it these days, it seems odd when something as apt for home viewing as “Half Brothers” makes the Covid-defying move of opening on 1,200-plus American screens. Those looking for undemanding entertainment may give it a passing grade, but or the collective viewing experience. Nor does writer-producer Eduardo Cisernos’ concept add much to culture-clash politics beyond contrivance and reinforced stereotypes. It’s a slick film that’s forgettable at best, annoyingly broad and unfunny at worst.

A 1994 prologue has engineer Flavio (Juan Pablo Espinosa) enjoying a close, playful relationship with only child Renato (Ian Inigo) in their native San Miguel de Allende. But a steep economic downturn forces dad to leave his wife (Bianca Marroquin) and son behind in order to seek work up north, along with many others. While he promises he’ll soon return, that promise is broken.

Cinemas — the ones that are open — are hurting for new content. With only one wide release this week — that would be Focus Features’ “Half Brothers” opening on approximately 1,200 screens — film fans will likely be staying home and sifting through new releases via streaming instead.

For example, audiences have their choice between Disney fairy-tale sendup “Godmothered” and Francis Ford Coppola’s re-edit of “The Godfather Part III.” The former (which stars Isla Fisher and Jillian Bell) is available to Disney Plus subscribers, while the latter is getting a very limited theatrical run.

Who knows how audiences will react to a story about a romance cut short by medical tragedy in the era of Covid-19, but Universal serves up a well-made version of just that kind of love story with “All My Life,” featuring Jessica Rothe and Harry Shum Jr.

Steve McQueen’s five-film Small Axe series continues on Amazon Prime, while David Fincher’s buzzy,...

When it comes to comedy, everything’s relative. That’s the premise of Half Brothers, a new film starring Connor Del Rio and Luis Gerardo Méndez as a couple of men who meet for the first time after their dying father tells them they’re both his sons. While there are certainly some more poignant moments in which the [...]

The post ‘Half Brothers’ Stars Went All In On The Laughs appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

As we enter the throes of awards season more and more films are starting to make their qualifying runs in what is expected to be a very different kind of season. For starters, Searchlight Pictures is set to release Chloe Zhao’s buzzy pic of existential wanderlust Nomadland starring Frances McDormand for its virtual qualifying run starting today before expanding in 2021.

The film, which is set to run virtually at the Film Lincoln Center through December 11, follows Fern in the midst of the economic collapse of a company town in rural Nevada. We take a journey alongside Fern as she packs her van and sets off on the road exploring a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad. This marks the third feature for Zhao and features real nomads Linda May, Swankie and Bob Wells as Fern’s mentors and comrades in her exploration...

As this year thankfully nears an end we’re between those two big holidays that are all about family. So after we’ve eaten the big feast with them we’re gearing up for the big gift-giving season, full of brightly wrapped presents that often hide big surprises. But what if the biggest surprise isn’t in the package festooned with shiny paper and ribbons? How might you react upon finding out about a parent’s other family, complete with a sibling? That, along with riddles and a long road trip, is at the heart of the new comedy Half Brothers.

The story begins 26 years ago down in Mexico as pre-teen Renato Murguia is enjoying an idyllic childhood, flying his remote-control model airplane with his best pal, his adoring papa Flavio (Juan Pablo Espinosa). All is bliss until the economic crash and the peso is devalued. With tears in his eyes,...

Buddy movies and road trip movies are two time-honored cinematic genres, and Half Brothers manages to disappoint in both of them. This story of two siblings attempting to fulfill their dying father’s last request uneasily veers between juvenile comedy and schmaltzy sentimentality, managing to produce neither laughs nor tears.

Not that it doesn’t try very hard, starting with its high-concept storyline involving Renato (Luis Gerardo Méndez, Charlie’s Angels), a successful Mexican aeronautics entrepreneur, and Asher (Connor Del Rio, Unfriended: Dark Web), the younger brother he never knew he had. As a child, Renato was devoted to his engineer ...