Hello everyone,
This week’s email is dedicated to all the people laid off (see below for more information.
BOX OFFICE: This weekend’s breakout is a surprise. The animated “The Wild Robot” beat expectations to make $35 million in its opening weekend. The other surprise is the movie from India – “Devara Part 2”- which came in at #4 with $5.6 million. The other new wide release – Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” disappointed making about $4 million and coming in at #6 on the top ten. The only other movie that made over $10 million was #2 “Bettlejuice Beetlejuice” with about $16 million for its 4th weekend.
For the limited releases, “Saturday Night” packed them in on only 5 screens making $54 thousand a screen for a total of $270 thousand. Not sure if that will keep going when the movie goes a little wider next weekend. The other limited release, “Lee” starring Kate Winslet, didn’t do well at all. It made a little more than $800 (that’s eight HUNDRED) per screen on its 854 screens making a total of $712 thousand.
Despite sever movie theaters in the southeast being closed over the weekend due to Hurricane Helene, the overall domestic box office was up about 13% to almost $93 million. That’s about $5 million more than the same weekend last year when another animated movie – “Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie” – was #1.
WORLDWIDE: “The Wild Robot” and “Transformers One” did well in international markets. “Transformers One” (#3 domestically) was the lead American movie with $16.6 million internationally and $72 worldwide. “The Wild Robot” is continuing to open in more countries. It made $9.9 internationally and $53.1 worldwide. However, the big international winner is the movie from India “Devara Part 1” which made $27.8 internationally for a total of $32.9 worldwide.
LAYOFFS AND STAFF CUTS: Last week, Paramount continued its layoffs cutting 15% of it’s total workforce. The new layoffs supposedly included the entire Paramount Post Production department, the Paramount+ Communications team (supposedly they dissolved that group), and some people at CBS and CBS news.
PLUS Disney cut some positions. Supposedly, it’s approx. 300 mostly corporate jobs such as legal, HR, finance, and communications.
AND Lionsgate just announced that they’re offering it’s US employees’ voluntary severance and early retirement due to “disruptive business environment”.
OTHER NEWS:
The big news today is that Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra just announced he’s stepping down at the start of 2025 and the current Chairman of Global Television Studios and President and COO Ravi Ahuja will be taking the reins. The reports say that the change DOES NOT have anything to do with Sony Pictures attempt to acquire Paramount Global a couple months ago.
Since he was part of the group that bought a movie theater in Westwood Village a few months ago, filmmaker Jason Reitman officially joined NATO (National Association of Theater Owners) last week. He commented that, although the movie theater recently shut down, his plans for it are only in blueprint stage and it probably won’t reopen until at least 2026. When asked about the “Bruin” movie theater across the street which also recently closed, he only said “no comment”. So, I guess that’s now the 2nd anticipated movie theater reopening (after the Cinerama Dome which a lot of people are hoping will reopen sometime in 2025).
LITTLE BIT OF HUMOR:
Well, they’ll have a chance to catch up on all the Shrek movies since “Shrek 6” was announced for 2026.
To paraphrase the Smashmouth song: “The sequels start coming and the don’t stop coming. To the movie theater, the audiences come running…”
LOS ANGELES FILM REVIEW 