Tag: article

By Rebecca Rubin Primates will rule (the box office) again! Disney’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is aiming for $50 million to $55 million from 3,700 theaters in its domestic debut, which will easily be enough to tower over the box office chart. Those ticket sales are roughly even with two of the three prior installments in 20th Century’s rebooted “Planet of the Apes” franchise: 2017’s “War for the Planet of the Apes” opened to $56.2 million and 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” opened to $54.8 million, while 2014’s “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” notched a series-best $72 million. At the international box office, where “Apes” movies tend to make the bulk of their revenues, this installment is tracking to collect $80 million to $90 million. Based on those projections...

By Patrick Frater The video-on-demand streaming sector in Southeast Asia delivered record subscription numbers and subscription revenues in the first quarter of the year, according to a new study. Those trends represent recovery after a tough 2023. Data from consultancy firm Media Partners Asia and its AMPD research affiliate showed VOD usage at a barely changed 96.3 minutes in the five Southeast Asian countries studied (Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia). Total paying subscriptions reached 48.5 million, representing net additions of 652,000 quarter-on-quarter and 1.6 million year-on-year. Such growth was matched by a 9% year-on-year and 5% quarter-on-quarter increase in total subscription revenues to $381 million, marking a milestone...

Meredith Jacobs The NCIS: Hawai’i series finale picks up right where the first part left off, with Sam (LL COOL J) trying to get to his ELITE team as they die after being exposed to Compound X. (The person they thought would help them contain the bioweapon, Cruz, is the one who wants to release it and dosed them.) But one of his team pushes the door to the airlock close when Sam opens it; the only problem is Sam still becomes infected, due to a crack in his respirator face plate. The nearest infectious disease center is too far away, so the team in Belgrade sets up their own for Sam. The good news? They have some of the antidote—Cruz did smash the vials, but there’s enough—for one dose. The bad news? With four canisters of Compound X still out there, Chase (Seana Kofoed) ...

By Dennis Perkins As admirably as Judge Juan Merchan has scoffed at Donald Trump’s legal team and its increasingly ridiculous and sweaty excuses for their client’s flagrant flouting of the gag order against him, the fact that Trump was issued his tenth contempt of court judgement (and measly $1,000 fine) on Monday for attacking the jurors and officers of the court in his criminal trial had late-night hosts looking for new ways to express their incredulity. With the judge putting it in writing that the next violation will quite probably mean jail time for Trump, at least that mental picture seemed to jazz up the hosts, with Jimmy Kimmel looking eagerly forward to the inevitable, noting, “It’s like trying to get a dog to stop licking itself. It’s his nature.” The Up-Sucky Veepstakes ...

By Rebecca Rubin Sony’s animated “The Garfield Movie” scratched up $22 million in its international box office debut. It’s currently only playing in 18 markets, roughly 35% of its eventual overseas footprint, so those ticket sales represent a promising start for the family film. “The Garfield Movie” doesn’t open in the U.S. and Canada until Memorial Day weekend on May 24. When it does land in domestic theaters, it’s projected to earn $35 million over the long weekend and will compete for first place with director George Miller’s “Mad Max” prequel “Furiosa.” Overseas, “The Garfield Movie” enjoyed the biggest start in Spain with $3.2 million over five days, followed by Brazil with $2.2 million, Italy with $1.6 million and Peru with $1.3 million. According to the studio, revenues for...

By Jordan Moreau Dua Lipa dove deep into the scorching-hot rap beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar on “Saturday Night Live.” On the latest episode, Lipa appeared alongside Mikey Day, Heidi Gardner and Devon Walker as morning talk show hosts who attempt to explain the diss tracks that have taken over the music world in the last few days to their viewers. Lipa played a culture critic who has been locked away “for the past 48 hours trying to piece it all together.” She appeared in front of a white board plastered with portraits of the two rappers and yarn connecting Post-It notes with phrases like “shoe size,” “feet” and “OVO.” Drake and Lamar’s back-and-forth diss tracks have been dominating social media, particularly in the last 36 hours when Lamar rel...