Amblin Partners has begun principal photography on A Dog's Purpose sequel, A Dog's Journey with Dennis Quaid and Josh Gad returning to reprise their roles from the original. Co-financed and co-produced by Walden Media and Alibaba Pictures, A Dog's Journey is set for domestic release via Universal on May 17, 2019. The…

In reporting its full-year 2017 earnings, Hong Kong-listed Alibaba Pictures Group said it recorded a 162% increase in revenues, to RMB 2.37B ($375M). However, it saw only a 1% improvement in net losses to RMB 950.3M ($150M). For the first time, the company recorded a slight profit in its content production segment…

UPDATE, MONDAY, with Kong & Logan actuals: Warner Bros/Legendary's Kong: Skull Island stomped into offshore play this weekend, pounding out an $85.1M opening at the international box office. That's $3.5M better than Sunday's $81.6M forecast. The screen count on the giant ape was also bigger with 20,900 versus 20,400…

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is reaching out to production crew, announcing that they are offering a $5,000 reward to the anonymous person – whom they call a whistleblower – who filmed the German shepherd being mishandled on the set of A Dog’s Purpose and then gave (or sold?) the footage to TMZ. PETA…

UPDATE with PETA statement: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is taking issue with the claim made by American Humane that no animals were harmed on the set of A Dog’s Purpose. PETA said today that the report “must be received with skepticism” given the track record of the animal watchdog group.

PETA is asking…

5th Writethru Sunday AM: We had a feeling Thursday about how this weekend would go down. Given its great weekday momentum, it was obvious that Uni/Blumhouse’s Split would hold on to No. 1 with an estimated $26.3M while the embattled Amblin/Walden Media’s A Dog’s Purpose also from Uni would settle for second with $18.38…

More than 50 protesters demonstrated tonight outside the ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood to air their grievances over the family film A Dog’s Purpose. Carrying signs that read, “A Dog’s Purpose Isn’t to Be a Prop” and “For Dog’s Sake Don’t See A Dog’s Purpose,” they were citing charges that a German shepherd named…

You probably have heard the controversy over the alleged mistreatment of a German Shepherd named Hercules during the making of A Dog’s Purpose. Using an edited video and pursuing its agenda to keep all animals out of movies and be replaced by CGI creations, PETA has decided to use this Universal family release as a…

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said supporters across the nation will engage “in lively protests” in front of theaters Friday on the opening night of the Amblin Entertainment/Universal Pictures movie A Dog’s Purpose. PETA has called for boycotts of the movie after a behind-the-scenes video was made public…

Despite forecasts this week projecting Amblin/Walden Media/Universal’s A Dog’s Purpose as the clear winner at the domestic box office with an opening north of $20 million, tracking this morning indicates that Uni/Blumhouse’s Split has a good shot at holding on to its top spot after debuting to $40M last weekend.

The $9…

UPDATED, 1:23 PM: PETA has released a statement in response to producer Gavin Polone’s explanation about the treatment of animals during filming of A Dog’s Purpose, saying: “The disturbing footage from the set of A Dog’s Purpose came just days after PETA’s investigation of Birds & Animals Unlimited — the company that…

UPDATE Saturday, 11:00 AM: PETA has issued a statement on the matter. “It takes a cold heart not to find this footage disturbing, so PETA asks whether A Dog’s Purpose was written from the heart or just to make a buck. Whistleblowers invariably fear for their jobs, but this footage was bravely made public after PETA…