Industry News
by saidiontheside

saidi’s take – 9/9/2025

Hello everyone,

BOX OFFICE: Just like last year, a Warner Bros sequel had a huge opening weekend right after Labor Day.  Last year it was “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” (which made $111 million about a year ago), this year it’s “The Conjuring: Last Rites” which made $84 million.  That’s the best opening weekend for the franchise and the 3rd best opening weekend for a horror movie.   #2 on the domestic box office charts was the theatrical release of “Hamilton” which made $10.1 million  (this is NOT a movie version of the play. They filmed the play, ran it on Disney+ and have now released it in theaters).

Thanks to “The Conjuring: Last Rites”, this weekend’s total domestic box office almost doubled last weekend’s 3 day with $124.533 million.

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE: “The Conjuring: Last Rites” also broke records worldwide making $110 million internationally and $194 million worldwide which is also a franchise record and is the BIGGEST worldwide opening for a horror movie EVER.  After just 1 weekend, it’s #10 on the worldwide summer box office chart.

OTHER NEWS:

They just announced the release date for the sequel to this summers “Superman”.  “Man of Tomorrow” is scheduled for July 9, 2027.

Some people call the “Wizard of Oz” version now playing at The Sphere in Las Vegas great, but others think it’s just a way to slip AI (Artificial Intelligence) into movie making.  One of the next things they’re planning to do with the help of AI is to restore the “lost scenes” of Orson Wells “The Magnificent Ambersons”.  However, even Orson Wells estate is objecting to using AI to restore the movie.  They said “We saw the various articles on ‘Ambersons’ today. In general, the estate has embraced AI technology to create a voice model intended to be used for VO work with brands. That said, this attempt to generate publicity on the back of Welles’ creative genius is disappointing, especially as we weren’t even given the courtesy of a heads up,” a spokesperson for the Welles estate wrote. “While AI is inevitable, it still cannot replace the creative instincts resident in the human mind, which means this effort to make Ambersons whole will be a purely mechanical exercise without any of the uniquely innovative thinking or a creative force like Welles.”  (Some other people have said similar things about “The Wizard of Oz” playing at The Sphere).

LITTLE BIT OF HUMOR:  I have not seen a single movie in the “Fast and Furious” franchise, so I was very surprised about this…..

THEY DID WHAT?????  How do you drive cars in space?  Also, why did they wait 4 years to apologize (the movie “F9” came out in 2021)????