Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi wasn’t one of those Super 8 kid filmmakers.

“I dreamt of becoming a filmmaker in my 30s, it was an arranged marriage,” said the director at TIFF Masterclass this morning with festival co-head Cameron Bailey.

“I was painting throughout my 20s then when I was 28/29, I realized I hadn…

When it comes to evaluating the financial performance of top movies, it isn't about what a film grosses at the box office. The true tale is told when production budgets, P&A, talent participations and other costs collide with box office grosses and ancillary revenues from VOD to DVD and TV. To get close to that mysteri…

Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi provided what would certainly get votes as the most entertaining Q&A at Deadline’s annual The Contenders awards-season event last month when he took the stage to talk about the Marvel Studios blockbuster. His Disney/Marvel film that very weekend had opened to a massive $118…

UPDATE, WRITETHRU: While the world waits for Star Wars: The Last Jedi to hit global hyperdrive this week, the current international box office session was led by its Disney stablemate, Coco. Taking the overseas crown for the 2nd weekend in a row, the Pixar title crooned a $55.3M tune in 35 markets. That brings the…

TUESDAY AM UPDATE, WRITETHRU with actuals: Disney/Pixar's Coco has struck a chord in China — and is expected to keep strumming along as play continues. The movie from directors Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina has quickly become the top-grossing Pixar title ever in the market with guitar hero Miguel and his trusty dog…

On Wednesday, The Walt Disney Studios rocked across the $5B mark in worldwide receipts — for the third year in a row. That makes The Mouse the first, and only, studio to have reached the threshold three times. The global total from January 1-November 29, 2017, is $5,003.1M. Breaking that down, it’s $1,763.3M…

TUESDAY AM UPDATE, WRITETHRU with actuals: The Justice League superheroes crossed $300M at the international box office this weekend, rising to $311M after two frames. This was off a $71.5M session that was down 61% from open.

Warner Bros/DC's JL was playing on 32,800 screens in 66 markets and, combined with domestic…

Monday Final Weekend Writethru: Warner Bros./DC’s Justice League‘s estimates slid all weekend long to a final stand still of $93.8M.  After declining 31% on Sunday to $22.7M, greater than the $24.1M projected, the Zack Snyder-directed movie should finally see $100M tomorrow after what many are projecting to be a…

UPDATE, Monday writethru with actuals: Warner Bros/DC’s Justice League assembled $185 million at the international box office in its debut session this weekend, $500K down from the Sunday estimate. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and friends were at play on about 46,660 screens in 65 markets, with China leading at a…

UPDATE, WRITETHRU, with actuals: Still mighty after three overseas frames, Disney/Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok chiseled out another $77.3M at the international box office this weekend — up from the Sunday estimate. That takes the offshore cume to $440M, and lifts the worldwide tally to $652.1M. That global figure pushes…

Sunday AM Update: Paramount’s Daddy’s Home 2 is stealing second place away from 20th Century Fox’s Murder on the Orient Express, $30M to $28.2M. Daddy’s Home 2 benefited quite well from Saturday matinees, given that it’s a family pic, seeing a 6% rise on Saturday with $11.6M. Murder on the Orient Express was +$75K…

As he heads into his third offshore and second domestic weekend, the god of thunder has hammered out a mighty $502.3M at the worldwide box office through Wednesday. Disney/Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok now becomes the 12th consecutive Marvel Cinematic Universe film to reach the threshold, and the 14th to do so out of 17…