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UPDATE: After a couple of relatively slow sessions, China turned up the heat again this weekend as the five-day May Day/Labor Day holiday dawned. At least 10 new local titles released across Friday and Saturday with romance drama My Love in the lead through Sunday at an estimated RMB 424M ($65M). It was followed by…

Imax’s first-quarter results met Wall Street analysts’ expectations and showed signs of the movie industry’s rebound from the depths of Covid-19 a year ago. Net losses per share narrowed to 25 cents in the quarter, from 82 cents a year ago, better than analysts’ consensus for 26 cents. Total revenue rose 11% to $38.8…

TUESDAY UPDATE, writethru after Sunday AM post: Warner Bros/Legendary's Godzilla Vs Kong has reached a new global benchmark, crossing $400M with a confirmed cume through Sunday of $406.5M worldwide. Of that, $320M comes from the international box office in 41 markets. The monster mash, already the biggest Hollywood…

Imax and Imagine Documentaries have formed a five-year production and distribution agreement, a slate which will include movies on the subjects of space, exploration, natural sciences, music, civilization, society and more. The first title to be released under the agreement is Eliza McNitt’s Mars 2080 in 2022…

Imax CEO Rich Gelfond earned $6.9 million last year, down slightly from $7.1 million in 2019 as the pandemic shuttered theaters and Imax screens around the world. The package included base pay of $1.2 million and a stock award valued at $5.5 million. Imax, while hard hit like the rest of the industry, was able to…

UPDATE, writethru: Warner Bros/Legendary's Godzilla Vs Kong continues to dominate the global and international box office, now with an estimated $288.3M offshore cume for $357.8M worldwide through Sunday. It will soon cross Tenet globally and overseas. Domestically, it has overtaken Tenet to become the No. 1 grossing…

After logging the best pandemic-era start for a Hollywood movie at the international box office last weekend, Warner Bros/Legendary's Godzilla Vs Kong has punched up $285.4M worldwide through Sunday. The overseas running total, which added $76.1M (a great -39% hold) this weekend, is $236.9M, giving GVK bragging rights…

Imax Corp. said Bradley Wechsler will step down as chairman of the board at the annual shareholders meeting in June after nearly 30 years of service to the company. The board will select a new chairman shortly after the event. The former investment bankers Wechsler and Imax CEO Rich Gelfond acquired Imax in 1994. They…

MONDAY UPDATE, writethru with actuals after Sunday 8:20AM post: This weekend saw Warner Bros/Legendary's Godzilla Vs Kong set a new benchmark for the biggest international box office debut by a Hollywood film during the pandemic era with $123.1M from 38 overseas markets. That’s slightly higher than the Sunday estimate…

UPDATE, writethru: James Cameron's Avatar held the top spot at the global and international box office this weekend with $14.1M in China for the Friday-Sunday frame. The 2009 sci-fi epic re-released in the Middle Kingdom last weekend — when it reclaimed the title of all-time highest-grossing movie worldwide from Avenge…

UPDATE, writethru: As we first reported yesterday, James Cameron's Avatar is again king of the all-time worldwide box office, having snapped the title back from Avengers: Endgame thanks to a very robust China reissue this session. The full three-day frame in the Middle Kingdom is estimated at $21.1M, also giving the…

Scoring another record with a local title in Japan, Imax has had its best opening day ever for a film there with Shin Evangelion. Overall, the movie, which is the fourth and final installment in the Rebuild of Evangelion series, grossed nearly 828 million yen ($7.6 million). Of that, the Imax portion was $740,000. The…