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After spending three weeks at No. 1 on Nielsen’s overall streaming viewership chart, Netflix’s Squid Game has relinquished its crown.

Netflix’s Jamie Foxx-Cameron Diaz thriller Back In Action landed the top spot this week with 1.5 billion minutes viewed, Nielsen said in its weekly update on Thursday. Squid Game fell to No. 4 on the overall streaming chart with 1.25 billion minutes viewed during the Jan. 13-Jan. 19 frame, the most recent week in the data firm’s tally.

Meanwhile, Billy Bob Thornton-starrer Landman kept up its run with 1.05 billion minutes of viewing and represents the only Paramount+ show outside of library title Dexter to chart in the top 5 for this week on either the TV or movies charts.

Speaking of Western-influenced shows, Peter Berg’s American Primeval, which was the top premiere on the streaming chart last week, rose to No. 2 on the overall chart with 1.41 billion minutes viewed.

As we’ve seen, some people will go to great lengths to keep their money. In the new comedy from director Max Barbakow, Kristen Wiig does what it takes to hold onto her fortune, even if that means hooking up with a new, wealthy husband, played by Bill Murray, to keep creditors from pilfering her stash. Rocket Science invites you to witness a match made in Hollywood heaven as Bill Murray and Kristen Wiig star in Epiphany, an upcoming comedy from Scrooged and The Recruit writer Mitch Glazer.

Here’s the official synopsis for Epiphany courtesy of Rocket Science:

“When her massive fortune evaporates overnight, heiress and fashionista Favorite Ives (Wiig) has two weeks to nab a rich husband and fight creditors to stay off the street. Her desperate search for a big-money mark slams her into eccentric math savant and billionaire Oz Bell (Murray). Favorite needs Oz’s...

Pharrell Williams and Michel Gondry have decided to scrap their movie musical that was in the postproduction process for Universal Pictures.

Golden, which previously went by the title Atlantis, will not be shopped to other interested parties, as the creative team is not continuing on with the project. It had previously been scheduled for release on May 9.

The star-studded cast included Kelvin Harrison Jr., Halle Bailey, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Brian Tyree Henry, Janelle Monáe, Missy Elliott and Quinta Brunson. The project was set in Virginia Beach during the summer of 1977 and inspired by Atlantis Apartments, the neighborhood where Williams grew up. Gondry helmed the musical from a script by Martin Hynes and Steven Levenson, while Williams was a producer alongside Mimi Valdés and Gil Netter.

“When all of us got into the editing room, we collectively decided there wasn’t a path forward to tell the version of this story that we originally envisioned,...

Season 2 of ‘The Night Agent’ became the most-watched Netflix series during the week of Jan. 20-26, racking up 13.9 million views in its first four days.

While its debut was strong, it didn’t match the launch of Season 1 in 2023, which had 168.7 million hours watched in just four days, equating to about 20.6 million views. The success of Season 2 also brought more viewers back to Season 1, which earned 4.9 million views and landed in fourth place on the charts that week.

‘Back in Action’ stayed at No. 1 on the English-language film list for the second week, with 46.8 million views. ‘Ad Vitam’ topped the non-English language films list for the third week, earning 8.4 million views. ‘The Recruit’ Season 1 secured No. 10 on the English TV list with 1.7 million views as viewers awaited Season 2.’ Carry-On’ remained at No. 9 on the English films list with 2.7 million views. ‘Knight and Day’ appeared at No. 10 on the English films list,...

Back In Action. (L to R) Jamie Foxx as Matt and Cameron Diaz as Emily in Back In Action. Cr. John Wilson/Netflix © 2024. It was a week of high-stakes action and international intrigue on Netflix, with spies and secret agents dominating the Top 10 charts. The Night Agent claimed the No. 1 spot with a whopping 13.9 million views for its second season. This Gabriel Basso-led thriller clearly struck a chord, landing in the Top 10 in 90 countries! And with Season 2 dropping, viewers are revisiting Season 1 (No. 4), proving this show has serious staying power. But Peter Sutherland wasn’t the only spy making waves. Back in Action, starring Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz, held onto its No. 1 position on the English-language film list for the second week in a row. Clearly, audiences are loving this action-comedy duo. Speaking of Diaz, she’s got double the action this week! Her 2010 film Knight and Day,...

Oscar nominated films took the #8 (“A Complete Unknown”) and #10 (“The Brutalist”) slots in theatrical box office this weekend. It’s a different story with home viewing, as seen by the current charts at iTunes (listing by transactions) and Fandango (revenue).

Of their 20 total positions, 12 are held by films with at least one nomination. That covers nine different films, with three on both.

Though the top three titles were big box offices hits with little or no need for awards to elevate their home interest. Just released “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” (Paramount) is #1 at both iTunes and Fandango, while “Nosferatu,” also new, is second at Fandango, third at iTunes (after placing second most of its first week out). Previous #1 for two weeks “Wicked” (Universal) is #2 at Fandango, #3 at iTunes.

The same is not true at Netflix. “Emilia Pérez,” for which they have U.S., Canada, and U.K. rights, led with 13 nominations.

If nothing else, you can at least make the case that Netflix viewers have a certain kind of diverse taste. While the current situation is pretty dire, with Cameron Diaz's first movie in 11 years dominating the Netflix charts despite terrible reviews, last year we saw the director of "Green Room" top the same charts with the excellent action thriller "Rebel Ridge." Likewise, movies such as Kevin Hart's "Lift" enjoy baffling success on the streamer but so too do stellar sci-fi epics directed by Christopher Nolan, such as when "Interstellar" topped the Netflix charts to start 2025.

In all, then, Netflix is an infinitely fascinating yet confounding landscape -- one that's populated by the kind of streaming slop responsible for watering down the entire concept of moviemaking, yet also capable of exposing global audiences to Academy Award nominated films such as the Spanish drama "Society of the Snow." Now, the...

Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal's The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is quickly climbing Netflix's charts following its premiere on the platform. Tom Gormican's 2022 action-comedy sees a fictionalized and down-on-his-luck Cage embark on a paid appearance at billionaire super-fan Javi Gutierrez's (Pascal) birthday party, only to find himself swept up in a CIA plot. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent also stars Sharon Horgan, Tiffany Haddish, Ike Barinholtz, Neil Patrick Harris, and Paco León.

After netting a score of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes upon release, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent had an incredible debut among audiences upon its Netflix premiere. Within the first week of being added to the streaming service's catalog, Cage and Pascal's action-comedy has risen up the daily charts. As of Sunday, January 19, the movie is the #6 title on the list of Top 10 Movies in the U.S. today. It comes behind new release Back in Action,...

In 2022, Nicolas Cage played Nicolas Cage in "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," a delightful comedy outing that saw the veteran star come across as what /Film's Jacob Hall described as "often nuanced, generally restrained, and painfully, awkwardly human." That's quite an accomplishment for Cage, who has been known for anything but his restraint in the last couple of decades. Even when he starred in the most terrifying horror movie of 2024, "Longlegs," he played the mysterious and creepy serial killer with an over-the-top relish. I went into that theater wondering if we'd see some kind of uncharacteristic restraint on Cage's behalf, but after he started scream-singing five minutes into the movie I thought, "Nope!" Not to say his performance was bad, but if you saw him in David Gordon Green's 2013 effort "Joe," you might too be hoping for more of the quietly brooding older Nic Cage and less of...

A24 has become one of the leading producers in horror over the past decade. Most recently, their horror film Heretic succeeded at the box office and among critics, scoring an impressive 91% Tomatometer. The central Heretic performance by Hugh Grant has also garnered attention at awards ceremonies, earning the actor nominations at the Golden Globe and BAFTA awards. 2024 also saw the release of other A24 horror films including Y2K, The Front Room, MaXXXine, and I Saw The TV Glow.

But even before last year, A24 has been cultivating directorial talents in the horror genre for years. They were the distributor behind The Witch, for example, a film that would go on to make stars out of both director Robert Eggers and actor Anya Taylor-Joy. The company added other indie auteurs to its growing list of directorial collaborators, including Clerks helmer Kevin Smith, who directed their wacky 2014 horror film Tusk. Another director...

As in the case with most Hollywood projects, there are a couple of dominant names within the animation industry. For years, a single studio was the face of animation in Hollywood: Disney. The company has been releasing animated features in theaters since 1937, when they premiered Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. From there, the studio continued to make hits, many of which were nominated for major awards. The animation landscape changed when DreamWorks was created in the '90s. Their first movie, The Prince of Egypt, was critically acclaimed upon its 1998 release.

DreamWorks would go on to release Shrek, which rivals Disney Pixar's Toy Story movies as one of the biggest animated series of all time. Disney and DreamWorks still dominate the box office today, with both studios producing high-grossing films in 2024. Over the last two decades, however, the animated landscape has continued to shift as studios like Blue Sky Studios,...

“The Substance” (Mubi) and “Flow” (Janus/Sideshow), two very independent specialized releases, add to their theatrical and awards successes with strong interest on home viewing.

“Wicked” (Universal), expecting even greater recognition repeats as #1 at both iTunes (ranking by transactions) and Fandango (by revenue) in its second week out. The studio, which like others rarely announces home video returns, said its first week out had $70 million in rentals and sales. They get 80 percent of this after a small carriage fee deduction, a much higher return than in theaters. This buttresses the claim of how vital PVOD is, even if its often early streaming release seems to intrude on theatrical play.

Netflix, meanwhile, underwent a wholesale turnover this week, with only three films listed last week still on their top 10. “Ad Vitam,” an original French thriller in the Liam Neeson-mold that follows a lone avenger saving a family member in danger,...

Robert Downey Jr. and Joker director Todd Phillips’ road trip comedy with a 39% Rotten Tomatoes score is climbing the Netflix charts, more than a decade after its original release. Among the most successful and beloved contemporary actors, Downey Jr. has starred in a wide variety of movies throughout his well-observed, 55-year career. Before portraying Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer, which won him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, or his tenure as Tony Stark/Iron Man in the MCU, he had done many comedies and even joined the cast of SNL during season 11.

Within comedy, Downey Jr. appeared in The Pick-up Artist, Soapdish, The Shaggy Dog, and the acclaimed, but debated, Tropic Thunder, among other films. However, he has proven more than capable of working across genres, as evidenced by his more dramatic roles and blockbuster accomplishments, similar to Todd Phillips’ transition from largely humor-infused projects to the 2019 thriller Joker. Prior to making that movie,...

The year 2024 was undoubtedly a fantastic year for animated movies. Inside Out 2 surpassed Frozen II to become the highest-grossing animated movie of all time at the worldwide box office. It made just shy of $1.7 billion at the worldwide box office, positioning it as the highest-grossing movie of the year. It was not the only animated movie to achieve success. In fact, four of 2024's top 10 highest-grossing movies were animated films, including Despicable Me 4, Moana 2, and Kung Fu Panda 4.

Moana 2 box office is still going strong and now seems like a likely contender to join the elite group of animated movies that have made over $1 billion at the worldwide box office. At the time of writing, only 11 animated movies had reached this achievement, and most are under Disney. However, one of the most successful animated franchises came from a studio other than Disney, and some of...

After the previous installment in the spinoff series pushed the franchise to a major financial milestone, Minions 3 is getting an earlier release date.

The Hollywood Reporter has brought word that Universal is shifting some of its upcoming release calendar around. One such movie getting a new release date is Minions 3, with the Despicable Me threequel spinoff now set for a July 1, 2026 date, taking over the slot from Shrek 5, which is now set for December 23 that same year. This also puts Minions 3 in theaters nearly a full year early, having originally been set for a June 30, 2027 release date.

Developing...

Source: THR

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Despicable Me

Gru, a villain with ambitions to steal the moon, adopts three orphaned girls to aid his scheme. Unexpectedly, he finds himself growing attached to them, which complicates his plans. As Gru...

Netflix audiences keep surprising people with their viewing preferences. And the streamer itself, for all its promotion and advertising and celebration of its award wins, opts not to mention this on its home website.

PVOD consumers, digitally renting or buying recent releases, performed as expected with the release of “Wicked” (Universal) last week. It is #1 at both iTunes and Fandango, with last week’s #1 “Gladiator II” (Paramount) dropping to second.

After 21 days at #1 on their U.S. top 10 movie list, the Netflix original “Carry-On” dropped to #6, below five older theatrical releases. It almost certainly will be #1 on Netflix’s weekly chart for the third time — unheard of for any film, let alone homegrown — but as of Monday, it and Tyler Perry’s “The Six Triple Eight” (#10 currently) are the only two originals on the list.

January 1 saw a big infusion of added titles from Netflix’s deals with Universal, Warner Bros. Discovery,...

Despicable Me Films Ranked At The Worldwide Box Office( Photo Credit – YouTube )

Despicable Me 4 kept the theatres busy in 2024, and although it was predicted to cross the $1 billion mark, it fell short of that. However, it was still a huge success and one of the top 5 highest-grossing films of last year. However, is it the biggest film in the main franchise? Let’s find out!

About the Franchise –

The franchise was created by Sergio Pablos, Cinco Paul, and Ken Daurio. The films are produced by Illumination and distributed by its parent company, Universal Pictures. The first film came out in 2010, and it was directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin. Meanwhile, the fourth film has only been directed by Chris Renaud. There are four films in the Despicable Me film series and two prequel series, Minions and Minions: The Rise of Gru. However, we will only rank the Despicable Me films.

One of Hollywood’s most promising names in the past decade has been Lin-Manuel Miranda. After his stunning success on Broadway, dozens of films have called up the songwriter for his expertise. This has been great for the musician and actor, who racked up an Emmy win, five Emmy nominations, and two Oscar nominations since 2017. Miranda’s latest contribution to Disney comes with Mufasa: The Lion King. Building on the foundation of Disney’s iconic franchise, Miranda finds himself in the Oscar race once again. Meanwhile, with visual effects awards in flux, Mufasa hopes to hear its name on Oscar nomination morning in more than one category.

(L-r): Mufasa (voiced by Aaron Pierre), Eshe (Thandiwe Newton), and Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) in Disney’s live-action Mufasa: The Lion King. Photo courtesy of Disney. © 2024 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved. Related Mufasa: The Lion King’s First Reviews Are Disney...

Wicked Box Office (North America): Beats The Batman (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Did Mufasa: The Lion King and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 slow down Wicked? Well, it doesn’t seem that way! The movie continues its strong legs in the US and has surpassed more than one movie, including The Batman’s domestic runs, to become one of the 65 highest-grossing films of all time. Scroll below for the deets.

The Batman by Matt Reeves, starring Robert Pattinson, was released in 2022. It featured Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, and Colin Farrell in supporting roles besides Pattinson. It was reportedly made against a budget of $185-$200 million and was one of the highest-grossing movies of 2022. It collected $369.34 million in the US and $402.97 million overseas.

The Batman’s global total was an impressive $772.31 million. Now, according to Luiz Fernando’s report, Wicked has surpassed The Batman...

Moana 2’s third-week box office success sets the course for Disney repeating a feat from 2019. Before completing its first month in theaters, the sequel already beat the first installment’s five-month worldwide grossing of $643 million. Moana 2’s new and returning cast is key in sparking a renewed interest in the franchise, as adding new characters has given a fresh perspective while expanding on familiar dynamics that made the original great. The demigod twist in Moana 2’s ending effectively sets up future installments, not to mention the confirmed live-action and possible sequels and TV shows about characters like Maui and Simea.

Despite Moana 2’s reviews being considerably worse than the first, its early box office numbers surpass the first movie by a lot, positioning it to become the studio’s favorite franchise in the years to come. Beating Frozen 2’s record of having the biggest Thanksgiving opening gross of all time,...

Inside Out 2 is the highest-grossing movie of 2024 by a pretty wide margin, and it’s the first animated film to top the box office of an entire year in a long time. Not only is it the highest-grossing film of the year; Inside Out 2 is the highest-grossing animated movie ever made. It surpassed the 2019 remake of The Lion King, which has always been controversial for holding the record since it’s a photorealistic “live-action” reimagining of the animated classic. Now that Inside Out 2 has taken its throne, the highest-grossing animated movie is indisputably an animated movie.

The box office success of Inside Out 2 is a great example of a multigenerational hit. Whereas something like Despicable Me 4 will only appeal to younger viewers and something like Dune: Part Two will only appeal to older viewers, Inside Out 2 appeals to viewers of all ages. The colorful...

When putting together the song, “Piece by Piece,” for the documentary about his life of the same name, Pharrell Williams saw it as a chance explore everything in his life that has led him to where he is right now. “It’s thinking about how everything collectively is your story. If you think about all of the crazy times that you have experienced in your life and all the fun times and all the sad times and all of the momentous time and all the times you were caught off guard by things that just blindsided you,” he tells Gold Derby during our recent webchat (watch the video interview above). He even traces it to the medium in which his story is told in the film. “They’re all piece by piece and it’s very interesting that it’s sort of synonymous with how the Lego world works.”

“Piece by Piece,...

Moana 2 Box Office (North America): Thanksgiving Day Update ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Moana 2 is performing as expected in its opening week. It has beaten Frozen II by almost twice its collection on Thanksgiving Day ever. It set several records with its collection on Thursday and hit a magnificent cume in just two days. Scroll below for the deets.

The critics and audience ratings on the Rotten Tomatoes platform vary slightly, but it is winning hearts in some ways. The critics gave it 65%, while the audience gave it a strong 87%. The critics’ consensus on the esteemed platform read, “Riding high on a wave of stunning animation, even when its story runs adrift, it isn’t as inspired as the original but still delights as a colorful adventure.”

For the unversed, Moana 2 opened in the theatres in North America on Wednesday and has reached a splendid cume in two days.

Despicable Me 4 Box Office (Worldwide): On Track To Surpass The 2nd Film’s Global Haul( Photo Credit – YouTube )

Despicable Me 4 is tiptoeing towards the worldwide haul of the second installment in the film franchise. It has been months since it was released in the theatres, yet it continues to move towards its goal. Although it was predicted to cross the one billion dollar mark, that seems next to impossible now. Scroll below for the deets.

The second installment was released in 2013. It follows Gru as he gets recruited by agent Lucy Wilde to investigate a theft by El Macho, a supervillain seeking world domination. Steve Carell voices Gru in the franchise, which also features Kristen Wiig as Lucy Wilde. In addition to them, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, and Steve Coogan were also part of the voice cast.

According to Luiz Fernando’s report, Despicable Me 4...

Chris Meledandri, founder and CEO of the animation powerhouse Illumination, will be honored with the David O. Selznick Achievement Award at the 36th Annual Producers Guild Awards, the guild announced Thursday.

Meledandri’s credits include “Despicable Me,” the Oscar-nominated “Despicable Me 2,” “The Lorax,” “Minions,” “The Secret Life of Pets,” “Sing,” “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and “Migration.”

“The extraordinary vision and innovation Chris brings to animated feature films has not only captivated audiences of all ages but also been instrumental in reshaping the entertainment landscape,” PGA presidents Donald De Line and Stephanie Allain said in a joint statement. “His hands-on, meticulous approach to producing has resulted in the rare accomplishment of record-breaking films and beloved franchises. We are proud to honor Chris with this prestigious award as a leader in both the animation industry and our industry as a whole.”

Meledandri stated, “Being recognized by my peers with the...

Despicable Me 4 Box Office (Worldwide): Update After 18th Weekend( Photo Credit – YouTube )

Gru and the Minions continue to win hearts everywhere with Despicable Me 4. The animated feature has once again earned decent numbers on its eighteenth weekend. The movie was made on a reported budget of $100 million and has grossed a lot more than that. However, the $1 billion mark seems to be challenging to achieve for the Illumination creation. Scroll below for the deets.

It is part of the highest-grossing animation franchise, and 2024 is a few million away from achieving the #2 spot in the franchise. The third installment came out in 2017, and this fourth film came out around seven years later. It has the same appeal, and people enjoy the minions on the big screen. In addition to that, the movie is also available on digital platforms, despite the fact that people are going to the theatres...

Despicable Me 4 Box Office (Worldwide): Update After 18th Weekend( Photo Credit – YouTube )

Gru and the Minions continue to win hearts everywhere with Despicable Me 4. The animated feature has once again earned decent numbers on its eighteenth weekend. The movie was made on a reported budget of $100 million and has grossed a lot more than that. However, the $1 billion mark seems to be challenging to achieve for the Illumination creation. Scroll below for the deets.

It is part of the highest-grossing animation franchise, and 2024 is a few million away from achieving the #2 spot in the franchise. The third installment came out in 2017, and this fourth film came out around seven years later. It has the same appeal, and people enjoy the minions on the big screen. In addition to that, the movie is also available on digital platforms, despite the fact that people are going to the theatres...

RankFilm (distributor)Three-day gross (Oct 18-20)Total gross to dateWeek 1. The Wild Robot (Universal) £3.1m £3.3m 1 2. Smile 2 (Paramount) £1.7m £2m 1 3. The Apprentice (Studiocanal) £643,434 £746,303 1 4. Transformers One (Paramount) £642,000 £2.8m 2 5. Terrifier 3 (Signature)

£561,752 £2.2m 2

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.30

Universal animation The Wild Robot opened top of the UK-Ireland box office, with a £3.1m weekend.

Chris Sanders’ family feature, that has a voice cast including Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal and Kit Connor, played in 675 cinemas, taking a £4,591 site average. Including previews, the film has £3.3m. It is slightly down on the £3.6m start of another original Universal animation, Migration, from February this year.

“Because I’m happy clap along if you feel like a room without a roof / Because I’m happy clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth,” is the popular lyrics to a song that lives rent-free in the minds of countless fans some days – bright ones, especially – but it doesn’t necessarily evoke happy memories in the mind of its writer.

When Pharrell Williams penned ‘Happy,’ he was feeling the opposite and meant the song to be sarcastic.

How Pharrell Williams Came To Write the Grammy-winning Song ‘Happy’

One of Pharrell Williams’ biggest hits is ‘Happy’ – the song he didn’t necessarily anticipate to catapult him to massive fame in the 2010s.

Williams wrote ‘Happy’ as a soundtrack to 2013’s ‘Despicable Me 2,’ which went on to attract a massive, rounding out the year as the third highest grossing movie. Four months after the movie premiered, Williams...

Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (Oct 11-13) Total gross to date Week 1. Transformers One (Paramount) £1.6m £1.6m 1 2. Joker: Folie à Deux (Warner Bros) £1.4m £8.7m 2 3. Terrifier 3 (Signature) £1m £1m 1 4. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Warner Bros) £769,143 £23.9m 6 5. The Outrun (Studiocanal) £359,911 £359,911 1

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.31

Paramount animation Transformers One dethroned Joker: Folie À Deux at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, as the Warner Bros blockbuster suffered a significant 75% drop.

Transformers One opened to £1.6m in 583 sites at a £2,744 average – down on the stellar £8.7m of 2007’s Transformers and £8.3m of 2009’s Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, but still a decent opening for an animated feature.

RankFilm (distributor)Three-day gross (Oct 4-6)Total gross to dateWeek 1. Joker: Folie à Deux (Warner Bros) £5.7m £5.7m 1 2. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Warner Bros) £1.1m £22.8m 5 3. Speak No Evil (Universal) £408,214 £4.8m 4 4. The Substance (Mubi) £358,000 £2.2m 3 5. The Outrun (Studiocanal) £319,542 £1.1m 2

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.31

Warner Bros blockbuster Joker: Folie à Deux topped the UK-Ireland box office on its opening weekend; but its £5.7m start was 54.9% down on the £12.6m opening of the 2019 first film.

Folie à Deux took an £7,826 average from 725 cinemas – also down 58.2% on the £18,734 average from 671 sites of Joker.

A potential yardstick for Folie à Deux’s performance is 2021 comic...

RankFilm (distributor)Three-day gross (Oct 4-6)Total gross to dateWeek 1. Joker: Folie à Deux (Warner Bros) £6m £6m 1 2. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Warner Bros) Still to come £22.8m 5 3. Speak No Evil (Universal) £408,214 £4.8m 4 4. The Substance (Mubi) £358,000 £2.2m 3 5. The Outrun (Studiocanal) £319,542 £1.1m 2

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.31

Warner Bros blockbuster Joker: Folie à Deux topped the UK-Ireland box office on its opening weekend; but its £6m start was 52.4% down on the £12.6m opening of the 2019 first film.

Folie à Deux took an £8,276 average from 725 cinemas – also down 55.8% on the £18,734 average from 671 sites of Joker.

A potential yardstick for Folie à Deux’s performance...

Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (Sep 27-29) Total gross to date Week 1. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Warner Bros) £1.8m £21m 4 2. Speak No Evil (Universal) £641,119 £4m 3 3. The Substance (Mubi) £420,495 £1.5m 2 4. Lee (Studiocanal) £400,612 £2.8m 3 5. The Outrun (Studiocanal) £397,526 £449,025 1

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.34

Nora Fingscheidt’s The Outrun scored a top five spot on its opening weekend at the UK-Ireland box office; as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice held top spot for a fourth successive weekend, and Megalopolis opened outside the top five.

Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice added £1.8m – a slim drop of just 27.2%, that brings it to just shy of £21m. It is now the eighth-highest-grossing 2024 release,...

Despicable Me 4 now has a streaming release date after dominating in theaters this summer. Directed by Chris Renaud, the fourth installment in the popular Despicable Me franchise follows Gru (Steve Carell) as he faces off against new rival Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell) while also dealing with the arrival of the baby Gru Jr. Reviews for Despicable Me 4 were mixed from critics, but the film, which also features voice acting from Kristen Wiig, Sofa Vergara, and Joey King, was a box office success, grossing over $953 million worldwide.

ComicBook.com now reveals that Despicable Me 4 will start streaming on Peacock on October 31, meaning audiences still have about a month to wait. This streaming release date comes nearly two months after the film first became available on VOD. The film will be joining both Despicable Me (2010) and Despicable Me 2 (2013) on Peacock, with Despicable Me 3 (2017) streaming instead on Fubo.

2024 seems to be shaping up as quite the year for animation. With Inside Out 2 and The Wild Robot sweeping the box office and critics’ opinions, respectively, there seems to be a lot of competition in the animation department for 2024. Even films like Despicable Me 2, fell short of a billion dollars at the box office by just a few million, which really indicates what a great year it has been for animation. There are films currently in theatres like Transformers One that have also managed to garner a lot of support from the fandom.

A still from Flow || Credit: Dream Well Studio

However, it seems that the year is still not done with what it has to offer for animation, given that there could be another contender for the best-animated film of 2024 come November. Coming from Latvia, which animation supplied from France and Belgium as well, Flow, Gints Zibalodis,...

NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock had a big July and a massive August thanks almost exclusively to the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. Netflix had an equally massive January-to-June, in part because of all NBCUniversal’s animated movies available on the streamer.

In case you’ve been living under a mountain of other Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, on Thursday, September 19, Netflix shared more than 16,000 lines of its viewership data from the first half of 2024. It lists every show or movie watched on Netflix around the globe, how many views each had, and for how many hours they were watched. Light reading material for us.

Twice a year, there are endless takeaways from Netflix’s data dump. One of the big ones from this set was just how dominant NBCUniversal’s animated films are — only not on NBCUniversal’s own streaming platform, Peacock.

The top six animated films (and nine of 10!) on Netflix over...

RankFilm (distributor)Three-day gross (Sep 13-15)Total gross to dateWeek 1. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Warner Bros) £2.5m £18.2m 3 2. Speak No Evil (Universal) £813,979 £3m 2 3. Lee (Studiocanal) £555,529 £1.8m 2 4. The Substance (Mubi) £519,668 £591,322 1 5. Despicable Me 4 (Universal) £369,840 £46.7m 11

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.32

Warner Bros’ Beetlejuice Beetlejuice continued its reign at the UK and Ireland box office this weekend as it crossed the £18m mark while Mubi body horror The Substance opened in fourth place.

The Beetlejuice sequel dropped 42% in its third week to bring in £2.5m and push its total up to £18.2m. It will likely enter the UK top 10 highest-grossing films of 2024 within the next week.

Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (Sep 13-15) Total gross to date Week 1. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Warner Bros) £4.3m £14.4m 2 2. Speak No Evil (Universal) £1.2m £1.4m 1 3. Lee (Studiocanal) £674,914 £705,643 1 4. Prima Facie (Nt Live) £554,794 £1.5m 1 5. Despicable Me 4 (Universal) £389,930 £46.3m 10

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.32

Warner Bros’ Beetlejuice Beetlejuice crossed £14m in a second weekend atop the UK-Ireland box office chart as Universal’s latest Blumhouse horror Speak No Evil opened in second place.

Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice added £4.3m on its second session, a 41.5% drop on its opening session. It is up to £14.4m from 10 days in cinemas, falling behind two comparative...

Pharrell Williams was always happy. He wasn’t always humble.

Since earning his first music credit on Wreckx-n-Effect’s 1992 ass-shaking anthem “Rump Shaker,” the producer/songwriter/rapper/singer/composer/fashion designer/movie producer/father has spent the past three decades on top of the world. You could easily write a thesis on how his inventive, colorful beats and creative lyricism — some as one-half of The Neptunes — have contributed to the pop culture landscape. He helped Britney Spears transition from teeny bopper to racy pop star; gave swag to Nsync and later Justin Timberlake, aiding in his successful solo sprint; had everyone getting undressed at the club with Nelly’s “Hot in Herre,” and the boys — and girls and everyone else — running to the yard with Kelis’ still tasty “Milkshake.” Along the way, he gave Snoop Dogg his first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in “Drop It Like It’s Hot,...

You may not recall that “Happy” by Pharrell Williams was first released for the “Despicable Me 2” (2013) soundtrack. What you absolutely cannot forget is its hook — not even if you wanted to. Williams’ newest single was also released for an animated film, though this association will be much easier to remember — they’re both titled “Piece by Piece.”

Like “Happy,” the “Piece by Piece” single is a banger. It has an infectious, classic Pharrell/Neptunes beat, and the lyrics actually make the film’s unique storytelling device — a Pharrell Williams biopic told in Lego form — seem like the perfect creative choice.

“Piece by Piece” the song is not quite as good or earworm-y as “Happy” — that may be a good thing in the end. “Happy,” which was later re-released in 2014 as the first single from Williams’ full studio album “Girl,” was wildly overplayed. When that happens — even with a great...

Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (August 30-Sep 1) Total gross to date Week 1. Despicable Me 4 (Universal) £1.24m £44.6m 8 2. Deadpool & Wolverine (Disney) £1.22m £54.7m 6 3. It Ends With Us (Sony) £1.1m £18.6m 4 4. Alien: Romulus (Disney) £1.08m £10.8m 3 5. Andre Rieu’s 2024 Maastricht Concert: Power Of Love (Piece Of Magic) £700,000 £700,000 1

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.31

Universal animation Despicable Me 4 rose back to the top of the UK-Ireland box office chart on its eighth weekend in cinemas, boosted by National Cinema Day on Saturday, August 31.

Despicable Me 4 fell a slim 12% across the weekend, with its Saturday takings up 23% compared to the previous Saturday.

Documentarian Morgan Neville unveils the building blocks of Pharrell Williams’ vibrant world in Piece by Piece. Neville crafted two moving music documentaries previously in 20 Feet From Stardom and Won’t You Be My Neighbor, shining light on unconventional performers and society’s often overlooked. For his profile of multifaceted artist Pharrell Williams, Neville pioneers a fresh approach—constructing the biography employing the animated charm of Lego.

The film follows Williams from his childhood in Virginia Beach to his ascendance in the music industry. Designed with Lego’s iconic plastic bricks, Neville fashioned ingenious set pieces, bringing Pharrell’s journey to life. If anyone’s story suits such whimsical translation, it’s Williams—a shapeshifter among creative types, forever challenging expectations. Piece by piece peeks within his synesthesia too—how music elicits vivid colors for Williams.

Through playful animation, Neville presents a performer who refused limitation. But beyond surface optics, do...

In Piece By Piece, Morgan Neville (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, 20 Feet from Stardom) tries to upend the conventions of the celebrity documentary using Lego animation. Yes, you read that correctly: Lego.

Premiering at Telluride before its October 11 theatrical release by Focus Features, Piece By Piece tells the life story of multihyphenate Pharrell Williams through elaborately designed set pieces composed of animations of the popular plastic building blocks. If there is anyone for whom this wouldn’t be a completely strange and off-kilter idea, it’s Williams, whose career has been defined by a buoyant irreverence. Starting with his childhood in Virginia Beach and delving into his wildly successful music career, Piece By Piece reveals, in sweet and inspiring terms, how the producer turned rapper turned singer turned fashion icon has never been one to be boxed in.

But while inventive, Neville’s doc can’t quite avoid the trappings of the celebrity-produced biopic,...

Despicable Me 4 is now available on Digital HD and to mark the occasion, we were able to catch up with director Chris Renaud to talk about the latest blockbuster entry in Illumination's fan-favorite animated franchise.

The fourth installment sees Gru square off against a new nemesis named Maxime Le Mal, and in our extensive conversation, we talk about the reunion of former Anchorman co-stars Steve Carell and Will Ferrell, as well as a number of other things including the introduction of the Mega Minions, the franchise's lasting power, the possibility of aging up characters, and a whole lot more.

Renaud's past credits include Despicable Me, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, Despicable Me 2, The Secret Life of Pets, and The Secret Life of Pets 2. He also served as a producer on Minions, Despicable Me 3, The Grinch, and Minions: The Rise of Gru.

The film's full cast featured Steve Carell,...

Because of its current dominance in the world of kiddie entertainment, it may take a moment's reflection to recall that Chris Renaud's and Pierre Coffin's 2010 animated film "Despicable Me" once felt the slightest bit subversive. The main character of "Despicable Me" was the Eastern European supervillain Gru (Steve Carell) who aimed to commit visible acts of spiteful villainy. His latest plan was to steal the moon out of the sky, merely for the infamy it would garner him. 

"Despicable Me" takes place in a world that's overrun by villains, thieves, and superpowered monster people, but is seemingly absent of heroes. It won't be until later sequels that a crime-fighting Mi-6-type organization would come into play. Later still, Gru would renounce his villainy and become a dippy suburban dad to a trio of precocious girls. In "Despicable Me 4," Gru also has a wife and an infant son.

For the sixth straight Monday, a new and different film is #1 on VOD at both iTunes and Fandango. “Twisters” (Universal), which grossed almost $10 million in theaters last weekend, is the latest summer hit to reach home viewing.

By design or accident, studios have spaced out their releases so every week brings a new top film. Since the VOD debut of “Civil War” back in late May-early June, no film has enjoyed more than a week as #1 on VOD.

As always, the timing for PVOD debuts don’t align with theatrical runs; “Twisters” and “Despicable Me 2” were released later than “Inside Out 2.” That’s no surprise — Universal is usually the quickest to go to PVOD; Disney tested the waters with streaming exclusives and same-day PVOD but now maintains the longest windows. “Inside Out 2” will hit PVOD after its 10th weekend, while it’s still in the theatrical top...

RankFilm (distributor)Three-day gross (August 9-11)Total gross to dateWeek 1. It Ends With Us (Sony) £4.5m £4.5m 1 2. Deadpool & Wolverine (Disney) £4.1m £43.7m* 3 3. Despicable Me 4 (Universal) £1.4m £35.5m 5 4. Trap (Warner Bros) £1.1m £1.1m 1 5. Inside Out 2 (Disney) £619,000 £54.3m* 9

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.28

* - figure is through Monday, August 12

Sony’s It Ends With Us, starring Blake Lively, wooed audiences at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office with a huge £4.5m, taking top spot and ending the two-week run in first of Deadpool & Wolverine.

The romantic drama based on Colleen Hoover’s novel of the same name took an excellent £7,087 location average from 630 sites.

The ‘Despicable Me’ and ‘Minions’ series' have left an incredible mark with six movies in the books, let’s see how each movie performed and what the franchise has in store for the future! The ‘Despicable me’ franchise has become a renowned name all around the world since its start in 2010. From its smaller beginnings to the release of the franchise's 4th film earlier this month. The series has become a phenomenon with 6 total movies. Four movies follow the ‘Despicable me’ series and 2 follow the Minions series which is set to be the prequel to all ‘Despicable me’ movies. Produced by Illumination Productions and distributed by Universal pictures, the movies all center around Gru, his three daughters and the very loved minions. The concept of the series originated from animator Sergio Pablos, who founded his animation company Spa Studios, with the aid of other ideas before becoming a global blockbuster franchise under Illumination Productions.

Deadpool & Wolverine will cross $300m at the North American box office on Friday (August 2) and will overtake Universal/Illumination’s Despicable Me 2 on $303m to rank as the second highest-grossing release of the year to date.

The Marvel Studios smash added $17.9m in the biggest R-rated non-preview Thursday of all time to reach $298.4m, overtaking the $282m achieved by Warner Bros/Legendary’s Dune: Part Two earlier this year. The highest-grossing film at the North American box office remains Pixar’s Inside Out 2 on a daunting $618.8m.

Disney executives believe there is a chance the tentpole directed...

Sunday Update: Marvel/Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine has shredded expectations, opening to $438.3M worldwide. The international box office portion is $233.3M with domestic at $205M.

As Anthony has reported, this is the biggest R-rated opening of all time domestically; it’s also tops globally, surpassing Deadpool ($264M in like-for-like markets excluding China at current rates), as well as internationally, overtaking Joker ($147M) on a like-for-like basis at current rates. Further, this is the biggest worldwide and international opening of the year, and tops since Avatar: The Way of Water in 2022.

The MCU has now surpassed $30B worldwide ($30.3B).

Overseas, where all markets opened, BFFs Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman front the No. 1 non-local movie everywhere. The start (excluding China where the previous films did not release) is 56% ahead of Deadpool and 50% above Deadpool 2. D&w is also 37% ahead of Joker.

In Germany, the UK, Australia, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Taiwan and many smaller markets,...