box office

“Creed III” Sets Box Office Record With Opening Weekend

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Creed III had the biggest box office opening for a sports film of all time after earning an estimated $58.7 million domestically. The movie pulled in another $41.8 million overseas bringing its total above $100 million worldwide. Studios projected the latest installment in the Creed franchise to bring in just $30 million. The hot start puts it on pace to surpass the previous two entries in the series. Creed earned $109.8 million while Creed II brought in $115.7 million.

“This is beyond all of our expectations. And we knew that we had something special — we tested the movie and it tested great, but the public responded so resoundingly to it,” Erik Lomis, MGM’s head of distribution, told the Associated Press. “Everything went right here starting with the movie itself … It was just up to us not to break it when they gave it to us and we didn’t.”

The Cast Of “Creed III”

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 27: (L-R) Jonathan Majors, Tessa Thompson, Mila Davis-Kent and Michael B. Jordan attend the Los Angeles Premiere Of “CREED III” at TCL Chinese Theatre on February 27, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic)

Creed III follows Michael B. Jordan’s titular character as he’s thriving in his career and family life until the return of Damian, a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy. Damian is played by Jonathan Majors, who explained why he chose the part during a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly. “The thing that got my attention was how he [Jordan] was pitching it, with so much passion and clarity, and that this would be a character coming in who we’ve not seen before,” Majors said. “I thought it was a huge opportunity to join the franchise, and also to work alongside Michael and learn everything he’s experienced in his twenty-plus years of working in this industry.” 

The film is also Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut as well as the first film in the franchise that doesn’t star Sylvester Stallone. The legendary Rocky actor is still credited as a producer on the project as is the first film’s director, Ryan Coogler. It also stars Tessa Thompson, Wood Harris, and more. The film was boosted by a soundtrack from Dreamville as well.

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“Winnie The Pooh: Blood & Honey” Surprises At The Box Office

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Critics heavily bashed Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. However, the film has already become a box office smash hit. The film is inspired by the characters from the children’s book. The story follows Winnie the Pooh and Piglet, who have become feral after being abandoned by Christopher Robin. Eventually, the duo becomes serial killers. In the time span of this film, they focus their terror on a group of college kids who come to visit the Hundred Acre Wood. The film’s announcement went viral when fans of the childhood classic expressed excitement. Therefore, the one-night-only theatrical release expanded to a week.

This past week, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has dominated the box office. However, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey has also become a box office hit. The film originally got many negative reviews from critics. However, it earned $750k in its opening weekend. This has raised to $1.58 million gross in the first week of the film’s theatrical release. These numbers are promising for the overall financial results of the film. It’s particularly impressive when you consider that Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey was made on a budget of only $100K.

Winnie The Pooh: Blood & Honey

Even before the film was officially released, the film’s writer/director/producer, Rhys Frake-Waterfield, was confident in its success. Frake-Waterfield announced that there were plans for a sequel already in the works. He is also looking to continue the success of Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey by twisting other children’s stories. There are ideas for Bambi, which he is just producing, and Peter Pan. According to Frake-Waterfield, Winnie the Pooh: Love and Honey could be part of a multi-film universe.

Just two months into 2023, it’s clear that this will be a strong year for the horror genre. January 2023 held the release of M3GAN, which had a production budget of $12 million and grossed over $170 million. Additionally, February 2023 kicked off with M. Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin. That film was made with a $20 million budget and grossed $47.9 million. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey grossed over ten times its budget. Additionally, March 2023 holds the release of Scream VI, which is projected to gross $5 million more than Scream III in its opening weekend. There are also high hopes for horror releases later this year, such as Evil Dead Rise, Insidious: Fear the Dark, The Exorcist legacy sequel, The Nun 2, and Saw X. Fans are also excited for original releases, Beau is Afraid, Renfield and The Last Voyage of the Demeter.

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“Avatar 2” and “Titanic” Fight For Third Spot On All-Time Box Office Chart

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The re-release of Titanic in 3D has brought the movie’s gross box office earnings to $2.217 billion globally. This means that it still stands as number three in the top worldwide releases of all time. Avatar: The Way of Water is coming closely behind at 2.213 billion. It is still the fourth movie on the list of top worldwide releases, but the gap between the films is smaller than ever at just $4 million through Sunday. The Avatar sequel will surpass Titanic, it is just a matter of when. Regardless, James Cameron owns the box office once again. Titanic‘s rerelease has earned $22.3 million and Avatar: The Way of Water has earned $25.8 million.

As far as the international box office goes, Avatar: The Way of Water has had a 35% drop in 52 material markets for an additional $18.8 million. It is still the number one non-local grossing title in France, Germany, Spain, and several other countries. The top five grossing markets are China ($242.6 million), France($144.9 million), Germany ($135 million), Korea ($106.9 million), and the UK ($89.7 million). When it comes to IMAX, Avatar: The Way of Water has hit $252.2 million in its final weekend. The film’s international cume is $164.6 million. This includes $52.2 million (the second-highest IMAX result ever) from China.

Avatar: The Way Of Water

Producer Jon Landau and director James Cameron leave their hand and footprints in cement during a ceremony held at TCL Chinese Theatre on January 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)

Like Avatar: The Way of Water, Titanic‘s rerelease for the film’s 25-year anniversary had impressive numbers. The film was number one in Italy, Belgium, Bosnia, Slovenia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Central America. Additionally, it made $15.9 million internationally from 51 markets. It also debuted in the Top 4 in Korea, Japan, India, Spain, Mexico, the UK, Australia, France, Germany, Brazil, and more. Korea ($2.5M), France ($1.6M), Mexico ($1.2M), UK ($1M), and Japan ($1M) were the Top 5 booking passages. Additionally, IMAX generated $2M globally.

The media is buzzing about Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s global release this coming week on February 17. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever rolled out in the PCR starting on February 7 after a long break from Marvel movies in the market. It grossed $12 million across its extended opening session. Black Pather: Wakanda Forever was never expected to be the high-grossing Marvel return that it was. However, the film’s international cume is now at $401.4 million for $885 million globally.

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“Avatar: The Way Of Water” Opens With $130M-$150M At Box Office

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Avatar: The Way Of Water slightly underperformed at the domestic box office for an opening day of $53M, as well as a three-day of $130M-$150M. Projections were between $150M-$175M, according to Deadline.

The film’s budget is reported to have been between $250M-$350M.

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – 2022/12/09: Canadian filmmaker James Cameron speaks during a Future Dialogue for Global Innovation 2022 in Seoul. His latest movie ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is to be released in the country on December 14. (Photo by Kim Jae-Hwan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Director James Cameron previously admitted that the film would have to be historically successful to break even. He told GQ that he told studio executives “you have to be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history. That’s your threshold. That’s your break even.”

While he didn’t admit the exact budget for Avatar: The Way Of Water, he described it as “very fucking” expensive.

Imax and PLF tickets are responsible for 32% of the Avatar sequel‘s ticket sales thus far with an additional 31% coming from 3D theaters.

While the sales are lower than projections, they are significantly higher than 2009’s Avatar, which debuted with $27 million on the first day. The film went on to become the highest-grossing movie of all time.

Critically, the new Avatar film has a 78% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an audience score of 94%.

Avatar: The Way Of Water takes place years after the first film, following Jake Sully and Ney’tiri after they have formed a family. It stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, and Sigourney Weaver. Cameron wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver.

Cameron is planning on releasing three more sequels on December 20, 2024, December 18, 2026, and also December 22, 2028.

Check out a trailer for Avatar: The Way Of Water below.

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