Hello everyone,
BOX OFFICE: Sony Pictures has a lot to celebrate today because it’s “Bad Boys Ride or Die” did very well this past weekend. It came in at #1 with $56.5 million which is the best opening for Sony since “Spider-Man No Way Home” WAY back in Dec 2021. It’s also the 5th best opening for 2024 so far (slightly under “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” $58.4 million and “Kung Fu Panda 4” $58 million – or else it would have been the 3nd best opening weekend of the year after “Dune Part 2” and “Godzilla Vs Kong The New Empire”). Sony is also happy because the #2 spot was also a Sony release. “The Garfield Movie” came in 2nd with $10 million. The other new wide release this past weekend was “The Watchers” which was #5 with $7 million.
Thanks to “Bad Boys Ride or Die”, the overall domestic weekend went up over 57% to just over $104 million total. With “Inside Out 2” coming out this Friday, things are really looking good that box office numbers may get close to the same time last year. The total domestic box office numbers for this past weekend last year were approx. $163 million (“Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” – which supercharged the box office – didn’t come out until July).
WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE: ‘Bad Boys Ride or Die” also did well worldwide with an international total of around $48 million and a worldwide total of $105 million. That makes it the 3rd successful Sony Pictures release this year (“Ghostbusters Frozen Empire” is at $201 million worldwide and “The Garfield Movie” is still doing well internationally and is at approx. $193 million worldwide). Another notable worldwide gross is “Godzilla Vs Kong The New Empire” which just barely passed “Kong Skull Island” so it’s the biggest worldwide box office for Legendary/Warner Bros “Monsterverse” franchise.
UNION NEWS: Another week without any deals between IATSE and studio negotiations. People are starting to get concerned since the current contracts around the end of June and they announced that new negotiations won’t re-start until June 24 which is less that 2 weeks before the end of June. However, they announced that they expect to finalize negotiations by June 27.
OTHER NEWS:
In the Paramount merger news – Last week it seemed like the deal with Skydance was very close to being done but THIS week they say negotiations are continuing while TWO NEW PEOPLE are now interested. First, it was reported that Edgar Bronfman Jr (a beverage billionaire) is looking at a deal. Second, it was also reported that producer Steven Paul has assembled a group of deep-pocketed investors looking at a deal. Supposedly, the offers from BOTH of the new players are HIGHER than the current bid from Skydance. Bronfmans family has had some experience with studios since a company that he owned – Seagram – acquired Universal back in 1995 (but eventually sold it to Vivendi). Producer Steven Paul – founder of Crystal Sky Entertainment – has some ties to Paramount.
A lot of people that I know don’t like seeing movies in 3D but it still has a lot of support from movie studios. There was just an announcement that some of the biggest movies of summer 2024 – “Deadpool and Wolverine”, “Despicable Me 4”, and “Inside Out 2” will all be playing in 3D in movie theaters. Although there are no other movies currently scheduled to be in 3D (other than the current “The Garfield Movie”) but having what could be the top 3 movies of this summer is very impressive.
LITTLE BIT OF HUMOR:
WHY? WHY? WHY? I know that movie theaters are looking for ways to make more money but is it cheaper to set this up instead of fixing the heater??? Do they turn up the air conditioner so they can sell blankets during the summer??? I can imagine a movie theater auditorium littered with blankets. Also, I’m sure that being under a blanket will help some customers fall asleep during a movie or do…..other things….under a blanket during the movie. So, I’m asking again: WHY? WHY? WHY?
LOS ANGELES FILM REVIEW 